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Im happy for you .. Im 4 years in and for two years I've been having the worst pain .. 245 in a year to 183 . I was happy with that weight . then in 4 months 187 to 134. Esophagus spasm ulcer anemia and low on vitamins .. Im cold because of anemic and in always throwing up

I wonder... If part of the deal of losing the excess weight was that you would lose some hair, would you have made the deal? For me, it would be a no-brainer... I'd have gone bald. What would you have chosen? Brain teasers... Good luck, Tek

that actually sounds so good right now. Congratulations on your weight loss. Don't be surprised if you hit your 3 week stall now. It's very normal, Just stick with the plan and you will see it falling again.

I'm glad you found it too. You're gonna do great. I lost 70 lbs on Keto at 46 and didn't have any saggy skin but now, since I had gained most of it back, My tummy is already drooping low and I've only lost 25 lbs pre-surgery.

Weight isn't coming off as fast as I thought it would. I've had a few days of not feeling well but so far only 1 dumping episode.

Without insurance, there isn't really a long wait. They moreso want you to be ready for it so it's kind of in your control without insurance. I think it's different depending on where you're at and how you present to them during the initial consultation. I was not given a weight loss goal or timeframe but I was also told some people are, it just depends. I came into my consultation incredibly depressed and recently diagnosed with bipolar disorder which is why my preparation was more about the mental health stuff. I was told to seek counseling because I have an eating disorder (which I was already doing), 3 months of nutrition visits, and pass a psych eval. Once I got that done, they approved me for the EKG, endoscopy, and pre-op bloodwork. They basically said once I complete those (plus establishing care with a primary care doc), I was good to schedule my surgery. I prolonged it for 3 months extra and did extra nutrition because I was still deep into counseling and wanted to make sure my mind was right before jumping into it. So my first visit was in July 2021 I believe and I had my surgery on February 14 2022 in short.

By the way, your weight loss is phenomenal and I’m very impressed!

Check out Dr. Dietrich at Advent Health Bariatric. Incredible program, state of the art facilities and holistic approach to weight loss. Sent from my SM-G975U using BariatricPal mobile app

I did Advent tampa with dietrich. Highly recommend. Sooooo state of the art in surgery, hospital stay, medicine. Very holistic approach to weight loss. They want you to get your mind right along with your eating habits and understand there's a mind body connection in morbid obesity. Dr D very cleverly placed my incisions so one of completely out of sight. He's incredibly thorough, kind, and caring. I felt listened to the whole time by everyone. I paid out of pocket because my insurance didn't cover it. Costs over 25k for everything (Dr visits, blood work, mental health, endoscopy, ekg, hospital stay, surgery, nutritionist) and came with free appointments up to 90 days post op. Loved the experience. Sent from my SM-G975U using BariatricPal mobile app

My team told me I could fluctuate a couple of pounds, but am not able to have any significant weight loss prior to surgery or insurance will think you are capable of doing this without surgery.

I don’t have experience with either clinic but I can tell you that many of us have to do the six months of supervised weight loss to meet insurance requirements. Although some do not have to, hopefully you are one one of the lucky ones. Although don’t rush it too much. There is quite a bit to figure out along the way and it’s sorta nice to have a few visits to get your questions answered to feel better prepared.

I love TGH as a whole. I've been going there for years and have seen different doctors for different things and have never had a bad experienece. Yeah since I was already an established patient, I think I probably had less pre op testing to do. Like EGD. I had one before my band was removed, so she said I didn't need another. Also it would depend on what specialists you're seeing. So for example, if you have cardiac issues, you may be required to not only get cardiac clearance from the cardiologist, TGH may require a stress test as part of their clearance. It took me 5 1/2 months to complete everything from first appointment until surgery date. A lot of it has to do with what your insurance requires in order to meet in order to get approved for surgery. Some require supervised weight loss. It varies from provider to provider. I would say start the process tomorrow. Call and sign up for their virtual patient info session. That's the first thing you will do. Best wishes!

Thanks for the reply! I see her bio on their website and she seems very qualified, thanks. Do you like the support syatem provided by TGH? I read somewhere that TGH requires a 6 month weight loss counseling prior to the surgery. Although your situation is different with previous Lap Band, do you have any insight on the wait? I really do not want to drag this on any further. I have used Nutritionists before, have lost weight several times, and now eat healthy. But although it was hard to maintain that loss, I am discovering that with old age it has become hard to even loose. I was hoping (maybe unrealistically?) to have surgery by November. Thanks again.

