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Ditto to the above- I alas am still in the minor leagues, on the When Is It Ever Going to Happen team, waiting my call up to the Big Leagues of Bariatric Surgery. Packing my duffle bag of goodies, lining up protein shakes on my pantry shelf, yes the very-same shelf where the cookie packages, chips,pretzels and chips(crisps to my Commonwealth cousins() and bottl3s of soda used to set. There is one dusty package of Cheezits at,one end, still unopened. Attention Bariatric Team Managers aka Surgeons, please call,or text me, my info is on that 15 foot sign in my front yard with the floodlight shining on it. I got a rebate from American Electric Power for the extra power,reminded them with lower grocery bills I can pay them more promptly.😆And somebody said I don't plan ahead?

May it be a renewed lease on life for you both👍😝

Beep Beep clear the road for our jeepgirl4🚐 Full speed ahead, you are almost to the Finish Line, you're the winner in the Bariatric 500!🏆

My curiosity got the better of me on this and I found an article that follows the rough details you've given. http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/northeast-tarrant/article4115524.html Yeah, this is a mess. I don't know how the hell they could misidentify the abdominal aorta...it's a garden hose. Yikes....yeah. There, of course, could be a lot of information missing. Could the patient have had very unusual anatomy? (some people do) Could his abdominal aorta have had an aneurysm that made it hugely distended? But yeah...you nick that thing and the whole abdomen looks like a bucket of blood in seconds. If they hadn't sewed it shut, he would have died. It's horrible that it was misidentified. It sounds like there were a lot of people involved and the ball was dropped rather spectacularly. It would still be very interesting to get your doctor's side of the story. If this happened in 2014 and your doctor is still a licensed doctor and surgeon....there might be more to the story (and her specific involvement) than meets the eye. My advice? Find a board certified bariatric surgeon at a major trauma center hospital that is a center of excellence. Ask your doctor how many bariatric surgeries they do each week, and how many they've done in their career. It should be a lot....and your doctor should be willing to discuss his/her rates of complication. Yeah, I totally get why this would be unnerving to you. Best wishes.

Ok, so I am lovin' the walking outside in tshirts and shorts. It's like I received parole from life in prison. So free!!! And I'm sweating when I walk!!! I've been walking in my house since last year so that if I fall, I can just call Mr. F. or 911. No way would I have been able to get up and that way, I could pause or sit if necessary! But now, holy wow!! I'm walking on schedule and as planned! No skipping a day of exercise for me! Tomorrow is the last day of PT for the week. Then we're meeting friends at the minor league ball team in our area for baseball and Friday fireworks. Trying to decide if I'm wearing jeans or shorts and a tshirt! Seriously? Who the fork am I and what have I done with Fluffy? I went to a local support group meeting. I've now been to 3 of them. This one was HUGE! Maybe 30-40 people--about half pre-ops and half post. The speaker was a bariatric psychologist and he talked about emotional/stress eating. It was very informative and helpful. Cuz let's face it. None of us got to the obesity ball by stress eating apples and carrots and spinach. Am I right? Afterward, we split into 2 groups for intros and support. At 10 weeks, I was one of the most advanced in our group. And I was also the most progressed as to how much I could eat or drink. So I don't know that I got much out of it. I did meet some nice people though. I will give it another shot to see how it goes. I know I will continue with the Tomball group (which only meets every other month) and maybe either my RD group or my doc's group or this one last night. Man! If you guys haven't tried nuking your eggwhites yet? You should totally do it. I get the carton egg whites called Real Egg Whites (oddly enough). And it's only ew's. That's it. Then I add a cubed wedge of light Laughing Cow and some turkey crumbles. I nuke spinach and mushrooms ahead of time and put on a plate. Then do the eggs separately so they don't have any water from the veg. And it makes the eggs huge, puffy, and tender. Way more volume and tenderness than in an omelet pan. And I use no oil at all. Here was my after-walking breakfast: Egg, cheese and turkey crumbles with spinach and mushrooms: Serves 1 (about 1cup of food/5.3oz by weight) 75g Real Egg Whites 14g Turkey sausage crumbles (Jimmy Dean) 1 wedge lite white cheddar (HEB) 1oz baby organic spinach 1oz mushroom 14g Hatch green salsa verde (HEB) Nutrition: 96cals; 14g protein; 3g fat; 4g carbs; 1g fiber; 1g sugar

