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Have you been able to get in for your fill yet? How are you doing? I just had my 2nd fill - flouro required again. Doc still saying after I lose 20-30 lbs, he may be able to access it better. But, he also said that if after 4 fills it is still difficult, he'll consider port revision surgery. I hope yours goes much better! :tt1:

I was at a meeting with a woman who lost 100 lbs with the bypass then gained it all back. she was looking into getting banded.

Gaining the weight back with bypass? Is that possible? Can you get the lap band if you get the bypass? Her insurance must be paying out the A$$! Lol Sent from my iPhone using LapBandTalk

I'm choosing the LB because you can always have it removed, but you can't put your cutout stomach back. I do know if you're diabetic bypass cures it instantly, so that's why some people go that route.

Great question and equally great replies! As many of the respondents mentioned, gastric sleeve surgery is much less complicated than many other types of bariatric surgery… Your digestive system is not rearranged, unlike gastric bypass surgery or duodenal switch surgery. It also differs from the more complicated procedures by being primarily restrictive in nature (makes you feel full sooner rather than directly causing your body to absorb fewer calories). There are no foreign objects implanted in your body as with gastric banding or vertical banded gastroplasty. Because of these differences, the gastric sleeve has a reduced risk of: Vitamin deficiency/malnutrition Dumping syndrome and other malabsorptive-procedure (i.e. gastric bypass) side-effects Long-term gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) vs other restrictive procedures. Another consideration: with gastric sleeve surgery, a large part of the stomach is removed, so afterwards your stomach may secrete fewer hormones that make you feel hungry (i.e. ghrelin peptide-YY). To be fair, gastric sleeve surgery does have a few negatives vs other procedures: It cannot be reversed (not necessarily a bad thing) A relatively long staple line is created during surgery which may increase the risk of staple line leaks and/or bleeding It is a newer procedure than Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and other surgeries. As a result, it has fewer long-term studies to support the short-term results. Some critics fear that the pouch could stretch over time (although there are a few relatively quick and safe procedures that can tighten up a stretched stomach pouch). A couple of studies that directly compared gastric sleeve surgery to other procedures also suggest that weight loss may be similar or better than weight loss following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery or duodenal switch surgery. Good luck with your decision and with your new life! Bariatric Surgery Source Gastric Sleeve Surgery - Evaluating & Comparing Its Effectiveness and Outcomes

Hi all I had a gastric bypass on 28th January 2012 I've lost 65lbs so far but feel totally miserable. Getting fed up of not being able to eat much expect crackerbreads without feeling sick . Feeling very low when I see everyone being able to go out for meals with there partners and enjoying life when I'm stuck in this life now I don't regret the surgery because the weight loss is fantastic, just feels that my life has come to a halt

I feel your pain, Sreeves, I ended up getting docked days last year for all my gastric (lap band caused) problems. And, I've been worried because I don't want to do that again this year. But, I've decided that as long as I can find a ride and I'm not high on pain meds, I can be uncomfortable at work (teacher) just as well as at home. So far as your questions go, I took 2 weeks off when they did the lap band and all was well by the time I went back to work. I'm way curious about the experiences of others (who've had bypass), though. The two people I know who had it say the recovery was hard, but one had never had a baby and the other had never had a kidney stone, so I didn't have an accurate pain scale, lol.

I finally got caught up on this as I just had my gastric bypass on 12/9, but have been following this thread since it first started. Any updates from the appointment on the 8th?

