jamiep5

My name is Jamie and I started my weight loss journey many years ago but my surgery journey started in February 2010. I was 330 pounds at 27 years old. I was always a healthy person but after 4 knee surgeries I gained over 100 pounds and tried EVERYTHING to try to loose the weight. When I hit 330 I knew it would end up being life or death. I attended a bariatric surgery meeting at my mothers suggestion. After meeting with my surgeon and discussing all options with my husband we decided on the lap band. (Man was that a mistake) I had the lap band surgery in May 2010 and it only took me 3 weeks to recover!! I thought I had done enough research to prepare my self but I was very wrong. Eating was hard and I was seeing the Dr almost every 4 to 6 weeks for 3 years trying to figure out where the perfect fill was. After 3 frustrating years of throwing up and learning how to cheat with the band we decided it was time to revise the band. I decided to do the a sleeve, it seemed like a safer and less invasive surgery. I was very excited to start this new journey after seeing co workers have great success with it. I had my revision to the sleeve May 2013. The recovery was much harder then the recovery from the band and I think it was due to doing the band removal and the sleeve revision at the same time. After 6 weeks I was as good as new and dropping weight at a nice pace. I was very excited to eat right and exercise because I was actually loosing weight!!! After the first 3 months I began to get really painful chest pains. Being a person that never had to deal with acid reflux, GERD or heartburn I didn't know what the pain was from. I went back to my Dr and he began seeing me every 2 - 4 weeks and we tried every acid reflux, hernia, heartburn and GERD medication we could. By the time I was 10 months out I was in such bad pain and no medication would help my Dr decided we needed to revise my sleeve to the full bypass to eliminate the acid from being created in my stomach. I am very unhappy with this decision so I went to 3 other doctors that specialize in acid reflux and weight loss surgery and sadly they all agreed with my surgeons prognosis. We began the insurance approval process and it was a little harder to get the bypass surgery approved this time since I am 178 pounds and they didn't see a reason for the surgery. Last Tuesday the pain got so bad I ended up in the ER for 6 hours as they tried to figure out how to make the pain stop. The prognosis was esophagus spasms so I had to be put on a liquid diet since eating hurt. Finally my insurance approved the surgery and my doctor is rushing the surgery date due to the severity of this issue. My revision to bypass is scheduled for May 13 2014 and I am completely freaking out!!!! This is not a surgery I want and I am concerned that I am going to have all the bypass side effects I really never wanted to have! I know the surgery is inevitable and the only way to get rid of this intolerable pain for good! I am coming top grips with it and feel more assured that this will work since I did seek other opinions from multiple specialists. I am telling my story because I really need help from others out there that may gave went thru the same issues I am and what did you do to resolve it? What should I expect to be different from the sleeve to the bypass? Please help! I am really scared and really don't want to have to go thru this again!!

Sorry to hear about your weight gain after pregnancy! That is something I fear when my husband and I discuss starting a family. As for the bypass after the sleeve... I was still loosing weight with the sleeve when I had to be revised to the bypass. I am still losing weight but since I'm 200 pounds down and 8 pounds to go to hit my goal it not coming off as fast as it did when I had more to loose. I lost over 40 pounds in the last 5 months since my bypass surgery so I shouldn't be complaining but I really want to hit my goal!!! I was very scared of getting the bypass and having my intense moved around. Very against it and tried everything I could to avoid it but honestly it's not as scary as I thought and really helped with my acid reflux. It dosnt feel much different then having the sleeve except for the dumping syndrome. Haha sounds worse then it is but when I tried drinking orange juice I had horrible stomach cramps and diarrhea for about 15 to 20 minutes. But I'm thankful because now I know oj has a lot of sugar and to stay away!!! It's really just a friendly reminder to stay away from all sugar. Not as scary as it sounds and is the best weight loss option out there. Wish I would have just went for the bypass to begin with!! Let me know what happens and if you do have the bypass! Sending prayers your way!!

so your doctor wants to do a revision? How much did you loose and how much gain back?

The sleeve really helped me loose weight, when I switched over to bypass my weight loss slowed down. I am still loosing weight but I think it's more because I am crazy about calorie intake and I workout like a mad woman!! My advise is to keep. Food diary and count calories, you should be eating between 600 - 800 a day to loose weight and burning twice that much daily. The fitbit has really helped me with tracking!! When I had the band it really didn't do much but make me sick all the time. Bypass isnt very different from the sleeve but do you ever feel full after eating? Bypass does let you eat more but you have to be smart about how you eat. Try tracking your calories and see if you can loose more that way?

Hope your insurance approves soon!! My acid reflux was so bad my insurance approved my revision in less then a week!! With the bypass now I'm am reflux free finally!!!! Prayers and thoughts with you!! Bypass did help me loose a little more but since I lost so much with the sleeve I really didn't have much more to go! I am 150 now and really want to get to 140 lol I know kinda silly but I want to hit my end goal!!

sorry it took me so long to respond, I had to have my gallbladder removed due to all my weight loss!! All better now and back to work. Did u have your surgery??

I'm glad you get to finally schedule the surgery! I swear you will feel the difference right away!!!

Thanks. How is it going for you. My tests came back with severe reflux. Next Wednesday we are discussing surgery date. How long were out of work. I was supposed to be out of work for 4 weeks but I had an infection and was re admitted back into the hospital for 8 days. My job gives me great leave benefits so I took 7 weeks to make sure I'm healed and the infection is gone.

My insurance approved the revision right away and they rushed the surgery due to the pain I was in. They said since it wasn't for weight loss it was approved much faster! No shakes or pre surgery requirements!!

