tebowfan

Best decision I ever made band to bypass!

I ordered the new gel+ online and am happy with it. It is long term. Doc said up to a year. I just wear at night under my binder. How long do veterans wear the binder. I am only 3 wks out from TT. Thanks

This is weird but some people swear by putting their deodorant in the normal spot in their arm pit and then continuing down over their scar (once it has completely closed). I've seen pictures of this and it does look like it works!

The bypass has made me feel truly full for the first time in my life. With band, I never felt full and would end up vomiting.

I suggest a large hiatus hernia. After that surgery it is normal not to each large amounts of food for fear of vomiting or hiccups.
Good luck

@@tebowfan@michigan chic
Thanks for the updates. Hope everyday gets better. I think you are doing very well????.
I'm with you on TT pain. The first week is VERY difficult on a lot of us.
It DOES Get better by the day for me
It is nice to come to a board like this just to get different opinions and reactions to surgeries
On to day 12 post op. Using silicone gel scar strips. I like them
Wondered if others had luck with them?
Thanks all

@michiganchick
@@cockapoomom
@@shavonna34
@@Julie norton
Everything looks great! I am swollen and have edema in my knees. I start message therapy tomorrow to get the swelling out.
As far as pain, this surgery is nothing compared to he Tummy Tuck pain. You would think it would be worse cause I have a cut from the groin to the knee and cut from right below arm pit to to almost the elbow. I would definitely work on abs and squats before having any if these surgeries. You will need those muscles to get out of bed and sit on toilet. I am really glad I did.
I am 9 days out and so far I have shopped on 3 different days for about 2 hours at a time. I went to a wedding last night and was in a car for 2 and half hours total to get there and back. I did way more than I should have but so far I haven't paid for it today. I do have a pain that shoots in one if my arms out of the blue but mostly when I take clothes on or off. I only take meds when I am going somewhere and that's only 1 hydro codeine instead of 2.
Antestisiaologist said the tummy tuck is the hardest to go through. To me that's the first thing a weightloss patient should have done. It makes the biggest difference.
One last thing, I was complimented by so many and they didn't know I had anything done. I told them I pulled my groin, lol!

That is incredible @tebowfan. I have just embarked on this journey but already making plans for the touch ups
@@MichiganChic thanks for the reply.
No pain no gain, or in our cases loss 'wink'

It was a 9 out of 10 for me. Maybe a 10, but I always thi it can be worse lol.

Omg I will likely pursue a breast lift, Tummy Tuck and arm lift, however I'm the biggest pain sissy.
On a scale of 1-10 what was the pain like 1st day home, post op?
Also, congrats!!!!

????

@@tebowfan glad to hear its going well with minimal pain. How do things look?

Congrats on your surgery and thanks for sharing your progress! Hope all is still going well for you!

So glad you got thru the first week. ????I am also recovering from plastics on march 10. Each day was better.
All I can say is it is not for sissies. I thought I was strong having 2 large babies. Ha! Different pain. By Monday I hope to be ready for work Tuesday
hope your recovery hoes smoothly also.
Ps I was thankful for lidocaine pumps for the first 2 days!

I'm thinking bypass instead of sleeve due to my addiction to sugar. I know that ice cream would go down too easily with a sleeve. I had a band put in years ago and regained my weight. I'm ready to get this weight off!

I think this is a good time to consult a plastic surgeon. Only they can tell you what would get the best results. Another thing - you may or may not be able to lose all the weight you want. Once I got closer to goal, no more would come off.
I saw a couple of plastic surgeons and even though I had more to lose, they both said I was a good candidate. And even though I'm technically overweight, my plastic surgeon said I didn't need to lose more. Since then, she has cut of 12 pounds in a variety of surgeries, and I still weigh the same.
Anyway, it takes a while to get appointments, and you probably are going to want to see more than one, so it can't hurt to start now. You'll probably need some time to come to a decision, so it's likely going to be a few months start to surgery.
Good luck - having plastics was the second best thing I ever did for myself, right after gastric sleeve. I

I would remove the skin now. Losing another 20 pounds should not affect the results of your Tummy Tuck.< /p>

You are right; having abs muscles are important after those two surgeries.
Take it slow.
Happy Healing!

I asked my surgeon about them as well, and he is not a fan. He supports moisture and massaging the scars with lotion three times daily.

