James Marusek

I would recommend you follow your doctor's orders. I had RNY gastric bypass whereas you had the mini gastric bypass. After surgery my stomach was in a major heal mode for the first couple months. Even after a couple months I found it very difficult to consume hard foods such as steak and chicken. So since you had surgery 9 days ago, I really recommend you give your stomach a little time to heal properly.

I limited myself to only decaf coffee for the first year and a half. There are two phases to weight loss surgery. These are the weight loss phase and the maintenance phase. These two phases are very different and require different strategies. This article describes the approach I used in the maintenance phase. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery2.pdf

Good luck on your surgery. Losing a belly button - that is unique !

Being scared is very normal. Since you are at the beginning of this process, I would recommend three things. 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.

Congratulations on your surgery and welcome to the site. Here is my story. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery.pdf

I am not sure what type of surgery you had. 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. After surgery, I found that softer foods, such as chili and soups, went down much easier than harder foods, such as steak and chicken. So therefore, I relied on these. I have included some recipes at the end of the following article. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery.pdf

Good luck on your surgery and check back with us when you are on the other side and let us know how it went.

As you lose weight, the chemicals and hormones that were stored in your fat cells are being released into your body. These will pass through your kidneys and are expelled in your urine. But they can generate a flush of hormones during the weight loss phase. They should simmer down once you transition into maintenance. It is important to meet your daily fluid requirements, because it take fluids to flush these hormones from your system.

It will get a little better each day but it will not happen overnight. It took me 6 months until I reached my happy state when most of the problems seemed to melt away.

Since you are at the beginning of this process, I would recommend three things. 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.

Good luck on your surgery and check back with us when you are on the other side.

After RNY gastric bypass surgery, I lost my sense of hunger. So after surgery, I followed the program guidelines for meal volume and the daily requirements for protein, fluids and vitamins. I never used the full feeling to control meal volume, I used a measuring cup. If you exceed the meal volume requirement, it can lead to dumping syndrome. Once you have gone through an episode of dumping syndrome, you will never want to repeat the experience. So in a way, dumping syndrome is a learning tool. There are pre-triggers to dumping syndrome. Recognize the pre-triggers and stop eating the moment you encounter them in the future. The pre-triggers can be hiccups, sneezing, excessive mucous, a change in the way food taste, and others. Individuals are different and their pre-triggers vary. The dumping experience can last for several hours. In general maintain a vertical position instead of a horizontal. If you lay down on a bed or couch, it will only aggravate the experience. As a result it is important not to eat a meal close to bedtime. Generally when I experience dumping, I go to the toilet and force myself to vomit up some of the food I ate. That helps to relieve the condition. In your case the tight feeling in your chest might be a pre-trigger.

Congratulations.

Weight loss is achieved during the short weight loss phase through meal volume control. The two operative words here are short and volume. So if you want to maximize your weight loss during this phase, you need to adhere to the program guidelines. I slid into the maintenance phase at 7 months. After surgery, I was restricted to 3 meals per day. But you are consuming 6. So that might be the root cause. As far as hungry all the time - after my RNY gastric bypass surgery, I completely lost my hunger. It was not difficult to lose weight when hunger is not constantly continually gnawing at my bones. But after about a year the hunger returned. Not like before surgery, because it was less intense. There are two different phases to weight loss surgery, these are the weight loss phase and the maintenance phase. I slid into the maintenance phase at around 7 months post op, but this can vary by individual. The approach in maintenance phase is very different than in the weight loss phase. Refer to http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery2.pdf

