Search the Community

I'm looking for advice on gas but not the gas from surgery, the gas you make like burping hiccups and farting. Those has been KILLING my stomach. The otherwise pain isn't bad at all but the constant gurgling and lurching is really hurting it. I have had some BMs so I'm not worried about being constipated. I'm just drinking Water, diluted juice, and had 1 Popsicle since Wednesday so I don't think I'm eating anything I shouldn't be. I looked for gas strips but only could find mylanya gas relief chewable tablets. Which of course taste like chalk and old mints. I did chew 2 of them a few hours ago hoping for some releuf before bed and have felt absolutely none. Hasn't gotten worse but definitely hasn't gotten better either any ideas? Starting weight 321- sleeve date 07/10/13 Sent from my iPhone using VST

I Live in Lake Grove. I'm having the surgery on 3/31/10, Dr Ahmad is the Dr. Having the surgery in Mather.

You can eat meat with the sleeve and not throw it up. It does not get stuck, but you fill up on it really fast. You do throw it up if you eat too much of it, because your stomach is TINY. It's hard to learn how little to eat. I am full awhile after I am done eating. We are used to eating until we are full, but you can't with the sleeve. You feel more full 10 minutes after you're done eating, and then you are in trouble.

I was sleeved on 2/10 I am doing great. Had a little bit of a problem today where I got sick and threw up. I am not sure what brought it on but I think we have had a flu bug going around our house. I am trying more mushy food but think I may go back to liquids again until I feel this bug is gone. I have been in bed the majority of today. I can't wait to get back to the gym and get walking.

I had my surgery ON my 35th birthday - April 10, 2012. It was the best gift I have ever given myself. Started my new life on my birthday.

....If so, did it totally bum you out? Or did it make your birthday better somehow? Or was it just 'meh' either way? It's silly, but for some reason I'm worried that the combination of being 1 year older, single, aaand having only 10% of my stomach left could be 'the perfect storm' for an emotional funk. I'm being overly dramatic just for a laugh, yes. And there's a lot of waaay more pressing things I could be worrying about (and I am!). But nevertheless I'm still curious if anyone else has had a VSG / bday experience?

You've lost 10 pounds already. The liver is the first place it goes so you should be fine. Your doctor isn't going to close you back up. Relax and keep following instructions. You'll be fine. Good luck with your surgery and enjoy the journey. It's awesome!

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5406732/: "The number of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomies (LSGs) performed worldwide as a primary bariatric procedure has grown exponentially in recent years, given the simplicity of the technique, the low complication rate and the good short- and mid-term results regarding weight loss and the resolution of co-morbidities. However, there are a limited data from long-term studies. In this study, a standardized LSG proved to be safe (no mortality and a leakage rate of 1.2%) and highly effective in terms of weight loss after 5-year of follow-up, particularly in patients with a low preoperative body mass index. This manuscript provides additional evidence supporting the role of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy as a stand-alone procedure for selected morbidly obese patients". https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4879937/ "Perceptions of the mechanisms responsible for the beneficial metabolic effects of metabolic/bariatric operations have shifted from being mostly restrictive and malabsorption over the last 10 to 15 years to being more neuro-hormonal in origin".

Interesting point. Also maybe due to evolution the metabolism slows down since it would require us to use less energy resulting in us having to hunt and gather less calories to survive? Also, sadly, very obese people may not live as long due to an earlier death from a comorbidity of obesity. Honestly I always just thought that obese people are so much less likely to make it to old age. Sent from my Nexus 6P using the BariatricPal App I think that is what most people say but it isn't 100% true.Oh I understand, nothing is true 100% of the time, but according to my surgeon being 100 pounds overweight, on average, takes 10 years off a person's life. Ten years less than average life expectancy doesn't really give you time to go into a retirement home. Of course there are people who beat the odds, like smokers who live long, healthy lives, but they are not the norm. I do understand that elderly people lose muscle mass, and height as well, so they tend to shrink. And often lose appetite as well. That is the least of my worries personally. Sent from my Nexus 6P using the BariatricPal App

I had started mine the day before surgery. I was also on blood thinners. That cycle lasted 7 days. I had about a 10 day break and then it came back with a vengeance for two weeks… so roughly 3 out of 4 weeks I had a heavy period. Cramps were horrible with heavy clotting. I was told to watch my cycles and if it continued to check in with my gyn, but also told that it’s not out of the ordinary to have cycle disturbance early in. Also got the “very fertile” time warning but I have my tubes tied and my hubby has a vasectomy - so we are clear there.

