Hey everyone I got the sleeve at 154# and I have only lost like 15#. I want to get to 120#.

I just had the surgery 1 month ago. Did you guys keep loosing after one month? I guess I thought it was gonna be faster than this! I guess since I didn´t have that much to loose it may be slower? Can some of u pitch in some thoughts on this since I can´t make up my mind. I haven´t lost more weight recently and I have been able to eat a bit more so I am loosing hope. Any suggestions or comments?

1. God' date=' is that you? No? Then what makes you think that you know what anybodies motivations are for this surgery.

2. Please refrain from making completely false statements. I've never heard of anybody losing their stomach due to a tummy tuck or a boob job. Neither have I heard of anybody losing their life from complications in cosmetic surgery.[/quote']

actually people have lost their life in cosmetic surgeries, typically from heart failure (issues with anesthesia) and due to infection, but the danger rates dont compare to the sleeve rates.

even self esteem is a health (mental) reason btw

I see so may posts that state the the sleeve "is just a tool". I think it does actually "teach" you a healthier way of living by the mere fact that you are incapable of eating large amounts of food. If you do, lots of bad things happen. So you learn to modify your eating habits to prevent those bad things...lol..... Negative Reinforcement Training!!! I personally think it's genius.... since I was a kid I used think, if only there was a way that if I ate too much I'd get sick. I used to think it that I'd like to have a disease that would require drastic treatment so that I could not eat. I was a kid when I was wishing for a disease that would require chemo so I would be incapable of eating. I'd like to tell you that I want this surgery for health reasons but if I'm completely honest I'll tell you that the primary reason is I just want to look normal. Vanity and being able to do things that I've never been willing or able to do because of fat is the real reason I am here. My health is secondary and an added benefit. Of course this is just me. I know there are many people who are doing it for health reasons. For me, I'm here for my MENTAL HEALTH.

This made me wonder about some actual statistics or other information. Taking a stroll through the interwebs. I could have added tons more' date=' but I really wasn't enjoying searching about it very much.

Mortality < 0.1 %

Olivia Goldsmith, author of 'The First Wives' Club,' died having cosmetic surgery.

Donda West mother of Kanye West, 58, died following a series of plastic surgeries, including a breast reduction, liposuction, and a tummy tuck.

Breast

Julie Rubenzer

Butt

Solange Magnano, 37

Face Lift

Calthleen Kreghan, 42

Donna Ames, 49

Sandy Leach, 55[/quote']

I don't dispute that people have died both during & post cosmetic surgeries. But were their deaths a result of a reaction to anesthesia or untreated infections, or were they a result of the procedure itself?

My best friend gets put under everytime he has his teeth cleaned. If he were to die due to a reaction to the anesthesia nobody would say he died due to teeth cleaning.

An allergic reaction to anesthesia and pulmonary embolism are two of the biggies that can happen to anyone regardless of surgical procedure. Due to the nature of the surgery, the risk may be higher or lower. Having a lap band and having a breast reduction can both result in death from the two results listed.

I dont get it i thought this place was a support forum. Anybody who has had a sleeve would know that there is nothing easy about it. I really think that a sleeve.surgery like a band should not be reserved for obese people only. Anybody that says they are doing this procesure for health reasons only is a lie. The risks of WLS are no different than a boob job or a tummy tuck. Ladies we must come to terms that in a couple of years this procedure will be available to a bigger market. Remember ladies the sleeve will teach you to eat healthier. We live in a time where america does not know what health eating is. Supermodel i hope you dont get discourage.

I have to disagree on a few points.

1. This is a forum. You can find support here, but you can also find discussion and disagreement. Thank God for that. I've learn a lot and even learned a bit from the OP of this thread.

2. Purely cosmetic bariatric surgery for people of normal weight that want a tool to help them starve themselves? I do understand using the sleeve and a revised surgery, but not for people not in proven need of it. I still believe this is last resort territory. We all signed on with the possibility of living with complications and a forever altered gut and in the case of malabsorptive procedures - a life of daily supplements and a very special diet.

How many people in for the 90 pound supermodel body are going to eat right and make a commitment or will they continue on with poor eating, alcohol and amphetamine use that goes with the culture. Sorry, but obese people have to make a commitment to fix their head and get healthy.

