I'm just curious, did your sleeve surgeon tell you what he expected you would lose with the surgery?

I had my consult with my doctor this week, and I was kinda surprised by the comments he made. He flat-out said to me "you won't become skinny" and that I'll only have 60% EWL at most. I know he's saying that because he is trying to be realistic, but I thought that was a fairly discouraging thing to say to a new patient. Doesn't my weight loss really depend on the things I do (or don't do) with the sleeve? I was just reading about a guy at OH who lost over 200lbs with the sleeve. I want to be that guy. I don't want to be thinking in my head "okay that's about the limit for loss with a sleeve."

Well HELL -- I couldn't call you OLD WISE ONE anyway ... I'm 4 years older than you ... okay, we'll stick with YOUNG WISE ONE ... I think VERY YOUNG WISE ONE is pushing it a bit at 47 ... :biggrin0:

Regardless, you have been a wealth of knowledge for me during this journey, and I applaud your success ... I hope you stay around for a VERY long time.

VAngel, thank you. A sincere, from the bottom of my heart thank you.

Patient attitude, there are some who go into this with the idea that they spent a lot of money on surgery thus the surgery should do it all. They should be able to eat cake and drink soda and lose weight because they spent $10K.

Really? I actually feel the opposite way. My thought is that this surgery costs a big chunk of money. I'm going to do every single thing I can to maximize the benefits of it. Otherwise, what's the point?

Really? I actually feel the opposite way. My thought is that this surgery costs a big chunk of money. I'm going to do every single thing I can to maximize the benefits of it. Otherwise, what's the point?

I agree completely. I remember an Ortiz patient that was really angry with Ortiz and it was totally not fair. Ortiz did everything right, it was the guy that had the problem. He flat out wrote to me that he was furious, he spent all that money so the surgery should do it for him.

Weird guy.

I am with you, I made the most out of my surgery and I will continue to make the most out of it to maintain.

I hate surgeons who go into this with "realistic" numbers that are incredibly low. I think that's very wrong because it sets people up to settle. I think they do it so you'll feel like a success no matter how little you lose. I think of it as sand-bagging -- picking a goal you know 100% of the people will make instead of setting a stretch goal for each person.

A lot of surgeons are happy if you get to a BMI of under 30 so you are only overweight and not obese though. A lot of my friends post things like "I got to my surgeon's goal at X months and my own goal (always lower) at X+2 months".

My surgeon is NOT like that AT ALL.

We didn't talk goal weight until my 3 week follow-up visit. He told me that my chart showed a range of 130 to 115 lb. and how did I feel about that. I said it was okay. 130 is not a BMI of 30 for me, it's not even 25. It's 24.6. 115 is 21.7! So he's definitely not sand-bagging with my goals. :confused1: Since then, he's thrown out numbers anywhere from 116 to 118.

IMO these are all doable but they are very aggressive. He also had me shoot for 50% EWL at 3 months and 80% at 6 months. Again, aggressive. He also told me at our initial consult that while they officially consider anything under 30 BMI as a "success" that they really prefer people to get under 25 BMI and that there was no reason I couldn't do that. (And there wasn't.)

Some times it puts some pressure on me, but I never would have gotten into triathlons if I had a surgeon who settled. I did that because my surgeon told me my weight loss was slow in the beginning and I needed to exercise more. So I added in more days and then I wanted to do something besides bike every time so I started running. Then, every time my weight loss slowed down, I put in more time at the gym because I really wanted to get to that magic 50% for my 3 month check-up. So the next thing you know... I am athlete!

I will be 118 at my next check-up (assuming I don't swell up like a balloon from TOM, that is). So I will definitely be within the range in my chart and in the range of the numbers he's been quoting lately. I wonder if he'll want me to go lower or tell me I really need to stop.

Edited June 6, 200917 yr by MacMadame

Ask your surgeon how his other sleever did/doing. :thumbup: Ask to speak to his post op sleevers. You may be able to determine if he is just presenting the worse possible outcome.

Good Luck!

Or he might be making too big of a bougie and his patients can eat too much.

I hate surgeons who go into this with "realistic" numbers that are incredibly low. I think that's very wrong because it sets people up to settle. I think they do it so you'll feel like a success no matter how little you lose. I think of it as sand-bagging -- picking a goal you know 100% of the people will make instead of setting a stretch goal for each person.

