SusieK710

My BMI was 35 & I am so glad I had the surgery. I was fortunate that I didn’t have any weight related health issues, except for sore feet & poor stamina, but I knew they weren’t far away & I was hurtling towards being morbidly obese.
While I’d always battled my weight & yo yoed for decades, I’d never been this weight before and didn’t want to be. However, I just couldn’t loose it. It was frustrating & depressing.
I decided to have the surgery because I wanted to be healthy (& wear high heels again & buy clothes off the rack ha). I have nine nieces & nephews aged from 2 to 24 and I wanted to be there for them. I also have an 80yr old mother whose health is slowly deteriorating who I need to be able to care for if needed. Most importantly I wanted to do this for me. So I could actually be who I was inside.
Why did you originally decide you wanted the surgery? How did you want your life to change? To improve?
What do you think is ‘heavy enough’ for surgery?
Have you been to any counselling yet? You need to be in the right head space & really want this or it will fail.

January 2013...wow...long time. Loved the loss of 65 lbs. Slowly regained 5 lbs and this year 10lbs. 🤨. Lost focus, let blood sugars run me. Tightening the reins now. Love hearing from those who refused to give in and went back to square one. Thanks all.

I am 7 years post VSG. I lost 145 pounds and kept it off 3-4 years, had plastics and looked and felt great, and then life happened. I cared for Sick parents, husband with early onset dementia and dearth subsequent death, a year of grieving....then one day I woke up and faced the truth of a 55 pound weight gain.

September 2019 I began focusing on my health and goals again, and I’ve lost 22 pounds. I had a barium swallow which revealed I have a normal capacity stomach, so really, no restriction. I never had the restriction others describe. Anyway, as much as I hated to do it, I joined WW. I basically eat like a Bariatric patient, using WW as guardrails. I also have increased my exercise and am totally in the Peloton “cult”, which is great because I am loving exercise for the first time ever.
I never thought I’d be here..yet here I am, living proof that stomachs DO stretch and even smart, determined people can end up with regain. I believe it will take me until June or July to get back to goal, but every pound lost is a great feeling of accomplishment.

I love my band I have been able to keep my weight off by being diligent and exercise. I bike a lot and during the winter do a lot of spin. No complications at all, keep it pretty tight but that is what I need to do to stay in control. A couple of times my weight started to creep up but I put the brakes on and go back to plan. Retiring in May bought a new road bike for my retirement and do a lot of gardening. Life is GREAT!

Help me understand. I am 5 yrs out from sleeve surgery. There has never been a time I was able to overeat to a large extent, I feel very near the same restriction as about 6 months after surgery. I can eat more sweets than real food but even so there is a limit I cannot cross.
I see people taking about feeling no restriction and saying their sleeve has stretched and they have gained a lot of weight - a lot being more than 20-30 lbs.
On occasion I have gained a few pounds. Most notably gaining 12 lbs this past summer due to my consumption of coffee milk shakes from Whataburger. The scales hit 12 lbs over what I was comfortable with, I said to myself ' stop this s#@t before it goes any further". I quit the shakes and switched to strawberry Protein smoothies from Starbucks and the pounds went away.
I do not understand 'my sleeve stretched'. Am I wrong in thinking that the only way this could happen is if someone stuffed it past capacity repeatedly? Over and over? And if that were the case then wouldn't the problem be that one has yet to conquer the mental demons that make us overeat in the first place?
Am I missing something?

So it’s now 5 years! Strange! The sleeve was a God send for me. I was an oompa-lumpa and still gaining. I think the fear of where I would be in a few years helped me decide to reverse it then and there! Familiar story, up 10 from my lowest weight. 5 this year. My folks have cancer and dad is now terminal. Easy to eat craving carbs. So for the first time in 4 years, going to really focus weight loss! Amazing to say since it was always the resolution. I have proven I can do it. Time to reprioritize. I refuse to give up the freedom I have gained from the weight loss. Warriors, fight on!

Yes, Gina I was self pay. I went to the informational meeting and the surgeon's office checked with my insurance company. Unfortunately mine does not cover any weight loss surgery. I work as a nurse and on my feet all day, plus rheumatoid arthritis, so I was struggling. Told my husband that insurance wouldn't cover it. He asked how much it would be, I answered "20K". He said "We could do that". The best I love you ever! I could never have risked more finances if I hadn't found out about the physician insurance policy. Medical complications happen and are expensive. My energy and stamina are so much better that I'll be able to work years longer and not be exhausted every night. So instead of replacing my 12 year old car, I became the "sports car"! I know he appreciates the results as much as I do!

