I was sleeved on 12/18/17. After having the surgery I had pain for about 3 weeks but noticed that I had little to no trouble meeting my liquid and protein goals. I mentioned to my surgery center that I was really worried by how much I could eat and that maybe my sleeve was not restricting me the way it should. They were also concerned after listening to me and want me to come in for an upper GI x-ray on Friday. Has anyone had this experience? Did anyone have to have the procedure again because there was not enough removed the first time? I'm really freaked out about it. Thanks.

4 hours ago, Toomanytacos said:

But to get the accurate measure of oz weight for food is a food scale right?

Yes, unless you are a math wiz and have food densities memorized the easiest way is to just use a good quality kitchen scale.

TooManyTacos, you use your weight the day of surgery 321, minus your goal 170.....so your excess weight on the day of surgery was 151 pounds. 18% of 151 is about 27 pounds....so the average weight loss for someone your height and weight...would be about 27 pounds in the first month. (but again, some lose more, some lose less...we're talking average)

If you have an Average experience (and remember that people vary!)....at 6 months, you will have lost 50% of your excess weight....or about 75 pounds....bringing your weight down to around 246 in June.

After six months, things slow down. By 18 months, the average sleeve patient loses about 70% of their excess weight. So in June of 2019...if you have an average experience...you will weigh around 215.

Some people do much better than these numbers. Some do somewhat worse. Diet and exercise are critical to your success.

13 hours ago, Toomanytacos said:

hey . Just curious. IS your 38 pound weight loss since surgery or preop diet?

Pre-op. I've lost about 15 #s since surgery.

I say "about" because I'm teetering between 1-2 lbs for the last week and 4 days.

*edited because I can't math.

Edited February 9, 20188 yr by sleeved2win

On 2/7/2018 at 9:32 PM, Shannon226 said:

They were also concerned after listening to me and want me to come in for an upper GI x-ray on Friday.

Shannon, can you give us an update? Anything show up on the upper GI?

34 minutes ago, Creekimp13 said:

Shannon, can you give us an update? Anything show up on the upper GI?

It looks like I’ve missed out on a lot of good conversations on my original post. Thanks to everyone who gave advice. I had the procedure today but I won’t get feedback until Monday at the earliest. I doubt that the X-ray will show anything unusual. I’m working on trying to limit grazing and drinking water when I feel hungry. I still haven’t lost any weight in about a month now. It’s really discouraging especially since this is supposed to be the honeymoon period. But I’ll keep trying.

2 hours ago, Shannon226 said:

It looks like I’ve missed out on a lot of good conversations on my original post. Thanks to everyone who gave advice. I had the procedure today but I won’t get feedback until Monday at the earliest. I doubt that the X-ray will show anything unusual. I’m working on trying to limit grazing and drinking Water when I feel hungry. I still haven’t lost any weight in about a month now. It’s really discouraging especially since this is supposed to be the honeymoon period. But I’ll keep trying.

Please keep us updated on how you are. We're like family here, right y'all? lol

Hugs Shannon

1 hour ago, Toomanytacos said:

Please keep us updated on how you are. We're like family here, right y'all? lol

Hugs Shannon

Appreciate it. And I will

I expected to have less hunger. I expected to have a negative feeling or restriction of some kind. I expected to have a negative physical reaction to overeating. I hoped to lose more than 20 something lbs. in 7 and 1/2 weeks. What should I have expected? That's what I was told. Otherwise, what was the point of the surgery? I could diet on my own. Are you telling me that you have no feelings of restrictions? Are you eating less just by willpower alone? Why did you have the surgery then?

Hi there
My surgery is successful. I'm 73lbs down. 7 months.
Less hunger did not start till three months post for me.
It's so early that your still healing I understand your concerns but you may not be fully healed to be feeling fullness how you will do further out on super dense protein. Many people do not struggle with liquids. I did but not all do.
Bougie size wise. I personally wouldn't worry . Alot of stomach was removed . He wouldn't go in to not remove the amount correctly.
You say you expect to have a negitive reaction to over eating. Well you should not be over eating to even know what reaction you would have. I don't over eat personally. So can't answer that point.
7 weeks - 20lbs is amazing. You couldn't lose that pre op . Or if you could it for me wasn't likely to stay off.
In all honesty. No eating less is not will power alone. But yes will power included. I could eat way more than I allow myself but chose not to.
But your feelings and concerned are completely valid. I just don't feel what you mentioned is anything concerning ( for me) but understand it is for you.

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I expected to have less hunger. I expected to have a negative feeling or restriction of some kind. I expected to have a negative physical reaction to overeating. I hoped to lose more than 20 something lbs. in 7 and 1/2 weeks. What should I have expected? That's what I was told. Otherwise, what was the point of the surgery? I could diet on my own. Are you telling me that you have no feelings of restrictions? Are you eating less just by willpower alone? Why did you have the surgery then?

And yes we all can diet on our own. But the restriction makes the process easier. And we are most likely to keep it off.

