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I only had that machine attached until that night because it broke, then I just rotated my legs/ ankles and moved my toes. i still was wearing the compression socks though but the following day after surgery I took them off. i work with doctors and I went in 6 days post op and he looked at my incisions etc and felt ny legs to make sure everything was okay and it was so unless you had any health issues that they recommended you to continue using them I have no idea why 2 weeks post op? they want you up and moving for that purpose as well

If I'm calculating right, you are about 6 months out. You lost all that weight in 6 months?! Take some time to be fiercely proud of yourself and your body! At 6 months out you are probably not done losing, but you are in the realm of stalls for sure. Are you keeping track of your body measurements? Sometimes when the scale doesn't move the inches do. Your body has a lot of reorganizing to do as you drop weight, sometimes it needs a time out to make sure everything is going to continue working! Losing weight this fast is actually pretty hard on the body. I wouldn't stress it by changing up a bunch of things trying to force the scale to move, it'll just take your body that much longer to recalibrate. Honestly, this is probably just a stall and will take TIME. The body will not let go before it is ready to, no matter how much you punish it... Surgery is rough and I swear the majority of the struggle is with our head game. If your mind isn't right with these things, you will experience it all as a suffering and be angry at your body for not cooperating. I think most of us have spent chunks of our lives hating our bodies. This surgery and weight loss is an opportunity to heal that, but only if you take it. Let go of the diet mentality. Show yourself some kindness. Celebrate how far you have come in such a short period of time. And trust things will move when they are ready to move. I'm talking to myself as much as I'm talking to you, I have to remind myself of this EVERY DAY. ❤️