I wanted to tell you all what I experienced, because I know how helpful it was to view others stories pre-op. I was sleeved May1st. I had to check in at 6:15 am. Surgery was at 7:30. I can remember they gave me an anesthesia cocktail as I was leaving my pre-op room and I don't even remember actually being wheeled in to the surgery room. The procedure lasted 30 minutes and my surgeon said it was boring and went without a hitch. I woke up in the post op recovery room in pain and nauseous and they drugged me up. I made it up to my room about 10:00am. I immediately went to the restroom and walked around. They had warned me that I might need a catheter, but I didn't get one, because they thought I would be capable of getting up. I remember between the hours of 12-6 having severe pain under my rib cage. Like almost crying pain. I found the pain pills to be hard to swallow. The first one actually got stuck and it took me 5 hours to get the other others down. In the mean time, I was given Toradol through my IV and that really helped. I got that 3 times and it was like a miracle for pain relief. TIP: stuff your pill pieces into jello and swallow it. The oxycotin was the easiest to swallow. I walked every 4 hours and and my husband slipped me gas strips as often as I asked for them. The gas pains are terrible!!! My blood pressure was hypertensive going into surgery and never got above 120/70. It even went down to 106/66 the day that I left. ****I was not and am not hungry****. I never finished my broth, jello or G2 at any meal that I received. I did have SF popsicles 4 times during my stay. I spent 1 overnight and on Day 2 felt so much better. I woke up around 5 and got up and walked. I took a shower. I can honestly tell you that I felt 100% better. This is Day 3 post-op and I am now home. I wore my leg compressions overnight. I drove my kids to school this morning and then came home and took my pain pills. I'm keeping a log of my water intake. One take-away is to pick a good hospital that specializes in bariatric care. I was treated so well and felt like I was in good hands at all times. Everyone that came to see me echoed that sentiment. Another take-away is that gas pains are no joke. Invest in gas strips. Don't be shy about asking for pain meds. My nurses were on top of it. I have had the support of family and friends on this journey. Don't go this alone. If you have any questions, please post while this experience is fresh on my mind.

The three most important elements after RNY gastric bypass surgery are to meet your daily protein, fluid and vitamin requirements. Food is secondary because your body is converting your stored fat into the energy that drives your body. Thus you lose weight. In your case, since you indicated that you were unable to get your meds down, I should add that to the list. So which of these four elements are you unable to meet your daily requirements? "I've been drinking gatorade and flavoured Water but I can't get regular water down." In my case I could not get water down because my taste buds changed after surgery. But I was able to get other fluids down so I met my daily fluid goals. Are you? If you are unable to get any fluids down or any food, then it might be a sign that you have a stricture. But you said there was no blockage, so does that mean that you were checked for a stricture? Since you were unable to get your meds down, does that mean that also equate to you not being able to meet your daily vitamin requirement? What about your protein shakes? Are you getting in your daily protein? Anyways it sounds like you have a serious problem that must be driven to the ground. Since you mentioned both nausea and heartburn According to the internet: Nausea and vomiting are the most common complaints after bariatric surgery, and they are typically associated with inappropriate diet and noncompliance with a gastroplasty diet (ie, eat undisturbed, chew meticulously, never drink with meals, and wait 2 hours before drinking after solid food is consumed). If these symptoms are associated with epigastric pain, significant dehydration, or not explained by dietary indiscretions, an alternative diagnosis must be explored. One of the most common complications causing nausea and vomiting in gastric bypass patients is anastomotic ulcers, with and without stomal stenosis. Ulceration or stenosis at the gastrojejunostomy of the gastric bypass has a reported incidence of 3% to 20%. Although no unifying explanation for the etiology of anastomotic ulcers exists, most experts agree that the pathogenesis is likely multifactorial. These ulcers are thought to be due to a combination of preserved acid secretion in the pouch, tension from the Roux limb, ischemia from the operation, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) use, and perhaps Helicobacter pylori infection. Evidence suggests that little acid is secreted in the gastric bypass pouch; however, staple line dehiscence may lead to excessive acid bathing of the anastomosis. Treatment for both marginal ulcers and stomal ulcers should include avoidance of NSAIDs, antisecretory therapy with proton-pump inhibitors, and/or sucralfate. In addition, H pylori infection should be identified and treated, if present. The cause of your problem may be an ulcer. If so the advise give here means; 1. Stay off any NSAID, such as aspirin. 2. Take a proton pump inhibitor, such as Pilosec. (work this thru your doctor) 3. Make sure you were tested for Helicobacter pylori infection. This is a common ailment. About 50% of the worlds population have it. It lays dormant in most individuals but after gastric bypass surgery, it can appear and produce an ulcer causing nausea and vomiting. It is a simple test (breath, stool) to find out if you have it. It is a hard bug to kill and you may have to undergo a couple cocktails of antibiotics to effectively treat this condition.

