Tell Your Weight Loss Surgery Story

Hi everyone! So glad I found this forum, has really helped with my research so I felt it was time to join. I've been considering this surgery for the better part of two years now. I've struggled with my weight since puberty, and I've lost and gained back the weight (and thensome) more times than I can count. Currently I have a BMI around 43, borderline hypertension, asthma, probably sleep apnea, and found out I have a genetic blood clotting disorder (which naturally can be exacerbated by my weight). I want to be around for a long time for my family, fiance and friends. I feel like now is the time to really pursue this before it's too late. Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3…

Had my surgery yesterday, all went well so far. Can't wait to be on liquids.

I just put my $500 deposit down for a January 24th sleeve! I am so happy and excited!!! I hope the Mayans are wrong and the world doesn't end before I get skinny.

I'm a band to sleever. I have been without my band since April and since the problems starte with the band last year I have gained 70 pounds back. EVERYTHING HURTS AGAIN...knees, back, you name it. So--I'll be more of a regular here as I now have a date! Crystal

Hello! I just had the surgery (rny) on Thursday. Nov 8th. I lost 61lbs since july (low carb/walking) I am so excited that Ive actually gotten the surgery...i was getting so impatient and now that 5 days have past since it still hasn't completely registered that the surgery part is complete. Lol My surgery went extremely well and my overnight hospital stay went by smoothly. If your reading this and are pre-op definitely walk when the nurses tell you to- it feels SO good! Left the hospital friday afternoon..even stopped at cvs for vitamins. I finally started feeling higher pain levels on sat/sun but only every now and then. The only thing i ever needed help with is g…

Hello Guys, Just wanted to introduce myself. I'm mrsdawsondn and I've come to the conclusion to bear down and get serious about my life and weight in 2005 and 2006. I reached my all time high in 2005 of 280 and started weight watchers and got down to 250. Stopped weight watchers and went up to 305 and was diagnosed in the prediabetic stage of my weight although I'd always been healthy even overweight. Never had any issues with high blood pressure, cholestoral, or any other weight related diseases. I was diagnosed with hypothyroid after I had my son in 2000 and my weight was on a steady climb no matter what I did.. Well diabetes is heavily run in my fathers side of the …

I was sleeved yesterday and just got home today. Yesterday was a little rough, but feeling somewhat better today. I am anxious about started full liquid diet tomorrow. Anxious as in worried... not excited. I have a protein elixir I can use in place of shakes. I am just afraid I will not be able to get it down. Any advice or encouragement is welcome!

I have lost 108 pounds since my surgery in June. I am thrilled and thankful. For the last few weeks I find myself eating a lot when I get home from work - through the night. I eat a good dinner - but later I start to crave and munch on things like rice cakes and popcorn. I sometimes eat a protein bar because it's good and a bit crunchy (20 grams of protein). Bottom line - I want FREEDOM from my food addiction!!!!! Don't we all? Any suggestions would be great. I still have 90 pounds to go and certainly don't want to hurt myself with food. This is when we learn super healthy habits - so I need your help to re-establish control, discipline and a bit of sanity …

Omg! The scale is not my friend. I started at 310lbs day of surgery 10/25, a week post op I was 295. Ok so 15 lbs sounds great. 1 week 4 days post op 288 lbs. I stalled...so I had to have my boyfriend hide the scale. It was so upsetting. Well today I had him give me the scale...I gained weight!!! 295 again!! What's the deal?? I hate to think I went through all this for a 20 lb weight loss

So excited that I have finally made the decision and scheduled my sleeve for 12/18. Any suggestions on shakes? My sweet hubby keeps bringing me different ones to try, but most have an aftertaste.

hi all - i haven't been able to lose my weight since the birth of my daughter - that was 35 years ago. lolol . I am a 58 year old married grandmother of 3. Disability retired since 2006. Since the age of about 23, for my b'day I always got a wt. watchers cupcake with one candle on it from my mother. She never knew how much that hurt. anyways.... that was then, the best is yet to come as they say. I gained 30 lbs over the past 6 months!! OMG bringing me to the heaviest weight of my life. Thats when I said enough is enough - so here i am waiting for surgery - so excited. I've been totally dormant for these past years, watching tv, not getting out much. Having…

Here are a few recent pics. 4 months in and 51 lbs down.

