My sleeve surgery is not yet scheduled. I am wondering if I want to proceed down this path?

Would you do it again?

What are daily changes that are annoying?

I know I can't go back - so I want to insure I am confident with my path forward.

Personal experience appreciated.

I had my gastric sleeve surgery in December 2025, and for me, the first three weeks were definitely the toughest. But every surgeon has their own post‑op plan, so what I experienced might be completely different from what you’ll be asked to do.

My phases looked like this:

• Phase 1: clear liquids

• Phase 2: two weeks of shakes

• Phase 3: pureed foods

I’ve seen people in bariatric groups say their surgeons moved them to purees much sooner, sometimes after just one week of liquids. So again—your plan may not look anything like mine was.

One thing I can share from my own experience is that walking really helped with the post‑surgery gas discomfort. It wasn’t painful for me, just uncomfortable, and moving around made a difference.

Would I do it again? Absolutely. The biggest thing I’ve learned is that this journey is deeply personal. Only you can decide what’s right for you. Don’t base your decision solely on what others say, but definitely take time to research and learn. BariatricPal has a lot of helpful articles if you’re looking for information.

Yes I would. No regrets at all.

I could diet and lose weight with the best of them but I would always put the weight back on. Until menopause then I couldn’t do anything to lose the weight that menopause had pushed me from bouncing between a healthy weight to overweight to obese.

This has been the only time in my adult life I have maintained a low weight consistently (except for a glitch end 2024/early 2025 thanks to a medication issue). It will be 7 years since my surgery in May. For me the difference has been that dieting was always a negative experience. I was punishing myself because I had failed and gained weight & after I would go back to eating the exact same way. I found the time I was losing after surgery and opportunity to reassess and change my relationship with food and how & why I ate. The months when food and hunger was something I just didn’t think about helped a lot.

I don’t consider myself on a diet to maintain. This is just how and what I eat. I do watch what I eat but to maintain any weight loss you have to be aware of what you eat, how much you eat & when & why you eat. There are foods I can’t eat but there were foods I struggled with before surgery so it’s not a problem.

Best advice is you have to be committed to your decision to progress with the surgery. If you’re uncertain or have doubts, wait. Do more research, talk to your doctor/surgeon, hang around on this forum, ask if your surgeon can recommend a support group you could attend to talk with others who have had or are thinking about surgery. Don’t ask or listen to the opinions of so called well meaning friends or family. They usually have horror stories that are really urban myths or they may not be supportive. So pick those you tell with care. You have to be ready for the surgery and for the weight loss because it is not easy. Lots of your thinking about yourself, eating, etc. will be challenged.

All the best whatever path you chose to go down.

Thank you for the insight. My background is medical and I know every person can have different experiences. I've been through breast cancer treatment, knee replacement, and a few other things. No two people are alike but I REALLY, REALLY appreciate your honest feedback. Maybe the waiting period until surgery is scheduled is causing the indecision. When I was going through testing I was 100% sure I was on the right track.

I'm packing my bags and going on a road trip. Hopefully, I will get a surgery date soon. I also need another knee replacement. My plan is gastric 1st and knee 2nd.

Thanks so much for your response. Much appreciated.

I am not sure yet that I would do it again, probably 80% to that point.

I had my sleeve surgery in July 2023 with serious complications, so much so that it is still not over yet and I am due one more procedure in February which will hopefully be the last. I had just let myself get to the point where I didn't regret my decision to have the surgery and then almost two years to the original date I suffered complications (clip failed and my stomach leak was back). I think once I know I am clear of all complications I will be able to not regret the surgery and the question about doing it again would probably be a yes just with a different surgeon/hospital.

Just make sure you are happy with the surgical team and have a good support system in place. I had researched my surgeon of choice, met with her and went through the detail with her etc but then, without advising me, the surgeon on the day was different. Most of the support team were the same but the surgeon I ended up with would not have been one I picked. I had a second choice that I cuold have advised of had the hospital contacted me in advance to discuss, even if it meant changing the date.

There are no daily challenges as such but I do feel the cold more now that I have less fat to keep me warm and having to check menus in advance to make sure there is something in a restaurant I know I can eat (more down to my fussiness) but all the positives (new wardrobe, able to know I can slip into a seat with ease, I walk with a lighter step, not feeling like I am being judged by everyone for being the fattest in the room etc.) outweigh the challenges. What I saw as challenges/hurdles at the start were more just about me getting into the right headspace to make the changes I needed in my eating habits (less, slower and regular) . Some of my good habits went out the window this Christmas but only by the new standards I hold myself to, still did not over eat or over drink the way I would have done years ago and I know that going back to my good ways from Monday (hey it is still the new year weekend) will be easy and get me back on track. In other years I would be starting some crazy new year diet cycle that would work for a few weeks and then I would be back to not being able to maintain the discipline and gain back what I lost.

