bringingmeback00

I was sleeved 2 days before you and my starting weight was 249 , CW 196. I just got out of a 4 week stall, it was very frustrating. Especially when we are not even 12 weeks post op. Stick with it, keep tracking and stay the course. My stall finally ended and I dropped 10 lbs in 9 days. It will happen to you too????

I sure have! I tried a half piece of toast and I think it got stuck because I got pain in my stomach, chest and lower back for like 2 hours. Another time when I tried flatbread (because that might work...) I got the same pain. I stopped eating bread, I don't need to be told twice. Well actually I do.
I'm so glad you asked because I haven't heard anyone say anything about back pain before.

I was sleeved on 9/23 and was losing a pound every other day and now nothing. Glad to know others are in the same boat. I've only lost 20lbs. I'm going to try exercising longer or change up from the trendmill.

I've been the same way. I lost ten the first week after and have stalled. I was sleeved on the 22nd. 250 at surgery and 240 currently. I feel like we paid so much money for me to lose 10 pounds. I am discouraged by seeing everyone losing 40 pounds when I've lost 10.

@@Danie1114
I've only lost 2 pounds since October 6th. I feel exactly the same as you. I log every bite I eat and am usually around 800 calories (sometimes a bit more or less). I did go through my food journals today and I've been short on my Protein a few days but I have a hard time believing that is the issue. I've been exercising regularly too. I feel like I lost faster than this before surgery. Very frustrating.

I would have pains when I would drink anything the first two weeks or so. It eventually went away now it's only uncomfortable if I take too big of a drink but only for a second
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Has anyone used Dr. Illan? He seems good from the videos but so does Ortiz
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6'4"
Starting weight July 2015 = 478 lbs
Weight on surgery day October 2015 = 423 lbs
Current weight in September 2016 = 290 lbs
Weight related injuries and co-morbitities were dragging me down. I was miserable. Hurting all the time and having to consult with circulatory surgeons, spine surgeon, knee surgeon and my pcp was very concerned with me. I was 47 years old and making it much into my 50's was looking more and more like a challenge that I'd lose.
One memory of those days occurred in June 2015. It sums up how things were for me post op....more accurately, it sums up where I was and where I was heading. It was not going well.
It was early in the morning and I was doing my best to get ready for a doctor's appointment. It was with a spine surgeon. I was in intense pain the likes of which I'd never experienced before or since (including post op pain from knee and hernia surgeries.....this back issue had me in the dirt).
Made it through a shower and mostly dressed. Simply could not get my socks and shoes on. Asked my wife for help doing this last thing before she drove me to the appointment.
She did so....but told me I needed to "man-up".
Those words cut through the pain. They cut through the haze of the double dose of pain meds and muscle relaxers I'd taken in preparation for making the 30 min drive to that appointment.
They pissed me off......not at her so much as at myself. I was mad for letting myself fall into such a rut. The back injury could have occurred if I'd been lighter.....but not so likely.
Turns out I was unable to get into her car....it was too low to the ground and I couldn't do it. I finally managed to get behind the wheel of my little pickup and drove myself to that appointment.....yelling out in pain at every railroad track or pothole. It was a morning full of suck. My little 4WD truck is a stick shift....no way she could've driven. I made it there and back....using crutches and cussing a lot.
Spine surgeon's advice that morning was to load me up with a battery of meds.....and get me to weight loss surgery. I didn't protest and a few months later I had my sleeve surgery. In many ways, I owe the spine doc tremendous gratitude. He did nothing other than review my x-rays and MRI and write some scripts......but his advice was spot on. Grateful I took it.
I went into a whole heap of detail with the above description of a single morning of my life........but it was how things were then. I missed 6 weeks of work for that back problem......and then 3 more weeks recovering from my sleeve & hernia surgery. This from a guy who's never hardly missed any work in 21 years with my employer.....only for surgery recoveries. Tough times.
I'll be much more brief in describing life since my sleeve surgery.
Let's just say that I seldom miss the opportunity to "man-up" now and I put my back into it.
I am almost 11 months out from surgery and a long way from where I want to be.....but I am enjoying the process and have learned a great deal about what makes me tick and what I want in life. More importantly....at 47 years old, I can now see having plenty of life left to live and enjoy.
This was pre-op me......taken the day before my October 2015 VSG & umbilical hernia repair....you can see the hernia looking like it's going to explode, lol. No wonder my back was messed up. I was 55 lbs lighter in this pic than I was at the beginning of my bariatric appointments in July 2015. So....this was the "new" slim and trim me, lol.
Old stretched out 6xl tee-shirt in the pic, too.


