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So as not to hijack an existing thread, I thought I'd start a new one. Since I began looking into bariatric surgery in 2019, I've done much research and reading. On the internet, I limited myself to sites that I knew were reputable and were evidence-based (i.e., Mayo Clinic) rather than sites that were trying to sell surgery. Once I was accepted into my program, I watched videos suggested by the program (i.e., Dr. Matthew Weiner) and took to heart the information I was given from my program. I came into the program with a lot of pre-existing knowledge on nutrition and diet having grown up with a Type 1 diabetic father and myself a Type 2. Despite that knowledge base, I obviously wasn't applying it or I would not have been to the point where I was considering surgery. One of the hardest things I had to do throughout my surgery preparation appointments and meetings was to go in and actually listen. I accepted that my way wasn't working and if I was going to proceed with a body and life-altering surgery, I needed to adopt what I was being taught. As you can see in my stats, it's worked. But I know I'm not done learning, maintaining and working on making good decisions and healthy choices for the long-term. In my classes, the dietician warned about social-media, weight-loss surgery groups. I admit that I move in and out of some groups. The overall lack of information and sharing of misinformation boggles my mind. It certainly proved that there are programs and doctors simply out to make money and there are patients willing to believe anything they are told without doing their own research or taking accountability for their own actions. I was grateful to find this site and have a source of information rather than opinion. I was happy to hear from WLS veterans who have gone through the process and how they are successfully maintaining. I wanted to hear what those experiences were so that I can learn from them. I did not want them to sugar-coat the truth and I did not expect unmitigated "support." If my understanding or behavior was counterproductive, I wanted to hear that. I needed to hear that. I still do. There seems to be a misconception that in order to be supportive, someone needs to say your choices are ok. Being truthful with someone, does not always mean saying what and how you are doing things is ok.

Yep. It's much harder to lose weight if you insist on everything being sugar-coated.

I weighed 238 on my surgery date and I needed to get down to 132 for a normal BMI. So I had 106 pounds of excess weight. I lost all of that, plus 11 more pounds after surgery. Before the pre-op liquid diet I weighed 250, so that's what listed as my starting weight. But just counting from after surgery, I lost 117 pounds, which was all my excess weight and then some. The statistics are based on averages and you can do better or worse than average based on many different factors. Some of those factors you can control (motivation, compliance, exercise, etc.) and some you can't (age, gender, medical conditions, etc.)

I don't have Medicaid and went through Blue Cross, but I actually gained a small amount of weight during the phase leading up (5 lbs or so). However, during the pre-op liver shrink diet, it is virtually impossible to not lose weight. I lost 20 pounds in three weeks. If I had shown up and gained weight or maintained after I was supposed to be on that pre-op diet, I'm sure they would've turned me away, because it would've been clear that I hadn't done the surgery preparation without even seeing my liver.

This is me. I am 11 days post op and I am so tired. I get a burst of energy when I wake up but after about 11am I have to lay down.

One thing I can tell you from my very experience is, you can have 20 physicians in a room and still won't find 2 to agree on anything. So evidence shows that to decrease the size of the liver, there is no consensus on how long the diet should go on for. With bypass, given they have to access the gastro-esophageal junction which the left lobe of the liver can obscure, this will definitely warrant a diet of longer duration. In the paper I read, generally the longer the diet the more shrinkage, however... A greater decrease in size was noted with higher protein diets. Also you risk being in a catabolic state (this is not good for healing) if you are on these low calorie liquid diets for too long. All this to say, some surgeons change their practices to reflect the evidence. Some were just trained a certain way and stuck with it. Im on a week long diet and my BMI is 41

if I'm being 100% honest, I think I'd personally swap surgeons if at all possible.

Thanks. It's surreal sometimes to realize that I have lost over 200 pounds. Two hundred pounds! And yet I still feel like the same old Big Sue a lot of the time. TBH, I've been struggling a lot in many aspects of my life, so I'm not in a great place to be offering encouraging words to other WLS patients right now. I do still look at new posts, though, and I have to admire you for sticking around after all these years to educate newbies on things like the three week stall.

I am not sure if I replied to this or a different one- my surgery is scheduled for December 14th!

It's the ridiculous (in my opinion) fad where women/girls wear tight corsets to have an unnaturally narrow waist. Didn't we learn anything in the 19th century? Bring on the fainting couches.