Search the Community

Laci: there are two directions we can walk each day....one is toward our goals and dreams....we may tire, we may falter, we may even crumple in the dust.... Our success is not measured by how many times we fall but how many times we arise and take another step toward the Light.... We can choose our path....or it will be chosen for us; we can act in our own interests....or we can remain trapped by forces that hold us prisoner; we can move ourselves by discipline or we can be imprisoned by our old habits. The energy we lose bemoaning our fate can be better used to move us yet another step in our journey. Which do you choose? Jack posted the above message to a woman who was struggling because she seems to have lost her wind. Jack is one smart mofo. Its all a personal choice, isnt it? Its all about if youre willing and able to focus and if you truly want to change who you are. I have said to my bestie ray a few times, you know dude, if I had had the gastric bypass, it would have been much quicker, and much easier. Then I remembered why I had the lapband in the first place. I didnt want easy, I wanted to OVERCOME. I needed help slaying the beast of the fatness. I have gone from eating 10000 calories a day (believe it or not) to eating 1200-1500. I have gone from eating out every single day, sometimes two or three times a day, to cooking my own food (imagine that). I have gone from sitting down all day long, and being exausted, to walking around the building I work in (circle it twice and its a mile, I try to circle it 6 times a day), plus doing a work out tape in the morning. I have gone from not giving a shit about my apperance to actually caring, to painting my nails, and doing my hair, and taking care of myself in a way that I was almost embarrassed to do when I wasnt doing anything about my weight. Look, my weight loss has been slow, and it doesnt take a genius to figure out how to eat around the band, but it takes a helluva lot of will power to stay on track. Sometimes I stumble, sometimes I falter, but my LIFE is changing. I'm proud of MYself and this is causing a huge shift in my life, in the way I carry myself, in the way I generally feel about the world. I wake up in a better mood, smile more often, I dont always 'look mad' anymore. My band is the best decision I have ever made, and its been difficult, but I would do it again a million times over. Now then, speaking of cooking, I made a sort of low carb something last night, and its really really good. Okay, so I got 3 chicken breasts, threw them on the foreman, a decent sized can of green chilie, 2 tomatos, and about a half a cup of onions. I have this new awesome little vegetable chopper, I dont have to cry when I want to use onions anymore, and it minces it up really finely. So after the chicken breast were done on the foreman, I threw the can of green chilie, some cheese, the tomatos, the onions and the chunked up chicken in a glass baking dish and put that in the oven for about an hour. That stuff is SO GOOD. HA. Angelica, master chef. -A :thumbs_up:

My wife and I are officially in Onederland and I have lost 108 lbs so far during the last year (20 before surgery and 88 during preop until today). I have never posted a picture of myself here so here are a few pictures of when I was near my peak weight and a picture from last month. After the last picture my wife and other family made me go get clothes that actually fit. The shorts I wore to surgery were over 10" too large when I bought the new ones. I had to buy a couple of pair to get the correct sizing and the same with shirts. Since I wasn't able to try things on, I had to return some that were too large. When I have a chance, I will try to post a picture of my wife and her progress as well as she is not currently on this forum. In total, my wife and I have lost 188 lbs since our peak. She only has 20 lbs more before she has over 100 lbs lost as well and is well on her way towards her goal weight. October 2018 March 2019 November 11, 2020 - Surgery Day February 27th, 2021

Welcome. Since you have GERD, RNY gastric bypass is probably a good choice, since sleeve will only make the condition worse. Many times the timing from deciding to have surgery and actually having the surgery can be long. For me it was around 9 months. Therefore it is common for the process to encompass two calendar years and thereby two deductible year for your insurance. Therefore if you can schedule the whole process and fit it within a one year timeframe, it will minimize your health insurance costs.

I’m a 48 y/o AA, single Mom. I had band over bypass on 9/14, on liquids until 11/1, and will have my first fill on that date. I started at 296 lbs (301 at my highest) and as of 2 days ago I was at 278. Im not as interested in the numbers as I am in the “look” (finally being able to wear clothes and feel sexy again) and lifestyle change.

I would also love to look at and go by your dietary guidelines. I had gastric bypass in 2002. My surgeon was new and I was like the 6th 1 he done. As he put it we would learn together...that is no longer a option and at this moment I really need help with getting back on track. I also was told this week that diet pop was a big NO...he let us have it after 6 months out. Any and all help and advice is so greatly needed and appreciated. Thank you all. I feel like a failure because I have gained some of my weight back also.

The bypass forum does have a March buddies thread, but I've got mine coming in two weeks.

