jasleeve

Awesome job! WTG

just an update:

i was sleeved dec 20th, 2011.

im less than 11 months post op.

i started at 273lbs.

i am now 150lbs.

starting bmi was 51.6

my bmi now is 28.3

i am 15lbs away from my goal.

aw! thank you for taking the time to read my story! it def has a lot of detail but i think i sugarcoated lots of thoughts thinking id be judged almost.

but im glad i was able to post it for ppl to see.

good luck to u on ur journey!

Wow. I just spent half my life reading this entire thread. I feel like I know you! lol I'm soooooooo glad you're all healed up, losing weight, looking great, and most importantly living a NORMAL life. Thank you for sharing this experience. I still intend to get sleeved, this didn't scare me off, but if I do experience a leak at least I know what the road ahead will look like. Thank you again and God bless.

i made this post about a week ago.. i weighed myself today & i am now 147lbs! ive lost a total of 126lbs.

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i made this post yesterday & it was 123lbs gone but i weighed in today and im now 124lbs down!!

i am officially 149lbs.

no more 50s!

14lbs away from my long term goal.

4lbs away from my short term goal.

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just an update:

i was sleeved dec 20th, 2011.

im less than 11 months post op.

i started at 273lbs.

i am now 150lbs.

starting bmi was 51.6

my bmi now is 28.3

i am 15lbs away from my goal.

just a thought,

im less than 11months post op vsg and too much sugar makes me sick so i stay away from it. i just drink Water & stuff

best of luck to you!

GOD BLESS YOU!!!!!!

i had complications and drs used the word fatal too many times for my liking but honey, your story takes the cake! god bless

Hi everyone, my name is Becky and I have been on this site for about a month now and I can't say enough good things about the people on this site. I have not shared my story yet because 1.) it's not the normal journey 2.) I never wanted to scare anyone who was preparing for surgery and 3) it's still very difficult to talk about. So here goes nothin!

I was banded back in 2007 and had the typical problems with vomiting and terrible heartburn/reflux. I started my journey at 245 lbs and after my first year with the band I got down to 170...not bad! Unfortunately, I misused the band and ate whatever I wanted and then threw it up. I did this every day after almost every meal. Needless to say I ended up having a major slip in 2010 and had to have the band removed. I gained a lot of my weight back and was devastated! I was originally a self pay so my doctor told me to take a few months to heal and he would help me get the band put back in. A few months later, I saved up enough money to cover the discounted cost of having another band put back in. I was rebanded in October of 2010 and I really worked the band. I dropped 30 lbs (the right way) and then I got pregnant. I had a healthy pregnancy except that I had gallstones so I hardy ate anything and only gained 23 lbs during the pregnancy. I had to have my daughter a month early so they could remove my gallbladder and the operation went smoothly.

Life was good. I was back to my pre baby weight of 187 within 2 weeks of having my baby. I was working it! Slowly, I began to gain weight. Within a year of having my baby, I was back up to 223. I was doing everything right so what was wrong? I still don't understand but I every so often I would get the flu. Well, I thought it was the flu anyway. I got it about every 6 months until Feb of 2012 when i got it 3 times. I kept thinking, the flu must be rampant. My daughter even had it the first time I was sick in Feb so in my mind, I knew it was flu related. On March 8, 2012 I went to work and had a really back pain near my kidneys not near my stomach. I began vomiting uncontrollably and took myself to the urgent care. They sent me to the ER with kidney stones. Based on where the pain was located, it made sense. The hospital gave my a shot of pain med and sent me home. I went back 3 times over the next two days and they just kept sending me home. I was vomiting ever 3-4 minutes by the end of the second day. I couldn't even stand in my own. I remember thinking...I'm going to just kill myself. I'm dying and no one will help me. Finally I called my bariatric doctor to see if he could unfill my band because it hurt so bad to vomit. He got me right in, scolded me for not calling him first and unfilled me. I remember the feeling of instant relief after he unfilled me. I went home and slept for 6 hrs. I hadn't slept in days and I was so exhausted. I woke up at 6:30 that friday puking my guts out again. I was so sick that I broke the ceramic toilet seat with the sheer force of my chest hitting it whet I got sick. The vomiting was non stop now. I barely had time to take a breath between. My boyfriend had just walked in the door from work and I crawled to him, grabbed his leg and said, I'm dying! I knew something was terribly wrong and I knew I was dying. He rushed me to my bariatric doctors hospital and they rushed me in to surgery to unhook the band. It took close to 3 hours to get an IV in because my veins had collapsed. There were so many nurses around me trying to get IV's in me and I grabbed one and pulled him close to me and I told him to please "kill me now." That's all I remember really except for the fact that I died on the table. I saw the light. It's so vivid what I saw. I won't share that part with you because it's just for me to know and you'd probably think i was crazy. Anyway, I woke up 5 days later from my coma, hooked up to every machine you can imagine. Tubes down my throat, central IV line in my neck, arterial lines, pic lines, 16 different IV's, you name it I was hooked to it. Turns out my band had slipped. The sutures stayed in tact and as I vomited it ripped my stomach apart from top to bottom. They were only able to save about 10% of my stomach and pieced it together with mesh so that I wouldn't have to live with a feeding tube for the rest of my life. I'm categorized as a full gastrectomy which is usually done on patients suffering from stomach cancer. I don't have the typical sleeve but I do call myself a sleever.

