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So, I am scheduled for surgery next week. I also HAVE to take my daughter to Disneyland just shy of 5 weeks later. I know to check in with my doctor before I go. I know I need to plan ahead for nutrition. I also know my stamina will not be back at my pre-op levels. I know that I also probably won't be able to tolerate some rides. Thankfully, I am very familiar with them and I know which ones not to attempt if my doctor still has any concerns or I am not feeling well enough to do them. That said, my daughter is scheduled to dance at Disney, therefore, I AM going. We are supposed to be there for 3 days (1 California Adventure, 2 Disneyland). Sending her with another family is not really an option. And I might end up taking another girl with (the one I would have sent my daughter with doesn't have a way to get there). I was just wondering if any of you visited any theme parks at 4-5 weeks post op (or shortly before/after). What were your experiences? Could you go on all the rides? Some of the rides? Were you too exhausted? Did you have to take breaks in the park or did you have to go back to your hotel? How did you handle food? Did you have any negative complications as a result? Did you have to drive far to get there? How did that go? Did you attempt to get "medical" accommodations or was that not necessary because you were feeling so good? I know Disney allows a 6pack size cooler, but allows for larger ones to accommodate medical needs. I also know that they have a service where if you can't stand in line for 45 minutes or more for medical reasons you can go to the front with your medical/disability pass and they give you a special fast pass to come back when the line you would have gotten to the front of the line if you had stood there. I also know they have tightened up their practices due to misuse. I don't expect to be fast tracked past people, they don't do that anymore even with permanent disabilities... they use this new medical version of the fast pass so that people aren't misusing it just to cut in line.

Happy Sunday everyone. I’m just headed to town for an AA meeting. I’m a firm believer we need to educate new coming bariatric patients of the addiction transfer possibilities. My now diagnosed PTSD from all my complications, and the transfer addiction, sure didn’t help. But now I’m on the right path, 2.5 years and going strong. Have a great day ladies.

Yup, I specifically asked if it is OK to do the Green Lake loop walk. I'm a super compliant patient! Being a nurse I know how important it is to follow the Dr.'s instructions, I have certainly seen complications when people don't! Luckily our summers here in Seattle are pretty mild, yesterday topped out at 70 degrees.

