I♡BypassedMyPhatAss♡

The powder that you have to mix with water/milk is a strange thickness that I don't like. It has a strange taste as well. I like Fairlife. I think any of the premixed shakes are better than the powder types. Fairlife just tastes like chocolate milk or strawberry milk. It's not overly sweet, which is a good thing post op for most people.

I had Lap Band, developed GERD and due to overuse of Protonix, I developed a kidney stone. So it was then that I decided that I had to move on the GERD issue. I had the band removed in April 2021 (no regain, but I didn't get to my goal weight with the band) and now I'm revising to RNY soon. I was fearful of RNY when my surgeon told me it was the best way to resolve the GERD. And after watching a video, I realized that my fear was based on Lap Band marketing. In order for Lap Band to be successful, they had to make their competitor look bad. So Lap Band took old data about RNY (before surgical improvements were made) and used complication rates of the older style RNY surgery that was from I believe the 1980's? So when you say that RNY is a permanent surgery... are you aware that RNY is reversible? You went forth with sleeve surgery and they removed about 80% of your stomach, do you not think that's permanent? It's more permanent than RNY. Sure things are rerouted, but nothing is removed. So it can all be rerouted to "normal" if necessary. There's many, many people on this forum that have revised from other wls (Band, Sleeve) to RNY and are happy and thriving. I hope to be one soon.

I have one of these. I use it for one egg frittatas.

I agree. We gave the benefit of the doubt with what info we were given in the beginning. That's all we can do. It's not good to jump to assumptions about someone in the beginning that's here asking for support/help/info. You might suspect that they're not doing what their plan says, but you have to gather info from them to make an assessment and sometimes they're not completely transparent.

This was an interesting thread and it took an unexpected turn. I would like to dedicate this thread to all of the non-weight loss surgery folks that say weight loss surgery is the easy way out. They could learn a lot by reading this thread.

Yes, it looks like she changed her screen name because she can't delete her account/profile. Not sure what the name means tho.

Yesss. This was the point I was trying to make with my posts. Thank you for being less lazy than me, lol.

Scroll over their name, a box will pop up and you select, "Ignore User."

The reason I brought up the Sleeve Plication being different than the standard sleeve surgery is because I wanted to stress that not all weight loss surgeries are equal. After reading more about Sleeve Plication, it sounds a lot like the Lap Band, as in it doesn't do anything except give restriction... and neither surgery offers any changes to hormones. As a former Lap Band patient I personally know how much of a failure Lap Band is for a lot of people. You put in the work, but a majority of people with them never achieve their goal weight. Some surgeries are more powerful than others. So I feel like you're putting in the required work to lose weight, but it might be the surgery itself just isn't powerful enough. I felt like that about the Lap Band when I had it. I watched others lose much faster and more weight than me. It was very frustrating. I'd give the Wegovy a try when it becomes available. And there's an option to block people here. I find it helpful to not even read the Negative Nancy's. 😉

I'm not very familiar with sleeve in general, but doesn't sleeve plications offer a lesser amount of weight loss than the standard sleeve surgery? Maybe because the standard sleeve surgery removes the part of the stomach that produces ghrelin, that gives them the added power of hormone regulation, so maybe that's why you've loss less weight? You didn't have any alteration in hunger hormone. Perhaps this is why you seem to have lost less weight than you were expecting? Nonetheless I'd reach out to your team about what to do next. Best wishes.

Flares of all types are common after surgery. Anything that is inflammation based can flare after surgery. I don't have gout, but my father does. He can't take the normal gout meds like you take due to kidney issues. So he takes tart cherry extract. His comes in a capsule. I'm not sure if it's a vegan capsule or not, but nonetheless you could pour the contents into yogurt, or water, or something like that. When he flares up really bad he takes steroids. So your doctor could administer a steroid injection. That would be safer post surgery than steroid pills. I'd reach out to your prescribing doctor or your bariatric team. You don't want to keep the inflammation going when you're trying to heal. And you don't want to be a fall risk now either with fresh incisions.

