AZhiker

GERD - bad. Barrett's esophagitis with a Barret's polyp from the acid. No decision - RNY was the only option for me.

You need to fill in your profile with info like your starting weight, surgery date, type of surgery, etc. That will help others understand your situation better and can give more specific suggestions.

There are some clues: 1) You haven't been keeping a food diary, and 2) you are drinking calories. Logging your food is absolutely essential to knowing how much protein and calories you are actually consuming. It will show you trends and allows you to make beneficial tweaks. Drinking your calories is a big no-no. You are taking in hundreds and hundreds of extra empty calories if you are hydrating with sports drinks. Switch to water or herbal teas that taste good, and keep sipping to keep hydrated.

I also had people ask behind my back (to family members) if I was sick - like cancer. That's a very concerned type of question, and doesn't bother me. Another answer that can be given to questioners is "I am under a medically supervised weight loss program." If pressed for more details, diet and exercise info can be given, which usually turns people away, because they really don't want to do that.

I also got a new mattress and an adjustable bed frame. I can sleep really well now, especially with sleep apnea gone. At first, it was actually difficult to sit on a toilet as my coccyx hit the back of the seat. Ouch!. Amazing how these new bones just keep poking out in the strangest places!

I told no one except my husband and kids. Not even my parents know. Yes, people have asked about my weight loss, "How did you do it?" My standard reply is "This is what I am doing............." By the time I get to no sugar and no alcohol, they usually walk away. My other standard answer, "Most people who lose weight regain it. If I am still thin in a year, you can ask again and we can discuss it." Because I tell them what I AM DOING, not what I DID, I do not believe I have lied to anyone. Interestingly, the only overweight people who have asked are ones who could stand to lose 20 - 40 pounds, and who would not qualify for surgery anyway. What I tell them about dietary, exercise, and lifestyle changes is spot on, and exactly what I AM doing and what they could be doing. A morbidly obese person has NEVER asked me about my weight loss. I have relatives who have lost a LOT of weight and then gained it all back. I saw them at Christmas, and they never even mentioned or asked about my own weight loss. I think it might have been a little threatening to them, and they might even be waiting to see if I gain it all back by next Christmas. I still don't intend to mention surgery to anyone. It's my personal business, and I have watched reactions about other people who have had surgery. It's the "easy way out," or "all someone has to do is eat less and move more," or "why would anyone want to mess up their internal plumbing." I am just not secure enough to wonder about what people would be saying behind my back or always putting an "asterick" by my name in their minds: "Sure, she looks good, but she had surgery...."

have you tried refried beans, thinned down with some broth? Egg drop soup is also tolerated for most people.

I started 10,000 Biotin immediately after surgery. Didn't prevent hair loss at all, sorry to say.

Look up your insurance policy guidelines - they should be on line. Make a hard copy so you can read it over and over and fully understand all the details. THen you will know where to start. Every company is different, and you have to know what your own one says.

When I got near goal with 100 pound loss, I had pretty bad turkey neck, really saggy underarms, very droopy inner thighs, and a pretty saggy belly. With time, however, (6 months past that time), things have tightened up a lot, and I am 63 years old - not a young chickie with good collagen and elasticity. I was seriously thinking of arm and tummy work, but I cannot imagine it now. Like the above poster, my tummy looseness is very easy to hide and I look fabulous in my bicycle shorts!. My neck is not as saggy. Neither are the thighs or arms. The only hopeless cause are the boobs, and I can easily compensate with a bra. It's not like I'm a swimsuit model and have to show it all off. My advice is to give it a year after reaching goal. Don't rush into plastics. It's a big deal - serious surgery and expensive to boot. So make sure you really want and need to take that plunge. Big kudoos to those who have done it - they look great! But I suggest giving it time. You are going to have a period where you think your new body is horrible and ugly, with all the new sags and bags. You will want to jump into surgery and make it all better. But if you give yourself some time to adjust mentally, you will start to love and appreciate the new body you have been given, and all it is capable of doing for you. That is the time to decide about plastics - not when you are in the stage of feeling ugly and embarrassed.

This is something to call your doctor about.

Well, pain is very individual, and some people LOVE to talk about their pain way long after it is over. I have had bone fractures and other surgeries that were much more painful than gastric bypass. There is medication to help you. Childbirth is painful, too, but you soon forget the pain when you are holding a new life. Surgery gives you a new life and you soon put any pain/discomfort behind you. I was getting cold feet before surgery and told my PCP that maybe I should just try it on my own ....... again. She said the best words ever, "If you could have done it on your own, you would have by now." So true.

I agree. I just shudder when I hear about new meds or new procedures getting pulled because real life experience proves they were ineffective or dangerous. Gastric Bypass has been around for a long time and there is so much information now from decades of post op patients. The band was a disaster and most surgeons don't do it anymore. The sleeve seems great, but I just need to see more years of data before I am comfortable with the long term effectiveness. So for me, bypass was the best option, especially with my history of GERD.

