Sporin

8 months post-surgery, 150lbs+ lost, and celebrating life this summer, I finally bought the car I've wanted since I was a fat, poor, 18 year old... a Miata.

My "excuse" is that my son is getting his permit in December and I really want him to learn to drive a stick (our other cars are autos). Miata's are now very cheap used cars, though deeply impractical in the most delicious way possible. We're stoked.

What have you done to

Only 30% of folks have dumping after surgery, I've never had it but I do find my body doesn't like too much sugar. I avoid cakes and Cookies and ice cream and all the usual junk that got me fat in the first place. thankfully, I don't crave it.

I do suck on life saves and other hard candies from time to time and it's never caused me any issues at all.

I step on the scale every day but only record a new weight about once every week-to-10-days.

I'm 7 months out from surgery and lost most of my weight very early so things are going slowly now. Docs are happy with where I'm at though so I'm not stressing.

Got my test results from bloodwork yesterday. Overall is excellent. They want me to take B12, and some extra Vitamin D, but everything else was within range including Calcium, Iron and Protein.

Fish is very hit or miss for me, and no rhyme or reason to it either. Mostly I stick with chicken and pork now. (I'm 6 months out)

Had my 6 month checkup today. Nutritionist and bariatric doc are very happy with my progress.

My surgeon is still anticipating another surgery in the fall. He feels a "weakness" in my stomach now and has a plan to address it once things have settled down and healed more. They'll free up the muscles on both sides, then draw them together in the middle, eliminating my big scar and dealing with any other loose skin they can at this time. It should minimize the bulge I have now which is a combination of scar tissue, and muscles that aren't knit together well enough yet down my center. I'm not looking forward to another big surgery (they can't do this laparoscopically, they'll need to slice me open again) but if that's what needs to be done then I'll do it.

On 4/29/2017 at 2:05 PM, aquarius1234 said:

How far along are you? I'm 7 weeks and really want to try romaine or arugula.

I'm 6 months out, didn't try lettuce and salads until about 5 months.

Searched up this thread because I'm experiencing brittle nails more so than I ever did pre-surgery. I'll have to try Biotin I guess.

I'm already bald so no clue how it's effecting my hair.

Was about to reorder the Bariatric Fusions when I decided to go with Centrum's instead. Not chewable but a lot more for the money and I don't have to take 3 a day like with the chewables.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003G4BP5G/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Great job! I've got my 6 month coming up May 1st (it will actually be about 7 months).

I'm about 7 months out from RNY and I'm just lately starting to feel hunger again. I used to just eat on the clock, never really felt hunger, but now, that old feeling is back. I have to be careful to remind myself to practice good eating habits and not "graze" through the day.

Wondering how everyone else is dealing with that?

I just tried on the size 44 Old Navy shorts that are leftovers from when I lost 100 lbs. with Weight Watchers when my son was born 14 years ago. They fit perfectly.

What's interesting is that I've lost just over 150 lbs. this time yet my waist is the same size as -100 was back then. Both starting weights were about the same. I've lost about 14" in my waist.

The difference is my arms and legs. Back then, losing slowly while exercising like a madman, I didn't lose a lot of muscle. This time, thanks to 2 months in a hospital bed, I had a lot of muscle-wasting. My legs and arms are so skinny now that I barely recognize them.

Basically, this means that I've lost about 50 lbs. of just muscle. I don't expect I'll ever build my arms and legs back up to the bulk I had before, nor do I need to, but it's interesting how differing kinds of weight loss can effect your body.

19 hours ago, MaHaBone said:

.. That said, I have definitely eaten some things that made me feel generally crappy, and not necessarily sweet or fatty things.

For sure, both times I've tried long spaghetti I've thrown up, yet I have no problem with other shapes of noodles. Weird. Creamy Soups are also a problem so I stay away from them.

I've found that I can eat almost anything, even fats and sweets, and I can't decide if this is a blessing or a curse. From my research it sounds like only about 30% of RNY patients experience dumping.

Now, bear in mind, I watch my portions carefully, I'm not binging or stretching. I concentrate on getting my proper nutrients and eating well. What I mean is that I can have a bite of birthday cake, or suck on peppermint lifesavers... stuff like that. I've purposely stayed away from a lot of stuff that I suspect might trigger my guts (pizza, fried food, pastas). I eat the same thing for dinner that the rest of my family is eating most nights, I just eat a very tiny amount of it. I tend to eat healthy canned Soup for lunch, and greek yogurt and granola for Breakfast.

I've lost just over 150 lbs. and it's still going down slowly.

BLESSING:
I'm still able to sample the foods I used to love, which keeps cravings and poor choices at bay.

