Search the Community

Hi my name is Kelly and I am 33 years old. I am having a Rouxen-Y on October 19, 2012. I am so nervous and excited. I started this process back in Febuary. I guess I thought it would take a long time. But my experience has been very different. It seems to gone very fast. Don't get me wrong I am happy about this just need to take a few deep breaths. This journey has not been without a couple bumps in the road which included a broken ankle and wrist. I am finally out of the walking boot and I trip and fall and break my wrist( so please excuse any typos still have a cast on). So to make a long story short I get my cast of Thursday the 18th. Then I meet with my surgeon for my preop appt and then with the life coach. ALL on Thursday!!!! Then Friday is the big day!!!

Hi! I'm in the pre op stage. My insurance needs to follow my process for six months for the surgery to get approved they also make me lose 10% of my body weight. I do not have any advice to give you but i wish you luck! Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using BariatricPal mobile app

I'm curious, were you *really* following the diet they gave you to the letter without cheating? If you really did, and you didn't lose any weight, I personally would call out the nutritionist for providing you with a diet that wouldn't meet your needs. But, 6 months to lose 10 lbs, isn't hard to do. Simply cutting most to all carbs, soda and sugars will net you a 10 lb drop fairly quickly.

oh...and it's funny, I worried too about losing too much. In fact my Dr. gave me a goal 10 pounds less than I want... because I think 150 would be too slim for me. I'm just a curvvy and athletic girl and I kinda want to keep my curves... just less of them When I asked him that very question, he said in his practice of 10 years he has not ever had such a situation. Some people need guidance on maintenance and it is more fear of regain, but it's very easy to maintain where you want to stop. These boards have convinced me of this as well.

Hello, all! I haven't posted in a while but I'm back (for now, hahaha). I had RNY in January 2019 and I'm sitting around 274. I've lost about 145 pounds since the surgery but I've been in a weird headspace about it since I'm not yet at goal. I think I put myself in maintenance and have gone back to basics in terms of lowering my caloric intake, watching my macros, and making sure I get at least 64 oz of fluid in. Hopefully I hit goal by the time my 2 year surgiversary rolls around, but until then, I'm celebrating all of the small victories. The best ones to date? I had a doctor's appointment today and the arm cuff fit around my upper arm! And my blood pressure was great, well within normal ranges! I was able to fit in the chair that you sit in to give blood. Being able to let that arm down and have ample space to get situated felt unreal. I told my doctor that I wanted to start TTC next year and he told me that he didn't see any issue with me trying. I could've cried when he told me that. All I've ever wanted was to be a mom and that was my reason for getting surgery; to be healthy enough to become a mother and be able to raise my kids into adulthood. I'm also getting rid of clothes that I'd been saving because I couldn't fit them before surgery and they're now too big. All of that to say, don't let the number on the scale discourage you! It may not be moving the way you want it to, but you are so much more than the number on the scale and the changes you're making will impact your life in ways the scale won't/can't reflect.

I was where you are now one year ago. I had just had a wonderful Christmas with family, and knew I would be facing surgery soon. I wondered if I would be around to see another Christmas - I was scared to undergo surgery and thought I would die young (relatively) if I didn't have it. Fast forward to now. I have been sleeved 10 months and am within 10 pounds of goal. I have lost a small person's worth of weight. I am SO MUCH healthier and feell SO MUCH better. And, I really enjoy being this size! Life is much better at a 10 - 12 petite than a 24W. Try to focus on the end goal. Don't let anything you can think or worry about keep you from focusing on your end goal. Anything you have to do, eat, not eat, start doing, stop doing or change is worth reaching your end goal. I wish you the best of luck on your journey.

I had that same issue for around 10 days n then started losing again other day! It will come off! Just body catching up :-)

I work 7 PM to 7 AM and exercise as soon as I get home. I have breakfast at 10 AM and go to sleep @ noon. Dinner is at 5 PM and then I pack a lunch to take to work and have that at 3 AM. On days off, I go back to a "normal" life.