Last night I had a meeting for my son's high school football team. I had not seen many of my friends from football since before the summer. It's only been 10 weeks since my surgery, but I got so many compliments on how great I looked. I have not felt pretty in YEARS! Last night I felt like Miss America! I also felt confident and happy. I am amazed at the psychological change losing weight brings on. For those of you experiencing stalls early out and stressing over them.... I have had two so far (am currently in one now) that have lasted a few weeks. Trust me when I tell you, your body is still changing for the good!

Hi - I've only posted a few times, but I thought I'd post because I'm a bit shocked... I have been going thru my 6 mo. PCP visits, and finally finished them last week - got my file to the surgeon's office on Friday, and they said that it would take about 4 weeks to get a response... and that I should plan on a surgery date about 10 weeks out or so. Well, got a call from my insurance today - and they approved me already - not even 48 hours! Yikes! I have no idea what that means for my surgery date!!! I know it is all good, but I wasn't prepared for it to happen so quickly - maybe a sign that it is the right decision!

I'm going through this right now. I posted on another forum and have copied and edited it a bit below and hope I can help anyone in preventing this. As far as your question, yes you can get the pouch back to normal but you and you only can make that happen. It's difficult, but, it can be done. If the pouch is really stretched badly they will un-fill you and place you on liquids for a period of time. My doctor told me 6 weeks of liquids. Holy smokes!!! Here is my post from another thread: Under floroscopy my doctor told me that my pouch was bigger than it should be. She told me that I would get a warning this time, but if next checkup showed the same, she will un-fill me and I will go on liquids for 6 weeks. For now I have been instructed to measure my portions. I did get a slight fill, so, I'm thinking that I'm not that bad yet. I keep a loose band because my allergies and drainage cause the dreaded lapband cement on the pouch that is only dissolved by drinking lots of hot liquids and is very unpleasant, thus I have to be a bit more careful with my portions. I have decent restriction and my portions have been at least 1 cup of food and sometimes 1.5 cups, however, I got into the habit of not chewing well and eating too fast. I rarely got stuck because of my loose band. In my opinion, not chewing well and eating too fast is what caused the dialation. I was also doing way too much exercise and was feeling more hunger and I would eat way to fast and not chew well with the hunger I felt at times. Someone asked about symptoms. First of all my weight loss stopped for months. My weight would go up and down by 6 lbs. and went on like this for at least 8 months. I tried increasing calories, longer work outs etc. etc. and nothing! My biggest symptom was more hunger in between meals and was getting hungry every 2-3 hours. The most obvious symptom that I should have never ignored was feeling satisfied (full) and would get that uncomfortable feeling of "no more" at meal time then all of sudden I would feel a thump in my pouch, due to food going thru quickly, then I could eat another meal if I chose to and honestly sometimes I would. I thought this was because I needed a fill, however, this was not the case and Doc said that a enlarged pouch of course holds more food and will push everything down quickly. Since being warned I have gone on liquids 2 times consisting of 4 days of Protein drinks and 1 can of Soup a day. In addition, I have modified my drinking and wait 1/2 hour before a meal and 1/2 hour after a meal. I now feel a huge amount of restriction and can only handle the 1/2 cup of food at mealtime. So, yes you can reverse the stretched pouch. I will continue to do the liquid thing at least every other week for a while just to be on the safe side. Since doing this I have lost 10 lbs. Lesson learned? If something doesn't feel right get it checked. I knew something was wrong, but, I was embarrassed to see the doctor because I had not reached goal. I think the biggest disappointment is first myself and second, being banded is high maintenance, but, we are the culprit to our own complications in most cases. I still love my band though! Hope this helps anyone who may be experiencing some of my symptoms and have ignored them. jake

