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I'm so sorry you are experiencing this!! This isn't a you problem!! If you aren't losing sufficient weight you are either being given poor advice from your nutrition team, poor medical support from your surgeon, or it is possible your body is under significant stress for whatever reason and isn't losing weight. There are rare cases when someone with a sleeve doesn't respond but often those are people who have low starting weights. If they had a high starting weight and don't respond to the sleeve surgery, these people generally end up revised to bypass or a DS/SADI, and then lose weight, but again, that should be a convo being initiated by your surgeon as a future possibility if food modification and medications don't work. Some people take GLP-1 meds to help jumpstart their weight loss if the surgery hasn't triggered it, but again, at the 6 month mark this should be something the surgeon initiates conversation about. You shouldn't be living in fear of your appointments with them. If you aren't feeling supported you might consider getting a second opinion from another bariatric surgeon in the area not affiliated with this practice. I strongly believe in second opinions when talking things like surgery... It may sound like I'm being harsh on your team, but lets be clear. They made a nice chunk of money off of your surgery. You deserve good aftercare!! Some surgeons, like my own, believe that the best way to lose weight in the first 6 months to a year after surgery is through being in ketosis. This involves a good protein intake (60-80 grams with the sleeve) and carbs below 50 total carbs or 30 grams net carbs. You can get pee strips to test if you are in ketosis. Once in ketosis you should go through regular periods when you lose some weight, followed by periods where you lose none as your body stabilizes from the previous loss and recalibrates. If this doesn't happen, I'd definitely be communicating with the surgeon about it! What dietary advice did your team give you? Hydration is important for weight loss. If you aren't able to eat enough calories or drink enough water your body will go into starvation mode like @summerseeker mentioned. This is a huge stressor to the body!! And huge stress will cause weight loss to stop. Sleep is also crucial to weight loss, often more important than exercise. If you aren't getting regular sleep for enough hours per night, this can stall your weight loss. Physical activity of some kind is important, but it accounts for less weight loss than proper nutrition and sleep. And if you are under calories and under hydrated exercise will just further stress out your body.

Honestly, this seems way off-base, with the exception of 60-80 grams protein, which is completely sufficient for most people (but not all!). Your calorie estimations are much too low for the vast majority of people in maintenance mode. So rest assured, you won't be on 650 calories for life! Also, 25g carb is extremely low carb and not a lifestyle most people are eager to embrace. If a doctor insisted on 25g carb for life as the only way to succeed, I would seek out a second opinion for sure. From what I see people saying around here, 1200 to 1500 is a much more realistic calorie range for the long term, although that is for maintenance, not for weight loss or for early days after surgery. If you eat to maintain your current weight right now, that would seem to go against your goal of losing 20-50lbs more. I have two suggestions. First, check out some bariatric cookbooks because they will tell you appropriate portion sizes for maintenance as well as give you some ideas for what types of foods to be eating. My favorite is Kristin Willard's Bariatric Meal Prep Made Easy: 6 Weeks of Portion Controlled Recipes to Keep the Weight off. She's a registered dietician specializing in bariatrics and every recipe has a gorgeous color illustration. Second, take a look at the Portion Perfection brand bariatric plate. It's kind of expensive, so you may not want to buy it, but the concept is really good. Basically it's an 8 inch plate (with a one inch rim all the way around, so a 6 inch circle of eating space). There are lines and illustrations to divide up the plate and show you where to put your foods and how much. If you're a visual person, this may really help. Other than that, you may want to check out some of the nutrition videos as well as the weekly podcast done by Dr. Matthew Weiner (Pound of Cure). I find them so insightful and he and his dietician, Zoe, are very keen on plant-based nutrition, which may be perfect for you. Edited to add: Here is a link to a dietician article about post-op goals that might help: https://www.mybariatricdietitian.com/mbd-blog/portion-sizes-after-weight-loss-surgery

