catwoman7

yes - I still have "big pouch days" and "small pouch days" (wish I had more of the latter!). Listening to your body's signals is kind of the "thing" these days with dietitians ("intuitive eating"), so I'm a little surprised yours isn't into that. Of course, there's a minimum you do need to eat to stay healthy, but beyond that.. I tend to be really strict with counting calories, measuring things, etc because it's worked for me - but the dietitians at my clinic are into intuitive eating and don't like the fact I'm so obsessive about numbers (but again, it works for me - different strokes for different folks, I guess...)

I co-led one of the pre-op classes at my clinic for three years (i.e., before COVID hit), and my co-leader ( another WLS patient) swore by this thing...

I haven't been sick since I had my surgery seven years ago. I've vomited, though - when I've eaten too much or eaten something that didn't agree with me. But once I vomit, the nausea is gone. But as far as having norovirus (often referred to as "stomach flu" - although it's not a true flu), I haven't had that in probably ten years. vomiting is a lot easier after surgery for many of us. Your stomach is really small, so there's not much in there to vomit up - and there's a lot less acid in your stomach than there was before surgery, so you don't get that awful taste in your mouth, either. I guess this doesn't really answer your question - maybe someone who's had norovirus since surgery can chime in...

it could be that your stomach just isn't ready to progress in the diet, so you might have to stay with soft or pureed foods for an extra week or two and then try again. OR...yes - it could be a stricture, since you're in the right time frame for one. If it gets harder and harder to keep things down (and if it keeps progressing without intervention, at some point you won't even be able to keep fluids down), then it's probably a stricture. But the first one is probably more likely (i.e., your stomach isn't really to progress quite yet). If you're still having trouble in another week or two, then I'd contact the clinic again - they'll probably schedule you to have an upper endoscopy to see what's going on (and to "fix" the stricture if there's one there...)

I agree with almost everything he says. First of all, I was told by my clinic that only about 10-15% of people make it to a normal BMI - most end up "overweight' or "class I obese" (which is not very obese - we're talking about 20 or 30 lbs overweight). The research I did after I was told that seemed to back that up. My third and final goal was to make it to a normal BMI, and I was actively discouraged from doing that - but I actually did make it -and stayed there for quite a while (I'm now about 6 lbs overweight at almost seven years out). I was told - like he said - that someone who's formerly obese has heavier bones and muscles than a person of the same weight who's never been obese, because we needed that extra "infrastructure" to hold up our weight. Granted, you do lose a lot of that as you lose fat - but you don't lose all of it - so we can weigh 10 or 15 lbs more than a never-been-obese person who's the same height and build and look pretty much the same as they do. and as far as getting too thin - I got down to 138 at my lowest - I looked pretty ghastly at that weight, even though that is around the middle of a normal BMI for me. I could practically see every bone in my body. I look and feel much better in the 150s. the only thing he said that didn't apply in my situation is that you lose about half of what you'd be expected to lose by a year out by the time you were three months out (in other words, if you lost 50 lbs in the first three months, you'd be expected to lose twice that (100 lbs) by a year out. I'd only lost about 40 lbs by three months out - and I was down about 120 lbs by one year out. So I think that can vary a bit.. otherwise, I do agree with pretty much everything he said - and my experience reflects most of it.

castor oil is pretty harsh - I don't think that would be good to use on a regular basis. Something like Miralax or a stool softener should be OK, though.

the band surgery is rarely done any more - the VSG (sleeve) has largely replaced it as the non-RNY weight loss option. I think there's a specific thread for band patients in here - you might want to post over there as more lapband patients might see it. Sorry you're having these issues - that sounds awful! yes - I just checked, and there are band forums on here. Here they are: https://www.bariatricpal.com/forum/4-lap-band-surgery-forums/

it can take a week for the first BM. I'm glad to hear you're taking Colace and Miralax, though - because that first one can be a doozy!

if it turns out to be a stricture (which it sounds like it is), it's an easy fix...

I was encouraged to walk right away. at four weeks out, I was cleared to do everything except for weights. at eight weeks out, I was cleared for weights.

^^^ yes - I agree.

I think they just want to make sure you're ready and don't have any issues that would make surgery inappropriate for you. Insurance wouldn't want to cover it if they knew there was a good chance you wouldn't be successful.

