Beckyyb93

Yep, I'm doing great and the revision went very smoothly! When they got in there they found that my stomach had herniated up into my chest cavity which is obviously very abnormal and could have been the source for some of my pain. Surgery was supposed to be about an hour and a half and it took them a total of four hours to get my stomach pulled back down to the right place and then of course do the bypass. When I got out of surgery I was in a lot of pain and the next day was in tons of pain but ever since that third day things have gotten better and better. I have no pain with swallowing anymore and I'm eating more solid food now then I have in 2 years!! I feel great, have tons of energy, am doing great in class and my whole future looks 100x brighter now. I can't even begin to describe how happy I am that I did this, it's already drastically changed my life and it's only been a month! I've also lost 20 pounds since pre-op so that's a cool bonus! I'm progressing well and was just cleared for exercise which is exciting since I actually have the energy to go to the gym they keep telling me this is the part of recovery where you have the least energy but I think that I was in so much pain before that this feels great and if it really gets EVEN better I just don't know what I'll do with myself lol I'm back to the old straight A kickin butt student that I was before I had surgery I keep acing quizzes and exams, doing great in my lab (even though it's 3 hours with no air conditioning, sitting down, eating, or drinking allowed!) and am finishing all the homework early, heck I'm even back to having time to re-org all my notes..I don't sleep all the time so I just have all this extra time, it's CRAZY! My mom asked me why I think I'm doing so well in my classes because she's seen me struggle for my B's over these last few years and I could honestly tell her it's because I feel so good, we both cried. I just never thought this was possible, it amazes me every single day. YAY!!!!!

I'm eating more solid food than I have in two years since the sleeve!! I eat salmon and tilapia and Babybel cheese..it's so exciting!! I'm still supplementing with shakes but it's so fun to be able to chew food, the things we take for granted sometimes are astounding. I'm just so so happy, this was the best decision I have ever made and I know it will permanently change my life, it already has!!

Yes, I'm doing AMAZING! School started last week and it's a little tough to be in class and labs for 3 hours straight but it get's easier every time. I'm walking a lot and eating with no trouble..it's wonderful! The pain is nearly gone, like 95% gone..YAY!! I'm so happy I did this, plus I've lost 20 pounds so far

Give it time Rooster, it will get better and the scale will move! I think your biggest focus now needs to be getting in more food, if you are only tolerating 8-10 ounces of food that could be your problem. Your body needs to protein to heal and lose weight. Please keep trying! I tolerate protein pretty well but sometimes I have trouble and the only thing I can tolerate 100% of the time is a mix from VitaLady. It's vanilla cinnamon mixed with chocolate brownie and you mix it with hot water and it tastes like a mocha drink. I have 5 pounds of each and drink it every day. You can order a sample from VitaLady or I could send you a scoop of each of mine for you to try. The protein is so important! If you want, PM me your address and I'll send a ziploc baggie. I want you to win! How is your water intake? That needs to be high for you to lose like you want too, I have more trouble with that than I do protein. I also make shakes with plain greek yogurt and milk and that seems to help. Keep trying and be patient with the scale, I promise it will move!

I'm on puréed food now and this is week 3 for me. I move to actual soft food at week 4 which is Friday.

Yes, I had the sleeve in December 2012 and revised to the bypass on August 1st. I had severe complications with the sleeve and my esophagus was so damaged that I was heading towards esophageal cancer at 21 so something had to be done. I hadn't eaten any solid food since 2012 and was in so much pain constantly, I feel AMAZING now. It was SO SO SO worth it, I wish I would have done the bypass first and I definitely wish I would have revised sooner. I have zero pain with swallowing and no GERD at all, it's all kind of surreal since I was in pain for so long. I'm now on the pureed stage and am eating crackers and black bean Soup and just all sorts of stuff that I haven't been able to tolerate in years. Plus, I'm losing the weight like I originally wanted! I'm not sure what your reasoning for wanting to revise is but there are a few of us who have already revised and the general consensus is why didn't we do it sooner because we feel so great! I wish you tons of luck

I personally use Celebrate grape Iron and it doesn't give me any problems at all. It's chewable and the strong grape flavor really hides the iron taste for me. Celebrate does samples for $3 and they will send you samples of most everything they have plus a $3 off coupon if you decide to order with them. So, basically the samples are free. I don't know if I'm the anomaly but I have used Celebrate's iron for two years and have never had any trouble with it at all. Iron is really important..good luck!

