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What did you wish you knew at the beginning?

I had the RNY gastric bypass. I felt mostly prepared before surgery. I had my gallbladder out at the same time, so I had a little extra healing to do. I had zero appetite for 4 weeks after surgery, then minimal for about 4 more weeks. My NP says that was more the gallbladder than anything. I’m not sure.
Another thing, and I just talked the my dietitian about this, is I haven’t had dumping syndrome, but there are time when I eat something with sugar in it, and the next day I’m on the toilet a lot. Also happens with popcorn. She said that my digestive tract doesn’t tolerate the sugar well, but there’s a normal rate of stomach emptying, so it’s not exactly dumping syndrome, just an intolerance.
I get dizzy upon standing sometimes, so I make sure to drink extra water when it happens more frequently. My PCP says it’s mainly due to a drop in blood pressure, but once my weight loss evens out, it should stop.
The last thing I was prepared for was menstrual irregularity, and that’s been a huge issue. It has to do with my Hashimotos being thrown off balance from the rapid weight loss. But I’m having an ablation in July, so hopefully that problem will be solved.
I think that’s about it for me!
 
3momchaos said:
I had the RNY gastric bypass. I felt mostly prepared before surgery. I had my gallbladder out at the same time, so I had a little extra healing to do. I had zero appetite for 4 weeks after surgery, then minimal for about 4 more weeks. My NP says that was more the gallbladder than anything. I’m not sure.
Another thing, and I just talked the my dietitian about this, is I haven’t had dumping syndrome, but there are time when I eat something with sugar in it, and the next day I’m on the toilet a lot. Also happens with popcorn. She said that my digestive tract doesn’t tolerate the sugar well, but there’s a normal rate of stomach emptying, so it’s not exactly dumping syndrome, just an intolerance.
I get dizzy upon standing sometimes, so I make sure to drink extra water when it happens more frequently. My PCP says it’s mainly due to a drop in blood pressure, but once my weight loss evens out, it should stop.
The last thing I was prepared for was menstrual irregularity, and that’s been a huge issue. It has to do with my Hashimotos being thrown off balance from the rapid weight loss. But I’m having an ablation in July, so hopefully that problem will be solved.
I think that’s about it for me!
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I hope this isn't tmi but 20 yrs ago I had irregular periods & extreme bleeding to the point of 24 hrs of crazy hemorrhaging while returning from a NOLA road trip. Anyway, I had the ablation done asap, and it was so life-changing! No more periods since, no bleeding, no more pain etc. I sure hope you have the same success that I had. Best of luck to you! ❤
 
I had RNY on feb 15 2021. I am not far out on my journey yet. I have to say I watched this site before my surgery. I learned a lot of details on stuff I had no idea to ask about. It also keeps me thinking about the road ahead with other’s sharing their journeys. I have two bariatric teams following me. The VA bariatric unit and the hospital the VA referred me to, IA City University digestive care unit. The VA dietician calls me the check on how I am doing, I request once a month. The VABariatric dr calls me every three months. I do feel the time spaces re follow up care from the university is spaced too far apart. I wish the contact for the first year was like every 4 weeks or 6 weeks or even every other month. The university offers a zoom support group once a month, I just haven’t been able to connect with it. That is why I feel like this site is a life saver. The program through Both my providers never really mentioned the hair loss, or much about removal of excess skin after primary loss of weight. Learning about the challenges of having adequate foods in the house at all times was very important. Through outside sources, her sister shared this with me after I mentioned my surgery... I learned of a person who died from weight loss surgery who never stopped losing weight. Through this site I learned about complications and indicators to look for. Before surgery I worked with two people one had lap band the other the sleeve, both regained weight after having their surgery. This site is awesome.
 
I had the sleeve 7/16/2020. I don't feel like there was more I needed to know before the surgery, but it has been a non-stop learning process throughout my process. I would recommend continuing to be involved in forums like this. Consume as much information as possible and keep laser focused on your relationship with food and keeping a positive mindset. There will be ups and downs, joy and struggle along the way. Never lose sight of the fact that no matter how much weight you lose, taking positive steps with your nutrition and fitness in conjunction with the surgery will have a positive effect on your quality of life in many ways.
 
I had the sleeve on 10/6/20. I had terrible skin issues that I did not expect, all of it started at the heparin injection sites and just got worse. I was scratching like crazy and made myself worse. I finally found that Betadine helped clear the over-scratch mess. I think it was endocrine and it went along with the hair loss.
Doctor said it was dry skin, of course he would say that to a senior citizen, I was treating my skin like mad to keep it hydrated and I usually am good with my skin treatment interventions. The heparin injection sites on my tummy stayed inflamed for a few months. It took my body that long to clear the mess up. I did not expect that to happen and of course doctor was not helpful.
I am trying hard to work on the mental part, but we have dealt with that most of our fat careers. Stress eating or boredom eating.
 
I had the RNY in June of 2020. I was expecting the restrictive and malabsorption aspects of the surgery to be more limiting. I figured I would not be able to eat sweets or fatty foods. Of course, I am aware that I should not have tried to eat those things. But human nature being what it is, sometimes you just really want a bit of .. whatever. It turns out I can tolerate pretty much everything and that it is actually easier to digest some "bad" foods than it is to digest the healthy ones.
So, basically I was expecting a little more 'help' from the surgery and had to learn (and am still learning) that it really IS just a tool. It gives you a chance to reset your hormones and metabolism. But at the end of the day, it is all on you to make good choices and stick to them.
 
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