nprcowboy

I feel so bad for my wife. She went thru he'll with all of my complications and hospital stays to the point no one was there for her when she was recovering from her WLS, then in the middle of all that they tell her they found tumor cells. Then I get better and seems like maybe a misread and all is good with her only to have it missed and now this. She deserves better than this. I guess one blessing in disguise if this is meant to be is that she did have the WLS where they found it on a random routine biopsy. Otherwise may have gone undiagnosed for years as this type of cancer seems to be with most. But it's hard to find the positive now as it was on the stupid scans in January and missed. We will know in a few weeks from new scans what has changed since January and what the treatment will be. Oncologist said surgery for the small bowel and lymph nodes but the liver is the big question mark. Thanks for the prayer. Keep them coming.

My aunt has small bowel cancer. Apparently it's pretty rare. They took her into surgery, closed her up and said there was nothing they could do for her. They gave her 6 months. That was 6 years ago. She didn't give up and she found another surgeon at UTSW in Dallas. I think his name is Dr Bosch? Six months after her diagnosis, I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer, one of the deadliest. That was 5 1/2 years ago. There is hope. Because of the rarity of small bowel cancer and it usually is slow growing, it is hard to study in the early stages. Because it is often missed. Please let me know if you want any more information about my aunt or her doctors. I don't want to over share unsolicited information. You have my prayers. Thank you. Would not be as concerning as it is, though just small bowel or any cancer for that matter is bad, on top of this rare cancer it's already in her I've which is the scariest part. I pray for the others that have shared their stories with cancer and longevity for them as well.

Thank you all. I'm in tears just reading the support and prayers. It's appreciated.

I was sleeved November 6th. I'm down from 308 to 195. Weight loss has slowed last few months I am averaging about 3 to 4 lbs a month, that is it. I do need to work out more and have let some carbs sneak in. But in do watch my calories. I find if I want some toast or something, nature's own has 40 calorie a slice wheat bread and is very good. I still practice protein first. I do see I can eat a lot more now than I ever could after surgery. I know if I ate unhealthy high calorie items now, I could eat enough volume to gain weight. For a bit I started to wash down food with some crystal light when eating. But that flushes the food out the stomach which makes you hungry again. So I have stopped drinking while eating. So now is when we need to be most careful and make eating healthy a lifestyle change. This tool we had, VSG, is almost used up, it's now up to us to have learned to eat better these past 9 months. Good luck all.. Stay the course.

1to 2 months post op and 8 to 9 months post op respectively. My wife is down 130 lbs and I am down 111 lbs since pre-surgery diet. Feel good especially when shopping for clothes. I went from 3X shirts and 52" waist to this past weekend getting into Large for shirts and 36" jeans. Keep up the good work all

Prayers for Goalz, sounds like she's going thru same ordeal I went thru.

Yeah I had IV nutrition, then picc line, and for me neither worked. Again that's just me so don't get discouraged

What tests have they run? Did they do a new Endoscopy and leak tests and all looks OK? That was my issue they couldn't find anything wrong and the surgery appeared to look good as well.. I finally switched surgeons and then I got better when he did the feeding tube stuff

Just sent u a message if you want to chat. It's under conversations. Feeding tube was in for 2 weeks both time but that's the minimum and depends on how you respond to it. With mine they bypassed the stomach and went into my small intestine so I could get nutrients. I was feeling like a million bucks after a week or so. But about a week after they pulled it out I got sick again. So they redid and did the botox to my valve. That seemed to do the trick for me.

Goalz- sorry to hear you are having a rough time. Are you able to eat or drink anything? Can you tolerate water or gatorade? I got to a point I couldn't drink even an ounce of water. I was heaving and vomiting over 100 times per day due to nausea. In my case I got much worse when they did TPN. But that was my case so may very well help you. They doing IV or picc line for your TPN? My surgeons were also confused and said I was like the 1 in 10000 person. They had no clue why. Eventually they put a feeding tube in and I felt better but as soon as it came out I got sick again. Wasn't until they botoxed my pyloric valve and put the feeding tube back in that I got better long term. Basically it seemed my stomach never restarted after my surgery. Went thru 3 months of hell. But I am doing well now. What other symptoms do you have? We are here to support you and you will get better, hang in there. If you need someone to talk to you can PM me a number and I'd be happy to chat. Hang in there!

