DangerMouse007

I had the RNY Gastric Bypass, but I had been diabetic since at least 2003 or earlier. Unfortunately I never recognized it for what it was at the time (enjoying the weight loss that came with being a hardcore diabetic) so I didn't see a doctor about it until mid-2006 when I finally started taking insulin. Even though my blood sugar was better controlled, I never really got a good handle on it, and my dosage just kept getting bigger and bigger. It's been a while since I thought of it (probably some of my older posts have the exact numbers), but I was taking something like 200 units of Levemir per day and nearly 150-200 units of Novolog per meal. My A1C was still pretty high. As much as I had hoped that the surgery was going to be a cure all, I think the many years of being diabetic (including the time between 2003-2006 when I never knew I was diabetic) and the amounts of insulin I was taken will keep me from being fully "cured". Only time will tell. My next endo appointment is next month so will see what he has to say. When I talked with him last September he had hopes that I might be off the insulin by now, but I can definitely tell that's not going to be the case.

Very good rundown. Thanks! My local hospital had a "Running Evaluation" this last weekend which was very helpful, albeit a bit sobering for me since I have been running since the first of the year. They had a number of flexibility stations to test basic leg strength, balance, and flexibility. I pretty much failed at all of them basically highlighting that my glutes and hamstrings were very weak. They stressed doing a number of "dynamic" stretches before a run and stationary stretches after a run. I don't have the papers they gave me with the various examples in front of me right now, but they did show me quite a few to help me build up my leg strength and flexibility.

Who prescribes your insulin? Endocrinologist or PCP? I would think they would be the ones that help you regulate your dose if you don't self-regulate. I control my own dose with Levemir and Novolog so I didn't really rely on my surgeon's office pre-op and after about 3 weeks post-op. My dosage did decrease by a significant amount right after the surgery, but unfortunately seven months post-op I'm still taking insulin and have not seen much improvement in my A1C from my three month post-op appointment to my 6-month post-op appointment.

Weight Loss Finally started seeing some movement on the scale this week showing that I had lost four pounds since last week (which was my weight for nearly 7 weeks). What a relief...just hope it keeps going. I'm only about 10 pounds away from another one of my personal milestones now. The funny thing...and I really don't know if this is any kind of real correlation...was my need to urinate a lot right before I noticed some of the weight coming off. My last stall was in November, and I remember a few days after Thanksgiving I had a night where I had to get up to go to the restroom at least 2-3 times. I've not had that happen in recent memory (although this was my earliest indication over 10 years ago that my blood sugar was way too high; just not the case now). Same thing happened this last Saturday night. I didn't drink any more or less than I usually do, but my sleep was interrupted at least a couple of times to get up to go to the restroom. Whether that is some correlation or not, I have no idea. Running Assessment The local hospital near where I lived sponsored a free running assessment seminar this last Saturday morning. Since it was free, I went ahead and signed up for it to see what kind of tips I need to help get in shape for my first 5K in a couple of months. In a way, I kinda wish I hadn't gone. They had a series of different stations testing your flexibility and strength. They had us run on the treadmill to get a chance to look at our stride, etc. They also had a foot expert to help us determine what kind of shoes were best. At each station, they had scores from 0-3 with 3 being good, and 0 being...well, not so good. I scored a 0 or 1 on all of the different stations. It turns out that my leg strength is terrible especially in my glutes and hamstring. They did, of course, go into, in length, all the different exercises to help build strength in those areas stressing the idea of doing "dynamic" stretches before the run and stationary stretches after a run. I really did walk out of there feeling a bit dejected. Maybe I wouldn't have felt so bad if each of the people manning the stations could have told me their assessment privately rather than in front of a group of people waiting to go next at that particular station. Either way, I did not feel good at all about my running future after that. However, even though there's a part of me that wished I hadn't gone, I'm very glad I did so that I can get back on that horse and get working on improving my flexibility and strength. Sleep Apnea This subject might be a bit controversial. Ha ha ha! Last year I had to do a Sleep Study for my surgeon. Of course, it was determined that I had sleep apnea and had to use a CPAP machine. My sleep study was in March, but I didn't get my machine until late May. I used it pretty religiously in June and July before my surgery, but I still wasn't getting the great sleep that most others said they had after getting the machine. I was only getting about 4 hours of sleep before and after the machine. I went back to the doctor in late July before my surgery to see if I needed any adjustments, but they didn't recommend anything, unfortunately. After my surgery in early August I basically stopped using the CPAP machine. I tried going back using it in December, but I just didn't take to it that time either. Lately, especially in the last 2 months, my sleep has been much better. Whether or not the machine would have helped that even more, I have no idea. Last week I received a call from the medical equipment company to call them back. I called them on Monday, and they told me to bring my equipment in to "swap it out". Turns out it wasn't to swap it out, it was to return it because I wasn't using it. Oops! I remember them saying that they could monitor my progress with it, but I never really thought much about it. Turns out they were monitoring my usage and decided to take it back. Yikes! Big Brother in my own bedroom! So it's gone. I don't know if I'll have another sleep study done. The one last year was mandated by my surgeon. If I go, it'll probably have to be if another doctor asks for it, or I go by myself. I don't think I'll be going in on my own.

