SlimDreams

Thanks LadyVS I was beginning to think the boards had gone dead! I’m 15 days post and all is going well so far. Luckily the flight back was no problem at all :)

Hi there. Getting pregnant and gaining weight totally sucks! I recall my first pregnancy, I gained 50 pounds! It was mostly Fluid. My second pregnancy, I think I gained 30-32lbs. Anyway, I'm assuming since no one has responded that they do not have any experience with this particular doctor, nor flying after two days after surgery. Thanks for sharing the podcast as it was quite informative. Good luck on your journey.

Here’s a link to my surgeon being interviewed on the WLS podcast https://www.weightlosssurgerypodcast.com/is-loop-duodenal-switch-the-future-of-bariatric-surgery/

Hi All! I’m scheduled for a VSG to Loop DS revision next Thursday 9/26/19 with Dr. Walter Medlin In UT. I had VSG in SD with Dr. Takata In 2013, insurance covered it. It was successful and without complications. Pre VSG I was 297+... at my lowest I was at 180, With time and two pregnancies I lost restriction and gained. I was able to lose weight after both pregnancies but was not able to maintain it, or return to the post VSG pre pregnancy low. Despite maintaining a medium level of activity (depending on the week spin class/ triathlons/ 5ks/ 18-30 mi relaxed bike rides on the weekends/ lots of walking), I hovered around 235, now with low activity I’m at 250.

I’m in my 2 week preop diet for the revision which is just as tough as I remember it the first time, maybe more. Little nervous for this surgery-more than I remember being for the VSG. This time I’m going in self pay. Confident in my decision but nervous about the immediate aftermath, toilette issues/ rate of loss/ nutrient deficiencies- the usual.

Dr doesn’t plan to touch the sleeve, unless any problems are seen in the EDG. I’m loading up on Vitamins and supplements now To get ahead of any deficiencies caused by malabsorption in the long run. Dr will determine Common Channel length at time of surgery at the moment it looks like it will be ~300 cm. Has anyone else had Dr. Medlin for their revision? Any tips for immediately after surgery? I’ll be flying back to SD the following Saturday-Anyone have to fly 2 days after surgery? Tips on flying post op, any general post op tips for this specific Bariatric surgery would be appreciated. I plan on updating this thread as I go along, and hope others might find it helpful in their research too. Thanks!

Here’s a link to my surgeon being interviewed on the WLS podcast https://www.weightlosssurgerypodcast.com/is-loop-duodenal-switch-the-future-of-bariatric-surgery/

Here’s a link to my surgeon being interviewed on the WLS podcast https://www.weightlosssurgerypodcast.com/is-loop-duodenal-switch-the-future-of-bariatric-surgery/

I started with a BMI of 40, so my doctor gave me a longer common channel also. I was losing about 8-11 pounds a month to begin with. Now at 10 months, I lose maybe 3 pounds a month. I'm 20 pounds from goal, but it's the hardest weight to lose. The weight is still coming off nevertheless. Hopefully, I'll drop faster this summer when I'm more active. The BM of a DS patient is always interesting. They will never again be what they were pre-op, but that's the DS doing its job of keeping the weight off (not diarrhea but always soft). Yikes, kind of gross but we since we were on the topic, I thought I'd add to it. My recovery was pretty much a breeze. I had very little soreness. The Lap-band was lot more painful.

ALCOHOL
One last thing: If you have any history of alcoholism in your family, be very very careful. Dr's haven't exactly figured out why, but rehabs are filled with Bariatric peeps. Some reports claim your odds of becoming a alcoholic after bariatric go up by 80%. Eighty.
Much easier to never start than it is to quit.

ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY UPDATE:
Wow. What a year.
Bad news, good news.
Bad news: I'm 3 lbs away from my goal weight. Bad news part II: It's clear that my goal weight was set to high. I need to lose at least another 10-20lbs. ack!!!
Good news: Wouldn't change my decision to have SIPS in a million years. Yes, there are occasional "bathroom issues", but so worth it compared to my life beforehand.
Bottom line for anyone still sitting on the fence: Unlike band and sleeve, SIPS works! And let me tell you why. I still have zero willpower, which is why I got fat in the first place and why after one year I have yet to reach my goal weight (although very very close). BUT. ... DS\SIPS gives me breathing room. If I wanna loose weight, I still gotta work for it. No free pass,. I have to eat healthy, and no over indulge.
BUT....
When I'm can't take dieting any longer... I'm done with that **** and just want to eat pizza and wings and other yummy food....there are no consequences?!?!. I don't lose weight during these periods, BUT I DON'T GAIN THE WEIGHT BACK during these periods either. That has made ALL THE DIFFERENCE in the world!!!!
Let's face it. I doubt there's a single person on this board that hasn't been able to string a diet together for a week, or two or six, only to finally give it up. And then see ALL the weight they worked so hard to lose come back... within days!!! ... or worse, and all too common, come back 3-10 lbs heavier than when they started the diet in the first place?!?
Well, kiss those days goodbye.
My weight loss is on me. But it's always a loss. never a re-gain. Wow! what a difference!
For any of you out there contemplating DS\SIPS vs some other "less invasive" procedure - i.e. Sleeve - stop f**king around! This is the the solution. Go big or go home.

Quick Update for anyone following my progress on this thread:
I've more or less been stuck on the scale at 211 for the last couple of months, which is partially due to the holidays but mostly due to the fact that I've been hitting the gym really hard. And it shows. I've started to buff out, and people are noticing. At the same time, it's been frustrating not to see the scale move.
Well, two weeks ago I had an accident on one of those Bird electric scooters and blew out the ACL in my left knee. Ouch. I stopped going to gym, and guess what? I seem to be losing weight again. The first sign was, I ran out of belt loops and had to go buy a new one. On a lark, I bought a pair of size 30 jeans too, and guess what? They fit! Checked the scale this AM and I'm at 207. Cool! Gonna stay out of the gym till I break 200, then re-evaluate, because I really do enjoy lifting weights, and some of this weight loss is my hard earned muscles disappearing. Sigh. Balance.
My one year anniversary is in April, so still have a couple of months to hit my goal of 190.

Sure. I'm at about 18 months.
FOODS
Not nearly as sensitive to foods are I was, but I still feel like avocados do me in. Ice Cream. Beer. Basically sugar, carbs, wheat.

Vitamins
I take two normal chewable bariatric Vitamin in the morning (dosage is two). That seems to keep me covered for everything except D and Calcium. Based on advice from this board, I now take 50,000 iu of D3 every day in capsule form.
NOTE: THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT AND TOOK A YEAR BEFORE SOMEONE ON THIS BOARD CLUED ME IN: After this surgery, anything oil based goes through you like **** through a duck. This is in general a good thing. I can literally eat a stick of butter at every meal and it will not show up on waistline. BUT, this means that any vitamin or other drugs that are "Gelcaps" run through you without effect and do not absorb!! Most D3 is sold in gelcap form so you need to find a version that isn't. (I dont know what brand im using offhand, but if you ask I will go upstairs and figure it out.) . SInce switching to non-gelcaps, my D3 is right where it needs to be.
I've also had issues with calcium, which is common. I recently switched to the more expensive version. Haven't been re-tested yet, but will report back after my next test.
Lastly, I take generic Prilosec for heartburn. I didn't need to before surgery, but now its a must.
I take one more 'vitamin' for joint issues, but that IMO is unrelated to bariatric.
THat's it. Not the fistful of pills you sometimes see others taking. But Im SIPS- not full DS - one of the advantages of which is less vitamin issues

BATHROOM
Yeah, that's still major issue. 12 to 20 times a day. Usually explosive. Not quite as smelly as the early days, but....yeah... i **** A LOT.
I usually have to get up 3 to 4 times a night still. And It isn't pretty. I carry wet wipes with me at in my back pack at all times, along with poopouri. Also, having a toilet brush in every bathroom in my house is a must. Sometimes I have to do cleanup duty in restaurant or other public bathrooms, just because I feel guilty about the damage I have created. Its really really wrong
NOTE: I still eat fast food and all types of garbage. If I cleaned my diet, I assume things in the bathroom would improve. But I like fast food, and I still keep getting skinnier, so I guess the trade off is worth it.

