Tell Your Weight Loss Surgery Story

Finished my options class at kaiser on may 25th and I have my appointment to see the surgeon on the 14th. I am a little nervous and at the same time excited. I'm so glad I found this site, so hello everyone!

Just got my referral!!! So excited :-) What is the recovery time? I am just wondering so I can take the time off

Oh, I have so many questions. Is anyone else from Canada? Alberta, specifically? I am really thinking that lap band surgery is probably the way to go for me, as I have lost weight many times before, only to gain it back plus 30 lbs. I am desperate. I'm looking into Slimband. Anyone had that? In Toronto? I looked into Mexico, but that sounded scary as all get out, so that's out. Cheap, though. Slimband costs $16000 (although they have a special right now where you get $1000 back for travel expenses). Is that about the normal price for all of the ones in Canada and the US?

I think I'm dehydrated I try N drink. But it feels so uncomfortable N feel like I'm going to puke what else.can I do to feel better I'm. Calling my dr tomorr

I am two mnths out from surgery n is wondering can I have bread? I am wanting a pbnj sandwich

I'd any one else feel loanly and all my there self??? I am post op two weeks to go and have a very mixed emotions! Xx

My consultation was 01/25/11. I am so ready to do this but i feel like the system is set up for ppl who are not quite sure. Unfortunately i waited till I was 100% positive before scheduling an appointment. now everything feels like its dragging. Now I have to get an Endoscopy, Psych Eval, Nutritionist, and letter of recommendation. feeling like Im back to square one. I think I gave myself the false hope that when I made my decision it would be one two three and i would be feeling great by summer...............could be wrong-er! btw how do i get one of those weight loss trackers?

It's hard to believe it's been over 6 weeks already! It still feels surreal that I went to Mexico, that I flew on a plane and that I had this surgery. I am down 34.6 lbs. I've already gone from a size 22 jeans to a size 20. My starting weight was 242.2 lbs. That was the heaviest I had ever been. I was in denial for a long time that I was really that obese. I didn't have any health problems, so I didn't worry too much. However, my habits were starting to rub off on my 5 year old daughter and the light bulb went off. It was time for a change. I tried Weight Watchers for the umpteenth time. I think all of you know how that goes lol. Well, long story short I was f…

Hi there everyone, I am new to the community and just want give a shout out to everyone. I have decided to move forward as a self pay for the procedure as my BMI 31 does not fall under coverage. At first I was sticker shocked when quoted $17000 here in Hawaii with Dr Criangle....am I dillusional or is this a standard price for SP? Regardless for me I think over all, the long term, healh wise, self confidence etc will offset the price for me...thoughts anyone

I've attended several bariatric orientations in San Diego and still contemplating weight loss surgery. I am scared of the thought of having a device in my system but having a big portion of my stomach cut is even more scary as once it's gone I can't get it back. I'm new on the forum and have been a mater dieter since college. I'm 42, 4'11 and a half and weigh 225lbs. I have lots of joint pain, hip arthritis and Achilles tendonitis and have a hard time walking without much pain. I have mild sleep apnea and asthma with a BMI of 43. My doctor referred me to receive a consultation and I am scheduled to see the team of bariatric personnel which includes a dietician, psychologi…

Just wanted to say hi and introduce myself. My name is Frank and I am now 4 weeks post-op. My surgeon was Dr. Singh and I had my surgery done at St. Agnes in Baltimore. I was at 330 pounds before the 2 week pre-surgery diet, during which I lost 15 pounds, and I've dropped another 25 since the surgery.

I am almost a year out and feeling freat. I have gone from 245 to 161. Only 1 lb to original goal weight but would really like to get down to 150 now. Started running a couple of month ago. Need to start working out to tone and build muscle. Have not lost any in over a month not sure what to do to help out. Worried I have stretched my pouch or something.

Well friends Im still waiting. I called the insurance company today and they said that they have finished with the medical benefits part of the review and now they are reviewing the medical necissity part of the review. I just wanna scream, I know I am very impatient.

Hello Sleevers! For the few weeks I have joined this forum, I have been introduced to a community of caring, wonderful, supportive peeps--some mentors and some at the beginning of this journey like me. To all those wonderful and brave souls, thank you. I am going in to surgery today with Dr. Aceves in Mexicali. Let me start by saying I have always been generally risk averse. So, it would make sense that my journey with WLS started at the lap band some 9 years ago, or as others have appropriately coined it "the crap band." The lap band was a series of disappointments...mostly in myself. But long story short is that I lost 45 lbs while training for a marathon the fi…

I'm 5 days post op and I just can't stop masturbating ,is this normal?

