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3mo post op update. Getting back into Crossfit after 28 days of vacation in a 6 week span. Energy levels have gotten a little better (adding in more carbs before workout) but is still noticeable. I have dropped about 40-50% of all of my strength moves. And today was the first day that I thought "Hey, that movement was easier than before" and it was on burpees over the bar. 3 sets of 10 that I wouldn't have been able to do before where now just another part of the workout.

3 month update! 5/4/23 - Start Pre-surgery diet - 324 5/15/23 - Surgery - 307.6 8/15/23 - 3 month - 242.4 Had my 3 month visit with the dietician and have blown past all of the targets (both the 3m and 6m ones). The year target is down 100 pounds (from the 324), and I am only 18 pounds away from that one. Should be able to hit it by 6 months. Have had very little in the way of side effects. I have thrown up twice when I over ate and had 20-30m of pain after eating some pork that I apparently didn't do right (not sure if I didn't chew it enough or what). I have been pretty low energy only when working out (but that is getting a little better), but have been fine the rest of the day. I have occassionally had an alcoholic drink (started on vacation and has crept back into one or two drinks a week), but I am trying to be a little more strict about that. Currently reading a book called Wheat Belly that talks about how evil Wheat is. Pretty interesting stuff, but heavy on the science behind it all. In the past week I have averaged: 975 calories per day, 78g of protein, 64 oz of water. Given that I workout in the Texas heat (Crossfit gym), I need to be drinking more fluids, otherwise I am really happy with where I am at. I don't feel like there is anything that I want to eat that I can't (or haven't been) eating already. I cheat a little bit with tortilla chips, but that is really the only thing. Honestly, I feel like this whole process has been as painless as possible. I feel incredibly lucky, especially after hearing Synlee's story (I hope you are doing better!)

I had my consult sometime in the middle of March 2023, I had to do 2 dietician appointments that couldnt be in the same month so one in April and the other in May, had to wait 2 months for a spot to open for my psychiatrist appointment, that was in June 2023. I had scheduled my EGD appointment in the beginning of April but couldn't get in until July since they were booked up, I will tell you to schedule the EGD as quickly as you can since it can take a while to get in. Waited for results from EGD for a week and waited another week after that for my psychiatrist to submit paperwork. Two weeks later I got the email/message in the MyChart saying I got approved for surgery and I'm currently waiting for my surgeon's office to call to schedule the surgery with my surgeon which should be today. So my start was March 15th 2023-Aug 14th 2023 for my date of approval. I also had to do bloodwork but that could be done whenever I wanted at Ohio health and I had to get an abdominal ultrasound but that also didn't take much time, maybe a week but I wouldn't take my time scheduling that if I were you cuz it can take some time if where you're going is busy. For reference I have Cigna Insurance.

Hi there! Tomorrow I’m five weeks post op, and after an initial loss of 9kgs two weeks after the surgery, my weight loss became very slow. I worried too, but I spoke with my nutritionalist and my Dr & they both assured me that it was normal. I’m not a Dr, but I think it’s important to get your stomach used to foods at the rate you’re being advised on. I know the urge is to get to the weight loss NOW, but there’s more at stake here at this point. I urge you to just do exactly what your health care team have advised. It’s important for your body to acclimatise to foods again. You WILL lose weight, but don’t risk any complications by rushing. Apparently, it’s preferable to lose it more slowly rather than fast, for many reasons. I found it helpful to only weigh myself weekly, and to concentrate on walking and making the yummiest possible tablespoons of mush I possibly could! Get wild! 😉

Hello everyone. I am new here. I got my surgery on 7/24/2023 in Seoul, South Korea. I've been living in Korea for around 4 years now and decided to take the jump. Got my consultation on 6/13 and then did my pre-op tests on 7/1! It's been around 3 weeks post-op, and I'm currently on the pureed phase of the diet. However, my weight is already stalling at 91-92kg 😰 Question is, should I go back to my first week post-op diet or try to keep going with the current diet?

I love these ideas everyone. Thanks for the input. I got a new list of food to try for week 4 along with foods to avoid. Spinach is a go. But no fruit with seeds or skin. I will look into a good juicer but it may be more cost efficient for me to buy it organic no sugar at this time and just add a creamy or clear protein. I will update everyone soon.

Surgery is two weeks from today. Had my pre-op admission appointment this morning and also started my two week OptiFast liquid diet today. As I type this, over the course of the day I've now had three shakes, two cups of vegetable broth and a couple of sugar free popcicles and haven't felt any genuine hunger to speak of.

After surgery, I was EXHAUSTED for several weeks. If you can get through being tired 24/7, I would say you could go back after a week as long as your job doest require lifting, a lot of physical activity, and you're off the pain medication. You also need to be able to drink your fluids ALL DAY. It really comes down to your specific job and required work. Maybe speak to your management about what work you can do if your job is more physically demanding With that said, to specifically answer your questions. I take care of my home and children, so I don't actually have a paying job, but the work is just as demanding. I couldn't lift anything over 15lbs per my surgical team until 6 weeks post op. I started to feel more like myself around week 3-4.

