Rootman

YES. 10+ months and ~165 pounds down, while I am not exactly where I WANT to be I am certainly far better than I would be without the sleeve. It has saved my life.

Sorry, this is long winded and kind of whiny. I started this adventure the Friday after Thanksgiving (USA) 2010 and it's been a real roller coaster ride. The weight has just flown off and I now look "normal", even a bit thin. I initial set my goal weight at 180 pounds, right smack in the middle of the BMI charts recommended 160 to 190 pounds for a 6' tall male. I knew it was outrageous and I haven't weighed 180 pounds since EARLY High School, and I was skeletally thin then too. In reality 190 is probably more like it with even 200 being within reason. About a month or so ago I arrived at 210 pounds, the first time in DECADES. I feel and look great. I wear medium or large men's clothes. I would at least like to drop another 10 or 15 pounds just to get into ONEderland. It looks like it's not possible for me to do this. I've been hovering around 210 for more than a month now, I gain and loose 1 or 2 pounds over and over. Last weekend we went horseback riding ( an activity I haven't done in years because of my weight - we went 4 times this summer) and while I was stepping up on the horse he sidled toward me, in order to not lose my balance and fall off backwards I laid over the saddle and caught the horn of the saddle (western type) right under my left ribs - FULL weight right down onto the edge of the ribcage. I managed to stand again and swing my leg over but was in a LOT of pain. By Monday it wasn't better but I decided to go swimming at the gym as usual thinking the exercise in the warm Water and motion would loosen me up. Nope, not by a long shot. I quit early after only an hour (typically I swim 90 minutes). I've skipped the rest of this week and the pain is letting up somewhat but is still there. Today I did my weigh in and I gained more than 3 pounds! The swelling in my feet has returned too, it's been absent since I started working out. Now obviously this weight has got to be mostly water as I've been pretty good with my diet. I've stuck to plan but seem to be blessed (cursed?) with an incredibly slow and efficient metabolism that squeezes every last ounce of calories out of my food. According to the BMR charts I need about 2000 calories just to maintain 210, however if I eat anything over 1700 - EVEN WITH SWIMMING 4 HOURS A WEEK and having an average although sedentary lifestyle beyond that - I can't lose weight and seem to stabilize or even GAIN weight. So, is my journey over? Am I forever cursed to be 210 and STRUGGLE to maintain that? This is really a bummer, I had actually thought that with the ease with which I lost the majority of the weight that I would perhaps even struggle to keep my weight UP after all was said and done. I AM in a good place and being 20 pounds over weight is acceptable although disappointing, it's a far cry from weighing 375 like I was last year. So, what should I do?

I second what Veda said, YES it can increase in volume and stretch somewhat but nowhere near back to the original capacity, the tissue is just not there and the stomach does not regenerate itself the way, say, skin does. Remeber too that it now has a row of pretty inflexible staples running along it's edge as well, this certainly has to keep some of the stretching at bay. I am 10+ months out and can already eat a LOT more than I could for the first 10 months, so much that it has me a little concerned that I may fall into the same old bad habits of excessive snacking again. And that is what will really be the downfall of anyone that fails the sleeve - their own bad habits. We human "beans" seem pretty adept at screwing up anything and everything that is set before us - a wonderful solution like the sleeve is one prime example. So take advantage of the first year of marked decrease in capacity and keep up the good eating habits you cultivate during that time period - the success or failure of the sleeve is entirely in your hands.

We all wish you the best of luck! The start of a new adventure!

Same advice as I gave above, if you can handle the bubbles and it doesn't trip a desire for other sweets then YES in moderation. DIET drinks have NO calories but they typically have a lot of sodium and caffeine, both of which are not good for you in large amounts either. Just use use your head people and moderate your intake of EVERYTHING.

