Losingit2018

I appreciate your response, but I’m not sure where you’re coming from here. I have smiled through this entire experience & thanked God for my tool. The regain from carbs was because those were what would go down without coming back up. I have a major issue with my anatomy.

For what it’s worth, I have been in therapy, and I do have many tools to handle stress & disappointment which I use. I just wanted to give the community an update on my strange situation. Especially since I was told for a year that it was all in my head.

I always see posts without an update, so I wanted to be sure to come back & five one!
we were all correct. The daily regurgitation was not normal. I went to a new surgeon in October. He was skeptical & wanted to blame it on too big of bites or overeating. I kept insisting I would have a feeling of being overly full eating less than one chicken finger, and I would still regurgitate it even an hour later. He decided to run some tests while giving me some food counseling. He was not a fan of the fact that I had little to no aftercare post surgery with my old surgeon.
I went back on purées. Basically every time you vomit, it causes swelling & takes about 3 days for the swelling to go down. We needed to get the swelling down for many reasons. Getting it under control helped me move back onto solid foods with small bites & portions.
We did the barium swallow test which showed liquids were going through fine, but I have a twist in my esophagus. Going in for my EGD scope, my surgeon was still claiming it was all bite size. He walked in after my scope & said, “yeah. So your anatomy is screwed up!”
Along with the twist in my esophagus (which basically means if I need to be tubed, it could be “more difficult”), I have a major kink in my stomach from scar tissue on the outside of it. Instead of being sleeve shaped, as it should be, it is like a capital N or S. In the middle there is a kink that he had a hard time even finding the opening of. Basically if it’s not liquid, it has to sit to digest to go down. This explains why I resorted to drinking my calories & eating easy carbs. He said it could have happened when I threw up right after surgery (a staple could have caught on something) or anytime in the initial healing.
So where does that leave me? I’m going in for a laparoscopic surgery to remove scar tissue January 13th. He can see the shape of my stomach from the scope, but he can’t know what the scar tissue is attached to or how bad it is til he gets in there. It could be attached to my liver. Yikes. So surgery could be half an hour, it could be 3. He may have to revise my sleeve to a bypass. I don’t want that because I have ulcerative colitis, so that’s very much so not recommended. However, I want to have the ability to eat without losing it.
I’ll be on a 2 week pre-surgery liquid diet, and then after surgery, it will be the post sleeve progression. I have about 30 lbs of regain. He expects I’ll lose that fairly easily by the time I’m on solid foods again. That’s good news.
Knowing I actually have something wrong with me, and I’m not crazy has been HUGE for me. I knew something was wrong, but I kept being told “bite size bite size bite size.” I have multiple friends with sleeves, and what I was experiencing was nothing like them. The eye opener was looking online & finding no one like me. So if you’re here because you’re searching, go for answers! :)

Update/Questions: December 20 I will be six months out; I have gone from 52 inch waits to 42; 294 post OP to 220 as of today
1. Where are you buying clothes, pants? Burlington coat factory have bigger sizes, not much I can wear at work. Goodwill has mostly been a miss. (Just got some slacks on sale at Penny's)
2. I have a timer in my pocket to remind me to drink Water during the day, and I am using Kirkland brand powdered Fiber to stay regular. Any other suggestions?
3. I am a therapist so I walk for ten minutes between sessions during the work day (Using ankle weights at home when I walk) Any other ideas during the work day?
4. Still have a low sex drive, but better than it was at this current weight; suggestions?
5. I am using an Instant Pot/ Vitamix blender and a smoker/grill so I have been thrilled with a variety of food choices.
6. I am sticking to a plate with measurements for Portion Control and am still full after 1/4 cup of Protein (salmon, chicken/beef)
7. Can't wait to hear from many of you!

1 year out

My daughter had a birthday party yesterday as she was born on Christmas day and this is how to separate her birthday from Christmas. I overindulged so on my way to the gym [emoji57]

I have a lot of ways to go but I'm hoping posting pictures will help me stay focused and accountable as difficult as it is to put myself out there [emoji176][emoji175] 

Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

My OOTD.
nothing special, just hitting the local theater for a matinee showing of A Christmas Carol.

also.... I think my booty has completely disappeared.

@Losingit2018, yes we got this with the help of our Bariatricpal family, I will take it easy and let my hubby or family do the shopping without me until I get better!

Yes very soon! I was hoping it would have been submitted Friday but I didn't hear from her so hopefully monday I will!

Sent from my SM-A205U using BariatricPal mobile app

I have all my clearances done! Bloodwork, letter of necessity and clearance from pcp, ekg, pulmonology clearance (I passed my sleep study, and since my sleep apnea is mild, i don't need a cpap or another sleep study), and just did the psychologist evaluation. I'm pretty sure I passed it, the tests I had to take were all common sense. The only thing I have to do is get a chest xray that I'm holding off on because I have a cold, and 3 more appointments with the bariatric center. Its getting so close! Looking at actually having surgery in march, hopefully!