I’ve never been a “rule follower”. Conversely, I have never been considered a “rebel”, I simply follow the beat of my own (albeit unique) drum. I am unapologetically myself and raw. My writing reflects this rough-edged quality: in that, I have no formal training in writing anything. I have favorite authors from whom I would guess I take inspiration. When I do take the time to try and explain myself out using the written word, I almost feel as though my sentiments can not be fortified. Like a composer sending his sheet music to a person incapable of understanding the notes on the staff. Not that I think so highly of myself as to compare myself to a composer…but more like I am so full of words… that to get them out into a coherent and readable piece without meandering on for several paragraphs as I madly type in no particular order or style, is difficult for me on a good day. It’s almost as if I need to be reading this aloud for the reader, in order to try and feel comfortable that my cadence is understood. Maybe that entire paragraph I just wrote just shows how deeply and annoyingly insecure I am about everything…right down to what I write that may never even be seen by anyone. All that being said, in a sense, you’ve been forewarned. I’ve clung to an archaic idea of what romantic love should be. The kind of love you hear about online, in stories on your newsfeed of the couple who had been married for 67 years and wound up dying hours apart…so distraught the thought of living without the other inevitably and literally kills them. The kind of love that is so often depicted in Disney movies and romantic dramas…is this concept just that? A fairytale? The feelings you get from a new relationship hearkens back to this kind of “ romantic love”: Giddiness, anticipation, want, hope. Are these feelings doomed to fail and decay with time? Have we been tricked by the warm glow of Hollywood’s manipulated portrayal of romance? By the writings of so many authors, poets, and songwriters? Is romantic love only a momentary feeling? If that be the case, then I guess I’ve experienced true romantic love. I dream…constantly. A nuisance to say the least. Wild and vivid dreams, weird, chaotic and nonsensical. Most of these dreams are irrelevant regurgitated scraps of the days prior. Of course, there are nightmares. The typical frightening dreams most people have. But of all these dreams, to me, the worst are the ones in which I feel this deep “love”. These dreams don’t revolve around any man in particular. It could be someone in my waking life that I would think to myself “No chance in hell!”. On an ‘easy to relate to’ level, it feels like the celebrity you’ve idolized and drooled after for so many years has come to your front door and said “I’m here to take you away” (cliche…I know…forgive me). But on a complicated and very tempestuous level, I can quite literally feel this “love” in my heart, a heaviness, as if my heart had suddenly found a new, deeper, undiscovered rhythm. Once I become conscious, open my eyes and come to the realization that my dream was just that…a dream, I end up feeling hollow. Confused….and deep bitter sadness. I would liken it to grieving for someone that never existed. Strange, but very real. I’ve been in 2 serious long term relationships. They always start out the same…those same early romantic glow-y “Hollywood” feelings. The first ended unceremoniously. I spent nearly a decade trying to prove a point to myself, I guess. One day, I just woke up, clear-headed and exhausted by the whole thing. He was surprised. I wasn’t. I had been mourning our relationship for almost 2 years. I barely cried when it ended. The second, I’m currently still involved in. I sense a similar pattern, however, in this relationship. It started beautifully and, in the beginning, we would dream of what together we could accomplish. How we’d be like the old couple I mentioned earlier. Playing with our grandchildren someday and telling them the sweet story of how “Nana and Pappy” met. As my relationships have evolved, I have too. The problem is, I pick men who don’t evolve. I do everything in my power to fix them and get them on the right path. I encourage, uplift and mend what can be mended. The rest is up to them, which, thus far has been an impossible undertaking for any man. Meanwhile, I ask for no help, I’ve never needed it. I’ve always been innately self-sufficient. I then go on to resent them for something they never even asked for. Once the newness wears off, aside from the obvious grievances I’ve shared above…every relationship I have personally seen ends up in the same hum-drum state eventually. So, it’s not just me. I can not recall any couple that has been together for a long period of time that doesn’t either hate each other and/or just tolerate each other’s existence. From what I can see, a long term relationship can be summarized very easily in this day and age…you sit in the same room as the person you’re in a relationship with. You don’t really communicate besides a brief chat about some garbage show you both want to watch. You argue about what to eat for dinner. You eat. You sleep. You work. And you do it all over again day after day. Add or subtract children depending on the relationship. I truly believe life itself is hum-drum and dull and only punctuated with moments true unbridled happiness. I believe unconditional love is truly extraordinary and exceedingly rare. I’m lucky enough to have that with a few people in my life; My parents and my brother. There is nothing they could ever do or say that would make me not love them. They are, to me the most vital source of love in my life, which without, I would be severely crippled. Is unconditional love unattainable and therefore incompatible with romantic love? If the person I’m currently with were to stray, I would leave him. If he were to make a bad decision and get arrested, I would leave him. He has a substance abuse problem and if he can’t get it under control, I will leave him. ****, even if he does…I’m not even sure I want to stay. What I do know is: unconditional love is a real thing. I feel it on a daily basis. It’s there even when I don’t want it and feel like being left alone. I’m moody, you see, but I’m working on it. Romantic love…well…I just don’t know if that’s realistic. Is caring about someone’s well being romantic? No. Does buying a house together make it a home? No. Is this dreamy romantic love forever possible with someone else? Anything’s possible. Will the next man be just as or more so difficult than the last? I don’t know. Frozen. Fear seems to have overtaken my wit. Fear of being alone. Losing the things I worked so hard to obtain. Losing the time I invested with the purest of intentions. As my biological clock ticks, each tick seems louder than the last. And what to do about that? Wait. Is the problem me? Is the problem just down to the men I pick? Or is every romantic relationship headed for the same vapid, boring existence given the right amount of time? I don’t know and I’m almost too scared to find out.

Honestly , I hope too . Thanks - any experience means a lot I will ask my surgeon is it really necessary or not Of course - you must feel the line going in ... There is a bundle of complications connected with central line but I'll hope for the best Thanks Mikeyy [emoji8] Sent from my SM-J500FN using BariatricPal mobile app

Could be a number of things..are you following your program? Having any complications? New medications or added back and you were taking prior to surgery? Logging all your meals? Some people experience a stall every now and then..it could just be a fluke. Sorry I can’t give you an answer but hopefully in reviewing the questions above you maybe able to figure it out. Best wishes.