Here is a list of some of the abbreviations used on this website. ACL = Anterior cruciate ligament AGB = Adjustable gastric banding AMRAP = As Many Rounds As Possible (crossfit) BB = belly button bc = because BCBS = Blue Cross/Blue Shield BED = Binge Eating Disorder bf = best friend BM = bowel movement BMI = Body Mass Index bp = blood pressure BPD = Borderline Personality Disorder or Biliary Pancreatic Diversion bs = blood sugar btw = by the way CBT = cognitive-behavioral therapy CC = common channel c diff = clostridium difficile cos or cuz = because CPAP = continuous positive airway pressure CRNP = certified registered nurse practitioners cw = current weight CXR = Chest X-Ray DDD = degenerative disc disease Dr. = doctor DS = Dumping Syndrome or Duodenal Switch EGD = Esophagogastroduodenoscopy EKG = Electrocardiography ff = fat free GERD = gastroesophageal reflux disease GI = gastrointestinal GNC = General Nutrition Corporation store GP = general practitioner or family doctor HBP = high blood pressure hr = heart rate hw = highest weight ICU = Intensive Care Unit Idk = I don’t know IMHO = in my humble (honest) opinion IMO = in my opinion IUI = Intrauterine insemination LAP Band = Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Band lol = laughing out loud LSG = Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy med = medicine MFP = my fitness pal msg = message NASH = Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis nf = non fat NG = Nasogastric NP = nurse practitioner NSAIDS = Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug NSV = non-Scale victory (“scale” means “weight scale”) NUT = nutritionist OA = Overeaters Anonymous omw = on my way Onederland = a magical place or destination for those trying to lose weight. It might correspond to attaining a weight in the hundreds or losing a hundred pounds. op = operation OSA = Obstructive Sleep Apnea Oz = Australia PB = Productive Burps PCOS = Polycystic Ovary Syndrome PCP = Primary Care Physician PICC= Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter PM = private message (email) PMS = premenstrual syndrome POSE = Primary Obesity Surgery Endolumenal postop or post–op = post-operation or post-surgery PPI = Proton Pump Inhibitors ppl = people preop or pre-op = pre-operation or pre-surgery PTSD = Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder PVC = Premature ventricular contractions RA = Rheumatoid arthritis RH = reactive hypoglycemia RN = registered nurse RNY = Roux-en-Y RTD = ready to drink RYGB = Roux-en-Y gastric bypass SADI-S = single anastomosis duodeno–ileal bypass with sleeve gastrectomy s/f or sf = sugar free SG = Sleeve gastrectomy SIPS = stomach intestinal pylorus-sparing surgery smh = shaking my head, scratching my head SO = significant other SOB = shortness of breath sw = weight at surgery tmi = too much information TPN = total parenteral nutrition TT = tummy tuck TTC = trying to conceive Ty = Thank you. [but according to the urban dictionary “Ty” is also an abbreviation for “a total stud with a massive carrot”.] u = You UGI = Upper Gastrointestinal VSG = Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy Vit = vitamin wks = weeks WLS = Weight Loss Surgery WOD = Workout of the Day w/o = without wt = weight or :-) = = smiley face or :-( = = sad face

Generally when you are in the hospital for the surgery, you gained some weight because they pumped your body full of fluids. So you need to lose this weight first before you can begin to see the weight loss.

I liked Quest protein bars. They come in a lot of flavors. I bought a variety and then down selected. Then I ordered them by the box on Amazon to keep the cost low. I use them when I am up and about.

Taylor it does get better but not overnight. It took me 6 months to get to a happy state when most of the problems seemed to melt away. Having the surgery was one of the best decisions that I ever made. I have put down my thoughts on the surgery in the following article. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery.pdf

Since you are at the beginning of this process, I would recommend three things. 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.

I am 68 years old and had RNY gastric bypass surgery 4 years ago and didn't see any hair loss. I have been using a supplement called Juvenon which is available over the internet. I have been using this for over 10 years now and it seems to keep my hair from growing gray/white and it also it stopped my hair from naturally falling out due to old age, prior to surgery. The product does contain Biotin. But I suspect that the other ingredients also help.

After surgery I discovered that I could no longer swallow medium to large pills. So I used pill splitters and pill crushers. This condition lasted for about 2 months and then things returned back to normal. Citracals are what I call horse pills. They are very large. In the beginning I had to crush the pills into powder and mix them with Crystal Light drink in order to take them. The main problem other than the fact that they tasted like chalk, was that they formed a paste at the bottom of the glass, so I had to refill my glass several times in order to get them to go down.

Welcome and let us know if we can be of any help.

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. Since you are unable to consume anything thicker than liquids, it means there is an underlying issue that needs to be identified and resolved. In general, I think that the underlying problem might be due to either a stricture or an ulcer. In the interim, you might try other options for obtaining the proper protein per day. You might try other formulations of protein supplements, such as Isopure premixed protein drink. This drink has the consistency of water. I didn't like the taste but my wife did. Another option is to drink fortified milk. 32 ounces of 1% milk plus 1 cup of dry milk provides 56 grams of protein.

Over 40 years ago, I was gaining weight and decided to exercise and burn it off. So I started jogging. After a few weeks, I worked myself up to 10 miles per day. Instead of losing weight, I actually started gaining weight. This was because I was replacing my fat with muscle and muscle weighs more.

Good luck on your surgery. Check back with us when you are on the other side to let us know how it went.