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Hello, all the way from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. My name is Yumna and I'm Canadian/Pakistani. Living in UAE since 2008. I've been obese my entire life. Thank you, mama and Papa genes! I have the same story as all of you in my position. Did 100000s of diets, activities, prepared food subscription, spent thousands of dollars on things that just DIDNT WORK! I also suffer from PCOS and it's not been easy! I'm honestly so tired of trying and now that I am married (since 2019 January) I want to start a family. My PCOS is the number 1 reason why I've resulted in looking into gastric surgery, I knew the option was always there but to be honest I never felt uneasy in my skin. Growing up chubby made me comfortable with who I am. But now that I had a miscarriage and want to start a family. All i am seeing at the end of this dark tunnel is another thousands of dollars, needles, and suffering for years to try to grow a family. JUST BECAUSE OF PCOS AND OBESITY! Ahh, my frustration now is beyond I've ever been with my weight and PCOS. So here I am looking through this forum and trying my best to get all the information i can for 1. Gastric mini bypass 2. Gastric sleeve These two are what I'm stuck between, I've visited a very qualified surgeon here in UAE - he has recommended the mini gastric. however, the idea that not only will my stomach be sliced but also my intestine is scaring me. So i ask you gastric sleeve and bypass recoveries to tell me which option is best and why. When you were deciding why did you choose what you did and how has it helped you and failed you throughout the years post-surgery, I want to know the good the bad, and the ugly! I would like to make a decision in the coming 2 weeks and set my mind up. Till then ill continue to go through the millions of threads here! If you've read this far, THANK YOU! 😍

I’d never heard that. I know that rapid weight loss can effect the gallbladder and many people need gallbladder removal for that reason. But I’ve never heard of it causing elevated liver enzymes. I’m sure it’s one of many risks involved in surgery but I would think it still needs monitoring. Especially when symptomatic. I did have my gallbladder removed during my gastric bypass surgery. Due to what turned out to be chronic inflammation. But I’m pretty sure my liver levels in previous tests were ok. I’m waiting to hear from my primary care physician about getting more bloodwork done to see what the situation is. My ferritin was very low even though my iron was fairly normal range. Slight elevation of my liver enzymes before maybe, but then a drastic spike. Normal is 6-29 I’ve had it go from 9 to 13 in 2018 my gastric bypass was April 2019. I think May after surgery it was 10. But then a year later May 2020 it tested at 43. Strange. I’m not necessarily worried. But with my other symptoms I’d like to know. And I’m having a lot of pain. The next test July it was 29 but I’d had two blood transfusions ... so of course my blood labs were altered by that so I need a new baseline bloodwork done. Interesting that my ferritin was only 7 in a range of 16-232 after those transfusions it was 39.

OH MY GOD Jake. You are amazing and an inspiration. How much are you actually lifting? Ooooh leather. I have a bit of a leather fetish too so judgement from me Ms. sss so sniff away. And you all know my shopping addiction. I bought new shoes today - yes another pair. Lol. Ha, my knickers are sliding down on me today too. Had to keep hitching them up. (Had to hide in a corner aisle when I was at the pharmacy otherwise they would have been round my ankles 😂.) Must be a stray pair that missed my last underwear drawer cull. What is it with knicker sizing. When I was a size 18 I wore size 16. Now I’m a size 6 I wear a size 10. I don’t get it. Or is it just my weirdly shaped ask no questions???

Wow it's coming in fast. I got a call today, they want to schedule my bypass surgery for Oct 26, exactly 2 weeks from today! I am totally unprepared! I don't have any supplies! I am not sure I call pull it off by the 26th. Plus, it is very short notice for time off from my job! I am very stressed about this. First they told me early November and that is great, perfect even. They are going to get back to me if they have a November date, if not I will be taking the 26th of Oct, and start fasting the day after tomorrow! I'm not sure where to start. Not sure what kind of protein water to buy, etc. I started this journey in August of 2019, lost my job and insurance in Oct 2019. Was blessed to get a new job with the same insurance in April. Now my bariatric checklist is done. My health is terrible and I can't this surgery soon enough. However I want to be able to do it right. Any advice appreciated!