What was it about yesterday?? I had a hard one too… Our office has been doing potlucks every day this last week-- luckily I traveled on mon/ tues half days, so I was only really tempted on wed/ Thursday-- and I made it through Wed with flying colors. But then comes Thursday when one of my coworkers put a smuckers crustless pbj snack pack on my desk 1st thing in the morning—after I told her not to repeatedly the previous day-- she's a nice woman, means well, but I wish she had just not-- I put it in my lunch bag "away." But then kept thinking about it -- finally gave in and ate the 210 cal monstrosity and was not satisfied at all-- I had to remove some of my better and planned Snacks to compensate for those empty calories. Still the indulgence left me craving sliders the rest of the day, and I was mad at myself...Then I go to Fitmill class after work, which is this circuit low impact HIIT format where we have this fill in instructor who is pregnant… there I struggled through the whole class….all the ladies under 200lbs seemed to breeze through the class and I started to tear-up during abs thinking "How did I let myself backslide so far! I mean I was there I WAS IN ONEDERLAND!!" I could have caught it earlier, why did I let myself not care about my health- yes there were miscarriages, but I knew rationally those weren't my fault, and the doctors confirmed they could not be prevented, but that should have made me more focused on being healthy, not less, I knew it would make our future chances better not worse-- why did I go back to feeling worthless?!? Why did I punish myself in my grief? I knew better, I know better...ugh! I realize that I was already having a hard food day and beating myself up over that… and that having the class instructor announce her pregnancy probably hit me in a tender place when I was already feeling low… I can honestly say that I don’t begrudge successful pregnancies and I don’t start blubbering uncontrollably when I see or hold babies, I just pray that next time we will be the lucky ones, because this type of loss is hard, it was hard the first time and it feels compounded the second time. Logically I know as time goes by it will be less raw….logically…Anyway I made it through class, ate a healthy dinner of salmon to compensate more, although I was way over my carbs at 157 grams, my total calories came in at 1728, my net calories consumed came in at 1042 and I'm still here today….. Normally I try to be more uplifting and keep a positive outlook… Yesterday was hard… thanks for allowing me someplace to be honest and candid…

You and me both my friend!

Monday Check in-- small loss of .08 weight is holding at 226.0 now-- that's 12lbs since I started refocusing. I certainly have not been perfect in my eating- especially on the weekends! Now that summer is over I will spend the next 4 weeks focusing on tracking EVERYTHING I eat, ESPECIALLY on the weekends, which I believe is where I have been getting into trouble, and adding in more cardio to my workouts.

It's sounds like you have it rough, medical issues outside of ones control are the absolute worst. Good job keeping at it and checking in!

That is awesome!!! Congratulations!!!

Hi all been a minute since I've checked in myself here... I am doing well still lifting weighs 4 days a week and staying pretty good with food. I'm down to 226.6 so I am seeing slooow loss. I'm going to call it a win since I think my body composition may be changing and we've had the little cousins visiting, which means trips to knotts and Disneyland...still plugging away someday s food choices are better then others though.... how's everyone else doing?

When a regular sized bath towel wraps around you WITHOUT any gaps! That has to be the best feeling. I realized this last night when I got out of the shower.
I even wrapped it past the gap about 7 or 8 inches. HOW FREAKING AMAZING!!!
Kelly :) :)

When you cross your legs under the table or kick your heels up on the dashboard without thinking...

When you actually start to like who you see in the mirror!

When you lay on your side and you can feel your knee bones rub together for the first time and it feels weird so you put a pillow between your legs.

When someone looks at your ID card and says that it is not you Happened last week for the first time, I was so stinkin excited!

When your sister in law that hasn't seen you in months (lives out of state) walks past and didn't reognize you.
Also, when you actually default to going into the "normal" stall in the public bathroom instead of the handicap stall.

You spend and entire 2 1/2 mile run holding up one side of your pants or another, because by the time you realized hey were gonna shake right off your butt, it was too late to turn around and go back home.

You have the courage to sign up for a pilates class. I was always afraid of getting down on the floor and not being able to get back up