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My surgeon told me it could be 7-10 days between bowel movements. I would keep an eye on what they look like but they are going to be weird at first. Hang in there!

I'm curious if you did the sleeve to RNY revision. If so, when? I had it done the day after Thanksgiving 2021. Reflux was gone immediately. I've lost 60 lbs. I lost it pretty quickly, I'm maintaining for over a month now. I was a little freaked out having problems with stopping the weight loss. I did the same thing with sleeve surgery in 2010. I can eat often, but very little at a time. I struggle with meat, an ounce is safe, maybe 1.25 oz, after that, it will end up 'sitting' between my ribs and 9 times out of 10 I'll have to throw up to get relief. Surgery was in Nov, then after a sonogram and endoscopy I had my gallbladder removed in March. (They also discovered a very large marginal ulcer. (What the heck is that?) I had to take a liquid medication 3xs a day and they did another endoscopy 6 weeks later. Ulcer went from very large to large. Six weeks later another endoscopy showed it was healed. Now I'm just focusing on trying to not lose more weight. Gaining 10 lbs would be fine. I'd like to stop there and maintain just under 150. How realistic is this, maintaining from now on. Sadly, sweets and some fried meats (catfish, chicken fried steak) are easy to keep down, mashed potatoes too. I have to weigh meat, and sometimes then it still gets to me. What's up with that? Any advice, insight etc would be greatly appreciated. Share you story with me if you've had the sleeve to bypass revision.

My surgery was June 29th. My pain has been really good. My energy level is really low. I've lost 19 pounds already. I am trying to keep up on water intake, etc. I'm still staying with relatively smooth, liquid/purreed foods. I am having a couple of issues though.. 1. Right where my adam's apple would be, if I had one, it constantly feels like there is a little pill there that is stuck. It's not so bad until I swallow anything...even saliva. Then it feels from that spot down into the middle of my chest like something doesn't want to go down, but I know there is nothing there. I went back to the clinic that did my surgery and they had me swallow that barium stuff and did a scan. They showed me and say it looks okay to them... I am just curious if anyone else has felt this and what it may be? It's driving me insane. Seriously. 2. I did not go to the bathroom for a BM for 9 days after surgery. I had to take a lot of PEG laxatives to finally go, and now every other day since then, my stools are still black and tar like. Is that normal this far out? The clinic checked my blood and my hemoglobin was totally normal, so they aren't worried... 3. No matter how much water or fluids I am drinking, my mouth is so extremely dry that it sticks together and is so uncomfortable... It's weird! I have a total of about 70-80 pounds to lose. I was borderline for sure, but I have very extreme Barrett's Esophagus, tumors in my esophagus (they were removed and biopsied), GERD, vocal chord dysfunction, an esophageal ulcer, and precancer in my esophagus. My surgeons believe this surgery could save my life. So... my main reason was to help me heal my esophagus. Thanks for any advice and help!

However I have great success using bobs red mill TVP rehydrated with vegetable stock and chili spices then mixed in with sautéed onions, diced and crushed tomatoes and then canned chili beans. Altogether takes about 10-15 minutes for a homemade vegan chili.

Hi Tek, The hike itself was pretty amazing. I did an 8 day Lemosha route - the longer route allowed for greater acclimatization to the altitude which caps out around 19,500 ft on Summit day. Most days we hiked between 5-8 miles with lots of elevation gain --- hike high and sleep low. You pass through 5 different climate zones, from cloud forest to artic, so each day looked a little different. You are camping, so tent sleeping in mummy bags the whole trip which was it's own challenge. Summit day was definitely the hardest. They like to have you hike it at night, so they woke us up at midnight to eat a little something (you are already at 15,500 ft so not much of an appetite) then start hike around 1:30 am. It's cold --- I think when we went it was around 15 F and windy as you get higher. It's only a little over 3 miles, but due to the steep climb and elevation, we didn't reach the summit until around 8 AM and we were a pretty fast group. The sunrise on the mountain was just beautiful (see pic). Once you reach summit you stay just long enough to get pics, then they hurry you as they don't want you at that elevation for too long. The climb down was really hard --- you are already tired and it's steep and hard on the joints even with hiking poles. Once you hit base camp, you rest then hike down further. I think we did another 6 miles and stayed at high camp that day. Last day was about 7 miles down which was again pretty hard on the joints, but at that point you just want a shower and a bed so it's not too hard to push yourself. I was fortunate to be able to stay in Tanzania and do some safari's and go to Zanzibar to relax on the beach for a few days before coming home. Definitely a once in a lifetime trip. In terms of training, I did lots of local hikes, but I'm in Northern California so while I could do distance (10+ miles) elevation was hard. So in addition I joined a gym about 4 months before the hike and started taking weight training type classes and yoga classes to build strength and stamina. Then after the hour class I would do an hour on the treadmill at a 12-15 incline. I feel like I was in pretty solid shape for the hike.

