bradycone

I would do it again! I'm only a few weeks out, but its been a great experience so far. I am one of these "low BMIers" that some of you seem to despise. My BMI was 38, and I had no comorbidalties. I've seen a recent post on here say that people people who are slightly overweight shouldn't be allowed to have the surgery. But, having a BMI of 30-40 isn't slightly overweight, it's OBESE. Even if I didn't have any health issues, just being obese is amajor threat. I've seen all of my family suffer from heart disease and diabetes, so why would I wait until I have them too to get this under control?

I would do it again! I'm only a few weeks out, but its been a great experience so far. I am one of these "low BMIers" that some of you seem to despise. My BMI was 38, and I had no comorbidalties. I've seen a recent post on here say that people people who are slightly overweight shouldn't be allowed to have the surgery. But, having a BMI of 30-40 isn't slightly overweight, it's OBESE. Even if I didn't have any health issues, just being obese is amajor threat. I've seen all of my family suffer from heart disease and diabetes, so why would I wait until I have them too to get this under control?

My moment was in March when I was sitting in the Denver airport waiting to board a plane. I checked Facebook on my phone, and one of my friends had just written a post that said something like "I'm sitting on an airplane getting ready for takeoff and I seen a fat guy walking down the isle. Of course his seet was right next to mine. Why do I always get stuck next to the fat ones?"
It was then that I realized I was that guy. The fat guy that everybody hoped wouldn't sit by them. that was just 2 months ago, and I'm already 3 weeks post op. Down 40 pounds, and loving it.

Soooo I'm at my 3 week stall like alot of people have been raving about ! Well today and I was getting dressed to go jog 2 miles i turned to the side and I was like WOW!!!! First time In many years my baby pouch isn't hanging below my pantie line!!! So I guess I'm losing inches and not lbs!!!

I would do it again! I'm only a few weeks out, but its been a great experience so far. I am one of these "low BMIers" that some of you seem to despise. My BMI was 38, and I had no comorbidalties. I've seen a recent post on here say that people people who are slightly overweight shouldn't be allowed to have the surgery. But, having a BMI of 30-40 isn't slightly overweight, it's OBESE. Even if I didn't have any health issues, just being obese is amajor threat. I've seen all of my family suffer from heart disease and diabetes, so why would I wait until I have them too to get this under control?

I'm 3 weeks post op. It had been going great, until this week. Over the last 4 days, I have gained 4 pounds! Everyday the scale has gone up by a pound. I'm still only eating about 600-800 calories a day. I don't see how I can gain a pound a day when I'm not even eating that much.
Did anybody else experience that?

Looking back on this, I'm so happy I had this surgery. I'm 6 months out and find I can eat small amounts of everything I love(except chicken), I'm now at 216 when I started at 322. I've done two 5K's(walked, not ran), and I am no longer terrified of booths at restaurants or chairs with arms. It's not always been easy, but it's the best thing I could have ever done for myself.... plus, the other day a complete stranger told my guy friend that he thought I was hot!, I've never been hot! I've got a bit more to go, but I'm over halfway there and hopeful. I hope this might be a help to anyone who is on the fence about this surgery. If you have any questions about the surgery or recovery process, feel free to send me a message.

My moment was in March when I was sitting in the Denver airport waiting to board a plane. I checked Facebook on my phone, and one of my friends had just written a post that said something like "I'm sitting on an airplane getting ready for takeoff and I seen a fat guy walking down the isle. Of course his seet was right next to mine. Why do I always get stuck next to the fat ones?"
It was then that I realized I was that guy. The fat guy that everybody hoped wouldn't sit by them. that was just 2 months ago, and I'm already 3 weeks post op. Down 40 pounds, and loving it.

Jacinda....I wish I knew more, but I have never been banded. But, there is a whole section on the forum about band to sleeve revisions. I'm sure there is a ton of helpful stuff there.
But, as far as knowing as when you are full: I've known so many people like you who have been banded, and they only know they are full when it comes back up. For me with the sleeve, after my small amount of food, I feel full and satisfied, just as if I had eaten a huge meal before I was sleeved. I do know of sleevers who have thrown up from eating too much, but I never have. Usually when they do, they learn their lesson on what their limit is, and it's not a problem.

I agree with the previous posters. I don't think it's possible. At my hospital, even though I was able to walk fine, the nurse was required to wait outside with me for my mom to pull up and make sure I got in with somebody....and not driving myself. I know it will be a pain for you sister, but if she is willing to do it, let her!

Great job!!

I was just sleeved two weeks ago as a self pay patient in Nebraska. The total will be about $14,500. That includes the hospital, surgeon, anesthesiologist, radiology, and lab. The largest cost to the hospital is $10,000 and they have a program that lets me pay just $150/month. There is no way I could have done it otherwise.

