Search the Community

I'm curious for those people that are a few weeks out - I'm recovering quite well, no food or vomiting issues, and after an initial bout of loose stools, I'm back to constipation as we're somewhat used to. (I got the okay today to take a chewable fiber pill so long as I get enough fluids in). Anyways, all of my incisions are healing good, and the dermabond is coming off as the doctor said it would...but...a few days ago I started experiencing pain in my lower torso, next to my biggest incision. It happens to be the incision that is "dented in". The pain feels a bit like a tear and it gets worse when rolling around in bed (I'm a side/belly/back sleeper LOL) and when bending over a certain way, and getting into/out of a car. I would describe the pain as instantaneous and 4/10, but as soon as the posture is corrected, the pain goes back to zero. The pain has gotten worse over the last few days. I've already left a message for my surgeon's office, so I'm awaiting what they say. I already wear an abdominal binder, but find that if I press the area in (somewhat hard) the pain is lessened a bit). I think this sounds like an internal hernia, but I wanted to see if anyone else experienced this and what happened. Did you have to undergo a second surgery to fix it? Or general anesthesia to suture it up? Or simply "try not to move" for a few weeks while it heals? I haven't done anything that I can think of that would have caused this, other than I think I felt it first when I twisted in bed transitioning from my back to my side.

Bone broth is great. I've been testing stuff out pre-surgery so I won't be experimenting too much when I am feeling crummy post-op. I tried one of the protein soups (15 grams of protein) but mixing it with 8 oz. of bone broth (10 grams of protein) instead of water. As many total grams of protein as a shake in a slightly smaller portion and it tastes way better than a shake. The only problem is that this is a high salt combo, so depending on your blood pressure it may not be the way to go.

It has a lot to do with mathmatics if you ask me. Allow me to use myself as an example. I'm 5'9 and probably have a 50" waist even though pre surgery I crammed myself into 48" waist pants. According to https://www.health-calc.com/body-composition/waist-to-height-ratio, my waist should be between 28 and 35 inches. Suppose the most correct answer is 32" which is about the middle of the range. So knowing that area of a circle is pi*r^2 means that I should have a cross-sectional area of 804 square inches. I realize this is not a proper way to compute this because we are more oval than a perfect circle, but I think this assumption will hold for this example. We know that the density of fat is constant, no matter what we weigh. So, as a means to estimate this for me, we do a bit more math. According to https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm, the average of the "normal weight" BMI is 21.7, which is 147 pounds. So going by my highest weight of 303, I am 156 pounds overweight. At a waist of 50", my area is 1963 square inches. So I need to lose 1963-804 = 1159 square inches and 156 pounds. Knowing this, we can approximate (for me) that each square inch of excess weight weighs .13 pounds. (I realize this is impossible for a 2-dimensional measurement to equal any volume, but in reality, the math here assumes a cylinder of height 5'9, and that figure represents a square inch * 5'9...But again, bear with me here) So, now to the fun part. Let's see how much weight I need to lose to go from a 50" waist to a 44" waist (A 6" difference, which I would say is probably the minimum for one to notice). 50" area = 1963 from above. 44" area = 1520. So weight loss needed ~ (1963 - 1520) * .13 = 57 pounds. Now, lets see what it would take to go from 38 inches to the "perfect" number of 32 inches (Keep in mind, same 6 inches off the waist measurement) 38" = 1134 32" = 804 So weight loss needed ~ (1134 - 804) * .13 = 43 pounds. In essence, it is much easier to lose inches off your waist as you get closer to your ideal weight. Now, for those that disagree with my 6" assumption, you could calculate this another way. Suppose that instead of an arbitrary waist measurement, it is a percentage, such as 10%. In that case, I would need to reduce my waist 10% = 5" at 300#. But, if I needed to lose 10% of weight at 38", then I would only need to lose 3.8#. So my numbers above would be even more exaggerated. I won't do that math for those, but rest assured, it would show it is even easier as you get close to the ideal weight. I think any yo-yo dieter here would have probably noticed this as well, it takes a long time to go from a 50 to 48 inch waist, but much less time to go from a 40 to a 38 inch waist.

You are so right. Yes....I can eat meat. Its low carb to shrink liver. I'll be on full liquids 2 days before. I can't wait til it's all over!! The hardest thing was stopping drinking diet coke 10 weeks ago. Thanks for your support!!!