CURSE:
Without the punitive reaction to "bad foods" it puts me at greater risk of eating poorly, or eating too much, over time.

Anyone else in this situation? I'm 6 months out from RNY.

One of my favorite food reviewers calls Iceberg Lettuce "crunchy water."

I had my first proper salad since surgery this weekend, a lovely Caesar with light dressing, homemade croutons, and romaine lettuce. It went down fine and digested easily.

Thank you everyone! I really do feel really good now, my strength is coming back and I'm hoping to be near-100% by the middle of the summer.

11 hours ago, CaliCozyWozy said:

Did u get the chewy ones or just chewable?

Chewable.

Thank you gryffen, it's been quite a journey.

I take the Bariatric fusion ones, 3 times a day. No issues with nausea or burps.

10 hours ago, Michilingi said:

Its actually what you eat. salad is lighter more of a liquid, and when chewed it becomes very small. If you tried to eat something dense like meat- 5oz you would be able to. It changes by what you eat. Ive noticed some things i can eat 4 oz others i can eat 2 and feel full. Dont worry you havent streched your tummy yet!

Agree with this, I eat a lot of Soup and I can eat a pretty big bowl of it because it's mostly liquid. When I eat just meat and a veg I eat a MUCH smaller amount total.

I've been waiting to post my story because I'm afraid it will come out too negatively and may scare off folks looking into surgery. Now that I'm where I am in the recovery process, I feel like I can tell the tale. Plus, I think the stories that are tough are just as important to the discussion.

I had RNY on October 5th 2016. I had it at DHMC in Lebanon NH with Dr. Truss, they have an excellent program and great safety & success stats there. I did months of Dr. supervised diet, psych visits, and all the other Insurance prerequisites. My program weight was 413 lbs and I was 45 years old.

On the day of surgery I was 385 (mostly thanks to the 2 week pre-op diet), my blood pressure was perfect and I was in high spirits. I went into surgery, came out and felt good. I had the broth and Jello they give you, then immediately started feeling pains in my stomach which my Doctor at first judged to be "normal." But it got worse, and that's when things start getting fuzzy. I remember going down for a scan where I was standing and drinking a liquid so they could watch it flow through me. I remember sitting down in a chair after this... and that's the last thing I remember for over a month.

Long story short, everything that could go wrong, did. I had blood clots in my remnant stomach, no one knows why. They split me open and went in to clean that up. I got sepsis. My fever spiked and they couldn't bring it down. One of my lungs collapsed, and my kidneys started failing. Everything was going very badly. They put me in an induced coma because I was trying to pull tubes out and they needed me resting. They filled me full of fluids adding nearly 100lbs. to my overall weight. I was grossly bloated (I've seen the pictures). The skin on feet shed like a snake. They put in a trach. A couple weeks one very insightful Doctor suggested that maybe I was allergic to the very common paralytic they gave me. They stopped giving it to me, administered an antidote of some sort, and my condition began to improve. No one had any idea I was allergic to it, I'd never had surgery before.

All in all I had 11 surgeries. I have a piece of biomesh holding my stomach muscles together. They expect that to dissolve by fall and the Docs expect me to develop a hernia at that time so they are planning on another surgery in the fall.

My wife says I was trying to communicate, with open eyes, long before I remember waking up. She has pictures of me and my eyes are open but it's clear there's no lights on.

When I woke up, I didn't understand where I was or what was going on. I had been out so long, and pumped full of so many drugs, that I had been living in a dreamworld in my head. I thought I'd gone on a drug-fueled bender and crashed my car. I thought I was sleeping every night on a battleship, or a space ship, I had a million crazy theories and thoughts and they all seem totally real to me. My hallucinations lasted well into the time I was in rehab. They put me on an anti-psychotic developed esspecially for patients who had prolonged ICU stays and it slowly cleared my head.

I couldn't speak because of the trach. I had lost over 100lbs while in the ICU for nearly 2 months, mostly muscle wasting from my legs and arms. I couldn't stand or walk. My hands where so shaky that I couldn't write. So I mouthed words and my amazing wife and friends did their best to read my lips. It was so frustrating. Every time I asked my wife what happened she'd start crying so it took a long time to get the full story, and even longer to accept it. Because my hallucinations were so strong, they bled into reality. I didn't know what was real.

My wife had a steady stream of friends and family visiting me, sitting with me so that she could do some work, or take a break. My in-laws are full time RV'ers who spend winter in Florida, instead, they moved into our house and took care of my wife and son. They kept his life as "normal" as possible with school, dinner on the table, basketball practice, etc. I'm forever indebted to them.

