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I haven't posted here since the beginning, just starting to come back here to see what is up. It's been a busy year for me. I've been pretty focused on work and my life changes. I feel so blessed, my surgery went well and my results so far are fantastic. I have lost 120 pounds and I have 16 to go to hit my personal goal....I will still keep up my eating plan and exercise so if it goes lower than that so be it. I have not had any complications so far, no hair loss... The weight has been steadily coming off with a few stalls here and there. I think the key to my success thus far has been realizing that while this surgery is helping me, its still up to me. It's taken sticking to the plan, getting the right foods in and exercising pretty much daily. I know that is something that I will have to do the rest of my life and if it keeps me feeling as fantastic as I feel right now...that will never be an issue for me. I don't ever want to go back to the way things were before. I'm so thankful that I was able to get this surgery, I wish that it was available to all who need it...it has literally saved my life. Cheers!

I hope it’s okay that I post this question here, even though I’m a woman. I was sleeved last year and my husband almost seven weeks ago. Since his surgery he’s had no complications except some leg pain, and his sexual desire is nonexistent now. Prior to surgery -even at his HW of 380- he had no problems. He’s down to about 330 now and told me he hasn’t even been interested in masturbating. Everything I’ve read says his desire should be increasing and I’m really concerned. Have any of you experienced this issue? Did it resolve itself eventually? I’ve been avoiding addressing it in serious conversation because I don’t want to stress him out. **edit** Sorry, I just saw the sticky that this room is for men only. Mods, feel free to remove my post (but I hope you don’t)

Thank you all for your advice! We do have good hospitals here at home but none that deal with bariatric patients so they might not be as familiar with any complications that arise?

Hello all, I have a 4 hr drive to the hospital where I will be having my surgery. My surgeon likes his patients to stay in the area at least a week post op in case of complications. Although I do think it’s a good idea, I would really rather be in my own home/bed while recouping. Hotels are on summer rates and will be really expensive to stay there......anyone else have to travel?

Hey lovelies! Surgery day was June 6th and I am struggling with protein shakes. I can’t seem to get them down. Also cold liquids HURT. I have had some Greek yogurt and have had a few attempts at some cream soups. I also had to try some cottage cheese due to a complication I had to take some super strong steroids for. Also is anyone else struggling with eating? I feel like I’m not as progressed as many of you. Tips??

I'm glad you posted this! I feel the same way! I'm fearful of complications, although it seems like most people are doing very well afterwards. I'm looking forward to replies. Thanks again for posting.

When I was sleeved and had horrible nausea so I opted out of narcotic pain med and was given a liquid Tylenol, this week with the DS it was Tylenol ES and Toradol, until I ran into complications and was given stronger meds..

I had one of the smoothest, fastest recoveries i've heard about. Few pain meds. One night in the hospital. Ate 1000 calories at 3 weeks. Never missed a day of 60+ ounces of water. A VERY easy recovery compared to most.....and I had a large hiatal hernia repaired. You should watch the surgery on Youtube. Fixing the hernia isn't very complicated. No biggie at all. You will be fine:)

Can you do some exercise videos indoors? They have walking videos that really don’t take a lot of room and are very low impact. After surgery it is difficult to get all the requirements for food and fluid in, but it sounds as if you are making good progress thus far. Are you able to add in cottage cheese? Pain for months after surgery is not the norm, and can be an indicator of complications.

Thanks for the tips !! Looking forward to feeling better, in the hospital for another week due to some complications.. Surprised to have gained in hospital on clears and IV fluids I’m up 15 pounds PLUS GAS TOO...that’s still trapped... Awesome successful journey! It didn’t happen overnight so I’m prepared for the peaks and valleys...but it’s on when I get home! I bought a new scale that’ll sync to my Fitbit, with all my stats,

