CowgirlJane

I commend the OP to have the courage to share how much she is struggling. While a forum can't really help people with series issues, it is a place to share feelings, to share the journey - for that person's benefits but also for readers. This journey is very individual and I would like to think the pre-ops get to see the good... and the not so good. I worried about this pre-op, like i might not be able to adapt to eating less. So far, i am finding it **relatively** easy to follow the rules (maybe not perfectly, but pretty good), but I am very aware that food and beverage have a powerful role in out culture, in our lives, and how well I cope with it over the long run remains to be seen. I am expecting this to be a lifetime issue, the surgery is a tool to help, but the basic underlying situation isn't really changed by having part of your stomach removed - if your eating is primarily emotional. I am suspecting that in my case, my overeating was very much a physical drive, because so far, I am fine not eating so much because i am just not so hungry all the time. Like I said, time will tell.

Immediately post surgery, I had a hard time with the taste of plain water. I also felt like it bothered my tummy a little. Herbal tea and that sort of thing worked better. I am now 2 months out and drink plain water all day long.

I hope you can hear that people are saying what they are saying out of caring. I implore you to get some help, you are risking your health. Weight loss is not the priority right now - it is getting that staple line healed. I am scared for you that you are putting your health at risk. I am also very empathetic to that whole "wake up everyday and promise yourself you will do better" - I have gone through that emotion in years past and it is not a good place to be. I know it isn't easy, but I would like to offer you some comfort - it gets easier. What I mean by that is you don't have all these restrictions later. I love that I can eat anything as long as I keep my Proteins in and watch the carbs. I generally don't crave junky food, and this whole "how to eat" is just becoming less of a production. I don't eat fast food, but I am in a mindset rightnow that just wants good nutrition for my body. I started this journey at 300+ so it is not like I have a long history of being a healthfood nut, it is more like that now that I am not starving all the time, I find it much easier to control my choices. I read somewhere that people who eat healthier don't really have more willpower but rather set themselves up for success. for example, they don't have to fight the mental struggle over "should I eat that ice cream" because they just never buy the ice cream. They don't walk down the aisle with the ice cream. It seems really true, that the further away the "temptation" the easier it is to resist. When you go back to work, focus on Water and having your Protein drinks and other things appropriate for your "stage" really handy. Make it easy for yourself to be successful. Focus on those things, rather then focusing on what you CAN'T have. Hang in there and keep us posted - I am rooting for you to get through this!

I was sleeved 12/12 and I have had the microwave smart pop (little lower calorie). Loved it and didn't have any problems. I just joined a gym and with days getting longer been doing more physical activity overall. It feels good, I feel like I am regaining some muscle and the weight is coming off again. I have now lost 1/3 of the amount I want to lose.... 50# down, 100# more to go. It is a long road ahead of me, but I feel hopeful for the first time in ages that this might just happen!

I know several people who had the gastric bypass and one of them did look that way, the rest looked really healthy to me.

I had a 38, happy with things so far.

I know this is hard - I got really discouraged too when it seemed like my weight loss had slowed so much it practically stopped. Something strange happened though, just a few days before my weight loss picked up agai, i became aware that i had lost another pant size, it is like the body just needs to time to readust. Sometimes noticing the changes outside the scale can give you a boost. I do think you are doing really well though - you have lost 28% of your excess, right? That is pretty good considering how far out you are. Your honeymoon period isn't over, I am sure this is a temporary lull. We tend to count pounds only, but my NUT advised we look at the percentage of excess weight lost or even percent of your body weight (like they do on biggest loser).

Just wanted to share with my fellow December sleevers that i have hit a major milestone - 50# which is 1/3 of the weight I want to lose to get me to my personal goal. ( I am including the 8# on my two week preop diet) I am thrilled and excited!!! I guess this sleeve thing might just work!

