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Share your post op surgery, pros and cons. So far I understand getting up and walking will help a great deal, sitting up and sipping on Water are good to start with. Any other suggestions or experiences?

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REST. It’s something that I don’t see mentioned much when it comes to this type of surgery. My dad is a surgeon (kidney) and he has really stressed to me the importance of resting. My nutritionist told me not to nap during the day because it would take away time from drinking (!). My dad said that was the craziest thing he’s ever heard. He recognizes the importance of staying hydrated, but points out that even though this procedure was laparoscopic, it’s still major surgery. The body heals itself when it is resting, and this type of surgery requires major healing. I honestly find myself taking a nap every two hours, and I felt guilty about that at first. He said that napping is totally normal and not to fight it because my body knows how much rest I need to heal and will make sure that I get it. So while you should walk around for gas pain and drink a LOT, you should also rest a lot- it’s literally necessary for your body to heal properly. Follow your body cues. If you are tired, rest. Even if you don’t feel tired, still get extra rest and allow your body to go through the healing process.

Edited by niclovesjustice

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I can only speak for myself and my experience. Recovery was not bad. I was extremely tired for about 4 months so I agree with the previous post that rest is essential. I remember binge watching Call the Midwife and a lot of shows I had on my list because I had NO energy. Just plan to have a lot of down time and take it easy. I read so much information that scared the crap out of me and none of it came true.

1. I never dumped or had food get stuck. Never puked (to this day)

2. I never got dehydrated. Water was not that hard to drink when I added limes or water additives. Hint water also went down very smoothly and I ordered several cases

3. I did go through a period of depression and most people do. You wonder what you did, how long will life be strange etc. Im about 1.5 years out and life seems really normal to me now. The only time I feel "altered" is when I eat at a BBQ or family event and I cant just have a hamburger and some sides. Its just the patty, cant really finish it and I cant have a bunch of Beans and potato salad but other than that eating is pretty much the new normal

4. My hair did fall out more than usual but I never had major Hair loss and it slowed down a little more than a year out

To sum up...dont be scared!! They tell you all the terrible things that could happen because they kinda have to but dont expect those things to happen. Keep a positive outlook and you'll do fine :)

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I am 1 week postop Gastric Bypass & Gallbladder removal. I was in the hospital 2 nights, The first 24 hrs were extremely painful for me. I had to basically beg for enough pain meds and drinking wasn't really a factor til day 2. I pushed myself to walk as often and as dmfar as possible to get the gas moving. Once the gas began moving the pain became much less. I'm drinking fine at home, My Dr. Says Clear fluids for the whole first week. Followup is Tomorrow when I can begin supplements and protien shakes. Ive had a cesarean with my son & a lot of other surgeries but never had pain like I did with this surgery. Because I had my gallbladder out too I had 9 incisions and one for the drain. Highest weight was 313, I was 293 lbs on Surgery day 8/24 & this morning day 6 postop I weigh 282 so an 11 lb weightloss for week 1 which does make me happy. I feel ok but feel I have to be very careful not to eat or drink more than 1.5 oz in a 15 min period.

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Had gastric bypass on 28th of August. 3 hrs surgery, dr found haital hernia and repaired it as well. Stayed over night, next day x ray showed no leaks and tolerated liquids well. Discharge home. Gas in abdomen was an ordeal, after releasing gas felt better each time. Abdomen felt discomfort with no pain. Named my new tummy Greenie, cause she loves the liquid green smoothies. Frozen berries and banana, kale, spinach, moringa, hemp seed with Protein Shake blended well to liquid form., Greenie loves it when I sip in small amount each time. Discomfort in abdomen feeling better each day. At age 66 I feel I made a excellent choice to healthier living journey. Look forward to no use of cpap and health issues that run in the family like CA, stroke, high bld pressure, diabetes, etc. I believe with this surgery I avoided family history of health issues.

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My bypass & gallbladder out were on Aug. 24th & I see my Dr for follow up today 8 days postop to start phase 2. My Dr. Is really conservative about what goes in the stomach in the first week so I havn't had anything other than Water for first 2 days then at home Gatorade zero, no sodium beef broth, protienO2 waters & a lil sugar free Jello. Today I will start adding 2-3 protien shakes each day for 1 week. Then after that some mushy watery Soups & sugar free pudding etc. Dr. Gandsas goes pretty slowly with reintroduction of foods. I don't mind tho, its honestly helping me face down some of my food demons within my food addiction. I have been scanning the internet for yummy interesting gastric recipies to focus on and look forward to instead of just thinking about how many months it will take to train my body not to dump if I eat my favorite ice cream lol. I spoke with my counselor about it and she agrees this approach is better for me to go super slowly and see some rewards from this surgery before I begin eating solids again too. So in 8 days I've lost 13 lbs and THAT makes me very happy 😊 I hope you're also doing well postop! Heres to Geenie & my new Tummy who's name remains to be decided lol

