kah1213

I'm 4 days out post OP with the sleeve. I have not encountered any problems I'm able to drink my Water and shakes also im able to eat a whole Jello
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I haven’t checked in here in a while, but I am 6 days out from my date (11/19) .. I am excited, struggling with the liquid diet but not discouraged. I hear Constipation is an issue for most, along with gas. Any tips besides Miralax? I was hoping for something more natural so my body wouldn’t necessarily depend on it.

Also! Congratulations to any of the recent sleevers

I think it is ridiculous that if you need to have a revision to a bariatric procedure from a failed initial one that you have to wait to regain all your weight before you can get another! If you met the criteria for the first procedure and had surgery and now need another the insurance company should be satified that the patient is still a candidate. Most of us had our first surgery because of health considerations and to expect us to regain all that weight to have the revision surgery is unhealthy and a waste (waist!) of time.
I have to have a lap band removed and fortunately (or unfortunately) I have already regained enough weight and have two new comorbidities so I don't have to gain even more to get my revision.

Yes. This time I am following up with dieticion and nutritionist plus my physycologist is on call at all times. She wants me to weigh everyday and if I start to backslide, call immediately to discuss where I went wrong. I also have at least 8 freinds who have had weightloss surgeries including my sister. I will be in close contact with them through this process. When I had mine done before I had nobody. Joining this group is also going to be a great source of knowledge.

I am now 6 weeks post RNY and loving it. To me the RNY is doing what we were told that the band would do that it didn't.
I can eat smaller portions of healthy food and be satisfied.
I remember being told that with the band if we ate too much we would get sick. Well I never got sick from eating too much but I had more episodes than I can count where 1 bite of something healthy would get stuck and then I would be in pain for hours and still hungry!
On Friday I ate steak for the first time in years. A small portion of eye fillet with salad and it was great.

Saw Burch today. I’d kiss that man on the face. He’s so wonderful I’m surprised he’s a surgeon. Drew pictures of bypass and handed it to me and I jokingly asked him to sign it so I could frame it and he did and even wrote 1/1 on it. The most personable surgeon I’ve ever met.

Cedars Sinai! hands down. They are #3 in the country for gastric surgeries. Dr Burch is amazing

100% happens to me all the time! It’s a small price to pay :)

100% happens to me all the time! It’s a small price to pay :)

Same. 100lbs lost and only my dad knows. I don’t have time to educate people ;)

Same. 100lbs lost and only my dad knows. I don’t have time to educate people ;)

It was so sad to lose my best friend. She never rejected me, abandoned me, or bored me. She was delicious and exciting and she filled all the empty spaces in me. I had a huge, huge cry about losing her. (Food) So now I have to either replace her with many, many other activities or simply let her go. It's hard. I dont know if anyone else loved her as much as I.

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I had my surgery on Jan 9th too! My doctor put me on two weeks of clear liquids which included milk. This has been key for me...I take a four cup measuring cup and pour in three cups of FairLife skim milk (13 grams per serving) and mix that with one bottle of chocolate (or vanilla) Pure Protein Drink (30 grams per serving). This equates to 69 grams of protein and 35 ounces of liquid. I pour some in a glass and drink one in the morning and one in the afternoon and finish the little bit that is left later in the day. It is like drinking chocolate milk around the clock! I am getting in my 60+ grams of Protein a day and taking in a decent amount of liquids as well. Maybe this will be something you can do to mix up the liquids that you are currently taking in.

The best gift I got out of WLS was fighting and overcoming the mental battles. Some of this may be counseling and changing old behaviors over to healthy habits. Learning to live a healthy lifestyle was eye opening and exciting. Research research research! Take in all the information out there. youtube, read books, studies on WLS and documentaries.

Your best shot at it would be Dr. Keshishian in Glendale. He is one of the handful of docs capable of doing the very complex RNY to DS revision, and while you don't need that level of revision, a good DS oriented surgeon is a good bet for a VSG as the DS is based upon the sleeve, so those docs have been doing sleeves much longer than most bariatric surgeons. When I had my VSG done 7-8 years ago, I went up to SF to have it done as there was no comparable level of experience in LA at the time (Dr. K was still mostly practicing in the Central Valley then.)
He will probably advocate that you revise to the DS, as that does generally provide better and more durable long term results, but the decision is yours. If your band failed mechanically rather than on weight loss or regain, and you otherwise lost and maintained well with it, then the VSG should do just as well for you, but without the mechanical issues. If, on the other hand, you did struggle to lose enough with the band, or regained with it, then the DS is well worth considering.

