Sleeved&Hopeful

Great post! I am very curious though. Since you were already sleeved and obviously had a very small stomach, and they had to remove MORE stomach, how much stomach do you have left? Are you able to eat only very little--even in comparison with someone who has a standard VSG surgery? Sorry if I seem nosy I have just never heard of this before. :-)

I promise you the difference is night and day between liquids and foods with texture or dense proteins. I remember the first time I ate dense proteins after surgery--I was shocked at how limited it was. I could barely eat a few bites and felt full already. Of course now at 6 months out it takes more because my stomach is pretty much done healing. I eat around 2.5-3 ounces of dense protein and maybe 1/2 ounce of veggies if I haven't eaten for a while. If I am eating regularly, I can usually only finish the protein. Now sliders are entirely different. The restriction on cottage cheese or slider foods is quite a bit less than on protein alone. I couldn't even eat 1/4 cup of cottage cheese at first and now I can eat 1/2-3/4 cup with absolutely no problem at all. Have to be careful on those sliders the further out you get!

Ah yes--Facebook. I had a personal account that i was using but didn't like bitchy old high school friends looking me up and making judgements on my life lol. I just got sick and tired of it and really didn't see much benefit in it. If I want to talk to a friend, I'll text them or call them or email them. Facebook is way too involved for my liking. I do have an incognito FB account that I log into where I only add friends who play Cafe World with me lol. No personal involvement and I like it like that. It's just not my cup of tea. I am a private person so I just really felt like it wasn't "for me" in that way for friends and family. I am just that way

Congratulations on your weight loss so far! -From another February 2012 sleever!

Wow, God bless you for having the strength and courage to go through all of that. Your positive attitude is very inspiring and goes to show that with the right frame of mind, you really can overcome anything. Thank you so much for posting this!! I am so glad you are okay!

I am very happy I went ahead with it. I knew I needed something to help me out with controlling my appetite and binge eating. I've had to address my food issues a lot by not being able to physically binge eat! I have gotten better at learning when I'm full and not trying to stuff myself needlessly. I am enjoying healthy foods more. I am one of those people whose taste buds haven't changed. I still like all of the same stuff-my taste buds haven't changed a bit. I am just much more satisfied on smaller amounts of food now. I still get hungry but it's a whisper compared to the ravenous pre-surgery hunger. I was eating healthier for quite a while prior to surgery and I feel that it helped me a lot transitioning over to eating healthy after surgery.

Congrats Tanisha!!

Not everyone loses their hunger after surgery. Some do, some don't. I can tell you after reading forums for a few years now before having surgery that everyone reports different things. Some lose it, and eventually it slowly starts coming back but never to pre-surgery levels. Some never lose it. I experience small amounts of hunger compared to pre-surgery levels. It's like a whisper of hunger instead of intense!

Some of the most successful posters on the ObesityHelp VSG forum go there and are obviously doing something right! Frisco is one of them :-)

Glad this post was bumped! I'm 6 months out and haven't noticed a decrease or an increase. I am about the same.

It will come off! Some people hit goal in 6 months--some in less than a year---some in a year--and some people get there in 2 years. I have seen some people take 18 months to lose 80 lbs down to goal. But you know what? They were all HAPPY AS HELL that they lost it! :-) Keep on doing the right thing and the weight loss will come.

hi Kristi P- One lady I know got the DS after being sleeved after band removal. She was able to lose down to her lowest band weight but couldn't get any lower and she was still over 40 BMI. The DS did help her get down to a regular BMI. A lot of people do fine with the sleeve but some people do get a DS and it works. So you may be one of the people who do fine with the sleeve but the DS is there if you need it. I love the sleeve-but the DS is a great surgery too. Just requires a lot of vitamins and you have to be vigilant in going to the doctor.

Good job girl!! Woo hoo!

Weight loss surgery gives obese people a much greater chance of not only losing weight but KEEPING IT OFF> That is the holy grail! We want to KEEP IT OFF. Weight loss surgery has a much much higher success rate of keeping weight off of obese people than dieting or exercise only. The stats don't lie. Good luck!

Your date is 9/27/12? That is right around the corner! You have so much to look forward to. You are already on the healthy track! It is going to be a great 2012-2013 for you!