Beef and broccoli is my go to, but I rarely eat it...maybe once every couple of months...maybe. It's not my usual thing.

It is definitely something that doesn't seem to get highlighted too often. I have a degree in chemical engineering, but apparently somewhere along the way I never knew that Tylenol and Advil were not the same thing. At the informational seminar when they told us about the Advil/Ibuprofen ban, I really didn't think anything of it. "Oh, I'll just take Tylenol if I have pain." Oops! That being said, I do not regret my surgery at all. I love the weight loss, and just having the ability to run, walk, and lift weights again like I did when I was younger. It is just aggravating!

Another week gone by and still stalled out. I feel like my body is fighting against me. First it was the lower back issues that crept back up about 6 weeks post-op. That was thankfully mitigated by a chiropractor. Now it's my shoulder. Back in November I had started doing more and more weight training especially for my arms and shoulders. Sometime then I felt a little pop in my right shoulder. Shortly afterwards I started feeling a little pain there. This last month the pain got much, much worse even to the point that when I would stretch my arm out or try to lift it over my head, I would get a shooting pain in my shoulder, and my arm would go numb. I scheduled an appointment with a doctor and saw him earlier this week. I don't know how to spell or pronounce what he said the issue was, but it's basically inflammation. He gave me a steroid shot and told me to use an ice pack. If I still had issues six weeks from now, come back and see him. I think the inability to use Advil or Ibuprofen post-op is definitely something that can not be glossed over when it comes to the gastric bypass. Both my chiropractor and this doctor both said that either could have helped, but since I had the gastric bypass I can't take either and have to rely on other methods...like an ice pack. Anyway, hope the steroid shot and ice pack combination work. It's really aggravating to have my body just fight against me like this.

No, not really, but I've never been one to get sick all that easily anyway (I never get a flu shot). Since my surgery I've had allergies a couple of times (October and February); I was actually amazed at how fast I recovered during the second time. I'm usually coughing, sneezing, etc. for at least a couple of weeks but I was fine in about 5-6 days; much faster than normal.

Still no movement on the scale so this is easily the longest stall I've had since my surgery. I am feeling quite a bit disappointed, but I can only wait it out for now. I've still been using the Couch to 5K app, and so my cardio workout is slowly increasing along with what the app suggests. On Monday night, I went to my first ever Bariatric Support Group that is held locally once a month. The topic for the night was about Plastic Surgery after WLS so you can imagine it was a packed room! It certainly got me to see what it was all about. The plastic surgeon talked about insurance requirements (or lack thereof). He went through examples, and showed before and after pictures. To be honest, while I definitely have loose skin on various parts of my body, none of what I have compares to the examples he was given. Granted I still have several months or longer (and hopefully a lot more weight to lose) before I can even consider plastic surgery and will probably have lots more loose skin, but he showed some pretty extreme examples. It was a pretty informative session and gave me some things to think about. I also had my 6-month post op appointment on Tuesday. It was actually 7 months post op since I had to push the appointment down a few weeks due to other scheduling conflicts. Everything came out fantastic with Vitamins, etc....except my A1C. It was at 7.9, worse than at the end of November. I'm very, very disappointed by that. My follow up with my endo isn't until April, but since I self regulate my own insulin with Novolog and Levemir, it's basically up to me to get that number down. I was actually hopeful it would come down since I've recently been hitting extremely low numbers meaning I probably over medicated myself, but that certainly was not reflected in my blood work.

