Sajijoma

I can't do the heavy milk based whey protein drinks because post op, I've become lactose intolerant, but I do the syntrax twisted cherry. It tastes like cherry coolaid honestly. The Blue sky is good too. All the syntrax are lactose free and sit really well for me. It's also getting to be hot chocolate weather and I got some protein enriched hot chocolate from mybariatricpantry.com it's not my super favorite thing, but at just a month out, anything too warm still hurts the pouch and I feel weird making it into some iced chocolate-Tay LOL

I always carried my weight proportionately around my middle with thinner legs. Since surgery, my top has thinned out and I am now more bowling pin shape! ???????? I'm only a month out so I know it will change more, but I never pictured my once ample heavage(it was beyond cleavage) disappearing seemingly overnight. Your body will probably change shapes several times as you go through your metamorphosis, but try not to get too hung up because this is just temp. After we get done chiseling the new us out of the fat, we could be anything!

@@MsCyrus hi! I am from Highlands Ranch and actually had my surgery at Skyridge. Great surgeon, great NUT, great all around experience. I had RNY on Nov. 9th of this year!

I had my surgery on Nov. 9th and the first poo was insanely painful and I thought I was going to die pushing that Boulder out! lol since then though, I've been taking a daily probiotic and haven't had any issues. I usually have an every other day pattern now, but it's not hard or painful at all.

My surgeon does drains for all bypass and sleeve patients. He says that it reduces the risk of infection from 2-5% down to .2% and he wouldn't negotiate not doing one. I had mine for 10 days. It was miserable, but it did have a lot of gross liquid coming out of it that otherwise would have been in my abdominal cavity possibly causing infection so in the end it was a good idea. Don't fret it too much. They show you how to empty it and change the bandages to keep it clean.

I was just wondering this too. My calorie count was 233 and I was dizzy so I had another protein shake (syntrax twisted cherry) so I'm up to 333 now. I'm 3 1/2wks out and in puréed stage.

my surgeon doesn't even offer the DS. He says that it's a highly risky surgery and the complications outweighs the benefits so he doesn't do them. I ended up with RNY and although so am just over 3wks out, I am seeing HUGE differences in my weight especially when I look at my face. I didn't have any co morbidities to speak of, but I do carry a high BMI. I'm losing top down so I have a very thin face now and unfortunately still a lot of junk around my trunk! ???? listen to your surgeon and ask a lot of questions and then together make the choice you both feel will be the best decision. Don't rule out RNY. Malabsorption isn't all bad. It also means you aren't absorbing all the calories and fat you take in which help with weight loss and when they make your pouch, they don't cut out the excess stomach. It remains inside producing hormones so if God forbid you did have a serious complication like esophageal erosion so bad that it needed repair or cancer, they can use that stomach lining to build you a new one. It's always better to graft from 1 body if possible. With sleeve there's nothing left to work with, and I don't know much about DS but I assume it's the same since I believe I was told the sleeve actually was a stage one of making DS.

I can't believe it! Tomorrow is my surgery day! I absolutely cannot wait to get this over with!

Oh no! That is so scary! Praying for you that it comes back benign and you can have your surgery rescheduled.

no not really. I tend to stay up late because it's the only time I have to exercise and then after I do I need to relax to get sleepy so I play around on the Internet, shop online, or do laundry and chores. It's life with 7 kids. ????

I feel better knowing this is possible. I was really starting to freak out! My face is so thin looking now and my body is just so...disappointing for the 69lbs I've lost so far. I really wish I could lose some belly or some hips....something!

My NUT and I recently had this talk, because I was concerned I wasn't losing fast enough to "get anywhere".(I just had surgery on 11/9/15). She said that the higher BMI's tend to lose slower BUT that they tend to lose longer. So it may take me 2yrs to reach my ideal weight with strict diet and exercise but it can be done. It bummed me out a bit, but it's nice to know there is no strict "ok you've got 6 months and then everything left is stuck forever".

When I reach the full sensation it is a very subtle spasm in my chest about where my pouch meets the esophagus. One more bite and it will be pain. It's so subtle that I am very cautious not to go too fast or get distracted while eating because feeling it once is enough. In general, I get the sensation at about the 1 1/2-2oz mark depending on the food and density.(I'm in the puréed stage).

When I had my gallbladder out 13+ yrs ago I didn't do anything and my scars faded so far into the background my surgeon couldn't find them all-me either! So this time around I've got 4 tiny slits and a hole where the drain was. I don't think the slits will leave a lasting scar, but the drain hole looks like it's gonna be ugly.

@@rking I'm perfectly fine now. It was all the pain meds causing me problems. As soon as I got off of them, I was all better.

