JFreeman

Mine came after an open conversation with my sleep doctor of all people. I was seeing him because I was getting set up with a CPAP machine due to my sleep apnea. In addition to my sleep apnea I had developed several other obesity-related health conditions including pre-diabetes, chronic pain in my knees and back, some minor heart issues and the worst of all, scrotal lymphedema (I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy). My doctor pointed out that losing weight would help all of those issues and he added that his mother was quite heavy and was dealing with a lot of health issues and that the sooner I could lose weight, the better my long-term health would be, and he recommended I look into bariatric surgery. That was the first time the idea had even crossed my mind. I did some research on it, but found out my insurance wouldn't cover it and it would be around $20,000 to pay for it out of pocket. But 3 years later I started a new job and got on their insurance, and it covered the surgery, so I began the process at that point.

1. What was the best part of surgery for you? The best part for me has been being able to do things I enjoy again. There were several things that I either couldn’t do or didn’t want to do because of my weight and now after losing so much weight I have been able to start doing most of those things again. For example, I love going to sporting events, but I had stopped going because I didn’t fit comfortably in many chairs at stadiums. 2. What was the worst part of surgery for you? I was one of the lucky ones that didn’t have any complications with the surgery (I had the bypass). Really my only complaint about the entire process was the gas pain following surgery. I was told by my doctor I may have some pain in my chest after the surgery, but it was way worse than I was expecting. But it only lasted for a few hours and after that everything went smoothly. 3. Did you have any complications (minor or major) after your surgery? Not really. My surgeon did notice an umbilical hernia while doing my surgery but decided it would be better to get that fixed after I lost some weight, so I had another surgery for that 9 months later. 4. How has adjusting to your new life been for you? Easier than I expected actually. I think it helps that I live alone right now so I have quite a bit of control over my environment. Like if I had a roommate who ordered pizza a lot, I think I would have a lot harder time eating healthier, but since I live alone I am able to control what food I am around for the most part. Probably the hardest part for me has been making sure I get enough fluids. I have always drank a lot with my meals and now I can’t do that anymore, so I’ve had to learn to drink throughout the day. I am finally doing better with that but I felt like I was constantly dehydrated for several months after the surgery. 5. How long did it take you to feel comfortable eating food? Not very long. The toughest part was remembering not to eat too fast or take too big of bites. During the first couple of weeks especially it does not take long until you will feel full and even just one too many bites can make you very uncomfortable for a while. 6. Is there anything you can’t eat anymore that you used to enjoy? The short answer is no. I have not found any food that I can’t tolerate, but there are foods I choose not to eat anymore. The only issue I had was with rice, and I think that was just because I ate a little too much. 7. What was your recovery like? Any vomiting or dumping syndrome? My recovery was not bad at all. Like I mentioned earlier, the gas pain was the worst part, but after that really the only pain I had was in my abdomen when I got out of bed or the recliner. I vomited a few times when I was learning to eat again but all of those were from just eating a little too much I think. Recently I’ve discovered I get low blood sugar really easily (and I’m not diabetic). I actually just talked with my nutritionist about this earlier today. I don’t have sugary foods too often, but I’ve found that if I have too much sugar all at once, I will get low blood sugar a few hours later. This never happened to me before my surgery. 8. How long did it take you to feel semi-normal after surgery? Just a few days. My surgery was on a Monday and I remember thinking I probably could have gone back to work that Thursday if I had needed to (my job is not physical at all though- I work at a desk most of the day). The toughest part was energy level. I returned to work one week after surgery but I was only able to work half days for a couple of days. 9. Did you experience higher energy level post surgery? Yes, I have way more energy than I used to. I used to have to force myself to work out a few days a week, now I don’t like going even one day without some form of exercise. 10. Did surgery affect your mental health? Yes, I think it has. It has helped my mental health in some ways, like being able to do more of the things I enjoy has helped with my depression, but I have also found I am struggling with stress and anxiety more than I used to. I think at least part of the reason for that is that I used to cope with stress and anxiety by eating and I can’t do that anymore, at least not the way I used to. Also I should add that there was a part of me that thought that all of my problems (including my mental health issues) would magically go away once I lost weight. My mental health has definitely improved since I lost weight, but it is still something I am struggling with. I started seeing a therapist a few months ago and I believe that is helping me out a lot. 11. Do you regret it? Do you recommend it? I have not regretted it for a second. I was relatively young when I had the surgery (I was 32) and a part of me felt like I didn’t need the surgery, like I thought I was still young enough I could lose weight without surgery, but looking back on it I am glad I didn’t wait. I had a number of minor health problems that were all slowly getting worse, and I realize now that it was good that I didn’t wait for them to get worse. I will add that I feel I am one of the lucky ones that has had basically no complications from the surgery and no food intolerances or dumping. I know not everyone has had as easy of an experience following the surgery as I have.

