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Remember any weight lost is better then weight gained. Im down right aroud 150lbs but its takin me over 4 years to get here so if you average that out ive lost around 35 pounds a yr which is less then id like but by far better then gaining 35 a yr.

Help! I had my gastric sleeve surgery September 24. I started at 264 pounds. I was down to 200 pounds at the beginning of February then found out I had a cavernous malformation on my brain stem and had to have surgery to remove it. During that time I managed to gain back 20 pounds. Some of that was due to prednisone but some was due to not being in control of my own cooking. Now I cant seem to start losing again. Im definitely eating larger portions than right after my surgery. Any suggestions?

My husband NEVER notices weight gains/ losses. Which is awesome when I got super heavy. But now I'm thinning out again(for GOOD) and I'm like, dude where my compliments at? I gotta fish for them sometimes, but once I point out that I've reached certain goals, or that certain things fit/don't fit, he will obvs be excited and supportive. Sometimes ya just gotta go get those notices yourself [emoji849][emoji23]

Hi Mary! I was banded on Oct 8th! during my preop diet I lost 12 lbs but I am not weighing until one month, Nov 8th. Because my stomach area is still swollen and bruise inside, from the surgery, so for some people, we don't lose right away, but some do. Remember...you do NOT have a fill yet, so you won't have any restictions until you first fill on Nov 17? Mine is on Dec 6, which will be the end of the 8th week, as I can't do it a week before Thanksgiving or have it done on Thanksgiving weekend, for that is when I do my Xmas shopping (smile). Personally I only drink Protein Water (Special K2O - strawberry kiwi) and I do a Protein shake. Proteins helps curbs your hunger and thirst. Also, I don't drink tea during the day, just at night. I have a popsicle at night as my 'treat'. Anyway, the point is...give the band a chance and choose quality foods with lots of proteins. At this stage, don't worry about the calorie intake or even the card right now. We are new and our body is trying to adjust to the new change. Hope this helps you Mary! Jude =) Hi I am very interested in more information on your experience. I was banded on Oct. 7th. With the 5 day preop diet until now I have lost 17lbs. But the facts are not that simple. I lost most of it from the start of the preop until about 3 days post op. I feel no restriction whatsoever. I am still slightly sore at the port but otherwise the surgery was very easy. I did every thing I was told and now feel fine just slight soreness at the port site. But I am starving. I tried testing it last night to see and sure enough I can eat anything. No side affects at all. My first fill is Nov. 17th. What I do feel is thirsty all the time and I am drinking probably 100oz a day all non-caffeine teas or water. What drove me to try real food was horrible upset stomach from all the artificial sweeteners. I have 110 lbs more to lose. So you experience with the fills is very interesting to me. Right now I have serious buyers remorse and hunger. One problem that exasperates my situation and led to this massive weight gain over the past 8 years is a very serious foot condition that prohibits any distance walking. I have just bought a recumbent bike and this weekend I am going to see how I handle that with the little bit of residual surgical pain I have. Any additional information or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Have you talked to your surgeon? They would be best equipped to handle any weight gain issues. I'm only 1.5 years out so I can't say I've had reflux issues... do you eat small meals? Chew really well? I'd have your band checked for problems like dilation or a slip or erosion. If there's a problem like that the surgeon can probably do a revision, right?

I Have PCOS. Sleeved 7/1. My only real issues weight gain and irregular periods. Still no period but I'm not looking forward to it either. I didn't take Metformin consistently therefore i didn't take it. I've lost about 13lbs most of which happened 5-6 days post op. I've stalled since then. I fear that PCOS makes my body recognize weight loss sooner and then my body panics and holds on. Other than that I'm just continuing to do what I'm supposed to and I'm certain things will keep moving right along.

