catwoman7

Hair loss is pretty common. Mine was barely noticeable - but I was "shedding" from about month 5 to month 8. Not much you can do about it other than keep on top of your protein and vitamins so it doesn't get any worse than it would otherwise.

oh - and the serious complications you've read about. Very rare. I think you might think they're more common than they really are because people post about those because they're looking for advice and support. People who are 3-5-10-15 years out from surgery generally don't post to let the world know that everything is hunky-dory. I don't personally know anyone who's had any seriously complications, and you'll run into very few people on these and other boards who do. Most complications are minor and appear during the first few months (like strictures - which happen to about 5% of RNY patients). The only things I can think of that might happen long term are bowel obstructions (very rare) and vitamin deficiencies. Almost all vitamin deficiencies are preventable by keeping on top of your vitamins. The only exception I can think of is iron. There are some people whose bodies can't absorb oral iron properly, so they have to get occasional infusions. But other than that....??? Suffice it to say, serious complications are rare. Many of us never have any complications at all, and for those who do, they're almost always minor and "fixable" (I had strictures - one of the most common complications of RNY. I mentioned they happen to 5% of RNY patients. I would hardly call a 5% rate "common", but that does give you some idea of how common problems are. That is, they're not....)

I STILL eat snacks at 4.5 years out. I have to eat something every 3-4 hours to a) keep myself from overdoing it at meals and 2) keep my blood sugar stable. It's been known to crash & burn (reactive hypoglycemia).

I'd never heard about the "three-week stall" in my pre-op classes so I absolutely freaked when the weight loss stopped during weeks 2 and 3 post-op. I thought I was going to be the first person on the planet whose weight loss surgery wouldn't work. Thank God for internet forums like this one - I found a gazillion postings on here about it. I've been volunteering with the pre-op classes for the last three years at my clinic. Trust me, I tell every group about the three week stall!

it seems like the infamous "three-week stall" (doesn't always happen the third week, though - sometimes it's a little earlier or later) usually lasts a week or two. I know one woman whose first stall lasted 3.5 weeks. UGH! Mine lasted two weeks. Once the weight loss started up again during week four, I dropped like 6-8 lbs within a couple of days.

lots of people have. Just do a lot of research before picking a surgeon. Dr. Francisco Sauceda in Monterrey and Dr. Laura Carmina Cardinas in Tijuana are well-known by those of us in the bariatric community. I'm sure there are other excellent ones, too, but those names come up A LOT.

pretty much everybody does. Not all, but a vast, vast majority.

it's a pretty common insurance company requirement (not all insurance companies require it, but many do). I wasn't anywhere NEAR a healthy BMI, so I can't address your other question from personal experience. It sounds like a lot of them use whatever your BMI was when you first start the program, but I don't know if that's true of ALL insurance companies. You can always call yours and ask them which BMI they use..,

yes - many of us are told to avoid gummies. My surgeon told me that - and there are lots of posts on that.

2 Centrum Seniors, magnesium, calcium, Vitamin B complex, Vitamin B12, Vitamin K, Vitamin D, Vitamin C (with my iron) and carbonyl iron.

people come and go on these forums all the time - and sometimes they reappear months later. She may come back. I remember her as well. I've been and off & on "member" of this forum for several years.

complications aren't that common, and most of the ones people get are pretty minor and easily fixable, like strictures. About 5% of bypass patients get a stricture, making it one of the most common complications. I'd hardly call something that 5% of people get "common", but that gives you some idea on how common complications are. They're not. I think a lot of people you're listening to are remembering what bariatric surgery was like 20+ years ago, when it was fairly risky. It's just not anymore. These have come a really long way since then and have become pretty much routine surgeries. On the continuum of "not risky at all" to "super risky", they're WAY on the side of "not risky at all". They're much safer than hip replacement surgeries, for example, and they do those every day. Honestly I think my plastics were probably riskier than my RNY, as far as surgeries go. you are at greater risk staying obese than you are having this surgery. It's when I realized that that I decided to go for it.

I would imagine they have to be ABOUT 30 days apart, not necessarily exactly. But I'd call the insurance company about that 17 day one. They may be fine with it, or if not, maybe you can arrange to see someone else at your medical clinic for that one time?

it's due to all the IV fluids. I've heard of people gaining up to 10 lbs from them. They should be mostly (if not all) gone by the end of the first week, so your weight will start heading down.

not inevitable, but with the amount of weight you're likely to lose (I'm looking at your starting weight), you're likely to have loose skin. HOWEVER, a lot of us are able to hide it really well, so you're likely the only person who'll know it's there. I've had plastics because it was driving ME nuts, but no one else knew about it. It was easy to hide. I was just careful to wear elbow-length (or longer) sleeves and a slightly oversized, long-ish top that covered up all the abdominal skin (I don't have much excess skin on my thighs and legs - it was mostly in my gut). Here's a picture of me BEFORE I had plastics. I lost over 200 lbs. See any loose skin?

it seems like most pre-ops (and early post-ops) worry incessantly about hair loss. But in retrospect, I can't believe I wasted even ONE brain cell worrying about it. For one thing, although there are a few people who have hair that comes out in clumps, for most of us, we just shed - and we're the only ones who notice that we're losing any hair. And some people don't lose any hair at all. The only thing I noticed is that I had about twice as many hairs in my comb after washing it than I normally did. But just looking at my hair, I couldn't tell the difference - so I'm sure no one else could, either. Secondly - it grows back. once you lose a significant amount of weight, you're going to wonder why you worried so much about hair loss....it's such a minor thing in the grand scheme, and as I said, it's likely no one is going to notice, and it grows back.

it's not easy. Well, the first few months aren't bad, but once your hunger comes back, things get tougher. And now that I'm in maintenance, it's a daily struggle. If I'm not on it all the time, my weight starts heading north pretty fast.

I kept losing until I was 20 months out. But the stalls became more frequent and lasted longer the further I got out. I kept thinking "well, this is it...", but then my weight loss would start up again.

I hear about gall bladder issues once in awhile on these boards, but I don't know how common it is. I would say most of us haven't had those.

since you have acid reflux, you should seriously consider bypass. Sleeve doesn't make all reflux worse, but it happens to enough people that I'm not sure I'd want to risk it.

you do need to commit to taking vitamins, or else you'll end up with deficiencies. You get used to it pretty fast. I'm pretty much on autopilot with my vitamins at this point...

pain is all across the board. yes - some people have a lot of it, but most of us have little to no pain with this surgery. I didn't have any. I didn't even open the bottle of pain killers they sent me home with. Even if you're one of the unfortunate people who have a lot of pain, you'll have something for it - so just take them to stay on top of the pain. as far as the surgery "not being worth it", it is definitely worth it for most of us. I would do it again in a heartbeat!

sounds like blood. I wouldn't be too surprised by that the first couple of days after surgery (although I would have mentioned it to someone), but as far out as you are, I would call my surgeon.

diarrhea isn't common. The vast majority of us deal with the opposite problem - constipation! Although that's true of sleeve patients, too. It's not the surgery - it's the high protein diet plus some of the supplements - i.e., iron and calcium, both of which tend to back even non-surgery people up. I've had no issues with my bypass - well, other than chronic constipation (which again, most of us deal with). I just take a capful of Miralax every day to stay on top of it. I'm very happy I had the surgery and would do it again in a heartbeat!

no - he's pretty reasonable. And nationally known. are you in the Chicago area? There are some good plastic surgeons there as well.