Search the Community

I wouldn't worry about the pounds lost, more about making a decision to be healthier. The weight loss depends on a multitude of factors. I am also diabetic and was just sleeved on 10/7, my bmi was in the low 50s day of surgery. Prior to surgery day, I did a 1000 calorie diet for 12 days (only required to do 10). And I lost 10 lbs during That time. On the low cal diet, I tried to incorporate shakes into some of my meals for a couple reasons 1. To get used to it and 2. To try different brands. I ate a lot of egg white veggie omelets, grilled chicken, low fat low salt turkey lunch meat, part skim mozzarella cheese sticks, lots of veggies and I made my own shakes with low fat Greek yogurt, ground flaxseed, and fruit. I also made spaghetti squash with 2-3 oz of grilled chicken, 1 tsp olive oil, spinach onions and tomatoes and topped with 1 tablespoon of Parmesan cheese. The main thing my nutritionist told me during those days was to make sure I was getting my Protein and Water and separating my eating and drinking by 30 minutes. I have lost 22 pounds since my surgery day. I have been taken off my high blood pressure and glipizide pills day of surgery and my insulin has been cut in half. I hope with continued hard work, I will eventually be able to be off my insulin completely. Best thing to do is to follow your nutrition plan pre and post surgery. When is your surgery day? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I'm sort of in the same boat as you. I have 9.5 cc's in a 10 cc band. I know I'm not at my sweetspot yet because I get hungry 1.5-2 hrs after eating. I eat protein rich foods and follow the guidelines. I had a fill 12 days ago and I do at times, have some minor issues (need to chew more etc), but I am generally not satisfied after eating. I feel like a whiner posting this again, because I've already complained about how I feel (sorry guys ) in an earlier post. I'm just amazed with this much fill that I'm not there yet.....

My tentative surgery date of 7/19 is now OFFICIALLLL!!!!! HW: 251 -1/25/17 CW: 235 -7/10/2017 GW: 140 Tentative surgery date: 7/19/17

Hi Brandy I was banded in Mexico on 10/8 by Dr. Daniel Huacuz. It was $7,500. + air fare. You fly into San Diego and they pick you up at the airport. All of them were really great. My friend who went with me had taken 18 other people to Dr. Huacuz. She has lost 75 lbs. I have now lost about 15. Huacuz Surgical Center

So I'm somewhat consumed with the possibility of hair loss after banding. I already have some thinning and take Biotin 1000mcg each day along with other supplements. Due to the hair thinning, I have had a variety of lab test that have all been negative. My GP says that it's just hereditary and to keep taking Vitamins. I have had weight problems most of my life. I have been losing the same 25 to 30 lbs for the last 10 years. I have been trying to do some research while waiting on insurance approval for Lap-band® Surgery. I am 42, female with a BMI of 35 and I have high blood pressure. I would appreciate any recommendations. Also, does anyone know the percentage of those that have hair loss after banding? Thanks

Since surgery I have had major cramps in my feet. They are so painful! Tonight it started about 5:30 pm and didn't stop till 10 pm! Any suggestions?

Sweatinitout, I had a TT in the summer of 2007 and was sleeved 1/23/10. The pain was substantially less than recovering from the tuck, but then again I didn't have alot of pain after that surgery either. I realize everyone's different but I doubt you'll have any problems. Was your TT recovery very painful?

Aww thank you so much!! Actually my hair is very thin. I've lost half my volumn. I was blessed to have very thick hair. I do take 10,000 mcg of Biotin everyday and have started taking prenatal vitamins! hahaha.. funny someone my age taking prenatal Vitamins. I have to say that they really help my hair and nails. I'm still struggling to lose weight. I wish it wasn't so hard this far out!! Happy to be in a 10 though! Have a great day and God bless!!

Butterflyeffect thank you for sharing in such great detail I am glad you are doing great, I will be having my procedure on May 19 and I will be starting my preopt diet tomorrow. I look forward to reading your post.

