monalyssa33

Have any of you had issues of noticeable mucus in your stool? I've been having this happen the six months or so and I don't know if it is something I should be worried about or not.

I had surgery in February 2017 and lost about 110 pounds before surgery and another 80 after surgery (at my lowest, which was 210). In the last year and a half, I've gained about 40 pounds. Around the same time I started gaining, I also moved out of my parents' house and now live alone. My biggest problem has been sweets and fighting sugar cravings. My activity level hasn't been consistent either, but I'm more concerned about my eating than anything else. I guess I just need some motivation or some encouragement to get things back on track and ideas to get started again.

I've been seeing the same eating disorder therapist since way before my surgery, so I'm good on that front. I might look into increasing my sessions to every week for a while though. I've just been dealing with a lot of family crises and stress from work that I've been talking mainly about that during my sessions.

TMI warning!!! I'm 14 months post-op today and for the last 8 or 9 months I clog a toilet at least 3 times a month because my BMs are unusually large compared to pre-op. I'm not talking amount, I'm talking size. I eat Fiber One nearly everyday just to keep things moving, but a week before to a week after my period I find that I've become the Chronic Toilet Clogger. This gets embarrassing especially at work because we only have 2 staff toilets for 30 some people. I don't know what to do about this! Am I eating too much fiber or something?

Does anyone have any ways to fix posture after weight loss? It's hard to not stand like I still have an additional 185 pounds on me, but I don't know how to fix it. I saw a physical therapist for a few weeks to strengthen my core to prevent back pain and I know that can also help with posture.

Have him attend an information session with you. When my aunt had WLS about 20 years ago, my uncle felt the need to start losing weight himself (even though he's never had an issue with weight) when my aunt started losing weight. So if your husband weighs less than you, that could be an issue, but I suspect the biggest worry from your husband is that he is scared about something going wrong. So I think having him learn more about WLS with you it will bring him more on board.

My hair started falling out (at least when I noticed) around month 3 or 4. It stopped around month 8. I didn't take any additional supplements because it didn't bother me that much since it wasn't very noticeable to other people. The hair loss wasn't in clumps or anything and more even all around so that's why it didn't bother me.

I didn't start drinking with a straw until about 8 weeks after surgery. I felt no different and no issues with it. I think if you take it slow and see how you can handle it without doing it often or quickly until you know for sure how you can handle it you should be fine.

I started the process in July 2016, was approved January 2017 and had it February 20, 2017. I'm sure I could have had the surgery sooner, but I had some delay because I wasn't following through with the pre-op stuff consistently.

I'm 11 months out and have lost a total amount of 185 lbs (80 since surgery). I haven't lost anything in the last 5 months or so, but I've been starting to gain a bit because I'm getting back into bad habits. I'm worried about it, even though I have been fluctuating between a range of 10 pounds since August. My issues are with indulging in sweets and because the weather has been crappy in Minnesota (well when isn't it in winter?) and it gets dark so early I haven't been running or walking as much as I was. I went for a run this morning and I want to get myself back into the habit. I need some words of motivation or encouragement though to get through feeling like a failure. I'm moving into my own place on February 4th (I currently live with my parents), and I think this will help me a lot. My dad buys a lot of sweets and junk food and while I'm at the grocery store for myself, I'm almost always able to talk myself out of buying that stuff. When I do buy sweets, I will buy a single serving chocolate bar because I know if I buy more, I won't be able to control myself. Before surgery I would eat fast food all the time too, but now it just doesn't appeal to me, mainly because I can't eat the entire meal and left over fast food doesn't taste that great. So I believe I can get through this little setback, but I guess I just needed to vent a little.

I really liked Dr. Krook and the rest of the bariatric staff are wonderful too. I first started my WLS journey at Park Nicollet several years ago and it never worked out because I was never ready, and I was hesitant about going to HCMC too, but I was very pleasantly surprised by the whole staff. The main reason I went to HCMC instead of going back to Park Nicollet though was because I work for the county and the surgery was 100% paid for by my insurance.

That doesn't seem right. I've been on Wellbutrin XR for years and I took it the day after surgery and am still on it today. If I were you, I'd see if there were other surgical programs in your area that will allow you to take the meds you need or talk with a psychiatrist to help you to stay on the XR while still pursuing surgery. A good number of doctors are not well-versed in psych meds, so I would fight to get the care you need.

It really depends upon the insurance company. I had insurance that would only allow patients to go to a Bariatric Hospital of Excellence, while others don't have that requirement. When I started the WLS journey, I was around the same BMI with hypertension and sleep apnea.