Hey! Glad to hear from everyone. I had my surgery Feb 14 and have lost about 66 lbs post OP and total weight loss 97 lbs in both pre and post op phases. I am feeling very mehh mentally. I was stalled out for a long time in the 250s but I recently broke the stall which is great but physically I really don't like how I look. I'm having a very hard time embracing the weight loss because my body still looks the same as it did at 340 lbs, just a smaller version now with loose and droopy skin. I cannot stop thinking about getting my arms done because I have huge loose upper arms with saggy droopy skin. It's 100+ degrees here and I refuse to wear short sleeve shirts never mind tank tops because I am so self-conscious about my arms. I am wearing long sleeve shirts and button-ups for now. I tried a girdle to suck me in but it just makes the loose skin on my armpit/back stick out and looks HORRIBLE. I am honestly having a really hard time accepting myself. I look in the mirror and still see a huge person and the fact that I'm not at my weight loss goal really adds to it. I'm also losing my hair and my front hair line is so thinned out, if my hair gets oily there's a bald spot on the left front side that is almost impossible to cover up. I just feel so ugly. I am trying to wash my hair less (because the majority of it falls out in the shower), brush it incredibly gently, and sleep on a silk pillowcase but I'm not sure there's much else to do about hair loss, just let the thing run its course and it is supposed to come back within a year. Dying my hair dark, dark brown helps it look fuller. Physically I feel better but still deal with crunching knee pain, I think that's just from having no cartilage in the knee and needs a medical intervention beyond weight loss. The knee pain overall has improved but there's no cartilage in my right knee and it still gets very painful. On the bright side I can run and run up stairs without getting out of breath. I don't sweat unless I'm doing something very strenuous too to the intense heat and long sleeves doesn't bother me too much because I don't really get that hot. I am only allowing weigh-ins once a month from here on out because I was obsessive about it and the number makes me incredibly depressed. I am not concerned about my diet or my movement - I follow what I'm supposed to be doing well so there's no sense in stepping on the scale every day. And the last two times I've checked the number went down from my previous stall. All the loose skin, lumps, nothing is flat or smooth and I'm still in my 20's, haven't had kids and am just so upset I did this to myself. I am obviously very happy about the weight loss but it's like now that a lot of weight has come off, I am now mentally dealing with the shame and regret I feel in letting myself get as heavy as I was. In the moment, I didn't think about it because I was so disconnected from my body - I always thought it's not that bad but now that I see how much my body has changed, I feel ashamed of myself. I am really working on "owning" my body at this point. I want to have a plastics consultation to see when and how they'd be willing to operate on me but until then, I just need to realize what's changed for the better. I just wish the body dysmorphia and self-hatred would go away but as everyone says, it doesn't. You still have to put the work in and that's my main priority right now. Anyway, sorry I am kind of venting here. Thanks if you made it this far. I'm incredibly interested to hear how everyone is doing too, physically, mentally, etc.

I managed to lose my weight and keep it off, but about a year ago they diagnosed me with Reactive Hypoglycemia. I wear a monitor and eat very low carb. I recently spent the day in the ER due to being light headed and the only thing that showed up was my red blood counts were slightly low. Otherwise I feel pretty good, like the way I look (except some loose skin) Love wearing a size 4, but sometimes it is hard to find my size. Funny, that was an issue when I was in the 200's. Now I look at the larger sizes and wish they were in my size, lol. Picture of me on the right.

All good advice above. Don't compare yourself to others when it comes to weight loss speed - even if they are in a similar weight range. Just focus on your program and stay the course. We are all different and will lose at different rates even when stats are similar. Even if you are a "slow loser" that does NOT mean you will not get to your goals. It just may take a little longer. Be prepared that weight loss is not linear, even with WLS. Others mentioned the stalls, but it can't be overmentioned that your body will lose how it wants to, and it may not match your expectations or emotional needs. It is very frustrating but do not get discouraged. Being cold all the time is a real thing. Also, if your tail bone starts to hurt when sitting, it is very common. I recommend getting one of those cushions. Take pictures and measurements! Seriously, this really helps when weight loss (the scale number) is not cooperating. I've made it through so many stalls by pulling out the photos and seeing the major differences. And, also looking at my measurements, which have still changed during stalls (highly encouraging). I also started making note of all my non-scale victories because it is about so much more than the scale, even though that is nice too. That's what I can think of this early in the morning. Best of luck!

