catwoman7

it's a very individual thing, because it depends on so many factors, such as: gender, age, starting BMI, metabolic rate, whether or not you lost a lot of weight before surgery, activity level, how closely you stick to your clinic's program - etc etc etc for your other question, yes, most people drop the most weight the first month or maybe two, then it slows down. The closer you get to goal, the slower it typically goes

I'd be elated if my hunger had never come back (unfortunately, mine came roaring back at five months out), but yea - that retching would be awful. I'm sorry you're dealing with this. P.S. I could never do a buffet anymore. I can eat more than you, but it's not enough to justify what you pay for to eat at those. I usually order an entree and take 1/2 of it home. Unfortunately, you can't box up uneaten buffet items and take them home with you like you can with regular orders - so I never get those anymore

I'm not a dumper, but from what i understand, it can go on for several hours...

this is only indirectly related, but I had to change insurance companies to get my WLS covered. I decided in May or June of 2014 that I wanted it done, but my new insurance wouldn't kick in until January 2015. So I checked to see if I could at least do the six-month supervised diet during those interim months (my new insurance required this supervised diet. Not all require that, but it seems like most do), and if they would accept it since I would have done it through my old insurance company, and not them. They said that was fine - they would accept it as fulfilling the requirement even if I had it done elsewhere (of course, it all had to be documented, which it was). So if you decide to wait, you can always see if you can knock out a requirement or two while you wait.

almost everyone has their first one within the first month or so after surgery. After that, it's really an individual thing. If you're sticking to your program and the scale isn't budging, then yes - you're probably in a stall. Just keep on sticking to your program and stay off the scale for a few days. It'll eventually break and you'll be on your way again...

I just had them while I was in the hospital - I didn't have to do them at home. But like someone else said, they're really not painful. The needles are pretty thin.

lots of people have trouble with eggs after WLS. For many, it's just temporary.

a few people on here have - hopefully they're still active on here and will respond!

my recovery was similar - way easier than I expected. No pain - and the only nausea was the first day in the hospital, which was controlled once they put Zofran in my IV line. Part of me wondered if they even did the surgery! I wasn't turned off by food, but I had no interest in it, and was never hungry. It was like that for the first five months. I curse the day my hunger and appetite came back - it was so much easier to lose weight when I didn't give a flip about food!

it's been a few years, but I think the pre-op screening was more basic panels - like metabolic panels, glucose, etc. After surgery they started doing all the nutritional ones.

some people don't have to give it up. I think most of us do - at least temporarily. A few are told to give it up for life.

I suppose there's a chance you could, but it's a lot less likely if you lose a lot of weight.

I mostly just do cardio that I happen to like - such as bicycling and water aerobics. Otherwise, it doesn't "stick".

I could eat eggs sometime within the first month or so (don't remember exactly when because it's been a few years since I had surgery), but I know for some people, it's a few months before they can handle eggs.

most surgeons will recommend that patients who have reflux issues go the bypass route rather than the sleeve route. Bypass usually improves if not outright cures reflux. Sleeve can make it worse. It doesn't happen to everyone - in fact, some sleevers have said theirs improved, but for about 30%, it does get worse. Those odds were too high for me, so i went with bypass (like you, I had issues with it before surgery). Many cases can be controlled medically (by taking PPI's), but some people end up revising to bypass. regardless of which surgery you get, a lot surgeons automatically put their patients on PPI's for the first 3-6 months post surgery just so any potential acid issues don't affect the healing. If yours doesn't, and if you start having issues, ask. They'll probably put you on one.

acidic things can be hard on stomachs. I still to this day (over seven years out) occasionally have trouble with tomatoes and some fruits - also, certain beverages that are acidic. And acidic coffee - UGH! So I understand!! Crystal Light never bothered me, though. Not sure what to tell you. Sorry you're having to deal with this!

I don't do beef so I can't advise you on that, but like others have said, dry meats are tough to handle the first few weeks. I know chicken (like a chicken breast, for example) can be hard for a lot of people, too - too dry. I started with things like deli turkey and canned tuna. oh yea - like someone else said, lettuce (and other raw vegetables) can be really hard on some people's stomachs, too. I think I was at least four months out before I tried that.

it's highly doubtful you'll need a home health nurse. My husband took a week off to be home with me, and he ended up going back to work after three days. I just didn't need him. I mean, it was nice to have someone go get beverages and protein shakes for me, but I could have done it myself. it's also doubtful you'll need to take 4-6 weeks off. Most of us take two, but many have said they could have gone back earlier. I took three weeks off and definitely could have gone back after two - maybe even a little earlier. I had a desk job.

I don't think the mini gastric bypass is very common in the US, but as I recall, there are several people on here from Europe who've had it.

I also had elevated liver numbers for about a year after surgery. As others have said, it's not uncommon and it's because weight loss (esp rapid weight loss) is really hard on livers. My numbers normalized after my weight loss slowed way down. I don't know about that particular test or the GGT, though. Hopefully this is just the normal liver-going-nuts-about-the-weight-loss thing, and not anything worrisome. The biopsy is probably a good idea if the GI doctor is concerned about something. The good thing about livers is, depending on the issue, they can regenerate.

same here. Amazingly, at well over 300 lbs, my bloodwork was always in the normal range, but on the very high end. Now it's all on the very low end of normal. My borderline sleep apnea is long gone.

what's the bariatric specialist setting like? Is it in his/her office where you get the surgery and then get sent home after a couple of hours? If so, I know some people do that - although personally I'd rather be in a hospital that first night in case anything happened.

VSG is actually stage one of the DS. Years ago many surgeons did the DS in two stages (first, the sleeved stomach, then a few months later, the bypassed small intestine). Some patients did really well just with stage 1, so they started offering the sleeved stomach as a standalone surgery. Ta da! The VSG was born! so yes - lots of DS'ers had their DS done in two stages (esp those who had it done several years ago), and there are definitely people who've revised from VSG to DS. It's a more straightforward surgery than going from VSG to RNY, since you're already halfway to the DS when you have a VSG.

that's pretty average. That's about what I lost, and we started out around the same weight. I don't know of too many people who've lost more than that at that juncture - a few lucky ones, and those who started out MUCH heavier than us. But otherwise, no. That's a pretty normal loss for three months out.

I agree with Arabesque - my first thought was lactose intolerance - or maybe an intolerance to an artificial sweetener. Neither is uncommon....