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Hello, I’m a 30-something-year-old woman with a complicated health history. I have PCOS, Hashimoto’s disease and a few other problems. I decided last year to get gastric sleeve as I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired. I have Anthem BCBS PPO and they say WLS is supported by my plan thankfully. I’ve started my 12-week behavioral group therapy course and I have my 3rd meeting in a few days. I fought having this kind of surgery as I thought I was cheating and honestly I was afraid of being judged. I needed to grow up it seems and see this for the helpful tool it is. I’m afraid but excited because I’m ready to live the life of my dreams. I have lofty hiking plans that I need to be in good shape for. I’m glad to meet all of you as we are all on this journey together. If you have any advice or tips or words of wisdom, I gladly welcome them.

Today is 1 month and 1 day since I had my VGS surgery. And I can’t tell you all how happy I am to have had this surgery. It has made all the difference in the world to my life. I have 10x the amount of energy I used to have, almost like I have a bounce in my step again. My SW: 260 My CW: 217 GW: 175-180 It just seems like it’s really working. What I wanted to share with some people that seem to be struggling with the weight loss is that I have made my diet mostly keto. I understand carbs are just as important during the recovery time, but being more keto has helped the weight come off faster. Faster than even when I was not eating much after the surgery. I am really surprised by how fast it is dropping now... I think I’ll be at my goal weight before I even know it. Because of all this new found energy, I have been able to do so much more. I want everyone to be this happy 😃

You may find this web site useful: https://mbsc.arbormetrix.com/Registry/public/calculator/uiCalculator/7?menuId=1013 This site has a database of WLS patients and a detailed calculator where you can enter your info and see the average weight loss at 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years for patients like you. Once you enter your info, click the submit icon (it looks like a disk/save icon) on the top right of the screen to get your results. This calculator shows averages, so some people will lose more and other will lose less, but it can be a good start for a ballpark goal. Like catwoman7, I was asked my goal at my psychological evaluation, and I said 180 pounds, which was based on what the above web site said given my weight at the time. Well, I'm there now and still losing, so I know I can do better than that. I'm still in the obesity range for BMI, and I definitely want to get out of that. I discussed it with my surgeon at my 6-month follow-up visit and he thinks I can get to 150 pounds. But really, I am not that focused on the number on the scale. What I really cared about was getting my health under control, and I have had a 180-degree turnaround from where I was a year ago. My blood pressure went from hypertension range to low side of normal. My A1C went from 8.1 to 4.5. My cholesterol and triglycerides are good. I am exercising every day and I can walk a mile or climb a few flights of stairs without getting out of breath or sweaty. My quality of life has improved so much now that I'm not carrying around a whole extra person's worth of weight. I went from size 26/28 to 14/16. I no longer have to worry about whether I will fit in a chair or exceed the weight limit on a ladder. All of these things matter SO MUCH MORE than the number on the scale. I'm all for having specific, measurable goals, but I would recommend you set some non-scale goals. I would also recommend that you not get caught up in the rate of weight loss or let anyone tell you how quickly you should be losing weight. Everyone is different, and if you compare yourself to someone else, or even how quickly you think you should be losing, you'll set yourself up for disappointment. For at least the first 6 months, all you need to do is stick to your guidelines and you WILL lose weight. Focus on setting good habits that you will be able to keep once your restriction is no longer as strong. As long as you are losing weight, you're doing fine. That's not to say you should panic over a 1-pound gain (your weight can fluctuate by a couple of pounds even in the same day), but if your weight is decreasing from one week to the next, you're on track. I know that's probably not the answer you're looking for. I'm an engineer, and very numbers-oriented, myself, so I know how it is to like data and graphs and want to track expected vs. actual progress, but WLS has too many variables to be able to do it that way.

Hello all i am almost a year out on feb 10tg. I have lost 53 lds and went from 22/24 to 14/12 but although ive been using weights i feel weak and not sexy at all like i used too. I actually dont feel as if ive lost and weight. I wanted to do glamour photos when i hit one yr but ive changed my mind because i don't feel confident. I believe I've hot a serious stall even with changing exercise routine as well and i can't get my water levels in...this is all so frustrating...i dont like my body changes at all i used to be more flexible i hate feeling my bones and this extra skin ugh.lets not even discuss the dramatic drop in bra size (read pancakes)..and is anyone else menstruating more ie twice a month ...the only bright spot i have is i am no longer diabetic and i have a bit more energy...just ranting and looking for advice and encouragement.

You definitely can and SHOULD!

