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Ms.sss you always manage to look like a model no matter what you're wearing, but I do love how you look in dresses! I agree with you about the fitted pants, but I've been stuck at home for the most part for the last 5 weeks! My 48 year old husband had to have emergency open heart bypass, after surgeon cut his aorta while putting in a stent!!! Had to take off work while he is recuperating. I'm battling depression and boredom by crazy online shopping therapy.😉 So, I thought I'd model my sparklers while in my size large joggers, that are now not even fit for lounge wear! 😂 Promise, I'll post pics when I actually wear them out. For now, I think I'll stick to modeling my new shoes as they arrive.

Hey everyone... just checking in. I had my revision to DS Loop on 9/29. It wasn’t nearly as painful as my original VSG with hiatal hernia repair. My abdomen is sore of course but I’m able to walk, shower, bend somewhat... without major pain. I was released 9/30 afternoon. I had to go solo due to Covid but they let my husband stay with me in the lobby and in the next room up until I had to get IVs and be wheeled off. So that was nice. Because after that was anesthesia, surgery and morphine so it wouldn’t have mattered if he were there or not lol. I slept a lot. I’m at home recovering nicely. My tummy does feel a little weird, like something got shifted. But the only pain I feel are the incision marks. I do have a on again off again headache. And the acid reflux is new. I didn’t have this before and I am praying it goes away because it is painful. Acid just comes up sometimes and it burns. My doc said it should subside as the swelling goes down. They didn’t touch my sleeve. So I’m able to drink and gulp and it not hurt my tummy but it does feel weird so I limit it to small sips only. I do have to follow the usual post-op diet but I didn’t have to do the pre-op diet. It was optional for me but I did it anyway so I could lose and I lost about 10 lbs. I’ll try to keep you all updated and respond to any questions. Thanks for your support!

So before I get started, here are my stats... Surgery Date: June 12, 2017 Surgery Type / Cost: VSG - Self Pay (~$19,000) High Weight: 216 Low Weight: 125 Current Weight: 150 Goal Weight: 116 Between relationship stress, COVID stress, and just life I am now up to 150. I need help to get back into the "sleeve" mind set. I REALLY want to avoid revision surgery. Any suggestions? My pouch has definitely stretched. I can eat a lot more than initially after surgery (not like right after obviously, but the first year or 2 after). Help!!

