catwoman7

and yes - you can have skin removal from just about anywhere - including arms and legs

re: loose skin. I used to worry about this incessantly pre-surgery, but now that I'm down over 200 lbs, i can tell you that I'd take my loose skin *any day* over weighing almost 400 lbs!! It's really not as bad as I thought it would be. If I wear elbow-length sleeves (or longer), a good bra, and tuck my abdominal skin into my jeans or tummy-control leggings, no one notices it but me. Insurance will sometimes cover the panniculectomy part (the apron of loose skin that hangs around your abs) IF it's causing you problems, like chronic rash or infections (so if you have those, make sure you have it documented by your doctor), but it's kind of rare that they'd cover anything else.

a stricture is when you have overgrown scar tissue that blocks the entrance to the small intestine. It happens to about 5% of RNY patients, and almost always within the first 3 months post-surgery (they're pretty rare after that). I had two of them. Easy fix - they just do an upper endoscopy and stretch it out a bit. You're knocked out so you don't feel anything - and you feel 100% better afterward

it's different for different people. I don't really feel "full" the way I did before surgery. I just start feeling uncomfortable, and i know if I keep going I'm going to get sick. A lot of people suggest you weigh/measure everything and just go by that rather than waiting for a "full" feeling (well, unless you start feeling uncomfortable before what you measured out for yourself, of course...)

"stomach flu" isn't really a true flu, though - it's norovirus. Influenza is more a respiratory thing. So the vaccine wouldn't have helped. I don't know how one could prevent getting norovirus other than barricading yourself in your house all season. It sucks!

If you don't mind me asking how much do you eat a day and what do you eat?? My morning consists of cream of wheat 1/4-1/3, 4-6xs a day, lunch is usually a premier Protein shake, then later I'll have either baby gerber of refríed Beans o would say my calorie intake is about 500-600 a day, I know it's gonna take while DR did mention I have an 18month window too loose much weight as possible, but I was thinking I may have hit a stall or plateau. Vanessa Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App oh - you're still really early out - I'm 19 months out - so we really can't compare. It sounds like you're doing fine. Your body's going to do what it's going to do, and there's not much you can do to other than stick to your program, which you are. I lost 16 lbs the first month and was a slow -but steady - loser. But I've lost 221 lbs altogether, so my pokiness didn't matter in the end. So many things can factor in to your rate of loss - age, gender, metabolism, whether or not you lose a lot of prior to the surgery (I, like you, lost a lot pre-surgery - those of us who do tend to lose more slowly because any Water weight is long gone for us). Just stick to your program and the weight will come off

everyone's body is different and everyone loses at different rates - some fast, some slow. It's pretty useless to compare yourself to others. You may have a whole different set of factors that affect your loss - age, gender, metabolism, whether or not you lost a bunch of weight before surgery (those who lost weight pre-surgery tend to lose slower), amount of muscle mass, etc. I know you'll see these people who drop 30 lbs the first month, but that's not very common. Most people seem to lose in the 15-25 lb range the first month (of course, there are a few who lose more - and a few who lose less). After that initial drop, it slows quite a bit for all of us. I was a slow loser. I lost 16 lbs the first month, and then about 8-12 lbs a month until I was about six months out (then it dropped even further). Even the medical resident who met with me on my three-month follow-up said I was a slow loser - not something I wanted to hear. But I stuck diligently to my plan and lost 220 lbs I am at a normal BMI now. So it really doesn't make any difference in the long run how fast or slow you lose as long as you stick to your plan. Your body will lose as fast or slow as it wants to lose, and it will stop where it wants to stop.

