Search the Community

it took 18-20 months. I lost 16 lbs the first month, then about 10 lbs (give or take) until about month 6. Then it dropped down to about 8 lbs - then down to like 5. After the first year, it was only 2 or 3 lbs a month. But I was very compliant with my program - I almost never went off - and the weight kept gradually dropping.

Gastric bypass revision from VBG on Surgery April 2, 2019 Starting weight 290 in 2006 Before Revision weight 233 4/1/19 (was on liquid diet) Post op weight 195 7/4/19

p.s. I have lost 80-something pounds with the Sleeve and then 54 lbs with the Bypass. Bypass averages 10 lbs per month.

After a good 10 years dealing with life and alcoholism I finally gave it up and once my mind was clear of alcohol I noticed geez I'm in my 30s and over 300lbs.. I don't want to still be fat and unhealthy at 40.. I need to make a change and I found surgery will help me greatly in getting my life back on track...

My wife and I both had gastric sleeve last year (Sept 2018 and Nov 2018) - my surgery was ~3 months before hers - it's been unbelievably successful for both of us as far as weight loss. That said, our post-op course has been very different. I went into surgery having been an avid (albeit morbidly obese) weight lifter for 5+ years while my wife dabbled on and off but was not consistent with exercise. Post-op I got back into lifting as soon as I could while my wife was diagnosed with a non-invasive ductile cell carcinoma of the breast which turned into lumpectomy/breast reduction - she's totally fine but it has resulted in her being in recovery for a significantly greater part of the past 6 months. She is just now finally cleared for lifting. She looks great but even she is itching to get to the gym because she can't ignore the difference between the two of us. I look and feel better at 40 than I did when she met me at 19. My energy levels are high, my physical abilities are high (we "hiked" a mountain this week and I basically ran up the mountain) and she couldn't keep up. She looks great but she has clearly lost significant lean mass, strength and endurance. She's interested in weight lifting because she's watching my transformation and while it hasn't been her thing in the past she clearly sees the change with me. Time will tell if she sticks with it but I've come to believe strength training, in some form, should be a central focus for those of us who can tolerate it. Not saying everyone will be squatting body weight, but some form of resistance exercise is important IMO.

Thanks for the info Bill. I did do further research on Dr. Illan and was his accreditations and memberships. I don’t see VSG listed as subspecialty or clinical area of practice on the FACS.org website: Subspecialties and Areas of Clinical Concentration Bariatric (Severe Obesity) Procedures Bariatric (Severe Obesity) Procedures biliopancreatic diversion gastric banding jejunoilial bypass laparoscopic gastric banding laparoscopic gastric bypass roux-en-Y gastric bypass Is this procedure one that he performs often and just isn’t listed? I also saw Oasis Hospital Tijuana, BCN Active 08/2016—Present Hospital Regional No.1 IMSS Tijuana, BCN Active 01/2011—Present listed as affiliated hospitals. Can you clarify where his surgeries are performed? I appreciate your prompt responses!

Starting my 10 day liquid diet today!! Sent from my SM-J737A using BariatricPal mobile app

My "moment " came in May of 2018 with a series of events. I was 246 pounds, and didn't want to hit 250. I was wearing a 3x in clothes and they were getting tight, and I didn't know where I'd find clothes. I was out of breath and sweatty just walking to my car from work, and I had diabetes type 2. High blood pressure. I was literally a hot mess, and I said to myself "that's it!" I went to the informational session with my husband at my bariatric surgeon's office on May of 2018, completed Anthem's 6 months of requirements, and had my gastric bypass on March 27, 2019. Although I've had complications Im thrilled that I had the surgery! Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

