sue4491

I heard the comment and thought it interesting - seems the BL show is basically against having surgery although some of the contestants in former seasons had HAD weight loss surgery (and regained all the weight and more). I really wonder what the recidivism (regain) rate is for the contestants who were on the BL. I suspect the BL show will receive some angry letters about the remark!

I didn't have weight loss surgery because I have known many folks who regained the weight if they didn't diet and exercise after surgery. But dieting and exercising works to lose and/or keep off weight without surgery. So I chose the latter!

I lost 112 lbs.

Leaks are not common among sleevers that I have seen. There is no small bowel resection in the sleeve and you still have the bottom stomach valve (the pyloris), no anastomosis of small bowel etc. It's the anastomoses where leaks post surgery most often happen. As a sleeve patient you will only have the stapling done on the stomach. Many surgeons suture (stitch) over the staples as a pre-caution but even if they don't stitch over, they do extensive leak tests before they close you up. Best way to insure that things stay together is to follow your surgeon's guidelines closely and do as Dr Simpson suggests: That being said I've known patients from other restrictive surgeries who vomited daily for years and never developed a leak. I really think a leak is not much of an issue with any of these procedures and especially not the sleeve. The other thing is it's good to remember - "doo doo occurs" to all of us, even if we never go out, never do anything. For example, friend of mine's husband had cancer and everyone thought he would die of that but he was holding his own with chemo etc. And then, one day, he tripped over the dog, fell and hit his head and died instantly. Without ever leaving his house.

I have discovered some interesting things about hunger. Real hunger is (ironically and perhaps strangely) not felt in the stomach. It is rather a feeling of light headedness or a headache. Typically when we are "hungry" in the stomach, we may be actually craving something else - be bored, want a hug, be lonely or anxious or a myriad of other reasons. (Now how do I know this - my grandma told me.. hehe). So there are many strategies to deal with hunger in the stomach which likely isn't real hunger. Here are a couple ways I deal with it. 1. Say you will eat something but not now - in 20 minutes. So during that time, do something which is fun and interesting (like log on here! ). If you are still hungry in 20 minutes, eat something which takes a long time to eat and is "calorie friendly" (like a banana). Chew it to liquid and eat small bites. By the time you are done, you won't be hungry. 2. You probably want to follow some sort of "healthy food plan" because healthy foods fill us up and keep us healthy. Chances are your surgeon offers some kind of plan including dairy, veggies (cook them to soft), fruit etc. If not, you can find this on the web for example at the NIH site 3. Sometimes being low in Protein will make you hungry sooner. 4. hungry in a couple of hours? No problem - our ancestors did eat small amounts every couple of hours. You can stay on track if you make good food choices. 5. doing a daily work-out cuts down the hunger also just because it fulfills us, relaxes us, takes up time between meals and burns calories. But it also builds muscle which is a good thing. 6. I just learned this one - do the apple test. Picture an apple and your favorite treat. Which looks more tempting to you? If both look good, you may be hungry so eat the apple. But if only your favorite treat looks good, it's probably not real hunger. You made a lifetime commitment - don't be in a hurry. You have embraced a new lifestyle - enjoy it and embrace it. And the weight loss will follow. I realized I had never felt real hunger before I got on my program. And it's so different from what I thought - that lightheadedness and not a nice feeling. Especially when you get it while out on your bicycle. I carry those diabetic sugar pills when I get that and that holds me until I get home and can eat something. (One pill which is 10 calories is enough to make the lightheadedness go away) The bottom line is pretty much the same for everyone - most of the work is done by the patient, regardless of the procedure.

awww, sweetie, please don't give up. There may be many things happening with you. Sometimes we get plateaus where our bodies are just "doing stuff" (who knows what). I've been on the plateau from heck for months and then, suddenly I started losing well again. Hang in, follow the rules and you will start losing again. It's not how fast you lose but just changing your lifestyle. It took me a long time but I did it and you can too! (I have IBS also) Sending a hug!!!

A quick way to get rid of a bezoar is to get endoscopy. I have a friend with a VGB (vertical banded gastroplasty) of 22 years duration. She would get them all the time - the gastro doc removed them from her pouch. It is the lack of stomach acid but mostly the size of the stomach why bezoars form in weight loss surgery patients. Gastric bypass patients get them also. If you eat foods that are fibrous, you might want to use something like the "Magic Bullet" - in the weight loss surgery community (and the GERD community - I have the latter) the Magic Bullet is our best friend!

Because any weight loss surgery requires a lifestyle change, you should feel very comfortable with the idea. Perhaps you should consider postponing until you feel comfortable with it. As a friend once said "If your head says 'yes' but your heart says 'no' then hold off but if your heart says 'yes' and your head says 'no', go for it". I thought that was really good advice and do use it in my life. Good luck, Sue

Nothing wrong - you just have a very tiny tummy. Dr Terry Simpson suggests in his book, "Measure twice, eat once, vomit never" That is until you get used to what you are able to eat in amounts, you might want to measure food before eating. Vomiting may disrupt your staples etc. Another thing - Dr Simpson suggests, is taking very tiny bites like the size of a pencil eraser. Hope this helps! Sue