Search the Community

@@Kyn13 It will most likely depend on your Surgeon. At higher BMIs, they often want a weight loss prior to surgery so there are less risks. You may have a pre-op diet to reduce the size of your liver and you will certainly lose weight then. The fact that you lost a good amount during your supervised program is great!! Don't stress - whatever happens will be for the best. Good luck!

I'm so sorry for your loss...I'm so happy you reached and passed your goal, that is AMAZING! Thanks for the inspiration

I am so sorry for the loss of your aunt. So many times, the lessons that we receive from the things that we experience are the basis for our future growth and truly do make us all the better. After experiencing so many close losses myself now, I no longer hold back what I want and need to tell people . . . mostly those three little words that none of us use enough *I love you*. My hardest lesson was learned when a good friend who was dying asked me to come down on a Wednesday and I didn't think I could take off work so told her I would come on Saturday. She died on Friday and I never was able to tell her all the things I wanted to say or be there to comfort her as she lay dying. I've held on to that lesson ever since and it helps to guide me through my life. You journey is nothing short of amazing and you continue to be such an inspiration to all of the rest of us! Keep up the amazing work! Oh, and please share how you got such incredible arms!

Hello gang, I had WLS in 2004. I was one of the early lap band recipients in Australia under Prof. Paul O'Brien. I did great and lost 46kg (101lbs), but then life set in and I had two kids and a suicidal husband so I let the weight creep back up. I had a revision in 2013 due to a hiatus hernia so large I was having esophageal spasms. So now, I'm at the heaviest I've ever been, and I've got a ventral hernia that goes from my navel to my sternum. My surgeon said he won't even try to fix it if my BMI is over 30 because it will just come right back. He then talked to me about how the lap band has fallen out of favor because it was not as effective as the original studies promised. He suggested a revision to a VSG, and set me up in my insurance's approval program for WLS. The first step is the removal of the band and port and recovery from that. Surgery is scheduled for July 7th. After that I'll progress through the "hoop-jumping" to qualify for the VSG, which providing everything goes smoothly, I'll qualify for in October. So far no one has stated any pre-surgery weight loss requirements, but I have been studying the various plans and doctor's programs I've found online, as well as reading personal stories from support forums like this one, so I can get an aggregate view of the entire procedure both pre and post-op. I must admit that the pendulum swings widely across what I've seen, both in program execution and in individual responses. Of course, I realize that there are outliers on every scale, and I'm averaging what I see. I got this little binder from the program introduction meeting (Dignity Health), and I've been adding my own research to it, things like print out of appropriate bariatric (or equivalent) vitamins based on their recommendations, worksheets for tracking eating and drinking, pre and post-op protein shakes, mixes, and recipes, motivational type posters, and text documents on things like how digestion works, how protein is used by the body, etc. Note, all the research is stuff from actual university or journal studies, I'm not taking answers from Reddit or Quora as facts! I've decided the biggest issue I've seen is the grief process that hits people after the surgery when they suddenly realize they can't eat what they want. I've read a lot of threads (not just here) of people rebelling and hating themselves and hurting themselves because of this. I do not want to deal with this. I'm already working on changing my eating habits, albeit slowly. I want to be more in control of this transition than I've seen, So, if you've read this far, my questions to you are: Did you make any effort pre-op to really change your eating habits? Did you experience grief or regret post-op if you didn't? Did you regret your surgery for any reason OTHER than the food restriction/complications? Thanks for discussing!

I found a study from the American Journal of Surgery, Sugerman et al., Jan. 1995 pp. 91-97 that looked at gallstone formation after gastric bypass (sleeve wasn't done much for weight loss then). Patients who received no actigall developed post-op gallstones 36% of the time while patients who received 600 mg of actigall only developed gallstones 2% of the time. This study was done for 6 months after surgery -- patients received the actigall (or no actigall) for six months post op then were evaluated for gallstones by sonography. Some of the patients of course had their gallbladders removed due to stones during those 6 months and they were counted in the "gallstones formation" percentages. This study was done using the generic medication Ursodiol but that is the same thing as the brand name Actigall.

Congratulations on your surgery. it is not uncommon for people to hit stalls around week three (and several times throughout your losing stages). Your body is adjusting and still healing. Stick to the plan your doctor laid out for you and the numbers should start to move again. When is your next followup? Borrowed this link from Butterthebean's signature http://www.dsfacts.com/weight-loss-stall-or-plateau.html#.UpUK1tKth8E Good read about stalls.

