missmeow

No, if they are decent, they will knock you out for the procedure and then keep you there for like an hour later. You're only out like 10-15 minutes but the stuff has to exit your system enough so you can walk. They won't let you drink for 30 minutes either. Definitely, you will need a taxi because they will not let you drive.

2 poubds is water retention, constipation, the time of day you weighed. You've lost 35lbs. Don't let it bug you, think about the bigger picture

I went for my first consult with Dr. Nguyen at UC Irvine. Everything I read says UCI is one of the best places to go in southern California. My PCP, although very much against WLS, said that should be the place to go. I also like the fact that it is isn't a private business. The aftercare and support programs seem to be pretty well established as well. However, it is a learning hospital. I forgot to ask if he would be doing the surgery. I am on the fence whether or not I want a resident working on me even if he is watching every move. When I was researching for the band last year, I was finding so many of the private doctors want $4k program fees and the like on top of the insurance payments. That really did not sit well with me. So I am asking how do I go about researching doctors and complication rates? Who did your surgery, were you happy with it, and how did you come to that decision?

I think a diet is going to put you in a bad place and it sounds like you already know that. Maybe just adding in an extra walk or something will help you pick up some speed on the loss. Although I do think there is a huge focus on "goal" and that isn't always a good thing maybe? Maybe your bod likes where it is for now and just needs some time to be convinced of changing more.

Have you spoken to your doctor and asked which would be the better route? I mean your OB/GYN and IVF people. They are going to be the experts and they will tell you if age is the more important factor. There was another post where the questions was between trying now and waiting on the surgery or getting the surgery now and waiting to try. In that case the doctor had told the person their age is the determining factor. If you are up against an age bullet, personally, I would try to lose weight on your own. If you worked hard with your doctor on a liquid or VLCD you could probably lose a lot of that weight in 6 months or at least half of it. I wouldn't want to get a surgery, have potential complications, and then miss the timeframe for conceiving. You have to decide what is best for your body like how well you heal, how fast you can lose, etc.

I know when I get under 200, just 10lbs makes a huge difference. So even though it is slower, it has a bigger impact!!!!

I've always hated the way fried food smells from a distance. The grease smell is gross. Same with bacon. It just stagnates in the air. Fried food gives me heartburn too.

Is this actual dumping like bypass patients get or is it just you have been off certain foods for so long that it gives your system a hard time? I know if I am on a restricted diet for a long time (I have done Optifast before), eating high fat and dairy gave me the runs big time too.

This is just my opinion, but if your doctor is telling you that your AGE is the primary factor here, I would not wait another 12-18 to get surgery and another 12-18 months after surgery to start trying. I realize some people have gotten pregnant early on with their sleeve, but all the literature says at least a year. This is to give you the chance to lose the weight and also to be able to eat a more balanced diet than what you're going to be doing in the early days post-surgery. I don't know how obese you are but many obese women have healthy babies and many thin women have all kinds of problems. Pregnancy is a dice roll. Some things you can do to help alleiviate any problems but you can still have them. If your specialist is telling you now is the time, then now is the time. With pregnancy, it becomes harder and harder to get pregnant and stay pregnant past the age of 40. Personally, I would not wait. ETA: Also, I would second what was said before. Start doing everything you can to get yourself as healthy as possible: eat regular meals, cut out the junk, cut out the sugar, get some moderate exercise. You can still be on the waiting list for surgery and if you're not pregnant by then, THEN think about it. You have over a year to get started and you might have or be close to having a baby by then.

Yes, they don't have pink in their faces and the skin hangs differently. It's hard to explain, but it is something subtle but I can pick up on it. I've seen it on strict vegans as well. Personally, I think it is lack of proper vitamin digestion which is why I am researching endlessly about this surgery.

I'm 4'11" and if I do this, I would love to join your crew. Right now, I will cheerlead for you!!

I think you have made the best decision for both of you. She is not going to be helpful to you at this point because ased on what you wrote, it sounds like she has had eating disorder issues and your posts are triggering to her. She is reacting in a childish and immature way, but sometimes when emotions related to past psychological issues emerge, you don't get the best of people. So your choice to disengage is the mature one. You are doing what is best for you and her by distancing yourself. So feel good that you set boundaries and kept to them

You've lost nearly 100lbs. That is great! Maybe you might consider trying to let your body and your mind adjust to the changes and not focus on the goal but the journey? Sometimes the brain takes awhile to catch up and you might still be seeing your old self in the mirror because you're so focused on the scale.