I am really glad that I found this website. It has helped me so much to face the real issues with my potential surgery. I have been researching for 2 years and I am getting banded in October. I have to say that last night my reading sent me into a panic. Here are some things that I know I can live with even if it will be hard: 1. loose skin--how much worse is that that fat, stretched out skin? 2. my abusive relationship with food. it has been a long road but the things that I have to give up are not really good for me anyway. I have done a lot of planning for this part. I am as ready as I can be for this. 3. More wrinkles, I assume some are hiding under here;-). 4. The pain of surgery and recovery. Here are some things that I don't know if I can deal with: 1. hair loss- I have already lost so much hair from Metformin (anti-diabetic drug). I know this sounds vain but I just cannot go bald here! 2. The gas!!! I am extremely conservative about this issue. I cannot be walking around passing gas all the time for the rest of my life or even the next year. I just starting going back to school and I am horrified enough being the fat, old girl in class with a bunch of 20 year olds! I cannot be the fat, old girl who passes gas in class!!! I just cannot. 3. The obsession that seems to come with surgery. I don't want to weigh myself everyday and worry that I am able to eat and not losing enough weight. I just don't want this to define me. I realize it will from now until a while after surgery but I just don't want to obsess about it all the time. I know this can be different for everyone but I am seriously considering cancelling the surgery because why don't I just eat less and exercise to lose weight. Yeah, I know, I have been doing that for 10 years without success and I have 3 small children who need a healthy, active mommy that will be around as long as she can be. I am just FREAKING OUT!! CAN SOMEONE TALK ME OFF THE LEDGE??? I have a support system but not one that understands fully what I am going through. Thanks! Jaime

Funny I was just thinking about this yesterday. I set my goal weight at a BMI of 30. Not because I think I need to stop there, but because I didn't want to disappoint myself. I have always been heavy (well, for 10 minutes in my 20's I got down to 160#). Like Humminbird said, my skelaton will be a size 12 or 14 - so, I don't think going below 175 is a good idea for me. WHen i look at pictures from when i go to 160, i look emaciated. The lowest I would want is 175, the highest 200. Maybe I can just hang around that range. As of today, that's a ways off. Right now I just want to get out of bandster hell and start working out like a maniac.

If you'd gained 10 pounds after being sleeved then you'd have reason to be concerned. 30 pounds in two weeks is phenomenal, be patient and give your body time to catch up.

They submitted the paperwork on Sept. 12 and received the clinicals on the 16th. Said usual turnaround time is 15 days after that. I'm so nervous about getting approved. I tried almost 10 yrs ago and was denied for having no major health issues. I'm now diabetic, so maybe I'm good to go now? Was hoping to have it done before I had health problems, but I guess insurance doesn't work like that. :-/

I COMPLETELY know how that feels!!! I was a mess for weeks 1 & 2. The hunger and feelings of doubt took me D O W N. I cried, was angry and pretty much stayed in my bedroom so I wouldn't contaminate my household with all my negative emotions. What did help me was having at least one friend over per day even if it was only for 30 minutes. The days that I did that, I didn't feel quite as badly. I'm a single mom and although my kids are super supportive and understanding, I needed peer support. I did an odd thing that helped tremendously and I'm not sure why it worked. On July 4th (10 days post-op), my daughter (16yo) invited several friends over for burgers and sparklers that evening. I grilled the best burgers I've probably ever made that day and served it with Sun Chips and freshly sliced watermelon. They thoroughly enjoyed it. Seeing them eat and enjoy something so much gave me a huge amount of pleasure. I did take a small bite of the hamburger patty and chewed on it for a very long time and just spit it into a napkin rather than swallowing it. Gross! I know!!! But I just had to know how they tasted. I've spent way too much money on shakes that the smell or even thought of them made me nauseous. Isopure got me through a rough patch since it's not thick. It leaves a weird dry feeling in my mouth, but it was better than a shake. A few days ago, I came across a protein shake that seems to be the one I can deal with. I had never heard of it before. It's called 52e, vanilla cream. I couldn't stand anymore flavored, fake tasting shakes and had stopped doing them all together. Before that, I mainly drank BioTrust (internet only) since it wasn't laden with so many artificial things in it. Just know that you're in the "dark period" and you're not alone. It just feels BAD. But coming out the other side of it will make you feel stronger and more in control than ever. So, go call "your people" and have them come for a visit! Friends are good!

Hi Everyone, I am scheduled for Surgery on September 21. 10 days away!!! I am in Melbourne Australia. Good luck to everyone who has surgery scheduled this month!!!

