Obesity Surgery WP Blog

Shelley,
PLEASE try and drink your water throughout the day, not just in the
morning/early afternoon.
You are NOT a camel, you don’t store this water for future use. You can’t load
up on say, 64 oz. of water in the morning and expect to still be hydrated at
6pm.
We become dehydrated VERY easily, I know from my 2 trips to the ER from PASSING
OUT from dehydration.
The only time I stop drinking water is about a half hour before I go to bed, to
eliminate getting up a zillion times a night to pee.
Kelly
Lap RNY 8/28/02 @ 314 pounds
Now @ 147 pounds!
to drink most of my water in the morning to early afternoon. Does
anyone know whether or not it matters if it is spread throughout the
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Obesity is widely discriminated against in the workplace. If you are wavering
about whether or not to get the surgery based on the fact you will be unemployed
afterwards. PLEASE GET THE SURGERY!!! You will have MUCH easier time finding
a new job at a smaller weight. I know you may not realize it but lots of folks
wont even consider you for work if you are M.O. As a M.O. person you will be at
the very bottom of the pile everytime when an employers is looking at candidates
for a new position.
I had the surgery almost 2 yrs ago and still find myself being discriminated
against for being M.O. by folks that knew me then but havent seen me since the
surgery. They seem to view it as a character flaw when it was really a health
issue the whole time. I think it might be easier dealing with a criminal
background than a M.O. background!

I am a Nurse Utilization Manager/Case Manager and am looking into the
Emotional/Psychological Aspects of Gastric Bypass surgery. I want to
make sure you understand that I am not against Gastric Bypass in any
way. However, I have noticed that some of our patients who have had
bypass surgery are later hospitalized with depression, alcohol abuse
or suicidal ideation. That may be coincidental or it may be related
to the bypass surgery. My intent is to try to find out what
emotional/psychological problems may occur after surgery so we can
better prepare our patients before the surgery or give them better
support after the surgery so these problems don’t happen.
I would appreciate some feedback from you all regarding your
experiences.
For example: If you ate when you were stressed, was this a problem
after surgery? How did you handle it?
If you REALLY enjoy eating, was it a problem to not be able to eat
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Here’s my experience at 20+ months postop and down to within 20 lbs
of an ideal weight.
Focus on eating protein, protein, protein!!!!! If there is any
room left in your pouch, then add a little vegetable or fruit.
That’s the key to making the most of your first 6-9 months weight
loss and developing a NEW healthy eating life style. Some bariatric
programs don’t even allow sugar or starchy foods until after 6 months
BECAUSE THEY WANT THEIR PATIENTS DEVELOPING GOOD POST BYPASS EATING
BEHAVIOR, since most of us overate on the starchy and sugary foods,
NOT so much because their new pouch couldn’t handle it (although
that’s important also). Remember, we have to RE-LEARN (or perhaps
learn for the first time in our life) to feed our body HEALTHY FOOD.
AT first we receive negative physical reinforcement from our body
when we eat too much, too fast, or wrong choices. After awhile,
though, most of us can eat just about anything so it is CRITICAL that
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6 months ago my husband and I paid $23,000 total for my open RNY. We did NOT
have the money and the 2nd mortgage we took out overextended our family
budget, but he agreed that working overtime to make the payment would be
worth it. I am a SAHM, he is a police officer (a very underpaid one mind
you) and we have 2 children. I am 5′10″ and weighed in at 367.5…. we all
felt a little sacrifice would be worth having mommy (me)/wife around for a
LOT longer. I do get depressed when payments are due ($340 a month! ouch!)
because now that I am much healthier I want to go do fun active stuff with
the family… but we found a cheaper form of entertainment (geocaching!
www.geocaching.com ) and love it. Would I pay for it again???? HECK YES! 6
months out I am down 111.5 lbs and last weekend I fit into ROLLER COASTER
SEATS (won free tickets to a theme park Ü). I haven’t ridden rides at parks
for nearly 12-13 or more years! My husband says often that he is getting his
wife back and it is so totally worth it. Also, remember to keep all the
paperwork… it’s tax deductible. My accountant basically said that we will
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I was a plant manager for a manufacturing facility in PA. As many of
you know I am about 1/2 way through my wls journey still being pre-
op. Well the plant where I work closed 2 weeks ago permanently. My
boss said he would keep me working until I got the surgery because he
knows I need it. Basically he said he would keep me on until the end
of December. My surgery date has not been set yet but it will be in
Dec/Jan time frame. I can pay Cobra to keep my insurance benefits for
a month or two if the surgery is delayed. My question is do you think
I should still go through with it. What I’m really asking is how many
doctor visits come after the surgery is completed. I cannot afford to
pay for my insurance for too long after December. If I am going to
the doctor every week for 6 months after surgery then I will have to
pay out of pocket for that. I know it doesn’t seem like much but lets
face it- when I’m out of work there will be just enough money to pay
my bills. I would like to know from post ops how long they had
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Hi,
I need to hear your thoughts and ideas on how to communicate with my
PCP. On Sept. 24, I visited her and requested that she write a
letter recommending the surgery to the bariatric surgeon I want to
work with. I gave her a copy of the detailed diet history that I had
written for the bariatric surgeon and a write up on the reasons I was
pursuing this.
She lectured me a bit on resolving the emotions that lead to my
overeating and even started talking about Dr. Phil’s book, which she
had only skimmed. When I told her that I thought I needed more, she
said that she was not saying she wouldn’t write the letter, but that
she wanted me to look at the emotional stuff. I said that I would
and that I agreed it was an important part of my treatment.
I called her office today to follow up on the letter and copies of my
medical records for the bariatric surgeon. While I was away from my
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Can anyone tell me again how much protein can be absorbed at one
time? I am drinking protein drinks with appr. 50 grams of protein and
need to know if it is pointless to be drinking that much in one
sitting? Also I have a hard time drinking water all day long so I try
to drink most of my water in the morning to early afternoon. Does
anyone know whether or not it matters if it is spread throughout the
day or consumed in a shorter period of time? Thank you for any
insight.
Shelly
LapRNY 3/3/03
258/158/???
5′3 37yrs.

depending on the kind of surgery you have…you have to wait until your incision
is healed to swim. i personally waited three weeks plus 2 days. two days after
the staples came out i went back into the pool and carefully and slowly got back
into a modified arthritis water aerobics program. now i had been doing 6 days a
week at the pool for 7 months before surgery so it was easier for me to get back
into shape.
for the guy who asked about the last supper syndrome. don’t. you can gain weight
eating it all before surgery. there is an issue of the size of your liver for
this surgery and even a 10 lb weight loss before surgery will shrink your liver
and make the surgery way more doable and less risky. after about 6 months you
will be able to eat many more of the things that you now think you can never eat
again. be advised there will also come a time when you will wish you were back
at the start when you could not eat much of anything.
as usual this is just mho and not gospel so do your research.
love ida
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I met with the nutritionist and the surgeons nurse
today and my RNY is scheduled!
My NEW “birthday” is going to be December 16th! By the
time I turn 50 in November 2004, I hope to be about
1/2 the woman that I am today! I’m excited and happy
and just a little nervous and scared. But I am also
READY for a new healthier way of life!
I already feel as if a weight has been lifted from my
shoulders - now I just have to get rid of the weights
on my butt and hips and belly and arms and thighs,
etc….! Thank You to everyone who gives support and
encouragement to everyone else here. Taking the
journey with so many friends makes it easier!
Chrystal
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