I first looked into weight loss surgery about 15 years ago. Things were different back then; the sleeve was not a common procedure (and not covered by some insurance companies), and the place where I attended an information session was mainly doing gastric bypass as an open procedure. They would only do laparoscopic surgery on patients with lower BMIs, and I wouldn't have qualified. I didn't go through with it because my family talked me out of it. The risks of complications were higher then. I have been lucky enough to have good health for most of my life. I'm in my late 30s and until the past year, I never went to the doctor or took any prescriptions during my adult lifetime. For all those years, I thought it would be crazy to take the risk of having weight loss surgery when I was perfectly healthy. I was afraid I would lose my good health to complications of weight loss surgery. I looked into it every so often, and when I remembered all the restrictions, I couldn't stand the thought of giving up my diet sodas and pizza and ice cream, letting my pouch rule my life, getting sick if I eat the wrong things, and having to take pills every day for the rest of my life. But aging takes a toll and my good health was starting to slip away. I found out from my work physical that I had high blood pressure, and they urged me to see a doctor. When I went to a doctor, I was diagnosed with hypertension and type 2 diabetes. It's gotten increasingly difficult for me to get around, which became a vicious cycle as I became more sedentary and gained even more weight, and the weight gain continued to decrease my mobility. I had a BMI over 60 at my highest weight. I came to the realization that I had a choice: I could keep going the way I was, keep gaining weight and losing mobility, see my health continue to decline, and probably die of a heart attack or stroke before I turned 50. Or I could have weight loss surgery, because I sure as hell wasn't going to be able to lose that kind of weight on my own. All that stuff I couldn't bear to give up for a chance at losing weight started to look a lot smaller compared to the life I was already giving up more and more every day at that weight, not just health-wise, but in my social life and my career as well. I went into it thinking that I wanted the gastric sleeve. It seemed less extreme, less risky than gastric bypass, My surgeon recommended gastric bypass because my BMI was so high. He said that for lower BMI patients, there's not a big difference in outcomes between sleeve and bypass, but for high BMI patients, the difference can be significant. Both are very safe procedures with low complication rates nowadays. So I ended up getting gastric bypass. I've since read a lot more information that has confirmed in my mind that gastric bypass was the right choice for me. I've seen a lot of people get their sleeves revised to bypass because of GERD and/or unsuccessful weight loss, and I don't want to have to get a revision. I had my surgery on July 16, and it went well. I was discharged from the hospital the next afternoon, and I had surprisingly little pain. I didn't need any pain medication, even Tylenol. The first few days were miserable (mainly due to gas pain from the gas pumped into my abdomen during the surgery), but I healed quickly and went back to work in a week and a half. I've stuck to the post-op progression plan very closely, and not gonna lie, the liquid phase is hell, but it went by quickly and it was much easier once I got to purees and soft foods. I haven't had any issues with anything I've eaten so far other than a feeling of food getting stuck sometimes (which isn't pleasant, but it works its way through after a few minutes). I lost 70 pounds before surgery and 40 pounds so far after surgery, for a total of 110 pounds. And now my BMI is about the same as yours, which is kind of depressing. But I have had great improvements in my health, like my blood pressure in the normal range and my latest A1C was 5.2 (down from 8.1 in February). My mobility is improving. I started out wearing size 26-28 and now I'm wearing 20-22. I still have a long way to go, but I'm getting there. I'm not far enough out yet to know how this is going to work out for me in the long run. Obviously, I'm pleased with my results so far, but from what I've read here, the first year is easy. Here are some of the cons that are not so obvious: I haven't told anybody other than medical professionals about my surgery because people can be very judgmental about it. How many people you tell is a very personal choice that can be difficult. It is really stressful to keep this secret and try to hide this surgery that affects my life so very much! (But also stressful to endure judgment from people who are clueless about WLS.) The fear of regain keeps me up at night. I'm doing well now, but I've seen soooo many people lose a ton of weight and gain most or all of it back. I've yo-yo dieted all my life and I would be absolutely devastated if I went through all of this only to gain the weight back. Food is everywhere. I feel like I'm constantly being bombarded with ads for food and restaurants, seeing decadent recipes on social media, and watching other people eat foods I love but can no longer eat. It's rough going to the grocery store and seeing a great sale on something I love only to remember I can't have it. Maybe you get used to it after a while, but right now, I have these sad moments every day where I miss the food I used to eat. Even if you reach your goal weight, you're still not going to have a great body... unless you go through the pain and expense of plastic surgery. It will still be a heck of a lot better than where you started, but not the same as someone the same height and weight who was never obese. I think it's important to go into this with your eyes wide open, understand what the tradeoffs are, and accept the things you will have to give up or deal with for this shot at changing your life. Most people say it's worth it.

No, I didn't have any nausea with my GERD. I vomited acid a few times but I wasn't nauseated beforehand. I don't know if gastric juice minus acid can still cause Barrett's. I think I am an exception in that because I had a myotomy, where my esophagus was widened, the gastric juice can more easily flow up. Many, many people on this board have had revisions to RNY for GERD and I can think of only one other person who still had reflux after surgery, so that makes 2 out of many. The vast majority of people are cured. I know you are worried but Barrett's is no joke. If conventional treatment is not improving your GERD, if I were in your shoes I'd have the RNY. Like I said, I am way better than I was with the sleeve and statistically you would most likely fall in the group of people who are cured.

I had to get iron while in the hospital post op after my RNY revision because I was so anemic. Took about 2 or so hours for the infusion. If you’re super sensitive to smells you might be able to smell the iron through the bag.... or from my IV infiltrating. Not sure which. 🤷‍♀️

I had posted this on the WLS Veterans forum, but thought it would be a good idea to post this on this forum as well. I had gastric bypass surgery 5 years ago. I was incredibly determined and managed to lose 180 lbs. in a year's time. I'm 5' 9.5" and I went from a size 28 to a size 10. Now, I've regained a lot of weight and I'm starting over. I thought it might be helpful to list the steps that caused my weight gain. My goal is to tackle these 6 and starting moving in the right direction. Does anyone else have additional things that contributed to regaining weight? Stop weighing yourself Stop tracking your food intake Stop exercising Drink liquids with meals and ignore the 15 minutes before/30 minutes after rule Start eating your old favorite foods Stop visiting Bariatric Pal forums

I had gastric bypass surgery 5 years ago. I was incredibly determined and managed to lose 180 lbs. in a year's time. I'm 5' 9.5" and I went from a size 28 to a size 10. Now, I've regained a lot of weight and I'm starting over. I thought it might be helpful to list the steps that caused my weight gain. My goal is to tackle these 6 and starting moving in the right direction. Does anyone else have additional things that contributed to regaining weight? Stop weighing yourself Stop tracking your food intake Stop exercising Drink liquids with meals and ignore the 15 minutes before/30 minutes after rule Start eating your old favorite foods Stop visiting Bariatric Pal forums

Wow. Just reading posts like these help me recognize I never had the promised restriction. I was able to swallow a fistful of pills without any issues weeks post op. I was sleeved 6/2015. I lost 60 lbs in 3 months only because I restricted myself to 800 calories per day. I was hungry but motivated. When my personal life hit a MAJOR bump it all fell apart. Now I’m back up just 15 lbs below my starting weight and worried I’m diabetic (awaiting test results). I’m starting to think a revision to RNY might be a good idea but with a different surgeon!