I'm sorry you're going through this. Doctors definitely do mess up sometimes. I had gastric sleeve surgery in September 2014, but stopped losing weight three months post-op. I was always hungrier than everybody else in my support group who had the surgery around the same time as me and I always told the nutritionist that I could eat more, which she said was good and that it meant I was recovering faster. I moved to a different part of the country for school in August 2015 and started seeing a new facility for my continued care. The new doctor wanted to get familiar with my stomach and ordered an upper G.I. and an endoscopy. He saw that my stomach was the same size as someone who had never had the surgery and the endoscopy showed I had an hpilori infection. The new doctor put me on antibiotics immediately and began discussing my options with me. I have opted for a revision surgery to switch my gastric sleeve to a gastric bypass, which I'm having on Dec 15 (currently on pre-op liquids only). When I had to submit my paperwork to the insurance to pay for this new surgery, I had to get my surgical report from my previous surgery. In that report I noticed that my previous doctor knew I had that same infection (it tested positive from the stomach sample) and did nothing about it- and didn't even tell me I had it. My new doctor was shocked that I had this untreated infection in my stomach for almost a full year. He said that the inflammation from this infection is what could've caused the inflammation in my stomach to make it as big as it is now. He also said he couldn't believe the other surgeon wouldn't treat this because it puts me at a high risk for Post-op ulcers. I contacted my old doctor to see what he had to say and I got a standard reply from the hospital that shifted the blame away from them. They said it was not a standard procedure to notify people or treat them for this infection, even though every Bariatric Health professional I've talked to since then has said that's crazy. All in all, I am trying to Move on and focus on my new surgery. My new doctor explained that I won't have the same weight loss now as if I had had this surgery the first time, but I'm hopeful. Another disappointment from my previous surgeon is that he told me that I should get gastric sleeve, even though I wanted gastric bypass, because he said they don't do gastric bypass anymore unless the patient has diabetes, which I didn't have. So I went with the gastric sleeve because of his recommendation, but now my new surgeon has explained that that is simply not true and that gastric bypass is actually the more successful and clinically proven long term weight-loss solution, whether you have diabetes or not. So I feel your pain having to deal with dumb doctors and I hope you find someone to help you correct the problems. I also hope you find peace with it and know that any weight-loss failures are not your fault. I wish you the best with your health and would be happy to answer as many questions as I can about revisions if it comes down to that for you. Cheers. ~H

This is truly unbelievable and impossible IF you actually had the gastric bypass! I have heard talk of "lurkers" on this site. I think you may be one!!

I am almost 4 weeks out and I can barely get 500 calories in. When they said soft foods they mean yogurt, cottage cheese that sort of thing- not soft lean cuisines. In my pre-op education I was told no bread, Pasta, rice. What are your Protein goals? Are you meeting them? I hope you can talk with your surgeon/nutritionist ASAP! I agree with others who said go back to the hospital. I can't even fathom how you could eat 3 lean cuisines in a row after bypass surgery... Mind blown! I hope they are find out what is going on here--- this doesn't make any kind of sense. ????????

i am not trying to be judgemental but why are you attempting to eat so much? Bypass is just a tool. It isbon you to not eat so much. If your pouch was conpleted properly it is surely expanded now.

Good Luck to you, you will be ok I had my bypass done on 27th Feb (3weeks ago), I am fine now, I've lost 14kg in three weeks, so I'd say it's well worth it ,,, Take care x Regards Josie xx Sent from my iPad

I think you should definitely consider lap band. If you read a lot of the threads here you will find that there are people who have kept weight off for 2, 3 or more years for the first time in their lives. You do not automatically lose weight with the band and you can gain, but what I have gathered from reading this site is that it is much easier to keep the weight off!! I am what bandsters call a low bmi (35) and have had a few people who don't know me say that I am not that heavy and should try dieting. But those who know me no that I have lost weight time and time again just to gain it all back! My family and friends support me because they have seen me struggle over and over. Do not feel guilty about gaining the weight back! Studdies have shown that almost all dieters gain their weight back. The only exception is weight loss surgery patients!!! Studies show that most weight loss surgery patients keep off at least half of the excess weight (both lap band and gastric bypass) I would advise you to read as much as you can on this site and then see about getting that surgery! I have found that very few people on lapbandtalk regret the surgery and many believe it saved their life!

Hi, everyone! After waiting for over a year, I received notification of my first appointment to start the process for Lap Band surgery. It's been a long, long wait. Three years ago, I started the process for gastric bypass surgery but backed out after going through quite a few appointments because the risks scared the heck out of me. I also know of several people who have had gastric bypass and some have also had a host of gastro-intestinal issues. They all lost a great deal of weight, but some just aren't healthy anymore despite the weight loss. So I declined continuing towards that surgery. After discussing my finding with my doctor, she suggested the Lap Band and we started the process all over again. Finally! I have my first appointment scheduled for May 9th. A little about me - I'm a 45 years old, female, and work in the medical insurance field. I'm looking forward to meeting some people who are also waiting for the Lap Band or who have already gone through the process and are on their way to becoming "big losers." :Dancing_wub: See you on the forum.

