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Dear Ram, Glad you're doing ok but sorry for the hunger. I think mine must still be really tight because I really have no interest in food and have to force things down for protein and fluid...I never thought Id say that in my life...its like bizarro world where everything is opposite. Sounds like you are a pretty fast healer...I was kind of a wimp! Well keep letting us know how youre doing...Cali

Wow, how did today go from GREAT to UCK so fast? So my dad has recently been sleeved and I had finally come to my own realization that I was ready for that as well. Luckily after a great conversation with my folks, they were very supportive of my decision. My family is very close and while I don't NEED their support it means a lot to me that I have it. So I figured everything was good and so brought the matter up with my grandmother. Lets just say that the awkward silence after I 'spilled the beans' when I was talking on the phone with her was epic. I couldn't tell if she was shocked (although I don't know why) or in major disapproval. I guess I was just taking it for granted that she would be supportive of my decision and it surprised me to find out that it doesn't seem like she is. I'm hoping that maybe after she thinks about it, and after further conversation, she'll have a better reaction. I really just wanted to shout, "I've been overweight for YEARS and it's not getting better. I need help and getting this surgery is not shameful and it does not somehow make me weak. It takes strength to know when you need help and to have the courage to go forward into the unknown. I will be happier and healthier...so whats not to like?" Even if her reaction doesn't change I'm still going forward with this because in the end it's my life...but I would be lying if I said that it doesn't make me sad. Did anybody else face something like this from your family/friends? If so, how did you deal with it? What did you say? Thanks! ~Lyra

There are many different types of slim fast. I think the regular one is really good and tastes like a milkshake. Like you said, it has way too much sugar. The low carb is a little more watered down, but it only has like 2-3 carbs and sugars which isn't bad. They also used to have a low sugar version, but I don't know if they do anymore. There is also a high protein one.

I don't recommend Slim Fast in any version to anyone. I was a Slim Fast user and ended up in the hospital getting my gallbladder out as an emergency surgery. Per my surgeon and doctor they both agreed that Slim Fast is not nutritious and it contains so much sodium and other "junk" that using it on a regular basis can cause problems such as sludge in the gallbladder. Plus, I never thought it helped me lose weight anyway! Regular old protein shakes are probably the better option.

I started today too, so far not too bad for me but I can see how it will get old really fast. After Protein shakes all day I am looking forward to some broth for dinner. Is your surgery on the 16th too? I know we can do this, let's kick these two weeks in the butt.

