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My only regret is that I can't chug water anymore lol. I miss getting a gallon down in like... five hours. I struggle to get 60 ounces in some days, but it's definitely getting easier. Also, same as everyone else, I regret not getting it done sooner, even with my complications.

So sorry. I’m a nurse and feel so much better after surgery. Not to make her feel uneducated but maybe if she did know more of the facts about BariatricPal surgery that would help her. Nursing is such a broad field that none of us can be experts in all areas. I’m sure she’s concerned about things such as complications or some worry their spouse will leave them if they lose weight. I would try to explain the medical reasons such as sleep apnea, blood pressure, arthritis, wear and tear on joints etc, risk for stroke or heart attack and that with a baby coming you want to be your healthiest self for both of them. Good luck

I also had the sleeve and was back at work in 10days. I have a desk job. No surgery complications and pain gas was resolved by day 7. I packed my vitamins and meds, liquids and was fine. I work 12 hr days, so I was ready for bed by 9pm. But not abnormally tired. Good luck.

Congratulation! I would Error on the side of caution And indicate 3 weeks. That way if all is well, you can go back early but if there are complications, you have taken a proactive approach. Good luck!

I have located a few. My primary reason for wanting a local or nearby doctor is in case I have any post surgical complications. The primary doctor I am thinking about using only offers outpatient VSG with a me returning the following day to have an upper GI X-ray. I would prefer a hospital stay that’s why I’m conflicted about choosing doctors. I appreciate your suggestions as there are others in South Florida that offer overnight hospital stays. I hope your surgery goes well too.

Open and equal channels of communication with your Spouse is the foundation of a successful relationship. If you did not keep her “in the loop” during your decision process, then I can’t blame her for being upset. I would think that with the pregnancy in the picture she may be upset and/or worried that there may be complications and she is worried about what would happen if a worst-case scenario comes into play. My Spouse has been involved in all decisions I make concerning my health and I am involved in all her health related decisions. In 2016 I had full right hip replacement surgery, a week before my schedule hospital stay I sat down with her and outlined exactly what she needs to do “IF” a worst-case scenario came into play. This pre-surgery discussion included location of financial paperwork, insurance documentation and a checklist of what she needs to do if something unexpected happens. The mortality rate for bariatric surgery is VERY low yet I plan on having the same conversation with the wife whenever I have a confirmed surgery date.

I have been told the average is three to four weeks for the sleeve. Assuming no complications I am going to take a full five weeks off. I have access to short term disability, however since I am doing self-pay the short-term disability is not available and I have to use personal leave time (sick and/or vacation time).

I'm sorry about your surgical complications, but I'm not so sure it was caused by the caffeine. It could have just been one of those unfortunate things. My doctor didn't prohibit or limit my caffeine post-op at any point.

How common are post surgery ulcers? I know you could potentially develop one soon after surgery while still healing, but I’ve been seeing thing about people years out after RNY with ulcer complications. Is this a big issues with the surgery?

Hi!! I’m 29 and I’ve been dealing with my weight for the past 2-3 years (depression included). My BMI is 29.9 and my weight is 181 pounds, but my normal weight all my life had been 125 pounds. I’ve tried SO hard to get back in shape and it has not been posible. It really sucks for me to look in the mirror and see such a different person (it doesn’t help that people with unsolicited opinions tell me that me knees hurt because I’m fat, or the neighbor asking me “have you always been this big? or my mom “you don’t Try hard enough””....Anyways. My weight got to affect my mental health in the past year and I’m tired of hiding at home, crying, hating the mirror, hating the closet and the breakdowns in the morning because nothing fits, not seeing my family, friends and nobody in general. My husband suffers from seeing me suffer. He doesn’t even care if I lose weight or not. He only wants me to be happy again and smile like I used to when we met. This is so hard for me and can’t even begin to describe it. It’s been a never ending battle and I want to live again. Anyways (sorry for the long story, I think it’s the first time I write down how I feel about this), After long investigation I decided the gastric sleeve was the solution for me (the doctor is great and has performed 8.000 of these surgeries) and the surgery is goi to be on February 24th. but I am extremely scared of the surgery and scared of any type of complication during or after the surgery. I know the risks are less than 1% but I still panic thinking about it and everyday I wonder if I should cancel the surgery or go ahead. Also I’m scared the surgery won’t work because of my “low” BMI. I want to lose 55 pounds so I can reach my final goal of 125 pounds, but I’ve heard that people with higher BMIs lose a lot more. Haven’t really found or heard much testimonials of people with low BMI and their weight loss journey. If anybody went through this or can help me in some way it’s very much appreciated. thanks!!!

