catwoman7

major complications like that are extremely rare. I had make myself stop reading the "horror stories" because they were scaring the daylights out of me - and I knew in my head that those rarely happen. The vast majority of us have no complications or only minor ones that are easily "fixed" (like strictures. They're the most common complication of bypass surgery, yet they only happen to about 5% of patients. I would hardly call something that only happens to 5% of patients "common", but there ya go... Plus they're an easy fix. I had one - it was easily fixed and I was on my way again...). Things like constant nausea and vomiting are also very rare. you'll be fine. Having cold feet before a surgery is normal - and I think most of us have read those "horror stories". But there are "horror stories" with every surgery - even tonsillectomies and wisdom tooth extraction. But how often do those things happen? Almost never. Same with this. I hope you can calm down. I was nervous before mine as well, but everything went extremely well and I don't know what I was afraid of. I'd do it again in a heartbeat -- one of the best decisions I've ever made!

follow your surgeon's plan.

I didn't eat them the first few months after surgery, but I do now. As GradyCat said, there aren't any food limitations. There will be for awhile, but beyond the first few months, no. At that point it's a nutritional/portion size issue.

20 months. But I started out at over 300 lbs. I can tell you, though - those last 20 lbs or so before you hit a normal BMI are a BEAR to get off! I thought they'd NEVER come off!

I wasn't allowed to have it for the first six months after surgery, either. I started drinking it again (coffee) at that point (I couldn't drink diet soda at that point. It'd been so long since I'd been "off" it that it tasted like chemicals to me - I ended up never going back to it...)

P.S. If you stick to your clinic's plan and your overall weight trend is down, you're good. Some of us lose faster than others for a variety of reasons, that someone above listed. I was a slow loser from the get-go but followed my program to a "T", and I lost 100 % of my excess weight, over 200 lbs. As I wrote above, I was about at the same place as you are when I was 11 weeks out. So don't worry - you are doing just fine!

it's caused by eating too much sugar in one sitting (or for some people, fat). Your small intestine goes into overdrive trying to deal with it. The most common symptoms are sweating, chills, heart palpitations, dizziness, and diarrhea. Throwing up after eating something that doesn't agree with you - or after overeating - is NOT dumping (contrary to popular belief...) that said, only about 30% of RNY patients dump - and it can be controlled by limiting the amount of sugar you eat at one sitting (or again, fat for those who dump on fat). I have never dumped, but I still feel kind of crappy if I eat too much sugar or fat. I can eat it, just not gobs of it at one sitting. I can eat all of that stuff you mentioned except for the fat laden meal. My husband and I used to go out for Friday night fish fries before I had surgery. Those typically included two or three pieces of fried cod (with tartar sauce), French fries, cole slaw made with mayo, and a roll with butter. Eating that now would have me in the bathroom throwing up. But I could definitely handle maybe one fried fish filet (provided the things I ate with it weren't fatty), or a few fries. I can also handle a normal portion of ice cream (we're talking maybe 1/2 C) - although some people can't handle ice cream at all. It seems to be a common culprit for setting off G/I distress in some patients. people are so different that all you can really do is try it and see (although wait at least a couple of months - you don't want to eat that stuff while you're still healing!!). Some people can handle it just fine - others can't.

I just checked my monthly weight records. I just did it by the month, not the week (at least in my Excel spreadsheet), so this isn't exactly 11 weeks, but at the three-month mark, I'd lost 39 lbs. You're not quite at three months, but you will be in another week or two. So we're roughly the same. And I started out well over 300 lbs.

I'd have no problem at all eating 15 of those - if not more! They'd be better for an occasional treat. If I had them around all the time, I'd be eating them... on the other hand, the calories aren't too bad for 15 little cookies.

