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Sorry for how long this is- I know that I always appreciate reading detailed posts about the process, so I’m hoping other will find it helpful. I’m just starting the process of getting a VSG. I’ve thought about WLS for a long time, but have always been scared off because of the possible complications. I’m not sure what exactly changed, but, about three weeks ago, I was driving to work and the thought of getting the surgery popped into my head and suddenly I knew it was what I needed to do. Looking at the hard road ahead, I wish I had started this journey earlier in life (I’m 37), but I know I wasn’t ready for it until now. I’m in the DC area, and there are lots of hospitals and surgeons to choose from. I finally settled on Inova Fair Oaks, which is a Bariatric Center of Excellence, has great stats, and has an up-to-date website which let me register for the seminar online. (GWU never contacted me after I filled out their form. Other hospitals had outdated calendars on their websites, or no way to register online, or the websites themselves were unfinished, which I felt didn’t bode well for their programs.) I went to a seminar about two weeks ago, which was mostly basic stuff that I already knew. I had my first visit with the surgeon a few days after the seminar. The surgeon, Rajev Nain, was the same surgeon who did the seminar. He seemed a bit stiff at first, but after a while he seemed to get more comfortable and I felt like we had a good connection. He definitely didn’t come across as the a**hole surgeon stereotype you hear so much about. We first talked about my basic health history, medications, that sort of thing. I don’t have many co-morbidities yet- just hypertension and edema in my left leg. We talked about the various surgeries, and he was fine with me getting the VSG, he didn’t push for the RNY. I’m 5’1” and 355lbs. He said that he could get me to around 205 lbs with the sleeve. He was clearly just basing that on the average amount of excess weight lost with the sleeve, not anything specific to me. I would be overjoyed with 205, even though that would still leave me 100 lbs over my ideal weight. However, I also know that each individual is different, and I feel like I have it in me to go lower. I may not make it to 105, but I think I am determined enough to get myself in the mid-100s. I asked him about his experience- he’s done several hundred VSGs, and even more RNYs. He also has lots of experience with other GI surgeries. While I would have liked him to have done thousands instead of hundreds of VSGs, it is still enough that I feel safe with him. I asked about major complications, and he said that <1% of his VSG patients had had major complications. He has had no mortalities with the VSG, and one mortality with the RNY (the patient died of a pulmonary embolism the day after surgery, even though she was on blood thinners and had had her legs compressed during surgery.) Having lurked on this board for a while, the variance in different surgeons’ pre-op and post-op diet instructions has been a bit puzzling to me, and the materials from the presentation I attended were very authoritative. I will happily follow rules if I understand the reasoning behind them, but I tend to do my own research and come up with my own rules for myself if I feel like the rules I am given aren’t well supported. I was nervous to do it (because of that whole surgeon stereotype), but I told this to my surgeon, noted that his post-op diet (2 weeks Clear liquids, 2 weeks full liquids, 2 weeks purees, 2 weeks mushed-up real food, then finally real food 8 weeks after surgery) was one of the more conservative ones that I had seen, and I asked him what research had gone into making it. He laughed at that, and said that the priority for him and the other surgeons in the group was to have consistent instructions that everyone involved in the practice could refer to, so they just flipped a coin when making them. He said that the part he cared about was that he didn’t want patients going to full liquids until after he examined them at the first post-op appointment. Other than that, I could work with the NUT to come up with a post-op diet plan that worked for me. I then asked him about the 2-week pre-op liquid diet. The pre-op diet that he requires is 900 calories of Protein shakes a day. I told him that I totally understood the reason for the diet (to shrink the liver to make surgery safer), but that I didn’t understand why it had to be all liquid. Why not just 900 calories of low-carb food per day? Again, he laughed and said that there was nothing magical about the liquid part of it, it was just easier for people to stick to the diet when they didn’t have a choice about what to eat. He said that he was fine with me subbing low-carb, high-protein food into the pre-op diet, as long as the NUT approved my substitutions. He seemed to get a kick out of me and my questions. He said he could tell that I took this very seriously and had done my research. I thanked him for not treating me like an idiot, and not having a “do what I say because I am the surgeon” attitude. I have to do 6 months of “nutrition classes” to satisfy my insurance requirements, so surgery won’t be until next spring some time. I’m disappointed to have to wait so long, but I am trying to make the best of the time by really making sure I am ready for this change, and by trying to lose as much weight as I can before the surgery. I started myself on a low-carb diet of my own design, and am doing great on it so far. I’ve done low-carb diets before, and it has always been a struggle with craving carbs while on them, but I haven’t had a carb-craving yet on this one. I’ve cut out all grazing and it has helped immensely. I’m eating 1300-1500 calories a day and not feeling hungry. I know it will get harder, but right now, I’m feeling pretty good about myself.

