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Congratulations on achieving your study & work goals & normalising your BP & diabetes. Whoo hoo! Though I am sorry you will be facing more surgeries. Okay, have to admit, I too wondered much weight I’d lose if I had my fibroids removed. Though they’re not as large as yours, cause me no issues (a benefit of being old & past it LOL!) so are leaving them for now. Don’t know if you’ve had a contrast CT scan before but they are crazy weird. After they inject the contrast you get a warm feeling a bit like a hot flush over your body (though mine was just in my abdomen & my ears), you feel like you’re peeing yourself but aren’t & my eyes rolled back in my head. It only lasts a few seconds but a crazy ride for those 10 seconds or so.

I think everyone does in some form. Doesn’t mean it will happen though. Yes, a bounce back regain of 10-20lbs is a real possibility but it doesn’t happen to everyone. Whether you regain or not I think depends on a number of factors. Some you can control & manage & some you can’t. Complacency - letting the new good eating habits slide. Not dealing with emotional & psychological issues behind your eating habits. Health & medications - some medications are renown for increasing your appetite or a health situation may arise that limits you in some way. Unsustainable way of eating to maintain - too restrictive & stops you from enjoying & living your life as you want. Life - sometimes throws crap at you & good intentions are the first to go. Commitment - accepting the changes you make have to be forever. I had 40 years of losing & gaining weight. Every diet, dieticians, medications, exercise plans, you name it I did it. I’d stick to it, lose weight & as soon as I stopped I would start regaining again almost immediately. Simply because I went back to eating the exact same way as I did before. I had a low & a high weight I bounced between until the last 4 or so years & my weight exploded. Nothing worked then so surgery was my only solution. Am nearing 5 years & have basically maintained my initial stabilised low weight. Never have been able to keep weight off like this ever. I had a medication glitch but we sorted that & I lost the 5ish lbs I’d gained without doing anything. I work at it every day. I established a way of eating that was sustainable & works for me, my needs & my life. Same with my activity. Don’t exercise as such just do four x 5 minute sessions of resistance bands & stretches 6 days a week - wouldn't burn 20 calories. I’m okay with that because it works for me & I’m happy to do it You have to be mentally ready for this because that’s where a lot of the battle is. Sure the surgery gives you some tools, but for me, the time it gave me while those tools were at their most effective was the biggest win. It was when I examined my relationship with food (the why, what & when I ate) & worked out what I needed to do make be the most successful. I wouldn’t stress about something that may happen because it simply may not. Just be aware of it. You never know what the future will bring & you’ll have built a wealth of knowledge & strategies & have a support team (doctor, dietician, therapist) to help you get on top of it. All the best.

Yoga is great. Did it for years in my 40s - can’t remember which type but it was gentle & focussed on breathing & head/heart/body alignment. Kept me limber & boosted my general fitness. I enjoyed it & I really, really don’t like exercise. Just a warning. Exercise only contributes to about 10% of any weight you are to lose. So don’t expect it to benefit your weight loss greatly. It does help with many other things though like your cardiac health, muscle strength, bone density, flexibility, etc. Invest in some resistance bands too. Lots of seated stretches on You Tube you can do sitting. I do most of mine on the floor. Good for toning & muscle building. It’s not a great pxt but gives you a bit of an idea of what you can achieve. Now it’s summer here & my arms are on show I’ve been getting lots of compliments. My legs look pretty good too though my pant legs are getting firm LOL!

Amazing work! My six month was November 1st. I'm down 91 lbs (171). I too changed my goal from 160 down to 150. I'm in a US size 10, which I'm to the point that I need to wash them so they'll fit. I'm expecting to be in an 8 in a few weeks. The loose skin is a minimum, which I'm so happy about. All in all everything this going beautifully and I couldn't be happier.

