brittu

I went with Dr Aceves and he was fantastic as was the hospital care. I think he's done more sleeves than anyone and trained many US surgeons. I've had abdominal surgery and an MRI since then and have been told my sleeve looks great. I went from 256 to 132 without any issues. Far lower than I hoped (I had a band and only got to 162). Have had some regain I'm working on from poor food choices and snacking. 3+ years out I can still only eat 3 ounces of protein. I wish everyone who struggled like I did could get a sleeve.

I love cheese chips. Microwave a slice of cheese until it's lacy and crisp. You got most of the fat off and a yummy satisfyingly crunchy treat that sticks with you.

CowgirlJane - I completely agree. Last night I recognized that I was hungry but it was a very different feeling. I was empty and it was physical and any food would do (I was at costco so I had a few lean meat samples and an ounce of beef Jerky in the car - whereas in the past I would have eaten samples and then bought a hot dog). I think my hunger now is more like what naturally thin people feel. It's clearly related to length of time since I last ate and it can be satisfied with a small amount of any healthy food and very quickly. Before I thought about food all the time and could have eaten every 1-2 hours. After about a year in post-surgery I lost the unpleasant feeling I used to have after eating (I still get it a bit if I eat too much) but I used to be miserable if I overate even one bite. Combine it with the dumping and I had some aversion to eating that's gradually worn off. It made it easier to lose weight although I wouldn't want to keep feeling that way.

I like Jenny Craig quite a bit. I have a premium membership from pre-bariatric surgery so I only pay for the food. It's $130 week which didn't seem bad to me at all. I'll be bringing that down by moving to 5:2 and by using my own breakfasts. I had their cereal this morning and it only had 3 grams of protein and I can get the Wonderslim kind with a lot more and it tastes better too. I actually like Nutrisystem food, there are more choices, and the usual frozen foods from the grocery, but I really need that weekly weigh-in. With JC it's nice to know I'm eating real food 4-5 times a day. The portion sizes on some foods are too big so I split it up. I'm using My Fitness Pal to track - the JC tracker has too many steps. I can also accomodate off plan food eating without "cheating" (like I had 10 pistacios and 3 potato chips yesterday and just wrote them down and then worked around them calorie-wise).

What's interesting is that no hunger didn't mean no weight gain for me. I'm up 22lbs and I'm pretty sure the twin culprits were not eating Protein first and constant snacking. Jenny Craig is going well this week - helping with the head hunger because I'm eating plenty and have options for snacking. I'm going to add 5:2 to my program next week. It'll give me something to look forward to and another variant to keep the weight loss going. Funny that I lost 20lbs when I was a teenager on something called "the bread diet". I lived in the Cook Islands at the time and it was popular there and in New Zealand. Every other day you just ate whole grain bread. I always knew I could eat again the next day so it was manageable. If I'm able to get down to my goal weight with JC and 5:2 then I think I'll just keep going with 5:2, protein first, and limited snacking. It was so great being at goal weight. I really, really want that feeling back. Plus I want the reconstructive plastic surgery on my ugly legs and I can only do that when I get this weight off.

I'm 2 1/2 years out and my hunger never returned. I feel empty but not hungry. Head hunger has been a battle this last year and I have less restriction and less discomfort when full. Had dumping and lactose intolerance but both seem to be gone.

I think a chicken test works better. I can eat 3 ounces and anything beyond that hurts. Squishy foods don't work for me.

Yes, it happened to me as well but eventually things leveled out and I stopped losing. I was worried and started to track what I was eating. Wish I was back at that point again :-). At 3.5 years out now I actually have to watch what I eat and have gained some weight back.

Have you had a scope to check the size of your stomach? The one thing I'd be worried about after a band to sleeve revision is a stretched esophagus. Mine was caused by the band and about a year after my sleeve I discovered that overeating can case it to stretch, the food stays there instead of going down into my stomach. Since I now have a higher chance of Barret's I really need to protect my esophagus as much as possible. If you're having that kind of capacity it's well worth getting checked and seeing if your stomach is either too small of the food is pushing up into your esophagus.