Everyone has a moment where they realize they need to do something. Maybe it’s not fitting in an airplane seat, or having to go up a size in clothes.... I’m sure there has been a thread like this before but I don’t want to go back and search it! Mine isn’t a moment but a series of moments. I saw a picture of myself and thought, is that what I really look like? The final straw was a trip to DC- I about DIED. All. The. Walking! And if you will recall the Southeast had a heat wave in May- yep we were there when it began. The worst was when we visited Mt Vernon on the way back. I was swollen, hot, cranky, and MISERABLE. I called and made the appointment for the consult right after we got back- it was late May 2019. Two months in and I am about to start all the requirements.... hoping for Surgery in Dec (only so that I won’t have to repay my deductible- but if not, it’s not the end of the world....) Anyway, I’m attaching a horrifying picture but I have to preface it like any good fluffy girl would do- yes, I’m big, but the day this picture was taken was the second attempt at a swim meet that had been canceled the night before due to lightning. We had to be at the pool by 7 am after leaving the night before late and having kids hyped but from adrenaline because they couldn’t swim. I had on little makeup and I know that does nothing for my fat rolls, but still.... I look like the walking dead because I was. I usually try to keep my toes done and my hair did, but this is the worst of the worst for me! This is not the moment that made me call but the moment that confirmed my decision. Im approximately 255 here.

Honestly, I suspect wearing baggy clothes is easier for men (I assume you're a man because of the Mr in your name, sorry if that is incorrect). Luckily I had some clothes in smaller sizes. But once those ran out, I bought at least 1 pair of jeans, 1 pair of work pants and a few shirts that could go work or casual. Once I was in an XL, I bought a couple dresses (I was in 3X before). Most stuff I waited until I saw sales at Old Navy or the outlet malls and bought a bunch of the same stuff in multiple sizes. So I ended up paying something like $13 for a pair of jeans and $5-10 for shirts/sweaters.

I have done my Surgery back on 24th February 2019, my maximum weight was 160.3 KGs (352 lbs), since then I have lost around 46 KGs (100 lbs) and now weigh 114 KGs (252 lbs) This was by far the best decision i have done in my life. Below are my before and (so far) after photos

Hello, I'm Tracy age 45 mom of 7, ages 30 to 1½. I'm originally from southern California and now reside in Alabama. I had the Roux en Y procedure 12/26/2001 almost 18 years ago in Whittier California at age 28, my weight skyrocketed to 407lbs at 5'2"..! Luckily with no other conditions i.e. diabetes, high blood pressure etc so I was a great candidate. My lowest weight was 148. I maintained for many years until 2006 after my 5th child and a nasty divorce and with that came my depression & over eating. In 2007, I moved to Alabama and weighed 189, got remarried in 08' and had 2 more children. After having my 6th child in 2011 my weight got up to 203 & there it stayed until January 2018, after giving birth to (my 7th baby) our precious full term daughter who sadly was stillborn at 41 weeks, and 10 months later in October, I lost my best friend/my momma to liver cancer at age 66. After the devastation, I no longer cared about anything, I didn't even care if I lived or died. I turned to eating and was on a lot of medication for anxiety, depression and a mood stabilizer which added another 57 lbs. After going to therapy, getting off all my meds, returning to my faith/church I decided 2019 would be my year!! I made that promise to my momma on her death bed! I went ahead and had my oral surgeries, another back surgery, another mammo/biopsy (I also lost ¾ of my left breast last Aug) saw my cardiologist, changed my diet to all Keto. But the 19 lbs I lost in 5 months came right back. So on June 7th I met with a local Bariatric Dr, June 27th did my pre-op tests and just 6 days ago July 2, I had my revision done to a gastric sleeve. I was 251 day of surgery and I'm at 142 lbs as of yesterday. I had zero pain except for the horrific gas pain in my upper chest, shoulders & back because once they got in there, they discovered a huge hernia behind my liver & fixed that. My first gastric bypass I was cut open 16" so having it done by laparoscope was amazing just 9 little incisions. I feel great and I'm excited for my new life & 2nd chance! Thank you for reading and God bless! Sent from my DL7006 using BariatricPal mobile app

Hi guys, I'll be having my DS Surgery on 7/23/19, do you know the success statistics? For people who have had this surgery, have you had a regain? When you just had the surgery, what was the weight loss like? So excited but nervous. 🤞🏽