Congrats! You'll do fine, and it'll be the best decision you ever made!

Bwa Ha Ha, this is great. After all the crap (pretty much exactly like OneManWolfpack described) (and I HOPE he's developing a screenplay with this scene in it!). I said "So let me describe what they're gonna do..." in bloody & gory detail. By the time of "and then they pull most of the stomach outta the hole and throw it away" they were both quiet and green!

I'm 10 days post op. Besides my family, I've told about 5 buddies. Some of them had genuine concerns, but all of them said that if I decided to do it, they would be supportive. And they all have been.

Thank you so much for all of the info! I'm just 2 weeks out, but trying to prepare myself for the future, and this was really helpful.

I am SO sorry that you are going through this! I wish there were words I could say to make it better, but I know I can't. But, know that you aren't in this alone, and I will be praying for you.

I am SO sorry that you are going through this! I wish there were words I could say to make it better, but I know I can't. But, know that you aren't in this alone, and I will be praying for you.

Wow MichiganChic thank you so much for your question. You are really making me think here. I guess most everything that I do now stems from a lot of reasons. One really big reason is that (like almost everyone else here) surgery was my last hope. It wasn't like I thought, "oh I'll give it a whirl and if it doesn't work out, no big deal." I was a bit of a research junkie about this surgery and I knew going into this that it would not be a miracle cure or a magic wand, and that it WOULD take a lot of effort on my part. And like almost everyone else here, I was GREAT at losing weight, but just not great at keeping it off. So I knew going in that would still be my cross to bear. Maintenance is for life. It's not some distant land that you reach and then it's all skittles and rainbows. It takes a concentrated effort to NOT put crap in my mouth. And there is just not a surgery ON THIS EARTH that will make those daily choices for you. Sure RNY can make people dump which is a huge incentive to stay away from sugar, but I chose the sleeve because I didn't want my surgery to control that aspect of my life. I could eat sugar all day long and gain all my weight back, but I CHOSE this path. I CHOSE to have 85% of my stomach removed. So I guess staying the course, and still working this tool is part of what I bargained for.
Another reason is that a lot of stuff HAS become automatic. I tend to eat a lot of the same core foods daily. eggs, greek yogurt, cheese, all kinds of meat, meatless soy burgers and sausage, and then I sprinkle in veggies, minimal fruit, whole wheat carbs, and yep even junk food. I'm not 100% perfect all the time but I would say I'm fairly good about 80% of the time. Do I fall off the wagon? Yep! Are there days when I'm exhausted counting calories, measuring my food, and just want to sit and reach my hand into a box of sugar Cereal and NOT CARE ABOUT how it's going to affect me? Yep! But then I have my little pity party and I pull myself back up and know that every meal is an opportunity. An opportunity to do better, to eat better, to feel better. So I make those daily choices. And I've learned that there IS NO FINISH LINE. I kinda thought there was. As much research as I did about the surgery, the pre-op, the post-op, the first week, the first 6 weeks, the first 6 months, the first year, I did NOT find a lot of information regarding "maintenance" or life down the road a bit. When I was sleeved in Oct. 2010, I was my surgeon's 15th sleeve. He did literallly thousands of Bands and RNY's, but sleeve territory was new. And finding post-ops that were 2, 3, 5, 10 years OUT from surgery was pretty much next to impossible. I think that is part of why I stay around here also because I've learned the hard way that maintenance is NOT all skittles and rainbows. It does take work, it does take effort but the results are worth putting in the effort.
I guess that would have been easier to say. The hard work is worth the results. THAT is what keeps me going.
I commend you for thinking about the future and not just living in the weight-loss mode. And more than that I really appreciate your question because it did make me think.
All the best to you and your journey!

I have just about all of the complex carbs I can (along with my protein) during the days I workout. Such as green veggies, oats, quinoa and even some brown rice, but mostly I stick with broccoli and oats for my carbs. I have cut out, or nearly eliminated all white bread, Pasta and sugar. But that doesn't mean I don't crave it some or fall off the wagon.

I agree. Having struggling with weightloss for so long, I know I wouldn't appreciate somebody lying to me about how they lost weight. I'm now 8 days post op, and I'm just telling people as I see them and it comes up. I've been really surprised at how supportive everybody has been.

I'm just a couple of weeks out, and I experienced that so much the first week. I was so disappointed becuase I wanted my hunger/cravings to go away. But, once I started on some full liquids like applesauce, and some mushy food, I haven't felt much hunger. It only takes a couple of bites of those things and I feel so full and don't want food! The first week on Clear Liquids, no matter how much liquid you get down there is just not enough substance to it to make you feel full, but that will change soon.