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I have found not hurling in public to be a worthy goal in any situation.

I've been drinking carbonated beverages since about a month post-op. My doctor has no restrictions on carbonation. However, he is extremely anti-soda. Both regular and diet. I was never much of a soda drinker, so I stick to Perrier, San Peligrino, Club Soda, etc. never had an issue with the carbonation. Sometimes it seems to foam up in my stomach a bit so I usually open and let it sit for 5-10 min which usually takes the edge off. But never had any after effects from drinking it. Had you had any carbonated drinks prior to this?

So I had my first post-op blood work drawn a couple of weeks ago (about 5 months post-op). I will admit, I was a bit nervous because of what I read on this forum. While I am very diligent about taking my Vitamins, people here seem to take so many more vitamins than I do that it had me concerned. I just take 2 Centrum adult in the morning, that's all. Anyway, my labs came back perfect! Question for you more seasoned vets - did you see much variability in your labs over time? Did any of your results degrade over time with the same Vitamin regiment?

Thanks for the info. That's horrible about the insurance coverage. It's a medical necessity for crying out loud. It's also crazy that lab work is over $2k!

"How do you feel?" (Often in hushed tones as if they are about to receive a deep, dark confession). I don't know why this grates on my nerves. Maybe it's because it seems almost every single person asks me that, and really, what can I say besides "good". Then there seems to just be an awkward silence after, as they as waiting for me to expound on my answer. I think people must have thought I was absolutely miserable every waking second when I was obese. Sure my knees hurt a little less and EVERYTHING in life is easier now, but honestly, I felt pretty good when I was super morbidly obese too!

I had a high BMI (50) and started at 333. It took me just under 4 months. 6 weeks of this was pre-op diet. I lost 46 lbs on the pre-op diet, the remainder post op.

I had great success pre-surgery following my doctors "Pound of Cure" diet. It's based on eating "real food" including large quantities of vegetables, animal and non-animal Protein. Everyone is different, of course, but I do believe this is a healthy approach to eating, and what I am also following post-op (modified as I can not eat a pound or more of veggies a day!). I was able to lose about 45 lbs in 6 weeks (I had a BMI of 50, so my 6 month supervised diet was waived). You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/Pound-Cure-Change-Your-Eating/dp/1481061143/ It's quite an inexpensive book ($2.99 on Kindle, about $10 for a physical book). If you would like to check it out without purchasing the book, Dr. Weiner (the author) has posted many videos on his website and frankly they pretty much explain the whole approach for free. You can find his videos here: http://drmatthewweiner.com/non-surgical-weight-loss-video/

That is so awesome @@Cervidae, congrats! You have been one of the key people I look to in my 8 months of lurking/joining this site. You are always there with the kind word and support, and I respect the hell out of you.

I have a "real food" Protein packed breakfast I love: http://www.mnn.com/food/recipes/stories/spiced-lentils-with-arugula-and-fried-eggs I tend to omit the arugula, but I usually do about 3/4 cup of the lentil mixture and one egg. This gives you about 225 calories and 21 grams of protein. To me, it has a similar to taste to Huevos Rancheros.

I don't think it was anything in particular. Partly I had a high starting BMI (50). I'm also male, which tends to help. And then I just followed the program. I get my required 60g of Protein and 64oz of fluids daily and have since pretty much the day I got home from the hospital. I eat exactly what I'm supposed to. I also started walking pretty much every day and make an effort to workout a few times a week (I am not consistent with this). But a lot of people do what I do and don't lose as fast. Part of it is just genetics. My surgeon has said the single best indicator of how well you will do in your initial weight loss is if you have an immediate family member who has had the surgery and has done well. He refers to me as a "super responder". He says my loss is in the top 10% of his patients, so it is definitely not typical. That being said, from everything I've read, if you follow the program the weight will come off.

My surgeon seems to be in minority. His advice is "if you're able to drink with meals, go for it". That being said, at 4.5 months out, I don't. It's uncomfortable. I will drink right up until a meal, no problem. However, having had RNY and having no pyloric valve, I feel like the fluids pretty much run right through my empty stomach. I usually wait about 30 min after a meal to avoid inflicting pain on myself.

