NY - NYC/Long Island

[gowalking 10,790]

It was nice to meet you all as well! Thank you for getting everyone together.

PS - I got my news this morning: I'm officially approved!

Fantastic! Great news!

[Postop 405]

Congrats! And thanks for a good meeting, everyone.

It was nice to meet you all as well! Thank you for getting everyone together.

PS - I got my news this morning: I'm officially approved!

Edited January 12, 2015 by Postop

[lisacaron 5,075]

I wanted to thank you all for braving the cold the subway and NYC traffic to come and sit a spell with us!! I was very happy to meet you all and you have inspired and reinvigorated me again!!

I think I might even go to the gym tonight even though my poor legs and arm have about 2 colors of the rainbow appearing after my spill up the stairs! What a klutz!

I'm drinking my "fake" food as my boss calls it in the form a Protein Shake gearing up for a good work out hopefully I won't be too sore

Very excited for you @@BloomingLotus please keep in touch with us here and let us know how you are doing!!

[gowalking 10,790]

Attached, please see pics of an off white 100% silk skirt suit, size 16. A 100% wool gray shell and jacket, also size 16. Last...a full length gown with beaded embellishments in purple, size 20. If anyone is interested, let me know. One more thing...I'm short so unless you are under 5' 4", they may be too short for you.

[thesuse2000 698]

Congrats BloomingLotus!!

It was great to meet everyone! Great discussions.

[Coribellla 0]

Hi - I just registered & this is my first posting. Im hoping I'm hoping to get some feedback here.. Im so very confused! Im actually scheduled to have lap band surgery tomorrow! I was originally going to get band then switched to the sleeve and back to the band! I did so much over reading about the band that i now want to get the sleeve again!! Im almost for sure its the sleeve or nothing. Readings about the band made me realize it wasnt for me.

Can some of you please share your experience with the type of surgery you had and what kind of experience you had and still having.

Thanks.

Cori

[gowalking 10,790]

Hi Cori. This is a small forum for folks involved in the support group. Can I suggest you post this on a larger forum where more people will see it and give you feedback? You can post in either the lapband or sleeve area...or even the general weight loss forum.

Good luck.

[thesuse2000 698]

Hi Cori,

Wow - you're in quite a situation! My feeling is that it doesn't feel right for you to jump into either surgery tomorrow without having time to really think it through with a level head and consider the pros and cons and what's best for you. Surgery is such a big deal and you need to be well-prepared in every way.

With that big caveat, I'll share some thoughts. The lap band is a safer surgery - significantly lower deaths in the first month after surgery vs the sleeve - about 1 in 2000 for the band vs 1 in 500 for sleeve (these are just sample stats; every study is a little different). Weight loss with the sleeve is a little higher on average, not sure this is exactly right, but I think average weight loss for sleeve is about 60% of excess weight vs about 50% for the band. I'm not sure what the exact stats are, but I think close to 50% of people with bands eventually require another surgery to either fix something with the band or revise to another surgery. I've also seen many reports from people (like me) who converted from band to sleeve that the eating experience is much better with the sleeve.

These are just a few pros and cons I can think of in terms of averages experiences. For me, I loved my band for the first 6 months or so. I lost 70 pounds and felt a huge change in my hunger making it very comfortable for me to stick to a plan. But then my band slipped and all went downhill fast. I had a revision surgery which for some reason didn't fix my night reflux issues. I went back and forth with fills and unfills, but ended up with it unfilled. My hunger came back with a vengeance. I struggled and had ups and downs, but in the end over 5 years I gained the 70 back - plus a few more. I revised to sleeve last summer and now I'm slimmer than I've ever been as an adult! 91 down from my highest.

My sister got the band the same day as me. She's shorter than me and wasn't as heavy, but she lost about 40 pounds and pretty much kept it off for the last 6 years. But she started having issues recently and had to have the band loosened and has gained a little back, and is contemplating revising to sleeve as well.

Gowalking has been tremendously successful with her band! And so has Alex Brecher.

This thread may be helpful:

http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/329363-why-did-you-choose-your-specific-type-of-weight-loss-surgery/page-6?hl=%2Bband+%2Bsleeve#entry3729353

Wishing you the best! And I agree wih Gowalking that you should post in the main discussion rooms - start a new thread.

[Alora VSG Begonia 53]

Hi all, I've been lurking for a few weeks and finally made an account. I had my appt at NYU Langone with Dr. Schwack yesterday and hopefully I'll be approved for gastric sleeve in late June or July (my insurance requires 6 months of weigh-ins unfortunately.) Hope to get to know everyone either online or offline in the coming months and year. :-)

[Jyoyonomore 319]

Hi all, I've been lurking for a few weeks and finally made an account. I had my appt at NYU Langone with Dr. Schwack yesterday and hopefully I'll be approved for gastric sleeve in late June or July (my insurance requires 6 months of weigh-ins unfortunately.) Hope to get to know everyone either online or offline in the coming months and year. :-)

@Debranua. I had my VSG surgery @ NYU Langone with Dr Christine Ren in October and I couldn't be happier with my decision. Dr Ren is excellent and the officer staff are great. My surgery was uneventful but it helped a lot that the nursing staff at Langone were so professional and caring.

I started my journey last March and went thru the 6 months of visits with my primary doctor I remember feeling like it would take forever but before I knew it we were submitting to my insurance for approval and they did on the first try. I just went in last week for my 3 month Followup appointment and all my blood work was good and I feel great. I eat about 3/4 cup of food at one time and have 3 meals a day and maybe a snack of a great yogurt. I 've loss 55lbs since my surgery and dropped 4 pant sizes.

I exercise mostly walking 4 miles 4 or more times a week. All the snow has been a challenge with my exercise.

I come up with more reasons to delay exercising but I know that the answer to long term maintenance is exercise and getting my Water in. Your suppose to get 64 ounces in but I usually get 48 to 54 ounces a day. I think I'll do better when it gets warmer

Good luck with your journey I hope you'll be as happy as I am with your decision.

[chubbsey1 126]

I have my surgery scheduled with Dr. Christine Ren on the 17th.

[gowalking 10,790]

I have my surgery scheduled with Dr. Christine Ren on the 17th.

Dr. Ren did my lapband surgery. You are in good hands.

[chubbsey1 126]

^^^ Thank you go walking, she was recommended by my PCP but I hadn't heard from actual patients up until now.

[thesuse2000 698]

Welcome to the new folks! I've had an overall positive experience at nyu. Wishing you both the best.

[Slimsoon1988 123]

How can I get info on when this group meets? I would like to attend a meeting one day!