My weird weight loss comments: I had a family Dr's appointment. I walked passed the receptionist sitting at her desk. She latched both hands around my thigh and exclaimed "your so small" I don't know this woman well enough to have her attached to my leg....lol Dinner party with my husband and several other couples. A guy across the table looked at my husband and said " you must be having sex all the time now" My surgeons office - Dietician said I would look less skeletal if I gained ten pounds - The dr that same day told me I'd be at my ideal weight if I lost ten pounds. Local bariatric meeting - A person told me "you didn't have to work as hard as the rest of us to lose weight"

Does bariatric surgery enhance weight loss through respiration? I have experienced what I thought was unusually weight loss pre-op when I could only conclude that I had to have breathed it out. I hadn't paid much attention to it. With a larger diet pre-op, there was more variability of food weight and volume, and BM's occurred more frequently (mow, infrequent and scary). But now 1.5 months post op, I am on a routine, I know how much water and meals I get, and I am very good at measuring it (better than pre-op even). And I am definitely losing weight by respiration, no BM's, no sweating, any my urine volume does not come even close to what I drink. I am losing weight between stalls, and not even urinating much. Pre-op, I remember that I seemed to urinate longer. But I never measured it, so its ancedotal to me. I read some research online that for 10kg fat that is metabolized, 84% of that is exhaled as carbon dioxide, the rest becoming water. The process would require a total of 11kg of water. This seems more apparent post-op than pre-op. So, does bariatric surgery affect the normal weight loss through respiration by the physical changes to the body? Or is the dieting itself somehow enhancing it? And should I be doing breathing exercises to try to engage my entire lung capacity?

What is the source of this "report"? It's bogus. The aortic valve is pretty much in the center of a person's heart. To puncture an aortic valve, you'd literally have to stab someone in the heart. And it would kill them. Bariatric surgeries are abdominal. There would be no instruments in the thoracic cavity. The other fishy thing about the story is this absurd claim "The surgeon was required to pay 1500 and go thru additional training." No. This is not how it works. If someone loses their legs after surgery and medical negligence is found, the surgeon's insurance company pays out about 50 million dollars. A board would review the surgeon's actions and they would either keep their license or lose it. There would be no "additional training". Please check your source. You either have your details VERY mixed up....or you are being scammed. If you have a link to the report, I'd love to read it. I'm not suggesting a serious internal bleed isn't possible. It is. But the much more likely cause would be a spleen bleed. If the aorta were involved, it would be the abdominal aorta (far, far away from the aortic valve)....but I can't imagine the patient living to be transferred to another hospital. Talk to the surgeon. If she's still practicing, chances are good there is more to the story than meets the eye. (or, it's a grossly misreported incident)