@draikaina8503 - It sounds like the struggle has been super real for you, and I hate to hear that you've had such a tough time. I didn't have a drainage tube because of the type of surgery I had (as far as I know, unless it was only used DURING the surgery itself). The staples are a pain; and bending or stretching too much causing pain is 100% something I empathize with you in regards to. I was really nervous about showering with them in as well, but honestly the warm water from the shower set to a gentle pressure did feel really nice. I also used the special soap they gave me when I washed my staple area lightly with a washcloth. I was afraid of using a loofah thinking it might snag or something. I also feel where you (and others) are coming from on the fluids and dry mouth - I still find myself super relieved when I can finally have a drink 30 mins after a 'meal'. I will say that as long as I keep my intake moist (super soupy purees or broths) that it isn't TOO bad - and I definitely have to watch how many ounces I intake for my meals. I eat slowly, but when the food tastes good and I'm eyeballing my protein goal it's HARD not to want to try to 'finish' my serving. I learned my lesson with my oatmeal this morning, though. It sat more heavily on/in my stomach after I ate than I expected and I struggled to have a few burps that relieved the weight and pressure I felt in my chest. Your mention of letting ice chips dissolve in your mouth helped me today - the cold really did slow my intake and provide relief. I hope you're starting to feel better now! I created a sort of 'routine' for my mornings that I think is working pretty well, though. I try to only have a sip of water when I first wake up and them immediately prepare my breakfast. With purees that are thick to the consistency of yogurt there's a trick where you basically just swallow your meds a couple at a time (if they are small) with a spoonful of yogurt/cottage cheese/medium thick puree. That's what I do to get down my morning meds, and as long as I don't overeat I go to have a brief warm shower afterward. The movements of me showering and standing help get my body to produce a burp or two, and putting my arms over my head when I wash my hair (yes, still some pulling especially on the left side so I have to go easy with THAT arm) does expand my torso and help my food settle. This also take sup some of the time gap I have to leave after eating before I can drink. Usually by the time I'm done with my shower, done drying, and have caught my breath it's almost time for me to be able to sip fluids again. @Pepper_No_Salt I'm still shocked that they sent you home from the hospital on the same day. Whew. I'm glad to see you're been feeling better each day, Moving on to strained soups was a biggie for me and I certainly can appreciate that having been one of your first planned stops! I did the same thing after I got my staples out. Today I am going to try to return to some broth for lunch and wish I had gotten more cans of chicken noodle when I went to the store. Maybe I'll try to season some of the 'cream of' soups I've got sitting around. My first try with them wasn't good, but then again they were room temperature then. Hopefully they taste better next time around! @ShoppGirl @Onemealplan @Greekmom4 @AndreaJD- Thank you all for the recipes and information! I tried my oatmeal yesterday with the whey protein powder a friend had given me and honestly - it was gritty, and I was disappointed. This morning I used part of a vanilla ensure and I used a potato peeler to slice off the exterior of three strawberries I mixed in with it and it was 100x better. I actually ate about 5oz of it super slowly and regretted that as it either expanded or wouldn't quite settle. I wasn't sick, but I was very uncomfortable for a while and had to shower and move around, then stand and take a couple of sips of cold water to initiate a couple of burps that provided some relief. Once I started to feel better I realized that the icy cold beverage helped me, and so I went ahead and had a sugar free popsicle. I took my time with it and found that the cold spreading across the inside of my chest felt very good and now I'm feeling much better. Has anyone had good luck finding an unflavored protein powder that doesn't feel gritty when mixed? Just curious - and if someone already answered this I'm sorry; trying to get caught up but not sit for too long! @CrazyDog&CatLady - Good luck to you on your revision and thank you for sending us all positive vibes for preparation and healing! Also, welcome to the thread! @ShoppGirl - I second what you said a thousand percent about using ALL the coping strategies you can to get through this. I'm having to completely re-learn my body, and in fact learning things about myself I never realized or understood before. The feeling of 'full' does echo my feelings of 'anxiety' and I've found that I'm extra sensitive due to that in the hour after I have a meal. I've also found that just like with the walking to get the gas worked out I also need to walk around a little bit after my meal to get my food to sit properly. Additionally, I'm learning the importance of remaining UPRIGHT until my stomach has settled past a meal. It's not even 'going to sleep too soon after eating, it's being at too little of an incline. I've woken up two nights in a row with heartburn in the wee hours that I can only attribute to drinking something maybe too fast before going to bed, or sipping at an incline rather than sitting up completely to deal with my dry mouth during the night. I do space my calcium out to later in the day and have been taking my multi w/Iron and ADEK about an hour after my breakfast. That seems to so far be working to stave off any nausea I would get from taking them on an empty stomach. Thank you for explaining about the B12 injections and congratulations on overcoming your anxiety giving them to yourself! Sorry if I missed anyone - I've hit my cap for sitting for the moment. Best wishes to all and encouragement to those who have surgery in the coming days! If I recall we have two having surgery tomorrow, yes? Another set of 8/21 surgery buddies? I'll try to recap and review later!

I was sleeved 10 May, all good here, no issues. I've been lucky enough to lose every week, apart from a 10 day plateau 2 weeks after surgery. I put my success down to tracking daily and hitting my protein goal consistently. I eat really well for the most part too apart from an occasional treat. I eat carbs, I'm learning to accept that carbs aren't the devil. I don't eat bread itself much, but enjoy low carb wraps daily. Also been having a muktigrain muffin every day with peanut butter. It's 20 carbs, not terrible IMHO. I include brown rice, pasta, potato, protein is the focus of course. Of a meal carbs might make up a quarter for example. My carbs average around a hundred a day, give or take. I'm a vegetarian so the bulk of it comes from legumes and vegetables, also fruit which I eat daily.

IIRC, vitamin E can cause some issue with blood thinning. Although the amount that's in a multi may not be enough to do that. They may just mean don't take a separate E capsule - but I'd check with them. Also, before some of the surgeries I've had, I've been told to stop taking all vitamins about a week before - although I don't think I was told to do that before my bypass, though. UPDATE: I just read on realself.com that the amount of vitamin E that's in multivitamins usually isn't enough to cause problems. another update - I don't know what kind of multi you're taking, but Centrum, for example, has 13.5 grams of vitamin E. Those vitamin E specific things are usually at least 400 IUs, which I just learned is equal to 268 mg. So yea - what you're getting in a multi is a really low dose.

