Gastric Sleeve Experts... Please Chime In!

[lillita 18]

You are an inspiration to us all!! It is so easy to feel defeated after so many years of defeat. It doesn't take much for me to think, this isn't going to work... Then I visit the doctor and realize -- wait, it is working... Little by little... Every day it is hard.. Even though I have lost the weight of my toddler, inside I feel like I still weigh the same. Isn't that horrible?

I lost all my weight and then some so the "norm" is not always the case. I followed the rules to get to goal quickly and wanted to worry about maintenance when I got there. I've been easily maintaining my current for over 6 months with the sleeve.

[Tiffykins 672]

I only have safari on a MAC and wasn't able to open it.. Is there another way?

When I plug it into my Firefox, it tells me it has to be in IE. You might be able to visit http://www.lapsf.com/ and see if they have the presentation on that site.

I googled it, and looked on youtube.com with no luck in finding another venue to view the presentation.

I'm sorry ;(

[Tiffykins 672]

You are an inspiration to us all!! It is so easy to feel defeated after so many years of defeat. It doesn't take much for me to think, this isn't going to work... Then I visit the doctor and realize -- wait, it is working... Little by little... Every day it is hard.. Even though I have lost the weight of my toddler, inside I feel like I still weigh the same. Isn't that horrible?

It's not horrible to feel that way. I still felt huge after I had dropped 80lbs, so you aren't alone. Thank you for your kind words, you'll get there, just keep doing what you're doing, and don't give up on yourself.

[lillita 18]

Thank you so much!! Just out of curiosity... how much did you lose , how much did you have to lose, and how long did it take you to lose it?

It's not horrible to feel that way. I still felt huge after I had dropped 80lbs, so you aren't alone. Thank you for your kind words, you'll get there, just keep doing what you're doing, and don't give up on yourself.

[emme2009 4]

I met with a nurse today (having surgery next week!). She said "average" for the first month is 5-10 lbs....BUT then she said most people she sees far exceed that the first month. So...it is JUST averages. Don't get discouraged.

I heard the average for the first month is 15-20 and 5-10 for each month following.

This is a great chart to track your EWL%: http://www.thinnerself.com/files/Expect_Chart.htm

[feedyoureye 3,087]

Here is a presentation from 2008 from Dr. Cirangle with some 5 year stats:

2008 Cirangle Presentation

If the link doesn't work, let me know. You have to run the link in Internet Explorer. It will not work with Firefox.

me too:^(

[mboski 4]

I lost all my weight and then some so the "norm" is not always the case. I followed the rules to get to goal quickly and wanted to worry about maintenance when I got there. I've been easily maintaining my current for over 6 months with the sleeve.

WOW.....this new picture of you is gorgeous. You are such an inspiration. I bet your husband hasn't left you alone one night since he got home

[sleeve 4 me 910]

EVERYONE is DIFFERENT! I only lost 10 pounds the first month, while someone else I know lost 20 the first week.

[Tiffykins 672]

Thank you so much!! Just out of curiosity... how much did you lose , how much did you have to lose, and how long did it take you to lose it?

I started with the band at 270, the day of my revision I was 263, my initial goal weight was 150lbs, and I hit goal in 6.5 months weighing 148lbs. I continued to lose for another 4 months and my body has settled at around 125lbs. My total loss with the sleeve alone is 138lbs in 10.5 months.

[lillita 18]

That is amazing! Congrats! I hope to be in your shoes by next year!! It is really HARD to picture myself that thin! I keep praying to GOD that this tool doesn't give up on me!

By the way, hair loss-- At the end of the 3rd month and now in my fourth I am losing sooooooo much hair. They told me that was normal but I am so afraid of losing it all. Did that happen to anyone? I am taking Biotin but haven't seen a difference. Although my husband says he didn't marry me for my locks (LOL) but I am worried that I am going to end up BALD!

I started with the band at 270, the day of my revision I was 263, my initial goal weight was 150lbs, and I hit goal in 6.5 months weighing 148lbs. I continued to lose for another 4 months and my body has settled at around 125lbs. My total loss with the sleeve alone is 138lbs in 10.5 months.