My doc prescribed an antacid that I must take for the first several months. I'm sure it should be the same for everyone, at least, until your system is stable. I don't think they work when taken periodically, I think you must take them daily. As some don't do well with other meds you may be taking, I would ask your local pharmacist. I would definitely be taking one. I also read that the procedure could, possibly, increase symptoms of reflux. You may be one of those folks. Sorry to hear about your brother. I think we all have the fear of regaining weight. We all understand that the surgery is just a piece of the puzzle. Some call it a tool. It is not the ultimate "fix it" for weight loss. It must be accompanied by strict diet and exercise to be successful. And if the exercise portion is not possible - I imagine the diet part would have to be even more strict and compliant. Most of us should have also bee taught that while the surgery restricts our ability to eat as much as we used to - it does not eliminate our cravings or urge to eat as we have most of our lives. That is purely emotional and must be approached as such. The procedure doesn't fail us - we fail the procedure/program. Encourage brother to find comply with the meal plan. Encourage him to find something/anything in the way of exercise. Even chair exercising is out there as well as Water exercise which is virtually no impact on the foot. Be strong and stay connected to forums such as this. You will both do well. It just takes work and commitment in addition to the surgery. Best wishes to you and bro..

Congrats to all on your losses! I think that we are all doing great. Everyone is different and loses weight at different rates, it is important to remember that as long as the scale is moving down, we should celebrate. I for one got burned out and had to take a break for a couple months, I actually didnt diet or work out and still lost 1 pound per week, now I am back on track and expect to see a big loss. I got a fill yesterday and am now at 10cc's in a 14cc band. Still on liquids until tomorrow but I am not hungry at all.

My symptoms have not stopped, in fact the facial hair seems to have gotten worse. My cycle issues are somewhat better but I did have a second UFE 3 months after the sleeve which accounts for that. There is another thread somewhere on the board, try searching to find it as it has others posting as well.

Thanks for the re-assurance. I called my nutritionist today, and she was surprised at the rapid weight loss, so she actually prescribed me eating more. I eat 3 Protein shakes, 8oz nonfat yogurt, and 2-3 cups of milk each day now. Before I was at about 600 calories/day now I'm up to 1000 and I feel much better. And just for information's sake, I went to a fantastic program at St. Joseph's Hospital in Orange California. They have a wonderful crew there that really helps you through it the whole way. I started the pre-op diet 2 weeks before surgery date, and need to do it for 2 weeks after as well. -Pat

A lot of insurance companies will pay, it was my employer that has an exclusionary clause against any weight loss surgery. My surgeon also had a lot more experience than any of the surgeons in this area. I got a lot more personalized treatment there as well.

I went today to have my free initial consultation with 1 of 2 groups I intend to go to their seminars before deciding on a surgeon. (Baptist & Vanderbilt if any of you are from Nashville) The initial consult just basically gives you info before the seminar and what you must do to get approved. I have Aetna insurance that requires either a 6 month weight loss program or a 90 day prep for surgery program. After reading some of the literature, I have some questions that I need to resolve and hoping this group can help guide me. I have been over 40 BMI for at least 5 years. 19 months ago I had a baby. I don't go to a PCP regularly as I don't get sick often. I do go for my annual gyno visits. (and they check weight, tell me to lose weight etc. ) If I am sick I typically go to the minute clinic. Amazingly for a 45.3 BMI, I am healthy but my concern is in the long run, I know I am at high risk for diabetes, heart disease, etc. as it is in my family and during my pregnancy I developed gestational diabetes and hypertension. (Luckily the diabetes went away postpartum) My biggest question, do I need to go get a PCP just to have them refer to me a surgeon and give their blessing for this surgery? Or do most centers have staff who will follow you for the 90 day surgery prep? Do you think there will be a problem with my weight history if two of the last years included a time when I was pregnant? Thanks in advance for your help. I intend to call and ask more questions tomorrow so I can decide what next... jenn

Hi everyone, I was wondering if anyone would like to do a weight loss challenge that would run until May 25? I'm not the most organized person, so someone would have to get things together. Anyone up for the challenge? Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