I feel like I should write something here. Plus I have to wait for all my B2B pics to upload to FB. There's a facebook group for the support group I go to irl. The topic came up of excess fat. So I wanted to talk a little about it. In an established thread I asked 'how does one determine how much excess fat they have?' The answer I got was 'BMI.' My response was as follows: 'I'm not a BMI fan, but it's probably a good starting point. I was once told by a trainer at the gym who did a body fat pinch test on me that I have 140lbs of everything that isn't fat. So minus the muscle I'll lose as I lose weight that sounds about right based on what I think my sister weighs and my build. But 200 is skinny for me, so anything past that is amazing.' The response was, 'I'll take the drs advice over a gym trainer any day.' I feel like my response wasn't interpreted correctly. Which is ok. I don't feel like getting more into it on there. What my response was getting at: This was like 9 years ago when I had this specific body fat pinch test done at the 24hr Fitness location I used to go to when I still lived at home. According to the guy who did it, I have 140lbs of muscle, bones, organs, etc. Everything else was fat. Not necessarily all excess fat because the body needs fat. Just not as much as I've got. So for the longest time I was under the impression that I will never weigh less than 140lbs. I explained this to my boyfriend probably about a month ago and he said this logic was flawed. Now I don't know his reasoning, but I now understand why it is flawed. But none the less, I must say, it is a good reference point. So it's flawed because as I lose weight, I will lose muscle as well because my body won't need as much muscle to support 280lbs as it will say 150lbs. Therefore, it is possible for me to weigh under 140lbs. My sister and I have the same figure shape. Shes an inch or two shorter than me and we have about the same build, she is maybe a little smaller. I'm probably about a medium build. The smallest she's ever been was a size 6 in college. She is usually about an 8 or 10 depending on the clothing item, but is bigger now because she's pregnant, which is expected. So based on what I think she weighs normally, 140lbs isn't a bad guess for me. Because BMI was brought up, I googled it and looked at 3 sites to get an average number. I'm 5 '5.5". Here are what the sites said: 5' 5" 113lbs - 138lbs 5' 6" 117lbs - 143lbs 5' 5.5" 114lbs - 145lbs (small build, medium build, large build) 5' 5" 117-130 127-141 137-155 5' 6" 120-133 130-144 140-159 Given these numbers I would think that I would be somewhere between 120lbs and 145lbs. I would absolutely love to weigh under 150lbs. And I'm 99.9% sure that I will never weigh under 120lbs. Or if I did, I'd look way too skinny. In conclusion, what the guy at the gym told me is fairly accurate. I just don't think my point came across in my original comment. 209lbs is the lowest I have ever been in my adult life. Size 20 is the smallest I've been (on bottom, I'm pear shaped.) 200lbs and a size 20 is skinny for me. When I get down to a size 18 I can say, "I haven't been this small since 5th grade." If I get down to 150lbs I can say, "I haven't weighed this much since I was 10."

Yes, and every time I lose it "on my own" I gain back about 10% more than I lost. Dieting has made me morbidly obese! I think what you say is just right. I haven't told anyone yet but I pprobably will when they ask. I just don't know if I will be as nice as you about it!

thanks for the input guys...i have actually been ok, but my husband decided to stay home with me instead of going out of town...surgery was 10/16...i checked my blood pressure and it was really low yesterday and today...very odd for me, feel like i could sleep standing up...did this happen to any of you...bp=80/60, and i usaully take bp meds but have not since surgery...??

How long did you stay at the hospital with the sleeve? I went to MX so i was in the hospital for 3 days What did you eat the first week? First week, no food, liquids only What about dumping syndrom with the sleeve? I do not dump but sometimes if something is too sweet or I eat too much sweets I wil get a stomach, something I never had before When did you go back to work? I went back to work after a week, I don't have a physical job, so it was fine. When did you become pain free? Pain free about 7-10 days after I was completely pain free.

Hi All, I am a new member and am scheduled for surgery on Feb. 27th. My doctor wants me on Medifast for 5 weeks before. I hope he incorporates some food in there. I'm worried about getting through that. I too have two sons who are in their twenties and I have not told them about this. I am sure they will feel I should just diet and excercise which trying for many years has not worked. I gained a lot over the past 10 years and just feel that I need help and the lapband I hope is my answer. My husband knows and is supportive but still wishes I would do it by walking and watching what I eat. I wish it was that easy! My son gets married in 2009 and it would mean the world to me to look good at that wedding. I have had many goals before (cruises etc.) that never worked but this is very important to me and so is looking my best. I haven't told anyone but my husband and I really don't want to, at least until I see it working for me. I will need the support of the groups and this forum. I am hoping that when I am successful (which I plan to be) that I can share this with some friends that could use the help also. I do get nervous when I read the not -so- good stories but I read more good stories that bad. I have a relative that had the by-pass surgery and is so glad she did. She had health reasons and is now doing good. She only wishes she did it years ago. Thanks for listening and I hope to stay in touch. If I can be of help, please just ask. :nervous

