NEWBIE

 Hello, I am a new member, waiting on insurance approval.  I am going to have the DS surgery, hopefully in July or Aug 2014.  Talk to me...advice welcomed...what is the probiotics that I see people discussing all about? Tell me about the 1st week after surg, how soon will I want to get back to work??? Oh many questions, I can't think of now of course. 

You will probably get a lot more and better feedback if you post your questions in the DS surgery-specific forum.  I can only think of one person on this forum that has had the DS.   Most of the posters have had RNY or VSG.  

Congrats on making your decision and best of luck to you! 

Welcome to the LW board!!  Gina may weigh in, especially about the Probiotics. 

I had RNY and took 4 weeks off, but could have went back after 3.  First week after was resting, walking and sipping.  You'll experience gas and walking helps relieve that. I'm sure others will chime in. 

Do you have any comorbidities that will help approve you for the surgery? 

I had the DS as a lightweight about 18 months ago & all I can say is that it was the best decision for me!!  I had a 6 hour surgery & a complication free recovery.  The week following surgery was probably the toughest...tired, some pain, hard to get in liquids/soft foods.  But...things progressed VERY quickly.  I have a desk job & was back to work in 2 weeks.  In looking back, I probably should have taken off 3 weeks because even though you can function, you do still get exhausted quickly.  Your main goal the early weeks out is to sip, walk, rest.  Try to get in 64 oz of water as soon as you can...you do NOT want to get dehydrated!  Shoot to get in 30g of protein by 30 days, 60g by 60 days, & 90g by 90 days.  After that shoot to get in 100+grams/day.  Take your vitamins...not all at first, but look at Vitalady's DS plan.  I started taking her 90 day pre-packs at 3 months post surgery & then based on my labs, tweeked my vitamins & now I buy in bulk from her & package my own.

I lost very quickly at first...about 70 lbs in the first 6 months, but then things started to really slow down.  I only had 101 lbs to lose overall, but still have 5 remaining lbs to lose to get to my goal.  Expect a 'fast loss' period of time & then a natural slow down.  Somehow I missed this in my research & expected to 'zoom' right to goal & when things started to really slow down...I was like...WTF!!  It can really mess with your head!  Which leads me to 'THE SCALE'.  I have a love/hate relationship with the scale!  I try to stay off of it & only weigh once a week....this keeps me sane....instead of dealing with the daily water weight fluctuations.  If you know your sticking with your plan...it'll show on the scale!

Please do yourself a favor & research everywhere you can...on this website...especially on the DS forum & read the 'back' pages, weightloss.proboards.com, & DSFacts.com.  There is ALOT if great information out there.  I tend to read & lurk ALOT & can usually find answers to my questions.

Good luck to you!

I cannot tell you anything about probiotics.  I have not had a need for them yet.  I eat a plain greek yogurt everyday & I think that keeps my 'gut bugs' in good shape.  As was pointed out earlier, Gina can probably give you great advise on this.

Welcome aboard!  

Probiotics are a tremendous help with gas and bathroom issues following the DS. You can start taking them pre-op and then continue them post-op. Vitamins and minerals help regulate those issues too. We take a lot of calcium and iron and those help firm things up. Check out www.Vitalady.com and start looking into the DS plans and vitamins. Your surgeon may not recommend her plan but do what you have to do to get going with it as soon as you can. Surgeons are good cutters but they know diddly about over-the-counter vitamins. Also, checkout www.dsfacts.com for more good info.

--gina

Welcome and all the best for your surgery.  You may want to check out the DS forum here http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/ds if you haven't already discovered it.

Welcome!!!   I'm super excited for you!!  Our board is represented by every surgery type and we have an awesome supportive group.  Sometimes posters that are LW's have different concerns than those who are not. 

I had the RNY and for me health wise I was pretty good but even though I'm not an emotional person the two weeks afterwards was like a roller coaster.

Welcome. 

  Not a DS but RNY here but we love everyone on this board.  I work from home so I didn't really take but a few days off but I certainly wasn't fully working for the first few weeks.  It was a full 6 weeks before I was up to full strenght and able to handle a full day and even then, I was in bed early.  the first week I was sore and didn't move very quickly.  I had to prop pillows all around me to sleep and actually spent the first night or 2 in the recliner.  However, my surgery was lap and after 3 other open abdominal surgeries, this was a breeze.  You will find it hard most likely to get your fluids in the first week but it gets better daily. 

We are here to help, however we can. 

Hi,

Welcome to the LW board. I had the ds and was going to be out 4 weeks but got the flu the week I was suppose to go back  so ended out a total of 5 weeks. I did only go back to work for 6 hour days because I have a very physical job and I'm on my feet all day. I have started wearing a pedometer in the last few months I average about 4.8 miles a day at work. Who is your surgeon? I hope the time goes by fast for you I remember how hard the waiting was.

Best of luck,

Trish

Trish - are you in Michigan?