Im waiting for Baylor Hospital in Dallas Tx to let me kno if they will perform my surgery...ughh I wish I already had an answer...im ready to get the hard parts of this over with and go back to living life again...well I guess I will find out something here soon. ((

So I got the call today!!! Was so excited that it only took Aetna a week to approve me!!! Surgery date December 3rd!!! Since I have to start my 2 week liquid diet on Monday my family will be celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend! I was so excited I went out and bought new PJ's to wear after surgery!!!

Hi, my names Rick, i'm 40 years old and have 2 wonderful kids a 10 year old boy and a 5 year old girl. I weigh 370 lbs and am 5'5" tall. I am a professional Paramedic/Supervisor. When my wife of 12 years left me in April, I kept the kids because I am better at taking care of them then she ever was, I started thinking of what would happen to my kids if I died from health problems related to my weight, and I decided I can't take that chance anymore so I decided it was time to do what was necessary. I am scheduled for sleeve surgery on December 10. My daughter loves to hug my big belly but we talked and she says she will be OK with me getting rid of my belly if it mean…

Hello everyone! I am super excited to be on here! I am excited about my surgery because I have been waiting for this pretty much my whole life. I have been dieting since I was 10. I have done everything from Nutrisysyem to Weight Watchers and everything in-between. In 2009 I had Lap Band surgery and actually lost more weight when they took it out in late 2011. When they took out my lapband they found out I had an enlarged liver which now I know is fatty liver and nonalcoholic sclerosis of the liver. Two months later I was also diagnosed with diabetes. It's definitely been a bit overwhelming. But now I am starting this journey. I know this isn't going to be an eas…

Evening everyone I'm wondering how long it was before each of you started back eating or preparing to eat solids again? I have seen many say a month and some say longer! How long was it for you all?

Evening all I'm Valerie and I'm a new sleever! I had my surgery on 10/23 and as of 10/31 I was down 18lbs and as of today I'm down 22lbs...I'm in the second phase of eating and I can't think of anything good to eat besides the Protein shakes and potatoes ***ANY IDEAS OR recipes *****below are two photos before my surgery and two weeks after .I can tell that I have lost weight in my legs And my stomach Ohhhh and my chubby face..LOL but in all I'm excited and can't wait to enjoy this journey ... [ATTACH]6244[/ATTACH]

Everyone is commenting on his much weight I have lost, but truthfully I haven't weighed since my one week post op visit!!! I know I am losing but I guess I am afraid if disappointment !!!!! Anyone else have this issue???

First person to post the correct answer, gets a cyber high five. Then a new question will come up..... Who was the voice of Fat Albert?

I got my band nov 2nd.

Well tomorrow is my first Appt to see all about gastric bypass not sure what to expect but when I talk to the lady she said I was already on a roll because I am writing what I eat already have appt set for my diet and follow up made for doctor already so let's see what happens tomorrow

Hi, just discovered this website and I'm loving reading everyone's stories and comments. Since I'm a uninsured American, and this procedure is cheaper in Mexico, that's the route I'm going to take. I am kinda curious who people would recommend? I'm looking to do this next march or April in Tijuana. How was the atmosphere, did you feel safe as an American in a border town? Let me know please . I have been overweight my whole life, and I am at my heaviest ever. 330 lbs. so I decided that this is the option I was going to go for. I feel like its my last option to lose weight and have a happier life.

I've seen it mentioned many times, but I cant figure out what it is except something bad!

Hey there...had surgery yesterday at 10:15am. Haven't had any naseua or anything. Very little incision pain, just tightness on my tummy, not a lot of gas pain surprisingly. Walked 3 times yesterday 15 minutes each. And did a 20 minute walk already this morning. Got dressed, cleaned up and just sitting around the room. Have to stay again tonight but feel I could go today. Haven't drank or ate yet so still have to see how that goes here soon. My doctor doesn't do the swallow test, that's prolly why she keeps her patients 2 nights. Have the drain in still but can't tell its there. No problem going to the bathroom, no catheter used which was nice. Hope fellow sleevers from…

Banded w/plication on the 7th. Everything has went ok. And at the same time, nothing that I expected.

