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Hello. I had been banded in 2009 lost 115 lbs in our months and was happy as could be for a little over a year. Due to throwing up from a gallbladder my band slipped and was taken out. I regained about 30 land and was rebranded 3 months after removal on 2010. I held steady at 130 lbs even after a pregnancy until 2016. My appendix was bad and I started throwing up. I had ZERO band pain but when in surgery my surgeon saw my band slipped and removed it. Told me I was a candidate for a sleeve but had to wait a minimum of 7 months. This was June 1st 2016. Since then I have fought off weight gain nonstop.. I have now gained 40 lbs since them. I have gone thru everything needed and now await insurance approval next week. Here is my first question. What should I expect differently from this recovery compared to a band recovery? I am supposed to be taking my son to Disney April 21 for a week. If I have surgery 4 weeks prior.. do you think I will be ok to take him still? None of my surgeries so far have been bad on me.. I didn't think they were awful and within a week I was back to normal..minus the eating.. your thoughts?

Hello I am currently on quite a few bipolar meds (been taking them since 2006). Before I started those medications my weight was around 170. I definitely think that the meds played a big part in my weight gain over the years. Since my sleeve surgery, I have steadily been losing weight, with only a few stalls. I think that the sleeve is working great despite my taking some meds that are known to cause weight gain.

yes and no When I was in high school and thrown off the football team for chewing out the coach I went through a huge weight gain -- coincided with drinking tons of soda and such Normal weight was 180, but shot up to 240, but easily lost it within a few months doing tons of situps, pushups, and eating nothing but a couple Peanut Butter and jelly sandwiches a day. Weight was fine for years until a post-relationship depression went on (when you work hard for years to keep a relationship going then decide fuck it), in my mid-late 20s, a bunch of health issues arised and shot up again but instead of from 180 to 240 in a matter of a year or so, went up to 360 in 5 years. So I'm here in my early-mid 30s with newly diagnosed stage 3 fibrosis and type 2 diabetes. I'm not accustomed to weighing a lot so the changes I went through were all debilitating to me. Apparently after MRI's and such I had fractured my spine as a kid but never knew it until I had this weight gain, then moving to another house caused me serious injury to where I need facet injections in my lower lumbar (soon to be some sort of ablation) as simply taking out the trash caused extreme amounts of pain to my back. In the US, we're not educated enough how utterly useless carbs and especially sugar are in the diet, and how easily we can get into dangerous territory without thinking about it. Given how it's turned into a serious societal issue where kids in their 20s are having fibrotic/cirrhotic livers without even being alcoholics or drug addicts, it really points to an education being necessary. Since being in Canada, I've noticed the education is a little better, but still needs improvement. It's definitely a western problem, where we're taught to be good little excess consumers with little regard for our health. It's up to us to change that. My surgeon decided on a 12 week pre-op liquid diet that I started Feb 1st, far longer than I see anyone else with, already I went from 350 pounds to 314. I'm thinking if I really have to go all 12 weeks (OR date already confirmed April 20) I'm likely gonna be in the 200s before surgery. Some have said why not be on this miserable diet for so and such amount of time to get back down to normal weight, but sometimes for us mechanisms of hunger (satiety) we can't control are required to be corrected. In my case, the surgery should accomplish this. Also, a very important point, that for many of us who "become" this way, it's up to us to recognize where we screwed up and work to change it. Personal responsibility is a must.

