James Marusek

I can understand the feeling. A lot of people experience it.

After I lost quite a bit of weight, I went on a long trip by car, several days. It was really painful to drive. That was an understatement. In the end I stopped and bought a gel cushion for the car which helped alleviate the pain. Several months later, I went on another long car trip but this time there was little pain. I didn't need to use the cushion. I suspect the reason why the first trip was so painful was because I was also suffering from the stomach flu at the time and it compounded the problem.

One of the individuals in our Bariatric Surgery Support Group Meetings had a band. Over time it began to wear into his stomach and had to be removed. He underwent a RNY and was pleased with the result. Because his stomach was damaged by the band, when he was operated on, his pouch was smaller than most individuals undergoing RNY. This was because of the scar tissue. This meant that he was more limited by the volume of food he could initially consume. But he adapted to this and thrived. The only other issue that he discussed was that he became hypoglycemic after the operation even though he had no history of diabetes prior to the RNY. But once the problem was identified, he was able to cope with this problem with little difficulty. He was happy with the result and has lost a significant amount of weight overall.

I am not sure which type of surgery you had. I had a RNY so I will speak from that perspective. When you are in the weight loss phase, the most important elements are Vitamins, fluids, and Protein. During this time, your body is converting the fat you have stored up into the energy it needs for your body to function. That is why you are losing weight. food is secondary. Having said that, once you reach bottom and go into a maintenance phase, food becomes important. I had problems when I transitioned to solid foods. It was hard to gage the quantity of food to avoid dumping syndrome. For me the solution was to go to high protein Soups and chili. The exact volume of the meal was easier to control. Because they had a liquid component to them, they went down easier and did not result in dumping.

It sounds like you are at the front end of the process so I will discuss the steps along the way from my experience. I attended an introductory seminar at a hospital that specialized in bariatric surgery. In this seminar, the various types of surgery were discussed, I underwent an initial screening, I met with the surgeon and selected the surgery, and I met with the liaisons on insurance. Insurance is an important consideration for this type of surgery. My insurance required that I undergo a 6 month medically supervised weight loss and exercise program in order to qualify. So I began this program. I underwent a mandatory psychological review to see if I would qualify. Many of the weight loss problems have a psychological component to them. I began attending free bariatric surgery support group meetings once per month. I began to diet and exercise on a daily program. I went cold turkey on caffeine and carbonated beverages. I had been on a 6 diet-coke per day habit for many decades. I went through a week of terrible withdrawal syndromes after I went cold turkey. After 6 months my insurance indicated that I qualified for the surgery. I underwent a one day pre-op physical exam to uncover any physical problems that might endanger my operation or recovery. These uncovered a few problems, so I underwent a second round of pre-op exams with specialist in their respective fields to resolve these issues. I attended a one-day training session that went into fine detail about the surgery, the vitamin/protein/fluid/meal volume allocation after surgery. I underwent a RNY gastric bypass operation 17 months ago. I lost 110 pounds. I am now at 150 pounds. My diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, frequent urination problems, profuse sweating have all gone into remission. In clothes, I went from a size 3X in shirts down to a size small. In pants, I went from a size 46 down to a size 33.

chicken and turkey can be hard after surgery. I found the best way to cook chicken was to place it in a covered pot add a couple chicken bouillon cubes and some Water and cook it slowly on low heat for an hour or two. The meat will become so tender that it will come apart easily with a fork. Protein shakes can be hard. To me they all taste terrible. It is almost a misnomer to call it a shake (like in milk shake) because it is anything but. Your taste buds will change after surgery. The best Protein Shake for you is the one you can tolerate. There are powder and premixed. Some Protein Shakes are very high in protein. For example a 20 ounce bottle of Protein Ice has 42 grams of protein. I hate the taste of this but my wife thought it tasted good. On the powders, I believe it is important to use an electric blender to mix them instead of trying to hand blend them. Otherwise you do not get the right consistency. For me I found that Muscle Milk Light (vanilla) worked well. I mixed it with water and blended in a banana. Your protein supplements are separate from your meal allocation. You can add fruits to your protein supplement and not have it counted against your meal allocation. Any protein supplement must be low in process sugar, otherwise you will hit problems. So the secret on protein supplements is to experiment and find something that will work for your tastes and secondly be open to changing your protein supplement as you make your journey. I am 17 months post-op RNY. I began using 3 protein shakes per day, then 2, then one. Then I began to use Protein Bars (Quest). Then as my meal intake increased, I concentrated on eating high protein chili and Soups. Currently I am consuming over 60 grams a day of protein in my meals. I have totally gone off my protein shakes. For my protein supplement I have a cup of hot cocoa (no sugar added) in the morning and a berry smoothie in the evening.

