catwoman7

I forgot that you asked about exercise. I was allowed (in fact, ENCOURAGED) to start walking right away. At one month out, I was cleared to do everything except for weights. I was cleared for weights at about eight weeks out, I think.

there's nothing you can take to prevent it. How much you have and how much elasticity it still has depends on age and genetics, as summerseeker said, as well as how much weight you lose. If you're talking 100+ lbs, you will probably have loose skin. Seriously stretched skin is damaged skin and isn't going to bounce back. I lost over 200 lbs so I had a ton of it. It was easy to hide in clothes so no one knew it was there, but I eventually had it removed because *I* knew it was there, and it was driving me crazy...

a 10-20 lb rebound weight gain after hitting your lowest weight is EXTREMELY common. It's just your body settling in to its new set point. That gain is not inevitable, but it seems to happen to the vast majority of us during year 2/3. if you don't like it, you can always eat less and lose it, but if your body wants to weigh around 148 lbs, then it'll be a lifelong struggle to keep it at 125. Is it worth the struggle? That's a question only you can answer. For some yes, for others, no. I finally gave up the ghost. It just wasn't worth it to me, and I'm at a healthy weight, so...??? I am also 5'6". Our normal BMI weight range goes up to 154 lbs, so at 148 lbs, you're within the normal range. You're fine where you are. Your surgeon will almost certainly agree with that.

I wouldn't do that. Stick to your clinic's food plan.

it IS more painful and takes longer to recover from than WLS. And every time I had one (I had three plastic surgeries altogether), i said I'd never do it again, but then, a year later - I was back on the table doing it again! It was worth it to me in the long run since i now have a normal-looking body, but yes - those are definitely tougher surgeries than WLS.

not much you can do about the hair loss. If it's gonna happen, it's gonna happen. And not everyone loses hair - I lost some, but very little. I noticed more strands of hair than usual during months 5-8, but just looking at my hair in the mirror, I couldn't tell - so neither could anyone else. Most people do lose some, but usually, you're the only one who notices. If you're one of the folks who loses a noticeable amount (and it's more like shedding - not big clumps), a shorter style will make it look less noticeable. dying hair - I can't remember if there are any issues with that (I do dye my hair, but I'm several years post-op) but I don't think there are walking - re: sticks - up to you. I didn't have any vaccines - you can get those any time, before or after. It's pretty late in the season for flu shots (although that doesn't mean you can't get one). Tetanus is every 10 years, so if it's been 10 years, I'd get one. puree - I just used a regular blender, but a hand blender would work, too.

^^ that's what I was thinking - might still be the effects of the anesthesia

if you're sticking to your food plan and not losing weight for a few weeks (generally 1-3 weeks), then it's just a routine stall. If you're frequently going off your food plan, though, then you need to get back on track. I looked at it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lose a massive amount of weight, and I didn't want to blow it!! I know it's hard - but I was determined to do whatever it took to get rid of that weight once and for all!!

P.S. weight loss does slow down a lot the further out you get from surgery. After i hit the year mark, my weight loss slowed down to a crawl - some months I'd lose like a whopping 2 lbs. But I kept at it, and it did eventually come off. The issue is, the smaller you get, the fewer calories your body needs to function. If at your previous weight your body required say, 3000 kcal/day to function, and you were only eating 1000, you're going to lose weight fairly quickly. But if at a lesser weight it only takes 1600 to maintain that weight and you're eating 1000, you're still going to lose weight, but it's going to come off slower.

to gain 4.6 lbs in a week, you would have had to have eaten 16,100 extra calories - that is, calories above and beyond what your body needs. So unless you've eaten that many extra calories this week, then the "gain" is likely due to water retention or very full intestines. In either case, it should be gone in a couple of days. and yes - you do have to monitor your food intake for life, unfortunately. I gradually put on 10 lbs over the course of a year because I wasn't monitoring myself as closely as I usually do. Working on taking that off now (have lost 7 lbs of it it so far - YAY!). This is a lifelong battle.

check with the insurance company or your employer. It looks like they generally do not cover bariatric surgery, but there might be some exceptions. With some insurance companies, employers have the option to purchase "riders" for various services that aren't covered by the basic policy. If this is true in this situation, it could be that your company may have purchased the bariatric surgery rider, but there's no way of knowing that unless you check with them (your employer) or the insurance company. If the company doesn't offer an optional rider to the employers, then it could be that they just don't cover bariatric surgery except in specific situations. If that's the case, only the insurance company can answer that question for you.