Hello! I had surgery this past Monday (on the 21st). Supposedly at this point I am able to drink 43 ounces of clear liquids. However, I haven't even been able to hit 10 ounces! I take about 3 sips an hour and it's taking me forever. Iv'e had about 3-4 tablespoons of sf jello throughout the day also. I'm not sure what to do. I feel kinda full. At least, I think it's full. I don't even know what I'm feeling to be honest. I just feel heavy in my stomach. Is this normal? I'm just concerned I'm not getting in enough liquids. Your input is appreciated! Oh and btw, besides some expected soreness at the incision sites, I'm doing pretty good! I haven't felt too much gas (unless THAT'S the heavyness I'm feeling??) and I haven't even had to take any pain medication. No nausea either. I've been trying to walk around the house as much as possible. I've taken a couple of 1 hour naps throuhout the day but I suspect that's more due to boredom than actually being tired.

Many people over this last year have asked me what I did to prepare for my weight loss surgery. There were many things that I did and not one was more important than another. The biggest thing to keep in mind is that your preparation heading into surgery and especially the liquid diet the week or two prior will be the hardest and most important thing you do as a part of your journey. You will work hard to prepare your mind, your body, and to some degree your spirit to go though the surgery. Once you do have the surgery the hardest part is over. If you can survive the months before taking the plunge then everything you do after will be a piece of cake in comparison. I am here to tell you that anyone who says having a weight loss surgery is taking the easy way out is someone who will never understand what it truly takes to go through this process. To some degree I feel sorry for those who don't get it. They will never understand the joy and excitement that comes with going through this transformation. To be honest, even though my wife loves me and has been an amazing support through this whole process, she will never full know or understand what it is like to make this decision and prepare for the surgery like I do. This is part one, in a series of three posts, detailing my preparation for surgery. The first aspect of this preparation I will cover is how I prepared my body. This was pretty simple for me really. I was in bad shape and was huffing after just sitting up from a chair; as my transformation video in an earlier post has shown. I was miserable! I would practically crawl through my front door after just my first night back to work. I work as a pharmacy technician at a hospital and walk 8 to 12 miles a night. I was living off of Tylenol and Bengay. Honestly I smelled like I was probably 90 years old. Looking back I find myself completely disgusted that I ever let things get that bad. Since I could not really do much working out because of the toll work was taking on my body, what could I do? The answer came from my brother. He is a nurse and knows a ton about medicine. I honestly think he should have became a doctor, but he didn't want the added responsibility. Before I had fully decided on having the bypass surgery and long before anyone knew I was even contemplating that option my brother came to me, as serious as I had ever seen him. Those that know my brother know he's a bit of a joker and very lighthearted. His demeanor kind of scared me, but in this conversation would be the answer that would help me prepare my body for surgery. He explained to me that he wanted to see me healthy, that he wanted me to be able to be the cool uncle when he had kids, and how he wanted his brother back. He was scared that I wouldn't be around much longer and didn't want to see me die. Looking back I really think he was right. Then he did something that floored me and provided and amazing answer to how I would physically prepare for the journey I was about to take. He explained to me that he wanted me healthy so badly he would pay for my gym membership if I promised to go three times a week and swim. On a side note; He religiously checked up on my progress with the gym manager to make sure I was going and even went so far as to meet me at the gym and swim with me. I swam on a team in junior high and he explained to me the benefits of working out in the Water. Water has the ability to take all of the pressure off of your knees and other joints. It can keep you cool if you are prone to overheating and provides an amazing about of resistance if you find ways to take advantage of it. He set up a plan and told me just to come three times a week to swim and do what I could. So that is what I did. I did not want to let me brother down and I would hope he would agree it was the best investment he ever made. So that is what I did; I swam. I swam freestyle, I swam breast stroke, I saw backstroke, and when I was feeling particularly squirrely, I swam butterfly. Butterfly was my specialty when I was on swim team but man it is a butt kicker. I started out with 10 laps, which was a lot better than I had thought. I found I could move more freely and with less pain in the water. From there I just simply added one or two laps each time I went. Before I knew it, I was approaching my surgery date and I was swimming close to an hour non-stop! Why should I work out prior to surgery? There is a very simple answer. To prepare your body. You need to prepare your body for what you are about to put it through. This is major surgery and not something to take lightly. You also want to work out to build up your cardiovascular and pulmonary endurance. Strengthening the heart will make you strong for surgery because your body will be stressed, because of this your blood pressure will spike for a short time after surgery and it is a lot to put on yourself. Strengthening your lungs will help keep you from a common post surgical complication which is pneumonia. My goal in preparing my body was simply to be able to survive the surgery, keep my complications down, and my hospital stay short as should be your goal as well. I want to tell you right now that preparing my body worked out well. I had no major complications and I left the hospital three days later, which was the minimum hospital stay my doctor required for his full bypass patients. What if I can't swim? The key here is to simply get moving. If you can walk, then walk. If you have access to a pool, then you can water walk or water jog. If you love biking and can do that, then do that. You just need to move. Your goals with this are simple. First, you want to make sure you are panting a little from being out of breath when you are done. This will show you that your lungs have been pushed a little and if that is true then your heart will have been pushed also. Second, each time you work out, just add a little to it. If your taking laps on a track, add a lap or a half a lap each time. If you are walking your neighborhood then walk for another 30 seconds or a minute. If you do this early, as soon as you begin contemplating surgery the further along and better prepared you will be, come surgery day. As always, if you have any questions, or if there is anything unclear, please post your questions and comments below and I will work to answer them all as soon as I can. Also check again soon for part 2 of the series about dealing with the psychological aspects of preparing for the amazing journey you are taking.