Quite the disappointment that I lost so much weight between Christmas and the end of January and absolutely no weight loss in February. So yeah, I've been in a 4 week stall at least. Next week is my 7 month post-op appointment (should have been 6 month, but I had to push the appointment back due to scheduling concerns) so will be interested to see how I'm doing with Vitamins, etc., and even more excited to find out what my A1C is. They took six vials of blood, one more than they did at my 3 month post-op appointment. I didn't think anything changed in the tests they ordered, but they sure took enough of my blood!

My surgeon sounds quite a bit like yours in terms of the protein. Protein drinks were fine immediately after surgery, but from 3 weeks post-op on, he wanted to make sure my protein was from 3 solid meals per day and not "liquid calories". However, I do not have any kind of daily protein or calorie goal that I have to maintain either based on his program. That was something I made sure to ask at my 3-month post-op appointment since most programs you read about on here seem to have them. I have my 6-month (well actually 7-month) post-op appointment coming up next week, and I plan on asking about having a Protein shake post work out. Something I've noticed as I've increased my cardio and weight training is that I'm absolutely hungry right after my workout and throughout the day. I try to eat some solid protein, but so far it hasn't seemed to satisfy that hunger.

@@plane224 No problem. Thanks for reading. As for the latest update, still in a stall; nothing gained, nothing lost. I went in to do my blood draw yesterday for my upcoming 6-month post-op appointment. They took SIX vials of blood! Whoa! Changes in my insurance this year pretty much guarantee I'll be paying a percentage out of pocket for that. I'm dreading that bill when it comes. I keep thinking about those two 5K's I've signed up for in May. With just under 3 months left for one and just over 3 months on the other, will I be able to run over 3 miles at a time? At the moment, no. But we'll see how it goes from here. I head back to Texas (and 80 degree weather) this upcoming weekend; probably my last trip down there until July I think.

@@charleywatson Good to hear it all worked out! I just recently flew for the first time without an extender in 10 years, and I am very happy about it. Soon, though, I won't be able to qualify for the Extra Seat Option on Southwest, but I'm definitely still going to use it as long as I can!!

I agree with this. For every phase of my immediate post-op plan I would get one or two of everything that my surgeon listed I could have, but I ended up with lots of excess food/protein drinks. You're not going to be eating much as you heal, and most of what you do eat you'll have to test to make sure you can handle it. I was also lucky enough to be pretty much fine to do whatever I needed to do a couple of days after my surgery such as shopping.

Yoga has been suggested to me as well, but there are really so many different types I wouldn't know where to begin or what is best for my needs.

I guess since I lost so much weight in January, it makes sense that I would be in a major stall now. Not too worried about it since I feel pretty good. I had to fly back home to Texas last week due to a death in the family. Since the temperatures down there were way more agreeable than anything we've had up here in Upstate NY lately, I was able to get out and run Saturday morning outside at a park near my hotel. Then Saturday night I went out to South Padre Island for a one night stay. Sunday morning I got out to the beach to watch the sunrise and get a nice run in on the beach. It was incredibly nice. I honestly don't know why I ever left Texas. Ha ha ha! Now I'm back in Upstate NY with temperatures dipping into crazy low levels with wind chills that will make things feel all that much worse, while the rest of my family basks in mid-80's weather! I meant to post yesterday, February 10th. That was the one year anniversary of my first consultation with my surgeon, and essentially the beginning of my weight loss journey. Unofficially I've lost 144 pounds in that year. When I go in for my six month post-op appointment in a few weeks, they'll give me the official amount I guess. So much has changed in a year, but I'm loving it so far. Still struggling with severe hunger after I workout though. I've written about it several times already, but it's quite the struggle to just stick to the plan and not try and "graze" all day.

