Hi All!

I wanted to start a thread for African-American sleevers (no worries I HEART all sleevers from the rainbow). I just thought, no scientific proof, that African-American sleevers may respond to the surgery different than our lovely non-African American sleeved sisters and brothers. I wanted to know if we had the same skin issue, hair problems, and other surgery related issues. Also, how to deal with the culture shock. African-American "soul food" may be something of the past... or not. So I was just looking for a space to voice culture related issues and concens.

PS- I TRULY :heart: ALL SLEEVERS.

Many patients lose some hair but there are no bald WLS patients unless it's by choice. Hair loss happens to some, then it slows and stops and grows back. A protective style seems to help a lot, so you're not manipulating it a lot. Twists, braids, buns etc. Keep it moisturized!

I'll be two years sleeved in about 6 weeks from now. I can say that I never had any issues with acid reflux post surgery or even before surgery. Early on I had issues with puking, but I think that was more due to the fact that I had both a sinus infection and Strep throat post surgery that made those conditions happen. I have heard of some people having experice with gerd from the sleeve but not many.

Hello all, I've been lurking and lurking.. Well I want to know. I was all up for RNY until I went to the seminar, I switched to the sleeve and I'm thinking that's the best decision no rerouting of intestines less complications etc. But he never mentioned GERD!! I do not have any acid reflux whatsoever, but I don't want to deal with that it's making me want to back out altogether. But I've never wanted something this bad in my life I'm 26 years old, I want to enjoy the rest of my twenties slimmer I've been fat my whole entire life.. I'm tired! Does every experience gerd with the sleeve? I'm not getting and don't want rny ...

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I just want to say you killing it!! You look awesome! I've been seeing you across the forums..

And thank you for the input, all my energy and research was into the rny until about two weeks ago. I'm just finding out about this acid reflux. I'm definitely not digging that.. But two years post op and complications.. Blessing!!

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I meant two years post op and you have no complications . and one more question, would you do it all over again? Was it worth it? Beside the of course weight loss and looking and feeling better, the emotional and psychological part about it, and of course side effects of the surgery??

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Thank you for the compliment. I truly do appreciate it. As for if I would do the surgery again, yes I would. Even though I didn't suffer from GERD or acid reflux, and instead of hair loss, I got body hair growth, I did have memory complications post surgery. It was ruled to be caused by the general anesthesia that I was under during the sleeve procedure. It took the better part 10/12 months for my memory to come back to the level that it was at pre-surgery. That's the main part about this surgery that personally suck for me. So if I could do it again and avoid the memory loss then without a shadow of a doubt I would do it. But if knowing that I would suffer from the short term memory loss stuff again I would have been for a long time about what I need to go through the surgery or not. Because the memory issues did have some effects on my everyday life from my job performance even the relationships that I was and during that timeframe.

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Is this thread active any more or is there a group people use now? I'm nearing the end of my process, just waiting on a date.

11 hours ago, blerdymermaid said:

Is this thread active any more or is there a group people use now? I'm nearing the end of my process, just waiting on a date.

It can be active again. What is is that you want to know.

On 6/26/2017 at 3:19 AM, blerdymermaid said:

Is this thread active any more or is there a group people use now? I'm nearing the end of my process, just waiting on a date.

If people post in here, we respond.

I'd love it to be active. I'm 3 years out and just want to know how others are doing. Are you maintaining? What have you found that still helps or not. How do you reset? How has your hair grown back lol...

i wish it was more active as well xoxo. i just reached 9 mos post op....im about 10-15 lb from goal

Did any of yalls incision scars keloid? I've never had a scar do it before but I'm not sure if it's possible since I don't seem to be prone to it. Also, if you lost any hair did it come back the same way? My mom lost some hair after her sleeve but she's permed and I'm natural so I don't know if her texture changed at all.

I will be five years out in December. Living my VERY BEST life. I am 139lbs down. I weigh 133.9 (started at 273). I write books, I travel, I live well. All is well over here!

15 hours ago, 6'1Mommy said:

I'd love it to be active. I'm 3 years out and just want to know how others are doing. Are you maintaining? What have you found that still helps or not. How do you reset? How has your hair grown back lol...

11 hours ago, blerdymermaid said:

Did any of yalls incision scars keloid? I've never had a scar do it before but I'm not sure if it's possible since I don't seem to be prone to it. Also, if you lost any hair did it come back the same way? My mom lost some hair after her sleeve but she's permed and I'm natural so I don't know if her texture changed at all.

