James Marusek

I recommend three things. 1. If you smoke, give that up now. It is a requirement for surgery. 2. One of the requirements for surgery is to get off all caffeine and carbonated beverages. So I went cold turkey on my 6 diet coke a day habit. I lost 20 pounds on that change alone. I also suffered through a week of severe caffeine withdrawal syndrome consisting of severe headaches and body aches. So don't put off this requirement until the last minute. Do this change now. You do not want to combine this caffeine withdrawal with the effects of recovering from surgery. 3. Walk 30 minutes every day (or equivalent). It really improves your recovery process dramatically. After I left the operating room, I had no pain medicine because I didn't need it. I attribute this to the walking that I did before surgery.

Your daily Protein requirement is met by a combination of the protein from meals combined with the protein from supplements (protein shakes, protein bars). In the beginning right after surgery your meal volume is so minuscule that almost all your protein comes from protein supplements. But as you get further out and your meal volume increase, if you concentrate on consuming high protein meals you can begin to downsize your protein supplements. At 10 weeks post-op, you are at this point. I went from 3 protein shakes per day, down to 2, down to 1 and then when my meal volume increased to 1 cup per meal at 1.5 years, I dropped off all my protein shakes. Your protein shakes include calories. When I started dropping off my protein shakes it broke a stall and I continued to lose weight.

Fat is an excellent insulator. As you lose fat you lose the insulation that normally kept your body warm. Thus you are cold. Thank God for the individual that invented hand warmers. A very useful thing when you are shoveling snow in the middle of winter.

I used Madera Advanced Scar Gel. The main ingredient is Allantoin. Since ointment you are searching for has silicon, I don't know if this is the one you are looking for. But I used Madera and found it works well. I buy it from the local drug store. I thought it was a little pricey though.

In the Weight Loss phase, the three most important things are meeting your daily Protein, Fluid and Vitamin requirement. food is secondary because your body is converting stored fats into the energy that drives your body. Thus you lose weight. So as long as you meet your protein, fluid and vitamin requirements, you should be O.K. at 800 calories a day. The approach in the Maintenance phase is different. Here is a short article about my perception of the Maintenance phase. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery2.pdf

I am 3 years post-op RNY gastric bypass. At around 6 or 7 months, I stopped losing weight. It was very natural. I just slid into the Maintenance phase. Here is my perception of the Maintenance phase. The goals and approach in the Maintenance phase is different than in the Weight Loss phase. It takes a different strategy. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery2.pdf

Drs. A.M. Adachi-Mejia and K.E. Schifferdecker from Dartmouth College investigated the barriers (particularly in women) that prevented them from engaging in physical activity. The most frequently cited barriers to increasing activity were lack of time, lack of energy, lack of company and lack of facilities. But the barriers cited differed by weight class, with normal-weight women citing lack of facilities, while the obese women most frequently cited barrier was a lack of self-discipline. When the researchers analyzed the results of the open-ended survey, they found that respondents tended to focus on different barriers. For example, as weight class increased, more physical barriers were cited, with knee issues being most frequent. The obese classes also were more likely to cite psychological barriers such as depression, procrastination, and lack of motivation, as well as asthma and weight. All weight classes cited being alone or “no one to exercise with” as barriers to physical activity. "one might instead be inclined to encourage women with physical challenges to work with experts in physical rehabilitation or occupational therapy to help troubleshoot the immediate challenges in being active and eventually work towards greater ability to be active.” http://acsh.org/news/2016/06/03/motivating-women-to-move-by-breaking-down-barriers/

There are many professions involved in the process of weight loss surgery. These include insurance coordination, nutritionist, surgeon, hospital where pre-op physicals will be performed, training sessions, surgery hospital, psychologist, sponsoring and supporting bariatric surgery support group meetings. Therefore I would focus on finding a Center of Excellence in Colorado for Bariatric Surgery. It's like a full meal deal. Everything under one roof. I did a quick search and found there were two in Denver which were the Denver Center for Bariatric Surgery and Rose Medical Center. But searching using google showed there were many more throughout the state. Consult your general family doctor and get him onboard, find a Center of Excellence and then attend a initial seminar.

100 ounces of fluids per day seems on the high side unless you work outdoors in a hot climate or perform quite a bit of physical labor or exercise. This is definitely something I would double check. Fluids are important because as your fat cells dissolve they release hormones and chemicals stored within and these are flushed through your kidneys and then your urine. So you need Water or other fluids to flush these away. The most important elements after surgery are meeting your daily Protein, Fluid and Vitamin requirements. food is secondary because your stored fat is being converted into the energy that drives your body. Thus you lose weight. Food is secondary. In meeting your fluid daily requirements remember everything counts. This includes the water you swallow to drink your Vitamins. The water or milk in your Protein shakes. Decaf tea or coffee. The water in Soups. So it is generally not difficult to meet your minimum requirement. But again 100 ounces is a little on the high side. But you do need to meet your protein requirements. I recommend that you focus on this one first. Your protein requirement is satisfied by the protein that you eat in meals combined with the protein from supplements such as protein shakes. At 4 weeks post op, your meal volume is minuscule, so you will get very little protein from your meals. In the early stages I drank 3 protein shakes a day but as my meal volume increased I was able to reduce this number. If you are talking foamies, you are probably talking about dumping.