No, I got the band removed in April 2021, I expect my revision to be June 2022. My surgeon wanted my esophagus to heal some before revising. I wasn't in a rush to revise because removing my band helped eliminate the GERD. But I'm still on a PPI, so I'd like to revise so I can come off of the PPI. Also to lose more weight that I didn't lose with the band.

I guess it depends on your BMI. I had to do the liver shrink diet for two weeks prior to my band removal. I know that my surgeon did an EGD and an UGI with 15 degree head tilt. It was to prove that I had reflux/esophagus issues related to the band, and it would support my case for revision to RNY. So I'm wondering what the process would be to get your revision covered if the surgeon didn't do the tests to prove you were having issues. Maybe it's something to ask the surgical coordinator. It may not be necessary for every insurance company.

Ricotta Bake was a fave. https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=1793517

Some do, most don't. And yeah I think it's money based. More surgeries, mean more money. My friend had her sleeve surgery in Mexico and she said it was an optional add on to her sleeve surgery. She said all she had to do was opt in for it and pay like idk an extra $500 to have it removed at the same time. She wasn't having issues with her gallbladder, but she wanted to nip it in the bud since she didn't have insurance at the time. So that's what she did.

I had my gallbladder removed 12 weeks after having my Lap Band placed. It was already an issue before I even had my band placed tho. When it was removed we found out that it was porcelainized. It's rare for that to happen but it was precancerous, so I'm happy it was removed. No complications or issues afterwards. It was one of the easiest surgeries I've had tbh.

Wls is renowned for making infertile women, very, very fertile right after surgery. Even those with PCOS. So if you suspect pregnancy is a possibility, take a test. And what others have said, double up on birth control. As Arabesque said, wls changes our hormones and rarely it can even induce menopause in those women who are perimenopausal. This forum is full of threads of previously infertile women becoming pregnant in the weeks and months after wls because they weren't expecting to become fertile so quickly after surgery.

The best thing to do is to stay off of the scale for a while in the beginning. Stalls happen to most people. This video explains the science behind "The Dreaded Stall."

I'm sorry to read about your father. ☹️

When I started my wls journey years ago, I went with the Lap Band, for a few reasons, but I feared Bypass because I thought it was too invasive and too permanent. Fast forward 7 years and I developed GERD and had my Band removed. Now I'm revising to Bypass due to GERD complications. After recently doing research on the Bypass for revision, I watched a YouTube video, and realized that my fear of Bypass was due to Lap Band marketing. So what I will say is, if you start out with Sleeve and have to be revised due to complications or other reasons, you might be "forced" into Bypass the same way I was. Now, no one knows what path their weight loss surgery journey takes us, but it's a theoretical "what if." I never thought I would end up with Bypass. But now I have no other options as far as weight loss and fixing GERD goes. And I've realized I probably could've made a better choice than Lap Band 9 years ago. When you actually research Bypass thoroughly, you'll find that although your disgestive tract is rerouted, it's reversible just like the Lap Band. Sleeve is revisable but not reversible. This video is quite informative and at around the 15 minute mark it discusses the marketing tactic that Lap Band used against Bypass. Best wishes on your journey!

Congrats! Happy Healing! 🤗

Why are you afraid of Bypass?

There's an app that I use called Baritastic and you can set reminders on the app for water, protein shake, meals and even vitamins. You can also track your macros and calories per meal/day. It's a very helpful tool to create routines.

I'm not familiar with infrared saunas, but I do know regular saunas can cause dehydration and electrolyte imbalance and lower your blood pressure. So I'd be cautious of going to a sauna this close to your surgery date.

I'm not super familiar with sleeve surgeries but I suspect the larger incision is where the surgeon pulled the discarded part of the stomach out, resulting in pressure and manipulating the tissues around it. I bet that's why it's more painful than the others. I suspect this time next week you will feel so much better. Happy healing! 🤗