Hello fellow bariatric patients, I'm in Canada, my surgeon wanted a 12 week liquid diet pre-op. Before I get into the details here's my story in highlights: - 34 Male, 5ft11in (180cm) - Severe weight gain over a few years (from 180 to 360 peak in 5 yrs) - Caused a number of sudden issues (stage 3 liver fibrosis, pre-diabetes/diabetes, increased GERD, L5/S1 compression fracture, high bp/pulse, depression, etc.) - S3 Liver fibrosis: initially diagnosed cirrhosis w/fibrotic scan but after biopsy (which they did after I told them I'm not an alcoholic) revealed stage 3 fibrosis&no cirrhosis - prior ultrasound suggested 19cm or larger, not sure - Diabetes (5.4 1 year ago to peak 7.9, down to 6.1-6.4 now and likely will drop again w/March 1st A1C workup) - Everything is currently contained w/meds (10mg forxiga, 2x metformin tabs 2 times a day, hydrochlorathiazide (1 small tablet a day), cipralex (1x tablet a day), metoprolol 75mg 2x day, 1 capsule of prevacid generic, 2 Vitamin D tablets because Canada) - resting hr 50-80 (previously 80-110), bp 110-130/60-80 (previously 150-175/100-115) - Initially suggested bypass but because of age (34) had my surgeon and two second opinions all suggest sleeve so I wasn't gonna argue, they said if I didn't like results of sleeve could get bypass after 1 yr - 12 week Liquid pre-op diet started Feb 1, OR date April 20 - Dietitian was pissed off at 12 week diet saying she will talk to surgeon, obviously didn't convince him - Weight changes: (ignore the column to the left, I haven't figured out how to change it) ∙ Feb 1: 350 ∙ Feb 4: 336 ∙ Feb 15: 322 ∙ Feb 17: 319 ∙ Feb 22: 314 Daily Pre-op diet plan (1400 cals): - 6 bottles of Glucerna (<- yech) - 1 serving of sugar free Jello (4x per container) - 4-9 cups clear fluids (i.e. broth) w/extremely low cal/carb - 2 scoops Beneprotein - 3.7L water I have to say, this has been the hardest thing in my life. Not so much the sticking to diet part, but keeping down this Glucerna stuff. It's so disgusting! I couldn't help but regurgitating the stuff in the first few days. I had 1-2 Glucerna for the first few days, resulting in being extremely calorie deficient. Even with my wife helping trying to flavor w/spices (i.e. cinnamon) for berry/vanilla I just couldn't take a few flavors, wound up settling on chocolate, making sure the stuff never touches the front of my tongue, otherwise I'll upchuck. Stomach was going nuts w/hunger the first few days, since then haven't been able to stomach more than 1-3 Glucerna a day, eventually it stopped bothering me so much - but has resulted in first couple occurrences of "lows" (low blood sugar). Have been eating more broth though closer to the 9 cups, and taking multivitamins, and having daily amt of Jello. Body seems to do fine. Haven't had a normal stool the entire time, all liquid.. (I assume thats normal?) The concern of mine is my paranoid dietitian freaking out and nearly wanting to call off the surgery because I wasn't having the amount of Glucerna she wanted. To the point where I had to lie to her about how much I was having a day, as I've waited 1.5 years to get to this point. Can't see how going nuts on me is productive. Already have my wife nagging at me. Has anyone had an issue w/not having sufficient calories not causing liver to shrink going into surgery? Or light malnutrition affecting whether or not surgery was done? Pretty much everyone I read has like 2-6 weeks and I'm stuck with 12. This is absolute misery, but I'm perfectly ok doing what I'm doing as long as the end goal is met and nothing causes my surgery to be cancelled (i.e. liver not shrunk enough). Steven