You're in a stall which could last 10 days to a month. You will start losing again. Your body is just confused right now. I know people advise to stop weighing yourself but for some of us - it is a compulsion. I've weighed myself every day since my surgery... Once you accept that stalls will happen in your journey - you won't get as frustrated at the scale. Good luck!

you're probably not going to find anyone that far out because a standalone sleeve surgery isn't that old. It became popular 5-10 years ago when they started phasing out the lapband. Although there may be some long-time DS people (who have a sleeved stomach) who might be able to address this although I don't know about VSG per se (since it's a newer surgery), complications that far out from WLS are pretty rare. GERD is the most common complication of VSG (although the majority of sleevers never have issues with GERD), but it'll usually appears within the first couple of years if it's going to appear.

Update: From 10/1 until today 10/12, I have only eatten half of a single loaf of the bread. I thought I would have had more by now, but I really didn't want to eat it as often. I think it is because it's no longer off limits to me. I think the behavioral idea of partial reinforcement or psychological idea of unpredictable rewards maybe behind my waning desire (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201211/the-lure-the-unpredictable-lover) ; (https://www.jneurosci.org/content/21/8/2793) I just wanted to mention it because I used to really LOVE bread (honestly I preferred it over anything other food) and in the beginning of my WLS journey I swore off bread, rice & pasta believing there was no room for them in my life anymore. It was what I commonly saw when hearing about the diets of other WLS patients, permanently giving up foods. Granted I don't like rice and pasta so I'll likely never willingly choose to eat those and certain textures of bread no longer work for me because of conversion to RNY - BUT I am happy that there is some flexibility still possible in a Bariatric diet, especially when I find really solid substitutes. I also understand that some foods are triggers for binge eating and our people prone to that maybe should not try to be flexible without proper guidance from their teams. Well that was a ton of heavy introspection for a Monday 😆

i agree.... i haven't had a fast-food burger in over 10 years. Don't miss it either. This time i also gave up Mt. Dew.... it has always been my kryptonite.... It's been 1 year and 4 months since i had one. @mariangel174@yahoo.com Don't overbuy.... I would say get a few of one kind (unless you live far away). Lots of peoples taste change after SX. If you buy in bulk, you will have it forever.....

I lost 10 pounds my first two weeks after my ESG procedure. I haven't lost any more weight this week, which is very frustrating. My nutritionist's advise was that I should not be weighing daily. I'm finding that impossible. Are my expectations unrealistic for 16 days post op?

I'm from Central Florida and did a ton of research before selecting a doctor. The only place I felt comfortable with in Florida was Mayo Clinic, but the price was insanely high. I ended up going to Dr. McGowan in Raleigh, NC. I flew in with my sister the day before the procedure. Had the procedure on a Friday, a nurse came to my hotel on Saturday to give me IV fluids, and I flew out on Sunday. McGowan and his staff are top notch. Their costs are 10 - 12k, depending on which package you pick. For example, the highest priced one includes 1 year of complication insurance, unlimited visits with the nutritionist, etc. I knew I'd have a ton of questions for the nutritionist, so I went that route.

