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you're not very far out yet - you may change your tune about the bypass. The first few weeks can be rough, regardless of the surgery type.

Last hurrah's are great, but not this close to surgery. I had mine before I started the 4 week pre op diet. I know some people do have one last favourite meal close to surgery time, it's up to you. If you're going to I would do it now not the day before. Good luck with your surgery!

I wish you the best, yes I would also recommend the last meal before preop however it happens!!! I would be more concerned with the mental thought process after surgery the first four weeks are rough!

Hi - I had a bypass on June 1st. I have had a pretty good recovery and healing so far and was given the all clear to swim at 2 and a half weeks post op. I have been swimming mostly daily since. I was given the all clear to start some high intensity this week (with some precaution) - I've had one class so far and really enjoyed it. My starting weight was 215lbs and I'm now 179lbs. I'd like to lose another 79lbs.

I haven't because when I called the PA, he said to use Benefiber 2x a day, 1 Colace 1/day, and 5mg of Bisacodyl at night. However, that seemed like a lot. So I'm only doing the Benefiber 2x a day. This has helped me move up to 1 bowl movement/day. I'm not in pain or anything, but I thought that since I was going only once every other day, maybe that was exacerbating my stall.

I haven't because when I called the PA, he said to use Benefiber 2x a day, 1 Colace 1/day, and 5mg of Bisacodyl at night. However, that seemed like a lot. So I'm only doing the Benefiber 2x a day. This has helped me move up to 1 bowl movement/day. I'm not in pain or anything, but I thought that since I was going only once every other day, maybe that was exacerbating my stall.

I had my surgery on the 12th, and I agree with the getting out there! My first week post surgery was cold and wet out (I’m in Australia), and it didn’t really help with my mood. Everything felt dark, but as soon as I could, I got ours wide for short walks and it changed EVERYTHING! I hope your pain diminishes and you start to feel more like yourself soon! It’s just a matter of time!

On the night before I started my pre-op diet, I had three sushi rolls and a Hendricks gin and tonic. Zero regrets. It was delicious.

I disagree with the idea that goal weights aren't important. If having a goal weight motivates you, go for it. I had three goal weights. My first was to get to "overweight" BMI. My second was to get to "healthy" BMI. My final was to get to Ideal Body Weight. I ultimately achieved all three and got down to 146.5. Now, in maintenance, my goal is to stay under 150. So far so good. Having an ambitious goal weight really pushed me during the final months when the weight loss slowed and it would have been easy to back off.

My weight loss is stalled and I'm constipated - "Drink more water, consume less sodium" So I start watching my sodium intake and consuming 80+ oz of water a day and using Benefiber 2x a day Since Wednesday night, I'm cramping in my feet and calves in my sleep - "You're drinking too much water and that's washing out all your electrolytes" Where do I find electrolytes? - "In your food (like sodium), but you can only consume small portions because of the surgery" What the hell am I supposed to do???