Sure, people can do whatever they want as long as I don't have to pay for it. I'll be in the insurance pool with someone who want to get healthier, but I'm simply not paying for someone's self-esteem. Just as in cosmetic procedures, there is potential for abuse. I mean, why not just take out the stomach altogether and live on IV fluids? Yes, people do this at least short term for now. Excuse me, but this is SICK!

http://articles.nyda...des-nasogastric

and finally

3. The sleeve does not teach you to eat healthier. That is the commitment I was talking about. It is a tool for restriction only and with the right (or wrong) mindset you can easily eat around it or develop other addictions to replace food. I've talked with so many that replaced dumping alcohol down their gullets instead of food and have ended up right back in the super obese category.

A lot of the above is IMO of course.

I see so may posts that state the the sleeve "is just a tool". I think it does actually "teach" you a healthier way of living by the mere fact that you are incapable of eating large amounts of food. If you do' date=' lots of bad things happen. So you learn to modify your eating habits to prevent those bad things...lol..... Negative Reinforcement Training!!! ....[/quote']

Dana, the best the sleeve can offer you is decreased capacity for food. But people with eating compulsions, just like any other obsessive compulsive, will find a way around the barrier that the sleeve provides. When I think back to some of the crap I ate in the past, particularly ice cream and chocolate candy (often together), I'm sure I could eat way too much of that food even now.

A large butterfinger blizzard from Dairy Queen is only about 18 oz, but 1000 calories and 150 carbs (sugar). That would be no more difficult than drinking a Protein Shake. Many people who are 6 or months post op could easily drink that much in an hour or less. This is not an extreme example. This is the kind of temptation that everyone must face day in day out. That is why it's so important to come to grips with your food issues before surgery and learn new healthier eating habits after surgery.

When you say "learn to modify up your eating habits to prevent those bad things...." you are correct. But people can modify their eating habits in unhealthy ways. I've read it many times on the lapband forum. Lapband patients would feel a very tight restriction when they ate too much solid Protein or fibrous foods, to the point that is was uncomfortable. So they stayed away from those foods and ate more sliders because it felt better. The lapband forum is full of stories like that.

Wow, this thread is tackling lots of interesting issues!! Great discussions!

I want to second what BTB said about slider foods. I realize now, with the education from my NUT, here, and my research, that even though I didn't have a lapband, I WAS eating only slider foods. I was on medicine that hurt my tummy and it was so much easier to fill up on 7-up and mashed potatoes rather than broccoli & fish. I suspect that is why I have to stay away from carbs now. Can anyone say Comfort Foods? Most of us ate those pre-surgery.

Oh, and Catracks, you wrote exactly what i've been thinking. Every word. Couldn't have said it better myself.

Remember Butterthebean's experiment with potato chips? He put them in a food processor and learned that you could eat quite a lot of potato chips before feeling the restriction. I remember that Lays were the worst. They turned into a soggy grease ball.

Oh yeah! Gross!!!! I think I was pre-sur or had just had it. I still don't crave chips thanks to BTB!!

Remember Butterthebean's experiment with potato chips? He put them in a food processor and learned that you could eat quite a lot of potato chips before feeling the restriction. I remember that Lays were the worst. They turned into a soggy grease ball.

Gives me the quivers just thinking about them.

For anyone that missed it' date=' here's a family sized bag of lays potato chips crunched up into a measuring cup. This is how easily it would fit in your sleeve...probably easier because if you chewed it up the saliva and stomach acids would break it down much further.

. Neither have I heard of anybody losing their life from complications in cosmetic surgery.

There are quite a few who have. Kanye Wests mother (forgive me if I've got the wrong one, it's early, and my brain is still warming up) died shortly afterwards from complications.

There are quite a few who have. Kanye Wests mother (forgive me if I've got the wrong one' date=' it's early, and my brain is still warming up) died shortly afterwards from complications.[/quote']

What was the complication that caused it?

Hello everyone! Why are you coming down so harshly on someone who only had a start weight of 154?? You do not know all of her/his stats and medical condition and it is not fair to jump to conclusions. Just because someone is not morbidly obese does not mean they are not entitled to better themselves and better their health. Lighten up and Celebrate the fact that someone is taking the steps to have a better life for themselves, regardless!!!

I think they are responding to some very real concernes...and I would be curious to know who her doctor was.

There are always going to be times you are confronted with being asked questions without knowing all the facts, and you have to decide how you will react.

I chose to react in saying your face looks extremely thin, and given some of your verbage in other topics, starting weight and , yes, even the online name chosen, please...make sure you need to lose more weight.