I’m three months out and I can barely eat 2-3 bites of anything! I’ve also had a bunch of complications, so that could be part of the problem. I know how you feel though being nervous to eat anything. Hang in there! I keep getting told it’ll get better. 🤷🏻‍♀️

😕So during my sleeve surgery 6/27/2019 my doctor found a small tumor. It was cancerous and very active. It did not show up on any pre op work, he was literally in the right place at the right time. These past few weeks on top of healing from surgery I have been seeing an oncologist. My doctors worked together with me and decided that going to a gastric bypass and bypassing the part of my pouch that is cancerous is safer than putting me on powerful cancer targeting medicine that I would have to take for the next 3 years, Gleevec. The oncologist told me that my case was about 1 in 1000. Normally people come to him with a huge tumor that is beginning to spread cancer and at that point they have a gastrectomy. My surgeon has also never experienced this where a tumor did not show up on preop but he is against messing with the sleeve at all and would just rather cut all that part out if that makes sense. He said he has seen where making the sleeve smaller leads to more complications vs doing a sleeve to bypass. I flat out asked him if I was being punked. I have not had any major complications from my sleeve, I did have to go to the ER almost at the 6 week mark for sharp pains (turns out I ate tuna too fast). They did a barium swallow and everything looked great with the sleeve no leaks or anything. I regretted my surgery in the first week and I am a little nervous about having surgery again but I’m also glad they found this. If I had chickened out before having the surgery or dropped out of my doctors program like I had done in the past, I would never have known about this tumor growing. I’m feeling a bit meh and blah about it all just thinking about the liquid diet I will have to do all over again 😂 but I’m also trying to remain positive. This site helps a lot so thank you all for your updates, the t.m.i. (Looking at you poop threads,we all need you) , the highs and lows etc. My surgery date is 9/5/2019.

I’m new to this thread. July 2011 had the sleeve, August 2011 had peg tube inserted, same month had a PE, December 2011had RNY, February 2012 had bowel rupture with complications. January 2018 had an iron infusion. I started at 5’7” 260 pounds. I was down to way under weight at 130 by June 2012. A year later I tried to start gaining weight. Needless to say I was super depressed after all my complications. I had gotten up to 190, overeating on carbs, not getting my Protein. I didn’t try to completely loose weight with a good bariatric diet, but got down to 168 just not overeating any more. Then a few months ago I was ready to get back on track. I started logging my food intake, and started back at all the beginning bariatric diet. I was super strict on carbs and protein and around 600 calories a day with skipping breakfast. I went to see my surgeon again after a six year break. That was 2 weeks ago. I weighed in at 146.6, he said a perfect weight for me. I’m still trying for 140, but have changed my diet again to protein only, and psyllium fiber, surgeon orders. I asked about all the other nutrition. He said because of all my surgeries my body is unlike any others. So a normal bariatric diet is not ok. He put me back on the correct multivitamins, and other supplements. So I’ve been following his guidelines. I am now lactose intolerant, any sugars or fats make me sick. So now I am eating only protein, drinking a gallon of water a day. Still only able to eat about 800 to 1000 calories a day. In the last 2 weeks I’ve gained 3 pounds, don’t know how. I am glad to see this thread. Long time vets to get tips and tricks from.

They tried for a jugular and missed so went for the subclavian. They put in a temporary IV just to get me into surgery and put the central line in after I was knocked out so I didn't feel anything. No complications just a pia. (The temporary one was in my left arm and I let them know that in my previous experience, it would blow within 3 hours. I'm very dependable that way. But that is my easiest vein to hit.)

fresh out of surgery I ended up in the ER and back in hospital with aspiration pneumonia, an acute UTI and critically low potassium. I’m pretty sure the uti was due to the catheter being in place so long after surgery. I don’t know why they kept it in to monitor my output until the day I was to be discharged. They kept telling me my chest pain was gas, I kept saying no it’s not. It wasn’t. Any liquids I sipped were being aspirated into my lungs. It was pneumonia. I just don’t get fevers like normal people do. Maybe my immunodeficiency. I don’t know. I went home to intermittent fevers. It would spike really high at night and go down by morning. My body doesn’t fight what it needs to. So then doctors don’t think I’m sick if my body doesn’t maintain a consistent fever. The ER did a chest X-ray, bloodwork etc. and admitted me. I hate hospitals. I got stuck there three days with IV potassium and antibiotics. The hard part was I could barely move. After my surgery I was basically bed bound, when the nurse tried to get me up to walk I made it to the hall and had to hurry back to bed before I passed out. Every chronic pain in my body screamed bloody murder all at once. This round in hospital wasn’t much better. I waited for tests, they kept trying to give me regular food so I wasn’t getting protein. Long story short, they did a swallow study which showed dysphasia and every time I drank thinner liquids, ie. Water, thinner shakes. It puts me at risk of aspiration. I’m still struggling to find the cause. It’s esophageal Dysphasia. So my gastroenterologist said it’s not his area, my ent said it’s not his area it’s neurological but so far the neurologist doesn’t know and is sending me to another neurologist. I had a bad reaction to the antibiotic I was sent home with. And ended up with severe oral thrush. Im getting those chest pains that extend down under my ribs again. I had a upper gi fluoroscopy and endoscopy. I was told I have a sliding hiatal hernia, Schatzki ring, ulcers, and a stoma stricture (severely narrow stoma) Nothing as of yet is resolved. I see my surgeon next month. I don’t regret fighting for the surgery. It was my last hope to fight against metabolic disorders and inability to exercise, to lose weight. It was eating me alive. I am having a hard time of things but most people even with complications do very well. For me it’s hard to separate out all my other medical issues from recovery.