Hi Everyone, I decided that I would make a list of things for new people who are thinking about having WLS that might be helpful to them. This is long so please PRINT THIS OUT TO READ if you don’t want to read it all at one time. This is my point of view after having surgery with Dr. Aceves , in Mexicali, Mexico. First thing is to start asking people on the board you are on all kinds of questions—make of list of things you want to ask and keep coming back and ask more questions as time goes on. The more questions that ask the more you educate yourself about WLS and the process and what doctor they liked. Don’t rely on just one source of information. It is really normal to have all kind of feeling and emotions when trying to decide if you want to have Weight Loss Surgery. I must have talked myself in and out of doing this at least 50 times during my 6 months of research. My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner. This is a big step. But if diet and exercise worked for us then we still wouldn’t be fat and would have lost the weight a long time ago and never regained it. It takes a lot of courage to have Weight Loss Surgery. I am very proud of you for looking into this. Don’t give any more days of your life being overweight, and your body hurting along with being unhealthy. WLS really is your answer. How do you select your surgeon? First of all this is NOT a time to price shop for the cheapest doctor to do your WLS—that is just the wrong way to go at this. There are a lot of doctors who advertise on the Internet doing sleeve surgery for a lot less than some other doctors. I found one posting from a person who had the following concerns after having surgery in Tijuana, Mexico. (a) They put NO name band on her to be able to ID her when giving medications or anything else. ( NO one asked if she had any allergies to foods or medications—thank goodness this person didn’t have any. ( The lab did NOT label tubes of blood with the person’s name on it—very dangerous. © Day after surgery they gave this person ice chips, tea and apple juice. The next day (day 2) they gave this person NOTHING so this person asked why and the nurse said this person wasn’t allowed to eat anything. Well, this person then said I had Clear liquids the day before and they wanted to know WHO gave it to this person?? (d) This person was told that they would get a copy of the operative report on their discharge to take home with them—This person has not received it yet and that was about 2 weeks ago. So make sure have positive feedback about the Surgeon and Staff and Hospital that you choose. There are some good doctors out there and there are so NOT so good doctors out there. My choice after 6 months of research was Dr. Aceves in Mexicali, Mexico. What I can tell you in my opinion is that he is the very best you will ever find to do your surgery. I can only speak about my experience and my research that I did before I made him my choice for a surgeon. I am sure there are other people out there that feel the very same way about their doctor too. Pack lightly for your WLS. So many of us have gone to Mexico, so you want a small suitcase with wheels, a laptop & a cell phone. The clothing that you wear to Mexico are the same ones you can wear home—slip on shoes work great too. Make sure that the clothing is loose fitting. Something just comfortable for your ride home. While in Mexico—that is if you go to Mexico for WLS make sure you take GAS-X. They have nothing in Mexico that they give your for gas, and the use gas in your abdominal area during surgery. It is painful after the surgery, so GAS-X STRIPS are easy to use by just placing them on your tongue. Take a couple of boxes with you—you will be glad you did. If you are going to use a credit card make sure you tell your credit card company and your Bank if you use your debit card or credit card. Sometimes if you DO NOT let these companies know you are outside of the US they block your charges. Use a credit card or debit card vs cash it is much easier to use. Take small amounts of cash for tips—I took $45.00 in 1’s for tip money for various things. If you go to any hospital anywhere leave ALL jewelry at home –just a watch and no rings or other jewelry. I never had any problems at all leaving my purse and computer& cell phone in my room while I was in surgery, but they recommend that you leave all jewelry at home. If you are a lady please remove all nail polish—they need it removed to see your nail beds during surgery. The first month you do after surgery is the HARDEST month you will ever have to do. You do 10 days of nothing but clear liquids to start with—that means you have to be able to see through the liquid. Do not panic if you can not get the Protein they want you to have the 1st 10 days—I couldn’t find anything I liked that was clear during the 1st 10 days. They want you to try to drink 64 oz each day, and I don’t think I could ever get that much Water drank—just do the best you can. Your new stomach has just had major surgery and it is swollen and will only hold something about the size of your thumb. The next 10 days gets much better—you are now on creamy liquids for these 10 days. You can now have some creamy Soups, yogurt, and pudding—sugar free and find a Protein Drink that you like. For me it is Premier Protein Drink and I get mine at costco. When looking for a protein drink, make sure they are low in calories, high in Protein—Premier has 30 grams of protein in each drink box and make sure you have low carbs too. I know there are a lot of other Protein drinks out there that people like. When it comes to carbs I tried to keep mine at no more than 20 carbs per day. Ask others what kind of Protein drinks they liked and where they get them. The last 10 days are mushy foods. So this is a bit of a challenge. How many foods can I make mushy? I even