I have no cartilidge in either knee and was at the stage of having to consdier knee replacement, was getting regular injections for the last few years, but since I have lost so much weight the pain in my knees has eased considerably, they now just ache sometimes if I have been walking a lot during the day but nothing like the pain before so I am hoping I don't need the knee replacement for many years (if at all).

Edited January 3Jan 3 by FifiLux

Even in the landscape of GLP-1 weight loss, I would choose surgical intervention again.

As others have said, the choice of your team will make a huge difference especially if dealing with complications. I had a mildly eventful journey which included a needing a revision from VSG to RNY but my physicians treated me well, took my concerns seriously and in a timely manner. I was never dismissed or ignored and I think that made a big difference in how I felt about the challenges I faced.

I’m currently 8+ years post initial surgery/6+ years post revision with a maintained goal weight and no complaints.

I've ended up on GLP-1s because insurance didn't want to cover revision surgery after a massive regain. I regret nothing and would gladly have taken a revision, even an RNY.

I would absolutely do it again. My surgery was May 2019. I want to say it completely changed my life, but that's not entirely accurate. What it completely changed was that period in my life where I had slowly grown obese over a decade, no longer recognized the "me" I had been most of my life and began to resent myself. I thought it was a willpower problem, or a laziness problem, or something else entirely within my control that I had failed to do. When I finally realized there was no amount of diet or exercise that could compete with the slowing metabolism of a late-40s woman, I began exploring options. The sleeve gave me back my sense of self, increased my energy and self-esteem. I no longer cried in the TJ Maxx fitting room! I felt like me again.

You can read plenty of the pre- and post-surgical challenges on this site. I barely remember them as they were a drop in the bucket compared to the long-term benefits. The biggest challenge for me in the 1st year was explaining my rapid weight loss to people who saw me regularly enough to notice but who weren't close enough for me to tell about my surgery. The stigma of medical intervention for weight loss is dissipating with the rise of GLP-1s and its widespread acceptance, so I doubt this would even be a challenge for me if I were to do it again today.

One more thought about GLP-1s: my BMI was the bare minimum required by my insurance for the sleeve. Had GLP-1s been available and affordable for me at the time, I would have tried that before having surgery and I'm confident it would have worked. How do I know? I'm currently on a low dose of Wegovy. I gained about 20 lbs between my 4- and 6-year surgeon visits and knew I would be unsuccessful reversing this trend on my own. I began Wegovy 6 months ago, dropped the 20 pounds, and am now on a maintenance dose.

Things to consider between the sleeve and the drug:

-- How quickly do you want to lose the weight? I dropped 70+ pounds in 5 months after the sleeve, and 20 pounds in 6 months on the drugs. They work, but take longer.

-- Can you afford the drugs? And can you afford them for life? I'm fortunate that my insurance covers them for a modest co-pay. But even if I lose coverage, I'm already back at goal weight and thanks to the sleeve I do not expect to gain more than 5 lbs a year. At this point I could probably take it every few years or so for maintenance.

No, you can't go back on the surgery. But barring complications - which are unfortunate, but also rare - I can't imagine that you would regret it.

Good luck!

Absolutely not! I had roux en y and now so vitamin deficiencies and these leg cramps that curl feet under feels like tendons being ripped from bones. Had to replace 5 teeth with implants due to breaking them from deficiencies. I have gained half my weight back and yet hardly eat cause when I do eat I bloat up like Michelin tire blimp. Worst 9 years of my life so far. Rather be fat than suffer the way I do!

I would do it again for sure. I have lost 185 pounds and I do not deprive myself of anything. Best thing I've ever done for ME!

I've thought a lot about this recently, for various reasons. I think my overall answer would be "yes, I would do it again." I had a roux en y, almost 2 years ago. I've had many challenges post-op, some directly related to the surgery and others only indirectly related. But, if I sit and really weigh the challenges with the benefits, benefits outweigh the other. I had health challenges before the surgery, and would likely have continued with those and added more had I continued on my pre-op path. People who have had a difficult life often have physical challenges, even though from emotional stress. The challenges I have post-op are manageable. I have lost 183 pounds. I'm comfortably wearing a clothes size that would never have been achieved with traditional methods of weight loss. I can say I eat whatever I want, because with the surgical changes, and the natural results that now happen from eating a large amount, eating too much sugar or fat, or getting dehydrated, I want to primarily eat natural foods in moderate amounts. It was like defibrillating my brain, leading to a natural and immediate shift of all my physiology to a new way of working. My frequent go-to prior to surgery was candy, in very large amounts. I had my surgery in the month of April. As the year continued, I was worried about Halloween. Not a problem; no cravings or needs. Thanksgiving; the same. Christmas; not a thought. That lack of the intense desire for food to comfort has shifted, which for me has made all the difference in the world.