I attended my seminar 12/8/2008 and am being banded 6/19/2009 so exactly 6 months, 11 days! It flew by so fast with all the things you have to do prior. It might be faster for you if you are self pay!

I was banded on Dec 27th and had to go to a 50th Birthday party buffet this past weekend. Even though there was no soup on the buffet, I asked the waitress and she got me the most amazing cream of mushroom soup. It was totally awesome!!! I got everyone ordering the soup. It was a BIG hit. It was kinda funny. I picked and poked at the soup for over an hour and no one really noticed that I wasn't eating anything else. Also, I've lost 19 pounds and people are starting to notice. So........... I'm just telling them I'm working with my doctor and his dietician. They put me on a on a very strict diet. I haven't told anyone about the lap band. I'm not ready to tell yet and figured, that it's personal. I'm sure if you talk with the waitress and tell her you're on a very strict diet, she might be able to suggest something for you. Let us know how it goes!!!

Rachel, I was the Queen of Couch Potatoes for years. I was never athletic. But after banding, I started walking...a little at a time. It was good ole summertime here in Houston. Once around the block (1/3 mile), huffing and puffing, ankles feeling like they would explode with pain, sweating like a pig (glamorous pic, heh?). Gradually increased up to 3 miles. Then started bike riding...little at a time. Have since taken part in two 20 mile benefits. Hiked 4 and 5 hours up and down the Rocky Mountains in October. I never could have done this previously (or would have even tried!) My ankles don't hurt any more. Biked 3 times last week - 10 miles each. And you're a heck of a lot younger than me, girl! You'll be blaring past me in no time! Just take baby steps...you'll get there.

That's great! when this first happened to me I had no clue and started to panic! Thanks to this website I found others had experience the same symptons and I understood what was going on with your band being to tight. Now, I only get fills about every 8-10 weeks usually about 1- 1.5 ccs at a time since I can not take too much fluid. I'm glad your feeling alot better. I'm down from a size 16-9 and 44lbs down and 25lbs to go since being banded in Nov. Good Luck!

Awe shucks you all are so nice. I could go on and on about the band, and bore you to death, but to boil it down to three things: Expect to frustrated with the process at times. Start exercising now and set goals. I started doing 10 minutes of cardio in October last year. You've got to start somewhere. Do your best to journal your food. Know what you are putting in your mouth. Don't just guess. There you go.

Having only found this site yesterday, I've spent a couple of hours over the past two days wandering around and have noticed that there are many folks here who have a listed Current Weight that's anywhere from 10 to 30 lbs or more below their Goal Weight. Is overshooting your GW something that typically happens, or are some of those folks just not updating their listed numbers or am I completely missing the boat on this? I'm scheduled for my surgery on Aug 28 and know where I'd like to end up on the scale and am more curious than I am concerned about going below that.

Okay this one really goes out to those veteran sleevers. So, I am 13 months out now. I have lost pretty much all I could safely lose (a lot of people think ive gotten too thin) I'm getting to the point of becoming UNDER weight (which is hilarious frankly...ive never been thin in my life...literally). That's really the problem. I have started training for this 1/2 marathon and the running is making me lose weight to a point that is making me nervous. I am already wearing a SMALL right now...i just dont know what to do. No one really seems to understand--people say stupid stuff like "just eat more"....as though I could even if I wanted to?? I mean dont get me wrong I eat 3 or 4 meals a day...and I do eat very healthy meals...but i just dont know how to replace those calories I burned of running safely. My mother says shit like "go eat a grilled cheese"...which makes me crazy! My trainer says go drink weight gain powder...which goes against all logic in my book. My surgeon said (btw Im a 6'0 man) I dont want you to get into the 160s...if you do call the office. well that was 3 weeks ago...i weighed 173 then...NOW in just 3 weeks i lost 10 lbs. I'm losing my mind here. and frankly, am getting a little scared...i dont know how to make it stop. But, at the same time I WANT to do this race...for me...because ive never been able to run more than a few feet in my life without being out of breath. What do yall do?? please help me.

