Band07

I wasn't aloud the seeds so I used non fat plain yogurt, strawberry flavored slim fast and a banana, delicious !!

I had surgery on Friday afternoon and was back at work full days by Tuesday, yes I got tired easily and when I came home I crashed on the couch for a bit but by two weeks out I was back to normal life like it never even happened.

Dr. Fitch can be an amazing asset to your journey!! She is there to make sure there isn't any medical reasons that you're not losing weight. She also can help you set a reasonable goal and track your progress in terms of body fat and not just lbs on the scale. They work from a team approach, just look at it like the more people you have in your corner and there to help you the better off you will be

I was 169 on day of surgery, I dropped down quickly to 158 and stayed there for awhile but now I'm finding the sleeve is a struggle for me to maintain, Iv actually gained 5 lbs even though I'm working out 5x a week, watching my protein and drinking a ton of water !! I was worried at first about losing too much and now I think what a joke, hopefully you will have better luck than me, so far the sleeve has not been anything I had hoped for. I'm 13 lbs from my goal and struggling everyday at this point. Best of luck to you in your journey.

Oh wow, sorry to hear of everything you are going through but hopefully they get it all figured out for you and you go on to be successful with your journey !! I too went to seek help with a bariatrician and according to her I'm the picture of health and my body fat is 34% she says normal for my age is between 28-33% so even though the scale is going up she thinks it's more water weight so I'm really focusing on drinking my water (I'm peeing like I'm 9 months pregnant !!) and I go back the end of February to see if it helps. I really don't feel any different with the sleeve except I get nauseous if something is too greasy sweet or fatty. I'm still not sure I regret my decision to have the band removed or not, I guess I need more time to tell for sure.

Just wondering how you are doing ? Iv gained 5 lbs back and still don't feel any restrictions and I'm working out 5x per week. Hopefully you are doing better than me ...

Why doesn't it work ??

I have never heard of this !! Thank you so much !! I'm definitely trying it !!

Regardless of the choices however, the sleeve is meant to provide portion control which mine obviously is not doing.

I understand the tendency to focus on food choices, however this was not a normal choice for me, the point of sharing this was so that others could relate to and understand the quantity as opposed to me trying to explain portion size of something I made at home.

It's not a hiatal hernia, I had one that was repaired during surgery.

Oh wow, that sounds terrible but hopefully it will lead to some answers for you ! Iv officially gained back 5 lbs and I'm working out 5x per week. I went to see a bariatrician last week and she calculated the different aspects of my weight. Normal body fat percentage for me is 28-33% and I'm at 34% which made me feel a little better. She also thinks I'm holding a lot of water due to not drinking enough so I'm going to focus on that for awhile and go back and see her in a few weeks. I'm so disparaged With the surgery I don't even know if I should explore having my sleeve tested. Good luck to you and please keep us posted.

No he didn't mention that but Iv seen for myself that I have more room on the top of my sleeved stomach. Yes I was about 30 lbs from goal and I'm 15 now, Iv actually gained about 3 lbs the last month. I do think the Prilosec helps, it has decreased my hunger.

Lapband SW 229 Lowest weight 139 Maintained well for 6 years around 145/150 ( my goal area). Gained 23 lbs in the year leading up to sleeve. Sleeve SW 173 13 weeks out 159 Struggling to maintain !! Having a very hard time with the sleeve.

Thanks mountain girl. Yes it does make a Difference to know I'm not the only one. I had the leak test the day after surgery. I requested copies and I do have a dilation on top of my sleeve. When I talked to my doc he said it happens with band patients but when you are inside he says it doesn't show up, it's just on the X-ray and he didn't think it should make a difference in my eating.

I had the band on Friday, went out with friends Saturday night and back to work Monday. I had my band removed, hiatal hernia repair and sleeve done on a Friday and was back to work Tuesday.

