Sleeved&Hopeful

UTGal99 taller people seem to have bigger stomachs than shorter people. I have also heard that some people just have bigger tummies than others. Perhaps it is genetic? I have no idea. As far as an endoscope for sleeve surgery, I don't know if it's any better or worse than a bougie. I DO KNOW that MOST sleeve surgeons use a bougie. So perhaps that means the bougie is superior? I don't know. I would assume that but who knows? I think perhaps discussing this with your surgeon would be good.

Very interesting! Survey completed!

*Sigh* This thread seems to me a lot about strict sleevers vs. moderate sleevers. Flat diet coke in moderation is on most surgeon's post op sheets. It is a personal philosophy and choice on food and drink more than it is on anything else. Some people choose to go all-natural or organic or vegan or vegetarian after the sleeve--and some do not. Some choose to cut out processed foods and drinks with chemicals and sweeteners. Some do not. It's so individual. I fault no one whether they choose one way or another. It comes off a bit arrogant and as though one is throwing around a superior air to tout that they won't touch those "chemicals". Alas, opinions are like boobs everyone has them. Including men :-) Ya I said it. To LT: I just want to say congratulations on your wife's pregnancy! I think thats an amazing thing and don't worry--soon enough you will feel better and will be able to help your sweety out. Just a tip: You can massage her feet while sitting on the couch or bed :-) I know what it's like to be pregnant and a foot massage was so nice :-). Its going to get better soon and life will carry on. Big hugs going your way!

Oh and I have to add I love your style!! Your outfits look awesome!!

You look great! You look healthy and fit. Congratulations!

And just want to let you know a lady I know who got to goal took a full 17 months. She actually went 10 lbs below her goal but was still within a healthy BMI. It can be done

Hey, I agree with the other poster about how some people just lose slow. Please look at some of the excess weight loss stats of the sleeve that are available on the web. MANY of them show the best excess weight loss occurs at around 18 months post op! I think quite a few of them showed around 50-60% at 12 months and around 70-80% at 18 months! Some people went all the way to 100% excess weight loss at 12 months. Not everyone hits goal at 6 months. Sure, there are a lot of them who do and they post on the forums. Some of them hit goal at 10-12 months. But a LOT of sleevers hit their personal goal or close to it at 18 months post op and the studies show it. Not everyone wants to hit 100% excess weight loss. Some people shoot for goal to be the higher end of the healthy BMI range. Your BMI is already down to 31%. That is pretty darn good at 5 months op if you think of it that way! I think shooting for a goal under 25% is good. If you can get 22-23-24 % that is even better. Most women don't get below 20% although some do.I was reading the average body fat % for a woman is between 18-22%.So you are getting really close! So while somer sleevers do hit goal earlier than a year out, many do not. Don't lose hope.

Good luck. I had STITCHES! lol. I thought they were going to hurt badly but they ended up not hurting at all. A minor annoyance. I'm betting the staples aren't much worse. I've heard of your Doctor and he's done a lot of sleeves. I am sure you're in good hands. Best wishes!

I don't get the big deal about drinking flat diet coke in moderation. If that is the worst thing he has to worry about post op, then I'm sure he's going to be fine. Most surgeons say it's fine to drink flat diet coke. Sure, there are chemicals but there are chemicals in a LOT of things. If you can avoid all of them, then more power to you. One of my favorite sleevers in the world is 4 years post op and drinks flat pop a few times a week and has maintained her weight beautifully. She also eats very well so I'm sure that is the major success. As long as LT conquers his food demons, a little flat diet coke is definitely not going to really hurt anything. The carbonation is the main problem with stretching the sleeve. As long as it's flat and in moderation-imho--no harm no foul.

Oh goodness. I do know one lady who had a stricture. She had hers stretched as well. Unfortunately, it came back at 5 months post op. She had to have it stretched again. It sucks. I think hers was rare. I'm pretty sure most of the time it works the first time. She said she had to eat very tiny amounts and I know she was on protein shakes a lot. I hope yours gets fixed right away.

Hey sleevenoob, the posters here are tame and easy going compared to the VSG posters on Obesityhelp LOL. They would have been way worse. I do love obesityhelp though and don't mind the hardcore mindset, but I do think sometimes they are a little too rough on the newbies LOL. I just can't be that way personally because it's just not the way I am.

I am just really glad you are okay. I hope all goes well for you on the 30th. Big hugs! Please update us all after you feel up to it after your surgery.

Loved your video! Your husband is cool and you are great. You have an awesome personality. As far as the drinking when eating--i know it's weird--but you will get used to it. I am almost six months post op and it is a habit I've formed without even thinking about it now! I don't even worry about it. The only time I've been tempted to drink when i eat is when I have been out in the 100 degree Texas heat all afternoon and try to eat. I will be all thirsty and hungry at the same time. I still wait to drink after I eat but it's a little harder because i'm literally parched. Most of the time though--I don't even think about drinking and eating at the same time. It is a part of my life now :-)

Most of the time, I feel like people are okay to go back to work in a week or two. I know some people have harder recoveries than others or complications.I was back doing work and college a week later. But the catch is I'm not on my feet all day. If your job isn't labor-intensive, I bet you can come back with no problem. But it is so individual. I am sure they would work it out for you since they value you as an employee. I mean they liked you enough to make you a permanent team member after being temporary :-). I think it's smart of you to talk to your HR. I am sure you will be fine but it's smart to check out your options. I hope you hear good news!

