A newbie 17 days post op

[Hazel40 8]

Hi there, it has been wonderful to read all of the stories here. I'm a 39-year old mother of three from Finland and have had RYGB 17 days ago. Here surgeons actually operate more RYGB than SG (contrary to US), and although I was set on SG before when I decided on needing the surgery, the surgeon did convince me with RYGB suiting me better in the end (and she is the surgeon in Finland who gets referred with the most difficult cases and operates a lot both in University hospital as well a privately, so I just ended up trusting her expertise).

I don't know anyone personally who has had the surgery so nobody to really have discussions with about the downs (ups is another matter as I do have a family but obviously not all of the NSV's (a new term I learned today, yay) can be comprehended by someone who really has never been there.

I started my journey with the decision in May, first appointment at the clinic June 2nd weighing 352 lb (160kg, I'm 5'10 tall so BMI about 50 at this point), 11 weeks later August 10th had a meeting with the surgeon and internist for approval (weighing 320 lb), had to have ECG and gastroscopy due to medical history to be approved, and the surgery was done 26th of August so jyst over two weeks ago. My weight that day was 317 lb (143,8kg), and currently it is 301 lb (136,6kg).

Here in Finland we have the possibility to get the operation through regular healthcare system if we fullfil the criteria (BMI over 35 with obesity related diseases or BMI over 40 plus you need to have had experience before atleast of 6 months of conservative weight loss (can be from the past, does not need to be just then) and you need to lose 8% of your weight prior to surgery with atleast 3-4 weeks vlcd to make sure liver loses its fat to make surgery less risky). I obviously fullfilled the criteria and was referred to the process, but unfortunately due to Covid having resulted in so many cancellations of elective surgeries, the waiting time for surgery was more than a year in every University hospital (we have 5, so I called everyone of them). Here we have this wonderful thing, called progressive taxation which ensures that people who make decent money, don't really get to keep more than 50% of my paycheck so having good healthcare and free education (like University is free, free school meals up until you're 18) comes with a prize tag that we just have had to accept, so obviously I would have preferred to get the surgery for that regular prize (which would have been probably around 300 euros in total with the doctor's pre visits and the hospital days). However I quickly decided, and my hubby agreed, that waiting for a year, maybe even two, was too long as my body had gone through so much already last year. I was worried that too long of a wait would result in me yoyoing with my weight and more complications could have a really bad impact on my long term health. So, I ended going to a private hospital in Finland which in overall was a good experience, and I was able to go home the next day as planned. Tried to go to work 3 days later, but had to go back home after a couple of hours and just work from home the amount I was able to. After leaving the hospital I only took a couple of acetaminophens a day, which I found quite surprising. A week later I was already working regularly normal hours (mostly a desk job, no heavy lifting). No vomiting but a couple of times now that after two weeks I was allowed to have crisp bread (and somehow thought it was a good idea to make it less dry by combining it with cream cheese) have I had it block the stoma or just become just a big clump inside the pouch. Not a pleasent feeling, and tried to drink a bit, and I could feel the Fluid staying in the esophagus so just waited it out...

Thing I find most annoying is that I have never been a person to drink my calories, not a Soup person, especially pureed Soups are not at all my thing. Vlcd with the shakes was already a 5 week misery and the the liquid and pureed food phase now after surgery. I already hate all the things I previously used to like such as Protein puddings and smoothies. I like the textures of differents foods, fresh fruits and vegetables and can't have most of them in a long time. I have started to chew foods like sweet paprika in my mouth to get the experience and then spit it out to not cause problems. I had no idea I would grow such a disgust (it really is like a physical feeling of nausea) towards so many liquid and pureed foods so quickly..

Feels like right now, at this point when I really don't have any of the NSV's etc effects yet, that it is quite hard to stay in positive at times when the physical nausea, inability to join the family dinners etc. makes you feel down. Maybe atleast some of you understand where I'm coming from, some support would be encouraging. At least reading threads about different topics related to WLS is already something to keep my mind of negativity.

Final note; WLS aka weight loss surgery sounds so much more upbeat than our translation in Finnish which is Lihavuusleikkaus (direct translation to Englush for it is Obesity surgery). It sort of has the emphasis on the obesity rather than what it aims to do. Person who came up with the terminology must not have been obese themselves...

For anyone who actually read the whole post, thank you, I appreciate it!

Sent from my AC2003 using BariatricPal mobile app

[I♡BypassedMyPhatAss♡ 804]

@Hazel40 Hi! And welcome to the forums, and congrats on your surgery and the beginning of a successful weight loss journey! 🤗

Best wishes!

[SHORTY_ 154]

Congrats on your surgery! What you're feeling is totally normal. Find ways to still be included in family meals, I know it's hard. The First few weeks I was eating a lot of mashed potatoes & gravy and green Beans with my family. They tried their best to accommodate and make it feel as normal as they could. It will get easier with time, stay strong : )

[summerseeker 2,124]

Hello and welcome in the forum, its great to have peoples from other countries who contribute and share their journeys and knowledge. I didn't know anyone who had this surgery either, so this forum was super helpful. In the months waiting my surgery I read thousands of back pages.

You are at a really difficult place in your journey. Everything is hard to learn, eating and drinking are difficult. Lots of people find it hard to drink the shakes, I just drank milk with dried milk powder in to boost the Protein or milk with Peanut Butter and fruit. You just have to wait until you can have real food again. We have all been there, it sucks.

There are still foods that are off my menu, mainly chicken and the very preloved cooked salmon. I hope that I can eat them one day but its still a small price to pay for my weight loss and getting my life back. I wouldn't change a thing

You may get a stall in your weight loss soon. If you want to read up on it, put three week stall in the header. There are thousands of posts. It saves a lot of anguish and asking yourself 'What am I doing wrong'

Just take it day by day and trust the process. Go back and ask your team if they have any info that will help you just now with food and drink choices and make sure you have enough medication for the nausea.

Good luck in your journey

[oldandtired 238]

I agree with summerseeker, especially the meds for nausea.

[Cpach81 18]

I know it’s so hard, especially this early. Just remember, it feels really long and hard, but in the grand scheme of things, the 1-2 months of not being able to eat solid foods is actually a really short time compared to the rest of your life. Try to keep in mind all the reasons you’re doing this (health, confidence, role model for your kids, whatever) and keep that as your motivator. It’s so important to follow the diet restrictions right now, it is the healthiest and best way to heal your stomach to be able to get to that next goal. The more you fight it, the harder and longer it will be. And the more complications and pain you can have. You got this, you can do it, and you’ll be so happy you did, I promise!