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Hi, I am nearing the 7 year anniversary of my VGS. I initially lost 102 pounds. Losing the weight was easy after surgery. A year later I started to feel too small. I needed to wrap my head around my new body. I felt that I was too small and gained 10 pounds. I was able to maintain this weight for years but then the Covid lockdown began, I ran into problems. Living alone, eating, & very little physical activity led to a 20 pound weight gain. Today I have gained 40 pounds and I am working towards losing the weight. Has anyone experienced the same? Any advice or suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks. Yes, I had a very tight band around my belly and was in post-op for 8 hours while they found a bed. Back pain is subsiding. Do you know how many ounces your stomach was reduced to? I'm thinking 4-5. Hydration is the biggest challenge right now. Can't get enough. Congratulations on your weight loss! That's awesome!

Love roller coasters. It's been quite a few years since I've rode one. I think I'm going to add that to my list of things to do in the near future. Glad you enjoyed your day @SuziDavis Woo hoo!!! My fav coaster was in FL at Disney World. I went during the off season in Oct so I was able to ride this one 3 times without having to wait in line for hours as some told me they had to, if you go at the wrong time of year.

I had the Sadi done in 2014. It's been a godsend. I lost 152 lbs over a year and stabilized at down 125lbs. The Sadi is a much better option then the traditional Hess DS since there are less issues with malabsortion, far fewer vitamins needed and it's a simple loop compared to Hess DS. You will find your issues in general to be similar to most other DS patients. Regarding your back pain, it has nothing to do with the Sadi procedure. You have probably been lying in a bed too long and needed to start walking. Good luck and enjoy the ride.

Sept 7th was my gastric sleeve date. Still getting use to some things. Hope everyone is doing well.

Half a scoop of miralax in my coffee every day and a stool softener 2 times per day. Also, make sure to eat fiber every day. Once you get a plan in place that works for you, it's pretty easy to combat constipation. Just don't wait until you're constipated to do something. Keep a plan going.

Sleeve patients need to adjust their eating "technique". We need to take smaller bites, chew to "mush" consistency and take longer pauses between bites. Making those adjustments should help the food go down easier. Keep in mind that our new smaller stomach pouches can be finicky, especially in the early post-op months....foods that we have never found disagreeable now could cause issues. I have only had pain and spasms when I have eaten one bite too much. Rather than fighting the urge to throw up, I give in and hug the porcelain alter ridding myself of the "foamies" and the one bite too much......instant relief! You will soon learn your food volume limits.

Back when I had surgery SADI wasn't really a thing yet so I never researched it. Of course, neither was VSG. My research lead me to ultimately choose RNY. Because of my size it was an open surgery which made early recovery very painful. I'm one of the lucky ones that dump both on sugars and fats. Back when I had surgery it was more of a 50/50 chance I would dump. I hoped I would dump so that I'd have another tool to keep me from the wrong foods. It took an amazingly few dumping episodes to learn to avoid sugars and fats. All these years later it's all just part of the joy of being me. I managed to lose my excess weight, a bit over 500 pounds, and keep it off. It's now pretty natural eating to my surgeon's program, I don't really even think about it. It's all just normal. There are success stories with virtually every type of surgery. Build good habits during the honeymoon phase and they will serve you when your surgery is but a distant memory. Good luck, Tek

Congratulations cat woman I can't wait to be where you are now

honestly, there are more people who never make it all the way to their goal than there are those who lose too much, but that said, you can always increase your calories to either stop your weight loss or gain a few pounds if you think you're getting too thin. So I wouldn't worry about that at all. I lost 100% of my excess weight and yes, for a time I was "too thin", but I was also aware that a majority of us have a 10-20 lb rebound weight gain during year 3. And I did. In addition, even before the rebound gain, things (fat, I guess?) tends to re-distribute itself after a big loss, so even though I weighed the same for awhile, I started looking a lot better. My face filled out, etc - even before that gain. as far as it being hard - the first year, it wasn't too bad - esp before my hunger and appetite came back at month 5. For those first few months, for the first time in my life, I wasn't thinking about food at all the time. In fact, I didn't think about it much at all - and at times didn't even want any. Even though it was weird not to ever be hungry and to not give a flip about food, I found it very liberating! But things changed at month 5 when suddenly my hunger came back (and it does for most of us sometime during the first year). Then you're dealing with the hunger beast again, although it's not as strong as it was before surgery. But I wanted more than anything to lose this weight once and for all, so I really stuck to my program and lost it all (weight loss didn't stop until I was almost two years out, though - I had A LOT to lose!) it does get harder after the first year because diet fatigue sets in, as well as some old habits. You really, really have to watch yourself. And eight years out, I have to continue to watch myself. It's so easy to slip into old habits. But I have a "drop dead weight" limit - I weigh myself once a week now, and if I hit that limit - or come close to it - I cut back until my weight is safely within the limit again. But this really isn't any different from most of my never-been-obese friends. So many of us have to monitor our weight and to cut back when it starts getting too high. anyway, yes, it can be hard - esp when your hunger comes back and your motivation starts to wane, but unlike before, your effort actually pays off. You put in the work, and the weight comes off (or stays off). Before, the most I could ever lose is about 50 lbs (and even that was rare - most of my dieting ended up with a 10 or 20 lb loss). And inevitably, it will all come back. Happened every time. BUt this time, it worked!