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I am currently one week into my two week preop diet on Optifast and fluids. I am having a conversion from my 10 year old sleeve to a full bypass January 9. I know I cannot eat 12 hours before the surgery and the diet is pretty clear that the only sustenance I can have during these two weeks is the Optifast. As I understand it, this is to reduce the size of my liver to make the surgery less complicated. I’m 270 pounds 60 pounds below my pre-surgery wait 10 years ago. So here’s my question;: I’m just wondering if I could have one more real food meal before the surgery on maybe the morning of the eighth or the evening of the seventh? My thinking is by then my liver will be whatever size it’s going to be for the surgery and I’d really like to have, one more bite of real food before 4 to 6 weeks more of liquids and purées. Anybody have an opinion?

P.S. Just wanted to add that when I weighed 146 lbs (at the high end of the BMI range for my height), I had a DEXA scan to see how much more weight I should aim on losing. Turns out my body fat was 21%, which is lean for a female. The technician, as well as my PCP, said it was time for me to stop losing. I was shocked. I figured I could lose at least another 10 lbs. Nope. Again, bone and muscle... (normal body fat range for older women (i.e., me!) is 23-33%. So yea - I was pretty low, even though my weight was at the high end of my BMI range)

I would consider another PCP as well. This one is obviously not knowledgeable about WLS. People who've lost large amounts of weight often have heavier bones and muscles than those folks who've never been obese. You needed that extra infrastructure to hold up all that weight. You do lose some of it as you lose weight (along with the fat), but you're going to have more of it than someone who's always been normal weight (excess skin is also extra weight (maybe five lbs or so), but you've had that removed). The PA at my bariatric clinic said you'll probably look about 10 lbs lighter than what the scale says, because of the extra bone and muscle weight you have. plus as others have said, why in the h*ll is this PCP complaining about you having a 28 or 29 BMI, when you've lost a ton of weight? They should be overjoyed. They must not be aware of your past medical records (??)

NO ! You haven't wasted anything ! You have GAINED experience, you have gained the knowledge that IF you eat certain foods, you won't lose weight. One of the biggest issues for many people, myself included isn't losing the weight... if I really set my mind to it.... it is keeping it off. I am a dozen years post surgery. Look at where I started and where I am now. About 4 years ago I decided to take some gained weight off.... again... and to stop every so often and maintain THAT weight for a while. BLEW MY OWN MIND !!! I could eat more, or eat treats and maintain my weight each time. Two years ago I got down to about 172 - 173 and decided to stay there and only panic if I got to 177. I kept a 40 pound weight loss for 2 years. AFTER losing 120 pounds 12 to 10 years ago. A while back... a few months I decided that I would just try to get back from an average of 175 to maybe that 172. Took my time, made some small changes. Gained 2 pounds during the 8 days of Chanukkah with some latkes and jelly donuts. And family dinners. Not a problem. Went back to what I was doing before our holiday and lost the two pounds ... (again) and didn't beat myself up over it. As soon as I stopped eating the holiday foods, the two pounds came off and another couple pounds after that... For me, it is all about getting into the right head space and weighing daily, watching what I eat, and balance. Friends dropped off dinner for my adult daughter and I tonight.... line caught, home made fresh FRIED fish. And french fries. (REALLY ?!) The fish was delicious. I ate 4 fries. And a piece of fish. I have fish for lunch tomorrow, and dinner..... and my daughter has fish and fries for days... I am the same weight now as I was in college... in 1977. From my heaviest weight I am almost half of myself. NEVER ever say that you cannot. Take a break from being so hard on yourself. Take a week and maintain where you are now. Then go back to where you need to be. You can do this.

So sorry you are having these issues. I am having my lap band removed in a couple of weeks. I discovered with an endoscopy that I have Barrett’s Esophagus and the band must be removed as it causes damage. I had all fill removed almost 10 years ago and I don’t have symptoms of reflux but it was still happening without symptoms. Be sure to monitor your esophagus as there could be damage that can lead to cancer.

I’m 2 weeks post op and on liquid diet. I’ll start my purée stage when I reach the 3rd week. I completely understand you! I’ve been craving junk food, I had to do 10 days liquid diet pre op. Food made me happy, I’ve been depressed because I can’t eat, I’ve been trying to think ahead, I’m 2 months all this will be worthy

What specific test came back out of normal range? because a liver panel has like 10 different test... I have one that recently came up high which is called biliruben and the surgeon had me sent out for a ultrasound and when that came back normal last Friday i had a HIDA scan which is a nuclear medicine test and that came back normal so nothing to worry about for now.

