COMPLICATIONS

What are some of the complications from the open RNY surgery, 1 year out and longer? Can anything serious happen if you stretch your stomach? Thanks for any help.

If you dont take you supplements,  you can have nutritional deficiancies.  Last spring,  right befor my tummy tuck,  I found out that I was very anemic.  I had to have a Blood transfussion..  I am religeous about my supplementation now.  I wrongly believed that my body would tell me I needed my supplements.

Thanks for the response, I take my vitamins everyday. It is really weird, but I can eat anything I want. I had my surgery in May '06. I have lost 155lbs. my weight has stayed the same give or take a few pounds. I eat a bagel and cream cheese every morning with 2 cups of coffee. I usually just have a protein bar for lunch. Dinner I eat whatever I am making for the family. I can eat 2 chicken breasts, noodles and veggy, withno problem. I also drink a half glass of 2% milk with it. Then later on, I eat a whole bag of light butter popcorn. I dont know how I am able to eat all of it, but I do the same thing everyday. I was just wondering if I am doing any kind of damage.

Hi, I was reading your post and you "Drink" with your meals????? Do you know what you are doing to yourself, setting yourself up for failure!!!! Did anyone ever tell you not to drink 1/2 hr before eating and after eating. You are washing your food right through your pouch and it will cause you to get hungry sooner and you will start to gain weight. So do your self a favor and stop drinking with meals or snacks. Please eat only one serving of the items that you have for a meal, protein first, them veggies, and carbs last or not at all. I don't mean to be hard on you but you need to think about what you were told when you started to eat food. Do you exercise at all? I sure hope so or that you will begin to because the Honeymoon is over and weight will start to creep back on. Take care and good luck .

Thanks for being so honest. The thing is, I have been doing this for over 1 year and have stayed at the same weight. I only drink half a glass of milk with dinner. I actually dont drink that much at all. I only drink about 1 glass of water a day. I have been told not to drink withmeals, but I cant eat without it.

I am 6 years out and broke the rules and was "fine" for a while but in the last 18 months or so I have gained back 40 pounds and m nearing the 200 pound mark again.  I am regaining control and following all the rules and I feel awesome.  The weight did not come back right away,  it crept up little by little and here I am today.  The one rule I never broke was drinking soda or drinking with meals.  I am just sharing my experiance with you,  Good luck

You only drink one glass of water a day? Did you have any nutritional counseling pre/post surgery? My suggestion would be to go back and review the wls guidelines your surgeon (hopefully) gave you.  Fluid intake, in general, is very important if you've had wls. You need fluids to keep from becoming dehydrated; adequate fluid intake helps toxins move out of your body; we need fluids. Fluids between meals, or at least 30 mins after.  Yes, drinking with meals does push your food through your stoma more quickly....the whole purpose of he pouch/stoma thing is so that we can, after eating a solid food like protein, maintain the feeling of being full. Drinking with a meal defeats the purpose of your surgery. Read some of the posts from the further out post-ops 4+yrs....you will get to a point where your body will have a rebound weightgain (most of us have this) and your habits will catch up to you.   NOT drinking with meals may seem unnatural for a while but, like any new habit, practice makes perfect. I can't imagine drinking with meals, now!   I weighed exactly the same for more than 4 yrs....in the past 6 mos I've gained 10 lbs from nowhere. Unfortunately, I'm not unusual or unique in this.  Start following the rules now. 

Thank you for your help, can you tell me, what should I look for when I shop? Low fat, low sugar, or low carbs? I am so confused about that. Thanks again

You should probably first determine what kind of eating plan works best for you....I eat 6 small meals per day, some eat 3 meals and 2 snacks, others find 3 meals does it.  You can start with what your surgeon or nut. has told you to do, and then modify if it's not working for you. The general rules are (wls post-ops, feel free to add to this list!) --at least 64 oz fluids per day...caffeinated beverages do not count, as caffeine dehydrates the body. --No drinking 30 mins before or after a meal, OR with a meal. --Meals should consist of Protein FIRST, then vegetable, then complex carbs (brown carbs, such as whole grains, sweet potato). Whole fruit (not juice) can be a small part of your diet. --SUGAR and REFINED CARBS should not be the mainstay of your diet, they should be an occassional indulgence, if at all.  We live in the real world with real food. It's hard, but that's what works best to keep weight off. --HIGH FAT FOODS = HIGH CALORIES.  Use your discretion.  If you've been off "program" for a whle, you should probably think about portion-controlling your food for a while.  Sometimes, when I'm out of it, I find a measuring cup is helpful to get myself back to the program. --Exercise regularly Our surgery does not provide us with malabsorption of calories, at least not for long.  Our intestines figure out what we've done and they adapt.  You have to realize that what you eat, the amount of calories that you eat will affect your weight maintenance.  Exercise is an important part of the whole loss/maintenance equation.   Good luck to you! Julie

So I should buy foods that are low in fat? What about sugar? Which do I look at first? What is considered high? Thanks for all of your help