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I'm looking forward to following your progress. My surgery is scheduled for 1/12/24 in Tijuana. Dr. Rodolfo Castillo. I found him on RealSelf.com and researched him. I'm spending 6 nights in a recovery home (Casa Linda), then a week at my Dad's in southern California. $12,699 for 360 belt lipectomy, lipo, breast lift with gummy implants. He's going to do a bbl for no additional charge if he can, but he isn't sure from my pictures if I have enough fat in the areas he is working to do a bbl. I'm planning on going back to do my inner thighs and arms. My package includes all pre-surgery tests including cardio evaluation and lab tests, all surgery expenses and 1 night at the hospital, 6 nights at the recovery house with meals and nursing 24/7, all pain meds and medical supplies, compression garments and post surgery consultations. It doesn't include transportation to/from the airport because I have family and friends in Mexico and Southern California who I will be visiting before and after who will provide that.

I'd suggest kindly saying to them "I appreciate your worries about how I will change, change is scary! But what I need from you right now is your support, it will really help me succeed going forward and I know we will find many more ways to have fun together!" I went to see my family for the holidays. The road trip down and back was hard but I packed all my protein goodies (shakes, meat sticks, protein bars, protein chips) and the trip was a breeze from a post-surgery perspective. We went out to a pizza and beer place when we got there and yes, everyone else got pizza, except my sister and I, who got wings! Everyone else had cider, I had unsweetened tea. Everyone worried if I'd have something to eat or drink but it wasn't an issue in the end, and the best part of the meal was not the food, it was the conversation and laughter! I haven't lost that capacity post surgery! There is a thread around here where I wrote about my first post surgery experience eating out, I'll go find the link for you, it might be worth the read. https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/444708-sick-after-eating/?do=findComment&comment=5014658 Last week I ate out with friends post Christmas so we could exchange gifts. I'm 2 months out. I had a red thai curry, no rice, and fried tofu. It was delicious and again, the best part of the meal was visiting with them and exchanging gifts! I didn't miss anything in the meal and they didn't try to push me to have anything that wasn't good for me. I really value how much support I've gotten since I've let people know about the surgery. Not everyone is supportive, of course, but they don't matter. The majority support me and celebrate all my wins and that is what I needed from them!

6 weeks 1 day post op and I’m finally on soft foods today. I had eggs. Which I haven’t been able to have for 15 months. I’m so going to look forward to this stage. otherwise I am feeling really great. I can’t wait to try out some more foods I’ve been missing this past 15mths. I am on holidays too. So been able to walk a lot.

Sorry to hear you're dealing with all of this, it sounds rough. I know not all seasons of life can lend itself to it, but stress will cause the body to retain fat and prevent burning it. If there's any way to unload some of the stress, either by working out, meditation, going to a "rage room" where they let you smash stuff, anything that helps, it will help the weight loss process resume. I know its not always possible, having just come out of a season of life that felt like constant stress for 8 years with no seeming end. It was like I couldn't lose weight regardless of what I did, but I was always in a state of stress. I'm definitely not living a stress free life by any means now, but after years of therapy and practice, I guess I'm a little better at managing it now. That being said, my surgeon suggested a "reset" if weight regain happens 1 year+ after surgery. It was basically go back to the pre op diet to jump start things for a couple weeks, then slowly start adding back items from your normal diet, but keep watch to see if any of those are causing a stall or regain. Focus on hydration first, then protein, then unsaturated fat, then other fats, AND THEN carbs last. I wouldn't go as extreme as keto, but try to aim for single digit carbs per serving of something, or under 50-60g per day. Carbs are easy energy for our bodies, so it prefers to burn that first, and store any excess as fat, just as a survival mechanism. Everyone is slightly different, but some people's metabolism can be thrown off by certain imatation sugars and sugar alcohols. Even though they're 0 or low calorie, they can still trigger an insulin response like sugar or starches. You may want remove the biscuits for the time being and see if those may be the trigger for your body. Best of luck to you, and hoping things improve for you from here. Stay strong!

