Tell Your Weight Loss Surgery Story

Hello all, I am trying to update my profile and I hit edit profile and it won't do anything. Can someone please give me some advice?

I am home. Stayed in the hospital 1 night. Moving around slow, but ok. Am on a full liquid and trying to get down some runny cream of wheat with unflavored protien, I find the protien drinks and liquid tylenol are soooo sweet. I see a few other people cannot drink the shakes what are you doing?

In July both my wife and I decided to have weight loss surgery. It has been frusterating to say the least. Before we could ever meet with the surgeon we had to attend a seminar explaining the procedures. At our first doctor appointment I did not qualify, my BMI was 39.5. Thankfully the nurse had my wife put her purse on the scale and that put me above the 40 BMI that the insurance was asking for. We each did our phyc evaluation and attended a class where we met with a dietician. We were originally told that we were going to have to do 6 months doctor supervised dieting but upon reading over the insurance requirements we soon discovered that they had recently changed…

Hello everyone ~I have my pre-op day on Oct. 20. My surgery is on Nov. 8. I am nervous as all get out. I have 150lbs. to lose. I haven't told many people about my surgery because I have some fears of negative reactions which I don't really want in my head right now. I haven't told my daughters about my surgery as they are so young and I don't want them to worry. I'm hoping to Skype with them from the hospital during my stay. Thankfully my parents are near to help my husband. I have a fear of failing yet I read so many success stories. I'm planning to go back to work after 3 weeks - basically a desk job - is this unrealistic? How soon after surgery do you…

Hello- I'm so glad I found this site! I had vsg surgery last Thursday and am still trying to fully recover. I guess I fooled myself into thinking a had a really high tolerance for pain/nausea, and assumed I'd be that one person who had surgery at 7:30 am and would be out of there without spending the night...I ended up in there for 2 nights. Things are slowly getting better but I am thirsty and have to constantly fight the urge to take large sips of Water. My surgeon was Dr. William Johnson @ Emory Johns Creek Hospital (in Atlanta suburbs) - not the closest hospital but everyone I talked to said he was wonderful. He's optimistic, exceptionally kind, and seems very k…

Hi Everyone! This is my first post here....on the day I was approved for my sleeve!!! I'm 42 and have been dealing with weight issues since my first and only pregnancy 18 years ago. I've run the gamut of eating disorders having first dealt with bulimia and then anorexia. Back then I was dealing with (or trying not to deal with) the death of my mom. I was only 25 and didn't really have any tools to deal with my life....which had changed so drastically. Fast forward to the present and I can honestly say that I would not be who I am today without all my struggles. Over the course of the past 18 years I've discovered who I am and have raised an amazing boy who is now a…

Hey everyone! Newbie here . . . just in the pre-op/waiting for insurace approval stage . . . . very excited and hopeful, but also a little nervous about the changes.

Researching lapband but confused on which doctors are good how much program fees are. My insurance covers it but so many fees for this and that someone said fills are $100 I'm so confused.

Hello everyone, My name is Rhonda and I have been watching this forum since the day after surgery. I have major support from my family but I need support from people who have been through EXACTLY what I have been through. I must admit I was a little hesitant to post on the forum. For one because I did not want to put my numbers on here. But then I thought I will never be that way again so I am posting out of excitement to get to know you guys better and for your support on my journey. I will say that I feel like I already know some of you guys because you always update us on what is going on and to give good advice on different situations. I read this post several…

Hi, My name is Carrie. I've been lurking for awhile. I was banded two weeks ago today. Going well. Just wanted to say hi. I have found a lot of useful info on this site and its helped a lot these first few weeks. thanks.