I had that same concern worry - as a revision from band patient I really thought about this! What I have to honestly say is that even in 2001 there were "early warning signs" that all was not well with the band. I lived in Europe where the band was already being done alot and while I didn't have any local support, I did belong to a yahoo group. My first clue was that there was a general list and then there was a "secret" list where the veterans posted. Once i hit the one year mark, with very limited success and was permitted in the veterans area I came to realize how many people where having complications and very commonly not losing as much weight as they wanted. As most people do pretty well at first with the band - the complications tend to increase over time, the general forum gave a very narrow view of the band experience. There was also a great deal of shaming on that particular website. I had alot of trouble with vomiting more than I should have but there was a culture of blaming/shaming the patient so I never really got the counseling/advice/help I needed to manage the band better. At that time the stock answer "can't help you if you aren't compliant". I would be thinking "compliant with what? what can I eat that won't get stuck and make me vomit and embarrased?" but instead would keep my mouth shut and try to do better - without really knowing "how to do better" At that time, there was less understanding about managing the right level of fill and lots of people had to travel for fills/unfills at great cost, including me, and so often lived with too tight of bands which led to oh so many problems. Well, in truth, my first first first clue should have been pre-op was when my surgeon had me sign a document acknowledging that the band should be considered temporary and would most likely require removal with risk of significant weight gain. I had put on such rose colored glasses I didn't even remember signing that until I went through my paperwork in preparing for my revision to sleeve. With the sleeve, I was looking for all the bad things - and surely found them (risk of leaks, etc etc) - but so far (will be 4 years in Dec) things have worked out as expected, or really better than expected and I feel like more was understood/ widely known about the sleeve in 2011 than was generally acknowledged about the band in 2001.

Hi Bariatric Friends ...... I would like to lose approx. 28 kgs. I have just lost 9.5 kgs. in 10 weeks with Slimming World. I have been discussing Bariatric Sleeve surgery but my daughter is so against me having it done. She says that I will never again be able to enjoy a family meal or a meal out .... that I am not heavy enough to have Bariatric Surgery .... that I can lose this weight by watching my food intake and not necessarily having a bariatric sleeve, which is quite drastic. I have a neurological auto-immune illness, which has caused my weight gain - I was very thin until the onset of this illness. I am on lots of (weight inducing) medication. I am going to be taking this medication for life. I am now wondering whether Bariatric Surgery or basic diet change is the way to go. There is no guarantee that I will lose weight even if I become anorexic because of my illness and the associated medication. Would you recommend surgery or just diet management for my situation. If I could get my jaws wired for a time I could find out if I'm going to lose enough weight to make me happy ...... Thanks in advance for your advice ....... I'm very confused !!

I am so nervous about my 1st appt tomorrow with the surgeon. I have always been borderline the required BMI of 40 (The only health issue I have been diagnosed with is obesity and pcos) . I have been over 40 since September. Before that I have hovered around 38 and 39 with no health issues except pcos. I attended the required seminar over a month ago. Shortly after, I had my first Nutrition visit. Im thinking I should have held off with the NUT visit until after I met with the surgeon but I was in a hurry and didnt know how many months of those visits Blue Sheild/CA would require me to do so I thought Id give myself a head start. I was even told by the staff at the surgery center to go ahead and start the NUT visit but they advised me not to loose any weight because that would take me under the required BMI. WELL I ended up gaining 3 lbs over the holidays. If the Surgeon wants to go by the weight from my first nutrition appt, im hoping she doesn't disqualify me from the weight gain. I guess im not asking for anything here...just some encouragement for tomorrow visit. Is anyone else going through this with no family support?

I take "Quasense" which is the generic of Seasonale, and it doesn't cause me any side effects. In the past I had been on Loestrin and Yasmin, both of which had caused some weight gain.

I have to say, I've been through several surgeries (thus my weight gain) two parents with different cancers and I've never posted on a forum until now (looked but never participated) you guys are great thank you so much. It's good to hear that I will be constantly ingesting. Since I've done this once before (dumb weight loss show) I know logically that my calorie intake is minimal, it's just a weird feeling to NOT feel hungry and believe I'm actually losing. Woke up w minor tummy pains, so the constant stream of PAC maninzing stuff Into my mouth has subsided but we will see how the day progresses. Thank you!

