Foxbins

I stopped at nine months. I've had to take Pepcid twice since (both times because I ate something too close to bedtime) but otherwise I've had no problems.

I always had a round face and full cheeks until my weight loss. The last 20 lbs or so seemed to drain the fullness right out of my face and my jowls sagged and there are wrinkly hollows under my cheeks. I look so much older than I did. My body is wrinkly too but I can cover that with clothing and fortunately I kept my boobs! I decided about six weeks ago to get a facelift. I had a couple consultations with local surgeons who recommended a face/neck lift and fat transfer to the nasolabial lines. Cost--about 13K as an outpatient procedure and no guarantee that the fat transfer would be permanent. I started looking at overseas as an option and a couple names kept popping up as good for faces. I decided on Alejandro Lev in Costa Rica. He does mostly faces, some breast, nose, tummy tucks, but the surgery is in a hospital and then you are cared for in a recovery house for two weeks. I sent him some photos and he says that he thinks that I will hava a very nice result with a face/neck lift and Restylane in the nasolabial lines (which would have to be renewed in about six months since it's not permanent.) He said he did not think I need my eyes done but that a brow lift would make me look less tired. Since my hair is still thin from the VSG and I have a high forehead, I will wait until my face-to-face consultation before deciding on the brow lift. Cost will be about 9000 US, including airfare, surgeon, anesthesiologist, overnight nurse, hospital costs, recovery house, and a petsitter for two weeks to look after my dogs. Looking forward to it and I'll keep you all posted on the process-surgery is on Dec. 1.

It's due to the rapid weight loss--people get gallbladder attacks after losing on Weight Watchers too--so yes, it's due to the VSG because without the surgery I wouldn't have lost the weight so quickly. If you are concerned, there's a medication called Actigall here in the states (don't know what it's called where you are) that is sometimes given for six months after surgery to help prevent gallstones. You might ask your doctor about it.

I did not take Actigall. I had no gallbladder problems prior to WLS. Statistically, only about a third of WLS patients will have gallbladder problems, and Actigall has its own set of side effects. I just turned out to be in the unlucky 33%.

I found one for you here in the Research and Statistics forum under the topic "5 year study." It's an abstract of a small study of 26 patients and 3 needed gastric bypass after the sleeve due to failure to lose weight. I have read other studies where the failure rate is lower (11% is much higher than we even see reported here on VSTfrom individuals). I also read a couple on Obesity Help and at the public library, which had access to MedLine and all the surgical journals. Maybe a malabsorption component would help your mom?

Unfortunately, there is a failure rate with this surgery that has nothing to do with patient compliance. When I was reading some of the studies I seem to recall that about 5% of patients have little to no weight loss despite reporting diet and exercise regimens that would normally result in weight loss. Nobody seems to know why some patients have a good result and others don't but it's probably some unknown metabolic pathway. Did your mom ever lose her hunger? I ask only because it might be easier to ignore food if she's not hungry. Small comfort, I know...

I had a rapid onset of pain that initially felt like acid. I took a Pepcid which did not help and after a couple of hours the pain moved to my right upper abdomen below the ribcage with pain radiating into my back. I felt nauseated all day but did not vomit, though I came close a couple of times. There was extreme pain and tenderness when the doc pressed on the area. I did not have a fever and my blood pressure and pulse were elevated for me but not out of the normal range (probably due to the pain). I had blood work and had an elevated white cell count, amylase and lipase levels so I was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis due to a gall stone blocking the pancreatic duct, confirmed by ultrasound the following day. I should note that before the acute symptoms, my stool had clay-colored streaks in it and my urine had turned kind of brown-colored. Have you had blood chemistries? Are you taking a PPI? Are you lactose-intolerant? Any change in bowel or urine appearance? An ultrasound would definitively diagnose gall stones if they are in the gall bladder. If they are in the ducts, there are other tests that can be done. Please keep us posted on what happens--probably best to start your own thread, I only found this by accident. Good luck!

