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So @Yashica 37 are things starting to smooth out a little better for you now? They say time heals all wounds, don't see any reason Bariatric wounds would be different. Bye and Bye most things seem to straighten themselves out!😝

I was honest. I have Bipolar disorder and a history of eating disorders including anorexia and bulimia. I also didn't have a great childhood. My psych eval wasn't that bad, and although I was honest, the psychiatrist recommended me for bariatric surgery. I have supports in place, and am medically stable. Best wishes to you! It will be fine! Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

Hi everyone! My name is Kayla, I'm 31 and got approval to start the journey to a vsg surgery in February of this year, so I've completed my education webinars and a week of trial liquid and healthy eating diet. The surgeon here in my province (there's only one) requires me to continue the bariatric diet and to complete daily food journals from now on. If I don't have these food journals they may delay my surgery. I'm finding it really difficult to stick to 3 oz protein and half a cup veggies (surgeon recommended diet) with small snacks of a half serving of fruit and protein. I won't likely get to have the actual surgery for up to another 11 months, only one surgeon means looong wait lists. Without the surgery as a tool my hunger is constantly there, and I am constantly not satisfied. Just to clarify, I am following the guidelines, but I have slipped up a few times (slice of pizza on my birthday) like increasing my protein to 5-6 ounces or having extra cheese in order to curb some of the hunger, I've also taken to eating sunflower seeds, slowly one at a time, to stop myself from thinking about other food. But it's a struggle. Just wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation, how did you deal with having to follow the post surgery diet without the actual surgery to help? Has anyone had to do a long time of food journals and how to you keep on top of it? I've tried the app but having better luck actually writing mine down, but still forgetting sometimes. Advice, stories, anything would be greatly appreciated!

This is a great outlook to have. Today I stopped into a new consignment store that is about to open and I basically just walked in and announced that I’d had bariatric surgery last month and joked that I’ll be doing a lot of trade/buy/resale with them. These 2 girls combined probably weigh what I do currently, but I didn’t feel any shame in telling them that I’ve got a lot of size 20/22 clothes that fall off of me and my current size 18’s aren’t going to get me through April. They were super excited to hear that I’ll be dropping off my old clothes because they said their biggest complaint is they don’t have enough plus-size clothing to resale because people never bring that stuff in. Then we talked for a moment about how hard it is to have any kind of fun looking for clothes as a plus size and how exciting it will be to move down the sizes until I find my goal weight. During the convo I wasn’t at all self-conscious talking to two skinny young girls about negative body image and how difficult it is as a plus size to shop. I can’t wait until they get enough inventory to open up and start getting some affordable things that will fit my ever-shrinking body

Dubchild--and it's hard to explain, right? Obviously we choose to have the surgery and took all the steps to follow through with altering our insides in hopes of a road that leads to better health, but there IS a loss. I feel almost crippled. I always knew food had power of me, that I didn't eat right or couldn't eat the right portions of the right foods, but I never looked at is as a true addition, like drugs or alcohol, but holy smokes, it is! I had a lot of visits with the NUT and a diabetic nutritionist over the years, and I had the prerequisite psychological visits, but I almost think I need a 12-step program now to get over this loss! At least I know how to share this feeling with others who are contemplating bariatric surgery. I think all should be prepared for a period of mourning and an understanding of what that mourning period will feel like. I would have still gone through the surgery, but maybe be better prepared for this psychological drain.

ttn: walking into this bariatric experience, I heard alot of stuff I've heard before (e.g. portion control). What was new, & novel, to me: using smaller dishes, smaller silverware. I literally switched to pediatric size utensils; sandwich plate replaced standard size dinner plate. I didn't care what it looked like, or what people said..all I knew was that it slowed me down. Altered the previous engrained behavior of "shoveling" it in, if you know what I mean. Imagine my surprise when I actually began to savor food! OMG, no lie. That goes for chewing thoroughly as well (a daily conscious choice). It seems the world has gone super-size. Eating out, I divide those huge portions in half as soon as the plate is put in front of me. No doggie bags go home with me. Meals w family/friends....the comments that inevitably arise ("have another, you've hardly eaten", or the killer "you've gotten too thin"). My responses of choice: "just takin' a break", or, "maybe later". No thank you's didn't seem to work. Over time my tastes changed. I find fried, greasy, high fat foods (a previous staple)aren't palatable any more. As has red meat. Go figure. I was raised on beef, butter, & potatoes. All if which smothered in gravy. Your health is the priority. It's not about getting thin, or size 10 or beauty, or pleasing others. It's a process, fer sure. But it's entirely do-able. (Apologies for the rant).

