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I posted earlier, but as an addendum, being single and living alone presents unique complications to any journey off the beaten track. I told the world because I’m going to need the support of every person in my world to succeed. I usually keep all my secrets well hidden, but I want to succeed at this and I need the help

Hello everyone! My gastric sleeve surgery is scheduled for 10/15 and I can’t wait. It’s been a wild ride! 12 years ago I had the lapband. I was 257 and got down to 167. I had two pregnancies and lost all of the weight right after. About 8 months ago I started having a lot of issues with the band. Long story short I have to have it removed due to erosion and have gotten back up to 225 and feeling like crap! I have lost the greatest tool I had to help me and I can’t wait until this surgery to get me back on track. I start my pre op diet on 10/1 and that is stressing me out a bit but I’ll push through. I am only hoping for no complications and a quick recovery as I have three wild and crazy kids!!! Hoping to connect with some or all of you for support and experiences!

Today marks my 5 month surgiversary!! As of this morning, I am down 156 lbs from my high weight and 130 lbs from surgery. I am blessed that I’ve had little complications through the process. Still have a long way to go. A big THANK YOU to all that have supported me throughout the journey. It’s one of the best desicions I’ve made in life.

I loved all these different replies and it just goes to show that we are all so different in the way we are made and in the way we react to the surgery. My son, who is 20 years younger than me, has not had any problems from day 1 post-surgery. I think he could eat the kitchen sink and not have a reaction (he has kept his weight off, too). I, however, have had many problems with different foods and medications and other complications (low iron, anemia, reactive hypoglycemia, nausea). I wonder if our age at the time we had the surgery comes into play here.

I will be 2 months post op next week and I was wondering if anyone else is experiencing frequent urination? It like anything I drink goes right through me...I still haven’t had any complications but this is actually annoying even at night I get up to pee i can’t even hold it if I wanted to..if I have to go I have to go lol

That sounds rough. I'm sorry to hear all of that. Did they know that Lupus could cause those kinds of complications?

I am 100% agree what you said about weight loss agents. They had teenagers working. I had my gastric sleeve done 2012 with Dr Almanza and that time I had great experience and no complications at all. They were new at that time and were offering more higher price but great service I paid 5k. But I just recently had my mummy makeover surgery done with Dr Rafael Camberos on September 2018 i went through weight loss agents. I have no complaints about Drs and their experience. Both Drs are great and have lost of experience but the patient after care is terrible very very very bad. Yes I agree the have young girls working as nurses there in the so called Grand View Hospital . They are not trained and have no patient care manners at all. All they do is socializing and laughing. If you need the help they give you totally strange look. You live there in the facility like a prisoner . I experience there few times personally they hide my call or service bell so I could not ask them for help and I had my whole body sore with lipo and tummy tuck and armlift. I had stitches all over and I really needed someone help me lift up from bed or put bandage on my wounds but I had to ask few times before they come for help . If nurse will come for help, she look at you as a supervisor that you do everything yourself. I stayed there 6 night . Out of six nights they only provide 3 days food only . which was only one time of meal. But the price I paid for my surgery suppose to include meals as well. But only got one meal a day for only 3 days out of 6 days. After surgery you need energy from food to recover as well , but I swear to God I was starved to death . I got so weak in 6 days after so much blood lose and also from not been eaten. That Grand View hospital is too far and gated place you can't even go out to buy some food. And on top if you don't know Spanish that's another delama. I would not recommend anyone to go to that Grand view Hospital in Mexico. If you really spending money go to some one else for extra few hundred bucks but never ever go to Grand View hospital. I am lucky that I servived but I don't want anyone get the same experience like i had. I have tears in my eyes while I am writing this. Life is more important than money. Please do your research before booking any surgery with weight loss agents.

No doctor is going to reverse any WLS simply because a patient can't eat what they want to, it would ONLY be reversed due to a complication that would warrant it. Your stomach doesn't absorb nutrients, that's the job of the intestines, which is why the Bypass folks have the malabsorption and the sleeved folks don't, there are plenty of sleeved folks that, once they get into their proper eating schedule, don't need any extra nutrition because everything is provided by the food they eat. Bypass patients generally will need vitamin supplementation for the rest of their lives.