Mine came out last Tuesday--10.5 months after surgery. The surgeon said I had more than 100 little stones in it. Although I had no problems until an attack of pancreatitis due to a stone in the pancreatic duct, I was so happy to get rid of it. I'm recovering now and things are going well.

My sleeve loves shrimp. My sleeve hates spaghetti. My sleeve loves steak. My sleeve hates bread but can tolerate toast. My sleeve sometimes tolerates but usually hates chicken. I have 10 lbs of it in the freezer that I will be tossing out as I bought it nearly a year ago, thinking that it would be my primary Protein.

I found that I can live with my wrinkly thighs and stomach. I love that my craving for sweet things is gone and I can indulge in shrimp and beef to my heart's content because I can only eat about six bites until I am full. I struggle to get in all the Water, I never liked it before surgery and I'm not crazy about it now. I also spend less time in the bathroom (2 or 3 times a week) because the volume of food is so much less than the massive quantities I used to shovel in. Keep at it until you are happy with where you are--and thanks for updating us on your progress.

We are in the same boat! I had my gallbladder removed on Tuesday after an attack of pancreatitis due to a gallstone in the pancreatic duct, and wow was that painful. My surgeon also wanted my gallbladder out ASAP so it was done six days after the attack. I had a lap cholesystectomy so now I have nine scars on my tummy, four from the gallbladder and five from the gastrectomy. I am still walking bent over a bit as the incisions hurt but each day is a little better. I was pumped with more than 3 liters of Fluid during the hospital stay so I was up every 90 minutes the first night peeing. I haven't gotten on the scale yet but since I haven't eaten much since Nov. 30th I expect to be down 3 or 4 lbs. I rescheduled my facelift for 1/4/12 after realizing there was no way I could travel the day after gallbladder surgery! Good luck and I'll be hoping you have an easy recovery! And you look fabulous!

Dr. Aceves operates out of Almater Hospital, which is where your pre-op labs will be done also. He usually has his patients in one wing so that he can make rounds easily and you can talk with the other bariatric surgery patients. The hospital is a few blocks from the Mexico-US border in Mexicali. The area around the hospital is safe but Ernesto will pick you up from the airport and the hotel and make stops at the pharmacy if you need him to. I was not concerned about my safety at all in Mexico.

I went to Dr. Aceves and my BMI was 35.3. I believe some other people were lower.

I wondered if I would be one of the 30% who has gallbladder problems after a quick large weight loss. I got my answer this morning when I started feeling nauseous and then like I had acid in my tummy. I took an H2 blocker and it didn't help, so I figured it wasn't acid. I continued to feel worse as the morning wore on, with a lot of pain in my upper right stomach quadrant radiating in to my right back and shoulder blade. It hurt a lot and I have a pretty high threshold for pain. Finally took myself to the doctor about 1:15. My regular doc was on vacation but the one covering ordered a bunch of stat labs and an abdominal X-ray series. The x-rays are clear, no sleeve problems or anything else ruptured or abcessed, but the labs were off the charts for pancreatitis due to gallstones. By the time all the labs came back there was no one in ultrasound to confirm the stones so I go back tomorrow morning. The doc is talking like if they find stones I see a surgeon and my gallbladder comes out. I have a facelift scheduled in Costa Rica on Dec. 1! I come back to the states afterward on the 15th. Does anyone know if the recovery from a gallbladder removal done on, say, Friday, would let me fly to Costa Rica on Wednesday? Or can I take my chances that I won''t have another attack and get the facelift first and schedule the gallbladder surgery right after I get back? The pain was awful and I don't want to go through it again, but I've got a lot invested in Costa Rica right now. Is there something I can do to prevent another attack?

That is stupendous! Congratulations!