I'm very sorry for your loss, it's very tragic that someone so young has died and left behind children. My heart goes out to those kids as well. This hits close to home being 42 and 333lbs at the beginning of this year (194 today). My kids were a main driver for me to make this decision. I want to be around for them well into adulthood if I can. That being said, I think you are right to wait for him to approach you should he choose to do so, and then be a great resource for him. I knew I was fat for decades, and I generally resented people who felt the need to remind me of that (and continually shocked at how many people felt it was their place to do so). I needed to come to this place on my own terms. I also see a lot of people who say they wish they had done it sooner, but for me, 42 was the right time. I think I would have struggled more with the changes when I was younger, and not sure I would have had the same success (although I am bordering on paranoid about regain - even though I am still not to maintenance!).

I have the same issue. For me, they think it's my heart rate. When I am sitting down, my pulse is often in the low 50s (sometimes even as low as the high 40s). They have told me to keep an eye on it. Apparently this (and abnormally low blood pressure) can be a side effect for a very small percentage of people. If it keeps happening they are considering putting me on medication to speed up my heart. Wouldn't that be ironic as a big part of this surgery for me was to get off my blood pressure medication! My doc said even if that's necessary it is extremely likely it would only be temporary until my body settles into the new version of me. He reminded me that my body has shed 3/4 of a pound a day for the last 6 months (on average) and it's not unrealistic for a body to take some time to adjust to that. As you said, you'll talk to your team, just thought I'd share my experience. Let me know what your team says, I'm curious!

I think you are seeing a bit of a pattern as to why people chose RNY, and I am really no different: 1) I wanted the restriction and malabsorption to help with the quickest weight loss possible. I wanted to lose at least 150lbs. HW: 333lbs (2/9/2016) SW: 287lbs (3/21/2016) CW: 194lbs (this morning) Total Loss: 139lbs in 6 months and 6 days 2) I had been suffering from GERD for a few years, definitely didn't want it to get worse, and hoped it might cure it! I can't comment on this yet as to rather it's "cured", as my doctor prescribed a PPI during the initial healing phase and I just received permission to begin phasing off of it last week. But I've not had an symptoms with the PPI (although I would not expect any given previous experience). 3) It's been around a very long time. For many years I put off having this surgery, and part of the reason was I was just not confident what would happen over the long term. 4) Technically, it's reversible. While this is probably a dumb reason to select the surgery, it gave me some comfort knowing if things went horribly wrong there was a chance I could revert back to something close to my original state. My surgeon said I was definitely a candidates for RNY and Sleeve and he would support either, but said he tended to agree with me that RNY might be the better options. Honestly, the only reason I really considered the sleeve was due to my use of NSAIDs. I was a chronic daily user (800mg, 3 times a day) that needs to have both knees replaced and one hip replaced. I'm happy to report that I have not used an NSAID in over 5 months and am functioning fine. In fact, while I still experience pain, I have less pain now without NSAIDs than I had before with NSAIDs. It's not easy, and everyday I still struggle a bit with food (some days food goes down well, some days it doesn't). And I still obsess about everything I eat (maybe I always will?). BUT, man does it feel good to be down 140lbs. I am no longer "obese", just "overweight", but in today's society, that makes me VERY normal sized. Life is so much easier in every way that doesn't involve eating!! After reading thousands upon thousands of articles and posts, I am sure whatever you end up choosing will be right for you. If you follow the plan, you will be successful.

