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Hello to all sleevers!! It has been a very long time since I have posted here. Lately I’ve been lurking around because I have some questions regarding being re-sleeved. First let me give you some back story. I was sleeved about 7 years ago. Had amazing success! I did self pay in Mexico through a surgeon in Cancun Dr Perez. He was a wonderful the surgery went well I had no complication or issues. Lost tons of weight and kept it off. I am now pregnant with my second child and most likely my last. I have definitely put on some weight in the last two years mostly due to pregnancies but I have definitely noticed I am able to eat so much more and so much more often then I used too. I was also aware that my surgeon at that time did not use the smallest bougie but a little larger one because bmi was on the lower end. I hope I can just get the remaining weight off myself but in case I gain more or I can’t get my restriction back I would like to look into options into re-sleeving. Or at least what surgeons are available to do it? What the costs are for re-sleeving now? Anyone have good or bad experiences.? My Old coordinators email is not active anymore (it’s been 7 years) but she was amazing she also lined up surgery for my mom and best friend who also did self pay in Mexico and had amazing results and are maintaining. I wouldn’t be considering surgery till June or July of 2019. But I wanted to start doing some research now and wanted to get all the info necessary for me to make an informed decision if I needed too. Oh and to all of you in doubt or planning to get sleeved but debating....it was the best damn thing I ever did changed my entire life!! I felt amazing had tons of energy and was committed to living a healthy lifestyle. It is just a tool but if you utilize it you will reap great benefits! If anyone out there has any info you can help me with or any coordinators you recommend I can reach out to inquire more info I would really appreciate any response. Thanks in advance!

I'm not exactly the opinion you requested because I went from the band to the RNY. At the time, 10 years ago, the band had a decent amount of fanfare (Can you say 1-800-lap-band)? The Sleeve was just coming out and my insurance wouldn't cover it. To be honest, I wanted the sleeve, but wasn't willing to pay out of pocket. I didn't want something as extreme as the RNY. I went from 293 to about 220, then up to 303. It never felt right, and the port flipped 90 degrees within a year or two. I choked all the time, and many times some extremely painful swallowing deals. To answer your question about GERD, I can tell you this. I've had a problem for as long as I can remember it...Way before the lapband. When I wake up in the morning, I sound like a beat-up pickup truck. I have to clear my throat several times, drink water, and even have to clear my throat several times a day. It was so bad my coworkers could tell when I hadn't "drank it out" because my voice would be raspy and out of pitch by a lot. Before I had the lap band, I had GERD really bad. After the lap band, the symptoms went away immediately. I talked to my RNY surgeon about the constant clearing of throat, and he said it might be silent gerd, and the surgery might fix it. I'm 6 weeks out today. Every morning when I wake up, my voice works perfect. No pitchiness, no clearing throat, nothing. It came as a great benefit to me. My surgeon does have me on prilosec for 6 months, he said it actually helps the pouch heal. I did a lot of research and intense thinking about my revision. When I went to the required classes, I would say 60-70% of the people were going with the sleeve. The doc "kind of" recommended the sleeve saying the take rate was very high. The (very) long term results just aren't there compared to the RNY. The 10 year results show that the greatest retained loss is from the RNY. At the end of the day, that's the whole goal of the surgery, so that's what I went with.

Hi guys ... I’m on my 5 month pre op for sleeve and didn’t loose yet the weight 😞 required by my insurance , the nutri told me today that I must loose 10 pounds or they won’t approved me . My question- does anyone had been through this ?how did overcome ? I’ve been following the meal plan ; I guess I will have to put more effort on it —just afraid I will not make it - I’ve come so far

I turned 45 this year, but I have been on the registry for 10+ years. Do I need to do anything?