Well I agree with my doctor as far as stating that the surgery is only a 10 percent effort in your weigh loss. The surgery does not stop you or anyone from eating "bad" food, you do! the surgery just controls how much of it you can eat. However, you can eat all the slider foods on earth and in essence it is your choice to eat all the "Easy to go down" food/liquids such as ice cream, soda..etc. Just because you have the surgery does not mean your not going to eat cake! Its your effort. Well the calculation worked for me, I lost 120 lbs 10 months post-op.

I, too, wanted the band when meeting with my doctor initially. He was willing to go with that, but strongly recommended the sleeve for my situation. I'm so glad I followed his lead, as this experience has been life-changing for me. Met my goal in 10 months (down 145 pounds) and am still very close to goal at 21 months out.

In recent years I’ve noticed a spike in the “Hiatal Hernia Surprise surgery” stories shared on the forums. That’s when you wake up to your surgeon telling you he fixed a “surprise hernia” while doing your sleeve. What gives? My 15 years of suffering with GERD after VGS, (I never ate a Tums before sleeve) has lead me to extensive research on this topic. I’ve read ever medical paper, report, blog I can get my hands on. I’ve met with and spoken to MANY surgeons on this subject. THEORY ABOUT “THE SURPRISE” I have a sneaking suspicion that the sleeve surgery itself leads to a hernia in many patients. (See stats about De Novo GERD and VGS). The new stomach is lighter and thinner, with more internal pressure and can now easily slide into the esophageal area past the diaphragm to create a HH because the new shape allows it to. I wonder if VSG surgeon don’t want to scare patients with the stats (30-40% chance of GERD without HH repair), so they just throw in the “hernia surgery surprise” to skirt the conversation. if this happened to you, please share the details- so many would benefit from your story. Knowledge is power! For those who haven’t had it yet - have the convo with your surgeon- let’s eliminate the “surprise”. I’m also sharing my journey to find a solution for those currently suffering from GERD after VSG. Not sure why post VLS GERD is still the “Wild West”. So many different opinions on how to fix it - sheesh. What I’ve been told to do by different surgeons over the years, and what I’ve learned: 1) “convert to rny” This was an instant turn off, but I get why so many do it. The pain is that bad for some. A seasoned WL surgeon recently told me the conversion to RNY is problematic long term (yet many still recommend it). He doesn’t do it anymore. He’s fixed hundreds of these HH post sleeve with a basic HH repair, no- and only had to covert 1 stubborn case. He said the conversion often leads to gas, malabsorption, vomiting, exhaustion, nausea, with many converts still ending up with GERD! If you’ve had the conversion and are a few years out - please share your experience. 2) “go with a partial wrap” This particular Doc said he’d “figure out what was best to do once he was in there.” I lost all confidence in him with that last statement, but I didn’t even realize this was a possibility if your fundus has expanded. 3) “get the LINX” I’m allergic to fake metals (I get hives), yet this particular surgeon was ready to slap this metal puppy around my esophagus. Luckily, the maker ( J&J) posted a warning on their site for sensitive skin types: “do NOT, under any circumstances, put this in your body”. I might have considered it if I didn’t have the allergy, although it seems very problematic for some. 4) “get the ligamentum procedure with repair” This is an old surgery for GERD that involves using your internal umbilical cord. Because it’s so new for WLS GERD, I asked the surgeon if one of his success stories could call me. He obliged. A very sweet women called me, and went on and on about how great the surgeon was. But then she told me she was still on PPI’s and now had chronic diarrhea and dumping syndrome…sooo…back to the drawing board. 5) “Get the basic HH repair”. I’ve consulted with 3 seasoned WLS surgeons who are all on the same page (finally). These 3 say that they pull my stomach back into the right spot, tighten the diaphragm, and call it a day. One uses mesh, but the other 2 sited a recent research paper saying there is no advantage to mesh. They all said I’d have a 80-90% chance of being able to go off the PPI’s. Sorta a fantasy promise- but I’m liking those odds. Of course I’ve done my research and discovered the fail rate over the long term is high (30-40%) after 10 years. and I might have minor swallowing problems, and bloating- yea! But I can have it adjusted if it gets bad, so that’s reassuring. So I’m going in with my eyes wide opened and doing the basic repair, I hope it works. The recovery is long and difficult, but my alternative is PPI’s that are cancerous. Wish me luck and thanks for reading my rant:) I hope it helped a few of my Gerdy sisters, and if you’ve had the “surprise”, please share your experience!

