The Top Five Tips to Success with Gastric Bypass Surgery

So you’ve tried every diet you’ve ever seen, exercised until you could almost drop from exhaustion, and the scale has not moved a bit. You’re struggling to move, struggling to live, looking for a way to take back control of your life. After much thought, soul-searching, and angst, you’ve decided that gastric bypass surgery is the method for you. Here are five tips for making your surgery work for you and to keep you safe:

1. Stay in close contact with your surgeon.

   Every surgeon has a slightly different way of doing things. Some are very much against supplemental protein shakes and some are very much for them. It all depends on what your surgeon has seen in their practice and what they know works for their patients. Your surgeon will also be able to tell you if that ache you are feeling in your stomach or that difficulty you are having when swallowing is something to be concerned about. Gastric bypass surgery does come with complications, but most can be managed with diligent attention and early care. Your surgeon and his or her office is the number one tool you have for keeping yourself safe and your new lifestyle on track.

2. Drink at least 48 ounces of water – but preferably more! – per day

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   Your body is a very complex, finely balanced machine that needs certain quantities of fuel every single day. By decreasing the size of the stomach, you are severely limiting your ability to take in large quantities of fluid. This is why it is essential to continue to drink small sips throughout the day. In the early post-op stages, it would be best to keep a bottle always in hand. Dehydration can cause dizziness, dry mouth, and darker urine. A trip to the ER for IV fluids will quickly reverse this state, but it is a condition that can easily be avoided.

3. Protein will spare your muscles – and your hair

   Protein provided many vital functions to your body: it helps build and repair tissue, and it can be used for energy. In addition, there are twenty essential proteins that the body cannot make on its own. They require these proteins to keep us healthy, so they must be taken in orally. Again, with a smaller stomach, protein becomes a priority. Depending on your surgeon’s guidelines, you will want to get at least 40 grams of protein a day – more if you can. Protein shakes are the most common way of meeting this goal, but some surgeons are against them, preferring their patients to gain their protein from whole foods. Regardless of your surgeon, protein is of vital importance to your success.

4. Calcium and iron and other vitamins – oh, my

   Just like we learned from our mothers, vitamins are good for us. They help keep our bones healthy, allow our blood to carry more oxygen, and are vital to the body for functions that it cannot perform on its own. In addition to the smaller stomach restricting your ability to gain vitamins for food, the portion of the intestine bypassed during surgery happens to be the place that most vitamins are absorbed. The body is and incredible thing – it will eventually develop a way to absorb some of the vitamins again. However, it will never again be able to absorb enough of them to make your body healthy. Calcium is the most important nutrient that is not absorbed. Years down the line, osteoporosis can be a devastating post op complication. Anemia, fatigue, and other diseases of vitamin deficiency are very real problems if vitamins are ignored. Follow your surgeon’s advice and take care of yourself. Vitamins are of the highest priority for you now – and for the rest of your life.

5. Listen to your body.

   Your body will be gurgling and aching now that you have had surgery, and it may be confusing. How do you know what is normal and what isn’t? You have to be aware of what your body is telling you. If you throw up every time after drinking milk, your body is telling you to stop. If your stomach aches every time you drink too much or eat to fast, it would be wise to slow down. All of these skills will come in time, but there are certain signals that are not a learning situation. If you are running a fever, call your surgeon. You may have an infection. If you are having new onset of severe abdominal pain, seek medical attention quickly. If any of your wounds are red, warm, or draining, let your surgeon know. You could have a local infection of your surgical wound. Anything that is a change from how you normally feel or is severely painful must be evaluated by a doctor. Your body is trying to cope with a catastrophic change and is telling you how it is handling it. Listen closely. Your life and health may depend on it.