sydneyjonno

Well I never though I'd say this.........but I'm actually going in for my 4th WLS surgery / procedure this week [emoji15], I'm 3 days away from it on the 21st of July 2017 [emoji106][emoji4] My weight loss journey so far....back in 2004 I weighed 136kg / 300 pounds and am 182cm / 6ft. My GP in the UK wouldn't approve SAGB on the NHS so I self funded the operation at a hospital in the South of France. Operation went well, weight loss was good, got down to 90kg / 198 pounds. However, gradually I had more and more complications with the band, slippage and erosion. Weight went up to 116kg / 255 pounds. No matter how much fluids were put in or removed from my band, my restriction was either that tight I couldn't get water down or too loose so I could eat whatever I liked. I also developed reflux and experienced frequent vomiting. I had a revision from band to sleeve in the same operation in Australia 3 years ago (2014) got down to 84kg / 144 pounds with the sleeve. My sleeve stretched over a couple of years, partly due to the poor shape of the sleeve due to the damage done by the band (after my operation my surgeon said to me that my stomach was in such bad condition it looked looked "like a dogs breakfast in there!!") and if I'm honest partly due to me falling off the wagon, eating too much junk food and drinking a serious amount of alcohol, so my weight crept back up to 103kg / 227 pound. So anyway I finally stumped up the courage to go for the full gastric bypass 1 year ago at a weight of 103kg / 227 pound. Weight loss was great, felt full quickly, no major dumping, no complications / side effects. Got down to 80kg / 176 pound then recently crept back up to 93kg / 205 pound, so now I'm having the Overstitch this week, which I hope will be my final weight loss operation ever this Friday! In hindsight I wish I'd never had the band and sleeve and gone straight for the bypass all those years ago, but still grateful for the overall weight loss to date. I must have been quite lucky with the operations, I had no infections, significant pain or gas pain, I was waking around the ward on day of the bypass, got 1.5ltr of fluids down me same day and after the TT I was doing laps of the ward on day 2! Only real issue is I've become severely anaemic this week. I'm on iron tablets and Vit B12 injects. Now when I was in the mid-80kgs I had a fair bit of excess skin and I think the weight loss and the natural getting older process had made me look older than my years, so I went in for some plastic surgery to get my self sorted out. I had upper and lower blepharoplasty (reduction of loose skin above and below my eyes, liposuction to my neck, 2 separate neck lifts (first one unsatisfactory), liposuction to remaining man boobs, stomach, hips and back. Full abdominoplasty with new belly button. Oh and a complimentary mid-face lift whilst the surgeon was in doing my lower eyes, I actually didn't ask for the mid face lift but my surgeon couldn't resist doing it once he had perfect access to the areas / structures required to hitch up the face a little. I woke up to the unexpected news about the face lift and was thrilled with the results and even happier that is was for free!! I also had a fat transfer, where they sucked some fat out of my abdominal area and had it pumped in the jowls / cheeks / nasolabial folds to fill out my face a little!!! Now I just have a little Botox and some dermal fillers as maintenance to the face. Also had a vampire facelift lol. And OMG for those of you who have had full tummy tucks, as in skin and muscles, jeez how painful is the recovery from that bad boy!! Worst of all the WLS surgeries I've had and the other cosmetic procedure. You can't sit up, you can't laugh, sneeze, burp, fart, go for number 2's, well that was my experience with the TT recovery although I recovered very well form all of the procedures with no issues at all, thank-fully [emoji106] The Tummy Tuck for me is what makes me want to stay at around 80kg, any heavier and I feel the skin on my belly stretching because of the tightened skin. I gets quite uncomfortable so I have to get it oI don't want to ruin the effects of the surgery. All in all the procedure took 3 seperate operations they were 11 hours, 5 hours and 9 hours in duration. After the 11 hour operation I ended up in ICU on a cardiac monitor with a special one to one nurse as I was at risk of an adverse cardiac even due to excessive fluid loss. The three cosmetic operations cost me over $70k. Anyway, that's my story in its entirety, I thought I'd share this information with you as I have had so much done and gone through so many procedures, so please feel free to comment and ask me any questions. Thanks John [emoji4][emoji106] PS: No judgement please lol