I met with Dr. Egrari, Dr. Dry and two other local plastic surgeons. I ended up choosing Dr. Peters. Her results looked much more natural than either of the other two more famous docs. Their tummy tucks looked too boyish to me and their belly buttons too large. My results with Dr. Peters are amazing. My belly button looks real, I have a flat slightly curved tummy, and my breast lift with implants look incredibly natural and I only have one scar around each aereola. Dr. Peter's has a great inclusive consulting style and her aftercare was terrific. Her prices are a little less than the other doctors and they offer 0% financing through CareCredit. I highly recommend her. The lbl is a very difficult surgery, I would only use a plastic surgeon with lots of weight loss surgery experience. Next up for me is a thigh lift. Britt

Hi everyone, So I'm still in insurance appeal hell and trying to decide whether to just skip the months of fighting and go directly to self-pay with Dr. Aceves. (Skip to the last paragraph if you already know my story :-)). I need my lap band out and want to revise to a VSG but my insurance company is fighting me (I lost weight with the band and am under a 35 BMI). Odds are that I'll get the band removal covered but it won't save me much unless I can find a surgeon who'll do the revision as a single procedure and just charges me the difference. Dr. Cirangle said he would when I had my consult with him but darned if I can get anyone at his business office to return my calls. At any rate, aside from the cost that only thing that holds me back from booking my surgery with Dr. Aceves now is the risk of any future complications happening that my insurance company would also refuse to cover. All things being equal, if I had no hope of insurance coverage or unlimited funds, Dr. Aceves would actually be my first choice. All I've heard is great feedback and he's one of the most experienced surgeons there is. Not to mention I really like the idea of a 3 day hospital stay. So I'm hoping to finally make a decision (hang out in the hope of winning the appeal or just book my trip to Mexicali) this week. And I have a question on oversewing. I understand that Dr. Aceves uses a 34f boughie and then also oversews the staple line. Given that old VBS and stomach staplings had lots of problems with failed staple lines years later, it seems very wise to me to use this techique. The double-staples they now use for the VSG plus the oversew. Does anyone in the U.S. do the oversew? Am I correct in my assumption that this adds a extra level of protection against leaks? Thanks! Britt

I just went back to Weight Watchers today (I'm a former lifetime member). I was sleeved in 2010 and went from 240 down to 132. This summer I had lipsuction which messed up my fat metabolism and I started gaining weight. I'm up to 151.5 which I would have thought impossible given how easy this has all been for me. So I felt being accountable was my best bet. I've been trying on my own but don't stick to tracking my food and watching my eating for long. I felt like weighing in and getting reminded every week would help me to be mindful again. WW is a good program and they support weightloss surgery now. But some of the members see surgery as being lazy or cheating so I just keep that part to myself. The sleeve is a tool but without sensible eating and exercise I can see now that it's possible to gain weight. I want to get back down to my size 4 132lb self so I think WW is the best option for me right now. I'm just glad I'm drawing the line at size 6 150 and not letting all the weight come back like I used to do pre-sleeve.

I've had two surgeries with Dr. Mary Lee Peterss in Seattle and I have arms and legs planned for December. She's fantastic and amazingly humble to boot. I took 6 monthe to decide and met with Dr. Dry, Dr. Egrari and a couple others. Dr. Peter's afters just looked better, especially breast lifts. Mine are frankly the best I've ever seen, very natural. Overall my results far exceeded my expectations as did the care. And she's cheaper than the others too. Can't wait to do the rest.

My goal was to be an 8 but I ended up a 4. I wouldn't have thought I'd be that small. I've gained a little weight since I had lipo in July, very weird, but I'm still a 4. But I definitely think sizes have shifted. What's now a 4 would have been a 6 20 years ago.

