summerset

Unfortunately we aren't really allowed to voice that we want to look good as well in addition to being healthy. That how we look really bothers us just as our health issues bother us. Same with plastics. Why? Insurance issues.

Do you know for sure she didn't have any counseling? I'm asking because "counseling" and/or "therapy" are no more magic weapons than WLS itself is. This might not be something people want to hear, but: NO therapy, be it medical or surgical, has a 100% success rate. Why do so many people at least seem to think that WLS simply must have a 100% short and long term success rate if there is only enough therapy and counseling and stick-to-your-plan-advice-from-veterans when it seems to work so poorly without surgery? Do many patients think (despite claiming so often it's not) that WLS is the magic wand that brings the 100% success with reaching and maintaining a normal weight after all for all patients if they only "try hard enough"? I find that hard to believe that people with sometimes a lifelong experience in obesity treatment can be that naive and/or gullible. "You just need to try hard enough" - I guess that's something we've heard too much already throughout the years or even decades. WLS success rates are already extraordinary as they are compared to everything else available, though surgeons and patients often define "success" quite differently.

Even if there was "something done wrong" by the patient (I don't think we need to go into detail here) - some people need a second chance. Period. I'm sometimes appalled because of the level of judgement on WLS boards when it comes to this issue. Maybe we all should remember that we weren't successful in the past, often countless times, when it comes to losing weight and maintaining weight loss.

In Germany there is the possibility of a planned second surgery in the case of very heavy patients. So it's not seen as a revision but an already planned second surgery. People get a sleeve resection first as the initial part of a BPD/DS, lose some weight with that and then a year later get the full DS. I don't know how common that really is though.

I never had a sleeve after the band but was converted to MBG (that was a stretch as well regarding the reflux but there were reasons MGB was chosen over RNY in consent). Talk to a surgeon about revision because of the reflux. Weight loss could be significant but doesn't has to be.

Would you please stop hijacking this thread and post in the technical support forum instead?!

This is definitely not a "just". Finding a way to be at your desired weight without having to struggle every day to fight regain is IMO the requirement for long term success with WLS. This is usually a highly individual process, often (mostly?) including some trial and error. What do you think was the reason you went back to "old habits" as you phrased it? Dieting burnout? Emotional eating? Something else? A combination of many things?

I think this question is not easy to answer in many cases. Reflux is a common reason people are getting bypassed after having been sleeved or banded. Lack of weight loss or weight regain is another. However, I don't know what the most common reason is. Anyway, it's always a question of "What does the patient want and what does the patient want to live with forever and what risks is the patient going to take by having another surgery or by not having another surgery". So decision to get a revision can for sure take its time. I'm still on the fence if I should take the risk of another surgery (hiatoplastic, gastropexia, maybe even changing the anastomosis, depending on what they see during surgery) or if I should live with it the way it is and get control gastroscopies yearly. Since there is no guarantee that everything will be fine and dandy after another surgery, I'm very hesitant and regardless of what I will choose in the end, I won't rush it (luckily there doesn't seem to be a need to) and nothing will happen before January or February anyway regarding another surgery. I simply need time to come to terms with all of this. "The process of a revision". I'm not sure what you mean here. Insurance issues? If so, it seems to depend on insurance and the reason for revision if that is a major hurdle or not. I can't contribute anything useful to this since insurance system in Germany is quite different from that e. g. in the US. However, everything revision starts with a visit at the surgeon's office and then you go from there.

Regarding alcohol consumption we were just warned to "try it at home the first time" since some people get a really strong reaction to alcohol. I don't know when we were cleared to try alcohol, can't remember since I only drink occasionally anyway and didn't pay much attention to when, what and how much.

The matter of weight is still a complex one and I think no party can claim to "have found the reason and/or solution". It's always a mix of physical/medical, mental/psychological, genetic and environmental reasons. Treat/improve only one of these things and you're doomed. Yes, your genes can't be changed (though reads on activating/deactivating certain genes are interesting) but the people who really think "one needs only therapy and as soon as the mental stuff is alright the weight will fall off and stay off" or "this weight loss drug/surgery will take care of it all" are kidding themselves, ignoring the complexity of the disease called obesity.

You can always ask the radiologist or radiographer before the MRI. But don't worry, they're MRI safe and you're not even the one getting the exam.

Different treatment teams have different plans for their patients. If that plan might be less than ideal... well, nobody really knows what works best. Most likely it's different for different people, depending on many factors. What works for one person might not work for the other person. In the end everyone has to find the foods that satisfy their physical and mental needs. Being on liquids is challenging as one misses the chewing. So it might already get better with introducing solids a few more days down the road. As for mind hunger specifically: up to a certain degree everyone has it and needs to learn how to deal with it sufficiently enough to reach a more desirable weight.