Hellooo! I'm coming up on 5 years...omigosh! I cannot believe I just wrote that. I have just struggled and struggled since the beginning. I hit my low weight about 1 year post op (after fighting 7 months for the final 4# to get there haha) and then it seems i've just gone back the other way. Every year it's another 14-20lbs back on. My surgeon gave up on me and basically said that I need to accept that this is how my body is, and that I can call him when I'm ready for a revision of my failed sleeve. :\ I'm not ready to accept that I can't lose weight on my own. Normal people do it every day without surgery, and plenty do it successfully WITH surgery, so there's nothing special about me. I just need to figure out what is wrong with my head.
I have had so many personal life nonsense things over the last 4 years that I'm sort of mad at myself for wasting the surgery. I wish I had either waited until NOW to do it, or been strong enough to love myself more than the drama THEN. However, now I need a plan. I know there used to be reboots, and bootcamps, etc, but I can't remember any of them. I work out at the gym 3-5x/week, lifting weights and I'm going to be adding (more intense) cardio in the next week. I'm doing (at least) weekly vlogs on youtube and trying to get back in the habit of blogging regularly. I'm also a fulltime college student, employee and homeschooling my sons through their senior year of school.
I'll take anything you got! haha
I'm so confused by this diet vs that diet, vs don't drink this, do drink that... I feel so paranoid and untrusting of the whole industry.
Thank you! <3

So it’s now 5 years! Strange! The sleeve was a God send for me. I was an oompa-lumpa and still gaining. I think the fear of where I would be in a few years helped me decide to reverse it then and there! Familiar story, up 10 from my lowest weight. 5 this year. My folks have cancer and dad is now terminal. Easy to eat craving carbs. So for the first time in 4 years, going to really focus weight loss! Amazing to say since it was always the resolution. I have proven I can do it. Time to reprioritize. I refuse to give up the freedom I have gained from the weight loss. Warriors, fight on!

@IveGotThePower
Get your metabolism tested at a local university. Find someone that puts you on a table and has you be still for about 30 minutes. That is the most accurate. It should run around $50. Then you can know what your metabolism is, without guessing.
I have a normal metabolism even after losing a lot of weight. Some people do, some people don't. It is better to be tested and be sure, than just guessing.
Your NUT isn't taking into account that people who are morbidly obese gain a lot of muscle to carry all that extra weight, and whole you lose some muscle when losing fat, if you are meeting your Protein goal, you should maintain most of your muscle.
If you want to lose more weight, tracking and weighing your food really helps.

54 with gastric sleeve 5 years ago! Still at 145 lbs. doing yoga the past few years has been amazing! Kayaking and even doing some standup paddle boarding! The freedom is the best! So worth it!

Hey everyone! Good to see some old timers here
I have also suffered some regain. I'm up 20 pounds (or a little more) from my average of three years. It just packed on over a couple of holidays, (5 pounds here, then another 3, and so on) but I can never seem to get if off. So frustrating! It doesn't seem to matter what I do, what I eat, it just won't come off.
I find myself getting frustrated and not watching what I eat because I feel like its a losing battle. I'm also a stress eater, and boy, do have stress! Hi pressure job and husband with early onset dementia (in mid to late stage). So, between all of that and a body that just wants to be fat, it is an uphill battle. Even with surgery, I was always one who had to count every calorie. The only way I ever lost was to eat around 900 calories a day, and I guess that's what it still takes but I have a hard time sticking to that.
So, thanks for listening. I've gotten back on track and hope I can continue to be successful. While I'm not sure how much weight I might lose, at least it can prevent more gain! I'm considering converting to a gastric bypass, but I really hate to. Has anyone done that, or considered it?

It's amazing how the extra calories creep in without use realising.

Good for you for getting on with exercise. I know I need to do this regularly but I'm not[emoji853].

54 with gastric sleeve 5 years ago! Still at 145 lbs. doing yoga the past few years has been amazing! Kayaking and even doing some standup paddle boarding! The freedom is the best! So worth it!

Yeah. That is going to be tough. I would seriously think that you will be able to find food that you can eat there. Maybe do a search online for restaurants in Disney and take a look at their menus. Since you won't be eating much, take a look at appetizers. Sorry. Thats all I got for the soft food phase

Adding Decaf instant coffee was what saved me! Still have half a premier vanilla in my regular coffee every morning. Cuts the overly sweet and tang.

So it’s now 5 years! Strange! The sleeve was a God send for me. I was an oompa-lumpa and still gaining. I think the fear of where I would be in a few years helped me decide to reverse it then and there! Familiar story, up 10 from my lowest weight. 5 this year. My folks have cancer and dad is now terminal. Easy to eat craving carbs. So for the first time in 4 years, going to really focus weight loss! Amazing to say since it was always the resolution. I have proven I can do it. Time to reprioritize. I refuse to give up the freedom I have gained from the weight loss. Warriors, fight on!

