winning_by_losing

Yep. I have them on my cheeks and right in the center of my chest. Haven't yet figured out what the cause is, but the itching is controlled with a little lotion, so I haven't been too worried about it.

I'm just about 7 months out as well and it is a very common thing. At this point, I'll happily deal with the gas to have all of the other wonderful benefits. Yes, I'd love to have it go away at some point, but not really sure how it would.

In my bariatric program, the Protein requirements for band, RNY or VSG were all the same. 45 grams per day initially (15 per meal), graduating to 60 (20 per meal) and then up to 75 (25 per meal). I usually have a shake as my Breakfast, which gives me 30 or 35 grams and makes the rest of the day easier as far as ensuring my other meals have plenty of protein. As for cooking, I only have my kids to feed part of the time, so it changes up my cooking habits. When it is just me I do lots of frozen fish, ground turkey, ground beef, etc... usually topped with fresh salsa or some other type of hot sauce. When I'm cooking for all of us, I add veggies and at times a sauce (have to keep things moist), but usually stick to the same Proteins. Then when I'm serving I just make mine protein heavy and theirs veggie heavy. Seems to work out well.

I felt good enough to work after 3 or 4 days ( was down to just Tylenol the day after i was released) but took a full week off then worked from home for another 2 only because i planned to do so. I was driving and easily ready to after that week though.

I'm guessing the reason for the wailing was due to passing the stones and not because of the surgery. I know the night before my gall bladder surgery I was in the worst pain of my life as I continued to try and pass the stones while not being able to get any pain meds. It was so bad I flipped out of my hospital bed and ended up with lots of extra bruising and other issues just due to the wait. The surgery itself was as already mentioned as easy as it gets. I was on my blackberry working an hour after I woke up and released later that day. I'd put it a step or two below having dental surgery. Of course all of that said, if you wait too long and get to experience the horror of passing the stones - all bets are off.

Updating it via a mobile device isn't possible. You need to log onto the site via a computer. But then, just as pik mentioned, click the little cog next to the welcome (your name) at the top right of any page, and select the component you wish to edit.

I've had no problems even from day 1 getting in my fluids. Yes, immediately after surgery I could only drink an ounce or two at a time, but even so, that didn't last long. I now easily go through 80-100oz or more each day without even focusing on it. I have a 20oz bottle I reuse all the time so it is quite easy. 20 oz before Breakfast, 20 between breakfast and lunch, 20 between lunch and dinner, 20 after dinner. Then my Protein shake for breakfast is another 11. And I usually take some to bed when I go and drink around half throughout the night. As for what to drink - as already mentioned flavored Water counts just the same. I have pretty much every flavor of Mio, Crystal Light, Dasani etc... water enhancers as well as most of the generic store brand versions too. I do still have regular ice water probably half of the time, but I like to mix things up with flavorings too as I then don't get cravings for soda, tea, energy drinks, etc... Also - don't forget that your Protein shakes count toward that 64oz as well, so if you're drinking shakes, that liquid should be added to your totals.

Wow. I suggest varying things up a bit. I've been drinking Protein shakes daily (sometimes twice a day) for well over a year now. Luckily, my premier Protein Shakes still taste great to me and I consider them a huge part of the success I've had thus far. Hopefully you can find some that you like and don't have to consider them the enemy as I think this is going to be a long journey without them.

That sounds like an odd recommendation. if I recall correctly, in my program, we were supposed to go for 45 the first week, 60 the following 5 weeks then 75 per day from then until eternity. While I normally wouldn't recommend straying from what the professionals recommend, if you're having success with what you're doing now and there were no negative issues during your checkup, if it were me, I'd continue with what has been working.

From what I've read it is extremely common for people to become lactose intolerant after gastric surgery. I guess I'm lucky in that I don't seem to be affected as I can drink Protein shakes with no issues and have had low-fat cheese with a number of things and no lactose issues.