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I had Loop DS on July 23rd. The first couple days were rough, I was very nauseated and vomited several times and had back pain on the left side. I passed a kidney stone 11 days later, and my surgeon thinks that was why I had a rough time in the hospital. I stayed 3 nights, but was much better on the 4th day when I went home. I never had any pain in my incisions except where the drain was and that was mild soreness. I had my gallbladder out in January and that was more painful to me. The gas pain with that was much, much worse. I had pretty mild gas pain with this. I also walked a lot, even though I felt bad in the hospital, I got up and walked as much as I could.
I think after that little glitch in the beginning I have had a very smooth recovery and I'm feeling amazing!

Sent from my moto g(6) using BariatricPal mobile app

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    • Aunty Mamo

      Iʻm roughly 6 weeks post-op this morning and have begun to feel like a normal human, with a normal human body again. I started introducing solid foods and pill forms of medications/supplements a couple of weeks ago and it's really amazing to eat meals with my family again, despite the fact that my portions are so much smaller than theirs. 
      I live on the island of Oʻahu and spend a lot of time in the water- for exercise, for play,  and for spiritual & mental health. The day I had my month out appointment with my surgeon, I packed all my gear in my truck, anticipating his permission to get back in the ocean. The minute I walked out of that hospital I drove straight to the shore and got in that water. Hallelujah! My appointment was at 10 am. I didn't get home until after 5 pm. 
      I'm down 31 pounds since the day of surgery and 47 since my pre-op diet began, with that typical week long stall occurring at three weeks. I'm really starting to see some changes lately- some of my clothing is too big, some fits again. The most drastic changes I notice however are in my face. I've also noticed my endurance and flexibility increasing. I was really starting to be held up physically, and I'm so grateful that I'm seeing that turn around in such short order. 
      My general disposition lately is hopeful and motivated. The only thing that bugs me on a daily basis still is the way those supplements make my house smell. So stink! But I just bought a smell proof bag online that other people use to put their pot in. My house doesn't stink anymore. 
       
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    • BeanitoDiego

      Oh yeah, something I wanted to rant about, a billing dispute that cropped up 3 months ago.
      Surgery was in August of 2023. A bill shows up for over $7,000 in January. WTF? I asks myself. I know that I jumped through all of the insurance hoops and verified this and triple checked that, as did the surgeon's office. All was set, and I paid all of the known costs before surgery.
      A looong story short, is that an assistant surgeon that was in the process of accepting money from my insurance company touched me while I was under anesthesia. That is what the bill was for. But hey, guess what? Some federal legislation was enacted last year to help patients out when they cannot consent to being touched by someone out of their insurance network. These types of bills fall under something called, "surprise billing," and you don't have to put up with it.
      https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises
      I had to make a lot of phone calls to both the surgeon's office and the insurance company and explain my rights and what the maximum out of pocket costs were that I could be liable for. Also had to remind them that it isn't my place to be taking care of all of this and that I was going to escalate things if they could not play nice with one another.
      Quick ending is that I don't have to pay that $7,000+. Advocate, advocate, advocate for yourself no matter how long it takes and learn more about this law if you are ever hit with a surprise bill.
      · 0 replies
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    • BeanitoDiego

      Some days I feel like an infiltrator... I'm participating in society as a "thin" person. They have no idea that I haven't always been one of them! 🤣
      · 0 replies
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    • ChunkCat

      Thank you everyone for your well wishes! I totally forgot I wrote an update here... I'm one week post op today. I gained 15 lbs in water weight overnight because they had to give me tons of fluids to bring my BP up after surgery! I stayed one night in the hospital. Everything has been fine except I seem to have picked up a bug while I was there and I've been running a low grade fever, coughing, and a sore throat. So I've been hydrating well and sleeping a ton. So far the Covid tests are negative.
      I haven't been able to advance my diet past purees. Everything I eat other than tofu makes me choke and feels like trying to swallow rocks. They warned me it would get worse before it gets better, so lets hope this is all normal. I have my follow up on Monday so we'll see. Living on shakes and soup again is not fun. I had enough of them the first time!! LOL 
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    • BeanitoDiego

      Still purging all of the larger clothing. This morning, a shirt that I ADORED wearing ended up on top. Hard to let it go, but it was also hard to let go of those habits that also no longer serve my highest good. Onward and upward!
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