I had my surgery done by Dr. Pohl (Johnston, RI) back in 12/04 (I was 34)and had a couple of fills in the spring of 2005. The last office visit was.. lack of a better word, Painful!!! They spent 40 minutes stabbing my belly with a long needle trying to find the "fill reservoir", they couldn't find it since I had a lot of scar tissue. So I ended up having to reschedule and go to Roger Williams Hospital (Rhode Island) and use an X-Ray machine so they could find my reservoir and filled it. That was the last time I saw Dr. Pohl or his office, life got out of balance after that when I went through a divorce, job lose and almost a foreclosure in the next 2 years after that. It was a tough couple of years, I didn't bother with the fills, weight or even a diet, I was just doing whatever to get through life.. Now my life has been rebalanced, I have a wonderful fiancee, great job and I'm finally happy with my life! Now I want to get my weight under control and live a healthy life. I was at 301 (5' 8") when I had my surgery in 04 and got down to 230 in 05. Now, over time, I'm back up to 255, I was eating whatever and whenever I felt like, the stress was killing me and I wasn't exercising either. In time, I noticed that the lap-band doesn't really restrict anything anymore except for when I eat food quickly, it ends up getting stuck and I have to .. Well you know... I can now eat as much food I want without feeling full. For all I know, the lap-band could have stretched or worst, slipped. Do you think the doctor will help me start all over again? I'm not too crazy about Dr. Pohl or the Dr guy who did me fills with Dr. Pohl, but I need to finish what I started! Can I start over with another Dr (any suggestions)? Will I have any problems with fills with my new insurance (was BCBS now it's UHC)? I'm going to call Dr. Pohl's office this week and see what my options are. Anyone ever do this, go a few years without Dr. care and then go back? Any comment or ideas? PS this Forum is great, back when I had my lap-band in 04, there was very little info on it. It's nice to see other people feeling the way I did/do. Christian

Hi everyone! I am approximately 9 weeks pregnant and feel super bloated and have already gained a few pounds and it is making me extremely nervous.. I had wanted to talk to my surgeon about my constant stall no matter what I was doing and my terrible reflux to get revision surgery prior to me getting pregnant.. now, I am not due until November, and was wondering how long after I give birth should I approach the revision? I am not going to breast feed due to my line of work and would like to have the revision done while I’m on maternity leave so I don’t have to take additional time off from work. Anyone do this or have any pointers? I’m super stressed about the weight gain :(

I'm a 40DDD. I hope I don't lose much in the breast department. Before my weight gain I think I was a 36 C\D cup. I'm not certain since I never measured before. My family is well endowed for the most part so maybe mine is genetically okay.

Maybe the stress is causing the weight gain?.. Try to ease up a little. By now you know what is and what isn't good for your sleeve. Stay with the program, but learn to live it instead of stressing it. (does that make sense?) Just an idea. I have not been sleeved yet, so I could be off base. But I know from what I have been doing (since I changed my diet) the less I worry the better. I wish you luck and peace.

I agree with all the responses. For me, I wasn't getting in my required fluid intake due to swelling in my stomach. After surgery, I had a 10lb water weight gain. It took forever for the weight to come off. Once I was able to get in more liquids, the weight starting rolling off. I'm currently in another small stall, but I know it will continue to drop. Good luck!

Hi! So I received the RNY gastric bypass on September 23, and just got home out the the hospital yesterday. 11 days in the hospital. I'm in a crazy amount of pain and it's really hard to do simple things like getting out of bed and going to the bathroom. My surgery journey isn't at all what I had planned. What happened was after the first surgery, on the 23, I was throwing up, weak, and other gross things. The doctors checked on me every few minutes because they were worried they were going to lose me. So they rushed me to a different hospital for surgery number 2 to fix the problem found in the c t scan. They said I was born with an abnormally shapened stomach and it has always been larger, and that the weight gain my entire life hasn't been my fault and it was a medical issue! If I hadn't of gotten the surgery they said my stomach would have crushed my spleen. So the second surgery gave me a Omega Loop to help alter routing of my insides. So many things are horrible and went wrong, and I'm really starting to think this was the wrong thing for me. I'm eighteen, and this has been an abnormally amount of anxiety in my life. I have to drop out of classes this semester and quit my job to focus complete on healing. I just needed to share my story so far and look for some encouragement. Also, I'm hungry, is that normal? I'm worried that this didn't work. I eat my puréed food plan me always feel hunger after and like I can eat more. Advice?

