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I wish you would have told her “if you don’t vomit you’re not working out hard enough!”

I had a sleeve done about 10 years ago when I was 40. I went from about 280 to 160 and have put the weight back on. I have seen two surgeons in my area in the last couple of months. One does DS and says I am kinda halfway through a DS procedure. The other surgeon does not do DS so she is recommending bypass. If I really want, she can refer me to a surgeon in the hospital system who does DS but that is 3 hours away. I've had some friends use the DS surgeon and recommend her but her office staff is a hot mess. An overall lack of organization and I send info to the person I am told to but then someone else calls and says I wasn't supposed to send to that person. The by pass surgeon is in my hospital system and therefore has access to all my doctor's records since nearly every one of my doctors is in that hospital system. By pass doctor said that DS wasn't fully "approved" (my word not hers) and is still considered experimental but she wants to learn how to do it and expects it will be much more common in the near future. My husband is asking me what will I do differently after this surgery that I didn't do before. Great question. I am moving through all the insurance required hoops for both doctors at this point but still not sure I want to do either. Anyone have any words of wisdom? Not sure how to proceed. Thanks so much!

I brought a clean change of clothes. Slippers for walking the halls. A long charging cable for my phone. A small bottle of biotene dry mouth spray. (Only needed it waking from surgery, but it really felt good at that time). Toothbrush and toothpaste, deodorant. That's it.

@ lee ann yes, a healthy relationship to food. I’m always going to love food. I’ve been daydreaming about cooking fish. A whole fish. A beautiful fish. Red snapper. With Thai flavors. I thought am I obsessing about food? Is this healthy? It’s inevitable really with drinking vanilla, chocolate, and salted caramel shakes. And I concluded that I’m looking forward to eating healthy and trying new recipes. It’s ok. I’m looking forward not back.

@LookingForward22 Thank you! This is super helpful. Agreed you should be 100% comfortable with who is doing the surgery. If I move forward. My husband is super supportive and I'm hoping he hops on board if I make this decision and truthfully, he's really good about asking questions and observing where sometimes I am not... Not for lack of care, but sometimes I miss important things where he catches them haha. I think that'll be helpful when it comes to really digging into who we I'll be seeing and talking with. Happy to hear you are comfortable now with the new option and all the best! @The Greater Fool Thanks! this is very helpful. I read a bit on how some have been able to prove skin reconstruction can be proved as health required with some insurance but hadn't found too much on the more in-depth what insurances/proving other than back and rash issues. I read the tummy-tucks were more likely covered due to the back issues but not as much on other areas. Appreciate the additional info on this. @redhead_che Truthfully, I haven't looked into bypass too much but know someone going for sleeve and also read/head it was a shorter recovery, but as I said, I haven't looked/confirmed this yet since I'm still more in research mode haha. I appreciate the mention, though. I definitely am open to other options to move forward with a healthier lifestyle. Since you have had both, do you happen to have any feedback on recovery, and do you find now that bypass has been more effective in weight loss than the sleeve now? @LilaNicole20 In addition to my post above, definitely interested in your experience with bypass too with any recovery and after feelings. Will look into videos and posts with experiences as well to help educate myself on both. I currently only have a referral in somewhere as of late last week so waiting to schedule something and talk to a dr about options too but I want to kinda soak up info so I can prepare some questions when I can meet with someone. Thanks everyone!! ❤️

I did not start getting much restriction until about 6 weeks out. I felt the same way as you like "is this surgery even working?????!!!!!". The only thing that helped me was I had zero hunger (I still do not have it, actually) so I was pushing myself to eat and could easily stop because I wasn't hungry to begin with. Once your nerves heal more, you'll feel that restriction. Be careful not to overdo it now though or you'll end up getting sick or having dumping syndrome. I do think what you're experiencing is normal though.

Hello, To answer everyone's questions and concerns at once: Yes, I spoke to my PCP. Yes, I am on pepcid by prescription from the surgeon to prevent ulcers while healing. Yes, I did ask about possible return of GERD/reflux. Was told with the symptoms I listed it didn't sound that way. My wife has allergies, she wheezes and coughs every year when they hit until she gets it under control. So bad, she uses an inhaler. (Diagnosed and treated by allergy doctor) My PCP told me to start with Flonase, I picked it up and started it Friday after work and fell 85% better already. Seems like allergies it is. I will keep using the Flonase to see if it gets me to 100% or at least 95% haha. Thanks everyone!

During the pre op diet and the post op life do not compare your progress to others. Just stick to the plan your team lays out for you and trust the process. We are all here to cheer one another on but we are all so different that your journey will be unique to you.

Everything revolves around food, that's what we need to change. I am learning and trying. Yesterday I went to dinner with close friends who wanted to do all you can eat crabs. I didn't partake because I can only eat like 2 crabs right now so it is not worth it. But, I ordered my meal. Took my portion out and sat the rest aside. I sat there for almost 3 hours while they ate. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be because there was a lot of good conversation.

My hair was pretty much a casualty of WLS. I lost most of my hair and it hasn't grown back. My surgeon speculates that my hair fell out due to the normal telogen effluvium that comes with drastic weight loss. Then it didn't grow back due to age-related hair loss I would have had anyway (I'm 57). So the surgey sped up the hair loss and I lost it all at once, rather than gradually over a couple of years. But my experience is unusual and I wouldn't take back the 130 pounds I've lost to get my hair back!