I totally understand. I'm always worrying about gaining weight - and I always think I look "fat". I sometimes see pictures of myself taken several months ago - or maybe a year ago - and think "wow - I looked pretty good at that weight - I should try to get back to that again" only to check my records and see that I weighed exactly the same as I do now - or maybe only 2 or 3 lbs more. ARRRRGGGH. It's the body dysmorphia - and it's not uncommon. Yes - I do think therapy might help.

it's not that uncommon the first few weeks after surgery when you're healing and your stomach is pretty sensitive. You'll learn through trial & error that there are some things it won't tolerate - but in most cases, it'll eventually tolerate those things again - it's just the initial sensitivity. but beyond that, no - throwing up a lot is pretty unusual. I probably throw up maybe three or four times a year - really not that much more often than I did pre-surgery. And mine is usually due to the fact I overate. So...you learn... also, like someone else said, throwing up after surgery is different than before. First of all, your stomach is so small that there's not much in there to throw up - and also, there's not nearly as much acid in there, so you don't get that awful taste in your mouth. Let's just say it's a lot less "unpleasant" now. I don't dread it as much as I used to. btw - almost seven years out here - and after the first month or so, I rarely throw up.

Yep - I've taken a capful of Miralax every morning for the last six or so years. It usually does the trick - although still maybe once a month or so I'll get backed up - but a night or two of milk of magnesia will usually fix that. My doctor said daily Miralax is fine, but check with yours just in case.

nope. Your stomach will let you know if you're overdoing it.

I'm not a revision patient - I had a "virgin" bypass - but I didn't feel restriction until I started eating solid food. That's not at all uncommon. So there's definitely a chance you might start feeling it soon...

it's common to lose your sense of hunger after surgery - but it usually comes back sometime within the first year. Mine came back at five months out. I didn't necessarily struggle to eat, but I had zero interest in food and had to REMIND myself to eat. Honestly, I wish my hunger had never come back. It was so much easier to lose weight when I didn't give a flip about food! But if yours is causing pain or something, I'd let your clinic know - could be something else going on. Or if not, it'll just give you peace of mind.

They lengthen the part of the intestine that was bypassed, so you don't absorb as much. This isn't a common "thing", but I've heard of a couple of other people having this done.

^^^^ agreed. That's what I've always heard as well

trial and error. You'll know when something doesn't agree with you. You'll most likely be heading for the bathroom.... Fortunately, you'll figure it out pretty quickly, so these kinds of incidents are usually only common during the early weeks....

It's a short surgery, so most of us don't have catheters. I didn't have one. I did have one when I had plastic surgery (which was a much longer surgery), but they don't place those until you're under. You likely won't even have one with this surgery, though. also, being chronically ill after bypass is extremely rare. and pain - although some people deal with pain, the vast majority of us have little to no pain with these surgeries. Even if you do, they'll send you home with pain meds. I never took any of mine (no pain here), but if you do, just keep on top of the meds and it should really keep it manageable. Should only last the first two or three days tops. But again, most of us have little to no pain with these surgeries. just try to relax. I'm sure everything will go fine. I'm almost seven years out and would do this again in a heartbeat. Should have done it years ago.

I don't want to tell you what to do, but if you're afraid of reflux, I'd strongly consider the RNY.

I had surgery after I'd already gone through menopause, so I have no experience with this - or at least post-surgical experience, but I'd be careful with things like implants and Depo-Provera (the shot). Both are notorious for weight gain. I don't know if that's true after surgery, too, but...

RNY here - but I agree about the scars. I can't even see mine anymore. Maybe if I used a magnifying glass I could, but...

my clinic had us take them for a year (both the RNY and VSG patients), but that was seven years ago, before the not-so-great news came out about PPIs. I think most surgeons (including my clinic) have people on them for 3-6 months now. You're much more likely to develop post-surgery GERD with VSG than you are RNY. About 30% of VSG patients have GERD issues after surgery (some of whom never had it before surgery), whereas RNY often improves if not outright cures GERD. That's the main reason that patients who had reflux issues prior to surgery are often told to consider RNY. I had some reflux issues before surgery, so my surgeon suggested I at least *consider* RNY, although he said he'd do either surgery. Some people are willing to take the risk because 70% of people do NOT have reflux issues after VSG, but I wasn't willing to take the risk.

I stayed at home for three weeks but could have gone back to work after two. I felt fine and wouldn't have needed any accommodations.

you won't be eating 4 oz meals for the rest of your life - that's only early out. I had bypass (not sleeve, but it's the same for sleeve patients) and although I eat much less than I used to, I can go out to dinner and eat enough that no one would ever expect that I had bariatric surgery. I'll usually order an appetizer - or I'll order an entree and eat half of it, and take the rest home with me. Honestly, that's about as much as many of my never-been-obese women friends eat. As I said, no one would ever guess at this point that I've had surgery.