I was off humira for 2 weeks before, and 2 weeks after. The surgeon said one month after but my rheumatologist said it was not necessary to wait that long in the absence of any complications. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

So sorry to hear this. As I know how you feel I had gone through nearly two years of test and finally I was going to get my sleeve a few weeks before surgery I was diagnosed with heart failure and my surgery was cancel I cry for weeks. Although I was so lucky it was found before my surgery. All together it took five years .but I am now the proud owner of a smaller stomach. I had my surgery 13 June 2018. The most important lesson is to be in a healthy place in body. To lessen complications Hang in there and get as much support as possible. Use the time to get well enough as surgery is still on the cards

Oh wow, okkkkkk DEF the late nite hummus and pita! I missed that before! If all you had was that tiny amount of G2. Pfffff. That ain't even enough to deactivate the IF in my HO. I 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000% agree about seeing the menu/planning ahead of time. I plan that meal first from the menu and plug it in, so I know what to do with the rest of the day. LOL! What a goober, right? If it's on the fly...then FM!!! It's very very difficult in that case and triple that if it's Asian or Mexican. *sigh* And yes, I completely get and understand the whole ordering off the App menu or the side menu of the add-on menu. It totally torks me! I WANT an entree! But I've really gotten to where I hate leftovers from restaurants and I used to love them. And I feel so guilty ordering a full size entree. To make matters worse, Mr. F. and I have different food preferences especially now. And I get tired of his stuff. Plus he hates to share. He will eat every last morsel on his plate and if I ask to share, he gives me like a bite or two. LOL. And then I get angry. So yeah, I try to find cheap alternatives and usually do just fine. But still...gah! It's just complicated. Right? I don't know what to say about the metabolism. I also share this fear big time! It's hard to think you are taking in very many cals given your quantities. So the 4.5lbs gain is a stumper. Could that be more travel edema and salt/alcohol/flying rather than real weight gain due to diet? I DO think that increasing calories slowly is easier on us rather than doing it all at once...I've done both and felt like the gradual worked better for me without stalls/gains. The other way, I for sure pack on about 5-10lbs then stall for a few weeks. Then I "may" get back to losing, or maybe I won't. What is strange for me this past week with the IF is that normally, if I eat 1000cals or more, I will be guaranteed to wake up with anything from a 2-6lb gain overnight. That didn't happen here, even on the nights I had a glass of wine and the bread. I'd wake up with maybe 1 to 1 1/2lbs overnight? Maybe? Sometimes, the scale just stayed the same. Then when I would do my DD, the next day I'd either be the same or I'd be down a bit. If I do UDs that are fairly low carb/no wine, then I just start racking up the losses without gains on the UDs. That's been my pattern with JUDDD in the past and it's looking like that may be my pattern again?

I am very sad and depressed right now.. half way through the six-month pre-bariatric program at my hospital, I finally met with the surgeon a month ago. He determined : 1) because I was still living on Prednisone for my Myasthenia Gravis, and had had surgical complications 4 years ago after an automobile accident left me with a perforated colon; and 2). a knee injury which left me in a wheelchair for 3 months this spring created DVT blood clots- that I was not a candidate for elective surgery at this time. I cried for days afterward. In my car, in the grocery store, in my art studio. I could not stop crying. I live with a rare neuro-muscular disease, and finally had to be placed on high dose steroids for it (100 mg/day) 19 years ago. Or should I say, 140 lbs ago? Steroids down to 10 mg/day now with IVIG infusions every 4 weeks. Evidently IV immunoglobin doesn’t effect surgical healing the way that Prednisone does. Dr. pointed out that even if I had been otherwise healthy, the DVTs alone would have postponed the surgery by 10-12 months. We made a loose date for reevaluation in June 2019, if my neurologist can get me off of the steroids completely six months prior by increasing the frequency of the IVIG doses. I was looking into this surgery 4 years ago right before the bus accident, and the possibility of finally having it got me through the multiple horrific resection surgeries. I am still eligible for the sleeve gastrectomy, but know that it will take fortitude to stick with the ‘non-surgical weight loss program’, rehab and exercising and prednisone tapering until my reevaluation in the Spring. It just feels like a dream slipping away, and I am having trouble staying motivated with my program. Has anyone else experienced surgical postponements for underlying medical conditions? Very much looking for motivation advice. Thank you.