Why does my wound itch? The skin contains specialized nerve fibers that detect when the dermis is being irritated and send signals to the spinal cord, communicating that there is an itch. This is known as "mechanical stress". Wound healing also elicits mechanical stress that activates itching. As it heals, the cells around the wound proliferate, which means the margins around the wound grow and migrate inwards toward the base. In fact, the cells follow an electrical pathway at a voltage that is different than the margin so they can tell where the base is. The cells then unite at the center, attach together and contract to pull the wound shut. This process creates a mechanical stress that activates the itch nerves and tells the spinal cord to scratch. The dangers of scratching Scratching a wound that is trying to heal can cause damage to the new tissue that has grown to replace and repair the damaged tissue. If this happens, it can slow the healing process, which leaves your body susceptible to wound infection longer and can result in excessive scarring. Additionally, it can cause potentially harmful bacteria on the hands to transfer to the wound, again putting you at a higher risk of developing an infection. To find out more, including tips to reduce itching: https://advancedtissue.com/2014/10/understanding-wound-healing-itching-dilemma/

I had moderate but tolerable pain afterwards, and I'm not very tolerant of pain (I've been known to pass out at sharp, sudden pains like sprained ankles, if the conditions are right). The worst was partly my own fault, I didn't ask how often I was allowed to use my pain pump, and assumed it would be a long time between hits...my pain built up pretty high before the nurses clarified that I could use it once every 10 minutes.

I'm very happy for all of us. There have been struggles and learning curves along the way, but we're all headed in the right direction. YAY!!! From surgery date 5/3/18, I've lost 36 pounds. I lost 10 pre op, so 46 total. I know others have lost more but I'm happy with that as I've had a lot of NSV's myself. I'm very grateful for each and every one of them! The BEST one is that I'm able to move more easily and can breathe better. That alone is worth it. Plus, I'm 65 and was told my post menopausal metabolism would make it more difficult to get weight off. My nutritionist still hasn't given me any calories goals or protein goals. ??? Only 60 ounces of liquids daily and eat protein first. I'm glad I have this forum as I've been getting the 800 calories and at least 70 grams of protein a day that I've seen suggested here. For whatever reason, the nutritionist I have is practically useless. All in all, I'm happy with my progress so far. I do hope that, even if it's very slow, I'll get at least 30 more pounds off. We'll see!

Thank you. Doing well. It was a month today. 19 pounds down. But haven't lost anything in 2weeks. I guess I'm at a stall. But i wish this stall pass on I'm ready to see more results. It's depressing to not see any movement but I'm glad i haven't gained either Sent from my LGMS210 using BariatricPal mobile app

Search up "3 week stall." This stall varies in length but will break. Continue on track and before you know it, the scale will start to drop. Mine lasted about 10 days. There will be more stalls throughout your journey.

WEIGHT UPDATE-almost 4 weeks post op Down to 328 this morning! In 8 lbs I will meet the “normal range” of weight loss after surgery. That would be 25 down in 6 weeks with two more weeks to go. Here’s a photo from my baritastic app of my losing. Also, I’ve been losing the app for inches and I’ve lost 10 inches overall! I have my first full personal training session today so I’m super excited!

im 46 i get sleeved in 8 days wish i could have done it about 10 years ago no $ to get it done at that time the pre diet has been good for me im down 28 pounds so far and walking about 4 miles a day now looking forward to my future