**raises hand** so scared especially since I am getting closer. I almost backed out of it when I went to a bariatric support group. It seemed everyone there had complications. However, they did say it was worth it. I I do see a therapist every week, so I talk to her about this and we have been walking through it. Stick with it. You have this!

I was revised 10/31/18 for severe GERD. I was about 20# from goal weight at that point. 1 - complications - one of my incisions got infected, but it's the same risk for any surgery. 2 - I lost most of the remaining 20# over the next 4 months but found it very difficult because I had much less restriction with RnY than I had with the sleeve. (My sleeve was VERY restrictive and I liked that). My surgeon says that "revised" RnYs are not as restrictive as those done on a "virgin" stomach. I also found it very hard to redo all the post-op food phases because I had just "been there-done that." (My sleeve was Feb. 2018.) After the sleeve, I had never progressed past soup/stews so I had never gotten to the real "lean protein" stage. I can now eat regular meats. 3 - GERD - Yes, the procedure fixed my reflux issues. 4 - No regrets. I was on the maximum prescription-strength omeprazole, 2x/day plus TUMS as needed. I couldn't keep waking up at night with acid up my nose and in my mouth. It was going to destroy my teeth and esophagus. Gotta play the hand you're dealt, right?

This is the first chapter in a whole new adventure and a new life for you! There are going to be lots of challenges at different stages along the way. No one promised this would be easy. You have to try to reframe the negative experiences into looking forward to the positive benefits. These early stages really will pass and you will hardly remember them several months from now. Meanwhile, follow the plan so you can heal well and without complications.

Has anyone dealt with Health Alliance for a revision. Some yrs ago I had BCBSIL and they didn’t even want to cover my hernia repair let alone the revision. So here I am three yrs later trying it again. The only difference is this i Sudan remains requires you to meet all requirements plus have a complication. I’m just nervous of trying it again to be let down and still be in pain.

Next Thursday the 29th I will have a revision surgery. It has been 5 years since my sleeve. I am having it due to complications from another surgery that included vagus nerve damage, in addition to severe reflux and reoccurring hiatal hernia. Just needed somewhere to share to help with anxiety. Since the surgery that caused the nerve damage I am a lot more anxious this time. HW:316 SW:284 LW:170 CW:194 Photos-before sleeve, lowest weight, last weekend I've obviously had some regain so the revision will help me get back. I have struggled with nutrition since the nerve damage. My blood counts are low and I go in for iron infusion at the hospital currently. I'm really hoping that the surgery won't make it worse! Sent from my SM-G975U using BariatricPal mobile app

I’m scheduled for a revision from VSG to RNY on 10/4 (VSG 2016, HW 246, LW 186, CW 233). Hoping to resolve my reflux and regain. I would love to hear some experiences from others who’ve done the same revision. I’m looking for all the good and bad info! I’d especially like to know: 1. Any side effects or complications? 2. How much weight did you lose and how long did it take? 3. If you had reflux or GERD, did the revision resolve it? 4. Any regrets with having the revision? Thank you!

No, and I have to have a lot of my clothes altered, because I'm short I use my dry cleaner for the simple stuff, not too pricey, but it adds up. For anything that is more complicated than hemming I take it to an actual tailor, and that is expensive!

actually, bypass is pretty well known in Europe, so I wouldn't be particularly worried about that piece. complications aren't very common, and when they do happen, they're almost always minor. I had a stricture when I was about a month out, which is an easy fix. I was told that it happens to about 5% of bypass patients, so it's considered the most common complication. I'd hardly call something that happens to 5% of patients "common", but there you go. Suffice it to say, complications just aren't all that common. You can also get vitamin deficiencies, but those usually happen to people who aren't consistent with taking their vitamins. The one exception to this is iron deficiency. Some people just don't do well on oral iron and have to do infusions. But again, the vast majority of us do fine on oral iron supplements. I guess you could call dumping a complication, but only about 30% of RNY patients dump. You can avoid it by not eating a lot of sugar at one sitting (which we shouldn't be eating *anyway*, so...) I'm not sure what other complications you've heard of - but anything outside of what I mentioned are pretty rare.

