ouroborous

Guys, cravings are NORMAL. You have to stop beating yourself up for them, or letting them rule your life. The idea of the sleeve is that it puts YOU back in charge; by limiting the portions you can eat without physical discomfort, it makes it very difficult to "cheat" unless you're TRYING to sabotage yourself. Plus, the ghrelin changes supposedly make real hunger (as opposed to head hunger) much more manageable. You can beat head hunger, if you substitute healthy new habits (say, exercise) for your bad old habits. Believe the numbers: as opposed to diet and exercise, where the vast, vast, VAST majority of people fail to lose the weight and keep it off, most WLS patients (particularly sleevers) manage to lose the weight AND keep it off for at least two years (it's still new enough for there to not be much long-term data, but the weight isn't showing an upwards trajectory like it always does with diet and exercise). So, if you can't trust yourself, trust science and statistics -- they say you've made the right choice... the one with the most chance of success. It's not a work-free solution, but you can make it work!

Anyone know if martial arts are safe for sleeve patients (after the stomach has healed)? I'm trying to find less boring, more "fun" kinds of exercise I can participate in after my sleeve has healed, since I don't tend to succeed at things I find boring, and standing on an elliptical trainer at the gym is boring as hell. I'm just not sure what the effects of a full on sparring blow to the midriff would be post-sleeve! Thanks for any info.

I am curious how prevalent depression post-VSG is. I've struggled with depression before, but it's always been tied to sleep deprivation (my sleep apnea is barely treated, but when I got on CPAP, I was able to quit all psych meds). I wonder how much of it is due to body image changes, and how much of it is due to the (very normal) physiological response to the trauma of surgery?

From what I know, weight regain is a concern with EVERY weight loss method. However, from what I understand, weight regain is much less of a concern with lap sleeve than with other surgeries (due to the hormonal/ghrelin changes), and also weight regain is much less with WLS in general than with diet and exercise. Sorry it's not a simple "don't worry, it won't happen," but I think it's safe to say that if you're willing to do what you're supposed to do, your odds are pretty good.

I have a VSG tentatively scheduled for May 6th (I am a 39 y.o. male, BMI 42, wt. 335, w/diagnosed fatty liver, w/sleep apnea, no diabetes/heart disease/cholesterol issues, no previous WLS). I'm curious what the overall complication rate is for the VSG (not surgeon-specific, just the overall rates being reported in studies and so forth). From what I understand, aside from gallstones, leaks are by far the most common complication, and the overall rate of leaks is around 1-2%. Is this correct? I'm a worrier and if I can wrap my mind around the idea that the "risks" are only 1-2%, and even those are usually correctable, it will help me be less anxious. I'm attempting to be as compliant as I can with every instruction my surgeon (Dr. Robert Landerholm in Edmonds, WA) is giving me. Thanks in advance!

Hi, I've heard quoted a few times now, from different sources, that "only five percent of obese people are able to lose weight and keep it off with diet and exercise alone." Of course, this is a great -- perhaps the strongest -- motivation for seeking weight loss surgery. But, is it true? So, in the spirit of being scientific, I'd like to ask if anyone has ever seen a study corroborating the five percent figure. Obviously, if the number is 80% instead of 5%, that's going to significantly change how I think about WLS. To be specific, I'm only interested in peer-reviewed research here.

Thanks for that, I'll take a peek at it.

This isn't about success rates, but interestingly one WLS (RnX) showed a greater positive effect than diet and exercise:

Here's one study showing "greater than 20%" able to lose 10% of their body weight and keep it off for one year or more. SUCCESSFUL WEIGHT LOSS MAINTENANCE - Annual Review of Nutrition, 21(1):323 - Abstract I'm really curious where the 5% figure comes from.

I can't find any studies showing an uptick in gastric cancer due to weight loss surgeries (I am not a doctor, but I'm pretty good at doing medical research). Do you have a source that indicates that WLS leads to gastric cancer? By the way, when considering risks and complications of WLS, remember to consider the risks and complications of remaining overweight/obese, and also the percentage of people (3-5% is the number I keep seeing) who are successful at losing weight and keeping it off WITHOUT some sort of surgical intervention. I looked at the numbers long and hard before committing to WLS, and I ultimately decided that the risks of NOT having the surgery were higher than the risks of having it.

Some nerves never regrow, just FYI. I had hand surgery 3 years ago, and my left pinky is still almost completely numb. Eventually you stop noticing it so much.