Lots of nerves are cut during the surgery so messages either don’t get through or feel different until you’re fully healed (about 8 weeks). It’s why it’s important to stick to our plans, portion size recommendations, to eat/drink slowly & listen to our bodies carefully. When they do return you’ll be more conscious of them & may find they are different to what you knew. For example, you’ll discover your signals for real hunger vs head hunger are different (no cravings for a specific food, flavour or texture, & I feel restless) with real hunger). Some people sneeze or their nose runs when they’re close to feeling full or had enough. The tightness across your upper chest (makes me want to thump my chest to alleviate it - it doesn’t) is your restriction. This usually doesn’t kick in until you’re on solid food & your nerves are more fully healed. Yours may have started early. It’s usually your signal you’ve eaten too much &/or too quickly. Remember your tummy is quite small now, it doesn’t extend as low down in your abdomen & it doesn’t take much to fill it. Sometimes certain foods can set it off too if they sit more heavily in your tummy. It’s considered a benefit of the surgery. It can fade in intensity over time (years) & we also get better at understanding how much we can eat & so don’t feel it as often which really is the goal. All the best.

Totally worth the stress and worry of it. I'm 7 weeks post op so those hard, early weeks are very fresh for me and I'd do them over every year if I had to. I've already been able to stop my diabetes meds (my blood sugar is in the 80s!), they also took me off my blood pressure meds (it is now normal!), and we expect my labs to have improved when we draw them in January. Truly, I think it is a modern medical miracle that a surgery can do that and do it so quickly. My biggest wish is that I'd had it sooner. I let a lot of fear and misinformation get in my way for decades. I knew a woman when I was in my 20s who was an old school bypass patient and non compliant with her vitamins and protein. The health issues she had from not complying with good treatment were scary and I didn't want to be like that! I also didn't understand that these surgeries have a METABOLIC effect as well as the effect of making our stomachs smaller so we eat less. Those metabolic effects are something we can't get from a medication. Can it make things worse? There is a small chance it could. But there is a much bigger chance it will improve your life by leaps and bounds. WLS is about as risky as gallbladder surgery and you don't see many people having a cow and panicking over a loved one having their gallbladder out. Educate yourself on the facts, read all you can, talk to the surgeon, have them talk to the surgeon, and really think over what you are willing to change in your world to make this work for you the way you need it to work. It is YOUR body and your quality of life being impacted here.

I had the sleeve surgery 9/26/16 and did well with it till I had my gallbladder removed in 2018 then I developed severe gastric reflux. My surgeon found that my bile duct got stuck open after they removed my gallbladder. With the bile constantly running in my sleeve it eroded it causing some precancerous changes. Once my insurance approved for a second surgery we went with changing over to a bypass in June of 2020 to fix the problem. I was very happy that we ended up doing the revision because I no longer had to sleep sitting up and my stalled weight loss finally started back up again and I was able to continue my weight loss journey. Fast forward to the present of this year I have been holding a good weight of between 137 to 145 lbs and no health issues really I just still struggled with dumping a lot cause my new pouch didn't always like food but I maintain weight with the help of shakes. Then in August of this year for some reason I just started getting where I didn't feel well and I dropped like 17 lb like it was nothing. I contacted my surgeon because I was concerned because of how weak and tired I had felt and I've noticed like vision changes my muscles or shrinking rapidly I was becoming dehydrated and all kinds of new things that I wasn't prepared for. My surgeon ordered a upper scope and a lower which come back very good. My lab showed that I did have a couple vitamin deficiencies so I increased my vitamins I actually have to go redo my labs here because I also ended up getting sick and went in the ER in my liver counts were high and they never been high before so we're checking those this week. But now I'm having a harder time eating and getting my body to absorb my nutrition even the protein shakes aren't helping maintain my body weight I am dropping weight still pretty rapidly I'm down to 124 lb now and my immune system seems to have been weakened because I get sick super easy and I try to stay away from other people otherwise that makes it harder on me and I guess get wiped out. I am currently waiting for my surgeon to call me back because I'm getting more concerned about how we come getting it's getting harder to do every daily things such as washing my hair folding my clothes and putting them away my muscles hurt and they're tired and weak and they get all cramped up. I'm blessed to have this surgery but I was never expecting that I would get this new very weird complication of just not being able to eat very well and to maintain weight. I trust my surgery team he's wonderful I'm hoping they can figure this out I'd really do not want a feeding tube or a PICC line I work with the public and that's even getting hard to do and I've almost thought about applying for disability until I get this figured out so I can quit losing weight by exertion. I'm just wondering is anybody else going through something like this or they just out of nowhere started losing weight again and they just can't seem to get it to stop. I'm worried not only for myself but for my family because my kids are still pretty young and I'm not ready to leave this world yet I still have a lot to live for. Hw: 268 SW 221lbs LW 124lns Height 5'2