I had a gastric bypass on 1995. I lost 100 pounds . I kept the weight loss for 10 years, right know I am 50 pounds over and very scared to gain it all back. I am very interested to do the lap band, I want to ask to the mom in maine who performed her lap band surgery,or anybody who know a doctor in mass who perform lap band a operation after a gastric bypass, Thank you, Sara

Hi. My name is Candy and I live just southeast of Columbus OH. I started this journey in June by attending one of the seminars at Mount Carmel. I just got approved yesterday and I can't wait to find out when I can have the surgery. 6/25/08 - Seminar 7/26/08 - Accepted into program 9/2/08 - Surgeon appt. 9/12/08 - Psych eval 9/8/08 - Dr. visit 1 of 3 09/24 - EKG 10/2/08 - Nutritionist 10/3/08 - Stress test - cancelled 10/6/08 - Dr. visit 2 of 3 10/7/08 - Echo 10/10/08 - stress test - cancelled 11/7/08 - Stress test - completed 11/17/08 - Dr. visit 3 of 3 11/18/08 - approved by insurance

I just went for my seminar and they said I have to be on a liquid diet for 10 days prior to surgery. The insurnace lady said that if you have gained any weight they cancell the surgery on the spot. But she said that 90% of the patients lose 8-10 lbs on the liquid diet. Are you going to have to do the same? That would be a great way to lose the weight and shrink your liver at the same time, maybe call and ask the surgical nurse her thoughts on this. Best of luck to you and congrats on the approval.~Mandy

and it was awful (still is.) This was the worst surgery yet, and for some reason I always end up with a high fever and bronchial problems. The surgery took around 2 hours late Tuesday night, and we got home from Ventura last night. Dr. Billy removed my band in the emergency room, and other than being so physically ill, I'm 100% relieved that Billy took it out. I'm glad it's out of me, I'm thankful Billy was my surgeon, and I'm really worried after all the other stories I heard while staying in the hospital. The nurses were somewhat "fascinated" with me since several are obese and have been considering weight loss surgery. However, they were telling me of so many complications they see on a regular basis with both surgeries. I did meet one very thrilled and very beautiful gastric bypass patient that was thrilled, but she had it done before laproscopy and has a scar from her ribs to past her belly button. Either way, she looked amazing. After this last surgery, there's no way I'll ever even consider another weight loss surgery. My biggest regret was going to Mexico. Another regret was not fighting my insurance. But another huge regret was that I didn't have a local, EXPERIENCE, CARING surgeon. The 7 hour trip back home yesterday kicked my fever back in, and it had only been gone a few hours. So I'm home, I'm alive, I have a GREAT doctor, and I'm looking forward to fighting the fat demons solo. Like Red says in Shawshank Redemption, "Either get busy living, or get busy dying." I gotta go lay down so I can heal up and get busy living. Please, NO SYMPATHY! I feel physically disgusting, my pain is 10 out of 10, my fever won't break, and I have severe belly cramping and can't catch my breath. I've even gained 12 solid pounds of bloat, so I feel stuffy and gross. I even scared my hubby because he never saw me not talking before. I didn't talk for 2 days other than some grunts. So physically I'm bad, but mentally I'm good. Honestly, I'm gonna be really good. Thank you all so much for the calls and messages, and I'm sorry I've been too sick to talk. I'll call every one of you as soon as I get my spunk back.

Hello - I was banded 10/1/05, beginning with a BMI of 35. I've lost 40 pounds so far, and am so happy about it. My BMI is now 28.8. I'm not sure what my goal is yet, so I'll just keep going along. Love my band! Best of luck to you!! Laura

Sam's has a wonderful sf popsicle that comes in a blue box of 40 count. Sorry, but I can't remember the name. They are only 10 calories and come in a variety pack of orange, strawberry, and I believe raspberry, but the best thing is that the ice is very similar to the shaved ice sno cones, very soft and not crunchy...very yummy!