Here's my two cents. You may think the classes sound dumb or stupid and a waste of time, but even if you look stuff up online, a lot of it contradicts itself and is often in the vein of rumor or "I had a friend who did _____" you need to take the classes to heart and commit them to memory for long term success. Most of my classes weren't about how to eat healthy at that moment, but about how to survive the changes I was about to undergo. Let me tell ya, those classes really made a difference immediately post op when I would feel like I had morning sickness or couldn't tolerate my protein shakes or when the desire to just lick food to taste something showed up. I didn't walk out after surgery confused about what was going on, the various stages of regret, funky tastes/smells, desire to chew to name a few, that I would experience because I learned all about those things in my classes. I learned what to do at each stage post op and how to go about it the right way and how I didn't need food funerals because after I reached my goal, many of those things I was "giving up" would be able to have a new place in my life again. There are those who choose not to follow those rules and honestly those people don't succeed. Going in with the mind frame that the classes are stupid and you don't want to have to lose any percentage of weight beforehand is the wrong idea at looking at it and is why you are getting such a negative response. Let me tell you a short story. There was a guy in one of my NUT's classes who had surgery and on his first day out of the hospital tried to blend and eat a taco! He nearly died! The hard shell fragments he "blended" got stuck in his suture line and he ended up in the hospital for emergency surgery to save his life. He also didn't believe our NUT about dumping syndrome and called it BS and tried to eat a king size snickers bar a few months later. It's that kind of behavior everyone fears when someone comes on saying 'hey how can I avoid the stupid classes and not have to lose weight to have surgery.' It sounds like you have no idea what you are doing and aren't at all prepared for what you really need to do to be prepared to be successful. If you think the classes and information are BS, save yourself the money and just don't go down this path, because you need to be able to trust and follow your NUT and surgeon's instructions to the letter especially in those first days, but for the whole long term process. No surgery will do the work for you. You have to show up every day and work hard. The surgery is just a tool to help. It won't do the work for you and you will only get out of it what you put into it and since it sounds like you aren't willing to put the effort in to change and do your best going in, it really sounds like it will be a waste of time until you do reach that point.

I had RNY but I was scheduled for just an overnight stay, but I didn't handle anesthesia well and I didn't wake up all the way for the first day and my lungs were suppressed by the IV pain meds so I needed full oxygen support. The second day they tried to give me oral pain meds to transition off the IV meds but I violently threw it all up each time so they put me back on the IV which brought on massive oxygen drops til I told them I didn't want pain meds anymore. I could tolerate my pain on my own enough and I wanted to be able to breathe without oxygen problems and I knew it was the med causing my problem because it happened to be too when I had kidney stones years ago. To make a longer story shorter, I went in on Monday and stayed til Wednesday. It was really hard for me because I wanted to get back to my baby (he's 17 month now) and my other 6 kiddos, but sometimes the best thing for your kids is to stay at the hospital where you are safe.

When I had my gallbladder out, my surgeon at the time told me it is possible to get stones again after it's gone and the pain would be like a gall bladder pain but less severe. Something about they would take a tube and go down the throat and suck them out. It's been 13+ yrs now so it's hard to remember the exact details, but you might want to talk to your doctor about it.

I am 3wks post op and I've been lactose intolerant since surgery day. The episodes can be really bad if I drink a protein shake that has lactose in it. Even yogurt which usually doesn't have much lactose can set me off. I did find a protein powder that worked for me. It's syntrax. It's both lactose free and gluten free and it sits really well after surgery for me. The twisted cherry flavor has been my lifesaver. I can't say enough good things about it.

The one thing I loved and used most was my body pillow for support. If I just had the hospital issue pillows, my pain would have been much worse. As far as Chapstick, I brought some, but they also provided me with some in the hospital. Beyond basic clothing and slippers, I didn't really want or need all the stuff I packed, such as listerine pocket packs, shampoo/conditioner, body wash, or toothpaste. All that stuff was provided by my hospital so I didn't even need my stuff. All hospitals are different, but call ahead and find out what they provide. You may find it's more than you know!

Mine was submitted on a Monday and I called Tues and wed for updates and both times they said "still pending" and later that same Wed afternoon, my surgeon sent me a message saying I had been approved. I was just that fast.

@fordhirlalways my nut wanted me to steer clear of almond milk at this point. They did recommend I use lactaid milk-which I am-and she told me to stick with syntrax nectars if I like because they are lactose free. So far I've been doing well.

Fiddle fart is a bariatric term btwHahaha it is! It is!I swear! How can you not say fiddle fart and not giggle a bit. It sounds musical! musical farts? lol and so it begins! ????

My NUT told me from day one that nothing will ever be off limits to me, but in time all things can come back IF you keep it in it's right place. Obviously if we are just like we did pre op, we'd end up right back there, but no need for funerals. Maybe a kiss goodbye for awhile, but not funeral!

Mine was torturous, but it was all because of the psych himself. He's just a total jerk period. He didn't listen to me, he interrupted me, he made me feel uneasy, and when all was said and done I still passed! Then he held my eval hostage til I paid a bill he never bothered to send. He hung up on me when I called and I called back and told his answering machine that I was calling to arrange the payment and he picked up that phone so quick I'm sure it nearly fell over! He was the only blight to the whole process and even given that he couldn't find anything wrong with me! Haha so best advice really is to stay calm and just be as honest as you can filing put the paper form. It'll be just fine!