I had bad acid reflux before surgery, so I opted for the gastric bypass. Little did I know I had a hiatal hernia and 10% of my stomach was pushed up through my diaphragm. So I guess I'll never know if the sleeve would have been OK for me after the hernia was repaired. I'm just happy I am reflux/heartburn free now. I have read many sleeve patients suffer with it so I can see your dilemma. Good luck!

So I FINALLY made my way to the Bod Pod. Work has settled down and after working nearly an entire month on my Fridays off I got one to myself. Yahhh!!! Anyway, I met some amazing outstanding folks at the Vacaville Golds Gym. They made me feel so welcomed, and geesh if I lived there that would definitely be my workout spot. More on that later, here are my results: Fat: 35.3% 64.0 Lbs. Lean: 64.7% 117.3 Lbs. Total: 100% 181.3 Lbs. (I lost some weight yay!!) How I measure up (per Bod Pod Composition Test Results Page): Risky (High Body Fat) >30% Men >40% Women Explanation: Too much body fat can pose serious health risks. Ask your health care professional about how to safely modify your body composition. Excess Fat (I'm smack in the middle of this!!) 21-30% Men 31-40% Women Explanation: Indicates an excess accumulation of fat over time. Moderately Lean (29% will be my first goal!!) 13-20% Men 23-30% Women Explanation: Fat level is acceptable for good health. Lean (Will be my Ultimate Goal <22%>) 9-12% Men 19-22% Women Explanation: Lower body fat levels than many people. This range is excellent for health and longevity. (Sounds like exactly the place for me!!) Ultra Lean (A bit too much for me) 5-8% Men 15-18% Women Explanation: Fat Levels sometimes found in elite athletes. Risky (Low Body Fat) <5% Men <15% Women Explanation: Too little body fat can present health risks, especially for women. If in doubt, check with your health care professional. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My next goal is to get my total Body Fat to 29%. I am quite pleased by my results! I have come a long long way and to just be deemed as having excess fat now is quite the achievement. However I'm also glad I finally got myself to this appointment so now I know for sure I still have some work to do, and well that's exactly what I'm going to do. The trainer who helped me, Michele was so nice! We went over a few things as soon as my tests were complete. I asked her what she thought I could do to reduce the body fat while trying not to lose so much lean tissue. Wow!! And I have to say I'm quite impressed with how heavy my lean tissue is! So my thoughts were correct that I am a "heavy girl". 117 Lbs of me is all muscle, bones and organs. Not sure how I compare to anyone else who is 5'7 but I really thought it could be more around 100 Lbs of lean tissues. Not only that, per their scale (which was midday almost at that) weighed me in at more than 1.5 Lbs less!! Yippeee!!! Anyway, we were talking and I was describing my workout routines for her. Her eyes literally bugged out of her skull and she exclaimed that I do far more than most. That's funny because I always feel like I can do more. She said my workout routine is excellent. The only things she suggested I can do is do at least a little bit of weight training 2x per week. She said that is quite enough, and if I'm up to it, perhaps taking some swimming lessons. She said that burns enormous amounts of fat and will get me lean, no problem. Then we met with the Swim trainer, who has had RnY by the way 4 years ago. She was incredibly nice! Once I'm healed from my procedures I plan to have a few swimming lessons with her to get me to learn it properly. So with that, I move onward and downward. I imagine a lot of fat is going to be removed with my liposuctions. I hope 6% worth!! :lol: Source: The BOD POD

