catwoman7

a lot of plastic surgeons want you to be at a stable weight for 6-12 months before getting plastic surgery. Reason being is a lot of us experience a 10-20 lb bounce back after hitting our lowest weight. Gaining or losing more than 10 or 12 lbs after plastic surgery can affect your results. I actually waited two years until I was absolutely sure I was at a stable weight. also, it's good to get someone who specializes in people who've had massive weight loss, or at minimum, someone who has done a truckload of these surgeries. It's supposed a pretty complicated subspecialty, so you want to make sure you have someone who's had a lot of experience with it. Keep in mind that the pictures they post on their Web site are probably going to reflect their best work, so look at sites like realself.com, too. Check belly buttons - those are supposedly hard to do. I've seen some crappy-looking post-surgical belly buttons.

just keep in mind that rate of weight loss varies widely among people based on so many different factors - age, gender, metabolic rate, starting BMI, whether or not you lost weight prior to surgery, how compliant you are with your food plan, activity level. I was a slow loser and thought there was no way I was ever going to lose all my excess weight, but I did.

Welcome! I lived in NC for several years - and my brother still lives there, so I still get down there once or twice a year! for healthy snacks that travel - individual bags of nuts, string cheese, beef jerky, protein bars (there are others, of course, but those immediately come to mind) clinics will usually tell you not to have a "food funeral", but a lot of people do. I didn't go hog wild (a term I still use even 30 years after leaving NC!), but we did go out to dinner a couple of times that last week so I could enjoy some of my favorite dishes that I knew I wouldn't be able to have again for awhile. good luck with everything! You'll be so glad you did this!

you CAN eat more once you're out a ways. I don't think the pouch really stretches much, though - I mean the first few weeks you have a lot of swelling in there that eventually disappears (making the pouch "bigger" - or more accurately, capable of holding more volume) - but after that, I'm pretty sure I've read that it doesn't stretch all that much. The stoma can get bigger, though (the hole they put in your pouch and connect the small intestine to). And from what I've heard, most of the methods they've come up with to make the stoma small again aren't terribly effective. UPDATE: I just skimmed through a few articles on this. Some say the pouch doesn't really stretch that much - and others say it can permanently stretch if you're constantly overeating (not an occasional splurge, but constantly overfilling it). SO....I don't know. I know for sure that some people's stomas stretch, though - that's from constantly overfilling your pouch, too.

I was really tired and headache-y during my two-week liquid diet - I think it's carb withdrawal plus ultra-low calories. I didn't have the sore throat and nasal stuff, though. It may just be the change in weather - I often get that way in the spring. Hopefully that's all it is.

most people don't see the loss right away because they pump you full of fluids while you're in the hospital. And that fluid has a lot of sodium in it, so it can potentially stick around for a few days. I've heard of people gaining up to 10 lbs while in the hospital! It's been awhile for me since surgery (five years) that I don't remember how long it took for me to start seeing a loss - but maybe a week or so? It may have been a little longer - but suffice it to say, many of us don't see a loss right away.

I don't know if any insurance companies would cover that, but you can always call and ask them. Some employers pay for various coverage options (and riders) for their employees that employers might not - so all BCBS policies aren't necessarily the same...)

I had my surgery five years ago...

I found the two-week pre-op diet to be the hardest part of the whole ordeal. I just had to white-knuckle it. It does seem to get better after the first three or four days, once your body is in ketosis.

