AZhiker

Lots of us. Why do you ask?

the surgeons want you to be successful, because that makes then successful. The surgeon wants to know that this procedure will improve your life and that the benefits out weigh the risks. It is the insurance company that dictates what will be approved as far as BMI, comorbidities, etc. The surgeon will do the surgery as long as they know they will get paid and that you aren't going to die on the table. Obese patients are higher risk patients. That's why many surgeons require cardiac clearance -they need to know it is safe to operate on someone. The psych and nutrition consults are important for long term success - the surgeon does not want his patients to fail. So the bottom line is that if you are medically cleared, and you are psychologically prepared, the surgeon will most likely go ahead as long as you meet the insurance criteria which means he/she gets paid.

I was doing 10,000 steps by day 7. No weights or other stuff until later.

Part of it could be fat malabsorption, and the fact that you are eating a lot less fat now than before surgery. My skin and hair are very dry every since surgery, but I also have fat malabsortion. I never used shampoo for dry hair before, but I do now. Lots of moisturizer, and of course, you just have to drink the water. The good side is that there are no more fungal infections from hot, moist skin.

Once you start losing your fat, it only gets worse! Losing weight throws you into a different metabolic mode, and getting cold easily is part of it. Now that I dropped 110 pounds of insulating blubber, I am cold ALL the time. Can't believe I am looking forward to summer, for the first time in my life!

Just got back from Costso where I get my cat litter, nuts, and quinoa. Oh my goodness! It was packed. They were sold out of TP, rice, paper towels, and only allowing limited cases of water. I didn't need any of that stuff, thankfully. Anyway, the really weird thing was how QUIET it was. Really spooky, actually. No one was talking except to snip at other shoppers who were blocking isles or taking too long. I got my cat litter, nuts, and quinoa, and got out!

I was a 3-4 cup a day drinker before surgery, but I made the switch to decaf prior, just so I wouldn't go through caffeine withdrawal. Lo and behold, my taste changed and I don't even like coffee any more. Honestly, without caffeine and sugar, my energy levels are so consistent throughout the day. I don't need a "wake up" cup, and I never have the afternoon slump. I'll never go back, because I feel so much better without it .... and because it just doesn't taste the same anymore.

In this present health care climate, I think it would be wise to avoid saying that you are not feeling well. Might ruin any business prospects. Just saying......

The virus has been seeded throughout the country and I think the next couple of weeks will show a lot more cases as all the ones incubating now will pop up. Most of us will eventually get exposed and develop immunity - just like with West Nile Virus that now lives among us. The biggest problem is the disruption of services and the financial impact on businesses and families. I work in a hospital and masks are in short supply already. Most of our masks and protective equipment are made in China. China has shut down a lot of these factories, so that is a very real issue. Some hospitals are shutting down services like elective surgeries in order to save supplies for emergencies. Bottom line - we will get past this. The more we can slow the spread, the better off we will be. The elderly are the most vulnerable and I worry about my 86 year old mom in a care facility. People will die, yes, but up to 40,000 people die in the US each year from the flu and still, a lot of folks won't get a flu shot. In another year, this will just be another virus that lives with us. My take on the whole thing is that it is an excellent rehearsal in preparedness for a really BAD pandemic, with a much higher mortality. If the avian flu ever mutates and goes person to person, it will wipe out over half the world's population. If we can learn lessons from this Coronavirus outbreak, it could actually be the best thing to happen. People need to be prepared with food, water, medicine - for ANY disaster. FEMA, the CDC, and state health departments have been saying this for years, but people still don't even have enough TP in their homes to last 2 weeks!

Well , if I ever have more surgeries, I automatically get put on blood thinners. It's one of the reasons I won't have plastics - not worth the risk for an elective procedure. (That's just me, because of my history.)

I found that during a meal, people are so focused on their own plate that they really don't notice what anyone else is eating. I sipped broth during an entire Mexican buffet when I was a few weeks post op, and no one noticed or commented. I've been out to eat lots of times, and no one - absolutely no one - has commented on the small amounts or on my take home box.

Has she had her 6 month labs drawn? Iron levels and hemoglobin would be good to know. If everything is good in the labs, she just needs to get moving, whether she feels like it or not. The more one moves, the more energy one has. The hardest step is the first. Does she have a step tracker? That can be very motivating. Working up to 10,000 steps a day is kind of fun once you have a little tracker buddy to count for you.

I also had signs of EO when the doc found my ulcer. Although the test did not demonstrate a high enough eosinophilic count to actually call it EO, the changes in the esophagus sure looked that way. And those abnormal striations were NOT there when I had my preop endoscope. The only thing that was dramatically added to my diet post op was whey protein. Doc said that sometimes people do have allergic tissue reactions to whey, so I stopped the whey and all dairy. A lot of my bloating and gas issues resolved almost immediately. I am very hopeful that my next scope in April will show this to be completely resolved. Fortunately for me, it was a no brainer as to what food was the culprit, and elimination was easy. I just switched to pea protein powder, Ripple milk (pea protein), soy or oat yogurt.

I went from 3X scrubs to SMALL! Yes, it still seems incredible. I look at other people who are wearing the same small scrubs as I am (they are all the same brand and style, as they come out of an automatic dispenser at work), and I still just can't envision myself as being as small as they are. But I am! It truly is a very odd mind game. Just as odd is that when i was fat, I never thought of myself as being anything but a bit overweight - not morbidly obese. I look at old pictures now and just cringe with embarrassment that I would even go out in public. That was also a mind game. I see patients now who weigh what i used to weigh, with BMI's of 40+, and I still have a hard time believing I was actually that big, but I was. Denial is a very powerful defense mechanism that tries to protect our egos from reality, I suppose.

