mulletsleeve

Hi--I'm an Aussie but I do have friends in Missoula (and Seattle and in Coeur D'Alene). You have made a wonderful, life-changing decision. I had a lap band but got rid of it fir thud sleeve--wait until your friends and wondering if you have cancer!!! It's a great feeling to finally lose all that weight PERMANENTLY!!! Your eventual problem will be maintaining your weight!!!! Imagine that!!!!! I am 70 and a Specialist Surgeon myself and still working and the fittest I've been since I was 40. When I did my Surgical training in Seattle I was 78kg (and doing Marathons, PB 2hr 42min----flying!!!!) but I blipped out on return to Australia and reached 115kg, had a lap band and dropped to 95kg but slowly put the weight back on to 110kg. I had the lap band removed, waited a few months, and then had the sleeve--it will take you many months to get to a "stable" state and you will still have to have the odd quiet vomit in a dark place BUT so what? The feed back from your amazed friends will be worth all the petty problems and you will feel like exercising again. Good luck---my Brisbane Surgeon (John Copp) is the best in Australia.

Who did your op? Sounds as if there are some problems. If you live in the vicinity of Brisbane the absolute best Surgeon (and the most experienced) is John Copp who works mainly out of St Andrew's Private Hospital in Ipswich.

Relax--it gets so much better. I'm now 70yrs old and I had the sleeve done about 12 months ago in Brisbane. I was just over 110kg (not seriously obese) but very unhappy with myself. I had reached 115kg in 2008 and had a lap banding done around 2010 and lost 20kg BUT slowly put back 20kgs and felt bad always that I had to run off every so often to vomit after a meal and that I always felt bloated. I has the band removed, waited 3 months and then had the sleeve. I am now around 83kgs, sometimes up to 85kgs, but never beyond. I am fitter than I have ever been, going to the gym 6/7 days per week and happier than I have been in many a year. The sleeve is serious!! You will NOT put the weight back on BUT you will gave to alter your lifestyle significantly. You can NEVER again eat a big meal!! So what? Just tell your friends that you had a hiatus hernia repair and that the repair is very tight, so tight in fact that you can eat only 6 small meals per day. They will accept that and not enquire further. You will learn to drink first (sure, alcohol if you want) but you will have problems drinking after you eat. You will have initial difficulties getting sufficient drinks into yourself but just stay calm. It will take about 12 months before you can drink (say) 100mls in one gulp. Everything from now on will be in small increments BUT the feed back from friends when you are down around 82kgs instead of around 112kgs will put a permanent smile on your face. I am now a gym "junkie" and have had to spend several thousand dollars having my clothes taken in or buying new suits, etc---it is a very happy problem to have. Keep going-- the end result is worth all the effort. I am a Doctor myself, in fact a Specialist Surgeon, and I can say that the sleeve has transformed (given back actually) my life. To know that I will NEVER be fat again is worth every penny spent and every little inconvenient regurgitation---oh yes, you will still have the occasional spew when no one is watching. Name withheld.