First and foremost hello to everyone. I am new here. My name is Lyndi and I am 34 yrs old and love in Western Canada. I had RNY surgery Dec.7,2017. All my life I have battled with my weight. I have always been the fat girl. In 2014 I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, stage 3 hypertension (extreme high blood pressure), high cholesterol and problems with my thyroid. I also suffered through horrendous menstrual cycles. I once had a menstrual cycle for a year straight. It just started one day and never stopped. The doctors couldn't find any reason why other than it could be weight related. In November 2014 I slipped on the ice and fell the result..I ended up with severe arthritis in both knees due to the trauma from the fall. My right knee also ended up out of alignment and no doctor would fix it because I was morbidly obese. In February 2015 I approached my doctor and asked him to refer me to a local clinic that specializes on obesity. If I could get into this program that the clinic offered I could get weight loss surgery and it would be covered I wouldn't have to pay for it. To get into the program it is only by referral and is known to have a long wait list. But I knew I needed to do something as I knew I didnt have much left in me. So fast forward 18 months and o finally got my acceptance to the program and had my first appointment on August 2016. It was well worth the wait. They gave me access to a dietician, psychologist, a doctor and nurse. As well as various specialists and classes focused on helping me make the changes that I needed to make. As well as classes that talked about what to expect after surgery. In September 2016 I hit my highest weight. When I stepped on the scale and saw the numbers I cried. I weighed 517 lbs and had a BMI of 74% !! Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I weighed that much. I knew I was big but never thought that I was that big. In May of 2017 just 9 short months after joining the clinic I met my surgeon and signed my consent forms for RNY surgery. I started my liquid diet August 1st 2017 and was on Optifast shakes for my liquid diet for almost 4.5 months. Because I was so morbidly obese I needed to get my BMI down to a safe number. Here in Canada they wont do weight loss surgery on you of your BMI is over 55% as it just isn't safe. I got my BMI down to 57% and my surgeon agreed to proceed with the surgery as I had no history of prior surgeries so she said that makes it a lot easier as well. I had surgery 7 months after meeting my surgeon and signed the forms. On the day of my surgery I was 412 lbs I had lost 105 lbs in just over a year prior to surgery. I am currently 9 months post op things have been great. I've had absolutely no complications of any kind. I have no food intolerances and can eat anything. I am very much in practice of everything in moderation. My dietician told me that there was no reason I couldnt enjoy the foods i used to in moderation. So I do.. I haven't gained any weight or anything. Although at 9 months out it has started to slow down a lot. I currently weigh 337 lbs. In total from my highest weight I'm down a total of 180 lbs. I've lost a complete average sized man..lol I feel great but I am still a work in progress. I still battle a few demons daily, I still struggle with self worth and self esteem. But every day gets better. The hardest part through all this has benlem dealing with the hair loss is does nothing to help me with my self esteem issues. But I am been reassured that it will grow back. The split picture I want even at my highest weight. I was only about 430 lbs in the picture with the black sweater. But I am wearing the same pants in both pictures. Sent from my SM-G960W using BariatricPal mobile app

Bypass is reversible. They just dont typically reverse it but it can be done. As everything is still inside nothing was removed. Also you are only a few weeks out from surgery you need to give yourself time to adjust. Myself I'm 9 months out and I've had no complications at all either. It does get better. Sent from my SM-G960W using BariatricPal mobile app

I agree - I need some support from people in the same boat. I am terrified of anesthesia complications. I don't know why because I have had surgery before. I guess it is because this time around for surgery I am very very overweight which in turn leads to a chance for more complications. Other than that, I am fairly in good health for my weight.

