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Surgery of any type is daunting. Like Porkchopexpress, I've been sliced and diced under the knife a few times...... Ok 11 including the sleeve job :-) Firstly. Everyone you deal with will be there to help you Secondly, You'll be out of it so no worries Thirdly, there will be discomfort and self doubt after. As long as you are ready for this you will be ok. If you struggle ask for help! There's no shame in asking. I was in for a total of 3 nights but I had to be different and had a few breathing complications but to be honest I never felt scared. I will say that of all the operations I've had this was the most challenging mentally I know the system in the UK is different but we are all the same when it comes to pain, worry and the need for support. You will be fine and withing a week you'll be cursing the fact that you're running out of ideas for Soups then purees or like me you'll be cooking too much and filling your freezer Enjoy the journey

When I went for my appt with the nutritionist, I was told based on my weight, etc. I needed to take in 77 grams of Protein a day while healing. No one has told me to have less and my surgery was 8 weeks ago. I know that SOMEWHERE I saw a formula for figuring out how much protein I should have now that I'm over 40 pounds thinner. Just can't find it of course. Does anyone know the formula to which I'm referring? It wasn't the .4% g/lb....it was a more complicated formula. If anyone knows it, or if anyone weighs about 270 and was given an amount, that's what I'd go by. Thanks very much.

Hi Aisha, Me and my mum are going through the same thing. I'm 7 and a half weeks post op she's 4 and a half. Personally I think I will try however I don't think my mums quite there (she had some complications and is pretty weak still). Do what's best for you because you're no good to anyone back in hospital. I wish you luck and do keep in touch and let us know how you are Oh and Ramadan Kareem xx

Yes, people do die and have died from this surgery. It is a sad fact. There was a guy who was on here a few months ago who passed away, he had a blood clot after several other issues. There are some people that have leaks, and I did read one poster posted about here sister who had tons of issues and was hospitalized for several months after this surgery, and had to be fed through a feeding tube. I'm not trying to scare you by telling you these things, but it does happen. I was lucky enough to be incident free when I had my sleeve done, but I was also in relatively good health. That is not to say people in good health do not have complications. My mother had a tummy tuck in December, she used a wonderful surgeon that cam highly reccommended who I helped her choose after tons of research. Her tummy tuck went septic, she had to be recut open and the area had to be fully cleaned out. She spent over 2 weeks in the hospital, and is still not fully recovered, she still ahs extensive swelling and the scar looks awful. She just happened to be number 1 in a million. I would do this surgery again in a heart beat, and I will probably have a tummy tuck someday as well, but please do all of your research and know that unfortunately complications do exist in any type of surgery, and one of those complications is death. I hope you find a good trusted surgeon. Best of luck to you.

I'm glad to see this thread, because I need to express my concerns & thoughts. I'm scared of so many things as surgery is getting closer. I'm afraid of not looking like myself because I've lost too much weight,excessive loose skin, losing all of my hair, family and friends being alarmed when they see me after not seeing me. Complications from surgery and many concerns, that I know are mind tricks. My medical team and I have discussed these issues, I'm just scared. I've been obese for so long, I'm scared of what healthy looks like for me now. I know I'm being dramatic, fear of the unknown. You aren't going to be nauseous for the rest of your life. Just take it easy, follow your plan and listen to your body and what it likes after surgery. Hydrate, rest, protein and believe in yourself.

I did gain some weight back but not enough to qualify. This is considered a complication and therefore not coded as a gastric bypass. I hope I can get the weight I put on back off though. It’s about 25 pounds. Small in the big picture but feels significant to me.

Most complications from WLS are from the RNY also called gastric bypass surgery.

No regrets from me. I love my sleeve! I am so happy with it. I enjoy eating less and losing weight. I have lost 58 lbs so far. I am looking good and feeling great. I have went from 2x scrubs to large. Tight 22 jeans to loose 16. Ready for mediums and 14 s. Soon. I love everything about my sleeve. I had no. Complications and a very smooth easy recovery. Took a week and a half off work. I have been very lucky. I am very happy.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/dear-mark-how-much-protein-can-you-absorb-and-use-from-one-meal/#axzz2gjZamnkx It is much more complicated, and depends on body composition, activity level and what you're mixing your Protein with. It's a good read.