I just believe it is a nuanced issue that does not boil down to laziness and self control. I believe to some degree many obese people are victims. Doesn't mean you're powerless, or that you are not responsible for your own success. While around "normal" people, I've often noticed that they seem to experience hunger differently. If they eat a large holiday meal they are literally not hungry the rest of the day or the next. Their bodies are helping to regulate their food intake. Myself, I'm still hungry for a full meal later that day. Am I responsible for rather I eat or not? Sure it is. But it's a heck of a lot easier to show restraint when your just not hungry. That's really why this surgery works for some. Many of us know what we need to do, but it's a lot easier when we have a lack of hunger promoting hormones and a significant restriction. I do understand a lot of people have emotional/psychological food addictions. Again, I don't think this is a sign of laziness or simple "lack of self control". I am fortunate in some ways as this is not really my issue. I've never been an emotional eater. I don't graze or snack a lot. I have always loved food and eat way too large of meals and make poor food choices for those large meals. Anyway, everyone has a different opinion and perspective, for me, personally, I don't believe the majority of people are fat because they are lazy, undisciplined slobs.

Oh, and one other thing. If people become obese because they fundamentally lack self control and are lazy, how come so many morbidly obese people can be successful in every other aspect of their life - career, marriage, parenting. All things that require quite a bit of self control and energy.

I would disagree with that statement. So would my surgeon. There is so much that goes into becoming morbidly obese. This is the simple view that society likes to think is true. If your surgeons think this is true, I'm a bit surprised they are willing to do surgery. If they believe it is due to just lack of self control and laziness, how does the surgery help? Surgery doesn't fix those things. So aren't all their patients destined to failure? If you buy into a pure calorie in/calorie out model the math doesn't even support this. The average morbidly obese person does not gain 100 lbs in a year or two. The more common scenario is that a person gains 10lbs a year for 10 years and finds themselves 100lbs overweight. If that's the case, 10lbs a year is an extra 35,000 calories a year. Or 95.89 extra calories a day. Which is slightly less than a medium size banana. A person who gains an extra 100lbs over 10 years vs a normal size person is separated by less than a banana a day. Hardly what I would attribute to laziness and a lack of self-control.

Seriously, the answer to that question is supposed to be "true"?!?!?!

This happens to me on every "diet" I've ever gone on. I generally lose a bunch of weight, and after weeks or months, I start adding in exercise. There always seems to be a period right after that where weight loss stalls. It was the same with my gastric bypass. Just keep following the program and everything will work out fine. My personal theory is that by the time I start working out, I've depleted most of the glycogen in my body, then I start working out, and body says "HOLY CRAP, I really need that quick energy store if I'm going to be put through this", so it starts piling glycogen back on, which is stored at a 1:3 ratio of glycogen to Water, so I am very rapidly adding water weight with the glycogen storage. I have no idea if this is true, just my personal theory.

Man, you post a closing comment like that, and I am morally prohibited from pressing like, so I'll just leave you with...GO GREEN!

I did it! W5D3 - 20 minute run. Can't believe I was able to do it. On to W6D1 - jog 5, walk 3, jog 8, walk 3, jog 5. Seems very doable after the 20 minute run today!!

My doctor did mention the majority of the charges were not him! Oh yeah, and he actually makes more money when people self pay. Even though the cost is far less. It's a messed up system.

I would assume they would look for a stricture while doing the endoscopy. They definitely should be able to see it since that is how they do the balloon dilation. What does your doctor say about your issues. I understand he's not concerned with the calorie intake, but did he try and explain why he thinks your having these issues? In the meantime, as long as you are getting your fluids and Protein in try and just make the best of it. The good news, if you're like me, is that your losing a lot of weight! It was annoying at times eating the same things over and over, but I just figured "hey, I'm not hungry, and I'm losing weight really fast, I should just embrace this period". Looking back, it was just another tool to get me where I was going. I am able to get in 800-1000 calories now. I'm sure whatever is going can will either resolve itself, or can be fixed. In the interim just avoid the foods that make you sick and eat what doesn't. And get your fluids and protein in. You're going to do great.

I've lost 135lbs since early February. Everyone tells me I look so much younger. A guy at work tells me I look about 12 years old every time I see him. I'm 42.

That does seem on the high side. Interestingly, if you pay out of pocket it can cost far less than insurance. I want to say my doctor quoted me low $20ks for out of pocket and closer to $40k through insurance. Did you get yours done through Spectrum in GR?