catwoman7

they don't take out any of your stomach with RNY. They just section it off with staples.

P.S. I don't know the actual statistics, but it seems like your chance of being a dumper with RNY are roughly the same as getting acid reflux with the sleeve. Neither is particularly desirable. Which do you think you can live with, if you develop one or the other?

not really much more complicated than cutting out 80% of your stomach and tossing it in the garbage. I think both are pretty invasive. and yes - there's a potential for dumping - but not everyone dumps. I never have. The statistic I see thrown around a lot is that around 30% of RNY'ers dump. I don't know if there's any medical research to back that statistic up, but I do know that a LOT of us have never dumped. And dumping is pretty easy to control if you're one of the unfortunate ones (or fortunate, depending on your perspective - some people WANT to dump to keep them from eating junk). It's caused by eating too much sugar. SO...just don't gorge on sugar (most dumpers can eat SOME sugar - but too much at one sitting will cause them to dump)

I think it was about a week for me.

I had a stricture early out. They happen to about 5% of gastric bypass patients, making it one of the most common complications, if that tells you anything (i.e., complications aren't common). Minor issue and easy fix. No other problems. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

no

my "indulging" is probably a normal person's typical Thanksgiving meal. It's not putting away 3000 calories like I probably did before surgery - and I don't let it go on for days afterward, either, like I used to. It's one and done now, and only on special occasions. But I did eat much more yesterday than I normally would. I had about 2 oz of turkey, 2 oz of ham, 1/2 C sweet potato casserole, 1/2 C of stuffing, maybe 1/2 C of Brussels sprouts/bacon/cheese casserole. And probably 1/3 C mashed potatoes. I had some cranberry sauce on the ham, and gravy on the turkey & potatoes. After dinner, the pies came out. There were four different kinds. Before surgery, I probably would have had three whole pieces so I could taste most of them. This time, I decided on the two I most wanted, and I had half a piece of each. With whipped cream. So essentially, one piece of pie. SO....one plateful of food, plus a piece of pie. this wouldn't have been the case my first couple of years post-surgery, though. Back then I would have had maybe 2 oz of turkey with some vegetables. And the second year post-op, I think I added about 2 T of stuffing and 2 T sweet potato casserole. And both years I brought my own Light & Fit pumpkin yogurt to have for dessert while the others were eating pumpkin pie. anyway, I don't really feel guilty because I rarely eat as much as I described above, and I get right back on track the next day. If it was a usual thing, I would gain my weight back pretty fast, unfortunately. I spent this morning at the gym - two fitness classes plus walking the track - and I'll really push fluids and eat lightly the next couple of days to offset any damage...

are you sure it's liver disease? It's common for liver enzymes to be high for a year or two after WLS because of the rapid weight loss. Rapid weight loss is really hard on livers. My AST and ALT values were really high for awhile, but by two years out, they were normal. My PCP at the time at first suspected fatty liver disease when she saw those values, but when I reminded her that I'd had WLS, she said it might have been that and if that was the case, they'd eventually normalize, and they did. So - no liver disease. At least not in my case. P.S. edited to add that I didn't have an ultrasound, though - it was just a blood test. But yes - high liver enzyme values until about two years out.

it's hard to say if you'll develop reflux or not. If you had reflux BEFORE surgery (which you said you haven't), most surgeons will recommend bypass, but if you don't, it's kind of a toss up. Some people do develop it, some don't. I agree with the above poster in that you should just choose which one you think would be best for you. I chose bypass because I had GERD prior to surgery, otherwise, I'm not sure which way I would have gone. There are a lot of people who've been successful with both surgeries.

