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I never had the band or anything else. I’ve had bypass and it has helped with GERD issues for the most part. Only a small portion of us get dumping, like 10% or so? Anyone can correct me, please. I still have to plan meals, weigh and measure everything to keep myself on track. I work it as hard as any time before surgery only the surgery reinforces portion control and increases my odds for loosing and keeping it off. You will need to meet medical criteria to getting bypass or mini bypass. It sounds like you’ve done a lot of work to get to where you are now physically and emotionally! Congratulations:) There’s a thread on here or two about band to sleeve/bypass. You might find better info on there.

A modern 80s flashback. Tube skirt & matching sweater. Back then I swear I had a wardrobe full of summer & winter versions of this outfit in every colour (yes, I once wore lots of colour). Had court shoes in the matching colours too. The belt is a 2022 twist because the top was a little long proportionally. PS. That’s not loose skin hanging over the belt. It’s the dense cotton knit fabric & me slouching a bit. 😂😂 PPS - it’s damn freezing here.

Agree with others, it will decrease in size with time. You may eventually have areas that are still bigger even a year out, but a lot may be skin that can be minimized with good undergarments.

I just said the same thing today to my BF . Im loosing everywhere but seems like my tummy staying big. Waiting for the middle to leave too. It is a lil depressing.

I’d look into surgery in a neighbouring country. There are a few Europeans on the forum who may be able to make some recommendations. There are always negative stories & a friend of a friend stories. You can find them about anything. I recently read a story about the prevalence of fungal infections in people who to go to the large nail salons so … People who have good experiences don’t always shout it from the roof tops. We do here though. 🙂 Sure, there can be hiccups & things may not go perfectly to begin but generally everything settles & works out in the end or can be remedied rather easily. Some issues arise because of complications from pre existing conditions too. Talk to people who actually had the surgery (like on here) if you can. You also get negativity from people who think the surgery is an easy way out. It is so NOT easy. They think if you just diet harder & be more committed to exercising you’ll lose weight. If it was as easy as just dieting & exercising you’d be thin now. We all would have been. The negative comments from family &/or friends are why some of us don’t tell people we’ve had the surgery. The potential for developing a drinking addiction arises in response to people not being able to satisfy their food addiction anymore so they turn to alcohol (or sex apparently). I’ve seen stats of 16% after bypass in the first year of which 6% had existing issues with alcohol. Stating a 60% statistic would only benefit the woman in the article’s business by scaring people. If you deal with the issues behind your food addiction your chance for any addiction transfer is negated. It is important to do the ‘head work’ to understand, manage & deal with the issues behind your eating habits, behaviours, cravings, etc. Many people seek the support of a therapist after surgery which benefits their weight loss success & maintenance. The hair loss lasts about three months. Your natural hair loss cycle accelerates in response to the shock of the surgery & your change & reduced diet. So the hair you shed is hair you would be losing anyway - just not as quickly. Your new hair is still growing but just at its usual rate. How many wrinkles you have is much like how much loose skin you will have. It will depend on your age, gender, skin elasticity, genetics, how long you carried your weight, etc. Yes, you likely will look more drawn & have a few additional wrinkles at first but a lot of this reduces in maintenance as your body resettles & you’re eating more & a more nutritious & balanced diet. My uncle told my mother I looked like death when I was near my lowest weight. Now, he tells me I look fabulous. I had a lot of fine lines that developed under my chin while I was losing but they almost totally disappeared in my second year. Sure my marionette lines are deeper & that’s from the skin that stretched from having a fat face. I have the face that is mine now. I have a jawline, a longer neck, cheek bones, & my eyes aren’t as hooded. A few wrinkles are nothing. I’d rather have a few wrinkles or loose skin than be obese & be compromising my health. Besides a little Botox or filler can always help with the wrinkles 😉. Ultimately it is your decision. Keep asking questions so you’re as well informed as you can be. All the best whatever path you choose.

I suspect you’ll still get saggy skin. I don’t know that the pace of weight loss affects that. One way or another, your skin is losing its padding. I was able to get a panniculectomy (the skin below the bellybutton) in 2007 due to skin breakdown. Unfortunately, I don’t think the insurance companies have gotten in-step with post-weight loss needs like saggy skin.

That's super helpful! I also have BCBS of Illinois and had assumed they wouldn't cover anything. I'm starting to consider skin removal surgeries - my "apron" is pretty flabby and big. Based on this I'll call them to see how I might going about them possibly covering this. Thank you!

