JohnGraySmiley

Oh this is very interesting, thank you so much for sharing!! I love what he said here:
I find it's very true. Thanks again for sharing a piece of your story! 🖤

Hey! No problem. You’re more than welcome. Thanks for your well wishes. 🤗

No question is bad, ask away. That’s why we’re here. Support. 🙏🏾

I chose the DS because the sleeve & DS were once one procedure & in some cases, they still are. I figured there’s more “practice” with this one. 😀

Also, my therapist had the full DS switch procedure done & she randomly shared while I was in therapy one night discussing some of my challenges with weight. She’s done well & hers was several years ago.

Lastly, I trust my surgeon’s statistics. He performed my sleeve. He’s the head of the bariatric program at the healthcare system he works for. He also teaches there, so his advice helped after he shared what I should expect from bypass or switch. I still have a lot of restriction from my sleeve, so he won’t do anything to my stomach this time around.

I’m not sure if this is what some may call a “mini bypass”. Don’t think I’ve heard that term before.

I lost 90 lbs from 2016 - 2017 following my sleeve. He told me to expect to lose 50-60lbs with this surgery. In 2016 I asked him how the sleeve would effect my weight insecurities, & if weight would still be an issue. He was very honest and said, “you’ll always have a goal to lose 10 more lbs.”

Thanks for posting this. there are very few people on this board so long after their surgeries, and many of us wonder what it will be like in the long term. Your post is a valuable reminder that this is a lifetime change in our lifestyle and relationship with food.

I was nervous as well before my vsg. You’ll be well. Stay calm & look how far you’ve already come. 🥰

Almost every one stalls, some stall early on some a little later. There are thousands of posts on here regarding stalls and it looks like you are a little early to the infamous three week stall...for some reason a lot of people stall at three weeks post op.
It's hard not to be disappointed when the scales do not reflect the effort put in but noww is the time to make sure you have some non scale goals. Take some of the focus away from scales.
Keep to your post op plan and weight loss will catch up.
Edited to add, your body is still very much in the healing stage and there is still likely a lot of inflammation which can cause Fluid retention. Some surgeons suggest not weighing for at least a month, there is good reason for that and now you are all too aware of it.

Stalls are normal after the initial post-surgery weight loss. Its your body's time to stop and reset and get used to the new pipes. lol It's feeling that "uh oh something is different so it must be wrong" feeling so it's holding on to all the calories it can in case your body needs them to cope with what ever stress is happening. Once it realizes there is no new stress (other than new pipes!) it will start burning the calories/fat for you again. That is my "very non-professional" explanation. Hope that helps!

14 lbs in three weeks is pretty normal. Most people who aren't the size of the patients on "My 600 lb Life" seem to lose 15-25 lbs the first *month* after surgery. And since you're a revision patient (weight loss is usually slower for revisions than for virgin surgeries), I'd expect you'd be at the lower end of that range. You're only at the three week mark, so I'm guess you'll be 15 lbs down (if not a little more) by the end of your first month.
not having an appetite at all is completely normal. Hunger usually comes back sometime during the first year after surgery. Mine came roaring back at five months out. Honestly, I wish mine had never come back. Although it was weird at first, I must admit it was easy to lose weight when I was never hungry and didn't give a flip about food. THings got a lot harder once my hunger and appetite came back. So take full advantage of that!!
also, even though I was a slow loser from the get-go, I lost 235 lbs (at least originally - I gained about 20 lbs back in year 3, which is also common - most people have a 10-20 lb weight rebound after hitting their lowest weight).
you are doing absolutely fine - actually a little better than expected since your surgery was a revision. I think you're doing great!

P.S. I lost 16 lbs my first month - and I had a virgin surgery AND weighed almost 400 lbs. You're what we call a "light weight" at 222 lbs - and this is also a revision for you - so you're doing very well!

I think it is completely normal. I have my surgery 2/7 and I am feeling the same way. I know it is for the best however. Hang in there! We will get through this!

It's life-altering surgery, so I think it's fair to say almost everyone has their "oh my god I'm actually doing this???" phase before surgery day. A massive life change is a big thing to process and nerves are totally natural as it's unknown territory. When my nerves kicked in, I put on music and danced the nerves off to keep myself in a good headspace.
But it's not as scary as the mind makes it out. Anxiety will turn everything into a bigger issue than it is. You won't fail if you stick to your plan, and the surgery is a very powerful tool that helps you. Trust me, I always had rubbish self-control, and it still worked. You can talk through every step of the journey and get good support from folks on this forum. Breathe, and focus on why you're doing this and visualise that better way of living, and the goals you want to hit. Post surgery, every little milestone is worth celebrating. It's incredible how the body bounces back into health when you give it a chance!