Ok I will be 3 weeks out on Wednesday. I went through something similar and I believe that's what caused my stall at a week and a half out. I wasn't eating crackers but I was making really cheesy dips that included chicken,velveeta cheese,etc. And I was eating snacks with my husband like a couple bites of cheesecake off his plate,a couple pieces of chex mix muddy buddy,etc. I had no room for the healthy stuff! At my one week post op appt my dr told me I was free to eat whatever(healthy) as long as I chewed it thoroughly and went slow. I started eating a bit of ice cream,a lil while later a couple bites of pudding,a while after that some of the velveeta dip stuff and so on...While I don't believe there is enough calories and or fat in the little bitty amounts I was sticking in my sleeve to make you gain a bunch of weight,I do believe all of this and the scale showed it with a 1 lb gain and then stall at a week and a half out: 1-Not eating planned out meals and just grazing throughout the day was getting in the way of my fluid intake. I had it in my mind that I could not tolerate protein shakes so that was being sabotoged as well,and none of these things are healthy. I was not coming to terms with the fact that my sleeve is still too small and new for me to be eating these things and still getting in the nutrition that I need. If I'm not getting in enough liquids or protein,my body is in starvation mode and will hang onto any little bit of fat it can to store for energy,I will feel weak and fatigued like I was,my hair will start falling out(one of my biggest fears). I gave my scale to my mom and made SURE to put lean protein foods first,and that's about all I can fit in my sleeve. My rule of thumb now is NO food goes into my mouth when I wake up until I have had at least 20 ozs of liquids,I follow that with a muscle milk light which has 20 grams of protein and my sleeve loves it compared to a protein shake. Then I have to have 10 more ounces of liquids b4 lunch. I can only stomach 1.5 ounces of chicken with hot sauce and a dab of blue cheese on it then I'm full. Wait about an hour and make myself finish off 10 more ounces of fluids before dinner. I then eat tuna,salmon,cheese,or chicken,something with protein for dinner. By then I have had more than 40 grams of protein and 40 ounces of liquids. I am free for the rest of the evening to drink liquids,eat a couple bites of SF pudding (I usually sprinkle some unflavored protein in it) or even eat a SF fruit bar-only 25 calories and soooo good! The reason I am saying all this is bc this: Since I put my foot down and started doing what I know I should be,my stall ended quickly and I have lost 3 more lbs in 3 days! I had to realize that I will eventually get to enjoy these things in moderation,but the whole reason I got the sleeve is so I can fill it with healthy,protein rich foods,vitamins and liquids consistently until my excess weight is gone. I will from now on save the junk food till I am farther out. That 1 lb gain and stall was enough to snap me out of it and remember what I was blessed with. Now,that being said it's just my opinion and I do believe everyone's body is different and everyone can handle things differently. I just kinda wanted to let u in on my experience thus far out and hope I can help in someway. ((HUGS)) and stay strong,we will get through this! Source: Is This Self-Sabotage?

I had one. It's really nothing to worry about. They put you under and it lasts like 10 minutes. I was home in under 2 hours. No pain.

You're an inspiration, Joshua. Thanks for your honesty and for sharing. I obviously didn't have a sleeve, but the post op pain for me was between 9.5 and 10 for a few hours. They wouldn't give me more morphine, and I was at one point told they had to 'go see incoming patients' in the first room there. I was livid, and nobody was allowed in to the hospital due to covid. I to this day believe I would've offed myself then if given the chance. Not to scare anyone away, mind you. Even with what I've achieved a little over two months out, I'd actually go through that without hesitation again just for feeling this much better already. However, I think the advice I'd give was talk to your surgery team about pain management upfront. And know that it's "just" the bloated stomach from gas pressing on freshly cut insides ... you're not about to burst or anything (I remember being scared something was very wrong, which didn't help at all).