spealex

SW: 291 CW: 224 Happy with my weight loss, back in the hospital now after having surgery yesterday to correct an incisional hernia I developed following my surgery. Hopefully my last hospital visit for a while. Happy Wednesday.

I hear you on the challenges of being on vacation. Wrapping up a trip to San Francisco and Los Angeles, where we made multiple stops at Randy’s donuts and Ghirardelli. That is torture. I did take a bite of an unglazed, plain donut, and yesterday I broke down, having a taste of my kids sundae. Both were amazing, as good as remembered. But, felt good afterwards when I realize that had I not had surgery, I would have had multiple donuts, and multiple visits to the ice cream shop during this trip. More weight, more money spent. As for food, I was pretty much able to enjoy the food I would normally eat, just in way smaller portions. I had my first piece of steak since my surgery two days ago, and I was happy that all went well, no issues with it. Hope everyone is having a successful journey. Alex

Mstipps, i have had a few bumps along the way, but moving through them, and looking forward. Pre-op: 291 Surgery 1/25/18: 281 CW: 227

I had my surgery January 25. All had gone very well, down 60 lbs since then. Recently, I developed an incisional hernia and am now scheduled to have the corrected on June 26th. Last night, while having dinner, I began to have severe stomach pains. I stopped eating, figuring it was indigestion. A few hours later, when the pain was increasing, and not subsiding, I went to the ER. I was admitted and they did every test they could, saying nothing conclusively. This afternoon, my surgeon was was able to see all the data from my work ups, and an emergency surgery was scheduled and completed at 4pm this afternoon. Turns out, in addition to my incisional hernia, I developed an internal hernia, that has caused my intestines to twist. That is why no matter the pain meds I was being given every 2 hours, the pain never subsided. Surgery was quick, about 30 minutes and the surgeon correct my intestines. Feeling 100 percent better right now. Hopefully going home tomorrow. It’s my second scare since the surgery, made me question my decision to even have it at all last night when I was going through that pain. My first scare was internal bleeding following surgery which required transfusions. But now that my surgeon has corrected these issues, I’m feeling much better and am chalking this up to just another possible complication with WLS. Just decided to post this as I feel WLS has its ups and downs. But trust in your surgeon and his decisions. Communicate with him and all should be ok. My surgeon gives you his email and phone number for easy access. Definitely an undervalued asset to have that I overlooked when choosing surgeons. Glad I went with one that makes himself available when needed.

Congrats to all the losers! [emoji2] last month was a bit of a stall, and my appetite seems to be roaring back, but still trying to keep my intake in check with healthier choices. Pre-Surgery Diet: 291 Surgery : 281 CW: 236.

Wednesday weigh in: High:296 Surgery: 281 (1/25) Today: 239 Lost a lot initially, but been on plateau last month. I feel like I can eat way more than I thought I would be. And hungry between meals. Anyone else feels the same?

Wednesday weigh-in: Pre-op 291 Surgery 1/25 - 281 Current - 245

My Wednesday weigh in, a day late. Pre-op: 291 Surgery: jan 25- 281 Current: 254 Weight loss has slowed down a bit, in the last week or two. But probably my body making up for the quick loss so soon after surgery. Saw nutritionist yesterday, said I can basically start experimenting with anything, other than rice, pasta, bread, salad,pork and red meat. Got past the puréed stage and feeling good. Have sometimes eaten a little too much. Never necessary to throw up or anything, but a very tired, uncomfortably full feeling comes on. Despite a complication a week post op, feeling great, no regrets.

Wednesday weigh-in Start of pre op diet- 291lbs Surgery weight- 281 (Jan 25) Current weight- 264

Wednesday Weigh-In: Band to RNY 1/25/17 Pre-op Start - 292 lbs Surgery Weight - 282 (4 days on liquid diet) Today - 275 Feeling almost back to normal, very little, if any pain today. Sick of protein shakes! Looking into purchasing unflavored whey to add to broth, and foods in the future. Energy level is fine, hungry, but mostly mental hunger, although eager to start pureed foods.

Miami, FL

Question for anyone on here that recently went through a revision from band to bypass. How is recovery? I have read many positive recoveries for bypass, but is there a difference when it includes a revision from band? Some people were ready to conquer the world at one week, others needed 6 weeks to get back into work. Obviously different work duties will dictate, but how long until you felt you could go about a normal day following surgery? I am having surgery on February 8th, a thursday, and had hoped to be up for light duties the following Monday.

I was banded back in 2008, and here I am again, back at my attempt to find the tool that will help me succeed for good. I obviously do not know your reasons for wanting the lap band, but I can guess they are similar to why I was banded years ago. I was young like you are now. I was terrified of having something so drastic and permanent done to me. The fact that the band could be removed in the future, gave me a sense that I can just take it out if it didn’t work for me and not lose anything from it. My band worked great for me for 8 years, until it stopped retaining the saline it needs to create the restriction which keeps you from overeating. I am now scheduled for bypass this week. I did not envision jumping from band to bypass, but am doing so at the suggestion of my surgeon, who recommends it due to my switch to sweets when I was no longer able to eat as much food as I had always eaten before surgery. If I were to start this journey all over again, and with the options there are now, I would definitely consider the gastric sleeve. Talk to your doctor about it. Best of luck.