New to this site, still figuring out the A-B-C's. Am delighted w responses. We all deserve to be healthy, I figure. Took me a lifetime to own the fact that obesity is more than just a "challenge", or "struggle, it's life threatening. So, when I hear things like "oh, I can't afford that" (e.g. any commercial weight loss program), my response is: "Hey, getting fat isn't cheap, ya know". Group support is incredibly important. Since I moved to Houston (from L.A.), haven't found bariatric support group w daytime meetings. I stumbled upon this group when searching for protein bars. So, many thanks, you guys, for warm welcome.

Reading everyone’s story on here is so inspiring and insightful on this journey of weight loss surgery that I figured I would share and track mine as well. It will be nice to hopefully look back and read this a year from now anyway after being successful with my gastric sleeve surgery...fingers crossed! All up to that dang insurance approval! Backing up a bit... let me explain a little about me and my battle with the “fluff”. I’ve pretty much have always battled weight. I was always chubby as a kid and grew up in a big Italian family where portion sizes weren’t a thing and life revolves around food. For most of high school I was overweight... except junior year when I decided I would go on a major diet and exercise. I lost a lot of weight and looked good but still only got to 175. By senior year I was pretty much fat again. This would continue every 2 years until my first pregnancy. I would drop 40-50lbs and then gain it right back. By my first kid I really gained a lot though and was a little over 300. Only now due to the pregnancy, I got hypertension that never went away. Then I lost 80lbs. but you guessed it! Gained it all back and then some again! This pattern continued more and more. I remarried and got pregnant again and was back up to 275 again. I have always thought about the idea of weight loss surgery in the back of my head but I was going to try 1 more time to lose it myself and try to keep it off. I found a medically supervised weight loss program with “pills” and lost about 90lbs on it. That was almost 2 years ago. But now I have sadly gained at least 40 of it back and It seems to keep pouring back on me. Plus now I am suffering from severe osteoarthritis as well in both knees and I need a total knee replacement in my right. I’m still going to the gym and I’m still on the medicine, but my body isn’t reacting to it really anymore. So enough was enough and on March 1st I went and saw a weight loss surgeon! When he started explaining to me about how my body just starts to resist the weight loss and thinks it’s starving or wants to go back to my reset mode (which is my 300lb weight) it all made sense! I just always called it my inner fat girl wanting to come back out. He explained how cutting out this part of the stomach removed those hormones and will help me fight those genetics. Now I understand I need to keep up my end of the bargain and still exercise and count calories, but it def explained why it’s like all of a sudden my body would just hit a wall and start gaining back the weight even when I was still dieting. So sleeve it is and I couldn’t be more sure of this! So here goes my journey. They set me up that day with referrals for the psychiatrist, the gastroenterologist and the nutritionist. Luckily, since I’ve been in this medically supervised weight loss program for 2 years, I pretty much already have in my nutritionist meetings but he wanted me to meet with a Bariatric one at least once pre-op. I met with her on March 9th for the first visit already and learned a lot about what to expect the first few weeks out of how to eat and the different phases of food. My next apt with the Bariatric nutritionist is April12th. My endoscopy is scheduled this Friday so hopefully that goes well and my psych is scheduled for the following Friday. I have already filled out the package they sent to me for that which was about 500 questions. I do think it’s a little weird they want me to release all my hospital medical records though. I just hope and pray I get approved by insurance. Depending on who measures me, I range between 5-5 or 5-6 it seems. I also weighed in at 228 which left me with a BMI of 36. My insurance requires a BMI of 35 with comorbitities which I obviously have of hypertension and osteoarthritis. So the low end of BMI has me concerned with approval. Now the other thing is this, and please don’t judge,....My daughter was born in Jan of 2016 and in May of 2016. my husband and I decided to have a “date” night home with a few margaritas for cinco de Mayo. This was my first time drinking anything since she was born so they hit me pretty hard and he and I got into the biggest fight of our lives where he confessed some stuff that I was not expecting...throw in terrible post partum depression that I was suffering from that I wasn’t really aware of at the time and I ended up taking a handful of Tylenol PM’s that night. Well..of course I came to my senses right away and immediately called for help so this landed me stupidly in the ER that night vomiting up the pills and being monitored. I went home the next day after they made sure I wasn’t “suicidal” and of course followed up for a few months with therapy because I was just suffering from out of whack hormones thanks to post partum. my husband and I also worked things out as well. But long story short is....I’m really afraid that might be a clear strike against me for the psych eval. Especially if I release my medical records...... i guess we’ll wait and see. I’ll keep you guys posted on Friday on my Endoscopy. And thanks for reading this whole thing if you made it up to this point! 😄

