I had a Roux-N-Y gastric bypass in 2005. I weighed in on the day of surgery at 298 pounds. I had many co-morbidities, which is to say, other health problems besides obesity that made me a good canidate for weight loss surgery. Weight loss surgery isn't for everyone, but it was the right choice for me.

I only spent two days in the hospital and then went to spend my recovery period with my sister and her husband. They had a room all ready for me and cared for me so very nicely.

I didn't suffer too much pain. There was only some pain with movement, but my surgeron was able to preform my surgical procedure as a laproscopic surgery and not an open surgery. I had only 5 small incisions in my belly.....check out my picture!

My diet for the first three days after surgery was 4 ounces every hour while awake, of either water; broth; sugar-free kool-aid, popsicles or jello; decaf tea or coffee; diet snapple or crystal light drinks. That meant I had to get down 64 ounces a day of fluids, one little sip at a time. I had to consume my 4 ounces within 15 minutes. After the third day, I began eating 1/4 cup, three times a day of the followiing foods, and only these foods: cream of wheat or rice; sugar-free puddings, custard or applesauce; smooth yogurt (which I hate, so that was out); non-fat cream soup. And, I could use a sugar substitute if needed. That was it! I pretty much stuck to cream of wheat for breakfast and non-fat cream soup for lunch and supper. This went on for two weeks. I still had to consume my 64 ounces of fluids throughout the day too. My sister had a nice cold bottle of water that we would pour my one ounce cup full of, and I would sip it down, then fill it up again and again until I got down the four ounces. I know this sounds simple, but believe me, you don't want anything. You don't feel hungry and everything you put into your mouth and swallow feels like it's not going to go down.

During the surgery, your stomach is cut off to leave a pouch about the size of a thumb. Yes, a thumb. That's about 1 ounce of liquid....and the opening where the stomach empties into the small intestine is made smaller than normal, about the size of the tip of your little fiinger. So it fills up real fast and empties real slow. That is just the beginning of how things work. Once the food or liquid passes through your stomach, it is now into the smaller version of your small intestines. This is where food, vitamins and nutrients are absorbed. This is also where salt, sugar and fat are absorbed. That small intestine has been shortened from a normal size of about 3.5 times the length of your body or about 21 feet, to a mere 6 to 8 inches after surgery. You can see how food now won't stay in there long enough to be absorbed like it was before. Also, it has been re-routed to enter into the large intestines, or colon, at a place that the colon isn't used to receiving foods that haven't been broken down with protions of it absorbed to other areas. Thus, the colon is put into a shock mode at first when it gets unprocessed food, and you often experience something called the 'dumping syndrome'... which literally means the colon with 'dump' the food out, because it doesn't know what to do with it in this consistancy. So, bathroom visits are frequent. This does get better as time goes by and you learn what and how much to eat of foods.

The 'Stage II' foods, of cream of wheat and cream soups in my case, lasted for two weeks. Then a wonderful thing happened.....I was given permission to have a 1/4 cup of scrambled eggs. It was pure heaven.... My sister was so excited to fix me my first serving of scrambled eggs. She served them to me in a lovely blue colored chinese tea cup. We really celebrated. They were for sure the best tasting eggs I had ever had. I don't think I'll ever forget that day. Now, for the next six weeks I would have more choices of soup, broth, cream of wheat, eggs, jello and applesauce. I could have had cottage cheese, but I just can't bring myself to eat the stuff. So, you can see how it is so easy to loose you weight right after surgery.

Now, for the vitamins. In between all the drinking and eating, you have to take in a large amount of vitamins and they all must be chewable, liquid or sub-lingual (disolves under your tongue)...no tablets or capsules would work for you now. Even my pain medication, which I didn't need very often, was liquid Vicodin. For the rest of my life I must take chewable Multivitamins with Iron- I use Flintstones childrens vitamins and take two; B12 at least 500 units per day, sub-lingual; Calcium Citrate, which is not the same as just straight Calcium. Your body can no longer absorb calcium the way it used to so this one is very very important. You need 1200 mg per day. I take mine in the form of a lozenger that is 400mg and I take three a day. Now, here's the real trick. You can't just take them all at once. They each must be taken seperately, at least one hour apart, and not more than one hour before a meal or one hour after a meal. That takes some planning,let me tell you! It is so very important during the first 3-6 months after surgery, and it's hard to get them all in, but if you don't you'll suffer some complications that you won't like. At three months post-operative, I lost pretty much all of my hair. It was scary. It came back and it was fine..actually mine came back with a bit of a curl which was cool. You can suffer from low energy if you don't take your vitamins as prescribed, and your bones can become brittle and easy to break from the lack of calcium. Your fingernails and toenails can also come off, which I have had happen several times. I was very good at following exactly the directions, but sometimes the body just looses weight and nutrients so quickly that it just happens. After the first year, these things don't happen as much unless you skip your vitamins.;

