Weight loss post surgery

Hi I have got the operation scheduled for next week so can’t talk from experience yet but when I have been in meetings to prepare me it was explained that when they free the stomach to move it it is normal for some of the nerves to be damaged and this includes the one which signals hunger.  I was told few people will feel hunger again after the op.  I was also told to expect to lose about 10% of my weight while in hospital and for this to continue taking several months to stabilise.  I think it was put to me that I would struggle to put weight back on post op.  

I hope this helps 

Jac

Hi Jac, thanks for replying. This has certainly been my experience. It’s weird never feeling hungry; it’s something I need to get used. And I’ve not been feeling like eating much over the last few weeks anyway. Every day is a day further forward in recovery though, so it’s onwards and upwards I hope!

All the very best with your op next week. I wish you tye very best.

Hi I had my op in March this year and I'm still struggling with my food sometimes the food will go down and then other times the same food won't I've gone from 14 St down to 12 I can't eat like they want me too the 3 small meals because I'm like you I don't feel eating and still having lots of pain in the ribs when I'm coughing or sneezing and taking deep breaths just got to hope it gets better but been told it could take some time fingers crossed 

Hi Paz, thanks for replying. It sounds like we’re “in it” together. I’ve lost more weight since my original post and hope it bottoms out soon. It is tricky getting sufficient calories in and like you, I’m also experiencing pain in the ribs when coughing. 
At least, we know we’re not alone. Thank you and I hope things improve for you too soon.

Hi, I am eleven weeks post-surgery and, at the beginning, thought I was never getting there.  My weight plummeted but eventually settled when I was able to move off of puréed food.  I still don’t have a great appetite but, through trying and testing different foods and portions,I have found what I can eat and not eat.  It is such an immense change in so many ways.  They say that it takes a whole year to properly get over it but you will make progress well before then - it’s only when you take time to look back will you realise the progress made.

Hi Revrob, thanks for taking time to reply. It’s useful to hear that I’m not alone and this seems “normal” in the post of recovery phase.

I’m 9 weeks post recovery now and my weight seems to have stabilised now (1.5 stone) less than pre surgery. I don’t enjoy the act of eating yet and food and my reaction to it is still hit and miss, but there are days when I feel like I’m making progress.

I was told it was a long recovery, but thought as I’m relatively young and fit  (I like to think! At 62) that it would be quicker!

They say “patience is a virtue”, we’ll I’m having to learn some and take each day at a time.

All the very best with your own recovery. Let’s imagine this time next year where we’ll be.

You’re welcome!  You will start to enjoy food again. I had my first croissant last week - it was such a milestone because milestones are not necessarily big step forwards but significant ones. I’m in the midst of chemo again - belt and braces. One publication a nurse gave me described the surgery we have gone through as feeling as though we’d been “run over by a steam roller”.  My dad was diagnosed with the same condition almost twenty years ago and I can say that they have come a long with with treatment, surgery, etc.  

Hi, in total I have lost 3st, I was a size 14 and 11st. I’m now a size 8 and 8st 5lb, I do seem to have stabilized at this weight so I have had to get used to it like so many things post op. I did have a nasty diarrhoea bug in March and my weight went down to 8st 2lb, it took me nearly 3 months to claw my weight back up to the 8st mark. As for feeling hungry that’s something that’s just not going to happen so I’ve accepted that, I can’t honestly remember what it feels like anymore. I found things like ice cream and smoothies are good post surgery. Good luck 

Hi Kitty, thanks for taking the time to reply. Sounds like you’ve had a significant weight loss. Glad things have stabilised for you now. 
Despite the fact we’re told we’ll lose quite a bit of weight, I find it still takes some time to get used to it and find a new “norm”.

Thanks for the tip on icecream and smoothies…am having smoothies so will try icecream too!

Have just discovered I can tolerate chocolate eclairs, so that’s become my new treat and calorific intake! Know it’s not “healthy” but will make sure I eat lots of protein too!

Thank again and all the best 

Hi all

I’m 16weeks post surgery. Weight went from 78kg pre-surgery to 70kg by 4weeks post-surgery and has been in the range 68.5-70kg since. Today is 68.6kg. Identical food intake produces different effects- eg breakfast porridge 3days ago sent me back to bed an hour later to sleep off wind/dumping. Same breakfast next day, an hour later I was on a 3km walk.

Not much appetite, little & often doesn’t work very well, but overall a very gradual improvement. Forcing myself to eat more  at one sitting usually sends me back to bed.

What are others experiencing?

normwp