Hello! I have been on this app since September 2016 and I have loved reading everyone's success stories! It has been sssooo encouraging and helpful! Now, I finally get to start telling my story! [emoji4] I had my Gastric Bypass Surgery on March 15th, 2017! I lost 20 lbs on the pre-op liquid diet (my surgeon required a 2 week liquid diet) When my surgeon went in, he found that I had lots of scar tissue. He took THREE hours just to get rid of scar tissue! He was still able to perform the Bypass and for that I am so thankful! Because of the extra work he did, I had a little bit longer of a hospital stay and a little bit longer of a recovery process. But, I am still excited to be on this journey! I have not taken any after pics yet but, here are my current stats: HIGH WEIGHT- 272 SURGERY WEIGHT- 250 CURRENT WEIGHT- 235 GOAL WEIGHT- 140

I chose bypass because of the "bypass" part of it!! You will be able to eat more (eventually) with the Sleeve and everything you eat is absorbed. With bypass, I knew I would get the best results because of the bypass... yes you have to take supplements the rest of your life, but it's worth it. I believe the success rate for RNY is higher than Sleeve. You don't want to have a second surgery, if the sleeve fails you would have to go back in for RNY. I just did it from the git go! Good luck!

Dumping is a syndrome that may occur following gastric bypass surgery. Often it is discussed in relation to RNY but it can occur with other bypass surgeries. Not everyone dumps. When part of the intestine is bypassed, sugar and fat are digested differently. The digestive tract can handle small amounts but if you over load your digestive tract dumping may result. Dumping may include any or all of the following in no particular order: dizziness, weakness, nausea, headache, sleepiness, foaming, vomiting, sweating, hot flashes, headache. I dumped once after sipping water immediately following a few strips of bacon. Half an hour later, the world was spinning and I was hot flashing. After forty-five minutes sitting with my head between my knees it began to pass. This was about two months post op RNY. I now place my liquids out of reach until 30 minutes after eating. I never want to experience this again.

@@kelseycakes20 yea I had mine november 8th it has been so hard adjusting with food emotions but I am feeling better how are you doing

I had my bypass on 7-7-17 & had a complication that led to a revision on 7-19-17. I have been doing well on my post op program outside of another complication(collapsed lungs).Lately, I been talking more about food that I had in the past(good food&bad food). When I saw a pizza hut commercial I saw the cheese&tomato sauce and it kind of perked me up to where I started discussing with my father how I loved cheese pizza with extra tomato sauce. Then later my dad asked me about oatmeal and honey and I was like oh I love oatmeal&honey and that conversation continued on with me telling him that adding butter to oatmeal & even steel oats are the best. Then I sat back in my recliner and just thought about how great oatmeal is. Then peanut butter & jam came up later in the day and I was like oh yes I love it. This has been the theme in the past 2 days. Im not tempted to have them but it is refreshing to talk about them. Is that weird? Has anyone else liked to talk about food they ate in the past? Im sure its just a phase iamready4this

A co-worker of mine, who prior to my surgery was all about helping me along. She was a successful bander who wanted to take me under her wing. Post-op she changed. Negitive nelly, if you will. She is 3 years post of and has lost 70 lbs. I have no idea what she weighs, she looks nice, not tiny but healthy. She ask me today how much I'd lost. I told her 50+ lbs in 9 months. Rather than saying good job she snickered. She ask how much more I wanted to lose, I said around 50. She plain out said I would never be able to do it with the band and I should have had gastric bypass. If I needed to loose 100 lbs then my doctor never should have done the band. She keeps telling me that I had more to loose than she did. I have never told her my numbers so how the hell does she know. I am sorry, but that is just a b#$%3 thing to say. While my weight loss has slowed, why is it impossible to lose all of my excess body weight? I don't know if I will get that small, but I would at least like to make to the 150's. If you are going to be negitive and discouraging keep it to yourself!

help! I can't decide between gastric bypass and gastric sleeve! ugh..please share reasons why you chose...any pro n cons u wanna share is much appreciated!

I had RNY gastric bypass surgery whereas you had gastric sleeve. I take a lot of Vitamins and will do so for the rest of my life. But only one of my vitamins was a chewable. I was also told do not use the gummy vitamins. So you may want to check with your nutritionist before you make that change. After surgery, I lost the ability to swallow anything medium to large, so most of my vitamins either had to be split or crushed in order to swallow them. After about 2 months this problem went away and I regained my ability to swallow. From my perspective all Protein shakes taste terrible. But after surgery I had to take them because the protein that I consumed from food was so minuscule that my body would be damaged if I didn't. Your protein daily requirement is met by a combination of the protein obtained from protein supplements combined with the protein from meals. As my meal volume increased (over the next 1 1/2 years), I was able to decrease my reliance on Protein Shakes because I concentrated on consuming high protein meals. I went from 3 protein shakes a day, down to 2, then down to 1 and finally none. The important point here is you don't have to like your protein supplement; you just have to tolerate it. I used Muscle Milk Light (vanilla Creme) blended with Water and added a half a banana to give it better flavor.