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Creek I'm bad at maths. Sw 250 4th July what should I hope to weigh at one year aprox

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22 minutes ago, dreamingsmall said:

I expected to have less hunger. I expected to have a negative feeling or restriction of some kind. I expected to have a negative physical reaction to overeating. I hoped to lose more than 20 something lbs. in 7 and 1/2 weeks. What should I have expected? That's what I was told. Otherwise, what was the point of the surgery? I could diet on my own. Are you telling me that you have no feelings of restrictions? Are you eating less just by willpower alone? Why did you have the surgery then?

Just wanted to throw my two cents in. I had similar feelings of frustration & concern after surgery, and still do at times. My situation is not exactly the same as yours, but some aspects are similar. I never lost the hunger sensation, which was a huge surprise and letdown. I had been counting on that to get me through for at least the first few months, then understood for most it would gradually lessen and likely return to normal. For me it felt the same right out of the gate. I remember my husband eating a burger and fries a few days post-op and the smell was just amazing. -That's another thing that never changed for me was my sense of taste. Everything still tastes the same, making my cravings for unhealthy foods just as strong.

I didn't feel like I had much restriction at first. Actually, I remember saying several times that if I didn't have incisions on my tummy I'd swear nothing had even happened. And I was baffled by that. I was able to drink water in large amounts right from the beginning (I never meant to gulp it, but would sometimes forget, as I was used to gulping it, but then when I did, no issues...so I'd think...isn't that supposed to be painful?)

But then I would realize that I did have restriction with certain things, which I understand is different from what you are experiencing. Almost all liquids that I can remember I could take in larger quantities, but heavier foods I can feel. For instance I eat chicken salad a lot for dinner. I started with 1/3 cup. One night I felt more hungry so served myself 1/2 cup. I took very small bites and ate slowly, but I finished the whole 1/2 cup. As soon as I did though, I could feel that gurgling sensation in my chest and slight nausea and just knew - nope, 1/2 cup is too much. @dreamingsmall, I wonder if maybe this is what she means by "overeating". When trying new foods and we are experimenting with what works for us, sometimes we take too much, and many of us can tell this because our sleeve will give us feedback by way of gurgling, reflux, an uncomfortably full feeling, nausea, vomiting, etc. and she is saying she never receives this type of feedback. I could be wrong, but that is my interpretation.

I am just over 6 wks post-op. I am down about 29 lbs right now. But 10 of it was lost on the pre-op diet. So 19 since 12/27. No, I have never dieted in my life and lost 19# in 6 wks and kept it off, so it is amazing and I should be over the moon. But I too thought 20# was the norm for Month 1 and that it slowly went down from there. I don't know if it was from reading forums or from surgery center/hospital statistics I collected or a combination, but that was my expectation. So, when it didn't happen I felt a huge sense of disappointment. Even though I lost a total of 15 inches that month & 7% bodyfat, I was so focused on those 20 lbs! And sure I complained and everyone pointed out that my starting weight was lower and lots of other statistics, which was helpful, but I still felt that sense of disappointment, so I can understand where you are coming from.

Not only that, but we were self-pay for the surgery, and we traveled to have it done. I sometimes fear that if I only lose a certain amount that my husband may think, "She only lost 40 lbs? Couldn't she have done that on her own? Did we really have to take out a loan for X amount of dollars and fly x amount of miles and have over half her stomach removed so she could lose 40 lbs?!" Not that he has ever said one negative thing about any of it yet, just that I know the loan/surgery/travel was all a big deal for our family and I carry that with me that it really needs to be worth it. Also, even though I tried to inform him as much as possible ahead of time, he still says things sometimes like, "Oh well why don't you just drink milkshakes? They should be easy on your stomach, right?" -Um, because milkshakes have lots of calories and don't fill the sleeve so I'd be hungry again soon and I would gain weight!! -Oh. or "Oh, well I guess you can take as much Prednisone as you need to for your back pain now without having to worry about it, right?" -Um, no, because Prednisone will Still make me retain water, and will Still drive my appetite, causing me to overeat whatever foods I'm able to overeat at the time, (milkshakes maybe?) and cause me to Gain Weight! -Oh. I realized that even though he went to informational seminars with me and watched videos with me online, that he thought I could never again gain weight...no pressure there.

Anyway, sorry for that sidebar, lol, but I guess I just wanted to say that I can relate to your reality of how much you can drink and why that concerns you. I can understand why it would concern you to not feel any type of restriction from your sleeve on the amount of food to eat, because for me that is the real benefit I get from it is it only allowing me to eat so much at a time. I understand your dismay at not losing more in the first month or so, but as several people have pointed out, is not unusual - and if you check out the thread Late December Sleevers (which you may already be on) you will notice is pretty common for most of us done in this time frame. I think it's great you were able to be open with your surgical team about this, and awesome that they didn't blow off your concerns. Maybe there is some sort of issue that is causing you not to feel any difference - I mean, hopefully not, I don't want you to need another surgery, but at the same time I know it sucks to feel different but not have a solid reason why. But at least they took you seriously and were willing to take a closer look and see what's going on.