I was sleeved on March 5th at approx 0800. My journey started a few years ago. I started tossing the idea of bariatric surgery around when I kept gaining and gaining weight. My dr kept doing test to see if there was a reason, and adding meds to my regimen because I was being diagnosed with different things. I talked to my dr about it and went through the initial seminar that the local bariatric surgeon has. That's as far as I went that time. I met my wife and realized that I wanted to be healthy. I wanted to be around for her and my children. Her and I talked and she pushed me to go back to the dr and start the process again. I am a paramedic for the city we live in and she is an EMT. A nurse at one of the ER's had recently had gastric bypass. My wife spent about an hour one night talking with her and her experience. She recommeneded the surgeon she used. He had practiced at the local trauma hospital and done the gastric surgeries there. Our friend had had great success and had nothing but great things to say about Dr. Allen. I did some research into the different types of surgeries that were being performed and decided that I really wanted the sleeve. I contacted Dr. Allen's office and scheduled to go through the seminar again. By this time I had almost completed the 6 month weight loss study with my primary dr. After the seminar I submitted the appropriate paperwork and was pre-approved. I met with Dr. Allen and informed that at that time he was not doing the sleeve. He suggested the bypass for me. I decided it was the next best thing; I was NOT having the band done. lol Dr. Allen wanted a few approvals from my primary physician before surgery. I had to have a EKG, and Pulminary Function Test. The PFT came back obstructed at the dr's office so I was sent to a pulmonologist. I was very discouraged. I met with the pulmonologist he sent me to and was told there was a chance I had COPD. Again, more discouragement. The pulmonologist was not about to sign off on letting me have surgery since the intubation could be bad for me. He wanted me to use an inhaler and CPAP at night for 6 weeks and come back for a follow up PFT. 6 Weeks later I was back. The PFT was enormously better, and I felt ENORMOUSLY better. Best of all, he APPROVED ME FOR SURGERY. My primary physician signed off ok'ing it as well. It was time for the waiting game with the insurance company for approval. A few weeks later on Feburary 5th at 1300, I recieved a phone call from the surgeon's office that I had been approved and my surgery date was March 5th. They gave me the date and time for the pre-op meeting and test. And the best of all, the information on the 1500 calorie diet I was to follow for 2 weeks prior to my surgery. 2-weeks prior to surgery my wife went to the store, stocked up on slim-fast shakes and frozen lean cusines and I started this crazy 1500 calorie diet. I was approx 390-400 lbs. It wasn't as bad as I expected. The day before surgery a few of my friends from work and my wife took me out for my "last meal". I went to the local BBQ shack and had a full rack of ribs. Normally, before the diet I could clean them off and still be hungry, however, I ended up sending almost half of them home with a co-worker! We then had a small desert and sat and talked for about an hour. It was the last time I really ate "real" food. The next morning my wife and I were up at 0430 getting showers and packing bags for my hospital stay. I was told to be prepared for a 3 day hospital stay. Surgery began at around 0900 and I was out and in recovery by 1030. No problems with sedation or intubation. However, I was slightly oversedated and sent to the ICU for the night because they were worried about the sedation and my sleep apnea becoming a problem. I don't remember much of this. The most I remember is having a cathader that I kept asking to be taken out and waking up with the CPAP mask on at one point. The next day at around 0800 I was taken for a swollow study (worse tasting stuff in my life). Everything looked great! Cathader was taken out and I was released to drink clear liquids! A few hours later I was moved out of ICU up to a regular floor bed. My wife spent hours with me at the hospital, encouraging me to get up out of bed to walk and get the gas off my stomach. She made sure that I was getting adequate nutrition as well as enough Water to drink. She even brought me fat free milk! On the Friday after surgery I called her to come get me. They removed my JP drain and got me ready to go. I was able to go home and get a FULL NAP!!! I actually felt good enough when I woke up to go to the grocery with her to get some broth, Soups, and yogurts. Since then, I am down to only 1 pain pill a day if I go out for a long period of time. I haven't gone back to work, but don't have a follow up until Monday. I'm hoping to get the staples taken out of the incisions on Monday as well. They itch like crazy. And I'm super excited to start the mushy stage of my diet. I'm ready to get back to the gym and start walking and riding the bike and lose some of this weight a little quicker. I'm amazed at the little amout that I'm eating and it's keeping me satisfied. I already have more energy than I did before the surgery and I am able to stay awake longer during the day. I did cheat yesterday and had 1 lean hotdog. I ate it very slowly and didn't drink anything with it or afterwards. I didn't get sick, but I felt 100x's better afterwards. Guess, we're not all perfect lol Hope everyone else that has been sleeved is doing well also, and everyone getting ready to be sleeved is excited!