Bypass vs the sleeve https://www.obesitycoverage.com/gastric-bypass-vs-gastric-sleeve-surgery/ LAP BAND SUCCESS RATE 47% GASTRIC SLEEVE SUCCESS RATE 80% GASTRIC BYPASS SUCCESS RATE 85% DUODENAL SWITCH SUCCESS RATE 95% Data Sources: PubMed: Quick fix or long-term cure? Pros and cons of bariatric surgery and International Journal of Surgery: Long term predictors of success after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy The line graphs above show patients who have lost more than 50% of their excess weight and managed to keep it off for more than 5 years. The popularity of the Lap Band has dropped significantly due to the long-term complication rate and low success rate. Sleeve and diabetes: no dumping with the sleeve. Just because you can eat real sugar without dumping syndrome does not mean you have to eat it. – Diabetes resolved. Weight loss out comes – All surgeries give you the percentage of normal weight lost. Many exceed the norm. While other don’t meet it. Statistics are the base line of what to expect. We are all more than the statistics. Expected Weight loss calculators – Note the percentages of people that lost more- or didn’t meet the norm Sleeve https://www.obesitycoverage.com/weight-loss-surgeries/gastric-sleeve/gastric-sleeves-how-much-weight-will-i-lose Bypass https://www.obesitycoverage.com/weight-loss-surgeries/gastric-bypass/how-much-can-i-expect-to-lose

I’ve not been secretive. Maybe I’m just at an age where I don’t care what people think of me? In fact, today, while conversing with someone who dibsed a bag of clothes I have shrunk out of, I mentioned that I’m about ready to have bariatric surgery, so there will be more clothes if she wants them. I have a great wardrobe and I want it to be able to be enjoyed. Anyway, she said that she’s lost 100 lbs so far, but is going the way of diet and exercise rather than surgery - as if diet and exercise isn’t a major part of losing with wls. I could have been offended, but instead just said that I’ve decided to add this extra tool with the diet and exercise that I’m employing. She clearly was just ignorant. Chances are that she will regain, like I have previously and the vast majority of people who lose without surgery do. I hope she succeeds, but the odds aren’t in her favor. I refuse to pretend that the statistics are less grim than they are. That’s not a myth that I’m going to propagate. However, I’m emotionally in a place where someone saying I’m taking the easy way doesn’t bother me. They don’t have a clue what they are talking about. 15 years ago it would have had an emotional impact, but not now. This whole wls surgery stuff is tough enough without having to deal with other people’s ignorant bs. I totally respect those who choose not to by keeping it to themselves.

Hey everyone! 😊 Quick question i hope some of you can answer. After your insurance approves you for bariatric surgery, what are the next steps?? And do they let you do payments on the surgery or does that just depend on your surgeons office?? I feel like this process is taking forever and im trying to be positive. Thank you! 😊

Nothing easy about any type of bariatric porcedure. They all take work. I had the sleeve in 2014 - I got to goal in six months which is not the norm according to the statistics.