In the meantime I think it's a smart idea on your part to limit grazing and increase water. Yes, unfortunately willpower is still involved - I think what helps increase that though is during pre-op liquid diet you are excited that surgery is coming up so willpower is stronger, and immediately post-op I feel there is fear of damaging your sleeve/hurting yourself physically so you know you are limited in what you consume, plus the scale is going down and that is so motivating. Once you know you are allowed and encouraged to introduce more foods, and especially if the scale stops moving at the same time, I can see that being incredibly hard to call upon your willpower to carry you through - after all - if you had such strong willpower you never would have needed surgery, right?

But, since many people stall you have to think that's all this is (until you get your test results and/or your drs tell you otherwise) and try as many things as possible to keep going. Maybe distraction? I like to paint/draw and read and do decorating projects around the house. Sometimes when I am all caught up in a project is one of those rare instances where I would "Forget to eat" - you know, that skinny girl phenomenon that never made any sense, LOL? For some people it's knitting/crocheting, woodworking, gardening, house cleaning/organizing, writing, cooking (although that seems like a bad idea, haha). If you can find something to keep yourself busy and have healthy things on standby for when you finally "remember to eat" like your protein shakes/bars, lean proteins cooked and portioned, soups, and of course, water by your side 24/7, that might help. And exercise and move around of course. I don't know, just trying to be helpful...I know it's not easy.

One last thing, my surgery center never mentioned calorie intake either, and that bothered me a lot at first trying to figure out where I should be. I found food plans on-line from other programs that were all over the place. Some said as low as 250-450 per day the first month (Insane), others 400-600, some 600-800 and so on. I keep a strict food log and even when my calories are way more than I meant for them to be (about 10 days ago I ate a whole cup of pistachios because I was waiting for them to make me feel "satisfied" or "full" so I could tell what my limit was with them, and realized they just don't create that same sensation of fullness as other foods do, even though they are super high in calories, fat, fiber, and a good amount of protein. They are really good for you, and I love them, but it's not a great idea to eat a cup full at a time. And I was really sad to log in 576 calories and 56 grams of fat in one journal entry - especially in what was meant to be more of a "snack" category, but I'm all about being honest with myself, so I did. Anyway, I found I lose more weight when I'm eating around 1000 cals per day than I did when I was eating 700-750 cals per day. So sometimes you do need to eat a little more, but it's important to keep track, I feel, because they can add up fast if you aren't careful. Certainly not preaching, just saying, from my experiment and all But good luck with all of this. I hope you get some answers from your results, and if not, that your doctors can at least give you suggestions on what to try instead....Either way, let us know!

So I finally got the results of my x-ray. Honestly, the response makes me kind of frustrated. See below:

Dr D and I reviewed your UGI

Your pouch appears normal
It empties "rapidly" which may be why you are feeling hunger more quickly.
I would like to follow your weight loss to 6 months post op and repeat the study.

In the meantime would you like something to help with appetite control?

I think needing an appetite control med so soon after having this surgery is crazy (I'm now 8 weeks post-op sleeve). I also don’t want to depend on meds to control my eating. I don’t know if the rapid emptying is normal and that there are patients who have this problem. I feel like they told me to expect certain outcomes and that’s not what I’m getting. That said. I am definitely not eating as much as I used to, but I think I’m eating more than most new patients do post-op. I still don't have any calorie guidelines. They have told me just to have 2 oz. of protein and no more than a 1/2 cup of food at a sitting.

Thoughts?

You should follow those guidelines for quantity of food and make sure it is high quality protein and whatever your acceptable veg is from their office. You can think about eating more meat or proteins that won't digest as fast as say hummus; same for the veg. But, if you are worried about your weight loss are you working out? And, if you are feeling empty are you eating? What are your protein and vitamin levels?

I think they're placating you.

I think it's insane that they're not giving you a calorie goal to work with.

Individuals vary so much. Some experience a lack of hunger...some experience extreme hunger. Some experience restriction so bad they can barely get a couple of spoonfuls of food in at a time, some are like you...and experience much less restriction.

My doctor explained all these possible outcomes...and the possibility of being an outlier.

I'm shocked and saddened this wasn't discussed with you...even as a remote possibility.

It really bothers me that these procedures are often sold on false expectations.

I feel like I had full disclosure from my group...which I'm grateful for.

I'm really sorry you didn't.

In particular...the standard answer at my group...is that no matter what, we will work with you and help you succeed, we'll customize to meet your needs.

I feel like your clinic is trying to stick you back in the same mold everyone else is in....when it's clear your experience is a little different. I'm sorry they're not doing more to really help you cope with your unusual circumstances.

Every BMI chart I look at shows 164 at 5’8” to be overweight. Healthy range is apparently between 130 and 160. If I were 5’8” I’d probably shoot for 155/160. I’m 5’7” and my doc says anywhere between 140 and 150 lbs would be ideal for me. But I know everyone is different.