NovaLuna

Yes, it is a major threat to my health because I'm immunocompromised. If I got it I could very easily land in the hospital. To overcome it I just rarely leave the house. And when I do I mask up and try to keep my distance from strangers. No, I was not vaccinated because I'm immunocompromised and when I asked my doctor if I should get the vaccine she said, and I quote, "Absolutely NOT". She said that there isn't enough testing for her to tell me if it's safe for me to take nor the side effects it would have on someone like myself. So she said not to get it. My gastroenterologist who deals with one of my autoimmune diseases also agreed that it wasn't safe for me to take.

Well, that's nothing more than a myth. On my surgery day I was 321 and three months out I was 266 (that's 55 pounds lost in three months). I'm almost 19 months out and still not into maintenance yet and am at 178 pounds which is 143 pounds lost since surgery (I lost 68 prior to surgery) and half of that is 71.5 pounds which is more than I lost at three months out (by 16.5 pounds). If I would have only lost twice as much as I lost at three months out then I would be 211 pounds, but I'm 33 pounds less than that since I'm 178. And still losing, I might add.

Stress can cause weight gain so my best guess would be maybe that? Because it sounds like what's going on right now would stress anyone out. Sorry you're going through all that and I hope you can figure it out and that little bit of extra weight drops off!

I'm almost 19 months out and I still take smallish sips over gulping things down like I used to because I've made myself feel sick by drinking too much too fast and it's a terrible feeling! On the bright side the protein drink that used to take me over 2 hours to drink now only takes me about 30-45 minutes to drink now, so it does get better!

Um, yes? But the only thing that bothers me is most of what they eat has wheat in it and I developed a wheat allergy after surgery so when they make a mess and don't clean it up I complain because if I am forced to clean up after them I'll end up with giant rashes due to my allergy. It gets really irritating! I'm actually surprised that I don't feel like cheating most of the time. I mean, yeah, the fact that they buy chocolate and keep it in candy dishes makes me always grab at least two of them a day when they're there (85 calories for those tiny little chocolates) but I fit them into my diet so I don't feel like it's cheating (I'm almost 19 month out so my diet is a lot more lax then someone just starting out).

In addition to Tylenol, for my arthritis I take Tumeric and Ginger Root which you can find in the vitamin section (3 Tumeric, 1 Ginger Root a day). I also use Aspercreme with Lidocaine for my knees and back. You can try those things or try talking to your PCP and get their opinion.

Like stated above, liquid stage goes right through you and your stomach was just operated on. Some won't be able to feel full on liquid stage though on puree you may or may not be able to. Please don't move stages too fast, you can damage your still recovering stomach! I know it's miserable in liquid stage, but it passes relatively fast. It just feels like it crawls by at the time. Also, head hunger is a thing and can really mess with you. And smoothies may not be a good option. I was told to avoid berries for three months because they're hard to digest (strawberries, raspberries, bananas, blueberries, etc.) and berries tend to be the go to when it comes to smoothies. I mean, there is the option of peaches or apples or cherries or plums or mango, but usually people want to toss in a banana and that's hard on your stomach (according to my surgeon, anyway. I tried strawberries at a month and half out and got sooooo sick, so I believe it, personally). Congrats on your surgery and I hope the liquid stage passes quickly for you. (Also, kind of wondering why they require two weeks? My surgeon was 1 week liquid, 1 week puree, 2 weeks soft food, and the general diet with some limitations [no berries, nuts, lettuce, peas, beans, corn, potatoes, etc. for a certain amount of time]. I mean, all surgeons are different, but I'm kind of curious...)

Morning: 2 Probiotics Gummies, Multivitamin with Iron, and Vitamin A (every other day for the Vitamin A) Afternoon: Apple Cider Vinegar Gummy, Multivitamin WITHOUT Iron, Calcium Evening: Multivitamin WITHOUT Iron, Calcium For reference, I had the Loop DS so I take more vitamins then many WLS patients.

Anyone who has lost a significant amount of weight is going to have at least SOME excess skin. The amount a person has depends on a bunch of different things such as your age (the elasticity of your skin tends to be better the younger you are and thus you're more likely to have less excess skin the younger you are), how long you've been obese, the amount you exercise/your exercise routine, the amount of weight you actually lose, etc. For me, I'm disabled, 34, and had been obese for 20+ years so after losing 210 pounds I have quite a lot of excess skin. However, I'd rather have that excess skin then the fat. I can easily hide the skin beneath clothes, so while I know it's there, everyone else doesn't. In the end, the choice for surgery is very much a personal choice. Just weigh the pro's and con's and do your research. Whatever choice you make is one that you're making for YOU, so make sure it's something that makes you happy.

