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I lost about 45 lbs in the first 6 months preparing for surgery, but then I got close to the lowest BMI could have before I wouldn't qualify for surgery, so I started eating too much again. I am having trouble getting it in check, but I will have a strict 2 week pre-op diet, so hopefully I will stick to that. I don't think I will meet with the anesthesiologist until I go in for surgery. I've met with the surgeon a few times and he has asked a lot of questions about my medical and surgical history (I've only ever had dental surgery), especially abdominal surgery, which operation I wanted, medications I'm taking, etc. He also explained the surgery in detail to me. He went over possible complications, how much weight he thought I might lose (it was way less than I expected!). I asked what were the determinates of losing less or more, and he didn't really have an answer for that.

Congrats on weight loss, hopefully your feeling better from the surgery.

Interesting thing about vitamins is that after about 6 months I had to switch from bariatric vitamins because some of my levels were too high, specifically iron and vitamin d. So my costs aren’t high at all. My husband never even stepped foot in the hospital. Dropped me off at the door and picked me up, due to covid. I was fine, and I’d probably do the same thing even if covid hadn’t been a thing. I was worried I’d never be able to eat normally again, I would have a leak, and that I wouldn’t lose weight. I’d say I eat very normally now (9 months out), I had no complications, and I’ve lost 158 lbs, so all fears were unfounded. My advice to everyone in life is to stay far away from Facebook. Your life will be better for it! This site has great advice.

They asked me what my goal weight was and I picked a weight I’d been at once and had felt I looked good at. In a healthy weight range, etc. I’ve lost 158 lbs so far and I have 16 lbs left to go to get to that weight. I think my actual goal may end up being lower than that, just based on seeing myself at this weight. So I wouldn’t get too caught up on it- hard for most of us to know what we want when we are so far off from it.

Is the revision a two step process (remove the band, wait a few months for healing, then do the RNY) or all at one time. Some surgeons do them all one way or the other, or depending upon circumstances. what kind of pre-op dieting requirements do they have (some want their patients to lose a certain amount of weight before surgery, while some don't care; some impose a stricter to "shrink the liver" for a couple of weeks or so before surgery, while others don't)? What problems do you frequently encounter with this type of procedure (as the bands often damage the stomach, and that's why many such revisions are done.)

Some of the Facebook groups are odd The strangest response I got was someone questioning why my surgeon would do a revision for GERD when I didn't need to lose more weight. And someone else questioning my dietitian for not having me on moderate carbs instead of keto. She's been my dietitian for 2.5 years since I was pre op VSG. Thank you

Thank you I do still have some pain on my right side which my surgeon's PA said is where the largest incision is and where I had adhesions and scar tissue from my sleeve. She told me it would take longer to heal because they stitched it very tight to prevent abdominal hernias. It is mostly ok but I still get pain bending there so inflammation is possible. Menstrual cycle it's hard to say. I am 40 so could be in perimenopause but I have a Mirena IUD which mostly stops my periods. I drink mostly Gatorade zero, powerade zero and propel because that's what has tasted the best since revision and miralax mixes well. I do ok on hydration getting 40-50 oz a day. My gastroenterologist has me do two caps of miralax to prevent constipation and it is working. I do feel like #4 is what makes most sense. I think I dropped water weight rapidly due to the shock of surgery and bounced back up. As long as I don't keep gaining weight I'm fine here. My weight would fluctuate pre revision between 142-145.

Firstly, congrats on your 20 pound loss! that is a lot of weight in two weeks. I am going through the exact thing! We are even similar to pre-op weight and surgery date! and I am also at a two week stall. It is driving me insane! You are even ahead of me in the game! I am losing my mind with this as well so know you are not alone in this. Keep me posted on how your progress is going I wish you the best of luck in your weight loss journey. Stay focused and you will succeed.

it's the infamous "three week stall". Almost all of us experience that. In fact, if you do a search on this site of the three week stall, you will find about 17,000 posts on it (and no, I am NOT kidding!). Just stick to your program and stay off the scale for a few days. It'll break and you'll be on your way again. It usually last a week or two - but for a few people (a minority) it last for three. And just so you're prepared, you're likely to hit a few of these on your journey. It's a common part of weight loss...

