susieq321

I am a long time lap bander and flipped to a sleeve in 2016. In there I lost and gained weight and am back around my goal weight where I have been for a while. I recently moved to the St Petersburg area and am looking at plastic surgeons in the area. I want one who understands weight loss patient skin is different, more damaged than a standard patient. I am looking at arm lifts, thigh lift, some abdominal lips, breast lift and reduction and because I am feeling saggy maybe a small face lift. I did a tummy tuck and breast lift 20 years ago and the boobs took the hit on the weight regain I had the tummy tuck held up well. There are a ton of options in the area was wondering if anyone had experiences and recs? I am also looking at maybe going to Columbia to a practice there the quote is appealing and the doc is American board certified and teaches in the US. All the work there will be 20-25k and that includes a 10-12 day hotel stay, nursing care and transport to and from the hospital as needed.

Thank you I am going to see her in September:)

I would never do anything other than board certified surgeons, PS is a risk at its best and people die at the worst. I can do think of a case in Toronto where post simple liposuction the patient died and the cosmetic surgeon and several other medical pros lost their licenses to practice. (As they should of) thanks for the reminder.

Silly kitty, If you don’t mind me asking, where did you go in Columbia? One of the things I liked about this surgeon is he is board certified in the US and is a teaching surgeon and maintains US credentials as well as Columbia credentials. it also included onsite nursing care hotel stay for two weeks and some other items. I am just starting my search for plastic surgeons. I knew all of them in Toronto and Philly when I was there. so it was easy now it is a whole new ball game

Looks like he is a baritric surgeon I have those looking for plastic surgeons now

Thanks ladies, I will check out the docs, Miami is a little far for follow up and driving post surgery I remember what it was like with my tummy tuck traveling two hours post surgery and for follow ups.

My theory on the sleeve is thus, my grandmother had one in the 80's basically. She had stomach cancer and they did almost the same procedure as they did on us, loaded her up with chemo and she lived a lovely long life until she died of lung cancer many years later. Once the stitching on the stomach closes over to me I am ok, unless I spring a leak and let stomach acids into my abdomen. They didn't reroute my intestines, they didn't leave anything behind except medical grade staples. You can live without much of a stomach as cancer patients have proved for years. For the band I think the band itself is great, I had mine lost all the weight when it is placed well and the patient works with the band at least for me. The problems with the band come from Dr's and training, placement of the band, inadequate followup, fill etc. All that comes from how the surgeons are trained by the band manufacturers to make it work.

It happens nothing I can do but get blood tests and argue with my Dr. I know my surgeon isn't happy but I also know I lost 150 lbs with the band and kept it off for 10 years. I only gained when my band was replaced and not positioned correctly so I could not get any restrictions. It will come off just slower for me.

I am struggling but for a different reason. I have lost about 30 lbs with the sleeve and need to lose about 30-40 more. I am bouncing up and down the same 10lbs eating about 800-1000 cals per day. I am hypothyroid and we have been messing around with my meds so my levels are low which means I can and have gained weight on 600 cals a day (right after surgery I went up 10 lbs on 600 cals or less per day) I know my meds are still low by the way I feel but there is only so much self medicating I can get away with so I am waiting on the results of my last test and to talk to my endocrine. I need to get back to my personal trainer and working out to build strength but I hate winter and tend to hibernate and not get out.

It seems awfully quick to give up to me too. You may be one of those rare people who are really sensitive to fill, I was like that with my band too. Have you done a Fluoroscope or endoscope to make sure the placement etc is ok with the band? Are you truly hungry or is it head hunger? Are you eating Protein first? What is your diet like? Did you talk to your surgeon about the placement of the band and how big your pouch is? I think vomiting is bad and you increase your risk of slippage with vomiting which is scary enough. Have a long talk with your surgeon and get an 2nd opinion but I honestly don't think the sleeve is easier than the band, it is just different. I was banded for 12plus years and in those years I had at least 12 revision surgeries and I was incredibly sensitive to fills with my last band I was never over 4 cc' s in 12 cc band. Before you jump to another major surgery consult and make sure a change is the right way to go.

Somewhere between 3-4 weeks magically all the muscle pain just went woosh and was gone. The first week was tough, I was thanking my trainer for making me do a million squats they helped me getting up and down like I can't tell you. Second week was much better than the first I was sleeping flat on my back in the bed with my partner but I was moving in bed slowly. If I had to move from one side to another it was painful and I woke fully up to do it. Two and half weeks out I worked a non profit event it was tough but it was good to do, I walked over 5 miles and do a lot of good for my community. And mostly I found out I could do it, I hit a wall right before the event ended but I still kept going. I was in pain the next day and I took a muscle relaxant that night but I was still moving. I was still feeling some muscle pain at the incision sites not bad pain just some pain when I twisted or lifted something or rolled over at night and that just disappeared one day. Since then I have been great. So it does get better, think back to your band for me healing was similar to the band and with the 9-10 band surgeries I had over 10 plus years it was old hat for me.