My story isn't over yet, sorry it's so long!! Things were going as good as can be expected. A day after waking from my coma they pulled the tube from my throat and had me start walking a few hrs later. I spent 10 days in ICU unable to see my kids before they sent me home. I was home for 2 days before I got a fever. It spiked to 105.6 and I went back to the hospital. They ran tests and found that I had major abscesses in my abdomin. I got infections from all the stomach bacteria. I ended up having 2 JP drains put in and stayed in the hospital for another 3 weeks. When I finally got to go home, I had to have at home nursing care. I had to give myself IV antibiotics every 6 hrs. I also developed blood clots fromy pic line...which by the way sucks. Coumadin made my hair fall out (along with lack of protein). I was so sick that I refused to eat. My weight loss actually scared me. I was losing between 2-3 lbs a day. Granted I had gotten up to 233 from all the fluids but still, losing 3 lbs a day for weeks at a time is scary!!

I returned to the hospital 2 more times from abscesses and had to have another JP drain put in and have the Fluid around my lungs drained ( my total hospital stay was aprox 2.5 months total). I also became addicted to the painkillers and had to seek treatment to get off the percoset. I suffered severe dumping up until August and am still lactose intolerant! I can live with that though! The dumping...not so much! Dumping is terrible!!!!

To sum up my wls journey...it effin sucked! I love my "sleeve" now but my journey has been tough none the less. I was finally able to start moving and walking around in June and have since slowly picked up jogging. I love my new life and if I scared anyone I am truly sorry. My story is not the norm but it is my story. Had I known about the sleeve before I got my band, I would have chosen the sleeve. Hindsight is 20/20, right?

Thank you to all of you who have been my support and my inspiration. I love this site!!!!

Beginning stats- 5'6" 233 lbs after initial surgery

Current stats- 160lbs

Surgery date 3/11/12

lucky you, my booty has been non existant my entire life! lol.

See.. I won't need a butt..I have tons of that! lol but I definitely want an hour glass figure so I'm guessing lipo... A tummy tuck.. breast lift..arm lift and a thight lift.. I'll have to do my surgeries in stages..But I'll do the breast and tummy first with liposuction.. Maybe I can squeeze the arms in as well.. I'll have to ask the surgeon how many procedures can be performed at once..

now that i think of it, i guess i am getting sculpted because im having a fat transfer. im going to tell him to take from my waist to have a hour glass shape & from my back & is placing it in my butt. im 154 right now. i want to be 135lbs. i figure whatever he takes from my belly from a tuck will leave me at about 130lbs assuming ill have a flatter tummy then.

I wanna be scuplted too... But that one come until 2014. By then I would have all of my weight off and the finances.. I think we should make a group effort to get it done together.. if we can. That would be awesome.

i agreee! & congrats to her!!!! i think i want to be sculpted too lol

My cousin had a procedure done in Mexicali and she looks great, she never has really had a shape being that she carried fat around her abdomen and arms and back and had no butt and looked very straight (no hips, boyish figure) the Doctor she went to performed a liposculpture and took fat from her abdomen and back areas and sculpted her a knock out body and gave her a booty. She now has an hour glass figure, a flat tummy and a butt. I went with her for the consultation so I met the Doctor as well because I plan on getting some fat transferred into my boobs and butt once I lose a good amount of weight. Are you ready for the shocker??? the procedure cost $2,500 I say it is money well spent to have a barbie like figure.

im still not regular & im 10 months post op. i been tracking mine since sept..

sept 12th

sept 13th 2x

sept 18th

sept 19th

sept 22nd

sept 26th

sept 27th

sept 28th 2x

sept 29th

oct 2nd 2x

oct 5th

oct 6th 2x

oct 7th

oct 9th

oct 10th

oct 12th

oct 13th 3x

oct 18th

oct 19th

you can!!!!