Only a few things missing from this picture, connect a slow moving drain to the bottom of the balloon and a tube with a valve at the top, every time the balloon starts to swell a little open the valve and *burp* the gas out while letting the slow drain dribble the liquid past the balloon. I think you'll find that the soda has little NO effect on the balloon now. The stomach is NOT a closed system, there are TWO ways out for the gas and it doesn't just sit there and keep expanding it till it stretches your stomach all out. Drink soda? Can you? - YES, should you ?- MAYBE. If the bubbles bother you then NO, if they don't bother you and drinking sweet soda doesn't prompt you to binge on other sweets then leave it up to your own judgment. If you at ALL doubtful of your control or the sodas effect on you then - NO - DON'T DRINK IT - better safe than sorry. Sorry, my post isn't officially what the OP asked for but I get really cranky when I hear bad illustrations like this.

I'll stand up on my psychobabble hat and take a shot at it. Well, it seems to play a part in some of "happily" marrieds too. I've chalked it up to changing hormones, changing chemical balances, changing self image and increased self confidence. Notice I've chalked up all the "reasons" on OUR part of the situation and none on the "other side". What I've concluded is that while all the changes seem to happen on OUR side not all the REASONS of the imbalance in the relationship are ours. Like many people we fat or formerly fat have a tendency to walk into co-dependency type of relationships. To sum it up it's like the explanation that Rock Balboa gave as to why he liked Adriane - gaps: Rocky: Sure, I like her. Paulie: What's the attraction? Rocky: I dunno... she fills gaps. Paulie: What's 'gaps'? Rocky: I dunno, she's got gaps, I got gaps, together we fill gaps. While we all have needs and all have strengths to give, when a relationship is TOTALLY based on filling someone else's needs with strengths - or worse yet filling needs with weaknesses the relationship is on a much narrower road to success. Quite often the other partner needs us to be (pick on: fat, unhealthy, insecure, etc, etc, etc) because they feel "safe" in the relationship. As long as you have the problem / weakness / issue they feel that they are needed in the relationship. As soon as the balance changes they feel threatened or abandoned. While SOME of this goes on in every relationship, when a relationship has this as it's PRIMARY foundation then you are treading on thin ice and relationship threatening problems can occur. You're going to have to discuss this with your partners, get to the root of the problem and seek outside counseling if you cannot resolve it. Perhaps what I've said is wrong and they genuinely desire fat partners, in this case WLS may be a deal breaker and the relationship will end. Don't just assume you can "make it work" after success with surgery, I'd advise getting to the root of the problem BEFORE surgery so you aren't working through the issue AND the other issues that are bound to pop up POST surgery. Just MHO, IANAD.

No, this sounds absolutely UNresonable and sure makes it seem like the Dr is taking advantage of you and gaming the system, a full evaluation CANNOT be done in 12 minutes. I'd pay it and then AFTER the approval for surgery is granted complain like hell about this doctor and his practice. Why PAY THEN complain - to make sure you get approval and that this "doc" doesn't throw a monkey wrench into the works and try and stop you from obtaining clearance. Sorry to sound so crass but if the situation is what you have explained it as then this is a gross misuse of authority - JMHO

Welcome and we all wish you the best as you start your new adventure. Don't get discouraged, we all have the stall at least a few times. I've been at 210 for about a month now and really, really want to get below 200 pounds so bad I can taste it. Stick with it, it only gets better from here on out!

It varies per person but the "magic time" seems to be at about 6 months out. At that point I could eat a good sized portion, albeit a lot LESS than pre-op. The violence of the over eating and FULL feeling we all experience for the first dew months post-op has settled down and I now just feel uncomfortable when over doing it - which is like 1/2 a small portion too much instead of the MOUNDS of food I used to scarf down and never really feel full. At 10 months out I have changed my eating habits and my tastes have changed I no longer worry about what I eat. I know my limits and just don't - or rarely - exceed them.

Give it time, you're still early enough out that it makes little to no difference on your protein intake. In a few weeks you might be able to tolerate it more. Give it time.