I can't answer the cigar question as I haven't even dreamed of one after surgery. As for the skin issue - I'm just under 7 months out and have lost close to 200 pounds so far, so I'm still new to the extra skin situation, but so far it is looking like there is no hope without plastic surgery. I'm also in my mid-30s and extremely active now (hiking, biking, running, P90x, weights, swimming, etc...) but haven't seen anything tightening up yet. Once I shed these last few pounds I've promised myself to wait a year. If the skin issues are still as bad at that point then I'll figure out how to fund plastic surgery. If for some reason insurance decided to step up and cover things prior to that - I would consider it sooner, but since I ended up paying more after my insurance coverage than most self-pay folks I've spoken with I really doubt I'll be getting anything covered.

Good to know. If you're on a mobile device I don't think you can change it from there. But if you're on the website from a computer, click the cog wheel next to your name at the top right of the page and select "My Surgery" from the dropdown. It'll let you modify your settings. But given this new tidbit, obviously you can ignore my thoughts about getting an additional fill. First thing would be to make sure you're getting adequate fluids and Protein. Both have been key for my continued success and I know those times where I wasn't able to do one or the other it really affected my scale progress. Beyond that, make sure you're following your program exactly as it has been presented to you. We all get different recommendations (3 meals vs 5), (snacking ok vs never snacking), (what foods are ok etc...), but adherence seems to be a very big factor. And of course there is always varying the exercise. When your body gets used to the same routine over and over it stops to be as effective. If you've been running, maybe try swimming. If you've been biking, maybe try hiking. Just something to shake it up and get things going again.

Please don't get discouraged. Of course I don't have any experience with the lap-band, so forgive any assumptions, but when was the last time you were in to check your fill level? You may need just a little more in your band which would jump start the loss again. Since this is the Gastric Bypass side of the forum, you're likely to get a bunch of uninformed answers here, but I don't think a 5 pound slide means you're done losing. It sounds to me more like a stall/plateau or whatever you want to call it. Stick with your nutrition program, change up your exercise routine a bit and hang in there. It will resume at some point. Any chance you're dropping inches while not dropping pounds? I know each time I have hit a stall for more than a few days I have had to prepare myself for some new clothes as it usually means I'm losing in other ways.

In my program we were told to avoid gum for two main reasons. 1 - it causes us to swallow added air, which adds gas to our pouch and adds risk to stretching it (same reason we have to avoid carbonation and using straws). 2 - It actually excites the enzymes in our stomach that are responsible for hunger and emulates one particular one (gremlin? gretlin? something like that). I used to be an avid gum chewer (always sugar free), but have stuck with the recommendation post-surgery. As for other absolute no-nos, it is all about sugar, fat and carbs. Anything high in any of those items will be counter-productive to our journeys and while we may or may not "tolerate" them, I avoid them as much as possible as I don't want to start back down the slippery slope of my pre-surgery days.

I waited almost 6 months. At that point I had heard from many others that we'd all be lightweights. Unfortunately that just isn't true for me and I can easily drink just as much as I could pre-surgery. I do try to keep it to special occasions now, as I know all of those empty calories is only going against me trying to achieve my goal, but being a single guy in my mid-30s, going the bars is just going to be a necessity sometimes.

My program was limited to 3 options, Band, RNY or VSG. Luckily, we could get approved for surgery before deciding upon which option we wanted. Then during the mandatory classes we got to ask questions, do additional research and didn't have to decide until after meeting up with one of the surgeons. Through my research, I determined that RNY was my preferred option for many reasons, but the most important was my chance at success. Since historically those who get RNY lost a higher percentage of excess weight, this was #1 for me, as I started my journey at 419 pounds, so wanted to lose as much as possible which whichever surgery I chose. Next factor was the malabsorbtion. As I read more about this, I figured this would only help deter me from may of the fats and sugars that got me to where I was in the first place (and boy was I right). And the next piece was the history. Just as Nina mentioned above, RNY has been performed longer than either of the others with much more result data to review. VSG was originally done as a stepping-stone before people could safely get RNY done and this really stuck with me as sort of a "happy medium" type of procedure. But if I was going under the knife I knew I wanted to do it once, not have to potentially have a second procedure later on. Now that I'm almost 7 months post-op and ever so close to my goal of losing 200 pounds, I couldn't be happier with my decision. I'd do it 100 times over and would happily have paid much more than what it is costing me to end up where I'm at now.

