Beckyyb93

I'm also deficient in vitamin D, I have sublingual D3 from Celebrate and am now taking 2 a day. It's not talked about much but adding in supplemental D can definitely help your body and make you feel a whole lot better!

I was told no flinstones and only vitamins meant for bariatric patients. I take celebrate vitamins and my two favorite multivitamin flavors are grape and mandarin orange. I also love their iron if you need it, it's grape and somehow doesn't taste like iron when you chew it. For calcium I do the lemon soft chews and they are awesome. I'm all about Celebrate, they taste pretty good and are very very good for you, much more complete nutrition than flinstones IMO.

I just got the approval for my revision and I'm set for August 1st. I have a thread posted here where I'm going to document my whole story and experience. I have bad reflux, a stricture that won't heal and keeps getting more swollen and inflamed, and my esophagus is eroding at the site of the stricture. They told me if I don't revise soon I'm looking at Barret's which will eventually lead to esophageal cancer. My insurance company okay'd the surgery right away because my doctor is extremely worried about the future health of my esophagus. Oh, and the fact that I haven't been able to eat sold food since my sleeve in 2012. I'm kind of a rare case I guess but I'm Iron, Vitamin D and Protein deficient and I can't stay hydrated enough to keep from having bad kidney infections. Hopefully the surgery will go well for me and finally allow the stricture to heal, I can't wait to eat real food again! Keep us updated, I'm hoping your insurance company will approve your surgery and I definitely know how reflux feels. Good luck!!

I order my Vitamins from www.celebratevitamins.com The grape Iron is awesome, the Multivitamins are good too; my favorite flavors are grape and mandarin orange, their lemon Calcium soft chews are very very good however the chocolate didn't do it for me. If you need D3, they have a sublingual that is pretty good. As far as B12, I prefer Nasobal which is a weekly nasal spray. You have to get your vitamins in guys, it's so important. Just keep trying until you find vitamins you can tolerate!

My surgery was approved however my surgeon is out of town and his first available is August 1st so that's the day I'm scheduled for. I'm a full-time nursing student and classes start in early-mid August so unless he can get me in sooner, I'll have to take this semester off. It really sucks but I need time for my body to heal not only from surgery but it will take time for the stricture and the eroding of my esophagus to heal as well. I'll also need time to get used to my new stomach and want to have a cushion in case of any new complications. I'm hoping that all will go smoothly and I'll be nourished and ready to start my spring semester strong! I will keep you guys updated but for now that's the plan.

My name is Becky and I just turned 21, I'm a nursing student and am engaged to the love of my life. I started my WLS journey in November of 2012 and got the gastric sleeve at the end of December 2012. My starting weight was 260. From the moment I woke up, I had a stricture and had pain with swallowing. We decided as I healed this would calm down and eating would become less painful. Well, that never happened..I've had roughly 10 endoscopy's and they have dilated the stricture each time hoping to help ease the pain. I've been hospitalized for pain and malnutrition roughly 5-6 times and it's been a tough journey. Now it's July of 2014 and I haven't eaten solid food since my surgery in 2012. I am in constant pain and have been taking the liquid Vicodin on and off this whole time. Living life has been a real struggle because I can't get in enough Protein or Water to stay energized or hydrated so I sleep a lot. I was a relatively healthy (besides some comorbitities) full time nursing student and now I'm barely staying afloat in school. I've pushed back my clinicals which pushes back my graduation date because I just don't have the energy to start them; plus I'm in the hospital so often that I miss class which is not allowed once I start working in the hospital. I went back to my surgeon two months ago and they ran all sorts of tests, he told me if I didn't get this fixed I was heading in the direction of Barret's and esophageal cancer which scared the crap out of me at 21. He said the only way to fix the severe esophageal spasms and the swollen inflamed stricture is to revise to a bypass which would stop the bile reflux and change the anatomy of the stomach which will hopefully help the irregular pressures in my esophagus and let the stricture heal. I agreed since that seemed to be the only option AND I haven't lost any weight...ZERO. It's because I can't eat what I'm supposed to eat, I can barely get down pudding and ice cream much less vegetables or protein so my metabolism is basically shut down and I'm stuck. We are hoping the bypass fixes my pain but it would also be an added bonus to lose the weight like I originally planned. We had set a date of 7/11/2014 which is today but I got a call on Wednesday saying the insurance retracted my approval because they want another EGD done. He did the EGD on that same Wednesday and came back out to talk to me about what he found. He said it's significantly worse than it was two months ago, my esophagus is eroding from the bile that keeps irritating the already swollen stricture. I asked about Barret's and he said not YET...so scary! My surgeon himself called the medical director of the insurance company to tell him how badly I need this surgery. He said he would be very surprised if we didn't get it approved and set a new date for next Friday. Here's to hoping I suppose. I will keep you guys informed when I have a date and I will update on how I'm feeling. Hopefully in a couple of months this will be another success thread, I'm crossing my fingers and toes! I already have all of my Vitamins and Protein shakes from the last go around and have tried a ton of stuff and have a ton of experience with all things bariatric that are soft. I'm happy to answer any questions anyone has and am thankful for all of the support that you guys provide. My current weight is the same as my starting weight at 260 but like I said, I'm more concerned with the pain stopping than the weight gain although I'm hopeful that this will help me with both. My surgeon wants to keep me 2 nights in the hospital and saying the surgery will take 2-3 hours. I'll post pictures soon and update the title with the date we select..hopefully it will be 7/18. Pictures: Pre-Sleeve 2012: Pre-Bypass 2014: Recent Face Shot 2014: UPDATE: Surgery is approved but won't happen until August 1st because my surgeon is out of town I'm keeping my head up and am thankful that it is approved at all even if the date is farther out than I had been hoping. I will keep everyone updated and am on a cancellation list so maybe I'll get in sooner.