A lot of surgeons are happy if you get to a BMI of under 30 so you are only overweight and not obese though. A lot of my friends post things like "I got to my surgeon's goal at X months and my own goal (always lower) at X+2 months".

My surgeon is NOT like that AT ALL.

We didn't talk goal weight until my 3 week follow-up visit. He told me that my chart showed a range of 130 to 115 lb. and how did I feel about that. I said it was okay. 130 is not a BMI of 30 for me, it's not even 25. It's 24.6. 115 is 21.7! So he's definitely not sand-bagging with my goals. :thumbup: Since then, he's thrown out numbers anywhere from 116 to 118.

IMO these are all doable but they are very aggressive. He also had me shoot for 50% EWL at 3 months and 80% at 6 months. Again, aggressive. He also told me at our initial consult that while they officially consider anything under 30 BMI as a "success" that they really prefer people to get under 25 BMI and that there was no reason I couldn't do that. (And there wasn't.)

Some times it puts some pressure on me, but I never would have gotten into triathlons if I had a surgeon who settled. I did that because my surgeon told me my weight loss was slow in the beginning and I needed to exercise more. So I added in more days and then I wanted to do something besides bike every time so I started running. Then, every time my weight loss slowed down, I put in more time at the gym because I really wanted to get to that magic 50% for my 3 month check-up. So the next thing you know... I am athlete!

I will be 118 at my next check-up (assuming I don't swell up like a balloon from TOM, that is). So I will definitely be within the range in my chart and in the range of the numbers he's been quoting lately. I wonder if he'll want me to go lower or tell me I really need to stop.

It sounds like you got a crush! LOL.

Or he might be making too big of a bougie and his patients can eat too much.

It's much more about technique than bougie size. Remember, the TJ surgeon that uses a 32F and her patients can (and did) eat an entire chicken breast three weeks post op. I am a year post op and I can't eat that much.

It sounds like you got a crush! LOL.

You are just now noticing? Heh...

We love you Mac!

I'm just lucky that I get along with my surgeon and we have compatible styles as patient and doctor. It's not as important with other types of surgery. The surgeon is in and out. But with bariatric surgery, you end up in a long-term relationship and not getting along with your surgeon can really hamper your efforts.

I know people who can't stand their surgeon (and sometimes their surgeon is *my* surgeon :thumbup:) and they never go back for follow-up and that's bad. Or they don't listen to what the surgeon is telling them, either because he's lame (doesn't keep up with the latest research or gives bad advice) or because they clash in their styles.

So when you newbies are out there picking your surgeons, make sure you pick one (and a program too) that you can have a good, compatible relationship with!

I'm just lucky that I get along with my surgeon and we have compatible styles as patient and doctor. It's not as important with other types of surgery. The surgeon is in and out. But with bariatric surgery, you end up in a long-term relationship and not getting along with your surgeon can really hamper your efforts.

I know people who can't stand their surgeon (and sometimes their surgeon is *my* surgeon :thumbup:) and they never go back for follow-up and that's bad. Or they don't listen to what the surgeon is telling them, either because he's lame (doesn't keep up with the latest research or gives bad advice) or because they clash in their styles.

So when you newbies are out there picking your surgeons, make sure you pick one (and a program too) that you can have a good, compatible relationship with!

Agreed. I'm a fan of my surgeon too, he's been there for me through all the band issues and fixed everything when he did my sleeve. He's great!

This would have been really hard without a supportive doc and someone making sure I was being honest with myself about all kinds of issues. He's honest with me, he doesn't BS me, he's a sweetie but more important I can be honest with him... and most of the time I am. ;o) So I agree, you have to find the right match.

Congrats on your anniversary WASa! You are truley an inspiration for us all!

I really love how my surgeon presented the expected weight loss to us - he said "this is the expected for the GB, this is the expected for the band, then here in the middle is the expected for the sleeve." He continued with "these are based on averages of people involved in a study - just like each of you has chosen a different surgery (there were 3 of us in the room, all different surgeries), you choose your weight loss goal as well. Any of you can lose as little or as much as you want- it just takes work."

Any of you can lose as little or as much as you want- it just takes work."

Exactly!

And congrats, Wasa. It doesn't seem like it's been that long.

for me my insurance is requiring that I lose 10% of my weight to for approval. im currently struggling to make it.