Taking vitamins for life is required for bypass patients (as well as many sleeve patients - although the consequences are worse for bypass patients if they slack off on taking vitamins). And yes, the fact you don't feel well could very well be due to vitamin deficiency.

P.S. just wanted to add that I didn't intend AT ALL to offend you. I see from what you wrote that you know what dumping is. I just mentioned that because a lot of people on here think that every time they vomit, it's "dumping". That's not dumping. What you described above are some of the actual symptoms of dumping. But again, the most critical thing at this point is the dehydration - and some of the symptoms you mentioned - like dizziness and feeling unwell - can also be from dehydration. That can land you back in the hospital if it goes on too long. I'm glad you're seeing your surgeon tomorrow.

P.S. I agree with the others that I wouldn't start the liquid diet now. For one thing, you usually just do that for a week or two before your surgery. For another, it's pretty awful - I wouldn't do that until/unless I had to! And third, not all surgeons even require it - some just have you do a 24-hour fast before your surgery, which is kind of standard with other types of surgeries. Oh - and even the liquid diets, when required, can vary a lot. Some people are allowed to eat SOME food, like a sensible, low calorie dinner (but protein shakes the rest of the day). And some of us (me included) had to have just shakes plus no (or very low) calorie fluids the whole two weeks. So yea - I'd wait until the time comes.

there's quite a bit of variation between surgeons for food plans, so there aren't any standards. Some clinics have their patients on low carb plans, or ultra low carb plans, and some just have you follow a balanced diet. Your clinic will give you their guidelines sometime before surgery. For vitamins, I'll attach the ASBMS (American Society of Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery) list of requirements. You have to scroll down a little to see them - but they do have them listed for each type of surgery. Most clinics pretty much follow these, so these tend to be more standard across clinics than the food plans are. But here it is in case you're curious: ASMBS-Nutritional-Guidelines-2016-Update.pdf

yes - that does sound like it could be dumping - although it also sounds like you're very dehydrated. That can get very dangerous quickly, so if you're not able to handle fluids very well, call your clinic or go to the hospital. They may need to put you on IV fluids to get you hydrated again. dark urine is definitely a symptom of dehydration - and the feeling of being unwell is, too.

go back to your clinic and don't be embarrassed. Regain is unfortunately very common, so they're used to dealing with that. They can help you get back on track - and they may even put you on meds or something to help you get back on track. Better to deal with it now and not risk it starting to spiral out of control. I can guarantee that you're not the only patient they've seen for help with regain, because I've known several of them (me included!)

I went with bypass for the exact same reasons you're thinking of. I had GERD prior to surgery, and I didn't want to take the risk of it getting worse (sleeve doesn't ALWAYS make it worse, and for some people, it actually gets better, but the risk of it getting worse was too high for my comfort, so I went with bypass). Also, I had my surgery almost eight years ago, and at that point, standalone sleeve surgery was still kind of a new thing, and I was afraid it might turn out to be "Lapband 2". It's been around long enough at this point that I wouldn't have that particular fear anymore, but if I had to decide today, i'd still go with bypass because of my previous GERD issues. your surgeon may recommend bypass anyway since you have GERD. Bypass usually improves if not outright cures GERD. My surgeon said he'd do either one, but he wanted me to at least strongly consider bypass because of the GERD issue. It didn't take much to convince me to go in that direction. I've been very happy with my bypass and am glad I decided to go with it.

that's a super fast lost! We started out at about the same weight, and it took me almost a year to lose 100 lbs (I lost 200 altogether, but it took me 20 months to lose the whole 200+ lbs)

are you sure it was dumping? Dumping usually means dizziness, heart palpitations, chills or sweating, cramps, and diarrhea. it you were vomiting and generally can't keep food down, that could be that your stomach isn't quite ready to move to the next food progression - in which case going back to the week 1 plan for a few days before trying week 2 again is the usual solution. Or it could be some kind of food intolerance. That's not uncommon after surgery and is usually temporary. Lactose and artificial sweeteners are the usual culprits for that. a third possibility is a stricture, although those usually appear between weeks 4 and 12, so it's a little early - and I'm not sure if they occur with mini bypasses or not (they do with traditional gastric bypasses - about 5% of bypass patients get those). I'd call your clinic and let them know what's going on. They might want you to come in for testing. Plus Tomo is right - not being able to keep food down for a few days is one thing, but not being able to keep fluids down can be dangerous.

