Out On The Table

[7 Bites_Jen 479]

This is such a wonderful thread! I am really enjoying seeing the different perspectives and experiences from across the board.

One that that I want to throw in is that there are a lot of people that think sleevers loose all their weight too quickly and reach goal before a year is out - and then keep losing. I am here to say that that is not true at all. I am a year and 5 months out from surgery, have yet to reach goal, and have even completely stalled out here and there.

Also, sleevers CAN dump. I still have dumping after I eat anything with high fructose corn Syrup or a very high fat/grease content. I was actually told prior to surgery that it wouldn't be a problem, but it can be.

And the hunger thing - I get hungry. I get as hungry now as I did before!

Thanks for starting this!

[pear425 32]

I know this is a little late but in case anyone still wanted to know I wanted to let you know about my revision. My surgeon tightened up my pouch by making it smaller as well as making the original opening smaller. Pretty much the same exact procedure just not from scratch. It actually has been incredibly painful this time around and my weight loss is much slower then the first time. So far my loss is about 23lbs at 5 weeks which is about 21% of my excess weight. It's actually really good but hard to see it that way since I lost almost 100 in 5 months in 2005.

[M2G 1,836]

Thanks pear425...is that kind of like the Rose procedure? I'm glad it's working for you, and honestly I just don't think ANYTHING can compare to our original losses when were were a month or two out from surgery. Slow and steady wins the race, eventually.

[☠carolinagirl☠ 18,721]

if we keep going/keep trying, whichever WLS one has, we can/will get there...

[mistysj 1,939]

I was told the same thing about insulin. They went as far as telling me that the sleeve can cure types of diabetes. This I would like to know true or false on

Sorry to post so late on such an old thread. I went into the hospital with pretty mild type 2 diabetes. I had had it for about 7 years. I was managing it extremely well with diet and metformin and my A1C (3-month average blood glucose level, which is measured by counting the number of hemoglobin in a blood sample that is damages by high blood glucose) was always between 5.7 and 6.0. My fasting blood glucose was usually around 5.5 mmol/l (99 mg/dl) which was considered very good for a diabetic.

One of the things that tipped me over the sets to get surgery is that I started sometimes seeing two-hour post-meal glucose readings over 9 mmol/l (162 mg/dl). Not often and not enough to raise my A1C but enough to make me feel worried and insecure. Without surgery I did not have the self control to keep my carb load low enough to ensure this would never happen.

I left the hospital the second day after my surgery. Since my surgery I have never taken metformin and never seen a fasting glucose level over 4.7. I have never seen a two-hour post-meal glucose level over 4.5. This was not a gradual thing but happened immediately after surgery. It may not be permanent. I am almost 8 months post-op now. I eat about 1000 calories a day and have about 100-120 grams of carbs a day.

This is extremely common with the sleeve (which I have), the bypass, and the DS. I don't know about plication but as far as I know it doesn't happen with the band. There are some theories about why it happens and about why it stays around at least for a while. The science is not definite yet.

Why it happens (maybe):

1. You are basically in a fasting state from 8 hours before surgery to two days afterward. Even when you do eat again, the calories and carbs are so low that there is virtually no load on your pancreas.

2. There are tons of hormones and chemicals that get produced in and act on your stomach and intestines. Surgery may temporarily or permanently disrupt some of them.

3. Maybe this happens because your body is in a bit of shock.

Why it stays around at least for a while (maybe): (bandsters would also get this part of it)

1. Your calorie and carb intake stay very low for a significant amount of time. Your Protein intake is probably the highest it has been in your life if you are following the rules. This type of diet makes your cells more responsive to insulin and also reduces the load on your pancreas.

2. Fat produces estrogen, especially belly fat. Even in men. Estrogen and insulin are related. As your estrogen levels get lower, your cells also get more responsive to insulin (less insulin resistant). This means it takes less estrogen to do the job. Less insulin means it is harder to store fat and easier to burn it. This sets up a virtuous cycle.

3. As you lose weight, you are more likely to be physically active. Exercise also makes your cells more sensitive to estrogen!

Having diabetes at all means that your pancreas is not perfect. That is why some people do re-acquire diabetes later on. But any respite is great for your health, and losing weight can also "cure" some type 2 diabetics. If you get it again later, it doesn't mean you did anything wrong. If you don't, you are fortunate.

By the way, bariatric surgery won't ever cure type 1 (autoimmune) diabetes. But it can make heavy type 1s lose weight, and make their bodies less resistant to insulin too. That means they may be able to reduce the amount of insulin they need to use, which means that they may find it easier to stay slim!

[mistysj 1,939]

And also, I "barely" had diabetes if start with but many people with much worse blood sugar control than me seem to reap the benefits of better control without medication or insulin (or with much less) immediately after the sleeve or RNY.

[*Misty*Raine* 192]

when my child gave me his GI cooties (kids are nasty FYI). RNY people can eat normal food and aren't puking all the time.....

I totally lost my drink! I just spit it all over my iPhone!!! That's hysterical! I have always said that if we had all kept our 2nd grade mentality, pus have cooties, then we would be flying solo with no nasty lil creatures pulling on our shirt tales calling us mom! Lmao

[SoccerMomma73 1,867]

I totally lost my drink! I just spit it all over my iPhone!!! That's hysterical! I have always said that if we had all kept our 2nd grade mentality, pus have cooties, then we would be flying solo with no nasty lil creatures pulling on our shirt tales calling us mom! Lmao

woohoo!!!! Any day that I make someone spit out there drink goes down in the record book as a successful day!!! (That it was on your iPhone is just total sparkly bonus!!!)

[CBT 450]

I am sleeved. Of all the things I really like about living with my sleeve, I feel super empowered around choosing my food.

I really, truly know what it is to be disinterested in eating CAKE! lol. Seriously, sometimes I'm curious about why I really don't want to have some ice cream my kids are eating, so I kinda reality test it and take a bite and sure enough, nope. It so freeing to eat by choice. I don't feel hijacked by the carb monster. No sabotage.

There is candy and chocolate and kids carbs in my kitchen. Untouched stocking stuffers. If I want a chocolate kiss, I have one or four and then I'm done. Done. It's amazing. Normal. Healthy. Wellness. Yup. I love my sleeve.

I did quite a few eating and body image measures as part of my psych eval. The psychologist thought that I'd have to remind myself to eat more than most because of how I scored. I really didn't understand hunger. How it felt. She was right. I had to learn to eat by the clock. I do get hungry now. Still it's easy for me to not eat all day and the sleeve restriction would not allow me to make that up at night. I don't want this because I am an athlete and I train hard and I want to eat. I want to protect my heart and vital organs (lean muscle mass).

I choose the sleeve because it's kinda the middle of the road. I talked with my surgeon about all options. She agreed the sleeve is middle of the road. Meaning if I didn't end up where I wanted to be or with the results she set for me, I could get banded or have RNY. I don't for see that now, but felt relieved, in all that failure thinking and anxiety I had back then, that I would still have options.

[CBT 450]

And yes, I often feel sad and frustrated for people who do not have aftercare with their surgical practice. I have follow up for five years with my surgeon. I still work with the endocrinologist, in her practice, every 4 months. He is helping me maximize my fat loss while minimizing my lean muscle loss. She also has a sports physician and a nutritionist. This practice is one more tool that keeps me on track and helps me self-correct if I need to.