I ran into this problem. It was a terrible affliction. What worked for me was eating one apple a day just before bedtime. But you must eat the skin of the apple also. There was a thread on this issue a couple weeks ago. Some of the other recommendations were: Smooth Move Herbal Tea Prune juice (warmed) Prunes (4 in the morning and 4 at night) Haribo sugar free Gummy Bears Low fat brand muffins Insoluble fibers (Garden of Life Raw Fiber or Renew Life Triple Fiber)

I am 17 months post-op on RNY. I bottomed out at 7 months and have been in maintenance mode ever since. My weight has been very stable. But about 2 months ago I contracted a stomach flu and lost another 10 pounds and decided to set this as my new weight goal and maintain this level. I follow a very regimented approach. I tend to eat the same things every day and at each meal. I do not beat myself up if I stray and I do eat Snacks. But I also track my weight very accurately and daily. If I gain, I modify my habits. I think it might be advantageous to look at what you are eating as snacks. Protein is always good as a snack. For me I tend to eat fruits. I meticulously stay away from processed sugar, which is my weakness. But I am not afraid of artificial sugars. Since the low-carb was the only diet that ever worked before pre-surgery, I am not afraid of fats. They take the edge off of hunger. So I tend to use Adkins products as my snacks. There are different types of carbs. I limit myself to only one meal a day that contains complex carbs (bread, Pasta etc.). Also you have lost a goodly amount of weight thus far. Congratulations! You are doing something right. Do what it takes to maintain this loss.

Six months after surgery, I became Iron deficient. The iron in the chewable Flintstone Vitamins were insufficient. I spread out my vitamins during the day and gave at least 2 hours separation between my Calcium and iron, because the intake of these two conflict with each other. As a result of these lab findings, I began taking an iron supplement. I suspect what caused the change was the fact that I began taking milk for my Protein and milk contains calcium. As a result I had created an absorption conflict. So as a result, I took all my calcium intakes (including milk) during the morning and early afternoon and all my iron just before I went to bed. My iron is now registering O.K. in my lab tests.

Congratulations. I glad you made it to through those tough times.

One of the individuals in our support group went from a band to RNY. His band was wearing into his stomach. He was well pleased with the revision. Because of the damage to his stomach by the band, his pouch was a little smaller than the rest of us, which gave him a little problem but he adapted to it well and thrived. Good luck and stay on target.

Good for you. I am 17 months post-op from RNY surgery. I eat at Olive Garden alot. Generally I order Tortelloni al Forno from the small plate menu. It is the right size for my stomach and full of flavor. When I sit down to order, I tell them no breadsticks. I have Water with a sprig of lemon. When the check comes, I tell them no candy. It is a tasty meal for $4.

Drink one or more Protein shakes each day. These must be low in sugar content. Walk each day about 20-30 minutes. If you haven't cut out caffeine and carbonated beverages from you diet, do it now. I was on a 6 diet coke a day habit. I went cold turkey and lost 20 pounds pre-surgery, just based on that change alone. Before surgery, I paid more attention to the calorie content at restaurants. I changed my eating habits as a result. I found chili at Wendy's worked well and crunchy taco at Taco Bell were good tasting yet low in calories.

I think there are several types of gastric bypass surgery. They include Roux-En-Y (RNY), Gastric Sleeve, and Duodenal Switch. There are some types of surgery that are not common in the U.S. but appear in Australia and Europe. There are very early types of surgery, called the "Y" that existed 30 years ago.