Both! Sleeve in 2011, developed GERD, revised to bypass this past June.

Did you have the lap band before revisions? Did you gain any weight before you got the sleeve after 2.5 yrs? I didn't make it to my goal of 135 but that was because I didn't exercise while I was losing the 108 lb. loss. I wasn't unhappy with the weight I lost. Just am having problems with food getting stuck and coming back up. Not all the time just 2 or 3 times a week. But it would start to choke me and I couldn't get a breath. The last time I thought I was going to die. I broke my back 3 times and lost 13 lbs. Not a way to lose the weight. I have stayed down around my loss weight and now under it. I don't want to gain back any of the weight I have lost and have kept off for 13 yrs.

did you have bypass or sleeve? If bypass, there's a chance it could be a stricture. In either case, call your clinic. They might want to do some testing to see what's up.

Removed and revised? or just removed?........... my revision was 2.5 years after the removal. Down 53#

Hi there I'm a new user, posting from Perth, Western Australia ☺️ I considered weight loss surgery for 2 years and had consultations with 2 different surgeons, discussing gastric sleeve, endoscopic gastric sleeve and the balloon. I was even booked in for surgery (VSG) over a year ago but was talked out of it by a friend who believed I would regret it and that I am not big enough. Fast forward to September 3, 2020 and I was on the operating table, getting the MAGENSTRASSE & MILL procedure! It's an option I did not previously know about. I couldn't find any information about this procedure on this forum, so thought I would post, incase anyone is interested ✌️ Magenstrasse & Mill is seen as the precursor of the gastric sleeve and was first performed in the 80's, in the UK. It sounded a little barbaric and was open surgery at the time. However, my surgeon here, Dr Alan Thomas, suggested it for me (as a low BMI patient) done in a safer method using modern equipment and technology (obviously!). In my words, 80% of your stomach is sectioned off from the rest (mostly), creating a chamber, which due to physiology, can not be filled with food. NO PART OF THE STOMACH IS REMOVED! For me and also for my family, who were against me getting any type of weight loss surgery, this felt reassuring. Whilst not recommended, the procedure can be reversed. A traditional sleeve can be formed at some point too, if required but there should be no need because it is expected the weight loss results will be similar to the results you would get from VSG. There are other benefits to this surgery that you can research if you wish. The recovery time, scarring, restriction and diet recommendations are all the same as VSG. I've copied some findings from a medical publication (NCBI) much better than my wording! Our aim was to evolve a simpler, more physiological type of gastroplasty that would dispense with implanted foreign material such as bands and reservoirs. The Magenstrasse, or "street of the stomach", is a long narrow tube fashioned from the lesser curvature, which conveys food from the esophagus to the antral Mill. Normal antral grinding of solid food and antro-pyloro-duodenal regulation of gastric emptying and secretion are preserved. The Magenstrasse and Mill procedure is the simplest and most physiological gastroplasty yet described. Many of the drawbacks of vertical banded gastroplasty, adjustable banding and gastric bypass are avoided. It is safe, has few side-effects and leads to major and durable weight losses, similar to those produced by other types of gastroplasty. I'll try to check in and answer any questions. I hope this helps, as I couldn't find much information on this surgery and don't think many people in Australia have had it! Tomorrow marks one month post-op. The weight is coming off very slowly but I'll use this forum for positive vibes and accountability

Same here- i believe my original surgeon was just comfortable with the sleeve and bypass, and even then he just felt because of my age i should do the sleeve I knew i needed something else based on my research. I would have done one surgery and been done.

Im from VA but in WA. Had my sleeve in 2015, and insurance approved revision to DS. I didn't have to do the 6 months etc., because of reflux and other comorbidities. My dr suggested the DS because of the success rate as a revision. Plus I saw how the bypass did my mom, my surgery is scheduled 10/22

October 22 - DS- i had the sleeve in2015, this is a revision

Gastric bypass here. My numbers were just about like yours. I had surgery at age 62, and reached goal in 7 months. Wouldn't trade my new life for anything!!!!!!!! Start reading a lot of posts. There are tons of testimonies by plenty of folks who had addressed all your concerns.