Weight management has always been an issue my entire life, I have gained and lost over 100 pounds THREE times in the last 15 years, hoping the FORTH time post-surgery will be the last. Whatever diet program, book, shot or pill that has come along in the last 15 years, most likely I have already tried it and unfortunately failed. If your “considering” non-surgical alternatives to weight loss surgery feel free to ask me, most likely I have used it at least once and have accurate records of what was used and what were the results and pros / cons of each. The “pill of the month” currently is Contrave Blue which I have been on since December 2019. I have been avoiding weight loss surgery for years. My sister had full bypass surgery 20 years ago and unfortunately, she has suffered complications for many years. At the end of 2018 I had ballooned to the heaviest I have ever been, started January 1, 2019 I was a “Big Mac and Large Fry” away from 400+ pounds. My blood pressure was extremely high, and my new primary care physician was very blunt during my first visit, “lose weight or die” was the basic theme of our health conversations. Even with that much bad news and new physician pushing for weight loss surgery, I still was trying to avoid surgery. I decided to take an alternate route, take some time off from work and attend a Weight Loss Boot Camp for 10 weeks at a cost of over $15,000 self-payed of course since health insurance does not cover this type of activity. Unfortunately, life has ways to make things difficult at the worst time and I only was able to complete 6 weeks For those interested I have a blog that chronicles my weight loss efforts at the weight loss bootcamp last year, good reading for those thinking about that route. https://vin1959.blogspot.com/ For reasons I will expand on in future messages, the weight loss boot camp adventure did not get the job done and weight loss surgery has now become necessary. At this stage I am not going to play the “pre-approve documentation game” and wait for my health insurance company to say I am covered, I am simply going the SELF -PAY route and will plan for the Gastric-Sleeve procedure hopefully in April this year.

I only had surgery a little over 2 weeks ago. I'm down 20 pounds. I had zero complications and very little to no pain. Was home the next afternoon and walking a ton. I feel great. Just saw the surgeon and my PCP and am already off four medications. Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

Yes, I had a robotic assisted sleeve on 1/8 and had zero complications. The scarring seems to be super minimal as well, I'm thinking maybe due to the robotic assistance? I'm amazed to be honest Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327AZ using BariatricPal mobile app

The first week was actually the *easiest* week for me, but I had a complication with my gallbladder going out on me within my second week (I had it removed a month after my sleeve). Walking was already getting easier from the pre-surgery diet because I lost about 13lbs before I even had surgery, and you need to be able to walk around as much as possible right afterwards to get that gas out. And I will find a good doctor, don't worry. ❤️

Like others, I'm excited and scared/nervous. We have had to limit the amount of people we are updating on my progress due to such a back lash about it last year. I was able to make a final operation date Monday and was so hyped and excited, I wanted to get on social media and be like I'M GETTING IT DONE B!t(HES!! . A'las , I did not. And probably will not. (Okay, well maybe the day of operation I may LOL). Scared, nervous, oh yeah. Its a life changing event. Its a big thing. Having organs removed or rerouted. I did laugh when my doc told me that I was at higher risk for complications having my gall bladder taken out, then having my sleeve operation. Then its just having everything before and after. Then its the questions of what if it doesn't work. What if I am that .03% of people that have issues. Disappointment came for me a bit ago. When normal weight loss diet/training/pills etc wouldn't work. The sleeve for me is a "last resort".

February 5th I found out I am indeed pregnant. I’m close enough to what’s recommended (march27,2019 is my surgery date) so I don’t want any lectures. This is for the ladies who have successfully gotten pregnant after wls did you have healthy and successful pregnancies? Did you have any complications?

There are many factors that dictate what our final stomach capacity ends up being. The first is bougie size. A 36Fr bougie with 75% stomach removal will give us a lot more restriction than, for example, a 50Fr bougie with 85% stomach removal. The tightness of the staple line against the bougie, and whether or not the surgeon oversews the staple line will further decrease the diameter of your sleeve. My surgeon uses a 40Fr on all of his patients, but staples extremely tightly along the bougie, meaning his patients should have greater restriction -- and fewer complications -- than those who have, say, a 34Fr with no oversewing. At 3.5 months for example, I still cannot eat more than 2.4 to 2.8oz per meal, and it takes at least 75 minutes to comfortably eat it. Those who had strictures requiring removal during surgery would likely have marginally more restriction. Scar tissue and gastric motility also play a role in restriction. More critical than any of these, however, are our eating habits, since they play the most significant and influential role in sleeve capacity, amount of weight loss, and long-term maintenance.

March 3rd. Excited, looking forward to a new heathly lifestyle and body, but also nervous. I'm in general overall good health, I don't want to have any complications. Trying to not let some of the stuff I read on here make me nervous. Trying to absorb as much information as possible.

Twins!! Surgery and pre-OP diet are the same as yours!! Excited but a little nervous! Don't want to be one of the ones with complications.

