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I'm 45 now, and I wish that I made the decision to have surgery in my 20's. I have spent decades struggling to lose weight, only to always gain it back and more. I am sorry that you have had miscarriages. That is a tough thing to go through even once. Everyone is scared, and everyone has doubts. It is a big decision. This surgery is truly life changing, but it isn't for everybody. You've got to be ready for it. My two biggest fears were that: 1) I would have complications from surgery. 2) I would have to change my lifestyle. No more snacking, eating out or drinking socially...At least in the way I was accustomed. 3) If I gained the weight back or didn't lose after surgery, it was final. I would just have to live with the failure. My doubts stemmed from my fears. I kept telling myself that I could do it on my own, and didn't need surgery...But realized that this was my brain telling me what I needed to hear so that I didn't have to conquer my fears...Especially, my fears of lifestyle change, and being a failure. The brain is a powerful thing. It has a way of making you rationalize the irrational. Only a very small percentage of people have been able to lose and keep off a hundred or more pounds without surgery, but somehow, we keep telling ourselves that we can be in that small percentage...And maybe we can, but at some point, we must accept reality and do what must be done to get us there before we succumb to health problems. I had never spent a night in the hospital until I had my surgery. I had never had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or high blood sugar....until I did...Developed all three in the last year at age 44. All three are normal now, thanks to my decision. I wish you the best of luck in your journey!

We are the same age!!! I’m a newly wed and I have PCOS. I’m only 16 days post op and I’m fine. I went out with my best friend last night. It’s really only going to suck for a little bit. You will absolutely be able to go out with your friends and have a drink or 2. After about 8 weeks you can eat whatever you want just in smaller amounts. They advise you not to get pregnant for at least a year after so your body can adjust. I work with a woman who is 1.5 years post op and is carrying a healthy baby boy with no complications. I am so sorry for your losses though. That had to be tough. I would say talk it over with your doctor. But don’t think it’s the end of your social life. I follow a lot of VSG girls on Instagram. They live full exciting lives. Once you get past the healing stage it’s fine. I hope this helps!

I'm not sure if looking for the cheapest is the best way to go. I would look for the ones with the best results, other people's experience with the doctor and the after care should there be complications right after surgery.

I had my gastric bypass on July 17 had a complication while in the hospital so had a revision. So I am a little over 3 months post op and its been an on & off battle. I am glad & blessed to have the surgery & should of had it years ago. So I dont regret this blessing. I am struggling with gallbladder issues. My gallbladder has a mind of its own. Sometimes it is active and painful after drinking cold water sometimes its not. I still cannot eat solid protein like chicken,turkey or beef. I tried and tried and still either my stomach does not like it or my gallbladder doesnt like it. So I am back on premier protein,natural cheese and recently added lima beans,red kidney beans and black beans. I am also eating activia yogurt. I had a constipation problem and found that lima beans have resolved my constipation issue and so my bowel movements are so so much better. I dont even have to use suppositories or benefiber. Lima beans have taken their place! I had three ultrasounds on my stomach. Visually they only see sludge near my gallbladder. So the next test will be a hydroscan that will actually check the function of my gallbladder. I just have to wait till my next appointment(3 month followup) hopefully he will feel sorry enough for me to order it. Both my surgeon and my primary suspect that this next test will reveal more than just the visual ultrasound. So I am hanging in there with my lima beans and cheese and activia. My gallbladder wakes me up at night sometimes when my bladder is full. Weird. I have I.:'(interstitial cystitis) a bladder defect problem also inflammation. So it seems when my gallbladder is active it aggrevates my I.C. Geezz.. I am having so much fun with my gallbladder causing me problems and pain I guess that means I want more problems. Lol But still the surgery is a blessing to me and I am so happy I got it done! The problems I am having never outweigh the benefits I will continue to have from this surgery. I love the fact I can only eat so much. I love the restriction! I understand that later on in this process I may be able to eat more but I am eating healthier now... And I love it. I have gone 15 days without meat. Even though chicken,turkey and beef are good proteins I still feel great even though I cannot eat them. It is a process. It took me 2 months to understand my new stomach. I am taking my supplements everyday and set aside a monthly budget for them. Things are great. I look forward to reaching my goal even if it takes me longer than I planned. As long as you move forward in making healthy choices. God has given me strength and I will continue to lean on him for strength. God loves me God loves you. God bless you. Stay strong in him. Kisses

I turned 50 this summer. I spent 40 years yo-yo dieting and destroying my metabolism in the process. I just had to stop the madness. I went in thinking I would just use the nutrition services (after my stupid insurance wouldn't pay for a nutritionist because I wasn't diabetic or had other issues) but through the course of those 6 months came to realize that the only want to get it to stop was to have a more permanent tool. It was just gets harder and harder. I got sleeved on 9/27. It hasn't been a breeze but no major complications. I suspect I will wish I had doe it sooner.