I've lost most of my hair once and alot of my hair another time. I've lost my fingernails a lot during the first two years. Now I experience some hair loss but nothing noticable and often I loose a toenail. I must confess I miss taking my calcium many days or I just don't get enough of it in my body.

Once you pass the 3-4 month time after surgery, you go on an eating plan that really consist of eating only protein for each meal. I have found that I cannot eat raw veggies, not even lettuce, which I was told I wouldn't be able to eat. I was also told I wouldn't be able to eat popcorn, but I can eat it fine without any problems......but that was only after the first year and a half after surgery. My diet consist mainly of fish, cheese (cheese sticks) and eggs. I throw in some pork and chicken from time to time and once in a while some beef and peanut butter. I never eat cereal unless I need a laxative, but then the stomach cramps aren't even worth that. I don't tolerate sugar or fried foods well at all.

My medical problems have all but disappeared since the surgery. After surgery I never took another Insulin injection or diabetes medication, no more high blood pressure pills, no more CPAP machine for sleep apnea, no more high cholesterol or triglycerides....gone.....all gone and so is 148 pounds of me. Why that's a whole person! Before surgery I took 15 pills a day and 4 shots of insulin. I am still a diabetic, but I don't have to take any medicine to control it now. I have had to have an injection of insulin when I had surgery and that's a normal thing. Any time the body is stressed your sugar can raise. Now, if I eat sugar, which I am not supposed to do, I will break out in a sweat and shake and even have a bout of diarreha. So, I try to stay away from that.

Now I take only 2 pills a day...one for menopause, which is normal, and one for depression, which isn't something that can be cured with weight loss surgery. I have a chemical imbalance and may always have to take an antidepressant. It is truly a blessing to be free of all the poor health problems and the medications. I feel like I have a new lease on life.

There are other changes that take place after this type of surgery. There are certain types of medications I can never take again in my life. There are problems with medications that I may need to take from time to time like pain pills or antibiotics. Usually they have to be taken in liquid form and I absorb them really fast, but they don't last too long. I have some problems with muscle spasms and back pain, and my pain meds do not work but for only about 20 minutes. This is a hard thing to get your doctor to understand. They think you are abusing you pain meds, but you really cannot abuse them because they don't stay with you long.

If you enjoy alcohol from time to time, you won't be able to drink as much after surgery , or, you may be able to drink more. You see, since it doesn't stay with you long, you can drink alittle, feel the buzz, loose it and drink again. But, that can be harmful to you and your body and your pocket book. I enjoy a small glass of wine from time to time, but otherwise I drink water, crystal light type drinks or sugar free kool-aid. I am very happy to have had my surgery and if I had to do it all again, I would, without a doubt.

Look at the difference in my physical body, but remember the advantages my body took on health-wise by loosing the weight. I did have some loose skin over my abdomen that caused some problems for me when I had one of my back surgeries, so just this year I had an abdominoplasty to remove the skin and tighten up the muscles. This was done for two reasons, to remove the pocket of skin which proved to be a health hazard (that's another Hub) and to help give me strength for my back problems.

If you think weight loss surgery is for you my advice is to check it out very carefully and learn as much as you can about how it works, the risks versus the benefits for you, other options that might work for you like the Lap-band, and how it will affect and change your life forever.

After my initial large weight loss, I regained a few pounds, but now stay within 10-15 pounds of my original loss. I had hoped to get to that 150 pound mark where I was when I graduated from high school, but I missed the mark just a little bit. Weight loss surgery only guarentees you'll loose up to 80% of the amount you need to or want to loose, but that's okay with me. Oh, and I don't want to forget to tell you that exercise is still necessary for staying in shape.  I am not too hot on exercising due to my back problems, but I enjoy exercise in the pool when I can and best of all....taking a walk.  We can all walk alittle, even if it's just around the block or inside a mall. 

This change in my life is welcomed and has made me a healthier person. I am so thankful that it all worked out for me.