Both things you mention can cause this, low BP and sugar. It can also be caused by dehydration. The simplest way to determine dehydration is to look back at how much you are urinating. If properly hydrated you should be urinating several times a day, say 3 or 4, and the urine should be clear to lightly golden colored, if you are NOT urinating or the urine is dark yellow to brown then you are dehydrated. I know it's tough but just start sipping Water all day. Low BP can be checked sitting and standing with a home pressure testing kit and the results compared, a significant drop in pressure should not occur between the two. See the doc if it's low - say WAY below 120 / 80. It may be just the change in diet doing it but it could be caused by internal bleeding. See the ER doc if it tests way low, like less than 100 / 60. Simple blood sugar testers are available cheaply too. Levels below 70 are what to watch for. Being post op you are not eating much and the results are low glucose levels. If you can drink some apple juice it may help. OJ is good too but quite acid and may upset your already traumatized stomach. Regardless, see the doc if symptoms persist.

Doncha' love it! I don't member wearing clothes this small since high school, maybe even grade school!

Well good for you, we all wish you the BEST as you start your exciting new life! Here's to losin'!

Congrats, you look fabulous!

I didn't want the band because I didn't want a plastic gizmo floating around in my belly and there is a problem with erosion and slippage quite commonly too. I didn't want a bypass because of the malabsorbtion issues with it. The sleeve IS permanent and a common fear is that you will miss food so much and not be able to eat it because your stomach is so small. Well after healing and losing weight you hardly miss the food, in fact I enjoy the TASTE of food MUCH more and get PLENTY to eat. I am always satisfied. The sleeve WILL stretch just as your regular sized stomach did, but no where near the size of the old stomach, it's just impossible to fill it anywhere near the capacity that of the old stomach. As mentioned above, trust your surgeon if you feel he is qualified, it sounds like to me he is level headed and knows what works. Good luck no matter what you choose!

And sweet stuff is mostly icky sweet too, I barely touch the stuff. My tastes run more to the spicy and I like bitter stuff now, like dark chocolate bitter where before it was milk chocolate or nothing!

Yes, mine closed up and initially was dipped in too, eventually I lost the fat and it flattened out, I suspect your sis may have the same results.

I don't think I've picked up a salt shaker for the last 10 months, most food has enough salt already but I used to add more anyway, now everything tastes salty enough and it all tastes GREAT!

Yep, what the last two said. It's emanating from your throat and nasal passages, it's ketones being burnt from your body consuming fat rather than food and storing fat. Think of it like a car burning oil, till you drop down to a level where you are drawing more energy from food than fat and have burnt off enough of the fat you're stuck with it. It seemingly comes from everywhere and no one can usually smell it but you, so don't worry.

So, I've been VERY fortunate on the excess skin issue, sure I sag a little here and there but my fears that I'd end up looking like a circus freak proved false. I actually have more of an issue when I lie down then stand, I sort of look like I am melting a bit as I sag onto the bed One thing I have noticed is when I give myself an injection every 10 days for Testosterone replacement, it seems that the skin on my thigh is now a lot thicker and I have to push quite hard to "pop" through the outer layer into the muscle. Can this be that my skin has actually gotten THICKER instead of just looser? Anyone from , say a dermatologist office in the know about this?

I went alone and met a guy who was having his VSG at he same time, we stuck together as buddies throughout the whole process, maybe you can find someone too. While you'll do fine alone it sure is nice to have someone to talk to and count on.

Isereno, while it certainly can't hurt there is just nothing we can do to "spot reduce". The body packs away fat as it's been genetically programmed to and these "problem spots" are the first to gain and the last to go. Even if you lose enough to get these areas down there might still be excess tissue there. Lipo or surgical removal is the only answer then. I'm down 165 pounds and look pretty thin but when I lie down the wife says I look like a flat tire, the excess skin and subdermal fat just kinda flows out to the bed and makes it look like I'm melting. Oh well, it beats being fat anyways.

about 10 months post op here, down 165 pounds and pretty much stalled. Had an initial goal of 180, stuck at 210 but LOOK like I'm below 200. I'm afraid I'll never lose more and beyond that, that I'll be able to keep it off. I do NOT want to be fat again, or even just overweight.

Talk it over with your doc and see what they say, perhaps they have an opinion on how to mitigate the effect - whatever the cause.