I am getting extremely frustrated. Please let me know if this experience is unique to me. I am 2 weeks post op, and I have not lost any weight in the second week. I know there is a 3 week stall is it possible to have a stall in the second week. I am not getting consistent information from the surgeon about my nutritional requirements and I am concerned because I am not feeling restricted on liquids and maybe I am over doing it. I was not having regrets, but I am starting to now. Also, I am able to start purees tomorrow and not sure what I can and cant have. I have another weird situation. My primary care doctor is the director of a nutritional and weight loss program. I got cleared for surgery by his nutritionist, however she does not specialize in bariatrics. Now I need a nutritionist that does specialize in bariatrics, and the one recommended by the surgeons office says she cant treat me because I did not do the initial evaluation with her. I am at a loss because I don't know what I should and should not be doing. My surgery was uncomplicated, however getting information I need to be a success has been very complicated. My doctor's office has given me contradicting information both pre and post op, and I am beyond frustrated and in tears. I want to be a success but all I see is failure in my future. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

hi @Newbiedoo, you wanted to talk to someone newly "kangarooed" like yourself. FYI kangaroo is a pet name for our variety of WLS surgery, because we now have pouches! Anyhoo here I am , freshly sliced and diced. My surgery was September 5th,at 7 AM. My surgeon planned it,that way so if my surgery got,more complicated he could give,my case his undivided attention. aw it smooths and soothes my ego to think,of it all. I have felt my life has been second string much of my,life. I think,i am doing pretty fair. I have the traditional 5 incisions. Hmmn , one,of them right to the navel and slightly above, one between my breasts, directly in line with the navel, one in the right subcostal area, same place they used to use before laprascopic for gall bladder removal. on the left side , 2 more ones, in a straight line about a fingersbreath apart and then I have one in my navel. it looked messy, didnt,have steristrips, so had nurse clean up so it didn't stay full of dry flaky itchy blood. so I guess I have 6 instead of five after all . My tummy looked pretty. good the first day, then the second day they decided to do lovenox shots, they did 2 there, now I'm at home and still doing those shots , 12 hours apart. And my,tummy has turned into something strange. it is technicolornand slowly heading for the right side, on the left it makes stretch marks from 3 nine-pounders just shine. not a genius at fluid replacement,but taking enough to. keep urinating. protein levels only being held up by protein shakes..Haven't got too far into the stage #2 diet. Hey I'm going for awhile, got grind some more pills down, I am lucky my hospital Ohio State University have me a. pill crusher, pill cutter and a mini cup measuring 1,ounce. Don't matter if it has the university crest.,probably take it every place I go . so remember sip sip sip walk walk walk and if you have the time give yourself a big hug, you have made a big step 👣forward for your own health.😇

Hi all, I had the gastric sleeve done April 26, 2017 and due to some complications my sleeve was coverted to a gastric bypass on July 3,2017. My weight on the day of surgery In April was 253 and my weight the day of surgery for the bypass was 228. It been over anyear since the surgery and my cutrent weight is 113 lbs and i am 5’ 6” and I continue to keep losing. Although i have an appetite I cannot tolerate foods and liquids to well without getting severe abdominal pain and nausea. I was told that i need to be Hospitalized and have a feeding tube inserted to help get the nutrition and calories that i am not getting orally. Wanted to know of anyone has experienced or knows anyone who has experienced anything similar to what i am experiencing and if so was a feeding tube helpful. Im so scared and nervous but if i dont do this im possibly going to die if i continue to lose more weight. Any advice or words of comfort will be helpful and appreciated f

It's been a mighty long time since I've checked in here...probably over a year. I had to have my band removed last year due to a slip and other complications. It took a while but I gained back the weight I had lost I've given myself time to heal and deal with some of the other personal issues life has thrown my way. Though you can't put your life on hold continuously just to cope with other issues. It's still so important to take care of ourselves, and I often forget that allowing myself to get bogged down in other people's health and wellness issues. Even my dogs get top billing. I'm currently scheduled for bypass surgery in October. Right after my sons engagement party as a matter of fact! Party is Saturday and Monday will find me in surgery provided I make it through the liquid diet for 2 weeks and don't eat at the party but be good with my shakes and such. My father in law just recently passed away and I have been helping my husband cope with the loss as well as clearing up all the legal/medical stuff. His Mom is very sick as well...and yeah it's been a hell of a month here. One of my dogs ate a rock and he needed gastric surgery before me! They had to resection part of his intestine to get the rock out...and repair the damage so now he's recovering and I hope I can be just as brave and bounce back just as well as he seems to be doing. I think of putting the surgery off a couple more weeks to clear the hurdle of all this...and the engagement party, but that might be just me putting myself on the back burner yet again. So...the diet starts in a couple of weeks...Sept 24 is the start date, and by then I'll know if I can give this my all or if I need to push it out a couple weeks. So that's what's up and what's new on this part of Long Island NY.