I had DS surgery June 12 and felt slight soreness, nothing unusual, felt ready to 24 hours laterPOD 1...then it hit with a ton of bricks, POD 2, excruciating pain, high heart rate and inability to walk.. had a cat scan it was negative for leak... POD3my surgeon wasn’t convinced and Wanted too keep me to see how I was feeling wasn’t quite up to par but pain controlled still walking, every 3 hours slow but steady..POD4 woke up with fever103.9 and heart in 120’s. Plan was exploratory lap 2 hours later, came out of OR with 3 drains and a NGT to decompress stomach and a PCA..for pain control, he found a teeny tiny leak, restitched it and covered with muscle. Washed the cavity hence the drains. Now on antibiotics and fluids...And another week here in the hospital. The upside I have a great team of nurses and docs at a nationally accredited metabolic and Bariatric center... I’m getting awesome care. I read so much research studies and articles prior to the DS I knew the switch has more complications but greater results! The benefits outweigh the risks .... peace and live my bench buddies !

This just makes my heart hurt. You need to be able to vent your frustrations and negativities in this space as well as in your 'real' life. This surgery thing is HARD. Yes, in some ways it's easier than doing the diet and exercise thing again, only to regain, but in other ways it's the hardest thing EVER. I am very, very lucky in that I have an amazing support system, and I've needed them at many points during the last 2 years. I got frustrated and quit posting here a while back, but reading this makes me realize the debt that us 'vets' owe to our support groups. So, to answer your original question, I had a pretty clear goal in my mind and always looked at the goal as something that I absolutely could attain. Some days when I'd get on the scale and it would be the same as the day before...that was defeating but I truly believed in the surgery and in the plan I was following. So I'd give myself a little pity party then get back to it...and I exceeded my goal within a year. I've had my plastic surgeries and I don't feel like a WLS patient anymore, I feel like a normal, thin-ish woman who eats small amounts at a time and doesn't feel self-conscious when I go out. Again, this is HARD. I don't think there's any way to adequately prepare ourselves for the crap, mental and physical, that's coming in that first year post-op. The hormonal changes, dealing with our personal relationship with food, accepting all the praise from everyone who sees us (this was the hardest for me...it got to where when someone would say 'Oh my gosh, you LOOK GREAT' I'd think 'damn, I must have looked BAD'), the saggy skin and being dehydrated and constipated or the opposite...it's just a long, complicated slog. But I can tell you that after a couple of years, it CAN be awesome! Yes, I still need to log my food, avoid carbs, exercise and be aware of my old habits, but it's easier and more routine every day Message me when you hit 2 years out...I want to know where you are and how you feel!

In our case, the fundus is the stretchy part that makes up most of the greater, or outer, curvature of the stomach, and is what is removed when a sleeve gastrectomy is done, or is folded up and tied back in a sleeve plication. It looks like with the endoscopic procedure, they suture it up internally to make the fundus inaccessible, leaving the reduced "sleeve" like path open for restricted food flow. Being a fairly new procedure, one is fighting the learning curve - both for the individual surgeon and for the industry as a whole. The guys that did the first heart transplant were the best in the business, but the patient still only survived a short time; it takes time, practice and experience - both individual and collective - for a procedure to mature into a routine, everyday therapy, so your doc may well be exceptional, but they are all still working out the kinks in a new procedure. Where to go from here? A bypass was suggested, and this is very common, as most bariatric surgeons were raised on them, so to speak, know them well and tend to be very comfortable with them when things get complicated as they can with some revisions. You note that a SADI has been suggested - was this by the same surgeon, or someone else? If the SADI is a possible, then a regular sleeve gastrectomy should also be workable, as the SADI normally uses the sleeve as its basis, and presumably that would be most attractive to you as that is what is most similar to your originally chosen endo sleeve. Whether you need the malabsorptive component of the bypass or SADI is an individual decision. When things get complicated like this, it is usually best if one can get a second (or even third) opinion on the problem and possible solutions. There are often several different alternatives available, but individual doctors will prefer, or have more experience, with one over another, while another doc may have different experiences and preferences as to how to approach this problem. Good luck in working this out...