Just got notification from my surgeon’s office manager advising me that I had been approved for revision from Band to bypass. Request was submitted Monday, with approval received today, Wednesday. My requirements were 3 nutritionist visits, psych, and 2 years medical history. I was very surprised at the speed in which my approval was given.

It has been a crazy week, as I went from submitting for insurance approval, to approval, scheduled for February and today was moved up to January 25th. There is a lot out there discussing post op diet and I have read through a lot of it. Question is, I see a lot of “menus” that realistically, seem like they will be hard to follow years down the road, on a day to day basis. I’m not talking about the type of food etc., I mean the eating 2 oz of meat then in 2 hours, a cup of skim milk. Same routine, throughout the day. On a regular schedule, doesn’t seem too hard, just some planning. But what about on vacation? Or on a day full of errands? Years down the road, are you still eating every 2 hours? Do you get better at knowing what is best to eat so that you can normally assimilate to a somewhat normal routine when going out to eat with friends, or for a work meeting? I had a gastric band, and learned to live with that. Is it the same deal with bypass? Does life become normal again?

Thanks for your reply. Have you ever tried doing the nasal spray or patches for the vitamins? At this point, would you feel confident going to a restaurant and being able to eat, albeit not much but still be able to order a meal, or eat from your partners? If yes, how long after did you feel this way?

How has the first six weeks gone for you? Don’t know if everyone else goes through the same thing as the date approaches, but what I am curious now is about living with RNY. And how long until the everyday routine of vitamins and diet become normal.

That is good to hear. That remains a question to me, one I hope to get clarified during pre op. I have seen wide ranging totals, from $250 to as high as $3000 for out of pocket costs. I didn’t think it could range that much, hopefully I can get that answers soon.

Just got a call from the office coordinator that my revision from band to bypass has been approved. Scheduled for February 8 surgery. Just need to work on pre op stuff now. Surgery request submitted Monday, approval received on Wednesday. Had to do psych, 3 nutritional visits and medical 2 Year history. Surprised and pleased at the quick process. On to the next step.

Had my band put in 2008, went to the regular follow up in the months and years following the surgery, then stopped going for about 7 years now. All was good, was happy with my fill until about 3 weeks ago. My band apparently stopped working. I can eat like I did preband. I called my doctors office, went in for a visit and was told this is normal, I just need an adjustment. Has anyone else gone years with a band then all of a sudden, one day to the next it doesn't work anymore? The doctor added 1 additional CC to the band, but I still feel like I can eat anything. I have no heartburn or vomiting. The doctor will not add more than 1 CC per fill, per visit and will only do fills once a month. I'm ok with her being cautious, I'm just worried I had a slip or something else.

Jbaker5d, when your band slipped, did you experience heartburn or pain in the stomach area associated with the slip? My doctor seems to dismiss a slip because I have no pain, heartburn and I'm not throwing up.

I used De La Cruz. So far, I cant really say anything negative. I also cant help you on the cost issue, I was an insurance pay. He did great with the surgery though, I have healed relatively quickly and an looking forward to losing more weight. Let me know if you have any questions.

Just wanted to say that what you accomplished is awesome, you did it without a fill. As for the question as to why you were banded, I believe being obese was 80% or more mental. Having the band helps even if you are not feeling restriction yet. The fact that a year out you may need a fill causes you to feel this way I think is normal. You figure why now if I have done it for so long without. But IMO, your body has accustomed to the reduced amounts of food and now has learned to live with less, causing it to maybe store what you do take. Getting a slight fill hopefully will give you the feeling you felt anfter being initally banded for the first time. Just my opinion, obviously not a proffesional one. Good luck, get that fill and use the band for what its worth.

I was banded 8 days ago. IMO, the second day is the worst. To be honest though, aside from that it has really been great. The surgery day itself is well, how you would expect to feel after surgery. Day 2 you are in pain. You arent cringing in bed bad, but it hurts and you are sore. For me, after that I was better every day. Walk. I dont know if it really helps but I walked and am doing great. On day 6, I ran alomst a mile and played softball later that night. I took off one week after surgery. Honestly, I have read some horror stories but from my perspective, I have been pleasantly surprised at how smoothly everything is going. Good luck.

You know, if there is a response that really stuck for me, its that you start choosing quality over quantity. The way I went about eating was about getting the most "bang" for my meal. There could be a small item that was absolutely amazing in taste, but if I found a larger plate that may not be as good, I would ALWAYS go for the not so good but bigger. I am only 6 days post op but you definately see that your once bottomless pit is not so bottomless anymore. So I think that its natural to order better tasting, smaller foods now which in the end you will end up enjoying more because your number one goal isnt to eat a whole cow anymore, just the filet mignon part of it:tt2:.