I saw small differences after each 10lb mark. Take pics to see your own progress. It helped me!

I had a nice roommate and we ignored each other unless one of us needed something. I did throw up because I had a cold and was coughing after the surgery. It was just a little liquid and as far as I know we both survived.

But...it was like a day and a half and then I never had to see or hear her stupid face again. So in the big picture, I wouldn’t let it spoil your experience. If I made it through with Helga the she devil, you’ll be fine

Hi,
I was banded about ten years ago and had a terrible time. I lost about 60 pounds but it was mostly due to throwing up and poor nutrition-- I ate what would go down and little more. Last July I reconnected with my surgeon who suggested the sleeve. I just met the qualifications with a BMI of 35 and sleep Apnea. Diabetes and High Blood Pressure run in the family and when I hit my mid-40's I knew I had to do something. I lost 30 pounds on WW's but I just couldn't keep it off-- once I lost the weight and my points were lowered I would just get soo hungry... The reason I haven't had my surgery yet despite seeing my doctor in July of 2017 is because of a huge fight with my insurance. I just got my approval a few weeks ago and I am scheduled for surgery Jan 2. Everything I was hoping for and working toward is now in a few weeks and I am feeling a little panicky! I remember my regret after the band (my stomach swelled shut at each fill) and I had almost convinced myself to accept I was never going to get approved this time. Any advise? I basically have all of the nutrition information, my post-op diet, all those things memorized. And yet here I am second guessing my decision. I know I need this and if I back out will probably never have the chance again. I am having a hiatal hernia fixed at the same time so need surgery in any case. Help!

I am 5 days post-op sleeve. I was originally approved 1 year ago and cancelled surgery about 3xs for various reasons (fear, wanting lose weight on my own, timing at work, etc). Hwevr, I attended many free support group meetings facilitated by the program RD offered by my hospital so that I could get first hand knowledge and learn tips and strategies. This helped sooo much!

The 1st couple of days in the hospital post-op was a little rough, but nothing unbearable. I also had a haitial hernia that I was unaware of that my surgeon repaired during the surgery, which Ive learned is very common for wls patients.

Since coming home, I have had a lot of diarrhea, but Ive learned that many sugar-free things, including a couple of the bariatric Vitamins have sugar alcohols (sorbital, sucralose, etc) that does not agree with my system. Im in the full-liquid stage til next week and today was the first day w/out diarrhea bec my RD said to start full-liquids and include hot cereals and yogurt (cream of wheat, grits, etc), which stopped it completely.

I know im a post-op newbie but I have no regrets at all so far. Physically, my knees no longer hurt and I already have a diff kind of energy than before surgery that is a great feeling. I have no desire for sweets or fried foods or anything unhealthy. It may be bec im still sore and jst trying to get all of my basic Proteins and fluids in, but I feel much better knowing that im finally on the other side of my wl journey [emoji4]

This is pretty much my story!!! I went ahead and had the sleeve this past December. My insurance covered all of it. I gained 60 pounds back before I got my band out. Since my sleeve surgery I have lost 28 pounds. So far I have been very happy with my decision, but I am getting a little bored with the food choices. That's partly my fault because I should try to be more creative with the food, but I just really try to focus eating for survival and not necessarily eating for pleasure. Best of luck to you!!

I had my first post-op regret last night actually. I was struggling to eat anything at all yesterday, and every bite was difficult. My new sleeve fills up so quickly, and I had a moment of realization that I can't eat like I used to any longer. I used to eat generally very quickly, but now it's tiny bites, chew chew chew, then swallow. Wait 30 seconds-minute, rinse and repeat.

I regretted that I can't 'enjoy' food the way I used to, and thus the surgery. BUT, I think it's very normal for people to sometimes have regrets, especially in the beginning recovery period. Adjusting to our new stomachs/bodies takes a lot of getting used to, and it's normal to be emotional as well. We have just underwent a lifechanging experience, afterall.

I think I am like you though, in that once I feel better, I will not regret it at all. But from what I've read on here, some people seem to have those initial regrets in the beginning, only to be very happy later and wished they'd done it sooner!