I'm glad you are doing well! Please take this time to take it easy and to heal!!

I'm getting my thigh done in 2 months. It will cost $3,500.00

I had my TT done April 2012... i was self pay and so worth the money. I was lucky that i lost slow and didn't need thighs or arms done.
I do believe that had in not had had multiple surgeries in the past i could have lived with the stomach also. But after two c-sections, hysterectomy, gallbladder and the band... my muscles were shot
it was well worth the 8k.... no drains, no staples. he removed the extra skin, tighten the muscles, did a little back contouring.... stitched the inside and glued the outside. Super happy with my "almost invisible" scare. I was back at work in 2 weeks... Grant you i have a desk job... but for me.. this was a pretty pain-free surgery. Which i would do again in a heartbeat.

Glad to hear you are doing well! Once the swelling goes down, you will feel even better! Take care of yourself and don't overdo it

@@losing_the_band everything you say backs up what my research keeps telling me and is my fear. The thought of lifetime of new habits with the sleeve seems hard but doable and most of all healthy. A lifetime of dealing with regurgitation and pain from food sticking in pouch sounds unhealthy and worrying about long term complications down the road - who needs that! Since I first posted this I have been to my surgeons seminar and read a lot more. Definitely leaning toward sleeve now. HAVE RULED OUT LAP BAND FOR SURE BY NOW. Even curious about RNY when at first I didn't ever think I would go that extreme. But I can't argue with the long term statistics which are best and longest historical records of sustainability with bypass. So now my question should be sleeve or bypass? I love it that insurance and surgeons will let me choose. Just hope I choose the one I can succeed and live with the side effects for the next 40+ years while still on this Earth! Thanks to everyone providing this amazing blog conversation. I love the honesty with real people in the real world trying to help each other. I plan to lean on you all for years to come. ????????❤️

I'm on my second band, so my advice would be to go with either the sleeve or the bypass. I was actually successful with my first band, too, lost 90 pounds and achieved a normal BMI (around 23). The problem was that in order to do it, I had to have quite a bit of restriction, which meant that although I was unable to eat the things that got me fat (carb addict), I also couldn't eat a lot of foods that were actually good for me. Fresh fruits, fresh veggies, lean meats? Nope, stuck 75%+ of the time, sliming and regurgitation. I lived with it until the good didn't outweigh the issues anymore. I was having to literally sleep sitting upright because of the acid reflux, and even then I was still waking up choking because I'd inhale acid. My chest and throat hurt constantly. I finally had to go in for an emergency unfill, which of course then lead to weight gain because I'd never learned how to eat a properly balanced meal, just the stuff that would go down.
Several months after being unfilled, I moved across country, and wasn't able to find a new surgeon for a while. When I did, the first thing he did was do a fluoroscopy, which revealed that I'd had a massive slip. Even mostly unfilled, there was only a space about the size of a pencil eraser for food to pass through. I had to have my band replaced. I wanted to revise at that point, but even though I'd gained quite a bit of weight, I no longer fit the requirements for conversion to another surgery. Ironically, if I'd NOT been successful with the first band, I would have been able to convert, but since I was initially successful, I didn't have two straight years of 35+ BMI anymore.
With the new band, I've never been able to reach "the sweet spot." It's either too loose or too tight, and usually both in the same day (too tight in the morning to eat anything, but am an empty pit later in the day). I'm now hopefully able to be approved for a conversion, but I'm having to jump through hoops to do so.
Yes, there are some oldies out there that still have their original bands, but they are getting fewer and farther between. I honestly don't understand why people would willingly subject themselves to the band anymore, when there's more than enough evidence at this point to show that it's not the best option anymore. There's a really high complication rate, you're almost guaranteed to need surgery again down the road (removal, repositioning, etc.), and the excess weight loss statistics aren't nearly as good as the sleeve or the bypass. You have to constantly worry about getting sick, food poisoning, etc., because vomiting can lead to a slip.
To be honest, even though I'm looking into both the sleeve and the bypass, I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with the bypass. The band taught me that I shouldn't just blindly trust what the future outcomes are projected to be. When I was originally banded, it was being said that the band would have better long-term outcomes than the bypass, fewer severe complications, etc. Most of us know how that turned out. I don't trust projections anymore. And to be honest, after living with the severe acid reflux for so long with my first band, I'm really scared of the possibility of reflux with the sleeve.