New sleeve 10/23 and so far so good! A bit weak and woozey sometimes, but tolerating my liquids like a queen Any twins outcthere? 5’4”HW237 SW 229

I would say it’s a combination of fluid retention from the Ringer’s Lactate or Saline if you received an I.V, any meds you were given and the stress from illness itself. I know it’s easier said than done but try to hold off weighing yourself for a while. 10 weeks post op is still fairly early on and you have many more months of progress to look forward to. Good luck ❤️

I am 10 days post op(December 13th). Down 39lbs and my happiness is very high. I want to share my story. The first 3-4 days sucked. Gas pains are rough, mind games are real. I even thought residual brown blood I coughed up was me bleeding from the staple line, no no it wasn't it was from the incubator and breathing tube lol. Constipation is real with the shakes but I was able to easily manage it and you can if you start a 100mg Colace twice a day, 2 days before surgery and maintain through the diet phases. I also got disolvable omeprozel instead of the horse pills to limit acid in my stomach to help healing, I got Gas Strips off amazon and Gas X for when needed. The gas pain from the CO2 is real but it gets better every single day. It eventually trys to exit out the left shoulder and is a little uncomfortable but I managed to walk 1.5-2 miles per day during recovering by going to the mall and taking my time. The physical side is much better each day. I do still get a weird 3-4am hunger pain in my tummy that is fixed by 2 ounces of premier shake and then back to bed. It is tough watching family and friends over the holidays enjoy snacking but I remind myself I did this at 35yo as an investment to a longer life. To watch my 6.5yo son get married and to enjoy my own grandkids. I just wanted to share that every day is a better day and to take it easy and feel blessed and reminded that the recovery and fluid phases are not permanent and your normal is right around the corner. Enjoy the process of life change.

If you lost a bunch of weight pre-surgery your loss post surgery may be slower for a little while. This is because the body has to recalibrate and reassure itself it isn't starving to death. It also has to replenish glycogen and rebalance your fluids and on and on. It's a lot of hard work for it!! And slow to one person is not slow to another person. I'm 6 weeks post op a DS and have lost 20 lbs. I did not lose much pre-op. I have been stalled for several weeks because that's the classic 3 week stall where the body does its thing to recalibrate to lose more weight. I'm not stressing about it, I just had a very major surgery! My body has been working hard! It takes time to recover. You feel like you are starving because you aren't getting your fluids in by mouth. Trust me, once you are getting all your fluids in it becomes a challenge to find times to eat and drink everything you need in a day. Getting fluids by IV will keep making the scale jump by 10 lbs because they fluid load you to last a few days. You are probably losing fat, it just isn't showing on the scales because of the IV fluids. Make sure you take measurements too, those often change when the scale doesn't. I wish you much luck in getting off the IVs!

Congratulations everyone! I consider myself a veteran almost 6 months after my gastric bypass. Getting this surgery was the best decision of my life! Whatever you are going through, hating your liquid diet, pre op fear, post op pain, stool issues after surgery, fear of the surgery itself (I was so scared that I considered not doing it until the moment they rolled me in the operating room), please remember that is ALL worth it. My diabetes went away after 15 years of Metformin and Insulin, and for the first time in over 10 years ALL my annual health test came back perfect in the normal range. You will do great!

I've really been enjoying drinking bone broth (not to be confused with stock or regular broth). The bone broth I buy is 10 grams of protein per cup. It goes down easy.

Hi there! I just signed up on this forum and have a surgery date of January 30 for gastric bypass. My sister had it done about a year and a half ago and has had great success so I decided I was ready to make some big changes in my life. im currently trying to keep my required 10-lb weight loss on the books. I officially achieved it in October and I meet with my doc each month. In November I had lost an additional half pound but ended up in the ER after my appt because I was so dehydrated from fasting to make my weight goal. So embarrassing ugh. Now, thanks to the holidays my next appt is January 2, but I’m up eight lbs and they will cancel my surgery if they see that. I have 18 days to lose that weight again and I’m scared I won’t make it. I’m mad at myself for being lax after my last weigh-in. I know that part of losing weight pre-op is to start making changes gradually but I’m struggling. I guess that’s normal for many of us. I’m really excited about getting the surgery but also a little depressed because it will force me (and is now forcing me) to completely change my relationship with food. That’s scary. But I see how happy and energetic and positive my sister is and I want that in my life too. Anyway, I didn’t mean to get depressing lol but I’m trying to be honest about my feelings which are all coming at me at the same time! Its crazy.