I had surgery exactly 10 months ago. The last few months, I've really stayed about the same, maybe lost a few pounds total in 3-4 months. But... when I take my measurements, my waist measurement is INCREASING!! I can't understand why this would be. I've started working out with a trainer, but that shouldn't cause my waist to GROW, right? My other measurements (I only take chest, waist, and hips) are about the same, maybe a little smaller. Am I changing the way that I measure somehow? (I'm not pregnant LOL!) Did this happen to anyone else?

Congrats on your tremendous success! I'm exactly 10 months out from surgery today, and my weight has been pretty stalled for the last few months. I know I COULD eat less, but I often don't feel like I have the mental bandwidth to think about every calorie. I eat between 1200-1800 calories a day. I'm the same height and have gotten as low as 159.8, but I've been about 160-163 recently. I'd be happy to stay here. I'm also in a size medium. I feel like if I could eat the way I eat now and stay this weight for the rest of my life, I'd be thrilled... except that my waist is too big! It seems to be getting bigger, which is so odd.

One week out update: down 10 lbs, and am in minimal pain. So far, constipation pains were the worst, lol. I thought my staples may have ripped but then when I went... I was fine lol. I think the hardest part is the mentality, I would love some bready product right now, haha!

I’m 60 & had gastric bypass 10/2019.

So I saw my surgeon today for my six month appointment.. I can't BELIEVE it's been 2 years since my surgery. My life has changed so much for the better in so many wonderful ways. Anyway, I'm about to start maintenance. I figured I was close to finished with weight loss because it's been pretty slow for a while, and I feel good and happy with the 205 I have lost. Most of my weight was lost the first year. I have lost 42 since this time last summer, and most of that l lost in those first 6 months. The dietitian recommended I start adding 50 to 100 calories a week of carbs or fat. I currently eat 1300 calories a day. I usually get about 100 of protein (I had the Loop DS). So I'm supposed to start adding gradually to get my calories as high as I can without gaining. I'm excited but SO nervous. I know people have a 10 to 20 lb. rebound gain quite often and I really want to stay as close to my weight now as possible. I weigh 187. I'm 5'3" so that's still pretty much for height but considering I started at 393 I'm pretty happy. I wear a size medium or large which I'm thrilled with. I never cared about being skinny. I have always been a curvy person. I just wanted my health and life back, which I have! But I would like to stay under 200 pounds, so I don't have a lot of room for gaining any back. I know I'm rambling here but I just need some encouragement from those of you who are farther along than I am. How was maintenance for you? Sent from my Pixel 5a using BariatricPal mobile app

Whenever I get sick my appetite falls through the floor, I lose it completely. It makes it very difficult to want to eat, let alone eat. Which throws every other health initiative out of whack. It can take weeks to recover from a 24 hour flu or cold. I've learned to force myself to eat but the best it does is reduce a 2 week issue to a 10 day issue. So, yeah, the 'crud' as I call it feeds on itself, making a minor issue a longer term problem. I always write it up to the joy of being Tek. I hope you have stronger will or character or whatever. Good luck, Tek

Not really a question more of an observation and to see if anyone else experienced anything similar. So 10 days ago I got covid it wasn't to bad but I got a really sore throat lost my appetite and desire to drink mostly because it hurt so much but now I am having a hard time getting back into it. I can't stomach my morning coffee any more if fact I don't feel like drinking anything I feel nauseous most of the time and quite weak lack of food and drink. I am trying not to stress and I know it's still early days and most likely I am still recovering. I guess I am having a pity party but I want to feel better and get back to drinking and eating to help me feel better. On the plus side I have dropped 2 kg . Anyone else have covid effect them like this ?

5/13/22 - I had my visit with Cardiologist. I got an EKG and saw the doctor. They scheduled me for a Transthoracic Echo (heart ultrasound thing?) and a stress test at the hospital on May 18, and I have a follow up with him on June 3. 5/18/22 - I had my Echo-thingy and stress test at the hospital. Everything went well I think. The stress test was telling. I got my heart beat up to 137 in three minutes, and did another minute on the treadmill before asking if I could call it quits. It took me 4-5 minutes to get my breath. I am so out of shape, but at least my heart didn’t explode. 6/3/22 - I had the follow up with Cardiologist. What a waste of time. Cost me $40 co-pay for him to say I was good to go for the surgery. He wants to see me in 6 months and says I might be able to get off some of my medicines. We’ll see if I make the appointment. I called my patient advocate at the surgeon's office to tell her I had finished all my appointments. She was still waiting on clearances from my cardiologist and my primary. I’ll call back on Monday. In the mean time I'll call my primary and find out why they haven't sent their clearance letter yet. 6/5/22 - I had a chat with my neighbor’s wife this weekend. She got her sleeve a few years ago. It’s kinda scary to think about my life after surgery. I’ve been drinking beer for years and I enjoy socializing with friends. I enjoy eating. These things are going to have to change. I am not going to be able to drink beer anymore, or at least I probably shouldn’t. I'm thinking about vacation in August. If I get my surgery in early July, I will miss out on that fresh Iowa sweet corn. I'm thinking about fantasy football drafts. Tailgating for the Saints' games and Talladega in early-Oct. This is going to be a challenge if I can’t drink alcohol. Sigh. 6/7/22 - Only 3 days till my 3rd/last visit with the surgeon. I checked with the office and found out they had no received the clearance from the cardiologist. I scanned a copy of the letter and sent it via e-mail. 6/10/22 - I weighed myself at home and I am down to 295.8. That's 21 pounds I've lost since March. At the surgeon’s office, one of the ladies behind the counter seemed excited for me since they had all the documents. I signed all the consent forms with the doctor, but they have to send the package to BCBS and we will have to wait a few weeks to get the final okay before we can schedule the surgery. Hah. Just when I thought the waiting was over. LOL.

