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Hi All, I had my lapband put in in 2007 and was initially very successful. I lost 145 lbs in 2 years and did great for another 3. Unfortunately, I started having issues with my band including horrible heart burn, food getting stuck, etc. I have had fills and unfills over the years but have been largely unfilled for a long time. I finally had to be completely unfilled 2 years ago when I couldn't swallow water even with the band mostly empty. i've gained all of my weight back through it all. I finally decided that I think I want to go to bypass and met with the surgeon this week. My Dr wants to remove my band first (he's scheduling in the next month), then while I heal he wants me to lose some weight and hopefully be ready for bypass in 3-4 months. I would love to connect with some of you who have been through or are going through this. Any advice? Looking forward to connecting. Lori

I had gastric sleeve in Dec. 2013 after having reached a weight of about 440-450 and everything went according to plan the first 18 months or so. Since the spring of 2015 or so, I have been stuck in the 285-305 range (I'm 6'3" and 43 yo) and have been unable to get out of that no matter what I try, to the point where emotionally, I am basically back where I was at my highest weight. I can't stand to look at myself in the mirror, and I'm either a) obsessively counting carbs or calories or b) not caring what I eat and engaging in secret compulsive eating (though on a much, much smaller scale—instead of a dozen donuts, I'm going for one or two and not telling my wife or anyone else). The latest emotional defeat is this: I've spent the last three weeks doing a keto/Atkins-type thing, which was the only thing that ever worked for me before my surgery. Meticulous tracking, urine sticks showing I'm in ketosis, moderate walking exercise, and—here's the catch—a pretty extreme calorie deficit. Most days less than 2k per day, never more than 2,500, and in one four day period, I basically did the surgery prep diet of only protein shakes and broth, at about 800-1200 calories. After all that, I lost 2 pounds, which, when you're 292 pounds, is nothing. I'm already planning to eat poorly and secretly tomorrow, and I have absolutely no idea what to do. I feel essentially the same way I did before my surgery, though less intense, in that it seems like there's really nothing I can do. This is driving my wife crazy, and she's unable to understand or emotionally support me. I'm also trying very hard to not go back to some other addictive patterns. I know the first thing some are going to say is exercise more. I haven't done that lately, and there are two things holding me back on that point. At various periods in the last 4 years, I have done serious, several weeks-long programs with personal trainers in tandem with calorie deficit, and have had literally no success, other than gaining a little muscle, which resulted in a net weight gain. Also, I have some pretty extreme chronic degenerative disc pain, and it's hard to motivate myself to work past that pain when past results from diet and exercise have yielded little to no tangible benefit after great effort. One other thing that may be a factor: I had my gallbladder removed in 2017, and it had been basically shot since at least fall of 2015. I also had hiatal hernia repair the same time I had the gallbladder out. To be honest, I'm not really expecting any useful feedback. This may just be what life is for me now. But I had to say it somehow to someone.

While not a heavy weight lifter, I returned to the gym immediately for cardio like the treadmill and recumbent bicycle, but I waited about 3-4 weeks before resuming any of the strength training weight lifting on the machines to ensure that my incisions had healed.

💜CONGRATULATIONS💜

Embrace the restriction hon. Look at this time as a challenge: How do you maximize deep nutrition and satisfy your protein requirements most fully while eating your very small portion limit? Once you know what a meal consists of then you know how many meals to eat per day in order to get your protein down. I was about 350-500 cals at your time and was able to get my 60-80g of protein in but little else. Today at 17months, I could theoretically eat 1 1/2-2 cups of food depending on what it is. So your tool will heal with time and it's natural and expected for you to increase your servings. So this is a golden time for you! Congrats! Maximize it!

Yesterday I had a free for all since we went to the lake and made a lot of good food. I already planned to eat since it was gonna be my last day to eat anything. I didn't drink any soda or carbonated drinks so that was the only positive out of that.Today I went right back to nothing but liquid and I am skipping my one allowed meal. I gained 3lbs back I was 9lbs down but back to 6lbs down. No more cheating or planned cheating scouts honor! lol 5 day until surgery! Sent from my SM-G965U using BariatricPal mobile app

I can't wait to get to ONEDERLAND! Awesome job! Congratulations!

https://labblog.uofmhealth.org/body-work/new-endoscopic-procedures-offer-alternative-to-bariatric-surgery This is all I could find on this procedure. I'd never heard of it.

One week post-op today and visited with My doctor. I’ve graduated to full liquids! Yay me! I’ve never been so excited to see tomato soup in my life 😉. What I’ve learned this week: by day 5 I felt like a normal person again, I should not compare my journey to others, and stick to the plan—it will get me where I need to be. Thanks to all that have been friendly and welcoming. Having support is priceless.

I’m almost 3 weeks post op and my glue is starting to come off. Any recommendations on scar cream/ oil brands? Also, can I start this as soon as the glue falls off?