I was four square opposed to WLS because I told myself that if I got serious I could do it with diet and exercise. The problem I kept running into was I could go a week and be completely compliant with my plan, but it only took one moment of lost focus and the resultant binge undid the whole week of perfection. Eventually an article about weight loss turned out to be an article on WLS and my interest was piqued. I then began my research. Back when I had surgery VSG was not a thing. My choices were Lap-Band, RNY, or DS. I researched each thoroughly, to the extent that when my surgeon asked my preference and why I was able to go into detail about each procedure and why I chose what I chose. Initially I wanted the Band because it was 'less invasive' and it could be easily reversed. I decided 'less invasive' was not a reason to have one surgery and not another, what was important is which surgery would give me the best results. In relation to the Band specifically, after some soul searching I knew that if things got hard I would sabotage myself until the Band just had to be taken out and I would be worse off than when I started. While the other surgeries can technically be reversed, it is much more difficult and only done in extreme circumstances. Basically, no matter what happened I would have to make the best of it, which really is my default outlook. I needed a surgery that was forever. So I was down to RNY and DS. The DS generally had better long term results. Back then their was no restrictive aspect to the DS it was totally malabsorption. There were also many reports of some patients losing too much weight and having issues getting up to a healthy weight. Even then surgeons were getting better at preventing that, so this was probably not going to be an issue for me. But, DS folks often talked about being able to eat anything in just about any volume and still losing weight. This was a problem for me, because I was a binge eater and I wanted to change my habits and I didn't feel the DS would push me in that direction. Here I am at the RNY. I wanted the malabsorption to give me that slight edge to get my digestive system on board with my goals. Of course the restriction was what I wanted to teach me to limit my portions and prevent my binging. I also wanted the 'complication' of dumping as this would keep me away from sweets. Binging and sweets are a bad combination and I felt the RNY would address both. So I chose RNY. As it turned out I do dump on both sugar and fats. It took an amazingly few dumping episodes to learn to stay away from sugars and fats, so that problem was addressed quickly. It also took amazingly few episodes of one bite to many to learn not to, so my binging was addressed. I got everything out of my RNY that I hoped I would. Here I am 20 years later, and my restriction is still in full force. Eating to plan is so natural and normal I don't even think about it. Good luck, Tek

I hit 50 and had a bit of a scare over my heart health in the same month. Turns out my heart was fine, but it made an impression. Cardiologist and I had a discussion about how stupid it is that my otherwise good health insurance won't touch wls for any reason. He also brought up that gastric sleeve wasn't as expensive as bypass. I did some research, and found that I could afford it. From the time of cardiologist appointment to surgery was only 2 months. I am exactly 2 weeks post surgery and am doing really well.

My son graduated last June, I saw a pic of myself taken that day... I had already been considering surgery, but that was the push. He graduated on June 8th 2022, I picked a surgeon and had my date locked in on June 26th 2022. I knew if I didn't just do it, I would still be here thinking about it a year later. I booked my date on my first call with the doctor, rushed to get all clearances and even got covid 3 weeks prior to surgery... 😫 But I wouldn't have done anything differently.

I used to shed the usual 50-100 strands per day prior to surgery, plus my hair was brittle and thin. I was advised by the RN to keep hair loose as much as possible, take biotin for new hair growth, avoid treatments or heat, and was only once a week. While I was doing that the first few months, it did increase a little bit, but wasn't as alarming since I had cut my hair from hips to shoulder length one month post op. Now at 8 months post op, I have started to wash it 2x per week, and can definitely see more shedding. I have reduced the brushing to once a day, try to keep it as loose as possible (no messy buns) and started using some natural hair drops that stimulate growth and help with dryness. I suspect it will be a few more months of excess shedding for me, I'm just glad there is no bald spots.

I think in our journeys we all have different moments that accumulate over a course of time. 2 months prior to surgery I had a doctors appointment because I was not getting my period at that point for 7 months. They were referring me to an endo since obesity causes PCOS and they wanted to rule that out and my BP medicine was being raised and my cholesterol was being monitored. A few weeks later I was on vacation and taking some pictures. While I was posing a certain way, my body wasn't doing that at all. I took those moments to actually see what I was doing with my life, and made the decision 2 weeks later.

