Search the Community

I weight about once a week. Haven’t lost more than 10 pounds in 3 mon. I’m at 10 months. I had gastric bypass. I feel like it was falling off now it’s not. I am close to normal bmi but why am I gaining. I know I’m able to eat more than I was but I’m nervous

Wow what a week! I had RYN on 4/14”2. I have never stop having left side pain since surgery. I was taking 4,000 mg of Tylenol a day to survive. I was getting my protein and water in most days. I had went back to liquids on Wednesday 5/4/22, as puree just didn’t set well. I was running a fever at times. Reached out to my surgeon on Friday 5/6 nurse called me back and said as soon as she hears from him I’ll call you back and never got any call back. Sunday 5/8 morning while driving home I had this extreme pain and almost wrecked my car. I decided enough, I can’t take it anymore and went to the ER. I had accumulated fluid on my abdomen and a UTI. They did two CT scans I wasn’t leaking from my bowel. Took several bags of fluid. IV antibiotics and lots of pain meds. Waiting for radiology To place a drain I felt like death. I hurt so bad. Monday 5/9 My surgeon came and said is everything would be ok. I’m not leaking at any surgical site. We will get the fluid off and you will be just fine. I asked him about the 103 fever he did seem concerned but we have double antibiotics and your blood cultures are negative. Monday Tuesday and Wednesday and Got calcium and potassium blouses. I got iron twice to not need a blood transfusion. The edema redness and pain was now from by belly button to almost my spine from my hip up to to mid rib cage. They placed a drain on Tuesday,To date it’s at 500 ml drained out mostly pus. A lot of prayer and medical interventions got me where I wanted to be.. home!!! Back to liquid diet ,a drain and antibiotics. I think I’m headed in the right direction. I at least feel human again and very minimal pain today. That’s the long story Short story is the drain site was infected which is a risk of surgery especially on the bowel. LISTEN TO YOUR BODY PEEPS!!! As a NP I over and under analyze everything to the point my doctor told me “Stacey I am the doctor and you’re the patient can you at least try to be a patient?” I just laughed because I honestly needed to hear that!

Can you update your information so we can see your stats? When did you have your surgery? What surgery did you have? Maybe you're in a stall??? How often do you weigh yourself?

So my plan WAS to get in with my normal medical system (Baylor Scott and White) and had a referral and an appointment with the psych appointment with a provider for the ADHD consult. I had called for pricing so I could budget several weeks before the appointment, they called me back and refused to leave a voicemail. I forgot about it until a few days before my appointment so I call again. They tell me they will get back to me but it's only a few days before my appointment(why not just tell me how much the stupid appointment will be with my insurance?), they don't get back to me but call several times to reschedule my appointment the day of because the provider won't be in the office. I get it. I call a couple of days later to reschedule, the lady who can schedule this type of appointment will call me because she isn't available (why all receptionists can't schedule this type of appointment is beyond me--I ama vet receptionist and human medicine boggles my mind). They finally call me back almost a week later-I work and can't answer my phone, they ask me to call back. I'm frustrated and over it. At this point several weeks past the initial appointment time has lapsed and that appointment had been about 2 months out. The great internet gods have been listening to my conversations because I get an ad for Cerebral. They have a sale, $30 the first month, $85/mo thereafter. Includes 1 session per month and the meeting (telehealth) with a provider to go over concerns and see if medication is an option. So I said, screw it and joined Cerebral to try it out. The telehealth visit with the prescriber wasn't terrible, not great either--don't go into it looking for the same thing you would get with an in person visit/testing etc. All of that said (sorry for being long winded) here is my take on Cerebral. I have not had my monthly meeting with the "Care Counselor" for the once a month check in but I can see why they are being looked into by the DEA-the provider basically went over a list of questions and asked about my symptoms. If you are specifically looking for stimulants you could easily guide the conversation to those. I specifically asked for non-stims as I was incredibly worried about addiction, especially after surgery. I do know as of May 9th they would not submit any new stim prescriptions. It wasn't terrible, as someone that after many online quizzes, joining adhd facebook groups, research through all the interwebz and finding myself relieved that I was not a lazy piece of crap and that I was not alone...there were many times I was crying or almost crying in relief finding out things I did were part of adhd symptoms(job hopping was a huge one). I will check in with my provider in a month to do a status check and see how things are going. I plan on only using Cerebral for a few months and if things are going really well I am planning on reaching out to my PCP to see if she is comfortable taking over my care and prescription since I very much love my PCP. If she isn't, then I still plan on getting in with an in person psych--just probably not BS&W. Lemme know if you have any questions! So far the Strattera has not given me a lot bad of side effects, no nausea I can speak of but I do get very sleepy later in the day and I do find my appetite has waned a bit as well. Focus seems better but I am unsure of that being a placebo effect vs actual effect-there is some talk on the forums/groups that some people get some early on benefits that fade until it starts to build up in the system 4-8 weeks later. Sorry if that got super long, let me know if you have anymore questions!

