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So, today It's been officially one year since my surgery. Yay! I am very happy about how much I lost. I started at 264 and am now at 154 and still want to lose a little bit more so my doctor can refer me to plastics. It's slow going but it's going. I wasn't sure what I was going to write but decided to just go with how I was feeling. One of things I love is I'm much smaller and have more energy but I am also a bit resentful. Bigger people aren't taken seriously sometimes by doctors. I complained of chest pain before the weight loss and was told your blood pressure is too high. Now that I am smaller I was told well that shouldn't be happening and got a CT scan done on Thursday. I had to take prednisone and Benadryl because I'm allergic to the dye contrast. Well they did find two blockages in my arteries one at 70% so tomorrow I have to go in and get a stent put in and I'm a bit pissed off that this could have been taken care of earlier if they had taken my concerns seriously. I haven't done any exercise in a month cause I'm too scared I'll keel over with a heart attack. The moral of this story is to pay attention to your body and if you have concerns speak with your doctor and be insistent if you need them to listen.

Congratulations on your success! Medical incompetence when it comes to weight, race, or any of several other factors is horrifying. I'm sure many of us have similar stories. Good luck, Tek

My hair started falling out around the 4-month mark, too.. I had a pretty rough go of it in the beginning as well. At its worse, I had lost 75% of my hair and it stopped falling out by around month 6. I took supplements and collagen during that period of time and now it is growing like a weed (and it came back in CURLY!)

I can't seem to shake the blues this morning. I had a vgb 27 years ago and a REY two weeks ago. I gained 20 pounds while in the hospital for my two day stay....and two weeks later I'm still up by 6 (and gained weight the last two days). My calorie intake is NOT causing this weight gain....and my head knows that this is surgery trauma trying to work itself out. But I'm now sitting here questioning everything. I lost 80 pounds prepping for this surgery. I wanted to stop vomiting......I wanted the assist of malabsorption.....but I'm queasy every time I put food in my mouth. I'm uncomfortable with the feeling of food in my pouch. I'm disappointed that my body won't play along. I can't drink enough. I can't stand the thought of having to have two protein shakes a day to get the required protein in. I'm just really wondering why I put myself through all of this again just to feel as miserable as I do in this moment?

its very unfortunate that fat-phobia is very prevalent in the medical field. I have had friends that have had OBGYN appts coded as weight consults and their insurance denied the visits, even though the visit was birth control and the doctor commented on weight...

I am wondering how long it took everyone from the time you initially talked to your doctor about wanting to get the surgery to how long you had to wait. I started this journey at the beginning of the year. My first conversation with the surgeon was on January 5th. I did not like her, as she was pretentious and rude. She kept saying, "Someone of your size" cannot get the gastric bypass, so I debated just not doing any of the procedures. I tried to explain to her (as we were doing this as a telehealth visit) that she was misjudging my size by only looking at the numbers. I hold my weight way too well. In high school, I outweighed girls my height and clothing size by 60-80 pounds, but was a state-placing cross country runner. My actual body fat composition was low when tested, versus weight/height ratio. Came to find out that she doesn't like doing bypasses, so she tried to convince all her patients to do the sleeve. After reading up on both, I decided I would actually prefer the sleeve, but not for any of the reasons she gave. I have had three visits with my primary, done the blood tests, and am now waiting on the surgeon's office for my psychology appointment and my final dietician appointment (which is over a month out.) Once I have those, along with an EKG from my primary and getting my paperwork signed off, I then have to wait for insurance to give the final approval. After that, I then wait. So what started on January 5th will take until a minimum of May 15th (final appointment) to even have everything completed... and then two to three weeks for insurance. Then, as my surgeon explained in January, it takes up to 6 weeks for the surgery to scheduled. I am a school teacher with my youngest heading off to college in August, so I am not going to miss taking her. I am majorly concerned that by the time I finally get the surgery, the summer will be over and I won't be able to get time off at the beginning of the school year for this surgery. I am debating talking to my doctor and telling her that I just won't have the surgery because this process is just taking way too long. I have already lost 22 pounds since I first weighed in at the beginning of the year from changing my diet. I am thinking I will be down another 20 by the time I finally get this surgery... or if I can get this surgery.

Hi, I had RNY on 12/20/22 in Ohio. About a month after surgery, it was discovered I had a stricture. I had two upper endoscopies and was stretched back to 12mm. (They could not measure my stricture at first because they couldn't get the scope in. She guessed it was between 4-5mm). Since I had to wait for an appointment I didn't really eat solid food for a month. I "ate" Liquicel to get my protein in. I am now 4 months out. The stricture is gone and I feel good. Since I missed an entire month of eating and had to start back at pureed foods - do you think that is why my hair is already falling out? Now 4 months out, I eat my protein goals and do fine with water. I am not super concerned about the hair but just wonder if that could be causing it?

Hello, I am at the very end of my process, just waiting for my processing team to look over my file and make sure it fits everything insurance is requiring. I just wondering how long it took all of you to go through your "processing" phase. Not how long it took insurance to approve, just how long it took your processing team to submit your prior authorization to insurance after everything was completed? I'm almost at two weeks and no one can tell me anything, but when I contact the insurance company they don't have it. Is this timing normal? Thank you!

Your welcome! I tried apple sauce, I found out I don't like apple sauce with cinnamon anymore. I have to be on this phase for 4 weeks! I need ideas because I'll get burnt out haha. I can't stomach protein shakes anymore lol.

I've had my sleeve surgery on March 23rd. I was 326 lbs before the liquid diet, dropped down to 310 just a day before surgery and now I'm between 271 and 275. Today (April 20th) kinda marks my 1 month post op and I've been hospitalized twice! The first time happened was when I was switching over to a multivitamin pill from a chewable. (2 weeks post op) Once I popped that pill and swallowed it, I felt it opened in my stomach and left a extremely bitter taste and threw up all of my medication and made me weak. Went to the hospital and they said that I was dehydrated. Thank you multivitamin pill for making me feel this way. They gave me IV and sent me home the same day. The second time, which was last Saturday (4/15), I was sitting on my couch taking a little nap because I was a little tired. I woke up and left my plate from my lunch on my table. I got up, took it in the kitchen and right away felt so exhausted! My partner saw me and said what's wrong? I remember saying help me to the couch. 15 seconds later and I was on the floor by my bathroom. I've actually lost consciousness for 15 seconds and let's just say that I didn't make it to the toilet in time... Went back to the hospital for test and lab work and my red blood cells were at a all time low. They gave me IV and magnesium. Stayed overnight. When my levels were somewhat normal, they sent me home. Today, had an appointment with my regular doctor. He said that I'm mild anemic and things will slowly get better overtime. I have another appointment to go to tomorrow and that's with my bariatric surgeon. Almost everyday, im having nausea. Making it a little difficult to take my medication/vitamins and eat/drink. If I knew my body would be going through this, I never would have did this!