I took a big bag loaded with everything I'd seen recommended including slippers, a robe, change of clothes, magazine, etc... In my program they told us repeatedly that sleeve and RNY required 2 nights in the hospital and band was outpatient. In reality, I had surgery at 7AM and was released the following day (they said I could go at my 7AM checkup, but it took me most of the day to arrange a ride as we'd planned for the following day). What I ended up wanting/needing was my chapstick and cell phone. The hospital supplied toothbrush/toothpaste. They had robes and slipper socks (I went in wearing a 5XLT and size 15EEE shoes, so size variety was no problem). They supplied everything I needed for a shower. And I was in no mood to read, so I watched a little TV in between the walks and nurses checking on my vitals. Bottom line - you won't need or want much.

Unfortunately I think this fully depends on the combination of your bariatric program, your health, any other issues, results of your psych evaluation, etc..., so trying to determine what your specific combination will yield would be just a guess. From what I've read it seems like each program does things just a little different than others. Then each insurance company (and which region you're in within that insurance program) has different requirements. And on top of that, each of us starts the journey with different health issues that require different attention. If I had to guess I'd say now that you're scheduled to meet with the surgeon, you've been through all of the pre-surgery hurdles, but that is purely a guess and has no real basis behind it. BUT...you should definitely know when you'll be looking at surgery once you get done meeting with your surgeon, regardless of any extra steps they may add for you.

The noises unfortunately will likely always be there. I'm almost 7 months out and still have to listen to them all the time. As for the other issues, I felt that way for the first 2 weeks (one week of Clear Liquids and one week of full liquids). Then once I was cleared to start on pureed foods things regulated themselves pretty quickly.

Premier Protein strawberry Cream is by far my fave. Unfortunately I now have to order it at costco.com because the local stores (Colorado) refuse to reorder it (apparently I am the only one who requested it to be brought back). I do some traveling for work and sadly I haven't been able to find Premier Protein for sale anywhere when traveling, so I typically go with Pure Protein as my backup. They're a little more expensive but taste almost as good, keep me full for almost as long and actually have 35g of protein vs the 30 in the Premier. In fact, just had a banana flavored one this morning.

I agree. I'd definitely give your bariatric team a call. They'll likely have some follow-up questions that may help get to the root of it over the phone, or could suggest you go in to be seen, but with as much as we have to drink post-surgery, having pain like that with each sip sounds like something they need to hear about.

I think it depends on what you're using the shakes for. For me, since I drink one as my Breakfast to take the place of one of my 3 meals, yes I absolutely wait the 30 minutes afterwards to ensure that it keeps me full, otherwise it becomes a long 5-7 hours waiting for the next meal. But if you're using them to simply add Protein to your day and still eating the meals your bariatric team suggests (all of our plans are so different) then like Pixers said I wouldn't worry about it.

For me, flying after bypass has been no problem, but I don't have any experience with the band. But you may want to re-post this in one of the Band forums instead of here on the gastric bypass side to get the attention of more band folks.

Well I'm happy to hear (or not at the moment) that it isn't just me. I'm really hoping this is something that goes away over time, but I guess even if this turns out to be a lifelong side effect, I'll deal with it. It is nothing compared to the happiness I have now compared to life before surgery.

Wow. That seems terrible that your medical staff wouldn't have checked your thyroid. I know mine has been tested every year for decades as part of my routine physicals, so why they would opt not to test yours is baffling.