I ended up getting in earlier to see Dr. Ehret for a consultation at The Aesthetic Surgery Center in Tacoma, WA. After some asking around, I've found these prices are pretty high. I'll be taking the procedure names back to those I previously called, along with contacting Dr. Streu in Portland, to price shop these a bit: Lower face/neck lift: $18,275 Eyelid lift (includes a "Laser Skin Treatment for $1,500) and Endobrow, which I think is some sort of less invasive procedure. All in all, this is to lift my brow slightly, get rid of some of my eyebrow sagginess from being heavier, and fill in the (now very) hollow area under my eyes: $15,450 Breast lift with augmentation (adding the fat under my armpits to my boobs (I don't want implants) $16,575 Breast lift without augmentation $13,395 Inverted T Abdominoplasty with liposuction $16,875

Update on my progress. Surgery was May 13. I lost a pound per day the first week, then stalled for 2 weeks. Finally loosing again! Down 26lbs so far, including pre-op diet. Have been working out 5 days per week on elliptical and on regular food now as of Friday. Struggling to get my 60 oz of water in, but started using my timer yesterday to remind me to sip something every 15 minutes except before and after meals. I have only had nausea once and have only vomited once - both times caused by drinking too close to meals. Overall, this has been a much better experience than I anticipated since I am 62 yrs old. Surgeon says I'm doing great! I only took 3 days off work, and then worked from home for 2 weeks (desk job).

thats fine... soon you will hit your 3rd week stall where you wont loose anything at all for a while. May even gain a pound or so. We all loose differently... Me personally right now i am averaging around 8lb a month and i am 6 weeks post op.

My food plan recommends no fruit or vegetables with skin. It has to be peeled. Otherwise, it will sit in your stomach for a long time.

I didn't have problems with lettuce but the skin on grapes, apples, even cherries gave me the foamies in the beginning. I rarely get foamies now but if I eat anything without chewing it properly, I will still get them. I had ribeye recently, it was so good but I must've eaten too fast cause an hour later, my chest and throat hurt from pressure until I got rid of the excess saliva. I use a tongue cleaner and it makes me gag just enough to release the excess saliva.

You’ll find it will be similar to how the loose skin on the rest of your body responds. My neck looked pretty bad for a while. Lots of fine vertical lines running down from under my chin. They improved a lot over time - in my second year. My face looked drawn for a while too but it improved as well. You’ll notice once your weight stabilises, your body seems to resettles a bit which helps. I tried a few things like radio frequency sessions but don’t think they really did anything except I looked a bit fresher in the short term. I have a short neck too but it looks longer now because I don’t have as much fat around my shoulders & neck. You’ll discover that too.

So having lost some weight, my skin under the neck is a bit saggy. I already have short neck, my side face makes it look more obvious. Question is, will the skin snap back a little may be in months to a year? How has your experience been, did you face skin snap back especially your neck area?

i wasnt given a specific amount to loose. Just simply to follow the pre op diet for my specified time of 2 weeks which i lost 11lb during that time. How long is your pre op diet?

I am going to give the vitamin patches a 👍. I bought them from the store at this website. I actually wear 2 of each that I bought...double the dose. I do this because my nutritionist told me they were not effective. 🤷‍♀️ Of course when someone tells me something is ineffective, it stands to reason that I buy them and use twice as many as directed. When I upped to two patches/day of each pack that I bought (iron; Omega 3s; B-complex; Biotin for hair, skin and nails; multi-vitamins; and D3 with calcium;), I did feel a difference when I was consistently using them every day for about a month. And, I know that's 12 patches which does take some time in the morning, but I am giving them a thumbs up!

Foamies usually occur, for me anyway, if I eat too quickly or too much, take too big of a swallow, or eat something that is too dry or coarse which results in the food sort of being stuck. It rarely happens now but every so often that too dry issue can catch me. I started eating vegetables from the soft food stage just made sure they were soft vegetables or I cooked them really well in soups, stew/casserole style dishes. Then I just cooked them as I wanted. I did find cauliflower, cabbage, green beans easiest to eat as a side at first. Would probably avoid skins on any fruit or vegetables to begin especially as coarseness may be a n issue for you still. Zucchini may be a challenge as without the skin it can be just mush when cooked. Wonder how you would go grating it & making like a fritter or as a base for a mini frittata or in a quiche?? Talk to your surgeon & dietician about the protein issue for causes & alternatives.

@LilaNicole20 Thanks for the additional info! i read that the gas pain can be rough at first but that once that passes, normally, it's not too bad. Glad to hear yours is going well and best of luck with the summer!! @redhead_che Thanks, that's good to know. I'm set to have my initial zoom learning session on 7/6. I'm excited to learn more and meet the surgeon and see if it's something I want to move forward with. My SO is also going to join and listen for support. I figure regardless of what I decide if I move forward, I plan to be at home for some time and thankfully, I can have time saved by then or wfh if needed if I'm feeling well enough. @blackcatsandbaddecisions Thanks! Didn't know some insurances wrote that in, I'll need to check mine to see if there are any exclusions for it in my current insurance. I found out that my insurance is accepted where I'm considering the surgery, but not sure if they'd block this specific thing. I thought a lot about the extra skin and honestly, I'm not bothered by it and think the health benefits far outweigh extra skin. It's always something I can save for in the future if needed, but to be healthy and comfortable is where I'd like to be. @Queen ApisM Thanks! Super helpful as well. I figure after we go through the initial learning session on 7/6 which I think will cover any surgical options they offer, I'll be asking all the questions and trying to also get insight into my body type and what they find to be most successful and safe. I think for me, I want to be sure I'm mentally ready. More so because I am a stress eater which I can admit helped put me where I am today so I know I need to overcome that. I think I'm ready in most ways such as cutting out some things and knowing I need to be more active to help take off and keep the weight off. More a question for anyone, but for stress eaters, did you see someone to discuss this before or after surgery? I know prior to, you talk with someone about the obvious live changes that any weight loss surgery can do to you, but i'm curious if someone has/is overcoming the stress of eating and what helps you? That's I think my biggest hurdle so i'm hoping for some inspiration. I think once I go through the information zoom call next month, I need to mentally set myself on the path to find more healthy ways to work through those emotions tbh my job is a large cause so I've been working towards that change already.

