ChunkCat

You can buy them in shops like Amazon. These are my favorite ones https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0897RWF54/ The Zeta Plus Size Leg Sleeves. I wear them a lot when traveling and love that the foot is open so I can wear them with socks that actually fit in the foot, or sandals! LOL Every doctor has different opinions about wearing them and about abdominal binders. I find these comfortable but you need to be careful to measure and get the correct size. I like them but still look forward to taking them off at night to sleep!

I have pretty severe sleep apnea (though only when dreaming, weirdly enough) and have been under anesthesia multiple times. They carefully control and monitor your breathing while you are out. When you are awake just wear your c-pap when you are resting and think you might fall asleep. Definitely bring it to the hospital with you!!

Did you eat rice with the poke bowl? I've read on the forums that bread, tortilla, rice, etc...can all sit heavy early on and tend to clump together when you eat them which causes that lump feeling in your belly. I bet even certain veggies can do that. They are all on my "wait a while" food list.

New To This 23 is right, when you book your ticket you can request medical assistance like a trip to the gate and help with your luggage! Its a bit of a pain and it makes me self conscious but I have medical issues that make it impossible for me to walk all the way to the gate or lift my own bags so I always have to request this to have a wheelchair available to get through the airport. It makes travel much easier and much less stressful. Have you heard of the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower card? Some airports participate in the program. You wear the card on a lanyard when traveling and it signals to staff you have disabilities that may not be apparent that can cause you to need extra assistance. https://hdsunflower.com/ You can order a card at that link! I've found it to be helpful when traveling... Also, welcome to the forum!!

I am on a number of psych meds for PTSD and depression. I had a hysterectomy with no changes to my meds for anesthesia, they adjust the meds they use to your own particular cocktail. I've been told there will be no issues with my meds and surgery. I talked with my psych about meds and absorption and she said that she doesn't usually have issues with sleeve patients, the most she has to do is a tweak here and there, but you might want to consider more weight neutral formulations. She said she's had more issues with RNY and DS patients, but again, nothing is impossible and there are solutions for even those patients, it just takes more work to maintain therapeutic levels like compounded liquid formulations for some patients. It really depends on your particular meds and what wiggle room you have. My surgeon wasn't concerned at all with my meds and surgery/recovery, so I think maybe your doctor isn't educated enough on the subject? Patients on psych meds have surgery all the time with no problems... ETA: I'm on other meds too and the only adjustment to those was to skip my morning doses as one of them could have interacted with the anesthesia they were using. I was able to take it that night with no problem. They go over every med you are on during your pre-surgical appointment.

This made me giggle, the picture paired with it was perfect!! The others are right though, it really is just spending a few minutes on your feet, getting your blood moving in your legs. I usually take this time to make the cats chase their feather toy which becomes a self perpetuating game because cats can tell time and will nag you to get up every hour so they can play. LOL It is amazing how quickly time adds up by the time you've used the bathroom, made a drink, and harassed the cats. My watch fusses at me every hour to get up and move!

It's nice to know not everyone has to avoid those things long term with the RNY. I was going by what I've read and heard from other RNY patients I've met, many of whom still avoid those things, especially dry meat. I suppose it is one of those things where there are a variety of experiences due to individual needs and the variety of plans from doctors and dietitians. I could have included the statistics for everything but it would have been a much longer post and probably a bit overwhelming to read. I find when comparing features of surgery that statistics don't matter to me much, a chance of something is a chance of something and still goes into my weighing and balancing of the surgeries overall, but I'm sure everyone differs on that. My goal was to write a post that was easy to understand and fairly neutral, as I've noticed most surgery patients are heavily biased to their own surgeries unless they are experiencing complications and have plans of revision. We have a lot of bypass patients on this board so I figured you guys would chime in. Sadly we don't have many that have had the SADI or the DS, which is unfortunate because these are really great surgeries for the right person. Thanks for chiming in with your experience Catwoman7, your weight loss and maintenance is truly impressive and you always add great things to a discussion!

Congrats on your appointment tomorrow! Good luck! I can't comment experience wise because I haven't has surgery yet and my BMI is MUCH higher than yours, but most insurance companies will cover weight loss surgery if you have a BMI of over 35 and a co-morbidity. It sounds like you have a few co-morbidities so you should be good! One liter of water sounds very doable after the first few days of recovery, so that should be easy for you to do with frequent drinking by the time you can go back to a physically demanding job. You may not be able to gulp it, but you should be able to drink it at regular intervals between meals just fine...