I had a band implanted in 2001. At the time, it was either that or the gastric bypass. I went to a surgeon who was (and still is) a very well known bariatric surgeon. The surgery went fine, and even though fills were not enjoyable, it was okay. My port access was not easy, but do-able. Here are the reasons that I would never recommend the band: 1. I thought it was relatively benign/safer procedure. That is partially true in that the surgical procedure is quite safe, but it is NOT true in terms of long term complications. A very high number of people wind up with slipped bands, pouch dilation, flipped ports etc. The longer the time passes, the higher the complications rate. I believe that almost everyone needs to have their band out eventually. Back in 2001, the Bioenterics marketing materials even said that... to consider it a temporary device. 2. Living with the band.... was hard. At first, my hunger was reduced but over time I often felt hungry/not satiated even though my pounch was full. I resent the remark about how so many people "cheat" - try living with a tool that punishes you for eating dense Proteins and fresh vegetables and see what that does to YOUR head over the years. You get really tired of having food stuck or pain when eating and it is just easier to eat slider type foods. 3. Foreign object in your body - now, this didn't bother me too much, but since having the band removed I love not having that port in my side. I love that it is gone. 4. Weight loss. Some people do pretty well. I lost 70# with the band - the first 30 of that was during the liquid phase right after surgery. I lost 40# over the next year, which required exercise and basically dieting. It was really hard and I didn't lose as much weight as i wanted. I started having horrid reflux due to the pressure from the band. Fluid was removed, and it helped, but I also regained the weight. I am only 2 monhts into the sleeve journey, but already it is just easier to live with then the band ever was.

My doctor didn't do the leak test either and had some compelling reasons for it. So, what i would like to know, is of the people who had leaks, how many were actually found during these post surgery leak tests? There is a lot of swelling and the like. - it seems like most people find out about their leaks 1-6 weeks post op. If the leak test doesn't find most leaks, and leaks are rare, it is logical to not do a test that has it's own set of issues. Everybody quotes 1% as the leak rate, but the studies I read were higher, more like 2.8%.

I can totally relate... and some level i didn't totally believe either ... especially after my 10 year failed lapband saga... i did the surgery anyway and have been very pleased! It is funny that I should read your post right now because i had just been thinking to myself "You know, I think i am believing this is going to work! I have lost 48 pounds so far - nearly 1/3 of the way to my personal goal and while it hasn't been 100 percent easy, it really is going great and i love life wihtout constant hunger. I think it took that realization to make me really start to believe that this really works!

I didn't quite make this challenge, but that is okay, it was an aggressive target since I wasn't sure how much my loss would slow down after the first month of surgery. what I posted at the start of the challenge: PreOp Weight: 308 Surgery weight: 300 Current weight: 279 Valentines goal weight: 255 Final goal weight: 160 Actual weight is on Feb 13 262 so i lost 17# since the start of the challenge - I am happy with that!

I have heard this 1% complication rate mentioned, but I have read through several "studies" and frankly, I think the complication rate is probably closer to 3%. I don't know if 1% is just leaks or where that number comes from. The complication rate is said to be higher if you are a band to sleeve revision. It is a much lower complication rate then the band because pretty much all the sleeve complications happen right up front, whereas the band problems tend to get worse with time. I don't know the actual stats on the band, but I personally think that nearly EVERYBODY will eventually have to have theirs out - just a matter of time.

I had pretty bad reflux when I had Fluid in my band, once it was emptied, it was more like minor reflux. I am only 2 months out from the sleeve, so probably can't give you an overall assessment yet, but, so far no major problems with the sleeve. I can eat pretty much anything (no problem with salad for instance) just in small quantities. I have had no reflux, but I am still on proselic as a prevention. I think the main difference is I actually feel some degree of "satiety" with the sleeve, where as with the band I often still felt hungry even if the pouch was full. My stomach feels pretty normal, just alot smaller. I have posts about my recovery - it was essentially pretty ordinary except I did feel very very very tired. The recovery was a little harder then the band surgery, but then again, I am older now too.