New poster here. My SW was 207 lbs and 6 weeks out, I’m only down to 192 lbs and haven’t experienced any NSV’s like smaller clothing, etc. It goes without saying that I’ve been following the surgeon/nutritionist recommendations for fluids (10 cups/day), Protein (75 g), calories (currently in the 600 range) and exercise (5k brisk walk 6x a week, weight training 2x a week). Purely looking at these results, I guess my self-pay VSG might turn out to be a failure. What I thought might be interesting share is that I am lucky enough to have access to state-of-art instruments that take body composition. These measurements show that over the post-op period, I gained 15 lbs of Fluid and 2lbs of lean mass (hopefully some of which is muscle). If you crunch through the math, I have lost in excess of 32 lbs of body fat. So I guess the #1 takeaway from my experience is that if you are experiencing weight gain and/or a stall, it’s worthwhile to invest in a body composition measurement device. I understand that a decent quality one can be purchased on Amazon for ~60 which might not be 100% accurate in an absolute sense but will suffice for tracking your own progression. After a battery of tests and doctor’s visits, we’ve ruled out the usual medical causes for Water retention like kidney disease, too much sodium, protein deficiency, hormones, etc. I understand from reading bodybuilding forums that exercise itself can cause water retention but I don’t think it’s clear cut that I should stop exercising, since working out can also relieve water retention. The final diagnosis I got was “idiopathic edema” which essentially means that my water retention is a random occurrence for which there is no physiological explanation. When all is said and done, here is the reality that I’m trying to come to terms with. There are a couple ways to do the math but here’s one example – even a highly athletic woman my height carries 20 pounds of body fat, which is “only” 35-40lbs less than my current fat mass. However, I am overweight by 60lbs relative to a 25bmi, and much more than that if you use an alternate formula for an ideal weight. So the arithmetic says that I am carrying around at least 20lbs of excess water, which I have come to learn is a different beast from excess fat. We know that losing a pound of fat requires creating a certain amount of caloric deficit but at this point there is nothing more I can do to get rid of the water weight. The doctor prescribed a water pill but it’s probably not a long-term solution and any water I lose might come back once I go off the medication. I fully intend to use the VSG tool to lose that extra 35-40lbs of fat but at that point, I might still be officially classified as overweight/obese even though the surgery did everything that it was supposed to do. ­­­­Before committing to the surgery, I had scoured through this message board to mentally prepare myself for all the bad scenarios that could come up but this was not an outcome that I was able to mentally prepare for. Hopefully other members out there find my story useful.

You will be able to eat more and more as you progress through the first few months post-op. This isn't unusual and it's nothing to panic about. My nut says I can eat a cup of food at a time now that I'm 5 months out, and generally, she's right. I couldn't eat a cup of dense Protein like chicken, but I can eat a cup of Soup or yogurt, which pretty much go right through. With regard to stretching - personally (and based on what I've read/seen) I don't think it's stretching as much as it is eating around the sleeve. Imagine my surprise when I decided to have "a few" potato chips. I counted out a serving, tracked it, and was not even a little affected by the intake. I could have eaten the whole bag! You've heard of slider foods - well, believe me, they are a thing. Because sliders don't close the pyloric valve they slide right through and your capacity is much higher. Obviously this increases calorie intake and voila - weight gain ensues. One rule I don't break is drinking when I eat. This will also cause you to eat more than you should because it pushes food through the sleeve allowing you to accomodate more volume. I'm not perfect - I eat small pieces of chocolate here and there, I have popcorn and chips once in a great while, sometimes I'll have a small piece of bread with butter. 95% of the time, though, I follow my plan and I measure and track everything in My Fitness Pal (even the popcorn and chocolate!) That, to me, is the key - being aware of everything that I'm eating. Presurgery I ate with abandon, and that's never going to be the case again.

I think it should go down but I am not very worried abt weight gain or lose because all we r doing is on liquid diet so eventually will lose some significant wait anyway I would take lot of stress abt weight gain don't worry everything will be fine

You are so right! So many great perspectives come out of these boards - I try to think of all the reasons why to do it (and yes, there are many!), but your point was a new one but one I know very, very well! Every single time I have launched a new weight loss program I kept telling myself "stick with this - in a year you can be where you want to be, or you can stay the same as you are now, your choice". And of course, I'm not here now because I was able to stick it out and lose the weight. There is NO fighting the new set-point we arrive at every time we lose weight, gain it back plus more. That's the new set-point and we cannot fight it - no way. I now know that it isn't lack of willpower, lack of desire to be better, lack of time, whatever I might come up. We just can't physiologically fight our body's purpose to get to a new top weight, as it does this for survival. Can't do it. And I am so tired of 'hiding', in more ways than with clothing! Thanks for the boost - I'm a lot closer to feeling good about this decision now :-)

