CowgirlJane

I know I sound like a broken record - but nearly everyone stalls at 2-3 weeks out and this link explains why. http://www.dsfacts.com/weight-loss-stall-or-plateau.html Keep up the faith, it takes awhile but one day you realize that you have really lost some weight!!!!!

You started out wearing a much smaller size then I was at that weight - and I am 5'5". Clothing sizes are so inconsistent that I feel I can hardly use it as a "marker" of success. What I am finding now is that the clothing is more fitted so it is more sensitive to smaller weight loss amounts. I have had slacks that I hardly used before they got baggie on me. Tops seem a bit more "forgiving"

I found that it took me weeks to "shake off" the effects of the anesthesia. In addition, weight loss triggers release of hormones/estrogen stored in the fat. This can make your emotions go all over the place. If you search, you will find many threads on post surgical blues - trust me you are not alone on this one! If it gets severe, definately seek med adjustments or other follow up help. In my case, it took a few months before I started feeling better. I will compound that timeframe by saying people didn't even notice my weight loss until I had lost about 50#. But, it does get better.

So glad this went so well! So, on the subject of the dialiation, I have seen people post here that the sleeve doesn't stretch. My surgeons office keeps emphasizing "small quantities" to keep the sleeve "tight". So, it implies that any sleeve can dialate, even if it started the right size. Thank you for sharing your story.

Well, I had a surgeon more or less tell me the same thing. The first surgeon I went to recommended the gastric bypass and felt that my odds of success with another "restrictive only" procedure were low. I couldn't get comfortable with the gastric bypass, so I switched to a surgeon who did believe that the sleeve would work for me. Lapband to Sleeve is comparing apples and oranges. The sleeve just works better. I feel like I have been very successful with the sleeve and have found it to be much much easier to live with then the lapband ever was. I was banded for 10 years, so I have some experience on this subject. However, maintenance is a whole 'nother thing and I recognize I have many challenges ahead. I am inspired by the many that have gone before me - and I know it can be done! Go in with your eyes wide open, do your research, check inside your own heart that you are ready - and then GO and don't look back! Good luck with your revision journey!!

Well, I had a band for 10 years and you should know that they ALL eventually need to come out. I concur that the long term results of weight maintenance for the sleeve is a bit unclear and limited. The 3 year results look really promising and I decided it was worth the gamble since I was at 308 and gaining......

Yeah!

for those of you that did 2 surgeries, how long did it take for you to recover from the band removal? Did you have a lot of pain where the port was? Updated to add" I finally have a date for the band remova - Sept 1. Doc aid 3-7 days recovery so I guess my Labor Day weekend won't be too fun.

I know I am coming to this thread late, but I had the lapband for 10 years and I can just say, it is harder to live with then the sleeve. I never had reflux until I was banded, but went through hell with the band when I had any fill at all. When I had to have all the Fluid removed, I regained the lost weight. I used to think that the band was less drastic then other choices, but i am not so sure. i saw pictures taken of my stomach right before they removed the band. It was completely encased in scar tissue - you couldn't actually see the band. My boy apparently thought it was pretty invasive.

I was terrified of the sleeve surgery. Lots of reasons, but in the end it was the same as yours - fear that once again I would "fail". My sleep apnea doctor made a very good point. He played out the "what if" scenarios. What if i regained all that lost weight 5-10 years down the road? Well, that is 5-10 years of a much improved quaility of life!!! What if I regain a portion of the loss even sooner? Well, that is still better then where I was at 308 and gaining!! What if i only lost "some" weight and don't make it to goal? Well, weighing 200 beats the heck out of weighing 300 - trust me on this one! I have a positive attitude, and I certainly plan to maintain (and continue losing!) this weight loss but he is absolutely right, my life is so much better even if I don't get "perfect" results. Frankly, I feel really good even though I am still a ways from goal. I am only 9 months out but so far, so good. I had the lapband for 10 years and from the very beginning it was hard to live with;. The sleeve is easy peasy by comparison.