The SADI and the Duodenal Switch (they are different) are the two surgeries with the highest percentage of excess weight loss, the lowest rate of regain and the best reputation for significant weight loss in people with high BMIs. You can read studies about this. That said there are plenty of people with high BMIs that go with Gastric Bypass instead and plenty of them do keep the weight off. Both surgeries have restrictive and malabsorptive components, though their malabsorption is rather different. The bypass tends to be better for people with GERD issues but has a higher risk of ulcers and strictures. The SADI-S tends to be better for people at risk of developing ulcers, for those that smoke or vape and plan on going back to it after surgery healing is complete, and for those that may need to take NSAIDS in the future. The bypass involves a modified stomach with smaller capacity (about that of an egg) while the SADI has a sleeve stomach (banana shaped) so will eat bigger portions. Both still restrict enough calories for weight loss. The SADI is pylorus sparing so the stomach still has the valve in it that keeps food in so digestion happens in a more normal way, the bypass has no pyloric valve so you have to be extra mindful to chew thoroughly as things pass through the stomach differently. Both have to supplement vitamins but do so in a different way--but they are not optional. If you stop taking the vitamins you run a high risk of nutritional deficiencies. The diets are a bit different for the two. I believe bypass patients need to be mindful of seeds, skins, and meat that is overly dry. They need to be more particular with lean protein as they don't have malabsorption of fats to the same degree a SADI patient will. There is some conflicting data that suggests fat absorption in SADI-S patients normalize in the second year post surgery so they need to be careful about not eating too much fat, but the studies are by no means conclusive at this point. SADI patients need a bit more protein than bypass patients since the SADI bypasses a larger amount of the small intestine. Dumping syndrome is more common with bypass. Diarrhea may be more common with SADI-S though I've been told most tend towards constipation like with the bypass. SADI people may have more gut issues with carb consumption but don't tend to have dumping syndrome. SADI-S is a much newer procedure and we don't know as much about it as the bypass. That doesn't mean it is bad and it isn't considered experimental by many insurances anymore, but the fact remains we still don't understand as much about it as we do the Gastric Bypass or Duodenal Switch. In the end it is very much a matter of preference and which patient profile you fit best. You have to pick the surgery that works best for you! I wish you much luck in deciding, I'm debating the sleeve vs DS myself. ETA: The SADI has a bit better chance of resolving metabolic conditions like diabetes and other co-morbidities. Though the bypass does a good job of resolving those too compared to the sleeve!

I've heard of it but I haven't had it done. Hopefully someone else will chime in. Just wanted to wish you much luck on your procedure! Do you have to do the whole liquid diet again?

I don't have any experience with this insurance provider, hopefully someone else has. Have you called your insurance to ask what specific forms need to be submitted for the referral? Sometimes doctors think a blanket referral will cover things when it won't. Someone at the insurance company should be able to give you the specific info needed to get the ball rolling. Then you can take the form in to your doctor or send it on your portal and get things handled properly. It is so frustrating, navigating the various insurers. Each one is different, even between regions in the same state! And they ALL make it SO hard to get the proper care. I wish you lots of luck in figuring this out. I'm really thankful my GP was happy to refer me, she has a sister who had bariatric surgery and did well so she's a huge fan!

I'm having a lot of the feels about things and I don't even have a date yet! I think that's normal. Navigating the changes with other humans around is hard. My partner is diabetic too and very, very emotionally attached to food. And while they are very supportive of my choices and willing to change things around a bit, I think there may be some rough spots because food is a control issue and a comfort issue for them. I've had so many problems with food over the years that I'm pretty detached about it now. But I'm still sure these upcoming changes will be hard on us all. I did manage to quit vaping by just packing it all away. Out of sight, out of mind actually works for me for most things. I tend to eat out of boredom or vape out of boredom so putting things away and substituting other habits has been effective. But having conversations with my head hunger is still pretty hard. I'm not looking forward to the liquid phases of this experience. LOL I've fasted on liquids for days before for other procedures and the first few days are always the hardest, but I have never had to sustain it for weeks! I bet most of us are afraid of screwing things up. I had this whole panic thing the other day about possibly having the DS and then a world catastrophe happening and me not being able to get my vitamins and me dying of malnourishment---when my brain panics it does so EPICALLY! I finally reassured myself I could stockpile vitamins for a year once I find what works, you know, kind of like preppers do? I could be a vitamin prepper! 😂😂😂

I take that Spoiled Child collagen, it is a mango flavored liquid. I got tired of trying to mix powders! I put it in sugar free fruit drinks or tea but you have to dissolve the other drink powder first if you use one or the collagen will make it clump for some weird reason. So far I like it... But your waffle looked seriously delicious!

