James Marusek

Carrying around extra weight didn't bother me too much over the past 50 years. But when medical complications began to appear, it meant time for a change. Dieting doesn't work long term. WLS (weight loss surgery) appeared to show a better track record. I think another reason why I chose to have WLS is because my wife recommended it. I do tend to listen to her. She doesn't wish for me to die prematurely. She has my interest at heart. I don't think men obsess with their weight as much as women.

After the operation, generally they pump you full of fluids. So that you actually gain several pounds in the hospital by the time you return home. So you may have gained some weight and then lost it in the past 13 days. Your body is in a heal mode at the moment, and I wouldn't be too concerned about weight loss at the moment.

I am 24 months post-op on RNY. The requirements are similar to sleeve. The first thing to understand is food is not very important in the early stages after surgery. Your body is converting the stored fats into energy to drive your body. As a result, you lose weight. The most important thing in this stage is making sure you meet your Protein, Fluid and Vitamin daily requirements. In the beginning, you must rely on Protein shakes to meet your protein requirements. I do not like to drink protein shakes; they taste awful. To me they imply somehow that they are like a milkshake. This they are not. The goal is to find a Protein shake that you can tolerate. So experiment. There are a variety of types available. If you go with the Protein powder, I suggest you use an electric blender (such as a Ninja single serve blender) to get the proper consistency. That also allows you to blend in a banana which will generally improve the taste.

What type of weight loss surgery did you undergo?

I had a RNY which is different from DS, so the effects on hunger may be different. After surgery, I completely lost hunger. Even today, 2 years post-op, I do not feel normal hunger, at least the way I did before surgery, where it was constantly gnawing at my bones. I noticed that some people on the board talk about the need or strong desire to chew. Chewing foods is a normal part of the digestive process. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/07/31/chewing-foods.aspx So now that you are beyond the liquid stage, you have the ability to chew food once again.

My favorite go-to food is chili. I began to use it 9 weeks after RNY surgery. I have included the recipe at the end of the following article. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery.pdf

Congratulations!

My taste buds definitely changed after surgery. It doesn't affect everyone but many. For other folks it affects smells. Things smell differently.

I had a RNY 2 years ago. By the time I left the hospital 2 days after surgery, my Type 2 diabetes was in remission and I have been off my meds since that time. I also probably had sleep apnea because for the previous years before surgery, I snored so loud that my wife couldn't sleep because I was keeping her awake all night long. Within a few weeks after surgery, my snoring disappeared. Now I sleep so quietly, that sometimes I find my wife standing over me in the middle of night. I wake up and ask her what she is doing. She said you are sleeping so quietly, I am trying to see if you are breathing or maybe your dead. I had several other conditions that went into remission after surgery including: high blood pressure, severe acid reflux (GERD), frequent urination, and profuse sweating. I am 66 years old. Some people say they have "more energy" after surgery. I would probably rephrase this as "more stamina". I don't run around trying to think of things to do, but I am able to physically do things like when I was in my 30's. Last year I moved 100,000 pounds of gravel and 50,000 pounds of blocks by hand. I just took my time.

Congratulations!

When you look at the inactive ingredient label. The second listed ingredient is ethanol, and the 6th is high fructose corn syrup. Since ethanol [ethyl-alcohol] is an alcohol, it might cause a problem, especially soon after surgery.

I had a RNY and the Vitamin requirements may be different that those who undergo a sleeve. I was directed to take 3 Flintstone multivitamins a day. I have heard that those requirements have been revised down within the last year. The current requirement is 2.

Congratulations. Come back and let us know when you are on the other side.

Congratulations!

Congratulations! Congratulations!

Iron is one of the requirements for Vitamins after surgery. In my case even though I was taking Flintstone Multivitamins, my blood work showed that I was Iron deficient and I had to take a separate iron pill as a result. It is important to separate the intake of iron and Calcium by 2 hours. So I take my iron just before bedtime. Constipation is a common issue after surgery. In my case I had to resort to putting a glycerin suppository up my rear end every 3 days for relief. I eventually found a cure that works for me. I eat an apple a day before bedtime. But it only works if I eat the skin of the apple. Also it is important to consume the required amount of fluids each day. This can also lead to constipation. I have been constipation free for a year now.

Some people who undergo weight loss surgery, lose a lot of weight only to regain some or most of it back. One of the reasons why is psychological, such as eating when stressed. Therefore as part of the program, individuals undergo testing by a psychologist prior to the surgery, along with pre-op medical tests to determine if there is any condition that needs to be corrected prior to the surgery. It is not the pre-op surgery short term weight loss that is at issue or even the weight loss post-op that is at issue but whether one can maintain the weight loss during the years following surgery. Have you built up the coping skills to deal with stress eating or to seek help from professionals should the symptoms appear after surgery.

Omeprazole (or Prilosec) keeps the stomach acid levels down. It is good if you suffered from GERD. One of the individuals in our Bariatric Surgery Support Meeting group had a revision from a Lap Band to RNY. He had quite a bit of scaring from the Lap Band and as a result when they sewed up his pouch, it was smaller than most. This restricted his food intake at the beginning until he allowed his pouch to grow a little.

I told my family before and almost everyone else after.

This is very common. Fat is an insulator. When you lose fat, you will feel the effects of cold easier. This will affect your extremities first, your hands and feet. I live up north and during the winter, using hand warmers in my gloves became a necessity.

Congratulations on your surgery. My surgeon had me on Omeprazole for GERD (severe heartburn) for the first year. Walking does make the gas pain go away but it can take a couple weeks after surgery for the level to drop. One of the problems I found with Vitamins was that after surgery, I could no longer swallow the large pills. I had to crush them or split them in two in order to take them. The worst was the Calcium supplement, Citracal. These were large horse pills. These I had to crush. They tasted very chalky. I had to mix them with a glass of Crystal Light to get them down. After the 2nd month I found that I could swallow again, and life became significantly easier at that point. At night I found that if I place a pillow between my legs, it helped. In the first few months, the most important things are meeting the Protein, vitamins and Fluid requirements. food is secondary. This is because your body is converting your stored fat into energy that drives your body. Thus you lose weight.

Congratulation! It seems like a long time coming. Let us know if you run into any problems. There are many people on this board that can help you through this transition.

Congratulations. It will get better but it will also take some time. For me, it took 6 months to reach my "happy state", when all the issues were resolved.

Generally before surgery, I didn't really look at myself in the mirror. Most times there were not photographs of me because I was always the photographer. So it wasn't really possible for me to see the change. I did take a before photo and then duplicated the pose six months after surgery. This was the best way for me to see the change. Here is a link to the photo: http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Operation.jpg

After weight loss surgery, many individuals have their taste buds change. So be prepared to change to another Protein shake after you have the operation. Sometimes you can find sample packs. For me I find that all Protein shakes taste terrible. The goal is to find a protein shake that I could tolerate. Experiment. As far as ingredients in the shakes, you might consider the following. After surgery I became lactose intolerant. Several types of protein shakes contain milk byproducts, So it was important for me to select one that was lactose free and to not mix it with milk. After around 2 months, I was again able to tolerate lactose. Secondly, avoid any protein shake that has substantial processed sugar. Also, I would recommend using a blender if you use a powder for your protein shake. I tried mixing it by hand, but the powder clumped together and did not have the proper consistency. I used a Ninja blender (single serving). Also if you still find that the shakes taste terrible, you might blend in some fruit such as a half a banana. This can make the shake taste better. Protein is very important after surgery, so be prepared to experiment to find something that you can tolerate.