I feel hunger sometimes at 6 months out. The thing is--it's a whisper compared to the monster of hunger I had pre-op. Yes, grehlin is still produced in other parts of the body and it does continue to grow a bit as the years go by after surgery, according to studies. The body is an amazing thing. I was more of a binge eater before the sleeve---a volume eater---and now I can't eat anywhere near what I could before. So grateful for my sleeve.

hi Molly ! I've read about a LOT of successful band-to-sleeve revisions on various forums! I hope the sleeve is what you need to get the weight off and feel better. It has worked for many people and you sound like you want it bad enough to make it work. One lady told me that the sleeve is what she thought the band would be for her. She said it's like "instant restriction!" She used to have a band and never really got to the sweet spot and did not do good with it at all. She said it always bothered her that she never got to the sweet spot and that it never really helped her lose weight. She has lost successfully with the sleeve as have many others. I wish you all of the best in your quest!

I have a couple of friends who had the sleeve after lap band problems. They both seem thrilled with it and like they don't have to pay for the fills and unfills and deal with all of the maintenance and complications. It's really up to you and what you feel comfortable with. Just remember--with the gastric bypass you lose an important function--your pyloric valve. Please look that up-there is a lot of information about the pyloric valve on the web and why losing its function can create havoc. Doctors are now thinking of changing the bypass in the future to somehow keep the pyloric valve in tact rather than creating a stoma. The sleeve allows you to keep your stoma. Good luck!

May i recommend to the OP perhaps considering a revision to the sleeve in Mexico? You can get it done with a good doc Iike Dr. Aceves or Alvarez) and not have to go through your THIRD band surgery AND get it for an affordable price. Of course, if you don't have any extra money--I can understand how getting another band is better than no band at all. Maybe you will get lucky and this one will work. Just thought I'd throw that out there. I wish you the best no matter what happens.

Hey guys! It's my six month surgiversary and everything is moving along smoothly the way I had always hoped and dreamed of. There were a couple of stalls along the way but they never lasted very long and I always knew they'd go away. Highest weight before pre op diet-225 Weight at surgery-218 6 months post op-143.3 My goal weight is 125-130 range because I'm only 5'4" and I mean right on the nose. So I'm fairly short! My exercise has been 3-4 times a week of moderate intensity workouts. If I work out too hardcore--I overcompensate by eating more calories than I should be and it eliminates the calories I burned. So i figured I have to do something in between. That is what personally works for me. Good luck to everyone and I hope everyone is enjoying their sleeves as much as I am! To anyone who is about to have surgery or contemplating it--I can't recommend it enough!

And also wanted to add my diabetes has gone into remission since surgery! I am THRILLED about that! I was diagnosed type 2 diabetic last summer and freaked out! I will always be vigilant about my eating and keeping the sugars/carbs as low as possible because I know diabetes can always come roaring back if I go back to the "old me". The sleeve has helped a lot with that and I'm so very grateful!

My husband and I never really bonded over food that much. We went out to dinner once or twice a month before surgery and we still do. I just order the best thing i can find on the menu (usually fish/veggies shrimp/veggies or chicken) and I always have left overs that last me for days. My husband never really bothered me about my weight in the past and for that I am very grateful. If these had been issues--I'm sure we'd have problems. Thankfully my weight never caused arguments or rude comments from him and we never bonded over eating out or cooking large meals. I think some marriages do have strife after WLS--we see threads on here sometimes about it--but sometimes the marriages were already rocky before. Sometimes the weight loss and changes do cause problems. Maybe talk to your husband about your concerns so he can voice any concerns he has. Wish you all of the best.

I really thought I was one of the lucky ones that wasn't going to lose hair. No problems at all until today! I am six months post op tomorrow and huge clumps of hair came out today! Now I know what everyone is talking about! Lol! Of course now I am concerned that since it started a bit later than most people mention... Will I be having it come out for the next six months? Oh well I will just deal with it since I have pretty thick hair and adjust my hairstyle accordingly

Sorry to hear that! Let your stomach heal and I bet you will be able to get the bypass. I have heard this a lot for getting a revision from the band to either sleeve or bypass. There is sometimes stomach damage from the band and you just have to let yourself heal. Maybe do weight watchers or something while you are waiting for the bypass. I know you're disappointed but at least you are on the mend now. Big hugs going your way

I'm sorry it didn't go the way you planned--but at least you are ok and are on your journey to losing weight!