Great results! It’s goid you're walking. I'm almost 2 months and looking back it goes fast but I know at the time it’s hard. Sometimes I am actually nostalgic about the simplicity of all liquids. Maybe you can find some sugar free watermelon flavored drink? Cause my new post bariatric brain’s first thought was, oh, you can’t have watermelon...too much sugar🙄. I still don’t really eat fruit and not many veggies. It’s all about the protein. Premier has some fruity protein drinks that are sweet and may give you some satisfaction for cravings😊

Hi. leea, I just answered you on another posting but don't be scared or anxious, you've got me as well as another bunch of people on Bariatric Pal. Things are looking,probable,i will be a June Bug Bariatric patient too. We will make it through together, so take my hand across the miles if you need to. I'm friendly, kind of a Momma Hen at times, pretty calm and loads of life experience. You feel sorta old to be doing this? Don't I'm even older than you, I'm a 72 year old widow, have 1 son who lives with me, a daughter who lives 610 of mile from me my code name for her is RD, short for Rotten Daughter, she talks or texts me once in a blue moon if she's inclined. An example I tested her that one of her high school classmates had been killed, if it had been me I would have called my mother ,her grandmother, right then. She waited until,today to text back. Every family has one of those, I unfotunately gave birth to mine . My remaining son is now an angel, he died at 31 10 years ago, he had a undiagnosed congenital heart condition but what actually k8lled him was a ruptured aorta, he bled to death internally in a minute maybe a minute and a half, the world is much poorer without him , he was a wonderful son, a wonderful young man and his brother and I miss him still. That was January 11 2008, on the 4th of July 2012 my husband and the kids dad died after 44 and a half years of marriage. John had just turned 70 on March. Every 5 years we have lost someone in my side of the family, 2018 should be that year again. I'm an only child,i have no one else to spare. My parents my Daddy in 1993,my Mamma in 2003, all my aunt's and uncles on both sides, Daddy had 11 brothers and sisters, Mamma 7, all gone. I cannot stand to lose Bryan my baby, he feels the same about me. Still he does support me seeking my surgery, he knows it is my chance at a future life, he won't stand it the way. RD she sadly doesn't care too much, I called her to tell her about because she was my firstborn, first she changed the subject to herself, when I tried to tell her again she said Whatever, so I said Whatever right back to her and gave up.Its like being the mother of a monkey, a whole other species. Well I've chattered on long enough but lets be friends okay? I'll try not to be so boring the next time😝

well it is a good idea, I'm sure your doctor's would prefer,you have a responsible adult with you. What I have suggested before andI will again. Do you live near a nursing school,at all? Now I have been on both sides okay. Call up said school and ask if possibly a student nurse could be of assistance to you? Okay once upon a time I was a student nurse and I would have loved a chance at this. Okay you're getting ready to go home. Your hospital nurse will say On,i see Miss Smith you are single and you live alone, will you have,any,help? You will say why yes I would like you to meet Melissa Maxwell, she is a student nurse and will be helping home and settled in. At this point, Melissa's little chest,will swell with pride. 1. You are introducing her as a respected professional ally, tell you a little secret, sometimes graduate and charge nurses scare sudents just as much as they do patients. Okay,Melissa accomplies you home,i f you need her to stay that's okay you work that out among yourselves. When all this is done, be sure to write a note to,the Nursing School and tell them what a help she was. Give you an example My name is Saundra Smith, I recently had bariatric surgery on May 20th and received the assistance of one of your student nurses Melissa Maxwell. She was polite, asisted with my trip home and made sure I was relaxed and comfortable. She acted in a very professional manner ,and was very kind. If I ever,need such assistance I will certainly ask for someone else from your school, I will also tell all my friends about how great you have been to me. Yours sincerely Saundra Smith This nice letter will go into Melissa's record also. In a few years when Melissa graduates her future employer may ask Well what experiences have you had that would make you a better than average new nurse? Melissa will have this letter to show them. 2nd point her stock with the school went up because she did this job and did it well 3rd point This school is serving that area, postive feedback about how good the school and it's students are , they like that loads. it's a win-win situation for both of you. Just a suggestion from me.

