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Hello everyone! I hope everyone's doing well. I'm currently bored at work and thought I'd give you guys an update of how i'm doing. I remember reading/ watching other people talk about how they're doing a while after surgery and it motivated me so much to keep going with the process and not be scared. So I hope this helps someone somewhere! Anyway, I'm 11 months and 7 days post op RNY. I've officially lost 230 lbs. I started as 415 lbs and as of today I'm 185 lbs! As of today i'm a size 6-8 jeans/ Medium tops. I'm so grateful for this surgery and for myself for not giving up on myself when it could've been so easy to do so. I wish I had taken action sooner but it is what it is and I'm happy I eventually did. I still have about 60 lbs to go to get to my ideal weight for my height but i'm not in a hurry and i'm just going with the flow. So, in terms of restriction and the size of my pouch now, there is none. LOL. At first, I was so scared to eat too much or to do anything that would stretch my pouch. I went to my nutritionalist and told her about it and how i felt like sometimes I was eating too much or i didn't feel the restriction as much and she told me not to worry and that my stomach will tell me when to stop. Unfortunately, I might've taken her advice too far. I stopped measuring stuff and just ate what I felt like. My pouch is regular sized now I think. Sometimes when I'm eating with other people I'll actually eat more than they do. But honestly I'm not too bothered by it. I know it would've been great to still have that restriction but I feel like i've learned so much about the type of food i should be eating and how to track it that I don't really need my pouch to keep me in control anymore. I started drinking soda about 2 months ago, diet of course. I know that's bad but it honestly helps me with hunger and cravings. For exercise, I do cardio about 2-3 times a week. Now, loose skin. I have tons! My arms hang like crazy. My thighs remind me of my grandpas thighs 😂 My stomach doesnt bother me TOO much (unlike my arms) but it's still a presence. But no matter how much i critique myself or sometimes hate what I see in the mirror, IT IS SO WORTH IT. I remember how miserable i was before losing all the weight. I couldn't go up the stairs to our apartment without feeling like I couldn't breathe. I couldn't walk or even stand for longer than a minute or two. I couldn't find ANY shoes that were comfortable, everything hurt! It makes me so sad to just think about what it was like to live like that. My social life hasn't changed much. I'm naturally really shy and I don't really put myself out there to meet new people. However, I have noticed how people treat me now. It's awful to say but I feel like I'm taken more seriously now that I'm not as heavy as I was. I'm treated better by people at restaurants, stores, and even at work. It's also true with people I knew before and even with my family. My relatives are suddenly so much nicer to me. Of course there are always the comments on how "beautiful i've become" and how "this is much better". I try not to let it bother me but it does. Not just the comments but their attitudes toward me as well. Why are they nicer now that I'm thinner? Was my weight really bothering them before? I can't imagine being mean to someone just because of how they look or how much they weigh. It really says a lot about them. Oh, there's also the people that think losing the weight was SO EASY for me because of the surgery and that I put zero work into it myself. I'm not even gonna talk about that because YOU GUYS KNOW. ANYWAY, that's me. I'm really proud of myself and all i've done. I hope i can lose the rest of the weight and then actually maintain it!

Somebody congratulate me, I just passed my Psych Evaluation! I used that online/phone company and I don't think our phone call was more than 20 minutes. At the end he wished me luck and i flatout asked him if I passed and he said I did with flying colors! What no ink blots? LOL

chicken parm cut it all up and drop a few big pieces in your salad bowl and hide it with salad, Not finishing your salad does not jump out.

I haven't particularly suffered with GERD since the op (about 18 months ago). Constipation was a bit of a problem, but that's easier to deal with. However, I do now have gallstones, which is a possible consequence of rapid weight loss. I wasn't made aware of this at the time of the op, but I think I would have gone ahead even if I'd known. I am now waiting to have my gallbladder removed, but I still absolutely recommend the VSG - the positives heavily outweigh the negatives.

It’s most like just a gas bubble. Very common. Try sleeping sitting up. Should help. It will go away in time if it is gas.

Did you have diabetes for 10 or more years before your surgery? The way it was explained to us is that the surgery has something like a 96% chance of curing type 2 diabetes, but only if you've had it for less than 10 years. I don't really know how much truth there is in that, but that's what they told us in the class when discussing the pro's and con's of the different surgeries... If you did have it less than 10 years then just maybe you happen to be one of those rare 4%, which yes, sucks very much so. I hope the doc can explain what's going on with it and hopefully figure it out.

I wonder what life would be like if everyone dumped. I just ate a few too many (oreo double stuff) cookies and feel like absolute shite. Can you imagine what the food industry would be like if everyone experienced this? Something tells me that we would all be much healthier.

I'm in the same situation as you are. I'm having a revision February 11th.

Bha-hahahahahhaha 😂

The US studies are limited, but my understanding is that where the balloon has been used longer (ex: Europe and Australia), they have seen better results (probably just because they have more data points). I'm not even half way through my six months with Orbera and I have lost 33 pounds. I also know of two men who lost more in that same amount of time (one Orbera and one ReShape). As with most things, a lot of it depends on how much you put into it. It's not a cure, it's a tool. You still have to do a lot of work, counting calories and Protein, exercising, etc.. If you use it to assist you with behavioral modification, six months is more than enough time to establish healthy habits that can last you a lifetime. Best wishes!