So I've been in a 14 month fight for coverage of a revision from lap band to a sleeve. I should finally know the outcome this week. Over the weekend I found some great info on policies and standards of care for revisions. I put together one final letter that I overnighted yesterday. Just in case it's useful to anyone (I sight the policies of Medicare, 8 other insurance companies, and the ASMBS) I'll post a link to my blog. Thanks, Britt vsgappeal: Final Letter - Why revision doesn't require a high BMI

Hi there, Had an appointment with Dr. Neal in Olympia last week and am hoping to be banded this summer. I originally intended to use NWWLS in Mill Creek but they weren't willing to fight for insurance for me (I'm a 35 BMI). Dr. Neal was happy to help out and we'll see what happens. I'm worried though that if we can't get coverage I won't be able to use him as a self-pay patient since his self-pay cost is about $17k and moe than I can spend. Just wondering if anyone has worked with Dr. Neal and if they'd like to share their experience either here or via direct email. I can't find much about him on the boards... Thanks! Britt

I did, it was several months before I felt like eating much. I got a little nauseaus or full so fast it wasn't pleasant. So I kept working with shakes and softer foods. I also ordered quite a few things from one of the bariatric Protein sites which I still eat - sloppy joe mix, protein Cereal, pudding. Nice small servings with protein that really satisfied me. I'm about 15 months out now and can eat quite a bit more. I'm below my goal weight by quite a bit but have decided to lose a little more to make my upcoming plastic surgery a little easier (less lipo I hope). Your slowdown is normal. At first it comes in big bursts and then nothing off and on over 4-6 week cycles. Eventually I just steadily lost 2-3 pounds a week until my body decided it was done at 137 pounds where I've been for about 6 months. Don't worry about the stalls. Your body is working it all out. Sometimes you'll even shrink in size even though the scale doesn't head downward. You should probably up your calories to the 800ish range. It's hard to keep your skin and hair healthy and your weightloss really isn't any faster at the 500 calorie mark. But it was a month or so before I could get mine up there. You're doing great! Britt

I found that unflavored protein power was really helpful. I could mix it in to soups and other foods I could eat during the mushie stage and get more protein in that way.

I hate sliming. I had a lap band for three years that ended up slipping. I slimed all the time and it only got worse after the band slipped. I've spent hours in pain alternating between sitting feeling like I was drowning and bending over the toilet bowl praying the inflammation would go away and liquid would drain through. Since I was sleeved it only happened once and it was at about two months and with meat. It's never happened again. For the first few months many meats took some extra work to eat - with sauce, cut small, with cheese, etc. I think my stomach just needed time to heal and for the swelling to go down. Now I rarely feel uncomfortable at all unless I overeat. pizza dough, Pasta and bread can feel a little gummy so I don't choose those foods very often or only in very small amounts. eggs work great in all forms (my lap band hated them). Honestly, I think the reason they all work well is that I've become really conscious about not eating past the satisfied point. Even just one or two extra bites can make me uncomfortable for 20-30 minutes and I've come to dislike the feeling enough that it's a very good deterrent. I don't hurt or hurl or have pain like I did with the lap band. I just feel stretched and full like I used to if I overate at Thanksgiving. I didn't mind it so much then, but now I don't like it. The sleeve has changed my relationship with food in a lot of ways, I generally make better choices just because I can eat so little I don't want to waste my appetite on foods I don't love or foods that aren't healthy. I have lactose intolerance too and I'll probably need to do more about it than just take lactaid. It's just hard to stay away from milk products and get enough Protein in. And I can't stand sweet things any more. They make me feel queasy. I had dumping for the first few months but don't know. So I've wondered if my aversion to ice cream and frosting is just mental or if there's a real physical component. They just taste too sweet and I don't get any pleasure out of it. I tried a small square of my son's birthday cake, I was really looking forward to it, but I ended up just tosssing it after a bite or two. I felt sad for a minute but it passed. Just like my moment of grief about three months in that I would never eat a huge meal again passed. I felt sure the sleeve would work for me but how well it's worked, how much my approach to food has changed and how much more I'm like my thin neighbor still manages to amaze me. At any rate, it might be too soon for your tummy for hamburger or it might need more moisture or you might need to eat even less. It'll take some experimenting to get to a point that you have a feel for which foods and how much work best for you. And it'll get better as you heal. Hopefully that'll be just a one time slime for you.

