Gastric Sleeve Surgery Forums

It's geared towards RNY, but I found a lot of the information very useful, and some of the recipes sounds pretty tasty. It's 160 pages, and I just skimmed through a lot of it. I think it's a good thing to just have for other ideas, and excellent info on vitamins/supplements/deficiencies. http://www.pamtremble.com/uploads/-Protein_Book_updated_10_09.pdf I'm feeling geeky and thought I'd share. My favorite piece of information included is this statement ! ! !

Have any of you had this problem? I'm not even telling my boyfriend. I'm hoping he won't find out! Am I crazy? I did mention it to my brother I was thinking about WLS and he gave me this huge speech about how I just need to eat right and work out 1-2 hours a day. So I told him I wasn't doing it (WLS). I figured he'd just tell everyone and they would talk behind my back.:thumbup1:

After suffering with the band, I decided to revise to the sleeve and am just shy of 2 months post-op. I dealt with a lot of guilt when I had the band because I followed all the rules but could not make the band work for me. My banding surgery took place over 3 years ago and we weren't hearing much about complications when I decided to have the procedure. Now, more people are coming forward and it seems like people either do great with the band or regret the day they decided to get one. It seems like a lot of people are deciding to revise to the sleeve and I haven't met anyone who is not happy with his/her decision. I wanted to feel full on small amounts of food and t…

I've been told that my PCP or any for that matter, won't touch me here in the states after having VSG in Mexico. Is this true? also... I've been asked, "why would you have surgery and risk your life? If you just ate small portions and exercised you would lose the weight. You are just taking the easy way out. You think this is some kind of miracle surgery. You can still gain the weight back and stretch out your stomach". Sure, common sense tells you ABSOLUTELY! Why not? it's just easier said than done. I have a really hard struggle with food. It makes me happy. It fills a void. Will I turn back to my old ways after having VSG? I really hope not. That would be DEVASTA…

I'm not sure if this is a stall or if I'm just not working hard enough any more... I haven't lost anything for about 6 weeks now. I've lost a total of 108 pounds and I'm very happy with that, but I'm far from thin. My weight fluctuates between 243-245 daily. I really need to get another 50-60 pounds off and I'm starting to wonder if it will happen. I've been exercising consistently for about 2 weeks now (5-6 times a week) but I really think my problem is my eating. I'm not getting the 80-100 grams of Protein a day...it's more like 40-60. My husband recently decided he wants to eat healthier, so hopefully that will help. Any suggestions? I also have not been …

Hello everybody, I am a new member though I've lurked for a while now.=) After years of research into every kind of WLS I chose VSG and once I made my decision things moved rapidly. I made the decision 1 week ago, have my consult with Dr. Jossart via phone on June 1st, and could potentially have the surgery the first week in August, I guess the rapiditiy of the process is due to being self-pay. My unique circumstance is that I work in Iraq as a civilian deployed with the Army. My RnR is for the month of August and I have the option of having the surgery then, but I would be returning to Iraq after only 3 wks recovery time. I knew that VST forum members would understand …

Hi - is anyone else going from a band to sleeve revision finding that those who were supportive of the band now seem a little less so? I've told most people that my band may have to come out but I've told a select few that when/if they take out my band I'm having a sleeve done. The overwhelming response - "you don't need to do that, you know how to eat now" - what? I gained 29 lbs last year with a band (almost all of it is gone now but still) without a tool I know what my future will bring. Its kind of got me feeling...I don't know, guilty, bad, ashamed. No one has said that the band dilation is my fault but, well really, it didn't dilate by itself. From my research…

I could really use a mentor. I live in Renton Wa. I had surgery 1 month ago and eating is not going well.