Pain can vary a lot between people, but from what I've read and heard (and I've been at this for c. 3 years), most people don't experience much and are very (pleasantly) surprised by that. I had almost no pain at all. I used my pump while I was in the hospital because my abs were pretty sore and I had to get up to use the bathroom or walk, but if I was just lying there, I really felt no pain at all. They sent me home with some kind of pain medicine, but it sat unopened. Constipation is another story. A *lot* of us struggle with it. Not just after surgery, but long, long after. They didn't give me anything for it - I just took stuff on my own. They recommended a stool softener (like Colace) after the surgery. And then once I "went" a few days later, they recommended Benefiber every day (you have to wait until you "go", though, else the Benefiber will just clog you up even more). Just figure out what works for your constipation (now and later) and keep on top of it. It's awful getting really backed up.

I think calories & food in general is about 80% of it - exercise is the rest. If you aren't weighing, measuring, and logging what you eat, start doing that. Speaking just for myself, if I don't do that, I experience "portion creep" (fortunately, I'm pretty good at controlling *what* I eat - it's the *amount* that's always gotten me into trouble if I don't watch it carefully.....)

oh yes! Take pictures for sure!! And once you're post-surgery, have someone take some once a month on your surgery date. I hated having my picture taken when I was at my heaviest (373 lbs), so one of the few I have is from the night before my six-month supervised diet, when I weighed 355. I wish I had some of me at 373!! and James is right - we are often blind to our obesity. And we're blind to how much we're losing. I sometimes can't tell a difference between my weight month to month, but when I compare pictures of myself from four months ago - or six - or a year- WOW! Amazing difference!! You'll be glad you have all those pictures to document your journey

a few months before, I gradually gave up soda, caffeinated coffee, and started increasing my protein. I also gradually decreased my carb intake. I tried to limit my calories to 2000 per day. I lost about 45 lbs just by doing this - plus it was a good transition into post-op life.

I would get a bunch of samples from different companies and find a couple you like. Everyone's tastes are so different. I like Syntrax and Unjury powders because I can't taste the protein in them, but you may not like them. Samples aren't cheap (often a couple of bucks for an individual, one-serving packet), but that's way cheaper than spending $30 or $40 on a big tub of something that you'll end up hating.

I had no hunger for about the first five months after surgery - then it came back. I was hoping I'd be one of those few lucky ones whose hunger never comes back, but unfortunately, I was not :-( That happens to most people - it does come back for most of us sometime within the first year or so. Hard to say if you'll crave sweets or not. Some people do, some don't. I really don't think about them much, but then, I was never a huge "sweet person" even before surgery...

I can vomit. I have a handful of times. I do know others who can't, though. Boy I hope you start feeling better soon - that's got to be miserable!

p.s. I think people stop short of their goal and/or gain weight for several reasons: they let bad habits slip back in, they stop weighing/measuring/logging their food and have "portion creep" (may not be as much of an issue with the DS since you guys can have a lot more calories than the rest of us), they relied too much on the surgery to do the work and really didn't work at it themselves, diet fatigue, they stop monitoring their weight, etc. I got down to 200 lbs pretty easily and could probably maintain that fairly easily - but I wanted to be a normal BMI. *That* takes work. I've read somewhere that only about 10% of former super morbidly obese patients make it there - although there are some of us around so it's certainly possible. But again, you'll have better odds of getting there with the DS.

re: insurance - it'll sometimes cover the panniculectomy part (removing the extra skin on the abs) if you have documented proof that you've had complications from it (e.g., chronic rashes), but it would be unusual for them to cover an entire lower body lift. Usually the way it works is if they agree to cover the panniculectomy part, you just pay the difference (if you want the whole shebang) I wouldn't worry about excess or wrinkly skin. I worried about it all the time when i was pre-surgery and early post-surgery, but now that I'm normal weight, I could give a flip about my excess skin. I'd take it *any day* over weighing 373 lbs (my highest weight). I may eventually have it removed, but right now, I just wear elbow-length sleeves (or longer), a good bra, and I tuck my stomach into my pants. The only person who knows it's there is me (well, also my husband and my doctor). It's been very easy to hide.