You go reading labels,and it can get scary, look at the ingredients above, This is the stuff everyone says is okay on a diet, corn sugar and Equal both in it, a lot people get headaches from Equal family, some do from Splenda, what's an unsuspecting bariatric patient to do?😋

I'm not judging or preaching to anyone.....But can laxitives/stool softeners for weight loss a sign of bulimia? https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/learn/general-information/laxative-abuse The goal is healthy and finding a balance. This is what maintaining looks like for me - My weight fluctuates ten pounds. When I gain weight I go back to low carb ( my bariatric diet plan) to get it back off back off. I also put in extra time at the gym. I try not to let myself gain over the ten pound bounce range.... You can snack. If you are in weight loss mode make it healthy salty or sweet options...Keep within your plan calories and protein goals.

And if you can't find any at big box stores--' check GNC, Vitamin Shoppe or a nearby Health Food store. Or have you checked on Bariatric Pal at their store? Alex B has our best interests at ❤ Amazon's more interested in profits👜😔

My surgeon has a minimum of 3 nights stay just IV fluids yesterday, and the occasional sip of water this morning when taking small tablets. Starting don't bariatric fluids at lunchtime, but has to bring my own, as they only have optifast which gives me headaches. I wish I could go home sooner but at least the IV will keep me hydrated.

Post op is won or lost in the mental game. There are so many options other than protein shake if you can't do that and dont eat eat tuna salad if you dont like it but dont use those 2 things to justify just having whatever you want. If you want success in this then follow your doctors program. ask for a referral to a Bariatric trained counselor for help with the emotional eating urges. GS will not fix the emotions that is on you to work thru.

I'm in the same boat! I had my sleeve 4/10 and after the weeks 1 and 2 diet I dropped something like 14 pounds in 2 weeks. I was over the moon! I just went for a non-bariatric appointment today and when they weighed me I've only lost 2 pounds since 4/20. I was losing that much when I was dieting prior to surgery. I was expecting to be dropping weight like crazy these first couple weeks. Full disclosure, I've had some stuff I'm not supposed to yet. Both liquid and non liquid. I'm SUCH an emotional eater. And after a rough day I've grabbed a tastycake from Wawa. Again, I don't make this a habit, and usually can't eat the whole thing. Also, Before surgery I was a coke zero fiend, not so much for the taste, but the caffeine. I'm pretty much useless before I've had any caffeine. I almost fell asleep on my way to work the other day because I've been trying to be good. But I've "cheated" a few times (I'd say no more than 5 times) by getting a chai tea latte or a diet Snapple. After all these trangressions, I immediately beat myself up about it. Like full on shame spiral. That usually whips me back into shape on the food front for a bit. I know I'm self sabotaging, but after 2 weeks prior to surgery nothing but protein shakes and then clear liquids and soup for 2 weeks after, I cannot force another shake down my throat. Also, I've tried tuna salad and got horribly sick from it. I finally got to the ricotta bake and chili, which should help, but still no "hard" protein tolerance. I've set up an alarm on my phone to remind me to drink, but let me tell you its a second full time job trying to get the bare minimum in. I'm just getting sad and discouraged that I went through all of this and then it won't work.

If you have GBP you will have to make it a way of life. It is only a tool to help you achieve your goal. Make sure you get into a program that will teach you how to eat post surgery. Get on the bariatric vitamins and stay with them, the cost is worth it! You will not maintain your weight unless you exercise. I have found that out, I injured a knee and had to stop running and have picked up about 4lbs while it's rehabbing. Hope this helps, good luck and prayers.

