Leaderboard

Hi everyone! I've been a silent reader of these forums and have found a lot of answers and inspiration in here that helped me a lot along my weight loss journey. This is my first post and just wanted to first thank you for sharing your experiences and stories and to share mine as well. Hopefully this will inspire someone to take the decision. I had my surgery on 30 January 2022 and I'm glad I did. I'm going to be 40 in September and I've always been overweight. I've tried several diets, lost and gained a lot of weight. The last diet I've tried was Keto diet back in 2019. I was able to lose 25 Kg. Then Covid-19 came, the lockdowns and having to work from home. I gained all the weight back and some more 😥. Fast forward to January 2022. My sister (who is also overweight) was in Egypt on a business trip. She met one of her classmates in there who lost almost half of her weight and looked unrecognizable. My sister's friend recommended that she consult the same surgeon that did her mini gastric bypass surgery. After visiting that surgeon, my sister decided to have the surgery by mid January 2022. We talked about it and I discussed with the surgeon over Skype and made the arrangements to have mine by end of January 22. I had my surgery on 30 January 22 and stayed in the hospital for two days. I then flew back to Malaysia a week after. My starting weight was 149 Kg and my current is 103 Kg. I'm super happy with my decision and consider that to be my 40th birthday gift to myself. I feel and look amazing and I'm able to do a lot of the things that I've always wanted to do but couldn't because of my weight. I even got myself a mountain bike that I ride every night around my house. I hope I will be down to two-digits weight just in time for my 40th birthday! I'm planning to join a gym next month which will hopefully help with loose skin and speed up the weight loss. I've started a list of all of the things that I've always wanted to do but couldn't and I'm really excited to tick as items much as I can.

Ask if you have any choice in what size your stomach will be post surgery. I am not even sure if that’s a thing they could have done differently but given a choice I would have preferred mine to be smaller. I was able to eat more than expected at every given phase post op. I just measured my food and stopped when my plate was empty and I still lost weight though so don’t let me freak you out. According to my team at over a year out now my normal meals of about one serving of most things are typical but that’s me eating till I’m satisfied. I never really feel full. I see people on here who eat a lot less and if that is something they control I would have preferred to be on the smaller side.

I’m sorry I just realized you are getting bypass. I was sleeve. I guess you could ask about the length of your bypass. if you have a choice in that.

i am pre op but have made major dietary changes this year. tbh 80% of my cravings for sugary and carbs have already disappeared with the changes i have made. once i made the choice to reduce my consumption to “sparingly” on fast food, sugary items and now carbs, (begrudgingly due to upcoming pre op diet) and went through an adjustment period, the cravings majorly reduced. now the specific cravings are few and far between. also, i worked on WHY I used those items as an emotional crutch to get me through some challenging times. that made a huge difference. another big change is when I feel a craving, i can tell if it’s emotional or physical. emotional can be soothed by working on the emotional issue causing the craving; physical can often be satisfied with a very small portion of the food desired. it has been a freeing experience that was worth the extremely hard work and tears to get to this point. (lost 40 lbs since the end of April.. 56 this year) Journaling has been my best tool. There are other tools like meditation, therapy, channeling energy into a hobby etc that can help too. Remember this process is truly changing your life!! The more you look at all of your life’s patterns and seek out the healthy path, the better off you will be.

I think so.

Not quite 2 weeks out and have been dealing with this also. Keep hydrated and moving. It helps. I was regularly taking Miralax, alone it didn’t do much. Used a dulcolax suppository and that helped a little. Added in Colace (two in the morning and one in the evening). That’s helping a little. Once I got to purée I took oatmeal and blended it with either a fruit cup or applesauce to increase my fiber. Things are moving slowly…. But kinda moving.

I am out of surgery! Total nerve wracking, spent all last week concerned 😟 was making a huge mistake. They removed over 5 lbs. currently staying overnight (surgery center can do 23 hour care) and so grateful I picked the center that had that. Nurses are the kindest that I’ve ever experienced, such a good experience. Not in a ton of pain really, but just more stinging and uncomfortable. i made it, it’s done!

Were you not put on medication to dissolve gall stones after your sleeve surgery? I am on it for at least a year.

Have to admit my first thought was lactose intolerance, which can occur after surgery but you said you’re dairy free. My second thought was artificial sweeteners - many, especially the sugar alcohol ones can cause gastric distress like you described. https://www.livestrong.com/article/510270-can-artificial-sweetners-upset-your-stomach/ But whatever the cause, I agree with the others, contact your surgeon as soon as you can.

Thanks for the info on getting my ticker to appear. I will give it another try.