Sandie, Lot's of good questions. Start writing them down and take them with you when you have your consults with the surgeon and nutritionist. I will answer your questions but since everyone is different you may end up with different results than I did.
"I want to know what happens after the surgery and the 6 weeks after the surgery with special diet but when you go back to regular food, what can you and can't you eat?" YOU WILL BE GIVEN A SPECIFIC MEAL PLAN TO FOLLOW. IT WILL LIST WHICH FOODS YOU SHOULD BE EATING. IT HAS 4 PHASES AS FOLLOWS: LOW-SUGAR CLEAR LIQUIDS, LOW-SUGAR FULL LIQUIDS, PUREED AND SOFT. YOU WILL BE IN EACH PHASE FOR 1 TO 2 WEEKS BUT MAY STAY IN THEM LONGER IF NEEDED. AFTER YOU COMPLETE PHASE 4 (SOFT FOODS) YOU WILL GRADUALLY INTRODUCE VERY SMALL AMOUNTS OF REGULAR TEXTURE FOOD BACK INTO YOUR DIET
AS TOLERATED. YOUR MAIN FOCUS MUST BE ON LEAN PROTEINS, THEN VEGGIES.
"Are you eating just very small portions for the rest of your life?" AS LONG AS YOU DO NOT INTENTIONALLY AND CONTINUOUSLY OVEREAT AND STRETCH YOUR POUCH YOU WILL BE EATING SMALL PORTIONS FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.
"I know many cannot have sugar due to duping syndrome but what else is a NO NO forever?" YOU CAN NOT EAT FOODS THAT ARE HIGH IN FAT OR HIGH IN CARBS. EVEN HEALTH FOODS LIKE FRUIT HAVE TO BE EATEN IN MODERATION BECAUSE THE NATURAL SUGARS CAN ALSO CAUSE DUMPING SYNDROME.
"How do you feel?" YOU WILL HAVE SOME DISCOMFORT FOR A WEEK OR SO AFTER SURGERY BUT MOST PEOPLE FIND THE LIQUID PAIN MEDS GIVEN TO YOU TO USE AT HOME MORE THAN ADEQUATE AND SOME PEOPLE DON'T EVEN NEED IT. YOU WILL PROBABLY EXPERIENCE SOME NAUSEA, VOMITING AND DIARRHEA. I ONLY HAD NAUSEA AND VOMITING 2 OR 3 TIMES SO FAR AND I HAD MY SURGERY 7 MONTHS AGO. I HAD MILD DUMPING TWICE FROM EATING 1 OR 2 BITES TOO MUCH. THIS IS THE ONLY TIME I HAD DIARRHEA. YOU WILL HAVE A LOT OF GAS. TAKING GAS-EX HELPS BUT NOT 100%. IT WILL GET BETTER OVER TIME BUT YOU WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE MORE GAS THAN YOU DID BEFORE SURGERY. YOU MAY BECOME LACTOSE INTOLERANT AFTER SURGERY. YOU CAN TAKE LACTASE ENZYME FOR THIS.YOUR ENERGY LEVEL WILL BE
EXTREMELY LOW AFTER SURGERY FOR 2 TO 3 MONTHS BECAUSE YOUR BODY IS HEALING, YOU ARE NOT EATING ENOUGH CALORIES AND YOU ARE LOSING WEIGHT. ALL OF THIS ZAPS YOUR ENERGY RESERVES. DURING MONTHS 3 TO 4 YOU WILL START TO GET YOUR ENERGY BACK AND HAVE PLENTY TO SPARE
"When eating with others for Thanksgiving or Christmas etc how do you deal with your eating routines?" YOU CONTINUE TO FOLLOW YOUR MEAL PLAN. YOUR FOCUS NEEDS TO BE ON LEAN PROTEINS AND VEGGIES. STAY AWAY FROM THE CARBS AND DESSERTS. IF YOU EAT TOO MANY CARBS AND SUGARY FOOD YOU WILL MAKE YOURSELF SICK WITH DUMPING SYNDROME. USING A SMALL PLATE AND FILLING IT HALF UP WITH VEGGIES REALLY HELPS IN A SITUATION LIKE THIS.
