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dec 2021, 403 lbs jul 2022, 365 lbs, 2 months pre-op dec 2022, 270 lbs, 3 months post-op

I didn’t experience a lot at the beginning with the bypass. I was expecting them at around 3 months with this revision. I just did measurements today because I feel so discouraged. 😭 I know we shouldn’t go by the scale but I am just 3 weeks out and it hasn’t moved since week 2 😩

Remember stalls are very common & you can experience a few of them while you are losing. Many experience the first one around week 3 +/-. They can last 1-3 weeks. Stick to your plan & the scale will start moving again. In the meantime, take some body measurements. Sometimes you notice changes with a tape measure even though the scales don’t move. Did you experience many stalls after your bypass?

Our hair can be such a strong representation of how we see ourselves soo losing it like this can be stressful & difficult to accept. I cut mine to just above my shoulders. My hair looked thicker, bouncier (didn’t have all the weight of my long hair pulling my remaining hair down) & the shorter strands didn’t look so scary in the bottom of the shower or in my brush. Plus it takes less time for your new growth to catch up to the shorter length. You can always grow it again to a longer length if you want. Try not to let it stress you more - you don’t need the extra worry to add to the loss. It will slow back to its usually shedding rate in about 3 months.

Body dysmorphia. It can bring us down, make us doubt ourselves & mess with our reality far too often. I have odd days when I question & doubt my size. Even yesterday, I very tentatively & reluctantly put on a pair of jeans thinking the worst: they won’t fit, they’ll be tight. Were they? No. They fit fine. Looked good. Logically I knew they would but my head was saying Christmas, too many desserts, fat. I knew the scales read only 200g more over the week of Christmas. Yep, 200g, 7 freckin’ ounces, & my mind went to crazy extremes Thankfully it was only a brief bout of insanity until I told myself not to be so damn foolish. Wish I’ll never have those thoughts ever again, though I think they may always happen in some form. I am glad though that over time I’ve got better at recognising them for what they are (mind games) & can remind myself of the truth of my reality more quickly so I can ignore them. Hopefully you will too.

3 months out & my hair is falling out. The black & white photo was when I weighed 295. I had thick, amazing hair. The one on the right was this Christmas at 173lbs. Hair is definitely thinner & stringy. & I'm wearing it curly, it looks even thinner when I straighten it. I know this isn't permanent, I know it'll grow back eventually. But man its still upsetting What have you guys done to combat this? Or how to cope with hair loss?

I’m 2 weeks post op and on liquid diet. I’ll start my purée stage when I reach the 3rd week. I completely understand you! I’ve been craving junk food, I had to do 10 days liquid diet pre op. Food made me happy, I’ve been depressed because I can’t eat, I’ve been trying to think ahead, I’m 2 months all this will be worthy

I was having dehydration issues the week after surgery and I’ve now switched to straight water/ice instead of my flavored water I was using earlier. Seems to have helped a bit. I’m also having issues with my protein (separate issue) and slowed that while I get dehydrated. Thanks for the help everyone.

Hi! I’m 2 months post op and I’m also 13 weeks pregnant. My drs tested me two weeks before surgery and apparently was already pregnant but it didn’t show up on my test cus I was too early. I been struggling myself excessive saliva and mucus and it’s been making me sick and hard to stay hydrated. I can’t even eat really all dairy makes me sick and I can’t handle meats yet. All I’ve been able to put in my body is water😫

I had it done 3+ yrs ago and no more GERD. Recovery was also easier since I knew what to expect.

I’m in the second week of my liquid stage and began eating egg drop soup. And I’m truly having the time of my life with it LOL

When I was at my heaviest, I think I felt littler than I was. Now at 3 years out, I know that I am at a normal weight, but I still always feel like one of the biggest people in the room (logically I know that's not true but it's how I feel). And of course, some days I'm more bloated than others and that doesn't help.

After my first set of test i had to take extra iron supplements because my levels were a little low. After taking it the next set of test 3 months later it came back normal. I typically always get my test results back before the doctor even calls me. My hospital has a portal where you can view all of your test. When i had my HIDA scan i got the results posted on my account before i could even get back home and that was last friday and i still have not gotten a call or anything from the surgeons team to let me know how it went lol. But yea let us know what test exactly came back out of range once you find out. I always get my own lab test done apart from what my surgeon does. i buy them online and go to a lab to get the blood drawn. I just went a few days ago and did another liver panel and the one result that was out of range was getting closer to being in range so thats good.

