carol Harlow

I am old enough to be your grandma, but have courage! I know how hard it is to be obese inthis culture and encourage all to go to a good reputable bariatric clinic as soon as you can. You have many options now. There is no reason to spend more of your young life being overweight, unhealthy, and disrespected !

Good luck! If your surgeon thinks you are a good candidate for this surgery, then you probably are. I am 67 and had my gastric bypass 14 years ago. I was well over 300 pounds and would probably be dead by now had I not had this surgery.

Don't worry so much about what you can and cannot eat. Just have a bite of something that looks really good. Unless you are already full, that will not kill you. I am 14 years post-op now and still , the average American restaurant meal provides me with two additional meals to take home. Also , you can make any great desserts at home using Splenda.

I would strongly advise against going anywhere so soon after your surgery. You will still jhave considerable pain, and you would also be vulnerable to infection . What if you got really sick far away from home, away from your doctors, and having to rely upon doctors and even a hospital that do not know you? What if you had to be sent back home by air ambulance? To try to travel now so soon after such major, intrusive surgery could be risking truly serious complications.

Where did you have your weight loss surgery? I would recommend that you ask you bariatric clinic to recommend plastic surgeons who specialize in the type of surgery that post weight loss surgery patients require. In my case health insurance covered only the panniculectomy. The rest I had to pay for myself, upfront. There are good plastic surgeons who do this kind of work at Beth Israel Deaconess, Mass General, Brigham and Women's, all in Boston , and in New Hampshire , there is Dartmouth Hitchcock. All are teaching hospitals. Do not expect any discounts, however. You would have to go abroad for that, to Mexico or Thailand , perhaps. .

You must go to the ER immediately. You may have an intestinal blockage. 4 years ago tI had the same symptoms and they found that the ascending limb of my colon had twisted around itself. When this happens they have to remove it. It may also be possible that your intestines may be completely full and are not working at all. That condition also requires hospitalization to get it all working again. If you delay getting yourself properly taken care of, this could be fatal. Blocked intestines can become gangrenous and if that happens, there is no cure.

I was about 320 when had my gastric bypass in 2000. I am now about 185 and am comfortable at this weight. I would of course love to be at 150 or even lower , but do not want to even think about cutting down on my eating to lose more weight. The thing is when you have a gastric bypass, after the first several months, you actually feel full after eating just a small amount . I have heard of people who have initially lost the weight and then gained it all back. I cannot imagine how painful it would be to over eat massively after having the gastric bypass surgery. I lost 140 pounds the first year after my surgery. If you want to have a decent quality of life as you age, you must lose weight and from what I have been taught, weight loss surgery is really the only way to do it.