How do you guys handle your quick weight loss online? I'm not really up for telling everyone only a select few close friends and family about my surgery. I've hesitated to post pics because of the questions I might get, but at the same time I'd love to post.... Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Thanks! my hubby was advising me to postpone the op until after the holiday but that takes me to Aug and I am already a bag of nerves waiting for May. I just hope that by week 7 I am able to eat and drink reasonably well with no nausea. We are going all inclusive so I am planning on having lots of protein (fingers crossed my new belly likes chicken and meat) and soups. I think there will be lots of options and I am hoping that this will be the first holiday I actually feel good about myself on. Usually I dread holidays and all the summer wear. Another reason for me not to delay wls, hopefully by the time I go in week 7 I will have shed some weight and be more focused on how I feel rather than the food etc!

They cut up to 85 % of your stomach out. Do you really think that your system is going to take that well. It is going to take time for all the crap to leave your system that they put in there, swelling to go down and healing is a major time consuming effort. you have to give your body some rest and keep on the program and look forward. Get the scale out of the equation and wait a bit before you weigh yourself again...There is no reason why you can't lose the weight. Trust your sleeve by doing what you are supposed to do and it will come off. K

Hi. Good question why I stopped. At 255 I was in a size 18 I had not been in a size 18 for over 20 years and I was really happy with myself. I got busy with my daughter and new grand son and other life derailers. I mention hubby cause he would bring home my trigger foods. Chips and chocolates. I was doing the best I could to not gain any weight. Thoug I saw 255 daily on the scale I was satisfied with the 75 pound loss at that time. There were times when I tried to focus and lose more but scale wouldn't move and I lost focus. Yes I lost the weight for me not hubby and I have called him out on his attempts to sabotage my progress we have that under control now Laura-ven HI I follow the 5:2 group daily. I was so excited to see others in my situation on the 5:2 plan you Feedyoureye Georgia M2G Coops and Globtrotter are my source of inspiration and now Lisahopes and others have joined You guys are the reason I decided to begin posting again

Chips! I've had my run in with those this week! They are everywhere in my house right now! (Lots of teenagers hanging out here) they are tasty and I can eat without a feeling of fullness. I must gain control but also request that they not be brought in so much... I'm glad you are posting again, and following the 5:2 group. They are a great bunch of woman and provide great support Blupee, Thank you And I know lots of woman that don't want to lose their "curves" so no offense taken here.

Hello! I'm in Pittsburgh, PA, myself. I've got UPMC insurance through Medicare. (My weight has caused enough mental and physical damage that I'm on full disability.) I've started the process through UPMC St. Margaret a couple of times, but never followed through. (After the nutrition classes and before scheduling surgery they had a one-time fee of either $400 or $600, I forget which. But I could never afford it.) The nearest bus stop to that hospital was always hard to get back and forth to, and with how bad my knees and back have gotten since, I'd never make it now. A friend in York, PA, just had a sleeve done, and that's inspired me to restart the process one more time, this time through UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital. (Kind of a misnomer of late as they have about the best ED program in the area!) It's much closer to the bus stop as well. I was able to do the information session on-line, printed and filled out the Initial Evaluation Form to fax back, and requested the first office consult on-line as well. Magee's "open to the public" information group for pre-op, post-op, and interested others, is the second Wednesday of each month, Feb 11 is the next one. I plan to be there and I hope to have my consult before then, and my first nutrition class later that month. The last time I checked, since my BMI is over 60, I can get away with just three nutrition classes, but I think I'm going to request the full six months anyway so I have more time to save up the nutritionist fee. That would have the six classes being February through July, with surgery some time in August. That should have me on pureed food for Thanksgiving and relatively "normal" food for Christmas/New Years. (Like I'd be having pie's and champaign. *snort*) Anyway, that's my story so far.

Can you give us some idea of you starting weight, your height, current weight, how much you've lost, etc.? Also if you provide information about total calories, Protein, carbs, etc., people will be able to give you better advice. There's a lot of help available here so do be sure and provide some detail and you'll find people chiming in.