So it’s now 5 years! Strange! The sleeve was a God send for me. I was an oompa-lumpa and still gaining. I think the fear of where I would be in a few years helped me decide to reverse it then and there! Familiar story, up 10 from my lowest weight. 5 this year. My folks have cancer and dad is now terminal. Easy to eat craving carbs. So for the first time in 4 years, going to really focus weight loss! Amazing to say since it was always the resolution. I have proven I can do it. Time to reprioritize. I refuse to give up the freedom I have gained from the weight loss. Warriors, fight on!

So it’s now 5 years! Strange! The sleeve was a God send for me. I was an oompa-lumpa and still gaining. I think the fear of where I would be in a few years helped me decide to reverse it then and there! Familiar story, up 10 from my lowest weight. 5 this year. My folks have cancer and dad is now terminal. Easy to eat craving carbs. So for the first time in 4 years, going to really focus weight loss! Amazing to say since it was always the resolution. I have proven I can do it. Time to reprioritize. I refuse to give up the freedom I have gained from the weight loss. Warriors, fight on!

How to describe the deep joy that the last year has been to me? I remember feeling like I was holding my breath and time was in slow motion the last day before surgery, excited, scared, horrified that I wasn't able to solve my weight problem myself.. Surgery went well. I was intrigued by the effort it took to swallow even tablespoon of water/protein shake. (Best advice was Water being a priority over shakes the first week or two) Not eating was harder emotionally than physically. What to do instead of eating? It had taken up so much of my time and thoughts. The hardest decision wasn't about the surgery but if to tell and who. I decided to tell my group at work. We are nurses and eat together. I knew I would have to lie to them every day and didn't want to do that. Most other people just got the simple answer, "Anything and everything, high Protein, low calorie, small portions, exercise, water..." By July I was down 60 pounds and meet my surgeons goal of a BMI of less than 25. I was able to go get a resting metabolism test, showing how many calories I burned per day (plus exercise), I was average for a 50 year old at 1400 per day, so I was able to plan how many I could eat a day. This also helped with doing the math on how long it would take me to lose a pound. The plan was instilled in my head so I continued, on adding treats here and there, waiting for the scale to start climbing back up. 6 months later, I'm down 5 more pounds and at my dream weight and in an unimaginable size 4!. I almost feel naked without my weight, people notice and pay more attention to me more now. Sometimes it's nice and sometimes it's creepy. Christmas helped me remember that the carbs don't fill me up, they only make me hungrier. My advice to pre-op folks, read, read, read. I firmly believe that the more education you have, the quicker you solve issues and the fewer bad outcomes. For those who are self-pay, like me, make sure to get a physician that is has a secondary insurer willing to back their work. It costs but that way, if there are problems, you won't lose everything. Thank you all for sharing your lives with me. God bless.

So it’s now 5 years! Strange! The sleeve was a God send for me. I was an oompa-lumpa and still gaining. I think the fear of where I would be in a few years helped me decide to reverse it then and there! Familiar story, up 10 from my lowest weight. 5 this year. My folks have cancer and dad is now terminal. Easy to eat craving carbs. So for the first time in 4 years, going to really focus weight loss! Amazing to say since it was always the resolution. I have proven I can do it. Time to reprioritize. I refuse to give up the freedom I have gained from the weight loss. Warriors, fight on!

Yes, Gina I was self pay. I went to the informational meeting and the surgeon's office checked with my insurance company. Unfortunately mine does not cover any weight loss surgery. I work as a nurse and on my feet all day, plus rheumatoid arthritis, so I was struggling. Told my husband that insurance wouldn't cover it. He asked how much it would be, I answered "20K". He said "We could do that". The best I love you ever! I could never have risked more finances if I hadn't found out about the physician insurance policy. Medical complications happen and are expensive. My energy and stamina are so much better that I'll be able to work years longer and not be exhausted every night. So instead of replacing my 12 year old car, I became the "sports car"! I know he appreciates the results as much as I do!