Hi my name is Will, I am from the central Arctic of Canada. My BMI is 36.5 and I am hoping to have the sleave done in late July (provided my passport arrives by then). I got my patient information packet from the patient coordinator yesterday and had an anxiety attack. Not because of what was in it but just the fact that I am actually going to do this. Anyway. Hi! :wink0: (words of encouragement are always welcome)

Hi, I am from SC and looking for anyone that has been sleeved! I am going to get this (hopefully) and was wondering how it was going with your experience. My doc is Dr. Givens in Lexington. I am jumping through the initial hoops with the insurance company. I would love to hear from you!! Diana __________________ Originally posted at www.lapbandtalk.com

SpringerLink - Journal Article Just thought I would share a link to a an abstract for an article published recently. I thought the results were pretty promising, and although the sample size was small, at least it is favorable for weight loss stability at 5 years and plasma ghrelin levels staying low. Now if we can get insurance to make some changes!!! Just wanted to share.... Shell

:confused1:Hi,My name is Suzy: I had a Lapband in 2007, lost 60 lbs. felt great, was 10 pounds away from my ultimate goal wt, in 2009 had a major slip and had it removed. So I've been bandless for a year now and gained 20 pounds--despite exercising, going vegan, and trying to eat healthy, the weight is creeping up. I'm freaking out and just found out that my insurance will cover a sleeve. How do you feel, restriction wise with the sleeve?? With my band I had fairly often PBs, discomfort, and other days, could eat alot. I only had 5 fills om 2 years. In between small meals I got really hungry!!! I'm really hoping that with the sleeve the hunger is less!! Please form…

Tomorrow at 1:30 pm I will be sleeved. I am a mess today all kinds of emotions running through me. I am so excited, worried, anxious every emotion just name it I am feeling it. Today is not going to go by fast enough for me. I still have to pack today oh I hope I can sleep tonight.:thumbup1:

I posted here about a month ago, having thought about having this surgery as the solution to fixing my stomach that has been stretched out to about 4 times the size of an average persons stomach (an able to hold about 8 lbs of food, resulting in continuous hunger and overeating). I then thought that i could try to attempt to shrink my stomach myself, by eating small portions. Well, the stomach acid has eaten my stomach alive, even with taking Nexium, and i have never had an acid problem, and the hunger is so extreme i am hardly able to function. I have decided to go ahead with the surgery, but have a modified version of it and have a larger sleeve done. Does anyone know …

Trying to figure out who the best doctor and what the best deal is, thanks!

I was just curious as to the average stay in the hospital after VSG? Also, if I were to only have 6 days off from duties would it be possible to do the surgery during that time, or wait till a longer stretch of time was available? Did anyone get really ill after the surgery and had to take extra time off work? I am curious as to getting things rolling but only have 2 oportunities this year to go to Mexico for the surgery. AutumnLily

I am having my sleeve done Monday. I am curious as to what everyone's typical meal is like after surgery (after the 3 weeks on liquids/soft foods, once you can eat normal foods again). What do you normally eat, and how much? How much does it take before you have to stop due to feeling full? I am excited to get this feeling for once!!

Wow did I ever have an eye opener this morning! :001_tongue: Here is my story. . .on Friday i was feeling rather blah and decided to eat "slider food" . . hmmm these slider foods go down really good! so i grazed here and there ALL weekend long and into Monday:drool5:. . . this morning I thought "oops, i never weighed myself yesterday" so onto the scale i went. . . well guess what guys and gals! I GAINED 2 lbs:hurt:. . . yup a real heifer here! I was shocked! :jaw:So this morning I began back to basics with proteins and low carbs. . . so what this teaches me is that 1. yes you can regain weight, 2. you have to be careful what to stuff into your kisser, and 3. be really ca…

This may seem like a strange question because I am not sorry I had the sleeve. I am soooo enjoying buying a size 12 pants. But...I do miss one thing and that is being able to drink with my meals. I know it is healthier not to drink with your meals even when you have not had the sleeve but I sure to do miss that! That is the one thing that will make me feel ucky if I do slip up and drink too soon. Do any of you miss anything?

OMG! I throw up or at least foam pretty bad about 3 maybe 4 times a week. I'm about three and a half months out and sometimes I don't have a grip on how much to consume before enough is enough and then I end up throwing up what couldn't fit in there. Should this still be a problem after three months or am I still "early" out enough for this sort of thing....? :thumbup: It's so painful to say the least....