If you go to 10 different vsg surgeons, you will probably get 10 different post-op diets. If you go to 10 different rny surgeons, you will probably get 10 different post-op diets. The only difference between vsg and rny post-op diet is the surgeon's opinions. For example, my vsg surgeon wanted low carb, my rny surgeon pushes 7 to 13 servings of fruits/veggies a day for long-term weightloss, anti inflammation and anti cancer reasons.

Hi. I'm having a Sleeve to Bypass revision on 01/16/23 due to severe reflux. I was wondering if anyone has had this revision surgery and if they have noticed a difference? Good? Bad? How was the recovery time for the Bypass vs the Sleeve. I'm just frustrated that I have to start all over again. Thank you.

I had a VSG through Kaiser, and my partner had theirs through MBC tldr: MBC falls short in care and cleanliness, Kaiser is cheaper but takes 4-5 months. With Kaiser, I took 16 weeks worth of classes, did pre-op tests, EKG etc, waited a couple weeks and then had surgery for about $700. Kaiser is certainly the longer but cheaper pathway. I also think there is a lot of value in getting your head in the right place before surgery, and committing to 4+ months of pre-op does the job. It is annoying and hard to wrap your head around at the beginning but it went by quickly for me, even having to drive 1.5 hours each way to classes. I’m glad I used Kaiser so we have the resources given to me for him to use as well. MBC: Surgery is scheduled 2 weeks out from pre-approval (website form) and deposit, as thats the timeline required for the pre op diet. This is VERY fast and convenient. We paid about $5000. We are all familiar enough with US standards for hospitals, so here is where MBC falls short on that front: - his incisions bled through his gown after surgery, they would not give him a clean gown and told him he should just put on his street clothes. So, he wore a bloody gown for 2 days as the waist band on his sweat pants would’ve been super uncomfortable. - bandages/tape on floor of recovery room from previous patient. - Less than ideal bathroom cleanliness in room - Broken toilet for the entirety of his stay (he requested it to be looked at, at least 6 times before just pleading for it to be turned off at the water so it would stop running so he could sleep. There was urine and vomit in his toilet for his whole stay. Care comparison: Kaiser: I was on a morphine drip and could push the button every 10 minutes if I was experiencing pain. I was given injections for nausea. Lots of room to walk the halls. Attentive nursing staff. It was overall great. MBC: any time he asked for pain or nausea medication the nurse would say “I will check” and leave the room. Then, he’d wait an hour and have to ask again, only to hear the same response. You’re pretty on your own during recovery. He found that this was also the case for the other patients he drove back to San Diego with after surgery. It was not simply a bad experience, but the standard. Technically MBC contracts with the hospital to use their facility, and the nurses do not work for them directly. They have no skin in the MBC game when it comes to patient satisfaction and it shows. We hoped that tipping would help, but it didn’t seem to make a difference. My incisions with Kaiser were glued shut. His were open and we changed the gauze every day. It’s a little scary looking and you’re left wondering, “is this normal? Are these infected?” Kaiser: no drain, no leak test MBC: drain and leak test. Kaiser: you get a full binder of pre and post op instructions with diet guides for life. MBC: all of their instructions are on their website. What you see online before surgery is generally what you get in that regard. It is convenient to google quick answers to things like how many fluid ounces I should be having, etc and accessing the info easily on their website however it is no where near as comprehensive as Kaiser. Feel free to ask me anything, I’m sure there’s more for me to add and I will in comments. If you go with MBC, you should have low expectations and be willing and comfortable advocating for yourself. Ultimately, both work but the cleanliness and lack of care from MBC made me uneasy.

