JamieLogical

This is a tough one. I think that everyone should have the right to feel good in their skin. And I think that society as a whole should be more accepting and accommodating of all body types. But I agree that a line needs to be drawn when it comes to the medical side of the issue. I think it helps to put it in the frame of reference of any other medical disorder or disability. It's not acceptable for people in society to make fun of or look down on those with disabilities, but it's perfectly acceptable for doctors to try to TREAT those disabilities.

Lap-band is becoming a less and less popular option. The rate of late complications and revisions is very high and getting higher as more people are further out and experiencing slippage, erosion, and other late complications requiring revision.
For me the choice was between bypass and sleeve and it was an easy one. Here are my reasons for not choosing bypass:
I had a low enough BMI that I didn't feel such a "drastic" option was necessary. I hated the idea of my intestines being rerouted. The more joins in the intestines, the more opportunity for leaks. I really hated the idea of the "old" part of my stomach being left in my body where it might develop ulcers or cancer and be unaccessible with a normal endoscopy. I didn't like the idea of malabsorption. While it makes the weight loss go more quickly, weight LOSS is a tiny fraction of the journey. A WLS patient spends the VAST majority of their journey in maintenance. Why should I risk Vitamin deficiencies for the rest of my life just to reach goal a couple months quicker? I didn't like the idea of dumping. Yes, it might act as a deterrent for eating sweets, but I wanted to be able to eat sweets once in a while still. Plus, it would be silly to RELY on it, since not every bypass patient experiences it. I wanted to retain the use of my pyloric valve. It helps hold food in the stomach longer and the idea of my pyloric valve still being inside me, attached to my "old" stomach and opening and closing based on signals from my "new" stomach honestly weirded me out. I was self-pay and sleeve was simply cheaper.

I had extended TT, breast lift/implants, all-over Lipo, and fat grafting in Mexico for right around $10,500. But that was back in 2011. Might be more expensive now.
I paid for it by taking out a loan against my retirement account.

That is definitely true of her. She "talked me down" from several possible procedures because she didn't think the results would be worth the money or the risk/recovery. A lot of surgeons would just want you go with more procedures or the more expensive options to try to get more money out of you.

Don't fret. 3.5 months is exactly when my hair started to fall out. It only lasted about a month and a half, was never enough for anyone else to notice, and started growing back immediately.

I have only vomited four times post-op (I'm well over 2 years out now). One was when my whole family had a stomach bug and ALL of us were throwing up, so nothing to do with my sleeve. The second time was my second Thanksgiving post-op. I ate too fast or didn't chew well enough and something got "stuck". I had tremendous pain in my chest and foamies until I finally threw up and felt a million times better. The third time I went on a pub crawl and drank WAY too much alcohol... definitely nothing to do with my sleeve and everything to do with me being an idiot. The last time was this past summer. I ate way too quickly again or didn't chew thoroughly again then proceeded to play Lasertron (fancy laser tag) for about two hours. By the end I was dying. Again with the "stuck" feeling and foamies until I was able to throw up and get out whatever was stuck.

I really really hate the idea that WLS is someone admiring defeat or failure. I don't know why society projects that mentality. With ANY other medical condition for which there is a surgical solution, you don't see that. If you have to get a knee replacement for a bad knee, no one is yelling at you that you should just suck it up and walk it off and power through the pain. If you have an appendicitis, so one is telling you it's mind over matter and you should just tough it out. I don't get why WLS is any different. You have a serious disease, for which there is a surgical remedy. Why is it "cheating" or "quitting" to take advantage of that tool?

When it comes to faces, it does seem like a lot of us go through phases where we look a little sunken and sickly, but it does seem to even out eventually. Age seems to have a lot to do with it. For younger people, the skin and plumpness seem to bounce back eventually in maintenance. For older people, they can end up with some sagging skin in their neck and jowls.
But I will say the same thing about this as I do to the people who fear hair loss and loose skin... no one ever died from it. People die every single day from obesity-related illnesses!

Is the nausea related to the sleeve or to the pregnancy? Can your surgeon or OB/GYN give you anything to help control it that won't adversely affect the baby?
I can imagine it's pretty tough to find things that don't upset your stomach when you are fairly newly sleeved AND pregnant! Maybe try to focus on calorie-dense foods if you can handle any of them. I had to get my calories way up while training for a half marathon so I started eating a lot of cheese and nuts to help pack in the calories, without eating much more food.

VSG has a lower complication and morbidity rate than knee replacement. Are there risks? Of course. There are risks associated with any surgery. There are risks associated with getting in your car and driving to work in the morning. The question you need to ask yourself is whether the potential benefits outweigh the risks.

That is definitely true of her. She "talked me down" from several possible procedures because she didn't think the results would be worth the money or the risk/recovery. A lot of surgeons would just want you go with more procedures or the more expensive options to try to get more money out of you.