I had VSG (2015) to RNY revision on January 18th due to GERD. I also had regained almost 70 pounds from my VSG post-op low weight. I've so far lost about 20 pounds since the pre-op diet & surgery. I need to lose another 20 pounds (for normal BMI) to 50 pounds (for calculated ideal body weight). I'm now on unrestricted food textures, and per my program's dietician, I'm supposed to be on my "maintenance" diet now. However, they refuse to discuss any calorie goals or macros other than protein. I'm someone who needs very clear goals and guidelines (thanks, long-undiagnosed ADHD), and I'm feeling very lost about what my diet should look like moving forward. The lifelong guidelines for my program, as I understand them: 60-80g protein per day Up to 4 oz. (1/2 cup) per meal, consisting of: Up to 3 oz. protein per meal Up to 1 oz. (total) veg, fruit, or starch per meal 3 meals per day 1 snack per day (the program guide I was given says 1-2, but per my surgeon I'm only allowed to have 1 snack per day and it has to be between lunch and dinner) - I have no guidelines for the amount I'm allowed for the snack. I assume it's not supposed to be as much food as the meals, but I don't know. Protein shakes/powders are frowned upon The only sample menu provided in my program guide is as follows: Breakfast: Egg omelet with sautéed peppers & onions Snack: Protein shake OR Greek yogurt with berries [removed per my surgeon's instructions] Lunch: Lettuce wrap with turkey and avocado/cheese [it is not clear to me if the / means avocado OR cheese, or avocado AND cheese, but I assume the former] Snack: Apple slices with 2 tablespoons nut butter OR carrots with hummus Dinner: Pesto chicken with spaghetti squash, sautéed spinach, and cherry tomatoes I plugged this menu into the Baritastic app to try and get a sense of what the calories and macros are supposed to look like. The sample menu gave no amounts other than the nut butter, so I used the 3 oz. protein + 1 oz. veg/fruit/starch rule. With the carrots & hummus snack option, here are the macros for the day: 593 calories 62g protein 32g fat 17g carbs (13g net carbs) 4g sugar 4g fiber And here are the apple & nut butter (I used natural peanut butter) macros for the day: 739 calories 67g protein 43g fat 21g carbs (16g net carbs) 8g sugar 5g fiber So from that, I'm extrapolating that I should be aiming for the following daily: 600-750 calories 60-80g protein 30-40g fat less than 25g carbs less than 10g sugar I have a few concerns... I have already been going well over those amounts at just over a month post-op. I've typically getting around 800-900 calories per day. It seems like a real struggle to get to the upper range of protein daily while sticking to the allowed amounts and without using any shakes or protein supplements. Even then, 80g seems low for a protein goal. I have never been a big meat eater (I was vegetarian through most of my teens and 20s), and I absolutely cannot stand any fish or seafood. I do eat a lot of dairy, eggs, and beans, but it seems like that's not going to do it. The standard daily fiber goal I've always heard is 25g per day. I've been getting about 12-15g per day right now, but knowing that I'm overeating and already having too many carbs means even that's not sustainable. I've struggled with post-op constipation... I have gotten to a much better place recently, but if I need to cut back to 4-5g of fiber per day to be within my other limits, I'm afraid of going backwards. That I'm limited to 1/2 cup of food per meal for the rest of my life came as a shock to me, as a revision patient. I knew that my pouch would be smaller than my sleeve, and like with my original surgery, the amount I'd be able to eat at one time would be very small initially. But with my sleeve (which was done by a different surgeon in a different program), there was definitely not the expectation that the amount I could/should eat at 1 month post-op would be the same as what I could/should be eating at 6 months or 1 year out. My bypass surgeon also told me that she left my pouch a little larger than normal so that I wouldn't lose too much additional weight, so my pouch is already larger than a regular bypass patient's. Do these amounts seem in line with other people's experiences? Or am I way off-base?

okay kinda what I thought. Yesterday my total carbs were 48g but next was only 23g. Im losing weight but dang it makes me nervous to see that high carb count lol!

