Walter.Sobchak

I had been sober for 9 years before weight loss surgery. Everyone told me I had to be careful after surgery and really protect my sobriety. About 3 months after surgery I ended up relapsing and almost died. Like literally almost died, had to be taken to the ER in an ambulance. I have since regained sobriety but it has been very hard. You have two choices, continue to drink like an alcoholic and see where that takes you or get into a program of recovery. I got sober in AA and I know the program works if you are committed to it. Ultimately it’s your choice and no one else’s. If you choose to keep drinking then more power to you. No one can make you get sober.

I hear what you are saying. Now I have a huge medical bill that I will never be able to pay off. I lost 110 pounds but have since put 20 back on. Was it worth it? I think so, I don’t think I could have lost 90 pounds on my own. At any rate, I wish I had done things a little differently. However, hindsight is 20/20 as they say.

Free app or pay app?

You sound just like every other noob right after surgery. Everyone has buyers remorse and they question the decision. It’s too late now, you can’t get that 80% of your stomach put back in. Now you have to learn to live with your new stomach. It will get easier it just takes some time. Be grateful you have lost so much weight because eventually the weight loss will stop.

What app is that you are using to track everything?

I think she said she lost 35 pounds total and then gained 11 back.

Sorry you had a bad experience and sorry your doctor shamed you. I am wondering how much weight did you need to lose to begin with? How much are you eating now? Are you sticking to the plan? Dense protein first, no carbs. No grazing throughout the day. Things of that nature.

Looking back on it, I should have gone to an in network doctor. It would have made all of this much easier to handle. Instead I was tricked by being told that even though the doctor was out of network everything would be handled as if it were in network.

I am not going to put my surgeons office on blast just yet as I am waiting to see how they handle this, but I am very upset. When my wife and I first started this WLS journey we met with the finance department and went over all the costs and what our insurance would cover and what not. We were told at most we would each owe 3500.00 once it was all said and done. I had my surgery over 13 months ago and not once received a statement. I had been wondering what the deal was, no statements and no phone calls. Then this past week I get a statement showing that I owe for my surgery alone $9500.00 I was so pissed. I called the office and of course couldn’t get a hold of the lady I need to speak with. I called 4 times before she finally called me back. She told me that what I owe is accurate. I told her that is not what I was told when the journey started. She said she would look into it and call me back. She would also send me some additional documents to fill out. I am so mad and feel like I was deceived. I would have paid less going to Mexico. My anger has since turned to sadness and depression.

I am right there with you. I haven’t been to the gym once since I was sleeved 13 months ago. I can’t get motivated to go. Old habits have started up again and I have gained weight back as well like OP said. I need to get refocused and get the weight off.

It’s big business. Someone is getting rich in the insurance and medical field and it sure as shit isn’t me.

Hello Peeps, I have not been on here in a long time mostly because I got burned out, nothing in particular drove me away but I just took some time off. I am 13 months out and had lost 110 pounds but I have since put about 15 pounds back on. I had lost that 110 pounds in about 7-8 months post surgery, then I stalled and did not lose any weight for about 2-3 months and have since started to gain. I dont feel like going into all the details about what I have been eating and what my exercise routine is and all that stuff. I simply want everyone to know that you can in fact gain weight after getting the gastric sleeve if you are not careful and you do not follow the diet guidelines given to you by your WLS team.

Yes, you are correct. I was stress eating and chasing the high. Like you said, my capacity only increased a small amount but I was eating more frequently and eating junk food and carbs.

I spoke with the lady and told her this was not what we agreed to. There are two women that handle financing at this office. The one my wife and I met with told us what our portion would be and the other one is the one that sent me this statement. I can’t seem to get the one that originally spoke with is back in January of 2017 on the phone. I am thinking I might have to call and see if I can schedule an appointment just to see her. It’s absurd.

Indeed I am a father again and it FREAKS me out. Just kidding, it has been hard having a newborn again but it’s cool. I think some of my weight gain might have been stress related. At any rate, I am down 5 pounds and sticking to a plan. I have cut out diet soda as my psychiatrist told me that apartame is really bad for you. It’s highly addictive and it causes mood issues. I noticed it makes my anxiety worse and my depression worse.

I have said all along that my surgeon didn’t remove enough of my stomach. I swear my sleeve was never as tight as I thought it should be. Then again I also suffer from OCD and I worry about everything. I am wishing I had gone with ByPass surgery, but it is too late for that. I should also add that I never exercise. Like literally never. I haven’t been to the gym since April of 2016. I just cannot get motivated to go. I need to go, but just haven’t.

Here is the link I used in case anyone else is curious. I can honestly say I have felt my restriction tighten since starting. https://renewbariatrics.com/gastric-sleeve-pouch-resetting-tips/

@tnks2hp I can relate 100 percent. I have been craving bread, bagels, rolls, donuts, cookies and all kinds of other weird shit. I was not eating large portions just many small portions of bad items throughout the day. Sleeve Reset diet can easily be found via google. Too much to type here. Essentially 2 days of clears 2 days of fulls Then fulls and soft foods You get the idea.

I have been doing the sleeve reset diet since Monday and I have already dropped 5 pounds. Feels pretty good. I hope it keeps coming off. I am craving carbs like mad however.

You are welcome. Feel free to hit me with any other questions.

I am not a woman, obviously but I do have some insight here. My wife got pregnant two months after Gastric Sleeve Surgery, obviously this was a surprise baby. Our baby was born on 07-16-2018 and he was absolutely fine he was actually bigger than our other two babies. He was born via C-Section and she did experience more pain but I think it was due to all the scar tissue from the WLS and the previous two C-sections. The pregnancy did slow her weight loss considerably. I think she still lost about 80 pounds total. We are trying to get refocused and get back to basics to get the weight loss started again.

Once you start eating dense protein you will feel full. The liquids and the soft foods are called “slider” foods cause they slide right through your sleeve. Once you are able to mix in dense protein like chicken breasts you will definitely feel the full sensation. You will even feel great pain if you over do it, possibly even break out into a cold sweat. I know from experience my friend.

I was literally starving the morning after surgery, I was under the impression that I wouldn’t feel hunger pains anymore and that is not correct. The desire to eat bad foods will never go away, you will have to fight daily to avoid them. I am 13 months out and have started to gain weight back due to poor eating habits. Start making the changes now, the sleeve is only a tool to lose weight. We are ultimately responsible for what goes into our mouths, the sleeve cannot do that for us.

I did my sleeve outpatient and I was hurting those first couple days. It basically felt like I had shredded my abs by doing thousands of sit-ups. The drain was very uncomfortable and caused some pain, I started to feel better once the drain was out. It is definitely not an easy surgery to have, but I don’t regret having it done. Glad you are feeling better, it will continue to get easier.

Hello. I have noticed that my massive stomach is not really shrinking at all. The weight seems to be coming off in other areas. My legs look thinner, my shoulders and chest look thinner but my stomach isnt moving. Has anyone else experienced similar issues. I know I carry most of my weight in my stomach so maybe that is why but that is the area I really need to shrink so I can fit into shirts better.