So I finished everything that was needed to be done for surgery on 6/22/18. The insurance coordinator was out of town until 6/28. It was no big deal. So i sent her two emails, one to let her know she can submit for insurance and a second one to follow up that she received my first email. Never got a response. 7/9/18 I call my insurance to check on the status they tell me they never received any paperwork. I call the doctors office and she tells me she’s been busy she’ll submit that day. Great! I call my insurance on 7/19 check on the status and still being told no paperwork received. Finally last Thursday I call my insurance again and it was received on 7/20 and approved. Mind you the coordinator stated she sent it 7/9. I have still haven’t been scheduled for surgery. Called Thursday, one lady calls my insurance to confirm I was approved and says someone will be in touch with me to schedule everything. Here we are a week later and still nothing. I emailed yesterday and was told I would get a call today to schedule. Still nothing. At this point I’m beyond frustrated, second guessing everything. Wondering if this is a sign I should not be having surgery. Stress eating, more than likely putting weight back on. I thought the scheduling part would be easy once approved.

Very pretty and it looks like you will be the Queen of Documentation! My hat's off to you! Some suggestions: Just for reference, I just went back and looked at my food journal. It isn't unusual for me to have 9-10 food lines per day. This does not include any liquids. If I also needed a line to include liquids that have protein, I'd have about 3-4 more lines. I don't know if you've scanned pages or if this is a template that is adjustable, but I just wanted to let you know.

Hey everyone. I am 5 days into my preop diet, and quickly becoming sick of everything. I have been making keto recipes for dinner with 1-2 carbs per serving, One protein shake per day (19 g of carbs) and only other carbs are in small amount so cheese or dressing. I was just told no sugar, and low carb. No fat limit. Looks like from reading on here every surgeon is different. I struggle most at work. I am a nurse and tend to get more hungry at work. A couple questions..... What is everyone using for protein shakes? I have been using GNC lean protein shakes (25 g per serv) Were you given a max carb limit? Drop some recipes in a reply you may have had and are yummy:)

I have no personal experience with genepro, but.... I have seen articles and peoples comments on here. They are or were going through a lawsuit because there is supposedly only 10 grams of protein instead of the 30 as advertised. Im not saying its not a quality product, just don't want you to short yourself as far as the protein u think u are getting. If it mixes clear and flavorless I would use it but maybe only count it as 10 just incase. My opinion only!

Hi all. I was sleeved 7/10 and am now in the puréed phase. Up until a couple of days ago I relied on premier protein drinks to help achieve my protein intake goals for the day but yesterday all of a sudden I can’t tolerate them. I feel nauscious and like I can’t drink them. Has this happened to anyone else?

So - I exercise a lot - I fence (en garde) 6 hours a week and spend about another 6 in the gym, including serious weightlifting (I just back squatted 215 pounds and front 165. I can deadlift 190.) I'm working to build muscle and get rid of fat. I'm 2 years post surgery. My goal is about 120 g protein daily. Once you develop a plan, it's not that hard - Breakfast - shake/smoothie - 8 ounces Fairlife skim milk, scoop of protein powder, 2 tablespoons Oikos triple zero vanilla yogurt and 3/4 cup frozen tropical fruit. 270 cal, 38g protein AM Snack - 1 5.3ounce container Oikos triple zero yogurt - 120 calories - 15 grams protein Lunch - 4 ounces of chicken breast chopped and mixed with 1 tablespoon of pesto - 147 calories 29 grams protein plus some salad greens with a little balsamic dressing Afternoon snack - deli ham and cheese roll ups - 4 slices deli ham, four slices deli cheese (provolone) - 17 g, 160 calories So before dinner - I'm at 99 grams -- If I have 5 ounces of fish or shrimp with zucchini noodles done sort of scampi style (32 grams of protein) and I'm at about 1,000 calories. I do add some carbs in because I need them for muscle healing, but I exercise probably 1200 calories a day. FWIW - I'm 57 years old, 5'3" and 155 pounds right now. I haven't had plastics done so I'm carrying about 10 pounds of skin and fat that will only come off when I have plastics. My bariatric team and my medical trainers are all good with what I'm doing.

@pacheka I walked at least an hour a day (split into 10 minute increments) immediately after surgery. After 2 weeks I was cleared by my surgeon to do as much exercise as I felt comfortable doing. Right now I’m 2 months post op and I go to the gym 3 times a week for 90 minutes. I eat between 700-900 calories per day and try to drink 128ozs of water. I eat no less than 80 grams of protein per day. The key is to develop these behaviors while the new tool we have been given is doing most of the work. Soon it’ll be the behaviors we created that do the work and we should be happy and healthy!