I hate to be a downer but I have a sleeve complication and so wish I could go back and undo it, I tell people to be very very weary and that surgery is much more dangerous then some make it out to be. I've written my story a dozen times but it basically boils down to a sleeve in 2012, now in 2014 I have not had any solid food since surgery and I've been on liquid Vicodin on and off for over a year and a half just to get enough fluids down to stay out of the hospital. I'm now scheduled for a revision just to try to stop the constant pain. I've been admitted to the hospital a dozen times and been in the ER at least once a month for iv fluids and pain medicine for food getting stuck. I have severe esophageal spasms and the beginning signs of achalasia which basically means the sphincter that helps you swallow isn't functioning correctly and untreated that can lead to cancer. I try to be positive on the forums because I know complications are rare but I wish someone had told me prior to doing this how much of a risk complications have. I'd be overweight for the rest of my life and totally be happy if I could just stop the pain. All I can say is buyer's beware, this is not guaranteed to work and this one decision can ruin your life...be very very very sure before you take the chance. I was a happy and relatively healthy (besides a few comorbities) nursing student and now I'm 21, am just barely staying afloat in school and my health is pretty miserable which affects my whole life and will continue to affect my whole life until it gets under control. This is not what I signed up for and I would go back and stop myself from making the worst decision of my entire life any day of the week. Hopefully the revision fixes things and I'm being as hopeful as possible. I'm not trying to scare anyone here, just telling my story and hopefully I'm making sure you are 100% positive you are ready to take this leap because once it's done, there is no going back.

I'm also a sleeve to bypass revision. My insurance covered my sleeve though and they just approved my bypass revision but my situation is a bit different than yours. Right after surgery I had a stricture and they dilated and sent me home promising me I'd feel better. That was in 2012 and I have not had any solid food since then at all. I've been hospitalized a dozen times, have had 6ish EGDs to dilate because I can't swallow. I'm now in the beginning of achalasia which can lead to esophageal cancer not to mention to debilitating spasms I have with every single thing I swallow. I still take liquid Vicodin to eat or drink anything, even the soft stuff like pudding. My revision was approved in less than a week partially because I'm sure my insurance is tired of covering all these long hospital stays. I hope you can get your revision approved, I know better than most how much pain the bile from the sleeve can cause and it's not fun at all. I actually was warned about not going to Mexico in case of complications because they wouldn't cover work you had done down there. Hopefully you will appeal and try to get your current doctor to write a note stating the medical necessity because that's what my doc did. I'm getting married and my fiance's insurance doesn't cover anything bariatric, no complications involving wls, no medication for previous wls, etc. so I can't go on his insurance until I'm 100% healed and healthy after the revision. I hope that's not what your policy is stating because I was told that if we got married before I had the surgery nothing would be covered no matter what, no exceptions at all. If it covers wls in general you are more likely to be able to get the revision covered and I wish you tons of luck. I can keep you updated on my progress with the revision because I've heard it's a bit tough and I'd like to share my experiences with others to hopefully ease their mind about their upcoming procedures. We will keep in touch, I'm sure all of us are wondering how you are doing so I'd love to hear from you!

