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I had my VSG on 4/8/2013. I lost @50 pounds and gained back about 20. I have several underlying medical issues which complicate my exercise but overall I am usually good with my food intake. Over the last year, I have developed what I think is acid reflux. It is so bad that I can't lie down and my healthy eating is now becoming more bland carb-focused because that's what I tolerate best. Even drinking a protein shake can be bothersome. I have NEVER experienced this before, not during any of my 3 pregnancies or at my heaviest weight. I am miserable! I have tried over-the-counter acid reducers and eat tums like candy. I finally talked to my PCP about this yesterday, she is sending me to a GI doctor. She mentioned she wasn't sure what my anatomy would be like now. That caused me to wonder if I should actually see a bariatric surgeon? I of course started to google and found that this can happen even so long out of surgery and that sometimes revision can fix it. Honestly, I don't hate this idea as id like to lose more weight but more so I just want to feel better. My BMI is 32.1 and I have the same insurance as I did 9 years ago. I'm clearly jumping ahead of myself but was wondering if anyone has experience with anything like this?

I just spoke with a nurse who had bypass and also works at the hospital where our surgeon is. She suggested buying an ultra cheap egg crate topper to put on top of the bed as she said she could never get comfortable in the bed. I would have never thought of that but do remember some very uncomfortable hospital beds!

Hello everyone! My name is Patience and I am 22 years young! I had RNY gastric bypass November 15th 2011. A little over 8 months post op now and I am down to my absolute goal weight! 240lbs pre op - 127lbs post op!! I lost everything really quickly due to my high excersise level and very healthy eating. I am overwhelmed with my success and love hearing others success stories as well! Please ask any and all questions you have and I'd love to help any way I can! My big question today is about calories! Have any of your nutritionists or surgeons suggested a specific number of calories you are allowed to have during a day or have they discouraged you from counting calories? Let me know! Thank you! Eat healthy, Be active, Stay happy!

I know I'm still almost 20 lbs from being in the normal BMI range but I'm actually happy with my size right now - that is without my stomach. My butt, back, legs all look normal and tight but as always I carry most of my weight in my stomach area. I dont' think that if I lose more weight after my tt that I'll need or want another or a revision. I think I'm close enough to goal that it'll look good. I'm not looking to wear bikinis, I'm just looking to fit and feel good in my clothes. I also feel like the insurance company helped make my decision for me, if they feel like I'm close enough to be paying for this in full - hey, who am I to argue? :thumbdown:

I'm new here, hope I am doing this right! I'm Canadian and have been researching surgeons do to a sleeve for me (possibly a bypass but I'm leaning towards the sleeve). Researching this is overwhelming. I don't know which acredititations are important, etc. I seem to have landed on Dr. Louisiana Valenzuela who works out of the Mi Doctor hospital in Tijuana. Can anyone speak to their experience here at this hospital and with this surgeon? I have heard this hospital is not as large or "nice" as the Angeles hospital and others, but I'm not sure if that matters. It is a smaller facility and am told it is a full service hospital. I have read one negative review about the facility. Anyone who can share an experience would be greatly appreciated, I am overwhelmed by information. Cat.

2wks post op and running,wtg. One question, Has your dr ok'd running? I know they encourage walking, but I'm not sure on running. You're still healing. Reason I'm concerned is b/c I had a flipped port, that need revision at 3mths post op. If dr ok'd it, you go girl!

Sorry, I'm staying away from the middle east for now! I couldn't have afforded surgery in the states either and went to Mexico. Turns out it was a HUGE mistake. But thats not my point here. What I do want to say is that after talking to Dr Billy in Ventura California, he told me of how the surgery is quickly becomming more affordable here in the good old U.S of A. The BMI requirement is being revised and the overall surgery is much more affordable. I guess Drs here realize that they need to compete with Mexico etc. The big cost is Inamed charging an arm and leg for the stupid band. You know as well as I do that it probably costs them $3.50 in parts and labor. Glad things are working out for you. Christine

I know that I am late to this topic, but as a person that was newly diagnosed with AFib and has the surgery scheduled for 6/5/23, I think I understand the subject well. There is solid research coming from Australia that shows that AFib reverses or at least improves after drastic weight loss. This is what my Mayo Clinic cardiologist told me. I hesitated for years to get a gastric bypass but after learning this aspect, I scheduled my gastric bypass surgery. I talked to my gastric surgeon, he knows I have Afib and that I take medication for it and there are no issues whatsoever. I am sure he is consulting with my cardiologist. I wish you the best, this gastric bypass surgery might save us from Afib at least for some years. Let’s hope that the Aussies are 100% correct! 😀