LAP BAND SUCCESS RATE 47% GASTRIC SLEEVE SUCCESS RATE 80% GASTRIC BYPASS SUCCESS RATE 85% DUODENAL SWITCH SUCCESS RATE 95% Data Sources: PubMed: Quick fix or long-term cure? Pros and cons of bariatric surgery and International Journal of Surgery: Long term predictors of success after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy The line graphs above show patients who have lost more than 50% of their excess weight and managed to keep it off for more than 5 years. The popularity of the Lap Band has dropped significantly due to the long-term complication rate and low success rate. Bypass vs Sleeve https://www.obesitycoverage.com/gastric-bypass-vs-gastric-sleeve-surgery/

Does your surgeon’s office offer a seminar on all the different types of surgeries? I would start there. Check with your insurance and your surgeon to see if they require pre surgery weight loss. Average weight loss: 50% of your weight with Lap Band surgery https://www.obesitycoverage.com/weight-after-lap-band-surgery 60% of your weight with gastric sleeve https://www.obesitycoverage.com/weight-loss-surgeries/gastric-sleeve/gastric-sleeves-how-much-weight-will-i-lose 70% of your weight with gastric bypass https://www.obesitycoverage.com/weight-loss-surgeries/gastric-bypass/how-much-can-i-expect-to-lose LAP BAND SUCCESS RATE 47% GASTRIC SLEEVE SUCCESS RATE 80% GASTRIC BYPASS SUCCESS RATE 85% DUODENAL SWITCH SUCCESS RATE 95% Data Sources: PubMed: Quick fix or long-term cure? Pros and cons of bariatric surgery and International Journal of Surgery: Long term predictors of success after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy This website below has some good information. https://www.obesitycoverage.com/the-complete-patients-guide-to-bariatric-surgery/ Best of luck to you.

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I apologize if this is too much information, but I need to figure out how to end this horrible constipation I'm experiencing. I'm in my 5th week after gastric bypass and I'm just starting small amounts of food. I am not taking any pain meds, nor have I after day 3 of the surgery, but I am taking all my vitamins, which includes Bariatric Advantage soft chew multivitamins (2 a day) and Celebrate's Iron + C and Calcium Citrate softchews (1 each per day). I drink two Premier Protein drinks and day (60 grams of protein total) and approximately drink 60 ounces of water. The foods I have been eating are unsweetened applesauce, cottage cheese, and mashed potatoes. It takes four days for me to feel like I need to go and then it is MISERABLE. I am chockerblocked to the max. I have had to resort to laxatives and enemas because taking Colace and drinking Smooth Move tea regularly is NOT working. The laxatives only work some of the time and they cause bad cramping. Has anyone else suffered like this and what has worked? Are my vitamins causing this horrific experience and has anyone found a better type of vitamin that helps with constipation? Is it my protein intake? I feel as if I'm drinking enough water.... would love to know if others have experienced this and how it was solved. Thanks!

I did not like his attitude towards fat people. At one point he says “you think the healthiest thing is chicken breast, and you think you know that, but but you’re wrong. Look at your body. Now look at my body. I am not getting bariatric surgery. I have never had a weight problem. So listen to me not what you think you know, because which one of us looks like me know how to eat” This made me soooo mad! And it’s not true that if you are skinny you wat right and if you are fat you don’t. (I don’t care about the chicken part) I know a girl at work. She is soooo skinny I could almost put my hands around her waist. All I ever see her eat are donuts and cookies and energy drinks and soda. I mean she is so skinny she makes you look fat, Dr. Vonung, so I suppose you think I should copy her and eat what she eats?

And too much ibuprofen gave me Hector my original gastric ulcer. You know they really needed to talk to each other, my specialists. PCP gave me a demulcent because I tend to build and cough up a lot when an evil virus/ bacteria decides to invade my lungs, Specialist # tells me to load up on ibuprofen for arthritis pain "You're a Big Girl, you can handle 4 every 4-6 hours after all!" Then here comes Specialist #3, a gastrointestinal specialist who announces my stomach. lining is raw and chewed up from excessive NSAID. Oh Tra La La and Tweedly Dee, and I'm the one with the Right subcostal pain that doesn't stop. Omeprazole did nothing to be gastroprotective so we moved on to Dexilent. And my Bariatric Clinic didn't want to listen when I told them Omeprazole does not work for me, insisted I take their advice, I have been fighting a crop of jejunal ulcers since October 2018 and I am fervently praying my next Endoscopy, my EGJ on April 12 shows only good things( for once). But we shall see what brews up next. Obviously I am not going "Gentle into that Good Night" just bumping and thumping my merry way down the highway toward Final Weight Loss Victory.