I called again this morning and the person who answered let slip that the entire weight management center at the hospital is closing. So, I am not the only person impacted by far. He said that a manager is supposed to call everyone to explain, but still nothing has happened. Maybe tomorrow? As for what happens next, I'm not sure. The hospital was recently acquired by another big Boston hospital, which has a bariatric department of its own. I assume they are trying to integrate all of the departments across the system to eliminate redundancies, but their communication so far has been appalling. Why they wouldn't have planned for this by shutting down the pipeline of patients months ago so that all surgeries were completed before the closure is a mystery. I attended my full day immersion class in August and completed all my requirements on October 6. At that point, they were booking 10+ weeks out and there was no indication anything was changing. This isn't an independent bariatric practice where I could see there being management or money issues, but a center that is part of a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital. I find it shocking to say the least. I've spent most of the day wishing whichever faceless bureaucratic suit responsible for this trips and falls into a fiery pit. Clearly emotional intelligence was not a job requirement.

I also had my sleeve operation on 10/23. I’m trying to make sure I get enough liquids and Protein in. The first two days were pretty difficult, but it’s gotten easier as healing takes it’s course.

Hello All! I had Surgery on 10/18/23 😊 I am usually in Facebook support groups, but lately they are too busy being negative and quick to tear others down. So, I am here for new scenery. I also noted most the talk and experiences are VSG, and less RNY Gastric Bypass. They are always talking bad about Bypasses until they need a revision to Bypass from VSG. So far I am doing really great! there's some hard moments, such as post op pain, gas, and one episode of dumping. (I think i ate too fast. Eating and talking). I am down -22 lbs. I will be one month post op on November 18th!

Hey all you October 27th surgery buddies!! how are you doing? I am here in the hotel anxious for tomorrow. I am supposed to check in at 8:30am and my surgery is scheduled for 10:30am. How about you?

I'm wondering what ideas everyone has for pre and post surgery liquid diet meals. I'm finding 'bone broth' is quite expensive for a mere 2 cups worth in each package. Yikes! Any ideas? What else do you use for your liquid diet - what has worked for you, and has a nice taste too? As for movement, I just love this guy, Adam. His youtube videos are free and the movement is gentle with guidance, 10 to 15 minutes. Check it out... *Didn't realize the picture would be so big. lol.