Am worried that my surgeon will cancel my revision surgery. The Preop bariatrician asked if I could lose 5-10 pounds before surgery. Of course, I said yes. I immediately put myself on a 1200 cal diet. I know it is accurate because I am a diabetes nurse educator. My nut said because I am only 4 foot 10, 1200 cals is too much. So, tomorrow I begin a shake and yogurt for breakfast and lunch and all protein for dinner. No more than 1000 cals for one week. I see the surgeon June 14 and surgery is the 27th. I can do this!!! Right??? Did anyone else have this problem? I feel like a failure and have tried so hard for 5 weeks. She said 1200 is maintenance for me. UGH!!

I am so lost my app was not working so now what did I miss

Hello, My name is Jarrin J. I'm 25 years old and I was banded on 5/31/2012. This was a decision that I had be considering for quite sometime and i finally did it. I want to start a family with my wife and I want to make sure that I was around to be a father to our kids. I'm @ my heaviest weight 483 :-( and I'm look forward to this being a successful journey.

I've enjoyed reading the posts in this forum and have gotten such good information out of it. I have my first appointment on Tuesday and am excited to begin my new weight loss journey. I've been on so many diets since I was a teenager and have gone up and down so many times I've lost count. I really need to stop the madness and get healthy once and for all. I would love to be able to wake up in the morning for once without thinking about how heavy I've gotten!

Sorry about that my little brother got hold oft phone.

I had my surgery May 30,2012. It all happened so quick. I went in may 9 for my consultation, did all my classes then went in ford surgery on the 30. The hospital stay wasnt bad. Once they remove the IV and make you eat were I struggled. I did not pay attention in the nutrition classes. I figured I could do all that at home. The hospital I stayed in orange coast memorial was amazing the nutritionist came in and went over things with me. I went home Friday morning. I have bad acid reflex but the more I walk the better it gets. I've noticed the more I walk the more the negative symptoms go away. (: I have not lost any weight but i'm sure I will. I weighted in 234 at surgery.…

It's June 4th!! They asked if I wanted to to may 21st but I'm not prepared to have surgery next Monday. I need to prepare mentally for this. I have been doing just that for the last 6 months, but to me next Monday just seemed to close and I haven't prepared myself that fast. I'm ok and excited for June 4th!!

I had my operation 6 months ago and go for my first 6 month check up on May 24. I have not had any problems except for constipation. I walk 2 miles in the morning and 2 miles in the evening five days a week and lift weights 3 days a week. I drink nothing but water or a protein drink with skim milk. I tried to take metamucil but it made my problem worse, the pressure in my lower back got so bad that I could not even urinate. I went to my primary care and was told to drink Mirilax daily, this helped a little. I have pressure in my lower back and abdominal area, when I do go to the bathroom I don't really clean out, it feels as if I still need to go all the time. Thi…

Hello all, My name is Te'Nesha. I'm 26 years old and about to take one of the most important and life changing journeys of my life. Today, I began my "protein shake" liquid diet. Two weeks. Oh boy. My surgery is scheduled for June 12th with True Results in San Antonio, TX. My surgeon is Dr. Gerardo Carcamo. I am nervous, anxious, and a little scared. But I am trusting God everything will turn out just fine. I truly appreciate everyone’s comments within this website. I have been actively visiting this site for the past couple of months. I feel adequately prepared. I look forward to the "shoulder pain", "gas pains", not "getting stuck", "hiccups", and every other i…

Hello!! First off i should start off with saying i am a type 1 Diabetic (since 5 years old) and i hope my band will help me have better control with my health as well as weight! i got my band 5 days ago (june1,2012) so am still new but these forums have helped me with so much since i started reading them!! biggest issue was i seemed to have lots of gas..yuk i know lol but i didint freak out it's normal according to all of you! lol yaaaaaay!! anyways i live in victoria british columbia and Dr Bradley Amson performed my surgery, he was wonderfull by the way, so nice and when it came time to go into the ER he made the entire experience VERY comfortable and not bad in the le…

My name is Mandy and I am new to this site. My story begins almost 2 yrs ago when I found out that I had high bp. Ironically, I found this out at the gym when I went to start a fitness program. I had been on diet pills for 7 years, which had helped me control my weight for many years. The bad thing was that they eventually began to lose effectiveness on curbing my appetite. I was a yo-yo dieter... lose 10 gain back 20. With high blood pressure I stopped the pills and quit smoking. As you can imagine, the weight piled on. October 2010, I met a girl that had underwent RNY 2 yrs prior. She'd had no complications and looked great. She gave me her MD's name and I made the c…