I have no idea why anybody is still doing lapbands as their main surgery. It was the only alternative to the bypass 10 years ago, but now that we have the sleeve, I think it is really a much lesser choice. I speaketh from experience - I was banded in 2001; revised to sleeve in 2011. The long terms stats for the band are TERRIBLE. I don't mean just weight loss, I mean complication and removal rates.

Have you asked to switch heartburn meds? I know that different ones work differently and it is worth trying new ones to solve this! I take proselic and have yet to suffer from significant heartburn. Early on, water was the worst, for whatever reason herbal tea went down much better. i hope you get to feeling better soon..

The risk of leak is fairly low - but does happen. Try to get your surgeon's actual stats. What long term risks did he talk about?

I went out to a restaurant recently, right before seeing the "Cavalia" show. I was thinking that my eating one little bit of a shared appetizer and some soup would be noticed, but here is the funny... haha... I was at a small table with 3 other women (it was a big group and we were too late to fit at the main table) and it was like a who could eat the least contest. Good lord, I probably ate as much or more then the others. Weird.

I don't think I can give any kind of definite answer on this. I had a lapband for 10 years and had pouch dialation. I suspect most long term bandsters have at least some degree of dialation. Surgeon warned me that the the stats for revisions are "all over the place" meaning some don't lose as well as others. Even so, they have many revision patients that have lost the 80-100% of their excess weight so I felt it was worth the gamble. I am not very far out, but I have been losing weight okay - according to the nutritionalist I am on track in terms of %of EWL the same as a non revision patient, so "so far, so good". I am almost 2 months out and have lost 27% of my excess weight by the charts; I have lost 30% of what I want to lose to get to my personal goal. Considering I started with a 51 BMI, I think that is pretty good - as a percentage of a very large amount to lose. BTW, I am losing weight much faster then I did with the band and I was 10 years younger then!!! Do I get hungry? Yes, but it is not all the time and I am finding it reasonable to restrict quantities. I stil struggle with nightime "wanting to eat" but that seems like more a habit then having to do with real hunger. I guess time will tell how it goes for the long term. I am curious to hear from others.

I was only given those restrictions for the first 6 weeks - I had never heard of restricting foods that might get stuck in the "seam line" after after the healing period.

I still get hungry after 3-4 hours, but it is ALOT less then before. I am filled up by much less food, but i don't forget to eat. The only thing is if I am out and about and busy, I can get off schedule, then I find myself overly hungry int he evening and eat more then i should.

Your reaction of anger and regret is completely normal and I think most of us would share that. The only comfort I can offer is noting that there are people on this forum who completely recovered from a leak and went on to be very successful and healthy with their sleeve. In the meantime, this totally sucks. I don't know about you, but I tried the eat less, work out more then about 1000 times before resorting to surgery. I used to lose weight and gain it back, but in recent years the losing has gotten harder and the regarin faster and furious. I personally had pretty much given up hope of being able to lose and maintain weigh loss without the surgery. I want to say a couple things, based on my research and what my surgeon told me. First, if you had a leak at time of surgery it may have been missed on the initial leak test. The swelling right after surgery can mask leaks, this is one of the reason that some surgeons are no longer doing the initial leak tests (they do it if symptoms arise). It is of course possible something occurred during those first 3-4 weeks when it is possible to aggravate the incision, but don't rule out that it was there from the very beginning - you will probably never know. The second thing is more of a question. I always thought that while waiting for a leak to heal, people are not allowed food and drink by mouth. Am I misinformed on this point? Anyway, prayers for your very quick recovery.

I am really sorry you are having these troubles. Try to keep the faith - they will get this leak resolved and you can get on with the business of getting healthy! Are you on a no food by mouth, getting your nutrition via IV?

My scale progress has been slow last several weeks, but I seem to be losing inches! Down 2# this week, not sure I am going to make the challenge goal though! CW: 266 Challenge Goal: 255

It has been a couple of weeks since anybody posted. Curious how the December sleevers are doing since we are all now 1-2 months out. For me, I am feeling good, weight loss has slowed down which can be frustrating but life is good and I am happy with my sleeve!