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*This is the first posting after my (2) Bariatric Surgeries 2/4 & 2/25. BARIATRIC RECAP: 2/4/19 Herniated Lap Band Removal; COMPLICATIONS; Surgeons find “Severe Scar Tissue” appears as hard white second lap band, surgery is stopped, sewn up and rushed to CT Scan to R/O Foreign Body. 2/5/19 start developing severe Rt Shoulder/Neck pain & Paresthetica Meralgia. Start PT, Medical Massage and Rx’s - Severe stomach & Incision pain. 2/25/19 - Surgery #2 Gastric Sleeve Conversion; MORE COMPLICATIONS. During Surgery Surgeons discover “my Liver was fused to my stomach and needed to be burned apart”, repaired a hole found in my diaphragm + performed laparoscopic gastric sleeve surgery (4 hr procedure). Post Surgery Day 2-14: Chronic Lt Shoulder Pain day 2-7, Dizziness, Chronic Diarrhea continues, Nausea each day Day 12-Present. Incisions are healing but overall feeling depressed and overwhelmed by all the nausea and pains. Entering Post-Operative Week 3: ANXIETY, CONSTANT FATIGUE & NAUSEA DAILY? Are these Normal symptoms? “THANK YOU TO ANYONE WHO CAN SHED LIGHT ON TIMELINES FOR RECOVERY AND NAUSEA.” 🙏

You might try doing your protein shakes at half- strength, thin it with skim or 1% milk, check out protein waters also, don't worry if you can only do 1-2 oz at a time, I'm 6 months out and I am still doing it, I confess I got a couple small glass, well I always called them shot glasses, from houseware dept of Wal-Mart, and that is what I use, I do one of them every 15 minutes, have varied low or no calorie drinks in fridge, and I am making my 64 oz easy and many days I make 84 okay. My pouch does not like it too much but we are doing 2 oz of protein, chewed well or pureed, and sometimes I do veggies that way. Why am I so slow with my diet? I have had ulcerations in my jejunem, a stricture in my pouch, I turned out to be one of those rare and complicated RnYers, but I am doing better, still not sorry for my surgery, had to fight uphill battle to get it, you see I am now 73, many programs would shown me the door, I will always be grateful for the chance at a future it gave me! I just get peeved at my body for making things slow but I too will have a victory! The gurgly I never had, just keep drinking in slow, give your body a chance to let it slide down easy, and we're all a little different, but we are still wonderfully made inside. Post anytime you feel like it, no question is too small, we all want to help on here!😝🍀😝

I think everyone is different. Reading all these stories, I certainly have been having a radically different experience from others! I ended up in the hospital for four days because I had an internal bleed and lost a lot of blood. But I didn't take any narcotics on the last day in the hospital or at all when I got home. And only needed Tylenol for like two days. I have not had any nausea or vomiting, very minimal pain, no dumping syndrome, nothing. I also have no appetite so the diet has been fine. I had super low energy for about a week and a half, but as soon as I got home from the hospital my mom made me start walking. First three days home I walked 3 times 10 minutes, but then she made me do 8 times 10 minutes every day after. Only one or twice was I not able to make it. I'm feeling a bit shakey and still not 100% on my energy levels and I'm almost 3 weeks post now. But other than that I am super grateful as to how good my recovery has been. All my complications happened in the hospital and it's been smooth sailing since. So know that it's possible!! Sent from my Pixel 3 using BariatricPal mobile app

3 weeks post op with reflux isn’t abnormal. Are you on a PPI? The EGD is easy but seems a bit premature. I’ve had a bunch since surgery august 2017 but I have severe complications

Yeah, I'm with you! My surgery is on March 27th, and it is a big deal!! Ive also had a lot of surgeries in my life. Im sorry your last surgery was so complicated. Believe it or not, bariatric surgery is really, really safe these days, and surgons do a lot of them. Nonetheless it is natural to worry a little bit. I really think all will go great for you. You've got this!!

Thank you for your kind words!!! I am confident I can handle the changes, I'm mainly scared of the procedure its self. My last surgery in August had major complications, I almost died and had to stay in the hospital, for what was supose to be an outpatient op. I found out in october of 2018 my thyroid was bad, and got on meds, have since with help of my bariatric team have lost 50lbs. I'm at 310lbs now. I guess I'm just having a little PTSD. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

My surgeon was David Dyslin, in the Alliance area. He was at a general surgery practice in Arlington when I had my surgeries, but has years of bariatric experience. He recently went out on his own to focus on bariatrics. He's in temporary digs right now while his new offices are being built, but you're not ready for the surgery part for a while yet. Even though I had some complications, I have no reservations about Dr. Dyslin. His new number is 817-832-7227. Also, I have Cigna and had no problems with it. Feel free to PM me if you'd like more info.