My surgeon is ok with gummies I am taking flintstone complete he also mentioning there were chewable Vitamins from I think it was Centrum that are ok to take. One of the things that makes me wonder about my surgeon's staff though is how much they like to rely on products full of preservatives etc. the staff recommends a lot of products with items in them that I don't eat i.e. aspartame or else really processed foods like store bought stocks. I keep making them look at me like I am crazy when I say things like we make our own stock and instead of mashed potatoes I love mashed cauliflower better fiber over potatoes. So taking flintstones is against my I eat real food diet... I do have adult vitamins that I think I will switch too once I am done this jar of the complete for kids vitamins.

I might have to try this, I have never had serious issues with BM's other than the frequency of them goes down. I do try and eat my vegetables regularly and I can't wait to start my probiotics again, which always helps me. What brand of gummies have you tried? (sigh... the number of pills in my life is getting un-managable... (birth control, thyroid 2x a day, vitamin d, vitamin b12, gummie vitamins, iron pills 5 hours after thyroid and 5 hours before thyroid) oh yea and a gallbladder pill twice a day to reduce the chance of gallstones. In the past the iron has fallen off because of the timing with thyroid pills and I forget to take it.

4 weeks out and I have lost 20 lbs., but my shape has changed and is still changing.... a ring I couldn't fit on my middle finger now fits only my middle finger and is too big on my ring finger. Jeans that didn't fit pre-surgery now fit and are a little loose in the butt and there is no struggle to zip them. As long as my body is changing I am good with the weight moving slowly. I know from losing 150+ lbs with the band my body likes to plateau for 3-4 weeks then lose for a bit, plateau for a bit. It didn't happen until I lost about 50-75 lbs with the band it started earlier with the sleeve but I will take it. I was cleared to go to work this week and work out along with traveling.

Sleeved on 9/23/14, lost 18 lbs quickly and then stalled which is ok. I know my body likes to lose for 5-8 days and plateau for 3-4 weeks depressing but in the 3-4 weeks my body changes a lot. ie- I got a new ring and when I received it 4 days post surgery it was starting to move on my ring finger, not it fits on my middle finger most days unless I am retaining Water . My jeans that I couldn't get into pre surgery and that were very tight post surgery now fit comfortably. I am lucky I know from my band the patterns my body likes to lose in so I am a little more relaxed about the loss... it doesn't make getting on the scale easier but I don't freak out. I am happy with my progress, I was cleared for work this week, working out and travel again which is great for me since I was losing my brain hanging out at home. Good luck to the sleevers and start looking at the way clothes and rings fit too.... and remember we all are very different and we lose differently too.

I was banded for 12 years and in those 12 years I got to know a lot of WLS patients and I think his stats are probably true. I think if you are predisposed to an addictive personality you have a higher risk of being addicted to something regardless. I have alcoholics in my family so I am cautious with booze. I drink, but I moderate heavily and always have it is nothing for me to go to a bar and not drink or stop drinking for dry January to cleanse post party season. I never want to lose control of my drinking and make it a need not a like. I respect your surgeon for warning you about booze. I do know people who have gone nuts with booze the other area I have seen people struggle with is interpersonal relationships/romantic relationships especially women. All the sudden they look fantastic and men start paying attention to them and they loose their minds, I have seen a lot of marriages break up. Women who have been obese for a long time aren't trained to deal with the flattery and attention and it overwhelms them and goes straight to their heads and not in a good way.

I was sleeved on 9/23, I have had a glass or two of wine since then. I haven't noticed the flavor has changed but I did notice I drank slowly.. very slowly, a 4 oz glass lasted about 90 mins which is fine. I drink dry red wine or dry whites so they were not sweet at all. I haven't really noticed that flavors have changed but I haven't tried anything sweet or fried and I don't mind missing out on those. We collect wine and have about 200 bottles plus sitting in the house with our fall wine club wine deliveries coming in right now I was banded for a long time and I knew a lot of RNY patients, I noticed more with the RNY where the intestines were changed that patients felt the effects of alcohol faster and some patients did trade a food addiction for a booze addiction. I think if you deal with your food issues you will be ok with booze but it is empty calories!

