James Marusek

After my RNY gastric bypass surgery, I do not recall my stomach swelling. I had some weight gain because they pumped your body full of fluids in the hospital. This weight gain took less than a week to go away. After surgery your body also produces a lot of gas. Walking helps with this condition. The blood thinner medicine that I took caused my body to bruise very easily. My body really looked like I had been in a boxing match because of the bruising. But after a month this went away.

It may be a matter of semantics. The dietician at the hospital where I had my surgery done at, referred to themselves as bariatric dietitians. They are dietitians that are specialized in dealing with bariatric surgery. They have an RD after their name (which is suspect equates to registered dietician). But I am a layperson and generally refer to them as nutritionist. This is primarily because they deal with more than just going on a diet, but rather with the full range of nutritional requirements including vitamin intake, protein intake, fluid intake.

Yes I do. I am over 4 years post-op. Blish is over 14 years post-op. The advice I gave came directly from the mouth of my nutritionist when we had a frank discussion on why people regain weight after surgery and how they can pull themselves back to where they want to be.

I am not too sure what you are talking about by Saving Private Ryan since I never saw the movie. As we age and gain weight many men experience Erectile Dysfunction or ED for short. I have this condition and losing weight after surgery did not seem to correct the problem. But then again I am 69 years old and I suspect age has a lot to do with this. But in reading many of the threads on this website, I gather that many men have this condition go into remission as they lose weight after surgery. There is another condition that I experience which drove me crazy that was cause by my obesity. This condition was called an inverted penis. This condition luckily went into remission as I lost weight after surgery.

This is a good question. It is probably a good idea for us all to keep a copy of the script that we turn into the hospital when we have blood drawn annually. Normally I don't but I found a copy from around a year ago and it requested "comprehensive metabolic panel and pth intact". The blood tests required may vary by individual and others may be added to cover your past medical conditions. And it may also vary by the years after surgery. Some tests may be dropped off as time goes on. A parathyroid hormone (PTH) blood test measures the level of parathyroid hormone in the blood. This test is used to help identify hyperparathyroidism, to find the cause of abnormal calcium levels, or to check the status of chronic kidney disease. PTH controls calcium and phosphorus levels in the blood. A comprehensive metabolic panel is a blood test that measures your sugar (glucose) level, electrolyte and fluid balance, kidney function, and liver function. This panel measures the blood levels of albumin, blood urea nitrogen, calcium, carbon dioxide, chloride, creatinine, glucose, potassium, sodium, total bilirubin and protein, and liver enzymes (alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, and aspartate aminotransferase). This panel includes tests for: Albumin Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN) Calcium Carbon Dioxide (Bicarbonate) Chloride Creatinine Glucose Potassium Sodium Total Bilirubin Total Protein Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT) Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST) When I looked over the results of my blood tests, I found one sheet covering the Comprehensive Metabolic Panel. But I also found a sheet titled Complete Blood Count (CBC). And then there were sheets titled Prealbumin, Folate RBC, Ferritin, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B1 Whole Blood, Vitamin A, and Vitamin D (25 OH). So this leads me to believe there were more test ordered than the comprehensive metabolic panel and pth intact.

Congratulations on your surgery.

Could it be a stricture? According to the internet: Strictures can occur once you are about 4 to 8 weeks out from surgery. A stricture is a narrowing of the new stomach outlet where it surgically attached to the small bowel. Symptoms include difficulty with eating solid foods, developing increased saliva or mucous, reflux symptoms, and in severe cases, difficulty with liquids. A stricture, with time, can resolve on its own, but often the waiting time to heal can make you feel miserable. Once you are out at least 4 weeks from surgery, balloon dilation with endoscopy can be performed to open up the narrowing. Several balloon dilations might be needed to fix the issue.

