James Marusek

Congratulations.

Great News!

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

The first few weeks after surgery can be exceptionally rough. It does get better but not overnight. It took me 6 months to reach my Happy State when all the problems seemed to melt away. 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. Meeting these three daily requirements should be your main focus. Also try to walk 30 minutes per day or equivalent exercise. Exercise will accelerate your recovery process and ease the pain that you might have experienced after surgery. Some individuals find it difficult to meet the daily requirements after surgery. This is because your stomach needs time to heal and this can take a couple weeks or more. But just keep trying and you should be able to get there. Be willing to experiment. After surgery, my taste buds changed dramatically. Even Water changed. In the hospital it tasted excessively chlorinated and I could not drink it. So I experimented. sugar free popsicles became my best friend. Some individuals find hot or cold can help with fluids. For me, I found that I could tolerate flavored water. So I began using Crystal Light. I also found a new drink Bai which I liked cold. In the winter, I found that I tolerate Hot drinks such as piping hot cocoa. But you have to use the "No Sugar Added" variety. Also fine English teas were very good.

After RNY gastric bypass surgery, I lost my appetite completely. Before surgery, hunger was constantly continuously gnawing at my bones. Even when I was eating I was always thinking about my next meal. It was not difficult to lose my excess weight when I lost hunger. After about a year, hunger did return but it was not nearly as strong as before surgery. 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 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.

Congratulations.

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. Not getting in enough protein each day can contribute to hair loss.

Congratulations.

As far as your weight loss thus far pre-op --- N o t B a d !

Once and awhile I will dump. It is not a pleasant experience. But in a way it is a learning tool. It allows me to tap into the pre-triggers for dumping. For example, I may begin to sneeze or hiccup. Sometimes I become very congested with mucus. Many times, food which tasted pretty good all of a sudden becomes loathsome. When I reach a pre-trigger, I stop eating immediately. If I don't then one more bite and I am into full stage dumping syndrome. One approach that I use is never, ever eat within two hours of bedtime. I digest food differently when I am in a horizontal position than when I am in a vertical position. If you experience dumping prior to bedtime it is truly miserable. You cannot lay down. Generally I have to sit in front of a television at night until the symptoms go away. The transition to solid foods can be very stressing. I found that softer foods (chili and soups) went down much easier than solid foods such as chicken and steak. There is nothing that says you cannot take your time in making this transition and let your stomach heal a little more. 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. It sounds like you are meeting these requirements.

What do you need help with?

Congratulations on the 21 pounds that you lost pre-op. Weight loss post-op will vary by several factors such as type of surgery, and how heavy you were originally prior to surgery. I had RNY gastric bypass, I lost my weight quickly. I leveled off after about 7 months. Many sleeve patients lose weight at a slower pace but get to the same level of weight loss after 2 years. So the rate of weight loss is a little like mixing apples and oranges between the two procedures. Also the amount of weight loss will vary by your initial weight. A person in the 400 pound initial range will drop significantly more weight than someone starting at around 200 pounds. 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. Weight loss is achieved through meal volume control. After my gastric bypass surgery, I was restricted to 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 [3 meals per day] of food, it is next to impossible to meet your protein daily requirements by food alone, so therefore I had to rely on supplements such as Protein shakes. I understand that the surgeon's directions on some programs will vary from one doctor to another. But I wonder if the post-op program that you are following might be in part the cause of your slow weight loss. You are eating FIVE MEALS a day. You are consuming 1200 calories a day. [At 8 weeks into the program, I was consuming about half of that amount or less.] When I look over the directions for patients with gastric sleeve from my surgeon, it reads: Three 2 ounce full liquid meals for the first four weeks. Drink 64-80 ounces of Water or low calorie liquids daily. 75-90 grams of protein is required following surgery. Off hand I think you are consuming too many calories per day even with your extensive exercise program. When I was young, I decided to lose some weight by upping my exercise routine. Over a few weeks I built myself up to 10 miles of walking per day. But instead of losing weight I gained weight. I was replacing my fat cells with muscles and muscles weigh more.

Sugar is my kryptonite. But fortunately today there are many sweeteners available for my sweet tooth. They include artificial sweeteners such as Splenda and natural low calorie sweeteners such as stevia. Many of these sweeteners are showing up on the product shelves of grocery stores. So it is a matter of reframing. I avoid processed sugar in all its forms (table sugar, high fructose corn syrup etc.) but rely on other forms of sweeteners with zero or very low calories. I am 3 years post-op RNY. Before surgery I was on two forms of diabetes medicine to try and control my high blood sugar levels. That ended when I left the hospital two days after surgery. My diabetes has been in remission ever since.

That was the range of the surgery. But insurance paid most of it. My cost was around five thousand.

