James Marusek

During the winter months, I switched from drinking crystal light drinks to hot cocoa (no sugar added). We heat with wood during the winter. It also produces dry heat. One way to keep the humidity up in the winter is to have a spray bottle and mist the house with Water occasionally. We add a little white vinegar to the water. It helps to disinfect the house at the same time. As a result of the surgery, I lost a lot of weight. This prevented me from wearing my coats and jackets because my shoulder width shrunk which then in turn caused my sleeves to become longer. I looked like Doopey in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves with the long sleeves. I didn't expect this. I became more sensitive to the cold without the extra fat on my body. When I was outside in the snow working, I discovered hand warmers. My hands would freeze and hurt in the cold and hand warmers were the solution.

In the beginning it is important to take your Vitamins, fluids and Protein supplements. Your body is not surviving on your meals in this stage but rather is converting the fat in your body into energy. So at the beginning don't be too worried about your meals but concentrate on the requirements for vitamins, fluids and protein supplements.

As to your last question, I had a significant problem with constipation. It became a terrible problem. Most stool softeners did not work for me. As a result I resorted to using a glycerin suppository and pushing up my *** every three days. Not something that I wished to do for the rest of my life. I stumbled upon an easy solution and I have been constipation free for over a year now. The solution for me: was to eat an apple just before I retired for the evening. But the important part is that you must also eat the skin of the apple.

Congratulations!

I had RNY gastric bypass. I had acid reflux and this was the best option for me. This type of surgery had one of the lowest revision rates. If I undergo the surgery once, I do not want to repeat the process again. It also provided the greatest weight loss the quickest and those that underwent the surgery had sustained weight loss over time. On the negative side, my stomach is no longer able to synthesize many of the Vitamins my body needs so I am required to supplement several vitamins for the remainder of my life.

The boxes in the survey did not always line up. The survey would not accept the answers. In one question, it wanted to rate importance from 1 to 6 for several items and had a column for comments, but if you provided a comment, the survey indicated that this was not a numerical answer and rejected the comment. I hope you are able to interpret the results correctly.

I weigh myself once each morning and record the weight. It helps to tell me if I am still on track. As I go through the weight loss process, my body changes and this is a tool for keeping informed.

This occurred to me also and about the same time post-op. The Iron in my Flintstone chewable did not seem to be enough so I had to add an iron supplement. It is important to space the Calcium supplements and the iron supplements at least two hours apart. This I was doing, but about this time I had begun using milk and I suspected that the calcium in milk was conflicting with the iron. So I moved all my iron to the end of the day, just before I went to bed.

Congratulations on your weight loss. This whole process is one of constant change. It took me 6 months before I reached a happy state, where all the minor problems disappeared or I found fixes for.

I like stevia and splenda. They are easy to use and taste good to me.

When I went to my first Bariatric Surgery Support Group Meeting, I was surprised by how negative it was. Everyone there had horror stories to tell. I was beginning to doubt why should I have the surgery. But then I thought it through. I reasoned that many of the people there had run into problems after surgery and this was their means of resolving them. The people who when through the process smoothly did not attend these types of meetings. What do you wish you had fully understood prior to surgery that you did not and what do you believe would have put you in the best possible position to succeed after surgery? I am 18 months post-op from RNY. I have heard that the stomach heals after about a year and a half and absorbs more of the calories in food - something like going from 70% absorption to 100%. There is nothing in the literature that discusses this. If this is true, it may be the reason why many people struggle and fail years after surgery. I am happy with my current meal plan and my weight is stable but if I have to cut my calorie intake by 30 percent, it might be difficult.

After surgery, you may find it difficult to swallow some of the vitamins especially the large ones, so you may need a pill splitter and pill crusher.

I am 18 months post-op and I haven't noticed that my nose got any smaller after surgery. I did notice that my shoulder shrunk. I had many jackets and coats for the winter. I thought that I might be able to still use them. Boy was I wrong. Losing weight at the shoulders meant that the sleeve length of my coats and jackets became longer. The cuffs now fell below the tips of my fingers. They gave me the appearance of Dopey in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

Looking good!

Good luck on your surgery.

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I think this is a common fear. I was worried almost to the day of surgery that the insurance would refuse to pay.

What type of surgery are you contemplating and what are your questions?

I had a RNY 18 months ago. During the first stage of post-surgery, in the stage where you are losing weight, they discourage you from consuming fats. Therefore many of the food recommendations are low-fat foods. The rationale is to maximize weight loss. But I think another consideration is because fats can cause dumping syndrome. I didn't find this hard to do because after the RNY, fats became tasteless. I loved to eat crab legs dipped in butter, but after surgery, they were horrible and tasteless and butter only made them less appealing. When you reach the second stage, a maintenance stage, it seems that they desire that you consume a balance mixture of Protein, carbs and fats. This is not spelled out in the instruction book. Because I have been in maintenance stage for 11 months now, I have intentionally included fats in my diet. I have transitioned off low fat meats. I include homemade whip cream in my coffee. I have even started including bacon with my morning eggs. Fats have the ability to drive away hunger. Thus far I have not seen my weight loss suffer by the inclusion of fats back into my diet. But I strictly avoid processed sugar which is one of my weaknesses.

Here is a link to an article about mini gastric bypass surgery. http://obesitycoverage.com/mini-gastric-bypass-the-good-bad-and-ugly/

You might see if he is willing to attend a monthly bariatric support group meeting with you. They are free and generally there should be one in your area.

Protein bars are one of the available supplements to get in your protein. But generally, this is not right after surgery. Several months after surgery, I began to use Protein Bars when I was up and about (and couldn't drag along my blender). They are costly and I generally buy them over the internet. But bars are offered in so many flavors it is best to buy a sampling and pick one you like. I use Quest Bars (Coconut Cashew). There are many types of protein bars. Some contain too much sugar and should be avoided.

I am 17 months post-op from a RNY. I reached my happy state at around 6 months. That is when I solved all the minor problems associated with this WLS.

I am sorry to hear you are having such a difficult time. If you haven't tried this yet, I recommend getting gel cushions to sit on or gel pads for your bed. They distribute the weight and reduce bed sores and the pain. Also the non-prescription ointment called Calmoseptine works well on healing bed sores. This ointment has worked exceptionally well on my mom's bedsores. You might not be able to find this at the average run-of-the-mill drug store but it will be available in drug stores the specialize in providing help for the elderly.

Congratulations!