RNYers please stop

Hi I need to pick someones brain, if you are knowlegeable in general or fit this description or pretty close: *mid to late 20's in age *265 lbs. 5'3 female I am planning on having the RNY surgery done and have some questions: 1. My surgeon says I will not have to do protein shakes, but from what I have read on several peoples profiles that is what RNYers have to do, can you clear this up? 2. I have a bad thyroid and have to take two tiny (think birth control pill size) synthroid pills every morning and a birth control pill every evening, my doc says that I will have to crush them and take them in liquid form for like the first two months....any way around that? I am looking into seeing about getting my meds in injection form...I can't stomach pepto bismal, also don't the surgeons want you to take anti-nasea pills? How do you take them then? 3. My surgeon said that the weight that you lose equals out to be apprx. a pound a day overall, if I want to lose 150 lb. then it should take me 5 mo, is that realistic? I also plan to go to Curves 3 nights a week, the YMCA 3 nights a week and catch a water aerobics class on the weekend and eat properly with no cheating, how realistic is it to lose that amount of weight that quick being 26 and doing all of the above? 4. When you do throw up/dump is it just as bad as throwing up pre-RNY? Is it worse? My surgeon said his patients don't have as much problem with that as long as they eat right because he makes the pouch bigger than most surgeons that way if in the future a revision needs to be made he has room to work with but I am sure that throwing up/dumping is still going to happen. Is there anything else that you can tell me? Opinions and information welcome!! Thanks! BTW any of you *****member me being all about the DS, I was but my surgeon talked me out of it saying that it is meant as a last resort surgery and meant for super super obese and considers me a lightweight (?) and that it causes debillitating diarhea and that being only 26 he feels that is a pretty extreme surgery for me to have. Thanks for all of your help!! ~Tema~

Big Gurl, If you have been on this site long enough, you know that docs do it differently. I was never on protein shakes but was on a liquid called proteinx - I drank that until I was able to get in my total protein requirement with regular food. I mixed it mostly with crystal lite. Sometimes with milk if I needed the extra 10 grams of protein. Just made the milk taste a little sweeter. I have never dumped much or threw up much. Just a couple of times when I was relearning what I could and couldn't eat. I am still careful. As for you weight loss --- well that will be up to your body. I have lost at a good clip and seem to be in the average to excellent range. I am just six months out and have lost a little over 85 lbs. I have noticed some have lost more and some less. I try not to compare myself with others. I have noticed a slowing of the weight loss over the past two months; but, still hit at least the 10 lb mark for the month. I exercise, at curves, 5-6 times a week. Am loving it. Since I am a teacher, I haven't worked all summer and maybe that has slowed my weight loss down too -- haven't been climbing the three flights of stairs and running around like teachers do -- lol I hope that I have helped in just a small way. Just be faithful to what YOUR surgeon tells YOU to do.

OK here is what I learned from Dr.Curry. You can take a pill as long as its not larger then an m&m. I found a protien shake thats wonderful with 35grs. of protien in it from bariatriceating. com. I REALLY like them. I drink 2 before 4 p.m. I have not had the dumping at all and I feel great. I threw up a very small amount only because it takes time to learn your new stomach. Throwing up is not bad at all because there isnt anything in there. Not like pre,I promise. Not even close. I would find out for sure about the size of the pouch. Ask Dr.Curry,e-mail him and he will tell you. He is so wonderful and I trust him with my life,I guess I did. I had my RNY on July 9 and i have lost about 25lbs. I feel great,go to curves 3 days a week,have a ton of energy and walk the mall,with my grandkids. I weighed the same as you,I am 55 and have diabetes,insulin dependent. So my weight will come off so much slower then yours.Dont worry.it will go great,I wish you could come to Cincinnati and have it done. Dr.Curry is a doll.(I am seeing him tomorrow)Good luck and if you have any other questions,feel free to e-mail me or call. Love,Cindy

1. It's up to you and your doctor. I do protein shakes 2-3 times per day, as well as eating protein based foods. Rather be safe than sorry! 2. I take thyroid medication. I was able to take my normal meds when I got home from surgery. I never had any kind of medication for nausea. If you have enough nausea that you need medication, something is wrong. 3. I think 150 lbs in 5 months is unrealistic. As you get closer to your goal, your weight loss will slow down. If you also do that much exercise, you will likely be building muscle, which is denser than fat, and may make you think you aren't losing weight. 4.Throwing up and dumping are two different things. Throwing up can happen if you eat something that doesn't agree with you, or if you eat too much. It's more like a baby spitting up. You don't get the constant heaving. Once you get it out, you usually feel okay. Dumping,on the other hand, is usually nausea, vomiting, being in a cold sweat and you may have abdominal pain. It can take 20 minutes to an hour to pass. Dumping usually occurs with an overindulgence of sugar or fat. i dumped badly once -and it was on a bite of sausage I had as a sample at the grocery store! I don't dump on sugar, although too many carbs make me sleepy and feel like I am dragging.

I don't fit the description perfectly but I'm 33, 5 5 and weighed 246 before surgery. Here's my responses: 1. Each surgeon is different - follow your surgeons guidelines. I used protein shakes as suplements but it wasn't required. 2. I didn't take any anti-nausea pills. I was able to take pills (not crushed or liquid) when I got home from the hospital (about 5 days after surgery) without probem. It was hard to get them down but I was told by my surgeon to start them. 3.One pound per day sounds really aggressive to me. I am 12 weeks out and have lost 57 lbs. That's much less than one pound per day. But, I'm super satisified. I wouldn't count on 150 lbs in 5 months. I hear most people saying they lost about 100-125 pounds in a year so don't put too much pressure on yourself. Also, don't set yourself up for failure by trying to make yourself too perfect. At 4 weeks, I started out 3 days per week at Curves. After 4 weeks I added 3 days per week of Firm videos. I don't know what "not cheating" really is. I eat tiny amounts of whatever I want except fried foods and sugar. 4. First, throwing up and dumping are different. I have never dumped - I try to stay away from anymore than 5g of sugar at each meal and I haven't had a problem. I do throw up quite a bit still - it's different than before surgery and you get used to it so it's not as gross. E-mail if you think of anything else. Tandi 246/189/?