no NSAIDS?

why can't i take NSAIDs after surgery? what do you take for aches and pains?

also, at my initial meeting with the doctor i asked him what the percentage is of his patients that gain their weight back. he said his patients don't gain weight back. can that be true?

Nope, no NSAIDs after RNY (although some doctors will permit them for very short term use, especially withe a PPI to help protect your pouch and remnant stomach).  The problem is that when NSAIDs get into your bloodstream, it causes the lining of your pouch and remnant stomach to thin, making you more likely to get an ulcer.  (It does that to everyone, not just us, but it is more of a problem for us because 1) our pouch doesn't contain the same amount of stomach "juices", some of which actually help to protect the stomach from ulcers, so it is MORE prone to ulceration, and 2) if you get an ulcer in your remnant stomach (which is "blind" after RNY, only accessible via surgery), treating an ulcer can be very difficult.

For pain, we are limited to Tylenol and prescription pain meds.  For minor or moderate pain, Tramadol seems to be the most prescribed pain med since it isn't an opiate. For inflammation, we are limited to non-medication treatments or steroids.

Any surgeon who says that NONE of his patients gain any weight back is lying through his teeth!  Some of them may not ever go back to him because they are embarrassed that they have regained, but I don't believe for a minute that he has not had any people come back to him for help with regain.  The statistics on the number of people *****gain weight after RNY is just too high.  

Having a doctor outright lie is a deal-breaker for me, so a surgeon who said that, or who tried to tell me that chewing gum or drinking soda after surgery would stretch my pouch, wouldn't BE my surgeon.  If they lie about one thing, what else will they lie or mislead you about?!?

Lora

I have read a few scientific studies and on average 65% of  RNY patients uphold their weight loss after 5 years post - op. 

I don't know which studies you are talking about, obviously, but the ones I have read generally show that people, on average, maintain a loss of 65% of their excess weight at 5 years out (since some never lose 100% of their excess weight and many regain) NOT that 65% of people maintain 100% of their weight loss.  

I would genuinely be interested in seeing studies that so many people maintain all of their weight loss even at 5 years, though.  (I have access to medical journals online, so if you have citations I have the ability to look them up.)

Lora

hmmm...something to think about.

Thanks for your responses.

I agree with Lora.  He is lying, unless:

1.  You are his first patient ever (in which case I would not want him to operate on me).

2.  He does no follow up at all, so he has no way of knowing how many patients gain weight back (in which case I would not want him to be my surgeon, because I would expect some follow up).

3.  He has developed some revolutionary new technique that prevents weight gain, making him world-famous and the most sought-after surgeon ever (in which case you probably couldn't even get an appointment with him, and if you could, it would be a couple of years before he could do your surgery because he would be all booked up).

To be honest, the fact that he said that greatly disturbs me.  Is he just trying to sell the surgery?  Does he not follow statistics of his patients through his after are team?  Does he even have an aftercare team?