I'm down 15 pounds since July 29th. I didn't lose very much with the sleeve because of the major complications that didn't allow me to eat any solid food. I ate pudding, ice cream, mashed potatoes, etc. so not only am I super happy to be feeling so great but I'm excited to lose the weight like I originally wanted I'm already eating pureed foods that I couldn't tolerate before surgery..I feel so great! I used to LOVE buffalo chicken salad (mayo, canned chicken, little bit of hot sauce, and feta crumbles) but with the acid I couldn't tolerate it at all post-sleeve; I had some today with no pain and no acid...YAY!!!

The reflux is GONE! From the second I woke up there has been zero burn...it's amazing! I'm a revision from a sleeve to bypass and I never thought I could feel this good. I revised on August 1st and have been chomping at the bit, I have no reflux and no pain with eating, it's still kind of surreal for me but I'm so happy! I'm healing nicely and get my Protein and close to my Water requirements every day. My only regret is not doing this sooner, you will feel so so much better! I'm wishing you tons of luck and I know you will do great!!

So, some of you know my story..it's long and kind of sad but in one week from today everything is going to change hopefully for the better. Everyone keeps telling me I'm due for some good luck and I was believing them until I called my primary care doctor today to set up a post-op appointment and they told me she is leaving the state on the 4th so won't be able to see me again. I just burst into tears..I'm kind of emotionally charged right now and getting this news exactly one week from surgery is seriously freaking me out. What if someone up above doesn't agree that I'm due for some good luck and this is just a sign I'm probably being really dramatic but I had just found this doctor and she was amazing and now she's gone. My last primary care doctor left the state in January so I'm just not having good luck staying with a doctor and I have to start all over AGAIN for the second time in the same year. She was helping me manage my pain medicine and was really understanding and understood why I needed it and didn't think I was a drug addict (I'm not but it always freaks me out to take narcotics, I've never even smoked a cigarette much less abused any substance) and she had a plan to help me stop taking them since I've been on them for a long time. Now I don't have anyone to help me ease off of them, she gave me a name of a doctor in a different practice and I set up a post-op appointment with her so I'm just praying that I'll like her and she will be half as nice as my last one. Please tell me that I'm being dramatic and this isn't a sign that my surgery is going to fail I'm freaking out..

Thank you guys for all the kind words! I just can't believe how amazing I'm feeling I feel like I got a fresh start and actually have a shot at getting it right this time! I felt like a failure for not losing weight but I just couldn't eat anything but super soft foods like pudding and ice cream so it was nearly impossible to lose weight. You have no idea how excited I am to eat salad, that sounds like the most amazing meal ever!! I'll be really really happy when I can start adding real healthy food into my diet! I've gotten so much support here and honestly don't think I would have ever got the bypass without all of you, reading other people's stories and getting advice from all the folks with more experience was such an important part of my journey. All I can say now is I'm SO glad I took a chance and did this and I hope to be able to help anyone else who went through something similar to what I went through because you can get relief, you just have to be patient and keep pushing! Hopefully in a year from now this will all be a small bump in the road to me being healthy and I'll look back and know that it was all worth it!

Yes, I'm doing very very good! My recovery is going super smooth and I feel great, no more pain from swallowing! I'm still sore from surgery but that's normal and I feel better a little more everyday no nausea or complications though!! (knock on wood!!)

Awesome!! We have a lot in common we will have to keep up with each other!

OMG, I had those in the hospital and didn't know you could buy them at stores. I found them locally and my fiance is picking some up for me on the way home..yay!! They were the only thing I could tolerate in the hospital and do taste so so good! I'm now super excited

Yay!! It looks like our little group is kicking butt at the bypass I'm so glad we are all healing so well and (knock on wood) have no major complications! We have to keep each other updated and continue to have an awesome recovery!! Mini update from me: Walked a whole mile yesterday, got in 70 grams of Protein and 50 ounces of water!! It's going to be a balancing act for me on the amount of Water versus protein but so far so big issues! I'm so stunned that I'm not at all nauseous and just have minimal pain in my tummy..maybe my surgeon got in there and forgot to actually do the surgery? LOL I know that isn't true though because I don't have any pain and I'm not at all hungry! (Plus, I got to watch it on the x-ray screen which was actually quite interesting!!)

YAY!! You know that's what I was hoping for my recovery is also way easier with the bypass than it was with the sleeve, I'm not sure why since on paper the bypass seems (rather is) more invasive. I'll take it though! I'm sure you will do great and be out of there in no time!

While you are healing you should really have 60 grams. There are vegan friendly protein options out there though, you REALLY need to take in enough protein to let your body heal from this major surgery!

SOOO, bypass or sleeve rooster? I've been dying to know!!

Okay, I feel kind of like the elephant in the room and it's making me nervous. I'm only 5 days out and have so much energy that I'm nearly bursting at the seams. I had a sleeve and was in constant pain for two years and now after revising to the bypass my whole world spun around in one day. I now have zero pain with eating, nothing gets stuck, no nausea at all, nothing. I'm starting to wonder if my recovery is going to drop off and be more like what you are describing here. I literately got in my car today and had the engine on before I realized that I can't drive because I just had surgery..my family said it might be because I felt so bad before that now that I'm pain free it feels like I'm flying. I mean, I still have some soreness from surgery but seriously, I feel amazing. I'm getting enough Protein and Fluid down and let me just mention one more time that I am completely pain FREE! I never ever thought I would say that sentence this far out, I honestly think the hardest thing to do for me is to take it easy and not push myself so hard that I go backwards. Has anyone else experienced this? Am I going crazy?

Oh yes, never pay full price for fabulous!! I shop online a ton and in discount stores, it's amazing what you can find in some second hand stores for a fraction of the cost..a lot of times they still have tags on them! I also have apps on my phone that I purchase from regularly..I'm very thrifty! It will be a lot easier when I'm a normal size though because there will be a lot more to pick from

I got the sleeve and then got the bypass. I had major complications with the sleeve, I had bad GERD before surgery and afterwards it was so bad that I couldn't even eat solid food. I have a thread with my whole story if you are interested in reading it but I just got the bypass this last Friday and feel amazing! I wish I would have done this first, the recovery is going very smoothly and I don't have any pain with eating like I did right after the sleeve. There are other people here with similar stories who got the sleeve then revised to a bypass and our general consensus is that we wish we would have done the RNY sooner! I can't wait to make up for the two years I spent in pain after the sleeve with happy and healthy new experiences If you are at all worried about GERD I would do some serious research into why the bypass is better suited to you, I wish someone would have warned me a long time ago..

OMG, Celebrate has soft chew multivitamins!! They are really good, I got free samples of the berry and the orange and I'm going to exchange my regular ones that are more chalky for those!! I'm so happy

Also, my mom is cracking me up. She calls my spirometer a horn and texts me from work constantly asking if I'm blowing my horn enough LOL! She is so worried about Pneumonia but I can get all the way up now and am not coughing as much so I know I'm fine! Just thought I'd share a funny with you guys

Also, depending on what discipline you ride you are judged differently in the show ring. I have ridden h/j since I was 5 years old and was always thin and very muscular, I won a lot no matter which of the horses I was riding and I even showed other people's horses for them when they were trying to sell. I could ride anything in any discipline then when I was 14 I gained about 100 pounds from a medication and all of a sudden I wasn't winning anymore, I still had pretty good balance and for the most part was the same rider I had always been but was judged differently because of my weight. It sucks to say but that's just how the game is played. I can't wait until I can get back down under 200 and start riding and showing again! Also, in my world you are judged harshly on what brand of show attire you are wearing so if you don't fit into what's popular, you are judged negatively for that. I also can't wait to wear cute clothes again! I'm a bit of a designer freak and will really enjoy spending money at places other than Torrid even though it's great for girls my size!!

I got in 45 grams of protein yesterday and 45 ounces of water and that was on my FIRST day home..yay!! I'm so happy and I know it will only get better I'm pretty impressed with my new tummy!!