4/22/22 - I couldn't get an appointment with my doctor unless I wanted to wait for a few weeks, but was able to schedule one with the office's Nurse Practitioner. She was able to set up a chest x-ray and blood work, and sent a referral for the cardiologist. 4/26/22 - I had my Psych evaluation over a video/phone conf app. I'm not sure what I think about this part of the process. If you ask me, the psychologist was pretty nosey a bit judgy. At least that's over. She gave me some rules to follow and I took some notes. I think she kind of crossed over into the dietician's swim lane, but whatever. One of her rules/suggestions was to utilize support, which is one of the reasons I'm in here doing this. 5/2/22 - I had my appointment with the dietician. She seemed nice, but she also seemed strict. This is something about me. I do not deal in absolutes. I do not like to use words like Never and Always, but that's how it was with her. We'll see how this goes. 5/9/22 - I had the EGD procedure. The same surgeon that's doing my sleeve also did this procedure. I was under anesthesia for it and felt fine afterwards. I remember telling the surgeon I hoped they cleaned that scope since the last time they used it for a colonoscopy. 5/10/22- My second visit with the surgeon. I weighed 303.6 at home, and at the afternoon appointment I weighed 306.5. So I was down 10 pounds since my 4/10/22 visit. I vainly asked if we could schedule the surgery, but they said I have to get everything done before they could send the package to the insurance company for approval. More work to do.

Wow, thank you, I think this is truly what I need to hear. I am already looking into therapists because while Ive never had an ED, I think it's better to be proactive then reactive, and I actually found one who uses food as healing which I think will be great for me! I definitely am giving myself credit - I've lost 34 lbs from my first visit, and 10 post-op. I just am a "nip it in the bud" kinda gal when problems arise. Overall, I think aiming for perfection, as most of you said, right now is a good goal - but knowing it wont be perfect everytime is something I have to be mindful of!

3/30/22 - Weight 317. This is the highest I've ever been. I call my fried that has had the sleeve and revision (Duodenal Switch) surgery. I set an appointment to meet with his surgeon on April 12. 4/12/22 - Weight 313. It's my first appointment with the surgeon. They weighed me at 316 lbs with clothes on. The doctor suggests the Gastric Sleeve. The staff explained the process is somewhat determined by my health insurance. I will need to see the surgeon for a total of 3 office visits (each one month apart), and we scheduled follow-up appointments for May 10 and Jun 10. I need to lose weight before each visit. They said if I think I have gained weight to call and postpone the office visit until I can show a loss. I also need: Blood Work, Medical clearance from my doctor, a Psych evaluation, clearance from a Cardiologist, a visit with a Dietician, and An EGD to examine my esophagus, stomach, etc. Yikes. What did I get myself into?