I don't get sick often. We are very fortunate that our kids don't get sick often either. I've had a tummy bug several times in my adulthood. I think I had a tummy bug yesterday...my first "sickness" since my VSG. It was different for sure. I felt very weak, very nauseous, & just crappy. I couldn't eat without immediately feeling sick. I couldn't drink my Propel Water without feeling sick. Even my Vitamins made me sick. All I could do was lay down very still. Finally, by the end of the day, I was able to drink some G2 gatorade & sip some chicken noodle Soup. I finally felt better. And today I'm back to normal. Guess I never thought a tummy bug would be so d…

i'm going from a lapband to a sleeve in a few weeks. when i had the band put in, i went home the same day. my doctor mentioned that i would be spending the night at the hospital once my surger was done and would get to go home the next day. i've seen posts where people have said they stayed 2 or 3 days.... so im just curious how long was your hospital stay?

I am looking for someone in Austin who has had a VSG. I am scheduled for surgery on September 24th with Dr. Marquez. I am also looking for a local support group.

I know that they remove like 85% of your stomach, but does anyone know how much the stomach that they take out weighs?

Okay, I have a question...when I went to the nutritionist a few years back, she said I was "pre-diabetic" (that my insulin gets out of whack from me being obese.) Basically what happens is if I don't eat every few hours, I start to get this queasy, dizzy, lightheaded yet SUPER hungry feeling where I feel as though I need to eat everything in the room in order to get my blood sugar back to normal. It's like a reactive hypoglycemia thing, I guess. My question is, after the VSG surgery where you can only drink liquid at first, wouldn't that reactive hypoglycemia reaction go nutso from not getting any food in? I know it would eventually go back to normal, but I just wonder…

There are so many different online logs out there. I was wondering if there was one people were using more than another. I currently use my fitness pal and it's free, but I can't currently log onto it with my old phone. I am looking at getting a new smart phone...but I was just curious about what others are using. Logging the food and exercise has really helped me stay accountable...so I would like to be able to do it even though I'm not in front of a computer. Thanks for any advice or opinions.

Hi all, Well, I met with the new Dr today, and he agrees that I need the band out, it is prolapsed. He also agrees that I can have a sleeve, and do not need a bypass at this point. So, I have a few questions from you all that are experienced. If you had a band and then switched to a sleeve, did you do it all in one surgery? he is giving me the option to have 1 or 2. What size is your sleeve, he mentioned that his normal size is a 42 bougie? He can make it smaller if I want, but will not go to small as to avoid nausea. If you had a band, did your insurance cover it as a revision surgery? I have UHC, and they said they just need a pre-determination letter to…

i currently have the lap band. i was banded in 2008. i've had nothing but problems for the past year. my insurance finally approved my surgery to have my band removed and gave the approval to have me converted to the gastric sleeve. i'm excited and nervous at the same time!! i am hoping to have my surgery sometime within the next month. what are some things i can expect after surgery? do you have a very small appitite or none at all? what are some things you have done to make your weight loss sucessful? are there certin food that you CANNOT eat (like with the band)? any infomation would be great. thanks!

i currently have the lap band. i was banded in 2008. i've had nothing but problems for the past year. my insurance finally approved my surgery to have my band removed and gave the approval to have me converted to the gastric sleeve. i'm excited and nervous at the same time!! i am hoping to have my surgery sometime within the next month. what are some things i can expect after surgery? do you have a very small appitite or none at all? what are some things you have done to make your weight loss sucessful? are there certin food that you CANNOT eat (like with the band)? any infomation would be great. thanks!