My doc never gave a calorie goal despite me asking. All he said was to make absolutely sure to stay hydrated and he set my minimum water goal at 80 ounces daily. He also said that I should try to stay under 35-40 gm carbs daily and to try my best to get in protein, but to not try to add in protein at the expense of hydration. As your sleeve/pouch gets bigger, you’ll be able to get those calories in. I kept a food journal and at my 2 week post-op showed my doc that I had only consumed 880 calories in ONE WEEK and he shrugged and asked me how I was feeling. Told him I felt fine for someone who had just had bariatric surgery and his answer was that eventually I’d be able to hit protein goals, but that it would take time and not to sweat it if it took a few more weeks to get there.

*This is the first posting after my (2) Bariatric Surgeries 2/4 & 2/25. BARIATRIC RECAP: 2/4/19 Herniated Lap Band Removal; COMPLICATIONS; Surgeons find “Severe Scar Tissue” appears as hard white second lap band, surgery is stopped, sewn up and rushed to CT Scan to R/O Foreign Body. 2/5/19 start developing severe Rt Shoulder/Neck pain & Paresthetica Meralgia. Start PT, Medical Massage and Rx’s - Severe stomach & Incision pain. 2/25/19 - Surgery #2 Gastric Sleeve Conversion; MORE COMPLICATIONS. During Surgery Surgeons discover “my Liver was fused to my stomach and needed to be burned apart”, repaired a hole found in my diaphragm + performed laparoscopic gastric sleeve surgery (4 hr procedure). Post Surgery Day 2-14: Chronic Lt Shoulder Pain day 2-7, Dizziness, Chronic Diarrhea continues, Nausea each day Day 12-Present. Incisions are healing but overall feeling depressed and overwhelmed by all the nausea and pains. Entering Post-Operative Week 3: ANXIETY, CONSTANT FATIGUE & NAUSEA DAILY? Are these Normal symptoms? “THANK YOU TO ANYONE WHO CAN SHED LIGHT ON TIMELINES FOR RECOVERY AND NAUSEA.” 🙏

As stated in the other/dupe post, the following doctor is a preeminent bariatric surgeon in the DFW area, and is also one of the few in the US that can handle complex revisions cases. Many people travel from all over the country, Texas, and even internationally, to get surgery with him. He also is very experienced with the Duodenal Switch (2 anastomoses) procedure, which very few surgeons are capable of performing. Folahan Ayoola, MD Weight Loss Specialists of North Texas Phone: 940-382-9429 Locations: Denton, Flower Mound, & Frisco

Don’t ignore that, I also had it and ended up in the emergency room where they put me out to pop a hernia back into place because it was obstructing my intestine, so I went to my Bariatric Dr because emergency room couldn’t do anything else, and I needed emergency surgery on that hernia so I wouldn’t be put on a colostomy bag...so keep the pain minimal, if it gets worse call you dr ASAP I hope that helped

This surgeon is phenomenal, and is highly skilled in all bariatric surgeries, including the standard of care Duodenal Switch (2 anastomoses). Folahan Ayoola, MD Weight Loss Specialists of Noth Texas Locations: Denton, Flower Mound, Frisco

@Kristinqtpie Congrats on your surgery date. Only speaking from my experience with the sleeve. I’m almost 5 years out. Hunger is a different sensation after surgery. First out from surgery your hunger may feel less. Understand that surgery does not take away hunger 100%. You will still experience it. Hunger is more manageable post-surgery. You will have a new sensation of full. You will learn to manage real and head hunger. What sleeves should know as you progress out. Our pouches are banana shaped. (Other surgeries are egg shaped) Expect that your restriction will become less over time. ( It has not grown back to full size) You are not doomed to gain weight. Many mistake less restriction with stretching (Stretching is rare. Get it diagnosed by your surgeon) With your extra stomach room, there is no reason to eat extra calories and gain weight. You can still eat food without going over your weight loss/maintaining calories. Many of us are willing to share strategies to help with hunger and extra sleeve room. Grazing / eating around your surgery can happen to any type of bariatric procedure. Eating small meals frequently that total over your weight loss calories and macros. This can be in a combination of healthy and unhealthy foods. The sensation is as if you never had surgery. You will gain weight. Many of us fear weight gain. Work your plan. Dont be afraid to ask for help if you do experience a gain. Best of luck to you, Jenn