Started back on my protein shakes and bariatric vitamins and have noticed a difference! My hair feels thicker and healthier. Sent from my SM-G965U using BariatricPal mobile app

Well@GwennyPenny my old chop chop is still chugging along the Bariatric TrainLine, certainly not a "Local" maybe mine is Transcontinental? Oh when Oh when will I finally,reach the Station and disembark? 💦😔💦

I have an appointment with just these 3 for May 24th. Dare I hope this is more than a Hi Nice to Meet You session? See, I'm rather,a special case, I have been through another hospital's program twice. 1st time, my job terminated, lost that insurance coverage, was,going to have to switch to my secondary, didn't know secondary was less stringent and. I had done enough for them, dropped it bec a use I thought all was lost, that was January 2016. Returned last Autumn at the prompting of my PCP, we were trying to assist,my,own weight loss with phenteramine, I gained,30,pounds instead of losing. All my consults etc,were or close to 2 years old so I did everything over again for attempt#2. Finished everything up and was waiting for my surgery date to be set up, imagine my surprise when surgeon's office called, gave,me a cockamaimy excuse and " kicked me to the curb" Oh they phrased it a little fancier but thats what it was. Let's see,, I should be able,to remember the phrases, they are burned into my brain like somebody took a woodburner to it." Based on a faulty report from one of your evaluations, Surgeon(name available,upon request) and his partners have voted not to preform your Bariatric surgery at this or any other time" now in the employment world there is another common term, synanom is" excretement container", That's what it seemed to me. So after crying a few days, I picked myself up,looked at me and my red puffy eyes and said "Well old girl, are YOU going to let them get away with this?" dusted the diet of them off me and my life, made an appointment at a PreSurgery Seminar at the facility I should have gone to in the first place. Why had I gone to that original place? My PCP had recommended it, thought it was more Christian-based and would treat me better. Pfooey, I had turned the other cheeck, got it bruised also, I'll take my chances with the heathens at my State University! Seminar was March 9th, filled out application form, signed Transfer Of Information Form to get all my records from Verdompt ExProgram, and went home to wait. Less then 5 business days later, was called back, was told they were. very interested, could i come to Columbus for a meeting with their staff psychologist Dr Kramer at Martha Morehouse Pavilion on April 25th, did so , had great evaluation and nice one-on-one chat with him. Next step was a meeting with the same group,as prior poster spoke of. Can I hope and dream this could also be MY presurgical meeting? Oh please Sweet Lord in Heaven I hope so, I started out seeking Bariatric Surgery,in August 2015, not even a lady elephant is pregnant THAT LONG! Maybe May 24th I'll hear good things? Going to feel that way until then!

I think, honestly, and people will hate me for it, but I know/have known people like this- unfortunately-but I feel if a person over eats or just makes terrible decisions and doesn't try to stop eating badly and doesn't try to better their health, then for that person, whom hasn't tried every ave. (like us!) to get healthy, this surgery is the easy way out. The people I've seen do that and have that mentality, gain the weight back because they haven't changed anything. But I also know the majority of bariatric patients have actually tried and actually have lasting success with the surgery, hense the phrase "quick fix" for those that gain it back and don't change like I mentioned above, in the process giving the rest of us a bad rep. Those like us who've made a life long commitment to this, it's a struggle and the bariatric surgery is a magical (in the sense that we feel like freakin' finally something is freakin' working!) TOOL for lifelong success, but not without change, like I said. And yeeesss girl, I feel you, like you mentioned, very similar stories! My family is also very supportive and having read other posts, we're very blessed and lucky to have that kind of support. I'm beyond excited to have this done, to not have the "insulin resistance and pcos for dummies this is why I'm fat" speech I have on hand to tell people lol.... "so I have this thing called insulin resistance, basically the hormones in my body think I have anorexia thus turning all the carbs and sugar I eat straight to fat instead of energy like most people, and this other thing I have, pcos, just makes it harder to lose weight, I eat healthy, low carb, no sugar and work out. I've had this sinse I was 8." lmao, the looks I get are either pity, interest, or doubt because I'm fat so I must be lying and I over eat... I'm excited for that to go away, though I literally can't imagine a life like it, like I hope lol. Good luck to you girl, but you sound like a bad ass, so you probably don't need it [emoji3]

It was nice, but a small group - 5 ladies including me, plus the nurse coordinator. She did a presentation on trending foods and whether they are really healthy (i.e. bariatric friendly) and then a general discussion with questions. 3 of us had already had surgery, 2 were preparing for surgery in the coming months. I will go again next month.