I went on my yearly girls get away to Turks and Caicos only to find out when I came back that my surgery waa moved up to August 20th. I have several outfits from Torrid, Lane Bryant, Avenue, and Ashley Stewart. I also have about 4 pair of sandals and three of them have never been worn. I also have a brand new pair of Uggs that are a size ten that have never been worn. I am interested in selling everything. If your interested in purchasing the items please emai l me at jrlashe@gmail.com and I can send you pictures. I wish I was able to donate them but they've only been worn once some not at all and I have to get things situated before surgery.

Sunday, March 13, 2005 By Dan Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette All Murrysville dentist Michael Gigliotti wanted was a relatively cheap, last-minute flight from his mother's house in Florida to a natural-gas auction in Texas. But a $552 bill for the late-Februarytrip quickly went up when a late-boarding passenger complained he could not fit in the seat next to the 5-11, 300-pound Gigliotti. A supervisor from Southwest Airlines boarded the plane, crouched next to Gigliotti and said he would have to pay for a second seat on the return flight, claiming the dentist's large frame would not fit entirely in the 17-inch-wide space. Gigliotti did not feel humiliation -- just rage. "This won't hold up in court," he told the Southwest supervisor. "It already has," was her response, according to Gigliotti. The exchange captures a touchy topic in aviation -- how to deal with larger passengers as the nation's waistline expands. More than one-fourth of Americans are now classified as obese, and in an industry obsessed with fitting as many people as possible inside a giant aluminum tube, airline seats have shrunk to 16 inches measured from arm rest to arm rest -- narrower than an average-size computer keyboard and a tighter fit than the typical office chair or general-admission movie seat. "The airline seats are simply too small for a high percentage of the flying public," Gigliotti said. "We are getting bigger, we're getting taller, we're getting wider." Southwest is not the only major airline with a large-seating policy. US Airways, Northwest Airlines and America West Airlines all can require an overweight passenger to pay for two seats but said they do everything they can to find a pair of empty adjoining seats on the plane at no additional charge. Midwest Connect, which serves Pittsburgh from Milwaukee, requires that passengers unable to fit in one seat buy two; if there are other seats available on the same flight, they will be refunded for the second. But other carriers serving Pittsburgh, including United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, have no large-seating requirements. Hooters Air, an airline featuring slim, scantily-clad "Hooters girls" as flight entertainment, has no such policy, either. "We love large people," said Hooters Air President Mark Peterson. Hooters, which flies from Pittsburgh to Myrtle Beach, S.C., has never charged for an extra seat, he said, and fitting a larger passenger onboard has never been an issue in two years of operating the airline. While critics of Southwest's policy acknowledge that other airlines do the same thing, some said Southwest deserves to be singled out for its rigidity. "Southwest really expects its employees to enforce it, " said Mary Ray Worley, a board member on the Sacramento, Calif.-based National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. At other airlines, she said, "it seems to me their employees exercise a lot more of their own judgment in enforcing or not enforcing their policies. A lot depends on the prejudices of the employees involved." The large-seating policy is nothing new for the Dallas low-fare carrier, considered one of the industry's most successful companies, having made a profit 31 years in a row. It initiated a "customer of size" policy in 1980, requiring a larger passenger unable to fit in one seat to pay for two. But the airline, saying it could no longer ignore complaints from slimmer passengers, began enforcing the policy more vigilantly in 2002, requiring passengers to pay for the extra space even if others were available on the same flight. A refund is made available if the flight takes off with empty seats. Each case is a judgment call. There are no scales at the check-in counter. The test appears to be whether a passenger can sit in one seat without lifting the armrest. The increase in enforcement, leaked in a 2002 memo from Southwest President Colleen Barrett, sparked a few lawsuits and criticism from fat acceptance groups as well as jokes from NBC "Tonight