I think a 40 FR bougie is going to be okay for keeping the weight off :-). I think the studies where I saw the bougie affected long term weight loss was like a 48FR. It was one of Dr. Cirangle's studies. Since you are short, I agree with Lissa that your natural tummy is going to be smaller than someone who is 5'10". I am only 5'4" so I guess my tummy was a little smaller too but who knows? I got a 32FR but that is the standard for my doc. I really don't think a 40 is big enough to make a difference in all honesty. And some of the surgeons do an "oversew" technique that makes your tummy even smaller so you may have an even smaller tummy than you think :-) No matter what the case, I think you can do it! Mind over matter! Fill your tummy up with Protein and you should be all good! I wish you the best in your sleeve journey! We are all in this together and want it to work!

Honestly I only ate 2 miniscule bites of the wheat bread. The 2/3 of the chicken breast really filled me up and there was only about a tiny bit of lettuce. I think I probably shouldn't have had the two bites of wheat bread but I was so hungry after having walked about 5 miles on the strip in 100 plus degrees and I hadn't eaten any breakfast. I think I was just really hungry, which is rare since being sleeved. If I had eaten breakfast like I normally do, I probably wouldn't have eaten half of the chicken breast :-). I ate some chicken breast tonight and was only able to eat 2 ounces. If i would have tried to eat the chicken breast WITH bread I probably would have only managed 3-4 bites. That bread is HUGE. My sleeve restriction is still really good and I'm happy with it. :-) I was eating about the same amount you were at 10 weeks.

The one thing we have to remember is no one is going to be perfect 100% of the time. The main thing is balance. Eating small portions of unhealthy food will work for a while but once the capacity of the sleeve increases that means the food will too! So the small portions turn into bigger portions and you will experience some weight regain. It's just the plain truth. I honestly believe in the whole "bounce back" pounds. If you go more than 5 or 10 pounds over your healthiest weight since being sleeved, then you need to scale back and re-asses your diet choices. If you don't pay attention, it can quickly turn into 20-30-40 lbs! I think the protein first rule is genius. Fill yourself up on protein and you probably won't even crave the bad foods because you will be satisfied :-).

I had my first Subway sandwich in Vegas this week on vacation. I went across to the Casino Royale because I didn't want to spend 29.99 for the buffet at the Mirage when I knew I wouldn't eat enough to justify that price lol. I ordered a 6 inch grilled chicken breast with mayo and lettuce. I was able to eat 2/3 of the chicken breast and some of the lettuce. I ate a little tiny bit of the bottom of the wheat bread ( about 1/3 and none of the top of the bread). It filled me up. I don't think I will order Subway very often because their bread is yummy and tempting. Maybe every once in a while.... So I am 5 1/2 months post op and that is about what I can eat.

Hi kacee-- I just wanted to see if you would update us on your situation. Did you ever get the plication taken down and the gastric sleeve done instead? If so, how are you doing with it now? thanks! I have been thinking about you and hope you have found a solution

Thank you for the thoughtful replies! I've considered lapband. I know someone who was very successful with it since 2006 so that's pretty good. I guess I'm just concerned about the long term after seeing my friend being unable to get a revision surgery because of the damage. I didn't even THINK about people getting a second lap band placed after slippage or erosion or other complications! That's actually a great idea. As long as the stomach can handle the surgery, I can see how the lap band can really be a long term tool. I am sure that can get expensive though. I agree with you that anyway bariatric surgery can have a failure rate whether it's regain after RNY or sleeve, or slippage/erosion after banding. I think that there are positives and negatives to any surgery.

I want to say that I think that the lap band is a good tool for weight loss. I have seen some successful people with it and have personally known quite a few. I've realized, though, that the lap band really is a temporary device. I have never met anyone that has a lapband after 10 years. They either had slippage, erosion, or other complications from the lap band such as infections and hernia or whatever else and etc. My friend told me that when she signed the paperwork...it was listed as a temporary device. One of my friends had such bad damage and scar tissue from the band that she was unable to get a revision surgery. That got me concerned. Does the band cause damage to the stomach from having it for years that makes the person incapable of getting a revision surgery? Does the person then simply just hope and pray that they have learned new lifelong habits to maintain the weight loss? There are so many what ifs. So who still has it after 8-10-12 years? Does it still work or is it unfilled and simply just sitting there without being in use? Is it really a permanent solution to weight? I want to say I think it's a good temporary tool. But I do wonder what people do when the temporary is over...

Emefle-thank you for the wonderful post. Absolutely excellent! I just want to chime in on a few really successful sleevers I know. One is three years out and maintaing goal weight beautifully. One experienced a regain of 15 lbs and lost it. The other did gain about 20 lbs from her lowest weight but she was at the point of being kind of "too skinny" and she still falls in a normal BMI.

Thanks for this tip! I think I need to remember these seeds when I'm PMS'ing and craving everything under the sun :-)

Hey guys I read a study published by Dr. Cirangle that stated using a larger sized bougie (think it was a 40 or 44FR) resulted in the about the same amount of excess weight loss BUT resulted in less long term excess weight MAINTAINED than the smaller bougies. This is why he uses 32FR as a standard. I realy think the 32-36 FR will work better in keeping the weight off. The studies have proven it. This is why you find most doctors use a 32-36. I really think personally a 38 is fine. I'm not a doc though. You have to do what you feel is in your best interests.

Make sure you're not eating and drinking at the same time. Someone of your size should probably not only be eating 600-800 calories a day. You should be fine eating between 1000-1300 in my opinion. Your body is still burning a lot more calories just breathing than someone 200 lbs and you are also male...and men require more calories. . Don't forget about the famous "3 week stall". You are only 6 weeks out and most people hit a wall at 3 weeks out that lasts a few weeks and the weight just stalls and then kicks back in again. Trust me you are going to lose a ton of weight. Even if you can't work out a lot, try to at least get a walk in once a day. Seriously, even if it's just walking around your HOUSE. Any extra movement helps. Best wishes!