It gets interesting when people that you know, walk by you and do not recognize you anymore.

I am 17 months post-op on RNY. I lost 20 pounds pre-op and 80 pounds post-op. This occurred during the first 7 months. Then I went into a maintenance mode where I stayed within 2 pounds of my lower weight. A couple months ago I contracted a stomach flu and lost another 10 pounds and decided to maintain my weight at this newest level. I am 150 pounds. I weigh myself each morning when I get up with an accurate scale good to 0.2 pounds. I am led to believe that at about the year and a half mark, my stomach will heal. As it heals the stomach will begin to absorb 100% of the calories instead of 70%. This is just what I have heard and since I have not reached a year and a half, I cannot say this from first hand experience. This could present a problem. In the maintenance phase, one can eat within a range (for me this is 1000-1500) calories per day and not gain weight. I generally consume on the high end of this range. I am happy. But if my body becomes more efficient, it might mean that I will have to drop my calorie intake down significantly in order to maintain my weight.

A couple weeks. My wife use to complain that my snoring kept her awake all night long. After the operation in the middle of the night, she would get up and stand over me and see if I was still breathing. My sleeping was so quiet, she thought I was dead.

Good luck on your surgery. This is what the surgery did for me. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Operation.jpg

I told many people about my bariatric surgery. The only negative response was from my mother. I think it is because my mom is dependent on me for care and she did not want anything to happen that might disturb my caregiving. I told her that the only reason why I am having the surgery is because of her. I could see how her medical conditions (diabetes) which were driven by lack of exercise and food (sugar and carbs), caused such serious problems for her that I did not want to experience the same conditions a few years down the road.

I bought it at Bloomingfoods which is a health food store that focuses on organic foods.

In my opinion Protein shakes taste terrible. Some are worse than others, so the important thing is to find something that you can tolerate.

I took a photograph (swimsuit) before surgery and then one 6 months after surgery. I tried to duplicate the same location and body position so that it was a direct one-to-one comparison. The effect was very dramatic. The photo is posted on the internet at http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Operation.jpg I also wrote a short article about my experience with bariatric surgery and posted it on my website at http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery.pdf

A few months after surgery, my face developed very fine wrinkles. I looked like I was 100 years old. I am 66 years old so I should look old but not that old. My wife suggested I use Bio-Oil (available at CVS). I did and the wrinkles went away. She also had me use African Black Soap. It adds some moisturizers and seems to help. So in general, I look a lot younger now than before the surgery.

I am 66 years old. I had a RNY 17 months ago and lost a total of 110 pounds pre-op and post-op. Over the years, I have had two hernia operations. Primarily because I tried to move things heavier than my body could take. One of the reasons why I had the operation was to get my body back in shape. I now have the endurance that I had when I was 35. During the last couple months I have been hard at work on my latest construction project. As a result, I have moved 100,000 pounds of gravel and 50,000 pounds of cement blocks by hand. To do this I had to lift 70 buckets of gravel chest high and 80 pound blocks over my head. I took my time and used proper lifting techniques. No sign of hernia. My RNY took away many of my medical conditions: high blood pressure, diabetes, sleep apnea, heart burn, frequent urination. I feel good and would repeat the operation in a heartbeat.

After surgery, you will need to avoid foods high in sugar and fat. This is key in avoiding dumping syndrome. But not all sweeteners are the same. The type of sugar to be avoided are sucrose, fructose, dextrose, corn syrup, corn solid, high fructose corn syrup, and cane juice. Look at the food label. As a general rule, if one of these previously mentioned ingredients is in the first five ingredients listed on the food label, the product should be avoided. I believe honey should also fall on this list. Artificial sweeteners and natural sugar found in fruit and milk should be O.K. This can be confusing because food labels contain two parts. One that breaks down the food content by fat, carbs, Protein etc. and one that lists the ingredients that comprise the food. The ingredient portion of the label is one of the more important parts when reducing sugar from your diet.