onmyway11

@jdmcappo @Lady98 would love love to hear anythng you have to say about your surgery. I am a VSG revision candidate and I’m sick aboit my weight regain. Did you both revise or do the Loop in one operation? Do you feel confident you can keep the weight off? VSG regain is about 50% and I can’t find any numbers on the loop regain. Were you concerned about the lack of long term data with the loop? And also does your surgeon perform both and encouraged you to do the single not double? I live in Boston and there are no surgeons that do the full DS and the one I currently go to has only done 3 loops. Lastly has your life changed drastically? Can you go out to dinner without needing a bathroom break? Are there things you avoid socially otherwise that make you regret having the loop done? Thank you SO MUCH for any advise as I make this decision!

I posted on the DS forum but thought I would post here as well and maybe catch someone that knew of a surgeon that performs DS surgery in Boston? Surprisingly hard for me to find one!!

I’m researching SIPS vs DS and I’m so confused on the correct choice! SIPS seems easier to live with less side effects possibly and an up and coming surgery while DS has been around longer and has more follow up data. My surgeons office only does SIPS and truly has not done that many of them so I’ll probably switch surgeons as well. My story is that I had a nightmare band experience in 2011, didn’t lose much at all and regained all as well as port discomfort etc until being revised in 2017 to sleeve. I did amazing on sleeve for 2 years lost almost all my weight (112lbs) but regained about half. I’m desperate to find the right surgery and so afraid I will make another mistake! I know I need a more powerful surgery than the sleeve and yes I’m doing the “head work” in therapy. Any advise on which I should choose or how I should make the decision?

I am looking for Boston people that love their surgeon. Specifically to do either a DS or a SIPS procedure. It’s ok if you don’t know if they do or not I will call around thanks!!

Have any of you long time SIPS patients had trouble maintaining? My surgeon says I will still need to be careful and vigilant over what I eat. Others in the practice (nutritionist and psych) say it’s impossible to regain bc your body won’t allow it.

I asked my surgeon if DS patients were happy they did it. He said yes because they are thin but I wonder are you happy otherwise with your new lifestyle and is life completely different? In what way if so?

Ohhhh @azhiker I love your excitement!!! Haha so fun. @losingit2018 my surgeon said the DS is the way to go he doesn’t revise to the bypass and since I have the sleeve already i can see advantages to the DS. I’m not confident another surgery will be the answer since it seems like I have been gaining weight so easily w the sleeve after 2 years. I don’t want to redo my insides and have bathroom issues for the rest of my life and still be fat. Sigh

I’m 2 years out after very successful sleeve surgery. I lost over a hundred but maintaining has been extremely difficult. I’ve gained a little over 30 back and seem to be on a run away train. I’m 52 and healthy, active. Currently weigh about 200-205 and am 5’2”. My highest weight was 283. I’m exhausted from the ups and downs of weigh loss and want to fix my body. I feel hungry all the time and can only eat a tiny bit if I don’t want to gain. I can however eat a lot physically. I’m so tired of the stress of my weight and can only imagine how much weight I will put back on at this rate. Most likely all of it. My surgeon is suggesting DS surgery now before I gain more. I’m concerned about long term issues. Mostly the bathroom issues not the vitamin regime. I don’t know if I want to alter my body and create problems. And also if I do so in a year or 2 or 3 is the maintaining an issue again? Would love to hear from people w similar stories (or not so similar). Would you do it again? Would you do it if you were me? Thank you so much in advance for your advise these forums are a godsend for real life education!

Would love to hear from those that have had DS surgery. The good the bad and the ugly. I’m having trouble keeping the weight off from my sleeve surgery 2 years ago and I’m considering heading it off before it becomes a mess!! I would like to know specifically how it’s different. If you feel less hunger and if the malabsorption factor is of tremendous help. Would also love to know what terrible side effects you have had, what you have had to change in your life because of the surgery and whether or not you would do it again knowing what you know now. Lastly recovery! I’ve read it’s easier than the sleeve. Would love to hear your experiences. TIA!!!!