Yay! Just 2 days away. I’m excited for you. I was out of work for about 3 weeks. Surgery was 4/11, first day back to work was 5/1. I am an admin assistant just doing clerical work so the actual physical part of work wasn’t so much an issue, but the commuting was more the concern. (NYC subway stairs and a mile walk from subway to office plus w laptop and all hydration/protein essentials). When I did return to work, I did so remotely for another couple weeks and then slowly went back to commuting in 1 day, 2 days, then ultimately back to my 3 days in office. I think if I drove to work, then the 3 weeks would have been pretty sufficient time off as it was. I already work hybrid, but I was grateful to have the remote work option available for that extended time.

2 weeks post op today. I am seeing that I am VERY fortunate to not have to have dealt with a bunch of crazy crap from my insurer. I had a LapBand in 2009. Went to surgeon to have removed/replaced discussion, he ordered and did an endoscope, said all clear. His office sent request and a couple hours later literally my insurer called me, 2 days later, I had an approval letter to remove band and do a gastric bypass. Since I paid cash for my initial LapBand surgery, I didn't have to go through it all with the 6 mos trials and psychologists, etc. and there weren't any requirements. Had scope in July and Aug 1 did bypass. I had a 10 day low carb pre-op diet only and 24 hours liquid preop diet. I've been on liquids for two weeks now and he wants me to do a third week! urgghhh.... I cannot imagine doing a 10-14 day preop liquid followed by a 2-4 week post op liquid. This 2 weeks diet has been brutal. Let me say this as well, and it isn't meant to scare you but rather to prepare you: IT HURTS! IT IS VERY PAINFUL. Never had kids but I'd put the pain up against a Cesarean. Don't let anyone try to convince you it doesn't hurt or that it is "mild" because it isn't. The hospital was less than stellar. I was ordered morphene which doesn't work for me. Then switched to Dilautin, which only works about an hour then wears off. Since I have major back injuries (part of why I'm overweight to begin with) I take pain meds for chronic pain. Hospital finally said they would give me my pain pill every 6 hours along with the Dilautin shot every 3 hours. IF you take pain meds, bring them to the hospital. Yeah, I know they say don't but give them to a friend/family member because I PROMISE YOU that you don't want to be begging/waiting for someone to bring you something and honestly, I'd strongly advise you to buy some liquid Acetamenaphen to have in your bag as well. I actually had one old crotchety nurse who thought she would hold my pain meds over me as an inducement to get me up and moving. I told her pretty much that I'd move when I had my shot and was out of pain (otherwise a few obscenities were about to fly but hubby said she could give me my shot now and I'm so very grateful he was there) and other craziness. I rotated my own pain pills in with their meds, some may not agree with this but I don't think I could have stood it otherwise. Given the prescription my dr gave me to come home with, it was exactly it, a pain pill every 3-4 hours. I'm not a lightweight I assure you and I've had several surgeries (tubal, gall bladder, appendix,stents, etc) but this one DOES HURT so I'm saying BE PREPARED FOR IT! IF at all humanly possible, HAVE SOMEONE STAY WITH YOU FOR AT LEAST THE FIRST NIGHT OR AS LATE INTO THE NIGHT AS YOU CAN GET THEM TO STAY WITH YOU! Again, most hospitals are understaffed and I nearly pissed myself one night trying to get out of bed after my sister had left and when I couldn't get a nurse to come help me get up (they remove the catheter after 24 hours or so). Even little stuff is very hard to do when you're in pain. Bring and charge a phone and zip tie it to your hand if need be because I nearly called my husband to come get me. And when I got no answers about when I was expected to get my barium xray, I called to radiology over & over. No phone in the room (ICU) to call out. Yes, I'd do it again in spite of the awful pain but I think I'd have gone to a bigger city. I also was never told that I would come out of surgery and have to wait until the next DAY to get a barium xray before I'd be allowed anything to drink. I thought I would die of thirst so avoid a first thing am appointment if you can bc if you're in a room at 4 pm you have a lot less time to go thirsty. I'm down 23 lbs since my July dr visit. I'm pleased with that. But it hasn't been easy. I do enjoy the support here in this forum. Good luck.

I had my 12 year old lap band removed last week. I was in the hospital overnight and took pain meds the evening I got home. Took no more pain meds after. Wishing you an easy recovery!

It really depends of provinces. For me, in Quebec, I waited about 5 years from referal to surgery date.... which I cancelled... which took me off the list... So now that I'm ready, but not ready to wait another 5 years, I'm going self-paid. 5 weeks. What a difference money makes! (insert rolling eyes)

Was this self-paid?? You really did dodge a bullet there! Imagine the (non-existent) after care, and lack of compasion during the whole process... If it was self-paid, I'm sure you can find better, just a matter of ""shopping"" around for the best fit. I'm self-paid. I had an appointment with the (at the time) #1 surgeon and did not feel a connection or geniune care despite all the good reviews and credentials. When I expressed my doubts (voiced in the fact that I felt anxious and would prefer postponing), I was told I would need to provide a psych evaluation if I ever changed my mind. Okaaayyyy.... If me being anxious over making a life changing decision is a problem for you, then I guess we are not meant to be! Now, 5 years later, I am finally ready and found the (now) #1 surgeon to do it. This one I felt comfortable with right away (on the phone) and will meet in person this week. Good luck!

