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complications are pretty rare - I'm sure you'll sail through just fine! Also, if you follow your surgeon's plan, you WILL lose weight!

Good evening everyone, I am four days post-op and I am exhausted. I had trouble getting the intubation for surgery because my cervical spine is fused. I was a little worried going in that there could be problems. I wanted to stay optimistic and pray for rage best. I spent from Monday to Wednesday in the ICU . What I didn’t expect was the spearing pain my right arm. It’s pretty badly bruised but the orthopedic surgeon thinks its a bicep tear, which isn’t really a ‘now’ emergency. The anesthesia and physical deconditioning (plus the arm) means I am going to subacute physical rehab. I know this the best choice because I have zero energy. I am pretty sure I have dozed a few times writing this. Has anyone and weird complications? I figure my arm issue is from laying in an awkward position for too long or being tugged the wrong way, but I have a baseball size bruise at the side of my inner right arm. Besides my arm, I have no pain in my belly. I kept trying to will myself better immediately but I don’t have the energy for that. No trouble keeping fluids down and that’s good. I feel like I have a new birthday -with the good and bad. ~Mya

I had my sleeve Sept 19. No complications or side effects down about 40 ish pounds so far

Despite what anyone might tell you it boils down to two things: how much EXCESS weight you want to lose and complicating factors. Sleeve loses around 60% excess weight while bypass is around 70%. These are general numbers - either one could do better or worse depending on the person and the surgeon. You will not guarantee more weight loss if you choose the bypass. Complicating factors - If you have GERD or heartburn now just get the bypass. For me I didn't have that, I wanted the less invasive of the two and I have meds I have to take for life so the bypass was out.

I agree. Please do your research and be wary of any practice in Mexico that charges less than $4600 USD. Ask for certifications and accreditations for both the Surgeon and the Hospital. These are fairly easy to confirm online. Look for surgeon accreditations like FACS, ASMBS, SRC Surgeon of Excellence and SRC Master Surgeon in Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. As for the Hospital. Make sure it is a FULL-Service Hospital and not a clinic or surgery center. Clinics and surgery centers are not equipped to handle serious complications. Their accreditations and certifications include SRC Center of Excellence in Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, as well as Local, State and Federal certifications.

That sounds delicious! It's a nice cold day here, so I'm enjoying a cup of tea too! You are right! Thankfully, drains definitely aren't typical. I had a complication where as soon as I went under anesthesia, my heart rate shot up and wouldn't come back down. Sometimes an elevated heart rate during surgery means there is a leak, so despite the fact that my heart rate went up before they even started surgery, they put a drain in to make sure I wasn't leaking anything yucky. We're still trying to figure out why my heart has decided to go crazy, but I'm glad it wasn't a leak!

I’m surprised with all that’s going on that the doctor would suggest laxatives Rather than further testing. It’s concerning that a part of the bowel isn’t functioning as it should. And that you have inflammation. Ileus is where the portion of bowel isn’t moving things along the way it should. Maybe the doctor feels it will get better on its own as the bowel wakes up. Maybe moving around more to get your gut motility moving. Bladder spasms are probably connected they are all connected. I’ve had a lot on my plate, some from surgery some not. I had another surgery before my gastric bypass surgery, also had my gallbladder removed along with the RNY, and then another surgery last month. I do have stricture. I’ve had difficulty with thinner liquids, and couldn’t tolerate purée. I’m slowly trying to add things late in the game. Trying moving around. Try some gentle things like massaging your stomach in a circular motion starting from the lower right up and around to the colon, is that counter clockwise? Also if you can tolerate it try sipping Smooth Move tea. I don’t use anything long term but used liquid cascara sagrada (it tastes like a strong licorice) I didn’t mix it in anything but you could. everything is backed up for you including gas, you don’t want to end up dehydrated or with other complications. Post op pain meds also slow the gut down. If you are still taking it the doctor can prescribe Relistor to help get things moving. i Got frustrated with trying to get answers from my gastroenterologist and asked for a prescription for linzess. But give things a little time. It is painful but just keep trying to get Protein first look for protein shots so it’s small doses, and hopefully at the next appointment the doctor will order testing if it’s not improved. They might order a barium enema. My answers are scattered and hopefully make sense my memory is terrible and my sense of timeline is worse. As long as you get answers and solutions to this that’s what matters most. Thank you your answers make perfect since. I appreciate everyone taking the time to post on this I too didn’t realize this post would elicit such passionate responses. I’m on my way now to see my doctor to see what he’s going to recommend. I’d rather not go the laxative way either but something has to help somewhere. The older remedies I know work in a traditional sense but I’d rather not introduce anything else into my system because I don’t know what it will do. Unfortunately that means pain and wait and see but I’m hoping he’ll have more to say.

