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I am in the surgery approval phase.....

G

grandmaof4

Member
I am currently in the surgical approval phase with a few more steps to go before I schedule surgery. I have so many questions.....I would love to talk with someone who has actually gone through the gastric bypass surgery to see how it was for them. My biggest concerns are: dumping, vomiting, diarrhea, how do I take all of my vitamins especially if they are large. Can I ever travel again? Can you really ever eat real food? What if you can't stop losing weight? As you can see, I have several questions. Thank you.
 
Pre surgery here too, my appointment is Wednesday to get a surgery date! I am very excited and not a bit nervous (YET).
If you just click around and read, read, read, you will likely get MOST if not all of your questions answered. I also found another forum (bariatricpal) that is actually much more active and I learned even more by reading through that one. Basically I have been reading peoples stories through my entire 6 months pre approval process to learn everything I could. The good, the bad and the ugly. I wanted to hear it all and boy I have. Interesting enough it hasn't changed my mind or even made me second guess my decision to move forward with gastric bypass. I hope you both get all of your questions answered and wish you the best on your journey!
 
Kcuster83 said:
Pre surgery here too, my appointment is Wednesday to get a surgery date! I am very excited and not a bit nervous (YET).
If you just click around and read, read, read, you will likely get MOST if not all of your questions answered. I also found another forum (bariatricpal) that is actually much more active and I learned even more by reading through that one. Basically I have been reading peoples stories through my entire 6 months pre approval process to learn everything I could. The good, the bad and the ugly. I wanted to hear it all and boy I have. Interesting enough it hasn't changed my mind or even made me second guess my decision to move forward with gastric bypass. I hope you both get all of your questions answered and wish you the best on your journey!
Click to expand...
Best of luck to you! I pray it all goes well for you.
 
Questions are good, presurgery is a time to do your research. Do searches on the topics dumping, vomiting, and diarrhea there are posts that have these words in them. Read before and after where the word is in the conversation. real food and traveling are not off limits just have to have a plan in place. The hardest part is getting what you need in a portion size that you can tolerate. To go containers are a good survival tool. As I start to go over food intake amount my stomach can tolerate, I get very uncomfortable gas, or just unsettled tummy. I get my burgers without the bun, don’t need the filler carbs but Hardee’s has lettuce wraps instead of bun which is very good. No fries no drinks. You can do this, it is not cheating but learning a whole new way to look at food.
 
Hi y'all and welcome to the group. Please read past posts for some answers to your questions. Just below the "What's New" section here, you will find some recent articles addressing postoperative diet eating plan, one person's actual RNY surgical experience, shopping & preparing for WLS, etc. These may be helpful.

Having said that, here's a few things I experienced that might apply to you, hopefully, LOL. I had gastric bypass on July 12th, 2021. This is not to be used as medical advice, please.

I have always been a continual water drinker. If you drink anything other than water, i.e. sodas including diet sodas which probably are as unhealthy as the original versions, juice, sports drinks, caffeine, smoothies etc., begin weaning yourself off of these and work toward drinking/sipping 64-80+ ozs of water daily pre-surgery. Your body will learn to crave water, which will help you avoid post-surgery dehydration that could have you readmitted to the hospital. Add lemon or lime juice, or cucumbers, mint etc if you like, just no sweeteners.

I started using Benefiber before surgery and continue taking it nightly. It is important to avoid constipation, especially right after surgery! Diane, you are welcome to chime in here LOL. once you are on your post-surgery diet, it may be awhile before you can have veggies that will get you "moving" again, and for me, the prescribed stool softener wasn't enough. Benefiber did the trick. Yay!

My experience with dumping is very limited. I read as much as I could here and on medical websites, and used my bariatric team's advice to avoid the behaviors that would lead to dumping. I tried to eat very slowly, and to listen to my body when my stomach told me it was filling up. .

I did very little experimenting with foods not on the recommended list for each stage. When I graduated to eating solids aka a "normal" diet, I read what caused dumping for others and avoided them as much as possible. Now that I'm 7 months out, I can eat almost anything with no problems unless I overfill my pouch and/or drink water right after eating. I wait a half hour before and after eating to drink, and I take about 1/2 hour to eat, setting my fork down between bites. If I overfill my pouch, it becomes somewhat painful. I don't actually vomit (eeek!), but I have to spit up until I'm not too full & the pain subsides.

Your bariatric team will advise you about vitamins. I took Walmart brand children's chewable multivitamins the 1st month (like Flinstones, not too bad tasting). I take Kroger's brand adult daily multivitamin, as well as their Calcium Citrate, Vit C, Vit D3, every other day Vit B12 under my tongue, prescription Iron every other day with Vit C, prescription D2 weekly. I've never had any problems swallowing them, but not everyone is as lucky. I don't buy bariatric vitamins (my personal preference - they are out of my budget). My 6 month bloodwork levels were all "perfect" i.e. within normal range.

Sorry but I don't go traveling, but I'm game if you are LOL!

As I said, I can eat just about anything again that I used to, just in much smaller amounts. Ever since I found out how carbs should be avoided bc they turn to sugar in the bloodstream and then are stored as fat if they aren't burned up, I have lost my taste for breads, pasta, sweets (other than my protein shakes or carb master yogurts), potatoes, corn, etc. I'll occasionally eat a little fruit or a bite of something carby. Again, this is what works for me, and not to be used as medical advice.

I don't plan on losing more weight than I can afford. I started at 234 lbs (5'2"). I've lost about 60 lbs so far, my goal is 150 lbs, and eventually I may try for 135 lbs eventually. If ever I go below that, I will up my calories slightly until I'm back to my ideal weight.

This surgery has been a life-changer for me. I'm 60 yrs old and I can walk again without getting out of breath. My mood varies but has improved more often than not. Life is pretty darn good and and more enjoyable at this weight than where I was a year ago. Good luck on your journey and please continue to share with us. You will find lots of honesty and encouragement here.
 
Karen is teasing me here because I'm had a epic case of constipation after surgery 14 years ago. I'd never been constipated in my life, after growing up on a farm and eating great food in a balanced diet. But the huge, long log that blocked my first post-op b.m. was something I couldn't plan for.

So when she advises pre-op use of Benefiber or any psyllium-based additive before and after surgery, she's preaching gospel! Don't live to regret it. Get that fiber in PDQ and keep it up for a week or two after.

If you want to be grossed out, or need more convincing, find my constipation post in the archives of this group.
 
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