Ryan I am SO GLAD you posted this, I am in exactly the same place, my revision from VSG to Bypass surgery is January 9. Im on day 2 of the 14 day pre-op liquid diet. My VSG was 10 years ago and about 9 months ago I started to develop reflux and GERD. Tried the meds, didn't really help. Like you I have been about 50% happy with my weight post op and in truth because of my carefree approach it never got down to my goal and has been creeping up. I was 331 pre-op and got as low as 261. Im now 276 10 years later and on a lot more HBP and Cholesterol meds than I would like to be. So there is reason to do this beyond the GERD but I'm super scared I will lose the little bit of joy I have with food. That I'll screw up the new way I have to eat and make myself sick. The big difference for me this time is that I have a doctor who will stay with me post op. 10 years ago I moved from the US to Canada 6 months after the surgery and had none of the follow up support or checkups that would have allowed me to take full advantage of this tool. Your post really helped and the responses here have helped even more. Im just trying to take comfort in the fact that I did this once before and 10 years later I'm probably alive when I might have been dead. This bypass hopefully will extend my life to something approaching normal and I'll get rid of the GERD and avoid esophageal cancer. What I read here is that its not that different 4-5 months post op, my Doctor tells me the same. If I get a bit more weight loss that will be my reward and I plan to buy a whole new wardrobe, so I at least have that to look forward to. So glad you posted thank you!

I’m having my 2013 sleeve converted to bypass on 1/9/2023 because of GERD. I’m not too happy that I have to go through with this as I never wanted a full bypass and have enjoyed being able to still eat a some what normal diet (albeit with less volume than pre sleeve). I’m down between 60-70 lbs from my top weight pre sleeve. Not as much as I really need to feel good in my body but certainly healthier. a few questions: Anyone done this and can share their experience? Will I ever be able to eat again? I know I will but the sleeve was pretty forgiving, everything I read about bypass with the emphasis on protein, chewing 20x, not drinking 15 min before or after eating, makes me think the little enjoyment I got from a good meal after VSG is over, even that is gone. What was you weight loss when you went from sleeve to bypass? I’ve heard I can expect maybe 10-15%. beyond where I am now Any tips or things to watch out for? I’ll be glad to get rid of the GERD and hopefully avoid all the bad things that can come from that but I’m super worried I won’t be able to follow the bypass regime and have other health problems from not following things as directed.

Reaching your goal in 10 months is very good. I'm not expecting to reach my goal until 18 months after surgery. I've heard that the weight loss slows down after six months or so, Was that your experience too?

i did. i had a tummy tuck, arm lift and breast lift all in one shot back in 2019. im in canada (ontario) though, so the following prices may not apply depending on where you are from: i paid roughly 15k CAD in total (~11k USD in todays dollars) my provincial insurance covered the pannilectumy portion of the surgery and i paid the difference to "upgrade" to a tummy tuck (which is essentially muscle tightening and a bit of lipo on the flanks)...and i think that "upgrade" cost me 2-3k CAD? up here in ontario, pannilectumy is apparently covered if there is infection or whatever from the hanging over skin (which i did not have?, or if you lost 100+ lbs (which i did). i did not know this until my chosen surgeon informed me of it. i was already willing to pay for the whole thing, so the insurance coverage for that portion of it was just bonus for me. p.s. i booked the next available surgery as soon as i reached goal which was 6-7 months later (so i had the deeds done at 14 months post wls)

My surgery date is 01/03/22. Entering my last week of the pre op diet.

I am 01/03/22. My last week of the pre op diet. How is going for you?

I’m having my 2013 sleeve converted to bypass on 1/9/2023 because of GERD. I’m not too happy that I have to go through with this as I never wanted a full bypass and have enjoyed being able to still eat a some what normal diet (albeit with less volume than pre sleeve). I’m down between 60-70 lbs from my top weight pre sleeve. Not as much as I really need to feel good in my body but certainly healthier. a few questions: 1. anyone done this and can share their experience? 2. What was you weight loss when you went from sleeve to bypass? I’ve heard I can expect maybe 10-15%. 3. what is DS? I saw it on this forum but don’t know what it is. 4. any tips or things to watch out for? I’ll be glad to get rid of the GERD and hopefully avoid all the bad things that can come from that but I’m super worried I won’t be able to follow the bypass regime and have other health problems from not following things as directed.