Everyone, thank you again for your replies. It feels real good that there are people that actually care. I don’t know what I would do without you. You’re advise is very much appreciated. Especially since this whole thing is new to me and you all have taught me what is normal and what isn’t. DJmohr it was very thoughtful for you to spend the time to write up the guidelines for what those who have had the bypass need to go by to make sure they get enough nutrients in so they don’t get a deficiency. Unfortunately I don’t have that problem. I sure wish I did though. The cut down stomach my surgeon made me is huge. And it doesn’t retain food. I essentially have no stomach at all. Food goes down my esophagus and dumps directly into my intestine as the stomach does not act like a holding station for food to get dissolved. And it appears so far that my intestines are doing a fine job at digesting food and absorbing nutrients. Maybe too good of a job. Too bad I don’t have a small stomach that I could get full from small meals on. I have the hunger that I would guess most people here had before the surgery. And before the surgery I was unsuccessful at permanently maintaining a diet. I don’t see it as it being possible for me to currently keep weight off. I was hoping that I could have had the benefits that everyone else gets from having the surgery. Primarily the benefit of getting full on a small amount of food. JacksdadShane just to clarify, my stomach is not much different than it was before. I’m sure it was huge before the surgery due to the amount of food I ate. I can be honest with you all, my problem never was sweets. It has been mass quantity. I simply always have eaten a lot of food. The last couple of years I have been on a pretty strict diabetic diet eating pretty much exclusively meat and vegetables. I don’t like needles so I decided to manage my diabetes via my diet. And as a result I lost a grand total of 20 lbs. Get my point? It’s a quantity issue for me, not quality. And unfortunately I am still in the same boat as I was before the surgery. It is a little easier and I do get full faster than before. But in order to get full it still requires quite a large portion of food. I never got that chance that I wanted like everyone else gets who has the surgery. GoBlue, OMG I would like to thank you for doing research on Dr. Lucktong. I did research on him before the surgery and everything I found looked good. Unbelievable what you found. I sent it right over to my girlfriend who also just had a botched surgery from Dr. Lucktong and she was shocked by it. Could you tell me what site you found that on? I really need to see if I can contact that person. I know from past experience of a friend that suing a Dr. is a very costly endeavor. My friend had a breast augmentation that the doctor botched. She got a life threatening infection in her breasts. She ended up getting a staff loquacious infection and almost died from it. That’s a bacteria that is commonly found in the nose. I went with her to the medical malpractice attorney. The attorney was all over it. There were several other details. It’s a long story but it was a really good case. He said he would love to be the lawyer she picked to take it. And as with all medical malpractice lawyers he would take his time and fight it for her at no charge. Until she got paid. However there is a preliminary cost. And that cost is to get another Dr. to appear in court and testify against the bad Dr. And he said that they have this sort of code of ethics locally. No doctor will go testify against another local Dr. So he said you have to get an out of town Dr. Far enough out of town where they personally wouldn’t have been effected by retaliation. He ended up finding one close by in the next state (North Carolina) at Duke. This surgeon he found was perfect. He was a college professor of breast augmentations. But he said like all they charge hourly door to door. So when he left his house there he starts billing and he keeps billing until he is back home. And the cost is $1,000 per hour. The attorney said that the case could be several days but most likely he would only be needed for 1 to 2 days. They charge literally every hour they are here. Including the hours they are here sleeping in a hotel. So it would be 24 to 48 hours. Needless to say she wasn’t able to sue the Dr. You have to be pretty wealthy these days to sue a Dr. That’s why it makes me so mad when I hear politicians talking about tort reform. For those of you who don’t know what tort reform is, it’s preventing doctors from getting sued. It’s pretty clear that it’s practically already impossible to sue a Dr. unless you have a good amount of money. And to make it even harder is ridiculous. Fortunately I am in a position today where I should be able to fight for my rights. And I would love to do that along with several people who have also had the same type of experience with that doctor. A small update: This afternoon a person from Dr. Lucktong’s office called me. She said they got my test results in and would like to set an appointment. She then said that she would like to set it sometime next year and then we could call it the 3rd month after the surgery. AKA the last free appointment that would be included with the surgery. OMG that is extremely irritating that she was so focused on one more free appointment to me when I have these, what I consider to be very serious issues. So I told her I am shocked that she said that and I would think that the Dr. would have wanted to see me right away considering the results of that test. I went on to explain how if we wait too long my insurance company may want to deny another surgery. They may say that my comorbidities are gone such as my high blood pressure and diabetes so I didn’t need it anymore as I am right on the edge regarding the weight of having it or not having it. The main reason they accepted it was because I have several other health issues which allowed me down to a BMI of 35. At the time of surgery I had a BMI of 39 so there is a little room but no that much. I also told her that I have paid several thousand dollars in fees to the Dr. and insurance company and if we get into next year I will have another huge deductible to pay. He has been paid extremely well to do my surgery. And I see this as an urgent issue. I asked her what time the Dr. has right away to see me. What time tomorrow would work. I can even meet after or before work if needed. She said he had no time right away and the first appointment he has is December 8th. Well, as you and I know, everyone has some time. Are they trying to tell me that he literally works every waking hour of the day and when he’s done he drives straight home to sleep. If I did this to someone you better believe I will not go home at 5pm sharp that day and will do what I need to do to make things right. I again told her I would have thought that the Dr. would have wanted to meet with me before December 8th. She returned and said no, he is fine with meeting with you then. So I reluctantly set the appointment. I guess I need to get on the ball and set another one out of town with another surgeon to get their opinion on the test results. Is it acceptable for me to call Dr. Lucktong “The Butcher” now? Considering that as of now I can confirm that he butchered me, my girlfriend and that other person that GoBlue found?

