September surgery buddies!!

[kukuiokalani 102]

On 9/29/2022 at 2:45 PM, kukuiokalani said:

hello september friends!

i had my gastric bypass on 9/7 and my food progression isn’t entirely going to plan.

i was supposed to move on to puréed but my new stomach was rejecting it so i tried backing up to full liquids again, and now THAT’S being rejected. i have an appointment next monday for an endoscopy to see if there’s something wrong or if they need to adjust my stomach pouch or widen my new stomach connection. apparently this can be a pretty common and my surgeon said once you start vomiting it steps your stomach healing back a couple steps.

i am endlessly happy for my surgery and i knew this was an anticipated hurdle. thank gods for the six months to prepare for my life post-op.

update re my rny post-op endoscopy:

so the goal was for the endoscopy surgeon to send a scope into my new tummy pouch and widen the passageways if they were too tight.

good news: my tummy pouch was fine.

bad news: i have about 2 cm of very severe narrowing along the roux limb about ten cm below my stomach pouch. basically only Clear Liquids can get through. the doctor said it looks like my large intestine is severely squishing the connection from of small intestine that moved up to join with my stomach pouch.

i don’t know what the next steps are yet. i am supposed to follow up with my bariatric surgeon and i sent her a portal message this afternoon when i recovered from anesthesia to schedule a follow up.

i am happy to know that i haven’t been doing anything wrong or progressing my foods too quickly, etc. i’m very hopeful that this will be a safe fix. i imagine i might need another laparoscopic surgery to move or reposition my guts, but i have no idea. o.O

[Wrenna 11]

So it has been a week since my mini bypass and I feel.... great! The first three days were HARD. I was so confident about my pain tolerance and how good I would feel after surgery, so it was a huge shock. The gas pain was no joke, although I think the worst part was just how icky the various drugs for anesthesia made me feel. I was able to manage my pain with regular tylenol the whole time, it was just this constant I Don't Feel Good sensation that wore me down.

Last night I was able to sleep on my stomach again, and I'm finally feeling hunger, which I am actually thrilled about, because I had such strong aversions to anything but Water in the beginning that I was dreading having to eat. I am still noticeably more tired than usual, but I think once I am consistently hitting my Protein goals, I will be just fine. Last day of liquids!

[kellyarw95 11]

Who else weighs everyday? How do you get past the weight fluctuations? I know it's about the downward trend and there's no way eating 500 calories, I gained 1.1 pounds in a day. But idk. It still sucks. I was totally looking forward to getting out of the 330s for the first time in forever...

[ShoppGirl 5,024]

5 minutes ago, kellyarw95 said:

Who else weighs everyday? How do you get past the weight fluctuations? I know it's about the downward trend and there's no way eating 500 calories, I gained 1.1 pounds in a day. But idk. It still sucks. I was totally looking forward to getting out of the 330s for the first time in forever...

I weighed myself everyday but I only logged it once a week. That way when I looked back at my log it was a more obvious downward trend. Something about not logging it helped but if the fluctuations still get to you, consider only getting on the scale once a week.

[SpartanMaker 930]

8 minutes ago, kellyarw95 said:

Who else weighs everyday? How do you get past the weight fluctuations? I know it's about the downward trend and there's no way eating 500 calories, I gained 1.1 pounds in a day. But idk. It still sucks. I was totally looking forward to getting out of the 330s for the first time in forever...

Weighing daily would drive me nuts! I do once a week right now, but was already thinking I may go to once a month.

[TheLosingGame 10]

On 10/04/2022 at 09:35, kellyarw95 said:

Who else weighs everyday? How do you get past the weight fluctuations? I know it's about the downward trend and there's no way eating 500 calories, I gained 1.1 pounds in a day. But idk. It still sucks. I was totally looking forward to getting out of the 330s for the first time in forever...

i weigh daily. for now at least. i wanted to be able to analyze the data and see trends especially as it relates to stalls. i’m in a stall right now and even “gained” a pound yesterday.

i just try not to obsess about the daily bc it’s an overall downward trend when i look at the weekly. i’ll probably stop weighing daily once i get to a month

[Hope4NewMe 173]

7 hours ago, kukuiokalani said:

update re my rny post-op endoscopy:

so the goal was for the endoscopy surgeon to send a scope into my new tummy pouch and widen the passageways if they were too tight.

good news: my tummy pouch was fine.

bad news: i have about 2 cm of very severe narrowing along the roux limb about ten cm below my stomach pouch. basically only Clear Liquids can get through. the doctor said it looks like my large intestine is severely squishing the connection from of small intestine that moved up to join with my stomach pouch.

i don’t know what the next steps are yet. i am supposed to follow up with my bariatric surgeon and i sent her a portal message this afternoon when i recovered from anesthesia to schedule a follow up.

i am happy to know that i haven’t been doing anything wrong or progressing my foods too quickly, etc. i’m very hopeful that this will be a safe fix. i imagine i might need another laparoscopic surgery to move or reposition my guts, but i have no idea. o.O

Thank you for the update! I'm glad that they were at least able to find the problem. Hopefully they can fix this soon so that you can get to feeling better and able to eat again. Take care!

[SleeveMeToIt 28]

16 hours ago, Cassandra Maughan said:

I have been cheating a bit on the puréed diet… mostly because the idea of purées repels me. But I have been chewing really really well instead. Tiny bites of chicken from a Soup, a piece of bacon today, little tiny pieces of turkey sausage in scrambled eggs… my stomach seems to do fine except I am still struggling with eating too fast and I think I am eating just a bit too much at one sitting. Is anyone else finding that they aren’t struggling with nausea with food? Even a sort of spicy SW chicken Soup isn’t bothering me… just feel overly full sometimes.

