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HI Dave, I know how scary this decision is. It's true that it takes courage and determination. It sounds like you have done quite a bit of soul searching and that your struggles have been huge. I can tell you that for me, in the short 8 weeks that I have been sleeved, I have found tremendous benefits to my health. My energy is so much better but mostly my outlook on life has improved 100%!!!! I won't lie and say the're haven't been ups and downs (scale not moving at times, a little pain returning to my incisions after it was gone, difficulty getting in proteins) But, it has always passed!!!! and I know it will pass. I accept that it is a process, NOT an over night transformation. However, all in all, it is a fast process! and that keeps me so happy, positive and motivated because, again, I *know* that each day I will move forward with this sleeve! It is great that week to week something good happens. And I just feel happy. I know that in a few months from now, a year from now etc. I will be even further along! It is great to read on these boards about people's successes, even if they've had a few struggles here and there. I think most everyone seems to have benefits of daily improvements in health, activity level, optimism, confidence boosts, in addition to weight loss. This surgery is totally doable!!! The benefits when weighed against the detriments of our weight issues are tremendous. Most of us don't get to this place on a whim. We don't take this lightly. We are prepared to do some hard work. But we know our efforts will pay off. I've said this before, we are so lucky to be able to take advantage of this science/technology/advancement, whatever you want to call it. I'm 48. I wish it was available 15 years ago! LOL I definitely have no regrets. I wish you the best of luck on this journey as well as great health an energy. I think you are going to do GREAT!!!! Looking forward to reading more about your journey and progress!!!!!

Wow, I am sorry to hear this. But I am curious to know what is the plan now. I had my surgery and after, the doc called my mom and told her that I had thae largest stomach he had ever removed. He also told her my liver was enlarged, and it will go back to its normal size after I loose some weight. Keep your head up. Set your mind as if you had the surgery, and do the same things to help you loose. You can do it!

My doctor told me if I have a fever or hard time swallowing, that I need to call them or go to the E.R. asap! Height: 5'0" Weight for WLS consultation: 216 lbs. Surgery date: 2/13/17 Goal: -71 lbs for healthy BMI (about 145 lbs). Current weight: 185.2 My profile picture is not me. It's my "FITspiration" body.

Oh, the good ol' days when the decision about what a patient needs, or should have, rested solely with the doctor and the patient. Seems wrong to be denied weight loss surgery because you gained weight! That's the whole point of WLS.

Congratulations on your weight loss.....you sure lost a lot of weight in a very short period of time....

I am also not banded yet. I'm scheduled for this coming January, which is a while from now. I figured that I shouldn't wait until then to lose the weight from the band, so I started now. I'm doing low-carb because it worked great in the past(50lbs) and I felt healthy while doing it. As I see it, I can enjoy this weight loss while eating the things I like on this diet and I'll have less to lose with the band! And I know I only have to do it until January and won't gain it back (like you said trystelle). The surgery is a great motivation to stick to my diet even when I'm bored with it. I feel like my low-carb diet right now is practice for the band too. I can't have liquid calories like regular soda and ice cream and in general I'm controlling what I'm putting into my mouth as opposed to eating whatever I want. I did practice the chewing, and man, it's so much chewing for 1 bite. After 2 bites I get annoyed with it and just go back to normal chewing. Maybe when surgery is a little closer, I'll do a practice run of shakes and slow chewing. Trystelle- what were you doing that you lost 40lbs? Just chewing slower? Eating bandster sized portions with shakes? Or were you doing a diet?

Good for you-I took the same route and "practiced" for the band while I waited through the process. I lost 40 pounds during this time. I also started walking a little each day. I think it made the surgery easier and maybe even safer. And you know that once you get the band you won't gain it back. Best of luck on your journey.

I was offered both options, and I went with bypass from the beginning. My reasons were because I have reflux and nausea on my own (the sleeve can make this worse), and there has been years and years of long term studies done on the bypass, but not the same for sleeve. Years ago, people thought lap band was the way to go, but we're now learning that it doesn't work all that well and there have been many complications, and lot of revisions. I'm not saying that the sleeve will turn out to be the same "fad" surgery, but the research just isn't there for it like the bypass is. Also, there have been studies that show the bypass is actually more effective at long term weight loss than the sleeve. I'm 5'2 230 pounds, so I qualify for both surgeries, but I'm not so big that I need more drastic measures, I just want to have only one surgery, done right the first time. I don't want to be sleeved and then have to do revision surgery later because it's not as effective as bypass. As far as the dumping goes, I actually WANT that as a tool to keep me, and my weight, in check. I feel like my weight is a big enough problem in my life to have surgery for it, so I'm going to go all-in, and get the bypass. My surgery is scheduled for December 29th. SO excited!!