Ok to start hello fellow banders my names kristin im 24 and ivr had my band since i was 19.. This has tfuly been a terrible scary awful yet amazing journey.. I weighed 420 when i got my band i got down to 276 so i lost almost 150 pounds which i wish i could say yay im so proud of myself but no see my port flipped and i couldnt get any fills so by the time i could afford to fix it i was back up to 340 finally got it revised AWAKE! Terrible but got a fill and on the right track i went with diet and exercise guess what year later flipped again gained the same weight back same story fixed it started losin switched doctors flipped again luckly this time it had flipped itsself …

way back in 2006 i had hit my top weight of 275 lbs. no matter what i did hunger and carbs would always attack and win. i saw an ad for lapband in dec. 2006 and called they set me up for a seminar. i attended and i met the 4 surgeons who were there. after listening to the types of surgeries available etc. i chose the lapband again because it seemed the least invasive and could be removed if need be. i met the first surgeon and explained to him what i wanted and that i planned on interviewing all the dr.s that were at the seminar. he said we all work together etc he played right into my emotions by telling me what i needed to hear "this has effected you your whole life" et…

So I am another Pre-Op Sleever here. Trying to figure out how to start feels like I am posting a singles ad . I decided in March that I wanted to persue the idea of weight loss surgery. Contacted my insurance and got my list of doctors. Went to the first doctor and didn't get a warm fuzzy from him, so I decided to try a different surgeon, Jorge Levia, he is very imformative actually did an exam prior to anything else, and has a great track record. so here we are in June and I have a June 25th surgery date at Memorial Herman Memorial City Hospital. And while I am excited about where this is going to lead me and the health benifits of it I am scared to death of …

Very informative I went last night and it was very good as to what to expect I will be getting a call from the surgeon this week to get into his office soon, anyone else there last night?

I am exactly one week post op and I'm still have sharp pains when I drink anything and I mean anything even popsycles. Is this normal or should I call the dr. office. With every sip of water I take in I get a pain.

Sleevester since 05/14/12 and I am so very happy i did this! Struggled woth weight my whole life and once I reached the age of 60 realized i needed more help to reach my weight goal. I am struggling with melancholy and still some pain. Worried about not keeping off the weight in the years to come. AnyOne else worried about that too?

I can truly say that I am nervous and going threw a lot of mixed emotions. I had my second consult with my doctor and decided to get the sleeve surgery date is 8/15/ 2012 . I hope everything goes threw I'm trying to have it before my kids go back to school so I can relax . I have already scheduled all of my appointments so my insurance will cover my procedure. Well first thing my Dr. Ask me to do was one of the hardest was to quit smoking .Its been five days now I didn't go cold turkey but I'm using an electric cigarette which helps with the cravings I've been a smoker for more than half my life that's 20 yrs smoking and I'm 33 go figure.. I was a mom at a very young ag…

Had my surgery 11/29 I started out at 252lbs and I'm down to 164. It's been quite the journey some days better then others. Over all I'm so glad I has the gastric bypass surgery. I tell everyone that it was the best choice I ever made. I feel so much better and my blood pressure is under control. I am continuing my journey:-)

My surgery is set for July 10th! I am so VERY excited!

Hello! This is my first post as I am getting ready for the first day of my new way of life! I have been approved for surgery and have a preop appt on June 13 and surgery date on June 28! I am so excited...and just a bit nervous! I look forward to posting here many times to come and think this is a great place to chat, share stories and get to know other people going through the same things! Can anyone recommend any other good sites like this one?

Hey guys and gals. So I'm back in the hospital. I hadn't eaten anything for aout 9 days bc I always feel so nauseated. I was really feeling downright terrible so I went to the emergency room on Thursday Morning. I've been here since. My arms are all swollen and bruised bc they had to poke me 7 times before they could get the iv started. They said my veins were deflated due to dehydration. I still feel very nauseated. They did a really aggressive endoscopy yesterday. I hope the stricture heals and my stomach remains open. There's a lot of scar tissue. This really isn't what I signed up for and yea they do mention the risks before hand but no one told me it would be this ba…

Had my sleeve done 8 hours ago,I'm up and walking about a bit slow but the pain is going with every minute that passes ,I was very scared before I had it but there's nothing to it,just want to thank everyone for there support and for every one who is waiting don't be afraid trust me.THANKYOU......

