James Marusek

I began drinking caffeinated beverages at around 1 year post-op. I would probably forego switching to carbonated beverages until after I have finished the "Weight Loss" phase and entered the "Maintenance" phase. You have lost 143 pounds but you have 90 pounds to go before you get to your goal. So to be on the safe side, if it was me I would probably wait. But it is somewhat up to you. If you are exercising (biking) heavily to the point of becoming dehydrated and light-headed, you need to replenish your electrolytes.

Recently I began using "bai5 Antioxidant Infusions" drinks. I found them at Sam's Club. I found that it taste good. It does contain a white tea abstract which has natural caffeine so this is not for someone who recently had surgery but is a little further out.

According to my guidance book, nuts are to be avoided during weight loss. I am 27 months post-op RNY and I consume nuts without any difficulty. I suspect you should avoid nut during the first year post-op. It is possible that you might be suffering from Stenosis/Stricture - a narrowing or constriction of the diameter of a bodily passage or orifice. This is most common in procedures that rearrange your digestive system such as gastric bypass surgery (up to 8% of patients) and duodenal switch surgery and results from a build-up of scar tissue between your intestine and your reduced stomach or at an intestine-to-intestine connection (anastomosis). The primary symptom is almost always vomiting, and it is usually treated by inserting and inflating a balloon to stretch the connection between the stomach and intestine. GERD and older age increase the risk of strictures.

I asked my nutricianist that question and she said that the cause of weight gain after surgery was grazing.

It is hard to believe that a few peanuts would set you off. How far are you post-op? I have found that if I eat just before bedtime, whatever I eat seems to stay heavy in my stomach and it can lead to a trip to the restroom to vomit. Therefore I try and make it a point to not eat anything hard just before bedtime. For some reason the digestive process appears to work better in the vertical position than the horizontal position. So for advice, if you ever eat anything heavy before bedtime, don't go to bed but do something like watch TV for a few hours before you go to bed.

Congratulations and good luck on your surgery.

After the operation, I had no pain medicine. I didn't need any. I have a high pain tolerance. This surgery was done laparoscopically and produced significantly less pain than general surgery where they cut you open. If you are concerned about pain then begin a walking regiment of 30 minutes per day minimum pre-op. This will make the recovery process go smoother and dramatically reduce the pain level. Once you begin walking after surgery and get the kinks out, the pain will go away quickly.

Six months prior to surgery I went cold-turkey on my 6 Coke a day habit. I lost 20 pounds based on giving up carbonated drinks alone. I am not about to go back to carbonated beverages again.

At 13 weeks post op, your meal volume has increased. This means that if you are concentrating on high Protein meals, that your need for protein supplements (Protein shakes and protein bars) have decreased. You can reduce these and the calories associated with these supplements.

A team from Iowa State University analyzed and tested a variety of fitness trackers including Fitbit Flex, Nike+ FuelBand SE, Jawbone UP 24, and Misfit Shine to determine their accuracy in measuring sedentary, aerobic, and resistance activity. This article provides a breakdown of error rates for each monitor based on activity. http://acsh.org/2015/08/fitbit-jawbone-and-others-how-accurately-do-fitness-trackers-measure-calories-burned/

Walk for 30 minutes each day. This will help with the recovery process. If you are drinking caffeinated drinks discontinue this now. I had a 6 Coke a day habit prior to surgery. I went cold turkey and suffered withdrawal syndrome (severe headaches and body aches) for a week. It is good to not compound the recovery process after surgery with this withdrawal syndrome.

I was up and walking every two hours after the operation. I walked every day for 30 minutes when I returned home. But some people have problems and people are different.

It is common to have hard lumps at the site of the incision and these lumps do not appear to dissolve away over the months post-op. But to have a lump the size of a half dollar is unusual.

You may need a pill crusher and splitter because after surgery your ability to swallow will be severely limited. If you are going to use Protein powders to make Protein shakes, I recommend a Ninja blender with a single serving cup. Walk, walk and then walk. It helps with the recovery process. When you sleep a pillow between your legs helps. Your taste buds may change after surgery, so when it comes to selecting food or protein shakes, it might be best to wait until after surgery.

1. I have a desk job, work overnights and am barely up moving around and am getting this surgery done laparoscopically, I am planning on 2 weeks off after surgery for recovery/getting my schedule corrected. Is this too long? How long were you out? I was retired so time off from work was not a problem. I would say 2 weeks is a minimum but it might be a bit longer. Depends on how you feel. 2. After I leave the hospital, I am on soft foods. Anyone else's post-op diet like this straight after surgery? After surgery the most important requirements are Protein, fluids and Vitamins. Food is secondary because your body will be converting stored fats into the energy that drives your body. Thus you will lose weight. You should receive detailed guidance on what food is allowed in each stage after surgery and the volume amount. This should come from your surgeons office. Mine had a have day class to discuss these requirements. 3. How soon were you able to do household things, like carrying laundry baskets, dishes, driving, exercising? In my case most household chores were doable almost right after I came home from the hospital. I refrained from moving heavy objects like a 50 pound bag of dog food for about a month. Driving is a function of the pain medicine you take in the hospital. Most of this pain medicine is narcotics and you will not be permitted to drive while you are under this influence. Other than the anesthesia I had with the operation I rejected all pain medicine after the surgery. Part of the logic was that I wanted to drive as soon a possible. Also I am not sure the pain medicine would work and that the real need is for muscle relaxers. 4.What's the pain like? Anything to compare it to? Everyone has different pain tolerances. I have a high pain threshold. My pain levels never exceeded a level 1 on a scale of 1 to 10. But that is me. Years ago I had operations that were not done laparoscopically. Those produced pain levels of 3 or 4 and I think the pain levels were amplified by the pain medicines. 5.Anyone have ADD and have to up their dose or notice a change in prescriptions? No experience with ADD 6. Birth control? I'm on the pill now any suggestions for afterwards? N/A. I have heard that individuals become more fertile after surgery. 7.Any tips, or advise? If you drink anything with caffeine give that up now. I had a 6 Coke a day habit. Went cold turkey and I suffered withdrawal syndrome (very severe headaches and body pain) for a week. It is best not to compound the effects of surgery with this withdrawal syndrome. Also beginning walking 30 minutes each day. It will really help the recovery process go smoothly.