Tuesday one year ago I met with my surgeon for the first time. What a wonderful year I have had for health and rediscovering me. For those of you just starting out, you may feel like I did that your surgery is too far in the future and waiting all those months will be unbearable. When I first started to research WLS in September, I thought I might be able to have surgery before Christmas. Ha ha ha. Not only was it not before Christmas, but it didn't actually happen until March. And you know what? I needed every single day of that time period between September and March to prepare myself for this enormous life change. First, I met with my clearing psychologist. And I didn't get cleared! Nope. I needed to change my habit of eating in front of the TV. Until I did that, the psychologist was not going to clear me for surgery. He told me that I needed to make lifestyle changes. When I first heard that, of course I said, sure! Everybody knows you need to make lifestyle changes! But when I went back to him the following month for clearance, and I told him I had not been exactly able to give up TV eating, he told me point blank that he didn't think I was ready for WLS. He told me that unless I actually made the lifestyle changes, I was not likely to succeed with the LapBand. Of course, he was right. I'm glad that my little wake up call was so minor, and not a bigger deal, like if I had been denied surgery at the last minute. His denial made me face facts. How was I going to live in a new way, if I wasn't even willing to change a little bit? After I gave up TV eating, the next hurdle was the holidays. I grieved my way through Thanksgiving. I was very sad that in my mind, it was going to be my last enjoyable holiday. I sat in the kitchen the night before Thanksgiving, after having roasted the turkey, and binged on the crispy turkey skin. It was the weirdest experience I'd had in a long time. I knew what I was doing, and simultaneously I knew it was the last time I was going to do it. I knew that Thanksgiving 2014 was going to be different. I was going to have lap band surgery and I was going to be eating like a normal person. I was working toward that goal with excitement. So why was I so sad? I was getting ready to pay somebody thousands of dollars to help me recover from binge eating. And I was grieving not being able to binge eat anymore. Fast forward to February 2014. My personal life took a terrible plunge. My marriage, which was in bad shape before my WLS process began, took a terrible blow. Constant stress became my normal everyday life. I had one anchor in my life. My upcoming surgery. I was banded mid March 2014. I complied with all of the doctor's orders. My surgery was a breeze, and my weight began to come off right away. You can see by my ticker that I have had a lot of success this year. I am almost 2/3 of the way to my goal weight. I have not been the weight I am right now since my second child was born 19 years ago. Through it all, I have received immeasurable help and support from this website. I do not have a supportive spouse. I do have two very supportive daughters. But when it comes right down to it, we must do this for ourselves. Nobody can do this for us. And more importantly, nobody, nobody, nobody can prevent us from doing this for ourselves once we are ready to reclaim our power. I'll save my long list of NSV's and great experiences for when I write my 100 pounds lost post soon. And it's almost here. This post is just a reflection back to that first week when I walked into a WLS orientation meeting, followed by a meeting with my surgeon. The fearful, beaten-down person that I was one year ago no longer exists. In her place is a strong, confident woman who knows that she is worth it. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. This is about so much more than weight. Nothing changes until everything changes.

Best wishes for a fast and flawless recovery.

Good Luck!! That was fast!! I got my approval fast with Kaiser... but it took almost six months to get a date... and I had to fuss to finally get one.

I had surgery on a Thursday morning, home Friday and worked a full 8 hour day on Monday. Felt great, no pain meds, no need to not have worked. Never stopped after that. Doc had told me that I might not feel like working that fast but that I wouldn't hurt myself at all if I did.

Dumping happens when sugar and or simple carbs reach your intestine at an area unused to it (due to being bypassed in RNY). Your body's reaction to this is to send Fluid quickly to your intestines resulting in abdominal pain/cramping, cold sweats, light-headedness, shaking, and severe diarrhea. It can happen a little while after a meal (my first/only dumping experience happened a few weeks ago and was about thirty minutes after eating) and can last hours (I spent a long painful miserable hour on the toilet, followed by another hour/hour and a half of shaking and severe weakness). You can avoid dumping by avoiding sugar, foods containing over 10gr of sugar, simple carbs (almost anything white - bread, rice, pasta). If you follow your teams instructions and read food labels this won't happen often, if at all. Food getting stuck/eating too fast/eating too much causes food to back up. This is very common and can happen very frequently. Your body's response to this is to create bubbly saliva to try to ease the problem. The saliva builds up and either does help or causes severe nausea resulting in vomiting, which also solves the problem. Taking small bites, chewing thoroughly, and eating slowly can help prevent this. chicken or other poultry can be very dry, as is pork, and many people can't tolerate these foods (I'm over one year out and have never been able to keep chicken or turkey down). Each individual may have foods they can't tolerate but others can. It's trial and error.