It very much depends on your insurance requirements as ShoppGirl mentioned. My insurance required 6 months of monitored weight loss, 3 months of nutrition, lung clearance, heart clearance, nutrition classes, surgical classes, psyche clearance, etc. The whole process took approximately 8 months from my first appointment until the day I had my surgery. I was also able to lose 68 pounds in that time so I was at least productive during that time lol.

Maybe if you share what your starting weight is? For example: say you are starting at a lower BMI and thus a lower weight such as if you're starting BMI is 40 or your starting weight was 233 pounds then l would tell you that 22 pounds in 10 weeks is really fantastic for the weight you started at because that means that you lost almost 10% of your total body weight in those 10 weeks. If you start at a lower weight then you can't compare your weight to someone who started like me at 389 pounds because I would have needed to lose 37 pounds to equal the same percentage of weight loss as your 22 pounds. Comparing your weight loss to people who started at a higher weight is going to do nothing more than drive you insane! Trust me, you don't want to do that! We all lose at different rates because we all have different circumstances and each of our bodies works different. Also, daily weight fluctuations is 100% normal. You can expect your daily weight to be different on average of a 2-5 pound difference due to fluid retention, or your bowels being full. Hell, even inflammation or an upcoming or current period can cause your scale to have a higher number than you want to see. I had to deal with my hypothroidism causing more stalls than anyone I've ever seen on this site ever mention (literally went into one at least once a month from month three post-op to now. My longest one lasted 47 days) and yet I was still able to reach my goal weight. I've been in a stall since I reached my goal weight, admittedly, but I'm still weighing in at 179 (was 179.4 today, despite the fact that I had physical therapy just three days ago and am having a TON of inflammation and hip pain because of my arthritis, AND just started my period, tmi, sorry). I used to drive myself absolute crazy comparing myself to others wondering why my weight loss was so damn slow compared to everyone else and I hope you don't do that to yourself! If you keep with the dieting guidelines, and keep up the hard work, then your body will get there. It may just take more time then you expected, but you can do it! Please try not to compare yourself and your progress to anyone else. We really do lose weight at our own bodies pace, and so trying to match someone else is just going to drive you up a wall! You will stress yourself out and my PCP warned me that stress can cause weight loss stalls (maybe that's why I had so many lol. I get stressed out wayyyy too easily!). Anyway, I'm sorry that you're stressing out! It's pretty normal, I think. To stress out and think your weight loss is slow, I mean. I think many of us unintentionally thought we'd have weight loss like 'My 600 pound Life' despite the fact that none of us were that big. It's unrealistic to compare oneself to that since we generally have nowhere near as much weight to lose. Personally, I think you're off to a great start in your journey and I really wish you all the best!

I'm 18 months post op and still occasionally have nausea issues. I just take Ginger Root and the nausea goes away. You can find it in your local vitamin store.

Congrats on your upcoming surgery! I had the Loop DS 18 months ago. And in my own experience the bowel prep bit was absolutely miserable. And I felt like I got hit by a truck when I woke up from surgery, but I was up and walking after about three hours. It really helps with getting rid of the gas. Some people (myself included) vomit old blood after the surgery (it was only 4x for me, but super painful) so I'm telling you incase it happens to you because they didn't tell me it was a possibility and I freaked the hell out! I went home after three days in the hospital and I stopped taking pain meds at home after two days (so on day 5 post-op was the last day I took pain meds). The part where they take your stomach out will hurt the most, especially when you get up or sit down and you may need help showering (I did), but I was a lot better by week two. I struggled to get fluids in at the hospital and they almost kept me a fourth day because I was getting all my fluid in via ice chips so they weren't able to count so they gave me a bunch of 1oz cups and told me I had to drink a certain amount for them to release me (I didn't get released until after 6pm, so they seriously almost kept me another night). Broth tasted like heaven lol, but I couldn't eat sugar free jello at all because it made me feel like my stomach was flipping (I'm odd, I guess lol). It's hard to get the protein in (in the beginning) and the powder was wayyy too sweet, I had to drink the pre-made protein drinks instead so I had one in the morning that I nursed for several hours and then one at night, that I again nursed for several hours. Fluids were a struggle for several months for me, but some don't have the same kind of issue that I had. Also, they never told me, but there is something like a 3% chance that you can get either a wheat allergy or Celiac's Disease after surgery (this is for any WLS with malabsorption. So DS/Loop DS/Gastric Bypass). It's only 3% so only 3 out a 100 people so the chances are low, but my luck is terrible and I developed a wheat allergy so if you end up getting what feels very much like dumping syndrome when eating something with wheat in it... you might want to get tested (that's how I found out). My allergy has progressed to where I break out in a rash if I even TOUCH something with wheat in it like dried noodles that aren't even cooked or hand crackers or a cookie to my niece or wipe off bread crumbs while looking after my nieces (I always have benadryl when watching my nieces lol. My 12 year old niece is always asking why I didn't just ask her to clean up so I don't end up breaking out in a rash. I just clean out of habit). Anyway, the recovery in the beginning can be tough and for the first few days I kept asking myself "why in the hell did I do this to myself", but things do get better and I'm sooooo glad that I made this choice for myself. I've reached my own personal goal weight and am hoping I can even lose a couple extra pounds before I hit maintenance! Try and stay positive and stick to nutrition guidelines you're given to the best of your ability and you'll do great, I'm sure! I wish the best in your journey and if you have any questions feel free to ask!