Show" comedian Jay Leno. The negative attention was unusual for Southwest, used to glowing PR. Leno, in one of his monologues, stuck it to the Texas company, saying, "Boy, Southwest is cracking down on overweight passengers. Now any fat people standing in front of the terminal for more than 15 minutes will be towed." In another joke, he said Southwest had "been overstating each passenger's weight by 80 pounds so they can sell more fat ass seats." Southwest spokesman Ed Stewart attributed the controversy to "entertainment value." He mentioned the jokes from Leno and said "the reason you do it is because you think you can get a laugh out of it and it is something that affects everybody." The constant attention has "nothing to do with news value." It is little more than "people liking to make fun of other people." Most passengers, he said, like the policy. "For every 10 letters you get, nine of them will say they did not enjoy their flight because someone was sitting on them." Stewart said. A few, though, were upset enough to sue. New Hampshire businesswoman Nadine Thompson filed a lawsuit last year claiming she had no problem fitting into a Southwest seat but still was asked to pay for a second seat on a Manchester, N.H.-Chicago flight. When she refused, she was escorted from the plane, according to her lawsuit. Another woman in Spokane, Wash., filed a suit last year saying Southwest humiliated her in front of other passengers on a Orlando-Spokane flight, and that she spent the ride home in tears over her experience. But no one yet has been successful in overturning the policy in court. In 2000, a California judge ruled that Southwest's policy was "reasonable and not discriminatory" after a woman weighing 300 pounds sued. The woman's civil rights were not violated, the court said. But "I still think it's discriminatory to make me buy two seats," said the 5-foot-1, 350-pound Ray Worley, of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, who often will call ahead before booking flights to make sure there is enough room. "I believe I am entitled to the space I take up. It's a basic civil right issue. A lot of people believe it is within my control to be whatever size I am. That is completely false." When Southwest began enforcing its policy more strictly, it went before the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance's annual convention in Atlanta to explain it. It did not go well, according to Ray Worley, who was there. If Southwest hoped to make the policy more palatable, "They completely failed. ... The impression I got was they do not want fat people flying their airline. They don't want our business. They want us to go away." "What would make me want to fly Southwest?" Airline industry expert Terry Trippler said his biggest problem with the policy is its lack of consistency. If gate agents on one end of a round trip allow a large passenger to pay for only one seat, then the gate agents in another city should arrive at the same decision. But it doesn't always happen that way, Trippler said, and "everybody doesn't always have twice as much money for the airline ticket." "It's a tough call." Gigliotti, the Murrysville dentist, also has a problem with the way the policy is applied. "I think there has to be a measurable standard," he said. "The standard should be, can you put the arms down?" Gigliotti, who said his shoulders are wider than his waist from weightlifting, claims that he was able to get his arms down "without undue stress." The company, on its web site, said the armrest is the "definitive gauge." But in a Q&A about the policy on its Web site, Southwest said employees can still question the passenger "if a concern exists. ... Condoning an unsafe, cramped seating arrangement onboard our aircraft is far more inappropriate than simply questioning a customer's fit in our seats." Asked about Gigliotti's experience, Stewart, the Southwest spokesman, said, "I am sure he is a very slim 300 pounds" and it is "always going to be a judgment call." But every time the policy has been challenged, in court, "we have prevailed." Gigliotti was not charged extra for one leg of his trip, from Tampa to San Antonio, but he was charged for a second seat on the return trip to Tampa, despite the presence of other empty seats on the plane, he said. He was able to get a refund by calling a customer service number, but the experience is still with him. He fired off a letter last week to Southwest calling its policy "arbitrary and capricious." He vows never again to fly Southwest, even after its starts service from Pittsburgh in May. "I just want the public to realize what can happen to them if they fly Southwest."