Well done on the loss. dont over do it. It is a big adjustment. After 14 months I got the hang of limited foods, about a cup full. And that one extra sip or mouthful made me throw up everything. And now I can have no more then 3/4 a cup. And I’ve only thrown up three times since surgery on the 2nd. i had a mini meltdown last night. I had thrown up and also had my first dumping(think it was the date smoothie.) and I was contemplating the decisions on the fluid/puree diet for the last 15 months. And how it’s affecting my mental health. I am so over it and often feel myself wondering to how people do this for their life. I am walking 30mins - 1hr a day. And it’s the only enjoyment I feel besides my sewing. I can only sit for an hour at a time. I see my GP tomorrow.

I’m going jump in on this discussion if you all don’t mind. I had gastric sleeve in January 2019 (5’2” 210lbs). Within 6 months, my weight was 130lbs and i didnt like how i looked (cheeks sinking in), so i started increasing my calorie intake. Its January 2024 and im currently 175, trying to get back down to 150. Ive done it all…. gym 3x a week, personal trainer, nutritionist, dietician, logging my foods, staying within the 1500 calorie range, etc. Still no change. I got tired of the assumptions and guessing game (you should eat this, limit your fat, carbs, calories, do cardio, lift weights) and did my own research. I found out about a few scientifically proven tests that give 99.9% accurate results in regards to how many calories my body NEEDS just to function, how much lean mass and fat mass i have, etc. Low and behold, my body needs at least 1600 calories to function. Being active throughout the day, gym 3x a week, my body NEEDS roughly 2400 calories just to maintain my current weight. In order to lose weight, i have to consume 500 calories less, so thats 1900 calories. At 1500 calories a day over the past 3 years, my body was running on fumes, holding onto everything i ate, and going into hypoglycemia because it didnt have any fuel storage to pull from.

1). there are a lot more people who don't reach goal than there are who lose too much weight. Plus if you feel like you're losing too much weight, you can always increase your calories to put the brakes on it - or to start gaining. So I wouldn't worry about this one AT ALL. 2). fewer than 5% of people are able to lose weight and keep it off. You may be one of the lucky ones who can do that - and if so, and you're afraid of the surgery, it's not too late to pull out and try it on your own. I wasn't one of the lucky ones. I spent my first 55 years as overweight or obese. I gained and lost weight a million times and could never keep it off until I had weight loss surgery. 3). hair loss, if you experience it (and not everyone does), is temporary. I lost hair during months 5-8 post-surgery (so...for three months). It wasn't much, though. I could tell because there were more hairs in my combs and brushes, but I really didn't notice it at all when looking in the mirror, so I'm sure no one else noticed it. Plus hair loss after surgery is more like shedding - not huge clumps of loss like one might have after chemo. For a lot of people, they're the only ones who notice it. It's usually more loss of volume than noticeable "bald spots" - and it does grow back. to me, the risk of losing some hair temporarily vs. being morbidly obese for the rest of my life was a no-brainer. But you may think and decide differently for yourself - and there's nothing wrong with that. If you're not mentally ready for this yet, or want to try on your own to lose weight, then there's nothing wrong with canceling or postponing your surgery. You wouldn't be the first..or last.

So my doctor has me seriously ticked off. She told me she'd like to see my weight and bmi down. I said "WHAT???? I weigh 183 and my bmi is 30. What's wrong with it???" She told me she wants to see my weight around 155 or 160 and me at a normal bmi. I was like "if I do that, I'll look sickly!!! I've always been bigger boned and somewhat curvy, I carry my weight differently. Not one person would look at me right now and think I look like I weigh 183. No way would I look healthy if I went down to 160" and she said it would be better for my health and I should at least think about it. I told her "my blood pressure already runs on the low side of normal. I struggle to keep it up to 103/55!!! My A1c is 5.0 and my glucose is 96. I'm not on any meds except what I take for my MS. All my labs come back perfect. What else do you want??" I told her I feel amazing, I'm really active, I'm able to work as a clinical medical assistant for a busy specialty practice (infectious disease) which has always been my dream, I hike, I work out, literally I'm living the life I only dreamed about. What am I missing here???? I was so mad. And she said we'll discuss it at our appt on the 17th. I said "oh we'll discuss some stuff, alright, but that ain't happening". She's going based off my height, weight, bmi, and their supposed "ideal weight" BS. My bariatric surgeon is ecstatic with my progress. He actually said I've lost more, with both surgeries, than he realistically expected that I would. My neurologist is thrilled because losing all the weight has significantly improved my MS symptoms. My gastroenterologist is thrilled because all of my GI issues have gone away. Just this idiot yahoo isn't happy. I definitely think I need a new doctor. This is just too much. For reference, here's what I looked like when I first started seeing her, and here's what I look like now, literally this week....as in Monday and yesterday.....