As my health improved, I moved to stage 2 of the trach where I could finally speak if I held my finger over my neck. This was AMAZING. I have always been chatty, plus I sing and play the ukulele. I thought I'd never speak again, much less sing. Thankfully that has all come back. I was able to finally have conversations with my visitors and start sorting through everything that had happened. I would frequently ask "Real? Or not real?" about things I remembered. I took advantage of the massages and total care and eventually started PT and OT.

My emotions where another challenge. I would cry at the drop of a hat. When I wasn't in tears, I was very flat emotionally. Everyone, nurses, PT's, OT's, family & friends could see it but I thought that was just my new "normal." It was only after I was home that the fog truly lifted and I started feeling like myself again.

On December 6th I stood up for the very first time (see attached photo). That was a GREAT day.

All in all I was in the ICU for nearly 2 months, then a regular hospital room, then off to rehab for almost 3 weeks, then back at the hospital for an abscess next to my pancreas for 2 weeks, then back at rehab for a week. Now I've been home since January.

Things were tough at first. Our bedroom is on the 2nd floor and I couldn't do stairs yet so I had a rented hospital bed in the living room for a few weeks. We all had the challenging of having me back home, re-integrating me into everyone's lives. it wasn't easy at first, but over the last 3 months we've found our way. I'm doing weekly outpatient PT, I've ditched the crutches I came home with and warm weather meant I could finally do laps of our neighborhood. I'm getting stronger every day, my head is clear, my smile is bright, and I'm loving life.

The only hiccup since I've been home is that I went out to breakfast at a local diner just a few days after returning home. I ate a tiny bit of food, but halfway through Breakfast, I passed out. My wife said it looked like a seizure as I was shaking , and my eyes rolled back in my head. When I awoke, my friends (who we were dining with, one of them was my OT) were already calling 911. I left for the hospital in an ambulance. What the Docs there found after 2 days of monitoring was the the blood pressure medicine that DHMC had put me on was unnecessary, and my B{ had crashed, causing my fainting. They took me off those meds and I've been fine ever since.

So... take away all those complications and the question I get from everyone is... "was it worth it?" I can say now, that yes it was. I've lost 150lbs and will continue to lose. I currently weigh around 260lbs, I've lost 14 inches off my waist and I'm down 3 shirt sizes. It took a while to learn what my pouch likes and doesn't like because the hospital and rehab controlled my eating and portions for so long. Though I'm 6 months out from my surgery, I really am only 3 months out on my own, making my own food choices, and mistakes. Mostly, I can eat what I want, just in very small qualities. I don't really get hungry any more. I eat small portions of healthy food, avoid fried food and sweets, try to get enough Protein, take my Vitamins, and exercise. The Gastric Bypass worked, it was the complications that nearly killed me, and they are rare.

My wife kept a Caring Bridge Journal if you want the play-by-play. It, and the pictures she took, have been an invaluable resource as I've recovered and tried to piece together the time I lost. https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/davemorin/journal/index/0/0/asc

In conclusion, I hope this story helps someone here. I got a lot of great info from this forum before my surgery and my intent is not to slam RNY, my caregivers, or try to discourage anyone. I just hope that it can be educational about some of the risks.

Today's the day! Final numbers...

My surgery is scheduled for Monday and I keep having second thoughts and then I read that people eat 800-900 at a year out, This bothers me because you read so often to eat a minimum of 1200 calories for health reason...

Is this healthy to do long term?

I know I'm just having cold feet but I'm questioning this new lifestyle.

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Is there someone you can call at your program to talk to? The nutritionist maybe? Hopefully this is just pre-surgery jitters.

From everything I've read though, the lifestyle change is huge and it's something you have to be committed too 100%. More than a few folks have the surgery and then self-sabotage and not change, and they DO put weight back on. You have to be truly, and honestly committed to the permanent lifestyle change.

Your body will be just fine on the calories you can put in it. Remember, it's going to spend a long time "eating up" all those calories you (we all!) have been storing for years and years.

I think if you go into this surgery wondering how soon you can get back to EATING, then it's the wrong mindset (personal opinion.) You have to go into this optimistic, and excited to use 'the tool" (your surgery) to help you NOT eat, to help you change your life for the better.

Seriously, if you have questions, see who you can contact at your program to answer them and help allay your fears.

They finally called around 3:30 today and my surgery is at noon tomorrow. At the Hospital by 10:30. Here we go!

A little frustrated today, nearly 2:00 and I still haven't received my call with a surgery time for tomorrow.

* You will receive a call the business day before your scheduled surgery with your surgery time

If I don't hear from someone by 3:00 I'm calling in and trying to find out myself.