Hey! No problem. You’re more than welcome. Thanks for your well wishes. 🤗

No question is bad, ask away. That’s why we’re here. Support. 🙏🏾

I chose the DS because the sleeve & DS were once one procedure & in some cases, they still are. I figured there’s more “practice” with this one. 😀

Also, my therapist had the full DS switch procedure done & she randomly shared while I was in therapy one night discussing some of my challenges with weight. She’s done well & hers was several years ago.

Lastly, I trust my surgeon’s statistics. He performed my sleeve. He’s the head of the bariatric program at the healthcare system he works for. He also teaches there, so his advice helped after he shared what I should expect from bypass or switch. I still have a lot of restriction from my sleeve, so he won’t do anything to my stomach this time around.

I’m not sure if this is what some may call a “mini bypass”. Don’t think I’ve heard that term before.

I lost 90 lbs from 2016 - 2017 following my sleeve. He told me to expect to lose 50-60lbs with this surgery. In 2016 I asked him how the sleeve would effect my weight insecurities, & if weight would still be an issue. He was very honest and said, “you’ll always have a goal to lose 10 more lbs.”

I went down to 200lbs the day of surgery, I'm 3 weeks out & have lost 15lbs. I read a passage in my bariatric handbook that basically said, 'Your metabolic rate is higher when you weigh more, meaning you lose more doing less. Weighing less will slow that down. Essentially, the surgery will help you when losing weight is at its hardest.'
Aka, this will help us lose those stubborn last pounds! Its very encouraging for me

Hey there! I started with a lower BMI and had lots of success! I am 5’ 5”, started at 209. Within 6mo I was WNL and a year later I was about 145lbs & am happily staying there.

I have actually heard that lower BMI (30-35) has more long term success with the sleeve, in part because folks at that level tend to not have as many food addiction or unhealthy habits. There are some studies going on to demonstrate the success of lower BMI folks, with the hope that eventually insurance will cover lower BMIs more often. (I just eeked in at BMI of 35 at my highest- may have purposefully gained a few to do it.)

IMHO the trick is to track what you eat and have a balanced diet (not another low carb, highly processed fad nonsense diet that’s just going to fail long term.)

So, yes! Lower BMI patients absolutely have a ton of success. And potentially have greater long term success. So go for it! You will do great.

Hey! No problem. You’re more than welcome. Thanks for your well wishes. 🤗

No question is bad, ask away. That’s why we’re here. Support. 🙏🏾

I chose the DS because the sleeve & DS were once one procedure & in some cases, they still are. I figured there’s more “practice” with this one. 😀

Also, my therapist had the full DS switch procedure done & she randomly shared while I was in therapy one night discussing some of my challenges with weight. She’s done well & hers was several years ago.

Lastly, I trust my surgeon’s statistics. He performed my sleeve. He’s the head of the bariatric program at the healthcare system he works for. He also teaches there, so his advice helped after he shared what I should expect from bypass or switch. I still have a lot of restriction from my sleeve, so he won’t do anything to my stomach this time around.

I’m not sure if this is what some may call a “mini bypass”. Don’t think I’ve heard that term before.

I lost 90 lbs from 2016 - 2017 following my sleeve. He told me to expect to lose 50-60lbs with this surgery. In 2016 I asked him how the sleeve would effect my weight insecurities, & if weight would still be an issue. He was very honest and said, “you’ll always have a goal to lose 10 more lbs.”

I totally understand. Just got my date for Duodenal Switch, after having sleeve surgery 7 years ago. There’s a different type of nervousness, however, you will be well. Praying for safe travels, a safe surgery, safe recovery🥰

Oh my goodness... thank you so so much. Really. 🖤 I wish you nothing but the best and beyond for your DS!! If you don't mind me asking, why did you choose that instead of a full on bypass? Also, is a DS the same thing as a mini gastric bypass?

I totally understand. Just got my date for Duodenal Switch, after having sleeve surgery 7 years ago. There’s a different type of nervousness, however, you will be well. Praying for safe travels, a safe surgery, safe recovery🥰

I’d go to a hospital or medical centre/emergency. It may be nothing but best to know & be sure.

VSG is actually stage one of the DS. Years ago many surgeons did the DS in two stages (first, the sleeved stomach, then a few months later, the bypassed small intestine). Some patients did really well just with stage 1, so they started offering the sleeved stomach as a standalone surgery. Ta da! The VSG was born!
so yes - lots of DS'ers had their DS done in two stages (esp those who had it done several years ago), and there are definitely people who've revised from VSG to DS. It's a more straightforward surgery than going from VSG to RNY, since you're already halfway to the DS when you have a VSG.

Thank you so much for the suggestions and kind words they do help and encourage me.

Thank you so much! I will keep in mind for sure of everything I eat and thank you for being proud of me. Most of my family could care less. Basically the only support I had was my husband. Everyone else was like that's good or didn't say a dang word at all. All I wanted was one wow after Everyone saw me. Now my goal is to hit 299 then 250 and so on. I am doing it for me and my kids.