Yep it's serious, I can be so easy to switch one addiction for another and alcohol is an easy one to switch to. It's readily available, easy to get down ie liquids go straight down, there is some research out there saying that WLS patients get to feel the effects of alcohol sooner / more intensely than non WLS peope bbcause of the changes made to our digestive system. This has been a really big issue for me and has caused me a significant amount of heartache, suffering, pain and depression. I never thought I would talk about it openly but hey, I this is a support group. I might start a new thread tomorrow and tell you guys about my true story and see how I feel getting it off my chest and to see what help I can get and understand if there are people out there who have been through or are going through similar things as me who I can help to learn from me and my mistakes. OK post tomorrow when I have more time on my hands. Sorry WV Chef, not wanting to detract from your story or questions. You seem to have experienced similar issue to me regarding the increased alcohol intake. You do loo amazing though and I hope you're proud of your achievements. You're obviously one strong lady! Please feel free to PVT me if you want to talk about ongoing booze issues post op or anything else :-) Thanks guys, John

Hi guys, Well I am back in theatre next week to have gastric plication and lengthening of the roux limb. I had a band in 2004, band removed and sleeved in 2015, bypass 2016, 2 x overstitches in 2017 and now having plication and roux limb lengthening next week. I have lost weight with each procedure then gradually gained again. Never getting near my original weight of 136kg, I get down to about 80kg and am happy there then invariably start to creep up gradually each time. This has to be my last procedure. This is my 6th attempt now. I have everything crossed for this working. Anyone else had roux lengthening or plication as a bypass revision? Thanks :-)

I was lucky, I had no pain or real discomfort after any of my surgeries. Didn't need any paid meds. Was discharged on day 2 after sleeve and bypass and back to work in 3 days. My work is fairly sedentary though. Office based within a hospital with some walking around throughout the day. I am having the gastric plication and the lengthening of the roux limb on Tuesday next week (5th Dec) and am expecting to get discharged on the 6th or 7th at the absolute latest then back to work on the 9th.

Just found out you can keep on Overstitching!! So I went for my follow up with my surgeon after having the Overstitch a few weeks ago and starting on the Saxenda. Weight continues to drop slowly, couple of pounds a week. Weight it really difficult to get off now as I am almost at my goal. Anyway, surgeon told me that if the Overstitched pouch / stoma stretches out again, it is easily re-overstitched!! Now I am certainly not planning to ever have another Overstitch, I am happy with my weight loss and am sticking to the rules. However, good to know that the Overstitch isn't technically the end of the road or the last possible surgery for bypass patients before potentially considering DS. Just thought I'd share that with everyone as it was news to me :-)

Hi guys, probably a silly question, but one of the hardest things for me to do is to not eat and drink at the same time. It just feels so natural to sip a drink during meal times. Since I have had the Overstitch I absolutely do not eat and drink at the same time but I hate it and find it very difficult. Especially in social settings or at a restaurant with friends when I would normally have a wine course or matched wines with my meal. Anyway my question is, I thought I'd order soup at a restaurant the other day, no entree no dessert just a soup for mains. When the soup arrived it was obviously liquid, but there were pieces of fish / vegetables in the soup as one would expect. Is this the technically the same as eating and drinking at the same time? I was consuming a liquid and eating solids in the same dish. Is this a problem? Or am I overthing things? Thanks guys john :-)

Hi guys, I have had 4 weight loss procedures over the last 13 years (long story) anyway my most recent major op was a gastric bypass done in May 2016. I've also just the pouch and stoma size reduced with the Overstitch. Anyway, my iron levels are really low, the doctor was surprised I was awake, alert and not on the floor. My iron levels were in the very low single figures. Apparently anaemia in men is quite rare compared to females. In fact it's quite unusual for a man to become anaemic unless they have internal bleeding or something more sinister going on. So I was just wondering how many men on here who have had a gastric bypass have ended up with anaemia. looking forward to hearing from you all. :-) Thanks!

