The Greater Fool

To repeat again, only about 30% of Gastric Bypass patients dump to any degree. Back when I had surgery 50% was the quoted rate, but back then the bypasses were a bit more distal which would make dumping more likely. I am one of the few, the proud, the dumpers! I dump on sugar and fats. Less so on fats. Not enough to dump on cheese, thank goodness. I am glad I dump as it takes sugar off my menu when otherwise I would abuse the crap out of it. While dumping sounds horrible, it's not quite as bad as it sounds. I don't often dump these days as I have a good sense of how much sugar I can consume when. When I am fatigued, stressed, sick, or in other ways out of sorts I dump easier, so at such times I try to be extra careful, but still misjudge and it get's me. When I'm in public I don't do sugars at all, though I don't do them much anyhow. I asked my surgeon for a little extra bypass, a little extra restriction, and dumping. 18+ years later I still dump, my restriction is still in place. I have no clue on the extra bypass. I have dumped on fruit but rarely. My first dumping episode, at about 3 months post-op, was orange juice. Good luck, Tek

I'm sorry you are having difficulty. It may take a bit more time to settle into a workable routine. You are still a bit new at this thing. Hang in there. Good luck, Tek

When I'm hungry I eat. I eat to my plan which became my normal way of eating by about 6 months post-op. I eat my meals but rarely until I am full. Full is not comfortable so I try not to get there. The content of my meals are as they were 6 months post-op, but it's not as if I measure anything. I don't count calories or grams. I haven't done so since about 3 months post-op. All my choices and habits were built because of Gastric Bypass 18+ years ago, but it's the habits I pay attention to now, not the surgery then. When I am full it's because I am full. This is how full feels. I eat what and how I eat because it's what and how I eat. Ask a Non-op why they eat the way they do now. Ask them how full feels. Does it hurt? It's the way it is. For me the question was "Does eating ever feel normal again?" Yes. A new normal, but yes. Good luck, Tek

Slider foods are not directly linked to dumping foods. Dumping foods are easy to identify if you dump which I do. Sugars and fats are what can make me dump. Symptoms include palpitations, sweating, chills, fatigue, diarrhea. For me they also don't last that long, perhaps 30 minutes to 2 or 3 hours, usually an hour or two after eating / drinking the offending food. Dumping is not consistent in that I will be more likely to dump when I am fatigued, sick, or stressed. Even a change in medications can throw me off enough to make dumping easier. Dumping helped keep me on the straight and narrow. Candy, cookies, cakes, are just not appealing anymore. I can eat a bite if something does appeal, more than that and I risk dumping which is something not to be experienced eating out. Slider foods are as the name implies, foods that once you chew them just slide through easily making it easier to eat more and more. These types of foods were very much discouraged as they were generally empty nutritionally. Slider foods are dangerous as their nature is eating more and more. It's like the Lay's tag line "You can never eat just one... bag." and eating more and more of anything was contrary to what I was trying to achieve. Since slider foods are easy to eat and eat they can be a trap. I can't say I avoid slider foods completely, but I generally avoid them because I don't need them getting in my head. @Tomo you are indeed dumping on cereal. I also dump on cereal to about the same degree, so I generally avoid it. Good luck, Tek

If you've accepted the risk then you wouldn't be prepared to beat yourself up for making a decision that resulted, completely out of your control, in a less than positive outcome. Accepting the risk means making the best of any result. I don't think you realize it but you are loaded with conflict, the result of which is you can't win: "I have been blessed with good health, despite obesity" except: "I want to get healthier, " and "I want to be able to exercise without getting so winded," and " I had to run to catch a plane a few weeks ago and I just couldn't keep up with my family," and " I want to be able to roll over in bed without it causing earthquake motion", and " I would love to get off of my CPAP." Are you "healthy" or not? pick one. Then there is your selfish desire to "My husband and I go to Disney all the time and I would like to take them [the Grandkids]" You've talked yourself into a fine no-win scenario: You talk about surgical horror stories you've read that lead to death, stroke, being sick forever. Not unsurprisingly these are also major complications of morbid obesity. You can kick yourself for getting surgery and not getting surgery! Which path will you regret more? Trying and failing or not trying at all. My philosophy is that the path I choose will work out for the best. It's this philosophy or living in regret. Good luck, Tek

I researched WLS pretty thoroughly pre-op. I do my vacillating in the research phase of the process. I researched every horror story during the research phase. Once I decided I was going to have Gastric Bypass I never had a doubt after that. I definitely was a higher risk patient. I was 6'4", early 40s, had about 1/4 ton excess weight. This was the best decision I've ever made. Good luck, Tek

The often sited NSAIDs prohibition generally applies only to Gastric Bypass patients. VSG patients still effectively have a normally functioning stomach with a normally functioning pyloric valve, so NSAIDS are no more an issue for VSG patients than non-ops. There is a school of thought that NSAIDs are best avoided by everyone. Cream aspirin generally doesn't contribute to the issues created by swallowing NSAIDS for anyone. Now I had Gastric Bypass and my Doc has no issue with me taking NSAIDs as long as I paid attention to possible side effects, as anyone taking anything should do. Most folks claim Acetaminophen is okeydokey to take while my personal medical issues prevent me from even looking at them. Long and short of it is we should pay attention to what our Docs say about our personal medical situations. Since we're here, Gastric Bypass folks may have issues with certain time-released medications. It depends on the time-release mechanism, where the meds are absorbed, and other things that seems to vary by person. Again, we need to pay attention to how the medications appear to work. Talk to your medical team. I'd wager dollars to doughnuts you are in the clear. Good luck, Tek