Hello! I have recently gained weight and I'm only 3 weeks out of surgery, I have been at the gym for the past week and I've been eating all the correct foods so I'm confused as to what is going on and getting quite worried. Any help would be amazing Thanks Xx

In my experience, most NUTS don't know what they are talking about. The stretchy part, or fundus, is cut out during the surgery, therefore making stretching VERY difficult. A few carbonation bubbles do not have enough force to stretch anything. We do not have "regular" stomachs anymore. Drinking non diet soda with all the empty calories was the cause of weight gain, not stretching. There are studies proving this, but believe what you want. For the record, I've drank carbonation for a couple of years in the form of selzer waters, and my capacity is exactly the same as it was from the year before. So your NUTS "theory" pretty much is disproven.

You won't gain fat from calorie free beverages. Weight gain at this point is the body holding onto fluid for healing.

Hello! This is my first post on the site and I wasn't sure where it belonged, so hopefully I came to the right place. I'm in month 3 of the 6 month pre op wait for insurance, and the reality of actually going through with the surgery is getting a bit deeper every day. I'm pretty sure I'm going to do it, like 85%?? I am 38 years old, 5'8" tall and 277 pounds. Wow...writing out the number it really is huge isn't it. I've been overweight since about 25 - I got married that year at 175 lbs. Three years before that I weighed 142-158. So yeah, gained over 100 pounds. This is my highest weight outside of pregnancy. I am an emotional eater, with a huge sweet tooth, diet coke addiction, and very bad at portion control. I threw most of my "healthy eating" rules for myself out the window when I experienced a difficult suicide of a loved one when I was 22 and while I have healed from that I still have very bad habits I guess the main thing that holds me back a bit from surgery, is I know the underlying issue is psychological, and I have mixed feelings about permanently altering my body in this way. That maybe I should just attack the psychological issues and not remove part of my stomach. But then I see the success people have and doubt being able to reach that without surgery. I don't really want to wait any longer to lose a significant amount of weight because I am approaching 40 and I'm very worried about heart disease and dying from a heart attack at a young age. I have a 1 year old son and I can't leave him, I want to be there for him and have more energy to do things with him too. Just a week ago I had a terrifying experience where I thought I was actually having a heart attack and had to have someone call 911. I was in a store with my son. It was awful. It turned out to be gastrointestinal. and not heart related but it gave me a glimpse that something really could happen. While it definitely thrusted me more towards surgery, I have some hangups I'm struggling with and wondering if anyone here has had the same issues. Here is what I worry about: 1. How will I still cook meals for my family when I can't eat the same things or much at all? While I already cook healthy for my son's sake, I don't want to deprive him of carbs etc because of me. How will I be able to make this work for the whole family, mainly my son? 2. When I was thinner, I never really had high self esteem. I never was able to be comfortable in my own skin so to speak, at any weight. I'm certainly not comfortable being this large but I guess part of me has accepted it. When I was thinner, and much much younger, I often felt like a sex object and hated having men "put their eyes on me" when it was unwelcome (usually was) and I've always wondered if a part of my weight gain was trying to hide and stop getting that attention, especially after getting married. I guess even though I know I'm not 21 anymore, I still worry about being "attractive" again if I'm lucky enough to lose a lot of weight, and getting unwanted attention. Those looks make me feel violated and I don't want to feel on display. 3. I worry about long term physical implications with aging. Obviously losing weight will go a LONG way towards preventing heart attacks, etc. but what if this surgery makes old age more difficult in terms of not absorbing nutrients properly? I feel like there are a million signs pointing to YES DO THE SURGERY, but these things are keeping me cfrom fully comitting to it at this point. Sorry this was a bit rambly - I started out clear headed and got very tired by the end of this as the typing editor took a very long time to process my typing....not sure why. Anyway, hope someone can make sense of how I'm feeling and give me some perspective. Thank you.