I echo it is your decision & your reasons are your own too. But if you go into it, still questioning your decision & aren’t completely ready to make the changes you have to make, it is highly likely the surgery won’t be successful for you in the long term. I hazard to say that 80% of our weight loss & then 99% of our maintenance is all down to our commitment & willingness to do the head work & make the permanent changes to our eating & relationship with food. The truth,& it’s a hard truth, is some people do regain a significant amount of weight again if you’re not 100% in, you’ll more likely experience this. I didn’t have any comorbidities but I knew they were in my future. I was almost 54 & menopause had done a number on me & my weight. I didn’t like it. I didn’t want to be the size I was emotionally, psychologically, physically & yes aesthetically too. I woke up day & said enough. Made an appointment with my doctor that day & about 5 weeks later I was being wheeled into surgery. Best decision. Haven’t looked back. Happily maintaining at 4.6yrs. But you have time to make your decision & you can only do what’s best for you at this time. Maybe ask your surgeon for a referral to a therapist & talk through your thoughts & feelings with them. And if you decide no now, it doesn’t mean you can’t do it in the future, All the best what ever you decide to do. PS - The hair loss is nothing in the big picture. Yes, it can be frustrating & depressing but it only lasts for about 3 months +/- . The hair your’re shedding is hair you would have lost anyway. It’s just your natural hair loss cycle is accelerated for a while. Your new hair is still growing as usual at its normal rate. It’s the stress of the surgery, dietary changes, hormonal flushes, anaesthetic. So don’t stress yourself more by overly worrying about the loss - you may make it worse. Many experience hair loss after pregnancy and other surgeries too. I lost a lot with a stressful time at work. So it could happen with many things. The only person who noticed my hair was a little thinner was me & my hairdresser. A year later it was pretty much back to how it was.

Sometimes life throws crap at us from outside events or internal issues & our good intentions & good behaviours are forgotten. Doesn’t mean they’re gone forever. Sounds like you know exactly where you’re misstepping & know what you need to be doing to get back on track. That in itself is a major win. May be start slowly & adopt one or two of those changes or new behaviours for a week or two then add another one or two. Small wins, even meeting your fluid goal, are still wins. Also have you considered speaking with a therapist? They could help you work through why things started to slide & suggest strategies to help you get back on track. We can’t always do these things alone or without more professional help. All the best.

Courtnay, I am so sorry you had such an awful experience... I had some nurses that really irritated me and treated me poorly but an orderly found me crying because I was in so much pain and stressed by the nurse and so she reported the nurse, which was uncomfortable in the moment because I had to talk to a bunch of people, but really made them treat me decently the rest of the time! You can definitely have the bypass later once the sleeve takes off some weight. This happens sometimes with DS surgeries where they end up doing the sleeve first and then the intestinal part later once some abdominal fat is lost. Livers can be really tricky. Mine was still "plump" during the surgery, I just happen to have an extremely skilled surgeon who was able to work around it, but he told me sometimes that isn't possible. And I really want to say this, what happened to you IS NOT YOUR FAULT!! I'd find a therapist that deals with trauma, specifically medical trauma if possible, to help process this experience. Later down the road if your weight loss isn't stable you can consider converting to bypass or DS, you have options now with the sleeve! I know it isn't what you wanted, and I don't understand why the doctor didn't just close you up and try again later if you felt so strongly about it, but hindsight is always 20/20 and the good thing is that the sleeve DOES take off weight and that weight loss will help you feel a lot better. You should be on a good PPI with your heartburn, twice a day if needed. Omeprazole was always useless to me, so I use pantaprazole in the morning and Dexilant in the evening, both are prescription and they work wonderfully, no food triggers at all. You don't have to suffer with heartburn and reflux, they really should sort your meds out for that. It will make nausea and eating a lot easier. Oh and a few weeks out my digestive system was very testy. I had IBS before and it was grumpy post surgery. Fairlife shakes make me run to the bathroom for days for some reason! I like the Syntrax Nectar fruit flavors, they are like juice. Seeq is also good, it is like juice too, they are water based protein drinks, not creamy milk ones, and my digestive system handles them both better. You can get samples of Syntrax from Bariatric Pal and samples of Seeq from their website. Sending you lots of love... I hope things ease up soon and those hormones calm down, they are really rough after surgery! ❤️

I'm having RYGB on January 3rd, starting the 2 week liquid diet in a few days, and really feeling this also. I keep having these moments where I want to eat everything in sight, then sad about the changes that are coming, then I realize that this is a choice and it's the right choice, and I'm in control of that. That seems to help, and remembering that there aren't any foods that I won't ever be able to taste again, I just won't be able to eat a whole pizza, or whole sub sandwich, that's ok. I'm also feeling a bit scattered, it's harder to stay focused but at least I'm not bored?