Thanks for sharing your experience. Can I ask what cup size before & after? I was in a C cup in fifth grade so I've always been top heavy, even before all the weight gain. I'm now buying 48 DDD bras. Probably need bigger but that's the biggest I could find at WalMart and I'm NOT paying more than $15 for a bra. My back may suffer but I'm too much of a cheapskate to pay more than that. Will you have problems with sagging as you lose more? Thanks, Crystal

I stumbled upon this excellent article discussing NJ Governor Chris Christie's weight struggle. As a NJ resident, it is a frequent topic when discussing him. I think this Dr. makes an excellent comparison of morbid obesity to heart disease when discussing societal discrimination. Interested to hear others opinions. THE MORBID OBESITY EPIDEMIC AND GOVERNOR CHRISTIE by Mitchell Roslin, MD, FACS As a physician that specializes in the treatment of morbid and severe obesity, the recent exchange between Governor Chris Christie and Dr. Connie Mariano, made me contemplate many of the misunderstood and misappropriated issues and perceptions that surround obesity in our society. Governor Christie decided to appear on The Late Show with David Letterman. To demonstrate his humor and humility, he pulled a doughnut from his pocket and began to eat while Letterman chuckled. The following day, a former White House physician, Dr. Connie Mariano declared that the Governor’s weight was no laughing matter. Furthermore, she stated that he was a ticking time bomb, and if elected president, could die in office. To some, these comments may represent the honest opinion of a famous physician. From my perspective, they demonstrate how unique obesity is over every other medical condition. The difference in our collective perception and beliefs regarding obesity and other chronic medical issues can be shown by comparing the medical history of Governor Christie to that of former Vice President Richard Cheney. d**k Cheney was 59 years old when he was elected, with George W. Bush, to serve as Vice President. As Vice President, he was barely one medical event or disaster away from becoming Commander in Chief. While Dr. Mariano may believe that Christie is a ticking time bomb, Cheney was alive in 2000 because of timely medical care and the incredible advancements made in his lifetime in the management of coronary artery disease. Before, during, and after office, Cheney has been the recipient of virtually every new procedure and technique to treat heart disease. He had his first major heart attack at the age of 37. Prior to becoming Vice President he had four heart attacks, a cardiac arrest and underwent open-heart surgery. While in office, he had multiple angioplasties and stents placed, as well as an implantable defibrillator to treat a potentially fatal arrhythmia. After leaving office, he underwent heart transplantation. While many would not describe Cheney as an empathetic figure, his medical condition was handled with respect and compassion. Despite the multiple cardiac events that occurred, his capacity to serve – based on his medical condition -was rarely questioned. Where it was fair to debate his policies and positions, he was never attacked and/or viewed as being incapable because of the severity of his heart disease. During hurricane Sandy and its aftermath, we all saw Governor Christie climbing through rubble and traveling throughout the state of New Jersey. Appearing with President Obama, he was vibrant and full of energy. Appearing on television regularly, his size could not be missed. However, he never appeared to be limited or impacted by his girth, nor was he hospitalized or treated for any medical issue during this stressful period. The contrast and irony is startling. Christie, who has never had a major medical issue in office, is labeled to be a ticking time bomb. Yet, little attention has been paid to Cheney’s extensive medical condition and complex cardiac history. In fact, you could say that his bomb had already detonated. The difference? Christie’s obesity is not transparent. Everyday, every second, all can see his girth. In contrast, the blockages in Cheney’s heart cannot be seen. While intellectually, we can understand their significance, an angiogram or a map of his circulation is not shown by his side. Much more is also taking place. It is with trepidation and even fear of legal implications that one questions whether someone can or cannot perform their professional tasks secondary to a medical condition. Yet, the implication of Dr. Mariano’s statement is that corporeal weight and body habitus can be implicated in the determining whether someone is qualified for employment. She questioned whether Governor Christie would be able to perform the duties of national office. Thus, on the basis of size, he may not be the right man for the job. If we extrapolate this thought, it would mean that all employers could believe that a person of ideal weight many be better able to work in their establishment than a severely obese individual. Thus, when it comes to obesity, it is acceptable to discriminate. Unfortunately, this is not new news. To protect individuals that have other medical conditions, we have even passed laws such as HIPAA to preserve their privacy. It certainly can be argued that if you are an employer, you would not want to hire someone with a similar cardiac history as Vice President Cheney. Individuals, such as Mr. Cheney, are more likely to miss work time and cost more to employers and tax payers to provide sufficient health care, regarding their dire conditions. That is why, for most positions, your medical record is kept private. In contrast, in the case of morbid obesity, there is no anonymity and a test is not needed to diagnose. It is physically and socially self-evident. Imagine someone of Dr. Mariano’s status commenting on an issue of race, religion, sexual