I'm the 10/12

I am also 10 years out. I started at 54 years old - and was 320. I lost 20 or so pounds before surgery, and then lost to about 165 pounds - I never could keep my weight there, but i kept it at about 175 for a few years... then life happened ..... and I slowly gained to 220. At 220 one morning just over a year ago I decided to do something about it. I slowly started changing the way I was eating. More proteins, less carbs, more fresh fruits and vegetables, more salads and greens and healthy choices. More bringing my lunch to work, than eating fast food. And I lost 45 pounds in I think it was 14 months. I am very happy with what I have accomplished ! I am back out of plus sized clothing..... had to get new clothing during Covid ... hard to do when you have NO idea what size you could be now ..... but am happily out of 22 plus and back into a regular ladies petite 16 jean and chino at old navy ! And I could fit into the 14s but at 64 years old, I need comfort and not squeeze !! I am eating lots of healthy veggies and salads with fish or chicken or bit of steak in them. Loving avacados for the fats and eating steamed eggs and riced veggies sautéed with a bit of sesame oil ..... If I can do it, so can you!!!!

Your post resonated with me. My 10 pre op diet took it's toll on me, before hand I had read where some people would start to feel weak around the 5th day, I tired easily & was in a brain fog.

I'm on for 10/27!

hi everyone, im very new here, decided to join because i had the gastric sleeve about a year ago, September 17th, 2019, and since i left the hospital and went back home to Europe, im not from the states, i started losing weight pretty quickly. the constant not feeling a 100 wasn't a problem for me since i had decided before hand to give myself time and dedicate my time to only this, losing the weight and get myself back to normal. i ever quit my job since i have the possibility of being self sustained for a while. so i just went on, eating very little, resting whenever i could. everything was going fine, since at the time of the surgery i was 310 lbs and now i am 160 lbs, so 150 lbs are down in a year. however a couple of weeks ago i started feeling faint,couldn't concentrate and i was on vacation at the time and had collapsed a couple of times before that, but i didn't think much of it. drove back home barely with no energy at all, did some house work when i got back ( always resting whenever i could always lying down whenever i could, mostly how spent the last year since the surgery, always saving energy but always aware, always conscious ) until i got a call from my ex boss that wanted me back to work 2 weeks ago. i didn't sleep that night because i started panicking about my future and wondering how i was ever gonna be able to work feeling as shitty as i did, and then i went to the meeting with him, had a coffee, declined his offer because i already decided that i needed to find some place new to work at, since that one was too toxic, and after an hour i felt how my brain felt before it wanted to collapse. so i panicked not wanting to faint in a public place and rushed to my car, got home, as soon as i laid down i haven't been the same since. i have felt absent, any conversation feels difficult to me, like i am floating, but i am conscious , however not totally present. any physical activity is hell, even though i worked out three times a week before this and walked with no problems. so i went and got my blood work done and hormonal work done, i even got an MRI of my head because i had such bad episodes of feeling like i was literally gonna die, i thought i had a brain tumor. but everything turned out great, everything is normal. the doctors keep on insisting i lost too much weight in one year and that i need to find a balance now, a classic case of malnutrition and starvation. however my brain is still not letting me feel like i am healthy because all the time i am feeling like i am not present. the doctors say that now i am in a state of catabolism, where the body has drained all its resources and it will take time to recover, psychically and mentally. i started seeing a nutritionist that claims that she will help me. it remains to be seen. one thing is for sure i cant live and function like this. its hard for me to tell myself you are healthy , nothing is wrong when i can barely get through the day with ease. i wake up feeling like this, there is always a panic in my chest that i may never recover from this. the doctors even say i need psychiatric help, but i know that's not the case since i need to solve mt psychical state first. i need to tart feeling like myself again asap. has anyone else ever experienced problems like these? sorry for the long post, i am very desperate for any good advise i may get. god bless you all. here is a pic of me exactly a year apart from surgery and this September, just before i started feeling like this.