There is a difference between weight related health issues that should be addressed by healthcare professionals and outright size discrimination. I think most of what the people described here was clearly size discrimination. Sorry, but you go to a doctor to TREAT your pain or illness. If they are unwilling to do so because of your size, then that is discrimination and they are not doing their jobs. These doctors make fat people unwilling to seek medical attention. This is something that needs to be addressed and I am sure this is a compounding factor in why obese people have health problems. They go to the doctor for treatment and are turned away! Duh, if you go to a doctor for help and don't get it, by the time you do get help, it has gotten to be a serious illness or chronic pain (and chronic pain contributes to depression and weight gain, derp doctors, derp!) I've been lucky enough to find a PCP that actually helps me when I need help and doesn't lecture. http://www.prevention.com/health/healthy-living/weight-and-obesity-discrimination-doctors This one made me laugh even though I have a hard time believing it http://danceswithfat.wordpress.com/2009/12/15/so-my-doctor-tried-to-kill-me/

What made you choose her over other doctors in the area? I am currently working with UCI/Dr. Nguyen but Torrance is a much close drive if I ever have any complications or even just for follow-ups.

I remember when vanity sizes really took on. Express used to carry up to a size 16 back in around 1998. I used to wear a 7/8 in their clothes, which is probably anywhere between a 2-6 now. In any case, they got rid of all of their 16s (don't want to be associated with a plus sized store!) and just relabelled them a 14. All of the clothes got bigger. I only noticed it at express because I used to shop their religiously. I had some size medium knit tops that I gave to my mom who is a size 8 (sometimes 6), she is a small woman. They were tight but looked good before washing. After washing, they shrank a bit and were too small. It used to be that the size roughly corresponded with the waist size. So a size 6 was a 26" waist. I had about a 27-28" waist at that time so my clothes were always an 8, except when I did shrink into a 6. Now sizes are all over the place. Let's say I get annoyed when I see my mom, who I think is pretty small unable to wear clothes that at the time I thought I was fat *sigh* In any case, from buying old clothes in the past, vintage sizing started at a 12. The sizes corresponded with bra band size. So a 12 was a 32 bra. Today it would be about a 0 or 2. So a size 12, 14, 16 were pretty small women.

Hello, just wanted to clarify, by anorexia, I was meaning the the dictionary term of loss of appetite and inability to eat, and not the clinical term anorexia nervosa, which is an eating disorder. Sorry if that was not clear.

I haven't had anything done yet, but from experience of gaining weight...Yes, your ring size will get smaller. It may only be a 1/4 size or a full size. It depends upon how much fat is in your fingers (some people's fingers are boney, mine are pretty padded like baby fingers, lol). My feet a little wider but not longer. However, I have flat feet and always have had flat feet. Some people experience their arches falling with weight gain. With weight loss their feet kind of spring back and they might be shorter. (Your feet actually flatten out a bit while running which is why they reccommend buying shoes with some room in the toes, the same principle applies with weight gain--more pressure on the foot means they flatten out). The sleeve is basically enforced anorexia. You will only be getting a few hundred calories during the first part of your post-operative period when your stomach is healing. Whenever you drop below 50% of your BMR in calories, you body will respond by burning excess fat and muscle. In obese people, the primary loss is in fat and very little muscle. Most obese people already have quite a bit of muscle from hauling their large bodies around (let's face it, our 100lbs backpacks do make us strong). This is how are bodies are supposed to work--we store energy as fat when we get extra food and we burn it off when we aren't getting any. That is how the sleeve works. There is no malabsorption of fat like alli, where the fat is blocked from being digested and comes out in your poops or uncontrollable farts.ick.