orientation, or even other any other status of adverse medical condition. Her comments would be treated with outrage. It seems that obesity is the last bastion of accepted prejudice. In a world were we have become socially and legally evolved enough to understand and accept all divergent issues, whether they be diverse in ethnic, religious, economic, racial and sexual identifications, obesity still endears itself to cultural stereotyping and profiling. It may be my prejudice, but I think Dr. Mariano was saying much more with her comments: if you are not able to balance your caloric intake, do you have the self-control to balance our budget? Can a person who is morbidly obese be a proper role model to be Commander In Chief? If you do not have the discipline to manage yourself, how can you manage our country? Also if you are not potentially in denial, would you not seek treatment and accept responsibility for creating then solving your own medical problem that would impede you from such? All such simply continues to add to the misperceptions and misappropriations regarding obesity. They also explain why surveys and studies have shown that people would rather be dead than severely obese. No matter how ridiculous this sounds, when you are obese, society looks at you with scorn. You are responsible for your condition. As a result, little compassion is expressed. Besides having a strong family history for heart disease, Vice President Cheney smoked heavily for 20 years prior to his first heart attack. Although, this certainly contributed to his heart disease, his heart disease was viewed as a medical condition, and not equated with character flaws. Obesity is not viewed with such largesse toward any individual. Another unspoken message was that Governor Christie was in denial or should be actively working to lose weight. The truth, in my opinion, is that he struggles everyday and is very much aware of the issue and frustrated by it. It has been my experience that people who are successful and severely obese wonder: ‘how can I succeed in most everything else and still fail this battle?’. So what have we learned about obesity? Is there truth to Dr Mariano’s comments? Is this just another essay that states that no one should be held accountable or have personal responsibility? Severe and morbid obesity combined with a sedentary lifestyle is the biggest medical issue that people, and de facto, our country faces. Despite medical innovation, life expectancy is expected to decline, only seconded to the epidemic of obesity and diabetes. Thus, clearly, someone that is as obese as Governor Christie is at a substantially increased risk of significant heath detriment than someone of similar age, who has a normal body mass. His statement that he is the healthiest fat person is one that I hear commonly. It usually means that he requires no medication for hypertension, diabetes and hypercholesterolemia. Obesity is representative of an energy imbalance. The causes are multifactorial and the impact variable. Not all severely obese individuals are diabetic or prone to heart disease. Those such propensities depends on the distribution of the adipose or fat tissue. Those that have central obesity, especially with fat in their abdominal cavity, are much more likely to have metabolic disease. When the majority of fat resides in the subcutaneous tissues these co-morbidities are less likely. However, their excess adiposity has other consequences. There are only few people that I have cared for that are Governor Christie’s size that do not have sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a condition that generally results in patients awakening at night to get adequate oxygen, due to the stress on the body of excess weight. The blood vessels in the lungs contract and this puts strain on the heart. As a result, the heart is more likely to have rhythm disturbances. In addition, excess corporeal weight causes undue and substantial wear on joints and the lower extremities. It is a misnomer that Gov. Christie does not care about his physical state or is in denial about such. Besides surgery, there is absolutely no documented or successful treatment option. Laymen watch popular television shows like the Biggest Loser or daytime talk shows and think that weight loss is easy. Unfortunately, the majority of people that lose large sums of weight – regardless of whatever method – suffer cataclysmic recidivism. Intuitively, most believe that we can be trained or be taught to change our behavior and maintain weight loss. However, science contradicts these widely-held beliefs. The body resists weight loss. When caloric intake is curtailed, we respond by becoming more efficient and reducing our metabolic rate. A registry is kept of people that have lost substantial sums of weight and maintained the weight loss for five or more years. On average, to preserve their weight, at the new loss state, they eat less than 1200 calories and exercise more than an hour per day. The story of Dr. Stuart Berger is typical of the weight loss struggle. Dr. Berger was perhaps the first famous television diet doctor. While in medical school at Tufts University, he weighed in excess of 400 pounds. He lost a substantial sum of weight and authored The South Hampton Diet. His diet book was widely-publicized and he became a weight-loss guru. He died from heart disease at the age of 42. At the time of his death, his weight was again 400 pounds. With the development of minimally invasive techniques, bariatric surgery has become safer than virtually any other abdominal or weight-loss operation. Despite these improvements, surgery is a frightening proposition. Family and friends who believe that all that is needed is further education and more willpower discourage many people. This circle also differentiates obesity. In most every other condition when you