Weight gain, bloating and bowel moments that u described, without he pain. I had to have an upper Gi done and the doc saw food was passing through my stoma way to fast. The area before the stomach was rounded like a ball. That made the food fill up and push through too quickly. That is causing my hunger to also be through the roof!

I’ve been looking at this bariatric forum for many years and have appreciated the insight of the stories on here and thought I’d share the end of my lap band journey and my story might be helpful for anyone considering having theirs removed. Banded: April 2004, Dr Talbot, Sydney, Australia (79kgs at consult, 85 kgs at surgery) Unbanded: February 2017, Dr Ali, Glasgow, Scotland (85kgs) When I was banded I thought it would be a quick fix to weight loss and was advised to gain a few kilos to be eligible for the surgery. I wasn’t mentally prepared for the drastic lifestyle changes I would need to make and the band was not a success for me. My problem was binge eating of sugar and carbs – chocolate, ice-cream, biscuits, cakes etc. and unfortunately the band did not help with the psychological issues that caused my binge eating. I never had a problem with healthy or normal food or portion sizes; my weight issues were due to junk food and binge eating excess calories when stressed, happy, sad … sugar and carbs were used as an emotional regulator as such and no form of weight loss surgery will help to fix this – I’ve since learnt that psychological understanding and therapy including CBT is more successful. In fact, life with the lap band created bad eating habits as I could no longer tolerate the majority of healthy foods including most meat and vegetables, this was even with no liquid in the band. I have been lying constantly for the past 13 years as very few people knew I had the band, I was ashamed of it. Eating out was a nightmare as could only tolerate certain foods and having to find a way to get food unstuck without having red eyes from my eyes watering when regurgitating. Dinner parties were a nightmare so lots of declines when I would rather have gone. Work dinners and travel/functions made me anxious of thoughts of getting stuck. Always having to review menus ahead of time when they were available to have a plan of attack of what I might be able to tolerate (if I could tolerate). Some days no issues, other days full restriction regardless of what I ate and especially in the mornings. I was unhappy. And I could still consume sugar and carbs in binges with no problems most of the time. I had my removal surgery yesterday and was wheeled to surgery at 1pm and woke up in recovery around 2.45pm. New incision scars were required but this time with internal stitches and I can’t see them at the moment due to the dressings but they look small and I’ve been told very neat. Was told my band and port were in perfect order with the original sutures still intact, they were removed along with the capsule that had formed and was told it was one of the best placed bands he had seen with minimal scar tissue and after 13 years I feel blessed to have had no erosion or major issues. Pain after removal is minimal and I was so worried and nervous, would have had this done years ago if I knew how good it would go. It feels like I’ve done a lot of sit ups and that is very easy to deal with, I can even sleep on my side if I’m slow with positioning myself. I do have a mild sore throat from the anaesthetic and shoulder tip pain from the gas used during surgery to see my organs and that will eventually dissipate from the body and go away. I’ve had a stitch feeling on my right side (near the port) today when I move quickly and have been told that could happen and hopefully that will go away over time also. I had some panadol before going to sleep last night and some today after the car trip home but that’s about it for pain relief requirements. Overnight stay in hospital but could have left same day I felt so good, I ate chicken with carrots last night in hospital with no restriction a few hours after surgery! That is the first time in 13 years … was a bit emotional. I’m not particularly hungry but the surgeon warned me at consult, before and after surgery that most patients gain a voracious appetite and gain weight rapidly after having the band removed. He wanted me to have conversion to sleeve surgery but I was not interested. Time will tell … I’m hoping to get my binge eating reasons sorted and be able to eat a healthier way … I wasn’t even in the obese category when I went for consultation 13 years ago (BMI 29 and then went into obese with the weight gain I was told to do to be eligible). Fingers crossed this decision ends up being a good one all over with no weight gain going forward.