I have been battling asthma for over 40 years. I have taken medication for this condition for over 10 years. I have noticed that after my RNY gastric bypass surgery, my condition improved. At around 3 years post-op, I reduced my medication in half without any ill effects. I am now over 4 years post-op and a week ago I ceased taking this medication completely. So far I have not felt any ill effects. So I was wondering if any others with this condition have experienced similar results. When I did a simple search on the internet, it seems like I might not be the only one. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25934136 reports research that concludes Bariatric surgery improved small airway function, decreased systemic inflammation and number of mast cells in the airways. These effects could explain the improvement of asthma control, quality of life and lung function. Therefore bariatric surgery, in addition to all other positive effects, also improves asthma in subjects with morbid obesity. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20393807 concludes Bariatric surgery decreases the intensity of medication required to control patients' asthma symptoms, although LAGB (laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding) appears to produce less significant effects. [Scale of magnitude: Among 257 asthma patients who participated in a 1-year follow-up survey, 13 of 28 who had initially used oral corticosteroids for symptom control no longer required them, while use of inhaled corticosteroids decreased from 49.8% to 29.6%.] https://www.aaaai.org/global/latest-research-summaries/Current-JACI-Research/asthma-bariatric-surgery reports This study of 2,261 obese patients demonstrated that bariatric surgery was associated with decreased risks of emergency department visit or hospitalization for asthma exacerbation; this risk reduction was sustained for at least two years after bariatric surgery. I find it interesting that the effect of bariatric surgery on asthma control is rarely discussed. One of the reasons why I decided to try and quite my medication was because of the extreme expense of this inhaled asthma medication. So at this point I am off all my high blood pressure medication (2 types before surgery), all my diabetes medicine (2 types prior to surgery), and now my prescription asthma medicine. I am off all my prescription medicines.

Congratulations on your weight loss. The secret to chicken is to make it soft. This can be done by placing a chicken breast in a pot of water and adding a couple bouillion cubes and slow cooking it for several hours until it easily breaks apart with a fork. A crock-pot (slow cooker) will also work.

It does get better but not overnight. It took me 6 months before all the problems seemed to melt away and I reached a "happy state". So back to basics. The three most important elements after RNY gastric bypass surgery are to meet your daily protein, fluid and vitamin requirements. Food is secondary because your body is converting your stored fat into the energy that drives your body. Thus you lose weight. Weight loss is achieved after surgery through meal volume control. You begin at 2 ounces (1/4 cup) per meal and gradually over the next year and a half increase the volume to 1 cup per meal. With this minuscule amount of food, it is next to impossible to meet your protein daily requirements by food alone, so therefore you need to rely on supplements such as protein shakes. The transition to solid food such as steak and chicken can be very rough. I found that softer foods such as chili and soups went down much easier than harder foods, so that is what I primarily used. Also It has the benefit of being much more flavorable. So I made my own version from scratch packing in a lot of extra protein. I have provided recipes to these at the end of the following article. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery.pdf Also your inability to eat solids may be due to medical issues such as a stricture or an ulcer, which is a common problem after surgery.

In general, the three most important elements after weight loss surgery are to meet your daily protein, fluid and vitamin requirements. Food is secondary because your body is converting your stored fat into the energy that drives your body. Thus you lose weight. So how are you doing in these 3 areas? Being lethargic after surgery can be cause by several items, such as low iron, lack of B12 vitamin, and a number of other issues. In some people that were taking prescription medicines for diabetes, they find that their blood sugar levels are dropping to the point that they experience hypoglycemia and they need to adjust their medication. Blood sugar levels can get so low that they faint. The same can be true for individuals taking blood pressure medicine. After surgery, many people find that it is difficult to meet their protein and fluid requirements. That is because their stomach is in a major heal mode. But if they keep trying to reach their goal after a few weeks they can get there.

I had RNY gastric bypass surgery and I transitioned from the weight loss phase to the maintenance phase at around 7 months post-op. Generally your hair loss should slow down as you enter maintenance and they you will start to regrow your hair.

