Gastric Bypass: Stories

My husband was not "on board" so I took him to my family physician whom we both respect. My Dr. Explained how I was a walking time bomb.

I was on 4 blood pressure meds and my blood pressure was in the 160's. my knees and feet hurt from arthritis. I had sleep apnea. I also suffered from depression.

My husband realized this was a good option and he gave me my support

I made the preliminary appointment, paid $150 up front. Met with the doctor and their dietician I learned my insurance would only pa if I went through 6 months of doctor supervised dieting, exercising, psychological exam and a few other tests.

I went monthly for 6 months meeting with the doctor and dietician. They gave group information sessions on healthy eating and how our eating would HAVE to change following surgery. We were given vitamins to take regularly. These vitamins they explained were a must daily for the rest of my life!

I made it through the 6 months. June 28, 2011 was my surgery date. The surgeon's time for the ruen x gastric bypass was 52 minutes up to 1.5 hours. Mine was 56 minutes

I had 1 night stay in the hospital ( oh how I hoped for 2 for all the pampering etc the hospital was providing)

Protein shakes and water were the routine every hour. It was like taking shots. ( 2 ounces of shake and 2 ounces of water.

The shakes and water were the only things I was allowed to consume for I'm thinking it was 6 weeks. Somewhere in there they included soft foods. No Doritos Nuts or anything that could become wedged in my new stomach.

I was determined to make this work so I remained on shakes while eating other foods. I found it easy to grab a shake in the morning.

To this day Feb 17, 2013. I'm still drinking protein shakes probably 5 times a week. I changed brands.

My starting weight : 244
BMI : 43
Expected outcome from surgery. Weight 167
I weigh today 152, size 8 jeans and some size medium tops. My BMI is 26.3