I didn't have exactly the same issue but I'm in a similar boat. I had my sleeve in 2012 and the next morning they found a stricture so they went back in and dilated then sent me home and said I'd be all good. Now almost two years later I haven't had any solid food at all and have been on and off the liquid Vicodin since I had surgery. I'm dealing with esophageal spasms and the beginning signs of achalasia which can lead to esophageal cancer. I was told my only option is the bypass and I'm scheduled next week on the 11th. I'd stay away from stents if you can help it, as another poster explained; they are pretty awful. On a separate note, my step-brother has the rare form of cancer and his whole stomach is removed. It's very very difficult for him to keep any weight on, he has trouble with eating and has trouble with absorption. If you can avoid the whole stomach being removed I would suggest going with that option but I am not your doctor and I don't know your whole situation, I just know my own personal experience and the experience of friends and family. Whichever way they do fix it, you have to keep going...there's no going back anymore so you have to be strong and get through this. I'm doing the same, I never wanted the bypass but I also can't stand the pain or liquid diet for the rest of my life either. I just turned 21 and just got engaged, I need to be healthy for me, my family, my fiance, and my future children so I just try to think of the positive aspects of my life and use that to keep fighting. As everyone says, there is always someone who has it worse so be as positive as you can even though I know from personal experience that it's extremely tough to function when you are in so much pain. You'll get through this and so will I, good luck in your future procedures and I'm praying for a speedy recovery for both of us!

Do you have an update for us? I'm having a revision to the bypass from the sleeve due to major swallowing complications. I have severe esophageal reflux and bile reflux that began after surgery in 2012. Since then I haven't had any solid food and I've been on the liquid Vicodin on and off for the last year and a half. I'm finally having surgery next week and I'm praying for better luck this time. My surgeon swears this surgery will fix my pain so that's all I'm hoping for. The weight loss would be nice too but the pain is just debilitating. I'm nervous for the bypass not only because I'm aware that this could make things worse but the bypass post-op even long term is different from the sleeve and this isn't what I signed up for two years ago. I'm 21 and a nursing student and am barely keeping it together so this surgery is my last chance at getting fixed in time to keep going with school. I love reading success stories here so that's how I've been spending my time lately. I'd love to hear how you are doing and hope you are feeling better!

Surgery is scheduled for next Friday the 11th. I will keep you all updated and I'm hoping this will fix things for me!

No date yet, but ER last night because something got stuck they put me back on Lortab until I have surgery. Hopefully it will be soon because that stuff makes me fuzzy however I can't stay hydrated without it.

My name is Becky and I'm a regular in the Gastric Sleeve forums. I had a sleeve in December 2012 and immediately after surgery developed dysphagia and have not been able to swallow anything other than pudding and ice cream in 1.5 years. I haven't lost any weight partly because I eat stuff like ice cream and pudding all day, partly because I have zero metabolism, partly because I get zero Protein therefore have zero energy therefore sleep all the time. It sucks, badly so finally I'm taking a big step and revising to a bypass. The surgeon swears it will stop the pain and minimize the achalasia which can lead to cancer. I'm totally scared though, all I hear about is malabsorption issues and trouble getting in protein leading to hospital stays and I can't handle much more. So, since this is my only option I need to hear some success stories. Can you guys please tell me that this has helped you and you aren't dying? I need some positive stories because the last thing I need is to make everything worse.