It is good to start out with sample packs and try the different ones. Individual packs can be bought at GNC. There are so many different types and different flavors available, you need to experiment. After surgery your taste buds may change and you may need to repeat this process. I used Muscle Milk Light (Vanilla Creme) protein powder blended with water and a half a banana. That worked for me. But on the opposite end of the spectrum, you might try premixed Isopure. As far as recommendations: 1. Take a good before photograph of yourself, so that you have something to compare to after surgery. Many times we are blind to our obesity. We do not see ourselves. Therefore when the weight begins to drop off rather dramatically, we question if this is really happening. Photographs are a good visualization of our success. Many people carry a before and after photo with them, just to remind themselves of their success. 2. Walk 30 minutes each day, every day until surgery (or equivalent exercise). Walking helps the recovery process go smoothly and minimized the pain levels from surgery. 3. Wean yourself from caffeine and carbonated beverages now. After I gave up my 6 diet coke a day habit, I suffered from a week of severe withdrawal syndrome consisting of severe headaches and body aches. I was miserable. You don't want to combine the effects of caffeine withdrawal with the effects of surgery. (On this change alone, I lost 20 pounds pre-op.)

I use a Ninja blender to make the smoothies. They have individual serving size glasses with a removable blender head. You blend it and put on the sippy cup and drink it without moving it from one container to another. I used this to make my protein shakes (3 a day) for 2 years. It finally gave out, so I bought another one. Plenty of power and well designed.

From my understanding, gastric bypass surgery is reversible. Therefore the unused part of the stomach can be reattached to the small pouch and you can be made whole again. Also the unused part of the stomach produces hormones that the body uses and that is why it is left there.

Right after surgery, your body is in a major heal mode, so many individuals find it difficult to meet the daily fluid requirement. But just keep trying each day and in a couple weeks you should be there.

I was in the hospital for 2 nights. I was ready to go home after the first night but since it was a weekend and the hospital was staffed with the weekend doctors, I had to wait until Monday before I could be releases. After surgery remember to Walk, Walk, Walk. It will help to minimize the pain and get you out of the hospital sooner.

Congratulations.

It is common to have some limited weight gain after weight loss surgery. They call it a 20 pound bounce. The important thing is not let go beyond this 20 pounds. Most times this weight gain is due to a poor choice of snacks. Snacks should be limited to primarily to whole food options: nuts, natural nut butters, fruits, veggies, boiled eggs, string cheese, yogurt with berries and almonds, tuna pouches. Avoid processed packaged foods as much as possible. Also do not expect to lose weight at a rate similar to right after surgery. Generally if you gained the additional weight over a couple years, then it may take a couple years of watching what you eat to get back down.

Perhaps. I think clothes helps us look good. Without them, I think most people would look ugly. So the next time you visit a grocery store, imagine everyone without clothes (either that or visit a nudist colony). So don't beat yourself up on a little extra skin, it is what is inside that really counts.

According to the internet Iron is absorbed the best on an empty stomach. Yet, iron supplements can cause stomach cramps, nausea, and diarrhea in some people. You may need to take iron with a small amount of food to avoid this problem. Milk, calcium and antacids should NOT be taken at the same time as iron supplements. This link may be of some help. https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/007478.htm

I cannot help you with the depression fear but I will talk about diabetes. I had RNY gastric bypass surgery almost 4 years ago. I had Type II diabetes prior to surgery and took 2 prescription medicines daily but these were still not keeping my diabetes under control. My doctor was recommending that I transition to insulin shots but I refused. I had the surgery instead. I was in the hospital for 2 days. When I left, I was off all my prescription medicines for diabetes and I have not taken any since. I periodically (around once per month) check my fasting blood sugar levels and they are fine. The surgery does not solve everyone's diabetes. For some, they only see a reduction in the amount of medication they take. This seems to be a function for how long they were diabetic. I had diabetes treated by medication for around 5 years prior to surgery. It seems that from reading past threads, that individuals that suffered for many years with diabetes and transitioned to insulin did not experience complete remission from this disease. So the sooner that your get this problem under remission the better. Some individuals that have surgery experience a hormone flush. Chemicals and hormones are stored in fat cells of your body. As you lose weight these hormones are dumped into your body and individual can experience mood swings. Generally this tapers off when you transition from the weight loss phase to the maintenance phase.

