catwoman7

most surgeons quote you the average amount that most people lose. With bypass, the average loss is 70% of your excess weight. With sleeve, average loss is 65% of your excess weight. that being said, as with any average, that's all it is - an average. There are people who fall on either side of that average. We have people on here who have lost 100% of their excess weight, and others who have only lost 20 or 30 lbs. It comes down to how committed you are. I was very committed to my program - I almost never "cheated" until I hit maintenance - and I lost 100% of my excess weight. There are several others on here who have done the same. So it really depends on how committed you are and how hard you work at it. If you want to lose more than 60 lbs, you probably can.

when I woke up all I really felt was nauseated, so I let the nurses know and they put Zofran in my IV line. I don't remember being in any pain. Actually, I never felt any pain. I didn't want to use my morphine pump in the hospital because I really didn't hurt anywhere, but the nurses said I should anyway so it would be easier to get out of bed to walk (my abs were pretty sore - and were for a few days after I got home, too. I didn't hurt while I was lying down - or sitting up - or standing - but the transitions from one to other (e.g., lying down to sitting up) were hard on the abs. I felt like I'd done 1000 crunches). they sent me home with pain meds, but I never opened them. I never felt nauseated, either - that was just my first day in the hospital (and the Zofran helped a lot). As I said before, all I remember was sore abs that only bothered me while I was trying to transition. I can't remember if I had gas pains or not. I just remember the abs. I couldn't feel my stomach or intestines and still can't. I didn't feel any different than I did before surgery. In fact, at first I wondered if they'd even done the surgery!

it depends on the company. Some (actually, it seems like most) require you to have at least two co-morbidities if your BMI is under 40. They may have their own list of "accepted" co-morbidities - but things like diabetes, GERD, sleep apnea are pretty common.

I didn't bake for probably a year after surgery. My husband was on board because he really wanted to be as helpful as he could with helping me on my weight loss journey. If he wanted a baked good, he went out somewhere and bought it. I do bake sometimes now (I'm almost seven years out) - but I use artificial sweeteners, use Greek yogurt or unsweetened applesauce to replace the fat, and use something like bran to replace part of the flour. And I usually add unflavored or vanilla protein powder, too.

just so you know, a lot of people have trouble with chicken the first few months. It can be pretty dry. I agree with everything the other commenters said.

I didn't have sleeve, but this is true of either surgery - it's a real individual thing, and largely dependent on how committed you are to your program. You'll find people who are tremendously successful with both surgeries - and others who have failed both surgeries. And lots of people in the middle. statistically you'll lose a bit more with the bypass, but it's not really that significant of a difference. And SO MUCH depends on how committed you are. There are lots of people on here who've lost all or most of their excess weight with the sleeve, because they've followed their programs to a "T". It takes a lot of work -but if you're determined and willing to put the work in, you'll be successful regardless of surgery. P.S. that weight he gave you (230) is based on statistics. Statistically, that's where you're likely to end up. But with any statistic, you'll find people who fall on either side of that. Again, depending on how committed they are.

Honestly, they're both good surgeries, and you'll find people on here who have been extremely successful with both. If you have a medical condition that would make one or the other more appropriate for you, then listen to your surgeon. But if you don't, it really comes down to personal preference. I don't think you can go wrong with either choice.

surgical techniques have improved quite a but since 25 years ago, so I wouldn't have worried about blood transfusions. In fact, this is the first time I've ever read about someone needing those, and I've been hanging around this site for about seven years. Sorry she's going through this, though. I don't know if that was common back then, but it's definitely not now. But again, techniques are different now. Years ago some people used to get "candy cane syndrome", too, but you almost never hear about that anymore. They do the surgeries differently now.

you're not going to be eating enough in the early weeks to worry about calories. Your focus should just be on protein and fluids (esp fluids).

it was definitely a thing in 2017. I had bypass in 2015 and specifically chose that because I was told there was a risk that VSG could make my reflux worse. I'm very surprised the OP's surgeon wasn't aware of that.

you said it! Prior to surgery, I would have eaten a bowlful of it. Now I have to limit it to a couple of tablespoons on top of Greek yogurt. This far out, eating it doesn't bother my stomach - but the calories - YIKES!

acid reflux is the most common complication of sleeve. It happens to about 30% of people. And yes - it can definitely happen that far out from surgery. Usually it can be controlled through medication (like PPI's), but for some people, revision to bypass is the best way to improve or resolve it. And yes - there are some people on here who have done this - hopefully some will chime in...

yep - those are all pretty standard with this.

I went with bypass because I had acid reflux issues before surgery. My surgeon said he'd do either, but he recommended bypass given my reflux issues - so I went with that. No issues. And yes - I'd make the same decision if I had to make it again today. I've been very happy with my bypass (had it almost seven years ago)

honestly, I wished mine had never come back. It was so much easier to stay on track when I was never hungry and really didn't give a flip about food! Things got a lot harder once my hunger came back at five months out.

there are a fair number of people who seem to become lactose intolerant after surgery. Sometimes it's temporary, sometimes not. That might be what's going on. Can you handle plant-based protein shakes? If so, that would be the answer. I personally haven't tried any, so I can't comment on the taste - but maybe someone else can..

there are a ton of great cardio walking/dance videos on youtube. I"ve been particularly hooked on "Reps to the Rhythm" videos for the last year or so. His are kind of a combo of walking and dance videos. He has videos of several different lengths (from 10 minutes up to 1.5 hours) and different levels of intensity. I do his intense ones (they're color-coded red, but a couple of his blue ones are also pretty intense)

my stalls seemed to be more frequent and lasted longer the farther out I got from surgery. After the first year, there were MANY times I thought "well, this is it", and then the weight loss would start up again. It finally stopped at 20 months out.

losing one's hunger is pretty common. Doesn't happen to everyone, but it seems to happen to the majority of us. It usually comes back sometime during the first year. Mine came back at five months out.

I had to laugh because I had the opposite fear - that I'd go in for my bypass and end up with the sleeve (because they couldn't do the bypass for some reason). I think most people are totally "into" whichever decision they make, once they've made it, and would be really freaked out if they unexpectedly ended up with the other surgery!

we were allowed to go off protein shakes at the point we were getting most (if not all) our protein from our food, but some of us stayed on them (I STILL have one every day at almost seven years out), and they were fine with that. I know some surgeons want their patients off them pretty quickly - so I guess that's not that unusual BUT....as others have said, the rest of what he told you is nuts. Is there a dietitian in that clinic that you could work with?

I got that at about two years out. I went in for a work up (they checked EVERYTHING), and everything came back normal. Then I noticed it again about an hour or two after I'd eaten a piece of cake at a retirement party. I mentioned it to my PCP, and she said it was probably reactive hypoglycemia - my glucose may have just happened to be normal when they did the work up. But then you said your glucose was normal during or right after that event, so that's probably not it. I'd let your doctor know...

at that far out I'd switched over to mostly calorie counting (although I know it isn't for everyone). I had to experiment a bit to figure out at what range I maintained my weight (for me, it was 1500-1700 calories, but that's going to differ for everyone). If I went under that most days of the week, I'd lose - if I went over it consistently, I'd gain.

I agree with everyone else. You're not likely to feel full until you eat solid food. Plus dumping syndrome is very uncommon with sleeve.

I've read it's because sleeve surgery can cause high-volume pressure on your remaining stomach, whatever that means. and OP - yes, from what I've heard, the revision can resolve type 2 diabetes and you can lose another 20 lbs or so (most people do lose 20-30 lbs after revision - although some have lost more than that)