So I found a plan: Dr. Johnson's Alternate Day Diet (based on a lot of the research from Walter Longo, Krista Varady, et al and it was one of the original alternate day fasting diets with caloric restriction that came to the public. He's a doc out of LSU. And they found it helped their asthma patients, and helped with wl too. So I added it to my low carb principle. I'd lost from 325 to 160lb doing Atkins '72. But I'd been stuck for years at 260lbs. Nothing I did could budge it. I'd go up or down within a few pounds. My bloodwork was amazing, but I was stuck. I added it into the mix and started losing. (I had a hysterectomy and so was very hormone deficient and imbalanced hormonally.) I'd lost 30lbs when they discovered my breast cancer. Well I immediately said, "Fu*k It All!" And I went on my "Make-a-wish Diet" where I ate ALL. THE. CRAP. and I waited for all of my test results and to get into an amazing oncologist. It took a little over 2mons. In that time, I had a 25lb regain eating my MAW diet. And the oncologist was horrified. Cuz that can make cancer grow quickly (gaining after dx). So he said to get back on it. And I fasted all through chemo and radiation. I essentially went from 260lbs down through chemo, 1st surgery, radiation and lost to 218lbs. Incidentally, the chemo + fasting did something my onc had never witnessed. I had a high grade aggressive tumor that is historically a "lazy eater" of neo-adjuvant chemotherapy. Meaning chemo will shrink the tumors a little bit, and stop/alter the cells...but you don't usually see complete remission or regression. They saw that my tumors shrank 60% with neoadjuvant chemo. And the path report showed that although there were some remaining living cells within my 12 lymph nodes (1 had pierced the node)--all the cancer cells showed genetic modification by the chemo which is unusual. So the research shows this to be true...fasting during chemo can be protective of healthy cells and helps boost the effectiveness of chemo and radiation. When I got down to 218lbs they worried about my radiation levels and I was getting huge burns/open wounds. So they told me to stop losing. I went back to a "more normal" Zone style diet 30-30-40. And maintained for a few months. Then after all my reconstructions and healings slowly began to regain up to my most recent 287lbs. The onc was freaking out and tried for 2 years to talk me into WLS. I resisted and pretended I didn't notice the weight gain, even though by that time, I was essentially bed-ridden. (I'm still on a cancer drug and will be on it for 10 years total. It puts me in "super-menopause" and shuts down my hormones as much as possible. So I'm extremely hormone deficient/imbalanced.) I haven't been doing alternate day fasting anymore. But yeah, you might be able to say I've been doing IF, cuz you know, at 650-850, I'm already in de facto keto from calorie reduction--a form of fasting, and I'm living in a full-time calorie restricted state. So I find no reason to add even more alternate day IF into the mix at this point, until I'm at a more normal maintenance level caloric load. Although, I do naturally fast for 12-14 hours (with breaking the fast with 3oz of Premier Protein in my coffee each day). So you could theoretically claim using your definition, that I've been IF since May 2017 when I weighed 287lbs. LOL. I get up, have protein in my coffee as creamer. Then I eat breakfast between 10-11am. I stop eating around 8-9pm. Today I weigh 164.6lbs. Sorry for the book!!

Great info, i may try 14/10 but im so committed to 16/8 lol im a creature of habit I am going to eliminate the protein added to tea and see if this kicks things up TBC... Also when you did IF pre surgery what were your losses like , how long of a period did you sustain it for? It feels almost too easy for me, like I could do this all the time a leave it situationally...

This is because MCT oil although it has calories, is considered by many to be blood sugar/insulin neutral. So it's possible to intake it for energy (something most fat peeps don't need anyway) without hormonally altering/affecting their fat burning system. I don't believe that those of use with ample fat on us need additional exogenous sources of fats that go straight to our liver like MCT nor do I think exogenous ketones help us burn weight faster (nor do we need that extra fuel). If you're trying to amp burning up, we have the fat stored and ready. But that's just my lay opinion. I've been studying and doing IF for many many years; both 16:8 and also alternate day fasting with caloric restriction. Both work. Both are muscle sparing, and both have the ability to reduce fasting insulin and make cells less IR, lowering bgs. Women have to be a bit more careful, cuz it seems their fasting window is better (less endocrine stress) with 14:10 rather than 16:8. But I think it may also be a YMMV thing too. If you find you develop sleep issues at around the 3-6 week mark, that is a tell that your endocrine system is being adversely affected by the IF. Women are more sensitive to this than men. Men have incredible success with IF and caloric restriction. They quickly normalize blood sugar, IR, and upreg HGH and androgen conversion to testosterone. If you/they also add in HIIT and/or movement conditioning, they will restore lost muscle. It's not quite as simple for women though. My opinion is that technically, the protein drink breaks the fast, but it's incremental. And it sounds like it's working for you. A system created by an Israeli doctor who made the "Warrior Diet" does allow his men to drink protein drinks from grassfed "pure" cows. It's a diet for dudes that is very effective...so there ya have it.