"How long does it take to lose weight and then plateau off at a good weight for you." THIS VARIES GREATLY FROM PERSON TO PERSON DEPENDING ON HOW MUCH WEIGHT YOU NEED TO LOSE, YOUR METABOLISM, HOW MUCH EXERCISE YOU GET AND YOUR GENERAL HEALTH. YOU WILL LOSE THE MOST WEIGHT DURING THE FIRST 6 MONTHS AFTER SURGERY. MY SURGEON TOLD ME THAT FOR MOST PEOPLE WHO HAD THE RNY (GASTRIC BYPASS) THAT THE METABOLISM SLOWS DOWN TO MATCH YOUR FOOD INTAKE AFTER 1 YEAR AND WEIGHT LOSS AFTER THIS WILL BE MUCH MORE DIFFICULT. PLATEAUS USUALLY START AFTER 5 OR 6 MONTHS AND ARE TEMPORARY. INCREASING YOUR EXERCISE AND PROTEINS WILL HELP YOU GET OUT OF THE PLATEAU.
"How does the body know when to stop losing the weight?" YOUR METABOLISM WILL SLOW DOWN TO MATCH YOUR FOOD INTAKE TO PREVENT ITSELF FROM STARVING. PLUS, YOU CAN INCREASE CALORIES IF NEEDED.
"It sounds like you graze all day with small portions but often" THIS IS TRUE IN MOST CASES BUT YOU HAVE TO BE CAREFUL NOT TO GRAZE TOO MUCH OR YOUR WEIGHT LOSS WILL STOP. I AM GOING THROUGH THIS RIGHT NOW AND MY WEIGHT LOSS HAS SLOWED DOWN TO A CRAWL. MOST PEOPLE EAT 3 MEALS AND 2 OR 3 SNACKS A DAY UNTIL THEY REACH THEIR GOAL WEIGHT. AFTER REACHING GOAL MOST PEOPLE GO BACK TO 3 MEALS A DAY.
"Are there liguid meds for most pills?" THERE ARE LIQUID MEDS FOR A LOT OF PILLS BUT NOT FOR ALL PILLS. UNFORTUNATELY, SOME INSURANCE’S DON'T COVER SOME OF THE LIQUID MEDS.
"If you take NSAIDS what do you do after surgery, do they give you something that will take care of the pain you are treating with the NSAIDS?" UNDER
NO CIRCUMSTANCES TAKE NSAIDS AFTER SURGERY. YOU WILL GET ULCERS IN YOUR POUCH AND INTESTINES. THIS CAN CAUSE SERIOUS BLEEDING AND DEATH. YOU CAN SAFELY TAKE TYLENOL (OR GENERIC) BUT YOU NEED TO CHECK WITH YOUR DOCTOR IF YOU NEED THIS MORE THAN SHORT TERM. I'M SURE YOUR DOCTOR HAS ALTERNATE MEDS, POSSIBLY NARCOTICS, THAT CAN BE PRESCRIBED IF NEEDED.
"How long in the hospital and do they make sure you can poop before leaving?" SOME PEOPLE ARE SENT HOME THE NEXT DAY AND SOME PEOPLE STAY LONGER. AVERAGE STAY IS 3 DAYS. IF THERE ARE COMPLICATIONS OR IF YOU HAVE ANOTHER SURGERY LIKE HERNIA REPAIR OR GALLBLADDER REMOVAL YOUR STAY WILL BE LONGER. NO ONE ASKED ME IF I POOPED BEFORE I WAS DISCHARGED BUT I SUPPOSE IN SOME CASES YOU MAY BE ASKED AND GIVEN SOMETHING IF YOU NEED IT.
"You are on a liquid diet for a time before your surgery, do they have you take enemas before you come to the surgery or do they do that when in hospital pre op?" I DON'T THINK ENEMAS ARE GIVEN AT ALL. IF YOU FOLLOW THE LIQUID DIET YOU SHOULDN'T BE CONCERNED ABOUT HAVING TO GET AN ENEMA. IF YOU DON'T FOLLOW THE LIQUID DIET THE SURGERY WILL PROBABLY BE POSTPONED BECAUSE YOUR LIVER WILL NOT SHRINK ENOUGH TO BE OUT OF THE WAY FOR SURGERY. SOMETIMES THE LIVER DOESN'T SHRINK EVEN WHEN THE LIQUID DIET IS FOLLOWED AND THEN AN "OPEN" SURGERY MAY NEED TO BE DONE RATHER THAN A LAPROSCOPIC SURGERY. OPEN SURGERY REQUIRES A LONGER HOSPITAL STAY AND A LONGER RECOVERY TIME.