My Surgery was Wednesday 6/13. They put a nausea patch behind my ear before surgery and gave me reglan. I had one complication from the anesthesia-- couldn't pee! So I had to have a catheter overnight. They pulled it and the drains yesterday 6/14 and I am home. Otherwise all has been good. I haven't been sick or in too much pain. Just sore. Drinking Life Water has been a breeze. I crushed my meds and I had a cramp and pain when I took them. Two ounces of pear juice and I definitely knew it and had a slight cramp. Not taking the pain meds during the day now. Plan to return to work Monday for my desk job.

I have the surgery seven years ago And live in an adult diaper now. I will most likely need them for the rest of my life. There were complications with my surgery. Not only do I have to live in a doll diaper I’ve lost the majority of my hair And ended up in the hospital 11 times for Malnutrition. However my brother had the surgery and it worked great for him and he doesn’t require a diaper. Good luck everyone

I completely agree. My mom had the surgery and was successful. I don’t think I’m as nervous about the after part as I am about the surgery itself. I’ve never had surgery-other than tonsils when I was very little-and I’m worried about complications during. Try to stay positive and keep your mind of it! Everything is going to be okay. Our whole lives are about to change for the better!

I stalled at the same time as you, almost exactly. I spent 5 days in the hospital due to complications and I didn't loose anything from about a week post op until I was well into my 3rd week.

Be careful. It's relatively easy for MOST people...but if you run into complications, being at a clinic away from home can turn into a nightmare. Not a super common scenario, but it does happen pretty often (about 5% of patients...one in twenty). Lot of stories of folks here, in fact, who have had issues with strictures, bleeds, digestive issues, etc. Very important to figure out who is going to take care of you if problems arise once you get home, who you can call for help, ect.

https://www.healio.com/endocrinology/diabetes/news/print/endocrine-today/{1dc23215-49dc-4ad7-90da-346ba16663d6}/post-gastric-bypass-hypoglycemia-a-serious-complication-of-bariatric-surgery Bypass people have more hospitalizations for hypoglycemia and tend to have more severe symptoms, but sleeve folks can get it, too. Research on this complication is ongoing. Of 175 eligible patients, 120 were randomized 1:1 to RYGB or SG; 117 (93%) completed the 12-month follow-up. Reactive hypoglycemia was detected in 14% and 29% of SG and RYGB patients (P = 0.079), respectively, with the effect of treatment in multivariate analysis significant at P = 0.018. Daily hypoglycemic episodes during continuous glucose monitoring did not differ between groups (P = 0.75). Four of 59 RYGB subjects (6.8%) had 1 to 3 hospitalizations for symptomatic hypoglycemia vs 0 in SG. The static β-cell glucose sensitivity index increased after both treatments (P < 0.001), but the dynamic β-cell glucose sensitivity index increased significantly in SG (P = 0.008) and decreased in RYGB (P = 0.004 for time × treatment interaction). Whole-body insulin sensitivity increased about 10-fold in both groups.

You and I are close in age, starting weight and bmi. I agree with comments that when you don't have "as" much to lose it is slower. I lost at about your pace of little less than a pound a day loss. I have lost nearly 40lbs since surgery on 4/11/18. I don't regret it one bit and I had a LOT of complications. It's been well worth it. So try not to focus on the negative. For me this was a "new life" and there isn't any room for past behaviors or ways of thinking. Lose the voices in your head that say your going to fail or it's not enough. Do some self work to explore these issues because facing those issues will help make this more than weight loss but losing the weight and freeing yourself from the things that caused you to gain in the first place. Good luck!

Hey everyone!!! I'm home, got back late yesterday surgery went great no issues, no complications. I'm just working on getting all my liquids in and sleeping quite a bit. I'm also walking every hour, feeling okay, not in that much pain(I've only had one dose of pain medicine in about 36 hours), and nausea hasn't really been an issue either. I just wanted to thank everyone for all their kind words and support. It honestly did help me get over some of the jitters I was having about this.