You probably can go through with your bypass, but that is a call for your medical team - the surgeon and cardiologist. Typically, they want you stable and under control when you go in for surgery - they don't want surprises on the operating table - that's what these various specialist clearances are for. If we were all in perfect health with no pre existing conditions, no one would ever get WLS. I hear you on the Eliquis - it's the new kid on the block which makes it expensive, but the older meds are a lot more inconvenient to use (when my father was still alive, he was always needing blood draws to adjust the doses of his coumadin/warfarin blood thinner, which isn't necessary with Eliquis.) The drug companies often have discount programs for these expensive drugs to drop the copays for the patient (they don't mind sticking it to the insurance companies, but they want it cheap enough for the patient to use the med rather than a cheaper generic alternative,) so check into that. It's not the end of the journey, but it is a detour. At the beginning of this year, my PCP found that I was in Afib when I was getting a clearance for cataract surgery, which put that off for a while until it got treated, but it did happen, though a few months later than expected.

I have Blue Shield and am wanting to bypass their 3 month "waiting period" recommendation. In which they suggest that you take some time to think about whether you really want the surgery or not. However I have been researching and thinking about it for the last 4 years. So I want to write them a letter addressing that in case they try to deny me because of the waiting period. (Which of course they will try to). Any suggestions?

My surgeon had no driving restrictions, other than that I was no longer taking the prescription pain meds. I don't think I drove for 2 weeks, though, simply because I was off work and didn't need to. I wouldn't recommend driving on a long road trip for a few weeks, until your incisions have healed up some, if you can help it. I did a 3-hour drive to the shore about 3 weeks after surgery, and it was a bit uncomfortable. It's not going to hurt anything, per se, but it's uncomfortable. I take a Centrum adult chewable multivitamin every evening, and a Bariatric Advantage 500 mg chewable calcium citrate in the morning. Technically, I should do two of the calcium supplements, but I had concerns about increased risk of heart disease linked to calcium supplements (my dad has heart failure and recently underwent a triple bypass)--I talked it over with my surgeon, and while he thinks the risk of heart disease is very low, he also thinks that the benefit of calcium supplements for sleeve patients is negligible, and my labs are good, so he OK'ed me just taking one a day. My surgeon had no driving restrictions, other than that I was no longer taking the prescription pain meds. I don't think I drove for 2 weeks, though, simply because I was off work and didn't need to. I wouldn't recommend driving on a long road trip for a few weeks, until your incisions have healed up some, if you can help it. I did a 3-hour drive to the shore about 3 weeks after surgery, and it was a bit uncomfortable. It's not going to hurt anything, per se, but it's uncomfortable. I take a Centrum adult chewable multivitamin every evening, and a Bariatric Advantage 500 mg chewable calcium citrate in the morning. Technically, I should do two of the calcium supplements, but I had concerns about increased risk of heart disease linked to calcium supplements (my dad has heart failure and recently underwent a triple bypass)--I talked it over with my surgeon, and while he thinks the risk of heart disease is very low, he also thinks that the benefit of calcium supplements for sleeve patients is negligible, and my labs are good, so he OK'ed me just taking one a day. My surgeon had no driving restrictions, other than that I was no longer taking the prescription pain meds. I don't think I drove for 2 weeks, though, simply because I was off work and didn't need to. I wouldn't recommend driving on a long road trip for a few weeks, until your incisions have healed up some, if you can help it. I did a 3-hour drive to the shore about 3 weeks after surgery, and it was a bit uncomfortable. It's not going to hurt anything, per se, but it's uncomfortable. I take a Centrum adult chewable multivitamin every evening, and a Bariatric Advantage 500 mg chewable calcium citrate in the morning. Technically, I should do two of the calcium supplements, but I had concerns about increased risk of heart disease linked to calcium supplements (my dad has heart failure and recently underwent a triple bypass)--I talked it over with my surgeon, and while he thinks the risk of heart disease is very low, he also thinks that the benefit of calcium supplements for sleeve patients is negligible, and my labs are good, so he OK'ed me just taking one a day.

I am almost 11 months post opp and the last 2-3 month I have seen a dramatic halt in weight loss. It's to the point that I feel like I should have went with bypass instead of sleeve. At what point did you see the slow down? Did anyone plateau before they were even close to the goal? And did you do anything in particular to get the weight loss going again?

Please let us know how the surgery went. If my insurance does not approve gastric bypass I am planning on going to cancun, mexico for surgery. Let us know how they treated you, how the facility and equipment looks like. Thanks and good luck everyone.