This is really hard for you. Afterwards you will be on quite a different diet and I think it becomes obvious. Also what if you had complications and ended up in ICU. It’s a major operation. I’m in Australia so this would never be done as outpatient. I really feel for you. Also I guess the question is ... why do you need your husbands permission. But I do understand that it is really difficult. I did know one girl who told her husband it was a hernia repair. He dropped her off and picked her up and still thinks to this day that she’s lost weight because she can’t eat properly after the hernia repair. Same sort of recovery see. I still think it would be good to have your husbands support if anything went wrong though. I really do.

Some docs (mine) use 32 for a sleeve. New research shows smaller bougie does have higher complication risk (slight) and no higher long term weight loss. So that may have been when the change happened, when that research came out. But I'm not sure a 32 is truly "dangerous" just has a higher complication risk.

The best thing i have ever done! I’m seeing numbers on the scale I haven’t seen since middle school! The best part about this is I have three very active boys and now I am playing with them! Going down the slide, going to the skate park and scootering with them! I feel like a kid and it’s amazing the endorphins it releases when your high up in the air on the swing [emoji12] I have had absolutely no complications and am feeling amazing!! HW 311 SW 264 CW 214! Surgery date 7/19/17

Oh wow! Sorry you're feeling this way. ((hugs)) Everyone has great advice on this!! I'm right there with you and scared spitless. This I know...the only way through it...is through it. Make sure you spend some quiet time with your feelings and really "feel" and process them. Acknowledge them. Cry if you wanna. It's your party! Grieve if you must. But then, reach out and embrace and accept. Allow yourself to feel hope, excitement for the future. Realize that there WILL be a learning curve, but that it has an endpoint. Every day that you go past the surgery will make you more and more healthy and free from pain of all kinds. This sums up beautifully my approach to life and to this opportunity for a new life. Even in the midst of potential complications, if you keep your eye on the prize and choose optimism and gratitude, it will lighten our load! " Being nervous is expected as it is a major surgery. I’m a week post op and feel great. Even with some bleeding that kept me a couple days longer than expected, it was really a breeze and I’m so happy I went through with it. I’m still on full liquids for another week, but each day that goes by I feel better. You’ll do great, just trust the process and stay the course." Thanks @MG1776!! This really helped tonight!

I was sleeved on the 17th too. I have one week of clear liquid diet then ten days of high protein full liquid diet. At this point I am not going to give up because I don't want any complications. Yes, it's hard to drink broth when my family is eating pizza and whatnot, but I keep telling myself I've been given this opportunity and I'll only hurt myself if I cheat. If you're able to do blended soups, Pacific Organic makes some that are delicious. I plan on adding protein powder for an extra oomph and keep dreaming of my first day of soft foods! You can totally do this!! Check out theworldaccordingtoegghead for recipe variations!! So much great info!!

I have to stay in 2 nights. I’m happy with this as I think it’s appropriate and safe. I know people have done really well with day surgery but gawd I’ve seen too many complications in my career to be happy with that.

You are 100% right....My doctor emphasized hydration as being more important than food in the early stages. Obviously, one needs to work on both, but dehydration is the number 1 complication that puts people back in the hospital after weight loss surgery.

Thank you! I have heard so many wonderful things about Dr. Illan. I'm not worried about him at all. I'm just nervous I'll be that 0.09% that has complications especially after I return back home (Canada).

