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I had my gastric bypass surgery on June 28 along with two hernia repairs. How are you doing? I'm currently on stage III puréed foods and beginning soft foods. HW : 245 SW: 221 CW: 196

Actually, that was why the sleeve was initially developed. They found that so many patients did so well with the sleeve that they didn't have to go in and do a bypass for many of them. If you have a skilled and experienced surgeon, I would listen to his advice. His primary goal is to keep you safe and alive and to perform a successful surgery. I started with an extremely high BMI and was sleeved April 20. I couldn't be happier.

Hello, My Dr. recommended I switch from the Gastric Bypass to the Gastric Sleeve today, he wants to do it in two parts. Gastric sleeve first to lose weight and then to the Bypass later on. Have anybody had this done? He also said if I am satisfied with the weightloss from the sleeve I can just stick with it and get the Bypass. My surgery is Monday 12/28.

@@Amanda Harris Hi there and welcome! Congratulations on taking steps to get healthy. It is an exciting time as you get closer to surgery dates. As James said most of the testing you go through is just to make sure that a safe surgery can be performed. Bariatric surgery has become fairly routine but being obese comes with potential complications if you don't dot all your i's and cross your t's. As you know getting through the process requires great patience. Every step is really worth it in the end. Having bypass surgery was the very best thing I have ever done for myself. I thank god everyday that we have such an incredible medical community. They literally saved my life! If you have any questions feel free to either post or reach out. I would be happy to help.

**Sorry if this has already been asked, there are so many threads here!!!** Has anyone switched PCPs for the purpose of getting through surgery requirements? I haven't been seeing my doc very long (previous doc retired in Sept after being my doc for almost 10 years) but I don't think she's done many bariatric referrals. At my info seminar today they said some people choose to switch to a doc more knowledgeable with bariatrics for this process and either switch back after or stick with the new one because they know more about post-op stuff. Just curious if anyone has any experience with this. Oh, also - the surgeon I'm getting started with has done about 900 bariatric surgeries.~600 bypass, ~150 sleeves, the rest lap band. Are those good numbers experience-wise? It seems pretty good to me. Sent from my Nexus 5 using the BariatricPal App

Don't give up! Get all the education you need about Bypass and I'm sure you will be more comfortable with the decision.

I am getting a revision I was told they will take the band out and then I will need to wait at least six weeks to get the Sleeve done it also depends on the Insurance approval

I totally agree with your NUT, either Bypass or the Duodenal Switch (DS). I see too many people end up doing revisions to Bypass after doing the sleeve. This was one of the reasons why I changed my mind as well. This surgery is a huge deal and I didn't want to go under the knife more than once. After all the Bypass is the standard of all WLS. The sleeve only gives you restriction, but with the Bypass you get both the restriction and malabsorption (not as much as the DS though). I say do your research speak with ppl that did both.

Welcome, Katie! My program allows alcohol after all procedures, but discourages the consumption of liquid calories in general. So depending on how often you have those business dinners (I used to fly from IAD to SFO every single week), liquid calories may or may not be an issue for you. I don't have personal experience with lap band or gastric balloon, but the feedback I got from my program indicates that almost everyone who gets a lap-band gets it removed, sometimes with permanent damage left behind. Regarding the balloon, not many have had it, but everyone who has had it at my hospital has regained their weight rapidly as soon as it was removed. I haven't heard about any sports or activity-related restrictions as a result of any type of surgery, but you won't be able to gulp water after most surgery types. RNY gastric bypass is considered reversible. My surgeon has successfully reversed it, but has only had one patient (of several thousand) that needed reversal.