I looked “healthy and vertical based” post op, and yet had aspiration pneumonia due to neurological dysfunction of the epiglottis (dysphasia) I also have lifelong chronic illness and disability but you don’t visually see it. the CT showed partial blockage, do I trust CT’s um not so much. My CT’s showed narrowing of the colon, colon wall thickening and possible colitis yet a colonoscopy yielded no answers except diverticulitis. (Sorry I’ll get to the point) if the ct showed partial blockage with a combination of aspiration issues due to GERd than it’s not as simple as castor oil. I have intestinal problems at first post op i had bloody diarrhea, ended up in the Er, then i was lucky if I went Once every two weeks. Something just gets stuck in transit in my gut. I can’t rely on laxatives I have too much muscle weakness and damage due to chronic illness. And the more you take the more dependent your body becomes. Plus I’m allergic to glycols. For some reason the magnesium citrate drink made me severely ill. As did MOM. each person has their own things they just can’t do. Or that works but it seems This is a sensitive problem and needs the right approach. I would be concerned about laxatives at this point. I’m surprised with all that’s going on that the doctor would suggest laxatives Rather than further testing. It’s concerning that a part of the bowel isn’t functioning as it should. And that you have inflammation. Ileus is where the portion of bowel isn’t moving things along the way it should. Maybe the doctor feels it will get better on its own as the bowel wakes up. Maybe moving around more to get your gut motility moving. Bladder spasms are probably connected they are all connected. I’ve had a lot on my plate, some from surgery some not. I had another surgery before my gastric bypass surgery, also had my gallbladder removed along with the RNY, and then another surgery last month. I do have stricture. I’ve had difficulty with thinner liquids, and couldn’t tolerate purée. I’m slowly trying to add things late in the game. Trying moving around. Try some gentle things like massaging your stomach in a circular motion starting from the lower right up and around to the colon, is that counter clockwise? Also if you can tolerate it try sipping smooth move tea. I don’t use anything long term but used liquid cascara sagrada (it tastes like a strong licorice) I didn’t mix it in anything but you could. everything is backed up for you including gas, you don’t want to end up dehydrated or with other complications. Post op pain meds also slow the gut down. If you are still taking it the doctor can prescribe Relistor to help get things moving. i Got frustrated with trying to get answers from my gastroenterologist and asked for a prescription for linzess. But give things a little time. It is painful but just keep trying to get protein first look for protein shots so it’s small doses, and hopefully at the next appointment the doctor will order testing if it’s not improved. They might order a barium enema. My answers are scattered and hopefully make sense my memory is terrible and my sense of timeline is worse. As long as you get answers and solutions to this that’s what matters most.

I had a complication from anesthesia, not from the bypass itself. Anesthesia caused my heart rate to shoot up and not come back down. Slowly over the past few weeks it is lowering on it's own. It is likely nothing to worry about, but it's being checked out anyway. I was a revision, so my risk of complications is higher and I still had a very successful surgery. My pain was minimal, my food tolerance has been incredible, and I feel more normal than I ever have!