Have you tried a bariatric therapist? Getting to the root of my disordered eating habits was critical for me to reach goal and maintain. Are you tracking every crumb you eat? I know that sounds critical, but it isn't meant to be....I genuinely thought I was eating a LOT less than I was until I started measuring and tracking absolutely every calorie that went into my body. Yes, it's a hellish pain in the ass. And sadly, it's necessary.
You have lost 215 pounds. That is a HUGE accomplishment! I'm crazy proud of you and you should be, too. Sometimes when your body loses a metric feck ton of weight in a short period of time....a starvation defense mechanism kicks in and it plateaus for a while. Be patient and stick to good lifelong habits, a good balanced diet. If you're tracking, measuring and mindfully watching what and why you eat....you'll get there. Hang in there!

I am 4 weeks out from revision to DS. For me things in that department got more normal at the 2ish week mark after starting mushy food/ purée.

I just had the sleeve to ds revision a week ago and it was amazingly better than my original sleeve recovery. All major pain was gone in about 3 days and I was going for walks day 5. I think it’s a case by case thing. I do have to sleep propped up by pillows but it’s because of this darn acid reflux. That’s probably the worst part but totally manageable with Pepcid. Good luck guys!

I had the Loop DS (which is a little different) January 23 2020 (right before the Covid crap storm). From what I remember... I didn't poop a whole lot the first two or three weeks since I was on liquids and then puree and barely ate anything so from my own experience maybe your plane ride will be fairly normal. I did have overactive bowels once I hit stage 3, but hell, when I hit stage 4 I actually got Constipation issues (and then learned it was because I was taking too much Iron. Went from taking 3 multi's with iron to 2 and then finally down to 1 multi with iron. My family actually tends to hyper absorb iron and I forgot about that so... I actually don't need as much of it and still test in the normal range. Smack dab in the middle of normal at that).
They probably won't warn you, but there is the rare chance it'll happen to you too so... 1. I vomited old blood after my surgery. It hurt like hell, but only happened 4 times so... not too bad, I guess. And, 2. Any surgery with malabsorption has a 3% chance of you developing either a wheat allergy or Celiac Disease (I got the wheat allergy). Also, when you do get put onto general diet try to avoid fatty foods because they will likely cause stomach issues (at least they did to me earlier on. And still kinda do that to me now). And if you wait too long to eat your stomach may decide to empty everything in your bowels (I can't be the only one who had this surgery that this happens to. Also, I'm not joking). It's incredibly annoying, but if I have constipation issues I know how to solve it lol. Problem is though that you will be in and out of the bathroom for a few HOURS because your stomach will not settle and my surgeon warned not to take imodium because it can cause bowel blockage and with this surgery you REALLY don't want that. So you'd be stuck at home. Best thing to avoid this is have something like a granola bar next to your bed so you can eat if your stomach wakes you up (mine does. but I'm stupid and ignore it sometimes because I'm tired and I pay for it later... bright side, if you can call it that lol, is that after the day spent in the bathroom you'll drop 2-4 pounds and no, I'm not joking. You really go that much. Or I do, at least. TMI, sorry).
Also, regarding needing to be around a bathroom... not necessarily, but make sure you know where it IS. If you need to go then you will get a rumbling in your tummy and you will know when you need to rush to the bathroom. So make sure you do know where it is just in case. Also, the thing they say about never trusting a fart? Don't gamble because you might lose lol (I'd say 80% of the time it's an okay gamble, but the other 20% could be embarrassing if you were in public).
Again, sorry for the TMI, but I figure it's info that you'd probably need to know. I'm happy with the surgery I chose, btw and have no regrets (other than wishing I hadn't had to take a med for my Trigeminal Neuralgia that made me gain 18 pounds back and even if I lost half of that since I switched meds I still can't lose the other 9 pounds for the life of me. But really that's not the surgery's fault, it's just my stupid ass TN that decided it was going to crap on my happy parade and send me into absolute agony and force me to take meds that make me gain weight... and yes, I'm still upset about it since the flare is still going on 7 months later and even if it's mostly under control now it's a progressive disorder and I REALLY don't want to have brain surgery AGAIN! Sorry. Rant over).
Anyway, I wish you the best and hope everything goes well for you!

Totally off topic, but you mentioned it. My sister just got back from Mexico. Poor thing had explosive bodily fluids - from both ends - the entire trip on the plane. She ended up getting E. Coli. She's better now, thanks be to God. But, I could really sympathize with her.
On topic. I would not want to fly, right after surgery. You are at a greater risk of pulmonary embolism, when you're on a plane. Have you checked out Blossom Bariatrics in Las Vegas? They're closer - so not as long of a flight.