I am in the exact same boat. I don't feel nausea just overly full and some chest pressure. Although pre surgery, I very rarely get nauseous. I too have not been bothered by overly spiced foods at all. No acid burn or reflux from them.

[Hope4NewMe 173]

1 hour ago, kellyarw95 said:

Who else weighs everyday? How do you get past the weight fluctuations? I know it's about the downward trend and there's no way eating 500 calories, I gained 1.1 pounds in a day. But idk. It still sucks. I was totally looking forward to getting out of the 330s for the first time in forever...

I weigh myself every day and the scale has not really moved in the last 4 days. So I might be in the dreaded 3 week stall. I think that you can gain weight even with the low calories but I don't think its fat, I think its Water weight or Constipation. Eventually your body will get the clue and let go and you will see the scale move. I would call your dietitians though and let them look over your food log and see if they have any suggestions. My dietitians said usually the stalls are caused by either not enough calories, low Protein or not taking Vitamins. But I would talk to your team and see what they think. It should at least help your anxiety and give you some input from the experts. Good luck!

[SleeveMeToIt 28]

2 hours ago, kellyarw95 said:

Who else weighs everyday? How do you get past the weight fluctuations? I know it's about the downward trend and there's no way eating 500 calories, I gained 1.1 pounds in a day. But idk. It still sucks. I was totally looking forward to getting out of the 330s for the first time in forever...

Oh girl, I'm right there with you. It's a total mind f*ck. I tell myself I won't weigh. Then I weigh. I hit the dreaded 3 week stall and am frustrated. I'm about to put my scale in a closet in another room to take away the fact that it's staring at me in the bathroom every morning.

I think we are just so anxious to be further along in the journey, with the results to show for it. For me - I also think there is a bit of amazement that it is working and fear when the scale doesn't move that maybe it's NOT working. I just need to chill, trust the process and focus on what I can control. Water, Protein, Vitamins and nutrition in general, and movement.

[Hope4NewMe 173]

6 hours ago, Wrenna said:

So it has been a week since my mini bypass and I feel.... great! The first three days were HARD. I was so confident about my pain tolerance and how good I would feel after surgery, so it was a huge shock. The gas pain was no joke, although I think the worst part was just how icky the various drugs for anesthesia made me feel. I was able to manage my pain with regular tylenol the whole time, it was just this constant I Don't Feel Good sensation that wore me down.

Last night I was able to sleep on my stomach again, and I'm finally feeling hunger, which I am actually thrilled about, because I had such strong aversions to anything but Water in the beginning that I was dreading having to eat. I am still noticeably more tired than usual, but I think once I am consistently hitting my Protein goals, I will be just fine. Last day of liquids!

Glad to hear the great update! Being done with liquids was my favorite day so far lol. As soon as I could start eating the puree is when my energy started coming back so hopefully you'll be full of energy soon. Have fun eating!

[nymisc 54]

24 minutes ago, SleeveMeToIt said:

Oh girl, I'm right there with you. It's a total mind f*ck. I tell myself I won't weigh. Then I weigh. I hit the dreaded 3 week stall and am frustrated. I'm about to put my scale in a closet in another room to take away the fact that it's staring at me in the bathroom every morning.

I think we are just so anxious to be further along in the journey, with the results to show for it. For me - I also think there is a bit of amazement that it is working and fear when the scale doesn't move that maybe it's NOT working. I just need to chill, trust the process and focus on what I can control. Water, Protein, Vitamins and nutrition in general, and movement.

Edited October 4, 2022 by nymisc

[nymisc 54]

2 hours ago, kellyarw95 said:

Who else weighs everyday? How do you get past the weight fluctuations? I know it's about the downward trend and there's no way eating 500 calories, I gained 1.1 pounds in a day. But idk. It still sucks. I was totally looking forward to getting out of the 330s for the first time in forever...

I hit the three-week stall at 2 weeks. Mainly because my body was taking Water back in after being dehydrated and recovering. I hit 3 weeks yesterday and the scale is going down again. I started weighing myself every day, but I am learning to let go and not do that every day. I think I am going to weight once or twice a week at specific times of day. I went crazy worried that this wasn't going to work, but it is and I am so glad I had the surgery.

[kellyarw95 11]

I weigh myself every day and the scale has not really moved in the last 4 days. So I might be in the dreaded 3 week stall. I think that you can gain weight even with the low calories but I don't think its fat, I think its Water weight or Constipation. Eventually your body will get the clue and let go and you will see the scale move. I would call your dietitians though and let them look over your food log and see if they have any suggestions. My dietitians said usually the stalls are caused by either not enough calories, low Protein or not taking Vitamins. But I would talk to your team and see what they think. It should at least help your anxiety and give you some input from the experts. Good luck!

Thank you so much!! I've reached out to my dietitian yesterday but I haven't heard anything back yet. I see the Dr on the 12th so I'll ask him about my logs then!!

[JustAMomATX 24]

For everyone on real food, how’s it going? I just started this week and it’s been interesting. I still find myself gravitating to soft foods but I definitely am careful about speed. I ate Breakfast too fast the other day and I had a vomit moment before taking my daughter to school. The amount of food actually eaten is a ridiculously small amount - it’s so bizarre! My plan is not specific at all on what to eat so it’s a lot of trial and error….what are some of your meals like?