Oh, boy. I hope eating won't be so complicated for ever. That's harder than any diet I've ever heard of.

There are always other hospitals. However, you have to keep in mind that foreign materials in the body have their own problems and complications. Getting revision is a hard decision to make. I postponed for about a year before I finally had the courage to get MGB.

I had a food funeral to end all food funerals, a week of over indulgence. So much so I gained 5 pounds. I only had a two day pre-op diet, so it was not enough time to lose what I gained. Luckily it did not end up complicating a thing and I went on to lose 114 pounds in 10 months.

Glad you can balance the good and bad experiences Many of us had no complications and are maintaining. Most of the vets and people that maintain leave the site because life has become normal. Many of the people you talk with are new, in weight loss phase, had a weight gain or complications. IDK about this being expensive. Almost 5 years out and that’s not my experience. Once I got to real food stage it's cheaper on groceries. You ditch the shakes and meal replacement products with whole foods. I eat less and my family eats pretty much what I eat. Example: Chicken fajitas. I give the family tortillas and I go without. Vitamins are my only expense at $29.00 a month. Some have found better prices. Congrats on your surgery date.

If you're already approved for the surgery, I wouldn't worry about any additional weight loss, but concentrate on making sure I followed directions for pre-op diet and had my liver the right size to avoid complications.

It helps prepare you mentally to make sure you can stick to the diet post op. So if you need to cheat a little then do so but just know its better not to cheat at all after your surgery or you risk complications.

Please don’t get lap band! I honestly can’t believe they do them anymore. So many complications and resurgery needed after. I thought they’d be removed from market by now.

WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT GET A LAPBAND. It is not too late to cancel the surgery. There are much better bariatric surgeries that result in real weight loss without ALL the complications of the lapband. Getting one will inevitably lead to health issues and limited weight loss. There’s a reason that very very very few surgeons propose them any more. I’d be concerned that a surgeon that does offer the procedure is not a very good or ethical surgeon.

Would you let other people influence your decision on how to treat a complicated medical problem such as cancer or renal disease without a medical degree? No? Obesity is a disease that is complex to treat and a bystanders opinion is of little value when it comes to your health. You need to decide what’s best for you.

HORIZON BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD NEW JERSEY PRE-APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS Weight loss surgery for treating morbid obesity is considered medically necessary if the patient fulfills the following criteria: The patient should be at least 18 years of age AND/OR the patient’s skeletal growth is complete. Weight loss surgery for patients under 17 years of age is not considered medically necessary unless full skeletal growth has been reached and the patient suffers from a co-morbid condition, such as sleep apnea or hypertension. The patient is morbidly obese (i.e. has a BMI of over 40 OR has a BMI of over 35) with a life-threatening co-morbid disease such as: Congestive Heart Failure Metabolic Syndrome Coronary Artery Disease Hypertension Cardiomyopathy caused by obesity The patient, in the 12 months prior to the surgery, has to have: Completed a weight loss program for at least six consecutive months Participated in a surgery preparation program to enhance results and lower risk of complications after the procedure. Your surgeon will typically have these available. Undergone pre-operative psychological evaluation and understands the impacts of weight loss surgery The patient should have a letter of recommendation from his/her primary doctor. The bariatric surgeon should submit the proper paperwork for approval. The patient has to fulfill all of the criteria listed above to be approved for bariatric surgery. TYPES OF WEIGHT LOSS SURGERIES COVERED BY HORIZON BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF NEW JERSEY Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey covers the following weight loss surgeries: Biliopancreatic Diversion with Duodenal Switch Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding Gastric Bypass with Short-Limb Roux en Y anastamosis Gastric Bypass with Long-Limb Roux en Y anastamosis Vertical Banded Gastroplasty Sleeve Gastrectomy These procedures are considered medically necessary for treating morbid obesity. PROCEDURES EXCLUDED FROM COVERAGE Mini-gastric bypass, gastric plication and other surgeries not listed above are considered experimental and not covered.

LOL yes, you seriously look incredible!! I can’t even fathom wearing a size 12. That would be amazing in itself! How long after surgery did you start to feel “normal” again? And how old are you? You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want. 😂. I’m 41. Just hoping I can bounce back from surgery now that I am not exactly young anymore. Journaling is a good idea... I need to write down the reasons I’m doing this. So I can focus on THOSE and not all these complications that probably won’t even happen to me.

