catwoman7

check out the blog "The World According to Eggface". She's a long-time bariatric patient and is very active in the international bariatric community. She also loves to cook, and she has recipes on her site for all the different phases.

I told very few people. My immediate family, some close friends, my boss all knew. Afterward, when it was obvious I'd lost a ton of weight, I told most people that I'd been working with a dietitian and was exercising like a fiend (which was actually true...I just conveniently left out the part about the surgery). When another obese person asked me, I was honest with them, since they know that diet & exercise thing is a bunch of schlock. so I don't know if I was technically lying - just leaving out the surgery part for most people who asked. But then again, if you don't want people to know about the surgery, there aren't a lot of options.

1) probably a stricture. Once they get it cleared, you'll be fine 2) you shouldn't be progressing on your diet like that. Goldfish crackers and French fries during week 3 is on no one's plan. You'll eventually be able to eat stuff like that again (although in controlled amounts), but right now you should be focusing on following your plan. You don't want to sabotage everything when you're right out of the gate. This will all work as long as you follow the plan. Don't be one of those people who never loses very much weight - or worse, gains it all back. You've been through too much for that.

sounds like you're in a stall. Those are very common and it'll likely be the first of many while you're on your journey. They typically last 1-3 weeks. Just make sure you're following your plan to a "T" and stay off the scale for a few days. It'll break and you'll be on your way again. oh - and as others have said, the fluctuation (up a lb or two, down a lb or two) is very normal. Probably water retention and/or having fuller intestines some days than others.

a 10-20 lb rebound weight, usually during year 3 (although it can be earlier or later for some) is EXTREMELY common. A dietitian who gave a presentation on one of Unjury's virtual support groups a couple of weeks ago said they don't even consider it regain until you gain more than 15% of your lowest weight (so for you, that would be slightly over 15 lbs). Under that, and it's just your body settling in to a weight it feels comfortable at. you can always lose weight again by cutting your calories - although weight loss is a struggle for those of us at or near a normal BMI.

It does get easier after your body goes into ketosis around day 4. but yea - this is definitely the worst part of the ordeal. I was actually relieved the morning I was rolled into surgery...

I had to google it since I'd never heard of it. Yes, sounds like it's mostly done in Australia. It sounds a little too much like the lapband concept for me.

I'm so sorry for your loss. My father passed away five years ago today. Although it does get a bit easier with time, it never goes away.

it's not hard after surgery. Most of us lose our sense of hunger for awhile after surgery (it eventually comes back for most of us, though...)

like everyone else said, it's just normal fluctuation. as for 30 lbs in 7.5 weeks, you're ahead of where I was at that point, and I started out WAY heavier than you (people with higher BMI's tend to lose more quickly at first). Your loss is completely within the normal range.

dumping is when you eat too much sugar or fat in one sitting and your system goes into overdrive trying to deal with it. Vitamins wouldn't do that. Also, dumping isn't very common with sleeve - it's much more common in bypass patients (about 30% of whom dump). So I wouldn't worry about that...

in addition, no, PPI's are NOT perfectly safe. There has been a LOT of publicity the last couple of years about the dangers of long-term use of PPIs. They're fine for the short term - maybe a few months - but not for long-term use. My clinic used to put patients on them for a year (like back when I had surgery in 2015). But no more. Most clinics limit them to 3-6 months now.

like the above person said, the average weight loss difference between the two isn't that much, and it IS up to the patient to develop good, lifelong eating habits to prevent gaining the weight back - so I agree with that part. However, there's about a 30% chance of developing reflux with the sleeve (or if you already have it, of it getting worse), whereas the bypass usually improves - if not outright cures - GERD. most of us are put on PPI's (like Prilosec) for the first 3-6 months after surgery, but after that, no. If you continue to have reflux issues after that, then yes - but continuing reflux problems are much more common with sleeve than with bypass. I'd consult with another surgeon. Or if you don't have other options, then insist on bypass. You should be able to get the surgery that you want.

did this just start recently? And is it mostly after you eat or drink something? If those things are true, it could also be a stricture. You're in the right time frame for it. Let your clinic know. If they suspect it might be that, they'll have you come in for an upper endoscopy. It's an easy fix if that's what it is. I had two of them (at four weeks out and again at about eight weeks out) they almost always appear 1-3 months after surgery. They're very rare after the three month mark. About 5% of bypass patients get those.

it depends on the surgeon. Some say never again, some say it's OK once you're a ways out and your stomach can tolerate it. my surgeon is in the "never again" camp, but I tried it when I was about three years out. Never again for me -- not only did my stomach not tolerate the carbonation, but it'd been so long since I'd had it that it tasted like chemicals to me. Gag.

about a week. And just a warning, that first one can be a doozy, so I'm glad you're taking stool softeners!

Delta was worse (as in a more dangerous variant)- but the difference is, there were no vaccines available when we were hit by Alpha - and it was also so new that they weren't sure how to treat it. They've learned a lot in the last couple of years...

it's the infamous "three-week stall" - right on schedule! Do I search on this site for it. When I last checked, there were over 17,000 posts on it (and no, I am NOT kidding...)

you're right in that a tummy tuck (and better yet, a full lower body lift) is going to look more natural than a panniculectomy. The question about adding lipo to it is one for a plastic surgeon. People do lipo with tummy tucks and with lower body lifts, but I don't know about with panniculectomies. It would definitely add to the cost, but I don't know by how much. I also don't know the price range for a tummy tuck if insurance covers the panniculectomy part of it (although that's done commonly enough that there are almost certainly people on here who've gone that route and can let you know about what they paid (for tummy tuck if their insurance paid for the panniculectomy part of it) . When I started looking into plastic surgery about five years ago, I was told to expect $8K-$10K per procedure (I had my lower body lift first, which actually counts as two procedures, because they do both front and back, plus a mons lift). I had four consults with plastic surgeons, and that guesstimate rang mostly true. My estimates ranged from $16K - $23K for a lower body lift (but again, that's more extensive than a tummy tuck since they do front and back - so it counts as two procedures). I also had an estimate from a surgeon in Mexico that as I recall was about half that. The cost is also going to depend on location (prices in New York, Chicago, and LA are going to be higher than prices in places like Knoxville, Tennessee) and the surgeon. Surgeons with national (or even international) reputations - or surgeons with many years of experience - are going to command higher prices. So ...I know that doesn't answer your question, but then, pricing is going to vary depending on several factors, so it's kind of hard to answer it. Some people start having consults before they actually get to goal, so you can always do a couple of them and get some estimates. Consults are usually fairly cheap ($100 or so) if not free (and if there's a charge, the consult fee is often deducted from your bill if you decide to go with that surgeon). I think it's money well spent, actually - I learned a lot through my consults.

the times I was under 300 lbs (like around 285), I didn't need an extender in regular-sized planes. I did on those little commuter flights, though. If the belt doesn't fit, just ask one of the flight attendants for an extender. They probably get at least one of those requests on every flight.

I haven't in a long time since i don't eat bariatric-specific foods anymore, but I always had good luck with it (i.e. the store)

luckily, the only things we ever had to count were protein grams and fluids...

I never got one. I know this comes up occasionally and some people get them - but I don't think most of us do.

Jen - I sent you another message with the contact name (the woman in Rockford who also had surgery there). It's in the messages part of Bariatricpal.

it's very common with both sleeve and bypass people. It has to do with the high protein diet and some of the supplements (mainly iron and calcium). A lot of us take a capful of Miralax every day to stay on top of it. Others take Colace, magnesium tablets, drink Smoothmove tea, or eat a few prunes. Whatever it takes to keep on top of it..