Thank you all for your replies! I’m not sure what’s scarier another surgery or gaining the weight back. I’m also not sure what my profile says but my highest weight was 283 I got down to 171 didn’t stay there long and am now about 200. I’m hopeful that a more “serious” surgery would prevent me from gaining the weight back and also help me to get down to 140-160 as I’m still pretty high up on the evil BMI scale at 5’2” When my surgeon suggested it 3 months ago it seemed radical and after 3 months of trying to get it off I feel defeated and am thinking I will be white knuckling it through the rest of my life without revision. I’ve tried therapy and am seeing a nutrionist Wednesday. Very lost and confused at this point and trying to figure out how to handle this before I gain it all back.

I was sleeved 1/17 I did great. My dr called me a “super acchiever” until my 2 year mark when I had gained 20 lbs back. After his pep talk i gained another 10. Sigh. Now I’m looking at DS and it’s appealing. Especially eliminating the hunger factor. My high weight was 283 lowest 171 current 205. My questions are is it too soon to start thinking about revising and if not would you all do it again. I love my sleeve no complications at all and an easy recovery wondering how recovery is vs the sleeve. Thanks in advance!

My dr prescribed me phentermine to help me lose the 20 lbs I have gained back. I took my first dose this morning at 7am and started vomiting at 10. I have been in bed/on sofa since and every time I get up I feel sick. Has anyone had this happen? Would love to know how long this lasts because I have a huge day tomorrow ugh!

The last case i picked up was really thick and I haven’t been drinking them bc I was thinking there was something wrong with that batch. Interested to hear what others are thinking. Thx for posting this! Band to sleeve revision surgery 1/16/17 HW: 283 CW: 171 GW: 160

My panni was just denied by insurance. I have a *** and needed to get a reference from my GP to see the plastic surgeon then approval from my GPs medical referral bc the doctor my Bariatric surgeon recommended was not in their office (eyeroll). I have lost 105ish lbs and I need one! I’m wondering a few things and hoping you all can help me figure this out. First I’m wondering if I got denied bc the surgeon I went to was not out of my GPs office? They had one to give me but when I researched him he was a hand doctor who did plastic surgery also. Secondly I’m wondering if the plastic surgeon I went to was ridiculously expensive and that’s why it was denied. Tummy tuck was 12,500 and breast lift was 12,000. I know only the panni part is covered but this surgeon does both for same price. Thirdly and most importantly I’m wondering what my rights are to appeal something like this. I plan to call in the morning but wanted to get my ducks in a row and have a clue what I was going to ask them at the insurance company. Band to sleeve revision surgery 1/16/17 HW: 283 CW: 177 GW: 160

While I’m not completely off the rails I see the writing on the wall, some old habits coming back and I’m trying to avoid weight gain and trying to lose the last bit of weight I have to lose. Thinking about seeing a therapist? Isogenix? No not weight watchers again. I can’t. Really. Haha. What have all you successful people done to keep the weight off? What have you done to lose the final 20 once the honeymoon period is over? Please help me figure this out!! So afraid I will never get there and go back to the old me. Le Band to sleeve revision surgery 1/16/17 HW: 283 CW: 177 GW: 160

I have an appointment with Dr. Christopher Davidson coming up. Wondering if anyone has had any personal experience with his office or any other plastic surgeons in the Boston area? Looking for positive and negatives and costs. TIA!

Hi! I’m hoping someone has some insight for me. I’m a year out and in August I had some sort of “attack” i felt pressure in my chest and back my throat I started sweating and really felt like I was going to pass out. I was sitting on the beach not exerting myself however I had overdone it the night before drinking and eating. The next time it woke me up and again the night before I had eaten red meat (not usual) and had wine (somewhat usual). After that I went to the dr had an ekg and a stress test all great. I exercise (run). The past week I’ve had 2 more “attacks”. Today I was on he phone and I couldn’t talk from all the pressure in my chest. I know GERD is a thing for sleeve patients but google searches don’t match up with what is happening. My dr said it’s indigestion and to take Prilosec which i will do but it seems it comes from nowhere and so fast! I see my surgeon for my yearly next week but I wanted to see if anyone has had any experiences similar?? Thanks! Band to sleeve revision surgery 1/16/17 HW: 283 CW: 177 GW: 160