I am at 7 weeks post op and i am wondering if I am eating too soon. I am able to eat things but in very small portions. Example, i can eat soup, cereal, ground beef, turkey, fish, apple, strawberries, cooked vegies. It just seems like i read alot about people still in mushy stage. Like i said i only eat a very little bit. I am having a hard time getting in my liquids though and I am eating way tooo fast. This has problem forever. I really need help working on this. Any thoughts? just wonder is i am normal? thanks:001_tt2:

3 1/2 months ago I couldn't even believe I'd ever be able to say that, but there it is! 199.4, right there on the scale this morning. It's my day off, we're getting ready to have breakfast and catch up on Season 3 of Dexter, and it's a good day in the household today!

I got the VSG on April 13th and am feeling a little adrift here. I weighed 240 lbs on the 13th and today weighed in at 230. I am 56 yo, married, grown children, a couple of adorable grandgirls, female and live in Oregon. The reason I would especially appreciate a mentor is that I recently became the Guardian and Conservator for both my brother and my mother and some things "have hit the fan", as my mother always used to say, and I don't have the available time to search threads for answers to my questions. Does anyone have a little free time to help me?:biggrin2:

Today I went to see my back surgeon to schedule my back fusion. He wouln't do it until I lost 50 lbs. Now that I lost the weight, he commented on how great I looked, but that he cannot perform the surgery until I have lost most my weight, because a surgery right now wouldn't be healthy for me, and I would be supceptive to infection because my immune system is down due to the starving of the body that comes with this procedure. So I am fxxxxd. He says he will do in October, but I have been off work on disability for 5 months, and I know they will want to fire me if I don't get back to work by 6/15..........so, i have a lot of things to figure out. :001_unsure:( Thanks…

What size pill can you take after surgery. I am on Buproprion 300mg XL (generic Wellbutrin) and really don't want to stop taking them, that's actually why I got approved for the sleeve. I asked my surgeon what should I do and they told me that my meds should be ok or to get the liquid kind for a month. I called around and cannot find liquid. The Buproprion is pretty big, probably the size of a 600mg motrin but not so thick. Is anyone on this or does anyone know about this?

Hi, I wrote a while back and asked a bunch of questions. I'm back, my son is 100% cancer free, and I'm going to a new Dr. I feel so much better about getting in to see the new Dr, and I am going this Wednesday! The nurse coordinator of the office called to ask me what was going on, and as I explained, she was flabbergasted! She said that I was totally mis-cared for, for the past 2 years. There is no way that a flouro for every fill is 'required'. There is no reason that I should have to wait 2 months between fills, and after having an EGD that said i have an acute prolapse, the Dr should have given me other options beside just unfilling me for 3 months! So, we …

Happy Mother's Day to all the sleeved Moms and to be sleeved Moms. May we all be around many more years to enjoy our families! :biggrin2:

I'm scheduled for the 24th of May. Is their anyone else who's getting Sleeved on the 24th or in May 2010. I want yall to know that we will set the Example for all other Future people getting sleeved. We Will Show them and share with them just how to stick to our Diet and Doctor's orders and get this weight off once in for all. :lol4: I'm so ready I Could Taste It :drool5: Milton

Ok, I was banded November 2006 at 300 lbs and lost 80 lbs. Well here I am now up to 290 and it is just depressing. I feel no restriction but yet the doctor says im completely filled to the max. I'm really interested in getting the sleeve because I've heard a lot of good things about it versus the band. I was self pay for the lapband and am getting married so will probably try to see if my husbands insurance will cover the revision since I was self pay. Anyone know anything about insurance companies and revisions? He has aetna insurance. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

I've noticed that the pigment of my skin on my tummy is getting dark. Can anyone comment or share if they are having the same experience as me??

I have participated in 4 different diet programs 2 of which were supervised by a doctor prior to making the decision to have WLS. The most recent one was in 2005 and then again in 2007. I am wondering if I will be able to use those medical records in lieu of having to do the 6 month supervised diet under UHC Choice Plus. Anyone know? PS. Would online programs count, like We**ght Wat***ers?