My last appt for surgery clearance was June 26th. The surgeon’s office called July 6th to pick a surgery date (booked until September) to submit to insurance. My insurance company approved surgery within two weeks. Fingers crossed that you will get a September date as well 🙂

I'm 51 and just got my surgery date last week - Sept 11th. I've lost just at 30 pounds pre-surgery so far. Getting excited that it is coming up, also a little nervous - feeling like I need to make sure I get a few last "solids" I like in before the months of liquid and puree. I feel like I am stagnating right before my surgery, I'm hoping that is not the case, as I have been having very little trouble motivating myself, so far. I think it's more nerves than anything. So far, I have chosen not to tell anyone outside of my household. I am planning to tell my in-laws in the next week. Not sure if I'll talk to anyone else about it before it's done.

Three weeks to go til Surgery. I'll tell you the one thing that is tripping me up BIG TIME!!! I am really struggling with this no drinking while eating... That one is going to be some work back when I'm eating normally for sure

It was, now I know that I am at the point of only losing about 2 pounds a month... and live in an almost constant stall. It's great... 😑

Hi All! After I completed all my testings and blood work, at my followup Friday (Aug 11th) they doctor's office went ahead to put me on the surgery calendar for Aug 28th. All paperwork was submitted to the insurance company that day as well. Today the office called to inform me that my sugery was APPROVED! They nor I expected a fast 1 day turn-a-round! Now my nerves kicked in. My pre-op diet starts the next week 20th. It consists of 3 protein shakes and 1 meal per day. I don't think I'll have any issues as the dietician informed me that I can break the one meal up any way I want to for that day. Thankfully, I still have restrictions from my sleeve surgery in 2017. Has anyone had the revision with success stories? Any tips? Any of you have upcoming revisions scheduled? Additional weight loss success? Has anyone had the surgery with little to no help at home? If so how was it for you? I would love to lose an additional 40-50 lbs. Thanks!

Hello Bari Friends, my surgery is on August 18th and currently on a two week medi-meal (optifast) diet. Three shakes a day and 1 or 2 sugar free jello. Surprisingly doing well- no headaches thankfully. Watching mukbangs tend to help me. Best of luck to everyone :)

Hello Bari Friends, my surgery is on August 18th and currently on a two week medi-meal (optifast) diet. Three shakes a day and 1 or 2 sugar free jello. Surprisingly doing well- no headaches thankfully. Watching mukbangs tend to help me. Best of luck to everyone :)

I'm having a lot of the feels about things and I don't even have a date yet! I think that's normal. Navigating the changes with other humans around is hard. My partner is diabetic too and very, very emotionally attached to food. And while they are very supportive of my choices and willing to change things around a bit, I think there may be some rough spots because food is a control issue and a comfort issue for them. I've had so many problems with food over the years that I'm pretty detached about it now. But I'm still sure these upcoming changes will be hard on us all. I did manage to quit vaping by just packing it all away. Out of sight, out of mind actually works for me for most things. I tend to eat out of boredom or vape out of boredom so putting things away and substituting other habits has been effective. But having conversations with my head hunger is still pretty hard. I'm not looking forward to the liquid phases of this experience. LOL I've fasted on liquids for days before for other procedures and the first few days are always the hardest, but I have never had to sustain it for weeks! I bet most of us are afraid of screwing things up. I had this whole panic thing the other day about possibly having the DS and then a world catastrophe happening and me not being able to get my vitamins and me dying of malnourishment---when my brain panics it does so EPICALLY! I finally reassured myself I could stockpile vitamins for a year once I find what works, you know, kind of like preppers do? I could be a vitamin prepper! 😂😂😂

Thank you so much. I was thinking the same thing about the estrogen. I was surprised the surgeon didn’t have any insight as well. I even asked was this normal after surgery and he basically said I should discuss it with OB. I have the mirena iud. I didn’t have any issues prior to surgery. I’m just hoping for a week of no bleeding, just a week.

Hello! I had my 18-year-old lap band removed because it was causing problems, including pain when I ate. My question is about the pain recovery time. The surgery was August 7th and the little info I could find on the surgery indicates I should be much better off than I feel after a week. I also read that removal would be easier than putting it in. I'm still in quite a bit of pain and I don't have a follow up appointment until August 25th. Does anyone have experience with removal of an old lap band that share your experience?

It’s the right choice, especially if you have come this far. I have two co-workers who have had bariatric surgery, one lost 200 lbs the other 140. A week or so after surgery, things really start to improve. I have heard there are some tough times the first few days after surgery, but those moments are fleeting. Just stay busy, and keep telling yourself pain is momentary, victory is forever!

I have been on mounjaro now for about 5 weeks now. I'm 10 months out now and down 151lbs. Not sure how long I'll stay on it but also pre diabetic. Still not sure what I think about it, but decided to see if I could tell a difference. So far, not really.