So I'm 4 months post op down 57.2 lbs. It's not easy but so worth it. Feeling so much better. Meds drastically decreased almost obsolete. Starting with day after surgery.        
Sent from my SM-G973W using BariatricPal mobile app

Thank you for all your responses

Hopefully my post above answered this for you. I wanted to add that I did get the stomach numbing injections on both sides during surgery. I think that it helped a lot.
i did not get those injections with my sleeve.

I just had to do this exact same revision for exact same reason 3 weeks ago.
The first week was rough but I think that it was not as painful as my sleeve was. At 3 weeks out things are getting much better.
My restriction is much tighter since revision than it was with sleeve. My surgery was scheduled for 4 hours but ended up taking 5.5 hours. Once my surgeon took a look from the inside my hernia ended up being huge. He did a repair with mesh. I had robotic surgery.
I do hope that helped and good luck!

Hey Nate, sorry you feel like you've failed WLS. I think that's the deep dark dirty fear we all have and it's also a lie we tell ourselves.
The only way to fail is to totally check out and not try any longer. But I don't see that in your intention!
I agree that if you are still depressed, you should run not walk to your psych and or doc and ask to have your meds adjusted to either another dose or to a different combination.
Some other things that help:
Exercise (walking), especially in sunlight and fresh air/green areas. And if you can walk fast until you feel pooped even better, but you may not have the strength for that, so work with your doc.
Practice deep breathing exercises and relaxation techniques. Pray or meditate. Google four square breathing. Really great stuff.
Watch comedies and laugh out loud.
Smile at yourself in the mirror and envision you dressed in a Super Hero outfit.
Find someone you love and hug them tightly, rocking, for a long time. Or hug your pet!
Then clean out your pantry, fridge, and freezer. Clean out the booze closet too.
Begin planning, tracking, weighing, measuring your food.
Here are your rules to start:
3 meals + 2-3 small Snacks (no more than 100cals each and low carb high protein):
Each meal = no more than 1 cup of food by volume = 2-3 oz of lean dense Protein by weight + 1-2 oz of al dente steamed dense veggies + 1 tsp healthy fat equivalent: olive oil, ghee, butter, avocado oil, coconut oil or 1oz avocado.
snack Ideas:
Hard boiled egg
1oz Boar's Head Turkey or Everroast chicken
1oz Leftover Dense protein
1oz reduced fat cheese + 1/4oz almonds
2oz Granny Smith apple + 1/4oz almonds + 1 lite string cheese
4oz Greek Non Fat Yogurt + 1oz blueberries
1 Jello sugar free cup + 1/4c Plain Greek Yogurt + 2-3 drops liquid vanilla stevia
1 sugar free popsicle
1cup raw veggies + 1/4c Plain Greek Yogurt + 1/2tsp Ranch Dressing Mix or Lipton Onion Soup Mix

You should come take my poll here:

Thank you Losing it. Will do that .