I think it is imparative to find a doctor that will see you. Not only for fills, but in case you have complications or an emergency situation. Did the doctor completely leave the field or move to another location? I can't believe no one will see you at all. There has to be an option out there for you. I wasn't trying to be mean, just honest. It scares the crap out of me to have anyone that isn't trained about my band to make any adjustments. As for your post, it would have helped to have all of the facts. I know you are looking for help, and we cannot give advice without all of the info.

Hi, There are positives and negatives to everything. Firstly, did you not go for a psychological consult before having this surgery? I was forewarned at my 3 seminars that I attended of what to expect. If you do as your doctor and nutritionist tell you then you shouldn't have any problems. I had a problem because my port flipped but it was fixed in a simple day surgery. I was in and out within 4 hours. The band surgery my doctor makes his patients stay overnight in case of any complications. This is a major surgery and you really have to be ready for it. It was now or never for me and I heard and read stories as well. If you're scared I think a lot of us were scared. I was banded on 12/28/12 and I have no regrets. I did it for health reasons as well. The fact that there is a history of diabetes should be enough to do the surgery. Embrace yourself, you deserve to be healthy. My daughter is also a teacher so I appreciate where you're coming from. My daughter is having vertical sleeve surgery on June 18th. She too is also self pay. I wish you well on your new journey and here are some (((hugs))) from me to you. Good luck!

My doctor told me that he had a patient die after the surgery from several complications. He also told me that this person was very heavy, had several illnesses related to their weight(including some kind of blood problem) and was not up and moving when they should have been. I took my chances. Because honestly, at 376 pounds and 28 years old I was as good as dead anyway. I will be 3 weeks out tomorrow and at my 2 week appt I was down 30 pounds..... I am living!!!

In all seriousness, I just did a Google search on the mortality rate - websites vary, of course, depending on where they draw their data from. Any surgery bears a risk, from basic complications to death. I trusted my surgeon completely, and was well researched and prepared before I committed to this. That being said, I've been in the WLS community for awhile now, having first had a LapBand installed in January 2010 (removed in March 2013 and sleeved in June 2013). I am an active blogger with many friends and family members who have either the LapBand, Gastric Bypass or Gastric Sleeve. While I know of one person who's had complications, I know no one who has had fatal issues with any WLS.

Johnp did you have any complications? How long ago did you have your surgery? Is Dr. Cuneen cold? Someone wrote he is coldhearted. How's the wt loss going? How much did you loose in the first month? What was your diet before and the few weeks, month after surgery? What other programs did you look into and find this one to be better? I am nervous when I read bad posts! Can you help? thanks, Laurie can post privately if you want, thanks

My insurance will not cover the surgery at all so I have to go self pay..... My heart is broken.... My husband and I have talked and we actually just bought a new double wide home a year ago and we could use it as collateral to get a loan but man.... Makes it so much harder financially... So now I have a question... Approximately how did it cost for after surgery needs for everyone???? And do u think because insurance won't cover it does that mean if I have complications, will insurance deny any coverage for them??? My heads swimming I'm so upset...

I use to be addicted to diet Pepsi. I haven't had any since last november and will not even take a sip because I know I will get addicted again. I don't want it to do anything to my stomach's staple line or cause any other complications.