I have a stabbing, spasm type of pain behind my belly button. I felt a shooting type pain from my left incision to this area over the past week. But today the pain is strictly underneath my belly button and it’s excruciating. Does anybody know what what causes this?

Sorry, just saw this. I wound up getting COVID last week so I was totally dehydrated. Before that I only had a craving once when my kids were eating chips. I hate to admit it but liked the salt off of a couple. I feel that my stomach makes noises but don't feel hungry. What about you?

I'm 3 weeks out and I feel like I could eat a lot more then most at my stage. I never really feel full. I do get restrictions/pain when eating soft foods. But I can drink liquids with no problem at all. I've been wondering if my stomach is a little larger then some right after surgery. I don't feel like my hungry hormone weren't removed. All I can do is measure out my food. And when my stomach starts growling and I get the hunger pains. I just drink more water. Ive only lost 13th in almost 3 weeks. I also walk about 45 minutes to an hour. 3 miles and burn over 300 calories 5 days a week. I really was hoping to have a bigger weight loss by now.

2 weeks of liquid was a breeze??? LMAO if that was a breeze then this will be easy for you. I was not really hungry my first 2 weeks after surgery. I had to set alarms to remind me to get in my protein and water. Good luck!

Nope, sorry. 19 hours now. I really can’t wait. 2 weeks liquid was a breeze. So I feel like I’m ready for three more especially if I’m not at hungry.

Pre surgery, I could eat a 24oz porterhouse, an appetizer, 2 sides, a drink, and a dessert myself. And completely finish it. I was ALWAYS hungry. I could eat 6 scrambled eggs, 8 pieces of bacon, 4 sausages, and 4 pieces of french toast in 1 sitting. Now, I get nervous if I had restriction on a tsp of food yesterday and a tbsp today (like, WHY can I comfortably take more food in so soon???). I had 1/2 an egg this morning and I was full. BUT....2 hours later and I'm hungry again. I'm drinking a shake, trying to ignore it, but I worry that my hunger hormone isn't really gone like I had hoped, and my appetite is roaring back. I only eat until I'm comfortable. And I do things to keep myself busy (read, go for a walk, watch movies, play computer games) but eventually the hunger gets so bad I can't ignore it. So having a stall looming while I'm trying to get this hunger under control is really a daunting thought.

I started the SOFT stage last week and it’s not going very well. I did okay with 2 oz. of baked fish, but chicken and eggs didn’t sit well in my stomach. It felt like a rock in my stomach. I didn’t throw up, but I felt so yucky that I’ve decided to stick with soups for a few days.

Yea mine came very early at 2 weeks. It sucked. lol

I've been reminding myself of that everyday lol Tuesday is 14 days post op, so I hope I have about another week-ish before I have to worry about it. BUT, I know it can come early or late (again, learned it from here) so I'm just trying to stay on track and lose as much as I can before I hit the stall so I don't feel like I'm losing too much ground.

I was hospitalized for three days with my RNY, and I spent every one of those 72 hours being profoundly grateful for my nurses. I don't even want to think about how horrendous those days would have been without their help.

No problem. Also remember you are reaching your 3rd week here soon. Most people stall out at that time or a little before where you wont loose any weight for a couple weeks or so. I am on week 4 and i havent lost any weight now for about 2 weeks. so dont get disgorged when that time comes. It will pass.

I didn’t go #2 for 10 days after my surgery. I actually gained 4 lbs the week after surgery between it fluids and constipation…then dropped it all plus 10lbs the next week. It will come off!!

