Bufflehead

It would be too many calories and carbs for my plan. Does it fit in your plan's guidelines? Can you stay within your calorie and carb targets for the day while using it? That's all that really matters.

Call your bariatric team and ask -- each has their own rules. I wasn't allowed raw veggies for six months.

There was nothing I missed. Remember that tons of people are forced into hospitals every single day with no advance warning and hospitals have on hand what is needed for all patients, whether they come with a neatly packed hospital bag or not. Here's what I took: extra underwear, lip balm, tooth brush & tooth paste, deodorant, comb, extra long charger cord for my phone, soft cotton bra that fastens in front, no underwire. You don't need pajama bottoms or a robe or anything like that. The hospital provides gowns, just put an extra one on facing backwards when you go out walking. Hospital gowns are built to accommodate things like drains and IV lines, your own clothes are not. Plus, whose clothes would you rather get wound ooze and IV fluid on, yours or the hospital's? Wear comfy, loose fitting clothes to the hospital (I wore an empire waist cotton dress, it was perfect) so you can wear the same clothes home. The hospital will provide no-slip socks for walking. You won't need a lot of stuff to entertain yourself like books or a laptop or anything. You'll be too out of it. Don't pack a bunch of OTC meds like gas-x -- many hospitals won't allow outside medications (plus gas-x works on intestinal gas, not surgical gas floating around outside your digestive tract). Make sure whoever takes you home brings a pillow for you to place between the seat belt and your abdomen. Good luck!

Mostly due to family and personal history of immune-related diseases -- sleeve leaves you with more potential options for meds you might need in the future. My surgeon was comfortable with either one for me. I tried to look at medical/scientific criteria rather than "it makes me feel ooky to have my intestines re-routed" or "I just don't like the idea of cutting out part of a perfectly good organ and burning it up as medical waste" -- things you will hear from people who chose the sleeve or the RNY respectively. Don't get me wrong, I understand feeling both of those ways, but when it comes to making a medical decision, I think it's best to try to put feelings aside and just look at facts as best you can. One fact that would give me cause to re-consider based on your surgeon's statement is that he rarely does sleeves. I want someone who is comfortable doing my particular surgery and does a lot of them. If I really wanted the sleeve and I were in your position, I'd consider finding another surgeon.

Stop paying attention to how much other people are losing. Seriously. Pay attention to how well you are following your own program and cancel everything else out of your mind. Get off social media (and this app/website) if you have to. It isn't helping you and it isn't making you happy, and comparing your weight loss to other people's weight loss never leads to good things. Neither does expecting a certain amount of weight lost each week or each month.

No, I followed my bariatric team's instructions for me. Not interested in what some people I've never met thousands of miles away from me are doing on YouTube.

heating pad and a digital food scale

You are not on the wrong app -- but it can be tricky to navigate to the DS forum within the app. Not sure exactly how it works on the app, as I use the web version on my laptop, but you want to find the General Weight Loss Surgery forum, then Other Surgeries, then Duodenal Switch. Here's a direct link for web users: http://www.bariatricpal.com/forum/1018-duodenal-switch-surgery-forum-new/

For most people, a sleeve is not going to stop them from eating greasy, highly processed, high carb food like a McGriddle. You have to stop yourself from that. This is exactly what people mean when they say things like "you can eat around the sleeve."

More than a couple bites. Much less than 2 cups. Honestly I don't think your priorities are a good fit with this surgery.

It did not happen to me, but I know you should reach out aggressively to your health care team (bariatric surgeon, PCP, etc.) for help in curing this. Letting acid reflux go on without treating it can be dangerous. It *can* be managed and there is no reason you need to live with it.

Here's a sample day for me: Breakfast: 1/2 container nonfat Greek yogurt + 1 TBS almond butter: 155 calories, 12 grams protein Lunch: 1 babybel cheese, 1 prune, 1.25 oz deli sliced roast beef: 110 calories, 14 grams protein Dinner: 1 scrambled egg with sprinkle of cheese + 1oz. grilled salmon, 1/2 oz. roasted edamame: 190 calories, 21 grams protein Snacks: 1 protein shake made with 1/2 scoop Syntrax Nectar powder + 1 cup unsweetened vanilla cashew milk: 80 calories, 12 grams protein. 1 protein shake made with unsweetened vanilla cashew milk + 1 scoop Unjury chocolate splendor: 125 calories, 21 grams protein Totals: 660 calories, 80 grams protein

If I were you I would try it, but in very small amounts. Do not try a half a cup! Start with less than a quarter cup and start with things that are easily digestible (yogurt, cottage cheese, fish) do not start with things that are hard to digest like vegetables! If it gives you trouble, switch to full liquids for a week and then try again. Good luck!