I’m really struggling guys had my surgery Friday at 7:30am and things went well at first. Pain wasn’t too bad and by Sat I was able to keep down some water and a 6oz bowl of broth and a protein shake before they released me. a few hours later I went to the closest ER (my surgeons hospital was almost an hour away) because of extreme unbearable pain in my stomach and lower back beyond what trying to walk around and take gas relief medicines would help. And I still had a suture that kept bleeding a little and oozing but the whole suture wasn’t split so they weren’t too worried. The ER by my house did nothing and sent me home. Few more hours later (now Sunday midday) the pain traveled through the whole middle of my back, I couldn’t stand up straight without being in excruciating pain, couldn’t breathe without the same, and had zero relief from anything whatsoever. I took an Uber to my surgeons hospital ASAP. Here so far they’ve done an X-ray and a c t scan and are keeping me back on pain meds but those are starting to not be as effective slowly and the pain is easily a 10+ unbearable. They did admit me again and said I shouldn’t have been discharged in so much pain but this amount of pain wasn’t there at the time so I don’t know. Im not going to rush anything I’m just going to stay as long as they allow me / as long as I need to. If there’s something going wrong then I hope they find out and fix it. IF this is all just an adverse terrible reaction to not passing bowl then please god keep me until I do. I don’t wanna come off as complaining - I just don’t want to feel alone right now I have a few of you I’ve connected with and message and I appreciate each and every one if you on this forum as we’re all sisters and brothers in a way many aren’t and it means the world to me. I’m just struggling has anyone else had similar situations and what was the outcome or resolution ?

Man I cannot eat salads for the life of me! I wish I could! I absolutely loved salads before. If I have a bite or two, I immediately have the urge to vomit. I’ve lost 20 lbs since the pre diet began. Nearly 2 months post op. Have stalled, again. I’m bruising like a sensitive banana! Need to look into iron sups. Just not sure I can stomach more vitamins. Well, summer is nearly over, here’s to being fit and Healthy next summer 2019 :)

Yay! I am 10 days post-op. All I can say is it's a big difference in feeling full and a big difference in drinking water. Nothing you wouldn't be able to handle. You got this. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

I am scheduled for 8/22. I am remarkably calm about the surgery, no worries or anxiety about it at all, but the day before I have to go in and have a picc line inserted - they haven’t been able to get veins without sticking me 7-10 the last three times I’ve been for blood work- and I’m terrified of the picc line. I know that isn’t rational, but try telling yourself that your fears aren’t rational when yours in the middle of an anxiety attack! Otherwise, the bag is packed, liquids purchased, dog walker engaged. Playlist for waking the hospital Halas is downloaded. I’m ready for the surgery. Bring it on.

Sorry for reviving an old post, if that's a thing we aren't supposed to do. (Some forum communities really frown on it, while others are fine with it. I'm new enough not to know the norms, here.) I just wanted to see if anyone who has had the surgery since this went up has anything to report back. I did a ton of research about psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (I have both), and in several small studies (aren't all the PsA studies small? it's so frustrating... but then, I guess it's not a very common disease!) the results were really astounding. Enough so that I'm surprised more PsA patients aren't being pushed toward the surgery, with its one-time cost, rather than biologics which can be something like $4k/month forever. Since I'm allergic to several of the biologics, and methotrexate isn't quite enough for me, alone, WLS is my best shot at getting my arthritis under control. That's why I'm doing it. I might talk, in some other threads, about things like fitting into airline seats and buying smaller clothes, but honestly? The pain is awful, and if I'm in the lucky group whose PsA is driven into remission, my life will be so much more amazing, even if I only lose like 10 pounds. If I'm in the unlucky group, but I lose a lot of weight, I'll still have a lot less pain in my feet and knees, even if the arthritis stays bad. So it seems like a good decision for me, either way. I have scalp psoriasis, too, so I'm hopeful that I can prevent massive hair loss. It's a risk, definitely. Anyway, thanks for any information any of you have! <3

