SleeveToBypass2023

Hi there!!! I have been summoned, I see lol Ok, so a little about what I've been through, and then I'll give any advice I can. I had the sleeve in May 2022. Initially, I was doing awesome. Lost a lot of weight, got off several meds, health issues corrected, it was awesome. Right up until it wasn't. Around 6 months post op, I started noticing some reflux issues (which I had never had before). It steadily got worse and I had to have a barium swallow (NASTY!!!) to see what was happening. I had severe GERD, gastritis, and esophagitis. I also had a narrowing esophagus. So I was put on Nexium (40mg once per day). The GERD steadily got worse and worse until I was put on 80mg of Nexium daily as well as Pepcid for break through (which I took daily). It still didn't completely help. I was on such a high amount of PPI for such a long time that I ended up developing an OBSCENE amount of polyps all through my stomach and duodenum. This year, I had 7 surgeries to remove all of the polyps, stretch my esophagus, and have a revision to a bypass. I also had to have the part of the stomach that's bypassed removed because that's where so many of the polyps were forming. When I had the sleeve, I had so much pain, trouble tolerating anything cold, trouble taking pills, trouble getting in enough water. It was completely miserable. With my revision to bypass, it was like the heavens opened up and the angels started singing to me. No pain meds at all beyond Tylenol. Up and around within 4 days. Was able to take pills from day 1. No GERD at all. No constipation like with the sleeve. Able to get my fluids in from day 1 (drank a 20 oz of water in the hospital within 2 hours of getting back to my room from recovery), no issues with temps of liquids. My only regret is that I didn't just get the bypass to begin with. Because of all the surgeries, my abdominal wall weakened and I developed a ventral hernia that was repaired 3 weeks ago. Still recovering from that one. I was freaked out at first at the thought of getting a bypass. It's why I opted for the sleeve to begin with. I was afraid of dumping, I was afraid of malabsorption, I was afraid of getting a stricture. Well, I only dump if I have too many carbs, so I just avoid them for the most part (I never even get to my allotted amount, I'm always way under). I haven't had any stricture, but if I do, it's a super easy fix (and after everything I've already been through, I'm not even a tiny bit worried). And malabsorption is only an issue with extended release meds (I don't take those now) and vitamins (take bariatric ones or double up on the regular ones). There was nothing to be worried about, but I let the chatter from those that weren't in my position freak me out and cause me to choose the sleeve instead of the bypass. My advice to you is to not listen to anyone else. You and your doctor know what's best for you. The revision will give you your life back. Being pain and complication free is worth its weight in...well...everything. When you look at everything you've been through up until this point, the recovery from the revision will be a walk in the park. It's better for your health (physically and mentally) and it will allow you to get back to your life. This surgery is supposed to afford us the chance to have the life and health we've always been meant to, and complications can really do a number on us. The revision will be a godsend to you, mark my words. I don't have a single regret.

I'm a sleeve to bypass revision, and it's honestly the best thing I've ever done. The only time I have dumping is if I eat too many carbs. I only did that twice (holidays both times) and I learned REALLY quick not to anymore. I stick to my diet religiously and have had no issues. If you look at my signature, you'll see I've lost weight with the revision, although nowhere near what I lost with the sleeve initially. I do think your doctor is exaggerating what you'll lose. If you exercise, stick to your diet (or get back on track with it), and get your relationship with food back to where it should be, you'll do fine. My recovery with the bypass was amazing. I've had absolutely no issues with the revision at all. My only regret is that I didn't just do the bypass to begin with. Oh, and I did the revision because of major complications from the sleeve (GERD - never had it before the sleeve - gastritis, esophagitis, polyps all through my stomach and duodenum due to excessively high PPI over a long period of time, etc..).

Because the Medicaid dropped to secondary once my insurance through work kicked in. I live in a state that almost never takes Medicaid away completely unless you make a LOT of money. I make good money, but I'm a family of 3 and that raises the amount I can make before they completely take it away, and I'm nowhere near that amount. The amount I can make and keep Medicaid as my primary insurance is pretty low, and I make more than that. But I would have to make more than I do now to completely lose it.