Thank you both for your insite. I'm not at all offended. I work in the business (weight loss surgery) and believe me I'm usually the first to doubt when someone tells me they are doing everything "right" and still not losing. Iv put a lot of time and work into my relationship with food. I do listen to my body, eat slow, chew well all of those good things. Lately my body tells me often I'm hungry, I'm still taking Prilosec for acid and I'm afraid to stop because before that the hunger was terrible !! Why eat a 6" sub? I didn't get a chance to pack my lunch last week and it was a better alternative than other fast food options at the moment. I do listen to full signals and Iv never once thrown up or even eaten to the point of being uncomfortable With the sleeve. I have gotten very very nauseous a couple of times but I think that was more of a poor food choice ( too greasy too sweet) than a volume issue. I don't know what size my sleeve is but I do know I have a small pouch at the top left over from my dilation With my band, I saw it myself on the X-ray, my doc says it shouldn't make much difference but I don't see how it can't, obviously food has more room to fill at the top before moving on down. Regardless, I'll keep working on me, trying to make good food choices when I can and increasing my milage each week. I never regretted my band, ever. I hope to one day say the same about the sleeve but only time will tell. Thanks again !

I was sleeved on 9/20. Iv lost 15 lbs and that was all the first month. I was very successful with my band for 6 years and only revised after being sick of that stuck feeling and all of the inconsistency with the band. Now don't get me wrong I can't eat as much as someone who has never had surgery but I honestly feel very little fullness or restrictions with the sleeve. I can eat a 6" sub from subway and a bag of baked ruffles just to give you an idea. I don't know yet if I regret it or not but I do know I'm making the decision to make it all about me. As far as I'm concerned I'm living life and taking care of myself as if Iv never been on the operating table. I will trust in myself for maybe the first time ever. I'm training for a half marathon this year and making good food choices because I want to. I'm still about 12-15 lbs from my goal, but when I get there I will know that it's because I worked hard for it and I'm okay with that. I wanted that feeling that Iv read so much about, I wanted to be full after 6 or 8 bites but I didn't get anything close to that. I just want others to know there are no guarantees with revision and prepare for the "what ifs " . It's funny to me now I was actually worried about losing too much weight being a low BMI patient to begin with. Now I just worry about getting to goal. I can tell you if I left it to the sleeve I never would but then again maybe that's how it should be...

I'm not on any restrictions as far as diet goes. I was trying really hard in the beginning to watch my protein but I was hungry all the time and starting to obsess. I started on Prilosec (for the extra acid) and that did help some but I still get hungry often and I never did with the band. I did great with the band eating whatever I wanted just very little of it so I started to try that the last couple of weeks but that's not really working either. I'm pretty much to the point of accepting this is on me now. With the band it was 80% band 10% me and I lost all my weight and kept it off for six years. With the sleeve I feel it's 80% me. I am very jealous of those who say they never feel hunger or think about food or get full on 6 bites. I had that before and was hoping it would be the same with the sleeve just less getting stuck. Iv never thrown up since my surgery but I do at times get very very nauseous and I can't figure out what causes it yet. Good luck to you, hope your experiences are better than mine have been.

It didn't get better for me. I'm 10 weeks out and feel like I can eat way too much compared to everyone else I've read about. I honestly feel like Iv never had surgery, sure I eat less than someone who has never had surgery but it's very comparable to what I ate with the band. I lost 17 lbs the first month and have been stalled for about 5 weeks now. I'm pretty worried long term and hoping I didn't make a huge mistake, I was very successful with the band.

Sleeved 9/20 SW : 174 CW: 157 Goal: 145 Very very slow but I keep telling myself it's because I'm close to goal. Iv been stalled for about 5 weeks though and I'm getting pretty discouraged.

Thanks ! It's nice to know I'm not the only one. And, my total gym came today so going to start adding in exercise as well.

I'll be 10 weeks out on Friday and haven't lost any weight for the last 5 weeks. How long does a normal stall last ?

I was happy with my band, honestly I had the revision to sleeve mostly because I was worried by all of the stories I read about it forming to the liver and erosion and also because I was sick of feeling stuck all the time and the inconsistency of eating from one day to the next. It gave me a great 6 years and Iv never regretted it, I'm hoping I can say the same for the sleeve six years from now but at 9 weeks out it's too early to tell.

I agree completely with Marfar, and I'm also amazed by how much I can eat, especially when I read of others eating so little. I'm 9 weeks out and 10 lbs from my goal weight. Honestly I feel much hungrier with the sleeve than I ever felt with the band and while I miss that I do not miss feeling stuck one bit.