I'm gonna answer you:) I was 33 when I had gastric bypass heightest weight 211lbs I had nothing wrong with me. Okay a little asthma but it was cause by being heavy. I haven't used my pump in over 2 years. I did a life change before surgery but wasn't losing weight but kept me off asthma pump. My knee was being affected by all this weight I was carrying. Now I can't tell you after WLS you will be jumping on one foot or you will never have issues or complications why? Things have its own way of happening & god forbid something happens. In life things happen we can't avoid but this is only a small 1% chance of a person being the one who has issues after WLS. My personal experience I had my share of small issues. One month non stop vomiting. When I was three months my stomach closed so tight I had to have a endoscopy to open it up just a little cuz it was causing me to vomit non stop for 1week. Now I'm 6 months post up down 85lbs no issues no complications. No dumping. I can eat almost anything in small portions. I feel great my only issue now is that my tummy is wrinkly which I will get plastic surgery in 2014. I want other things but lets see. WLS is a personal issue and it should be taking with open eyes. Some ppl maybe extremely lucky genetics or age not to ever sag. Each case is different so if your thinking maybe your too young to have WLS you can always get a dietician & lose the weight slowly but with out rush side effects or anything. You do what makes you feel comfortable. No one is going to judge you here. There is one other member who didn't get WLS either. This is not for everyone. You have to be willing to change. It's only a tool to help you lose weight the rest is up to the individual. Good luck & all the best in the decision you make one way or the other.

I would find out why they don't cover. Mine did and if you do have complications insurance will not cover that's the big problem. It can get really expensive. With out insurance mine would have been 20,000. Good luck

Please read post "Beware Mexico Bariatric" I just finished reading it and then came came across your surgery by same Dr Kelly Hope you're all doing well and didn't experience any complications. I'm post-op 4 1/2 by doctor in Burbank, CA

Who cares about skin??? You'll be HEALTHY and feel AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!! That's the IMPORTANT factor, not the skin!! Deal with the skin, after you lose the weight, in whichever way you want to deal with it, for now, go for it, get healthy, change your life around and feel awsome! My ONLY regret is not having this done sooner. I've had no complications, no set backs and feel like I haven't felts in over 30 years!!!!!!!!!!! Good Luck!

That, my dear, is a LONG explanation on how it's supposed to help lose weight. First, your doctor must think you're insulin resistant, or he wouldn't want to prescribe it. If you have not been diagnosed as insulin resistant, or prediabetic and he simply wants to have you take it for weight loss, he is an idiot....sorry. If you are insulin resistant, that means your body has high level of insulin all the time and doesn't use insulin like it should. To make a very long complicated story short, if you have high levels of insulin in your system all the time, your body wants to store fat, not lose it. It's much more complicated than that, but that's the Cliff notes on how it works. So, by taking Metformin, your body is better able to use the insulin it produces, thereby theoretically not wanting to store fat all the time. Now this sounds good, but in practice, like I said before, almost no one loses weight by just taking Metformin - if they did, EVERYONE would be on it and it would all over the news as the magic bullet/pill everyone is looking for and none of us would need surgery!! Your sleeve has put your body in a catabolic (losing) state already, which has already forced your body to produce less insulin and use it more wisely - that's why I can't see how on earth at this point, you taking Metformin would produce any sort of weight loss. So, all that being said....you have lost almost 16 pounds since surgery on 8/31. That's 16 pounds in 5 weeks.....sure it's not as much as some lose, but we are all different. I also noticed that you were on the 'smaller side' when you started and in my experience on these boards, those that don't have a large amount to lose, tend to lose slower. You also lost weight prior to your surgery, and that's fantastic, but that also could mean that you wouldn't drop weight so dramatically after your surgery as your body wasn't 'shocked' like those that didn't lose weight beforehand (like those that didn't have to do preop liquid diets, etc - they tend to lose more right after surgery). I honestly think you need to look at your calorie intake and the makeup of foods you are eating (carbs, Protein, fats). If you are not eating ENOUGH calories, that will definitely slow down weight loss, as well as they wrong type of calories. You can certainly try the Metformin, it won't hurt....I just don't want to see you disappointed when you don't lose weight on it. And, any doctor that tells you that your weight loss to date 'sucks' needs a quick swift kick right up the ass, in my opinion. What a horrible, horrible thing to say to your patient! You have lost an average of over 3 pounds per week! Which is amazing compared to all other types of weight loss plans. As long as you are losing, and the slope is downward, keep your chin up, honey. Don't get discourage...you just may be one of the 'slow' losers. But it will come off!!