My two actual surgeries went very well (1) gastric bypass 2) cholycystectomy (gallbladder removal including a 2 inch gallstone. See attached pics). Walked a lot from day 1 and used inspiration spirometer like crazy too 10 times per hour-was very compliant and literally, just soo thrilled to be in the post-op phase. Afterwards on day 4, I had some complications, however. Temp went from 99 (was 99-99.4 post op days 1-3) to 102.6 on day 4. At the ER, all blood work was normal, but the the ct scan with contrast & chest ray showed that I have ATELECTASIS as it turns out. (An area of one of my lungs didn’t reinflate) after I was taken off the ventilator during anesthesia. This can turn into pneumonia, so I’m pushing myself even harder to do every single thing I’m supposed to as perfectly as possible even though I’ve been at home still doing the inspiration spirometer and walking to our neighborhood stopsign 2-4 times/day. I’m postoperative day 6, and now down to 99 degree fever. I’ve also had pain with bending over since the immediate post-op (the pain is deep inside & the surgeon told me it’s due to the way he overlapped the muscle he stitched back together). This seems to be getting a little better now that I’m on day 5 however. Diarrhea is chronic is was always explosive & now just chronic. Also, STRANGELY,I did NOT feel any gas or shoulder pain what so ever while in the hospital. The nurses didn’t even hear any bowel sounds ‘til mere hours before discharge too!? Was quite cool actually! I did however walk the halls at least a 45-50 times in total I’de say. (Now, my dad had a pulmonary embolism after his hernia surgery and was pronounced dead before somehow coming back to us..?) Thus, I walked each hall about every hour to three hours at least 2 times as well as throughout the night at like 1am & 3am like a freakin’ mad woman! And that wasn’t due to gas pains or shoulder pain, just to mitigate chances of a blood clot like my dad had. Anyway, still ended up that I have this lung issue now and also due to the bodies natural stress levels from surgery, I have hundreds of cold sores on my lips going up to my nose. I’m taking a Lysine (amino acid) several times/day which is greatly helping. Otherwise, I’m just sleepier than normal. The good news is that I don’t need pain meds, though I have them on hand. I do not regret having surgery of course and still feel eternally grateful to have a second chance at better health. Oh yeah- I was in 3 blood pressure meds in post op day one went off all! All BP readings actually low! Also not on CPAP for apnea now! The health benefits for me started on day 1 post op.

My two actual surgeries went very well (1) gastric bypass 2) cholycystectomy (gallbladder removal including a 2 inch gallstone. See attached pics). Walked a lot from day 1 and used inspiration spirometer like crazy too 10 times per hour-was very compliant and literally, just soo thrilled to be in the post-op phase. Afterwards on day 4, I had some complications, however. Temp went from 99 (was 99-99.4 post op days 1-3) to 102.6 on day 4. At the ER, all blood work was normal, but the the ct scan with contrast & chest ray showed that I have ATELECTASIS as it turns out. (An area of one of my lungs didn’t reinflate) after I was taken off the ventilator during anesthesia. This can turn into pneumonia, so I’m pushing myself even harder to do every single thing I’m supposed to as perfectly as possible even though I’ve been at home still doing the inspiration spirometer and walking to our neighborhood stopsign 2-4 times/day. I’m postoperative day 6, and now down to 99 degree fever. I’ve also had pain with bending over since the immediate post-op (the pain is deep inside & the surgeon told me it’s due to the way he overlapped the muscle he stitched back together). This seems to be getting a little better now that I’m on day 5 however. Diarrhea is chronic is was always explosive & now just chronic. Also, STRANGELY,I did NOT feel any gas or shoulder pain what so ever while in the hospital. The nurses didn’t even hear any bowel sounds ‘til mere hours before discharge too!? Was quite cool actually! I did however walk the halls at least a 45-50 times in total I’de say. (Now, my dad had a pulmonary embolism after his hernia surgery and was pronounced dead before somehow coming back to us..?) Thus, I walked each hall about every hour to three hours at least 2 times as well as throughout the night at like 1am & 3am like a freakin’ mad woman! And that wasn’t due to gas pains or shoulder pain, just to mitigate chances of a blood clot like my dad had. Anyway, still ended up that I have this lung issue now and also due to the bodies natural stress levels from surgery, I have hundreds of cold sores on my lips going up to my nose. I’m taking a Lysine (amino acid) several times/day which is greatly helping. Otherwise, I’m just sleepier than normal. The good news is that I don’t need pain meds, though I have them on hand. I do not regret having surgery of course and still feel eternally grateful to have a second chance at better health. Oh yeah- I was in 3 blood pressure meds in post op day one went off all! All BP readings actually low! Also not on CPAP for apnea now! The health benefits for me started on day 1 post op.

I looked up intussusception for general knowledge's sake. Here is the published list of causes. Adults In adults, intussusception is usually the result of a medical condition or procedure, including: A polyp or tumor Scar-like tissue in the intestine (adhesions) Weight-loss surgery (gastric bypass) or other surgery on the intestinal tract Inflammation due to diseases such as Crohn’s disease A bypass could be expected to have this complication from the change to the intestines. You had the sleeve, which shouldn't pose much risk, but because you also had the band (which loves to create scar tissue), followed by more surgery.. adhesions from excess scar tissue is definitely a real possibility. I'm so sorry to hear you are having to live with this. Have your doctors indicated a special diet may help?

