Resources

• Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass – home post-op on day 2
• Open Gastric Bypass – home post-op on day 3 or 4
• Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding – home post-op on day 1
• Sleeve Gastrectomy – home post-op on day 1 or 2

Patients are usually able to resume normal daily activities, including returning to work, two to three weeks after surgery. If you work in an office setting that requires little to no strenuous activity, you should be able to return to work after two weeks. Your surgeon must clear you to return to work.

The reason patients lose hair post-op is because of the stress of surgery, rapid weight loss, as well as vitamin deficiencies and a decrease in the consumption of protein. You will see the greatest amount of hair thinning around three to six months after surgery. That is why we stress the importance of taking in at least 60-80 grams of protein per day and taking your vitamins religiously! Some patients find it beneficial to take biotin and/or use specialized hair products.

You can swim and take a bath when all wounds are completely healed and closed. You must have your surgeon’s clearance first.

If you are like most people, you should be able to lose up to 70-80% of your excess weight with a gastric bypass. Weight loss is slightly less with the gastric band and sleeve gastrectomy. Excess weight is your current weight, minus your ideal body weight. Typically, long-term patients might regain a few pounds at about two years after surgery. With a true commitment and diligence with diet and exercise, patients can have long-term success.

Immediately after surgery, a few patients are nauseated because of reactions to anesthesia or narcotic pain medicines. Once home from surgery, nausea or vomiting is usually due to patients not following diet recommendations.

All of the artificial sweeteners are OK to use. After gastric bypass surgery, patients will substitute sugary liquids with those sweetened with artificial sweeteners due to the propensity for simple sugars to trigger the dumping syndrome. We recommend that patients undergoing gastric banding use artificial sweeteners, as well, to decrease calorie intake.

We rarely see persistent diarrhea with gastric bypass. Other bariatric procedures, such as the duodenal switch or intestinal bypass, can cause an extensive amount of diarrhea. Diarrhea after gastric bypass usually is caused by lactose intolerance or a patient not following diet guidelines (such as by eating greasy foods and sugars).

Some of them are very large pills; do some of them come in liquid or chewable form to make them easier to take after surgery?

- Our medical director recommends chewable bariatric vitamins. These are specifically designed for bariatric patients. Following your discharge from the hospital, you will need to start taking a bariatric multivitamin twice a day, as well as calcium every day. Menstruating females should take a bariatric iron supplement. Make sure you take your calcium separately from your other vitamins. You will discuss this with the dietician.

We have a support group available to you that is located here in the Stergios Building at Desert Regional. We try to provide an educational topic, as well as a time to get to know your fellow patients. All group leaders are licensed professionals.

Our medical director recommends the following schedule: Office visits are at one week, six weeks, three months, six months, nine months, 12 months, 18 months and yearly for at least the first five years after surgery — and preferably for life. Upper GIs are done prior to discharge from the hospital and then on an as-needed basis only.

Some insurance carriers require records and some do not. You should call your carrier to determine their specific requirements.

We require that every patient get a psychological evaluation prior to surgery.