Welcome to normal life! Every single normal weight person I know has a little binge here and there on a weekend or a vacation. You know what they do? They just get right back into their normal routine again when it's over and move on. That's what maintenance is. Living like a normal person!

If there is anything this site has taught me, it's that literally every single surgeon and nutritionist has a different plan The no carbonation thing I can see making some sense. I don't think it would stretch your sleeve, but I can see how it could cause gas and be uncomfortable, so more of an "as tolerated" sort of thing. I also think a lot of nutritionists tell people to avoid carbonation just to keep them from drinking soda, which is a bad habit to have whether you're sleeved or not. The sleeve just gives them a way of putting the fear of God in us about drinking it. Luckily I gave up soda many years before I was sleeved, so that's been a really easy rule for me to stick to.
I think you are right that not eating and drinking at the same time is one of the real keys to success. I noticed early on that as soon as I felt "full" my very first instinct was to reach for a drink. That's when it REALLY sank in that all those years that I had been eating an entire pizza in one sitting or whatever, what I was doing was washing food out of my stomach to empty it faster so I could eat even more. I used to go through 4 glasses of Water during a meal at a restaurant. Sure it was great for getting all my Water in, but it was also great for getting POUNDS of extra food in. Not drinking while eating lets me get the full benefit of my restriction and it is something I definitely plan to stick to forever.
I have found that I can take NSAIDS occasionally with food, but I wouldn't want to take them daily for any period of time. I usually only ever take anything if I have a Migraine. A couple of times I've had some sore muscles or strains and it's been tough to resist taking naproxin, but I've managed so far.
That potato thing is weird. I don't eat potatoes or an anything starchy post-op just because it takes up so much space and makes it harder to get my Protein in. But I can't imagine a valid medical reason for not have potatoes occasionally.

Mine was around $11,000 in all for airfare, recovery house, extended Tummy Tuck, breast lift with implants, all over Lipo, and fat grafting to my butt. But that was back in 2011, so I am sure the pricing has gone up since then and airfare is always a wildcard depending on when you go. In the US I would have probably paid closer to $30,000 and the surgeons in my area aren't exactly the bee's knees, so I might have ended up traveling anyway.

She was my surgeon for my extended Tummy Tuck and breast lift with augmentation almost 5 years ago after I lost 90 pounds on my own. I am scheduled to go back to her for a spiral thigh lift in September now that I've re-lost the weight with my sleeve and will have been maintaining for a year at that point. I'll be happy to answer any specific questions I can about her and the Beauty Care Recovery House.
I love Dra. Cardenas as a person. She is so genuine and easy to talk to. She tells it like it is, but not in a harsh way. She doesn't really sugar-coat things, but she has a way of putting you at ease about them. It's a very good quality in a surgeon. She is also, obviously, VERY skilled and does amazing work. When I was in the recover house, she came and checked on me every single day. And even once I went home, she continued to follow up with calls and emails for probably a good two months at least. She also spoke directly to my PCP for my follow-up care.
There is a new recovery house now, so I don't know how the new one is set up or what the current staff is like, but the care I received when I was there was fantastic. I had nurses there 24/7 to tend to my every need. In the first couple of days, that was HUGE, because I couldn't even use the bathroom by myself. They helped me with literally everything. They were so loving and caring too. I honestly got really attached to all of them and was hugging them, and crying when it was time for me to leave!
The recovery house was also great with my food. Even though this was before I was sleeved, I was a VERY picky eater and provided a hugely long list of foods I didn't like or wouldn't eat ahead of time. They prepared all my meals within the guidelines I provided. The fresh fruit was AMAZING. I know that there is now a Bariatric Surgeon working out of Dra. Cardenas' clinic, so I am certain they can deal with bariatric patient food requirements without issue.
Please let me know if you have any specific questions and I will do my best to answer them. Just keep in mind it will be 5 years in August since my first round of plastics there and I won't be back until September, so I might not have all the answers.

@@Spiceyfrog For some reason, your mention of driving reminded me of a funny thing that happened after my Tummy Tuck. I came home from Mexico two weeks post-op and my mom was going to come up and help take care of me some, since my husband had to work. Well, it turned out that my mom ended up having to have a hernia repair right around the same time as my TT, so she still came up to visit, but was in no shape to actually take care of me. It was hilarious. She was allowed to drive, but we both had lifting restrictions. So one day she took me to the grocery store and we had to have the cashier pack each bag very light so we could carry them one at a time. And we realized that we couldn't buy a gallon of milk, because neither of us was allowed to lift it. It was such a ridiculous situation.