It seems like you have a lot of info on the sleeve. Do you know if people just don't lose weight with the sleeve like sometimes happens with the lap band? Is the lap band a safer procedure than the sleeve? Thanks. __________________ Originally posted at www.lapbandtalk.com

During the past 6 months as I have been meeting with the doctor to fill out progress notes I also have been keeping a food diary which started through FitnessPal.com (a great site) and then Fitbit (a neat little device; pedometer being one of its features,) that I won through Dr. Oz. I have to say I think it was during the 2nd month of this process that I was able to lose 7 pounds in one month by just keeping the food diary with Fitness Pal. It's a great site, I input all my information, height, weight, activity level, water intake, etc, and I opted for a regimen that would allow me to lose a pound per week. For me, that was 1500 calories a day. I followed it pretty well. Rarely did I go past that number of calories and if I did, not by much. My doctor and I were really happy by this progress. When I received my Fitbit in the mail, I began using it and I must say that although I love the pedometer feature, and the fact that Fitness Pal syncs information with it...It is a little confusing sometimes. I think the caloric suggestions for each of these sites (Fitbit has a site too) is not the same. Fitbit is a newer site and the food database is not as extensive. I've had more cravings for sweets lately, especially ice cream or chocolate. I try to get the lowfat but I love, love Carvel ice cream and I've been eating it even to replace a meal sometimes. I know, I have to try to stop. I am just thinking that once I get surgery I will no longer be able to able to have this, so I am enjoying it while I still can. I ended up regaining from 217 to 219 in one month, then to 223 in another month, now I am 222.8. It's a bit discouraging but I am not giving up. This is a process and I am getting used to limting myself. I am not doing what I used to do and trying to change my eating habits drastically because of course that didn't work...it's anxiety provoking....for one. I did cut out soda a whole lot. I barely drink it anymore. I don't like diet so there goes that idea. My daughter told me that Pepsi Next is great tasting so I might try that. I am enjoying water though because since it is summer it is refreshing. Well, let me know if anyone is on Fitness Pal or Fitbit and maybe we can add each other for suppport.

A few months ago I was asking myself the same questions and questioning my decision to take such a radical step. Also, I went through a few months of food funerals and gained back 15 pounds I'd lost while going through all of my pre-op appointments. In my appointment with the surgeon to schedule surgery, he was really pissed off at me for gaining and put me on a 3-week pre-op diet. I took that seriously and dropped 31 pounds in 3 weeks, with Thanksgiving in the middle of that. My wife and I cooked for 20 guests and I consumed 450 calories that day. From a dieting perspective, the pre-op diet was the worst part so far. The shakes made me want to barf (and still do thinking about them). Dieting post-op has been a breeze for me. It's like I don't even have to try to diet ... The restriction takes care of my over-eating and my cravings are pretty much gone. I hope this lasts long-term because I'm loving my new outlook on food.

Who is having surgery April 2015? I have created a facebook for April 2015 so that we can go through this together. I created this for my husband who is having surgery in April. I personally had mine back in 2013, and with the help of my facebook group a friend created for us December 2013 sleevers, I was able to succeed in losing the weight. It was a great tool for me to have when I was, and still am going through this. If interested let me know. It is a secret closed group, so others on your facebook will not be able to see it. You will have to friend me, or give me your email so that I can add you. http://www.facebook.com/DaniSigns?fref=browse_search

After feeling like I was basically lower than dirt on the bottom of a shoe for regaining all of the weight I lost with the band after it was removed. (Thanks so a not very sympathetic doctor). And then having to change insurance companies in the middle of the process and thus change doctors. I finally got to see a new surgeon yesterday. Dr. Jossart and his entire staff were absolutely great!! So positive and helpful with everything. Never made me feel like the band failure was my fault and made it sound like getting my sleeve is a real possiblilty! They also coordinated everything so yesterday, I was able to get my upper GI, meet with the surgeon, meet with the NUT and the Psych...all in one day!!! So now I guess it's up to my new insurance. Fingers crossed and lots of prayers that I can sail thru insurance and get this scheduled. I can't wait!!!

Please send me lots of hugs & kisses & all your best wishes I'm gonna shock my surgeon on my next appointment on December 21, 2012 He said he thinks I will be my normal weight of 140lbs. I told him nope! I'm going to be 125lbs I'm gonna work really hard eat very healthy & exercise & take all my Vitamins. When I reach my weight goal & go to the visit. I'm going to have the assistance cover his face until I'm there to see the shock on his face. Plus I want to give him a thankyou card for making it possible for me to lose weight,and have such a nice staff. Every single one is nice. What do you guys/girls/ladies think? Possible to reach my goal by December? I'm I being too friendly with giving a card? I just appreciate my surgeon a lot. He listens to me & never rushes.

I had a total thyroidectomy 4 yrs ago due to cancer...which put my WLS on hold. I lost 54 lbs in the past 6 months on my own. I just got the gastric sleeve 4 days ago. My endo's philosophy is if you can lose weight before, you can lose weight after...just a matter of adjusting meds and balancing lifestyle changes. Also there is a patient in my support group who got the sleeve first, then total thyroidectomy and still lost over a 100 lbs. her advice was to stick with the plan and it will work.