I had surgery 14 years ago and it is definitely a huge, huge regret. Your body changes in ways that you can't anticipate because they don't tell you.

"THEY CALL IT DUMPING " which apparently is a catch all ? I guess: this is what's happened to my body.

IM NOW HAVE CHRONIC AND SEVERE HYPOGLYCEMIA.

DANGEROUSLY LOW BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS, HYPOGLYCEMIA blood SUGAR diving to dangerously low levels and until it happens you have no idea you just pass out. and if no one is around you can GO INTO A COMA AND DIE mine bottomed at 46 according to the EMTs, thank God, I called my daughter as I could feel myself weakening/ fading.I don't go anywhere even driving without some form of glucose now. it's a daily threat.

the medical industry doesn't consider hypoglycemia a threaT, so unless you find a doctor that is willing to work with you you can't get blood sugar monitor [this is a device that you have to inject on your body so that the needle in it monitors your blood sugar.]. Unfortunately, my body stopped giving me the warning signs and now the blood sugar episodes just come on without sweating or shaking or being thirsty or being dizzy, it just it just dives.

I now have an endocrinologist\ that I have to see regularly.

MALABSORPTION OF REQUIRED NUTRIENTS

its been 14 years and im still learning new things my body has become deficient in. these are not absorbing because that part of your stomach is now gone. you have to get sick or hospitalized or feel unwell have dry brittle hair and nails, poor skin teeth issues because your system is taking whatever it can from wherever it can in your body to sustain itself

LIKE IRON B12, CALCIUM Etc. VITAMINS, PILLS, DRINKS, DONT GET ABSORBED INTO YOUR BLOOD. THAT PART OF YOU IS NOW GONE.... YOU NEED TO HAVE IT INFUSED INTO YOUR BODY REGULARLY AT A DYALISIS CENTER OR HOSPITAL

I now get monthly blood test to make sure the levels [of all the required nutrients, essential for health that my body no longer absorbs} stay at safe levels

I now have an hematologist that monitors my levels

WEIGHT LOSS WAS A JOKE I ONLY LOST 40 LBS

out of the hundred pounds I was hoping to lose I lost 40 and stopped losing weight. I have been constantly sick whenever I eat,i get severe gas, bloating, and diarrhea.

I now have a gastroenterologist that I see regularly

its late and im tired, but im not thru with the issues ive had with this surgery

I had RNY gastric bypass surgery 20 years ago this July. I have now gained ALL my weight back. Now I am considering doing a revision, I have an appointment with my surgeon next week. Yes, I will go through it all over again.

I am now 4+ years post surgery. I feel like I was the ugly duckling who changed into a old swan. Had you asked me this question one month after surgery, my answer would be the same as now, YES! Hell yes

Yes the first few months are difficult. The last time you learned to eat was at a few months old, its all new and for the first week or so its down right scary. You worry about everything and there is so much to learn it seems. A few weeks later you will be sailing along. My scars always swell and it meant I had internal narrowing for some time until that eased. My family were more alarmed than myself and my surgeons team. I have had a lot of surgery in my life and I thought it might happen. I survived [ I always want to do the dramatic Ta Dah and walk through the closed curtains at this point] I wasn't at deaths door as my family thought. I did vomit a lot.

This forum like others is a help forum, people come here for reassurance and help. I did in my vomitting period. People dont usually need the forum when times are good, we have too much life to live, too much time to make up for. If you only see people posting with problems, you will think everyone has huge problems. They don't. Its classed as safe surgery.

You will know if its time to have this surgery. If nerves make you postpone, then its not your time. You will regret it but may return to the process at a later point. People will always be here with kindness and help. Its a pay it forward kind of place . Good luck.

Yes. Im 17 months months post op bypass surgery..

I would NEVER go back! A picture is worth a thousand words. If you comply, remain diligent to take GOOD care of yourself (and, your sleeve) physically AND emotionally - YOU will have VICTORY Diane72! You can do this. We are all cheering you on!

Edited January 23Jan 23 by Sophie7713
photos out of order