Most of my weight is in my tummy. I can't wait to get rid of it! I've had 4 kids (including a set of twins whose combined weight was almost 14 lbs). I'm setting my goals in my head but I'm not sure how much weight will come off with a tummy tuck. Can anyone give me an idea? Thanks! Band to sleeve revision surgery 1/16/17 HW: 283 CW: 199 GW: 160

I was revised in January from a band to a sleeve. It’s an amazing difference. I’m down 103 from my highest and I don’t think I lost more than 30 lbs (which I gained back) with the band. It’s night and day and incredibly easier to live with! Band to sleeve revision surgery 1/16/17 HW: 283 CW: 180 GW: 160

Can anyone tell me what the pouch reset rules are? I've been looking online and there are varying answers. I'd like to do the most "official" of these in order to get back on track to lose the last 20 (my goal not my ideal according to the charts) but I don't know which is the most popular. Thanks in advance for your help! Band to sleeve revision surgery 1/16/17 HW: 283 CW: 181 GW: 160

I can only tell you my story and I have had both. The band for me was AWFUL. AWFUL! I can't believe I lived with it for 5 years. I had port pain for 5 years it never went away. Sure sometimes I couldn't feel it but many many times years later at night I could feel it and it was sore. The other nightmare about the band is that if you eat one bite of something that doesn't go thru you are in trouble. So for example an innocent piece of broccoli? You experience pain and being to slime and can only hope it will come back up. This happened to me at restaurants, people's houses, during birthday dinners with my family. I missed so much in the bathroom praying that little piece of whatever would come up. It's not if you overeat it's if it goes down wrong. Slider foods? Have fun with that bc you can drink a mcdonalds shake and eat crackers or cookies and you can eat a lot of them. Lastly I never lost any weight. Maybe 20lbs in the beginning. But that's it! You can eat slider foods so much more easily with the band and you probably will if you have the experiences I did with the healthier foods not going down. If it was choice for me to eat crackers that were guaranteed to not give me a problem I would choose that over a salad with chicken because who needs that kind of work? Fast forward 5 years and I finally revised to a sleeve in January. My only regret is that I didn't start here and wasted so much time suffering with the band. I'm down 100 lbs in a size 10 jeans and I feel amazing. I can eat small amounts of whatever I want however I have become a much healthier eater. For example we are tailgating tomorrow and I made a ton of food today and a huge veggie tray that I will munch on. With the band I would have planned on chips and salsa so I didn't end up in the bathroom for the entire game. As far as keeping the weight off no tool will do that for you. This is a long and difficult journey. My weight loss is slowing down now dramatically and I have to start thinking about maintenance and it's scary. However the past 9 months have been preparing me and I feel optimistic that I will be able to continue eating healthy and since I am unable to binge on anything I really think I'm gonna make it. I know there are some people that have been successful with the band and maybe they will tell you differently that it works and go for it but it absolutely did not work for me it worked against me. The sleeve is a dream and I'm so so so happy I did it! Good luck! Band to sleeve revision surgery 1/16/17 HW: 283 CW: 183 GW: 160

I'm 8 months out and experiencing my first stomach virus. I'm miserable. I've noticed that what I'm getting up and out (you see where I'm going with this) is minimal. I'm wondering if because of this the virus is taking longer to move through my system. This is day 4. Wahhhh Has anyone experienced the stomach virus post surgery and had the same experience? Any advise appreciated. Thanks! Band to sleeve revision surgery 1/16/17 HW: 283 CW: 184 GW: 160

I'm almost 7 months out from sleeve surgery and feel great. I can eat a good deal and not much seems to upset my stomach. I have a question for you MFP users. What exactly do you track? Right now I feel like if I eat over 800 calories I don't lose (I can eat way more than that but I don't and it's a struggle!). I also track my protein at 70 grams I don't track my carbs or anythng else really just shoot for 800/70. Wondering what everyone else is doing??? Band to sleeve revision surgery 1/16/17 HW: 283 CW: 190 GW: 160

How many carbs do you try to stay under? Band to sleeve revision surgery 1/16/17 HW: 283 CW: 190 GW: 160

Curious what's safe for me and what everyone else is doing? I'm 6.5 months out and feeling great except for this issue. Fruits and veggies don't seem to be cutting it. Thanks in advance! Band to sleeve revision surgery 1/16/17 HW: 283 CW: 199 GW: 160