I did my initial nutrition/psych analysis yesterday, and had my EGD today. All went smoothly, no sign of a hiatal hernia or esophageal erosion (I have GERD), no sign of a duodenal ulcer (which was a concern), and we're waiting for the results from a gallbladder ultrasound but the EGD doc said he didn't see any bile duct inflammation, so (fingers crossed) it's looking like the coast is clear for me to get my lap sleeve done on 5/6/10 as planned! Now that I know that my surgery will be about as simple as a lap sleeve can be (no gallbladder issues, no hiatal hernia, virgin stomach), I'm getting much less anxious about the surgery and actually starting to get excited about the prospect of getting skinny!

I live in Seattle and am getting the sleeve (locally) on 5/6. Also my girlfriend was sleeved in November here, too. Lots of us Seattlites around!

I'm yet to be sleeved (5/6), but my plan is to have it done one a Thursday, recuperate through the weekend, and then work from home for a week. I've got all this cleared with my boss. Of course, I'm lucky enough to be able to do my job (I'm a programmer) from home, so I can go and lie down or take a ten minute walk when necessary. After a week, I'm figuring I should be well enough to go back in to the office.

Install a script blocker or an ad blocker, and problems like this go away I wasn't even aware that this was happening until I read your post and disabled my ad blockers. I rely on forum posts for general informational content; I'd never trust what "someone says" in one place to recommend a doctor. How do you know what their motivations are? If you see a lot of posts from a lot of people on a lot of sites saying something about a doctor/facility, that's marginally more trustworthy. But still, the scientist in me would caution everyone to take testimonials with a grain of salt.

Congratulations! I'm about a month behind you!

Well, I had my EGD today and there were no signs of bile duct issues (and no hiatal hernia, duodenal ulcer, or esophageal erosion from GERD -- yay!). Just to be sure, since my mom's had gallstones, we also did an ultrasound on the gallbladder (and liver, and pancreas). If those come back clean, my gallbladder is in good health (for now) and I don't need it out. Here's hoping I can keep one more organ of my body intact and healthy!

pnw, I got your message and I think my response got lost in the aether -- sorry about that! Long story short, I'm leaning towards a "wait and see" attitude. I don't want the pain of gallbladder removal, and I know I have decent odds of NEEDING it removed. But it's not a zero-cost equation, as you've pointed out. I really don't want to need a whole OTHER medicine (with possible side effects and complications) for my whole life if I don't HAVE to. If the doc says I have to get my gall bladder out, I'll get it out. But I don't think I'm going to do it until that point. Thanks so much for the advice (to all of you)!

From what I understand the surgery (with its attendant reduction in ghrelin) actually helps you to need LESS willpower than just doing it au naturale. That's one of the big draws for me -- this isn't a magic wand, but it can help us make the right choices.

Well I don't know for sure that I need my gallbladder out. I'm going in for my EGD on Thursday morning, and they'll know better what my innards look like at that point. I hope I don't need it out, but we'll see...

I used a transdermal cream for a while, but there are complications to using exogenous testosterone. Since the cream didn't help, and since I've been hoping that my natural testosterone would come back, I never revisited the topic. If the WLS doesn't significantly improve my testosterone/libido, I may go back and talk to the doc about the cream again.

After I get the surgery, should I avoid taking the prescribed pain meds? My girlfriend had VSG recently and got Roxicet and liquid Vicodin. She's tough, so she didn't take much of either, but truth be told, I have a lower threshhold for pain than her and might need the prescribed meds. Is it "bad" to take the painkillers -- does it impede the healing process in any way? Or can I just take the prescribed doses as needed and not worry about it?

I did a little googling ("obesity testosterone") and it appears that overweight and obesity can dramatically reduce testosterone levels in men (especially as they creep towards middle age). Apparently the fat cells produce increased aromatization of testosterone to estrogen. For men, this is *not* a good thing.

Count yourself lucky -- my insurance simply will not cover WLS at all. So I'm forced to shell out 20k out of pocket. But, from what I hear, it's worth it...

I'm hoping to do this same thing -- pack on the muscle at the same time I take off the fat. All my life I've had an easy time putting on weight -- fat OR muscle. Usually that's worked against me; I can add heavy slabs of muscle with just a month or two of working out, but it's all concealed beneath a thick layer of fat. As I get rid of the fat, I'm looking forward to profiting from the "gain muscle" (anabolic) side of my metabolism! I might finally rediscover my love of regular exercise :lol0: