Amyllf2

I was set on a sleeve until I heard that heart burn issues may become worse for those who even suffer mildly. My surgeon also recommended the RNY. He said it's the "gold standard" and has the lowest risk rate, and has the longest history. 5 months out I have no regrets. I think it was better this way because the sleeve does limit the amount of food you eat, but it does not affect what kind of food. So people like me, who have an issue with sweets, could find themselves in trouble even with the sleeve. I want a pie crust cookie really badly, but the risk of me dumping is just too great so I refrain.

I was weighed the morning of surgery. I was exactly 40 BMI. Scared me! I was 8 pounds heavier when I was approved by my insurance. I have not heard of anyone gaining weight before surgery because of the liquid diet. My doc only did a 3 day one but I still dropped 6 pounds. Lots of people have to do 10-14 days worth. So "living it up" doesn't seem like anything people are able to do.

How is everyone?

I have been invisible for the majority of the last 20 years. Sure, physically there was a lot of me to see, but there were no expectations. I was safe. I knew nobody was going to expect anything from me or ask me to do anything. But that has changed and it's kinda scary. I'm also struggling because I have a new job and nobody there knew me 70 lbs ago as a plus size person. This is great, if only I can get the plus size person out of my head. Our identity has changed. We need to address it. We have new roles, a new identify, new goals, new interests. For me, it's also a change from taking care of everyone else first to taking care of me before others.

I did gain on depo Provera. I took it for a year between kids. Then it took me 15 months to get pregnant. Our solution was getting a vasectomy but we were done. I'd say the only temporary form of BC that does not affect weight and doesn't require taking a pill on time is the good old condom.

Are these for pre-op or post-op?

I'm almost 5 months out and still only go once, maybe twice a week.

I didn't eat at gatherings until I was pretty much unrestricted. I just had a bottle of water with me and talked a lot. When I finally started eating I used a solo cup (which tend to be everywhere in the summer) and usually put fruit in it. Then people couldn't see how much or what I was eating.

I've had egg mcmuffin and egg white mcmuffin. I eat only one piece of the bread. I've also had a hamburger from McDonald's and a Junior cheeseburger from Wendys. On Friday I had an asiago bagel with cream cheese from Einstein Bros. I didn't attempt any of this until month 4ish.

I agree!!! Life is so much better without the gall bladder issues.

Right!! I think everyone is different. I have no issues with bread, Pasta, potatoes or rice. I don't eat a lot because I'm usually full after my Protein and veggies. But I'm not restricted. I've had popcorn. It was the best choice at a recent college football game. But I wouldn't eat the stuff at the movies. I've also had diet coke. I let it sit for a bit. My pouch doesn't mind it and it makes my brain feel like I'm "normal". At nearly 5 months post op, I have not tried anything fried or anything that falls into the dessert category. Will I someday? Yes. It's about moderation. Is it the right time for me now? NOPE. Right now the only consistent thing that my pouch doesn't like are strawberries.

Crafts? Reading? Creative writing? Yard work? I'm a crafter myself. I took up knitting pre-op and I've turned to it many times to keep my hands busy. It's a refocus if my mind and hands. I also understand people turn to all kinds of different meditation techniques.

Mine was Matthew Fitzer Virginia Bariatrics in Reston. 4.5 months out things are going well. I'm in the losing hair phase but I knew that was coming. I'm taking Biotin. I have no idea if that's working or not. I hope I'm losing less because of it but that may be wishful thinking. My Fair Oaks experience was great. I only stayed one night. Looking back I probably would have stayed the 2nd night since I was given a choice. But the staff was really nice and the set up for walking the halls was great.

The silver lining? Not being invisible. Not feeling left out. Not hiding behind the weight. New clothes from the Womens section not plus size. Giving away my 20-22 pants and 2X tops. Wearing a pair of size 14 shorts that are too big. Walking up 3 flights of stairs to my new office without feeling like I will die. Ditching medicine I thought I would need for a life time. Wearing my wedding ring on my middle finger so it doesn't fall off. I'm down 60 since surgery and will drop 20-30 more before I'm done. Ok, yes my hair is falling out. Yes my belly, thighs and arms are saggy. My boobs are gone. My ass is gone. But so what. I'm 48 years old. I'm not suppose to have the body of a 20 year old. I take my Vitamins. I eat my Protein. I use the new fancy Redken shampoo that super scrubs my scalp which will help hair growth when my body is ready. My hair is short. I wear dresses that hide my belly and legs. I feel and look pretty damn good.

I am telling people who ask. I'm almost 5 months out now. My kids are very active so I know a lot of people through them. Most I would not consider my friends, but I see them a lot. Some people ask how much I've lost and then the follow up question is how. The how usually comes from people who are struggling to drop some weight. I think it's an innocent question. Some times people just look at me funny. I was tailgating last weekend. Women asked and we had a great conversation about it. Today I saw 2 women at field hockey who have not seen me in months. I've lost 70 pounds. It's really obvious. They said nothing at all. Honestly I'd rather people tell me I look good and ask how I did it.

I'm 4.5 months Post op. I live in Frederick Co MD but had my surgery in Fairfax. I'm not on the board often but my email is AmyLLf2@aol.com

I had bad fatigue for most of the first 2 months. I'm now at 4.5 months and I feel great. I would not call it normal, I would call it my new normal. And my new normal is much better than the old one. It's different, but I think it's better.

I had gall bladder out in February and RNY in April. Gall bladder was a few hours in out patient on a Friday and was fine to work on Monday. It was much easier than the RNY

I teach online and in person. I was doing online work on day 3 but not for any extended period of time. On Day 7 I went back to the classroom for 3 hours plus 2 hours of driving. I was very tired but I didn't lose that feeling for almost 2 months. I should have not gone back to the physical classroom until week 2 or 3.

My mom had hers at 60, which was 8 years ago. She did great and is still doing great. She still had both of her knees replaced after losing 130 pounds because the decades of excess weight did permanent damage. She's off most of her medicine and her asthma is the best it's ever been. She's super happy she had RNY and the knees done. I can never reach her because she's never home. She walks at least 10,000 steps every day and spends many hours in the garden.

Some people love the Walden Farms, other people hate it. I've tossed most of what I have purchased over the last 18 months. I think my daughter did use the ranch dip with veggies. I also used the thousand island to make a big mac in a bowl. But otherwise most went down the drain. It comes highly recommended by lots of weight loss centers so I know it does please people.

I had 1/4 of slice of pizza at the beach right before my 3 month mark. cheese only. I was super afraid but I had no residual effects.

I too use flinestones. I also use the Citrical chewy calcium citrate instead of swallowing those big honking pills.

I had gall bladder done with the robot and it was a great process. I wish I had the option for my RNY. It wasn't bad, but one incision was great!

I was tired for at least 6 weeks, then off and on for a few more. I take 2 B12 now. At the time I was was also told to drink Poweraid Zero and even regular Gatorade.