The only thing I have had issue with so far is chicken but even that is getting much better. I was hoping for more issues with sweets but my holiday snacking has proven that sweets are still tolerated. So it's up to my will power and that has a proven fail track rate. Luckily I am good about sticking to instructions so I still track everything and keep my calories 1000 or under. I was in a stall and so I even took the last week and a half off from weighing and ate holiday food and treats but I just weighed myself today and I lost 3 pounds. So I think that means that I can have my treats as long as I stick to the calories, protein and water goals I was told. Don't want to jinx it though or get used to the treats which is where I wish there was more consequences to my actions. On a side note, I think my hair is starting to fall out I see more and more of it on my brush and I'm sad. I was hoping I would be lucky and get to skip this phase of the surgery but I guess not. I'm just hoping my hair is ok for my cruise in Feb. I was looking forward to maybe getting to buy a new size of clothes and not hiding as much from the camera but missing hair might be something to hide too. I'm considering getting it cut and seeing if I get more body that way but I'm going to wait as see if it gets worse or if its just a little more hair in the brush. Hope everyone's holidays are going well- take care!

Hi Hannah, welcome to the group! I was sleeved 13 months ago and I don't know what I would have done without the folks here, it's an amazing community. From the stats you hit a low of 140 and are now 148 at 8+ years out? That's absolutely amazing. I'm sure you know, lots of people (most?) regain 5-20lbs in year 2 or 3 so maybe 148 is your new set weight - is that possible? How does it feel 8 years on? Do you still get help from your sleeve to maintain?

Last couple weeks i have felt a lot bigger than usual. Like a lot more fat than usual on the stomach i am like wtf am i gaining more weight? But i check the scale and its the same as it was a couple weeks ago. almost 9 months out the weight loss slowed down dramatically. For the previous 30 days i have only lost maybe 3lb which sucks but it is what it is. I am taking my first flight since weight loss here in the next 2 weeks and i have always bought first class tickets because well coach seats are tiny and horrible for overweight people. Now i can fit in them and my wallet is so happy not to buy a first class ticket lol.

Another day, another stall... I think I have spent most of November and December in a stall. It's driving me nuts. I had hopes of hitting a goal before new years, but that's not happening.

Thank goodness I’m not alone. I seriously thought it was just me having a challenging week 😪

Thank you so much for your kind words! I see a therapist every week and I'm hoping to push through.I know this is just a small part in my whole weight loss journey and eventually I will be able to eat relatively normal stuff in about 6 weeks with the occasional treat here and there.That's what I keep reminding myself that this stage is temporary. I'll be a lot happier 6 months down the road!

I started my pureed stage about 5 days ago and I'll continue it for 3-4 more weeks I'm going to talk to my doctor about this but I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to get through this stage more easily.I've been a bit depressed and have been sleeping a ton so I haven't been able to get much food in me.I'm drinking 3 protein shakes a day.Since it's around Christmas time I did cheat a bit.I really wanna progress to solid foods mainly because I have texture issues because of this I'm trying to stick to getting my protein mainly through the shakes.I'll have some yogurt,pudding and applesauce all sugar free of course.I'm just getting a bit mad at myself for wanting to eat junk.That's like all I think about,its frustrating because I wanna stick to the post op goals and eat healthy and not get sick or risk a leak or damage.I'm gonna talk to my NP in about 2 weeks maybe they'll have a solution and before any of you judge me for wanting to eat junk food (I haven't eaten any since before my pre surgery diet) I have a lot of trauma around food.I grew up eating out a lot because of my grandparents and in my young mind thought that food=love.I also have texture issues.Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I had a tummy tuck and thigh lift last week. Recovering now. I’m sore, but doing better than I expected. The worst part was the drains. Thankfully they’re out now. I was hoping to have my eyes done at the same time, but the surgeons decided it would be too much to do at once. It’s hard to take off from work, so it’s disappointing I couldn’t do it all at once. I may combine arms and eyes, but debating if the arm scar is as bad as the bat wings. After weight loss I loved crossing my legs and strolling around effortlessly. I’m really missing that now, but understand it’s temporary. After feeling skinny, I now feel fat. My husband said it’s just all the compression garments and swelling. Can’t wait until I’m healed and can see and feel the results.

Three weeks post surgery on my revision to a distal gastric bypass and my urine output keeps dropping. I drink 80-100oz of water a day, but am barely peeing like I did before. Scale hasn’t moved since the first week of surgery either. I’ve called the doc and they said since I’m not having problems breathing or swelling in my extremities, it’s just a stall. My pee is getting darker and it’s starting to get me worried.