My same day hernia surgery turned into a 3 day cardiac floor stay. The hernia surgery itself went well. I'm allergic to surgical glue, so I have a lot of internal stitches, which really hurt. But that's not where the excitement came from. When I was on my way to the recovery room from the surgical area, my heart went into AfiB, specifically the top chamber of my heart was beating at 156 beats per minute, out of sync with the lower part of my heart, but not pumping any blood. It took 2 doses of metoprolol in my IV before they could get my heart rate down. When I came to in recovery, they had already done 2 ekg's, an echocardiogram, and connected me to several different heart monitors. As soon as my eyes opened, I was told I was being admitted. I was super confused. I made it to the cardiac floor, and was supposed to have a chemical stress test the next day, but the night nurse on that floor completely messed up my pain meds and I was in absolutely EXCRUTIATING pain all night. I was supposed to get 1mg of dilaudid every 2 hours and instead she gave me 1/2 a mg every 4 hours. So they delayed the stress test by another day while they worked to get in front of the pain. It took a whole day, but I was finally doing better. The next day, I did the stress test in the afternoon. It was horrible. Definitely didn't find it fun, that's for sure. They give you this medication that simulates you doing heavy exercising. I was short of breath, my heart rate went way up, it sucked. I was cleared by cardiology to come home that night. Blood work, follow up ekg's, and the stress test came back good. But I'm connected to a continuous ekg monitor for 30 days. At the end of that time, I send it in to the company and then follow up with my cardiologist to be sure my heart is ok. We have no idea what caused this to happen. I've had several surgeries and everything was perfect. So this is yet another weird, rare reaction that my body decided to do because it's weird.

Sports bras for sure. I'm almost at my goal weight and my boobs are flabby, saggy, and dropped from a full D cup to a saggy B cup. Can't wait for my skin surgery, tummy tuck, and boob job. I just want them back to where they used to be lol

Sounds like you're in a stall. As someone who has had MANY of them (and the last 2 were 4+ weeks long) I can tell you they're frustrating and can make you feel defeated. The best thing to do is watch your non scale victories, stick to your diet, change up your workout routine to "confuse" your body, and stay on course. The stall WILL break, but give yourself some grace and don't deviate from your plan. Weigh yourself once or twice a week instead of everyday. And you'll see that you'll get there.

Absolutely DO NOT get the sleeve if you have GERD already. I didn't have it at all, yet when I originally had the sleeve, it gave me such severe GERD I also developed gastritis, esophagitis, and had to take 80mg of Nexium per day as well as Pepcid every day, and I still had break through GERD. I ended up needing 4 endoscopies to remove polyps all through my stomach and duodenum (caused by the high amount of PPI I had to take over a prolonged amount of time) and then had a revision to bypass, which solved the whole issue. It was a very miserable time. And again, I didn't even have any GERD or reflux to begin with. My doctor told me that if you do, the sleeve is not the surgery to get. Definitely go with a bypass. If your doctor refuses, find a new doctor.

Finishing up my breakfast and then it's time to get ready to go back to work FINALLY!!! WooHoo!!! It's about time. I hate not working. So glad I was cleared yesterday to go back starting today. Oh, and I'm now down to 233 pounds. I'm 33 pounds away from my goal weight!!!! I started off at 421 pounds when this whole journey began. I've lost a total of 188 pounds from my highest weight. I've lost a total of 155 pounds since my surgery in May 2022 (I was 388 pounds on surgery day). Bariatric surgery, changing my relationship with food, changing my diet, working out and changing up my routines, all of it is why I'm here now. 33 more pounds to go, ya'll!!! I'm in a size 16/18 in clothes (down from 28/30), I'm in a size 6 1/2 ring (down from size 10), I'm in a size 10 shoe (down from a size 11), and I wear 18" necklaces (instead of the 22" and 24" necklaces I wore before). Yes, I've had complications. Yes, I've had several surgeries. But things were found that I never would have known about. Silent killers, they're called. Has it been annoying and painful and frustrating? ABSOLUTELY. Would I do it all again anyway? ABSOLUTELY. I've STILL gained so much more than I've lost. I have 1 more surgery (my hysterectomy) and then I'm completely done. And honestly, I'm still way way healthier than I ever was before. I only wish I would have just done the bypass to begin with and skipped the sleeve. But then again, like I said, the conditions I didn't know about wouldn't have been found without the complications from the sleeve that led to all my procedures. Everything happens for a reason. I firmly believe that. And I'm almost on the other side of all this, so I can speak into existence that nothing else will go wrong, things are looking up, and I'm getting my life back but as an even healthier and better version.