Apologies in advance for the long post!! Hello everyone! I had my surgery July 12th! I am a little over a week post op! Here’s a little bit of insight for those interested! Before surgery I was given a whole bunch of stuff as well as some antibiotics in which I had an allergic reaction to and made me break out in hives. It was super uncomfortable considering I was then wheeled to the operating room shortly after. I couldn’t do anything about the itching as I had to lay in a particular way and kept thinking “I hope they put me to sleep under soon” because it was soooo uncomfortable. After waking up I could barely open my eyes, and at some point I stopped trying but I was still aware of my surroundings for a bit. I just remember shivering and feeling extremely cold. My entire body was aching and I kept getting these chills of pain run through my body. I was in and out so I didn’t even remember leaving the operating room and into the post op room. If I am being completely honest the pain was at its highest the day of the surgery and thankfully the medications they gave me were strong or else I didn’t think I would be able to bear it. I pushed myself to walk about 3-4 hours after surgery even though I wasn’t pushed to, I felt like I needed to?? (Idk my brain was all over the place). I just couldn’t stand laying down for all this hours so if it meant walking to use the bathroom to get out of bed then so be it. I kept trying to push through it and walk walk walk. They were not kidding about the walking and how it helps with gas pains. The gas pains were so bad for me, it felt like bloating(?) just everywhere..the gas pains wow.. My entire stay everyone was super nice and attentive! My surgeon was also kind enough to fulfill my request in taking a picture of my stomach after he took it out! (I personally found it very fascinating!!) I was finally discharged the next day after being able to handle water and soup about 4oz for 5 hours consecutively. And I was very homesick and really missed my bed (and pets). By day 5 though I felt pretty good and a bit back to my normal self for the most part. Until day 5 I could NOT stomach regular water. For some reason I could not stand the taste of it?? It tasted disgusting and I had to keep drinking Gatorade or mixing my water with daily hydration flavored packets. After day 5, I was able to stomach protein shakes (mixed with collagen) and was super happy about the progress. There hasn’t been any complications and for that I am thankful, I didn’t check in sooner as I was busy trying to consume fluids every 15 minutes (I got tired of the timers soooo quick). An app that has been a staple for me personally is Baritastic, love the easy platform and the visualization of the water goal for the day as well as being able to log in my weight. It breaks down my goal into little milestones and basically an all in one app as I can also log in food and tracks weightloss from before and after surgery as well! I also lets me keep count of the days after surgery and my BMI! Highly recommend this app, especially because it’s free Apologies for the long post! I wanted to be thorough and detailed especially for those that are still waiting to have surgery! I cannot think about anything else to write but if anyone has any questions, please let me know! I’ll be happy to respond and as open as possible! I cannot wait to start puréed food though!! 😩

Dang, but that makes sense. I just recall seeing a post about it in an old thread here so I hadn't really considered it but I did go ahead and emailed my dietician while making this post too. Just sent it after hours so she won't be able to get back to me until tomorrow at the earliest. And I'm totally fine with them not being ok, I'm fine with soup, yogurt, cottage cheese, and mashed potatoes just anything other than the protein shakes & gatorade I've been stuck with for these two weeks in post-op for my liquid phase lol. I've been slowly going mad with just that. lol

1200 calories a day for someone your height & activity level seems very low when you’re maintaining @ErinBrooke1982. Check out a BMR calculator for an idea of the calories you need. You’ll soon work out if that’s too few or too many calories to support your maintenance. Actually calories weren’t a consideration with my surgeon or dietician. They were more focussed on portion size & even that was more of a guideline & not rules. They did encourage me to eat more when I first stabilised but then took into consideration I’m more finely built so decided my weight was quite okay. I’m a three meals a day plus snacks person. It’s the only way I get all my calories in. My snacks are all pretty nutrient dense & offer protein & other nutrients I need. If just three meals a day is difficult for you (you can only eat what you can eat at a meal time) try reducing the meal sizes & add snacks. The snacks can be portions of your meals (leftovers) to begin or you could try 4 meals a day. You just have to find what best works for you & it may not be what your team suggests. PS - I checked a BMR calculator out of interest earlier this year & it advised I needed to consume about 1500 calories to maintain my weight, at my age, height & activity level which was about what I was consuming. I’ve been pretty stable with my weight.