Respect your pouch. I am two months out and have dumped only once, I ate two cookies. Bad idea. Won't do it again. Within ten minutes had severe cramps and spent a half hour on the toilet. Took about another hour to start feeling right. Chew, chew, chew and eat slowly. I had a stressful week, and was eating to fast and basically was throwing up daily for about four days. Horrible.

Just want yo say i have lost 140lbs. My surgery was September 17 2019. Thats under a year. Im in disbelief. I never thought id be here this fast. I fee amazing. Just needed to get that out🙂

My Dr.'s protocol was every 4 weeks from the day of surgery....I GAINED weight between my first and second fill....but then I only needed 3 fills over 12 weeks....and that was over 3 years ago...still holding fast and steady ever since. A lot depends upon how much your Dr. gives per fill also....My Dr. was aggressive with me....and I've been told by some other of his patients he was not so aggressive....

I call my dr speedy Gonzales because everything he does is fast paced. 1 appt before the surgery, back to work 1 week after the surgery, back on solids 1 week after the surgery, large fills. Anyway, even HE wouldn't fill me before 3 weeks in between. I know you are anxious but just give it time and adjust yourself. You will get there. I just went for my 3rd fill today, hoping I'm finally where I need to be in between 6.5-7 cc and my dr said I seem to be kind of tight but I felt like where I was with 1 cc less was too little.

Hello all!! I have a problem and I no what I have to do but I don't want to do it. I was banded May22nd 2006. My starting weight was 215 today I weigh 167. I just want to get to 140 then I keep telling myself I will get my band loosened. I have a 4cc band and have had 2 fills so I am 3cc filled. Since my last fill which was a while ago say in june or july I get sick all the time. After each meal. No matter if its solid mushy I eat fast or slow which I can say this is problay the success to my weight lose. I work in an Emergency Room and when I am on lunch break people see me tring to each my lunch leaving to go to the bathroom at least 4-5 times throughout my meal. They are so concerened they say I am bulimic and when i say i will get it loosened after i reach 140 they say I will be so used to vomiting that I will automatically do it even when looser. I want all the weight gone so bad that I am putting myself threw this, along with compulsive over eating. Just like I did in the beginning to gain the weight my habbits haven't changed much. I figure well I am ginna puk it up anyway why not enjoy the moment. I no this is a wrong way to think and act but its so hard to break its easier to just go with it. I tell myself that If I didnt have a problem to begin with i wouldn't have ended up where i was from the start. For my pschiatric exam to have the surgery he said I have a eating disorder but will not say that cause then i wouldn't have been eligable for the surgery. I no there's a problem here and I plan on going to thereapy after I get the band opened up a bit when i reach 140. I am wondering if anyone else is going threw the same battle as I am. Would love to have some support and would love to give some back as well. Thanks for listening!!

I wasn't plannig on getting the band unfilled once goal I was just going to get it loosened a bit. I have a 4cc band and am 3CC filled. So I thought maybe if I loosened it a little I could maintain my goal weight. I am very aware of what I am risking and I am working at this everyday of my life. I already have a counceling appointment for the 11th, this counceling group also does group sessions with my surgeon for lap band patients for sopport groups which I may attend as well. I am not quite sure if my band is too tight or if I am just tring to eat to much to fast to quickly.

My blood sugar prior to the band would be above 125 after fasting 12 hours so they told me I am diabetic (VA clinic, retired AF) and that was about 8 years ago. There is a blood test "AIC" which does not require fasting because it (laymans terms) tells the history of your blood sugars which your Dr might have also done. Up until 8 months ago I did on take any meds or drugs for the diabetic condition. At that time I had a drug show up in the mail without any comments from the VA Dr so I had to call to find out what gives. I have not taken any diabetic meds since my band (again only a week) and my blood sugars have all been good.

I just had Vertical sleeve and it was covered by BCBS. I was "fast-tracked" to surgery because of my insurance coverage.