I had gastritis, Barrett's esophagitis, a Barrett's polyp, and a hiatal hernia. The polyp was removed. The hiatal hernia was repaired during my gastric bypass surgery. I was put on omeprazole after surgery and follow up scope showed total resolution of the Barretts! However, there were signs of eosinophilic esophagitis which resolved once I stopped whey protein. THEN....... I developed a bleeding ulcer 9 months post op. Fortunately, it also resolved with omeprazole and remains resolved now 19 months post op, with no medication. With the weight loss and elimination of whey protein, and time to completely heal (doc says maybe a rogue suture caused the ulcer), it seems that all issues are now resolved. I continue to avoid all caffeine, soda, and alcohol. PS: Chronic gastritis (inflammation) and irregular Z-line are very common findings in the general population. Once you lose weight and reduce the acid reflux, this may well resolve. It is nothing that will prevent surgery, and surgery will most likely help.

Foxbins did you have sleeve or bypass? Thx

Welcome to the forums. While getting a referral for WLS is helpful, you can push the process yourself. You can also Doctor shop yourself, do research on the Docs and narrow down the options. It's important that you research each of these procedures yourself, not that we won't do what we can to help. Pros and Cons are difficult because some folks can view the same issue as a 'con' while others view it as a 'pro.' Also, some pros and cons are in relation to the other procedures. As you research each of your options, pros and cons will sort themselves out for you. Here is a quick summary of WLS options: LapBand: I think they are still doing these. This is a restrictive procedure where a band is wrapped around the top of the stomach. Beyond the band is your full size stomach working the way it does now. This is a low impact procedure. Sleeve: a restrictive procedure that creates a small 'sleeve' out of your existing stomach. The sleeve runs from our esophagus to your pyloric valve. This procedure has the least impact on your plumbing. The weight loss mechanism is that the amount of food you can eat is dramatically limited; RNY: aka 'Gastric Bypass'. This is both a restrictive and malabsorption procedure. A 'pouch' similar to the sleeve above is created out of your stomach that bypasses the pyloric valve and a portion of your intestines. The weight loss mechanism is two fold: The amount of food you can eat is dramatically limited, and what food you do eat is not absorbed completely; DS: [There are a couple variations of DS] This apparently has changed a bit since I was paying attention 17 years ago, so I'll let the folks who know what's going on describe this for you. I do know that there is both a restrictive and malabsorption aspect to this. But the plumbing is changed a bit more. I had RNY in 2003. I'm pretty much healed. The first two weeks were toughest for me, and by 6 weeks I was getting around pretty well. I reached goal about 2 years out. With this basic information you learn almost nothing that is important. My health is good. I am happy without the weight. I've done things that I never imagined I would do, like horseback riding, kayaking, running, 5 marathons, better marital relations, theater seats, airplane seats. The joys go on and on, and still new ones every so often. I am unusual in that I still have not much of an appetite, still only eat smaller portions (not like immediately post op, but probably less than most people eat 2 years post-op. Don't know why it worked out this way, but I'm happy about it. Good luck in your research and your journey thereafter. Tek

I've had two surgeries--a sleeve, and then a revision to RNY because I developed GERD after my sleeve. Nine years ago, I lost 100 lbs with the sleeve from a starting BMI of 36 and kept it off, so that was a big big plus. I don't recall much pain after the first two days or so, and my recovery was uneventful. The cons were that my sleeve was very picky about the foods it would tolerate. I could not eat scrambled or hard-boiled eggs. I could not eat dense protein like tuna, salmon, or chicken breast. I could not eat pasta, bread, or bready things because they balled up inside my stomach, absorbed stomach fluid, and then hurt. I lived on seafood, steak, dairy products, and vegetables. I did not dump. I developed GERD a couple of years after my surgery but I loved my sleeve so much I did not want to consider a bypass, but after a year on 3x the regular prescribed dosage of PPIs plus OTC antacids that still did not control my reflux and regurgitating everything I swallowed multiple times I decided on RNY. I had my RNY on June 29 of this year, and maybe because I'm ten years older than when I had my sleeve my recovery was a little bit harder and more painful. I definitely felt like my insides had been rearranged. RNY is way different from the sleeve to me. I don't have that tight feeling anymore that I have eaten enough so I have to measure my food, but I am used to eating a small amount so it's not a big deal. I can eat eggs and pasta again. I don't dump, but I became lactose-intolerant. I lost 10 additional pounds following the RNY surgery when I was on a liquid/puree diet, but I haven't lost anymore and my BMI has leveled off at 20.

Deep Incisions tend feel like this for me too. Congratulations on a successful Revision ♥️

bypass patient here. I didn't eat bread during the weight loss phase, but I eat it occasionally now.