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Everyone is going to respond differently to this as it's so different with each person to what they can be ready for, Dr and NUT orders, etc. I've learned after much research to go with what you can handle. After the surgery, all protein shakes just made me nauseous or food come back up (not quite vomit but definitely some coming back out). I was pureeing turkey meatballs (ONLY the Wegmans turkey meatballs-can't handle anything else) right at the soft food stage but mixing with some sauce or fat free gravy. I still can't handle chicken-even soft. Eggs are by the day after I started just learning to chew until pureed in my mouth. I could handle mashed potatoes that were plain at that stage and I still live on sugar free popsicles at 4 months out. Cheese is good for me; ice cream KILLS me. Most of my calories comes from the turkey meatballs and mixing cheese with them as I can handle the cheese that is shredded. This is really just a thing of trying what you can handle off of the list you are given. I had some complications after the surgery so the recovery was longer but after about 4-6 weeks, I could get a bit more daring with trying things. I still keep nausea pills with me just in case but try not to use them unless really vomiting.

Congrats... sorry to hear about your complications but glad that your feeling better. I'm not able to hold protein Shakes down now so I'm a bit worried. Praying I don't have any complications. Congrats on your weight loss so far..

Hi everyone! I’m a new member to the boards. I was sleeved on December 21st. I had some complications right after surgery, but I was feeling much better 24 hours later. I’m doing much better now, other than having some trouble keeping my protein shakes down. They don’t seem to be settling too well. I’m down 18 pounds since surgery on 12/21, though! 🎉 I didn’t have to do a pre-op liquid diet.

if any approve it for weight regain, I'd think they're few and far between. I haven't heard of that, but you may be right. I know some will approve it for medical reasons, though - like GERD or other complications that can't be "fixed" through more conventional means. And many won't cover revisions AT ALL (like mine...luckily, I haven't needed one). I have a friend who's suffered horribly for the last couple of years from a 10-year-old lapband. It worked fine for a few years, but not anymore. Her insurance company won't budge. I feel horrible for her.

I tried a fitness larger-faced wristwatch looking thing and didn't like it. Too complicated. I just needed the basics with heart rate, calories and steps that synchs with MyFitnessPal. My mother-in-law gave me her old FitBit Versa I think and it works fine for that. I think it was like $69 on sale with 30% discount at Kohl's. It's going on 3+ years, so it's held up well.

Thanks everyone. Insurance criteria varies by providers. Most want it to be “medically” necessary. Surgery failure, weight gain, complications etc. I used a medical advocate to gain approval.

Pleased to meet you! It does sound like some rough times and so sorry to hear that. I had gerd stage 3, yearly esophageal widenings and knots in my chest full of strange tight fists with even water coming back up even before the surgery. Had complications with the surgery and the same nausea/vomitting and sharp pains the first months as well. Still having the typical nausea, etc and have had an ulcer form even with the Panteprazole and Omni 40 I have daily per my surgeon. Everything else has gotten way better and my stage 2 fatty liver disease is now reversing already to a low stage 1 with full reversal (my largest concern pre-surgery). I still have the gerd symptoms but not as bad. I'm 4 months out and the Dr said with that damage, it just takes time. Not sure what your Dr is giving you or diagnosing but I would keep pestering a bit with these things if you are having this ongoing in such a severe way. I am still so thankful for my surgery every day-kinda used to the other side effects for having gerd so long before hand, but we are much healthier in the long run for it!

Agree 100% with this post. Everyone's body is different; age, start-weight, etc are all factors. People put start weight, lost weight stats etc and I never knew how to calculate that my first month post-op. My start weight was much, much higher then yours and I lost before the surgery, had complications with massive swelling, gained 13 lbs from the surgery, nothing but a couple lbs the week after (miserable!) the 3 weeks out started losing like close to 20 lbs in just a week (the swelling went down completely and lost the surgery weight I had gained). I've lost very quickly since then but other conditions affect that as well. Also, inches count! Now, at 4 months out with a new job this last month that is VERY physical labor in a factory have contributed to lbs not going down but my pants are falling and inches are going down. You can't go bad with this really. Just give it time and be patient honestly-you'll be feeling good in no time and feeling the weight loss more as you heal and get into a more normal way of life.