I’m getting a sleeve to bypass conversion because of uncontrollable GERD. GERD is pretty common after a sleeve because your stomach becomes a high pressure system so lots of doctors put you on prophylactic PPIs for a few months. As you see above, most people don’t need conversion. GERD is either controllable on meds or goes away. I’ve been unlucky with a lot of complications.

Thanks to all of your for your encouraging words and support. They repaired the leak on Wednesday (at 10:00 in the evening!), took the drains out this morning, and the infection has cleared up--so I finally got to go home today! I can't tell you how wonderful it will be to take a real shower and sleep in my own bed. Needless to say, it has been a very rough and discouraging week. Apparently, I am today basically where I would have been last Tuesday if there had been no complications and they had discharged me the day after surgery as planned. I'm feeling surprisingly good aside from being completely wiped out--I'm napping every couple of hours. I have minimal pain and have not needed pain meds, no nausea, and I have not dumped (yet). So, I just need to pick myself up and get on with it and put this week out of my head. All of your posts really did help, even though I wasn't in the mood to respond during the week. Thanks again!

Sorry about the complications, but it sounds like you're okay now. Wow, what a huge weight loss so quickly! Congrats and good luck on the rest of your weight loss journey. I'm in it for the long haul.

Hi everyone, I’ve been a long time reader of this forum, but a first time writer 😁. Today marks 5 months since I had the gastric sleeve and I thought I would share my journey so far. While I was prepping for the surgery, these posts helped me so much so maybe my story can help some people too. I was 310 lbs during my first meeting with my doctor. I didnt have to do a pre-op diet but between my first meeting and surgery, I lost 10 lbs so I was down to 300 lbs day of surgery. I weighed in today, and I am currently 210 lbs. I can’t even process it, I havent ever been this weight during my adult life. My surgery went very well, but I did have alot of complications after the surgery. You know how you read about them but never think it will actually happen to you.. well it happened to me haha. I was good for about a week after surgery, and then I got a kidney stone. Of course I automatically assumed something was going on with my sleeve because of my symptoms ( neausea, stomach pain, vomiting etc), ended up going to the ER after two days and it turned out to be a kidney stone. I also became dehydrated during this time because I couldn’t keep anything down. They didn’t admit me that day and I passed the stone but I was constantly throwing up and my stomach pretty much became irritated and inflamed. This lead to a vicious cycle of constantly trying to take in fluids but not being able to keep it down at all. I went through about a week of hell - would wake up neausous, throw up the entire day and go to sleep neausous. Neausea meds didn’t help, I couldnt even get them down because any sip of water would make me neusous. Eventually, I became super weak, my hands and feet started cramping up and honestly I felt like crap, regretted my decision to have this surgery. I was admitted to the hospital - my heart rate and bp were super low, my liver was getting messed up and I was beyond dehydrated. I stayed in the hospital for about 5 days and left feeling much better. hindsight, I should have gone to the doctor / hospital earlier... Since then, I have been feeling great! Its definitely an adjustment and some days are harder than others but so worth it! Even with all the complications I had starting out, I would go through with the surgery again in a heart beat. My life has changed because of it. I’m fairly young - 30 years old - and I had high blood pressure. My blood pressure is now normal. My knees don’t hurt anymore when I walk. I can keep up with friends. I have so much energy now. Its crazy but I didn’t realize how sluggish and tired I felt until I started not feeling that way.. My quality of life has improved so much and I am no where near done yet. I’m so grateful for my tool. Like everyone says, wls is definitely not the easy way out. I put in work physically and emotionally everyday. I work out 5 times a week and eat clean. Changing my mindset amd emotional attachment to food is a process. But I couldn’t have done it without the surgery for sure. Anyway sorry for the long post! But like I said reading about others’ experiences was so helpful to me so I figured I would share just incase others find it helpful as well.

Complications

It seems to be not recommended. The surgeon I went to no longer places them as stated above. We do have people here that have had no issues and you can look in the surgery specific boards, but there are tons of posts about people that had to revise due to complications. Of course, you can have complications from any surgery. So is this cold feet or do you need to postpone and do some research before you decide to have this surgery Saturday? Good luck!

I also had a drain. I had to baby it. I emptied, measured cleaned and logged its contents. It was work. But I believe I'm healthier for it. I had low energy for quite some time after surgery but i rolled with it instead of fighting against it. I didn't need stress adding complications to the pot so i tried to remain super chill about everything. It was major surgery after all and i was honesty happy to be alive. My incisions took a while to heal and were very itchy so i cleaned *around* the incisions with alcohol before putting the hydrocortisone cream *near* the incisions. It helped alot. One week down many more to go !