Today is the day!!! Drains come out today!! Can’t wait. Feel like they were becoming like a little leash on me. Couldn’t move freely. I’m very excited. (Not for the 3 1/2-4 hour drive). Since I live so far away this will be my first appt since the day after surgery. All and all recovering without any complications which is all I could ask for. I go back to work next Monday. Which will be nice to get out and do more. Hoping I’m standing up straight by then. I’m already up straighter than last week. Not sure at this point do they take “after pics” or is that later on? Wonder if I can request copies of before and after pics

- if both surgeries are just as easy to fail as they are to succeed, why do the research charts show this difference? Research is based on averages. The numbers you are quoting do not apply to everyone in exactly the same way....it is an aggregate of those who reach goal AND those who don’t. 1 person loses 100 lbs. Another loses 40 lbs. Average weight loss of this “control group” is 70lbs...which is no where near what each person actually lost. @catwoman7 probably explained this better than me In her earlier post, lol Second, if you need to rely on averages for your peace of mind, it may be worth your while then to look into the makeup of the studied. Age, gender, starting weight, lifestyle habits, medical conditions, genetics, etc. Daunting, yes, but more informative and contextual. But really, wanna beat the average? Stick to plan more consistently than the “average” person (barring any medical conditions of course). Also, I wanted to ask, did you get to choose the size boujie you wanted for your sleeve or know what size Dr used for you?? Doc just did his thing with no input from me. I have no idea how what size he used! Also, did you cravings and hunger completely return after 6 months or it does but slightly? My hunger levels and occurrences has not returned to pre-op levels. I can’t remember when I first felt hungry though (it was months in)...but I do remember it was a rare occurrence. Even now at 2+ years out, i still have days of just not wanting/forgetting to eat. When i do get hungry, it isn’t the ravenous kind of hunger though. And it doesn’t take much to satisfy it. Lastly, can you just do complete Keto during the first year after surgery so you stay under 20 net carbs and in ketosis? Or our body doesn't need to be in fat burning mode because of the surgery? I didnt do full-on Keto during weight-loss phase because there was no way I could get in the percentage of fat required...but I did do ultra-low carb (20 net carbs max) during that time. But number of grams of carbs consumed is no where near as important as total calories consumed for weight loss. Though going low carb does tend to make me look lean. For my body this is good, cuz i can see more muscle definition, but for my face, not so good, as I look Skelator-ish. Since I have been consuming a higher number of net carbs (anywhere in the 100-175 range) my face looks much nicer, but the bod looks “soft” P.S. sorry this was so long

Hi @Lola2122. I’m sorry you’re feeling so lousy. Yes, I had a terrible time with nausea right after surgery. Lots of puking and dry heaves. If you’re not already, hold a pillow against your abdomen when you throw up. I put a bowl on a counter so I didn’t have to lean over too much. Definitely contact your surgeon. I met with the nurse practitioner who sorted me out. I received IV fluids in the office for dehydration (made me feel a little bit better). I was prescribed the scopolamine patch for nausea which worked 100 times better than the zofran. And they did a CT scan to make sure nothing was wrong with my insides. Nothing was, but it gave me great peace of mind. There’s no reason to let this go on without a little medical help! For me, the nausea subsided by about day 7 or 8, and I think I only threw up once or twice after the office visit. I could feel I was on the path to mending once I saw them. Call them right now, and good luck!!!

I know you didn't ask me this, but I've been hanging out on BP for several years. A lot of people (although I obviously can't speak for alissajs specifically) choose the sleeve because they feel it's less invasive than the bypass. Although I think they both could be considered pretty invasive - cutting out 80% of your stomach and throwing it in the trash seems pretty radical, too - at least to me... I think a lot of people also know about horror stories from 30+ years ago, when they used to do severe intestinal bypasses. The RNY is actually a gastric (stomach) bypass, so it's not the same "bypass" surgery they did years ago. They DO bypass part of your small intestine in an RNY - but we're talking about maybe a foot (to do the "Y"). Years ago, with those old intestinal bypass surgeries, they used to bypass many feet of small intestine (and the stomach wasn't bypassed at all - so very different surgery). No one does those anymore....haven't in a really long time. Anyway, a lot of people who had those ancient surgeries got very sick from malnutrition - and some died - and I think some people are remembering those and think that's what they're doing now with the RNY. But they're not..

I had my 4cc Lapband surgery in September 2007 and currently have 1cc of fluid in the band Most of my loose skin is around my mid section and thighs and upper legs so it is easily hidden. I may at sometime in the future have plastics Best decision for me was to have the Lapband