Because of the Gerd and high blood pressure and I didn't lose much weight . But I also didn't have Gerd at all when I had my sleeve . Sent from my SM-G991U using BariatricPal mobile app

The length of your pre op diet typically depends on your BMI. On your profile it shows its 66. Some surgeons wont even operate on anyone with a BMI higher than 55-60 and its for safety issues. The heavier you are the more dangerous being put under anesthesia is. So they want to get you into a safe zone with your weight. as for smoking, Yup my surgeon said the same thing that you gotta quit by a certain point before surgery. It helps with healing to not smoke. My surgeon said that if it was too hard to let them know and they would prescribe some medication and or the patch, gum. watch this video. start at around 2 minute mark.

You will experience stalls. You will lose some hair. You will experience constipation. Your taste buds & sense of smell can become temporarily extra sensitive making some foods taste or smell awful. You will experience loss of energy, feel weak & tired. You may experience some blood pressure drops. You may still feel hungry (real or head). You may not feel hungry at all nor be interested in eating. Your tummy will be sensitive & can be fussy about certain foods one day & fine with them the next. You may vomit or be nauseous. Multivitamins can make you nauseous. You may experience the foamies - spit up thick saliva & maybe regurgitate the last bite or two of what you ate (generally happens if you eat too much, too quickly or food that is too dry or coarse)? They may only happen to you a couple of times or not at all. But you can trust they do get better & pass. Stalls break. Hair regrows. Food taste yummy again. Some things pass pretty quickly. Some take a little longer & others we learn how to manage (like constipation & the foamies). These experiences are all part of the process. Not because you’ve done something wrong or are failing as some think & beat themselves up about. We’re experiencing a lot of psychological & physiological stress: the surgery, healing, recovery, our changed & reduced diet, the head battles, reassessing the how & why we eat, etc. They ‘re just how our body reacts to cope with the stress. And you can rely on: We all lose weight at our own rate. The more you have to lose the faster you’ll lose to begin. The closer to goal the slower your rate of loss will become. Hope I haven’t scared you. Rather you be prepared than go through the anguish of doubting yourself because you didn’t know. I’d rather go through those things for a few months then be obese. It’s all very much worth it. All the best.

I had my PS done by Dr. Alex Earle in Miami. He does lots of surgeries on massive weight loss patients. I had an extended tummy tuck that included muscle repair and lipo to the flanks, a breast lift & augmentation and arm lifts.

I feel the exact same way about my Lap Band. I regret the choice I made now, since it caused damage to my esophagus and horrendus GERD. I wish I would've chosen Bypass from the beginning so I would've had a much better quality of life and perhaps even reached my goal weight years ago.

I am a long time lap bander and flipped to a sleeve in 2016. In there I lost and gained weight and am back around my goal weight where I have been for a while. I recently moved to the St Petersburg area and am looking at plastic surgeons in the area. I want one who understands weight loss patient skin is different, more damaged than a standard patient. I am looking at arm lifts, thigh lift, some abdominal lips, breast lift and reduction and because I am feeling saggy maybe a small face lift. I did a tummy tuck and breast lift 20 years ago and the boobs took the hit on the weight regain I had the tummy tuck held up well. There are a ton of options in the area was wondering if anyone had experiences and recs? I am also looking at maybe going to Columbia to a practice there the quote is appealing and the doc is American board certified and teaches in the US. All the work there will be 20-25k and that includes a 10-12 day hotel stay, nursing care and transport to and from the hospital as needed.

I see this image shared often on other support sites about the 2-3 week weight loss.

Something I swore to myself before going into surgery (among many other personal goals) was that I'm going to not even try to care about the number and I'm definitely not weighing every day. I figure that if I continue to follow my surgeons and my nutritionists instructions, the weight will come off in due time. I am starting to slow down in weight loss and have started week 5. As a "lifer" to weight loss struggles, I've learned that our bodies know what to do and if it means holding onto a few pounds for a few days for energy or whatever, as long as I am doing what I am supposed to do, my body will work with me and do what it needs to do. I knew the weight loss would slow down after the first couple or few weeks and I'm fine with that. As long as I don't gain a bunch back, I am moving in the right direction. Also keep in mind that if we aren't losing pounds, we are losing inches. Typically we don't lose both at the same time. Additionally, if we are exercising, in a way that builds muscle mass, the pounds may not seem to be coming off when in fact, those pounds are showing up in the form of muscle mass which weighs a lot more than fat. Keep your chin up! You are doing awesome! Don't worry about the dumb scales. If your clothes are getting lose and you feel good, then you are definitely moving in the right direction! 🤗❤️

That's awesome!!! Congrats I can't wait until I'm there. Maybe another 10 pounds and I'll get to buy some new stuff, too. It's an awesome problem to have, right? Instead of buying bigger clothes because what you have doesn't fit, you have to buy smaller clothes because of how much weight you've lost!!!!!