10/30/2023

Well I signed a contact twenty years ago and I wasn't informed all that much about what I signed up for... Maybe because it was so long ago.. I do now know and understand the deal but the problem is simple.. So I had a car hit me when I was crossing the street and spent six months in a hospital followed by six months of a resting home to recover followed by a heart failure and another five months in the hospital followed by multiple hospital trips and lost all my original muscle.. I was always average strength but it's another thing to be told you might have a heart attack if you don't gain muscle. So I did everything I was told to bring me to this point. I have gained ten pounds of muscle in the last two years and I gain average of a pound a month. Only in the sorta person I need advise and someone to tell me what to do so that I don't make mistake. This might be a result of brain damage from my accident or maybe I'm just a big dumb guy I dunno.. But I did my own math if I eat 4200 calories I absorb 2200. So it does make sense I can't bulk however I'm taking enzymes and my doctor said the enzymes turn your ds off so that you can absorb everything you eat with them.. Now I'm fine tuning everything. Maybe my ds is to powerful and I'll learn that I really can't bulk and yes I look more defined in the mirror I think. But because my skin is stretchy it's hard to tell. I have gone from 175 to 178 so hopefully that's going to keep going up. My only real goal of taking the enzymes is to increase my protein which is 6.1. Before I worked out I was capable of maintaining my weight but my doctor told me I lost so much muscle that to not regain it would be dangerous to my health So regardless of anything I have no choice but to gain weight. If that means eventually eating 6000 calories so be it. But I really think the enzymes alone will solve my problems. I plan to take the enzymes for 3 months then get off then for two months then back on them in a bulk cutting kinda formula however I'll admit I don't know that this will work. I've gained weight in the past getting up to 240 in the resting home but that was eating six full meals a day with no working out and tons of high fat snacks and sense then I've gotten hypoglycemia which makes gaining weight difficult because I can't just devour sugar like I used to be able to. Man I used to love pudding cups... Anyways no I didn't know what I was getting into I was 19 and all I wanted was to lose weight but to still be able to eat as much as I wanted. Which is what I got. I never understood the risks. Never. That's why I got all these problems and it's hard to dig your self out of a ditch.. I would work out more if I thought it would help but I just lift weights 3x a week and I have a trainer and a bunch of great doctors who help.. The thing is the DS shouldn't kill me.. I should be able to figure out a way to make this work and my real issue is I'm 6"3 and a man so I require 3200 calories a day is what my trainer said. I only absorb 2200 thus I'm taking enzymes I'm focusing on absorbing protein and enough calories to feed my muscle building and I'm getting blood tests and scanning my body for progress it's a really scary time for me because I know I can lose muscle fast if I forget anything.. finding this website has helped me relearn just got crazy this surgery can be... For real you all helped me so much... But I can not except life as a weakling I'm 39 and a man and people need me so I can't just except things the way they are. If a normal person can build muscle I can to. It may take more work and more intelligence on my part but that fine I'm willing to do anything to be average if that makes sense.. in fact I was debating going to the gym today because my back hurts but you just motivated me to go . 😁 Thank you. Have a nice day. Please information is key here any advise on maybe how many calories you eat or your macros would be helpful to me because I do have a little problems working stuff out in my head and so the more information I can't the better I can deal.

1. What was the best part of surgery for you? The best part for me has been being able to do things I enjoy again. There were several things that I either couldn’t do or didn’t want to do because of my weight and now after losing so much weight I have been able to start doing most of those things again. For example, I love going to sporting events, but I had stopped going because I didn’t fit comfortably in many chairs at stadiums. 2. What was the worst part of surgery for you? I was one of the lucky ones that didn’t have any complications with the surgery (I had the bypass). Really my only complaint about the entire process was the gas pain following surgery. I was told by my doctor I may have some pain in my chest after the surgery, but it was way worse than I was expecting. But it only lasted for a few hours and after that everything went smoothly. 3. Did you have any complications (minor or major) after your surgery? Not really. My surgeon did notice an umbilical hernia while doing my surgery but decided it would be better to get that fixed after I lost some weight, so I had another surgery for that 9 months later. 4. How has adjusting to your new life been for you? Easier than I expected actually. I think it helps that I live alone right now so I have quite a bit of control over my environment. Like if I had a roommate who ordered pizza a lot, I think I would have a lot harder time eating healthier, but since I live alone I am able to control what food I am around for the most part. Probably the hardest part for me has been making sure I get enough fluids. I have always drank a lot with my meals and now I can’t do that anymore, so I’ve had to learn to drink throughout the day. I am finally doing better with that but I felt like I was constantly dehydrated for several months after the surgery. 5. How long did it take you to feel comfortable eating food? Not very long. The toughest part was remembering not to eat too fast or take too big of bites. During the first couple of weeks especially it does not take long until you will feel full and even just one too many bites can make you very uncomfortable for a while. 6. Is there anything you can’t eat anymore that you used to enjoy? The short answer is no. I have not found any food that I can’t tolerate, but there are foods I choose not to eat anymore. The only issue I had was with rice, and I think that was just because I ate a little too much. 7. What was your recovery like? Any vomiting or dumping syndrome? My recovery was not bad at all. Like I mentioned earlier, the gas pain was the worst part, but after that really the only pain I had was in my abdomen when I got out of bed or the recliner. I vomited a few times when I was learning to eat again but all of those were from just eating a little too much I think. Recently I’ve discovered I get low blood sugar really easily (and I’m not diabetic). I actually just talked with my nutritionist about this earlier today. I don’t have sugary foods too often, but I’ve found that if I have too much sugar all at once, I will get low blood sugar a few hours later. This never happened to me before my surgery. 8. How long did it take you to feel semi-normal after surgery? Just a few days. My surgery was on a Monday and I remember thinking I probably could have gone back to work that Thursday if I had needed to (my job is not physical at all though- I work at a desk most of the day). The toughest part was energy level. I returned to work one week after surgery but I was only able to work half days for a couple of days. 9. Did you experience higher energy level post surgery? Yes, I have way more energy than I used to. I used to have to force myself to work out a few days a week, now I don’t like going even one day without some form of exercise. 10. Did surgery affect your mental health? Yes, I think it has. It has helped my mental health in some ways, like being able to do more of the things I enjoy has helped with my depression, but I have also found I am struggling with stress and anxiety more than I used to. I think at least part of the reason for that is that I used to cope with stress and anxiety by eating and I can’t do that anymore, at least not the way I used to. Also I should add that there was a part of me that thought that all of my problems (including my mental health issues) would magically go away once I lost weight. My mental health has definitely improved since I lost weight, but it is still something I am struggling with. I started seeing a therapist a few months ago and I believe that is helping me out a lot. 11. Do you regret it? Do you recommend it? I have not regretted it for a second. I was relatively young when I had the surgery (I was 32) and a part of me felt like I didn’t need the surgery, like I thought I was still young enough I could lose weight without surgery, but looking back on it I am glad I didn’t wait. I had a number of minor health problems that were all slowly getting worse, and I realize now that it was good that I didn’t wait for them to get worse. I will add that I feel I am one of the lucky ones that has had basically no complications from the surgery and no food intolerances or dumping. I know not everyone has had as easy of an experience following the surgery as I have.