I don't see how taking more estrogen will help stop bleeding being caused by excess estrogen? But I'm not a doctor... Progesterone always helped my periods regulate but they weren't off for the same reasons yours are. I'm so sorry you are going through this. I once bled for a year straight so I can unfortunately empathize. I'm really surprised the surgeon isn't more help though, they should understand the shift in hormones post surgery better than your GYN. Are you on birth control pills? They might help. I'd talk to the GYN about progesterone if the estradiol didn't stop the bleeding... I hope it eases up soon!

You can do this!! I know it is scary. But weight is not worth dying over... I keep reminding myself that with the horror stories I've read about surgery, there are tenfold that never get told about obesity co-morbidities killing people. It is worth trading medications for vitamins. It is worth trading co-morbidities with some POSSIBLE side effects. It is worth trading physical dysfunction for wellness. Living like this is a life half lived and that is not something I want for myself or anyone else. So I will do the hard thing! I have done hard things before in the name of a well lived life. This will just be another on the list. People very, very rarely regret this surgery. The odds are overwhelmingly in our favor... Your life is worth doing scary things and being rewarded with health! ❤️

Ohhhh, you are in the UK! Then no, not insurance. But I'm assuming they have to adhere to treatment protocols like they did when I lived in NZ? They were quite fussy about them from what I remember... Or else the nurse was just plain rude, that happens everywhere. 🤣

Doctor's offices are often very particular about when they give vitamin/mineral shots/infusions because they don't want to overload the body and have strict protocols to adhere to. Also because often insurance will only pay for them at very specific intervals. A week early could be the difference between it being covered or not. But it is frustrating to go all the way there just to be turned away! I'd call and make them double check the timing next time.

Yay!! That's great news!! The body doesn't like to let go of weight when it is sick or traumatized (like with a surgery) so that stall was probably inevitable. I wish you smooth sailing now and some extra weight loss juju!

I can't answer what will sit well after surgery, but as for general shakes I've found that baby spinach, frozen cauliflower, zucchini, and avocado tend to disappear into most drinks I put them in. Not always the most appealing colorwise but they all work well taste wise. Especially with berries! Yesterday I saw someone on a WLS Instagram use frozen riced cauliflower in a smoothie with low calorie orange juice and a coconut cream protein powder for a tropical Orange Julius and now I'm intrigued to try it...

Good luck!! Crossing my fingers and toes for you!

Huh, that's so weird. Everywhere I've been catheters are used for surgeries expected to last an hour or more. I even had one placed for a 45 min surgery. I wonder if that's why you had bleeding? From pressure in your bladder during the time you were out? Either way hopefully they figure out what's up! Glad it seems to be abating...

Great job!! I'm sure you will make your goal by your follow up! Way to go back at it, making progress must feel really good. Keep going!!!

People at these places tend to forget they are providing you a service and taking your money for it, you deserve to be treated with kindness and respect! It sounds like the nurse at that practice has a God complex and way too much power over the patients there... Abusers will abuse no matter what job they find themselves in. Yes, don't give up hope!! I'm so glad you went to see your GP. I hope the new practice treats you much better. Please keep us posted, we are cheering you on! ❤️

I'm sorry things feel so rough right now. It seems most people regret these operations at first because recovery is so miserable. But eventually things even out and the feeling eases and the weight loss starts. Please be gentle with yourself right now. Anesthesia can cause depression and takes a long time to work its way out of the system. Plus, your hormones are all over the place and that alone can make you depressed and weepy! I agree with Lindsay, find someone you can talk to who can hear you out without being judgmental. Sometimes we need to get all that panic and fear out in the open so we can breathe a little. You feeling this way right now is perfectly normal... Take it one moment at a time and try to find something that will make you smile each day. When I had cancer I spent part of my recovery coloring in adult coloring books! Coloring in big, bold swear words was cathartic. 🤣

I'm glad you are out of the joint now!! They sure did keep you for a while... I've been in a local Alabama hospital before and it was not an experience I care to repeat. LOL I wish you much good healing and feel free to ask questions if you can't find what you are looking for, everyone around here is super helpful!