I had my sleeve done in February and was immediately taken off my blood pressure medications after surgery. I haven't been on any medications (except my psychiatric meds) since then. I have a FitBit that tracks my heart rate and my resting heart rate is almost always below 55 BPM. Before surgery my resting heart rate was at least 70. I have confirmed several times that my FitBit is accurate. I use an at-home blood pressure cuff every so often and I find that when my heart rate is below 60 (which it often is), the bottom number on my blood pressure is always high. If I move around a bit to get my heart rate above 60, my blood pressure is then within the normal range. Today I did this and when my heart rate was 57 my blood pressure was 137/101. I did it a few minutes later with a heart rate of 63 and my blood pressure was 128/84. Has anyone else had this happen to them? I have a physical scheduled in January and I do plan on bringing this up during my appointment.

I usually start walking to an inspirational or lower-beat song, then when I'm ready to run Power of Love by Huey Lewis and the News comes on and I'm ready and raring to go. Other upbeat songs I love are Footloose by Kenny Loggins, Hold On Tight by ELO and Mr. Blue Sky by ELO.

My mom is the queen of bad jokes and I have a little back story to one of her jokes. A few years ago my mom took me to the ER because I was suicidal. The ER doctor made a comment about it being 2:30 pm and my mom said, "What's a dentist's favorite time of day?" I'm sitting in this chair like, wow this doctor is probably thinking the wrong person needs to be evaluated. Then my mom delivers the punchline, "Tooth-hurty! Get it?!?" I'm pretty sure the doctor had no idea how to respond to that. I laugh about it now because I'm not depressed anymore and it is funny now.

I honestly think the simpler the better. As stated previously, just flat out deny you lost any weight.

I took a picture of my outfit on Tuesday because the skirt was something I bought before surgery as a goal thing and Tuesday was the first time it fit comfortably. When I took the picture though, I realized that I hadn't done a comparison photo in a few months and I was shocked at how big of a change there was! On the left is obviously me on Tuesday, the middle is in 2013 when I was about my highest of 400 and the right was me 3 months post-op (May 2017) and about 250 pounds.

I wanted to take 6 weeks, but HR would only do 4, which was actually fine because by week 4 I was going stir crazy. My therapist encouraged me to take longer than 2 weeks because by week 2 I'd be barely out of liquids and having to be at work while dealing with that would have been horrible and then also trying to focus on getting in water. My job has me walking and on my feet nearly the entire day too, so it was just better for me to take time off.

I'm a little over 10 months out and since surgery I've lost about 85 pounds. Since my highest weight I've lost 190 though. I have been feeling pretty great. No regrets. I thought the holidays would be difficult, but I found that I wasn't as interested in food as I was in past years. I've been in a stall since September, but a few days ago I just felt horribly nauseous all the time and it turned me off from foods that I was having issues controlling myself around (like sugar) and I've managed to start losing again. I had my surgery at HCMC because I work for the county and the insurance paid for everything (except my copay). I've really liked the surgical team there. I'm having a hard time this year getting used to the cold though. I lost all of my insulation, so I keep a sweater and a sweatshirt at work for days when I'm freezing. The last few days I've had to double up on my coats too. :-P

I tried several times in the past to have the surgery but the doctor's never said I was ready (and I wasn't). THe main reasons I wasn't ready (even though I believed I was) were my life being too hectic, working a job I hated, going to school full-time and being severely depressed. I would stop doing the program the times before because I believed I could do it on my own. Last summer my PCP brought up the surgery and I started reconsidering it again. I was finally in a place where my depression was in remission, I had finally graduated college, I loved my job and the insurance with that job was going to pay for the entire surgery (except the $125 hospital copay).

I was 400 at my highest, 350 at my first appointment and then 295 on my day of surgery, so I'm probably not the best example, but I figure if the doctor's aren't too concerned and are going through with the surgery, then they must believe you won't be at higher risk of complications.

I'm in Minnesota. Had my surgery in February.

For the first few days after surgery, I slept on my back with a body pillow over my stomach to keep my cat from sleeping on me like she would like to. I tried sleeping on my side several times, but the pain wouldn't let me until about two weeks later. I'm generally a side and stomach sleeper and I wasn't able to comfortably sleep on my stomach until maybe 3 or 4 weeks post surgery.

So I know I'm not alone in having bowel movement changes post surgery and I can't really talk about the embarrassing things that have happened because of this with other people who haven't had the surgery. So on to the TMI situation. Nearly every month right before I get my period I have a BM that clogs the toilet at work. Today it happened and I was panicking because the toilet would not flush. I had to get creative to actually fix it. If this happened once and never again, it wouldn't be a huge deal, but it is has happened, specifically at work, three or four times already. Does anyone else have embarrassing issues with BMs after they have surgery?