I am almost 11 months post opp and the last 2-3 month I have seen a dramatic halt in weight loss. It's to the point that I feel like I should have went with bypass instead of sleeve. At what point did you see the slow down? Did anyone plateau before they were even close to the goal? And did you do anything in particular to get the weight loss going again?

I started seeing a slowdown in weight loss around 13 months post OP and now the scale is hardly moving. I read that the rate will be high at first and will slow down as you about to reach your goal weight. I still want to lose 5 kg more but I'm not stressing about it. Planning to start exercising and hopefully that will help. I read some people here have tried fasting / IF to jumpstart the weight loss. I remember you posted about trying IF. How is that working for you? The important thing is to not stress too much about. I always remind myself that I've gained all that weight over a number of years and to lose it all over a few months would be a drastic change. Good luck

You probably could really benefit from some psychological support Wires, about your body image and worth prior to surgery and following surgery. Before I had the surgery, my husband kept me feeling good about myself and now, even better. Your husband obviously loves you, and when is the last time you really sat down and told him how you feel, and had a real conversation about it.? If you are not ready for that, begin your search for someone professional to talk to. Losing weight will not take those issues away, seek help. Best wishes, Linda

@@khaled I took it to mean your first weigh in that started you on your journey should be your highest weight. You shouldn't surpass that any time.

I must have the most lax insurance ever. I was able to schedule my surgery within 8 weeks of my consultation. I didn't have to lose any weight first, or provide a whole lot of history.

Hey Everyone, I am 27 years old and from Nova Scotia,Canada.I weigh 236 pounds and an 5'3". My hips and back are hurting.I am having trouple sleeping at night and breathing. I am thinking this is from all teh extra weight I am carrying around.This is teh heaviest I have been. Going from a size 8 to a size 20 is a bummer.especially in a metter of 2.5 years. I admit I am new to this board and procedure but look forward to learning more. Please dont mind me asking tons of questions. Thanks, mlm

First, congrats! A number of ladies experience increased fertility with weight loss, despite how much we hate it when our docs tell us weight is a factor or no matter how many times we've been told we have a number of female issues. Somehow, with the weight loss, the body gets back on track and it surprises a lot of ladies. As you can see from all of the surprise pregnancy posts you'll find here! I was two years out when I got pregnant but still had a very limited capacity. I could eat one scrambled egg with cheese and one turkey sausage link in a meal and feel stuffed. As my pregnancy has progressed my capacity has increased as well as my appetite, so while it's still a bit of a challenge to consume enough, I'm doing alright. My situation was complicated by nausea. If I ate any meat, I'd get sick. I'm already lactose intolerant and while it's supposed to improve during pregnancy mine got worse - to the point where putting a tiny bit of butter on toast would make me ill. My Protein shakes were totally off limits for several months, too. So I really do understand the concerns you're having. The solution is to go back to the way things were in the beginning, when you forced yourself to eat around the clock to hit a nutritional goal. It means choosing your meals carefully so that you can get a well balanced meal in a tiny portion. It also means trying your darnedest to get back on those shakes and make them stick. I have been able to drink mine again for the last few weeks and I feel MUCH better and have more energy since I was able to do that. And I really can eat more in a sitting now. Your stomach should relax as you get further along and the hormones are really increased. That helps a lot. When you say your stomach hurts are you talking about cramping and nausea? Is it hurting after dairy? I first developed lactose intolerance with my twin pregnancy and the first clue was really uncomfortable stomach cramping after anything dairy based. I would definitely bring this, and the fact that you've had WLS to your OB's attention ASAP. I am on two different prenatals, additional Calcium, B12 shots and a special Iron supplement to keep my levels up. I am only just now, five months in, getting enough nutrition that my labs come back in good shape. While it's been a particular challenge for me, try your hardest to shelve concerns about weight gain. I was so freaked out a few months ago because I had already put on seventeen pounds. But here I am, 24.5 weeks out and I'm only up 15 pounds - somewhere along the way I lost a couple of pounds. And it's all baby (okay...baby and boobs, but I'm not complaining about that part!) and I really do realize that I'm going to do just fine losing this weight afterward. The biggest concern is making sure the baby is getting enough, and you sound like you're already working to help this issue. My doc told me and I believe it - the baby will suck every bit of energy and nutrition from my body and leave me tired, nauseated and run down before it will go without. So if you're at least trying, even when it's not easy, you should do just fine. So, try the shakes again. Try to set a timer to eat small, regular, protein and calcium rich meals. Eat as much of what you're able to eat as you can, within reason, of course. Foods that are really good for protein, besides meat are lentils (lentil Soup saved me when I couldn't eat any meat a few months ago), cottage cheese, seitan (if you like it), and of course Beans always help, too. Good luck, ~Cheri