Apps are something I'm still having a fuss with but only because of my personality. Myfitnesspal is actually a good one-you just have to kind of not end your day out on it or it will give you warnings of too low calories. Lots of peeps have asked to add a bariatric setting for those of us with surgeries but they've said it would be unhealthy for others. I've liked carbmanager best honestly-it's non-intrusive but has everything I need. Bariastic is really a great app but it's not something I like with all the groups and the notifications-again, I'm pretty basic. I've actually just been happiest putting everything on good old fashioned paper. I never recommend this to anyone but I've been doing calculations for decades on my own and it's just easier for me to grab my daily things with the meds, vitamins, etc when it's sitting on a notebook next to the fridge. BTW-my Dr and NUT get CRAZY for this preference lol. So, I'm 4 months out and gotten over the holidays. I've now lost a bit over 100 lbs and think I have a good understanding now of my eating, etc. My kids are 19 and 23. My daughter is losing weight with me naturally so we kind of go together on what we eat (mine is just smaller portions and a bit varied for the day-some days are better then others with food). My son buys his own stuff and eats on his own but we all work at different times and college so we don't eat together normally. He keeps his stuff in his room with a little fridge and microwave (commonly called the man-cave). My daughter requests he keep his snacks out of her sight but I have no problems with that. I still can't eat a whole lot but what I can-it's limited anyhow or I feel sick. For Christmas, we did get a pizza and wings (cause this chick did NOT want to work and cook!). I was able to have a small bit of very thin crust veggie pizza. I can eat pepperoni and beef sticks are a treat after work for me- I eat them very slow and chew a lot. If it's on pizza, I will eat the toppings of a small slice as I did on Christmas. I will try anything like the cake or cheesecake that I make or my daughter makes but I only have a bite then spit it out-seems to do the trick. The minute it hits my mouth, I like the flavor but get a nauseous feeling so it's no biggie. My family all do everything they can to help out. If you have teenagers, I would say it is the same. They are old enough to be able to plan their meals while you recover and get comfortable. I get 24/7 support from hubby and kids with regards to exercise and eating. If I'm getting sick (which happens, I had complications and my new job is very physical-we all work at the same place), they are on me in seconds helping me breath, curl up, lay sideways, etc and always ask if anything they are eating bothers me. Just be open with everyone and even let your teens read some of these forums along with the forms you get from your Dr. to help them understand and help out.

Hello Everyone My name is Leontyne Lynn Jones. I go by Lynn. I am 60 years old, I had my Gastric Bypass RNY on July 7th 20. I am 5 months Post-Op. It has been a struggle for me, at first I had developed this very intense pain on my left side after my surgery, then once I was told that I could start eating regular food, I started feeling nauseous every time I would eat or drink, called the office which I had my surgery done at Summa in Akron, my surgeon was Dr. Dan. I had notified the office what I was experiencing, nothing was done until I went in for my 3 months follow-up. The Nurse Practitioner ordered for me to have an Upper GI done. Had the test done found out that I have acid reflux, plus 2 small ulcers in my pouch, currently on medication for it. I am suppose to have an Endoscopy done, but with this COVID going on I don't know when this will get done. I do have my 6 months follow-up next month. Too be honest I had doubts about having the surgery, I really struggle with my discussion, it really gotten worst when I started having complications. But know I am glad that I did have it, I am no longer on any medications and I feel good. I live in Norton, I look forward to meeting everyone in the group.

Depends on insurance. Usually for a revision you have to have some type of complication w the original wls

As others have said, MANY of us get through the surgery with minimal/no pain and few complications. It's natural to be nervous before surgery, particularly with something like this that can quite literally be life-changing. Hang in there and before you know it, you'll be on the losers bench wondering WHY you were so nervous and giving the same message we are to other new folks. It's also quite natural to have "buyers remorse" here and there, but at least for me, those moments are few and far between and very short lasting.

I struggled with my weight so much of my life that I wasn't a healthy weight for my height since I was probably 9 or 10 which is kind of when thing should went south anyway. I was sick from when I was a baby but things changed then. Of course hitting puberty didn't help. I got bullied growing up including my sister. And things I don't discuss on public forums. But I will say body dismorphia is a tough one. Especially when you never knew where you fit and never really did fit in anywhere. Or never perceived myself as anything but the fat kid. Or ugly kid. Never saw myself as feminine either. Ive worn clothes I hadn't like dresses. I tried on a bathing suit, but not in public yet. Every moment it's still a struggle of seeing the fat kid, feeling like the fat kid and being afraid to be that again. So getting comments about my weight even someone saying the word skinny it sets something off. I have no pictures but one from my birthday right before my gastric bypass surgery April last year. That's how much I hated pictures. My mom had to beg me to take a picture recently ... i took a picture of myself in the swimsuit to convince myself I could wear it but it felt weird. Like sharing the pictures I shared here. It's hard to not fear our efforts will be lost. And it's a continuous journey. Though my road is complicated by many things. We try to prop each other up the best we can.