I'm a sleeve to bypass conversion. I had a hernia, that complicated matters. I'm over a decade out from the horror of that sleeve. I'm just over 3 months out with the bypass. The hernia caused issues and the longer healing time was due to it. If I have any pull or ache, its in that area. For 3 months gone, the reflux (was like yours, actually worse, I had carafate to eat anything) is gone. I've had 1 time where some stuff came up like reflux. A mild little one for the 2nd time it happened. That's it. I control how much food goes in. When I dont, I throw up. I've had a bean get stuck (wow was that painful), couple of times I've swallowed 3x instead of 2 for liquids and it was too much. I've thrown up but nothing like before. If I'm really really careful, watch the time and amount of food at one time frame, I'm good. Stay at 2 swallows, I'm good. After the misery of before, this is great! That having been said, I dropped to malnutrition level because of some other medical problems. As of end of last week, I am 8 pounds from being overweight for my BMI. 36 pounds from being normal weight. So I don't think I'll be dropping it like I did my sleeve. I dropped 27 pounds the first month, and that was 27% of the excess body weight.

I highly recommend looking at the videos on the Pound of Cure channel on You Tube, which go into detail about how to eat to lower your body's metabolic setpoint. Foods that are ultra-processed and high carb push your body's setpoint, the weight it wants to maintain, higher, where nutrient dense foods like leafy green vegetables, beans, nuts, and seeds, make your body want to maintain a lower weight. As I have been preparing for surgery, I found the Pound of Cure book on Amazon and implemented many of the basic changes it recommends, such as cutting out processed foods, breads, sugar, and artificial sweeteners, and eating more vegetables, fruits, and beans. I lost 15 pounds in around 3 months without counting calories or ever feeling hungry. And I can also say that in the past several weeks, as the holiday treats have infiltrated my house, I have not been as good about eating that way, and to no one's surprise, my weight has shifted upward. I will be returning to better nutrition as soon as the last of the ham, sweet potatoes, and pie from Christmas dinner is out of the house! I recommend starting with these videos that I've linked below (and then, if you're like me, binge watching the rest of Dr. Weiner's channel). I find his advice to be a common sense approach to nutrition that you should be able to implement long-term without a lot of pain. Hope this helps!

Hi- just wondering if you didn’t experience the infamous 3 week stall, when did it show up? And I’ve read it can last 1-3 weeks. Any variations on that out there?

I hope you have a very boring, routine surgery!! That's what I said to my surgeon on the day of surgery, it cracked him up. LOL I had surgery 6 weeks ago so it is pretty fresh in my memory. I woke up thinking "Man am I hungry!" then "Wait, why am I hungry!?" 😂 The ice chips they gave me were very welcome...

I'm 2 weeks post omega loop bypass today (from previous sleeve) and on purees, thank the heavens. Liquids was getting a bit old!! It's been a while since I've done purees. What are your fave recipes to get through this stage?

I haven't had revisions, I just had DS surgery 6 weeks ago. But I have seen a fair number of multiple revisions around here and elsewhere... I'm sure if your doctor approved you for the surgery then you are good to go! But any surgery can be scary, so I understand the worries. Sleeve to Bypass revisions are pretty common. It is likely your surgeon has done a fair number of them. The weight loss is slower for revisions, but I have seen many end up reaching their goal weight, it just takes a bit longer the second time around. You don't say what your starting weight is or what you hope to lose... Advice is just like for any of the surgeries---take it easy. Trust your team. Drink your fluids in baby sips and get in as much as possible, this will keep you out of the ER hopefully. Stay ahead of your pain. Ease into food gently. Walk as much as you can. Rest when you feel tired and give yourself extra rest for the first few weeks because surgery can take it out of you! Remember that a lot of nerves have been cut and have to heal, so you may not feel any restriction for a while. Stick to the portions your dietician advises for the first few months until you are getting accurate communication from your healed tummy! And whatever you do, do NOT let yourself get constipated!! Take the stool softeners, take Miralax if you haven't gone in a few days and are concerned. The most common complications I see are nausea, dehydration, and constipation! Most of all, good luck! Have a really routine, easy surgery and an uncomplicated recovery! ❤️