I was only 24 hours of clear liquids. Props to all you doing it for weeks/months at a time! I was required to lose 10% of my body weight prior to surgery. It took me a few months to do that.

Hello everyone! I'm new to this forum (well I've been registered and lurking since my surgery) and am 9 days Post Op (surgery date 8/10/18). I am having a very very hard time with getting in my fluids and protein shakes. I think I'm having issues with knowing how to "pace" or "sip" I tried having some soup (butternut squash like pureed) and I felt like I over ate each time, same with chicken broth I think I might sip on it too fast? I try to sip water throughout the day and I get nervous that I'm going to go too fast or take too much or do something wrong to my baby stomach. I have already been to the dr once for IV fluids and a b 12 shot and I don't want to have to do that again but it's so hard for me (I practiced before surgery and everything!) I feel good otherwise but the not eating or drinking enough leaves me tired walking up stairs or from the kitchen to the living room. I just now reintroduced myself back to taking my Iron pills, and heartburn pills. I keep forgetting to take the multivitamin and calcium because I'm always trying to sip water and get my protein shakes/'foods" in so my dr gave me permission to order the patches. I want to do things right and not mess up but this part is harder than I thought! If anyone has any tips/tricks they can offer I would be most grateful! I have an app that tells me to drink every 15 minutes but I still can't get 64 oz in. Kristy

I'm new to this forum and to WLS lol I am 47 and just had the sleeve on 8/10/18.

Just turned 40 in June. I'm having surgery in about 10 days and it is finally hitting me! My old doctor proposed weight loss surgery wayyyy back in 2011. I'm sort of thankful I didn't do it then because it was the band and just sitting in the waiting room for a consult and having everyone discuss their adjustments made me uncomfortable. Also the surgeon seemed hurried, like he was running an assembly line, so I bolted. Ideally I would have had surgery about 3 years ago when I was not in-between jobs, but it took me a lot mentally to get here, breaking out of my delusion that my yo-yoing was not real, that years were passing by and that it would happen without surgery tomorrow. I'm also interested to hear what others in their 40s think.

I think a great majority of weight loss individuals suffer from an anterior pelvic tilt, even though they don't know it. The weight of the belly naturally pulls the hips down in the front. Nevertheless, and ignoring that specifically, I've had back problems for the last decade, maybe more. I have disc degeneration, spinal stenosis, and disc bulges from L4-L5 and L5-S1. For the most part, I had a dull pain (Maybe 3-5 out of 10) on an average day. If I did lots of physical work (Working on my car, landscaping, building stuff out of wood, working on my home, etc...) then the next day I'd be 7/10 in pain. I would say a half dozen times I "threw it out" and it was a solid 10/10 in pain, I couldn't walk, had to crawl and sleeping was agonizing just to get into bed... But, pre-surgery, I was told to eat right and consume smaller servings. I don't recall exercise being on the table. Nevertheless, I was doing a lot of walking anyways. Walking is pretty easy to do (Being relative here) and the fresh air (Well, we don;t have fresh air in California, but you get the point) was good for me. I would think that if that causes you too much pain, you could either concentrate on upper exercises or water aerobics which usually takes the pressure off joints. I would say though, more important than the back issues, is to make sure you get your eating under control so that you don't have a huge letdown/withdrawal after you get the surgery. I think it's normal for people to eat a few of their "forbidden fruits" before surgery, but it sounds like this might be more than that. I hope everything works out for you!