James Marusek

Your weight loss has been 16.3 kg (36 pounds) thus far. This is probably both pre-op and post op weight loss. Generally when you undergo surgery, you gain around 5 or 10 pounds due to the fluids they pump into you body. At 3 weeks post-op your body is in a major healing mode. I tend to think that it is too soon to be concerned. Just stay with the prescribed meal program.

I have been snoring for years according to my wife. This is a sign of sleep apnea. As a result during the pre-op testing and consultation, I was directed to be evaluated by a specialist in that field. He recommended I undergo a sleep test. I declined. I told him that one of the conditions which could be corrected by RNY surgery is sleep apnea. And that if I undergo the surgery and the condition was not corrected by the surgery, then I would undergo a sleep test. He accepted my rationale. A few weeks after surgery, my snoring stopped. I underwent RNY 23 months ago and this condition has been in remission over that entire time. Sometimes I would wake up in the middle of the night and find my wife hovering over me. I was sleeping so quietly that she feared I was dead and she was trying to see if I was still breathing.

You are right, it seems like it should be more. Medications can interfere with weight loss process. Protein shakes do contain calories. Your protein requirements is the combination of the protein obtained through meals combined with the protein obtained through supplements (Protein Shakes, protein bars). As I increased my meal volume, I began consuming more and more protein from my meals and that allowed me to cut back on my protein shakes.

I'm definitely doing the walking thing as soon as they let me, I'm so glad to know that it'll make gas pain dissipate faster!! How long did your Doc have you in hospital? I was in the hospital for 2 days. That was too long. I was ready to go home after 1 day.

I took no pain medicine after I left the recovery room. Pain was very minimal. But I may be an exception to the rule. Prior to surgery, I walked at least 30 minutes each day for several months and after surgery I walked (100 lapse during the 2 days after the operation while I was in the hospital). The walking really helped with the recovery process.

I passed a kidney stone prior to surgery but none after. I am 23 months post-op RNY.

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

At my last bariatric surgery support meeting, it turned out most of the individuals present were nurses who had bariatric surgery. This is probably a good thing because they see the effects of obesity up front and on a daily basis. And they seem to observe what works and what doesn't. So its a good sign.

For me all Protein shakes taste terrible. The trick is to find one that you can tolerate. I finally landed using Muscle Milk Light (vanilla creme) powder blended in a Ninja blender (single serving size). I found that blending in a banana made it a little more acceptable. The protein requirement is the combination of the amount of protein obtained from meals combined with the protein from supplements (Protein Shakes, protein bars). As my meal volume increased, I relied upon homemade high protein chili and Soups. At one cup of food per meal, I am currently consuming around 65 grams of protein from my meals alone. So as I worked my way through the program, I transitioned from 3 protein shakes a day, down to 2 per day, down to 1 per day, and eventually none. I currently supplement my protein with a cup of hot cocoa (no sugar added) or a homemade blueberry smoothie. I tried Isopure Isolate but found it tasted the worst. But if you can tolerate it, then that is a good choice.

The purpose of they psych exam is to determine if you have any underlying issues that need to be resolved that would prevent you from successfully following the regiment after surgery. They will probe you about how you became overweight. Do you have addictions such as smoking or drinking alcohol to excess. Did you overeat because of stress? In my case, I had a 6 diet coke per day habit. I went cold turkey when I decided I wanted the surgery. I went through a week of withdrawal syndrome (severe headaches). When I saw the psychologist, I told him what I did and he seem pleased. (I took a proactive step towards surgery before I was told I had to.)

Working with health insurers can be very frustrating. I went to one doctor who was in-network. I chose him because he showed up on their website as an in-network provider. But when the bill came in, it showed as out-of-network. I called my health provider and said he was in network. They disagreed. I said he shows up on your website. They then told me their website must be wrong. I met with the doctor's staff, and they said he was in-network. It is frustrating when you cannot even financially plan for all the various doctors and medical expenses when the health provider will not even honor their own listings. In the end the doctor and the health provider resolved the issue and the charges were in-network.

A recent study shows a linkage between deficiencies in Vitamin D and increased rheumatoid arthritis. The study group was small - only 97 patients. Overall the study found that: severely deficient patients had slightly longer (rheumatoid arthritis) disease duration (8.8 years versus 5.8 years), more hypertension (60.9 percent versus 49 percent), and osteoporosis (20.3 percent versus 8.7 percent). So for bariatric patients, get the exercise (and exposure to sunshine) and take the Vitamin D supplements to minimize rheumatoid arthritis, hypertension and osteoporosis. http://www.everydayhealth.com/news/link-between-vitamin-d-deficiency-ra/?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000058

I found that mixing foods together (chili, soups) gave the meal more flavor. As far as the Protein Shakes, try and find one you can tolerate. There are a variety of protein shakes out there, so experiment. After surgery, I became lactose intolerant for a few months. So milk products and some protein powders that contained lactose cause an immediate trip to the restroom. This condition went away in time.