That really sucks but great attitude! I often wonder the same thing? But I know the band helps me feel satisfied so much sooner than before. The head hunger always won out before being banded. Good luck. Have you thought about other options like sleeve, bypass? tmf

May I ask what happened? I had the same issue. Part of my healing intestine began to stricture around the rest of my intestine and stop the blood flow/create a blockage. My bypass was on the 3rd of September, and my emergency surgery was on the 7th. I slept on a recliner until last night. I tried sleeping on my bed, and I managed, but my back and hips hurt so badly because I spent a month in the recliner. I got my G-tube taken out last Tuesday, and my 21 staples out today, and am now not as nervous to sleep on my side or tummy. However, I still don't have very strong ab muscles due to being cut in half. Keep positive, and only do what your body tells you it's comfortable doing. Don't over-do it or push yourself.

Thanks to both of you for the responses. Amforshort congrats on your revision, we had the same procedure one day apart. I won't get into gory details but I took miralax once every night since the surgery and yesterday it started cleaning me out. It wasn't as unpleasant as stimulant laxatives have been in the past so I would recommend it to others. How are you feeling 5 days in?

I wanted to have WLS for weight loss. But I was told that because of my severe GERD that the sleeve was a bad choice. After doing a lot of reading on the net and forums I would have to agree. Most of what I have read reflects that most people who have the sleeve end up with GERD even without having it before surgery. So, with the reading and my surgeons advise, I will be having gastric bypass on 3/21.

HI Everyone! I'm new to this site. I'm a former Lap Bander -- had emergency surgery to have it removed on May 15. I wasn't able to eat or drink anything and was in horrible pain. I was already schedule for a revision surgery on June 13 but my band slipped and so May 15 it came out. Now I have to wait until September for my revsision surgery. I'm excited and neverous. I'm nervous bc I don't want to have a horrible experience like I did with the band. I was always having trouble and was in and out of the hospital for the past 9mo with band issues b4 it acutally slipped for good. So with this new surgery I'm hoping that life gets easier and the weight ACTUALLY comes off!! The whole non-reversible thing has me a little uneasy but I have to do something or i'll put on what little weight I lost with the band!!

Hey girl, I am starting the class tomorrow... what is it like? I am pre-gastric bypass, but I assume the class is the same... Thanks! Valerie

Before surgery I tried to get prepared by buying some foods such as baby food and chicken broth. I landed up not using it and it went to waste. This was because of two reasons. My taste buds changed significantly after surgery and I could not tolerate those foods. And secondarily, after surgery the amount of food I was eating was incredibly small. During the first 8 weeks, my meal volume was 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) per meal. Take out a 1/4 cup measuring cup and look at how small that is. That is the meal volume. Prior to surgery I was constantly hungry. Even when I was eating a meal, all I could think about was what I would eat for my next meal. After surgery (when I reached the solid food stage), I completely lost my hunger. So it was not difficult to lose the weight when I was not hungry. 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. Weight loss is achieved after surgery through meal volume control. You begin at 2 ounces (1/4 cup) per meal and gradually over the next year and a half increase the volume to 1 cup per meal. With this minuscule amount of food, it is next to impossible to meet your protein daily requirements by food alone, so therefore you need to rely on supplements such as protein shakes. So it might be unwise to be too prepared. The key is to experiment after surgery. Since your taste buds may change, experiment with the various formulations of protein shakes. You do not have to like protein shakes but you must be able to tolerate them until your meal volume rises to the point that you can met your protein requirements by food alone. Sometimes you can buy a variety pack of protein mixes at GNC. Also be willing to experiment after surgery to find fluids that you can tolerate. When I was in the hospital right after surgery, I couldn't even drink the water because it tasted overly chlorinated like swimming pool water.

I think you made a good choice! Don't do anything you are not emotionally, mentally, and physically ready for. I am also 265, but my BMI is 50. I thought I wanted Gastric Bypass about 10 years ago, but it didn't work out with insurance and I felt as though I just needed to give it go on my own as well. Now here we are ten years later and I still haven't been able to keep the weight off. Plus with gastric sleeve being less invasive and having less complications, i felt as though now was my time. I wish you well on your weight loss journey! Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

I just started listening to the Big Book on Gastric Bypass to start preparing for my January 23,2018 surgery date. How are you preparing for your surgery?

Just had gastric bypass, and after got home, just started itching, getting itchy feeling all time,,went to see Dr. Was told I had a delayed allergic reaction from liquid they put on, gave a prescription, now Iam continuing to itch after taking 6 doses of the medicine. sounds like steroid pills, praying it will get better soon!

Thank you ladies for your response to my call for help. It is nice there are people I can ask for help on these forums regarding eatting right after having a Sleeve Revision and while trying to be smart and not fall into the wrong way of looking at food now. hhhHappy- i did put a call in to Nut/DR office but they havent called back, yet. Ktklass- I will go out and buy some Premier shakes from costco this weekend, they have 30gr of Protein and that will help me get the protein in that I need. EscapePod, thank you for your words of kindness and wisdom. Your right grief isnt normal there are days when it hits you and days when your just numb. I do appreciate your honesty. I lost my father many years ago and turned to "comfort food". This time I wanted to be smart. It is true that I havent been getting my Water in and that is something I try really hard to do. When i realized that I also figured I wasnt so hungry either just 3 meals a day instead of my 6 small meals. hugs to all of you again.