So, let me first say happy Mother's Day to all of the moms on here. Secondly, I want to let you all know that I'm currently 161 lbs... which is 11 lbs away from my goal weight of 150 lbs.
👍🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 round of applause for that being that this is month 5 for me.
Tjirdky, let's discuss the topic at hand. Anyone who has followed me know that my journey with my husband has been bad . Well , it's reached an all time low. We were asleep 3 nights ago and the phone kept vibrating. I told him to answer and he wouldn't. Well we have 2 kids that are outside of the home right now so I said let me make sure it's not the kids texting him. But my gut told me this is gonna be bad. But I checked anyway. This is what I saw " You left your rubber in my bed and my baby found it""" with lil joking emoticons. OMG... my heart dropped to my toes. I felt he was cheating but didn't know for sure. Let me also put this out there. My husband had not slept with me in 3 1/2 weeks at the time. So I knew something wasn't right. I had been praying to God for a revelation in this marriage be it whatever way, good or bad because my spirit knew I wasn't being treated right and I knew he was messing around. Heck I had just caught him maybe 1 month before that trying to hookup on Facebook. So, needless to say I told him I want a divorce and this was it. No more will I be the hurt wife who is trying to sacrifice herself for her husband, nope. Already have been consulting legal counsel because it's over. Now, he swears he is gonna do right and wants his family. I told him he had 21 years to do right and if he wanted his family his penis oils have stayed in is pants.
Ohhhhhh.... here's the agonizing part for me. This is the same woman he had an affair with on me 13 years ago. Same dirty tramp. I'm like oh no that means this never ended. Which he swears it was only one time. Yep I believe that like I believe in Santa Claus. I cried for 2 days straight. Then I said forget this , on Mother's Day I put on a backless sundress ( in my new size 8 yassss) went out shopping ,had a great time with friends and felt like I was coming into my new, happier peaceful self. I am still very hurt but I thank God for revealing his evil because I don't want an std or aids because he is a hoer.
This surgery has truly changed my life. The old me would have cried and just took him bk and dealt with the pain. But not the new confident, strong Diana that this surgery helped to bring to surface. I posted before that I knew we were gonna divorce , just didn't think it was gonna be like this but it is what it is. There is someone out there who will cherish me and love me for the jewel that I am.
Thsnk you guys for all your support throughout the months. You have truly become my family.😊

The obvious for me is not needing a seatbelt extender. That takes alot of fear from traveling
i also enjoy shopping for clothes In A STORE !

Hi Everyone,
I've been reading these boards for a while but first time posting. I decided to post today since I officially scheduled sleeve surgery! My journey has been interesting thus far but not nearly as long/hard as some posts I've read. I originally started thinking about wls over 2 years ago. I had always been thin growing up and it wasn't until I had my first child that I began to gain weight. Actually after I had my first child I lost all the baby weight and fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans 2 weeks later (size 5). But it did not last long as I found my appetite had increased and the weight would not come off like it used to. That was over 16 years ago. Since then I've tried numerous diet & exercise programs. Bootcamp, weight watchers, slim fast, intensive bootcamp, jenny craig, well you get the idea. Each time the same thing would happen, I would lose a bunch of weight and then slowly regain the weight lost and some. I grew tired of the see-saw but never really thought about wls as my immediate friends & family view it as taking the easy way out. Also at 5'4 and 220lbs (my heaviest to date), I was looked at as not having the large amount of weight which would deem wls appropriate. In other words, you don't have that much to lose so you should just work out and eat right. That stuck with me for a long time. I think during the exercise and diets the lowest I came down to was about 180lbs.
Anyway about 2 years ago I began intensely researching wls. But before making the decision, I decided to give myself one year to do it on my own without surgery. Well a year later and although I initially lost 20lbs, I gained it all back and am at my heaviest weight to date. That was it for me. So I began the process of getting approved for surgery. Since I have BCBS, the only requirements were BMI over 40 or BMI over 35 with co-morbidities. Every doctor I checked out online was in-network so I made a couple of consultation appointments to feel them out. Next I just had to have 2 dr. visits (the consultation satisfied 1 visit) and one psych consultation. At both consultations I received a script for blood work. The one I ended up going with was more thorough with their bloodwork requirements, while the other one set me up with a surgery date on my first visit. I didn’t go with the second one because I felt like they were treating me in a rushed manner because of my “easy” approval requirements and it felt kind of like they were a salesperson.

The first place, (nj bariatric center) I felt they were more professional and I felt more comfortable with the doctors but the office staff leaves much to be desired. I almost went to look for another place because of my dissatisfaction.

I decided to go to a different psychiatrist rather than the one associated with my doctor’s office just due to logistics of when they would be in the office (I missed my first appt. and so had to reschedule for one a month later). I found one that had Saturday hours and met with her and she was able to write my report and send it off that same day.

My bloodwork came back with some issues requiring follow-up: had low Iron so was put on iron pills, EKG came back with something troubling on my heart so had to see a cardiologist to get cleared (the cardiologist required 3 visits before clearing me).

So I finally got all of my “extra” clearances and met with the doctor for the second time to go over the results of my tests. I was then told that now that I was cleared I would be called to schedule my surgery. The next day I was called and was offered surgery dates as early as June 5 but I decided instead on July 12 because my daughter will be out of school by then and able to help me around the house.

So here I am. I still have to get some pre-surgery bloodwork done at least 2 weeks before surgery. I also have to meet with the doctor again to sign some consent forms and I have to view a video on the surgery. So from my first appt on 2/10 to my scheduled surgery date of 7/12 it will have taking me approximately 5 months and some of the delay has been self-inflicted. I am excited and nervous.