Dave In Houston

Your has no fat. Theirs has 21 grams in the can. Was yours as good as theirs? If so, that fat was not necessary.

Does anyone else have a runny nose all the time? My surgery was 18 months ago, and I have had a runny nose ever since. I'm constantly blowing my nose. I had to switch to using a microfiber towel, because it get sore from using tissue. It's more troublesome after I had a very minor surgery on my voice. There were some complications, and I needed a second surgery. Now I can't sing or even speak properly because of constant goop in my voice. I'm always having to clear my throat. Though I wasn't having this problem before the voice surgery, I'm wondering if they're somehow connected. Much of the joy in my life comes from singing, so I really need to get back to it. I'm working with a great voice coach, but it's taking a long, long time.

I'm off the proton pump meds entirely, after taking them for more than 20 years. It was actually the voice doc who suggested weight loss surgery when I told him I'd like to get off the PPI meds. I don't think I have a problem in the lungs. My voice coach says I move more air than most of her clients, some of whom are experienced pros. For me, when I eat too much, I start sneezing. If overeat a little, it might be half a dozen sneezes. IF it's a lot, I might sneeze 20 or 30 times before I stop.

Great results and you've maintained for a long time. Congrats!

Thanks everyone. I may start Flonase again. I used to use it routinely. I took a long course of allergy shots, and the allergies seemed to be gone for years, so I've stopped all the allergy meds. I see the voice doc on Friday, so I may also ask him about a course of oral steroids. My idea is that if the symptoms are reduced by oral steroids, it points to an allergy problem.

I agree. While you're waiting for your appointment, you could start back on a bariatric multivitamin once a day and calcium citrate three times a day. I've linked the bariatric vitamin I use. It has iron in it, so you should wait two hours before taking the calcium. They tell me that chemically, iron and calcium are both anions. Our post-surgery bodies have a limited capacity for absorption, so if you take two anions at the same time, the amount of each that's actually absorbed is unpredictable. (My last chemistry course was almost 50 years ago, so it was a stretch to remember this stuff.) You need calcium citrate because more easily soluble than the more common and cheaper calcium carbonate. If you need more iron, you'll need ferrous gluconate rather than ferrous sulfate for the same reason. Your doc will tell you whether you need iron based on the blood work. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HZ3YQ5X/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

We're actually in Sugar Land. Sugar Land Costco is just one exit further out 59 from where we live. The USDA Prime tenderloins used to be $20/pound and now they're $30. I also like the pork tenderloins at Costco. They used to be $1.99 and now they are $2.89. We're retired and we don't drive much, so gas prices don't affect us much, but the inflation in meat prices induces anguish. First-world problem: I've had to change my usual steak from the USDA Prime tenderloin to the USDA Choice tenderloin. And I always watch the meat counter for those yellow stickers showing a package that's had the price reduced. When I compare our situation to the people in Uvalde or Ukraine, we've really got it pretty damn good. I do my best to remember that.

I have a cast iron pizza pan that I use as a griddle. (It never leaves the stove top and is used at least once a day.) I heat it to 500 degrees or so. I spray the steak with an olive oil spray, then put it on the griddle with a weight on it. Thirty seconds on each side with the weight gets a pretty good sear, but not quite a crust. I usually cook them at 124 degrees, so if it's a thick steak it's still a long way from medium after 30 seconds a side. Since my surgery, we never eat more than 3.5 ounces each. Sliced and artfully arranged on the plate, a rare steak is pretty beautiful. A steak house would be soaking it in butter. I generally leave that off. I have a torch, but I've never used it.

I like ribeye the best, but my wife doesn't like to chew much, so she appreciates how tender the tenderloin steaks are. If I'm paying full price, I usually buy the USDA Choice tenderloins from Costco. I think they're about $20/pound now. But if I happen to see a ribeye or strip marked down because it's been around a bit too long, I'll buy it. Whichever I buy, I'll season it, vacuum pack it, and freeze it. Then it can go straight from the freezer into the sous vide water bath. Sous vide is the best way to prepare a steak, IMHO.

You might try some simethicone. The trade name is Gas-X. That's why the surgeon's medical assistant recommended to me 3 weeks or so of my gastric bypass. She said the pain was probably retained gas. You can buy Gas-X anywhere. There are less expensive generic brands, too.

The sneezing is definitely when I'm full. The runny nose is all day long, though.

I have a runny nose all the time. I never had that before my gastric bypass surgery. My surgeon said he hasn't heard that complaint before. I also sneeze repeatedly when I eat too much. He hasn't heard that complaint, either.

I had reflux, so I went with the bypass. I'm now off the proton pump meds and my reflux is well controlled.

From what I understand, my weight loss surgeon wants to see me once a year for the rest of my life. I'm going to the 1-year post-op visit today. So I'll always have a doc to call if I need one.