Hi everybody! My husband had surgery today and has had a really hard time. I wondered if any of you have had similar things happen and how you recovered. I had my surgery 1 month ago today and it was very different from what my husband is experiencing. It began with the dr. coming out after surgery and telling me that he had a really hard time. Most of my husbands weight is in his belly, so I guess that is what made the surgery more difficult. But anyway, the dr. told me that he wanted to do the gastric x ray before he would even give him ice chips or Water. They took the xrays 3 times before it finally passed through his stomach. His stomach is hugely distended and he's been in a lot of pain since he woke up. He has not been able to pass any of the gas in either direction and is really nauseaus. Now he has developed a slight fever. I'm really getting very concerned. He says he can feel his sips of water go all the way down and it hurts all the way down. Have any of you had an experience like this? What should we be expecting? Is he going to be able to come home tomorrow? Is all this normal? Please give us some advice. And for those of you who pray, your prayers would really be appreciated! Thanks.

My dr let me make the decision. Stand up for yourself and maybe offer to take out a little and keep in touch about what you're feeling. Some people get really nauseated and need to be unfilled. I let them take out just a little bit and I have gained about 25 pounds- which I am okay with. It's nice to be able to eat some during the pregnancy- but I can't wait to lose it again!

Hello all! I was banded back on 9/1 after a decent struggle with my insurance. I am now 3 weeks from surgery and am feeling great. I weighed in at 409lbs in early June and I was 388lbs on the day of my surgery. Since surgery, I'm down to 367lbs after having lost 22lbs in the first week (eek!) and 2lbs in the 2nd week. However, after stepping on the scale this morning, I noticed I gained 3lbs. I know that my body is going through some major changes and I also know that I've just begun in week 3 to add some pureed and even some soft-solid foods into my diet. I'm a little discouraged, but again, I know my body is going through some major changes. Having type-2 diabetes and taking insulin, I also am very familiar with the harder struggle people have with losing/gaining weight. I guess in the end, I'm just venting but I am determined to keep at it and get myself healthier. Has anyone else had the same struggle so early on? I was reading into the 'bander's hell' before their first fill, but it's not even that I'm hungry all the time. I've been eating small meals (3-4 a day) and have been drinking my clear Protein and Protein shakes. I know this post is all over the place - I'm just a bit confused and concerned and just needing to vent. Any suggestions?

I am doing great on mushies. My weight loss has stalled, but I think that is due to the fact that I have diabetes. I have some fish in the oven right now :wink2: Please note that I am not trying to take any business away from your Dr's. I am just really pleased with Central DuPage Hospital and Dr Vallina. Again, I have spend oodles of time in hospitals with family members, and I have previously worked in the medical field (NOT at CDH in case you were wondering), and I can honestly say, without exception, that these people are GREAT! Dr Van Vallina - 630-933-6745

A plateau can mean a couple of things but it basically comes down to calories taken in vs calories being expended. If you take in more than you're expending, you gain. If you expend more than you're taking in, then you'll lose. Keep in mind that as you lose weight, it will take fewer calories to maintain that weight, so you'll have to reduce the calories you're eating...or expend more. For example, to maintain 260 pounds at my height, age and current activity level, I would have to eat about 2100 calories (roughly). To maintain a weight of 140 pounds, I could only eat about 1800 calories. Not much of a difference, but enough of one that it can stall any losses. Also, depending on the type of exercises you're doing, you may be building muscle which is denser (and thus weighs more) than the the same volume of fat. If you look and feel like you're losing weight (clothes hanging more loosely, muscles looking more toned, etc.), that may be the problem (I'd like to have that problem though). I posted a thread called "calculating your daily requirements" with a formula for calculating your daily food requirements...or you can go to the Mayo Clinic site and put in your height, age, activity level and the weight you'd like to be and it will calculate how many calories it would take per day to maintain that weight. .

I'm 47 and I lost 23 pounds in the first 30 days after surgery and WAS THRILLED with the the progress! You really can't compare one person's results to another. There are so many things that contribute to our progress, many of which are out of our control. My advice is to set non-scale goals that are specific, measurable and achievable. 1. Get the recommended Protein every day, (74g for me). 2. Exercise X times per week for X minutes per session. 3. Weigh once per week and NO MORE... You get the idea. If you do these things, the weight loss will come. You WILL STALL! Make peace with that now. If you weigh no more than once per week, you won't focus so much on the stall when it comes. As far as recovery, I'm not sure its the same. I have a desk job and went back to work the week after surgery and was fine. Some people have a lot of fatigue. I didn't. I was very lucky, (and compliant with what they told me to do, which helps).