I had bypass (medical revision due to gastric sleeve complication. Not RNY) and experiencing similar episodes, 1 of which came 4 hours after eating a triggering food and ended up with me losing consciousness at home one night. I went and bought a glucometer. I have a family history of type 2 but have never tested even prediabetic myself. Before my bypass my fasting blood sugar was 70 and now it is in the upper 90s when I test it. I am currently tracking all of my food and nutrition and checking my sugar to see what in the world is going on until I can speak to a medical professional educated enough to really tell me what the heck is going on. I knew about dumping and its causes but I too associated it with sugary treats and not what I am experiencing so I have little context to frame this for myself. I know we learn a lot from our various programs and from patient to patient sharing but I read more posts that suggested "most" bypass patients didn't dump (I see 30% rate posted quite a bit) and certainly I never thought it would be me dealing with it (ah, isn't that the case with so many things)

Well, Rick, you hit the nail on the head when you said it triggers hunger! I just seem to want to eat all the time because my stomach has that achy "feed me" feeling. Thanks for writing. This is the pits but I am slowly getting quite an education on this complication. No fun at all. BUT still glad I had the surgery. Wouldn't trade this freedom for anything!

I am 14 years post gastric bypass surgery. About a year after surgery, I started having episodes where my lips would go numb and then I would get confused and shaky and start sweating profusely. After about 30 minutes, symptoms would abate and I would return to normal. It only happened once or twice a year so I ignored it. Until this year. This year it began happening once or twice a week. After a severe episode, and at the urging of a friend, I ended up in the ER close to diabetic coma even though I do not have diabetes. My blood sugar was 34. I found out the cause: fluctuating hypoglycemia. It is caused by the surgery itself. Food empties too fast into the intestine and causes the pancreas to pour out insulin. This eventually causes a fast drop in blood sugar. THERE IS NO CURE. This is a fairly newly-recognized complication of gastric bypass surgery and no one has found any treatment for it - at least none I can find on the web. I just want to get the word out there so people will be aware of this potential side effect. Not everyone gets it. You can get additional details by searching the web.

Ummm yes LOL. I started this WLS journey like a year and a half ago. Its complicated but the surgeon recommended bypass at that time. I stopped the process due to an injury and then started back up. I want the cost covered the surgeon evidently works for multiple hospitals not just ours. I was never told hey we aren't going to cover the cost bc we cant perform it here, and then the office lady didn't realize that the doctor had recommended the bypass and just submitted for the sleeve bc that's what's she thought I was seen for. So its an ugly complicated mess. No GERD. Or acid issues that I know of. Just diabetic. High blood pressure. Retinopathy. And all the other fun things you get being over weight, and a diabetic basically your whole life lol

I spent a lot of time going back and forth between gastric bypass and gastric sleeve trying to decide which to have. I ultimately decided on the sleeve, but I think there are pros and cons to both. From what I read, and these are all statistics, not personal stories, so of course there are always exceptions to the statistics. Statistically, gastric bypass patients have a bit more weight loss than sleeve and maintain a bit closer to goal. Gastric bypass is a hair more successful at sending diabetes type 2 into remission than sleeve, but both can be effective. The sleeve creates a high pressure system which can exacerbate GERD to an unmanageable point so it is rarely recommended for people who are already diagnosed with GERD. However, once you are past the initial major complication of sleeve (staple line leak) there seem to be few major complications to contend with. The main one seems to be GERD. But in gastric bypass there are statistically more serious complications that can develop later in life. This could be due to the fact that sleeve is a newer procedure and there is less statistical information available that bypass, or it could be that it actually just less likely to have medical complications down the road. It's such a personal decision and based on so many factors. I wish you all the best in making your choice!

i went to my Dr. thing about Gastric Bypass he told me it wasn't necessary that the sleeve would do the work with less complications and to be honest its the best decision i`ve made my only complain is why i didn't do it sooner, today i`m 6 months and 2 days post op and i`ve lost 121 pounds since the day of surgery i started out at 300 lbs and i`m proud to say i weight 179 pounds i have a Dr appointment on Monday because i already lost the amount i wanted to lose and then some, my advise for you is go for it! do the works follow your Dr direction do lots of exercise and welcome your new and healthy life.