The bypass sounds scarier then it actually is! I'm very happy I went thru with it and don't have to deal with the acid reflux anymore!! It's nice to know i wasn't the only one going thru this!! Thanks everyone for all your stories! I also eat like a bird but am counting my calories, how many calories do you eat in a day?

Eating wise is exactly the same!! I was very worried about that too! According to my dr. You might b able to eat a little more, but I think I'm still eating the same amount. I've lost a little more weight but from the after surgery diet not from the surgery it's self!! Now that I'm on normal foods again my weight is stabilizing! When is your revision?

So it's been a very tough 4 weeks since my bypass surgery!! After being in the hospital for 4 days after surgery they let me go home and I developed a very bad infection because my surgeons PA took the drain out before she should have! I was admitted back in the hospital 3 days later and spent the next 8 days there undergoing test after test as they tried to locate the infection. They finally found it and had to put another drain in to remove the infection and had to put a pic line in my arm since the IV's were not staying in!! I had to have IV antibiotics for the next 10 days!! Thankfully they let us do that from home!!! My surgeon recently removed the second drain and the pic line since the IV meds were done. I just had more tests done yesterday and everything shows the infection is gone woohoo!! As for the acid reflux, I am very thankful that it is almost all gone! Surgeon said it can take up to 3 months to be gone completely but it was totally worth it!! I still hate that I had to have a bypass done but after the fact there really isn't a difference between the bypass and the sleeve! I'm eating just like I did with the sleeve minus the acid reflux pain!! I'm still waiting for the rest of the acid reflux go away but I'm very happy with where it's at now!!

My name is Jamie and I started my weight loss journey many years ago but my surgery journey started in February 2010. I was 330 pounds at 27 years old. I was always a healthy person but after 4 knee surgeries I gained over 100 pounds and tried EVERYTHING to try to loose the weight. When I hit 330 I knew it would end up being life or death so I attended a barbaric surgery meeting at my mothers suggestion. After meeting with my surgeon and discussing all options with my husband we decided on the lap band. (Man was that a mistake) I had the lap band surgery in May 2010 and it only took me 3 weeks to recover!! I thought I had done enough research to prepare my self but I was very wrong. Eating was hard and I was seeing the Dr almost every 4 to 6 weeks for 3 years trying to figure out where the perfect fill was. After 3 frustrating years of throwing up and learning how to cheat with the band we decided it was time to revise the band. I decided to do the a use it seemed like a safer and less invasive surgery. I was very excited to start this new journey after seeing co workers have great success with it. I had my revision to the sleeve May 2013. The recovery was much harder then the recovery from the band and I think it was due to doing the band removal and the sleeve revision at the same time. After 6 weeks I was as good as new and dropping weight at a nice pace. I was very excited to eat right and exercise because I was actually loosing weight!!! After the first 3 months I began to get really painful chest pains. Being a person that never delta with acid reflux, herd or heartburn I didn't know what the pain was from. I went back to my Dr and he began seeing me every 2 - 4 weeks and we tried every acid reflux, hernia, heartburn and GERD medication we could. By the time I was 10 months out I was in such bad pain and no medication would help my Dr decided we needed to revise my sleeve to the full bypass to eliminate the acid from being created in my stomach. I am very unhappy with this decision so I went to 3 other doctors that specialize in acid reflux and weight loss surgery and sadly they all agreed with my surgeons prognosis. We began the insurance approval process and it was a little harder tot get the bypass surgery approved this time since I am 178 pounds and they didn't see a reason for the surgery. Last Tuesday the pain got so bad I ended up in the ER for 6 hours as they tried to figure out how to make the pain stop. The prognosis was esophagus spasms so I had to be put on a liquid diet since eating hurt. Finally my insurance approved the surgery and my doctor is rushing the surgery date due to the severity of this issue. My revision to bypass is scheduled for May 13 2014 and I am completely freaking out!!!! This is not a surgery I want and I am concerned that I am going to have all the bypass side effects I really never wanted to have! I am telling my story because I really need help from others out there that may gave went thru the same issues I am and what did you do to resolve it? What should I expect to be different from the sleeve to the bypass? Please help! I am really scared and really don't want to have to go thru this again!!!

I am keeping everyone in my prayers! I pray we all have safe and successful surgeries and we all get the results we wanted the first time around!! God bless

Perfect! I wish more doctors would just stop offering the band as an option!!

I hope my story helps you in your decision. If I could do it all over again I would have went straight to bypass. My doctor said if you already have acid reflux the sleeve just makes it worse! I would defiantly talk to your doctor about this before surgery! There is nothing worse then loosing weight and not being able to enjoy it due to all the pain your in!! Good luck!! When is your surgery date? I have always had a normal EKG, sorry I'm no help here. I have always had a normal EKG, sorry I'm no help here.. Prayers coming your way for a fast approval!! I guess I'm just psyching myself out thinking about all the possibilities lol!

Thanks Jodie!! I would live to stay in touch during this journey!! I don't know this site very well, how do I add u as a friend!

14 pounds down is awesome!!! Way to go!! I'm worried the bypass will cause too much weight loss now and all those side effects scare me. What did your surgeon say would be possible side effects for u?

Thanks Mississippi girl!!

That's a god thing your Dr. was able to provide that information!! Since I was so healthy my surgeon had no doubts that the sleeve would be successful and he was completely dumbfounded when these issues continued and now have gotten worse!! Oh well, good luck on your surgery!!

Thank you all, I did post this on the gastric bypass area and hope I can get some other stories like mine. I never had issues before the sleeve surgery so I was very surprised to get them after. Elfnow - I know there is a small probability that someone on here would have another way that gets rid of this pain but it's worth a try! I accept that I am going to have this surgery because I can't live with the pain any longer. I am hopeful that there might be that one person out there that was able to find a non surgery solution!

Thanks, I'll try that!!