[Tiffykins 672]

That is amazing! Congrats! I hope to be in your shoes by next year!! It is really HARD to picture myself that thin! I keep praying to GOD that this tool doesn't give up on me!

By the way, hair loss-- At the end of the 3rd month and now in my fourth I am losing sooooooo much hair. They told me that was normal but I am so afraid of losing it all. Did that happen to anyone? I am taking Biotin but haven't seen a difference. Although my husband says he didn't marry me for my locks (LOL) but I am worried that I am going to end up BALD!

Lost half of my hair in volume, and it grows back. I started losing at 3.5 months post-op and it lasted a solid 3 months. I never took Biotin as I am not one for taking pills, and really it isn't going to slow down the loss. All is does is help with regrowth. I used Folicure extra care Shampoo every other day, and Nexxus dualiste anti-breakage shampoo and conditioner on the other days. I have tons of new growth, and my hair is coming back. I also avoided heat styling, and coloring/highlighting during those shedding months. It's perfectly normal, and just know that your hair will grow back in. Funny thing for my hair, is that pre-op, I had super wavy, almost curly hair, now the new growth is stick straight, and I have to use volumizing products to get my hair to look really great.

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,280]

This is a really great thread. Thanks to all who have provided some great studies and information this far. I'm going to pin this at the top - I think it will represent a lot on what to expect for ourselves, rather than what others expect of us.

Aim high! (Or should I say low... lol)

[BlackBerryJuice 349]

I saw an obesity specialist about a possible research project the other day and he said the average weight loss with VSG is only 33% of excess weight. Well, I'm 3 months out and I've lost over 50% even if you want to be really radical and peg my goal weight at 130-135 or so (I'm aiming for 140-145).

[pumpkin07 32]

I am sort of a numbers person, and I notice you can't say 10 lbs, it depends how much excess weight a person has to lose. The greater the excess, the higher the number of pounds each month. I observed that I lost half of my excess at 3.5 months, and most people seem to be at that same point bt 3-4 months. But after that it did slow down for me. I lost 10 lb a month at first, like during that time, then 5 lb for 3-4 months, now I think 2-3 lb. It keeps cutting in half. I notice the number of lbs each month keep going down as I get closer to my goal. So now it seems like to get off the last 20+ lbs I will really need to develop some discipline and work out.

But heh, I don't count cals, carbs, exercise. I'm just Proteins first, light sugar, not a lot of fried stuff, a lot of liquids like tea, coffee, my steady cherry koolaid. Some of you diet the whole way, work out, etc. I'm so proud of all you people. Makes me feel like a bumb.

But with clothes now I guess I look pretty good. But no one has said "you don't need to lose any more weight". I'm still a lil pudgy.

If the surgery is done correctly I honestly have trouble understanding how people could not lose weight. I would be curious why that would be. But then again, I'm having a lil difficulty getting off those last 25lb. Fish Soup is going to be my friend...

[Filosophia Scandinavia 1]

I am not an expert - and I have no personal experience, since I havent been operated yet.

But I find this article from "Obesity Surgery" November issue 2010 interesting:

http://springerlink.com/content/324166mqk175v7m8/

Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Versus Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy for the Treatment of Morbid Obesity. A Prospective Study of 117 Patients

".....One year after surgery, average excess weight loss was 86% in LRYGB and 78.8% in LSG (p > 0.05)..... "

But when you read all the details, you can se, that if you BMI is higher than 45, the weight loss % of the extra weight becomes less than 78.8% - just like presented earlier in the thread. I know, that the 60% is used on websites. My surgeon told me, that these "better" stats have almost just been published, and that surgeons on the congresses are talking about these good new outcomes. Better weight loss than the 60-65% they expected.

Se also this link

http://www.springerlink.com/content/xtg6817825373856/

Early and Mid-term Outcomes of Single-Stage Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy

And I think, that people who feel they have failed this operation, more likely will not post as much here on this site. Unfortunately. But I do not know? Just my little theory..