I am 3 years post-op RNY surgery. I weigh myself daily first thing in the morning. I don't stress about my weight. I use the information to fine tweak my diet. At 6 or 7 months post-op I stopped losing weight. This was not a stall. My body just went from the weight loss phase to the maintenance phase.

Yes it can be a bit overwhelming in the beginning but it does get better. This is my experience. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery.pdf If you have specific problems, let us know and we might make specific recommendations.

I am 3 years post-op RNY gastric bypass. The weight dropped off so quickly there really wasn't much time for a stall. Sleeve patients lose weight at a slower pace but can sustain the weight loss for a longer time, eventually reaching almost the same weight loss. So I recommend the following: 1. Put your scale away in the closet. If you worry constantly about your weight loss, it can trigger anxiety. Stress can interfere with your weight loss. 2. The most important requirements after surgery is meeting your Protein, Fluid and Vitamin daily requirements. food is secondary because your body is converting stored fats into the energy that drives your body. Thus you lose weight. Exercise is also important. Get at least 30 minutes of walking in each day (or equivalent). Follow the program guidelines and just let the magic happen. 3. In the beginning, you will need to supplement your protein with Protein shakes. But as your meal volume increases, if you concentrate on consuming high protein meals, you can begin to offload your protein supplements. These supplements contain calories, so reduce your use of them as you progress. This approach helped me break a stall at 2 months post-op. I went from 3 protein shakes per day, down to 2, down to one and finally at a year and a half, down to zero.

I have observed many of the individuals in the two Bariatric Surgery Support Groups that I have attended are nurses predominantly from local hospitals. So if you have the surgery, your weight loss outcome will have an effect on the nurses that are struggling with being overweight and looking for a solution that works.

O.K. based on the fact that you are two months out and struggling to meet your fluid and protein requirements, and also because of a piercing intermittent pain problem, I would recommend you see your surgeon's office.

I am drawing a blank. The sudden onset of pain might be something like kidney stones or gallstones. But since you had your gallbladder removed, strike gallstones. You mentioned that you were nowhere near you minimum Fluid requirement. But I couldn't figure out if that was the first week only or if it is still continuing. Dehydration is a major risk factor for kidney stone formation. Blood in the urine is a sign of kidney stones. The most important daily minimum requirements after surgery are Protein, fluids and Vitamins. You indicated that you are following the directions to a "T". Does that mean you are meeting these minimum requirements? Are you getting in around 30 minutes of walking exercise per day (or equivalent)?

If you are having specific problems, just state them. We may not know the answers but we will try and answer.

@@Stellastar85 generally in the early stages you miss eating. This is called head hunger. Part of it may be due to the lack of chewing. Chewing is a normal part of the digestive process. So the absence of chewing in the full liquid or puree stage is quite normal. This should go away as you enter the solid stage. @@ambernicole22 at 2 months out, you are in solid foods. So this is different. After RNY gastric bypass surgery, I completely lost my hunger. So it was not hard to drop the weight when hunger was not constantly continuously gnawing at my bones. This hunger eventually returned after about a year but by then I was in Maintenance phase. But this loss of hunger varies by individual. Some individuals never experience this feeling. I wish I could be of more help.

I gave you more emoticons initially but apparently this website limits them to around 10. Keep getting error messages so I had to scale them back.

Congratulations.

Congratulations on your upcoming surgery and good luck. Let us know if we can be of any help when you are on the other side.

On the far upper right corner of the screen next to logout, there is a rectangular box with a little triangle on the lower right corner. If you move your mouse over it eventually it will highlight the word "notification". This will notify you of the latest likes and also messages you have received and give you a link to those threads. You will see a number that lets you know how many are waiting for you. Sometimes it takes a few seconds of waiting before you can click on this. Otherwise it displays these in thread form and doesn't clear the count.

Congratulations.

I would advise that you obtain a pill splitter/pill crusher. After surgery I was unable to swallow any Vitamin that was medium to large size. This condition returned back to normal after a couple months. The three most important things after surgery are Protein, Vitamins and fluids. Don't skimp on these. You will need to find a Protein shake that you can tolerate after surgery. You don't have to like it, just tolerate it. So after surgery, experimentation is a must.

Taste changes may occur after surgery. Some people experience a "bad taste" in their mouth during the first month after surgery. This is normal and should resolve within a few weeks. I think the cause is that your body has gone into ketosis.

I don't believe so. I am 3 years post-op RNY gastric bypass and I don't have one or ever offered one. Just make sure that if you have any complications after surgery, that you refer these to your surgeons office first.