Hi Fastfoodaddictnomore! You are right! I have just conducted some extensive research (aka google search lol) and yes they can use the Overstitch with stretched / enlarged sleeves! I never knew that, but I guess it makes sense and could be an option for sleeve patients gaining weight rather than converting to a bypass. Thanks for mentioning it, more knowledge to add to our weight loss journeys :-)

Hi Julie, yes I believe the Overstitch is fairly new, although not to sure how new it is. It was new to me and my surgeon is quite experienced and up to date with new developments and I think he'd done about 5 previously and only in recent weeks. They go in endoscopically and put some permanent sutures in the stoma, then if needed also in the pouch to reduce the size of that as well. I don't think they could do it to a patient with a band in because you don't have a pouch or stoma. And it wouldn't be a stand alone procedure as it's designed to be a remedy for gastric bypass patients experiencing weight gain due to enlarged stomas / pouches. Although I believe they can do something similar to a gastric sleeve endoscopically which I think is gastric plication. (If I am not 100% correct anyone please feel free to correct me) :-) Now as for the cost, my surgeon didn't charge me for this Overstich or the Gastric bypass. I've been quite lucky. I paid the full price for the band 13 years ago, which I had done in the South off France. Then 10 years later after I had moved to Australia from England, I had the band removed and the sleeve done in the same operation. My private health care insurance covered most of it, I think I had to pay $3000 extra towards it. Then as my sleeve failed, the same surgeon did the bypass for 'free' just charging my healthcare fund with no co-payment, and the same for my Overestich. No co-payment. He accepted just the payment from my health care fund here in Australia. All I had to pay for was a payment towards the anaesthetist fees which in total were $800 and Medicare paid $300 so all I paid all up was $500 which I was very pleased about. :-) Now to answer your last question about pain, I experienced next to no pain at all. I had a slight scrape on my lips from the scope, like I've had bigger pimples really. And a very mild sore throat when I woke up. The kind of sore throat you had after slight cough for a few days. Gone all together within 24 hours. Hardly worth mentioning. I was prescribed antiemetics and some strong pain relief, however, didn't fill the script as my nausea and pain were zero, seriously nothing at all painwise post op. I should add though that I was the same after gastric sleeve and bypass. No pain, no wind, no pain relief needed, I was up doing laps of the ward same day as both operations and declined all pain relief. I've either been very lucky or have a high pain threshold or a mixture of the two! Never even had reflux or anything. Oh and time in theatre was 1hr 20mins, think that it normally takes around 45 minutes, but I had sutures to both the stoma and pouch, and there was an Overstitch rep or something in the theatre watching the procedure and asking questions / having things explained I think, so that may have added time, not that it bothered me, I wouldn't have known if the operation took 10 minutes or 10 hours, i just closed my eyes and then woke up, felt like milliseconds haha, I went home after about 2 hours with a recommendation to follow a liquid diet for 1 week then soft / puréed for the second week, then a normal diet after that with lots of chewing and not to push the amount of food eaten. Now I am at the stage of puréed food and cottage cheese, I am eating around 100mls and feel as full as an egg. Have lost over 10kg and am only 4kg away from my target and about 1kg away from being in the healthy weight / BMI range, but I did start the Saxenda injections one week before the Overstitch and they are definitely helping, I felt the appetite suppressing effects of the Saxenda even just on the initial starting dose of 0.6ml, am now up to 2.4ml and will be on the maximum dose of 3ml starting this Friday. Apparently a fair few people stop taking the Saxenda because of the most common side effects which are abdominal pain, headaches and nausea, which I haven't experienced any of at all, must be my high pain threshold again! :-) The thing with the Overstitch is that I guess it can stretch again over time if it's not looked after. I'd imagine it wouldn't be able to stretch as much as without the stitches as they'd continue to provide some resistance, although I'm not sure if there have been any long term studies on this yet, again happy to be corrected if anyone knows anymore about this. Not sure what could be done after stretching the Overstitch, maybe another Overstitch or change to a Duodenal Switch. In wouldn't be too keen on the DS as I'm already severely anaemic, even though I'm not feeling any ill effects. My doctor said my iron levels and ferritin are in the low single digits and I shouldn't be feeling at the very least tired and exhausted but I'm not for some reason. Anyway, I'm hoping I won't need any more revisions. I have enough already!! So here goes, fingers crossed for me. Anymore questions, just ask, more than happy to share my journey / experiences. John :-)

Thank-you Pinky72 and Jellibean88! So I had my Overstitch, was in theatre for one hour and 20 mins. Woke up with a very slightly bruised lip and a minor sore throat from the scope and zero pain at all. Was prescribed some anti sickness tabs and painkillers but never filled the script because I had no issues at all. Was hard to believe I'd even had anything done, I felt so well. Have been put on a liquid diet for 2 weeks, so just over one week into it. Had the Overstitch on the 21st of July. First couple of days it was a struggle to get water down, but slowly, slowly, sip by sip I got around 800mls down each day, although I didn't really measure, I'm not one for weights and measures to be honest, I just guesstimate, if I feel thirsty I drink more anyway, on day 3 I tried a protein shake, that was hard going, managed to drink one, maybe 500ml size over the course of a day. Days four and 5 restriction eased up a bit so was able to comfortably have a meal replacement soup, a shake, cup of tea and a litre of water throughout the day with no real issues. I started the Saxenda a week before the Overstitch so it's a bit hard to tell if the appetite suppressant I am experiencing is due to the Overstitch or the Saxenda or a mixture of both. Anyway since the Saxenda and Overstitch I have lost 10kg, which is about 22lb. A couple more KG and I'll be in the 'normal' weight range for the first time ever in my life!! So happy with everything right now! I am determined to stick to the rules this time, no fizzy drinks, no eating and drinking, protein first etc. After 4 weight loss procedures over 13 years this is the last chance saloon for me. Happy that my perseverance has got me down 136kg obese class 3 to almost normal. Anyway, just thought I'd share my story so far for those interested :-) Thanks, John.

Hi, yes I do go for protein first then veggies but what a great idea, fill up on protein then save the veggies for a snack 2 hours later. I will give that a try, thanks [emoji106][emoji4] I'm having the Overstitch tomorrow so will be nil by mouth from midnight tonight then on liquids for a week. So I'll see how I go.

Hi, thanks for your reply. I do realise that this will probably be the end of the road as far as surgery is concerned and I'm pleased about that as I don't want any more surgery. I have always had problems with portion control and grazing and have been working hard to deal with it, I am pleased at your will power and apparent success at conquering this issue. For me I am still hungry after eating 2 cups, of course I try not to eat and I swap unhealthy foods for healthy options and choose proteins first. But it's not always easy, hence most of our decisions to have surgery in the first place. I have also given up smoking after 25 years of smoking 2 packets a day and no longer drink any alcohol at all. I do have will power but for me it seems that I am gaining weight after an initial reasonable loss with the bypass, so for me my next option, which my surgeon agrees is the Overstitch. I had also started Saxenda with great initial results, I have only been on it for 2 weeks and am still titrating the dose but have noticed a marked decrease in appetite and have lost 4kg! Happy days, I am determined to get where I want to be eventually.

Wow thanks for the reply, glad to hear I am not alone!! Our surgical histories are almost identical :-) Same here with me regarding the amount of food I can eat. For the first couple of months post bypass I could only eat quite small amounts and felt full then gradually I could eat more and more thereafter and didn't feel as full. I do have dumping though, which I'm pleased about because it stops me eating too much sweet, fatty or carb heavy food. My dumping symptoms are quite mild though, but definitely if I eat too much bad food in one go, my heart races, I feel uncomfortable and a bit lightheaded and then need to lie down for about 30 minutes then it's all good. So it makes me stop eating junk food quite quickly, it has trained me to only have the occasional bit of forbidden foods and not to push it too much lol. Now just over a year later I can eat over 500ml / 2 cups in one sitting and still feel hungry and can eat more about 30 minutes later. I didn't thing things would loosen up this quickly, I feel as though my stoma / pouch has enlarged quickly over a year and don't feel as though I have pushed things so much to make it stretch. I have over eaten once or twice and immediately vomited everything up. To be honest I do find the whole not drinking when eating thing kinda difficult, especially if eating foods which are a little dry, I tend to have a few tiny sips of water with meals but never anything carbonated. Wouldn't have thought a few sips would make things stretch so much? Good luck over the next 12 months I hope things work out for you :-)

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I had one surgeon in the South of France then the same surgeon for the sleeve, bypass and for the overstitch planned for Friday. For the plastic surgery I had the one plastics surgeon also here in Australia. Why do you ask? I researched the surgeons extensively and chose only those with a significant history of performing the procedures, who were highly experienced and had excellent reviews / feedback. I 'also' interviewed several to make sure I had a good feeling about them, I'm a nurse and didn't want a**hole surgeons touching me lol. Also all procedures were done privately so had to make sure my hard earned money was being well spent :-)