that's not slow at all - that's pretty average. I was about where you're at the six week mark, and I started out at almost 400 lbs. there are so many factors the affect your rate of weight loss, most of which you don't have much - if any - control over. Gender, age, starting weight, what percentage of your body is muscle, whether or not you lost a ton of weight before surgery, genetic factors, metabolic rate, etc. The only two things you do have a lot of control over is how closely you stick to your clinic's plan and how active you are. Do well with those, and the weight will come off, whether fast or slow. I considered myself a slow loser the entire time, and I lost 100% of my excess weight, over 200 lbs (I've gained a few back since then, but I'm still over 200 lbs less than when I started). don't worry about it - just stick to your plan and the weight will come off.

I have something similar but it only happens every other day which means that on the off days I'm not going much at all. It kind of explains things for me. I don't see how you can be having two to three movements a day everyday! Maybe ask the Doc Sent from my SM-G981U1 using Tapatalk

How wonderful for you. And congratulations on maintaining your weight too - inspiring! I remember my mum saying how horrendous the pain was with her knee reconstruction (she had both done at once - yikes). She was on opioids for ages & iced her knees three times a day for a couple of months. Hope your pain subsides soon & you have a speedy recovery.

Had mine on the 16th of November and literally just started going down yesterday. you were pumped with different kinds of heavy meds & IV fluids in hospital, that takes a few weeks for your body to flush out. Keep doing what you’re doing and it will come off

Wow! There are so many things to unpack there. let me start with you are not going to fail!! We will be able to eat in moderation. That is the whole goal of the tool. Instead of eating a large fry eating a couple like 4-5 instead of eating a whopper maybe half or less. Nothing will be BANNED! Your body will tell you though if it doesn’t like something you ate. You will get dumping , cramps, nausea or all of the above. So the key point here is not to get upset. now as I say that, I am struggling too but I am preop still. But I have had a couple of slips. As I don’t know what the situation I’m not sure why your husband brought home McDonald’s? Knowing your current condition? If possible could he eat in the car before coming in the house? Just for the next few weeks as you adjust to your new eating habits. we do need to learn to navigate when those around us have food that we so badly want. I went through that last night with potatoes. We will have to remove ourselves from those situations sometimes. Like I should have. im sure your husband will understand. Well, I hope anyway.

Pre surgical diets can differ a lot but the two shakes & one meals is not uncommon. (Mine was two weeks keto.) Generally eat pretty cleanly: no sauces (pre made or own), steamed vegetables (avoid starchy vegetables like potatoes) no processed foods, watch cooking methods of your meats - low fat. Portions sizes ate likely only 3-4oz protein & a cup of vegetables. But check with your team for what they recommend for you in regards calories, portions sizes & suitable foods for that meal. I’d look at getting a set of scales which measures small increments as soon as possible. They will be invaluable as will measuring cups, spoons & jugs.

Oh no! I hope they get to the bottom of this and you're on your way back to surgery soon. I know how frustrating it is to get your hopes up and have it not happen. My surgery was supposed to be the 27th but it was abruptly cancelled last week because the surgery program at the hospital is closing down. I just got a new patient appointment at an affiliated program at a different hospital but not until Jan 2, so I know it will be at least mid-Jan or later for me now (probably later, realistically). Don't lose hope! It's hard not to be frustrated and angry, but try to stay positive!

Christmas drinks cooking yesterday. This time Brie bites. Easy to make & yummy. Quarter teaspoon grain mustard, piece of Brie, 1/2 teaspoon cranberry sauce in puff pastry, bake then sprinkle with some pieces of grilled prosciutto. Went to what is supposed to be this excellent restaurant last week. Been wanting to go for a while but thought they only had a degustation menu & recently discovered they did have a la carte. Chose John Dory fillet with beurre blanc sauce split with wasabi leaf oil & asparagus. Started off okay but am still looking for the asparagus - extremely finely diced & barely a teaspoon. Then the third slice of the fillet was super salty & couldn’t eat it. So disappointed. My friends enjoyed their meals so at least there was that. Oh & it cost $58 (about $39 US). Crazy prices here now. Last year it would have been 10-15 Aust $ less.