I am 19 months post-VSG and in recent months have had very few problems and very much in maintenance phase. Happily living with my sleeve without too much thought (and by that I mean my routine is so ingrained that it has just become my new way of doing things). Off on holiday yesterday, and had the normal last minute rush in the morning making sure we were all sorted, so didn’t have much to eat then had a boiled egg at the airport. Got on the flight late afternoon and had some champagne (naughty), small tub of pringles and some of my son’s haribo (more naughtiness) all while thinking I am on ‘holidays’ I can have a slip! Got up to go to the loo, and the queue was massive. After 20 mins of standing in the aisle desperate for the loo (which I think contributed) I came over very hot, shaky and thought I was about to pass out - I lent on the nearest wall and slid down it. The next 5/10 mins are a bit of a blur but I know the cabin crew offered to put me in their jump seat pilot came out to make sure I was OK and sent for water. I am so embarrassed - I hate a fuss being made, and that was a sore lesson to learn. I spent the rest of the flight feel hot, bothered and desperate to go to sleep. Am still not convinced I feel 100% OK this morning, but am 600ml of water down already!

I lost about 33 pounds prior to surgery. Close to 14 from pre-op liquid diet. Like you I am aware that people lose at different paces but I also feel like I am slower than most that had a similar surgery date and starting weight. I did however notice that most that were ahead of me didn't do the liquid diet. Looking back at my app I was down 12.8 at week 5. I am 5 days shy of 5 months out and am down 49.1. So averaging roughly 10 a month, I can live with that. I hoped it would be more but I still have plenty of time to get down there.

I was told not to spend a bunch of money on new clothes but I still bought some stuff as I lost weight to feel good about myself. I checked out some thrift stores but I didn't really get that excited about the clothes there so I went to Marshalls, Target, Kohls, watching for sales too. Surgery size 22. Bought new work pants at 20 and 18 then skipped to 14 and now 12. Really close to needing 10. Jeans 22, 18, 16, 12, not ready for 10 yet. Shirts I haven't changed much. Started at 2XL then bought some XL, now sitting at L for quite a while. I don't like my clothes too tight so I'm not sure if/when I'll get to a M. Pre surgery diet weight was 265 lbs. Surgery 8-15-18 at 250. Currently at 163. Ideal goal 150-155 but I'm actually pretty happy where I am now. Good luck! Enjoy watching the new slimmer you evolve!

Sleeve 5/8/19, exactly 2 months out, down 40 lbs.

Currently having my clear liquid dinner for the night. Tomorrow will be my last day on the clear liquids. Surgery is scheduled for July 8TH at 10:30AM. I am feeling a plethora of emotions. I did really well avoiding the temptation of eating any of the chicken casserole for my family. Just so ready to get this surgery done. It has been a long time coming. Might as well make some of my favorite tea and then call it a night. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

Well this is just sad. Surgery was 1/22/19 and I’ve only lost 52 pounds. I wish it was more :(