Hi, everyone! I'm new here, though I've lurked from time to time during my information searches. I've thought about WLS for many years, but have always opted to continue struggling along on my own, because gastic bypass seemed too drastic and I wasn't totally comfortable with the idea of lap band. Recently I've had reason to reconsider my options and I've been doing a lot of research. That led me to the gastric sleeve. I'd never heard of it before! The more I research it, the more it seems to be exactly what I've been looking for. I have a meeting scheduled for the 13th and I'm very excited to find out as much as I possibly can. Anyway, I just wanted to say hello and …

Hello all. This is my first post. I was banded 8/15. Even though i haven't had my first fill i have lost about 40 lbs to date. With cardio exercise (treadmill 30 mns 5 -6 times a week) and the fear of PB, sliming, and vomiting I have managed to learn Portion Control. I eat about a cup of food, never only Protein, always including vegetables at every meal. I dont know if i can eat more for fear of pain and discomfort so i dont. But i do eat only when i get hungry, So everything has been coming along nicely.... except for the burping... I burp at all hours of the day, whether i eat or not, whether i drink or not, i just always burp. Sometimes i'm burping so excess…

I started getting my info together in February of this year. My surgery is scheduled for Oct. 17th. I have lost 10 lbs so far in the past 4 weeks. My doctor didn't tell me to lose any prior to the surgery. I am getting nervous, but not to the point of backing out. I have battled with being overweight for most of my life. I am tired of the yo-yo of diets. I am excited about getting to have the surgery, getting to the road of recovery and getting to the point to where my hips, knees and back don't hurt. I have been surfing thru this site. I have started purchasing some of the protein products and budgeting my finances for while I am out. I am a nurse so my doctor says I w…

Hello, I'm new on the site but really excited to be here. I'm a big girl. I've been a big girl most of my life. The only time I haven't been a big girl were the times when I went on diets and was briefly successful but soon gained all the weight (plus some) back. I have several friends that had lapband surgery several years ago and I wanted the surgery so bad but my husband was so against it. The primary reason (aside from the fact that he said we couldn't afford it) was that all but one of my friends never lost more than just a few pounds and gained it all back plus some. Recently the one that was actually successful, had to have her band removed because it had sli…

Hello everyone! My journey started 6 months ago getting all the necessary preapproval stuff done, 1. cardiologist 2. sleep apnea test (2 nights) 3. pulminologist 4. monitored diet 5. all other stuff such as diet plan, list of failed diets etc. I am there! My surgery date is May 16th and I am looking forward to being a healthier me, I just wanted to drop in and say hello to all of you and would love some words of wisdom, comments, concerns, or other tidbits you may find helpful! Thanks again! and I look forward to joining the "healthy" club! Warm Regards, Jonathan

Hi all, I am 3.5 months out and seem to be able to eat a lot more than other sleevers. I am eating 6oz max per meal. BUT i probably could eat a little more sometimes if i allowed myself. I still am losing maybe 2-3 lbs a week. But just worried that i am setting myself up to fail. I am making better food choices and don't eat as much as pre-op. But im not eating a few spoonfulls and feeling full either like some other sleevers. Please let me know how much you eat. THANK YOU

Totally new to the forum. Just scheduled my surgery for October 21st! Having it done here in Houston, TX with Dr. Hollis of True Results. Have to start my pre-op diet today! LOL So, when mixing the Protein shakes, does everyone use Water... milk is a no-no for my Dr. And the Protein Shakes made with water are pretty nasty! Any suggestions?

Someone said its $100 even with insurance is that true? All these fees, even for program fees $600 .why isn't everything included?

Hello All, I am 32 years old and I am scheduled for sleeve surgery on the 26th of October. I am excited to be starting a new chapter in my life but I have some questions about what to expect right after surgery since my mind seems to keep forgetting there is a section between the surgery and looking and feeling good. The funny thing is that I am a nurse but I have always worked in Emergency rooms never on the inpatient floors so I only see the people who have problems with surgeries (any surgery not just bariatric) and I don't actually see the recovery part. My question is this, how much pain should I expect and for how long? I have never even broken a bonem I have…

Watch Me Go Through The Process To Have The Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy

This is my first post on this website. I must admit I have been a "creeper" for a couple of weeks. I have really enjoyed reading posts from everyone with different experiences. I am currently 18 days post op. I was sleeved on 9.19.2011. Prior to my surgery I lost 25 pounds, since my surgery I have lost an additional 25 pounds. I am currently in the "soft foods" stage. In the grand scheme of things my recovery has gone fairly smoothly. I only needed pain meds the day of surgery and nothing after that. I had some issues with gas buildup early on but that all passed within a couple days of surgery. I have noticed that EVERYTHING tastes different to me now. Thi…

