James Marusek

I had Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure among other problems. I had a Roux-en-y gastric bypass. Two days after surgery when I left the hospital, I was off all my diabetes medicine and three weeks after surgery I was off all my high blood pressure medicine. I am now 1 year post-op and these conditions remain in remission.

Stalls appear to be fairly common after surgery. Mine occurred half way through the weight loss. For some they encounter 3 or 4 stalls on their weight loss journey. Try not to get super stressed out but just stay with the program.

I am not sure what is going on. This is not a typical reaction. Might be a urinary tract infection in which case maybe cranberry juice (without process sugar) might help.

I was able to. I haven't had a diet coke in a year and a half and I don't miss it that much. I am primarily drinking decaffeinated coffee and fine teas.

Good luck on your symposium. Let us know the results when you get back.

One man in our support group was preparing for bariatric surgery. He was only a week away and very excited about his upcoming surgery. Then he received a surprise call from his surgeon calling him to report immediately to the hospital for a heart operation. He underwent the heart operation, spent about a month recovering from that and then went through the bariatric surgery. It is a year later and I still see him at support group meetings. He has lost a lot of weight and appears to be doing fine.

Some of the restrictions depends upon the type of surgery. In general, Avoid drinking caffeinated beverages because it stimulates appetite, irritates stomach lining after surgery and acts like a diuretic. Avoid carbonated beverages because it causes increase in gas and puts pressure against the healing staple line which can lead to ulcers. Avoid alcohol because it's empty calories, irritates the new stomach after surgery and may cause dumping syndrome. In my case, I had a 6 diet Coke per day habit. When I began my medically monitored weight loss program required by my insurance, I went cold turkey on the diet cokes. I had a rough couple weeks because my body was addicted to the cokes. But because I made that change alone, I lost 20 pounds in a few weeks. I suspect the carbonated beverage releases small explosions of carbon dioxide that microscopically expands my stomach. Over time my larger stomach allows me to eat more and I gain weight. When I cut this component out, my stomach grew a little smaller and I lost weight.

At one of our support group meetings, it was mentioned that meat tenderizer will help with this problem. Drinking 2 teaspoons of meat tenderizer with 3 ounces of warm Water should help. It works fairly fast. You can search the internet about this fix. Papaya enzymes may also help.

Thanks.

It sounds like you are getting significant exercise in daily life. I can understand finding the time for structured exercise can be difficult. I live about a 45 minute drive from the nearest gym. So this approach did not make a lot of sense. What I found that worked for me was my front driveway. It is a bit of a steep hill. I would spend about 30 minutes a day walking up and down it and that gave me great structured exercise.

How did I get started? After speaking with my primary physician, I identified a bariatric hospital that was in-network with my insurance and attended an informational seminar. During the seminar, they identified the types of weight loss surgery, the risks and benefits for each type of surgery. They evaluated me to determine if I was a candidate for the program. They discussed insurance coverage and the process for gaining approval (some insurances require a 6 month medically monitored exercise and diet program in order to qualify). Afterwards, if I was interested in going forward, they arranged a consult with the surgeon. In part this was to down select the type of surgery. Sometimes medical conditions can limit the number of options available. For example a person with major acid reflux problems and GERD might be better off having gastric bypass (roux-en-y) instead of other approaches. This approach that follows will vary significantly between different hospitals/insurances/doctors. In my case, this was the steps that followed the information seminar: * physiatric exam * initial insurance denial * 6 month program of medically monitored weight loss program * began attending support group meetings * insurance approval * pre-op testing * 2nd round of pre-op testing (for specific medical issues) * surgery and post-op classes * pre-op diet in preparation of surgery * surgery

I am sorry to hear about your problems. I am 65 years old and after the surgery, my face developed very fine wrinkles. Overnight I began to look like I was 100 years old. My wife suggested I use a product called Bio-Oil on my face. I picked some up at CVS and it worked well. The fine wrinkles are gone. It's funny but the one part of the body that most people look at the most is the face. And if your face looks bad, it can get depressing.

Surgery went very well. I am at my one year anniversary mark. I lost 20 pounds pre-op and 80 pounds post-op for a total weight loss of 100 pounds. Now I am down to 160 pounds.

Yaya825 For about a year before my surgery, I had several severe episodes of acid reflux. I had gastric bypass (roux-en-y) and I am one year post-op and have not experience this problem after surgery. In reviewing some of the posts on this blog, it seems common for doctors to recommend a gastric bypass for patients with Gerd, so I think your decision to go this route instead of a sleeve is a good one. Good luck on your surgery. Jim

Jodav212 When I went into the hospital, I also gained weight. They pumped so much fluids in me through the I.V.s and that was the cause. This weight came off quickly after I returned home. I also had diarrhea soon after I returned home. It turned out that I became lactose intolerant right after surgery. I cut out the milk and milk products and the diarrhea disappeared. A couple months after surgery the lactose intolerance problem went away. If this is your problem then make sure that your Protein drink says lactose free. Two weeks out - I wouldn't worry. Just follow the regiment and make sure you are doing your walking and drinking plenty of Water.

Hi Yaya825 What are you afraid of. Describe your concerns and fears and several individuals on the board will try and address the issues as best we can. Jim

Shortly after surgery, I experienced the same problem. I was lactose intolerant and milk produces would set me off. So I stayed away from milk products and I made sure my Protein shakes were lactose free. About two months after surgery, I discovered that I was no longer lactose intolerant and so for the past 10 months, I have been drinking milk products.

I have included several recipes for high Protein Soups and chili in the article How I Survived Bariatric Surgery. These generally have around twice the protein content as store bought soups and chili. It is available at http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery.pdf

HelenaMarie83 Good luck on your surgery. I will pray for you.

I suffered from bronchitis for several years. It sounded like a rattle when I breathed. I wouldn't describe it as a coil spring though. It was more noticeable when I was lying down and trying to sleep.

Miss Mac You might post this recipe under the section General Weight Loss Surgery Forums food and Nutrition If you haven't already. Jim

If you are going to munch, you might try items that have high Protein content. You can't go wrong with eating a low sugar Protein Bar such as QuestBar. I order these by the box over Amazon in order to keep the cost down.

We had a young man in our support groups that went from a lap band to a gastric bypass. The lap band had done such significant damage to his stomach that the gastric bypass was his only option. Because of the damage, his pouch had to be smaller than normal. This was a little hard for him at the beginning. He is over 1 year post-op and doing well. He has lost a lot of weight and is very happy. He would do this again in a heartbeat.

Currently I am 12 months post-op and have hit my bottom weight so I am currently in the maintenance mode. I am consuming around 1350 calories per day. When I hit my first plateau, I reasoned that since I was getting in so little calories from my meals, that the problem must lie on the Protein supplement side of the equation. I also felt I had enough fat in my body to act as a cushion, to keep me out of trouble. So I cut myself down from 3 protein shakes (Muscle Milk Light) per day down to 2. That put me down below 900 calories per day. It seemed to do the trick and I started to lose weight again. Knowing what I do today, I might have opted for a higher concentrated form of protein such as Protein Ice which has 42 grams of protein per bottle at only 170 calories.

I developed some wicked constipation several months after surgery. Nothing seemed to work except inserting a glycerin suppository up my rectum every three days. I finally stumbled onto a cure, at least for me. I found out that if I eat an apple before I go to bed, the problem went away. But it is important to eat the skin of the apple also. So for the last 6 months, I eat an apple or two each day, and I am no longer bothered by this issue.