I had a tummy tuck--different from your surgeries--but just to share that the final result is not set until up to 12 months postop. Your shape will keep changing as fluid leaves and the new taut skin adjusts. I remember thinking that I had no waistline post TT but eventually my hourglass shape emerged. It tooks months for the sweliing to go down and the true shape to show itself. Also your thighs may look bigger because edema (water) moves downwards with gravity. This will clear eventually. However my thighs looked shockingly large to me postop because I had never really seen them without my belly hiding the tops of them. Once my belly was gone...everything looked really different down there! I hope that with time you are going to love your new body. Every single day I am thrilled when I look at my nice, flat tummy. BTW I am 63 and did my surgery when I was 60.

I’m doing everything my surgeon’s practice told me to, AND I’m being nice to me. 😊 I have a post about ‘that’ in the June surgery topic. Yesterday I was online shopping and I bought a gorgeous $$$sweater for me that hopefully will fit by the holidays. It was marked down from its prohibitive cost so I grabbed it in the only size they had. It’s a size 10 and I think that in 6 months, if not sooner, I’ll be able to wear it. And gorgeous black velvet ballet slippers. I bought skin care products (which are my weakness). At home and at school, if anyone around me starts to sound contentious with another person, I leave immediately. I don’t want to be around the stress or tension. My husband is ALWAYS talking about food and what he has prepared for dinner. He may not do that around me. He knows that he does this and he understands why he can’t do it now. I am truly being somewhat introspective, selfish and self-protective. My husband is always that way to me…very protective. I am never that way to myself, but I am being that way now. With the two of us being that way about me, I’m doing my best to be calm, positive, and focused. Trust me, if I lose my 💩, it’s not going to be pretty. 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣 Good luck with your surgery.😊

Hi everyone, I had lap band surgery in 2010 and went from 330 lbs to about 215 in 2016, however, I started having some problems with the band where I could barely eat or drink anything and kept loosing weight rapidly. Went to the doctor and they did an upright xray with contrast and you could see that everything was stuck in the esophagus. The doctor said the band had to come out. Obviously I didn't want that and begged them to remove all fluid from the band and wait another week but that did not help. It turned out that there was a lot of scar tissue from the band around where it was installed. The doctor wanted to do a conversion during the band removal but the insurance did not approve since I was 'too skinny' and did not qualify. I asked the hospital if I could pay the difference between removal and doing the sleeve since they already had me there and all the staff, etc. but was told it was not possible and it would be $24,000 which I could not afford. After the removal I gained all the weight back and now I am between 320-325 lbs again. I had been with two employers since then but like most of them they specifically exclude bariatric surgery nowadays. Now I am with a new employer and they will apparently pay for it. [sorry for the long background story] I am consider whether to get a sleeve or bypass. After doing a lot of research I think a sleeve would be better since it is less intrusive and the stomach function pretty much remains intact and you don't have to take medication for the rest of your life. What do you all suggest?

Yes, I lost 180lbs with diet and exercise that I maintained since 2004 - until 2020. I have had a tummy tuck. I do not have excess skin like majority of people on this site (likely) as a result of my previous success and subsequent procedures.

I am 6ft tall. My surgeon's team did NOT give me a "goal" weight they only made sure my expectations on how much weight I would loose (based on averages) were within reason. Years ago I lost a bunch of weight and was 245 and looked fantastic! Size 10/12 pants, large shirts.( I will have to find an old pic) According to medical charts 6ft woman should weigh 140-177lbs. I am sorry if I offend anyone but that is disgustingly skinny. My brother is 6'2" and weighs about 190 and looks sick and starved. I could never imagine myself under 200, although I would like to see 199 just to say I saw "100's" as an adult. My ultimate long term goal is to maintain 200-225lbs.

Nice! Did you get any excess skin removed? That can also affect weight. I'm also thinking doctors give u a goal factoring in excess skin. Sent from my SM-G975U using BariatricPal mobile app

Thanks for sharing! I feel like I couldn't even imagine being under 200 lbs but I think I just haven't weighed less than 200 since I was a little kid. I once lost a lot of weight too and got to 235. I don't have many pics from those days but I hve this one. I remember being able to feel my ribs and hip bones at that weight. I had a lot of loose skin on my lower stomach (apron stomach). My hips are really wide too. The side by side was me at like 300 lbs and the one next to it in the denim coat is about now at 255. Sent from my SM-G975U using BariatricPal mobile app