Hello everyone! My names Nichole, I'm 26 amd I have a 6 year old son. I have put much thought and lots of research about the gastric bypass surgery. I am 283lbs right now and my goal weight is 150lbs. I spoke with the pcp and he agrees that im a good candidate for the surgery. So heres my question what do I do to get things started. I know I need to call to make an appt but I was told I need to call my insurance company first? Is the surgery worth it all? I want to better myself and get healthy for my son so I can enjoy watching him growing up. I want to be able to enjoy getting out and experiencing new things with out stares and giggles. So can someone write me an…

Hi, I am new to VST and have been looking around for a few weeks. I find everyone so helpful and nice. It is very uplifting to see so many people willing to share their stories and help those who are in need of some encouraging words. I am just startin out on my journey ( I have my initial consult next week) but I am interested in so many things in the "Sleeve" world. As a girl in her mid 20s I am so ready to start my life and feel that in order to do that I need to be happy with not only my body but my health. I have genetics going against me on both sides and can't remember a time where I was not overweight. I try to picture myself thinner and it just is not something …

Hello everyone I'm comming up to my surgery date and I'm starting to feel really nervous here. I'm 6ft 330 and I'm hope to get down to 220 I don't no how realalistic that is but I plan on giving it 110 percent to reach my goal.

Has anybody else seen it? My sister suggested I watch this documentary about the obesity problem. Its been soooo enlightening but now I'm a little torn. I'm still "pre-op" and praying for August to get here. But Yolanda in Part 2 said something that really spoke to me. She said "People want to hear that quick fix.People don't want to hear eat more fruits and vegetables, lean food and less fried food. Nobody wants to hear it. Its like a boring story, no action. Its not a thriller." I'm I expecting surgery to be my quick fix?

Hi everyone,my name is Tracey I'm from long island,NY...I'm 20 and am waiting for approval from cigna to get the surgery!my journey hasn't been easy so far between insurance being complicated and a bunch of different doctors telling me I'm still young so maybe I should re-evaluate my decision to get the surgery however I am very determined to get it!i know in about a week if I have the ok from cigna and am hoping I am approved!being heavy all of my life,in ready to work hard and start living a more healthy life style.im looking forward to reading more into everyone else's stories,so much inspiration!thank you for reading:)

Hey I'm new here right now I'm working with all the pre ops test etc I'm 207 now was 216 when I first start the process . I need a lot support

My name is Melissa and I am currently seeing a doctor in Dallas about the gastric sleeve. I have gone through several test and my insurance will pay for it, but I need 6 months of diet classes. I may be looking towards the end of September before I can have the surgery. I am 36 years old and can barely remember what it is like to be a normal weight. The last 5 years, I have been above 300lbs. I grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana, the fried food capital of the world. I remember any food we ate, was always fried, with rice or Pasta. My father was overweight and a Diabetic by the time I was 5 years old, but we still did not learn to eat right. I am hoping to be …

I am so thankful that I found this group, been having a rough 2 months. I was banded in July 2010 and lost 20 pound initially and then gained back 10 and that's where I've been until April. I know it's my fault, I did cut way down on my portions, but I hate to exercise so I stalled. Well the middle of April all hell broke loose, I ended up in the ER because the pain was horrendous. The ER doctor said I had Bilary Colic and to followup with my family doctor. I did and he set me up for a Hidascan and liver scan since the ultrasound showed nothing wrong with my gallbladder and a possible cyst on my liver. I couldn't eat anything, was nauseous ALL the time. Also had an appo…

Hi! I'm Sonja and your typical yo-yo dieter. I'm thinking about getting the lap band and trying to get as much info as possible to make a truely informed decision. I hope you all can help me through my doubts and fears...

Been eight days since surgery. I worked from home today, which involved me sitting in an offic chair typing for about four hours. Noticed my tummy was feeling a little sore/tight so got up and moved around. Then went out to meet some friends and we were laughing pretty hard for a out an hour. Came home and my tummy is sore!! Lower left. After reading a bit sounds like this can be from engaging muscles and that a lot of the surgery takes place on the left side. So, now I'm in pain from laughing. I suppose there are worse things?!

Hello Everyone..yeap another newbie, just peeking around and checking you all out...So far I am digging the energy. Lemme catch up on yall's post and I will jump in. Thanks ! xoxo

Hi everyone. My name is Verna and I am tired of being fat. I have high blood pressure and pain in my knees. I have an appointment with a bariatric surgeon in July and I cannot wait to begin the process. I joined this forum to get knowledge and to meet new people who are going through what I'm going through.