Hey. My name is Nikki. I have the lap band as of now, but I am trying to get a revision to the sleeve since I am having problems with my lap band (If my insurance company will stop being a pain. haha). My biggest problem right now that I would like answered if anyone can help is that I am having really bad port pain. It just all of a sudden hit me tonight and is causing really bad pain but I am not sure why. I have had discomfort with my port before but never this bad. I was wondering if anyone knew why this could be happening and if it could mean anything significant about a potential problem. I would appreciate any help since of course this would happen on a weekend whe…

O.k. here is my problem, anyone one who can relate please help me... I had the lapband june 08. From day one had problems.. Had 6 upper GI's 4 endoscopy's in over a years time and could not take a fill.. The Band was too tight from day one.. DEC. 09 band eroded had it taken it...Now insurance company changed their laws 3 months AFTER I got the band.. ONE weight loss surgery a lifetime IF You had THE LAPBAND .. Otherwise you can have another surgery... Geez its so stupid.. So now my new Dr is writing a pre determination letter to the BCBS AL, to hopefully get approved for my SLEEVE... BCBS AL, covers the sleeve. but again because I had the lapband they say they wont…

Here's some pictures from my endoscopy when I had my gallbladder surgery, scar tissue/adhesion take down and the little exploratory stuff my surgeon performed on Febraury 4, 2010. Staple line: Inside the sleeve from the top Gallbladder Liver and some of that lovely scar tissue that had to be taken down Side view of the staple line/sleeve Misc adhesions Scar tissue in abdomen Colon and Small bowel with a big piece of scar tissue that was taken down

I am new to the forum! I have been reading over so many of your posts and everyone is so informative! Thanks so much! I also posted this in the Insurance forum. I have been looking into getting the lap band for a while now and my insurance would not cover it or any WLS. Now, I know that it was a blessing in disguise because I likely would have regretted the lap band with all the complications. Anyway, this year our insurance began covering WLS (Aetna)! I was so excited and finally got the nerve up to schedule an appointment a couple of weeks ago and went in with full intentions of the lap band. My Doctor pretty much talked me out of it! He is all for the sleeve. After…

Well I just received the call and the date was set for 24th of May. I?m so nervous but I?m preparing physically mentally and Most of All Spiritually.

I got this from obesityhelp.com There is some good information here that I haven't seen in other articles about stalls. Click! Low Carb Diet Tips & Basics - Weight Loss Stalls and Plateaus

Has anyone else experience redness/dryness around their incisions? I do not think that I have an infection but it seems like the skin is irritated. I am wondering if it is the tape. Its itchy and a little painful. Edit: Forgot to mention that I still have the surgical tape over my incisions and I've been instructed to change the dressings from the incision where my drain was. That is where I have the irritation. Its not on the area but around it. Could I be allergic to the adhesive?

I have known that I am losing weight , it just didn't seem like much, though! That is...UNTIL I put my uniform on for work! Holy moley! There is enough room in my britches for another person! Soo excited to see such wonderful results and I'll be six weeks out Tuesday! NEVER in my adult life have I lost this fast or this much ... And to put the cherry on top, I dont feel deprived of anything! Even on WW I still felt a little deprived, but now it's different all the way around! I'm happy and have energy. I love my sleeve! Yeeehaw! Oh yea, I forgot to tell y'all about my belt! My under belt was 44" and pre surgery I was on the last hole, praying I woulnt have to go t…

My orientation--long waited--is this coming Monday. I'd like to know what the most important questions to ask, which will be beneficial for others in orientation as well? I have searched the internet for so many weeks, I am stuck, lol. I will also share this website for those that may not know about it. This site is awesome.

I have a few friends that have had RNY in the past 4 months. They are questioning if the sleeve is going to actually work. They think that I am crazy for even considering the sleeve because the bypass works so well. I have tried to tell them all of the upsides of the Sleeve vs the Gastric Bypass and why I am deciding to go that way. My PCP had never heard of this surgery but asked if I was comfortable with my decision and with the surgeon that I had selected. She was great about filling out the paperwork required by my insurance company. My poor husband keeps smiling and shaking his head when I go on my rants about other people and there opinions. But the…