@tonyab I also struggle from chronic migraines, I was diagnosed with 2 mini strokes. They believe it happened years ago and recently been having high blood pressure, also neurologist believes I might be having vision problems due to the weight gain. I've never been able to lose more than 15 pounds. And even then didn't manage to keep the weight off I gained 20lbs in 1 month and 10 the following (previous 2 months) my PCP also ruled out thyroid problems. How long has your process taken you? Kind of an odd situation to have everything done before even meeting with the surgeon; did you PCP conduct those tests? And will you have all the info transferred over to your WLS clinic? I want my PCP to conduct all the tests since it'll be faster. But not sure if it's acceptable. [emoji272][emoji813]️

I was sleeved in December 2011, revised to bypass in Aug 2014 due to weight gain and acid reflux. And going for revision surgery in March 2017. The revision is for rapid gastric emptying. My pouch has not stretched at all. Has anyone had this?

Now...definitely check with your doc on this...but maybe look into the diet for women with gestational diabetes? I ate and ate when I first got pregnant. Then I found out I had GD. The diet actually stabilized my weight gain to where the baby was growing but I wasn't gaining.

This is something that scares me. My SO wants to start having children 5 years from now and I worry about weight gain, cravings and the possibility harming the baby if I don't properly. I wonder would the child be under weight, malnutritioned or sickly because of the decision I am making now. I understand how you are feeling.

My current OBGYN has referred me to the bariatrics team at LGMC. He advised that there were other, pharmacological forms of treatment that we could try before using surgery as a solution, but I was insistent that I needed to take this next step as all that I’ve tried has failed and I didn’t hold out much hope for other "similar but different" treatment options, let alone I was afraid of being kicked off of insurance before finding/completing treatment. I weigh 242lbs. I went to a mandatory seminar at LGMC within a week of seeing the doctor. I was worried it was going to be more of the same, trying to talk me out of surgery as an option, citing it was “easy to lose weight, fatty”. To my joy, that was not the case. They took my insurance card and my weight. I sat through a presentation about the different surgeries offered by one of the laparoscopic surgeons. I was visibly the smallest, youngest person there. It has made me think that I am less worthy of a surgery. I don’t know. I just feel like I might be thought less deserving of this tool. The nurses advised they would use my insurance information to call and check on coverage and call me back within a week. I felt giddy. Elated. Just, lighter. Relieved. I got a call back promptly from the surgery center and have scheduled my first meeting with a surgeon. The nurse also let me know that the only requirement from my insurance was to have a psychiatric evaluation. Our first meeting is scheduled 02/21/2017. I'm excited to meet the surgeon although just the appointment is $250! I will be calling them Monday to see how much the surgery will cost and what my out of pocket will be-if they know. This money will be contributed to the total amount of surgery if I go through them, but if they are 5k more than someone else, I might want to look at other options. I hate to let my frugal flag fly, but money is not disposable to me. While it is important that I go through a reputable surgeon, I can’t bankrupt myself doing so. There must be a balance. Their program and facility are very impressive, though. I know someone who went through self-pay with them. They have a very involved team for the bariatric surgery center, and a high success rate. I think they put a lot of effort into it because we live in the south with a high rate of morbid obesity and a culture of “clean your plate”, so it’s easy to fall right back into bad habits. The first ingredient in many things my family cooks is butter. My adopted family is French – Lebanese, several family members have wrestled with weight gain over the years. On my birth mothers side, they are Italian- American with few weight issues in immediate family. My paternal grandmother, it seems, lived with undiagnosed PCOS, and I pulled the short straw when it came to inheriting those genes. Though, I am the tallest, so nyah! I feel nervous about the evaluation. I know why it’s necessary. I just worry about being denied and having to start over or something. Unfounded worries about something that probably isn't that bad. Reading everyone's posts here has done a lot for my internal dialogue. I feel like if I keep a level head and don't stress about everything coming up, take everything one step at a time, I will be ok.