Hi Everyone, I'm a newbie to this site and trying to work my way around it. I'm hopeless so please don't think I'm being ignorant. I am 5 weeks Post Op and doing well. My Doctor is Tim Wright. I had the Gastric Band 9 years ago and it was no good for me so at this stage very happy with my sleeve. Cheers

Does anyone else get the annoying ad from sils pop up on their screen? I want to punch that skinny chick with her unzipped jeans right in the navel.

Hey Everyone, I am a 22 yr old college student and was sleeved on August 22nd. I am a little over 2 months post op right now. I am loving my sleeve! I had a great recovery right from the start and am down 55 pounds right now. My starting weight was 231 and I am currently at 176. I can pretty much tolerate any kinds of foods - but just very, very small portions of food! The first picture is me at my consultation appointment on July 19th and the other one is a wedding from the summer. The next one is from this past weekend at a bridal shower. I have had stalls, but haven't freaked out about them. I lost 12 pounds my first week and then nothing for 3 more wee…

I am new to the forum and strongly considering lap band. I just don't know where to start. My insuance, Capital Health Plan located in Tallahassee, Florida will pay for the surgery. What is my next step. I am at a loss. this seems to be overwhelming.

I'm about one hour from my sleeve and I can't wait. I'm 40 years old and I want to get back into playing the sports I did before I got up to 320lbs. I'm down to 297 this am and my goal is to get to 190.

I am now almost 7 weeks out of surgery and have hit a plateau in the past 2 weeks. I have only lost like 2 pounds. My dr. Says im not getting in enough calories and I need to be getting 1200 in but its sooo hard! I barely able to eat any food, cannot keep down my Vitamins, and now cannot handle dairy products at all. I love this surgery a lot but im trying and trying so hard and I just don't know what im doing wrong. Please someone help me! *Jess*

Well Im 5 days out. Can't say it has been the easiest or the hardest 5 days of my life. I couldn't drink more then about 16 oz of Fluid for the first couple days. I knew this was not good, but, thats how it was. I resorted to drinking Gatorade. I needed to get as much electrolytes I could and this was what I went with. I discovered I was not big on cold liquids. Didn't feel right. So I have gone to room temp to warm liquids. Feels so much better. Yesterday I felt pretty good and pushed myself to get more fluids in. Ensure Clear is nasty, but I Water it down and that works. chicken broth is nasty. Beef Broth OK. I resorted to making a "Cup Of Noodle" So…

It happened this week to me. I feel I have reached the other side of the bridge; the side where normal, healthy thin people live. I don't feel like a person who is fat inside my head, or even a person who has had surgery to lose weight. This is good and bad....it's a new normal and I have to be careful. More on this topic on my weekly blog...Week 56. I've decided to stop at Week 64....some interesting insights to think about at www.queenofcrop.com in case you haven't signed up yet. I so appreciate all the readers on my site. It's been a wonderful support for me (as has this forum) and I hope my success has inspired others to consider this path. Hope everyone is having a…

hey guys! i wanted to make a new post updating you about my status as of right now. im going to start off with my weight and stuff and then we can move on to my non scale victory story! as of today, weight: 147lbs. bmi: 27.8 lost: 126lbs started at weight: 273lbs. bmi: 51.6 so here goes my non scale victory story! i started out wearing a size 18-22 in jeans. i am only 5'1 so imagine carrying 273lbs with you all the time! it was hard. if the jeans were really stretch, i was an 18. no stretch, id say 22 maybe even 24! well, yesterday i had to go jean shopping because the size 6 jeans i bought in sept are starting to look baggy on me. not cute lol. i trie…

I am hoping to get my surgery date tomorrow. What is plication?

I am new to this page (and this is my first time on a forum!) I am currently in the preliminary process of lap band. I am doing a 3 month doctor supervised diet, go Wednesday for an EGD, Monday for a sleep study, then a support group, a nutrition class, a psych eval... Hopefully by then my supervised diet will be over and I can get this show on the road! I'm so anxious. Nervous. Excited. Hopeful. And a little uncertain.