It was two years after the pandemic started that I made this decision. In early 2020, I was at my heaviest and the COVID-19 pandemic forced me to work from home. By December I hit 300 pounds for the first time. Fast forward to March 2022 I was at my highest weight of 317. It's been two years of wearing gym shorts and t-shirts, working in the spare bedroom, and now we are starting to work a bit more in the office. My clothes do not fit me—my belt is too low, my gut hangs over and it’s difficult to keep my pants up and my shirt tucked in. It looks like I’m carrying a huge sack of something under my shirt. I don’t want to be in the office with co-workers seeing me like this. This was my “Oh Hell no!” moment. Hindsight being 20-20, I should have decided to do this a year or so ago. My friend was trying to sell me on the surgery, but I wasn't buying it at the time. I wanted to lose weight the healthy way and be a role model for my 20-something son. As it turns out, he's happy with my decision. And being (morbidly?) obese is not being a role model. Here are some issue I'm having. I'm sure most can relate to one or two of these: I can’t breathe when I bend forward. It’s really difficult putting socks/shoes on. I almost suffocate when I try to cut my toenails. I have to rock back and forth to get out of my recliner (or the toilet). My lower back hurts. Some is because I have had back problems, but I’m sure my weight doesn’t help. My knees hurt. Again some of it is chronic issues, but I am certain that I will get some relief by losing weight. My ankles are almost always swollen and sometimes my hips hurt if I walk any distance. My doctor’s office had to send me to another lab to get an X-ray because I was too heavy for the X-ray table in their office (WTH?) I’m wearing 3X T-shirts and they've started to get tight. My gut hangs out under the shirt if I wear anything smaller. I’m embarrassed to take my shirt off in front of anyone. I won’t go swimming. Even with my closest friends. As mentioned above. I look like hell wearing khakis and a polo shirt to work I am only on cholesterol medication at this point. No hypertension. No diabetes. I'd like to keep it that way. Off the top of my head, I know of at least seven friends/family that have had weight loss surgeries. I think all would or have endorsed getting the surgery. On the other hand, I’ve spoken to a few friends/co-workers that had never had the surgery and got mixed responses. I guess that’s how it’s going to be. Those that have not had the surgery are probably thinking that surgery is the lazy way to do this. I get it. I probably felt that way too. But I really don’t care at this point. So the journey begins,

So, I made this post and had my surgery on May 3rd. It went horribly wrong, so didn't want to scare everyone else. After the gastric bypass, I started vomiting blood, then it was old blood- but large amounts. On May 10th, they determined either the vomiting caused a hernia or vice versa. It would be a 30 minute surgery to correct it. During the anesthesia part of the surgery, I vomitted blood into my lungs (anesthesia aspiration). They immediately put me in a medically induced coma for 5 days to clear my lungs of the double pneumonia that developed. In total, I spent 19 days in the hospital. I have been recovering ever since. I have lost about 35 pounds (so more than half that I needed to) but physical recovery has been so much more of the challenge. I often wonder if I will recommend this surgery to others due to my complications, but I know they are like 1 in 5000 chances.

Could just be how your body works & how it reacts & respond to different things. I sometimes weigh more after I poop than I do immediately before - weird. Yes, exercise only contributes 10-20% of the weight you have to lose (though I read recently it’s only 5%). Personally I never exercised throughout the my whole weight loss journey & I lost all & more of my weight. I’ve tried all sorts of exercise programs over the years. Never really enjoyed any of them & they never helped me lose or maintain weight. Hate sweating & have never reached that exercise high people talk about. Never felt great like you do just icky & exhausted. More likely to have a drop in my blood pressure & a hypoglycaemic episode. ☹️ I do a few minutes of gentle stretches at night more for my back than anything else. Wouldn’t burn 20 calories 😆. I do do incidental activities like park further away from where I’m going, take stairs not the lift, make multiple trips up & down my stairs when I could do it in one or two trips, etc. but that’s it. Yes, I know there are lots of benefits to exercising and with all things you have to do what is best for you. PS - Glad you’ve found a therapist.

Hi! I'm 3-4 months into my 6 month pre-op stage required by insurance to get the sleeve. I'm 31 and have 4 kiddos from ages 10 to 3. I just had my endoscopy and colonoscopy done today. So glad it's over! I live in Ohio and have been reading post from this forum for quite some time but just joined recently. Sent from my SM-S115DL using BariatricPal mobile app

On the first couple of months especially, small sips, small bites. remember to eat Slowly, Des-Pa-Cito 🎵. Small spoons help, if you use the right hand, try eating with the left one, if you use the left one try eating with the right one. Chew your food until you get bored, 10 minutes walks after each meal can help even if you just walk around the table in your home. It will get better!

How do people date after massive weight loss? Regardless of surgery or not. I am married, and don't plan to date but you never know. If it goes South, it's me and great dane for life! Still even self conscious after being together for 18 years! But, my point is in regard to all the extra skin? I have lost over 100 lbs and have 90-100 more to go! I have already had extra skin removed 10 years ago after loosing 140lbs but then gained it back. Now my skin is different. I gained it differently. I have a flat tight lower belly but the top is like an extra pair of boobs now. And frankly, bigger than my actual boobs! I hate my skin but I hate being fat more. I don't know if I will get more skin removal surgery or not. I watched a video of a woman using a body suit after loosing almost 200 lbs. Her body with the suit on was slim, tight and curvy. So, you're wearing that on a date or multiple dates with a person and it goes further. Then what, just take off the body suit and let it all out? Do you have a conversation with the person before it gets to that point? How do you address these things?

I take the ProCare one a day capsule, and 2 of their calcium chews a day. I'm ~10 months out and labs are great! I tolerate them very well and have never had an issue taking them.

I was sleeved on June 22nd. Lost 10 lbs 1 st post op week then 0 since.