I recently came across a program on TV called "My 600-lb Life" on TLC. It is about individuals weighing 600 pounds or more who undergo bariatric surgery to loss weight. It is something to watch.

It took me around 6 months after RNY surgery to reach my "happy state" when all the little and big problems were resolved and normal life could continue. So it takes time.

hair loss can be a sign that you are not getting enough Protein. I suffered significant hair loss and graying about 10 years ago due to aging. I began to take a product called Juvenon (purchased over the internet) around that time. It consist of Acetyl L-Camitine HCL and Alpha Lipoid Acid which restore the mitochondria in my cells. One of the side effects that I noticed with this supplement is that it stopped my hair loss and stopped the graying. When I had the surgery, my doctor directed that I not take the supplement immediately after surgery. So I waited until he gave me the O.K. which was about 2 months. I then went back onto Juvenon. I am 23 months post-op from RNY surgery at this time and have not noticed any significant hair loss due to the surgery.

Congratulations and good luck on your weight loss.

I am 23 months post-op from RNY surgery. meats can be a challenge especially in the beginning. Here are a few ideas. If you cook chicken until it is so tender that I falls apart on you fork, it goes down easy. The best way is to take a chicken breast put it in a covered pot with some Water and a chicken bouillon cube and cook it on slow heat for a couple hours. I consume hamburger meat but I use it in chili. Meats in chili or Soups seem to go down easier.

I suspect it is somewhat dependent on the type of surgery that you had. I underwent RNY. They recommended: 4 weeks following surgery: full liquids Weeks 5-8: Puree Foods Weeks 9+ : Solid Foods

Personally, I don't think so. You are using your muscles (which is good) but not to excess. If you were performing strenuous weight lifting for example 200 or 300 pounds, that may be a different story. Muscle does weigh more than fat. When I was younger in my 20s, I started exercising to lose some weight. Over a few months I built myself to walking or slow jogging around 10 miles a day. Instead of losing weight I started gaining weight. That was an example of gaining weight by building muscle. I had a RNY operation and my weight fell very quickly after surgery and then leveled off. It appears that those who have the sleeve lose weight at a slower rate but they lose their weight over a longer period of time. So both surgeries may result in comparable weight loss figures. I would recommend that you just keep on doing the exercise you are doing. It looks good to me.

Fantastic.

My doctors recommended between 75 and 90 grams of Protein daily. This protein requirement is a combination of the protein obtained through meals combined with the protein obtained through protein supplements (Protein shakes, protein bars). I have opted for using homemade high protein chili and Soups for most of my meals and consume around 65 grams of protein from meals alone. Some of my recipes are contained in http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery.pdf Do not forget your 65-80 ounces of fluids each day. Not getting enough Water or fluids can affect weight loss. I asked my nutritionist "Why do people lose weight after RNY operation and then gain some or most of it back. She said the main problem is grazing. I have a sweet tooth prior to surgery and it was one of the main causes why over the years I gained weight and developed diabetes. After surgery, I stay away from process sugar and I am content for the most part with eating natural sugar (such as found in fruits, white grape juice, stevia), synthetic sweeteners (Splenda), and Snacks with sugar alcohols. Thus far it does not appear to be adding extra weight nor affecting my blood sugar levels. I do some snacking but I use fats because of their ability to suppress hunger. Snacking on protein is also good but I do not recommend carbs because they do not suppress hunger. For example I generally have a coffee each day topped with a generous portion of real whip cream. I make my own whip cream from scratch using Splenda. Or I eat a few Adkins treats which contains fats and use sugar alcohol as a sweetener. That is the approach that I take. I am 23 months post op from RNY. After surgery, I leveled out at 160 pounds for about a year. Then I had a couple bouts of the stomach flu and lost another 10 pounds. I decided this was my new bottom weight. Over the past year I have gained around 5 pounds back. But I am still 5 pounds under my goal weight of 160 pounds.

Walking each day will help you in your recovery process. Before surgery, I was addicted to diet cokes. I drank around 6 a day. When I started the process, my doctor told me that I would have to give up caffeine and carbonated beverages. I decided to go cold turkey and suffered with withdrawal syndrome (severe headaches and other aches) for about a week. But because I gave up diet cokes, I lost 20 pounds pre-op on that change alone. After surgery I found that I could no longer swallow large pills. I had RNY whereas you are going for the sleeve. I bought a pill splitter and pill crusher after surgery. A few months after the operation, I found that I was able to swallow large pills again.

This is my story about bariatric surgery. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery.pdf

Congratulations and good luck on your recovery.