considered using some baby foods. Start thinking about what will work as mushy foods for you. Starting the 2nd month is quite an adventure. You can eat regular food. Here is where the relearning process takes place. You now will take tiny BABY BITES of food and chew each bit about 30 times or until it is like a liquid. From here on out you will need to take small bites of food and chew and chew and chew. I found out that chicken and fish were a lot easier to chew up. I don’t eat much red meat—your tastes will change and things you didn’t like a lot might taste good and something that you used to love don’t taste that great anymore. Keep track of what you are eating and keep your calories at about 800 calories per day and no more than 20 carbs per day—whole grain carbs are the best to have—NO white or refined carbs. I highly suggest that you keep track by writing them down or using some of the Internet sites that offers you this. I suggest this site it works great there are other sites to use this is just a suggestion. hair 3 or 4 months after having WLS. I would find a lot of hair in the shower after washing my hair. That is pretty normal for a lot of us—this does not happen to everyone. There is no magical cure for hair loss—some people use different shampoo’s or take Biotin. It happens and you live with it. YES, it will grow back. For me I had pencil straight hair and mine grew back natural curly and I love it now. I already had thin hair so for me, I got some cute wigs and wore them for about 9 months until my hair looked a lot better. It was worth the hair loss to lose 105 pounds. Because we eat a lot of protein we suffer from constipation. You need to have at least 70 grams of protein EACH day. So I mix my protein drink each morning with MIRALAX. It is NOT habit forming and is tasteless and it is just a good way to start off the day. I put the protein and a cap full of Miralax in the blender with about 5 small ice cubes and that is my Breakfast. 3 years later I still have this for breakfast and nothing else, it just works for me. You may have periods where you have what we call STALLS. You may be doing everything right and eating and exercising and you have NO weight loss for a week or more. This is normal—mine lasted 9 days. Don’t panic the weight loss will start up again, just keep doing what you are doing. Our heads play games with us sometimes it is ugly what our brain tried to convince us of—We call these “Head Games” and they really are tough times to work though, but you can do it. Your head is still thinking with your old brain and way of thinking that you have been doing for most of your life. You now are eating VERY small amount of food, but your head is used to you eating LARGE amounts of food and that is what your brain wants—so it tries to tell you the you should be eating more—NOT true at all. So you need to have a talk with yourself. Do I just WAN T to eat or do I really NEED to eat? You are not on a diet, but you are making a LIFESTYLE change and that is good because you can do this for the rest of your life. You will NEVER be able to eat like you used to. That is good because that is how we got fat. You will morn the loss of food—you will look around and see others inhaling all this food and you think to yourself—I used to eat like that. You will notice how fast people eat and inhale their food and talk and hardly chew what they are eating. That is pretty normal feeling to have—because you are now eating such small amounts of food and chewing and chewing. You will never be able to guzzle a bottle of water again—that is OK too. These are all good things. In time you will look at all the food people are eating and thinking to yourself oh my gosh I could never eat that much again—it is way too much food. When you have issues or problems come back to the board and ask others who have already done this. We are here to help and support you. Give or exchange all your fat clothes away. You will never need them again after they become too big for you. This weight loss is something you will be able to maintain for the rest of your life. You have earned the right to have new clothes. Make sure you have the VERY best doctor that has had a lot of experience with sleeve surgery and check his success rates out. Check the doctor for HIGH patient reviews from the people who have gone to him or her. I can NOT STRESSS this enough. Make sure that your surgery is being done in a hospital NOT a Clinic. One clue that it is a clinic is if they send you to a hotel room to recover—that is why they cost less, this is also dangerous too. YOU are worth the extra money that it cost to have this WLS in a Hospital and by the best Doctor you can have. You want to have a happy and GREAT life and having the RIGHT Doctor and Hospital are the key to this. Sorry if this is long, but it is intended to have as a reference and answer a lot of your questions that you might have. For some of you, you are very lucky because your health insurance is now starting to pay for Weight Loss Surgery. For many of us, we did not have your luck, so we are self pay patients. There are companies that loan money for this surgery—be aware that their interest rate is high. Once you pick your doctor ask them about these companies that give loans for surgery if you are a self pay patient. You know we never think twice about making car payments. If you have to borrow the money for this surgery just look at this as “body payment.” It will be the best money you have ever borrowed. Please PRINT this out to read later. If you have any questions for me please feel free to contact me. I had surgery almost 4 years ago, so I do have quite a bit of experience. I really am here to help you along your journey. It took me 14 months to lose this weight and I was 63 when I had the surgery, so it is NEVER too late in life to do this.