BMI of 22 is not underweight. Plus many of us who reach normal BMI look pretty scrawny for awhile, and then things sort of redistribute and we start looking more filled out and healthy. Plus, at six months out, you're still in that "magical time" when things seem effortless and the weight keeps falling off. That ends for almost all of us. I got too thin and thought I'd NEVER be one of those who regained weight. Ha! Wrong. Gained it in year 3 without even trying. Now it's a huge, daily struggle to maintain (my weight is still fine, but I'm 20 lbs heavier than I was at my lowest (which admittedly was too low), and I struggle every day to stay there). So enjoy it while it lasts... (p.s. don't take this to say you need to lose more - you don't. You're good. But this amazing time period won't last forever, as I'm sure you know...so just keep it in mind)

I think the worst part was the two-week pre-surgery liquid diet. UGH.

she's a sleeve patient, though - strictures are pretty rare for them - although I suppose it COULD be... You're right, though - an endoscopy might help them figure out what's going on.

it can sometimes take a couple of years for vitamin deficiencies to show up. Some of mine took a tumble when I had my four-year check up last year - and I'd been taking vitamins religiously. also, most of us start regaining around year 3 - but some start earlier. in both cases, you really do need to get back on track or you may regret it later on...

I don't think I had it at all until I hit maintenance, and now I rarely have it. It's one of those foods that takes up a lot of space in your stomach and doesn't offer much in the way of nutritional value. I'll eat a little of it if it's required to sop up some really sauce-y thing - like an Indian dish - because otherwise with some of those dishes I'd feel like I was eating soup. But something like Chinese food? No - I punt the rice. It's easy enough to eat the dish without it.

I don't know that many people have their surgery a month after their first appointment, unless they're self-pay. Many insurance companies require a six-month supervised diet with a physician or nutritionist, and several bariatric clinics require classes plus a whole slew of requirements (e.g., sleep studies) that seem to take forever to get into. So at minimum six months for a lot of us. Fortunately, most of us didn't have to deal with the pandemic, though, so I can totally empathize with that. You'll get in, though. Most people seem to once their states start opening up. I know Michigan has been having a particularly tough time with the virus, so I can see why they're locked down longer than most - but I'm sure they'll get you scheduled as soon as they can.

yea - most of the ones they do at medical offices just measure bone density. I had to go to some commercial place to get one that includes body composition (fat/muscle/bone). Some university sports labs have them, too - and for reasonable prices - but unfortunately, not the university we have here in town.

it's helpful. Not only did it determine that I didn't need to lose any more weight (at 146 lbs, my fat percentage was 22% - which is pretty lean for a woman - but of course, it'd be higher now that I've gained a few pounds!), but I also learned I have osteoporosis. The technician didn't tell me that, because I doubt she's legally able to diagnose things, but she did mention that my bone density was a bit below average so i might want to bring it up with my PCP. So I did - and the PCP looked at the numbers and said..."ah...you've got osteoporosis". Shouldn't have been a huge surprise since pretty much all the women on both sides of my family have had it..

I used to be 5'7" (I've shrunk a bit in my old age), but I looked fine at 170 (that's technically overweight for me, but I look fine there. I'm currently in the high 150s, but want to get down to the low 150s again). But I have a large frame and am pretty muscular. My mother-in-law was also 5'7" at one time...but she's bird-boned and hovers around 125-130. She looks fine there and would look chunky at 170. I, on the other hand, would look awful at her weight (125-130). I had a DEXA scan about three years ago (after I got into maintenance) and my muscle alone weighed 117, I think. So all that makes a difference in what weight you'll look/feel best at, too...

I agree with this - we hear about that on bariatric forums fairly often.

actually, most (not all - but most) patients really don't experience much pain from this surgery. Just the gas pain.

it tends to have more complications and a greater chance of nutritional deficiencies. On the plus side, though, you tend to lose more weight with it, and it's easier to maintain the loss (because of the malabsorption) I've just had one surgery (RNY).

to be honest, though, the DS is a riskier surgery than the RNY

I'm not sure a DS is going to help you since they have a sleeve stomach and a bypassed small intestine. Unless he's got some new way of doing it? Usually for GERD, they revise to gastric bypass, since that often cures GERD.

great! You're very lucky!

it depends on your insurance. Most won't cover a revision unless, like Superman said, it's medically necessary (and some won't even then...)