Same. 100lbs lost and only my dad knows. I don’t have time to educate people ;)

Same. 100lbs lost and only my dad knows. I don’t have time to educate people ;)

Hi all,
This group is pretty buried within the forums, so I can see how I missed it until now (and I can also see why it's pretty inactive). I would have really liked to read a story like mine from someone else while I was researching the sleeve surgery.
So, here's my story and I hope it helps someone. I would love to hear from anyone and try to pump some life into this forum! I'm a newbie, just 12 days post-op, so I am still learning everyday and ask the veterans dumb questions all the time. But I still think my experience just coming to terms with knowing the sleeve was for me might help another low BMIer in a similar situation.
I'm 31 years old, 5'6" and started at 180lbs (29 BMI). I had a lot of backlash from friends and family when I made my mind up to go forward with this, but ultimately everyone ended up being supportive after they realized there was no talking me out of it and the surgery was done. For low BMIers wondering if the sleeve is too drastic for them, I'll tell you it's a personal choice and a lifelong commitment.
That being said, I was a major yo-yo dieter. I binged on food for weeks, gain 35 pounds, then went vegan cold turkey (cold tofu? Lol). Lost 30lbs. Then went on a binge, gained 40lbs, then did Atkins (extreme difference from vegan), lost 35lbs. I've been repeating this cycle of bingeing then dieting (insert any fad diet here: HCG diet, Orange Theory obsession, phentermine, personal trainer 3x, vegetarian, back to Atkins, Nutrisystem, Weight Watchers...) since I was 12 years old. Anyway, the highs got higher and I never made it back to my pre-binge numbers.
I got exhausted from dieting. Frustrated with myself and my lack of impulse control. I looked into WLS. My mom is the same as I am, just add another 100lbs. I went with her to a weight loss seminar and learned about the sleeve. I was ready to sign up then and there; finally, I found something that could be a real tool to help me maintain a healthy weight for life - you can't binge if you can only eat a half a cup of food at a time!
Unfortunately, the US healthcare system wanted me to be a 35 BMI to get the surgery. And, if I wanted to waste a couple years of my life, I guarantee I would've made it there, and I would have brought along my new friends diabetes, high BP, and joint pain.
Instead, I researched getting the sleeve in Mexico where I could pay a fraction of the cost of surgery in the US, and they were willing to do the surgery within 2 weeks of my filling out paperwork and a deposit for just about anyone BMI 28 or higher.
I went w/ Dr. Ortiz at OCC. I was THRILLED with the entire experience. When I arrived in Mexico I began having doubts, but the staff and the other patients put me at ease. There were several very low BMI patients with my same issues. An interesting fact the surgeon told me is that once you gain 30 pounds the likelihood of you losing the weight and keeping it off without surgery is 10%. I already knew I didn't fall into that 10%. So I did it on 7/22/16. After my pre-op diet (which was absolutely the hardest part of this entire process!), I weighed 173 pounds on date of surgery.
I'm 12 days out and weigh 163lbs now. I really think that being low BMI and healthy were 2 major reasons I had such an easy surgery. Aside from a little nausea caused by the anesthesia (I never threw up, just felt icky for about an hour) and getting the gas out, I had no complications. My incisions are all tiny. I have no pain in my abdomen. I'm a stomach sleeper and can sleep on my stomach. I was only on pain meds a couple days past surgery (and I just took what I was told, not sure I even had any pain ever).
Getting 64oz of liquid in the first 2 days didn't happen for me, but as soon as I could introduce the Protein Shakes, this process became totally workable. I'm currently drinking 3 Premier Protein drinks p/day and get 90g of Protein per day. I drink 48oz of regular Water and 16oz of Vitamin Water. I enjoy Tomato Soup with almond milk and yogurt drinks (the yogurt adds another 12g of Protein, bringing my count up to 102g) as my Snacks. I mix my Vitamins with the Soup and the yogurt, because I'm not supposed to take them as pills yet.
The biggest issues for me are mental. At this point, I haven't had solid food yet, so I just miss eating. I get to start my pureed phase on 8/5, so I'll let you know how it goes. I'm very excited for cottage cheese, poached eggs and the ricotta bake!
My dr's goal for me is 150lbs, because that puts me in the healthy BMI range, but my goal is 130lbs.
Here's my before shot, I'm going to update it on the 22nd of each month:


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