Immediately after bariatric surgery, the important requirements are Protein, fluids and Vitamins. food is secondary because your body is converting stored fats into the energy that drives your body. Thus you lose weight. So focus on protein. In the beginning the only option is Protein shakes. Later as time goes on you will be able to eat Protein Bars to supplement your protein requirement. There are a variety of protein shakes on the market today. Experiment until you can find one you can tolerate. I used Muscle Milk Light (vanilla Creme) powder. I would mix the powder with Water using a Ninja single serve blender cup and blend in a half a banana to make it more palatable. That is what worked for me but there are so many options available, so give them a try.

I had several episodes of bad acid reflux and my surgeon recommended RNY. I concurred and went ahead with RNY. I am 27 months post-op. After surgery there was no episodes of GERD. So it was a good decision for me.

I had Type II diabetes. I was on both metformin and glipiside prior to surgery. My physician want me to go on insulin because the meds were still not controlling my diabetes. I am 27 months post-op RNY. The day I left the hospital 2 days after surgery, I was off all my diabetes meds and haven't used any since.

In my younger days I had a 426 hemi Cuda. All I can say was it was fast. When I retired I bought a Mazda Miata hardtop convertible. It drives like a go-cart. It is really good for the hills and windy roads near my home. But the problem was that I could barely fit into it. It almost felt that if I gained any more weight I would have to take the top down in order to fit in it. One of the many reasons why I had RNY surgery was for that car. I am 27 months post-op and I fit in the car like a glove with some room to spare.

Your Protein requirement is the total amount of protein you obtain from your meals combined with the protein from protein supplements (Protein shakes and protein bars). After surgery as time goes on, your meal volume will increase. In the beginning your meal volume is so small almost all your protein will come from supplements but later you have the option of getting a significant amount of protein from your meals. What this means is that if you concentrate on eating high protein meals, you can cut down on your protein supplements and the calories associated with these supplements. That might kickstart your weight loss again because you can drop a hundred or two hundred calories per day from your total. When I was half way through my weight loss phase, I hit a plateau and this allowed me to continue my weight loss journey.

Lower back pain could point to a problem with kidneys or gallbladder. Make sure you are drinking the required level of fluids. Kidney stones or gall stones could be the problem. http://www.diffen.com/difference/Gallstone_vs_Kidney_Stone We lose a lot of weight during after surgery and our muscles and ligaments don't adjust so quickly and that's why a lot of us experience back and hip issues. But if you had bypass this last Tuesday, that is probably not the cause.

It is common to not lose weight immediately after surgery. In the hospital after surgery they pump your body with fluids so that when you leave the hospital you are heavier than when you went in. You have to lose this added weight before you begin your actual weight loss. So relax and let the magic happen. Eight miles a day seems a little on the high side especially at 2 weeks post-op. Is your doctor O.K. with this amount of exercise so soon? When I was young, I worked myself up to 10 miles per day. I actually started to gain weight because my body was converting fat into muscle and muscle weighs more than fat.

Eating that slowly is not a deal breaker. I eat like a starving rat and I still lost a lot of weight. I tried to eat slowly and chew, chew, chew but that didn't work for me. I bought a small metal spoon and that is what I use to eat with and that helped a little. For me after RNY surgery, I lost my hunger. It was not difficult to lose weight when hunger was not constantly gnawing at my bones. This lost of hunger does not hit everyone but it does quite a few people.

RNY surgery has been around for a while so it has a good track record. Of the available surgeries, RNY allows one to lose the weight the quickest. I choose it because it had the lowest rate of revisions. If I go under the knife once, I certainly do not want to go under it again. If you have severe acid reflux (GERD), this is the procedure for you. The sleeve will only make this condition worse. I had the RNY surgery 27 months ago. Two days after surgery when I left the hospital, I was off all my blood sugar medicines and haven't taken any since. Two weeks after surgery I took myself off all my blood pressure medicines because my blood pressure was dropping too low and I haven't taken any since. My Gerd is gone along with sleep apnea. No more profuse sweating or frequent urination. The only medication that I take now is for my Asthma. I consider this surgery to be a good decision.

Immediately after gastric bypass surgery, the most important requirements are Protein, fluids and Vitamins. food is secondary because your body is converting stored fats into the energy that drives your body. Thus you lose weight. So are you able to meet the protein, Fluid and Vitamin requirements? This should be your focus. Did you have RNY surgery? How many days post-op are you? What are you trying to eat?