I did it! Made my mini goal weight of 207 my most recent lowest weight - 2 years ago on Jenny Craig! I started JC in Feb. 2010 at 272. 10 months later Dec 2010, my lowest weigh-in was 207 lbs.I was working out (walking and videos) 5-6X week, plus I spent an average of $400/month on JC food! So excited to get back to where I should never have left-I worked so hard to get there only to plateau, stop going to get weighed (and I was getting sick of the food) and poof- weighed 278 this past summer. I'm working hard now, but it's different. Maybe it's the hunger factor, I just don't think of food the same way as I did before. I can't wait until next month...I've ordered my one way ticket to onederland!

I am such a slow loser - I am 3 months out too (October 3rd) and only down 40 pounds. Now, I have worked DAMN hard for every one of those 40 pounds but sure wish it was more! I continue to truck along doing what I am supposed to be doing and watch the weight slowly but surely fall off. I love my sleeve! I know I could have never lost this much weight without it.

As Fluffy said, differences for different programs - and also for different individual needs. I never worried about carb or fat counts as those don't bother me, just calorie count as that is what ultimately drives the weight loss. There is too much good nutrition associated with foods that are nominally carbohydrates for it to make sense to place arbitrary limits on them; on junk food (high calorie/low nutrition stuff) yes, but not solely on the basis of something being high carb or fat - the calories are an adequate limitation. With your bypass, however, and the prospect of dumping or reactive hypoglycemia, a reasonable carb restriction can be in order, particularly for simple carbs and/or sugars, at least until one figures out ones' individual tolerances.

OK that makes sense and thanks for explaining 😀. I have pcos so I def have to do low carb. I am one of the odd balls that actually gain weight doing weight watchers. Before surgery couldn't do more than 30g carbs at a meal. Post nutritionist has me at under 6 per meal.

What's your MasterCleanser? I do a MasterCleanser (that's what they call it) every now and again (and am on day 3 right now) where you mix equal parts lemon juice and maple syrup. Then 6 times a day you put 3 Tbs of this mix in an 8 oz glass of Water and sprinkle about 1/10th of a tsp of cayenne pepper on top. It's only a 4 day cleanse. I'm not hungry, don't have any cravings and have an incredible amount of energy right from the start. Best of all, my blood sugar levels drop to normal without meds and I lose anywhere from 10-18 lbs. Yeah...I know it's mainly water, but it's a great start to a low carb eating plan. Normally, if I go right into low carb, I only gain back 2-3 pounds but then lose it again within another couple of days.

Many doctors very appropriately require their patients to achieve a lower BMI before surgery. This reduces surgical risk DRAMATICALLY. It also allows them to assess the likelihood of postoperative success. You will not be losing alone. You'll find hundreds of people here who are doing the same thing. You will also have your doctor and his resources at the ready. I would NOT travel to someone willing to do it at an unsafe BMI. I'd rather get with the program and get the weight off. It's HARD but---and this is hard to hear, but important--no harder than the postoperative course. Because even then, you have to make good choices every.time.you.eat. Now, I'm assuming your doctor is making this recommendation to benefit you in terms of safety. If, OTOH, you believe he's doing it to push another agenda, then I'd discuss it with him. Some doctors do have surgical preferences, and can try to influence patients toward their preference. I would expect that a doctor who's recommended RNY instead would still require preop loss to reduce risk. If not, I'd ask some questions, outline my reasons for preferring banding, and get another opinion. But no--I would NOT travel just for the purpose of getting operated on sooner. First, I want the safest procedure possible (part of the reason I chose banding in the first place)--and secondly, do you REALLY want to travel for all of your (considerable) aftercare? ETA: The insurance approval process involves hoop-jumping that often takes several months. Chances are that, if you commit to the loss, you will have achieved 50 pounds down by the time your approval comes through. This does not necessarily mean adding even ONE more day to your preoperative wait.

