Leaderboard

Not sleeve but RNY here and I can say you can stretch it out a bit. I can definitely eat grazing style all day and definitely gain weight back (as I found out over Christmas tho year). It’s a Conscious choice to eat healthy regular planned meals to keep the weight off. When I want to slide back to binging to handle life and feelings, I use my skills from eating disorders therapy. The feelings of wanting to binge are still there, but I’ve worked really hard to substitute healthier rituals to deal with anxiety and depression and just feeling unlucky. I strongly suggest OA or an eating disorders therapist. The size of your stomach doesn’t really matter. If you want to eat the whole bag of cookies or chips you can do it. Or, you could choose not to and have sex, crochet, go for a walk, talk to a friend, journal, bird/star watch instead. It’s all a choice. The fact that you are investigating choosing surgery is a choice for yourself to live a healthier life. Why surgery at all then? It’s true it’s a metabolic “tool” that helps your body with the healthier choices you make. It’s like an e-bike, you still have to steer and pedal.

courtesy of google: you can see that the stomach is in fact smaller after a revision to bypass. and main diff is bypass also "bypasses" the pyloric valve, while sadi/ds still makes use of it (as does the original sleeve). ...but how your surgeon would do either surgery "without touching" your stomach is a head scratcher. can you go back to your surgeon and have them explain your surgery to you (with pictures, if need be!). dont leave until you completely understand. while we can offer our knowledge and experience, we are not doctors...and you may get conflicting info on here that confuses you more.

Has anyone experienced an increase in their cholesterol levels? Before surgery, mine sat around 5 regardless of my weight (healthy, overweight or obese). In the first 3 years post surgery it was about 4. Then it went to 5 again. Okay I thought just where my body wants to be. But it’s 5.7 now. Like what?? My surgery follow up doctor suggested I speak to my GP about a coronary artery calcium store test. My dad had a higher cholesterol level but not enough for meds. One brother’s is about what mine is now but he follows one of those fat is good diet (I swear he slathers his toast with butter like an inch thick). My mum, other brother, aunts, uncles, grandparents levels are/were ok. Rest of my blood work was great.

As you know, I had the sleeve to bypass revision. They do make your pouch a little smaller, but it will stretch out a little as time goes on. I noticed I have more of a hard stop with the bypass versus the sleeve, and I definitely have to make sure I chew thoroughly and eat slowly way more with the bypass. You can lose weight with a revision, but not nearly as much and not nearly as fast as with the original surgery. You also have to take accountability for what you eat and how much. If you're eating slider foods and stuff not compliant with your diet, if you're grazing all through the day, if you're not watching your salt, sugar, protein, carb, and fluid intake.....no surgery is going to fix the problem.

Just to let you guys know that my stall broke and I lost 1.2 Kgs (2.7 lbs) the past two weeks (not doing anything differently). I am stocked and thank you all for your valuable advise.

I don't think there's really a difference in how much you can eat. At first you probably won't be able to eat as much because you'll be swollen from the surgery for awhile, but after that - I don't think so because I've known several people who've had revisions, and I don't remember people mentioning that.

That’s pretty much what to expect in the first month (around 15-25lbs). Those who lose those large amounts of 30, 40 or so pounds the first month usually start of at a weight much higher than your’s like on My 600lb Life. And 100% of what @summerseeker said. Never compare yourself to others. It will mess with your head bad! Congrats on your surgery & your weight loss so far. Wonderful!

It’s not only a full time job but a lifetime job. I found eating & drinking to a routine very helpful while losing & maintaining. I still watch what I eat (nutrients & calories) & how much I eat. I know I can’t eat whatever I want otherwise I’ll be back where I started. Of course I have more flexibility now in regard to certain foods & how much & how often I have them. Some great suggestions from the others. You can start by slowly incorporating a couple every week or two & see how you go. While you are still losing it’s very important to stick closely to your eating plan. Though I would question a plan that says you can eat whatever you like at 4 months. Maybe go back to your dietician and ask for more guidance around your food choices, & ideas for ingredients or cooking styles you can swap in or incorporate. Also you may find speaking with a therapist helpful. Many do. A therapist will help you work through your eating & relationship with food, what drives you to eat, support you develop strategies to manage challenges like cravings. You can do this.