Congratulations on your milestone. Good luck, Tek

By 2 months I was almost able to consistently eat to plan, which was 3 meals per day consisting of 3oz protein + 1oz veggies. I have no clue on calories then or now. Good luck, Tek

Congratulations on following through on your rational assessment on what's best for you. If it's not a bother could you link the study, please? Good luck, Tek

1) Continue the plan that has proven successful; 2) Get off the scale; 3) Don't try to fix it when it's not broken; Good luck, Tek

I intended to have a nice dinner but didn't since I had a late lunch and wasn't really hungry. I ended up just spending a nice evening at home playing an MMORPG with my spouse. I had no bowel prep and was simply told not to eat after 6:00pm. Good luck, Tek

Brains suck. This is one of those times you just need to soldier through and do the best you can. With persistence your best gets better. The carrot is that the more you do it, the easier things become and the better you will feel. The stick is that if you don't get through this mental block you may end up making your already tough situation worse. Know this is temporary. Good luck, Tek

I'm sure I had stalls, but since I only weighed at monthly follow-ups I never actually saw any. Good luck, Tek

Never took bariatric vitamins. Good luck, Tek

I know the OP profile has Sleeve but this being the Gastric Bypass forum I believe some things need to be said. The OP is describing a time released medication. For Gastric Bypass, time released medications can be problematic. Some seem to have no issues while others seem to fail completely, and of course many fall in between these extremes. I had pain medications that failed completely, while my Iron seems to work adequately. My heart Doc didn't even want to risk time released not working. There are meds I take where I handle spreading the immediate release meds through the day. Further adding to the mix, my experience and the experience of many others is that some non-time release medications for which you can feel an effect don't last as long as they did pre-op, so it requires a bit of manipulation/planning to deal with the changes. Talk to the surgeon because if they actually talk to their patients they should have a decent idea of which time released meds can be problematic. I've noticed also that some Sleeve people dump (which would indicate the pyloric valve isn't working as a gate keeper as well as pre-op, so for some Sleeve folks all these time released issues may possibly likewise be an issue, perhaps to a lesser extent, so pay attention early on. Good luck, Tek

I'm not sure how temporary the irritating smells thing is because when I'm fatigued, stressed, sick, in pain, or in any other way out of sorts I'm very sensitive to smells. Honestly I don't know if this is as a result of surgery or just what I call 'part of the joy of being me.' It did start with my WLS surgery. It's certainly nothing to vex about at worst it's usually mild and passes quickly. Good luck, Tek

It sounds like he's made changes with in the basic surgery, removing the blind stomach means changing the part of the stomach the pouch is created from so the bile ducts that used to dump into the blind stomach now dumps into the pouch. Less importantly (I suppose) the bypassed intestines would also be removed since there is no longer a blind stomach to attach them to. I would be upset that he didn't actually perform the promised surgery, as this is no longer an Roux En Y Gastric Bypass. I would be considering legal action if this happened to me. Good luck, Tek

Well, the surgeon didn't say "all in a row" Good luck, Tek

Welcome to the forums. This is a rant I can get behind, quite familiar to be honest. Aside from the promotion, which seemed out of your control all the way through, you actually took steps to deal with your frustration and angst. I'd call your response to your lack of control a win. Good show. Bear in mind that the first few weeks or months post-op can just be a circus of out of control situations. If you approach them in the same problem solving way you should do great. Good luck, Tek

On sites like this it's problems that get talked about. People will sign up just to ask about a problem. The vast majority of patients have no problems and are not motivated to look for answers to problems that don't exist for them so they are not here, while the minority of patients with problems are motived to post questions so represent the vast majority of posts. That sentence sorta got away from me. Don't let it skew your perceptions. But, on the flip side you become aware of possible problems for which you can prepare even if they are unlikely to occur. Good luck, Tek

It's said WLS makes good relationships better and bad relationships worse. Good luck, Tek

Scales are crazy making tools of the devil. Cast them out. I am so glad (for a quixotic definition of glad) that pre-op and for at least the first year post-op that I was too large for a home scale. I could only weigh at monthly at follow-ups. As a result, I never saw the stalls that I inevitably experienced. I also noted that my Doc never talked about my weight loss unless I brought it up. He was concerned with how I was doing on the plan, how my health was, my mental attitude, or whatever I wanted to talk about. Once I was able to weigh at home I weighed myself 2-4 times a day for a couple weeks, mostly for the novelty of weighing on a home scale. After that, I just went back to weighing only at follow-ups. All these years later I don't weigh at home, but only at my annual physicals. I can tell by how I feel or how my clothes feel if I need to adjust anything, but honestly don't worry about my weight otherwise. All this to say that especially early on you don't need a scale. Follow your plan and it will work for you. Good luck, Tek

I recall feeling this way during the 6 weeks of puree and another month or two with real food. Just had to pay attention to the mechanics of relearning to eat that the actual food was secondary to the process. Once the mechanics became normal eating was more enjoyable. All these years later I still go through periods when i'm fatigued, stressed, focused elsewhere, or in pain where eating is a chore, but this I think is more about the joy of being me than anything else. Good luck, Tek

I take Slow-FE, which is time released, so not hard on stomach or constipation. I've had Gastric Bypass and concerned about time-released, which on other meds has been a problem, but I apparently absorb enough to deal with my anemia issues. Available everywhere. Good luck, Tek