Hey there. As far as dizziness I got that at and sometimes still do, usually due to lack of hydration, how much liquid are you drinking per day? Also seems most can eat around 800 to 1000 calories a day, what's your daily diet look like? 1500 calories is lot post surgery. Surgeon has said pre op. That could jump start weight loss again by doing preop diet every so often, so you could try that too. Good luck hang in there

thanks. I appreciated all your support back then it helped. As did others of course.. Great people here

Great thread. I made my decision early last year when with all my back issues I went to a back surgeon and he said unless I get the weight off, surgery is pointless and suggested WLS. I had thought about it before but that was the kick I needed to get me on board. My back would go out like once a month and be stuck in bed for a few days using a walker to get around etc... My highest right before surgery was 308 lbs . Had the surgery done last November. As many of you may have followed my post surgery nightmare, I went to hell and back, but have no regrets now. I finally hit one-der-land at 199 which I hadn't seen in 25 years since I was 20 years old. While I've gone through some clothes already, I'm in the middle of redoing the walkin closet and went through all the rest of my "big" clothes today. It's a great feeling. Clothes that would fit me before that were too small, now are too big. I can shop in regular stores and regular sizes. When I would go in the pool or beach, I'd always wear a shirt or put it on immediately when I got out. Now I lounge at beach or pool without a shirt. Iove the confidence I have with my body these days. I'm about 40 lbs from goal weight but already look pretty good. From 3X to comfortable in an XL and can wear some L shirts. From 52" waist feeling tight to a 38" waist with room to spare. The transformation is real and worth it. Much more energy now as well. I hated being the heaviest person in the room all the time. And I do a bunch of business travel and would dred the seats and was too embarrassed to ask for seat belt extender so would hold a magazine over my lap to hide that I wasn't buckled. Now I've flown in a middle seat with room to spare. I have mini weight-loss milestones. Every 10 lbs, ie seeing a 9 on the end of scale . Then the 100 lbs lost, then came onederland, next is 184 lbs that's when no longer considered obese, just overweight, and then 155 which is my goal, which is considered a healthy BMI. Anyway thought I'd share some of my confessionals. Onward and downward!

8 months post op. From 308 to 199

First I know alcohol isn't the best for weight loss cause of all the sugars and calories. So let's not make the discussion about that part. I have read you can get buzzed pretty quick but goes away just as fast. I've had that with like a glass of wine or similar. My recent issue is this - twice I have drank too much whether a few margaritas or a few shots, I go from feeling fine or that happy feeling and at some point both times I instantly go to barely being able to function like the worst drunk ever. I can't even stand really and it doesn't go away quickly. Better by next morning but with bad hangover. Pre surgery if I drank too much, I could feel it and switch to water as I felt myself getting too tipsy, in these 2 instances it wasn't gradual, it was fine, then crap faced non functioning in an instant. Both times was like a couple 3 hours in when it hit me. Kind of scary. So I know I can't drink that much in the future as no warning signs like pre surgery, it just at some point crosses over without notice. Even pre surgery I never have felt that way drunk, meaning that far gone lol. Anyone else have a similar experience?

beautiful, Congrats, great job

Upon further research, looks like I went into hypoglycemia. Which is dangerous. I know now I need to not consume much alcohol as can come on without warning. Since we never have much in our stomachs not much to absorb alcohol and the alcohol blocks liver from producing glucose hence why it can be so sudden with a decent amount of alcohol and not much food to absorb.

Yeah I kind of learned my lesson. Like I said, kind of scary that it can be so instant from feeling fine to like that

Hey folks. I am trying g to get an estimate of what plastic surgery costs when reach goal. I may need a little bit, my tummy, but my wife will need more. I have tried to search here but couldn't find approximate costs of those that had it done. Probably looking for a comparison between US and Mexico. I imagine we will use Mexico due to out of pocket for these surgeries. How much for like the arms, legs, breasts, and belly. Thanks for anyone that has some insight or experience. Also, how long are you out of work or the recovery after these and how painful is recovery? Thanks

How long is recovery, like missed work time?

Good luck. You will do fine. Weird, this is not what I highlighted and quoted

You look amazing. Out of curiosity, how much does the plastic surgery cost in Mexico? How long are you there and how long recovery? Thanks

I had mine at Tampa general Hospital. My surgeon was Dr Gonzavlo. I do not recommend him. When I got sick after surgery and had 5 hospital stays and so many complications. He just scratched his head and seemed to refuse to consult his peers to help save my life. I finally demanded my wife's surgical team Dr Moore and he was a godsend and he finally got me better under his care. The other surgeon had no compassion or bedside manner

I was off 3 months due to Complications but had planned 6 weeks since I had the sick time

Pre surgery I didn't think I would tell folks outside of close friends and family after my surgery that I had had it. I don't broadcast to the world. But I have told new coworkers when they notice when we go to lunch a few bites and I am full. Everyone has been very positive once they found out and generally just have questions on how it works or what I can eat etc. I have even come across other folks in conversations who mentioned they had the surgery as well even before knowing I did. So others are open and proud of it. It's definitely not the easy way out. We have to sacrifice so much of what others can eat for the rest of our lives and from my example of all the complications and hospital stays was no way an easy road. Just own it and be proud u were committed to getting healthier by any means.