You do have to look around more to find a doc who does the DS as it is something of a niche market. https://www.dsfacts.com/duodenal-switch-surgeons.phphttps://www.dsfacts.com/duodenal-switch-surgeons.php has a very incomplete listing, but is a start. I don't see it as markedly more risky than the bypass; it is a more complex procedure and takes more resources for a surgeon to develop, and most particularly maintain, the necessary skills to perform it. This means that it tends to be the better surgeons who go into it, which tends to even out the risks, though that does mean that one needs to vet their prospective surgeon more carefully as there have been some over the years that got in over their heads. Thankfully, they tend to get weeded out, but it still helps to seek out a surgeon who has done several hundred of whatever procedure you are interested in. It does get a bit of a bad rep in that there are some practices out there that advertise doing it (it is actually fairly common to see it listed on a surgeon's CV, or on a practice's list of offerings) but if one inquires about it, they sell you what they actually do perform, saying things like 'we used to do it but the patients had too many problems...' which by my experience means that either the guy in the practice who did do them left the practice, or they never got up the learning curve to do them correctly. It isn't something that a surgeon just "picks up" and starts doing, but is something that most go back to school to learn, usually doing a residency of a few months with an established practice to learn all the in's and out's of it. That's a lot of time off for a busy surgeon, so it often just means that it isn't worth it business-wise to go to the trouble to learn it. But many don't want to lose the business, so some will bad mouth it in the process of selling their own offerings. Oddly, when looking at practice's offerings, it is not unusual to see them list the Vertical Banded Gastroplasty (the old "stomach stapling") which has been obsolete for at least twenty years, but it seems that some will list anything they may have done once in the past as a current "offering". My wife is about fourteen years out on her DS and is still doing well with it, and we still regularly attend a support group that is composed of mainly 10-20 year vets, and it is overall a healthy population. There are things that can crop up over time that is a result of the malabsorption, which is something that it has in common with the bypass. One may not recover from a blood loss event as readily as a normal person, or a VSG patient; iron infusions may be needed to get things balanced out again rather than just upping oral iron. One will be more sensitive to nutrient deficiencies (with either) which means that it is much more important to stay current on labs; maintaining nutrient balance doesn't seem to be a big issue if one is aware of what one needs; skip the labs for a few years and odd things can happen as the potential deficiencies are different than with the normal population. But overall, with a fairly compliant population, it is hard to tell what issues people are having are related to their DS, and what is simple aging (one of the occasional topics of discussion when someone asks about a particular problem). Most of these people are in their 60's or early 70's now (a few later 50's too...) so things are naturally falling apart a bit - but not nearly to the degree that they would be if they were still 3-400+ lb!

9 weeks out and have lost 24 lbs. I had a stall for about 8 days. I’m very happy with 10-12 lbs per month!

Strangely (or not) I am still a foodie and search our foodie destinations. I like to take a local cooking class or go to the night markets. When I went to Singapore (incredibly delicious food) I got takeout from the hawker stalls and one takeout equaled three meals--dinner and breakfast and lunch the next day. I save a ton on food now while traveling because I don't eat much and I don't bring snacks the way I did when I was fat. I eat a lot of appetizers, or soup, as my main course in restaurants. Plus, it is so much easier to walk around without carrying extra weight. I had to lug my suitcase up three flights of stairs in Seoul when the escalators weren't working, and I couldn't have done it 10 years ago. I've gone to Asia a bunch, but also scuba diving in the Caribbean, trekking in Costa Rica, climbed Diamond Head in Hawaii, and a yoga retreat in Mexico where I could actually reach all my body parts in the poses. Adventures, no matter where, are easier without obesity issues getting in the way of having a good time.

Day 5: (easy) Sleek Arms Challenge: Done. (harder) Toned Arms Challenge: Self-imposed Rest Day to give my poor triceps a break! Freedom: Couldn't figure out what to post for this so am inserting this awesome video from the 2007 VMA's when Alicia Keys did a cover of George Michael's Freedom...sooooo good (fast forward to the 3:10 mark to skip her singing No One)

Before you buy one, see if there is a place you can rent one and try it out first. We have a place near where I am and it’s $16 a day. Not bad if you get there at 10 when they open and turn it in right before they close at 6- we ride to downtown and back- 7 miles one way.... mostly flat. Still need to lose weight before I can go again.

So far in the last four weeks, I've had only one day without vomiting. I've come to realize that much of it is triggered by my pills, or eating too soon after taking my pills. And with 10 pills a day, that's a lot of opportunity for them to cause problems. It does raise some concern that I'm not getting the full benefit of my meds/supplements when I'm vomiting so much after I take them. I'm switching my vitamin D to drops as soon as I run out of my pills, and I should be off my last blood pressure med soon, so that will knock it down to 7 pills. The big culprit is my calcium citrate. It's a huge pill. I crush it and take it with apple sauce, but even that's not 100% successful. I swear managing all the pills is a full time job. Specific foods, and how I eat (speed, bite size, etc) are still key factors, but at least I am gaining a bit of confidence in trying new things. I managed 2oz of a pork sirloin chop the other day with no adverse effects.