Asking for complications are you looking for ways to psych yourself out the procedure? I looked for for both success and complications because I’d been sleeved already and wish I would’ve known about the “common” complications of GERD and hiatal hernia with the sleeve, but it was too new during that time. I’m 13 days out RNY because of GERD and hernia. Right now I have some small pockets of blockage and inflammation in my small intestine, and still no BM. My intestines are decompressed and that’s because my inside have not fully awakened after surgery. Right now I’m still trying to get liquids down and my purées. When it goes it stays, but...I see my doctor today to see what’s going on. I didn’t see a lot of complication stories prior to RNY and I’m low key wishing I would’ve had this surgery first but my BMI was not high enough for the approval. All in all I can’t say one way or another if I like it or regret it.

I started off doing StrongLifts 5x5 which is good to get started and doesn’t over complicate things as all you do is two barbell workouts - squat/overhead press/deadlift and squat/bench/bent over row. Gives you a full body workout and the initial strength comes on quickly, there’s an app to take you through it all too. After a couple of months doing that I got a trainer and did some other things too whilst still concentrating on main lifts, also had a play doing strongman which was fun! I’ve now gotten into road cycling so gone back to just doing the 2 5x5 workouts a week alongside lots of miles on the bike. I’m enjoying the simplicity again!

I think you should be asking about gastric bypass successes, and focus on the positive! If you adk about complications you're going to hear from the minority, myself included. I hesitate to tell you, but just 5 weeks out from bypass I developed pain when drinking or eating, and couldn't keep anything down. It felt like I had eaten a whole pizza! Turns out I had the most severe stricture the surgeon had ever seen, and lots of ulcers. It took months. And 6 dilations to fix the problem. I'm 8 months post bypass now. And am fine. I was totally unprepared for this. But had a great attitude, and just went with the flow. It's really the only thing you can do when faced with a setback. Now, I'm praying you don't have any complications at all. I was a very rare case!! Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

Sorry for the complications! (How many days total since a bowel movement?) Get Well soon 💚

I ended up being rushed to the ER by ambulance due to sever pain CT scan was done and they found small pockets of blockage in my intestines and diagnosed me with illeus including inflammation in my intestines. I haven’t had a BM since the day before surgery. ER docs felt I needed to be admitted for pain control and further testing on the blockage, but my surgeon said no. I came home pain is still there, but developed bladder spasms this past Saturday and those contractions are worser than all my pain combined. I see my doctor tomorrow to discuss with him my options and what’s next. From day to day I’m struggling getting in liquids and my purées. Anyone have all these excess complications???

You look great! Minimal or no complications to this point I'm guessing as well?

Want to start off by thanking everyone for their opinions and posts. I’m not an active user, so I truly appreciate everyone else that is. I had gastric sleeve surgery in October 2018. My starting weight was 556lb pre-surgery diet, I am now at 335lb. So, I’ve obviously had tremendous results. Recently though, the past 3 months I’ve had random occurrences of heart palpitations, fatigue at times, near fainting, etc. My heart rate is also very low on a normal basis, sub 50 is regular at rest..and then can dip to high 30s while sleeping. Has anyone had issues like this post surgery that we might need to consider? I’ve checked my iron levels, thyroid, etc to no avail. I am fairly young, in my 30s and up until these issues started I was working out 3 days a week. Its been awful to lose this much weight and feel hopeless overall about my health. Any suggestions or ideas would be appreciated. thanks!

I'm in relief tears, because you understand what I'm feeling. Thank you for answering me in such detail. BP is like a journal entry for me that responds to what I'm expressing. I love having this support system 💜. My actual support system is selectively small, by my personal choice. I'm private and respect other's rights to their privacy as well. I have 2 people in my support group who are Post-op, one had to revise from vsg to rny (major complications after revision this year). I read these posts and truly value everyone sharing their very personal experiences. This is like Cliff Notes for Bariatric Surgery.

