*******Thanks for all the support !**********

I want to thank every one that posted on my thread about the supplements! To be honest I was not aware of the consequences and or the significance of what I had done and what I need to do . My biggest concern and fear was stretching my pouch (which the doctor said he did not leave me one but instead a straight tube) I am so glad to have come across this sight and all of the great people that make up this forum! I felt like all I thought was “I have to get the surgery" and I jumped through all the hoops and had it done but I was in the dark before and after. I did not attend one support group before or after. This site has open my eyes and I have come out of the dark on allot of things. I hope to learn a lot more and make a lot of friends. THANKS FOR YOU CONCERN!

My name is Fernando and I will be in Galveston tomorrow morning. Hope to find better pants then that Sean !

Have a blast at the conference.  Know that that group of people is the nicest, craziest group you will ever encounter and the best at sharing info.  ASK QUESTIONS.   Wear a name tag that says "Uninformed Newbie" and you will leave a very smart man.  Have fun!!!  Take notes!!

Well...gald to hear it. Sometimes when a post such as yours comes along it will get alot of replies. Some of them are tough to read sometimes. Congrats on your new discoveries...it's a shame you could not find this stuff out sooner...but better now than never. Take it easy....

you will enjoy the conf. a lot I am sure - I feel bad when people are NOT educated by their docs about the long term results of wls - it is not an instant fix but it is a GREAT tool in our journey to better health
I was blessed to have a g/f that is about 3 yrs longer out than I am and she preaches to EVERONE that this is a life altering event - you are agreeing to take supliments and watch your labs for life when you have it, to do the protien some how some way kwim?

enjoy the conf, the peeps there are great!! I would be there if it weren't for being a responsible adult this week LOL b/c we always have tons of fun at these

Hi Fernando - I will be at the conference, so just look for a short woman (5' 2") in shorts with a name tag that says "Sarah" and come up and say "HI".

Hey Guy, glad we could help. Glad you atre going to Galveston today so you can join our crazy crew and learn lots and lots about your new system! Get into a support group n your area!! People who attend support groups regurlary(sp?) are more successful in taking off and keeping off the weight!!
Meggie

p.s. so glad you have better taste in pants than Sean

Fernando, have fun in Galveston.  Our group is awesome and I know they'll make you welcome.  I'm glad you took the concern and bluntness for what it was ~ concern ~ because we do worry.  An uneducated patient is scary, and when surgeons don't educate their patients I is uncalled for.  When a patient is desperate in my opinion some surgeons see $$$$$$$ only, they could care less about how much the patient knows going in, again my opinion don't take it personally.

My advice to you is to ask lots of questions, anything you can think of and we as a group will do our very best to answer or help you find the answers.

Best wishes,

yeah Fernando!!! im so glad you took as caring and not *****ing!!! Ok. first thing tho dude, put down the OJ! its all sugar. and if carry that around by me, you will make me dump and its soooo not pretty and i really want to meet ya! lol. So if you see me running my mouth somewhere, come on over and say hi! I look lik one of those pic flippin around i promise.  and i will have a big honkin nametag with LIZ on i t lol.  But seriously, find one of us, we were all talking last nite after we saw your post that we were really glad you are coming out and we cant wait to meet  you.  So come on down@@@ see you in a few hours
Liz

Do you know what surgery you had done?  In your post you said the doctor "didn't leave you a pouch but instead he left you a long tube."  It is not routine for a bypass patient to have a long tube instead of a pouch. It sounds like your surgeon may have done a gastric sleeve instead of a gastric bypass.  You should check with your surgeon and see if he actually did the bypass part.  The gastric sleeve is the first stage of a gastric bypass and is sometimes done on a larger patient if it too difficult to do the full bypass at the time of surgery.  That is how the Sleeve surgery came about.  It was done as the first part of a staged procedure, to allow the patient to lose some weight before completing the more technically difficult part of the surgery.  But they found the patients lost so much weight with the sleeve alone that they didn't require the 2nd stage, or the bypass part of the surgery.  It is very important for you to know exactly what surgery you had done.  If you did not have the bypass part of the surgery you do not have the malabsorption.  This is important to know.  Your need for supplements after surgery may be different if you do not have malbsorption.  It is also important for you to know exactly what you had done for future health reasons.  You should be able to tell your doctors exactly what surgery you had so if you have health issues in the future your doctor will know if to look for malabsorption related issues. 
Regardless of which surgery you had I know you will be successful!  I am glad you found this site with all these wonderful people.  They will be an enormous help to you.  You should also consider going to some of the support group meetings offered by your surgeon.  You said you have not gone to any and that is an important part of your weight loss journey!  

Kathy 

Kathy, on his original post Fernando said he had a 150cm RNY.  I think it's a matter of communicating pouch vs. tube (I viewed it as a very small pouch probably). 

You stated the gastric sleeve is the first part of a gastric bypass.  The sleeve, I thought, is the first part of of the Duodenal Switch, which isn't technically a gastric bypass.