Hi! I’m 6 weeks post bypass and have lost 19lb since surgery. I’m getting 1.5/2l fluid a day. Hitting my protein targets and getting some exercise in. Why is my weight so slow? If I’d known that it was going to be like this, then I never would have put my body through a major op.

Just finished not long ago my 3 week crawl through full fluid. My fav go to I've made is .5 cup of microfiltered lactose free protein milk, 1 tbsp of greek yogurt, 1tbsp peanut butter (i am not sure if this is okay on your preop.. but I tolerate it well post op and am very mindful of the fat content for the day, this is basically my fattiest meal), cocoa powder, probably .5 tbsp. and I put a full scoop of protein powder now, but was doing half a scoop before. I fill up my ninja smoothie cup the rest of the way with ice, blend it and it's like a peanut butter chocolate milkshake. Good luck!

Hi all, I am writing this for the >1% of gastric bypass patients who have the unusual complications that I had and, like me, couldn't find any information about it online to ease your mind. I had my gastric bypass surgery on September 7, 2022. I chose gastric bypass over the gastric sleeve specifically after months of research because of the higher rate of successful weight loss, particularly in women. My first week post-op went great, but after day 8 or 9 when I tried progressing my food intake from full-liquids to pureed foods I began vomiting and feeling really nauseous at every meal. I let my surgeon and dietitian know immediately and stepped my food intake back down to full-liquids. Pretty soon, I couldn't even take in full-liquids and was limited to hydrating fluids and chicken broth. I could keep down hydrating fluids and broth about 80% of the time, full-liquids 50% of the time, and everything else came back up. My surgeon was very responsive and had me get an endoscopy. Under general anesthesia, the endoscopy explored my new stomach pouch and roux limb connections that make up my new tummy system. Typically, gastric bypasses can result in constriction of the connection between the stomach pouch and roux limb, and my gastroenterologist was prepared to use a balloon to inflate the area to ease that restriction. In my case, however, that area looked fine, but further down the roux limb there was a stricture that was almost impassable for the narrow scope. This is what was causing my problem. I had an external compression on my roux limb that was making it impossible for anything more viscous than water to pass through. My layman's understanding of what had happened is that my surgeon brought my small intestine / roux limb up to meet my new stomach pouch through the transverse mesocolon. This involved cutting a hole through the transverse mesocolon to put the roux limb through and then stitching it up a little on either side to make sure nothing else will slip through the hole and cause a hernia. Apparently, this is typically sufficient and there is space enough in the hole in the mesocolon for scar tissue to form but still allow the roux limb to operate appropriately. Not in my case! xD My body and over-active immune system saw a hole and decided that hole must. be. fixed! The scar tissue that formed to close the hole closed tight enough on the roux limb and it was tight enough that barely anything could get through. I had a second laparoscopic surgery on October 12, 2022 to remove the scar tissue and loosen the compression on the roux limb. My surgeon decided to remove the small stitches on either side of the hole in the transverse mesocolon to reduce the chance that any new scar tissue will close the hole up as completely again. Immediately after this second laparoscopic surgery, I felt tons better! I stayed overnight in the hospital and was put straight on full-liquids, which I was barely tolerating before! The reason I am writing all of this out is because, in the month-long interim between surgeries, I couldn't find anything in my online research to figure out what was wrong, or what I could try, or what the next steps looked like, or how long, or why this was happening. I went for more than a month on little to no substantial nutrition, and I found so little information on what to expect or how long I would have to live like this. I even looked in these forums to see if anyone had asked about symptoms that are similar to mine and I didn't find very much information. So, I'm writing about my experience and using as many of the keywords I can think of that I've been searching for over the past two months! So! If you had gastric bypass and you start experiencing nausea and vomiting after what seems like typical food progression, please speak to your surgeon. It could be an internal stricture of the roux limb or the connecting bits, or in my case an external compression of some sort. From the very few resources I could find online, my type of external compression of transverse mesocolon on the roux limb seemed to occur in 0.9% of gastric bypass patients and it seems to happen within the first month. My surgeon pretty much immediately knew what was wrong, and her PA said she had seen it before, but not often, and it was new for my insurance caseworker. The inability to eat made it very difficult to complete normal daily tasks like my job, housework, walking the dog, etc. I wasn't in pain, I just couldn't get enough energy to do anything! My doctors moved quickly to get me back in for surgery, but it still took 4-5 weeks from starting to vomit at each meal to waking up from my second surgery feeling much better. I am so thankful that my surgeon was able to fix what was wrong with the scar tissue compressing around the roux limb; it made a world of difference! I'm not out of the woods quite yet, however. Six days after the surgery to repair the hole in the transverse mesocolon, I had a bad food day and nothing stayed down. I immediately reached out to my surgeon's office and today went in for an upper GI in which I intake contrast dye while a doctor observes how it flows through my new gastrointestinal system with an X-ray. That doctor said it looks like the connection between my stomach pouch and roux limb looks stenosed now. I am grateful that they found something and that there is an explanation for why everything I put in my mouth makes me nauseous and that there's a reason why I don't want to eat anything. I will be having another endoscopy in the following couple of weeks and, as ever, I am hopeful that this will be the last surgery that I need for my gastric bypass.