Sorry to hear the nutritionist was awful. My surgeon told me that I couldn't weigh more than consult weight or my surgery would be canceled. I didn't ask her - she just told me. And, then, my nutritionist told me too. Don't blame yourself. It was your first time there and you're not going to know what to ask. The guidelines should have been given to you, in my opinion. Is there a medical portal or email where you could request the guidelines? Is she the only available nutritionist? You are worthy of being treated with kindness. If she's the only one, you may consider asking her why she is being so abrupt, or rude, or disinterested. You've made a difficult medical decision and you need positive professionals (as you know). Congratulations on this step toward a healthier future.

I had the band first because the sleeve was not an option. I personally would not/will not recommend the band to anyone. Not only because of my own personal horror story, but because the stats honestly just suck. You can check out my blog as I have an entire post with information from the band manufacturer in my blog with their most recent findings that 1 in 4 band patients will need another surgery to either repair, replace, or remove and revise to another surgery within the first 5 years. I chose the band because I refused to have RNY. As for pregnancy, I can't imagine being pregnant with the band. The food intolerances along would make me miserable, and I'm so grateful that I was able to revise to VSG when it was time to say adios to my band. I can now eat a very nutrient dense, balanced diet with my sleeve without any puking, sliming, productive burping, or food getting stuck and then having to wretch it up for a good 20 minutes. My blog also has tons of links for VSG research, and articles along with dietary guidelines, and other bits and pieces I've compiled over the 20 something months I've been researching and living with the sleeve. The post in my blog titled "Just to bookmark this stuff" is the band post, and the one that is more recent is all the research links that I found invaluable during my research stage. We are currently trying to conceive, and I"m only 17 months out and have actually been not preventing for almost 9 months now. We know that my body went through hell during my surgeries and rapid weight loss so we are trying to be patient. BUT, we're still hoping for a big fat positive test in the near future. Best wishes in your research.

I'm 51, look 30, but 5'3" and 201. Waiting now for the approval and my BMI when I went in to see the doctor in April was only 198 and at 34.9BMI. I had talked to my regular PCP doctor and we discussed as stupid as it is, for me to gain some weight to get me to the 35BMI. WHICH HAS GOT TO BE THE DUMBEST THING, but it's working (lots of Starbucks shakes) I hate it, my knees hurt, hurts to walk up the stairs in my house, hurts to get out of the chairs, and my lower back feels like someone has hit me. I needed to be OVER 35 and ONE cormorbity (sleep apnea) and that's an entirely different story, but if that's what it takes to get me to the surgery then so be it. I was uncomfortable at 170 but with the amount of diet I was on, the amount of water and workouts I did, nothing helped in the last 3 years, so it's to surgery. They (medical) really need to do something for those of us that are under the 35BMI, especially if we can show years of hard work and testing and nothing helps. But gaining those last 20 pounds has taken about two months, it's been actually hard and I'm SO SICK AND TIRED OF JUNK FOOD. I am trying to maintain my 200+ JUST for this reason Doctors are evil.

I have gone from self-pay, tried to switch to insurance then back to self-pay. For me the attempted switch to insurance was a royal pain. BCBS, or at least my specific carrier provided coverage, but the requirements were to rigid. For example, I had already done 5 months with my current primary care physician in early 2019 for the “doctor supervised” diet. I exceeded all other requirements and already completed the psychiatric evaluation. I got cold feet at the last minute and decided to attend a weight loss boot camp for 10 weeks as an attempt to avoid weight loss surgery. That was a BIG mistake, my doctor warned me I would gain the weight right back and that is exactly what happened by the end of 2019. I decided to I move forward with surgery in 2020, was going to do self-pay at first since the weight loss boot camp was also self-payed. After going through my medical records for the last 3 years I felt I had enough documentation to use my employer provided health insurance so I immediately contacted BCBS for approval. According to BCBS since I did not see my doctor during the time I was attending the weight loss boot camp (which was in another state), I would be required to restart the doctor supervised diet requirement which I was told back in Feb/2019 was three months but now, for whatever reason in 2/2020 it was increased to 6 months? 🤪 If I want BCBS to pick up the tab I must start over, that would be 7 months with the doctor since the first visit does not count, another 30 to 60 days for the approval process and 30 days with the surgeons office or more to get all pre-requisite tests completed and the surgery scheduled. VERY FRUSTRATING! I have appealed but was told it may be 30 to 60 days until I get a decision. When I ask my doctor for advise he simply looked at me and said “I wouldn’t wait…” so I am not, back to self-pay.