I'm s/p 4.5 yrs. french mid-band, Mexico. looking for a dr who will do fills on a french mid-band preferrably in VA or near VA or East Coast. I've gained 25 pounds since I had my last fill. But don't remember the amount of cc's i had from the last fill. Problem is that when I get the fill just right I have a major reflux/heart-burn, choking in the night problem. I went from a size 6 to a size 10. I sit a lot at work and make an effort to get up and walk everyday plus I try to drink enough water, but I know I need to drink more. Anyhow, I would prefer to see a dr. on my side of the world. Any reccommendations?:blushing:

Thanks, but I wouldn't want the stress of weddings LOL. Oh my if one flower was out of place it could ruin the entire day and mar their entire life. (a little over the top, but rather true). Kids are so forgiving LOL My favorite cake I've made, and I can't find a picture which bites...is a 3d dragon with wings cake I made for my oldest when she was about 9 or 10. My oldests for her first birthday had a 3 tier clown cake with cookies lined in icing spelling out her name on the side. We gave her the entire top layer to eat/play with.

Thanks for the comments everyone. I just packed my breakfast, lunch, and dinner for tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow is a long day for me. I will head out to work by 7 a.m. and won't be home until after my classes end at 10 p.m. It's hard trying to pack for all day!! Just gotta remember to drink, drink, drink!!! LOL

I was sleeved on 2/28. I'm just starting to meet the protein goal but the liquid goal I still come up short by about 10 to 20 ounces per day. Tomorrow is my first post-op visit to my surgeon, as well as the dietician. The pains inside have stopped but I've started to feel what I think are hunger pains. I'm not really sure though.

personally, i think the body stops when it's ready. I know it did when i had the band (2009). I started at 232 and was at a happy 143 for years. Thats where my body stopped. Now with the sleeve (8/28/2019) my body stopped at 120 and I go between 120-123.

I kept on my plan. After about 10 days of stall, I deliberately changed my intake for 4 straight days. I ate extra calories (up to 1100, when I normally eat 600 to 800) and carbs (purposely ate over 60 grams when I am normally well below 50 grams) because I'd heard lots of folks did something similar to break their stalls. It did not work for me. After those 4 days I went back to my regular diet and a couple days later the loss picked up again. My body simply needed that time to readjust. I knew that was the case, but I was scared that I was "different" and I was suddenly done losing. Long story short, stick to your plan and give your body a good few weeks to adjust to the massive changes! You will begin losing again in time!

I had the lap band so I was only off work for 10 days but we had snow and on,y had to use one day. What are you having ?