Someone shared this article from bariatriceating.com that I wanted to share here: Don’t eat bread! That latte has 35g sugar! No macaroni salad. NO tortillas. No rice. It won’t last without change There is no delicate way to say this. We have always set ourselves apart from other bariatric groups in that we don’t look the other way while post ops continue to eat the bad carbs. We try and bring them back to the bariatric reality. We coax you to knock off the Pasta, rice, tortillas or bread and often people get mad or try and justify it. For years we’ve watched people blow through this surgery and they all have the same story. Everyone thinks they are ‘Different’, that they can handle the bad carbs and the sugar (they don’t get sick!) and ‘because they have lost 100 pounds in 7 months they must be doing something right’. The first hundred pounds is the surgery Hate to keep making the same point, but your surgery did it, not you. Remember that you are not driving the car for the first year. Eating the same foods that grew you to 300 pounds, but in smaller amounts is not a good long term plan as eventually you will be able to eat larger portions. Ask yourself why eating the same bad carbs would be a good plan. No doctor has advised you to eat the same way post op as you did pre op. Post ops pick this up somewhere, latch on to it and defend it, often to the bitter end of a total regain. No one fights for broccoli carbs! It’s not that the bagel will kill you, it’s that these carbs make you hungry. They rapidly turn to glucose and burn… poof, gone, #Lookingformore. They don’t give you any nutrients. They don’t create a feeling of satiety or lasting fullness. The empty carbs work against what you are trying to achieve. If you were arguing for eating salad or green bean carbs, more power to you… but people are trying to hang on to foods without value. If this big argument was for VEGETABLES… well it wouldn’t be a debate as vegetables didn’t make us fat, it was those ‘other’ carbs. Did you ever meet an obese vegetarian and wonder ‘HUH?’… how’d they get obese if they are vegetarian? Same deal… its not the vegetables, its the other stuff… the carbs… the potatoes, bread, macaroni, rice, tortillas and sugar! Square peg… round hole Stop looking for slightly better substitutes for bad choices and find new healthier foods to love instead. We keep trying to force that square peg into that round hole. Stop EATING crackers and chips… don’t find ones that you can justify because they have fewer carbs. Enough with the terrible fishy shirataki tofu noodles. Learn to live without bread and pasta so it will not call your name. We aren’t changing the behavior or trend if we continue eating them, just slightly shifting it. Before long you’ve got your hand back in the Doritos bag & fork in the Mac and cheese. Look It’s Protein Cheesecake! Don’t add protein to muffins and convince yourself they’re good for you. Stop with the Starbucks Creme Brûlée Lattes because ‘they’re your one indulgence'; they have 500 calories and thin people don’t even drink them. Stay the heck out of Wendy’s. I read an article the other day touting all the ‘good choices’ in fast food restaurants. How about stay out of them. That’s the best choice of all! Why go to the place where you know there is danger. Before you know it, oops… there are fries in your bag! You know people gain back weight, right? In our first month of new Facebook Support group I have cried for new members who have gained back all their weight. I am not immune either after fourteen years, three bariatric books and knowing better. When life hit the fan, I comforted my bruises in the way I knew best and it has taken me ten months to lose fifty pounds of it. People are having revisions, a lovely sounding word for a second serious body damaging operation. What will change? Unless there is major change along with that new surgery, won’t it have the same result? Step away from the bagel! Own that there was and maybe still is something wrong with your food picker! Use surgery as an opportunity to change, not cheat. I used be bothered by the ‘word on the street’ that we were the carb or food police, but am now proud of it. If you want to promote the virtues of Everything in Moderation while eating half a Subway, there are plenty of groups that will help you do it. If you want to eat right and learn new behaviors to make the feeling of slipping on those skinny jeans last… we have a support group that’s a healthier fit. Bariatric Surgery IS the easy way out It’s a personal food cop that is always with us, that helps us push away from the table. We make it hard when we don’t live by the bariatric rules we’ve been given. There is nothing harder then gaining weight back after surgery. There is nothing better than losing it a second time. Control is empowering. If you need to pick up and start losing again… If you need to work off a regain… it’s not too late and your pouch works just fine if you choose the right foods. Clean those lethal carbs from your life and go back to Bariatric Eating – protein first and lots of fresh salad and vegetables. We’ve got the support for you to make that change!

My name is Maren and I live in Alabama. I'm 34, with a high weight of 293 and a BMI of 47 (starting). I have BCBS and am in my third month of the 6 month supervised weight loss. My doc has me doing a controlled carb diet, mostly to get me in the mindset of putting protein first and carbs last for my post-surgery lifestyle and I'm down to 278 after only a few weeks of *really* trying. Believe me, I've done the calculations and know that to be safe in terms of insurance coverage, I shouldn't get below 260. I think I'll have to add back in a few carbs over the next few months and then once I'm approved, get back on track. That's sad, considering I've been morbidly obese for about a decade, but I'll play the games just like everyone else. For a long time I've thought casually about surgery, but I haven't gotten serious until recently. I actually don't have any major health concerns yet but I've had three miscarriages (no successful pregnancies) and even though there is no clear reason why weight would have anything to do with it, my OB specialist recommended I put off any more attempts until I lose weight. My doctor (primary) and my OB-GYN think I should do the full bypass because of my weight, but I have thought a lot about it and think I prefer the band. I'll hold off final decision until I talk with my surgeon, but in the meantime I'll be preparing for the LapBand procedure. I look forward to learning from you all and journeying with you. -Maren

Thanks for the info. I considered the drug war in Mexico and honestly I live in the hood and deal with unpleasant people all the time. Scary but we all cant be middle class and live in the burbs.. I will however speak to the people who are making the arrangements to get me to the center about these concerns. I looked at Dr. Almanza when I first considered this and he has done more than 200 sleeves and I think more than 200 bypasses. I've heard the stapling process is more delicate in a bypass so that made me feel better with him as a surgeon. As to him being new at this.. well we all have to be new at something once in our lives. Yes I know its surgery and I know its dangerous but as a victim of the new economy (unemployed) and having a limited amount in savings I have to go where I can afford to. The thought that someone might be posting false information on these forums is very disturbing. Much of my decision to have this surgery was based on posts from forum members... Now I'm having serious second thoughts. damn..damn..damn..