I only found out about this site today. I began my trip down the bariatric road in late February of this year after roughly 4 years of being pointed in this direction by my doctor. I was resistant primarily because prior to back-to-back knee injuries (right first, followed by the left three months later) in 2008 which were both 'corrected' surgically but have rapidly deteriorated in the years since to the point where I'm grinding bone-on-bone on both sides, I was very active - ice hockey 3x per week including 1x week through the summer, gym 6 days/wk, cycling 100-200 miles/week, so I could 'do it myself'...except with my knees in the state they are, I can't. Having consulted with two separate orthopaedic surgeons, they both agreed I need total knee replacement in both knees - badly - but neither will perform the procedure at my weight. Having this surgery is a stepping stone to my ultimate goal of no longer being a 56 year old 80 year old. So, upon being referred to the bariatric program here in Toronto, I attended the virtual orientation class on March 7th and subsequently attended either virtually or in person, all of the other classes/consults up to and including the surgeon, and have done a sleep study and had an endoscopy and on July 7, received my surgery date; Aug 28 Being in Canada, I will only be out of pocket for the two weeks of liquid diet pre-surgery and then the regimented stages of dietary progression post-surgery. Everything else is covered including all of the diagnostics, the surgery and the hospital stay. I'm looking forward to getting my life back...

My moment was being diagnosed with a rare ish condition that was mainly caused by obesity. After a week of painful tests, I began to research and came up with the list of options for my condition (I still have the digital sticky note). Bariactric surgery was the most unexpected and appealing option. It honestly wasn’t even on my radar. I think I really decided the moment I wrote it down but I went to the consultations with the other specialist to confirm what I really wanted.

My moment was when it clicked that I could afford it; I always struggled with my weight fluctuating but I was getting to the point where I was just getting bigger despite all my efforts in exercising (and I always liked going to the gym, would even go for 2hrs), but I was simply eating more than I was putting out, on top of which I never felt full awhen eating + my insatiable hunger when my depression would hit, so I needed a physical stop. I opt'd for the sleeve as it would still allow me to eat what I like, but rather smaller portions. And with positive attestations from family members and friends I went ahead with it. I'm nearing two weeks post-op and don't regret it so far, I am just begging for the liquid diet to end just so I can have diversity in what I eat lol; currently getting burned out on just having protein shakes and gatorade.

When I had my sleeve, I started SERIOUSLY shedding at around 3 months post op. It didn't stop until 9 months post op. So not looking forward to it again. What I noticed helped was taking collagen, biotin, extra protein, and using a shampoo and conditioner with collagen and biotin in it and doing a hair mask twice a week. Biotin and collagen don't stop hair from falling out, or really have anything to do with regrowth. But what they DO do is they help with actual hair texture, shine, split ends, and dryness. The protein is what's actually needed for hair regrowth since your hair needs it but can't produce it on its own. Everything you're experiencing is very normal. It's gonna get worse before it gets better, but it WILL eventually get better.

So you’ve lost 12 stone in a year? That’s outstanding! Are you still losing but not at such a high rate? I started at 22 stone and lost about 1 to 2 pounds a week and nearly 10 stone down after two years. It’s a long haul.

I’m officially 4 weeks post-op tomorrow, starting my 5th week diet plan and it says I can incorporate turkey or roast beef deli meat… I tried a piece of roast beef sliced paper thin and it’s definitely not agreeing with me right now.. 😬 I’ve been mixing peas with mashed potatoes lately though and it’s been really great. The booklet says that I can start having baked fish and ground beef/turkey, but I think I’m going to leave it alone for another week or three..

Hi everyone! It has been a while since I logged in to this forum. My journey started about three years ago. It has many ups and downs. Started at 284 and I got as low as 183. Over the past two years, I got lazy and stopped following my program which ballooned up to 230. So it's time to get serious and get back to what I'm supposed to do. I really don't want to lose all the progress I made. Some of the bad habits I need to kick- eating junk food, especially late at night. Also eating too many "slider" foods that are easy to go down, which happen to be ice cream, chips, crackers... all the stuff that I don't need. I still walk 4-5 miles a day but have skipped a few more days than I should. I decided to log back in here for accountability and to remind myself how far I have come. Last week, I started counting the calories of everything I'm eating and trying to keep it under 1300 calories a day. I have gone from 230 to 218 in a week. My goal was always 200 lbs, so that's where I want to get to. I have my 3-year checkup with my bariatric surgeon on 9/21, and I hope to get to my goal by then. I appreciate any advice or encouragement here. And I will try to go back and catch up on all of the wonderful stories I have missed over the past year.