My surgery was with Dr. Aceves and he has a strict nothing but walking policy for 12 weeks. My sleeve surgery was easy, I had no pain and the recovery was quick. I was a serious Pilates girl before my surgery and I followed his instructions. Even then, the month I started exercising I ended up with a large abdominal hernia - caused in part by having a diastasis (separated abdominal muscles) after pregnancy, and in part from all the incisions I'd had from multiple surgeries. I had to have hernia surgery right away. Even though I've had many surgeries (including a c-section) the hernia repair was far harder than I expected. In fact, I can still feel the tug from the mesh and sutures and my surgery was in October. So... while not trying to scare you I would suggest that you take it slow, follow your doctor's advice and work your way up to strength and fitness.

Hi all, I'm just about to start my official fight with the insurance company (Fed BCBS) for denying coverage for revision to VSG after a lap band slip. I plan to have surgery with Dr. Aceves if I don't win on appeal and possibly if it looks like it's going to take too long (I've already gained back nearly half of the weight I lost). Here's my question... I've read a few stories of VSGers who had a serious leak that required considerable hosptial time and medical care. This really concerns me when I think about self-pay - I assume this kind of care could run in the tens of thousands of dollars if not more. But who pays for this in the case of self-pay? Does the insurance refuse coverage? Thanks! Britt

Give yourself some time and just sip, sip, sip and do the best you can. You still have a lot of swelling and will for awhile. Post op I was on clears for 10 days so I got Isopure and watered it down - that might be an option if thinner drinks go through easier. I drank it so much I couldn't take the taste so I cut it with grape juice that had a strong enough taste to cover the kool-aid jello-ish nature. There are similar drinks at GNC. They have very high Protein counts. I definitely empathise - I'm 6 months out (and 60 pounds down) and still have tons of trouble with protein. Mostly because I'm tired of it. My hair started falling out in serious quantities a couple of weeks ago so I'm motivated to kick it up as much as I can. But I also know from having had a lap band that it's temporary. And I think it happens as much from the shock of the surgery and weightloss as it does the lack of protein. I didn't have trouble with protein when I had a band - I could drink a lot more. Take care!

That was a huge milestone for me too. I hated weighing so much more than my fit, 6ft husband. Now I'm 25 pounds less rathern than 40 pounds more. And just 10 pounds away from my lowest pre-sleeve lap band weight. It never occurred to me that other gals had the same "less than the hubby/boyfriend goal". What a great success for you!