When I had the sleeve I stayed in the hospital two nights. Once home, I only took pain medication once, the first day I went home. I was ready to return to work for desk work after being out one week. It wasn't complicated and I healed quickly. The surgeon recommended taking two weeks off. There is a lot of adjusting and healing going on. You'll feel pain in the sutures in your belly when you move around into the second week. Two weeks off work is the right amount of time. You shouldn't need more than that.

I never had any heartburn/stomach acid issues... until I had my sleeve done in July. Once I allowed my omeprazole prescription to lapse (I didn't want to stay on it long term due to potentially serious long-term complications from the drug), oh boy... I was miserable. Heartburn, that awful taste of bile if I 'threw up in my mouth', I was having serious second thoughts. It was especially exacerbated by late-night eating or fried, fatty, or dairy foods. Rather than go back on a PPI immediately, I first asked my doctor about alternatives to PPIs, and they suggested I try out Pepsid AC 1-2 times a day (once daily plus one additional proactively/reactively depending on a meal in question). It's actually made a huge difference. If I feel heartburn coming on or I'm about to have a spicy/fatty meal, I pop one (not exceeding 2x per day), and within 15 minutes or so all is well. It's been 2.5 months off PPIs and I'm surviving. Being one that historically has indulged heavily in both very spicy and fried foods, it's definitely a struggle to rein in those impulses... Keep in mind that h2 blockers like Pepcid don't decrease stomach acid production as much as PPIs do, so depending on your individual situation, Pepcid might not be effective. As always, consult with your physician, but there are options for controlling stomach acid, not to mention dietary changes.

I have noticed a tremendous amount of energy since having my surgery just over a week ago. I am not trying to push it because I do not want any complications. I know that it is extremely early to even have this cross my mind, but to be honest with all of you I feel like I am having the smoothest possible recovery. I have just started having a little bit of yogurt today, and want to be able to jump start some sort of fitness regime while I have this good feeling. I have not been doing much except taking the dogs out for an hour walk around the block. Does any one else have new found energy? Want to work out but know they cant? When is the safest time to start something?

I have the minor form of Thalassemia which is a type of anemia where I don’t absorb iron well. All of my blood counts are perpetually low all the time. After I had my first child, my OB said that normally they’d give a blood transfusion to someone with my numbers, but not me because that was just where my numbers lived! I’m just wondering if anyone else has it and if you had any complications from surgery - especially bypass? I’ve never seen a hematologist because it doesn’t really affect me, but wondering if I should try and get in before I do surgery.

I've never dumped, and no absorption issues. With the exception of iron (some people can't absorb oral iron and have to have occasional infusions - but the vast majority of us do fine on oral iron). anyway, besides the iron, absorption issues are pretty uncommon as long as you keep on top of your vitamins. as for eating, I can eat anything now except for really fatty meals. For example, before surgery, I used to love to go out for Friday night fish fries. These would consist of two or three pieces of breaded, deep-fried fish, French fries, cole slaw with mayo, and a roll with butter. No way could I eat that much fat now. I could maybe have half a fried fish filet. Anything I had with that would have to have little to no fat. Other than that, I have no restrictions - I can eat everything I ate before, just in smaller quantities. As an example of that, before surgery, my husband and I would get a large pizza and each eat half of it. Now I can only eat one or two pieces. I physically cannot eat any more than that at one sitting. But...that's fine. That's about what most of my never-been-obese women friends eat, so... as far as "finality" - a couple of thoughts. RNY is technically reversible, although it's a complicated surgery and is only done if you have a serious medical issue that cannot be resolved another way. Sleeve is not reversible. The other part of your stomach is gone forever. As for revisions, the most straightforward one for sleeve is DS, since at one time the sleeve was the first phase of the DS back when they did the DS in two stages (they discovered a lot of people were able to lose their weight just with stage one, so they started offering that as a standalone surgery a few years back, and it pretty much replaced the lapband back when that went out of vogue). They also do VSG to RNY revisions, but that's mostly when there's an unresolvable GERD issue. RNY usually improves - if not outright cures - GERD (not always - but usually). RNY can be converted to DS, but that's a complicated surgery that only a handful of surgeons do. To do that, they have to reverse the RNY, then do the sleeve, then do the intestinal bypass (stage 2) part of the DS. Although to be honest, most people with RNY don't get revisions. We do see some revisions from VSG to RNY because of GERD, though.