OK, I got my surgery date...December 11! Now it's real for me. How are you guys handling the anticipation? What's your pre-op routine? I start a Liquid diet on Nov. 26. I get a "normal" Turkey day but Christmas will be liquid. Thanksgiving seems to be more of an eating day in my family than Christmas so I think I will be just fine. Maybe I will let everyone else wait on me for a Christmas present. That would be a first for this big time mom and grandma :-)

Hi, I'm Kristine. I've lost almost 80 lbs from the start of pre-lapband to post lapband. In January I was 300 lbs, the day of my surgery (in Feb) I was 292, and now I'm 222. I joined this forum because I recently moved from CA to NJ and lost my surgeon's expertise and the community I had there of bariatric patients. My surgery was Feb 28th of this year. I was self-pay because my insurance was way to much of a hassle. Dr. John Coon of Riverside, CA, was my doctor. Great, knowledgable staff, great community of patients, and awesome surgeon. My only complication was phernic nerve irritation caused by the wire being too long. My doctor said if the pain was too unbearable…

I am also one of those people who will never divulge that I have a lapband, the only person that knows is my husband, & thats the way I will keep it for my own reasons. Anyone else like that? or did you tell everyone?

Post surgery recovery was a lot more difficult than I anticipated, but now the only problem I have is that I am not sleeping through the night. I sleep for a few hours and then need to sit up for a couple hours. I ve lost 27lbs so far, but it's hard to be excited when your lacking sleep.

I am also one of those people who will never divulge that I have a lapband, the only person that knows is my husbnad, & thats the way I will keep it for my own reasons. Anyone else like that? or did you tell everyone?

I had my psych eval. today & I thought it went well. I was hoping to be done with this step in the process, but I also have to take a personality assessment. Have any of you been through this? I'm nervous, because I don't know what personality traits they're looking for.

HI, Im new here. I unfortunately was not approved by insurance, I am a self pay. Apparently I was big but not big enough I am 5'3 and was carrying around 215lbs (not my heaviest) at the time I decided to get banded. My journey was a little different. I was recently banded in houston Texas, by Dr. Hollis on 10/24/12. I only lost a pound during pre op b/c I didn't diet. My surgeon was pissed, but I explained to him, I wanted to enjoy my last 2 weeks, eating what I consider to be normal & not spend it dieting, since I have to change the way I eat for pretty much the rest of my life. Unhappy but nevertheless, I was paying so he performed the surgery & everything we…

1 year ago today I was being rolled into the Operating room thinking that this is my last chance to change my life. This is the last chance I have to get healthy and make a change for the better. This is the last chance for me to for me to stop just existing and start living. Growing up I was always the largest kid. In high school I went from being a 5 foot 8 kid to being 6 foot 4 man wearing a size 15 shoe. In high school I was athletic and worked out daily. After high school my family moved to Atlanta so my sister could receive better treatment for her MS. During my time in Atlanta I started to gain weight .I was sedentary and but still eating like an athlete. My sister…

Why do people judge so much? Everyone swears imma lose to much weight and be skin and bones...or that I will die...im so fearful now...dont no what to think or how to feel. I was so excited now I just feel...alone

Hi Everyone! My Name is Nettie and I am considering lap band surgery. I have been through all the preliminary steps and am meeting with the Surgeon for the first time this coming Wed. I am scared to death. I keep questioning my decision big time. I am in my early 40's and have type 2 diabetes, HTN and PCOS and have a family history of heart problems & cancer. I have had one major success in losing weight and keeping it off and that was in 1998 when I went from 280ish to 240. I have since then bounced around from 240 to 250 constantly. I have tried lots of ways to lose but I either don't give it my all or I don't get the desired results so I give up. I saw my Mo…

I would love to join the Friday weight in group just on sure about where I'm supposed to go to get there. I see many of you use my Fitness Pal also what is this can somebody fill me in?

I would love to join the Friday weight in group just on sure about where I'm supposed to go to get there. I see many of you use my Fitness Pal also what is this can somebody fill me in?

My rny surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, 11.13. We sent off the approval paperwork on 10.29. If it comes back TODAY, we are moving forward with the date, otherwise it will be rescheduled. I am so anxious I can't stand it.