Hello, I’m going into surgery today, it will be a revision from lap band to gastric bypass.. I had my lap band removed in 2014 due to complications and erosion. Doctor suggested we go with the gastric bypass because of the scarring as well I was hesitant and even got second opinions, but fully understand now that we would be high risk in general because of previous surgery and with a bypass they are able to cut around the scared tissue and not into it like the sleeve. Really hoping this works for me. Had done great on lap band went from 260 to 135 and leveled off at 165 for many years, but did pick up bad habits and eventually got back into the 200s. When I had my lap band removed I believe I was 220 and right afterward my son passed away to an accidental drowning and my life turned upside down I gain all my weight back plus some now my current weight today is 297, HW was 341, and lost 42lbs by myself before surgery, I hope everything works out for you!! Good luck

Thanks for the thoughts & keeping me in mind guys! Surgery was great. Had some complications, however. Temp went from 99 degrees to 102.6 post op day 4. I have ATELECTASIS it turns out. (An area of one of my lungs didn’t reinflate) after I was taken off the ventilator during anesthesia. This can turn into pneumonia, so pushing myself hard to do every single thing I’m supposed to perfectly. Also had pain with bending over immediately post-op, the pain is deep inside & the surgeon told me it’s due to the way he overlapped the muscle he stitched back together. This seems to be getting a little better now that I’m on day 5 however. Diarrhea is chronic is was always explosive & now just chronic. Also, STRANGELY,I did not pass gas what so ever while in the hospital! No bowel sounds til mere hours before discharge too! No shoulder pain either! Was quite cool!!! I did however walk the halls at least a 50 times Ide say. I walked each hall about every hour to three hours at least 2 times as well as throughout the night at like 1am & 3am like a freakin’ mad woman!!! And that wasn’t due to gas pains or shoulder pain, just to mitigate chances of a blood clot! Anyway, still ended up that I have this lung issue now and also due to the bodies natural stress levels from surgery, I have hundreds of cold sores on my lips going up to my nose. I’m taking a Lysine (amino acid) several times/day which is greatly helping. Otherwise, I’m just sleepier an Normal. I do not need pain meds though I have them on hand.

I also had surgery with Dr. Illan on August 7th. No complications. Great surgeon. I wish you the best of luck in your journey!

I would wait until January as well....I never used insurance, because I was never sick. I would rather my deductible and max out of pocket get satisfied in January, because if I needed to be hospitalized for complications, it would be FREE for the year. If I did it in December, and needed to be hospitalized in January, I would have to pay that max out of pocket again. My max out of pocket is $7,000, so the difference of having the surgery a few weeks later could save me $7,000 if I have to be hospitalized. Now, if I had already met my max out of pocket for the year, you can bet that I would push to have the surgery in December. My family does the whole Thanksgiving thing, but we just go to breakfast and exchange presents on Christmas. The surgery wouldn't mess up anything for me. I would be on puree's only, but I could get something....Maybe some runny grits or oatmeal. The best thing about doing it before Christmas is that I could FINALLY set that New Year's resolution to lose weight and keep it off....AND FINALLY DO IT!

For me it was two factors, my period stopped because I was overweight and I developed Metabolic Syndrome. And the second, my dad was diagnosed with Diabetes last year, and I was heading that way, my grandpa died from complications with Diabetes. So I decided to talk with my doctor and she agreed that wls was my best choice, so here I am 2 months post-op and about 20 kg away from my goal weight.