Had my final appointment with the surgeon today - my preflight check - We are a go for take off in 3 weeks! Oh, and he is a cutie... although I'm too old to be a cougar! haha!

We see so much people during the first weeks after surgery "regretting" it... I doubt OP is a troll.

I'm down 78.8 however 45 lbs I lost before surgery. I've been averaging 2 - 3 lbs a week up until this week. My fault cause I've been eating too many carbs. Back on track after Thanksgiving

That’s amazing!! How long did you do the liver reducing for? I have my op on Tuesday in the UK. We have to liver reduce for 3 weeks and so far I’m already nearly 20lb down. Will be going into surgery about 270lb, I’m just so ready for it now!!!

That is true my god i did have bags upon bags of IVs. Today is day 5 post op when i stand from sitting i feel the most strain and pain in the largest incision still. Also i was advised to wait until friday which will be 1 week and 1 day to start my vitamins again. So ill let you all know how that goes for me. Im wondering though if the gummies would be alright now for the multivitamin sheesh another question to ask tomorrow. Thank you guys so much for your feedback so far i appreciate all and any! Really makes me feel like i am not alone in this journey.

Ya they said everything looked good other than Vitamin A and B12 deficiency and my protein levels where low. But I'm doing a repeat this week to check them and my liver counts since they were elevated.

Not gonna lie, it's been a rough month so far. I was doing okay heading into May. On May 1, I reached 203lbs, which officially was the lowest I have been since my 20s. The next day it bounced up, but then I lost steadily, down to 201.6. And then yesterday morning, when I was heading to my 3-month check in with the dietician, I was back up to 203lbs overnight! What the heck?!? Nine days into the month and all progress erased! And then my dietician said everything I'm doing nutritionally is good, but I've only lost 19 lbs since surgery according to their office scale. I go back on the 21st to see the nurse practitioner and am going to ask what can be done if it hasn't improved by then. My loss of momentum tracks almost exactly to when I started taking my doctor's advice to get regular exercise. It was supposed to speed up my progress, according to the surgeon. Instead, in the past 3 weeks I have lost a total of 1.4 lbs. Color me unimpressed. Finally, my dietician said I should try to reduce my reliance on protein powder, which I have in my morning smoothie and at night before bed. She wants me eating more "real" food (though, in my defense, I do not rely on soft foods and have chicken and vegetables and such every day). So I had scrambled eggs and fruit this morning and it all made me really sick. What a start to the day. Smoothies made me feel good and I'm seeing little reason to give them up. I had smoothies all the time pre-op. I'm hoping they'll run some blood tests at the next appointment to see what's up. Like @RonHall908, I have also been exhausted lately and can't concentrate.