Hi I to was haveing a hard time I was told to use slim fast . It helped me alot to get by .

I'm starting the liquid diet this week and so not looking forward to it. I have found though that I like the royal chocolate slim fast shakes when they're frozen and I use a can opener to remove the whole top of the can and eat it like ice cream. It tricks my mind into believing it's really ice cream and gets me by. Getting banded on July 28th!

Hi! First as many others will state on this forum, don't compare your weigh lose to everyone ele's, it will only serve to frustrate you. Everyone loses at a different pace. I only had to do a day before fast, so I'm can't be of any help there, but gaining weigh right after surgery is normal because they pump you full of liquids after surgery to keep you hydrated-- I left the hospital 5 lbs. Heavier. Also they fill your abdomen full of gas during surgery. The surgery is working and you will lose weigh but unlike many of us who think that the pounds will drop off in huge amounts and admittedly I was under that impression as well, it does not for the majority of us. From what i've read here and on other forums most are losing in spurts for example you may lose five pounds (or one) overnight or over the course of a couple of days and then nothing for a week or two or three. However, I go shopping in my closet and have found that I've lost inches as opposed to pounds as clothing fits that did not before, or is now too big. Chin up, this is a process that will take time to work. Focus on getting in your liquids, Proteins and start exercising as soon as your able to even when or if you hit a stall, just keeping doing what your supposed to do and before you know it you will be at goal. Good luck!

I'm in the same boat. I knew my insurance required the 6 months. I tried to get them to count my recent months doing Weight Watchers but since I didn't see my PCP each month it will not count. That really bummed me out. So I have my first appointment with the bariatric dietician/nutritionist this coming Monday. I'm probably looking at September for soonest possible surgery. I am weaning off diet soda now - have gone from about 5-6 every day to only about 1-3 a week right now. Drinking lots of water (never did that before) and experimenting w different protein drinks. I hope these 6 months go fast!!!

Hi everyone, I've hesitated to post this because I certainly do not want to scare anyone. However, this is one side effect that no one ever warned me about...and maybe because you can't really predict when something like this could happen. I'm referring to PANCREATITIS! If you haven't heard of it...it's an inflammation of the pancreas that is, by far, the most painful thing I've ever experienced. The ER docs and nurses compared it to child labor. When I asked if it was similar to diverticulosis.....the nurse said "Sweetie, people with pancreatitis pray that it was only diverticulosis". Pancreatitis is something that can be reoccurring...or it could be something that happens once. I had it once for a little over two weeks....couldn't go anywhere or do anything beside try my hardest to fight the pain. From what I've been told...the Doc's think that the rapid weight loss lead to gall stones which upon traveling to my small intestines got lodged in my pancreatic duct. (the gall bladder and the pancreas to not get along apparently) Anyway, once inflamed, it can take anywhere from a week or months for the pancreas to recover. Again, this isn't something anyone can predict. I had an ultrasound on my gall bladder in June (my surgery was Aug 4th) and it was clear. However, if you lose weight fast your gall bladder can create stones and from there.....a litany of things can happen. Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I'm not trying to scare anyone from having the surgery......even though it was brutal....in the end, I do not regret the surgery. But I was so blindsided by this that I thought I would share my experience. Hope you're all doing great with your pre & post surgery experiences!! Thanks for reading

I'm also an insomniac with sleep apnea, although that's so much better now, I still need a machine. Work on getting into a schedule if you can, for me I'm doing Intermittent Fasting between 6pm and 8am and it's worked out great, not only for sleep, but for the weight loss as well. It seemed harder than it was to get myself into a schedule, but once I did, it works out quite well. Not sure what state you are in, but there is some really positive results with cannabis for sleep issues, and if medical cannabis isn't legal in your state yet or if you are like me and have a federal job and can't use it because it's still not federally legal, there is Dronabinol / Marinol (and it's covered on most medical plans) it's not as effective since it's just THC and no CBD, but it does work wonders for the insomnia!