New..sad..confuse

Help  and advice appreciated-   I stayed torn between sleeve and RNY all during my 6 month pre-op .  Finally, surgeon and nurse friends encouraged RNY so I choose it.  Surgery was on Jan 6th of this year.  Today being Jan. 11-  I am still incredibly sore at lapro sites.  Terrible gas is somewhat relieved, but still get terrible gas each time I eat.  I see commericals or ads  showing real food all the time.  I KNOW that it is a process... and I don't mean next month... but will I ever ever ever be able to eat out again?  No one is telling me yes to this so far. All I am told is I will never be able to have more than 5 grams of sugar. This is a silly thing to be depressed over... but I am.   Will I never be able to go to a picnic, a cookout, a nice restaurant again?  IF the answer is yes... what are some of the things that you do when you go out?? My biggest fear is Dumping Syndrome- I am terrified of going in to  it. Help

You just had surgery 5 days ago! Congratulations!!!! 

I have not had surgery yet, but my mom had RNY 4 years ago. She has foods she avoids now, but for the most part can eat almost anything in small portions. You will be able to eat again, just hang in there and get through this next chapter of your life by taking it one day at a time! Your body will be going through a lot as you drop weight and try to bear in mind that your emotions will run high as your hormones are being released from being stored in fat cells. Brace yourself for the roller coaster and cry when you need to. Get a friend or a good therapist to help you through this time and keep asking questions! 

I hope you feel better soon! 

Of course you will be able to eat out again! I do at least a couple of times a week. I can't and don't eat nearly as much as I used to- I'm a cheap date now- but I sure enjoy it. Usually my husband and I split an entree, and we order something healthy like grilled chicken or fish, sometimes meat. We go out for pizza, and I eat the insides of a couple of pieces. Picnics and cookouts I often bring my own food or dish so I know there will be something I can eat. But, yes, you will be able to eat out again.

Dumping is not something everyone with an RNY gets, but I'm sure most if not all of us experiment to see how far we can go. Plus I learn the hard way. I only dump on ice cream- how do you think I found that out? Not once but several times. I'll probably try again, dumb and stubborn as I am. And, no, dumping is not fun. But it does pass. And I don't eat much sugar. A lot of things have changed for me; some things I miss, some things I don't.

You are only very fresh post-op, and things are always scary and overwhelming at first. I remember that time well- I was up and down like a yo-yo, sometimes did that loop thing. It will get easier as you go along and figure out what works for you- I promise you will get the hang of it.

You might want to do some posting on the RNY forum- there's lots of good support there.

Good luck with your new journey!

Relax Grasshopper... You will discover the answer to all your questions in due time. 

As I approach my 1st year here are the answers to your questions that I CURRENTLY understand... your answers will likely vary

Yep, the first few weeks really suck... but are now a distant memory, and in hind sight could have been twice as bad and lasted twice as long and I would still have no regrets... hang in there , it does get better. 

I don'****ch commercials for food as much as possible... yet, all I really eat is real food... just much better choices than prior to the surgery. Can I eat out?? Yep! I order wisely (make reasonably sensible choices from the menu) and I ask for a box to come with the meal and scoop out 1/2 to 3/4s of the meal into the box for my lunch the next 2-4 days. 

Sugar - was my downfall before... so I do avoid it to a large extent. Now that I am at goal wt. I allow myself up to 10g sugar per serving... every once in a while (prefer less than 8). Unlike many you will see on these boards I am terrified of dumping and have chosen to NOT pu**** and see what I will tolerate. Too many of these I know who have gained all their loss back chose to see what they could eat... and were soon were right back to eating all the crap foods that got them into trouble in the first place. You may be an exception, but do you REALLY want to put all the expense and misery to risk just to eat that crap? I hope to maintain my fear of dumping so long as I live... and NOT test it. There are no physiological needs for high-fat, high sugar foods... and I have VERY clear evidence of what I will do to myself when I do eat them... 

Best of luck, you ought to keep this post handy and look at it again in 6 months or a year... you will be amused by what seemed important at this point in your journey

Of course you'll be able to eat out again.  I eat out often.  Some of my favorite places to eat are Panera, Chipotle and Subway.

No more than five grams of sugar?  Most people can tolerate more than that.  Actually, only about 30% of RNY folks get dumping syndrome, so 70% of people can eat tons of sugar - not that they should, tons of sugar won't help you lose weight, but they can tolerate it if they want to eat it.  Even those that dump can often tolerate more than five grams.  I'm OK with up to about 15 grams.

Yesterday I went to Panera for lunch.  I had broccoli cheddar soup, part of a baggette, and 1/4 of my friend's chocolate chip cookie.

You can eat out and do whatever you want.  You just need to pay attention to what you eat.  As for dumping, be afraid you don't dump, that should be your fear.  And believe you do for as long as you can.  Once you find out the truth hopefully you will be near goal and learned a new way to eat.

I haven't had my surgery yet, but my SIL had RNY 2 years ago.  She eats out all the time.  She eats very small portions.  Sweets do make her sick, so she doesn't really eat them much.  She told me she can no longer eat Brussel sprouts and she used to love them.  They are on her "list" of things she no longer eats.  

Congratulations on your surgery!

I know what you mean about the commercials for food. I never notices how many there are. I mean, they're playing them back to back from 3pm to 8pm. Not that I'm really hungry, but it doesn't kind of draw you in.  And I can't even get away from it in my sleep. Before I had WLS i used to dream about shopping for food, eating food, making food, handling food about 4 nights a week. That has slowed down, but i've had some very vivid dreams about having cookies in my mouth and eating Fritos, LOL. Both times I woke up in a cold sweat because it was so real, i thought I'd broken training!