I would I have to disagree with you on family issues. Family history is genetic history, I am built like the people in my family who have lived a long time without problems except those related to age. Also, I don't think you know me well enough to tell me that I would not be happy at 175lbs. I was happy at 190lbs. The 200 mark is the point where it tips for me. I know I won't lose 100lbs without the surgery. I very much get that. The question I am debating is whether losing 100lbs worth dying for? Is it worth a lifetime of complications? Is it worth shortening my lifespan? I don't want to be 20 years out and drop dead of a heart attack or have liver/renal failure like what has happened in other WLS. THAT is what is scary. My remark about being in the driver's seat is in regards to the band. With the band it is possible to have it removed. I can't unremove my stomach. In all actuality, my most miserable parts of my life were when I was my thinnest. I was normal sized but thought I was fat and my life would begin if only I could lose those last 10lbs. Nevermind the fact that the fronts of my legs were rock hard from biking (I am muscular and have always weighed more than I look). No, I was more worried about the fat on the sides. You know, the stuff that gives us females our shapes. I have some clothes I have kept from that period of my life. I recently found them in a move. They looked like little kids clothes to me. And I thought I was fat. Go figure. So I do not live with the mythology that thin will magically cure all that ails me, which is something that I think a lot of people who have struggled with obesity are suseptible to buying into. This is why I struggle with this decision. Because I know it can just be a sliding scale of never being happy with oneself. This trip is about self-acceptance, size be damned. I pretty much had mentioned in a previous post that my reason for wanting to lose weight is precisely the social issues. I am not a depressed or sad fat person. I don't have a thin person wanting to come out so I can start my real life sort of deal. Would it be great to be 100lbs lighter? Hell yeah. I can't think of any reason it wouldn't be. Getting to 252 scared the **** out of me because that could get to 300 and then I would be sick and unable to move. Ultimately though, it is a social/cosmetic motivation. Actually, scratch that. It is a normalcy one. I just want to be normal. And I don't want to trade one abnormal for another. I'm just trying to come to grips with social/cosmetic being OK reasons to alter my phisiology and how abnormal or normal will life be afterwards. My main purpose here is to hear from other people in similar situations who made the decision to do it or not to do it. What was the tipping point. Because some days, I know I want it. Then other days, I read something about it and am like NO way. I don't need convincing or browbeating, just honest experiences. The good, the bad, the ugly. Also, if anyone can point me in the direction of long term studies for sleeves or proto-sleeves past 10 years or more, or gastrectomy for cancer please link it! It is muchly appreciated! I am trying to devour as much information as possible, including videos. For some reason they are reassuring to me. Formerly fluffy, thanks for mentioning the band. It seems so many people are just ditching it after a short period of time. I was very much ready to go get one and then got steered into this direction. This is why I am so confused and have so many questions. I will try and read your blog and group. Thanks! Everyone's comments have been extremely helpful so far. Thank you for taking the time to post your experiences.

You can get the panni without the actual tummy tuck. The tummy tuck is what gets destroyed in pregnancy because the muscles get pulled apart again. But the panni is just skin removal.

I am sorry if I was confusing, I am no longer 252. I am down to 219 and should be back to my pre-holiday pork out weight soon. I think I will probably get pretty close to onederland before I even see the surgeon again. I am short, 4'11" so my BMI is still over 40 right now. I do feel if I could get to and stay at about 175, I will hopefully avoid future health problems because that is about the level of chub some of the long lived family members were at. Which is why I just get so wigged out because its like, if I could just get over this hump, I could be chill. On the other hand, I am so frustrated with lose then get off track, gain back, get back on track, yo-yo. Then again, I could do the same thing with the sleeve and milkshakes. And I don't even like milkshakes. I just wish there was a half-way sleeve. Like instead of 85% of your stomach and 2-4oz, maybe like a 70% and 6-8 oz. Like enough to get rid of the hunger pangs but some extra spare stomach in case something not so good happens. I also don't want to get dumping syndrome or have to spit. What is that about? Argh. Thanks for your help though. I do need to hear from people who weren't facing bigtime health problems. Do you feel your surgery was cosmetic in nature? I find myself debating this because my main reasons for WLS are so that I can fit in and not be the fat person all the time. I have never had the ride issue but OMG that would suck. I'd like for men to actually find me attractive instead of being all like "big girls like to do stuff." Uhm no, not stuff with you mr. attitude buddy. Also, I am getting to the point in my career where being obese is going to hold me back from promotions because of the automatic assumptions people make about fat people and also the "image" thing. Agh. I have diarrhea of the fingers...

I think it is really easy to dismiss her when you are happy with your results. However, if you read through her site, her main beef is with gastric bypass because she has lost many friends from it. I guess when you lose your friends to WLS, you might not have such a happy feeling about it. I think her vitriol against the band and sleeve might be misplaced because the complication and death rates are nowhere near those of gastric bypass. However, she does have a point in that no one knows the complications 10, 20, 30 years down the road when long-term nutritional deficiencies start showing up. Unfortunately, none of the WLS forums or sites really address any of it other than positive. I guess my skepticism meter goes up when I see only good and no bad. It makes me wonder what is being hidden and why talking about the not so good things is taboo. I am also hesitant about the partial gastrectomies (and full) for cancer patients, especially when a good outcome is measured in 5 year increments. I think there is a distinct difference between someone who will die in 5 years due to cancer and someone who might have health concerns later in life due to obesity where the treatment of the obesity might shorten the lifespan. (I have no health concerns, period. So I am very much in a freak out place where it is like "what if I do this and die at 45 instead of 75 just to look pretty?" stage. It is probably drastically different for someone who has little to no mobility and is facing multiple health concerns.) It probably sounds like I am trying to talk myself out of it, and probably to some extent it is, but I want to consider, decide, and go into this with my eyes wide open.