Right after surgery some people can't feel full because of the nerves recovering from the surgery. You shouldn't have been pushing to eat 4 eggs in the first place and ice cream shouldn't even be in your diet this early out (it's not nutritious and has basically no protein in it so it's wasted calories, carbs, and fat that you should NOT be consuming this early on). I think you need to call your surgical team to see if you unintentionally damaged your stomach pushing more food than you should have.

The anesthesia they give you for surgery lowers your heart rate and blood pressure for a few days to a week or two post-op (in my experience, anyway). My doctor was initially one of those who thought my blood pressure would be fine after surgery, so she actually told me just stop taking my meds altogether. It wasn't okay. I went off my bp meds for three months and my bp SKY ROCKETED! I had to go back on them. I mean, I take less now then I used to (i.e I used to take my bp meds pre-op every other day. Now 18 months post-op I take them every 3-4 days. And my bp is normal with that. But I can't give them up altogether because my bp sky rockets and so does my heart rate. I also have tachycardia btw, so yeah). Just monitor your blood pressure for a couple days and then take them when it starts to rise again. Maybe you'll be one of the lucky ones that may not have to take them anymore (that's usually only for those who have weight related bp. Mine is genetic. Literally everyone in my generation except my sister has hbp. Everyone in my mom and grandma's generation take bp meds. Weight in our case doesn't matter).

Go the ER, hun. You obviously can't rely on the surgeon so go to the ER and tell them you had surgery less than a week ago and were only given tylenol and it's just not helping with your pain. Make sure you explain that you can't have NSAIDs though because they'll likely try and give you that first.

I had low standards lol. For me I was excited to fit into non plus sized clothing (I used to be a 34 in US womens jeans. I'm now a 12), when I had my blood pressure taken at the doctors office I wanted them to be able to take it on my upper arm like a normal person instead of having it on my wrist because it didn't fit my upper arm, when I had to do tests at the doctor's I was looking forward to not having to ask for a plus sized gown anymore, to being able to fit into the back seat of a car again (the seat belt in the back seats used to never fit me. it made family road trips difficult), to being able to sit in a booth at a restaurant again, to not get out of breath walking for more than 5 minutes, etc. Those were all the things I looked forward to most. And I've met all of those goals.

I knew surgery was the only choice for me when my younger sister gave birth to her second daughter in February 2019. I was 389 pounds and my health had only been declining as the years passed. When I first held my niece I was hit with the realization that if I didn't do something then I wouldn't be around to watch her grow up. It broke my heart. I was only 31 at the time (I just turned 34 last month) and I was absolutely sure that I'd be dead before I turned 40 if things didn't change. I'd done numerous diets over the years and nothing worked so surgery was really the only option for me if I wanted to be around to watch her grow up as I'd been able to watch her sister grow up. It's one of the best decisions that I ever made for myself. And, since I made that choice, and made that change, my sister has given me my first nephew and my brother gave me another niece. I get to watch all three of my nieces (ages 12, 2, and 17 months) and my nephew (age 9 months) grow up without having to worry that I'm not going to be around for them. My family has always been my strength and has always helped pull me through the worst times of my life and the idea of not being around to watch the youngest family members grow up into these amazing and complex little people were what pushed me into making the choice for surgery. I'm grateful every day that I made that choice.