Found an interesting review of this surgeon on another site... sounds very familiar. "My first post op visit I had lost 14 lbs. My 3 month post op visit I had lost a total of 35 lbs. At my 6 month visit I had only lost an additional 3 lbs. I never lost anything after that. Dr. Lucktong told me I wasn't eating right and needed to exercise more. I had a physical demanding job and was doing Water aerobics 4 days per week. When I went back to him 3 years post op I was 25 lbs heavier than my pre surgery weight. He told me that I had stretched my pouch out and insurance would not cover a revision. I asked if I needed to come back anymore and he said no. I am now seeing another surgeon who found gastro gastric fistula and said that my stomach was never completely stapled from my pouc h in the original surgery. Dr. Lucktong wouldn't listen to me and would not even consider the fact that maybe there was something wrong. March 31, 2011"

Hello - here's a doozy for a first post - every since my gastric bypass on June 17, wearing any kind of a bra causes pain at worst, and discomfort at best right above my pouch. And to give bras a break, I also feel discomfort in that area without any bra. I feel ridiculous because the only thing I can tolerate long enough to wear to work is a sleep bra which does nothing for form or shape, only restricts bounce a bit. And by the end of the work day, even that is driving me crazy. In fact, it's the beginning of the work day right now and it is already moving from discomfort to pain. Will this go away? Ever? Not that I'm a fanatical bra wearer but it really makes me feel very unlike a 'normal' person when I should be feeling more like a normal person each day due to the weight loss. Thanks for any help. Shelley (takenote61)

@ebe44 my experience was that after you participate with the webinar you then call and schedule an appointment. At my first appointment I met with the doc/surgeon. During this meeting we discussed my specific health situation and he went over the various procedures. The psych part essentially was taken an online exam and then a conversation with the psychiatrist. I decided on gastric sleeve based on I wanted less invasive and I already have some nutritional deficiencies and I was concerned about long term supplementation and absorbing vitamins. With the sleeve and vitamin deficiencies going into this it was recommended that I follow the vitamin supplementation that gastric bypass patients have. Final decision for the sleeve was made after gastro appointments and I got clearance no gerd issues. I am doing great and best decision I made for myself. Good luck.

From what I understand people that had the gastric sleeve put in are still able to eat things with sugar but those that have the gastric bypass cannot eat foods That are fatty, greasy or have things with refined sugar such as cakes, cookies, soda ect. Because it will cause Dumping syndrome

Why would you not be fertile anymore? We have more than a few who had VSG or RNY or DS first and are now blissfully expecting. YOUR babies tend to be slightly smaller, 6 pounds as opposed to 9 pounds, but every poster says they come out healthy and screaming their little heads off. She is obviously thinking with her gut instead of her brain. Mama is supposed to want what is best for her little girl, I'm sure this was not a flippant decision on your part, even if she doesn't totally understand, she should be grateful she raised a strong daughter and support your desire to be smaller and healthier. I have been a Mama for 50+ years, an recovering RYN bypassed for 8 months, so I have experienced both sides of the coin , therefore I am a advisor to anyone who will listen. And if she can't be proud of you decisions, I am and I wish,you only the best of everything!

I also will be having RNY revision very soon, but my original RNY was done 30 years ago. Over 10 years I regained all I had lost. Both my pouch and anastomasis stretched. We won't lose as much following revision, but It will get us closer to "normal" BMI. There has been much progress in the technique and protocol since even 2010 so I'm optimistic.

I'm not gaining but but not losing either. I know I should exercise more but since the bypass I have been in and out of hospital 5 times. 2 times for dehydration 2 EDG for strictures and 1 gallbladder removal. And I think I am getting another stricture now as over the past couple days its getting painful when I eat and makes me feel so bloated like its just sitting there not moving

I'm watching my 600lb life and wanted to know have anyone heard of this a lady said she had a half bypass meaning she didn't get the whole bypass .just curious Sent from my Z981 using the BariatricPal App

Well, the sleeve originated as part of the duodenal switch procedure (which has a bypass component), so she probably had a sleeve gastrectomy. Sent from my SM-N900P using the BariatricPal App