I never had a leak test. also, like others have said, you probably won't feel restriction until you start eating solid food. For one thing, liquid goes in one end of your stomach and out the other. For another, your nerves were cut during surgery - it'll take them awhile to regenerate. But you WILL feel the restriction eventually. Meanwhile, just eat/drink according to your surgeon's plan rather than chase the full feeling.

same here - I've gained 2 lbs since yesterday - and another 2 lbs since the day before that (so 4 lbs altogether), and I'm feeling like a slug. I know most of this is water and will be gone in a couple of days, but....UGH. I feel like crap. I'll be eating lightly, exercising, and increasing the fluids for the next few days!!! I, too, much prefer the way I feel when I eat healthy.

I was approved the first time around

it depends on the insurance company. It seems most use your initial weight, but some use whatever you weigh when the surgeon submits the documents to insurance for approval. All you can really do is ask...

"buyer's remorse" is common the first few days or weeks after surgery. And almost all of us get over it and have no regrets at all that we had the surgery....so you'll be fine! But I agree - the first few days or even the first two or three weeks are tough. Just hang in there! Things will get better!!

yep - happens to me as well! I always have a bottle of Milk of Magnesia on hand which I have to use a couple of times a month, in spite of the daily Miralax. At least it works!

Follow your plan, whatever that is. A LOT of us deal with constipation - it's a lifelong "thing" for many of us. It's due to the high protein diet plus a couple of the supplements many of us take (namely, calcium and iron - which are notorious for backing people up). Many of us take a capful of Miralax every day to deal with it - some take stool softeners, SmoothMove tea, or eat prunes every day. Figure out what "works" for you to keep on top of it. I take daily Miralax. Even with that, I still get "backed up" once or twice a month, so when I do, I take Milk of Magnesia for a night or two to get things moving again.

I've never heard of that. I'd call the surgeon's office.

I had several stalls along the way. And yes, weight loss slows down quite a bit after the first six months. But I kept losing, slowly but surely, until was about 20 months out. I freaked out with every stall, too - I thought I was done losing - but no....

P.S. the answer to your question may depend on your insurance company. Mine didn't care - but yours might.

mine was a 6. The PA at my surgeon's office said with that mild a case, he wouldn't bother getting a CPAP because it was likely to clear up after I'd lost 20 lbs or so. My insurance company never said anything. I also had pretty bad arthritis that was almost certainly exacerbated by my weight, so the insurance may have counted that instead - although since my BMI was WAY over 35, I really didn't need to have co-morbidities to qualify.

lots of us are in our 60s - you're not too old. You could live another 20-30 years - esp if you get rid of those co-morbidities. Only you can make that decision, but speaking only for myself, I'm glad I made the decision and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Should have done it YEARS ago.

I had something like this with my plastic surgery. It was not covered by insurance, but I got a bill for $144K about a month after my surgery. I'd actually already paid for the surgery - self-pays generally have to pay BEFORE the surgery, but it was around $20K, not $144K. But still, I shouldn't have been billed AT ALL unless they had to do something unforeseen (which they did not). It took a few months and several phone calls to get this all cleared up. They did stop sending me bills for $144K pretty quickly, but then they started sending me bills for $20K - which is about what I paid, BUT I'D ALREADY PRE-PAID it!!! ARRRGGGGHHHH!!! Luckily, it's over now. I think. (I can't really blame the hospital - their billing is outsourced to some third party. But still...)

yes

I just bought a wedge pillow - and used a few other pillows with it to prop myself up - and it worked fine. It was pretty painful getting in and out of bed, but the pain just lasts a few seconds, and only for the first few days.

176 lbs in a year is A TON of weight loss - well above average. Congratulations! I was eating around 1000-1200 calories a day after the one year mark. I did continue to lose into year 2 (I think I stopped losing at about 20 months out), but it was DEADLY slow. Like maybe 2 or 3 lbs a month. But I totally expected that - weight loss slows down considerably once you get close to goal. I'd just keep up with what you're doing - you may drop a few more lbs. And ignore the sugar and bread cravings!!! I really stuck to my plan until I hit maintenance - and I'm sure that's why I was able to lose all of my excess weight.