I think mine was also a 600/200 question thing. I *think* it might have been the MMPI exam. It's really comprehensive - and as I recall, they sometimes ask the same questions again and again, changing the wording a bit each time. They're looking for signs - like certain kinds of mental illness - that would make it inappropriate for you to have surgery. Although that's pretty rare. Most of us pass with flying colors - and occasionally, some people have to delay surgery a bit because something came up that wouldn't necessarily take surgery off the table, but they need to work on something (sometimes with a counselor) before being approved. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

I had two - one at four weeks out, the next at eight weeks out. The "fix" is easy-peasy, and you'll feel better right away. strictures happen to about 5% of RNY patients. They can also happen in sleeve patients, but they're pretty rare with VSG. and yes - you can live without food for quite awhile, so it's fine if they can't get you in until next week. On the other hand, you can only live a couple of days without fluid - so they'd need to get you in ASAP. That's why they asked...

^^^ I can't believe I didn't catch that! I just re-read the OP's message and ...yep!...right on time for the infamous three-week stall!

yes - that does become a challenge for most of us as we get several months out (or sometimes a year or more) and "diet fatigue" sets in. It's a constant battle. I just have to keep reminding myself of where I came from, and how much I DON'T want to ever go back there... as someone suggested, working with a therapist who works with bariatric patients (or even eating disorders in general) might be helpful - I haven't done that myself, but I know several others from various forums who swear by it. P.S. no - your stomach almost certainly hasn't stretched back out also, sometimes I'll do things like eat a big bowl of bran cereal - or eat a bunch of raw carrots (which irritate my stomach if I eat too many of them) to stop a snacking attack...(when nothing else - like talking myself down - works!). Or just get the hell out of the house...

as long as you're following your clinic's plan, you should be fine. The gain could be due to water retention or constipation.

I thought this exact thought for literally decades (I'm in my 60s). I can't even tell you how many times I lost weight - sometimes as much as 50 or 60 lbs - just to gain it all back again a few months later. And I had over 200 lbs to lose. How on earth was I ever going to lose 200 lbs if I couldn't even keep 50 lbs off? Yet I'd try again...and again...and again. And yes - that 3-5% figure you heard is what I've read as well. Without surgical intervention, supposedly only about 3-5% of people can lose a lot of weight - and keep it off (although honestly, I'm surprised it's that high). Unfortunately, I wasn't one of the 3-5%. It took me 40 years to come to that conclusion. yes - you absolutely can regain all of your weight after having weight loss surgery. But your odds of losing a ton of weight and keeping it off are MUCH better than they are without surgery. I never, ever, in a million years could have lost those 200 lbs without surgery. And I wouldn't be sitting here almost seven years later, still managing to keep almost all of it off (like many of us, I did have a rebound during year 3. Most people seem to regain 10-20 lbs after hitting their lowest weight). This surgery has honestly been a miracle for me. It's not that I didn't have to work at it - I did - hard - but I never could have done this without surgery.

P.S. just saw your last message. Zero hunger or appetite at three months out is normal. Vomiting everything solid that you eat is not. Call your clinic.

check with your clinic. That could be symptomatic for a stricture, and you're still in the "window" for one (they almost always occur, when they're going to occur, between one and three months post-surgery (they're very rare after you hit the three month mark) they occur in about 5% of bypass patients. And they're an easy fix (I had two - at four weeks out and again at about eight weeks out)

I could have gone back after 2 with my bypass (I had a desk job)

it depends on the person - and also what kind of job you're talking about. I had bypass - and a desk job. I took three weeks off, but I could have gone back after two.

it does for most people (not all - but most). I had bypass - hunger comes back from most bypassers sometime during the first year post-op - I'm not 100% sure about sleevers.

Arabesque answered the food question well - so ditto what she said. as for exercise, in the beginning I walked and did water aerobics, because at over 300 lbs, that was pretty much all I could do. The last few years I've added Zumba and bicycling (I think those started up when I got to around 200 lbs). oh - I also did the stationary bike at the gym right away, too - those things can handle over 300 lbs. .

according to your profile, you're hoping to lose about 150 lbs, so yes, you'll almost certainly have loose skin. Fortunately, most of us are able to hide it pretty well by the way we dress. I'm sure no one noticed mine (well, except my husband...). I originally lost 235 lbs, so I had a ton of it (I've since had it removed since it was driving me nuts, even though no one could see it). Honestly, I think I can speak for most vets who've lost 100+ lbs that we'd take the lose skin any day of the week over being morbidly obese again. ANY DAY!!!