Hello everyone! My name is Laura, and I from Denison, TX... born and raised. I've been preparing for my lap-band journey for a couple of months now, and just had my first one-on-one visit with the doctor. 6 months or so from now I will be ready to have the surgery. I am 5'8.5 inches and weigh in at a whopping 299 lbs. My goal weight is 150 lbs, but if I lose more that's fine too. But I will be happy with 150. I haven't been really fat my entire life, I was a chubby little kid but after I started growing taller I lost the baby fat. When I graduated high school I was slim, but I started gaining weight, about 20 lbs in college then 30 after I had to drop out. I …

I have been researching and considering bariatric surgery for a little over a two years. However, my insurance included an exclusion, and my husband kept switching jobs. Finally three months ago he started at a new company that has great insurance. We checked to see if it included weight loss surgery and it did! So we added it as my secondary insurance and we found a My New Self Seminar to get more information about surgery options. I had done some research but the seminar made this a real option for me. My insurance required that I do 6 months of monitored weight loss, so I started those appointments the week after the seminar. It was and eye opening experience. I had av…

I just updated my blog with my 3 month picture. I hid behind my son because I still felt absolutely huge and then when my husband showed me the pictures, I was in shock. I love my sleeve! Please stop by and take a peek if you get a chance. I started with some before pictures then I added the new. http://sliceofhealthyplease.blogspot.com/

I'm going to Dr.Simpson in Phoenix AZ I just wanted to know who else goes with him and who has paid the $600 for the program.

Greetings all. I am a 65 year old woman living in Mesa, Arizona who is in the second month of a three month preoperative period. Medicare will not cover the sleeve and because I have a short torso creating a "belt line" I am not a candidate for lap RNY. Age and scar tissue make an open RNY out of the question. Guess I am saying that I come to the Realize Lap Band by default, not by choice since I need to lose around 100 pounds. I am looking forward to learning from all of you!

Hello all, While am currently now 15 days post op of my gastric sleeve and I can say that it was the best decision that i could have made. I started my journey weighing in at 375 I felt so ashamed of myself telling myself how could I allow myself to gain so much weight and then I started have physical problems from my feet swelling, pain in my knees and I even tore my meniscitis in my right knee. I made the decision to change my life. My new life started on the 19th of September were I weigh in at 344 after being on Clear liquids. Had my first follow up with my gastric doctor I weigh in at 342 and my current weigh is now 338. Am slowly making process and I can honest…

Well my 5 week postop was Tuesday and have lost 32lbs! For all the preop doubts and worries.....they were silly! I have had no complications and have no regrets!! Yaaaaay!!

Well i got the referal approval today which makes me excited and so I am starting my journey to a better me any advice would be greatly apprciated thanks for checking me out

My nutritionist recommended powdered Peanut Butter ( I know sounds gross) called PB2. You mix 2 tablespoons of the powder with 1 tablespoon of Water....and voila...peanut butter that actually tastes amazing! Its about 6 dollars a jar but nutrition info is amazing: 2 tbsp of powder: 45 calories 1.5g fat 5g Protein 5g of carbohydrates 2g of Fiber Here is the link for online order but some stores carry it. http://www.bellplantation.com Worth it! I'm addicted!

Hi, I was banded on Sept 6th and I already feel discouraged... I've lost 10 pounds since surgery which was on the post-op liquid diet, then I remained the same on the puree diet, now I'm worried I'm not progressing now that I'm on soft foods. I feel like I still don't have control and over eat at times. I told my surgeon I want my band tightened and he said I had to wait 2 more weeks... I'm afraid I'm going to gain weight.