I had a VSG through Kaiser, and my partner had theirs through MBC tldr: MBC falls short in care and cleanliness, Kaiser is cheaper but takes 4-5 months. With Kaiser, I took 16 weeks worth of classes, did pre-op tests, EKG etc, waited a couple weeks and then had surgery for about $700. Kaiser is certainly the longer but cheaper pathway. I also think there is a lot of value in getting your head in the right place before surgery, and committing to 4+ months of pre-op does the job. It is annoying and hard to wrap your head around at the beginning but it went by quickly for me, even having to drive 1.5 hours each way to classes. I’m glad I used Kaiser so we have the resources given to me for him to use as well. MBC: Surgery is scheduled 2 weeks out from pre-approval (website form) and deposit, as thats the timeline required for the pre op diet. This is VERY fast and convenient. We paid about $5000. We are all familiar enough with US standards for hospitals, so here is where MBC falls short on that front: - his incisions bled through his gown after surgery, they would not give him a clean gown and told him he should just put on his street clothes. So, he wore a bloody gown for 2 days as the waist band on his sweat pants would’ve been super uncomfortable. - bandages/tape on floor of recovery room from previous patient. - Less than ideal bathroom cleanliness in room - Broken toilet for the entirety of his stay (he requested it to be looked at, at least 6 times before just pleading for it to be turned off at the water so it would stop running so he could sleep. There was urine and vomit in his toilet for his whole stay. Care comparison: Kaiser: I was on a morphine drip and could push the button every 10 minutes if I was experiencing pain. I was given injections for nausea. Lots of room to walk the halls. Attentive nursing staff. It was overall great. MBC: any time he asked for pain or nausea medication the nurse would say “I will check” and leave the room. Then, he’d wait an hour and have to ask again, only to hear the same response. You’re pretty on your own during recovery. He found that this was also the case for the other patients he drove back to San Diego with after surgery. It was not simply a bad experience, but the standard. Technically MBC contracts with the hospital to use their facility, and the nurses do not work for them directly. They have no skin in the MBC game when it comes to patient satisfaction and it shows. We hoped that tipping would help, but it didn’t seem to make a difference. My incisions with Kaiser were glued shut. His were open and we changed the gauze every day. It’s a little scary looking and you’re left wondering, “is this normal? Are these infected?” Kaiser: no drain, no leak test MBC: drain and leak test. Kaiser: you get a full binder of pre and post op instructions with diet guides for life. MBC: all of their instructions are on their website. What you see online before surgery is generally what you get in that regard. It is convenient to google quick answers to things like how many fluid ounces I should be having, etc and accessing the info easily on their website however it is no where near as comprehensive as Kaiser. Feel free to ask me anything, I’m sure there’s more for me to add and I will in comments. If you go with MBC, you should have low expectations and be willing and comfortable advocating for yourself. Ultimately, both work but the cleanliness and lack of care from MBC made me uneasy.

9 weeks post op, I started wearing a fleece vest wherever I go as I'm running cold. My son's lake house 20 degrees outside, I wore leggings under my pants. Feet are always frozen. I tended to get hot flashes even post menopausal from Metformin, especially triggered from summer heat. Haven't taken it since surgery). So glad to hear the summer heat will be better. Hopefully between less sweating. Hitting the gym next week so getting the sweating in where it should be. Lol. But with less weight and better fitness, sweating should could be less.

Hi All, I thought I would share my resent adventure in traveling after surgery. Husband and I spent the holiday in Maui. As we all know when flying there is that 3 oz limit on liquids which I was concerned about. How am I going to get my proteins, water, pills and vitamins all in with the total day was spent flying? Here is what I came up with before traveling and it worked for me. For protien: I found Bariatric Fusion sells the powder in individuals packets. I also packed in my carry on 2 One protien bars. I picked up a yogurt at the airport to mix the powder in it. On lay overs I was able to find a couple places that had healthy food choice, like the Grab and Go. For water : I took with me a portable water bottle filled it up before got on the planes. I also asked the stewards to fill it up with water and ice while on the plane and it was no problem at all they where happy to do it. For Pills & Vitamins : I got those weekly pill cases one for morning and one for evening. Filled them up with the prescriptions I need for the week and stuck them in my carry on. This included my Biotin and Probiotics. I take fiber powder everyday and was able to find Walgreens carries fiber sticks. I got a box of those counted out how many I needed for the trip and put it in a carry on. I used a back back as my carryon and was able to get everything in there that I need. In Maui there was a lot of fish options which was great for me I love fish. I lot of the time we just split a meal as they where so big and I don't eat alot. I also picked up some individual low fat milk to put my protien powder in. This is usually my breakfast so it was nice to be able to stick to my routine. I was nervous about traveling and staying on track but once I found out that I could take with me what I needed it was a load off my mind. I was able to really enjoy our vacation. I hope this is helpful for any of you who are thinking of traveling or getting ready to travel. Melody