Oh i would love to wear a two piece just once in my life!!!

But I'm over 40... I don't know if I'm too old to aim for that...

Gosh I would LOVE that

when i say insecure, i dont mean it negatively but if someones is wearing Spanx, its to hide something. if youre hiding a body part, its because of insecurities. if you werent insecure and trying to hide it, you wouldnt wear spanx. thats why i want plastic surgery. i dont need extra skin on my boobs or tummy. i wanna look good naked as i do with clothes on. i want to wear a 2 piece and be comfortable.

as far as different country, its still a hospital! not like its an apartment.

Insecure? I don't think so...not me! I made my statement based on the comments above. It seemed the issue of cost was more important than some other factors. I certainly realize there is a chance for negligence right here in the U. S. of A.

Jasleeve - how far out were you when they discovered the leak?

with the c section infection, how was that taken care of?

the work she did on the girl was great but the girl felt tricked into it. i actually saved the girls picture. ohhhh & the other thing i heard about her is that for the fat transfer, she doesnt put a lot. THAT i dont like! i want to shape my butt out since ive never had one & id be highly disappointed if i came out with a barely noticable butt.

JaSleeve.....

Yes, I have heard that she will suggest a Tummy Tuck if it's too much fat around the belly. I'm sorry the woman caught an infection, but honestly that doesn't scare me enough. I caught an infection with my c-section insecion here in the states. But a botch job definitely will! And so far I haven't heard of her doing any

I haven't contacted her, but I've talked to many women who have been to her on www.realself.com and they've all said her pricing is reasonable...

I wont be ready for plastics for at least another year or two..

Here's the link to her website...www.drawalkirisrobles.com

you get medical care there. you just have to stay there. no difference than here. if anything, you hear more usa horror stories than DR. but to each their own. i refused to be trapped in a fat girls body so i made a change. now i refuse to be loose so ill make a change. while others are wearing Spanx to hide their insecurities, ill get mine removed & feel great in my skin.

Discount surgery vs complete medical care....this is a no brainer for me. I will live in spanx for the rest of my life if necessary before I head out of the country to save money.

lol i totally agree. if anything, u hear horror stories here too. ive seen people from the usa get work done & they look like they just got work done. ive seen girls come back from DR looking like barbie dolls! DR is known for plastic surgery which means they do it OFTEN which means more experience. if someone is well known for charging less, everyones going to go there. they only get better with experience, not worse. lol.

americans who are dominican have no fear of going there to get work done because its where they are from! people from america have no fear of getting it done here because its where we are from! my only fear is because is an infection. not where im going. lol.

im glad u made the decision to be healthy & be sleeved whether it here or not! go girl

Heading out the country is not so bad of a thought. It's exactly what I did concerning my sleeve. I went right to Mexico. Couldn't afford it in the states, but I most certainly could there.

My belief is that America is not the only country with competent surgeons. But I understand what you're saying.

the one i read was of a female who wanted Lipo but was "too fat" & robles made her do a Tummy Tuck & caught an infection.

but ive read good reviews about her!

what is the inclusive package like?

what work r u getting?

how much were u quoted?

I've only heard of the one bad review from Dra. Robles, but it wasn't concerning her work ethic or performance. More so..of what she was not going to perform on a patient. The rest of the reviews that I read were pretty awesome. And I like that she has an all-inclusive package... Wait..or was that Cardenas? lol Right now I'm not sure.. but and all-inclusive package sounds really great to me. Best of luck with whomever you choose

Jasleeve you've come such a long way! Congratulations!

Sent from my iPhone using VST

thats awesome!!!!! congrats!!

Your story is an inspiration to many others. thanks for sharing the good, the bad and the ugly with everyone. I was sleeved in November of last year and have lost 160 since surgery and 200 overall. your progress is great.

(hugs) thank you so much!