Hi everyone I'm 21 and am getting banded August 13 Today I was prescribed Yasmin pills to regulate my heavy and painful periods. The doc assured me that this brand would not cause weight gain So my only concern is whether i will be able to continue taking them once i get the band I am taking them purely because my periods are horrible and has caused my Iron to be really really low Has anyone else taken them for this reason?

Hi Cynthia (love the name !), I think a lot of different factors have helped me along my path with this journey. First off - I have a lot more to lose than many on these boards. I started at 350lbs at 5'9". My goal weight is between 160-200 (the high number is my goal, but I would like to reach the lower number in reality. When I started 150 loss seemed like a crazy number, but 190 to lose seemed like a number I could never reach. Well - now I am beginning to eye that 160 number!Sorry for that diversion, but the more you have to lose, the quicker it comes off. Another factor is that I did not have to follow a pre-op diet - therefore it did come off quicker in the beginning. As far as restriction and my diet. I have a 14cc band and have had a fill almost every 4-6 weeks since I was banded. (2.5cc,2.5,2.5,.5,.5,.5) to a total of 8.5cc. Not until my last 2 fills did I feel any restriction at all. I did not feel any hunger after my 2nd fill but I was able to eat anything I wanted as far as types of food and amounts. Let me say - I was never a sweets, chip, snacker (not that I didn't eat that if it was around), but it was not what I craved. I was a huge volume eater (3 McDonald's Breakfast sandwiches in the am etc. throughout the day. So the band therefore was the appropriate surgery for me. I was very specific with my surgeon and nutritionist pre- surgery that I didn't only want to eat veggies and dry Proteins, and Protein shakes for my entire life, rather that I wanted to eat like a "normal" person just with smaller amounts. From day 1 that is what I have done. My typical daily diet consists of a duncan donuts iced coffee with splenda and skim mild and a "wake up wrap" from dd with egg whites and cheese (150 cal), lunch is a lean cuisine (300cal) and dinner is a bit of whatever the family is having (usually a protein). I try to keep my net calories as advised by my MD less than 1000 cal by day. I track EVERYTHING I eat on lapband.com it is a great website and a great tool. I go out to eat 2-6 meals on the weekend and just limit myself to 1-2 cups of food. Now that I have restriction it is much easier. As far as exercise - I hooked up with a walking buddy (2 actually) and we walk 2-3 miles 4-5 times a week. Have done this since day 1. We don't walk that quickly (3mi/hr), but I am convinced that it has really sped up my loss. Lastly - I have gotten a lot of support. My husband and kids watch me like a hawk and my mom is my number 1 supporter. I am on these boards everyday - (2-3 times daily) and participate in every challange posted here! I go to my MD every month to be weighed in even if I don't plan on getting a fill. I go to my monthly support group every first Thursday of the month. I have told everyone about my surgery, so there is no hiding it. None of it is rocket science - I wish I could have done all these things without my band, but after 45 years, I know I couldn't. Why can I do it this time - it is in the end because the band really can work if you let it. Don't give up. I hope I said something that might help. Please keep in touch - I will help support you anyway I can! Yours, Cynthia

So happy you have lost already, the surgery will be easier for you. I doubt I have to remind you but (always a but) please consider keeping an emotional workbook, or maintaining counseling at least every other week after the surgery...the anxiety you feel is verly likey not to just go away...in a nutshell, you have been hurt enough to not be able to leave the house, and there is a possiblity this is not just weight-related...has anyone else in your family ever had agoraphobia? (I think I spelled it wrong it is the fear of leaving your house, or possibly a defined area... I am in no way trying to be negative, I really want to see you be able to deal with any issues as you go, rather than hit a wall later on... The best to you! Good luck.