reach a threshold, treatment is mandatory. In obesity, the desperation of the patients and their desire to seek options determines who gets treated. The differences in how obesity is handled and viewed continue when the decision to pursue treatment occurs. Rather than have a physician decide when a patient is ready or qualifies for a specific procedure, insurance companies require a detailed pre-certification process. This typically includes documentation of a recent diet that is supervised by a physician and includes monthly medical visits. For people like Governor Christie, this means that their life-long struggle is unimportant. Instead, they need to duplicate and relive their frustrations to obtain treatment. Such an approval process exists in no other area of medicine. d**k Cheney did not have to document his gym regimen before one of his many heart surgeries was approved. When proper treatments are met with such difficult fiduciary remuneration, it is not surprising that there are few new remedies. It is estimated that 36% of the American population is now obese. At current growth rates, by the year 2050 the entire population will be obese. Thus it would seem that products that effectively treat obesity would have a large market and a priority for ambitious entrepreneurs. Yet, this is not the case. There has been only one medical device and one pharmaceutical product approved by the FDA in the past ten years. The reasons are multifold. There is no agreement about who should be treated for obesity. There is no agreement as to what constitutes successful or meaningful treatment. Additionally, obtaining insurance reimbursement for obesity treatments is an obstacle. The approval process for surgery is arduous. Less than 30% of insurance plans cover weight-loss pharmaceuticals. In comparison, look at the new products and procedures that were developed for heart disease during d**k Cheney’s life. They include stents, defibrillators, as well as surgical procedures such as coronary artery bypass grafting and cardiac transplantation. All benefited from widespread public acceptance and a clear path for reimbursement. More than 20 years ago, former Surgeon General, Dr. Everett Koop, wrote Shape Up America. He became the first public health figure to recognize the significance of the obesity epidemic. Regardless of the dangers of obesity that have been published since its publication, the emphasis has been placed on education rather than cure. Hence, the epidemic has continued. We must realize that behavioral modification techniques that have not even succeeded in halting the rise in the prevalence of obesity are unlikely to be successful as a treatment for morbid obesity. Stated succinctly, prevention and treatment are different. We prevent bacterial infections by washing hands and avoiding contact with infected sources. We treat people, de rigeur, with surgical debridement and medications such as antibiotics. It is possible that if Vice President Cheney never smoked, he would not have had a heart attack at 37 years of age. However, no one would treat his heart disease by only having him stop smoking and change his diet. While an important component, such efforts would be combined with medications. Yet, in obesity, we still want to believe that the same techniques that are used to prevent weight gain will result in successful treatment. It is time to address the obesity epidemic. Just as we check blood pressure, we need to measure body-mass index. At a young age, those with a mildly elevated BMI need to be referred for treatment. There needs to be reimbursement for these treatments. If initial approaches are not successful, a different approach is warranted. At the end of the line will be surgical procedures. The combination of a mandatory treatment threshold and reimbursement will stimulate the search for better solutions. Coverage should be mandatory. Only with mandatory coverage will insurance companies take preventive efforts seriously. We also need to face that combatting the obesity epidemic will require difficult decisions that will limit personal choice. I am not sure that Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s sugar tax will be successful or the correct approach. But, I highly commend his attempt to bring awareness to this issue. It is naïve to continue to rely on nutritional education. We need to be bold and explore even unpopular options. These may include higher prices for items such as soda and other simple carbohydrates. An emphasis has to be placed on physical fitness. Each week, I see people in their early twenties that are permanently disabled secondary to medical issues caused by morbid obesity. Our society cannot afford for this trend to continue. What about Governor Christie? We should judge him based on his ability to govern and the record he has assembled. Should he ever feel his obesity is interfering with his public duties, effective surgical treatment exists. In all probability he could return to his normal duties in 7 to 10 days. With current surgical techniques, his obesity is far easier to treat than Vice President Cheney’s heart disease. What we also have to realize is that Dr. Mariano was talking about a lot more than the medical implications of obesity. What I heard was a fat man does not appear to be presidential. Additionally, by not addressing his obesity he has character flaws that she does not find acceptable. However, looks can be deceiving. FDR led us through WWII, and The Depression from a wheelchair. What should not be questioned is Christie’s determination and inner strength. As a leader, as a person. Despite constant ridicule and jokes about his weight, he has risen to become a national leader and is being urged to run for president. To survive the discrimination he has faced, he probably has had to perform better than those who merely look the part.