The person posting about the infection does explain quite clearly that they are on antibiotics and have been for 2.5 months because of having had surgery with Almanza. You can talk this away all you want, it's in black and white. Maybe it wasn't MRSA, but it was an infection from the surgery. Is Almanza doing the sleeves and bypass at Angeles hospital? I do not believe for one minute that corners are not being cut with the prices as they are. Impossible. Unless you guys are donating your time, these costs have to be absorbed for dirt cheap surgery. Considering the overall rep of Betancourt/Emmanual and their very long history on this board and every other I would just hope people really watch what they are doing. Then we have the issue of paid posters. You can't talk your way out of that one either. One of them emailed Elisabeth apologizing for being paid to push your facilities and slam dunk anyone who dared to tell of negative experiences. She couldn't do it anymore and apologized to a mod for this. She's never even BEEN to Emmanual! The paid posters aren't even bright enough to hide what they are doing. They are spamming every WLS board with this nonsense, not just here on LBT. Don't you realize it makes you guys look worse? Seriously, if you guys are going to lower yourself to paid posters at least get some bright ones. Those you have now... well, there are surely brighter crayons in the box, aren't there? If everything is as great as you say it is then why is there a need for paid posters? Other doctors... their patients are posting. Then we have the issue of the email I received from your facility suggesting that if I don't stop posting what I know then they will attack my doctor on the boards. They will come up with fake information and slam dunk him on every WLS board they can find. For God's sakes, where are the professional ethics at Betancourt/Emmanual/Almanza? My doctor has nothing to do with my posting. Why not attack my dentist while you guys are at it? You know, for a short time I really started thinking Andres was trying to clean things up, improve his rep, do things the right way. When one of the paid posters explained that P. L. is no longer associated with you I honestly thought to myself that maybe things are changing. I was clearly wrong. Ethics, they are a GOOD thing.

I understand that Medicare can pay for Gastric Bypass? Does anyone have knowledge of whether it will pay for lapbanding?

I have not seen a lapbander yet that looks like their wasting away. I have seen some gastric bypass patients that in the first few months looked almost GRAY in coloring from malabsorbtion. It resolved after they began eating more normally. I bet most of us can NOT imagine ourselves ever looking like we're wasting away. LOL

Thanks for the reply- I appreciate hearing from people with a similar issue. The morbidity/mortality comparison makes me really like the band, as does its versatility. Even though my OB says he's had patients with bypass have successful pregnancies, I just worry about the "what if I need more room" issue to provide adequate nutrition. And frankly, when I get right down to it, because of my job (college professor), I can't really easily take off at least 2 weeks for post-surgery recovery unless I want to wait another year for next summer when I don't have any classes. I don't get "vacation" or "sick days" like most people do because of the different nature of our work calendar.

Hey! I had surgery last Thursday (so it’ll be a week in a few hours, lol). I had gastric bypass and I’m going back tomorrow. I feel great. Of course, I pushed hard to walk every hour as soon as I woke up and have been up and about every day.

Hi! I am going to have gastric bypass surgery on April 2nd . I do not want to tell anyone either. I am scheduled to return to work 13 days after surgery. Can anyone shed some light on their experiences? I’m basically worried about being weak . Any input would be appreciated! TIA

I think the most appalling thing to me was the last bit about surgery being the easy way out. It certainly makes weight loss easier, but it's definitely not the easy way out. Best example I have is that my sort-of Sister also had the Gastric Sleeve a year ago, and she ate around her sleeve and maintained roughly the same weight she'd been at pre-op, and is now having a revision done. Meanwhile, I'm sticking with it and my weight loss is still dropping. She'd veered off her path as early as one week post-op, and kept at it. So you can definitely eat around the surgery if that's your goal. Meaning it can't be the 'easy' way out, because it takes so many lifestyle and diet changes to maintain proper weight loss and really take advantage of the surgery. That's a really bad message to give to post and pre-op people who want to have/have had this done. If they underestimate the changes necessary for these types of things to be really effective, they're going to go to their doctors thinking it's a quick fix, and it isn't. It really isn't. That said, there are a lot of valid points in the article about eating, and types of foods, but it feels like, especially two of the points up there really undermines the achievements and hard work that post-oppers put into losing weight and keeping it off, and all of the work we go through before and after the surgery. Especially the emotional/mental stuff that factors into our weight loss. I just can't agree with those bits.