I had the VSG in August of 2015 and began noticing more shedding when I washed and dried my hair that December, but it was minimal enough that I was the only one who noticed. It continued to shed a bit more than typical through February of 2016, and then abated. I lost far more hair in 2012 due to a John Frieda product (stay away from the Go Blonder spray!) that caused surreal damage, and in 2013 when the antidepressant I briefly took for grief caused weight gain and thinning right at the front of my head. Both times then my less diplomatic friends bluntly asked me why I was losing hair. When I lost hair after the VSG no one commented because it wasn't nearly as apparent. I am sensitive to Biotin so I never took it. The only Vitamins I was taking at the time were the Garden of Life Vitamin Code for women and Vitamin D. I now take Flinstones with Iron and have not lost any hair. I think the primary reason I lost little hair was that I was losing weight at a much slower pace than many others who've had the VSG. My BMI was low for the surgery (32), and it took me a full year to lose as much weight as some do in four months. I did eventually surpass my goal, though. To add - one change I did make was to stop washing my hair as frequently. I used to wash, dry, and style my hair every day, and that put extra strain on my hair. I wear a shower cap and just wash my hair every third day. I use a little dry shampoo from Lush to freshen it.

I won't be having a baby in the next two years but it is a fear in the back of my mind. I would like to know how much those of you who had a baby after the surgery gained and wether it was too difficult to watch out for your cravings during pregnancy. How much did you gain?? At this point, I will starve myself to prevent myself from getting to the point where I was before. I know that is not the wisest thing to say but I will not let it happen again. My fear is that during pregnancy, preventing myself from keeping a healthy diet in fear of gaining massively, might hurt my baby. Which clearly no body wants... I am ranting..[emoji20]

I second what Nika said. Just hang in there! I had some serious regret my first week with all the complications I had, but every week has gotten better and better and so has my outlook. Don't beat yourself up too badly about not losing a bunch of weight yet. It'll come in time. I was very frustrated because I came home weighing more than what I did my day of surgery. Having to lose the "hospital" weight gain made the first week and a half frustrating, but once I got past that hump things were better. I will say the better I do on my fluids, Vitamins, and Protein the better the weight seems to come off. It does make a difference. Keep your chin up!

I have an information session scheduled for tomorrow. I have no idea what to expect hence I know no one who's gone through bariatric surgery. I've done a lot of google searching & I'm still confused. I've read everything from the process taking up to a year+, all the required screenings prior to even getting surgery booked, & certain diets/weight loss prior to it. Please help! I could use all the info you could offer and experiences. Thank you in advanced!!! I'm a 21y/o F weighing 249lbs (heaviest I've ever been) diagnosed with mini strokes, arthritis and visual problems due to significant weight gain. Also suffer from chronic migraines.

I was sleeved on 2/14. I found it interesting that they did not wake me before surgery luckily I weighed myself before going to the hospital and weighed in at 250 however when I was discharged yesterday I weighed myself at the hospital and wait in that 256. Is that normal? Did anyone else experience weight gain? When did you start to notice weight loss?

Hello Everyone, I am writing to you because I needed to get some advice. Last week I had my lap band removed due to some complications and thus decided to have it removed. I got my band 6 years ago and have lost 60lbs and was able to maintain it for four years. However, now that I have the band removed I have forgotten how life was before the band, which is a bit scary. Thankfully, since the removal I have lost weight, but I ams still nervous to eat too much because I may gain weight. With that said, my question is it possible to lost weight after the lapband removal, or is weight gain always going to happen? Sorry if this is all over the place. I appreciate any advice that you can provide. Thank you