💪❤️

I don't think I would panic just yet, but I would definitely be concerned. My doctor's office had it set up so we scheduled our own pre surgery testing and did it online. As far as anything else, if you have questions about the surgery, recovery, diet, etc then I would route those to your nutritionist and nurses at the office. My coordinator pretty much just worked with the insurance to get the surgery approved, got it scheduled, and gave me a check list of everything I needed to get done. She gave me the websites for the videos and testing I needed to do. And that was it. That's where her job ended.

If there's a complication to be had, I seem to be the one who will have it. It's absolutely ridiculous. My follow up for my hernia is tomorrow (Monday) and wouldn't you know, I started having sharp pain where my hernia was repaired and also in my back (lower to middle area, almost in the kidney area). I'm so sick of this. I almost just don't even want to know anything anymore. I just want to be left alone to live my life.

Thank you so much Your mouth to God's ears....

Thank you guys so much. I don't know why my body does these things. It's absolutely ridiculous. Just 1 last surgery and then my poor body can be left alone and I can just rest and heal and actually be better.

I went from VSG to bypass. I don't know if you'll find anyone who went from VBG to bypass. It's not a surgery that's done anymore.

It's literally the most ridiculous thing ever!!! I still have 1 more surgery scheduled for March, which is my hysterectomy. I may move that out to give more time to figure out what caused this to happen. I've never had any heart issues before, so it really freaked everyone out. Once the hysterectomy is done, I'll only have skin surgeries, a boob job, and a tummy tuck. And believe me, those can definitely wait lol I'll have them eventually, but right now I just need to get the actual health issues dealt with.

Yes, your relationship with food is supposed to change. How you view it, how often you eat it, what you eat, etc... Also, having a specific meal plan to follow helps a lot while you navigate your new normal. Definitely slow down your eating, start looking at what you're eating and what your calorie/carb/fat/protein intake is, look at your activity levels and adjust them accordingly, and look into speaking with your nutritionist and a bariatric therapist. This is all stuff that should have been gone over with you long before you actually had your surgery.

It tastes like poo smells? That's not good. Call your surgeon's after hours line and head to the ER. You shouldn't be throwing up for 24 hours, and it DEFINITELY shouldn't taste like poo smells.

So it's not that you can't have any carbs. You want them last, and you want them not to be "bad" carbs, like from pasta and breads and white potatoes. You should be eating 5 times per day. 3 meals and 2 snacks. You want protein first, then veggies, then carbs. No sugar, low salt (himalayan is the best if you need it). Avoid carbonation because it stretches your stomach out. My bariatric diet stated 60-80g of protein per day, 1000-1200 calories per day, less than 50 net carbs per day, and less than 50g of fat per day. If working out, or if you have a very physical job, then it would be slightly modified to 75 - 90g of protein, 1200-1400 calories, no more than 65 net carbs, and no more than 65g of fat per day. It seems like a bariatric therapist might be a good thing for you, because it sounds like your relationship with food never changed, and you never learned to tell the difference between real and head hunger. And lastly, you should be eating very slowly. You're filling up fast because you're cramming a lot of food into your stomach all at once. After it makes its way through, the food is gone but you're hungry again. Eat slowly, chew it well, follow the bariatric diet, find a bariatric diet, and reach out to your nutritionist and see what they can do to help you get back on track and maybe map out an eating plan for you.

Holy crap. Ok, so a few things. First, just because you CAN eat these foods, doesn't mean you SHOULD. You're not even close to healed. You still have numbness from nerves being cut. You could be doing damage you can't even feel yet. There's a reason we're supposed to increase our eating in stages. Second, the amount you eat is more of a head thing than a physical thing. You cannot fit the same amount of food into your new stomach that you used to, and you shouldn't be trying to. Your pouch is only so big, and you have to remember that and start working on your head hunger and your relationship with food. Third, talk to your nutritionist about how you're eating and how to get back on track with your bariatric eating plan, because if you aren't compliant now, you'll never be able to be later on. In no way should you have been eating actual, solid foods 1 week after surgery. So before you do damage that has to be surgically fixed, reach out to a bariatric therapist to help you with your relationship with food and learning the difference between real hunger and head hunger, and your nutritionist to figure out how to map out an actual way to get on track and a realistic meal plan. You might also want to talk to a nurse practitioner about what possible damage you might have done and if there's a way to kind of fix it before it gets to a surgical level.

Still hurting. Actually looking forward to surgery on Wednesday. Also upset because I'm probably going to miss ALL of next week. Plus the 2 days I missed last week and I will only have 3 paid days on my check on the 15th. Not only do I have bills to pay, that was supposed to cover Christmas. And not just the gifts, but the decorations, the dinner, cards, all of it. Now we'll have literally nothing. And the pain meds don't do anything but knock me out. Once I wake up, I'm in pain again. Time to take my meds and pass out. I'm so over it all.... Oh, before I forget!!! Let's not leave out that I'm basically back on my stage 1 bariatric diet because when I try to eat regular food, it KILLS my hernia (it's a delayed reaction, so I'm guessing it's happening as it makes its way down my colon, or to my bowels, or wherever it goes). That was ok yesterday, but today....nope. But TODAY!!! Oh TODAY has been a joy because now even liquids and YOGURT and Jello hurt. And I have had absolutely ZERO appetite since yesterday around lunch time. I can't just not eat, but I have no hunger feelings, and when I remember to eat, I don't want to because it hurts so much. I don't know what else to do, but I feel like I'm losing it over here. I'm so so over all of this. I've never had a hernia before. Is this normal? Because I feel like I'm about to lose my mind. I walk hunched over, trying to roll over in my sleep causes me to cry out and wake up my husband, and don't get me started on coughing or sneezing or pooing. The early stages of both my bariatric surgeries COMBINED didn't make me this miserable.

So I had a CT with contrast on Wed the 29th and it confirmed that I have a ventral hernia. I'm scheduled for surgery On Wednesday Dec 6th. It's a same day surgery, so at least I won't have to stay overnight. By this past Wednesday morning I was beginning to have pain in that area (where the hernia is), and by Thursday, I was in agony. After work, I called the on-call doctor with my bariatric surgeon's office and they said to go to the ER. I couldn't drive myself, so I called an ambulance. They did a repeat CT and confirmed what was seen in the last one. They said it was stable (not strangulated) but it was very close to my extremely large uterine fibroid (I have 3, but it's close to the biggest one) and that was causing a lot of the pain and inflammation. They put me on dilaudid and zofran while I was in the ER and sent me home with Hydrocodone-acetaminophen (Norco) and promethazine (phenergan). They also did an ultrasound on my fibroids (they now measure 13cm. 9cm, and 7.5cm) and ovaries (which are very cystic, thanks to my PCOS) and they confirmed there is no torsion and there's good blood flow. I'm off work today, have my pre-op appt on Monday and then go to work the rest of Mon and all of Tuesday. Then I have my surgery on Wed and I'm off work until Mon the 11th, which is when I go back. Just thought I would update you guys. My hysterectomy is still scheduled for March 6th. I'm in a lot of pain, so I can't wait to get this surgery over with.

From what I've seen, no. It does not. Unless you're drinking something with a ton of iron in it and not taking any fiber, then a protein shake isn't going to cause constipation. This is just part of the surgery we have to learn to live with.

I am also a "stick to the plan" person. You're way too early to eat anything not specifically allowed. Revisit this with your nutritionist when you hit 6 weeks and see what they say.

I had the sleeve and the revision to bypass. I had to have the revision due to so many complications that came about because of the sleeve. I started off at 421 pounds, and I am also having a hysterectomy (mine is March 6th). And I have PCOS. If it were me, I would choose a bypass over the sleeve. My one real regret is that I didn't just do the bypass to begin with. Recovery was way better and easier, so much less pain, all around better experience.

This is my holy grail when I can't get ANYTHING else to work: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Dr-Tobias-Colon-14-Day-Cleanse-Advanced-Gut-Cleanse-Detox-Women-Men-Cascara-Sagrada-Psyllium-Husk-Senna-Leaf-Non-GMO-28-Capsules-1-2-Daily/429900136?athbdg=L1100&from=/search And if that doesn't move things along after 2 days, by day 3 I take 2 of these with 4 of these: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Equate-Stool-Softener-Plus-Stimulant-Laxative-Tablets-for-Constipation-120-Count/685416989?athbdg=L1600&from=/search I also increase my water intake by at least 20 oz. Works every single time.