I'm having the same indecision. At first, I was adamant about getting a band because it is reversible. When I went for my first consult, the surgeon was advocating the opposite of yours--that I should consider the VSG. Then reading all of the complaints about the band and the fact it will probably have to come out in 5 years anyway had me almost 100% for VSG. Then I started reading how much is actually taken out. Some sites say 75% but it seems like everyone here is at 85%-90%. I have concerns at that level primarily because of the risk of complications that would force me into a total gastrectomy and the long term effects of vitamin/mineral nutritional deficiencies. I see VSG blog where there is constant deficiency even if the person is eating a normal calorie intake (like 1500 or so). That worries me as to what happens 30 years from now? So I feel your pain. I posted that in the VSG board. I am reposting here because I would like to hear the bandster opinions as well. I am so on the fence.

I'm having the same indecision. At first, I was adamant about getting a band because it is reversible. When I went for my first consult, the surgeon was advocating the opposite of yours--that I should consider the VSG. Then reading all of the complaints about the band and the fact it will probably have to come out in 5 years anyway had me almost 100% for VSG. Then I started reading how much is actually taken out. Some sites say 75% but it seems like everyone here is at 85%-90%. I have concerns at that level primarily because of the risk of complications that would force me into a total gastrectomy and the long term effects of vitamin/mineral nutritional deficiencies. I see VSG blog where there is constant deficiency even if the person is eating a normal calorie intake (like 1500 or so). That worries me as to what happens 30 years from now? So I feel your pain.

Ok, so I joined the lapband forum about a year ago as I started the 6-month process for insurance. About half-way through I turned into a chicken and wanted to wait until I could change my insurance to something with better approvals. My PPO is totally against the lapband and thinks it is hideous. In that time I did have my first appointment at UCI. They were really hot and heavy on the VSG and without saying "don't get the band" they kind of pretty much said it. The surgeon was clear that the band will have to come out and it is a two surgery process. Reading the band forums, I see that many are out by year 3 and most are out by year 6. A lot of people don't lose very much weight on it either. As in, I've lost more on my own this past year than some have on the lapband. Which is really bad considering all the BS you go through. Now this wouldn't be so bad if I lost the weight, did good on keeping it off, learned my new habits and moved on, stomach intact, and no other issues. However, it seems the band has a lot of problems with people either not being able to eat anything or being able to eat everything. So I really like my teeth, and don't want to erode them with vomming every day, etc. However, this VSG looks scary as hell. Yet, less complicated with much better results. Dillema. I see on websites two numbers, either 75% or 85% of the stomach. 75% I could get on board with because you still have some room if something funky goes on with the staple line or what have you. That is still a quarter left behind. But at 85%-90%, pretty much if there is a severe complication, you're in revision to what essentially amounts to a bypass. And I DO NOT WANT a bypass. Absolutely. I would rather be 100lbs heavier than I am now than deal with that. I have lost close to 40lbs over the last year with not too much effort. Mostly I have gone through a strict low cal/low carb/high Protein diet and then regular eating. I did gain about 10lbs over the holidays but that is typical for normal sized people as well. It has mostly all come off in a few weeks of dieting anyway. I have no other health concerns other than being obese. I would like to lose 90-100lbs for looks. Getting down about another 30-50lbs would put me at a still chubby yet liveable. My real concerns are long term outlooks. I am only 35 years old. So I know I have at least another 35 years left in me as-is and probably more if exercised regularly (yay! kinect!) I don't want to end up with a surgery where I am facing protein and vitamin/mineral deficiencies the remainder of my life as I believe these would have a far greater impact on me long-term than extra weight. I find a lot of blogs cheerlead for WLS but there are very few posters that are oldbies that are 8-10 years or more out from their surgeries (for all types). This is a fairly new surgery in terms of how it is being used. While I am aware partials and full gastrectomies have been done for stomach cancer and ulcers, they aren't a walk in the park either. Also, I think the terms in which one considers a full gastrectomy when they have cancer and a very short life span if they don't do it is a bit different than someone just wanting to look better so they can be treated like a person instead of a thing. Vertical banded gastroplasty was once new with great 2 year outcomes, then 10 years later, problems. Now it is considered a dangerous operation. I don't want to be in the same spot with this thing as opposed to a band where it comes out and the worst thing is still being fat. One of the reasons I am so against getting a bypass is the long-term health effects, including organ damage and death. A lot of people die from bypass. Not from the surgery itself, but afterwards. So now I am totally confused. Do surgeons actually discuss the stomach size or is it a this is what you get sort of deal?