I wish you and your dear daughter well and pray that the decision that you make is the best all around....I fully understand how you feel since one of my kid's sufffered all of the same issues....he was born large and due to many factors(medical as well as emotional) the weight krept up through the years....I found the best teaching hospital with a pediatric program( they have them) and worked with a comprehensive team approach to deal with the underlying issues(medical and emotional)...there were medical tests that yeilded problems in the pituatary and adrenal glands that helped create the weight gain........ had to change the kitchen(as a family) and eating habits....had the kid in a program that taught self worth and good eating habits....and an exercise program geared to young kids....and regular meetings with a good therapist......it was a long road .....and hard work.... going to Mexico is a gamble.....on many levels...iif you could try and find a good program that is part of a teaching hospital.....you might be able to receive funding for the help......wishing you good health and every success in your journey........i

now I'm scared to death LOL.....I'm less than two weeks out and just not sure of anything.....i think I've just read to much of everything! My best friend had this done months ago, and was up walking the same day and has had no problems, I'm mean NONE and then I read on here and its all bad for the most part except for people who are months out of having the sleeve done. And whats up with the protein......I bought the Nector, fuzzy navel and the crystal sky, I don't like chocolate, vanilla or strawberry shakes, well, these things taste awful LOLOL....how are you supposed to get protein if you cannot stomach the protein shake stuff...... I'm taking extra vitamins, biotin, B12, Iron, every time I read something that tells me what I should be doing, I go buy and start doing LOL I am soooo excited and yet so worried...... I keep telling myself I need to slow down, take a deep breath and just let this happen..... I've have other surgeries, hysterectomy, bladder, breast implants prior to all the weight gain, can it really be any worse than any of that???? How long before I can start to work out again? Is anyone else feeling like they are on a merry-go-round prior to surgery? please tell me it was all worth it and OK ......not just months out down the road LOL good luck everyone!!!

I'm so short that even a little weight gain/loss is very noticeable so my friends and family have all commented on it (they don't know I had WLS.) Unfortunately my driver's license photo is from 10 years ago when I was 21 and under my current goal weight......LOL

I'm sure I'll be having a hysterectomy, having had a large tumour right adjacent to where this growth now is, they're not going to muck around. I'm having an ultrasound tomorrow and one in three months to measure change - because fibroids shouldnt grow after menopause. But the HRT kind of explains that - dont worry, I'm in the hand of a gynecological oncologist. There's also the fact that since my bowel surgeries I suffer from obstructed defecation - meaning I cant have a bowel movement without an enema or a large dose of lactulose. My colorectal surgeon feels the growth (which is on the left and towards the back might be blocking my altered bowel. The gynae didnt think so but the condition is so awful to live with that I'd be willing to have an op just to see if it made any difference! I dont want to stop taking HRT partly because my bones are fairly bad - I've had two broken ribs this year but mostly because by the end of last year I was so depressed and anxious I was having serious suicidal thoughts. That and testosterone really made me feel loads better, but I'm just so terribly afraid of feeling that way again if I stop. But the weight gain and heartburn - hmmmm. I'd love to solve those issues! Thanks for listening. My forties has been the hardest part of my life so far - definitely more challenging than having babies! But I've got loads of support and am really very blessed.

Good advice here. Surgery can cause a bit of weight gain, and Water retention. Our bodies tend to insulate and swell up when we have any kind of trauma. Give yourself some TLC, put an ice pack on the port site. Mine took some time to heal as well. For me it's also at the exact level of my desk at work so it gets bumped often Keep up your H2O, and get some walking in when you can. Your doing great! Hope all feels right for you soon!

Boo, your day is coming (the plateau break). Never you worry -- it's coming. Dawn, you're very welcome and I'm glad you liked it. Kat, no one in the history of time deserved some time away like you and Rick. I'm so glad you got out on the open road. I'm home from Texas. Too much good food, too little exercise, but great times with friends and no weight gain. Tomorrow it's back to the WL grind. Emotionally, it's very hard for me to not be at work right now. I know I'll get attached to the new job once I'm there, but for the moment, I just miss my friends and the connection I felt working there. I feel unplugged. I'm trying not to eat my way through it.