Frequently Asked Questions

Typically, patients spend the first night postoperatively in the hospital. Many patients do not require any pain medicine. We encourage patients to get up and walk around immediately during their post-operative stay in the hospital. Most people get back into the swing of things after a week or two following their procedure. You should not lift anything over 10 pounds for 10 days and nothing over 25 pounds for 1 month. Then you may return to exercising as your body can tolerate.

Right away! To start, you will take easy, short walks while you are in the hospital. The key is to start slow. You should not lift anything over 10 pounds for 10 days and nothing over 25 pounds for 1 month. After 30 days you may return to exercising slowly and listen to your body. Begin walking immediately, slowly working up to walking fast 3 times a week.

As with most operations, initially patients will feel fatigued. Once your metabolism changes for the better, your energy level will increase. This is because the quantity of food that is taken in is adequate enough to sustain good health. For other required energy, your body metabolizes the storage areas including the fatty deposits. We maintain high protein levels — protein aids in energy and the healing process. You won't have an abundance of energy without maintaining your protein level.

Most people can expect to lose between 60% and 70% of their excess body weight. Most of this is lost within the first 18 months following surgery.

Weight loss after bariatric surgery depends on many factors, including age, health, starting weight, activity level and how well you follow directions, among others.

Due to the tremendous weight loss as a result of the Roux-En-Y gastric bypass, you may have some loose or sagging skin. You may also develop skin breakdown due to excess moisture problems underneath the skin along with chronic infection. There may be less excess skin with the sleeve gastrectomy because the weight loss is more gradual, and the skin has time to recoil and adjust. If you are left with excess skin and loose tissue around your abdomen, you may be a candidate for a panniculectomy. A panniculectomy is a procedure to remove the “apron” of fat and skin that hangs from the front of your abdomen. If we deem you to be a candidate, we can submit for approval to your insurance company.

With any weight loss surgery, your body has to adjust to a smaller capacity for food. Although it is common for some post-operative stretching to occur, if you follow your post-operative eating guidelines, you should be able to maintain a healthy weight.

We recommend a high-protein, low-carb diet. If you revert back to eating a high-carb diet after bariatric surgery, you will not lose weight as expected or can regain weight. You must maintain a healthy diet after bariatric surgery for long-term success. You should eat 60 to 80 grams of protein and restrict your carbs to 30 grams a day following surgery.

In most cases, yes. With a reduction of weight on the joints, many people experience less joint pain and increased mobility. However, if there is already permanent damage to your joints, weight loss may not resolve all your joint pain.

We frequently hear from our patients that their cravings have significantly diminished, and they don’t feel compelled to eat all of the time. Much of this is due to reducing the amount of the hunger hormone (known as ghrelin) that is released into the system from the native stomach. Because the stomach is smaller, less ghrelin is produced.

Due to the post-operative diet, many patients suffer from a temporary thinning of the hair. To alleviate this problem, we recommend increasing protein intake and using hair-thickening shampoos. Thinning hair is a normal response to the initial rapid weight loss that occurs from both the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy. Once you’re back on a normal diet with adequate protein levels, the hair loss stabilizes, and you start to regain your hair. For most people, it goes back to normal.

It is not recommended to drink carbonated beverages.

Pregnancy after weight loss surgery is very possible. In fact, women who have suffered from infertility in the past will often regain their fertility as they lose weight. However, we recommend that our female patients avoid pregnancy for ideally at least 18 months to two years after weight loss surgery — specifically with Gastric Bypass and Gastric Sleeve. The reasoning behind this is that periods of rapid weight loss are not the ideal situation for nourishing a growing fetus.

However, after you’ve gotten past your first two years, have lost the bulk of your excess weight and are successfully maintaining, pregnancy is much safer for both you and the baby, as you will be lighter, more active and healthier all around. In addition, you will have a lower risk of weight-related pregnancy and delivery complications, and the baby, if born at a healthy weight, will have a lower risk of later health problems as well. If you become pregnant, please let us know as soon as possible because we’ll work closely with you and your OB-GYN to make sure you don’t become vitamin or mineral deficient during the pregnancy.

Support may include follow-up visits, nutrition guidance, physical activity and ongoing care from your weight loss team. If you have surgery, follow-up usually includes scheduled visits to check your recovery, adjust medicines and monitor your progress over time.

Yes. Ongoing medical weight loss support after surgery can be part of your follow-up, especially if you need help with plateaus or new health concerns.