yes - I've also heard in a few places that sometimes the fat redistributes and you start looking better. I'm not that far along yet since I'm still on the borderline between losing and maintenance. I decided awhile ago to just let my body decide when it's ready to stop, and the weight loss is so slow now (2-3 lbs a month), that I always think I'm in maintenance, and then..ta da..a week later, I'm down another pound. I work at it all the time, but I wouldn't say it's been super difficult. I weigh, measure, and log everything I put in my mouth - so that's kind of a pain, but I'm going to keep doing it because I need to do whatever I can to keep that weight from coming back on. I am *not* going back to where I was - or even halfway there!! I do deal with food cravings, but again, so far my desire to stay at a normal weight is way stronger than my desire to blow my plan. I've been up and down 50-60-70 lbs so, so many times in my adult life and I know how easy it is to gain it back if you're not diligent. Of course, the altered G/I tract makes it easier than before, but it could still happen if i'm no careful

I don't get that question *a lot*, but after 19 months out, I still do occasionally. Early on, I told people I'd had abdominal surgery, but then I just started saying I wasn't very hungry. Although usually it doesn't come up because I'll often order soup and have a few bites of my husband's entree, or we'll split an entree, or I'll just order an appetizer. That way, no one notices or asks.

re: the aging thing - who knows what else might be going on with that person. She may have not taken very good care of herself. I definitely look older after losing 220 lbs, but nothing that extreme. Pre-surgery, people were always surprised at how old I was, because I looked 10 years younger. Now, I look my age. Yes - I do have some wrinkles after losing that much weight, but I'm almost 60. People my age have wrinkles... I guess if it's really awful, you could always have a facelift, but that woman on youtube was probably an extreme example. And again, you don't know what else was going on with her that might have been a factor.

I have to take B Vitamins for the rest of my life (I had RNY). I take Integrative Therapeutics because they got really good reviews. Supposedly a "serving" is two capsules, but I just take one because my surgeon's office said the only thing I had to look for is a B1 (Thiamine) level of 20 mg or more. Some of the vitamins in B Complex are really smelly, so I don't know if you're going to find a palatable chewable. I originally bought a sublingual B Complex, but I had to stop taking them because they tasted so awful. My current ones smell (as do most B complex tablets & capsules), but at least I just have to put up with the smell for a couple of seconds. No way would I want to chew the thing.

Heaviest 210 (I'm 5'4) SW: 195 CW: 178 Yeah I'm seeing what you mean a bit as that third week only lost 2lbs vs the 6lbs week 1 & 2 Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App at 210, you're what another forum calls a "lightweight". You're most likely not going to see huge drops like someone who starts out twice your weight would. It'll be more likely slow and steady for you...but it'll still come off.

after I got down to 200 lbs and my weight loss slowed to a crawl (this was at about a year out), I was convinced it had stopped. Then, a week or two later, it'd drop another pound or two. This has happened again and again and again. Now down to 152. Been here for a couple of weeks. It may have stopped for real this time, but who knows. In the past I keep thinking it has, but then it starts up again!

I've aged about 10 years since surgery. I think that has to do with how much you've lost rather than which surgery you went with. I've heard that often your weight shifts around, though, so that you don't continue to look as gaunt. You start to look better after awhile. re: malabsorption - my lab numbers so far have been very good. Malabsorption is not as extreme with the RNY, though - but I suppose if you really keep on top of your supplements and get regular lab work, you probably be OK. Just keep researching it. I didn't really look very far into the DS because I knew I couldn't have it (because of my insurance - plus, no surgeons around here do that one)

p.s. I'm not sure how they can really force you to have something done you don't want. At least they're willing to do it in two stages. If you're happy with the sleeve, you can always tell them no to the DS in a few months. Unless there's something about this that isn't obvious?

I made it to goal - but the last 20 or 30 lbs were a real struggle to get off. I almost never go off plan - and I exercise - but I don't do anything drastic. They came off really slowly (like 2-3 lbs a month), but they did come off.