@Beta98 my emotions were all over the place as well. I would just internally deconstruct the emotion to see if I could find out where it was coming from, typically it's just misplaced fear. You lost 100 lbs 2x in your life, so that means you've got the will power to do so, but you are afraid you aren't going to be able to keep it off. Well, there is only 1 person that can make sure that happens, and that's you. It's ok to be afraid, hell if anyone says they weren't some level of scared before surgery, I'd call them a liar to their face. Even the most prepared person in the world is going to have some latent fear about the procedure. I've been through this 2x times now, I've watched surgeries being performed, I knew every step of the surgery, the tools, the complications, who was doing what, etc... and I was still afraid to some extent. I had the same "uncertainty" fears, each time I simply told myself that I was going to make 100% sure this time was different. I've even forced myself to do things when I'd rather not... I've been at the gym and been like "I'm done with this... the results are too slow" but, even though that though crossed my mind, I didn't leave. I finished my work out and moved on. You will have moments where you want to cave, it's your choice to do so. You've just got to make the decision not to cave. You've got this.

Questions for doc: How many of these procedures have you done? What is your complication rate? What is the average excess weight loss of your patients in 6, 12, 18 months?

Questions: Does doc do barium swallow test after surgery? Can I have a scopolamine patch for nausea before surgery? What kind of anesthetic is used? What kind of pain relievers are used after surgery (IV Tylenol at 1000mg works great)? What size do you make the sleeve/pouch? What is your complication rate? How would I know if I have a stricture? Who do I call first after surgery if I think I have an issue? How many ounces do I have to drink before I am released after surgery? What can I take for constipation?

I apologize for the lengthy backstory: Just a little about myself: I was originally Lap-banded in Nov 2007 with HW 256, SW 246. In May 2008 we discovered I was pregnant (band unfilled and gave birth to my son in Jan 2009). Then I began the process of starting the lap band fill process again. I was able to get to my lowest weight in 2012 at 168, but normally could maintain between 175-180 with moderate restriction. In Feb 2016 I began having a lot of health problems; I couldn’t get over the “flu”, I had constant reflux- to the point of waking up in vomit a couple of times. At the time I wasn’t thinking much about band complications (I previously had amost of the fluid removed from my band in 2015 due to acid reflux...and I think I may have been in denial and didn’t want to lose the band). To condense the story a bit I will fast forward and share that following a CT scan in March 2016 they found a large mass in my left lung which was originally thought to be cancerous. I went through many tests and was on a 6 week course of antibiotics when finally the mass started to respond (it was later ruled to be a necrotizing form of pneumonia most likely due to the regurgitation from a tight band). - In May of 2016 (when I wanted to start losing weight again we discovered my lapband had a minor slip (at the time my weight was 212). They emptied all the fluid in my band and I worked hard to try and lose weight- I was able to get back down to 193 by September 2016, but felt like I was constantly starving myself....and the weight didn’t stay off.....it was also the year I got divorced: divorce final in October 2016. Last year (2017) brought its own challenges....(side note In Dec 2015 my mother had moved in with us and I became a caregiver for her while she fought a beautiful and courageous battle with lung cancer)....she passed away 6/21/2017.....it seemed during this time I continued to gain weight- part stress, heartache, and making many unhealthy food choices.....I’ve yo yo dieted many times since last year but continued to gain weight. After a recent routine CT (to monitor the progress/changes in my lungs- which praise the Lord is now scar tissue 🙌🏼) it was discovered my lapband had a massive slip which will require surgical intervention. Yesterday I went to the surgeon to discuss options. I had called the insurance company and they told me my plan excluded a weight loss benefit. Well it turns out they will approve one proceedure per lifetime, so after discussing pros cons of each surgery and my history with acid reflux and other comorbidities we decided that a conversion from lapband to RNY would be the next step. I still have to complete the psych evaluation and 3 months of dietician classes and the surgery can be scheduled for Sept. 2018. I am excited about this next step forward on my journey towards health. I know wls is not a fix, but a tool and I welcome any support!! I would also love to talk to anyone that went from the lapband to RNY. Thanks for reading 😊