@freetobeallofme, I would love to stay in touch of your progress with your revision to RnY. I don't know why I'm so nervous now. Maybe, the closer I get to the 9/19 revision date then the more I find more frighten possible complications that goes hand to hand with the gastric bypass. My gerd is mild, per my latest upper GI. The pantoprazole 40 mg is suppressing my acid reflux for now. I'm still experiencing some mucus buildup in my throat and lump like feeling if I eat more than 4 oz of food or eating too fast. 4oz seems to be my sweet spot for comfort level and no gerd like symptoms. I use to be under the believe if I reach the 24 bmi; then my gerd goes away. However, I see some fit people posted on YouTube or othe wls boards still experiencing gerd. I have to lose 25 more pounds to be at a 24 bmi. I'm blame myself for worrying about possible side effects of the gastric bypass. The dumping and reactive hypoglycemia. I worry too much about things that have not happened yet. Up until June of this year, my gerd was not as pronounced. Not until an asthma/allergy attack put my acid reflux to being extremely bad while taking omeprazole. My doctor switched me pantoprazole and that medicine has controlled the daily acid reflux for now. On top of all of this, I will be making a major relocation to Europe, moving to the county Netherlands. So I'm worrying about would the Dutch doctors know how to handle my new medical case if I should still proceed with the bypass. My aunt had a revision from VSG to gastric bypass last year. She has no problems. She's happy. My aunt is super positive and do not let life worry her. I not at that level yet. I still have time to decide if I need to continue with the revision. I pray that I have a sense of peace about this decision. Thank you all for sharing your experiences with me and offering your kindness.

Congratulations on your journey!!!! I'll be following! I honestly won't pay consultation fees for a very saturated field where you can see their body of work as well as their profile in terms of board certification, how long they've been practicing, their reviews and mortality/severe complication rate. I see the reason they want a fee but it's only for their benefit because you may more likely than not go with someone you paid a fee for because you feel beholden especially if they say they'll add it to your final cost. That seems self serving on their part. Especially when what you are trying do is shop around. No consultation fee shows that the physician is comfortable and sure of their work and when they sell it to you, you pick them because they are good and you felt comfortable with them to go forward and that fosters a trusting relationship in my opinion. Most plastic surgeons I know here in AZ do not require a consultation fee. You see their work and either love them or leave them. That sample work looks fantastic [emoji108][emoji108][emoji108][emoji108] Good luck!!🧡[emoji169]🧡[emoji169]🧡 Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

I lost about 40% of my hair. Started at 3 weeks post-op and stopped at about 7 months post-op. It'll stop and come back. It looked super thin and stringy but it's the least annoying of all the possible complications/side effects, trust. lol. I have full bangs so they looked ridiculous with only a few strands for a while. LOL

Congrats on 3 days out. Vent away! Many Dr’s have no bed side manor. I would have told her to shut it, I’m not here for your personal opinions. Its a similar situation where I live. My bariatric office will not work with patients that have surgery out of the country. They refer patients from Mexico to their family physician. If they have complications they have to look into surgeons outside the bariatric program.

I don’t eat beef so I use ground turkey for everything. The lettuce I would leave out for a while but you can have ground turkey at soft foods. I had many of my usual recipes with ground turkey. Turkey chili, turkey taco meat in a soft flour wrap etc. I am not a person that rarely purchases premodern foods but I did buy the precooked grilled fajitas chicken from Sams or aldi as they are great for throwing a little bit in microwave with a slice of cheese. Or microwave till cooked. Put on a flour tortilla with cheese and put in the air fryer till cheese melted. I buy the small flour tortillas and don’t eat it all in one sitting. It’s still soft and so good to have real food. I also use the little slider buns for lunch meat or grilled chicken and usually share the last bites with my dog. As he is loving my surgery. Lol. I am six weeks out from surgery tomorrow and honestly it doesn’t feel like I had surgery. I just eat less and no complications. Only issue is if I don’t eat something later in the evening I can wake up from being so hungry. So I usually have a yogurt or shake in the evening.

Wow, what a hard journey!!! ((hugs)) Huge props and congrats for your success and courage in dealing with these complications! So glad you have ongoing care from a good doc and you have a plan for the future! Welcome to the boards. Post often!!! Can you share what he said about "knowing" what you needed to combat the spastic action of your bowels and why he felt psyllium was the cure? TY!!! (selfishly motivated)