I was pretty active going to the gym 3x a week and chasing small kids but i had hysterectomy and some other pelvic organ surgical repair march 3rd and was on full exercise restriction from that, then MY VSG was may 3rd so now I’m recovering from that and overall i feel really good but i am finding myself short of breath when i do anything, i feel like my heart is beating fast. I dont know if it really is or not but it feels like it is. is this just from being down and out for so long and my body being weak? or from very restricted calories? i just want to make sure it isn’t something i should get medical attention for im getting my protein and fluids in and overall feeling fine, no abdominal pain, not much gas pain anymore its just when im trying to cook or outside with the kids, getting the kids dressed, cleaning i get so winded

let your clinic know. Those symptoms could be indicative of a stricture. (note I said "could be" - not "definitely"). They may want to do an upper endoscopy and check it out. If there's one there, it's an easy fix - they'll fix it while they're in there. I had two of them - at four weeks out and again at eight weeks out. About 5% of bypass patients get them, and they almost always occur 1-3 months after surgery (very rare before or after that time frame) - so you're in the right window for one, if that's what it is.

vomiting shouldn't be an issue as long as it's not severe. A lot of people vomit the first few weeks after surgery because your stomach is still healing and certain foods this early out could irritate it (I know your concern is with a stomach virus, but the same holds true...)

Once you get on to real foods your restriction will kick in big time. At 2 months I was still struggling with the liquids so had to eat 5 tiny meals. I would average 400 Cals a day. A meal the size of a egg would be my limit. If you are getting your liquid and protein allowance then you have no need to worry. At almost 6 months I am fine with the liquids and my protein allotment but have no room for vegetables or carbs. I saw my dietician last week and they were thrilled with my progress and said its a bonus that I have such a restriction. I have 4 meals and 800 - 900 Cals a day ish.

First, it takes a hell of a lot of hard work, eating excessive quantities of food over a prolonged period of time to stretch out your tummy again.You certainly won’t stretch it out in 6 weeks. Many surgeons say it’s nigh on impossible to do. So you can breath about that. You’re ok. As to quantity of food, yes your portion sizes are more than I did then & some are more than I do now. (e.g. 3-4oz protein, 1.5 eggs, 1/2 a thin pork sausage). BUT, there are lots of different plans out there with different portion size & calorie goals/ recommendations. And some can eat more. If you are following your plan you are doing fine. AND, you can only eat what you are physically able to eat without causing discomfort. Though it is odd you haven’t felt your restriction yet given you are eating solid foods. I’d check your calories though as 130g of salmon fillet alone is 222, 2 eggs are 156 & 4ozs pork sausages can be 345 calories. Of course it can depend on the size of the eggs, ingredients in the sausages, cut of chicken, etc. Though you can eat more doesn’t mean you should. Have a chat with your dietician about protein goals, portion sizes, caloric goals, etc. For example 4ozs is generally considered the recommended portion of protein an adult should eat at a meal. I wonder if you are exceeding your protein goal as a result?? Having a little more is ok but again check with your dietician. I remember my dietician questioning the size of people’s tummy post surgery. There’s a difference in removing 80% of a tummy that could hold say 3 cups of food versus 80% removed of a tummy that could hold 5 cups. The larger tummy is still going to be able to hold more. Simple maths. Congrats on the weight you have lost so far.

I had something like this... it sort of ran across where I assume the suture line was. Didn't happen all the time, but when it did it was uncomfortable. It stopped within the first week. I found warm liquids went over better - my fave was warm bone broth!

Are you close to the hospital? Will you have someone to care for you? My surgeon does an overnight stay but advised he would keep me for two days as I lived alone - he wanted to make sure I was stable, had pain under control, able to swallow, sipping, moving easily, etc. ended up staying three days as my back went into spasm on day 2. Are they willing to let you stay overnight if you want to? Will your insurance cover it? Would you feel more comfortable with an overnight stay?

If it’s been 7 weeks, I’d probably have a chat with your medical team. You should be fully healed by now. But in saying that, I still have days where I don’t feel as comfortable with a fitted waist & I’m 3 yrs out. Also chat with your dietician. Certain artificial sweeteners & the lactose in dairy can make you bloated (& windy if you are experiencing that too).

My RNY is on the 24th. Was originally going to get a VSG but after an endoscopy, the doc thinks my GERD is worse on my body than the way I feel about it. Convinced me that I would probably be horrendously suffering from acid if I went with the VSG. Also going to repair my hiatal hernia and after doing a nuclear scan going to pull out my gallbladder. Wheeeee.... Started my pre-op diet on the 10th. I'm jealous of all your pre-op diets. I get two weeks of 20oz non-fat milk 3x a day. 50oz of other liquids a day - water, broth, decaf tea or coffee. On day five and it's really not all that bad. Doc's literature said this type of diet activated the body's hunger suppresant. And I'm really surprised how.... well, I am hungry, but I'm not as hungry as I would have thought. Anyway, nervous and excited at the same time. I'm sure you've all felt that same way.