I continue to track my food intake and make sure I stay within my maintenance calorie range. I weigh myself every day and if I get even 1 lb into my "red zone" (I allow myself a 4 lb fluctuation) I drop into weight loss mode, which means I eat 500 calories per day less. Even in maintenance I avoid, for the most part, sweets, starchy veggies, tropical fruits, and liquid calories. Grains are limited to one serving of whole grains per day. I find that when I keep away from these sorts of food, my level of hunger and cravings is lower and it is easier for me to maintain. The cold hard truth is I am going to have to work hard to maintain my weight for the rest of my life.

I was eating around 600-650 calories per day back then. I was ordered to stay under 800 calories per day for the first six months, and under 1100 thereafter until I reached goal. It worked for me.

Better Things and Pitch for me.

All I can tell you is that I had successfully lost 100+ lbs in the past before surgery, but I never managed to keep it off. It always came back and with a vengeance. Roughly 5% of morbidly obese people will ever be able to maintain a significant (and by significant I do not mean get down to ideal body weight, I mean 20 -50 lbs of loss) loss without surgery. I came to the realization that I was not one of those special snowflake five-percenters and I needed medical assistance. I'm glad I woke up to that reality. I have lost over 200 lbs and have maintained that loss. I couldn't have done it without surgery. But I am not a special snowflake. I can't tell you whether you are a special snowflake -- you have to figure that out for yourself. Good luck!

@@ttnurse slider foods are those that are high carb, usually processed foods. They are digested so quickly that they pass out of your stomach without really engaging the pyloric valve, so you can eat large amounts of them. What constitutes a "slider" will vary a bit from person to person, and the whole concept doesn't really come into play until several weeks or even months after surgery, when your post-op swelling inside your stomach has completely gone down. Examples of foods that many people find to be sliders are potato chips, crackers, cookies, popcorn, cake, quick bread type items including muffins, popcorn, protein bars, and candy. There are other items like ice cream or milkshakes that just by their nature you could also eat/drink a lot of if you chose to.

Whenever your surgeon says you can. I never had any problems with dairy post-op, but I did have to watch amounts. It is easy to eat a lot, and they have so many calories I would have stopped my weight loss dead in its tracks if I ate as much as I wanted of things like cheese and butter.

protein shakes were the only snacks I was allowed during weight loss phase.

@@mbarrow01 I was out for two weeks. I was still a little tired when I went back but I managed. If you can, maybe you could do 6 hour days for your first few days back just to make sure your energy will carry you throughout the day.

You could try the ASMBS resources. Start here: https://asmbs.org/patients/find-a-provider and switch the radio button to "Integrative Health." Then put in your location -- you can search by state, or by radius from a particular city or zip code. Your search results will include therapists, psychologists, etc -- also some people like physical therapists and dietitians, but you can just scroll past them. Good luck!

I hate that too! But now people at work are used to me and my weird eating -- I either bring my own lunch, or disassemble the sandwiches provided and eat the meat/cheese only, and no one bats an eyelid.

I've taken Trader Joe's High Potency Chewable Multi's for 3+ years since surgery. They are small and have a very mild taste. For the first six months or so I took 2 per day (1 in the morning, 1 at night). Since then, 1 per day. My labs have always been terrific, and I do get them drawn and tested regularly. They are also: --cheaper (BY A LOT) than specialty bariatric vitamins --lower calorie than specialty bariatric vitamins --lower carb than specialty bariatric vitamins No way, no how, not ever am I going to throw my money away on specialty bariatric vitamins. IMO they are a scam and a racket.

Here are several more horror stories for you -- all of which are much likelier to happen to you if you *don't* get the surgery than anything surgery-related is likely: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/effects/ Here's another horror story: you are 5x more likely to die in the next five years if you DON'T get weight loss surgery than if you do get weight loss surgery: http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/weight-loss-surgery-cuts-risk-of-death-among-morbidly-obese/ Seriously though . . . it is very normal to be nervous, but keep in mind that you are more likely to hear about "horror stories" and "bad outcomes" of surgery, whether here or anywhere else, because people tend to talk more about traumatic events in their lives -- and other peoples' lives -- than they talk just about normal life where everything is fine. That can give you a really skewed outlook at what the true risks of surgery are. The risks of surgery are tiny -- the risks of obesity are huge. And that's just the medical side of things! I wish I had the words and writerly skill to tell you how wonderful and freeing, on an emotional and psychological basis, it is to be at a normal weight when you've spent so much time morbidly obese. It really can be a brand new life. Good luck!