Anytime that I see someone contemplating a revision, I would advise getting a second (and even third) opinion, both from the perspective that revisions are typically more complicated than a virgin surgery, and also the reasons for the revisions are more varied, and this is where the perspectives of different surgeons with different experiences is most valuable. Strictures and twists like you are describing are an indicator of technique problems (which isn't to say that there is something particularly quirky with your individual anatomy that would have caused problems with any surgeon, just that they are frequently associated) so it is quite possible that another surgeon who is more experienced specifically with the sleeve and sleeve related surgeries may have some other ideas of how to tackle your problem. There are some surgeons out there who routinely perform some very complex revisions (such as converting a problematic RNY to a DS) and this is the type of doc that you would like to consult with, as they would be best able to straighten out your sleeve (and if they concur that an RNY is the best approach for your particular problem, that provides a lot of confidence in deciding to go that route.) I tend to like DS surgeons for sleeve problems as they typically have a lot more experience with the sleeve and correcting sleeve problems (as the sleeve is a part of the DS, most of them have been doing sleeves for over twenty years, while most bariatric surgeons have been doing them part time for 5-10 years, and some less. https://www.dsfacts.com/duodenal-switch-surgeons.php gives a very incomplete listing of DS surgeons, and unfortunately, there aren't any very close to you - NY/NJ/PA area is the closest, but probably worth the effort; most can do initial consults over phone and email. Dr. Roslin in NYC and Dr. Greenbaum in NJ both have good reputations in the DS world for complex revisions. As a side note, the mini bypass isn't often done in the States as US insurance rarely approves it, and it has never been accepted by the ASMBS.

I'm so sorry to hear about all your complications. Can I ask where you and your sister had surgery? You've both had a lot of problems. I had the sleeve in 2011 and then had horrible acid reflux. I revised to the mini bypass because I was told that would fix it. I'm one of the few unfortunate ones that it didn't fix and got way worse. I'm 6 days post op with a revision to rny. So far no complications and no acid reflux. If I were you I'd probably get the rny with a different surgeon than you had the first time. Good luck.

Thank you all for replies so far, up until 6-7 months ago I was health free( apart from the liking of buns!!) I played sport, had/ have a manual 12 hour day job etc. Then I had gullstones!!,since that operation I’ve been out of breath and developed bad reflux!, I’ve had every test regarding my lungs, my bloods are fine, my heart is fine.... but I can’t walk 100 yards without getting out of breath!, the thing is both hospital are doing the same tests, I don’t want cross complications and misunderstandings from both teams!, I’ve got my 1st group talk this Thursday and I’ve got the results of my 2ct scan on Friday so I’ll be asking lots of questions by the end of the week!, thanks again for all your help!, Martin

Hello everyone this is probably going to be long but really could use the input. Nov 2019 I had the gastric sleeve done. Since this I have had nothing but troubles. 10 days after surgery I was admitted due to blood in my belly and a hematoma on my spleen. They fixed that and discharged 3 days later. I have not been able to eat much more then let's say a chicken nugget(less then an ounce of anything including liquids) I got dehydrated was admitted again 29 days post op. Stayed for 12 days got a picc line with tpn since I can not eat or drink much. During this stay had endoscopy and they stretched a stricture lower part of stomach to intestines from 15mm to 25ish mm. Went home no change still not able to eat. Had another endoscopy and stretch this time my stomach was twisted and she tried stretching to 30mm but was only able to get to about 28mm. Went home still no change to eating and drinking. On the 16th of January I had another endoscopy stretch. Stomach was twisted again and was barely able to stretch it at all. I aspirated during the procedure. I woke up to them telling me to keep coughing to get it up. They observed me for 3hrs was on 4liters of oxygen at first then 2. I got up to pee with help my oxygen corrected itself. They said there was no need to keep me I only aspirated a tiny amount. They let me go home (2 hr drive home) I was freezing hole way hubby cranked up heat. Took temp when I got home and found I had a fever of 102.6 went to local er where they did xray and ct found I had developed pneumonia and I also had a pulmonary embolism. They felt I should go back to hospital where this happened and I stayed there for 6 days. 5 days of iv antibiotics and heparin for embolism then discharged on lovonox to continue for 6 months to a yr. I still have no change so now its crunch time it has been 3 months since and cant eat or drink much at all. They want to do another stretch which I would need to come off the lovanox which is putting my life at risk. Not to mention I have had it done 3 times and it has not helped. Also if it doesnt work i would need to have the bypass revision which means 2 procedures putting me at risk 2 times) Surgeon says only other option is revision to bypass(unless he sees scar tissue and can fix. But i have to agree to bypass incase there is no scar tissue or it cant be fixed) My family is up in arms it's hard either way. I dont want anymore procedures but I need to get stomach fixed and I need to get back to work. 3 months no pay we cant take this financially anymore. So for me I feel like they need to do the bypass and I hope for the best and have minimal complications. However the rest of family is worried I will have more complications than I have currently. Plus my sister had bypass and has had to have 15 different repairs(this makes them more worried) I could really use some insight on this what would you do? What do you think I should do?

I had an EGD/colonoscopy as well as low iron and other side issues. They found polyps in my stomach and I was sure they wouldn't go forward. I suppose it's up to each individual surgeon to proceed, but mine approved the surgery with no questions. I am just waiting for the scheduler to call me! But I should say, if you are having a lot of health issues, it might not be the best option to press forward until everything is resolved. You don't want any complications post op. Good luck!

This is my first post. I had my sleeve done on 1/21/20. My weight this morning was 263, so I'm down a total of 44 pounds since my starting weight (in August). I had some cardiac complications the day after surgery so it's been a slow recovery but I'm glad I had the procedure! I'm happy to commiserate/chat. Rachel