When I was about 20, I lost from 200 down to 140 - no extra or loose skin at all. I worked out and toned up and looked great. I won't bore you with the decades of gaining and losing.... This time I started at 308 (my highest weight was 332) and have lost over 100# and still on my way to goal. I definately have loose skin, but the only area that really troubles me is my inner thigh. The best compliment I ever got was a friend that I met this year in July. She didn't see me when I was so big. We were talking about getting back to the gym in the fall and I told her I want to lose 40# and she said "no way, you look really close to your right weight". I think that when you have been morbidly obese for so long, there is this little voice that tells you "you will never look normal" - I didn't even realize that I was listening to that voice until a person told me I look "normal" Anyway, no matter how much you weigh, there will always be something about your body you don't like. My advice is that life is to short to worry about it. If you decide to get plastic surgery after you reach goal, that is fine, but that is a decision for another day and right now is to be 100% positive and focused on your weight loss with now nagging doubts.

Nasea was a problem but they hit me with all the drugs and had it under control pretty quickly. I was sore after the band removal - port area mostly. Recovering after the sleeve wasn't so much pain - although i did sleep in the recliner at first because my abs were on fire when I used them for getting up - I struggled more with the exhaustion, dehydration etc. I really didn't experience pain when I was just sitting, standing or walking. Visualize abs after 1000 situps, no problems until you do another move that uses those muscles! So, in summary, for me, the actual "surgical" recovery was pretty comparable to the banding surgery. The sleeve was a longer/harder recovery due to dehydration and exhaustion that for me lasted weeks. It is all worth it though!

My surgery was done at Pacific Surgical in Edmonds WA. Excellent care, good patient education - no complaints and they are very experienced with both lapbands, sleeves and revisions. What i like the most is their comprehensive followup. If I were self pay I would have gone to Dr Aceves.

Well, one observation I will make is that my views about things change over time. When I was 6-8 weeks out I was still in the shock and awe phase - food didn't taste good, I hardly ate anything at all and getting enough Protein in was a daily challenge. How much I ate, or didn't eat, was a central focus of my life. I didn't really eat at restaurants at that time so I can't really reflect on how I felt about people eating. I of course did see hubby eat and the contrast between what we consumed was shocking. I didn't have feelings of disgust, but perhaps a sense of disbelief that he ate so much and that i was staying alive on so little - living off my fat stores! I did at times find some foods and smells could make me feel icky. I am now 9 months out, i do eat at restaurants at times. I really pay no attention to how much others consume. My current thing is to con my hubby and son into ordering something that they don't mind parting with about 10%. If I can get 10% of two meals, I have MORE then enough...lol. Isn't it great to be a cheap date? I guess my point is that the emotional experience and reaction to food, eating and related topics is much more intense during those first months. I think after awhile you get busy enjoying your new thinner self and who the heck cares what other people are eating or thinking about what I am eating!??!!!

I eat salads, fresh fruits and veggies EVERY SINGLE DAY!!! I know that fruits are high sugar, but I love them so I eat them anyway. Alot has happened in the last decade regarding post surgery eating. I have had very detailed follow up, but I picked a practice that does that since I think that is one reason I didn't do super well with the band (among other causes!) I think you should ask the surgeon, but I had a very conservative "refeeding" program. I was on liquids and mushies longer then most becasue i was a revision and with that scar tissue, there is a higher risk of leaks - so they have you be extra careful. Here was my timeline - every surgeon is different, but I wold be suspicious if you don't have something similiar. Surgery day was 12/12/12 12/12-12/13 - Clear Liquids only 12/14-12/27 Protein liquids added (Protein drinks, strained Soup - no particles at all allowed) 12/28-1/3 Add pureed food (small curd cottage cheese, applesauce, refried Beans thinned with broth etc etc) 1/4-1/17 Mecanical soft, mushy food (must be soft enough you can smash with your tongue - add more Soups, well cooked veggies, groupd meants, flaked white fish, soft cheeses, etc) 1/18 restrictions lifted, but proceeded slowly on adding foods, as tolerated I had a very low appetite for several more months, so ate pretty limited but of course I had alot of weight to lose so it worked out great! I detest protein drinks - but honestly, for that first 6-8 weeks post op, I think you will really need them. Protein helps you heal and you will NOT be able to eat much those early times post op. I was quite restricted in food quantity for the first 2-3 months post op and you will likely lose too much weight if you don't find something liquid (and later soft foods) to supplement you.