I am 3 years post-op RNY gastric bypass surgery. According to my plan from my surgeon's office, I was restricted to full liquids for the first 4 weeks, then pureed foods for the next four and only at week 9 did I transition to solids. Whatever the plan is that you are following there is no reason why you might take a slower approach. Your stomach needs time to heal. @@catwoman7 mentioned Protein pump inhibitor - it's a type of antacid. Prilosec is an over the counter (OTC) drug. It is normally used for acid reflux. The prescription name for this drug is Omeprazole. After surgery, my doctor prescribed omeprazole to me for a year to better allow my new stomach to heal. 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 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.

I don't use these. I buy my Vitamins in large bottles (bulk) at Sam's Club. Also I set up an email account at GNC. They send my fliers through he email daily. I consider GNC to be expensive. But when they have a Buy One, Get One Free, it becomes a good buy. As a side note, I ordered by Protein powder (Muscle Milk Light) for Protein shakes over the internet using Amazon and also my Protein Bars (Quest) the same way. This helped keep the price down because I buy in bulk.

Stalls are so common that someone here coined the phrase "Embrace the Stall". Just meet your daily Protein, Fluid, and Vitamin requirements; walk about 30 minutes per day [or equivalent exercise]; follow the meal plan you were given by the surgeon's office and let the magic happen. The pain that you are experiencing at 7 weeks post-op could be due to a stricture or the manner in which you eat. At around 7 weeks I transitioned into solid foods. That transition can be difficult. Solid foods (such as steak) can be more difficult to eat than softer foods (chili and soups). Therefore I relied heavily on softer foods at this stage. There is nothing that says you need to speed up your transition to solids. Just give your stomach a little more time to heal. Also it is very important with solid foods to chew, chew, chew.

Congratulations on beginning your journey. I wrote a short article that describes my experience with RNY gastric bypass surgery. I am 3 years post-op at this point. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery.pdf

Congratulations on your upcoming surgery.

After weight loss surgery, many of us experienced problems with constipation, diarrhea, dehydration, and changes in the color of our excrements? And we ponder what it all means. Is this abnormal? Well, I ran across an article this morning that sheds some light on this serious subject. http://acsh.org/news/2016/07/25/what-pee-and-poo-color-says-about-your-health/

I may not know the exact answer, but it might be head hunger. As humans part of our digestive process is to chew. As we chew our body releases enzyme that help to break down the food. Therefore if we go without chewing, we miss that. I noticed several individuals reported a strong desire to chew celery or anything *prior to reaching the stage where they were allowed solid foods again).

Are you sure it wasn't scam. It is strange that they asked for you to leave a deposit over the phone. That is the way scams work. So before you worry too much, check it with the hospital and surgeon's office. Sorry you will have to wait until tomorrow to find out. But if your call originated on Sunday, is the billing department of your hospital even open on Sunday?

Sometimes in life there are trade-offs. I am 3 years post-op RNY gastric bypass surgery. Over the years, I became overweight and then obese. I could live with that. But then my obesity began to take its toll on my health. I developed diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, and severe acid reflux. I COULD NOT LIVE WITH THAT! So I decided to do a trade-off. I exchanged my love of food for restoring my health. As I look back on that now, it was one of the best decisions I ever made. I had RNY and it looks like you will be sleeved. There are two phase to weight loss surgery. These are the Weight Loss phase and the Maintenance phase. For me, I was in the Weight Loss phase for around 7 months and then I slid into the Maintenance phase. I believe that sleeve patient may take a couple years before their weight loss levels out and they enter the Maintenance phase. It is extremely important to follow the plan daily requirements for fluids, Protein, and vitamins; to limit the volume of your meals; and exercise during the Weight Loss phase. Because you want to maximize your weight loss. But on the Maintenance phase, you have a little more latitude. So not everything on your bucket list is gone forever. I pick and chose. Some things I stay away from. Sugar is my kryptonite. But there are artificial sweeteners (Splenda) and natural no calorie sweeteners (Stevia) that have replaced them and these sweeteners are finding their way into many products nowadays. I noticed the last item on your bucket list was Olive Garden's zuppa. I think what you are referring to is Zuppa Toscana. My wife loves the stuff. The main ingredient in the Soup is kale. Which is suppose to be good for you. As a result I planted some kale this year in the garden. It grew like weeds. I had so much of the stuff, I had to figure out what to do with it. In the end, I dried it and then vacuum sealed it in canning jars. My wife makes this soup from scratch following the Olive Garden recipe. And its a good tasting and nutritious soup. So I would scratch it off your forever food bucket lists. Once you arrive at the Maintenance phase in a couple years, have it again, just do so in moderation. I do.

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

Good luck on your upcoming surgery. Just a word of caution. Your taste buds may change after surgery, so be willing to do some experimentation to arrive at the best Fluid and Protein sources for your new body post-op.