Hi, Zack, and welcome to the site. My high weight was 277, so not as high as you. I hadn't really thought of myself as being a candidate for WLS, but when I mentioned to my voice doc that I wanted to get off the proton pump meds, he suggested I consider it. I had sleep apnea, high blood pressure, and reflux. My age (67) also put me at higher risk. Now I'm 180 and off the proton pump meds. Also off the blood pressure meds. And my weight is down to 180. A guy I sing with had a gastric bypass before I knew him. He weighed 525. Now he's 280 and MUCH healthier. He told me he got down to 240 before settling in at 280. He says he can get down on the floor and play with his grand kids, which he would never been able to do at over 500 pounds. He's happy. If I were you, I'd go for it. But monitor yourself carefully and take care of yourself. A few weeks after surgery I had some chest pains. It was a Friday night, so I went to an urgent care place. They hooked me up to the box and scanned me, and there were no problems. You should probably adopt the same attitude about symptoms that might be nothing. Good luck!

Hi, Tracey, and welcome to the site. I'm a bit less than a year post-surgery. I eat three meals and two snacks every day. Often, one meal and one snack are protein shakes. I tend to blend the shakes with some frozen fruit or with peanut butter powder, so it takes a bit of work, but not too bad. I eat an egg, a strip of bacon, and a slice of toast for lunch virtually every day. My afternoon snack is always cottage cheese and canned pineapple. Dinners can be very simple or a bit less simple, but they generally involve a protein, a carb, and a salad. Could be a burger, a steak, or salmon in the air fryer. I made a huge pot of cioppino (seafood stew) that involved a lot of preparation, but it made 12 meals for my wife and me. I'm also not ashamed to use canned soup with some extra veggies and protein. I do tend to get dehydrated. Before surgery, I would get most of my water at meal time, when I would drink almost a quart. Now that I can't do that any more, I have to be disciplined enough to have a water bottle nearby and drink throughout the day. I can now drink about 2/3 of a cup without hurting myself.

The medical assistant may be able to many of the things you are expecting the surgeon to do. My surgeon's medical assistant does prescriptions, for example. If you ask the surgeon, he can probably tell you how to get the best results from him and his staff.

To be clear, when I serve the steak to my wife's dad, it will be 128F in the middle just like everyone else's, since it was in the water bath at 128. But since I cooked it to 155, it will be the well-done color he (and you) would like. Does that make sense?

That one I posted was indeed pretty red, but it was delicious. That one was 132F by the sous vide machine. I have another one in the freezer, and I may cook it a bit warmer. 136, maybe. Sous vide is wonderful for cooking red meat. It comes out the desired doneness all the way through, rather than being just right in the center and too done on the outside. My wife's dad likes them well-done, too. When we cook steaks for him by sous vide, I make his 155F or so, then cool off the water bath and make them for everyone else. I just leave his in. It cooks longer, but doesn't get any more done, since everyone else likes their steaks about 128F.

So sorry to hear about your father's passing. When my dad passed away about three years ago, it was expected, but still had a profound effect on me. So be gracious and forgiving with yourself in the coming days and weeks.

Easter dinner. (We had Easter dinner yesterday, because our daughter couldn't make it today.) Rib eye roast, cooked by sous vide to 132F. Sauteed asparagus, air fryer sweet potatoes, and half a ciabatta roll. Cabernet sauvignon from South Africa. I ate about half, except I ate all the bread. With butter. I love bread and butter.

They kept me for one night when I had my gastric bypass. They never offered me the opportunity to go home the same day. My insurance is good, so I wasn't worried about the cost of the overnight stay.

I see you're in Texas. Do you happen to be anywhere near Houston? My tastes have changed, and I have some protein shakes and maybe one or two other things that I no longer care for. It would be great if I could find a good home for them. Please let me know. Having said that, if you have a protein shake for breakfast, even at $1.50, it's not that much more than what a pre-surgery breakfast might cost.

After my surgery last year, I started weighing everything I ate. I wasn't logging, but I kept track of protein and total calories in my mind, at least roughly. As the months passed, I began to weigh just at meal time. This was more to be sure I didn't hurt myself, rather than for tracking purposes. It's been almost a year, and I've reached my target weight. I had hoped to get 10 pounds or so below my target, but I've been stuck about where I am now since Thanksgiving. Where I am now is not a bad place, so I'm not too worried. However, I've developed a habit of grazing between meals. It will be a handful of pretzels or dry cereal straight from the box. Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal is like crack cocaine to me. I could stand in the pantry and eat half a dozen fists full. None of the grazing is tracked. (On this matter, you folks are serving as my father confessor.) I'm going to have to be more careful if I put on several pounds.

I read this thread often but I rarely post because my efforts are quite plebian compared to the resident experts here. I was proud of this cioppino, though. 373 calories, 42 g protein and 12 g fat per serving. This is about half a serving, and I ate it all, along with an ounce or so of sourdough bread. It was delicious, and I made a huge batch. Sorry I forgot to wipe down the sides of the bowl. If I posted more often, I might learn how to take decent photos.