Don't know if you're still working on this or not, but I just passed my 1 year anniversary of my surgery so thought I would share my numbers. 1. Basics: GENDER, AGE, HEIGHT Male, 32, 5' 6" 2. Total Weight lost in the 6 months BEFORE surgery (if any) 24 lbs. 3. Weight on DAY OF SURGERY. 389 4. Weight at 1 MONTH POST surgery 358 5. Weight at 3 MONTHs POST surgery 320 6. Weight at 6 MONTHs POST surgery 275 7. Weight at 12 MONTHs POST surgery 217 8. Type of Surgery (Sleeve, ByPass, etc...) Bypass

Ran into an old coworker earlier today and she didn't even recognize me! We worked together for over 6 years and it's only been maybe a year and a half since she last saw me.

This is a weird thing to bring up, but I am curious if anyone else has experienced this: I had a gastric bypass back in February and for the past 2 or 3 months it seems like I have been having large and frequent bowel movements. I often go 2 times a day and sometimes even 3. It feels like I am going more now than I did before my surgery even though I am eating less than half of what I used to. I'm guessing this is due to the bypass, but it just seems like there is too much coming out of me for the amount of food going into me, it doesn't make sense.

Had a couple NSVs last week. I stayed at a hotel for a couple of days and for the first time in at least 15 years I went swimming in a public swimming pool! I've always liked swimming but I haven't gone for a long time because I was uncomfortable taking my shirt off in public. The second is that my hotel room had bathrobes and last time I stayed there, their "one size fits all" bathrobe was way too small for me, this time it actually seemed too big!

Went out to dinner with my parents last night for my dad's birthday. This was the first time since I had my surgery that I had gone to a sit-down restaurant and for the first time in several years I was able to sit comfortably in a booth!

I've had a few new NSVs the past couple of weeks: I visited my parents last week and we were hanging out in their backyard. I have avoided their patio furniture for years because the chairs were too small for me and I always felt like they might break from my weight. I tried sitting in them and I fit no problem, and I was actually comfortable! I went camping for the first time in over a year and planned to do some hiking. I didn't plan ahead very well though because the only pair of pants I brought were too big, so hiking ended up not being much fun because I was constantly having to pull up my pants. And the best one, I just had my A1C checked for the first time since my surgery, and it is below 5, without any medication! I haven't talked with my doctor yet about what that means exactly, but I was thrilled to know that my A1C is that low without any medication.

Had a couple NSVs over the weekend. On Friday I was at the gym walking on the treadmill and challenged myself to walk for an hour straight without a break and I did it no problem- I wouldn't have been able to do that a few months ago. The other one was I was carrying some laundry up the stairs and got half way up and realized I didn't have a hand on the handrail! My balance was really bad for a while so I always had to use the handrail, but it seems to be getting better as I am losing.

I am now 5 weeks post-op and I think I experienced my first taste of dumping syndrome yesterday. I had a chopped-up turkey sausage with some shredded cheese and a little mustard and I must have eaten it too fast because within minutes my stomach was cramping and I felt like I was going to throw up. This lasted for a couple of hours and then I got some pretty intense gas pain in my chest, which lasted close to an hour. On top of that I couldn't keep any water down during this time, so I got dehydrated......and the worst part was when I got hiccups on top of all of that. I had this exact meal the day before and everything settled fine, so I'm guessing I must have just eaten too fast.

Not exactly a victory, but I have always been a side sleeper, but now I can't sleep on one side the entire night anymore because my hip starts to hurt too bad, I'm assuming because there is less padding around the joint.

I am one week post op and head hunger has been driving me crazy. Been watching a lot of TV and every time I see a commercial for fast food or something it makes me want to eat.

I'm having bypass on Feb. 6