Congrats on your almost one year surgiversary! And you're close to your goal already! It took me 18 months and 1 day to get to my goal weight lol, but I did get there (though I'm actually trying to lose another couple pounds if I can, before I hit maintenance. I want to get to 175 or even 170 if I can). Snacking, I think is something many people have issues with (I know I do). Trying to talk yourself out of eating something you know you shouldn't, but you really want is hard and sometimes I give in to those cravings (generally this is during my period though, when I'm most miserable lol). I'm sure you'll reach your goal very soon at the rate you're going!

I don't have RA, but rather Osteoarthritis (though my doctor is testing my knees for RA in November because my original diagnosis was for my back and hips, but I've been having constant knee issues since April. I literally had a flare that lasted the ENTIRE month of April from the 5th until the beginning of May. And I've had multiple flares since). Before my WLS I never had issues with NSAIDs. I was even given the okay by my surgeon to occasionally take ibuprofen or another NSAID for inflammation in moderation (because I had a surgery that involves the sleeve stomach. Just with the intestinal bypass bit added). You're not supposed to have NSAIDs at ALL with gastric bypass according to my surgeons office. As for my own experience, the one and ONLY time I took ibuprofen I went to the ER with such bad chest pains I thought I was having a heart attack. Then my doctor gave me Votaren Gel for my knees and I broke out in hives and welts on my neck, even though the gel went on my knees. I took two benadryl and went the ER where they had to give me a steroid shot and monitor me and the whole time I was panicking because I've had an angioedema allergic reaction in the past so when my neck turned red and got welts I started crying because I thought I was having a reaction like that and when the angioedema reaction had happened they'd told me if I hadn't gone in my airway would have closed up and I would have suffocated. I had flashbacks and I was a mess! Then recently my doctor prescribed me Meloxicam which is supposed to be a mild NSAID. But the two times I took it, just like the ibuprofen, I ended up with terrible chest pains (and I'd taken benadryl before taking it because... paranoia) and the only think that helped with the chest pain was taking valium which is for my BACK (the meloxicam was for my knees). So, I just use aspercreme with lidocane for pain as well as tylenol and tumeric and ginger root for inflammation. They've been working, luckily. I do believe RA has some steroids options that may help, from my understanding (which isn't much, mind you). You could try the tumeric, which I highly recommend. And the ginger root pills work as a good secondary and have the added effect of settling your stomach if you're dealing with nausea issues lol (I get the occasional nausea issue so it's a plus, for me).

I don't think I had a cookie until I was something like 8 months out. And since I developed a wheat allergy after my surgery it was a gluten free cookie, which made me iffy on if I would like it but I've tried several gluten free cookies in the 10 months since I first tried one and I've liked them all. I maybe have 2 cookies a week (i.e 2 days a week I'll eat one cookie, unless it's the wafer cookies, then I eat 2). Personally, if you really can't avoid the cookie craving so early on maybe try buying a protein cookie. Then at least it'd be worth it and you'd get protein out of it.

I worried about that too. For some reason the four times I've been hospitalized I've have my period 2 of those times (both times were following surgeries. while still in the hospital). And yes, one of those times was after my WLS. It wasn't fun... if you don't get your period before your surgery, you may get it while in the hospital (especially if you're staying the night) so make sure you bring stuff just in case.

You gain water weight from the IV fluids they give you in the hospital. It takes several days to lose that water weight (my surgeon said avoid the scale for the first 7-10 days, so that's what I'd suggest). Try not to stress yourself out, the few extra pounds after surgery is 100% normal!

It sounds really difficult to do with no support. I'm sorry you have to go alone, but at least the surgery didn't cost you anything. For me, my surgeons diet was 1 week liquid, 1 week puree, 2 weeks soft foods, and then general diet. Every surgeon has different guidelines as to what they believe works best so they're all different lol.

Doctor's will sometimes give what they consider a successful average goal weight for you surgery. My surgeon's office didn't give me a set goal, instead they asked me what MY goal was. I told them 180. I, honestly, thought they'd tell me that my expectations were too high , but instead, they told me that was a good realistic goal weight. Several people on this site have said that their surgeons set goal weights that they weren't happy with, so they were determined to surpass their surgeons goals. And many have succeeded. Personally, I feel like a goal weight is something personal and you just have to reflect on what weight you can see yourself being happy at. That's how I decided my goal weight and I'm happy that I got there (I think it'd just be like icing on the cake if I could even get down to 170. I'd be okay if I hit maintenance before then because I AM happy where I'm at, but 170 would be really nice).