catwoman7

I have it occasionally now that I'm four years out, but it does bother my stomach. I have to drink it VERY SLOWLY. Sometimes I let it sit open for awhile to flatten a bit. It seems some people drink it, some don't - but those who do usually wait quite awhile after surgery before attempting it.

I suppose many of us have had those days. Just don't make it a habit.

not me. Although supposedly it can happen after any surgery - but you probably see it more in bariatric patients since you're taking in so few calories those first few weeks and months post-WLS. But that won't be the case after plastics, so your chances are probably not as great. My plastic surgeon did recommend really increasing my protein for the first few weeks after plastic surgery, though. I usually average around 100 grams/day (I have to because I malabsorb it), but after plastic surgery there were some days I was up to around 150. But anyway, no - no hair loss.

yes. All that extra weight is horrible on your health - just as bad as smoking. I should have done it *years* ago. One piece of advice - if you have reflux, I'd suggest considering the bypass instead. The sleeve can often (not always - but often) make that worse. Some sleeve people end up revising to bypass because of it. Bypass can often (again, not always, but often) improve or even cure reflux.

I would do the weights. Yes, you might have a slight gain when you start (because muscle weighs more than fat, and also, muscle holds onto water), but in the long run, you'll benefit because being muscular means your metabolic rate will be higher.

I didn't have any medical issues (fortunately I might add, given my weight and age). I just needed a tool to lose weight since I was super morbidly obese and every weight loss effort I made had failed. And if I had not taken off the weight, serious medical issues were most likely right around the corner.

we were told 1500 mg a day - but since your body can only absorb about 500 mg at one time, you have to split it up into three doses - taken at minimum two hours apart. I have osteoporosis, though, so I have to take 2000 mg a day - split into four doses.

it's hard to say what foods are going to be intolerable. I can handle peanut butter just fine - but I can't handle really fatty meals (like fish fries), really acidic things, a lot of sugar at one sitting (something like one cookie or a few bites of cake is fine - beyond that, no), sauerkraut. I forget what else. But we're all different...

hmmmm....I've never heard of this. But you're right - it may be due to having no gall bladder.

oh wow - sorry you had such a rough time with it. USUALLY strictures are pretty minor and the fix is easy. I didn't have any further problems after the two dilations.

sounds like a stricture. I had two of them - one at four weeks out and one at eight weeks out. And yes - they dilate them - it's an easy fix. You should feel better right away.

you probably won't need shampoo and soap. I didn't take a shower while I was there == and if you do, they should have soap there. Although I guess it never hurts to bring them just in case. Biotene might be helpful, though - I remember having a really dry mouth

nope - you're fine. DO NOT worry about your rate of weight loss. For one thing, they pumped you full of IV fluids at the hospital. It takes a few days for that to work its way out of your system. For another, rate of weight loss is a very individual thing, depending on many factors - gender, age, starting BMI, metabolic rate, etc. It's way too early to even tell what your rate of weight loss is, in fact. Once you start dropping weight, though, keep in mind that your commitment to your program will have an INFINITELY greater effect on your ultimate success than your rate of weight loss will. I was a slow loser from the get-go, but I really stuck to my program and lost 100% of my excess weight. I know several others who have as well. You really have no control over your rate of weight loss - the only thing you have control of is whether or not you stick to your program. And the weight WILL come off if you stick to your program. For now, just focus on getting in your protein and your fluids and try not to worry about how fast or slow you're losing weight!

if you have acid reflux, I would not even consider the sleeve. I've seen a lot of people on internet forums revising from sleeve to RNY because the sleeve made their reflux worse. I had RNY for that very reason. It doesn't ALWAYS make it worse, but I wasn't willing to take that risk.

for me, sitting or standing or lying down was fine - little to no pain. It was transitioning from one to the other that was hard. But as the above poster said, you have to do it anyway, so...

pretty much nobody dies from this. Weight loss surgeries are very safe these days - it's not like it was back in the 60s or 70s. Mortality rate on RNY is 0.3%. VSG is even lower (I can't remember that one since I didn't get VSG, so I wasn't paying attention). At any rate, you have at least a 99.7% chance of pulling through just fine. And you will!

people lose weight at all different rates for all different reasons - age, gender, metabolic rate, starting BMI, whether or not they lost weight before surgery (thus, they wouldn't lose much "water weight" after surgery since it was already gone), etc. Your commitment to your plan is a MUCH greater predictor of your eventual success than your rate of weight loss is. Plus, you don't have a lot of control over your rate of weight loss, so pretty much all you can do is be as compliant as you can. that said, yes, I was a slow loser. I was told that a couple of times during my follow ups that first year by medical residents, which bothered me because I thought they were implying that I wasn't being compliant - but I was! But I went on to lose 100% of my excess weight. so just stick to your plan and the weight WILL come off, either fast or slow.

in addition to the tests the above poster listed, I had to have a nuclear stress test since I was over 50 (my surgeon required it of all patients over age 50 or younger people who'd had a history of heart issues)

I had a 12-lb bounce back (as you probably know, a 10-20 lb regain after hitting your lowest weight is unfortunately very common, although not inevitable), but other than that, yes, I've maintained my weight. After I was about a year out, I switched over to calorie counting, which I still do. I can maintain my weight as long as I average 1700 kcal/day or less. I can eat pretty much anything other than a lot of fat or sugar at one sitting (which I shouldn't be doing *anyway*). I do eat healthy (other than the very occasional treat), and I track everything that goes into my mouth and will for the rest of my life. During my numerous pre-op weight loss attempts, once I quit closely monitoring myself (frequent weighing and tracking what I was eating), the weight came back. Not happening this time...

you may be apple-shaped. I was - and still am even though I'm at a normal weight. I had a lot of loose skin in my torso, I had bat wings on my arms but not huge (I've seen WAY worse), and my thighs have a little loose skin on them but are pretty thin (as in - major "thigh gap"). I had the loose skin taken off my torso. I also had an arm lift but it didn't have as much "wow factor" as the torso work since the bat wings really weren't that bad to begin with. And I didn't bother with the thighs. At my age (I'll be 60), my mini-skirt days are long over...

complications aren't common - I've been involved in various bariatric forums for about five years and there aren't all that many issues with ulcers and vitamin deficiencies. If you follow the rules and keep on top of your vitamins, you'll likely be fine. The only "vitamin issue" I see coming up among people who are rule-followers are iron deficiencies. Some people don't absorb oral iron well and develop deficiencies even though they take their iron. So...they end up having to get infusions. But most people do fine on oral iron.

no regrets at all. One of the best decisions I've ever made! I should have done it YEARS ago!

I'm having that issue with glasses. My face shape has changed. I have no idea what types of frames look good on me any more!

I have an appt once a year at the clinic - I see the surgeon and the dietitian (I also have the option to see the psychologist, but I never have). They do labs when I'm there for the annual appt.

they've moved some long-term users over to H2 blockers like prescription Zantac - although they don't work for everyone (they do for some, though). It's a real problem - PPI's worked very well for most people.