Congratulations on your weight loss of 100 pounds. Exercise is an important component. For the first year after surgery, I exercised daily. Generally this was by hill walking. My driveway was steep and I would walk up and down the driveway for 30 minutes per day. This is a great form of exercise because it uses two different sets of muscles; one set on the way up and a different set on the way down. It was also great because all I had to do was step out my front door. But I am not a great fan of exercise. It feels like wasted effort. But I am a great fan of physical labor. So in the “Maintenance” phase, I relied on physical work. This took several forms. I live in Indiana. My driveway is 700 feet long. During the winter when it snows, I shovel my driveway. It is strenuous work but without the added weight on my body, it is not hard. I also heat my house all winter with firewood. So during the winter I am constantly moving firewood for my wood stove to keep the house warm. During the rest of the year, there is cutting a large yard of grass and planting a garden and an assortment of other chores. Even a trip to the mailbox to get the mail is a walk of 1/4 mile. One of the tasks I worked on over the 2nd and 3rd years post-op was building an underground shelter. Tornados struck about 7 years ago, just after I retired. The tornados did a lot of destruction to my property but spared my house. My house is a one story without a basement and there is really no place to take shelter in the event of another tornado. So I decided to build an underground shelter from an intermodal-shipping container into the side of my hill. Of course, if I build a storm shelter, it should also be a root cellar. And if I go to the effort of building a storm shelter/root cellar then why not go through a little extra effort and build it for Come-What-May, including asteroid impacts, nuclear war and nearby supernovas, etc. So during that first year I moved around 100,000 pounds of gravel by hand along with around 60,000 pounds of concrete blocks and the next year I moved about the same amount. This year I built a log cabin playhouse for the grandkids. I just turned 69.

After RNY surgery, you are required to take many vitamins for the rest of your life. This is because you body no longer synthesizes vitamins from food. That part of your stomach has been cut away, so this daily requirement is extremely important. Vitamin chemistry is important for absorption. Calcium supplements should be calcium citrate. There are also different chemistries of B12. I use the sublingual B12 and was told to use methylcobalamin. You cannot use a time-release version of B12. If you are taking iron supplements, it must be ferrous sulfate for the best absorption. Gummy vitamins are not absorbed properly and should be avoided. It is important to put a 2 hour separation between the vitamins that contain iron and those that contain calcium. So in my case I found that what works best for me is to take the iron supplements just before bedtime. I put my vitamins in a weekly pill container. I have one container for the morning and one for the night. And I use a very small glass bowl for my calcium supplements. I put my calciums in the bowl in the morning and take them throughout the day. If I am up and about I put my calciums in a ziplock bag and carry them with me. The directions I received after surgery was: Three Flintstone complete chewable multivitamins daily. Additional 65 milligrams elemental iron daily for menstruating women. 1500 to 1800 milligrams calcium citrate daily [this can be tricky because the dosage rate is per 2 capsules - therefore this can mean around 5-8 capsules per day depending on the size (petite or regular)]. 500 to 1000 micrograms sublingual B12 daily or 1000 microgram injection once monthly. 100 milligrams Thiamine (vitamin B1) daily for the first year and then weekly thereafter. In the morning I put my Citricals in a small finger bowl. Then I take a couple every couple hours. When I am up and about I put them in a zip lock bag and take them with me. For me this is not difficult. Sometimes I take two at once. But right after surgery, I lost my ability to swallow large pills and I had to crush them. It was like eating chalk. The only way I could down these was by mixing them with crystal light and drinking them down. Because they formed a paste at the bottom of the glass. I had to remix these and chug them down several times. Luckily my inability to swallow lasted only a couple months and then I was back to normal. There are many different selections of vitamins out there. This is the regiment that I followed but there are many different vitamin options available today.

Congratulations on losing 80 pounds and getting your BMI in the normal range. Although I had some hanging skin after weight loss, it doesn't really bother me. It is generally below my belt and unless I was butt naked, no one except my wife would notice. But maybe it is because I am a man. I did notice that after surgery, I dropped from a size 3X down to a size small in shirts and from a size 46 down to a size 33 in pants, that I liked clothes again. This weight loss meant that I could shop in department stores again and replace my wardrobe with the latest fashions. I enjoyed this immensely.