I've been writing updates on myself in my own personal thread. Next week will be my one year anniversary from the moment I first met with the surgeon and started my 6-month supervised diet. Since then I've lost 144 pounds. Unfortunately I'm traveling a lot so I had to push my 6-month post op check up until March, but I'm hoping for more continued good news from my surgeon's office on my blood work, etc.

Had to make an impromptu flight across half the country yesterday, and for the first time in 10 years I didn't need a seat belt extender on the flight! I was sooo happy! I asked for one when I boarded but quickly realized I didn't need it after all! Soon Southwest won't let me do the Extra Seat Option that allows me to have an empty seat next to me. On that day, I will be happy but sad. As the flight attendant says, the last customer on the flight is never a cheerleader; they're always a linebacker! Ha ha ha!

Oops...wrong thread...but to add to this one, I had a strange thing happen today. I had a catered lunch today with a side salad of just lettuce and spinach leaves. Something must have gotten stuck because I was throwing it all up about 15 minutes later. Not very happy about that!

Yes, I'm signed up for a 5K in May...couple of them in fact. I started my "training" program about 3 week using the 5K Runner Program. I like it so far.

The weight loss really slowed down in the last week or so, but I did lose about 20 pounds between Christmas and the end of January which is something. I now wear size 48 jeans with a little room to spare. I don't normally measure myself, but when I went to buy the jeans, I had the salesman measure me. Apparently I lost about 3 inches in my neck as well going from a size 22 to a size 19? Does that make sense? As mentioned last week, my appetite coupled with the extra weight lifting and cardio I've been doing has made me tremendously hungry. For example, I had a small dinner about an hour ago, and yet I'm super hungry craving more. It's tough to fight off since I don't want to be eating several small meals every day; just three. For Snacks, I usually stick to one 100 calorie pack of whatever: almonds, etc. but just one of those doesn't seem to be enough during the day. I try drinking my Crystal Light and Water as well, but this could be interesting going forward.

I have MVP Healthcare in New York, and they actually have Bariatric Surgery listed under the different types of medical issues they cover with costs, etc. As far as how I dealt with the insurance company, I never did. My surgeon's office handled everything from the very beginning. All I had to do was show up. I was never surprised by anything or any of the costs of the co-pays, etc. Everything went very smoothly.

Added even more running to my cardio this week still mixed in with a lot of walking, and I feel really, really good afterwards. It's an odd feeling. However, I have noticed that my appetite is now HUGE! As in I feel like I'm hungrier more often. I'm thinking maybe my body, adjusting to the larger loss in calories in my running, is starving for more?? I don't know. I do drink lots of Water after my runs. My surgeon doesn't recommend Protein shakes like most of the rest of the people on this board. He generally likes solid Proteins otherwise I probably would drink a Protein shake after my workout. I do have to fight off the urge to eat more than 3 meals per day right now, though, which could be troublesome in the future.

I'm Hispanic so not being able to eat breakfast/fajita/anythingyoucanimagine tacos makes me frown. Flour tortillas are a definite no. Corn tortillas are iffy with me. Any kind of bread really, but considering those things are considered high in carbs, it's probably for the best. I can eat a taco salad at least with taco meat, lettuce, tomatoes, etc. I haven't really encountered much else that I for sure can't tolerate. Fruits have been good to me (apples, grapes, watermelon, grapefruit). Most veggies that I like (which aren't many) have been good; love making my own salads and sometimes getting a chopped salad at Subway that I can make 2-3 meals from. I've been able to tolerate all meats as well plus any fish/shrimp; just have to be careful on the bite sizes and chewing well. I had a couple of boned-in baked chicken wings 2-3 months post-op, and that was not a good experience. I'm 5 months out now, but I haven't tried doing that again at all.

I definitely feel much colder post-op. I managed to still wear shorts until the temperature got down to 20 degrees (with a jacket), but indoors I've frequently had to put on a jacket to stay warm as far as October and especially now. Drives me nuts since I've never had this "problem" before.