I remember having a very dry mouth for a couple of months - just had to sip water continually. I never had prolonged fatigue. I also developed lactose i tolerance. Once I stopped dairy products a lot of my gassiness and bloating resolved. I use plant based or soy products now - no big deal. I was never constipated - if anything, food passed through too quickly. I have the opposite problem with very soft, formed stools 4-5 times a day. They float, so I think there is some fat malabsorption. Of medical complications, I did get blood clots in one leg about a week post op, even though I was up and walking almost immediately after surgery and doing 10,000 steps by day 7. That required 3 months of Xarelto medication. I recently found out that I have an ulcer at the anastamosis, even though I do not drink any alcohol, do not smoke, do not drink soda or coffee, do not take NSAIDS, or have any other risk factors. I am on medication for that and will have another scope done in a couple of months. Those are complications that everyone is told about, and which everyone hopes will not happen to them. But they have not been a big deal to treat. I would still do surgery all over again. My new life is fantastic and I know I have substantially extended both my lifespan and my quality of life. What I am dealing with right now that I am really upset about however, is that I just got a bill from the PA-C, who acted as first assist during my surgery. She is sending a bill through the insurance for the hiatal hernia repair that I also had done, and as an OUT OF NETWORK provider!!!!!!. First of all, I never signed a consent with her, and I chose my doctor partly because he WAS in network. I understand the role of first assist, but they are not surgeons and she should have not submitted a bill that way. So I am all over it. I will pay her a fair IN-NETWORK fee, but not for something I was not informed about nor gave consent for. So THAT is something no one told me about and which I did not expect, especially since this bill came nearly a YEAR after the surgery!

Here are some things that happened and no one told me about: I lost my boobs - like LOST them. They are down there somewhere. 42DD to 34A. I have to special order bras. My bottom is so bony that it hurts to sit on hard chairs. I had so much energy during the active weight loss and ketosis that I couldn't sleep. I was the energizer bunny on steroids. I lost my food shelf - you know, that convenient bulge where you can put your plate when you sit in the recliner. I had to buy a whole new wardrobe. Size 24 pants to 10. I was actually comfortable this past summer in the heat.... but I am freezing all the time now. I have saggy skin, but I lost my triple chin, my thighs don't rub, and no more fungal infections from folds and heat. My little grandson squeezes my upper arms and says, "Squishy." I can't swim very well anymore. I just sink. I lost all my buoyancy. I had to get a new wedding band. I found new bones I didn't ever remember having - collar bones, ribs, hips. But on the flip side, I don't have GERD, sleep apnea, or high blood pressure anymore. My HDL, triglyceride, and A1c numbers are awesome. I can sit in any chair in the room, my seat belt doesn't rub on my neck, I can walk, hike, and ride my bike for hours without stopping, my resting pulse rate is in the 40's, I can get down on the floor and get up by myself, my bath towel goes all the way around me plus extra left over, I am one of the smallest people in a room instead of the largest, my necklaces hang down onto my chest, I can buy clothes in any store and in regular departments, and people call me "skinny." Unbelievable!

For what it's worth, the same calories of pasta causes a lower release of glucose and resultant insulin spike than does the same calories of bread. Bread has tiny holes and the enzymes in your saliva start breaking down the starch immediately. Chew a bite of bread for 2 minutes and you will start to taste the sugar that has been converted from the starch. Pasta is much more dense and it takes longer for it to break down. You would have to chew it a lot longer to taste the sugar.

I had GERD, Barrett's esophagitis from the acid, and even a Barrett's polyp that was removed. It was a slam dunk for gastric bypass if I wanted to avoid the acid and possible progression to cancer, I am happy to report that 10 months after surgery, a follow up EGD showed NO Barretts! I have an ulcer but no Barrett's.

I can eat a little sugar (like a candy cane - oops!) only after a protein meal. I always eat my fruit with protein or as dessert after a meal. I have never dumped. (And yes, I did write the candy cane down on my food diary before I ate it. It was an intentional cheat - planned and not impulsive. Not that it changes the calories, but it changes the impulsive binge behavior.)

I also stalled at 6 months - about 10 pounds from my goal weight. I plugged into some Intermittent Fasting and it dropped right off. I was below goal a month later.

Show them your new hip bones! That will really get to them since they probably can't even find theirs!

Please call your doctor right away and let them know what is going on. they will probably send you to the er to get a chest xray, at least. It hasn't been that long since your surgery. It is possible for a clot to form in a leg and break off and travel to the lung.

If you are newly post op and have lung pain and/or shortness of breath, you should report this immediately. Blood clots are not all that uncommon (I had 3 in my leg a week after surgery) and can travel to the lungs. This needs immediate attention.

Older??? Who is older??? I feel 20 years younger!!!!!

for what it's worth, I struggled with the same issues with long bike rides - how to fuel and keep hydrated without over doing the carbs and end up dumping. I found a couple of protein bars that work well - Think Thin and RX bars. Both have enough carbs (28 and 24 g to fuel. but 12 and 13 gm of protein to balance the carbs. I was finishing up my rides thirsty and craving salt until I started adding Body Armour drink to my water. I make it half and half. It really did the trick. The electrolytes must be just right, because there is no more salt craving and I can finish after a workout feeling great with no thirst.

BTW, it's the anesthesiologist who will be bending over your face to shove an endotracheal tube down your throat - not the surgeon. And it pays to be nice to the anesthesiologist - they are the ones who keep you alive AND comfortable during the procedure.