M2G

Lynda, you have done a wonderful job! Congrats on your two-year anniversary...wow time flies when you are having fun, right? Looked at all the photos and you look GREAT!!! If you want (no pressure) I would love it if you would share your "numbers" from your blood work. I did blood work at 6, 9, 12, and 18 months but then my surgeon said no to any labs at 2 years because he was satisfied with what he saw. Now that my 3 year is approaching (this fall) I will ask for labs because I just like to "know" ...ya know? You don't have to if you don't want to just a thought.

Totally understand not wanting another OP. I had absolutely zero complications with my GB removal. In fact, I was THRILLED to bits to get rid of if. The long version of the story is that back then I had done Medifast. 6 months of NO OTHER food than Medifast. (this was at a time when you could NOT purchase Medifast online and whatnot, so I was being carefully monitored by a medical doctor, etc.) Then I did another 6 months of combination Medifast and real food. So all in all I did Medifast for a year. They told me a possible side-effect was gallstones and yep, just about 3 months after ending the "diet" I started having severe pain. After a few months of trying to chase down the source of the pain, I learned that I had gall stones and the pain resulted from "passing" a stone through my system. WORST PAIN EVER, and I went on to have two children about a year and a half after my GB removal and to this day I still say passing a stone was worse than childbirth. So the short version of the story is I felt 1000% better after the GB was gone. Recovery was super-easy. I think I had mine out on a Thurs. and was back at work on the following Mon. I did not experience any food-related issues, dumping, runs, etc. I don't know if those are common side-effects or not. So basically for me life WITH a GB and life WITHOUT a GB were identical. I didn't change any eating habits, etc. I was just relieved that I will never in my life feel that pain again.

Have agree with Lynda, in the respect that while right now - - being early out from surgery - - your body is still trying to heal and what you gave it was too much and it objected. However, going forward as your new tummy heals and relaxes, it will be totally UP TO YOU to resist the temptation of food. What the sleeve DOES help with long-term is being full on less, but I've found that only with dense Protein. I am 2.5 years post-op and max out at 4oz of protein. I usually do 3 to 3.5 oz per meal of protein. Things like crackers, chips, ice cream, pie, cake, Cookies, and YES even caramel corn will slide right down your sleeve without resistance. So start tackling those food demons now, and start working on developing long-term habits that you can live with for the rest of your life.

Congrats on the bikini, you look GREAT!!! Why do you refuse to take the gallbladder out? I had mine out about 14 years ago and at the time I was told once you develop gall stones there isn't much to do except remove it. I understand there are new medications that can help prevent stones, not sure about already having stones though. I'm sure there are newer technologies that I'm just unaware of since I haven't had to think about mine in a long time At any rate, I hope you get to keep yours!

Welcome!! I'm 2.5 years post-op and my surgeon has a mentoring program. I mentored a man who was 6' and 425 to start. He got down to 280 at about 9 months post-op. He's been stuck there for a while but his ultimate goal is 250. I think you will do just fine!

See this is where I get pissed off sometimes (not AT anyone but myself!) when I have a BAD day of eating and I top out at 1,850 calories, something is FREAKING wrong with that. That is why the mystery of the metabolically altered body comes into play. FYE, I want to try that! Upping my calories in hopes of breaking this weird cycle of low-calorie eating and LOSING NOTHING!!! arrgh! On a completely different note, I went to a plastic surgeon yesterday (Coops, feel free to ignore this as I've already whined to you about it and I owe you a letter back...can I just say you rock my sleeve sista!!!) and I just want to say how incredibly depressing it was. For over $20K I could get an extended tummy-tuck and a breast lift (not implants, I don't want implants), and having the photos taken, and then being poked and prodded moving the extra skin around, well let me just say it was NOT my best day. I was moody and cranky the rest of the day. I'm better today, and I do NOT need to make any decisions on this anytime soon. It was just frustrating overall. If you want to read about my experience, I blogged about it. http://www.thisonebody.blogspot.com/2013/05/for-only-20000.html Anyone else out there besides Coops had plastics or looking into having plastics?

Looks great!