You're probably fine - there is a lot of variation in how quickly people recover and are able to eat more of a variety of food. But it would be good to mention this to your surgeon because there is a complication that can occur and results in the symptoms you describe. Here is a description of it: Strictures are a problem unique to the Bypass and Sleeve patients. Basically, it is a narrowing preventing food to pass normally through your digestive system. With the Bypass, strictures occur at the gastro-jejunal anastomosis (the top connection where the small bowel is attached to the gastric pouch). Sleeve patients can have a stricture anywhere along the length of the stapled stomach. A stricture will almost always occur within the first three months after surgery. Generally, a patient will complain of not being able to advance their diet beyond liquids. They may have frequent vomiting episodes, or even night time regurgitation/reflux. https://alohasurgery.com/strictures/ I doubt this is what's going on, but you are in that 3 month window when it's most likely to occur and it would be good to rule it out. Whatever is going on (even if it's just a normal slower recovery), your bariatric team can help you figure it out. Hope you feel better soon. Hugs. 🤗

I did have that problem when talking about the upcoming surgery with my weight loss group-there were a lot of very negative and spiteful comments. I stay away from anyone I expect that from. However, since having the surgery, I lost weight very fast. I also had complications and a longer recovery so some of my neighbors took notice anyhow. My neighbors and friends know of my past health problems and even the fact of being 50 with older friends and neighbors helps a lot. I got nothing but real support and cheerleading from anyone around me and they know I have the surgery. I have a very supportive husband, adult kids, aunt and close friends. I try to be very sensitive to my close friends as they are all the weight I started at with many health problems. They will see it however and call me 'the skinny one' ha when we get together. Most times, I get the response of either, "I'll work out with you or walk with you" or, in another mood, I will get the response of, "Sorry, Dawn, we don't mean to eat this delicious pizza that you can't have anymore.....yummy!" in a sort of teasing tone with lots of laughter. My mother is someone I split ways with a long time ago and my brother was added to that list. I'm too old to have negativity and hurt in my life anymore. Sometimes, that's all you can do. I still have the voice of my mother calling me, "fat c... and other extremely bad things" but the surgery has made that so much better. At times, I even think to try to get back in touch but my aunt is right, it will just give me the same hurt that isn't necessary as my mother will never change. It sounds a lot like your situation in ways. I keep my friends private and positive only. You get a chance with me if you are a friend of a friend or a new possibility; I won't hide who I am and how happy the surgery has made me. That's on you if it's a problem or something you have to judge-it just comes from another person feeling unsatisfied in their own life and I've gone through too much in life to let something like that bother me or stay in my life. It's difficult if it's family and you have your own decisions with that but if you can't say to them that it's hurting you and you need their support, then it's time to maybe back out of that a bit while you are going through this process and keep positive people around you only. Great job on your weight loss! I know you feel just awesome and so much better in every way!

So sorry about all the complications! But you've lost an amazing amount of weight so hopefully long after the complications are all resolved, you'll still be enjoying the benefits of the surgery.

My BMI is officially out of the BMI range! It was 29.2 when I did my weekly weigh in ❤️ I won’t lie, my recovery has been super hard and a part of me regrets the surgery because of all of my complications. But hopefully if I keep losing I’ll see it al worth while

you can, but it's a really complicated surgery because they have to take down the RNY first, then do a sleeve - and then do the intestinal bypass part of the DS. Only about a half dozen surgeons in the US specialize in this.

I had a tummy tuck last year, at age 60. I had some significant post-op complications, but now that I'm on the other side of all that, I can say that this surgery was one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life. Never too old, as long as your surgeon says you are eligible, healthwise, for plastics!

Many (most?) people have these feelings of buyer's remorse right after surgery. I certainly did! The first few weeks after surgery are the worst because you're still recovering from the surgery itself, maybe in pain, you're extremely limited in what you can eat, adjusting to the huge changes to your life that you've put in motion, and you're not yet seeing the benefits of the weight loss. It all gets better! Just wait a couple of months, and you'll feel better, you'll be able to eat "normal" foods, you'll get used to your new diet and maybe even discover new favorite foods, and you'll see amazing weight loss and all the benefits that come with it. It's totally normal to worry when you've just gone through a major surgery, but weight loss surgery has a very low complication rate, so chances are that as long as you follow your surgeon's instructions, you will be totally fine and soon be able to enjoy your new life!