1 week out from surgery...

Hi I'm Scott. Getting ready to have the Roux En Y Gastric Bypass next Friday

Wondering what to expect post-op from people who've actually experienced it:

Nausea/ Discomfort level?

Foods tolerated / not tolerated?

Things you wish you'd known to expect?

Thanks in advance ?

I had my RNY back in July. When I was a week out, I had a lot of pain, but it got better each day. Don't be ashamed to take your pain medicine. I thought I could "tough it out," but you aren't going to get a trophy for not taking your medicine. Just take it! You'll feel loads better, and it'll help you sleep.

I didn't really experience nausea. I was on liquids for a week after my surgery, so those just went straight through my pouch. 

When I did move to solid foods, I tried beef jerky, and that was too rough on my tummy; I threw it all back up. At almost six months out now, I can tolerate just about anything. I haven't tried steak or pork chops, yet. My dietician said that "gristly" or "chewy" meats can be rough on our pouches. I have been fine with chicken, ground meat, lamb, etc. 

I wish I would've known how much head hunger I would have. I wasn't physically hungry, but mentally, I was. I would look up restaurants on Yelp and look at all the photos of meals that people took. Sounds desperate, but hey, when you're only drinking liquids and not eating food, you do desperate things, LOL.

All in all, I know I asked myself "Why did you do this?" while I was lying in the hospital, but at almost six months out and 120 lbs. down, it was TOTALLY worth it. I do not regret one step of this journey.

Wow!!! That sounds like a pretty great journey so far... 

120 lbs down in 6 months. That's incredible!!

I'm actually having my surgery next Friday,

so I'm a little nervous but very excited, as well.

Did you ever experience dumping? It sounds awful.

Are you still on the protein shakes?

At 6 months, are you able to

tolerate anything slightly spicy?

Thanks for the insights :)

I have had some things (unknowingly) that were high in sugar, and I haven't experienced any dumping symptoms. I think only 30% of RNY patients experience it. I might be in the 70% that does not. I try not to pu**** though.

I have been fine with spicy foods. In fact, I tried spicy stuff maybe three months out and had no issues. As for protein shakes, I stopped them maybe about a month out. I just didn't care for them but will have one occasionally. 

Hoping I'm in the 70%, too :)

I had a lot of nausea the first day. There are a couple of days of discomfort, but not a huge deal. The biggest issue is getting tired for several weeks, or even a few months. Work some naps into your schedule.

Tolerating foods is a long curve, and varies a lot. At this point, there is nothing I can't eat, but much I choose not to.

The hungriest I ever got was a few weeks after surgery, but went away as soon as I started real food. Hunger doesn't always disappear overnight.

Drink, drink, drink, drink, drink.

I've been on the Liquid diet for the past 2 weeks and I've already had some days where my get up and go had already got up and went. I'm kind of dreading the first few weeks because I'm sure it'll probably be worse. On the plus side, I am off work for 4 weeks after surgery. One good thing about doing the liquid diet is that I feel much more prepared for after the surgery. Do you food journal?

I also had nausea the first day (or two), so the nurses put some ondansetron in my IV line every few hours, which helped quite a bit.  I had pretty much no pain except sore abs - they felt like I'd done 1000 crunches.  If I was just lying there - or sitting there - I felt no pain at all, but when i was transitioning (e.g., lying to sitting) I could really feel those sore abs.  I don't think I ever used whatever they sent me  home with for pain - or maybe I used it once - but I had surprisingly little pain from the surgery.

as for food tolerances, the first few weeks can be a challenge - but after about six months, I could eat pretty much anything.

Thank God for Ondansetron :) I've had it before and it works like a charm!! I'm sure I'll be requesting it soon. My surgery is this Friday morning and I'm really nervous and excited at the same time!! 

I'm almost 7 mo. post-up and absolutely no regrets other than why didn't I do this 20 years ago.  Everyone's journey is different.  I didn't have any nausea and discomfort level was manageable.  I think I used the narcotic for one or two nights after I came home.  Most difficult things were getting up from a sitting position and sleeping.  I tend to be a toss & turn gal and that doesn't work well post abdominal surgery.  That was really only for the 1st week, after that, as Grim said I was really tired for several weeks.

I had a pretty strict food plan - 1 week of clear liquids, followed by 2 weeks of full liquids and gradually progressed to pureed, then soft, then regular.  Again - everyone's plan is different.  Follow what your center outlines for you.  Mine allowed some things like mashed potatoes and oatmeal fairly early on which I avoided.  Carbs can be a slippery slope for a lot, me included and I don't want to head down that road.

I have never experienced dumping, but I haven't tested it yet and don't want to.  I have gotten sick a few times if I ate too much or too fast.  Best I can say is take it sloooooowwwwww and listen to your body.  When you hear it said that one bite more can be one bite too many, believe it!

Spicy foods - I tolerate them fine now, the biggest issue is not being able to drink with meals so I don't go too spicy.  Your tastes may change post-op.