Mine started about 2 weeks ago @ 10 weeks after surgery. Getting it chopped off soon.

I used my pain meds as sleep aids. They sent me home with 10 of the high strength narcotic pain management pills. I didn't need them throughout the day normally, so I would take them prior to going to bed to help keep any potential pain issues at bay and allow me more sleep.

Surgery was 7/31 and I was out and back home by 3 pm. For the next 24 hours, I was only able to get in about 38 oz of Water. I get why we have to sip now. Those dry burp/heaves are no freaking joke! Yesterday afternoon, I started the Protein and water. I was able to get 30 g of protein and not as much water as I hoped. My stomach is sore AF and I've been sleeping in a slightly upright position on the couch and at night I get up every 2 1/2 hours to walk for 5-10 minutes...slowly. I 've been taking 1 pain pill pretty much every 4-5 hours but sometimes I stretch it out for longer. I can for sure tell when they wear off. I had to take a pain pill at 3 last night because that was as bad as I've hurt so far. I go in for IV therapy today and I've already got my Breakfast6 oz of Protein Drink done.

Surgery was 7/31 and I was out and back home by 3 pm. For the next 24 hours, I was only able to get in about 38 oz of water. I get why we have to sip now. Those dry burp/heaves are no freaking joke! Yesterday afternoon, I started the protein and water. I was able to get 30 g of protein and not as much water as I hoped. My stomach is sore AF and I've been sleep in a slightly upright position on the couch and at night I get up every 2 1/2 hours to walk for 5-10 minutes...slowly. I had to take a pain pill at 3 last night because that was as bad as I've hurt. I go in for IV therapy today and I've already got my breakfast 6 oz of protein drink done.

The initial walking is really to prevent blood clots and to help get the gasses trapped in your abdomen out. It's not about actual "exercise" exactly. I was on the elliptical for 10-20 mins a time, 2 or 3 times a day after like 2 weeks or so. But the first few weeks you REALLY want to focus on healing, getting up to walk to the bathroom or to the kitchen, or just around the house for a minute or 2 every hour is more than enough to keep things from clotting up. But all in all, if you can do time on the treadmill and nothing hurts, you aren't passing out, "nothing bad is happening" then keep doing it. You'll be fine! Your incisions are not going to be fully healed in 3 days... they won't be fully healed in 13 days, and they won't be fully healed in 23 days. Average healing time for an abdominal incision is 1 to 2 months. You'll be able to do a lot more as time goes on, but you won't be fully healed up for upwards of 2 months.

Where in Wisconsin are you? I am about 10 minutes from Hudson. But we go to cabins in WI all summer long!

Thanks for sharing! I feel the same way about eating right and exercising. It feels as though I don’t lose a lot of weight even when I am eating and exercising right. Even Day 10 on the liquid diet, I only lost 10 lbs. I feel like people lose way more than that!!!! Good luck on your revision! I hope you get to your goal weight.

And, strange as it may seem,i don't have a follow-up appointment with my sleep study doctor until January 2019. If what other posters say is true, after 70+ pounds lost things change, that is food for thought! If I haven't diminished 70 pounds in 4 months somebody got some 'splaining to do ! I had hoped to be a shadow of my present self by then!👗👙👍

I agree with this statement. I think WLS should be the last alternative after you've exhausted your other options. And my program required a very detailed history of every diet, drug, supplementation you've ever tried prior to the consultation spanning back 10 years. However, its the best decision I've ever done and wished I would have done it years ago. I yo-yo'd for nearly 15 years but I was still always overweight. I feel like I lost that time.

Giving me some hope Girlfriend. Thanks for the posting. HW 355. CW321. SW??? SD September 5, 2018 Surgery Planned--- RnY bypass with Hiatal Hernia Repair Prediet started 8/01/2018

Had EGD today and a hiatal hernia was discovered which will be fixed at the time of surgery. I have a tentative date of November 19. My information is being submitted to insurance on October 29, my first day of bariatric eligibility.

Never thought I would ever post a pic like this. 9 months post surgery down 95 lbs. Wish I did this 10 years ago...

Harley66 we are the same height and weight. My surgery is scheduled for 10/29. My goal weight is 150. Good luck on your journey.

My liver diet was very strict. 4 protein drinks a day (brand specific too) and half cup of vegetables (from a list of 6 to pick from) that’s it. This was hardest part of surgery for me. Smells from family & coworkers lunches/dinners was excruciating. I basically stayed away from everyone during those 10 days