I went in wanting sleeve but have since changed my mind and will be having bypass, primarily, but not entirely, due to the possible GERD issues.

As everyone else said— stalls suck and happen. I near lost my mind during mine [emoji51] Hang in there— drink TONS of water and walk . It comes off and kicks in- promise HW 242, SW 236- (Bypass 12/20/17) GW#1- 199 [emoji736] (2/11/18) GW#2- 180 [emoji736] (4/2/18) GW#3- 160 CW 178 5’6”

Hey y'all! This is my first post on this forum and I have a question for those with Aetna insurance: how long did the approval process take? I'm a little ahead of the game since I still have on more weigh-in in April but I'm excited and I'm trying to plan my summer classes around this surgery. I've been seeing my weight loss surgeon since November and have had 5 weigh-ins. I have a BMI of around 41 I think and I've gained 15 lbs since I started this process however I've lost 7 of those so far. I'm just wondering what I can expect in terms of insurance. Thanks y'all!

I was told to have about 2 oz. every 15 minutes. I don't drink during meals, and wait about 40 minutes afterwards to start drinking again. Some days I feel full after a couple of bites and some days it seems I can eat more. I have no fill yet, but definitely am restricted by the band alone. Sarah - you had dumping syndrome? I thought that only happened in gastric bypass?

My surgery is planned for the end of November. I am paying $554.68 a month for Cobra. I do not want to pay for December. I want to wait for my Medicare to start in January. Does anyone know if the first follow up appt, after surgery is free? My husband had a hip replaced at a different hospital and the follow up was no charge. Thanks for any advice or experience.

Hey..... I ill be banded on November 17th... at first i was like all go for it... but this past week I had a patient who had it done and although everything went well with surgery she apparently threw a DVT or PE and passed away abou three days after surgery... it seem she may have been having trouble breathing, laying around not doing much and using her CPAP machine day and night.... I still want to have the surgery and I am praying about it, but still a little nervous.... Are you scared at all???

Hi Everyone! I'm scheduled to be banded on November 8th! I have one on one consult with my surgeon on 10/12 and pre-op labs on the 18th.

i had my gastric sleeve in 2014 november, i weighed 288 lbs and had alot of med issues, i had sleep apnea, diabetes, incontenence, high blood pressure. shortly after the sleeve it all went away, i then began with UPCHUCK everything i ate i would bring back up, my dr. discredited me , everyday i would call with the same issue , hello this is sharon what is going on everytime i eat i throw up!!! finally i decided to seek a different dr. the new dr listened to me in 2016 he fixed a hihenal hernia, but it didnt fix the UPCHUCK, in 2017 he removed my galbladder after going to the ER and having a x-ray of my abdomin they found a inpacted galbladder and a ventral hernia. still i had UPCHUCK in may 2017 the dr decided to do a gastric bypass , i was 164.4 and as you geussed it i had more problems. i still had UPCHUCK they told me i had a stricture i had 2 EGD with dialation still i had the UPCHUCK then the dr sent me for a esophageal motility test there it was the answer to my problem!!! my esophagus i have dismotility LES wow so today im going for another EGD and i am seeing a thoricic dr who said wow what a mess i am a tricky , risky case what do i do?

I myself am worried about the unwanted advice, partly because my BMI is around 34, and some "don't think I need the band". I am still in the process of getting my band approved, but I have chosen only to tell my husband, and 2 close friends. Both of which have had the gastric bypass. They are supportive and understand why I'm choosing to do this. After one of my close friends had the bypass, and hearing all the "advice" they had for her, I decided I'd rather keep it to myself, or just share with the selected few.

my only question would be if the band caused any reflux. if yes, bypass is usually the way to go.

I had the sleeve to bypass in May of this year, 2 months out today. I have lost a total of 56lbs (since pre-op). I am still shy about eating food and am only allowed to eat fish, seafood, chicken, turkey & veggies. I am now able to eat about 3 ounces of food but at a time but I never finish it. I don’t feel full, I just feel like I have had enough. I am still nervous to eat to full for fear of overeating. I had no complications and am so glad I got it done. I didn’t lose much with the sleeve and developed GERD. I am currently on my second stall since surgery but that’s to be expected