We've talked but I figured I'd give you an update! Soo, my problem is esophageal spasms/dysphagia (trouble swallowing) and I finally went in and had the awful manometry which measures pressures while you swallow. It was ten kinds of messed up so we are going forward with the bypass in hopes that the change in anatomy will solve the pressure problem and the achalasia that's creeping up. I'm now finishing up all the pre-op testing and am also waiting on insurance but was told that since this is medically necessary and the achalasia could lead to esophageal cancer, the insurance company should push it through right away. I can let you know when I have a date but I'm sure it will be soon. All my pre-op work is done this week then I'll have to wait a bit then take that stupid class before surgery. I say all of this is stupid because I was obviously "stable" enough to get the sleeve so why jump through all the same hoops to get a surgery that I don't even want. I just want the pain to stop but they want me to be all excited about getting the bypass. I'm a nurse, I know what Vitamins to take and what I need to eat just give me the gosh darn surgery and leave me alone to *hopefully* heal and get used to yet another new stomach so I can live a normal life. Sorry for the rant, I'm just so ready for the pain to stop and I'm nervous as crap for all the malnutrition issues that the bypass brings but it's not like I'm functioning now so hopefully this will help and not make things worse.

Alright, I talked to the surgeon yesterday and here is what he said.. The manometry measures 13 swallows, my lower esophageal pressure was abnormal in all 13 of the swallows and my lower esophageal sphincter malfunctioned 9 out 13 swallows indicating that I'm bordering on the edge of achalasia which is what leads to esophageal cancer...bad! He thinks if we change the anatomy of the stomach (revise to bypass) the pressures will equalize and hopefully that sphincter will go back to normal stopping the achalasia and stopping all the horrible pain I'm having. So, I have to jump through all the same hoops as I did the first time to get the revision which I think is stupid because I don't even want this surgery, I just want the pain to stop. Regardless, it's their policy so I have an appointment for medical clearance on Thursday morning then an appointment for a psych evaluation and a nutrition consult on Friday morning. Then, the insurance has to approve the revision which could take up to 30 days so I suppose now it's a waiting game. I'll update you guys when I have a date, in the meantime I'm ordering Vitamins and more Protein powder since my stuff is expired.

So, I survived the manometry without throwing up or passing out...go me! I was so scared and I'm not going to lie it was pretty awful. I'm just hoping it helps the doc figure out what's going to fix me! I have an appointment with him on Monday so I'll post an update then. If anyone is curious about the manometry let me know and I can describe it but I don't want to unnecessarily scare people that most likely will never have to get this test done. I'll let you all know on Monday afternoon!

Alright, I saw the surgeon today and here is what he said.. He is going to make me have a manometry which is going to be traumatic but he wants to make sure I don't have an underlying motility disorder. Assuming that comes back showing no achalasia or other serious esophageal issues then he will go through with the bypass. He just wants to make sure that they bypass will indeed fix things. I understand his logic but this means at least 3 more weeks of waiting which feels like years because I'm in soo much pain. I'm just going to keep trying to get in my fluids and as many ounces of Protein shakes I can stomach. I'm scared of the manometry because I know it's going to be extremely painful. It's on Wednesday morning the 7th and then the surgeon can't get me back in until the 19th..ugh. But, after that we can either schedule the surgery or treat the motility disorder. So, the problem is bile reflux versus acid reflux which I honestly thought was the same thing but apparently not. That does explain while all of the antacids don't work. The worst thing for it is fat so I'm going to stick to skim milk shakes and tea. Hopefully I'll survive these next few weeks, the pain is just so bad. I have one more final tomorrow morning so I'm going to start studying for that then I'm done and I can focus on getting some rest and getting things figured out over the summer.

What's your username there doll? I'll share some of your stuff with my friends

Your welcome guys, the cool thing there is if you don't like a price you can easily haggle. Some people just majorly over price things but usually when something is expensive it's because of the brand. Like, I'd happily pay $20 for a used Torrid shirt because new it would be over double that price. You just have to dig around and find the good deals!

With the sleeve you will still need Vitamins the rest of your life. YES! With either surgery you need vitamins for the rest of your life otherwise you will feel crappy and get sick!!

We are all happy to help! This is such a great support forum you are going to do great! Just hang in there girl and before you know it you'll be enjoying your recovery and weight loss!

It'll help us a bit if you give us some info. First, which surgery are you getting? Then, how old are you and how much weight do you have to lose? Do you have any health troubles currently?

Deep breaths girlie...it's Water weight! Very common after surgery while your body is recovering. I promise it will come off so fast you won't even remember those 9 pounds!

The cool thing about the sleeve is no food funerals are really necessary. Once your new tummy heals you can eat (most) anything you want in smaller portions.