I chose the sleeve, because the complications and malabsorption with bypass always bothered me. When I heard the sleeve was proven effective I knew it was the one for me if I was going surgery route. I first attempted to lose on my own a few years back. I also have hormonal conditions such as autoimmune thyroid and PCOS, which lead me to believed I had malabsorption issues just from things I noticed with how I felt. They did confirm when they did Vitamin levels that I was deficient in several and close to being deficient in one. I feel more comfortable giving my body the change to absorb as much as it can by still having my stomach and not re-routing GI tract and lose/maintain healthy weight at the same time. Plus, I've never been fixated on being an unrealistic weight goal or loss. I am very realistic - my goal was in line with the weight range my dietitian gave me which will still have me in the obese category technically for my height... I'm looking to be healthier, more mobile, and have more strength not to be thin per se or a certain pant size. Lastly, I had hoped to avoid as much distress of loose skin, and thought I'd be better with sleeve since my end goal after surgery would still be quite overweight. I've lost around 7% so far of my body weight at a normal, healthy rate, and honestly I've already started noticing changes with my skin. When I lost significant weight (almost 100lbs) a few years back I had virtually no loose skin except an unnoticeable to others amount on my stomach. As I lose now I am coming to terms with the likelihood I will require some skin removal, and should start savings now. I had hoped I could just be okay with it and wear it proudly, but I'm actually having skin irritation already just from around 25lb loss. Each weight loss journey a person has is different. This experience is so much different from my last one just a few years ago. And as everyone pointed out you can gain with either option which is often shown on weight loss documentaries. I was told by my program's psychologist to prepare for a 10-20lb weight gain after you hit your goal weight, and to set a limit you will not allow yourself to go over i.e. 200lbs, so if you reach that point you reevaluate yourself and get back on track, because weight will always be an issue for each of us, and everyone that loses through whatever means has to stay on top of it or it'll become uncontrollable. Sent from my SM-G530T using the BariatricPal App

Recently found out I'm 8 weeks pregnant. We were using protection so this was a shock. I had my first OB appt the other day and she told me I need to be getting 2000-2200 calories a day which is impossible I can barely get 500 in right now. She was full of scare tactics and kept spouting off all these risks (mostly because of Obesity, NOT surgery) said I was high risk, but I don't know if she said that due to the fact I'm still overweight or because of recent surgery. I'll be 4 months out next week, and since surgery I'm down 86 lbs and still losing. I still have about another 100 lbs to go. But I've had 3 other very healthy, no complications pregnancies when I was much much heavier. SO I can only think losing as much weight as I have so far would improve my chances for a healthy pregnancy as long as I can make sure to get enough nutrients in to sustain the baby. That's my biggest worry! I'm doing 2 Protein shakes a day (adds up to 60 g of protien, it's loaded with Vitamins, minerals, and amino acids), juicing green veggies, taking my vitamins (multi + prenatal) and trying to make sure I get enough hydration. Would love any other tips or tricks to getting more nutrition in so that I can be healthy and keep my baby healthy throughout this pregnancy. Thanks!!

I did a bunch of research before narrowing my list to 3 surgeons... 2 here in Idaho and 1 in Mexico. The patient coordinators of the two in Idaho were arrogant bitches who wouldn't answer any of my questions until I set up appointments with them first. I explained I was over 3 hours away from them, and just wanted some basic info (how many VSGs has he done, what's his complication rate, what are the pre and post op requirements, etc) but they refused to help me. My contact at the Mexico office was extremely helpful and exchanged dozens of emails and phone calls answering all of my questions. After more research, I discovered my Mexico option was by far the most experienced with a complication rate 1/100th of the US average, so that's who I went with. The best decision ever...great care and great results.

Hi! I was sleeved Jan. 5th. Almost at the three week mark and have lost 24 lbs! I have had no complications, thankfully. The first week was the most difficult but every day it gets better. No vomiting or nausea but I actually have experienced dumping syndrome after drinking a glass of high Protein low fat chocolate milk. Never again! I'm still on a liquids (soups and protein shakes). It's getting boring but I'll do what I'm told and get through it. It's not forever. I've never been looking forward to eating an egg so much in my life. I'm so happy I found this forum and had this surgery. It's the best feeling in the world to have hope again. It's not easy, but it's worth it.