Hi everyone...Just wanted to let you guys know that tomorrow is the start of my journey, and can't wait!! I love reading all of the post on the site of all the succes that everyone has had since surgery, I just hope that I can add to the succes! A little about me...My name is Jason from New Orleans. I have high BP...sleep apnea...I just turned 40 in August, and my wife and I just had our first child (Logan) in July! If that is not enough motivation to do something about your healt/weight, then I don't know what is!! In high school I was a little runt and did everything I could to gain weight, and I think all those weight gainer shakes caught up with me!! LOL! After h…

Hi everyone I am new to the site. I haven't got banded yet but I should know something real soon because I completed all my preops for my insurane which is Atena so hope io get approved!!! So excited about this new journey in my life

This is my 1st post on a blog. I had my sleeve procedure on August 19th. Last week I got on the scale for the 1st time since my 1 week follow up and it showed I had lost 50 lbs. I have been avoiding the scale due to fear. So since I conquered it I decided to check again today. Well I gained 4 lbs. How does this happen? I have been eating the same and now I am very disappointed. Has anyone had this happen?

Hi. I had my lap band placed yesterday morning along with hiatal repair. Still in a lot of pain but the gas pain has improved since yesterday. I'm excited about my new life!

October 5, 2011 I’m overwhelmed with anxiety and can’t turn my brain off, so much has happened in my life since I signed on last. I have wanted to get this procedure done for over 2 years but I was in a toxic marriage that took a lot of sacrifice on my part. I sacrificed my happiness, my health and overall wellbeing in the name of love but what I failed to realize was that was quite the opposite. You should not have to try so hard to make something work, you should never have to sacrifice who and what you are to make someone else happy. After a long 5 year relationship and 3 year marriage, that chapter of my life has come to a close. He cheated. I am left with my 2 …

So last Tuesday I went to the WLS seminar, yesterday was the nutritionalist consult, today was my psych eval (I passed! Yay!) now next Thursday the 13th I meet with my surgeon--- all medical records in except missing my weight for 2009 records. So, it's moving right along--- weighed in yesterday at 280.9 my record to date, but all of that is about to change! Fingers crossed for a November date! Anyone else out there looking or already booked for November?

Don't know if I am excited, nervous, apprehensive . Surgery itself doesn't bother me it will be my 5th in 6 years for one reason or another. I usually bounce back quick. What if this doesn't work? I have tried everything else and have lose up to 70 lbs doing things like WW but I fall back into old habits and gain it back. I go back to eating not healthy AND eating way too much. What if I fail again? What if I fail again? .....

Hello, I am 25 years old and I weight 232 pounds. I have always been overweight but in the last year I have gained a great amount of weight. I have reseach doing the lapband and debated doing so for over a year, but what finally push me into action was my mother been diagnose with type two diabetes and my doctor telling me that since I qualify for been morbidly obese the chances of me been diagnose with it are higher. My grandma died of diabetes si my greatest fear is ever getting it. That made me decide that I needed to do something about it before it's too late for me. I went to my doctor and he recommended lapband to me and I found my surgeon thru a friend that…

Has anyone else out there developed esophogeal ulcers from your band? I am 4 years post op, stable weight, x 2 years with no fills in that time, and all of a sudden I lost any restriction, am hungry and can eat anything I try. These are all new symptoms for me. I tried another fill, and it did not help, but my doctor scoped me , endoscopy to find I have a bleeding esopogeal ulcer that he thinks is caused by my band, and removed all the fill until it is healed. ( how long? don't know)... but that doesn't answer my questions of why I had no restriction... has any one experienced any post op problems, needing your band removed and why?

Hi all! I am new to this website, i have managed to finally book my lap band surgery for november 2011 after fighting with myself for so many years! I am 176 cms tall and weigh almost 139kgs.. sigh... i never thought it would be that hard letting that out..... i have a high high cholesterol of almost 9.0, and although i am getting this done because i want a healthier and longer life in the future, i am looking forward to being able to feel like a normal "young" person like i should be feeling at my age! i turn 21 in a couple of weeks and do wish all my weight loss methods would have worked till now, because i have literally tried everything under the face of the sun, …