Hi Mieko, I am about 5 days post op. I had a Mini Gastric Bypass. I have had 3 other surgeries prior to this one (c-section, gallbladder, ovarian cyst) so it wasn't my first rodeo... but I was still a bit nervous. For me, it mainly just felt really surreal. The great thing about anesthesia is that you close your eyes.. then you open them and it's done! There is no concept of time so it feels like it happens in a blink. Day 1: When they brought me back to my room I was suuuper groggy and tired for the rest of that day. I was still able to walk around and I didn't have any pain at all, really. I did have a LITTLE discomfort from gas bubbles but it was so minor and I just went hard on Gas-X strips to make sure it stayed that way. I walked a lot on the first day, it was easy to do and it felt nice to get out of my room. The first night was very hard to sleep. Not because of pain or anything.. but I would just randomly wake up every 45min or so. The IV was annoying and the drain made it uncomfortable to move certain ways. Day 2: All of the grogginess was gone, I felt alert and more like myself. I had to drink a lot of fluid on this day so the gas was a lot more uncomfortable and caused a little pain but it wasn't awful. Still did my walking and sipping etc. By that evening I had my leak test and they removed my drain and IV (honestly the IV was the worst part for me) and they let my husband and I walk around the mall for about an hour that was across the street. Walking in the mall was pretty difficult that day. It was easy to walk, but walking at a faster pace was nearly impossible. I took a lot of breaks. That night, they gave me a Valium and I slept like a baby. Day 3: Woke up early feeling fantastic and ready to head home. Used an abdominal binder to help with the bumps in the road along the 9+ hour drive home. IT WAS A LIFE SAVER. I highly recommend it for the first few days after you leave the hospital. I was in a little pain when I got home... probably from the long ride even though we stopped every hour or so. That night was awful. I couldn't get comfortable no matter how many pillows I wedged underneath myself. Day 4: I hardly got any sleep and woke up sore from all of the adjusting and readjusting all night. I was tired all day and just altogether not a happy camper. I didn't walk as much as I should have but still managed to drink what I was supposed to. Still wasn't hungry, didn't miss food. That night I took a suggestion to wedge pillows on either side of me to help prevent the urge to roll over.. it worked! I slept great. Day 5: OHHH what a difference one day and a good night's sleep can make. Day 5 was a breeze. Went shopping, did some light cleaning, cooked dinner for the family. I missed food quite a bit more this day. Not really cravings or hunger.. but it just felt wrong that I hadn't eaten anything in so long. I missed chewing I guess? lol I LOVE to smell food but I don't have much of a desire to eat it. Water went down so much smoother today and the protein drinks weren't as much of a chore. Slept fine, was even able to get rid of most of the pillows. Day 6: That's today! I woke up feeling fine. Drove today for the first time, no issues. Bumpy roads don't bother me anymore. Sick and tired of sweet stuff. Sweet protein drinks, sweet vitamins, sweet popsicles... I'm a bit grumpy today, woke up feeling like ''am I skinny yet?'' but I'm doing what I have to do and drinking down this protein and counting down the days to eating a real meal... to be continued... I had 0 complications and my hospital stay was 2 days. I don't regret the surgery because I know that in the long run all of this will be worth it. It isn't fun at first but I know it gets better. These feelings will never be as bad as how I feel being fat. A few things I wish I knew or I'm glad I knew: 1. SOME people have gas pain. SOME people have nausea. SOME people have acid reflux. Don't be afraid because of someone else's experience. We are all affected differently and there is no point in stressing about things until they happen. 2. DO NOT let people project their fears on to you. MANY MANY people will tell you not to do this or not to do that because *insert scary reason here*. For me, it was about which procedure I chose and where I chose to have it. There were fears about mal-absorption etc. I chose that procedure because it was the best fit FOR ME. I and SO GLAD I didn't let them talk me out of it. Another one was about the fact that I decided to have it done in Mexico. I had AMAZING care in Mexico and if I had to do it again, I'd go to the same place. Just trust yourself and the decisions you've made and the research you've put in. Don't let people's fears sway you. 3. Don't go crazy having all of the things you'll miss eating. It seems like a good idea.. and it probably wouldn't hurt to do it once or twice.. but don't go overboard. All the weight that you'll put on from doing that (even just 5lbs) will be weight you'll have to lose and you'll probably regret it. Having this surgery isn't the end of eating. There will be times where you can enjoy a cheat day. Now that this is the longest post ever I think I'm done. Sorry its so long lol