I too am so sorry you had to go through what you did in order to get where you are. The best part is that you are healthy, alive, and thriving. I'm glad that God chose to continue your time here on Earth. I imagine the rest of your journey will be a breeze considering where you have come from. Hugs, and so glad you are around 9 months later to share your story!

the pain that experience brought me will forever be fresh in my mind. my weight was always up & down so there were times where i would diet & get into jeans between sizes 6-14 (my lowest from just dieting) but i always gained it back.

lets put it this way, it was like having cancer for 2-3months. my bestfriends mom had cancer & would throw up bile because of the stent in her stomach & couldnt eat. what was different? only thing was, i had did this to myself!

so no, i could never do that to myself again. i wouldve rather been up & down for the rest of my life than almost killed myself at the age of 23 which stressed my mom out tremendously!

would i support someone? ABSOLUTELY!

why? because i wouldnt want them to be alone as i was (i only had my mom but everyone else in my circle disappeared). also because i know about 10 other people personally who are sleeved & had no complications and are doing GREAT!!!!

its funny because i read a humor quote the other day that was so true. it said, "i would do anything to lose weight except diet and exercise." lol. its so true!

yes, we diet but then we give up on ourselves because our mind tells us to!

thats like hs drop outs. school is just too much for some people. then you have people who go to college & become drs!

WE COULD ALL BE DOCTORS IF WE WANTED TO BE!!! we just need to put our mind to it and do it. its the samething with weightloss. some ppl choose WLS for an easy way out although its not easy. but without trying 100%, they just give up & go for surgery.

so no, i wouldnt do it again but im grateful for my health and appearance now.

It is so sad that we have gotten to the point where we have to even contemplate putting our lives at risk in order to have this amazing tool. I have read your post as well as Iggy's and a few others that had problems. It scares me but I am at that point where I don't think I can successfully do it myself. Actually I know I can't. So surgery is for me.

When you say you wouldn't have this surgery again I wanted to ask you how you think your life would be now? Your down 117 lbs! Amazing. Do you think you would be happy heavy again? Truly? I certainly don't want to die from this surgery but I feel like I am slowly killing myself right now.

Just curious as to your feelings about this from your experiences. Not making light of all you have gone through either of course. If must be very conflicting for you to have had such success at such a high price. If a close friend or family member asked you to support their decission to have the surg would you do so? Thank you for sharing!

i dont "regret" surgery anymore but i wouldnt do it again if i had to & i regret having the complications although they were out of my control.

I love to see this... especially given the title of this thread you started so long ago. Still regret surgery?

i think its your mind playing tricks on you. im sure that without you even realizing, youre terrified of the outcome of this whole thing whether its what may happen from now to 40wks and even maybe what it will be like when your joy is born!

every baby is different (im in the childcare field) so all the info that you have on other babies may not even apply to yours! so dont worrry! ull know what your baby needs & doesnt need & what it may want & dont want.

PERFECT EXAMPLE:

i feel that huggies is the best diapers for babies. i would only WANT to buy huggies when i have kids but when my cousin was a baby, she was allergic to huggies & developed a yeast infection! she could only use cheap brands.

see what i mean? lol

Things are still going pretty well- I've had a couple moments the last couple days where I have doubted that I'm really truly pregnant. Then my anti-nausea med wears off and my doubts fade away...

Honestly though I've really struggled with morning sickness. It's usually the worst at night before bedtime, but is ever-present to some degree. The Zofran really only just keeps me from throwing up. I still have the nausea, stomach aches, and slight vertigo feeling that usually come just before.

Our next ultrasound is the 22nd. We'll be at just under 10 weeks then, and get a good look at our little bean!

Something interesting about being pregnant- it's much harder to think of names. I have always liked thinking about names, and thought I would just go deliriously crazy thinking of names, making lists, etc. Now that I am finally pregnant, it's hard to come up with anything that sounds particularly exciting or appealing! Also, everything that I thought I knew about parenting, all those wonderful theories and anecdotes from watching others' mistakes, has flown right out the window. I feel like I know nothing, and am completely unprepared....

omg really? aw! im glad that i helped you make the decision to become healthier! i wish you the best in your journey & pray everything goes well for you love!

I have been following you for a while thought I would say hi! Your YouTube video with the micheal Jackson son made me cry and that's when I decided I wanted to make that change. My day is coming Thursday:) see you on the losers bench

i had astent placed through my mouth & into my stomach. made me soooooo sick! i didnt eat for over a month and i threw up bile about 12x a day. it shifted 2x and i had 3 emergency procedures for them to fix it. smh.

That is the next step if the Catscan shows no improvement, going in thru the mouth and placing a stent or clamp on the leak..........