Hi Silly....I hope the band really works for you! i was banded sept. 16 2009 and I LOVE IT! I started out at 242 surgery day and am down to 209...it is a slower weight loss but it has been a steady decrease in weight every week. Well good luck and if you have any questions feel free to ask, i will help out if i can.

Today is 5 months and 12 days post-op. Highlights - BMI down from 42.6 to 31.7 Weight loss - 31.4 kgs (69.22 pounds) Waist - was 50 - now 38 Shirt size - was 46 now 41 (Polo size XXXL to XL) No more a diabetic, no more medication. Hit a stall even a month ago but thanks to this forum did not give up.

I have always used equals for sugar even before I started weight loss and surgery Sent from my A1601 using BariatricPal mobile app

WLS stands for Weight Loss Surgery. You will find other texting abreviations on the forum. Another is NSV which is a NonSurgical Victory, such as being able to tie your own shoes, someone you haven't seen for a while doesn't recognize you, being able to cross your legs....happy stuff like that. You will also see the term "Onderland" which stands for 199, meaning that your weight is finally below 200 pounds. I have had to look up many text abreviations and street slang terms in an on-line urban dictionary to be able to keep, but it helps me stay current.

You may want to try cutting back on carbs- 1000 (I assume the 100 was a typo lol) to 1200 cals is good I think. I would cut out the cereal and the mashers. Also the prepared meatloaf may have had significant carbs. I chose to do a very low carb diet while I was loosing, and still revert to it when the scale creeps up on me. I eat eggs or a protien shake for breakfast, lean meat (chicken breast, tuna, fish, porkloin) and veggie for lunch and dinner. I snack on 1/4cnuts and 2 low fat cheese sticks. It's very rote, but worked for me. It's not for everyone. Some people feel very sluggish when they don't eat carbs, or are just not willing to give up certain foods. I think that's fine. Everyone needs to find what works for them. Just wanted to throw it out there, it may speed up your weight loss.

I read this article today and thought I would share. Nothing to do with weight loss surgery directly but only indirectly. I had RNY gastric bypass surgery 3 years ago and the most difficult part of the process was dealing with the insurance companies. This article explains the undue pressures being put on our medical staff today by the government and insurance companies under the guise of medical coding. I would probably rename the article "Medical Coding: Driving Our Physicians into Early Retirement". http://acsh.org/news/2016/09/15/government-torture-physicians%C2%A0-where’s-outrage-10163

Like I said, you may not understand how this works because no one HAS to drink protein shakes. They're helpful during the post op phase but only for a few days/weeks. The only protocol is once you're adjusted properly you must watch for satiety signals and obey them. That means you eat fruit, vegetables, meats and even bread if your band will tolerate it. Your husband may be right. He does know you better than anyone else? The band won't stop you from eating bad foods. If you want to lose weight with the band, you really have to make a change in the way you think. You have to think, "Am I Hungry"? And if you aren't, you don't eat. The band helps you to feel that satisfied feeling much quicker and with much less food. You can still continue to eat if you disregard the signals. Most of us can discern between hunger and cravings and we lose or maintain weight. If you go into this thinking the band will stop you from eating you're going down the wrong road. If you think it will stop you from eating oreos and chips, wrong again. It's not a quick fix, it's for people who have tried all other methods of weight loss and are willing to make a CHANGE in their lives. Did you watch the videos? tmf

It more or less happens to everyone. I had surgery on 6/2 and my hair is falling out like crazy too. It should stop before the year mark.

When I was talking to my surgeon on yesterday, he told me that the range of weight loss was between 60-80% He told me that because I have a band and it has been in for almost 7 years the top of my stomach (my pouch) is probably expanded some ( it has a little) he said that it would effect the amount of weight I would lose with the Sleeve, he expects me to be more to the 60% end of the percentage.... My question is, is there any revisioners who have achieved the 80% mark, I truly believe I can get to the 80% (I know how I am when my back is against the wall, I'm a fighter) and I am praying I can lose 100% of my excess weight, I'm starting now... I just would like to hear from you... thanks

Congrats on your 2-fer. I'm still on my 1st goal - steady weight loss.