I have only vomited four times post-op (I'm well over 2 years out now). One was when my whole family had a stomach bug and ALL of us were throwing up, so nothing to do with my sleeve. The second time was my second Thanksgiving post-op. I ate too fast or didn't chew well enough and something got "stuck". I had tremendous pain in my chest and foamies until I finally threw up and felt a million times better. The third time I went on a pub crawl and drank WAY too much alcohol... definitely nothing to do with my sleeve and everything to do with me being an idiot. The last time was this past summer. I ate way too quickly again or didn't chew thoroughly again then proceeded to play Lasertron (fancy laser tag) for about two hours. By the end I was dying. Again with the "stuck" feeling and foamies until I was able to throw up and get out whatever was stuck.

Wait what? You are disappointed to have "only" lost 60 pounds in 4 months?!?!?! That's an average of 15 pounds a month! I didn't even lose 15 pounds my first month post-op. And after that I averaged about 6 pounds per month for the next several months. Now I'm happy with TWO pounds a month!
Sounds to me like you set some very unrealistic expectations for yourself.
Can I ask you a very serious question? Why do you feel you need to lose the weight so quickly? I lost weight MUCH more slowly than you have and now I'm only 3.6 pounds from goal. Even though I lost weight "slowly", I'm still reaching my goal. I'm still way happier and healthier than I've ever been. Why does it matter how long it takes you to get there, as long as you get there eventually? This isn't a diet. Once you are at goal, you won't be "done". Your WLS is forever. Ten years from now when you are enjoying your happy, healthy life, is it going to matter that it took you 18 months to reach your goal weight instead of 12? NOPE!
PS: Just did the math. It took me 10 months to lose 60 pounds....

I simply meant that by the time you are losing hair, whatever triggered the Hair loss took place months ago so there is nothing you can do *right now* to stop it.
The vast vast majority of WLS patients lose some hair. Some lose a lot of hair. There are so many attributing factors, that it's not really possible to predict how much hair you will lose or how long you will lose it for. The only things within your control are your nutritional intake, but that is just one small piece of the puzzle.
WLS have a quadruple whammy when it comes to hair loss. Anesthesia has been shown to cause hair loss. Rapid weight loss has been shown to cause hair loss. Stress and trauma have been shown to cause hair loss. And malnutrition has been shown to cause hair loss. WLS patients are usually subject to three or four of these.

I have only vomited four times post-op (I'm well over 2 years out now). One was when my whole family had a stomach bug and ALL of us were throwing up, so nothing to do with my sleeve. The second time was my second Thanksgiving post-op. I ate too fast or didn't chew well enough and something got "stuck". I had tremendous pain in my chest and foamies until I finally threw up and felt a million times better. The third time I went on a pub crawl and drank WAY too much alcohol... definitely nothing to do with my sleeve and everything to do with me being an idiot. The last time was this past summer. I ate way too quickly again or didn't chew thoroughly again then proceeded to play Lasertron (fancy laser tag) for about two hours. By the end I was dying. Again with the "stuck" feeling and foamies until I was able to throw up and get out whatever was stuck.

I really am fully back on track now. Just finally finished the last project on my new condo at 10:00 last night. So now there is just cleaning and unpacking to do, which I can do in small doses. All the bit painting and construction-type stuff is out of the way now. (Side note: if you are ever thinking about replacing all of the doors in your home, don't!)
I'm back at work today and my divorce should be finalized tomorrow, so time for things to all settle back down. I planned out my training schedule for my half marathon in April. I will need to start it Jan. 23, but hoping to at least get some short runs in between now and then to get my endurance back up to where it needs to be to start training.

@@1Cor2:9 Sorry I misinterpreted your post.

When it comes to faces, it does seem like a lot of us go through phases where we look a little sunken and sickly, but it does seem to even out eventually. Age seems to have a lot to do with it. For younger people, the skin and plumpness seem to bounce back eventually in maintenance. For older people, they can end up with some sagging skin in their neck and jowls.
But I will say the same thing about this as I do to the people who fear hair loss and loose skin... no one ever died from it. People die every single day from obesity-related illnesses!

Definitely no comparison. on a scale from 1 to 10 where 10 is the pain of childbirth, sleeve is like a negative seven.

@@Spiceyfrog For some reason, your mention of driving reminded me of a funny thing that happened after my Tummy Tuck. I came home from Mexico two weeks post-op and my mom was going to come up and help take care of me some, since my husband had to work. Well, it turned out that my mom ended up having to have a hernia repair right around the same time as my TT, so she still came up to visit, but was in no shape to actually take care of me. It was hilarious. She was allowed to drive, but we both had lifting restrictions. So one day she took me to the grocery store and we had to have the cashier pack each bag very light so we could carry them one at a time. And we realized that we couldn't buy a gallon of milk, because neither of us was allowed to lift it. It was such a ridiculous situation.