I am eating Protein first--turkey with gravy (because I know the turkey will be dry, my BIL grills it, ugh). I have lost my taste for most sweets so I might have a bite of pumpkin pie filling but no crust. I am hoping there will be green Beans or broccoli and I might have one bite of mashed potato or yams. I am looking forward to my first Thanksgiving where I feel satisfied but not stuffed and comatose.

I didn't have any issues except trying to get the water in--cold made my stomach spasm, room temp tasted icky, and hot never stayed hot long enough for me to get it all in. Fortunately, that only lasted a week or two and was my only problem other than trying not to heave after vitamins and calcium, which resolved at about six weeks. You will continue to do great I'm sure!

Just an update--I saw the general surgeon yesterday and due to the acute pancreatitis I had, he is recommending surgery sooner rather than later so I am having my gallbladder removed on Tuesday. I briefly considered flying to Costa Rica on Wednesday, but I don't think I could stand in the customs and immigration lines without extreme difficulty so I am postponing my facelift. Too bad! I was all prepared with time off from work.

Before surgery I was a regular donor every 8 weeks. I donated twice after surgery. Both times my hemoglobin was fine according to their tests. However, when I went for my 6 month labs, my ferritin (long term iron stores) was 7 when it should have been 100 or higher. The blood donations had caused the iron stores depletion. My doc said that I can't eat enough to replace my iron stores quickly after giving blood. Now I take an iron supplement and my ferritin is fine but my doc says I can't give blood more than once a year.

I recently went on vacation, and a few women in the group went shopping together. There was a T-shirt that I liked and I was trying to decide what size to purchase. I held a Large against me and one of the women said, "Oh, you are so small I think the Medium would be better." Me---small!!! But when I looked at the other women, although none were obese I was the thinnest. (We were all about fifty-ish.) Meals were included and were served buffet-style. I was never a big Breakfast eater even before surgery but I love my coffee, so most mornings I would have a couple of cups. Then I might have a spoon of scrambled egg and a slice of bacon and I would be done. I ate similarly at lunch and dinner--protein first and maybe a bite or two of vegetables. I noticed that other people had loaded plates and I only had a dab or two of something but no one said anything until the last night. For dessert, there was flan (I love flan) and I got a slice about as big as my thumb. It was the first dessert I had on the trip as none of the others had appealed to me before. One of the women looked at it on my plate and screeched, "We wondered what you ate and now I see that you eat JUNK!" I just smiled at her and enjoyed my flan because I am SMALL now.

I'm 56 and had my VSG in Jan 2011. I hit a normal BMI in September and my goal of 150 lbs in October. I also have hypothyroidism so I thought that I would lose pretty slowly. I low-carbed until goal and now I am experimenting with maintenance eating. I still journal my food and Water (I'm bad about water unless I write it down) and measure my food if I'm home. Age was no barrier to weight loss for me! Good luck!

I told my PCP three days before my flight that I was having a VSG and she agreed to order the routine post-op labs for me. When I came back I took her the surgical report and the xray of my sleeve for my records. I have not seen her since then. I have been to the lab for my 3, 6, and 9 month blood work and she has seen those results and emailed me saying, "Everything looks good." I tend not to go to the doctor either and haven't needed to see her since there were no complications or issues.

I went alone and I was fine. Dr. Aceves did a great job and I've been at goal now for a few weeks. Don't worry, you're in good hands.

I have always been buoyant, even when I was thinner. When I took scuba classes, they put on all the gear and then you are supposed to sit on the bottom of the pool and breathe through your regulator. I had to have someone press down on my head or I would float up....So today I was in the pool treading Water in the deep end and I decided since I am thinner to see if I would sink. Nope. With my lungs full I come up out of the water to my collarbones--empty I sink to my nose. This is good, I suppose, if ever I am in danger of drowning since all I have to do is just keep breathing and float, but I would rather have more muscle on me and less fat. My Bodpod measurement had me at 42% fat (!) and I want to get to about 25%. I am in good cardio shape but the weight room needs to see me more frequently!

Congratulations! You must be so proud, and feel great! Well done!