I started this journey at 6'1" tall and 377lb. Pre-op: I have good insurance so I didn't have a six month waiting period. So I was able to jump through some hoops and get a date. I started my pre-op diet with the Protein shakes and gatorade for 10 days before scheduled surgery. I remember meeting with my surgeon and we set a date. I don't think the gravity of that hit me then. It was like I was scheduling a physical or something. It was tough. Your happy go lucky for the first few days. On day 6,7,8 it's gets old fast. I just had to stay focused. And knew I couldn't screw this up. I got my date for September 29th. The day before I had to do Clear liquids. …

Hi everyone my name is erica, I started my 2 week pre-op full liquid diet today. All i can say is its 445pm and i'm sooooooo hungry. But I need to understand the commitment/lifestyle change I will be embarking on as of Oct., 13th. Yup Oct 13th is the big day. I'm very nervous, but finding this forum is exciting and reading all the questions and post has really helped.

Please chime in.

I had sleeve surgery with Dr Almanza @ Jerusalem Hospital in Tijuana, Mexico on August 24th. I went into it rather apprehensive since like many of us, I had tried about everything up to that point to get my weight under control. This has been by far the BEST thing I have ever done for my personal health! I had ballooned to 281 lbs, and now to date post-surgery, I am down to 233 lbs in under 6 weeks! My goal going in was down to my ideal weight of 185...I am amazed daily as I have lost 5-6 inches around my "love-handles"! Now I can start working out and getting in shape, as the weight keeps falling off....best of luck to all, and email me at aafren@netzero.com with an…

I found this great step aerobics class and I was so excited to start. I used to do step a few days a week for years and I love it! I was elated to find one in my area. I went Saturday and it was great. I went this morning and it was a different instructor. She was nice and bubbly, even my age... early 40's. All was going well until.....She was commenting to the class about one of the womens accomplishments in weightloss and said, "Lorraine here has lost 12 pounds!!! Wooohooo! "and she did it the right way!" I was slightly taken aback. I know they dont know I had surgery, and I may be sensitive right now, but I cant think what else she would be referring to as …

Hello everyone, Well, as of today, I have been sleeved for six days and I have been amazed. I will take you through my journey for the last 6 days and try not to make this too long. On day 1, we (my husband, Mom, and Aunt) arrived at the hospital and up to this point, I never felt afraid, but a peace that I almost didn't understand, but I knew God was with me. I went to Potomac Hospital in Dale City, VA, my surgery scheduled at 2:30pm with Dr. Halmi, they took me directly to the surgical department and went directly to the OR waiting room. They took me to my room and began the pre-op stuff before surgery. After surgery, I remember waking up in my room and my family a…

Hello- I'm so glad I found this site! I had vsg surgery last Thursday and am still trying to fully recover. I guess I fooled myself into thinking a had a really high tolerance for pain/nausea, and assumed I'd be that one person who had surgery at 7:30 am and would be out of there without spending the night...I ended up in there for 2 nights. Things are slowly getting better but I am thirsty and have to constantly fight the urge to take large sips of Water. My surgeon was Dr. William Johnson @ Emory Johns Creek Hospital (in Atlanta suburbs) - not the closest hospital but everyone I talked to said he was wonderful. He's optimistic, exceptionally kind, and seems very k…

I love the month to month updates from everyone VST, so I thought I should post my 1st month update. Well, today October 1st marks my 1 month surgiversary! I am so excited to see that word typed out. In some ways, I can't believe 1 month has come and gone so quickly and in other ways, it has been going at a snails pace! I started my weight loss surgery journey at 257 lbs with a BMI of 45, but my highest recorded weight was 271 lbs with a BMI of 48. I can't believe at 21 years old I was morbidly obese. I feel like I have missed out on so much of my life being obese. I stopped going out with my friends. I did not feel attractive in front of my boyfriend, and I hated b…

I'm moving into my mushy/soft foods stage and I don't remember my doctor mentioning anything about fruit. I'm pretty sure citrus is out of the question and apples may be too hard but what about the softer fruits like grapes or bananas. I'm wondering if those would be ok. I'll call to ask my doctor but I was just curious if anyone has had any soft fruit(s) during this stage and how did your new stomach handle it.