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Sorry to hear what you have gone through and are still going through. I know exactly how you feel about wondering if the surgery has been worth it, I wondered the same for many months after mine but I can now say 10 months later that I see the light and know I could not have lost the weight I have done so far without the surgery and I can now finally feel the benefits. I have posted about it before on the forum but a recap to show you how s**t things can go..... I had my surgery 4th July 2023 and suffered severe pancreatitis brought on by the surgery (iatrogenic according to the medical reports) which resulted in me having a drainage tube fitted to my belly area and being hospitalised for one month. Three days after being released I collapsed at home and had to return to hospital via ambulance. There it was discovered that I had a leak in the stomach where the sutures hadn't sealed. I spent a further two weeks in hospital where I had to get clips put in to close the hole/leak. I then lasted 13 days at home before becoming ill again. I went in for a gastroscopy to check on the clips and turned out the clips did not do their job and I had leak back plus two abscesses (1 on stomach, 1 on pancreas). Spent a further three weeks in hospital on a feeding tube before getting all clear to go home after another round of clips were put in and passed their tests. Next time I lasted 15 days at home before having to be readmitted for another month! I never felt fully better but wasn't sure if that was just me recovering from all the trauma or still symptoms. I had a blood test one morning and that afternoon got a call to say I was to come back to the hospital immediately as my CRP was 180. Turned out the hole had opened again and I had an infection. Was put on a feeding tube again for the month and had a drainage tube fitted to my back, had so many different medications, a transfusion, tests etc it was exhausting. I was then sent to a hospital in Belgium to have a tube/coil like thing inserted in my stomach help the hole heal. I was finally released from hospital November 1st 2023. Like you I couldn't do things, I couldn't even stand at the kitchen counter to chop veg without feeling like I was going to collapse. The effort of having a shower and getting dressed some days was too much for me and it took me many months to get to my energy up to more than being able to something small each day. It is really only since mid-February that I can say my energy improved. My weight loss was also slow when in hospital as they were pumping me full of nutrition (via the feeding tubes) but it sped up once I was at home. I had the tube in my stomach removed three weeks ago and had another round of tests to make sure that the hole had healed and I have passed with flying colours. So far so good, no pain or discomfort which is such an improvement. The only thing I suffer with now is a bit of reflux and occasional terrible exhaustion. I was out for dinner on Sunday night and almost collapsed at the table the exhaustion came on so suddenly but I was ok a while later. I don't let it stop me, I have so much more energy than pre-op but I just know I have to pace myself and rest when I can. Basically, I just want to let you know that after all of the above that I have been through I now feel the relief of the surgery and the weight loss. I am now at the weight target the surgeon set for me, 75kg, though I will aim for a bit more and I no longer cry myself to sleep with pain or stress or the fear to make plans for the future. It has taken 10 months for me to get here, I am at the stage now that probably those who have a successful surgery would have been at months ago with their recovery from the op and getting back to a 'normal' life. I am going to see a psychologist through my hospital service for the medical trauma which has helped me as well. Do make sure that you go to the hospital if your symptoms worsen, or don't improve, and ask the doctors to check your levels just to be sure that there is no infection still there etc. Rest when you can, I don't know your situation but if you don't have to get up and go out during the day for work/kids/shopping etc. then don't, just take the time to heal and recover. Also ask for help if and when you need it and also say no to things that you may not want to do if you don't feel up for it - being a control freak these are things I am trying to learn to do.

Please add the option to list a second surgery to our profile if possible. I’m thinking it’s kinda confusing to people that I am asking questions about pre op when I had surgery three years ago. Also please add the SADI surgery to the list of surgeries as well.

She said that whatever you drink the week prior to surgery during the fast, many people seem not to like it afterwards. She said everyone is different and sometimes your taste preferences change.

I never had issues with drinking fluids. That said, I still tried to slow it down a bit so I wouldn't hurt anything in my stomach - but I always drank faster than I was told we would.

All those calculators are just averages so try not to get too caught up in what they say you’ll have lost at certain times. Some will lose more. Some will less. Some will lose as they say. That’s how averages work. And it may change time frame to time frame. Treat it only as an idea of what might happen not what will happen. You may end feeling like you’re failing if you look at their results as gospel.

I find the calculator on the Mexico site to be rather inaccurate for me, but everyone varies. Age and surgery type, as well as co-morbidities all impact weight loss rate. It thinks I should be at 212lbs at 6 months but I'm at 240 with 6 days to go. Not gonna happen. It also thinks I should be at 170 by 12 months, but that's not very likely either. I've always used the following one as it takes into account the different surgeries and looks just like the one my surgeon uses. They calculate from the highest weight, it is important to include that because if you have a lot of weight loss before surgery your percentages may track differently and your post op weight loss may be slower. I've seen this happen to several people with surgeons calculating it improperly, or applying the bypass trajectory to a DS patient, which is a disaster and very stressful for the patient! This one takes into account much more like your age, ethnicity, and pre-existing conditions: https://riskcalculator.facs.org/bariatric/?_ga=2.112690692.1282950073.1698781773-393992475.1698781773 According to this one I should be at 78 lbs down for my DS surgery at 6 months. I'm at 80 lbs down. My weight loss has tracked along with this thing pretty steadily, give or take 15 lbs, since surgery, except for my 6 week stall. It puts me at 202 by 12 months out, but DS patients lose for 18-24 months post op, so I should be at 170 sometime in that 12-24 month period! In the end these are all just estimation tools. Our bodies do what they will and we make the most of it. Still, it is nice to have a loose guideline to follow.

I think a lot of us fall into numbers - we are bound to at least at some point. Unfortunately I don't ever think there is a doctor/scientific answer to really calculate it. It's almost the same as why we all have so many different programs - not only our bodies are different, but every doctor has a different take in their "expert opinion". I just had my 1 year post-op visit on Monday, and my surgeon definitely counts my weight loss total from the date I had my consult visit January 2023. I have always kept 2 running totals from before my pre-op diet to the day of surgery weight. Personally I feel like all pounds count and it's an accomplishment to see those numbers go down both before and after the surgery.

Calculates me at 182 at 18 months. Which I would have been thrilled with. Even more thrilled to get lower but honestly I had not *that* much of a say in it. My body kind of decided. 🤩

My program counts from the highest weight in program, not the surgery day weight, to calculate progress towards patient goals.