My hair grew back the same but I was always permed. I lost my "edges" and my hair grows slowly. As well my face is much thinner now so long hair looks weird on me. I wore a wig while my hair grew back, then I cut it short and keep it cut as it is easier to maintain. It does grow back though.

My scars did not keloid. In fact they have faded so much you can't see them. Surgeon did a great job on the incisions.

9 hours ago, TheCurvyJones said:

My hair grew back the same but I was always permed. I lost my "edges" and my hair grows slowly. As well my face is much thinner now so long hair looks weird on me. I wore a wig while my hair grew back, then I cut it short and keep it cut as it is easier to maintain. It does grow back though.

My scars did not keloid. In fact they have faded so much you can't see them. Surgeon did a great job on the incisions.

I'm almost 3 years out. I have small keloid scaring on one of my 3 incisions but nothing too crazy. I guess since I am a guy the hair issue is a non-issue for me. In fact I've gained more body hair growth post surgery than I did before surgery. As the TheCurvyJones said, with this time out most of my scars are virtually gone. I remember when I first had the surgery my two top incisions were about 20 inches a part. Now they are less than 5 inches a part. That lets me know how much progress I have made, especially on days where the scale wants to be my enemy instead of my friend.

On 6/27/2017 at 7:41 PM, 6'1Mommy said:

I'd love it to be active. I'm 3 years out and just want to know how others are doing. Are you maintaining? What have you found that still helps or not. How do you reset? How has your hair grown back lol...

I am doing fine. Trying to get into my muscle bulking phase which requires lifting more weights and consuming a lot more protein than I have been post surgery. I find that I can tolerate a lot of things now that I couldn't year 1 and 2 post surgery. But now as we are nearing year 2, things are a bit easier, which can be dangerous if you don't have good will power and a better frame of mind when dealing with food, eating and worse, social eating.

20 hours ago, blerdymermaid said:

Did any of yalls incision scars keloid? I've never had a scar do it before but I'm not sure if it's possible since I don't seem to be prone to it. Also, if you lost any hair did it come back the same way? My mom lost some hair after her sleeve but she's permed and I'm natural so I don't know if her texture changed at all.

I have never had a keloid. My scars did not keloid and you can barely see them. I can only pick them out because I know exactly where they are.

My hair shed but all of the shedding was not due to WLS or losing weight. I'm prone to anemia and if my iron slips just a little, my hair sheds. It also sheds with stress, and my business is very stressful. My hair is growing and filling in very fast this year. I wear wigs anyway so it doesn't matter to me. I like wearing wigs because they support a more active lifestyle. I keep my hair braided so I don't have to care about it for exercise and I wear wigs when I go places. I really love it. I'm also natural so wearing wigs allows me to many more styles than I would normally.

Any time you take a lot of vitamins it can cause a texture change in your hair for some people but not all. My hair is like a #4 but if I am really pounding iron, it will go to a 1B (not talking texture but color), my texture stays the same.

Edited June 29, 20179 yr by OutsideMatchInside

I'm natural so I notice the shedding, but no one else did. I too wear wigs. My edges still concern me though. My incisions are almost non existing. My surgeon was good as well. I need to gain more muscle because my thighs are no where as near toned as they used to be. I still won't wear shorts.

About four months out my edges on the right side of my head thinned out really really bad.... I wore wigs or full sew-ins to hide it, but now I'm about a 15 months out and my edges are back.

Hello all, I've been lurking and lurking.. Well I want to know. I was all up for RNY until I went to the seminar, I switched to the sleeve and I'm thinking that's the best decision no rerouting of intestines less complications etc. But he never mentioned GERD!! I do not have any acid reflux whatsoever, but I don't want to deal with that it's making me want to back out altogether. But I've never wanted something this bad in my life I'm 26 years old, I want to enjoy the rest of my twenties slimmer I've been fat my whole entire life.. I'm tired! Does every experience gerd with the sleeve? I'm not getting and don't want rny ...
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I was sleeved on 6/1/17 & other than the gas monster after surgery I have been pain free with zero indigestion. I was truly afraid pre surgery but now I'm 6 weeks out and I feel like a million bucks[emoji6]
HW: 250
SW: 246
Cw: 219
Gw: 180


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