Surgery Status: 5 weeks And 2 days Post Op VSG (July 13th) Phase: week 5 soft foods, introducing back into normal diet Highest known weight: 210 Starting weight: 210 Current Weight: 180 Inch loss: 6 inches off waist, 4 inch off hips. About 1-2 inch from legs and arms NSV: my face looks completely different in photos! Also got back into my favourite Barbour coat! 😊

Hi everyone. My surgery date was 07/14. I am now on a reg diet and just introducing new/old foods again. My highest weight:252 current weight: 212. I guess I’m ok except I had a hernia that I needed emergency surgery 2 weeks ago . Ahhh why didn’t they remove that when I got my sleeve?? Uuugg

Hey July Surgery People! It has been a while since we have had any updates in this thread. I can't wait to hear how you are all doing. Let's do another stats check! ✔📉⚖ How is your progress going? (NSV, inch loss, weight loss, pre or post op, phase.) Good luck!🤗 ________________ Surgery Status: 3 weeks Post Op VSG (July 26th) Phase: post op soft food diet week 2 Highest known weight: 291 Starting weight: 280 Current Weight: 253 Inch loss: 2 inches off waist, about 1 inch off most other spots. NSV: I fit into a pair of pants that I never fit into! (They are my current size but cut smaller & I bought without trying them on.)

Congratulations on your weight loss so far.

Everything is going well I'm 8weeks out I healed great. Start weight:222lbs current weight:201.9. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

I gained some weight and my surgeon didn’t seem to care but it varies from dr to dr. It also varies patient to patient because some patients, with health concerns or higher BMI need to lose weight before they can do the surgery safely and also probably because of different insurance policies. As for what to expect at pre op they just went over what to expect at surgery. I watched a video, chatted about last minute concerns with the surgeon, signed a lot of paperwork and they gave me a surgical soap to use for a few days before the surgery. I didn’t meet the anesthesiologist until the morning before surgery and he just asked medical questions to make sure I was fit to go under anesthesia.

You don’t have to disclose anything about your WLS just to ask about weight neutral meds though. I asked my dr for these long before I even considered WLS. It can’t hurt to ask at least.

I did gain weight, about a 1 month before I was going to get my surgery scheduled they added on an additional month visits. The doctors wanted to make sure I was living the bariatric life style. I t was all good. I managed to drop about 10 lbs. and we moved forward

Does your doctor agree this is the best course for you to just stop your meds? There are weight neutral ones. Not all have such side effects.

Just curious since I've never had surgery of any kind. What happens at the pre op appointments with the surgeon and the anesthesiologist? Also, has anyone ever gained weight before surgery? I'm super nervous I'm not going to lose enough or that they will cancel my surgery. Which I find crazy because if I could lose weight on my own I wouldn't need the surgery..

I am 10 days out from the sleeve and barely getting any protein in me. The powders make me sick, no matter how I mix them. I cant afford to keep buying more things that will make me sick. when I called the doctor's office, the nurse was very flippant I see the doctor in four days. I know I have lost weight this week, but I am afraid he will know I havent been getting the protein in me!!

Anyone have breast lift and implants after weight loss surgery? Looking for someone who did and had high profile implants put in. Help.

Hi! I’m so sorry you’re going through this. It’s difficult to balance for sure. As a diagnosed BP I can relate. My surgeon and psychiatrist have given me positive reviews on the gastric sleeve. I’m 8 months post op and have been doing well. I can honestly attribute much of the initial weight gain from BP depression and BP meds. I was at an athletic weight until 27 years old. Then diagnosed. Not sure if you’ve experienced this - but it took years to find the right mix of meds that worked. Now that I have found the right mix, I am stable and my weight has been stable. I would definitely discuss medications with psych and ask for an honest opinion if the meds affect weight. AND CONGRATS 🎉 ON YOUR POSITIVE GAINS!!!! You’ve come so far!