Asheville's great! I haven't been there in probably 40 years, but from what I hear, it's gotten even better since then! (it seemed pretty wonderful even back then...). I lived in Watauga and Avery counties - so about 1.5 hours from Asheville. We were about 10 miles from Tennessee and maybe 30 from Virginia - so up in the top corner. P.S. if you're not familiar with that area - it was the Boone/Blowing Rock/Linville/Banner Elk area. Very protty - but I was in my 20s then and there really wasn't much there for young single people unless you were into skiing or hiking. i think I would have been much happier living in Asheville.

I wouldn't start a liquid diet until they tell you to. The thing is a PITA - the worst part of the whole ordeal, I think. And some surgeons don't even require one (some just have you do water only for 24 hours before surgery). So I'd wait and see what they say. Like someone else said, you could work on lowering your carbs and calories and trying to eat more nutritiously - kind of like you'll be eating once you're a couple months out of surgery and all healed up. That's what my dietitian had me doing, so my change to the "new" eating style didn't seem as radical.

if you want to know for sure, I'd call them and ask, but I kind of doubt something like that would delay your surgery

you do have to comply with your clinic's program or you'll eventually regain weight (although a 10-20 lb gain once you hit your lowest weight is very common - and almost expected. I planned for that when I set my goal and went a bit under goal to compensate) that said, I'd never been able to lose weight and keep it off. I was over 200 lbs overweight, and I lost 50 or 60 lbs God knows how many times, only to gain it all back. I got the surgery (in my case, bypass) because if I couldn't even keep off 50 lbs for more than a couple of months, I knew there was no way I could lose and keep off 200 lbs. BUT...this actually worked. I did actually lose all that weight - over 200 lbs. Your stomach will be a lot smaller so you can't take in a ton of food AT ONE SITTING - plus, most people lose their sense of hunger for a few months (up to a year) after the surgery. Having no hunger makes it much easier to lose weight. Once the hunger comes back, though, which is does for most of us, it'll be more of a challenge. You're still not going to be able to eat a ton of food at one sitting, but you might start grazing or eating mindlessly if you're not watching yourself. So that's when you have to really make sure you're continuing to comply with the program. people gain weight back because they stop being compliant and old habits start creeping back in. As before, you still won't be able to eat as much as can now AT ONE SITTING, but if you're snacking all day, yep - you'll be able to take in a lot of calories. The examples I always use is that before I had surgery, I could eat half a large pizza for dinner. No way could I do that now. It would be physically painful. All I can manage is 1-2 pieces. BUT...if I ate 1-2 pieces at 5:00 pm, and another 1-2 pieces at 7:00 pm, and 1-2 pieces 9:00 pm, (which would be easy to do), I'd end up eating half the large pizza. So THAT'S what you need to watch out for. the surgery in and of itself shouldn't exaggerate depression. If you're feeling depressed, though, it'd probably be helpful to work with a therapist. A lot of us do - both for that or to deal with eating issues (unfortunately, as they say, the surgery is on our stomachs, not on our brains). where are you living in NC? I lived there for 10 years. I went to high school in Raleigh and when to college up in the mountains. My brother still lives in NC, so I still get down there occasionally...

here are the 17,501 previous posts on the 'three week stall" (and no, I am NOT kidding). Happens to almost all of us. I wish bariatric clinics would tell their patients about this, because we get at least one post every day from someone worrying because they're only a couple of weeks out, and their weight loss has stalled. It is normal and it happens to the vast majority of us. https://www.bariatricpal.com/search/?q=three week stall