1) there are a lot more people who never make it to goal than there are people who lose too much weight. Besides, you have control over that. If you're feeling you're getting too low, you can increase your calories and stop the weight loss 2) yes - a lot of us deal with excessive skin, but it's easy for most of us to hide. You're likely the only one who'll know it's there. And if it drives you nuts, there's always plastic surgery 3) you will not lose all your hair. No one loses all their hair. There are a few who experience hair coming out in clumps, and there are a few who lose no hair at all. Most of us notice some "shedding" for a few months, but we're the only ones who notice it. And it grows back. 4) I heard no comments of alarm, even after losing over 200 lbs. People either didn't say anything at all (which I thought was very odd, as surely they noticed - maybe they just don't think it's appropriate to discuss weight??), or they went on & on about how great I looked 5) complications are uncommon and for those of us who have them, most are minor 6) nausea is not uncommon the first few days or weeks, but for life? No. That would be very rare. Plus they can give you Zofran to control it the first few days/weeks if it's bothersome I cannot even begin to tell you how happy I am to have had this surgery. I LOVE being normal weight and NEVER want to be obese again!! It is worth EVERYTHING. I do remember worrying incessantly when I was a pre-op and early post-op about losing hair and excess skin. I lost very little hair - and my excess skin was easy to hide. No one knew it was there. In retrospect, I cannot believe I wasted even ONE brain cell worrying about these things. They are so insignificant in light of all the positive changes I went through. I would have this surgery again in a heartbeat - and if I had to go back every year to have it again, I would! Best decision I ever made. My only regret is that I didn't have it YEARS ago!

I'm glad to see this thread, because I need to express my concerns & thoughts. I'm scared of so many things as surgery is getting closer. I'm afraid of not looking like myself because I've lost too much weight,excessive loose skin, losing all of my hair, family and friends being alarmed when they see me after not seeing me. Complications from surgery and many concerns, that I know are mind tricks. My medical team and I have discussed these issues, I'm just scared. I've been obese for so long, I'm scared of what healthy looks like for me now. I know I'm being dramatic, fear of the unknown. You aren't going to be nauseous for the rest of your life. Just take it easy, follow your plan and listen to your body and what it likes after surgery. Hydrate, rest, protein and believe in yourself.

Thanks for the response. As mentioned, I am changing my diet massively and will endeavour to eat much more healthy from now on. Trust me, having a crisp or 2 chips is light years away from what i used to have before. You literally wouldn't believe it. And I am taking things slowly regarding post op plan. If i do eat anything other than the "shakes and purees" I make sure it is puree consistency before swallowing. My main reason for the post however was to ask how much others can tolerate of fats and sugars post surgery before they have any symptoms. With my sleeve, i never had ANY complications. In 12 years i had it, i have been sick twice. Never had any reflux at all either. But the SADI is supposed to physically make you avoid sugars and fats, and i AM avoiding them en mass. But ive had the odd small amount, and wondered if there was an 'amount' that shouldn't be crossed. I've read no more than 6-7G of sugar per meal up to no more than 20g per meal. Ive read no more than "x" amount of fat per meal. im just wondering why, im not getting any "STOP THAT" warnings after eating a bit of chocolate or a couple of fries. Or is it just that your body will be able to tolerate that small amount, but push it further and you'll be sorry. I just want to understand a bit more about how it works Carl x

*Please consider not eating the chips for now* *Try to follow your plans for a while especially so newly post op* *Protect your surgery from unnecessary complications within your power* GOOD LUCK 💚

What complications did you have?

No complications to report here either. I am 6 weeks out and lost 50.9lbs!

not really much more complicated than cutting out 80% of your stomach and tossing it in the garbage. I think both are pretty invasive. and yes - there's a potential for dumping - but not everyone dumps. I never have. The statistic I see thrown around a lot is that around 30% of RNY'ers dump. I don't know if there's any medical research to back that statistic up, but I do know that a LOT of us have never dumped. And dumping is pretty easy to control if you're one of the unfortunate ones (or fortunate, depending on your perspective - some people WANT to dump to keep them from eating junk). It's caused by eating too much sugar. SO...just don't gorge on sugar (most dumpers can eat SOME sugar - but too much at one sitting will cause them to dump)

Hi! Im concerned that RNY is a more complicated surgery. Also the “potential for dumping”. I am 58 and have had 7 prior orthopedic surgeries with 6 of them having complications, as have a lot of fear.