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ok.. talk to another one of my surgeons patients.. all his patients are very close
she said same thing happened to her and not to worry about it.. it will go away.
It went away for her too. Those msg board over at OH where my profile is rock. I've learned a ton on them. Met so many people from my area and all over the country that had the surgey.

Are you limited in what you can eat after the surgery?

3 oz. every 2-3 hours I believe. I work with a lady... err woman, that had the gastric bypass a year ago. She lost like a hundred pounds in a year.

Wow.. that is a crazy stat but by what I am seeing it probably is true. Chances are mine will be the same but hopefully replacing with good muscle at the same time.
/flex

Brain dump on the rules and what I eat............

Yes.. you have to eat in a very specific way and follow some rules. ie- no fluid with meals 30 min before or after. Sip fluids every 10-15 minutes all day long outside of that time.

Different surgeons have variations on types of food but basically the same premise. Three stages:

1-2 Weeks: Liquid/Full Liquids (examples - strained hot and sour soup, mashed cottage cheese, yogurt, sf popsicles, sf pudding, sf drinks, broth, creamed soups, egg drop soup, + 3 protein supplements a day with 4 oz skim milk)

3-7 Weeks: Soft/Puree Diet (examples: all of the above plus real foods just grounded up so they are easy on your pouch)

7+ weeks: Regular consistency food - Calorie Restricted Diet - low fat about 1200 - 1500 calories (certain things I cant eat every again - think anything super fiberous that could get stuck in my stoma- celery for example, no concentrated sweets, stuff with sugar in the first few ingredients, high fat foods) High fats and High sugar foods cause you to dump for the rest of your life.

WTF is dumping?
Its a good thing if you have this side effect. You can use it to your advantage as a behavior mod queue but not all patients get it. I have it. Experienced it once already from too much food. If you eat too fast, too much, or certain types it happens.

Dumping ranges but usually always starts with a feeling similar to seasickness - nausea, dizzy. It can get to the next level when you are vommiting or have diarreha. The worst cases you are on the floor in tears in a fetal postion. In all cases once you dump you usually .. psychologically are FIXED! You don't want it to happen again so you won't eat the food that caused it to happen.


Other rules
protein first always in the first 7 weeks then carbs if you have room after

no drinking for 2 years plus if you ever do again then a few sips gets you drunk very fast... can be extremly hard on your liver to process and dangerous

no carbonated drinks.. every

careful with caffine - can cause some people to dump

careful with red meat - some people cant tolerate it for up to 6 months out and sometimes more.. if eating meat typically choose ground meat

no getting pregnant for 2 years - dangerous to the fetus

high increase of fertility after surgery - must use barrier protection methods

supplements for the rest of my life (chewable multi, calcium citrate, sulingual B12, and possibly iron since anemia can also be a side effect)

follow up evey year with surgeon for the rest of my life - must have blood work once a year to make sure of no vitamin deficiancies

can't ever take NSAIDS again (advil, motrin) and certain other meds.. can have tylenol.. must crush any non chewable meds

Can't ever had a NG Tube (feeding tube) - WLS patients usually wear medical bracelets with that info on it. NG Tube can pierce the pouch and be fatal.

must chew chew chew chew food like crazy.. take 15-20 minutes to eat a meal.. no less.. no more or pouch will empty too fast

can use waterloading trick (drink water fast prior to meal to help with feeling full)

when I am in the last phase -regular food.. its for life

must exercise of course =) MANDATORY

3 meals a day - 5 hours apart with possible bedtime protein snack if needed. No snacking. Grazing can cause weight gain as you never become full. I might also add in an additional post workout protein shake as I am a heavy exerciser and bodybuild. I participate in a bodybuilding post op weight loss surgery message board. Believe or not there are about 10 of us that chat daily on the boards.

the not mixing fluid with food rules I mentioned.. doing so will wash the food through you.. you dont get full and you wash away the nutrients- they dont have time to absorb

and after all that problems can still happen - ulcers, mechanical failures of the procedure, strictures (swelling of esophogus), staple line leaks, blockage Most treatable. I'm out of the woods now for the more serious complications such as blood clots during the surgery or just after that would cause death.

Ok.. thats the brain dump. Cong if you actually read all that.

Pasted from my excel file - food journal. I have to document everything for at least 7 weeks and then go back to journals if issues every arise or if I were to get off track.