Search for posts by tiffikins. She is a band to sleeve revision AND she has had I believe 2 kids post op. I don't see her post here too much anymore, but she has been a great inspiration to many and is a few years out and maintaining good success with the sleeve.

The other thing that was... odd... was that the space where the port used to be, took some time to sorta fill in. It was weird. It sort of fills with a fluid and was tender for awhile. I didn't know how much I hated that port until it was GONE!

I am 9 months out from my sleeve surgery - and I have no foods I cannot tolerate. I still don't like the taste of plain Water (that happened with the sleeve - weird, huh?) but I can eat in restaurants. I am more careful about spicy good as my tummy is just more delicate. Even so, I drink coffee and all. I too use small plates and when going out, I share a meal with someone. Compared to the lapband, the sleeve has been a breeze for me - no vomiting, no "stuck" feeling and no food intolerances! I personally find it a different experience to have a "pouch" with the band versus a smaller stomach with the sleeve. I don't get pain or discomfort, I just get that feeling of "had enough" with the sleeve. I hated having a pouch, and while I never had the gastric bypass, I feared the same kinds of issues that i had with the band.

Well, everybody looks great - it is so wonderful to see! Ashley, you sure as heck don't LOOK like you need to lose another 73!!!! Wow, you are looking good girl!

I am just thrilled with my weight loss progress. I was camping this weekend with my horse and some other horse friends. One of the ladies only met me a few months ago and didn't know i used to be so heavy. We were talking about getting back to the gym now that fall is here, etc and she said to me "but you don't have much to lose" - I considered that a big NSV as I am still nearly 40# over my goal. Even my goal is still technically "overweight" but it made me feel good to be seen as "normal" range. After I got home, I was lugging stuff from my rig back up to the house. There is a small hill up the driveway, no big deal - I often jog or run up this little hill if I am in a hurry. Well yesterday I was loaded down with camping stuff, maybe carrying 40-50 pounds and I was a huffing and a puffing by the time i made it to the top of the driveway. It hit me - no wonder I felt like crap all the time carrying that extra 100+!!! What a relief it was to set down that load of camping gear, wish it was that easy with the extra weight.

And, I think the people who even have the opinion "easy way out" are simply ignorant and rude. What the heck does it matter to them whether someone else has WLS?? You don't approve of WLS? - well don't have it then! sheesh

I saw (and currently see it the same way) that WLS is the "only way out" I think in the coming years, more info about how hard it is to break the obesity cycle will come out. Just yesterday i heard of a study that showed that obese teens don't eat more then normal weight teens. I genuinely believe that once you are morbidly obese, you have all those fat cells, and all those metabolic triggers just waiting for a chance to get fat again. You can lose weight, but it is nearly impossible to keep it off. The sleeve will help with this issue, but of course maintenance remains a lifelong struggle due to the metabolic disease that nearly all obese people have. so, the key is to never become obese, but once you are there, weight loss surgery is about the only way out.

Your surgery was pre adjustable gastric band, right? I converted from the labband/adjustable gastric band to the sleeve. For me the sleeve has been easy to live with - I can even eat rice which I could not with the lapband. I guess what they are telling you is that due to scar tissue they need to do some sort of surgery? I guess my question would be is what is the size of the stomach you will be left with, and what are the risks/complications with either surgery. If they keep your stomach more or less same size as it is now - maybe that could be a good option? This sounds pretty complex, just be sure you ahve a very experienced "revision" surgeon. Good luck to you and congrats for maintaining your weight loss for so long! What an inspiration!

I switched doctors when the first one didn't think the sleeve was for me, but I felt strongly i didn't not want the gastric bypass. I wanted to work with a practice that "believed" in me being a success with the sleeve - if that makes any sense at all.

I feel that some of the digs about "no fun" were intended for me. I simply shared the reasons that I would not consider naming my stomach (or sleeve). I realize people are having fun with this - more power to you, I just don't see the "sleeve" as an entity in separate from me and this really has to do with trying to change my whole thought processes around food, overweight etc. 9 months out, i eat pretty normally - a high Protein diet of small quantities, but other then that there is really nothing weird about living with the gastric sleeve. I don't vomit, I don't have weird noises - I just gloriously have what i always wanted - a smaller stomach that demands much less attention and food then the full sized one i had before Dec 12th 2011! Good luck to all on their journey, however you chose to approach it!