Usually eating when it's not a snack? Today for example, I wasn't feeling well so I slept for awhile. I didn't eat breakfast and I didn't eat lunch. I made Tyson chicken nuggets and I fried them to make them extra crispy (bad I know, should have baked them). I had a serving plus one extra nugget with chic fil a garden herb ranch. I had some rice with butter and creo. A few sweet potato fries and a couple pieces of sliced beets. When I write it down, it sounds like a ton. I didn't finish all the rice or the beets. 2 to 3 hours later (I try to aim for 3 or 4). I had ramen soup. No problems eating that and I was able to eat it all. Gosh, I can't believe I'm able to. I had a candy cane about an hour later. Around 10:30pm tonight, I had a serving of mini marshmallows, sugar free dark chocolate pudding cup with sugar free whipped cream. One and a half Keebler Stripped cookie with a few sips of milk and a little after, a few sips of iced tea. Why am I like this? Why am I able to eat this much at once? Is my stomach stretched out? Should I ask to check my stomach? My 1 year appointment is February 21st. I really want to get back to tracking, it's definitely something that helped me stay on track. My weight was 3 ish pounds less than it is today. A few days ago it said I gained 5 pounds. So yeah, it's up and down and I know it's because of the poor eating. Does anyone use timer reminders to make sure you drink your water or to make sure you eat slowly?

I had my surgery back in 2019. Ever since I’ve had body pain problems. So they put me on t3 which I’ve been on for only four months now. I just experienced constipation the past few days and finally went today. It was painful and I felt like I was going to pass out. But ever since I’ve been nauseous and EXTREMELY gassy and didn’t know if anyone else has experienced this. I tried googling it but nothing came up so I want to assume maybe it’s a rny issue.