I am just coming out of mushies today and I am averaging about 500-600 calories a day. As I move to solids we will see what happens with the calorie count. I am a side sleeper, you will have pain at the incision sites after surgery but if you want to sleep on your stomach as you heel you will be able to sleep on your stomach. When I was banded I found I changed from a stomach sleeper to a side sleeper and never went back. I have felt hunger in my liquid phase and you won't starve yourself you have a little body fat to burn. I would be more freaked out about dehydrating yourself and it is much more common. I drank enough daily that my urine ran clear and kept that up and I knew from the clear urine I was flushing my kidneys on a daily basis and I was safe. You just keep drinking slowly especially right out of the hospital it gets easier. Head hunger is when you look at something or think about it and want it.... even though you really aren't hungry you just want chocolate cake or junk food etc. Head hunger is a tough one to conquer and is something most wls patients are challenged with. The more you resist head hunger or find an alternative ie. drink a bottle of Water, eat a piece of fruit etc. the quicker I find head hunger goes away. My go to liquid was Tomato Soup from whole foods or that I made, the other liquid was an arnold palmer I have an amazing partner in crime and he squeeze lemonade sweetened with Stevia and then I do a mix of about 3/4's unsweetened ice tea to 1/4 lemonade and it was my ultimate I can drink this anytime all day long drink.

Remember you have a lot of muscle that you used to carry around all the fat you had to carry pre sleeve! I don't look at BMI, I look at my size and how I move and do I feel comfortable. I know for me I am a size 8-10 bottoms and 6-8 top at 160 lbs and 5'5" and in that range I am all good in the hood. How do you feel?

I noticed that with 1-2 glasses of wine nursed over 2 plus hours I feel tipsy and I normally can clear 3-4 glasses of wine and feel absolutely fine! I am drinking very limited amounts but for special occasions i will have some. I feel for my partner he is a social creature and has been stuck at home with me by his choice but I know it is hard for him no to go out and socialize with our friends and it sucks to take me out right now since I am the most boring date and not on solids yet.

Grehlin not gremlin ????

Are you tracking calories in and out? I find that helps me understand where I am. You also need protein to heal and it produces energy for a longer steadier period than carbs. Do not underestimate how important good lean protein sources are to losing weight and staying healthy while doing it. Your body needs protein whether it comes from vegetable or animal products. And depending on your body not all of the gremlin receptors are cut out with the stomach some people find they still feel intense hunger.

With my band I remembering sitting on the floor in front of the fridge crying because nothing seemed right to eat and I couldn't make up my mind. There is something to be said for the head game weight loss surgery does to us. I found in the past if you can change your mindset to making a choice, something you want to do vs. missing out or losing out on eating food like Jimmy johns. Fortunately for me most of the office catered food ie. jimmy johns isn't appealing (I can imagine the bread and the sleeve are not a good fit). It is really hard to change your mindset really hard, and it doesn't always work well.... most of the time after 12 years with a band I don't think I am missing out on things. I just don't want them. We changed our stomachs with surgery not our brains, and our brains like all sorts of things like wine, chocolate, fried chicken, pizza, pasta, fries, cake, ice cream and a million other foods that shouldn't be staples in any ones diets. Changing your brain is hard work and I think it gets overlooked a lot of the time. Losing weight for many people is enough to help propel them on the right track but then they work at it. The most successful people I know with WLS took one of two paths. The first path was trading their food addiction for another addiction usually working out. Their mind needs something to obsess over and changing the obsession worked for them. The 2nd path is harder I speak from experience it is confronting your demons head on and admitting to yourself where you are messed up in the head about food and why. We lie to ourselves better than we lie to anyone else in the world and demons are hard to exorcise. It is why we eat, what we eat, when we eat, how we eat, who we eat with and when we eat it. Some of your best friends might be enablers of eating poorly and making poor choices for you, guess what you need to ignore them or learn to eat around their suggestions just for you. If you are a binge eater it gets even harder food is a comfort and eating quantity has been yanked from you... so you need to find something else or figure out how to solve your binge eating needs. This is new for most people, I spent a lot of time with my own demons and now i am realizing there is a whole different method and madness of the sleeve I need to learn and it will take me some time.

Take your own food, you are still on soft mushies and chewing pizza enough is hard. Also pizza isn't the best choice to make if you are trying to lose weight. Right now fresh from surgery is the best time to form new habits and not test your healing stomach. I found it much easier to stick to a regime while I am losing and then add moderation in when I hit goals.

For those who have moved off of liquids an onto solids how are you doing with full? I am working through week two of puree and mush and I am working through full, hungry vs full or no longer hungry. I am a former bandster and with the band you eat until full, the band is placed around the top of the stomach and forms a pouch allowing you to eat a little at a time quantity wise. Some of the former band patients have mentioned vs. eating until you are full, you eat until you are not hungry after 12 years plus with a band this is a completely different mindset I am adjusting too. Trying to adjust to exactly at what point I am hungry vs. not hungry. I understand hungry with the sleeve, I feel hunger (I am averaging about 600 cals per day or less, so hunger is there and it is true hunger vs. head hunger.) I am wondering how people know when to stop? I haven't vomited, I have felt uncomfortably full, last night was full not overly full. Just curious how everyone is learning and doing with the concept of full and when to stop eating?? Just working through my head stuff.