My name is Mallary, and this is the story of my wls. Height: 5'3" HW: 250 CW: 125 I began my journey just like many others. Being tired of carrying the extra lbs, frustrated that I couldn't shed them, and feeling like I was out of options. On top of that, I also had a mix of feeling depressed, unattractive, and overwhelmed from failing normal diets that seemed to work for everyone except me. My first surgery was actually the Lap Band in March of 2012. I would instantly take that decision back if I could. I lost 40 lbs here and there over the course of a year. I felt like the Lap Band had failed me. Or maybe that I had failed it. So, I researched, and found that the most common solution was a revision surgery, from the Lap Band to the Gastric Sleeve. So I researched and found a great Dr,. There were no insurance set backs (I was extremely lucky for this), and on May 2013, I had my Lap Band revised to the Gastric Sleeve. My starting weight was 246lbs. I instantly began shedding weight. I was so ecstatic to finally see the numbers on the scale going down! I was finally on the right track! I was losing weight so fast, it was hard for me to fit in my work clothes for longer than a couple of weeks, so I was constantly shopping at my favorite thrift store, and for the first time, I was going DOWN in sizes! I feel the need to add into my story that almost the entire duration of my weight loss journey, I was also taking my add medicine, adderall, which I feel played a pretty strong role in how much and how fast I was able to shed the extra lbs. At my 9 month mark, I had reached my goal weight of 129. But I wasn't completely satisfied, and I kept losing. There was a point in time where I was seriously overworking myself. I was managing a very busy salon and was also the lead stylist. Most weeks I worked 80+ hours. This led to me actually getting too thin (I was down to 103lbs) something I never in my wildest dreams could have imagined happening to me. For the second year of my journey, I was very good at maintaining my weight, and the scale never tipped above 125. I was fine with that, as it was healthy. Then came the ongoing downhill slide... I'm sure many of us have been warned about the risk of developing gallstones as a result of rapid weight loss. Any bariatric doctor should seriously emphasize this when a patient is even considering and form of wls. You'll see why, just keep reading... In September 2015, I was having celebratory weekend for my boyfriend's birthday, when I began feeling sick to my stomach. A few short hours later, the sick feeling had escalated to sever abdominal pain, so bad to the point where I couldn't even stand up straight. My boyfriend rushed me to the nearest er. They did tests and scans, and came back to tell me that I had a form of colitis. I spent a few days in the hospital hooked up to an iv of antibiotics. Then I was released. 2 days later I returned to work after a week off being ill. I was doing my first client of the day when all of a sudden I had an extremely sharp pain in my abdomen, and a sick and prickly heat feeling took over my entire body. I called my mom, and she rushed to get me and took me to a different er this time. After blood tests and imaging, the doctors told me that I had Acute Pancreatitis, most likely caused by Gallstones and that my gallbladder was packed full of stones. I spent 2 weeks in the hospital, waiting for my condition to improve so that the doctors could take me in for surgery to remove my gallbladder. But my test results were getting worse, not better, and they finally rushed me in for an emergency surgery. After my gallbladder was removed, I spent a couple more days in the hospital recovering and then was discharged. That round all ended a week before Halloween. So I had basically missed an entire month of outside life being trapped in the hospital, waiting. I spent the next year in and out of the hospital with constant gastrointestinal issues and complications. 3 times I was in for a condition called intussusception. What happens is part of your intestines telescope, folding in to each other, causing a bowel obstruction. 1 sever episode of intussusception, the doctors had to go in surgically to repair it. It is now October 2017. 2 years after this down hill slide began, and I am still not back to 100%. I have constant digestive issues and constant bathroom issues. I forget what it feels like to feel like a normal human being. I forget what it feels like to not be constantly aware of my insides, becaus3 I am always in pain or discomfort. My life almost literally revolves around the bathroom. I don't leave the house a lot, as a result of it. This is a warning to any one considering any weight loss surgery. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my body now. That will never change, or cease to amaze me. Getting the Gastric Sleeve surgery was completely life altering. I was able to come out of my very deep shell and was suddenly overcome with this amazing feeling called CONFIDENCE. I never knew that feeling before wls. But I have an incredibly strong sense that, had I never undergone weight loss surgery, I wouldn't be battling the issues that I am today. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

At this stage you should NOT get have protein shakes that much and that often anymore. The calories will just slid thru your sleeve. The reason your doctor is so restrictive is to prevent the most common complication of the sleeve which is leak. Let your stomach heals. You better off eat 3 oz of solid protein 3 x/day and minimal snacking and avoid carbs as much as you can.

You may want to talk with your surgeon. Its normal to have difficulty adapting to foods, again, but at two weeks out, you shouldn't be having this much nausea and vomiting. You may have a structure, or some other complication getting in the way of recovery.

More than food/party--although I said it that way to try to keep the level of anxiety down and make this a kind of zany/silly thread...I think the real issue for me is fear. I'm approaching the end of the pre-op stage and on Monday will have a definitive direction about which surgery she wants to do on me. All of my surgeries for cancer/reconstruction were done from November 1 to January 3rd. All of them had so much recovery with them--pain, exhaustion, fear, drains, etc. So I felt like I pretty much ruined my family's Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year on at least 3 occasions. I know I can still cook/participate with them without eating or drinking--I do that most of the time anyway since I'm always on a diet. They're used to it by now and want very badly for me to be healthy and feeling good. The fear comes in that this is now very real. And what happens if I fall into that 1% with complications? Will it fork the fam over the Holidays? I think I'm leaning toward, hearing what the surgeon advises on Monday--and how quickly she thinks this is gonna go down and get scheduled. If it can happen in the first week of December, then I would go for it now rather than wait. If I can't get approved/scheduled until mid-December, then I would defer a month in order to just relax with everyone and enjoy the Holidays, then hit hard. But you know, with new years come new insurance rules and who the hell knows what happens in January. *sigh* Just big decisions...