After my experience yesterday: nope, they're not very organized.

Last time I needed to make an appointment it was 4 weeks or something in that range. But that was a year ago so I might not remember it correctly. I was also presently surprised that I only had to dial the number once and got someone on the phone instead of either having 1) a busy line or 2) nobody answering the phone, getting frustrated after about twenty tries and writing an e-mail instead like when I made my gastroscopy appointment.

Have an appointment Monday in a week to discuss further procedures/therapy options. Way faster than I thought.

Hah, I wished! I guess I will be 100% self pay (of course I will sue my insurance company in hope to get the money back; already ramped up my legal protection insurance because of this just in case). However, weight needs to be stable and at the moment it isn't. BMI went from 24 to 23. That doesn't sound much but people already noticed and ask me if I'm fine (which I'm not atm). And of course the hernia surgery is looming ahead. However, I'll need some time to make up my mind and be ready for this. I'm also not exactly looking forward to some more doctor appointments but it's necessary. Yes, that's basically what the surgeon said: "Hiatal hernias are b*tches that tend to come back!" This damned hiatal hernia combined with this shitty reflux will most likely haunt me forever.

Major necroposting, ROFL. How did you stumble upon it? Just had gastroscopy today. Luckily neither esophagitis nor Barrett nor something even more evil. Pouch fine without inflammation. Anastomosis fine without inflammation. I need another hiatoplastic with gastropexia though. Surgeon recommended it but doesn't see a need to rush it because see-gastroscopy-results-above. Alternative would be wait-and-see-how-I-can-cope and have control-gastroscopy in a year. Hernia is back again. WTF.

This is Bariatric Pal. Yes, people are serious about this.

I've read your post again and I have the impression that you gained self-confidence regarding weight/food/looks? IMO it's not the weight loss or the change in itself that causes people to react differently. People will always react differently to you if you change your behavior. Think about when you started working, when you were a newbie. And then think about how people might have started reacted differently to you after you've had a few years of experience under your belt. They might have started to view your opinion as more trustworthy for example. And some might have started bitching because they couldn't handle the fact that you were not an inexperienced newbie anymore and maybe viewed you as threat in some sort of way.

It's not necessary to view "food as a friend" to miss it sometimes. If you can't eat certain foods you always liked anymore it's quite normal to miss them. Taking a look outside of the weight loss/bariatric/eating disordered community is quite helpful to get a feeling for what is seen as "normal" or not regarding food. I can remember my own surprise when I realized that everyone eats emotionally to a certain degree. I know no one who "eats for fuel only". If anything people are in abusive relationships with themselves not with a piece of cake or pizza.

Results are generally mixed when it comes to treating eating issues. "Mixed" meaning "by far not always successful". Yes, worth a try if the access to a therapist ist there, but I wouldn't expect any miracles.

Most likely. Shouldn't be a problem in a bariatric community though. I agree that ambivalent feelings are normal. They occur with many things and too many people respond to them with "Well, you knew it would be like that". What comes to my mind here is when people in the medical field talk about e. g. being on endless working hours, night shifts, 24 h duties etc. - of course everyone who've chosen working in the field knows about these things (duh!!), however, what nobody knows is how you'll be able to cope with these things a decade or more down the road when you're in your 40s or 50s.

I've heard of it though I'm not sure why surgeons would revise from band to sleeve (of course they have their reasons, just wondering what these reasons are). Anyway I was a band to MGB and a band to sleeve wouldn't have been possible anyway because of so much scar tissue. I also had severe reflux so sleeve was out of the question anyway. However, if one revises from band to sleeve I'm not surprised about the second revision because quite a few people get severe reflux after sleeve.

Sometimes I eat emotionally, sometimes I don't. Today was a very stressful day, late lunch with 20 h IF, lots of mentally and partly also physically demanding work, coming home at half past eight in the evening, being called 10 min after coming home and still being on-call until tomorrow 8 AM... You know what? I'm eating emotionally right now and I give a damn about it because I'm tired as ****. No idea and I don't think it's possible. Everyone I know eats emotionally at least now and then - it's just a matter of how often people do it if they're doing serious damage or not and how much they usually eat. The best bet seems to be to learn that you don't have to eat because you feel certain feelings. It might feel in the beginning like you NEED TO HAVE SOMETHING TO EAT RIGHT NOW. However, you'll discover soon that this is absolutely not true. No fool-proof 100% method (see above) but for me it works.

Though one has to say that not ranitidine itself is the culprit but the NDMA they found in some batches.