I am more than a dozen years out from my VSG. I started at 5'3" and 320 pounds. I had surgery in my mid 50's ! I am now 66 years old. I won't ever be thin. I have not had and will not have plastic surgery to remove the saggy baggy parts. My insurance and my general health are not going to work for that. But my doctor's consider me to be in great health, and are more than pleased where I am at right now. I did gain back weight over about 8 years. My lowest weight was about 165 - at two years post VSG. I gained 220 - some was health related, most of it was life.... and not self regulating. About three years ago I decided to lose 10 pounds in a year. But I realized losing weight was not the biggest problem, but learning how to maintain what I lost was the issue for me. So after losing 10 pounds I PURPOSELY stopped losing weight, and maintained the 10 pound loss for 3 months. I learned what I could eat, and how to eat to maintain my weight. Then I decided to lose some more. Three years later I am close to that lowest weight I had been ( and what I weighed when I was in my 20's ) I actually stopped losing weight and maintained at 173 to 175 for about a year. A few months ago I decided to try to lose a bit more. I have no "goal" right now, except that I just bought size 14 petite jeans - and haven't worn that size for 10 years and would like to try for that 165 and stay there. My PCP let me know two important things.... once you hit about 63 or so one should use "Smart BMI" as we age, we are graciously given a few extra pounds ... so my smart BMI is actually under the one here. and we also shrink in height. I keep simple protein as the focus of what I eat. I raise my own backyard hens that produce incredible eggs for breakfast - or I eat oatmeal and fruit. Lunches and Dinners are proteins and fresh veggies and fruit. I eat some carbs - maybe a low carb spinach wrap or thin slice bread. Snacks are healthful, and I insist on a treat every day. Sometimes just one small dove candy.... maybe a cookie or small serving of something sweet. For me, it is balance and yes, I weigh myself a few times a week - just to make sure I am on track.

I think we can't help comparing ourselves to others, we're only human. If you stick to your programme post op you will surely lose weight and the more closely you stick to it the better you should do. Best of luck! Edited to say I lost 17lbs in the first 6 weeks after my sleeve and I reached my goal weight about 10 months post surgery. Am still losing very lowly after 13 months.

I found warm water, flavored with Skittles zero sugar helped. Sipping every few minutes for 10 minutes. Then again 5 minutes later starting again with zero sugar gatoraide, switching flavors. I set my cell phone timer. 3 weeks I thought I got it down so didn't use timer. Missed some with intake and got constipated. So use my fitbit to acknowledge time, as well as 30 minutes before after meals.

My vsg was 12-19 and I am currently in the full liquid phase of the post op diet. The protein shakes fill me up so much that I can barely finish them and I use protein Gatorade zero and water to help with hydration. I haven't had any complications and I am truly grateful about that. I am also following my Dr's instructions completely but I'm nervous about the next stage because I get full so quickly after liquids alone. Best wishes for a safe surgery and recovery! Sent from my SM-G998U using BariatricPal mobile app

Hi had my surgery December 19, 2022, I’m 3/4 days post op I thought you weren’t supposed to be hungry right after surgery?? I’m starving Im still in the liquid phase 😒 I don’t know if it is just a feeling of missing food, being around family that’s eating or what?? How is everyone doing around the holidays that just had surgery? I’m struggling

I had mine yesterday as well! How are you doing? Had pretty bad gas pains last night and only a few today. Mine was done as outpatient.. Went back about 10 and was out of there by 3:30. Water goes down ok some sip and causes pains with others. Looking forward to SF pudding and or yogurt on Saturday!

I had the surgery at 39...after having let someone talk me out of it 10 years earlier, and all I can think about is how I spent an extra decade feeling lousy AND feeling lousy about myself. I look back and feel like that time was just LOST. Do what you need to do to make your life what you want. It's yours and yours alone to live. Peoples' opinions are just that...opinions.

I'm currently 7 weeks post op and trying to figure out why I have been nauseous after eating and drinking since week 3 (and it's getting worse). I'm thinking a stricture, but I also have a feeling an ulcer could possibly be the problem? I have a really bad reaction to PPI's so I've been on H2Blockers twice a day since surgery. Unfortunately, I've been on them for 10 months prior for GERD and their effectiveness wears off over time. So..........I'm worried I could have developed an ulcer. My nausea is getting a lot worse (started to be nauseous to just harder food, now its all food and water) and I have to take Zofran every day. I have an appt. with a surgeon next week (my surgeon is on maternity leave). I'm hoping to at least get an upper GI series to see if they can see anything. I don't have much pain with this, so just wondering if most people had pain with ulcer or just nausea or both? Were there other symptoms? Thanks to everyone reading this. I'm really at that point of regretting my surgery but I'm telling myself to hang in there. Laura