Date: 4/27/2005 WED.
Aerobic Activity 20 min walk
Fluid Intake Totals: 50oz
Multivitamin XX
Calcium XX

Time Item Description Amt Protein Carb Fat Calories

4am SF Creamsicle 2oz?(43g) 1 5 0 25
5:00am Low Carb Cranberry Juice 4oz 0 4.5 0 20
7:00am unjury vanilla protein packet 20 3 0 90
7:00am skim milk 4oz 4 6 2 45
11:45 AM reglan 0 0 0 0 0
11:45am egg drop soup 4oz 5.9 4.2 5.8 94
12:15am water 4oz 0 0 0 0
1:30pm optipro protein 1 scoop 22 4 2 120
2:00pm skim milk 4oz 4 6 2 45
2:00pm water 2oz 0 0 0 0
3:30pm SF Pudding 1 snack cup 2 13 1.5 60
6:00pm strained hot and sour soup 4oz 10 3 3 60
8:00pm SF Fudgesicle 2oz?(43g) 2 8 0.75 25
ALL DAY Diet Arizona Ice Tea 20oz 0 0 0 0


Totals 70.9 56.7 17.05 584

Less than 600 calories a day... no wonder you are dropping weight fast.

So this is a permanent procedure?

Yes. The first 2 weeks the pouch they created is swollen and only holds 1 - 2oz of food at a time. With time it gets stretched bigger. You have to work back up to eating more calories. Thats why your food choices are so key. Protein first - helps you recover. I'm also losing because of malabsorption.. 7 feet of intestines were bypassed. Stage 2 (next week) my calories will go up. Eventually I will be around 1500 which is fairly normal for a reduced calorie diet.

Perm = Yes.. for life. It can be reversed but its risky. This is a last resort approach. Only meant for morbidly obese patientswho have tried everything else already and usually they have other issues associated with it that are even greater risk in the future if the obesity isnt treated - ie high BP, diabeties, joint disease, are examples of co-morbities. You decide this because your outlook is worse without it. Criteria to qualify:
http://www.smallscar.com/obesity/criteria.html

Holy shit the BMI calculator on that site is on crack.

Messing with numbers it says I should weigh 140lbs at 6'1"

that is the "medical opinion" on the calculator

I've weighed 168 at my height, I was sickly skinny looking. If I weighed 220 I'd be "perfect".

At 230-235 (fluctuates between there unless I am sick), I couldn't give a shit.

I seriously hope people don't hold any faith in those BMI calculators.

Coundown to healthier me: -15 lbs 4/27/05

You go girl !!!

Matt is 6-6'2 (he slouches a lot) and weighs about 150...MAYBE.
He dropped to 140 and looked like a third world child. 140 at 6'1 is gross.

Exactly my point

BMI typically doesn't work for athletic people or people who carry muscle. Its better to go by body fat percentatge and inches. It does kind of suck that the WLS world focuses so much on BMI but its the insurance companies that came up with that table. Since mose people who are seeking WLS are morbidly obese its fine. Another stat they will use is if you are more than 100lbs overweight.

I have that circulation side effect going on again right now and feeling dehydrated. Up at 2:30am again getting in some fluids. Bleh.

At 150, he still had no body fat on him, and with how he eats, that's sickening.


Fucker

I looked really good at 170 after I got back from 9 weeks of fitness camp my Jr year in undergrad. Was all muscle and a flat tummy working out and eating healthy. I was also 21 back them. Would be thrilled to be there again although most likely the pattern will be for me to drop it all and then slowly build back up.
My guess is I will end up around 125 or so but hard to tell. Will be an interesting process for sure. I am only 5'4 and medium to small boned.

My dr told me to drop to 120-130 after having the baby. pfft. With my bone structure, I'd look sickly.
Good news in everything, I gain muscle very easily but I lose fat semi slowly, so I look bigger while working out until the fat fades.

That's crazy, I dont remember typing any of that. Similarly, I was driving home tonight and I didnt remember changing into the far left lane. I didnt remember driving a 5 minute stretch either. I should see a Dr. about this. This isnt the first time this has happened.

lol... were you sleeping?

if you are serious you might want to try some B12.. memory loss can be a sign of a deficiancy in B12.. its also a sign of stress

New mom = stress. I chalk it up to LACK of sleep. I'll try B12 though.
I dont think I was asleep, I remember lighting a cigarette and then I remember the cigarette being near to the end, so apparently I was awake or else I would have ash all over my leg. I also remember looking at an 18 wheeler a ways in front of me in the middle lane and going "youre moving too slow sir" but I dont remember switching lanes.

try getting the sublinqual B12. The one that goes under your tongue. Take that once a week. If you can't find them in the store then you can always get them from where I get them.

http://www.bariatricadvantage.com

It doesn't matter that they are geared for bariatric patients. That just means they absorb better.
or .. one other option:

I can grab a few out of my bottle, put em in a baggy in an envelope, and send them to you. I'll even toss in a few of my Mary Kay samples =P Just PM me your address.

holy cow Stayce, after all that you posted, I'm absolutely astonished that there are people who believe the procedure to be the 'easy way out.'

The diet alone is really strict and seems like something that, if followed properly, would drop weight as is. Seems more like the pouch is just an assist to diet and exercise.

Ya it is in no way an easier way out, actualy it is much harder than traditional ways of loosing weight.

I'm really glad it's working out for you, Stayce! It's all a bit too drastic for me, tho

I am following your recovery with great interest, so keep up with the updates.