A final update for this thread: I had my gastric bypass on Feb 21! Check in went smoothly. I changed into my hospital gown, got my IV inserted, and was given a number of medications to take before being moved to a waiting area where I got onto a gurney. The various members of the surgery team came by to introduce themselves and check on various things. Finally, the anesthesiologist came by and gave me "something to relax" via my IV port. A minute later, I was being wheeled into the hallway, and that's the last thing I remember until waking up in my hospital room. I never saw the inside of the OR, and I have no memory of the recovery area afterward, either. The surgery itself took much longer than anticipated, about 6 hours. I was fine and safe the whole time, but the surgeon ran into some issues with my small intestine and a small abdominal mass (sent to pathology and was benign) that required additional steps. Because of this, I was surprised to wake up in my hospital room and discover it was already 9pm when my surgery began at 1pm! My poor mom had been so worried because we thought it would take maybe 3 hours max. The nurses checked on me several times that night. I was able to get up to use the toilet on my own, and the only real challenge was the IV pole having to be dragged along. I was very fortunate that I ended up with no roommate. It wasn't technically a private room, but no one else was assigned to it while I was there. In the morning, my surgeon came by and explained what had happened during surgery. He was concerned because some of the stitches ended up under more pressure than he considered optimal, so he wanted me to do a swallow test before I could have anything by mouth, including water. They got me in for that and it turned out okay, so about an hour after returning to my room, I was brought a bottle of water and a cup of red sugar free jello. I have to say, it was nice to have water because my throat was dry, but I really didn't care about eating. I did because they told me to, and I know at this point I hadn't had a single thing in my belly for over 40 hours, but I just didn't care. I felt zero hunger. But I at the jello, and later they brought me a popsicle, another jello, and a chicken broth. I ate it all over the course of about an hour. It was fine, but again, I just ate it because they told me to. Because I got such a late start on fluids after surgery, they kept me an additional night, just to be sure. But on Friday morning around 9am, I was discharged. I had a protein shake when I got home and worked all day on fluids. I was tired and a little sore, but my pain had been minimal enough that I was only on Tylenol. It worked well enough that I only had a few moments of real pain, mostly when shifting position that required the use of abdominal muscles. I was fortunate to have someone staying with me for the first few nights home, and my parents kept my kids (ages 12 and 15) with them for the first week so I wouldn't have to worry about all their activities and food. It took a few days to discover what worked best for me, which ended up being hot tea (decaf and herbal) instead of flavored waters as I'd been having pre-op. For the first week, I've met my 64oz fluid and 60g protein goals most days, but as time has gone on, I've become completely turned off anything with artificial sweetener and every protein shake except Syntrax Nectar Natural, which I can still manage. I definitely wasted a lot of money on shakes I won't be drinking, but I'm glad I had them for the 2 week pre-op diet and to take the pressure off finding things to try when I got home. Yesterday, I was allowed to start soft protein foods. So far, I've had tuna salad (2 Tbsp), refried beans with a sprinkle of melted cheese (1/4 cup), and 1 poached egg. No issues with anything so far. Tonight I will be cooking some haddock with pesto for dinner. I go in for my 2 week post-op appointment with my surgeon next Tuesday and hope by then my weight will be a little lower. I lost 15 lbs on the 2 week pre-op diet, but my weight was higher by about 5lbs when I got home from the hospital thanks to the fluids and swelling, and I'm only just back to where I was the day I went to the hospital. Still, 15lbs in three weeks isn't bad. As for other incidentals, I have been taking Benefiber daily in my morning tea and it really has helped. I had the first BM (very loose and not a lot) before leaving the hospital on day 2, and have managed to go at least every other day since, and daily the last couple of days, so I'm very grateful for that. My energy levels have been decent, but it's only today that I feel like I don't need a noon nap. Going without caffeine has been a struggle, but I'm getting used to it. After all the wait, I'm so glad to have this behind me and be able to focus on a healthy future!