I wish you all the luck in the world! I think you have an excellent case. I just had my first consult yesterday with a plastic surgeon yesterday and it was very depressing. I don't qualify for help from insurance but believe me the extra skin is there. If I want to undo the damage done by being morbidly obese for 20 years, it's going to cost me around $22,000 (extended tummy tuck and breast uplift, surgeon wanted to talk me into implants but I just don't want them). I don't know what to do, so for now I will probably do nothing. Ugh. But I think you have a great case and sending them the video is a GREAT idea!

My answer is pretty much the same as Lynda's. I was a pretty happy person before. I have a great husband, a great family, and really the only thing that I felt bad about was my yo-yo dieting and my weight. So once the sleeve helped in that area I don't have much to complain about. Except yesterday I had a first consult with a plastic surgeon, and wow what a downer that was! 20K to fix the damage done by being morbidly obese for 20 years. So yeah, not a fun day at all. I was moody and cranky yesterday, but already today is a new day and while I don't have any answers yet (do plastics, not do them and just accept the damage, I don't know) but I feel better already. I do know that I have been a regular exerciser for the last 9 years and believe me there are days that I DRAG my butt to the gym or force myself to go on a run, and no matter how much I don't want to exercise, I NEVER regret it once I'm done. I truly believe in that endorphine release that exercise causes, so I try to remember that on days when I really don't want to go.

So today is exactly 2.5 years since I was sleeved on October 22, 2010. It's hard to believe that 2.5 years have passed. I used to have a ticker but since they took away external tickers I've been too lazy to go and make a new one here. I originally lost -100lbs at the 18 month mark, (all since surgery, I wasn't required to lose weight before surgery) and then I spent about 9 months regaining about 15-20lbs. In January of this year I rededicated myself to this journey and now have lost -9lbs of my regain. Hoping to lose the next -10-12lbs and then keep going towards goal (when all is said and done I would like to lose another -20lbs from where I am right now.) Not much to say, except this is the best thing I have ever done for myself and my health. My husband is also sleeved and is just a little over 2 years post-op. He has lost around 65-70lbs and has maintained that weight for over a year now. We work out, we eat right (most of the time) and yep we work at it. Not a free ride, not the "easy way out" but a chance for us to have a do-over. We make daily choices to keep, maintain, or improve our health. Here is my story in photos.

I don't really have much to add here, but wanted to express that I'm sorry you are having trouble keeping things down. That was my biggest fear with surgery in fact, the idea of not keeping food down kept me from getting the band and ultimately led me to the sleeve. I also agree that your sleeve will relax on it's own the further out you get. Until then my only thoughts are to find the foods that YOU do like and DO stay down and try upping the calorie/protein count. If you like any type of yogurt, you can add dry Protein powder or Peanut Butter to that. Adding a banana to the Protein Drink that you already like can help. cheese has lots of calories in it, maybe just try adding a slice or two to your meals or on it's own (1 sandwich slice of cheese will get you around 100 extra calories). But since you are trying to get more calories in I think you just need to experiment with adding in some extra foods or as someone else pointed out extra meals. Best of luck and I hope that sleeve relaxes soon for you!

That is awesome! Thanks for sharing it...

Thanks all, this place was THE most helpful site in all of my research and studying about the sleeve. More helpful than medical journals, studies, and statistics (while they have their place) but connecting with others on the same journey has by far been the best!

Amazing transformation! I love seeing people become who they were meant to be!!!