Hi all, can’t say how relieved I am in some ways to hear people are having the same challenges. Had the sleeve on 10/30 and while have lost 21kg / 46lba so far, if anything it’s getting a lot tougher. On one hand the extra energy and the ability to wear clothes several sizes smaller is an absolute win that genuinely has made me laugh out loud at times. Just really struggling with eating and drinking. Am only getting maybe 50% of the recommended water daily and even that’s a massive, massive fight. A cup of water can take 2 hours to drink or on days like today even longer. As for three small meals of soft food, I’d probably kill to manage that right now. A few spoons of protein yoghurt for breakfast and if am lucky a few spoons of puréed potato / fish / scrambled egg is about as much as I can manage (and most days I feel really uncomfortable after even that). Am taking my team, chowing everything extremely carefully but no joy. Per diet plan should be moving on from puréed food to soft food but after trying it for two days, looks like it’s a no go. Interestingly am not in the US (am in Poland these days) and here the approach was quite different. There was no specific pre-op diet at all which I found weird. That said, surgeon was incredible and the surgery itself went very well. I guess he felt confident enough shifting an enlarged liver (I have fatty liver disease anyway so maybe he thought that it may not help enough to make it worthwhile) Anyway, good luck all

This is the first time I’ve made a post on bariatric palsy. I normally just read things but today is really big day for me. I am six months postop. My highest weight was 250 pounds and I was 242 pounds at the day of surgery, as of this morning I am 198 pounds with a total weight loss of 52lbs and 44lbs surgery. I’ve lost 13 inches off my waist 10 inches off of my apron belly 12 inches off my hips and 7 inches off of my bust. I am currently in a women’s extra large down from a 3X I can fit larges now but they’re still a little too tight for my comfort. I have not been this small since I had my first child at 19 I was 150 pounds before I got pregnant with her. This is the smallest I’ve been in 10 years. It feels amazing but it also doesn’t feel real. I keep getting on the scale to double check if I’m imagining things, but it feels really good to come this far and have all the health changes that I’ve had.

Here’s my story. On 4/25/22 I weighed 281.8. A few months later at a Dr appointment for reflux the topic of having endoscopic gastroplasty was mentioned and eventually the surgery was scheduled for September 2022. I reported for the surgery and was going thru the pre-op process when our son called to let us know that he tested positive for COVID. The doctor advised us to reschedule. The next opening was a couple of months off, so it was rescheduled. I reported for the rescheduled surgery but after at check-in we were greeted with the news that the ventilation system for the operating room was down and we would have to reschedule again. This pushed us into 2023 and required navigating a new health insurance provider. Finally On 1/24/2023 I had my surgery and by 5/1/2023 my weight had dropped to 224 then “stabilizing” at around 235. 2023 had lots of ups and downs: - 4/25/2022 – weight 281.8 – bmi 38.2 - 1/23/2023 my last coke have gone over 1 year without a coke. Was typically drinking 1 – 2 20 oz bottles per day of regular coke. - 1/24/2023 - surgery. - 3/31/23 got laid off from work. - 4/6/2023 – robotic hernia surgery - 4/26/2023 – kidney stones - 5/1/2023 – weight 224 – bmi 30.3 - 7/11/2023 – procedure to evaluate hiatal herniaI - 1/18/2024 - COVID. - 1/25/2024 - big disagreement with boss and resigned. - 1/29/2024 - received ontingent job offer but significant pay cut. Job won't start for a month so I have time to think abiut job or seek other opportunities. - 1/30/2024 - weight 234.4 – bmi 31.7 Things to work on: - Eat better and exercise long term. I’ll do ok eating and exercising for a week or two and then I start stress eating, not feeling like walking. - Eating – there are times when I don’t feel hungry but want something to eat. - Regularity – I’ve always been irregular and at times have IBS with uncontrollable BM and then other times go days ( 3 – 4 days) between BM. - I have a goal of going on a couple of long bike rides 10 -15 miles but need to start getting in shape for them. - Decide to retire or find new job. - I rarely feel full. I think that I’m eating less but feel hungry or feel like eating even if I’m not hungry. Looking for advice on healthy things to eat between meals and limiting appetite here is a list of things that I like to eat . - - I like Kind Dark Chocolate Cherry Cashew bars (170 cal, 22 g carbs and 6 g protein) - addicting - Inspire Square Protein Wafers by Bariatric Eating (200 cal, 13 g Carbs 15 g protein) - addicting - BariatricPal Protein Shake or Pudding – Chocolate (6 gm carbs 15 gm protein) - Lunches - Dole Sunflower Salad Kit - 350 calaries (40 gm carbs and 9 gm protein)