I can't believe it, but it's been 4 years since my VSG. I rarely visit bariatricPal now, but found it enormously useful leading up to my surgery and during post opp. As I contemplated surgery, one of the things that kept me up at night was what would happen way down the road. As a give back to the community (and a little therapy for me) I've committed to posting annual updates. You can see my posts from previous years down below. Feel free to send a PM if you have any questions or comments.
Year 4 Update:
Highlights
I often forget that I even had the surgery. This is probably is the biggest positive change from year 3 to 4. Don't get me wrong, when I'm stuffed after eating 4 chicken wings or a half a burger, I know why. But, I'm no longer obsessed with post surgery eating strategies or worried about people wondering what's going on with me. After 4 years, my old friends and family seem to have forgotten that I was the fat guy and my new friends and coworkers never knew me that way. More importantly, I have started to forget about myself as the overweight person. I'm basically a "normal eater" and have no problem with any foods whatsoever. Four years ago, as I contemplated the surgery, stories from newly post opp people scared the daylights out of me. Stuck foods, explosive diarrhea, allergies, blah, blah, blah. I had a tiny bit of that early on, but it dissipated quickly. Now, I can eat whatever I want without issue. The VSG constriction mechanics still work well. I still get full quickly, especially if I sequence Proteins first, veg's second and everything else after that. Yes, I can "eat around the sleeve" but that takes a lot of effort and can backfire. I literally just finished a spaghetti and meatball dinner with my family. I ate two golf ball-sized meat balls and about 4 bites of Pasta and am completely stuffed. It was a salad-plate sized portion. Pre surgery I would have eaten 2 dinner-plate sized portions and still wanted more. When I see big eaters go to town on huge portions, I just look on with amazement. I'm an active person now participating in racquet sports, golf, hiking, skiing, yoga and playing with my kids. I believe these activities would have been impossible, or at least extremely unlikely, without the VSG. Pre surgery, at age 39, I was already bowing out of most physical things. Adding 4 years and whatever weight I would have continued to pile on, things would be much worse. Being able to do fun physical activities vs. waiving from the sidelines is a huge benefit that I can't emphasize enough. Life is significantly better now. I had low to medium heartburn following the surgery and took a daily 20mg of omeprazole to manage it. My heart burn has actually decreased and now I only take omeprozole every 2nd or 3rd day. I don't need any other meds for cholesterol, blood pressure, etc.. Lowlights
Weight management is NOT a given. This last year, I put on 10 pounds, which is definitely frustrating. What happened? For me it came down to snacking and drinking alcoholic beverages. VSG doesn't help with either of these bad habits whatsoever. popcorn, chips, candy, nuts, crackers and cocktails all go down just as easy as before. For the first year, eating was such a hassle that I naturally avoided this issue. That "benefit" is gone forever. Now, I have to watch it like everyone else. I weigh 205 today, down from 275 at my high. Had I not had surgery, I believe I would weigh over 300 today. BUT, I want to be 185 and that 20 lbs seems very daunting to loose. Everyone once in a while, I eat too fast or too much and need to throw it up. As soon as I swallow the last ill-advised bite, the physical reactions become obvious -- forehead sweat, runny nose, sneezing and, obviously, a feeling of full stomach / chest. Recognizing the symptoms, I have to make my way to a bathroom and bring up the excess. It's not physically painful or anything, but just a little embarrassing and disappointing to me. This probably occurs once every month or two. As you can see, highlights far outweigh the lowlights. Overall, I'm thrilled with the results 4 years out. I really struggled with the decision to have surgery and delayed it for several years. At the time, it seemed like I was amputating a leg. I regret stressing out about it so much. Now I reason that I had an enlarged stomach that needed to be "right-sized." That's not medically true, but that's how I feel about what happened. In that context, I had a relatively minor procedure with a HUGE outcome.
I don't think about my VSG often and don't expect to post again until next year. I do want to give back and help others -- like so many on this site helped me. If you have questions or comments -- post publicly or PM me.
Familyguy.

Don't be so hard on your self..... we are all sinners....
First part of fixing a problem is admitting there is one. So now that you know and WE all know.... Fix that Sh!t...!!!

I have done a great job of listening to my body. Since surgery I have developed a habit of sneezing just before I am full. My sneeze is the warning sign to stop. After that its 1/2 more bites at max. I am never concerned with overeating at meals but with the sleeve you can eat around it by snacking which was never a weakness for me but its enough to stall weight loss.
While I have spent the past 2 months in a stall the past two weeks I have found myself snacking a lot more partly because I am no longer seeing the results. I am aware its happening and am trying to stop it early.
My confession
I am a chocolate and Peanut Butter *****.
Now that I said it in public forum I feel better but I dont want it to interfere with the weight loss. Burn me at the stake I am a WLS sinner and going to hell.

This week marks my one year surgiversary.
I stopped losing weight at 6 months. I just stalled. I never gained back any weight, but I didn't lose any more weight.
But I'm still happy with my results and I am confident that I will lose more weight in 2020.
Toward that end, I visited the nutritionist this week to get back on track. My meals were still good with portions, plenty of Protein, plenty of Water, but some Cookies and chocolate sugary Snacks had made their way into my diet that I have eliminated in the last 4 days.
So here's to a new year in 2020 and a new chance to get back on track/stay on track with additional weight loss and increased health.

Update: She called me yesterday because she was about to submit it to my insurance when she realized I needed to do a video session with the dietitian because it was recommended during my psyc eval but for some reason, it was never set up for me to do. So I did that quickly yesterday! The dietitian is excited to work with me and thinks I will do great with the surgery. So now I am just waiting on my patient coordinator to receive the information from my dietitian before she can submit it to my insurance! Fingers crossed that it will be today!

Many bariatric patients use MyFitnessPal you may want to check it out. Another is bariatastic.

is bread on your surgeon's plan? It wasn't on mine. If it's on yours, then fine - but follow your plan.
yes, weight loss does slow down after the first month or two. But 40 lbs in two months is a lot!

It's part of the healing process. You go back a step or two and proceed slowly. It's usually because something the day before irritated you, or your ate the wrong thing for that day and now your tool is rebelling. Or maybe you have more mucus in your tool from drainage. Could be so many things.
We can eat the same thing one day and have no issue and the next not be able to handle it. You just have to eat tiny bites, progress slowly, take your time through a meal, etc. It passes and you eventually have fewer of these days.

Thanks so much, I feel better already, To bad I can't take an Estroven. I will hang in there,😉

There's very little difference in acidity between dark and light roasts. You might wanna try cold brew.
https://henryshouseofcoffee.com/2018/03/03/whats-better-for-your-stomach/