The drinking thing is something that I have noticed that most programs don't handle very well. The "sip, sip, sip, all the day long" thing is necessary for most for some period of time, depending upon how much inflammation we may have in the stomach after surgery. If it is seriously inflamed, then yes, it takes small sips to get fluids through - think of drinking through a pinched soda straw. If there is not significant inflammation, then your new stomach is more like a normal, or even large soda straw, so fluids will go down fairly easily, though it will still be a restriction from real chugging or gulping. I didn't have any significant inflammation, so I could sip a bowl of broth (maybe 6-8 oz?) and a juice box (with straw) within a half hour or so sitting - in the hospital. I still diligently sipped away for the month and a half or so when I too a drink from my bottle between swimming laps, to no distress. I probably could have done that a few weeks before but was still scared into sipping everything. No, I couldn't (or didn't) gulp or chug it, but just normal swallows of water. Lesson here is to gingerly try little larger sips, working up to "drinks" and see how things go down. If things are backing up, or not going down promptly, back off a bit and go at a bit lesser rate for a while. The not drinking before/during/after meals thing is also a bit flexible. The before meals thing is again, and inflammation concern, and they want to make sure that the fluids are clear from your stomach before eating so that it isn't competing with the limited food that you can eat. Once fluids are going through fine, drinking up to the point of eating is fine (and some surgeons recommend this practice.) Drinking during a meal again, competes for space with the limited food that you can eat, so should be avoided (small sips if something is dry is OK.) Also, drinking with and after a meal has the effect of "washing through" the food that should be staying in the stomach for a while to provide satiety - drinking too soon can lead to earlier hunger and overall over eating during the day when we are trying to keep eating to a balanced minimum for weight loss. After ten years, I am still not comfortable drinking much of anything for a while after a meal.

I recently looked into this and am at the stage of deciding which surgery I want: Re-Sleeve or Bypass. I'll preface the following by stating you can research many articles on "pubmed.com" to read published papers by physicians. There is a re-sleeve procedure and it's either done by plication or utilizing Overstitch; key difference is that part of your stomach is NOT cut and removed, as is done in the initial sleeve. The stomach is made smaller by suturing to make it smaller. In my case, revision, even if it is to a re-sleeve, would be covered by my insurance. Re-sleeves can be done endoscopically (through the throat, no incisions on the abdomen); this is the approach I am being offered. Bypass would require abdominal incisions as it is performed laparoscopically. Bypass would yield a greater overall weight loss, initially. There's a study that indicated the long term weight loss between those re-sleeved vs. conversion to bypass levels out and is similar. Articles: Re-sleeve Gastrectomy - An Efficient Revisional Bariatric Procedure - 3 Years Results Re-Sleeve Gastrectomy for Failed Primary Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy Short-term outcomes of revisional surgery after sleeve gastrectomy: a comparative analysis of re-sleeve, Roux en-Y gastric bypass, duodenal switch (Roux en-Y and single-anastomosis) Laparoscopic re-sleeve gastrectomy as a treatment of weight regain after sleeve gastrectomy Weight Regain After Sleeve Gastrectomy: A Look at the Benefits of Re-sleeve Reverse: Laparoscopic revision of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass to sleeve gastrectomy: A ray of hope for failed Roux-en-Y gastric bypass As to which procedure has higher risk, in general, risk increases with every subsequent surgery. In this case, it would depend on the approach your physician would take to re-sleeve; endoscopic or laparoscopic. Endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty versus laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy: a case-matched study If both options would be performed laparoscopically, then it would be a matter of you deciding which procedure you feel the most comfortable with to achieve the long-term results you are looking for. Endoscopic surgery is performed using a scope, a flexible tube with a camera and light at the tip, allowing the surgeon to see inside and perform procedures without making major incisions, allowing for easier recovery time and less pain and discomfort. Laparoscopic is performed by making several small incisions in the abdomen, which increases risk when compared to the SAME PROCEDURE performed endoscopically (no incisions). The approach with the highest risk is open. Bigger incision. Bigger incision, bigger risk. One type of surgery that has taken off in the last few years is minimally invasive spine surgery. Many spine surgeries can be done laparoscopically versus open -- even fusions. The difference? Patients that have it done laparoscopically can have it done in an ASC (ambulatory surgical center), meaning they leave the same day, no hospital stay or large incisions in the back. And...always remember, whichever surgery you have, it's a TOOL, not a magic pill (those don't exist either). Hope this helps!