Monday is my day!!! I'm feeling so so so many emotions. I'm a single mom of a 3 yr old girl as of 10/23 and a boy that will be 2 in January. I have plenty of family helping with them. My son has NEVER spent a day without me, so I'm having anxiety, along with every other emotion!!! I do know this is for the best though, I want to be healthier for me and my babies!! Sent from my moto e5 go using BariatricPal mobile app

At the beginning of COVID, I got sick with a respiratory/shortness of breath/fatigue/fever problem. Thought for sure it was COVID, but two antibody tests have been negative. Anyway, it knocked the socks off me for a couple of months, actually, and I dropped off my exercise. Until then I was doing a lot of things, including 60 flights of stair a day, weights, walking, biking, and swimming. Needless to say, I gained about 7 pounds. But I am happy to report that today I got back to my goal weight and I am sooooo happy about that. I have been increasing my exercise a bit, now with cooler weather (still 95, but feels heavenly after 115!) , and have monitored my carbs and nuts a bit closer. I am still doing IF, which I think is a great tool. And I have found that exercising in a fasting state not only makes me feel better DURING the exercise, but great afterwards, too. I did a 20 mile bike ride the other day in a fasting state and it was one of the best rides I have ever had. Maybe it's ketosis euphoria, but it sure felt good and like I could have gone another 20. The longer I get out from surgery, the more "normal" my eating becomes, and I am gradually learning what I have to do to feel strong, maintain the weight, and not get stressed out over it. The key with weight gain is to nip it in the bud. Don't let it get to 10 pounds - drop it dead in its tracks before it gets that far down the road. Regain does not happen overnight. It actually comes on gradually unless you just stop weighing yourself, start pigging out on unhealthy food, and just go into denial about the whole thing. I used to have nightmares about waking up and finding myself having regained all my weight. AAGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! But it doesn't happen that way. Weighing daily, and jumping back on track when only a few pounds up is the way to keep it off for good, I am convinced. I don't stress about it any more, because I know this is actually do-able! I will have to keep watching carefully as I move toward the 2 and 3 year marks. Hang in there, everyone. Knock it out of the park! Keep with your plans, get your exercise in, and enjoy your new lives!!!!!

I too had a weight loss stall, it lasted about 10 days. The nutritionist has me eating 5 “meals” a day. 1/4 to 1/3 cup. Must contain at least 15 grams protein minimum per meal. If I am not eating meat, I add Genepro protein powder to my meal. I could not survive only eating 3 times a day. This plan is working fine for me. I am just at the 3 month mark.

Hi I’m so scared having surgery on 21/10/20 any advice

I ordered a size 10 Levi 505 pair of jeans. When I took them out of the package and held them up I thought "there is no way these will fit, they are going to be to small" but to my surprise they not only fit but they were a touch big in the waist. What a happy surprise.

Congratulations! I had sx on 8/19/20 and have gone from 241 the day of surgery to 212 today. Tired of eating the same things every day but happy to see the weight loss. I went from a 3xl top to an xl and a 4xl bottom to a 2xl. I also have the straining or not at all problem but found out that more water and two prunes a day are helping. Hope you get help too.

Revision to DS on 10/6 here so only 6 days behind you.

I am having a duodenal switch on 10/13/20. Wondering if I have any surgery buddies out there??

I had surgery 10 years ago. My daughter dropped me off. She was 18 years old and in college. The Doctor's office had someone there "for me" pre op, and she drove me nuts. I asked her to step outside of the room and asked the nurse to make her leave. OR I would. She wouldn't shut up. The nurses laughed and agreed. I told the surgeon that if she showed up afterwards I could not be held responsible for my actions. I slept alot after surgery and walked when I could. My 80 year old father picked me up two days later. We stayed in a local hotel since I was 2 hours from home and the surgeon wants me local for one more day. I heated up pre made clear broth in hotel microwave. Dad went out to the local coffee shop for meals. I walked around the hotel. Dad drove me home. I would have been fine if there had been Uber then !!!

Yep, I had to do the psych eval also. A gazillion ridiculous questions and then an hour long appt with the psychologist. But all in all it was fine. They said I was a good candidate for surgery with realistic expectations. So I guess I passed. I'm scheduled for surgery on 10/27/20 and I just got notification that my health insurance has approved it! I'm not a fan of "always" and "never" questions either. There are very few things in this world that are absolutes.