Wow MichiganChic thank you so much for your question. You are really making me think here. I guess most everything that I do now stems from a lot of reasons. One really big reason is that (like almost everyone else here) surgery was my last hope. It wasn't like I thought, "oh I'll give it a whirl and if it doesn't work out, no big deal." I was a bit of a research junkie about this surgery and I knew going into this that it would not be a miracle cure or a magic wand, and that it WOULD take a lot of effort on my part. And like almost everyone else here, I was GREAT at losing weight, but just not great at keeping it off. So I knew going in that would still be my cross to bear. Maintenance is for life. It's not some distant land that you reach and then it's all skittles and rainbows. It takes a concentrated effort to NOT put crap in my mouth. And there is just not a surgery ON THIS EARTH that will make those daily choices for you. Sure RNY can make people dump which is a huge incentive to stay away from sugar, but I chose the sleeve because I didn't want my surgery to control that aspect of my life. I could eat sugar all day long and gain all my weight back, but I CHOSE this path. I CHOSE to have 85% of my stomach removed. So I guess staying the course, and still working this tool is part of what I bargained for. Another reason is that a lot of stuff HAS become automatic. I tend to eat a lot of the same core foods daily. eggs, greek yogurt, cheese, all kinds of meat, meatless soy burgers and sausage, and then I sprinkle in veggies, minimal fruit, whole wheat carbs, and yep even junk food. I'm not 100% perfect all the time but I would say I'm fairly good about 80% of the time. Do I fall off the wagon? Yep! Are there days when I'm exhausted counting calories, measuring my food, and just want to sit and reach my hand into a box of sugar Cereal and NOT CARE ABOUT how it's going to affect me? Yep! But then I have my little pity party and I pull myself back up and know that every meal is an opportunity. An opportunity to do better, to eat better, to feel better. So I make those daily choices. And I've learned that there IS NO FINISH LINE. I kinda thought there was. As much research as I did about the surgery, the pre-op, the post-op, the first week, the first 6 weeks, the first 6 months, the first year, I did NOT find a lot of information regarding "maintenance" or life down the road a bit. When I was sleeved in Oct. 2010, I was my surgeon's 15th sleeve. He did literallly thousands of Bands and RNY's, but sleeve territory was new. And finding post-ops that were 2, 3, 5, 10 years OUT from surgery was pretty much next to impossible. I think that is part of why I stay around here also because I've learned the hard way that maintenance is NOT all skittles and rainbows. It does take work, it does take effort but the results are worth putting in the effort. I guess that would have been easier to say. The hard work is worth the results. THAT is what keeps me going. I commend you for thinking about the future and not just living in the weight-loss mode. And more than that I really appreciate your question because it did make me think. All the best to you and your journey!

Okay, I'm NOT single but I realize I'm posting in the single's forum, I just wanted to say that when I was plus-sized I was never comfortable being with someone who WEIGHED LESS than me. So I guess that would put me in the camp of looking for a larger man. My hubby and I were both overweight when we met, and then together climbed into morbid obesity. We have both been sleeved and are healthier now in our 40's than we ever were in our 20's and 30's. But yeah, to date/marry I was always interested in a bigger guy. So I think whoever said that people like who they like is probably the best answer to this question.

Haha, I didn't catch that.

Awesome! Really big difference!

My brother must weigh over +300lbs and I've been sleeved for 2.5 years now and I *wish* he would go and do something about his weight. I worry about him...but I also realize this is a journey of self-discovery. Even though he has seen me be successful I can't make him walk in my path.

You are welcome. He definitely stays on top of checking his BP at home. It runs in his family so we are *hopeful* that he won't ever have to be on meds again for high BP, but he is aware that it could change as he ages (he's 43). I was sleeved about 5 months before him but luckily didn't have any obesity-related health issues. The high BP was his only one, but since we were both morbidly obese it was the ticking time bomb for sure. Being sleeved was truly the best thing we have both ever done in regards to our health!

Wow, congratulations! That is a really big difference. I agree sometimes it's hard to see it in the mirror, but the pictures do help tell the story. That color on the new dress is a GREAT color on you!

Wow, not only did you lose -116lbs you lost at least -10 years also! CONGRATS!

Well aren't we all glad they don't ask us to STEP on a scale at the DMV?? For YEARS my weight on my license was from when I was 15. Finally when I was in my 20's somewhere along the way I felt that I could NOT in all honesty keep that weight on there. So I upped it by about 50lbs and it was still about 50lbs shy of what I REALLY weighed. lol. Now that I'm in my 40's I finally told my real weight.

You are welcome. I know most "vets" don't stick around but I'm trying to be here. I was my surgeon's 15th sleeve back in late 2010 and I know he's done a TON more but when I was first sleeved this place was a lifeline for me because I felt like I was breaking new ground. I'm guilty of "drifting" away when life gets busy but definitely trying to still be active around here.

Great PSA...my hubby is sleeved also and 10 days post-op passed out because he was still on BP meds and didn't need them anymore. He is now over 2 years post-op and hasn't had them since the day he passed out.