I'm 2 weeks post omega loop bypass today (from previous sleeve) and on purees, thank the heavens. Liquids was getting a bit old!! It's been a while since I've done purees. What are your fave recipes to get through this stage?

Hi! I was wondering if anyone who is 5+ years since surgery is still experiencing any issues? I find that when I eat certain foods, much like when I was about a year or so out, that I have a feeling of being too full and can’t keep the food down. It isnt all the time. And it isnt really if I eat too much or too fast. I still eat pretty small meals at any given time and typically just eat 6 or so very small meals. An example would be if I eat pasta, maybe 1/3 to 1/2 a cup may feel unbearable and too full and can’t keep the pasta down. It could be something random like a handful of jelly belly jelly beans. I would say it happens maybe 1 a week? Just curious if anyone else has this issue. I have done well at keeping the weight off since the surgery and have hovered around 130-140 for the past 2 years. I am fairly active 50’s, 5’5 female. Thanks!!

So I got my psych eval back on Thursday. I also found out that I can do 2 of my dietitian appointments in the same month. I've already did 1 and I only have to do 4 total. I did the clearance with my pcp and have pulmonary and cardiology scheduled for this month. I also called my insurance and they said that approval comes one week after the file is submitted. So it looks like I might be able to get my surgery done in March. I'm actually hoping for the end of February but I digress lol

i was told it would take anywhere from 1-3 months. i took over 3 months because i did too much too soon and busted open my stitches twice. oopsies. so at between 3-4 months i had no more bandages, all my stitches (original and new) had all dissolved, and i could stand upright and had about 85% range or motion in my arms...it took about 7-8 months for me to fully "raise my arms in the air and swing 'em like i just dont care" 😂😂😂 but essentially at about 4 months i could do everything i was doing pre-PS except for the aforementioned arm-swinging. (oh and i was swollen/bloated, in lesser and lesser degrees - mostly in my abdomen - for about 6-7 months...but this didn't stop me from doing anything so i don't count it as something to recover from, if that makes sense?) my surgeon did all three (breast lift, arm lift and tummy tuck) all at the same time. it all depends on the surgeon and how long they are willing to keep u under, at what speed the work, if they will have an assistant, etc.. he told me he didn't want me under longer than 6 hours and that he could do all 3 within those hours. i believe i was in the recovery room in 5 and a half hours. i will say though that i was on the smaller side on surgery day (doc said i was the smallest person he's ever worked on)...so this may contribute to the shorter surgery time? i dunno... i had very very little actual fat to remove...it was basically just excess skin. the "material" he removed weighed a measley 400g . but oh what a difference 400g makes lol.

Welcome!! I had a friend who had bypass about the same time as you did and it was very different back then!! We have so many more resources available now. And SO many more products!! I remember how much she hated adding protein powders to her food and how stubborn she was about ignoring healthy food. She lost a ton of weight but I often wonder if she regained since she ate such junk post op. Eventually the portions catch up with you! Most advice for losing weight a while after surgery is to go back to basics, watching your portion size, cutting out simple carbs, getting most of your calories from healthy complex carbs, a little fat, and a generous portion of lean protein. Eat your protein portion first, your veggies second, and a few bites of a healthy starch/carb last, if you still have room. Get in whatever good movement you can. Drink at least 64 oz of water and for bypass patients I believe your protein per day should be close to 80 grams. You'd have to ask your doctor about your calories though. Do you still feel your restriction? I know with bypass they can do testing to see what your pouch looks like and hernia surgery is a good time to revise it if it needs a revision. I just had a hernia repair. I'm about 6 months post op from a Duodenal Switch. The healing process after hernia repair has been a lot like bariatric surgery. I can only eat liquids and some purees at the moment and I'm a week out. But I'm so glad I had the repair done!

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!