catwoman7

P.S. according to my mother-in-law (I talked to her last night about all this), the pain from a bowel obstruction is pretty severe - so you'd KNOW something was wrong. Although maybe the opioids in LIsa Marie's system numbed the pain? I don't know - but she would have known something was wrong. Or should have.

bowel obstruction is a potential complication, but it's a rare one. On top of that, she had abdominal pain for MONTHS, and didn't see a doctor about it. Who goes for months with unexplained abdominal pain and doesn't see someone about it? If she had, she'd still be alive. My mother-in-law had two bowel obstructions (she's NOT a WLS patient). In one case, they cleared it out (since it was possible to do that), in the other, they had to do a small resection of the affected part (because it couldn't be cleared out). Lisa Marie should have seen a doctor about it. It's sad that she never did, because she didn't have to die.

I couldn't tolerate sweet things for the first few months - like sweet protein shakes (I drank a lot of Unjury chicken broth shakes). And I couldn't eat bananas for like three years - too sweet.

I know this sounds weird, but enjoy it while it lasts - because it doesn't last for the vast majority of us. Sometime during the first year after surgery your hunger will come back, and it makes things a lot harder. I wish I was one of the lucky few whose hunger never came back. It was so easy to lose weight when I was never hungry and didn't give a flip about food!

this didn't apply to me since I was already post-menopausal when I had surgery, but I think we were recommended to use two forms of birth control the first few months since women tend to be super fertile the first few months after surgery.

lapband? It's an outdated surgery that was largely replaced by the sleeve. You might be hard pressed to find a surgeon who'll even place them anymore - most don't because there were too many complications with them. Most people who revise from sleeve go with RNY or DS.

we were told not to count calories early out. With as little as you're likely eating, calorie intake isn't going to be a problem. We only were told to count protein grams and fluids.

most of us don't start feeling the restriction until we move to solid foods.

I don't know about Kaiser specifically, but most insurance companies generally won't cover this unless you've had medical problems with the excess skin that don't respond to traditional treatments - for example, chronic rashes. If you're experiencing something like that, be sure to see a doctor for it and make sure it's documented, because the insurance company will want to see documentation that it's not responding to more conservative treatments before approving the surgery. None of mine was covered - but for some of us, yes, insurance does cover - but again, it really depends on the situation.

I was always able to drink more than they said I'd be able to it. I was worried about it as well, but the PA at my clinic said not to worry about it - fluids go through you pretty fast. He said my stomach would tell me if I was drinking too much/too fast.

you're also what we call a "light weight". You started out at only 209 lbs. Many of us started out at 250+. Starting BMI is one of the factors that determines how fast or slow the weight comes off. Given your starting weight, I'm not surprised at all at your loss so far. But as long as the overall trend is down, you're good!

it probably varies. I think it was about two weeks for me.

1-3 weeks is pretty common for a stall - but a month is not unheard of. You're only 11 days into it - so it's not an issue yet.

P.S. dumping affects about 30% of RNY patients. It's much less common in sleeve patients. It's from eating too much sugar or fat in one sitting. It causes heart palpitations, cramping, chills or sweating, and diarrhea. is there real sugar in your protein powder, or is it an artificial sweetener? If the latter, it's not dumping - but you could have an intolerance to whatever sweetener they use. That's not uncommon...

most "normal" WLS patients (i.e., those of us not the size of the people on "My 600 lb Life", which the vast majority of us are not) lose about 15-25 lbs the first month. You've lost 11 in two weeks - so you're right on track!

like Arabesque said, the DS used to be done in two phases - first they'd do a sleeve, then they'd go back in later and bypass the small intestine. So as long as things work out with your pancreas, they can always go back in and do phase 2. meanwhile, it's a good thing they found the problem so they can deal with it now before it gets worse (that is, if it would have gotten worse).

I think I was a good four months out before I could comfortably eat those. Some people may be able to eat them earlier, though. Your stomach will let you know if it's ready or not.

that IS pretty expensive. My facelift was around $7000, so it wouldn't take too many years for the cost of the vials to catch up to that. (I'm also in my 60s)

I finally broke down and had a facelift. Honestly, I think that's probably the only permanent solution - but I'd hold off awhile because sometimes things shift around during year 2 or 3 and you look less gaunt. As far as full vs lower face lift, it just depends on your situation. Another WLS patient and I went to the same plastic surgeon. He recommended a lower face lift for me, and a full face lift for her - so it depends on the sagging (where it is and how much).

it's almost always temporary. The first few weeks post-op are hard. And yes, unfortunately, you will enjoy food again, and at that point this all becomes a lot more challenging. I know it probably sounds odd to you now, but there are days I wish it was like at the beginning when I was never hungry and didn't give a flip about food.

I would never even consider a Lapband. So many people have had theirs removed because of complications. VSG and RNY are both proven, excellent surgeries (DS is not nearly as common - and yes, there tend to be more complications with it. So sorry about your sister!). I'd go with one of the proven ones (VSG or RNY) - both are excellent surgeries with few complications - and any complications that do crop up tend to be minor and "fixable".

Hard to say - ulcer? Liver? Gall bladder? Make an appt with your doctor - they'll likely check all of those things.

It's really contingent on how well you do and what kind of job you have. I had a desk job (I'm now retired). I took three weeks off but could have gone back after two. I'm glad I had the third week because I was still pretty tired and it was nice having the time to get used to the eating progression, but yes, I COULD have gone back after two weeks.

there shouldn't be a need to re-do the sleeve - it's already been done. The sleeve historically was part 1 of the DS procedure, which used to often be done in two stages. They'd first create a sleeved stomach, and a few months later, they'd come back in and bypass most of the small intestine. Some people lost enough weight with just part 1 that they didn't end up doing part 2. Thus, the sleeve surgery was born.

I'm a bypass patient. I was told I could take anything the size of a pencil eraser or smaller as soon as I got home from the hospital (which covered all but two of my pills - I had to wait 2-3 weeks before trying those - and it did "work" - I was able to swallow everything perfectly after the 2-3 week wait on the two larger ones)