Most recent pic I have....taken on September 1, 2016.....10.5 months out from sleeve surgery.

Here's a goofy couple pics........but the last full length pics I could find. I was trying on a brand new 2xl t-shirt.....over the top of the shift I was already wearing.
It fit.


No more daily prescription meds for high blood pressure, cholesterol, pain and etc.
There is no single aspect of life that's not been improved....some by a little.....some by a tremendous amount.
Approaching my 48th birthday but feeling more like I did at 28 and grateful for it.
carpe diem

The photo at the top left is me at my heaviest (489lbs) and the photo on the bottom right hand corner is me today at my current weight of 260lbs.

This is me, 7 months post-op..79lbs lost

I'm set for 9/6 eek!!!! Excited but nervous
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I'm set for 9/6 eek!!!! Excited but nervous
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So I've been getting asked ALOT to post before photos. The problem with that is I was so disgusted with myself, I never really took photos of my full body. But I found a few- and it's time lapsed over 11 months. 74 pounds down. Top left was taken TODAY

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my US fill Dr had told me back in February of this year that the lapband has a 50% success rate for people who lose HALF of what they want to lose before it fails.
Sign me up as well.
I have spent a small fortune on the lapband, fills, unfills, upper GIs, fluoroscopies and finally removal. I could have paid for the sleeve 4x

I wanted to share about being debanded and newly sleeved.
Got my first band 1/11 and lost over 100 lbs, felt great. Got something funky, docs think West Nile virus and through it my band slipped. Doc changed to a bigger band to fix the slip in 8/12. Never was I the same. Gained 45lbs and lived with it for the next 4 years.
My daughter went to be sleeved and I asked doc about conversion details and decided to go for it. I was reluctant. Had read so many things that scared me. On here and other places.
I had my complete conversion on July 20th. I'm 2 weeks out and I am soooooooooo happy that band is gone. Honestly I didn't realize how bad I was feeling. I always felt like I had a lump in my throat. I was fighting reflux and throwing up. I haven't thrown up in 2 weeks, no reflux and lump is gone. I had lost my restriction with my band. I can now eat about 1-2 zoos of mushies. Drinking is pretty easy. I drink probably 64 oz of Water. The best part is so many people said they loose weight super slow....I've already lost 32 lbs.
I know we are all different, but I recommend dumping the band if your questioning it. So much easier then the band. I will keep you updated because I know this is the info I was looking for. Just remember you can not have the band mindset or it won't work. A lot of people can eat and drink through the band. Don't try it here. It will hurt and stretch out your pouch.
Have a super night
Stephanie
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Hoping for sept 7th band to sleeve. Excited to get this going. I miss the old me
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I had a band to sleeve revision 3 months ago.... best decision i ever made, its so much easier, recovery for me was so easy.
Its way better than the band, you don't get that horrible stuck feeling, i don't slime, i have only vomited twice (my own fault, ate too quickly early out)
As a bander, once you convert to a sleeve you will find that you can eat a little more than a virgin sleever, this is due to damage that the band does to your esophagus, it reduces nerve sensations.
For me, i can eat everything, i have tested my sleeve over the last month and nothing is an issue.
I wish they offered the sleeve when i had my band initially, it would have saved me years of issues and problems.
Best of luck with your revision

Here I am less than 36 hours before I take my seat on the losers bench. Currently on day 12 on my 14 day liquid diet. Pause to knock on wood, I made it with out cheating and no major craving episodes. Hopped on the scale this morning and I'm down 14 lbs since my pre-op visit, 36 since I started this journey in March 2016. Someone today applauded my weight loss and commented, that if I can do this without surgery, why am I having surgery. Well my friend I said with a smile on my face. These 5 months have prepared me for the rest of my life. See, I've lost massive amounts of weight before, once I took phentermine and lost about 50 lbs, of course when I got off the drug I gained about seventy. About 7 years ago I went on a high Protein, low carb diet, joined a gym and exercised 6 days a week. I lost a whopping 90 lbs, of course along came a job change, a new roommate, a change in habits.... and I gained 110, imagine going to bed one night wearing a size 10 and waking up in the morning wearing a size 22. I know it didn't happen like that, but that's what it felt like happened. See yo yo dieting is real, the struggle is real, and the mind and body play tricks on you. Each time you lose and gain your metabolism slows, your mind tricks you into craving the sweet, the fatty, the salty. Your body wants more, and it stores more (fat that is). That's only part of my story, but you get the drift. I've gone through it, and that's why I am going through with it.

Has anyone used Dr. Illan? He seems good from the videos but so does Ortiz
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I'm thinking about going with Alvarez. I'm so scared at the idea with going to Mexico. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App