Yikes! So sorry to hear that and i really feel for you. I can relate to you w/all the surgeries, as this will be my 5th one in 3 years. Most recent was gallbladder, which was a breeze for me, but I also had an open hernia surgery in June 2017 that gave me a lot of problems. I see why you said that you're scared of the bypass, if that's what my resolution will be, then I think I will have that same feeling...among other feelings. Mainly, one more surgery to get through just sounds exhausting. The whole entire process, including more medical bills and stress on an already stressed body. Ah, well, now I am just complaining. Something tells me that you understand though. It is like you said, sounds like you don't have much of a choice other than to go the revision route. Yes, I will let you know what the doc says. Let me know when you get a surgery date as well and take care until then!

I have a girlfriend who had gastric bypass 12 years ago. She was at 450 pounds, got down to 200 but has since gone back up to 250. I had another friend and cousin who had the bypass too and they also have put the weight back on. I was a medical biller for 25 years and thoroughly researched all three options before choosing the sleeve. I had my surgery on 8/21/19. My starting weight was 315 pounds. In the two years prior to my surgery, I managed to lose 35 pounds on my own with diet and exercise but it took two years. The two weeks of liquid diet before and after my surgery quick started my weight loss. On the morning of my surgery, I weighed in at 280. They had me up and walking two hours after my surgery. I was given one dose of Tylenol after my surgery and never needed any other type of pain med. It is absolutely wonderful to not be able to finish half of what was a regular meal for me. As if today, I weighed in at 237. All I can say is that the sleeve has been a godsend for me.

gerd can be controlled with meds.. i am living example.. i rather have that then the risk of ulcers stomach perforations nutritional deficiency and other issues related to the bypass

Hello there guys. Hope all is well. Well most of you know my story. Started my weight loss journey 10.5 months ago. Had surgery 8.5 months ago. Been in maintenance now 2.5 months. My high weight when I met the surgeon was recorded at 322LBS and I have lost weight really well and consistently the whole time, averaging about 20lbs a month 😁 i got down to 165lbs and have been stable and maintaining that weight for the past 2.5 months, I still check my weight often to make sure I'm not going up and this morning my weight has gone down again.... i don't understand. Like I'm not even trying to lose anymore weight I'm already below goal weight and feeling amazing. In maintenance I've been eating more calories and adding in different foods and some carbs and to be honest I've had a few treats here and there; I honestly believe the bypass has completely changed my metabolism and how my body processes calories 😁 I'm not counting calories as much and enjoying my new life. I'm just wanting people to see it is possible to be successful. Today weigh in - 162.8. that's 159.2lbs lost and that is amazing literally HALF MY BODY WEIGHT GONE......

Again, this is a dream. I'm 32 days post op and stalled at a 17 pound weight loss. Been 200 pounds for 10 days. My surgeon did a "short bypass". Only 100 cm. Because I only had 65 pounds to lose and I didn't want to dump or malabsorb. I hope I will still lose the 65 pounds. I'd love to be saying what you two are in a year. Wishing you continued success!

Okkkkkk so UPDATE yall!!! I can't recall if I told yall that I had the UGI done and it came back normal supposedly right.... so how about today i had my endoscopy done.. come to find out what they found so far is that my sleeve had twisted! She said it could be from the way it healed. But I read that it could also be from the way the staples were placed. Have anyone ever heard of this happening? I know prior to the surgery before they drugged me she said i will check it out and if anything I will do a dialation because she said my sleeve is really tiny.. whatever that mean. LOL I thought everyone sleeved their stomachs will be the same size so did she make mine smaller... weird. Nevertheless when i was in the recover room drugged i faintly heard her telling me stuff and i just recall nodding. So now I have to wait until my follow up visit to find out more details and if she was able to actually fix the twist. I do still have some of the symptoms as in the original post I made but they haven't been that bad in the last 5-6 hrs so we will see. I did read there there is several fixes for this issue with one of them being bypass which I was trying to avoid. Mainly because of not being able to take anti inflammatory meds, scared for another major surgery and me keep being out of work to recover. I feel like she may suggest this especially if i keep having heartburn and acid reflux 🫤. She also ordered for me to get another UGI before I follow up with her.. not sure why though since the 2nd one didn't even show her anything smh. Btw have anyone broke out from taking reglan? I took ot for 3 days and felt veey down, tired and weird just not myself and i immediately broke out on my face and chest prior to this I have had no breakouts whatsoever. This have all been an experience and I will try to remain positive for better days.... excuse typos as I'm still coming down from the medication they have me on.