Intermittent fasting can do wonders. Whole Food Plant Based (WFPB) lifestyle is also pretty powerful. (Watch "The Game Changers.") Dr. Michael Greger has a lot of "hacks" in his evidence based book, "How Not to Diet." It is filled with tweaks that can start whittling away at pounds Congrats on your amazing weight loss. You might not be at your goal yet, but you are so much healthier even where you are. Do NOT get discouraged and start undermining yourself. You have done an amazing thing.

I had bypass and a hiatal hernia repair. I think total time was about 3 hours. I was walking as soon as I could get out of bed. I was up to 10,000 steps by day 7. Even so, I developed 3 blood clots in my left leg and had to go on a blood thinner for 3 months. At 6 months, I developed an ulcer, even though I do not drink any alcohol at all, do not drink coffee or any caffeinated drinks or soda, and eat a very clean diet. It just happened. But it is all under control now with omeprazole and I go back in 3 weeks for another scope. Then I will be off the omeprazole, hopefully. Still, I do not regret the surgery at all. My little complications are nothing compared to the life I was literally losing to obesity. WLS was one of the best things I ever did for myself.

You are making great progress! Like you, I feel like this is the one of the best decisions I've ever made for myself. I have a life again!

Your fluids like broth also count. Your urine should be very light yellow.

Be sure to use calcium citrate, not calcium carbonate.

I keep it simple. I use the Bariatric Pal multi with iron - 1 per day, along with an extra B-12. That is with breakfast. With yogurt fruit bowl in the evening, I take Calcium citrate and Vit D3. That's it. It's economical and my levels are fine. I think you need to just stick to a routine for at least a few months and then see how your levels are.

Fatigue is normal, but you do need to keep those fluids up. A high HR is definitely a sign of dehydration. Fluid intake is your most important goal right now. You don't want to end up in the ER. Just keep sip, sip, sipping and measure it all so you know how much you are actually getting in. You just have to do it. Walking and sipping. Those are the only things you need to focus on this week.

Here is a question for my 1 year buddies: How was this winter for you? I was utterly miserable. I have never been so consistently cold in my life. I was actually colder than my skinny husband who is always turning up the heat in the car. I have to carry a sweater/jacket every where and there were some outdoor events where I had to leave the venue and go sit in the car to warm up. Winter used to be my favorite time of year, but now I am sooooo looking forward to summer and more daylight. My outdoor exercise definitely suffered. Summer was the WORST time of year, due to fungal infections in my skin folds, sweating all the time, couldn't exercise, and feeling like I wanted to rip all my clothes off. Now it is like "BRING IT ON! I WANT THE HEAT!

So I am starting to have some challenges - my volume restriction has eased and I just want to eat more. My weight is still hovering where I want it, but barely, and I can sense a very slow upward trend. Here are my strategies for taking off a couple of pounds and keeping it there. These are evidence based hacks, according to Dr. Michael Greger ("How Not to Diet.") 1) Topload the day with more calories (more dense foods in the morning and less dense in evening.) 2) Intermittant fasting 3-4 times a week (on my work days.) It is easy to skip breakfast on those days. 3) NO eating after 6 pm. (I snack way too much in the evening.) Hot herbal tea will be just fine. 4) Measure my nut/nut butter portions instead of estimating. 5) Measure all my carb portions (I tend to over size my grains). 6) Drink a glass of cold water 30 minutes before each meal. 7) More consistent daily exercise. Now with warmer weather, I have started biking again and training for a tri in 3 weeks. I bit the bullet and bought a 1 month membership at LA Fitness so I can use the pool, and will have a session with a personal trainer to help me tweak my weight routine.

Peanut butter is sooooo high in fat and calories, that most of us reserve it (as well as other nuts, seeds, and butters) until maintenance. It is great for adding calories to slow down weight loss as you reach goal, but until you get there, I would stay clear of it.

I thought I would throw this out there in case it might help anyone else. I had an endoscopy this week which among other things, indicates Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE). which will be confirmed with biopsy results. EoE is basically an allergic response that changes the lining of the esophagus and can result in scarring and permanent damage. Food allergy is the most likely culprit in most cases. This tissue change had never been noted on any previous endos - just this one which was 10 months post op, which makes me think that it must be something in my diet that was added since surgery. My doc mentioned that Whey can do this in some people, and Whey protein is the ONLY thing that is different and has been added since surgery, and we all know how much we rely on the protein shakes and protein powder to get our requirements in. So I have switched to plant based protein powders now. I had cut out dairy products several weeks ago, to work toward more plant based eating, but was trying to finish up the whey protein powder, just because it is expensive and didn't want to waste it. Well, the surprising result is (gets graphic, so those with weak stomachs)........my bowels have completely changed. While many of you are constipated, I have been struggling with light colored, loose, frothy stools, up to 8 times a day and coming with urgency that made me carry an emergency "clean up" kit. A also had a lot of malodorous gas that was socially embarrassing. Since stopping the whey, my stools are NORMAL! Normal color, normal firmness, and only 1-2 times a day. Gas is now minimal. This is wonderful! I did not realize how much the loose frequency was affecting my quality of life, especially with outdoor exercising, running errands, and work. So much better now! Sooo........ if anyone else has the stool symptoms I have experienced, try cutting out the whey and maybe all dairy for a week and see what happens.