Let's see... here are some things to consider. Here's my story. I had a band for 3 years. I was successful until my band slipped and I had serious enough complications that my quality of life wasn't too good and I started regaining weight. Once that I happened I also had to admit to myself that the band was farily unpleasant even when I was losing weight. I hated the feeling of food sitting at the top of my stomach and I had frequent sliming and stuck food issues. But I had just kind of been in denial about all my issues because my weight loss was good. I fought for insurance coverage for revision for over a year so I had lots of time to do research. My insurance would cover a new band but not a revision to anything else. It was a long, soul-destroying process - no point in detailing here . For a revision, I was willing to go anywhere in the country or Mexico and I spent a lot of time reading boards and researching stats. I also found out about the sleeve and spent lots of time researching it and bypass. I also went to an OH conference, met with several surgeons, did phone consults, you name it. I even watched video of all of the surgeons I was considering doing the procedure. I admit it, I'm a compulsive researcher. Surgeons - in Washington I felt the best choice was Dr. Billing at Puget Sound Surgical. He's done more sleeves than other surgeons in the area. He's pioneered a technique he refers to as a "lap-sleeve". He's always interested in learning and sharpening his skills - I found him to be both confident and caring without the arrogance that afflicts so many surgeons. Dr. Billing removed my lap band in October of 2009. Because of the insurance issues we didn't convert at the same time. He would have but his preference was to wait because he was concerned about damage to my stomach and giving it time to flatten back out and heal before doing the sleeve. The only two other surgeons I was willing to go to were Dr. Cirangle in SF and Dr. Aceves in Mexico. In June I did end up going to Dr. Aceves. I had a scheduling issue and had to have my surgery during a specific week. I also lost my legal case and had to self-pay. Dr. Aceves and his staff were fantastic and I appreciated have 3 full days of care in the hospital. Late this summer I developed a serious hernia. My abdominal wall was separated from my sternum to below my belly button. My primary care doc actually sent me to Dr. Billing who did the repair surgery three weeks ago. Other surgeons could have been kinda pissy in this situation - after I, he didn't do my sleeve. But he understood why I had to go to Dr. Aceves and was more than happy to help me. Once again, he was great, I trusted the surgical decisions he made, and I'm doing well. (He also told me my sleeve looked great and took a picture of it for me while he was in there - nice since he wasn't the surgeon who did it). Bypass or sleeve for revision: I did a huge compilation of research on revisions as part of my legal case. You can read my summary. The bottom line is that a sleeve is an appopriate revision for a failed lap band patient. Dr. Billing believes that sleeve will overtake bypass and may completely replace lap band surgery in the next 5-10 years just because the outcomes are so good. He said something really interesting to me a week ago when I had a follow-up. He told me that his sleeve patients, even his revisions, are far and away his happiest patients. They feel great, they have little to no complications and they seem to have little or no difficultiy maintaining their weight loss. http://vsgappeal.blogspot.com/2010/07/summary-appeal-letter-studies-and.html In my case I had regained my lap band weight loss and was back at 236 when I had my surgery in June. I'm already down to 174. I really didn't expect to lose that quickly. What really amazes me about my old band vs. the sleeve is that it's not just about limiting my volume. I don't know whether it's the grehlin being gone or just how quickly the satiety switch gets set off in a smaller stomach but I just don't really crave food or want to eat to fullness. When I first started eating solids I ate too much a few times and it was really uncomfortable. I backed off a bit so I wouldn't get to that point but it's really more than that. I just feel find and completely uninterested in food after a few bites so it's very easy to stop before my little sleeve is packed full. Somehow the sleeve changed how I feel about food - what I want to eat and when I feel like pushing the plate away. I haven't heard anyone I know say that about their gastric bypass. I also was uncomfortable with the other health issues of bypass like dumping and malnutrition. Another suggestion about surgeons: I've met most of the surgeons in the Seattle area who do weight loss surgeries. I think most are good doctors and are well intentioned. But every surgeon's opinion is colored by their own experience. They have what they do well, they have their comfort zones, and some are more willing than others to push beyond them. Sleeve is new and some surgeons are just now starting to look it it. Others, like Cirangle and Billing, have been doing them awhile and feel confident in the technique and in the successes their seeing with their patients. Dr. Lauter has done some sleeves but not a huge amount. He seemed like a great guy to me but it's worth considering that if he's most comfortable with bypass then that's what he's most likely to suggest to his patients. And it stands to reason that he would. All in all I'd say my research shows the sleeve to be as good and in some ways a better revision option than bypass. I prefer Dr. Billing to other local surgeons and would suggest meeting with him if you have the time to come up north. Even if you don't go with him it's good to have another medical opinion. Take care. I'm sure whatever you decide will be right for you. Happy to answer any questions you might have. At just about 6 months in to my revision I'm no expert but I can certainly share my own experiences so far.