Hello Irene, Welcome in here and congratulations on your surgery date. You will find a March 2024 group on here that you can join. Don't read anything on the net. Scare stories are not needed. This surgery is very safe. This forum is a safe place. Stick to your teams advice, There is not a single person on here who has the same regime as you, pre or post op. Don't buy loads of things you think you may need. Our tastes buds change after surgery because of Ketosis. Just buy a few of a selection of protein shakes. You may want to buy pain meds if you are not in the UK. You will not need much at the hospital. Go in clothes that you can go home in. Take a Chapstick and some Biotin. Some people take a phone charger with a long lead. You might want to use a recliner chair for sleeping, if you have one. I didn't and had to sleep upright in bed for a while and a recliner would have been easier. I had a bed wedge and lots of pillows. If you have a pre op diet they are tough for the first 4 or 5 days but its worth it in the end. You will have a weight loss stall at 2-3 weeks. You have not done anything wrong. You may get over emotional and / or get the regrets at this time. Our hormones are in the fat cells and releasing them in such a hurry makes our hormones go on a wild ride.

Try to work through the liquid diet and stay on it as recommended. Getting in 3 Protein shakes a day is pretty good, you're getting your protein in. I'm 3 weeks out from my surgery. Don't rush the soft foods, from my own experience you won't be able to eat much at all. It seemed like I could get in all the liquid I needed. Once I started soft food, I can barely get 1 measuring cup of food in. So you will need to drink one or two protein shakes a day to get in the protein you need with the food you can eat once you get to soft food phase. You won't be able to eat enough protein to get he recommended amount set by the dietician or whoever is directing you the recommended amount protein you need. I too lost weight before my surgery 70 lbs. Since my surgery I've only lost 7 lbs. Which is expected because of healing and getting the body back used to taking in soft foods again. You're doing really good, keep it up. Remember, when you do get to eat soft foods, take it slow. I've vomited only a couple times from getting to full. It's definitely different when you can only take a few bites and feel full. Wish you the best!

You will only get help and kindness here but we are not surgeons or dieticians. We can only help so much. We always recommend a visit with your team if possible. If you are not eating well and not getting enough liquids in then your body is holding every little calorie it can because you are in starvation mode. You will not loose weight, your body is in charge of this. If you can not get water down and you could a while back then you have a narrowing/ swelling in your new tummy and it needs a little easy tweak to stretch it back out. Its called a stricture. If this is something you have had from the beginning then you are forcing too much food and or drink in at once. Small sips of drinks, they can be hot, cold or frozen see which might work . Once you have mastered drinking, then pare down the foods to really soft, protein based ones again. Chew well and add sauces, it helps. Soft eggs, protein yogurt, soft cheese etc. Only eat a small amount, say 1 - 2 ounces and see if you can keep the foamies at bay. Foamies happen when your stomach rejects the food or drink it does not want that day. It may have been ok the day before but.... today, oh no you are not putting any more of that in me ... I haven't exercised as such, I was too decrepit too start with and I lack motivation now so I walk a few miles a week. Exercise doesn't really count for much weight loss unless its marathon running or such.

This is so awful, I am beyond sorry that you have had to go through this. I know most of us can completely empathise with how hard the waiting game is at the best of times, let alone with the added stress of the NHS and how badly run it seems to be with WLS! I had initially considered just staying on the NHS waiting list (I am currently on the Tier 3 Weight Management programme), but after hearing awful experiences like yours, and from reading about waiting times, I decided to look into going private with Spire. I think it may be worth just getting a second opinion in regards to what you were told before by a private surgeon! My surgeon, Simon Monkhouse, was amazing in the initial consultation. I have PCOS too, and an underactive thyroid, and he recommended a bypass and was transparent about it all. You can get a free consultation with him quite quickly, maybe this would be an option for you! simonmonkhouse.com I have everything crossed for you that you will get the surgery soon, and everything will work out. I'd definitely pursue putting in a complaint, too. Sending love and hugs x

So I am six months past surgery. My initial operation was August 21, 2023. I was 328 on the day of, and 376 at my highest before surgery. I lost 20 pounds by 2 weeks after the surgery, and have not lost weight since. I had weighed 305 since then. I noticed my weight creeping up on the scale now, and I'm at 309 again. I will say, however, I have gone from wearing a 4x to wearing a 1x in shirt sizes, though have only gone down two sizes in pants 28 to 24. I am struggling with drinking water. I feel starving. I've noticed myself wanting to eat every few hours. Then when I eat I vomit, or feel nauseous and spend a good amount of time nearly throwing up. Whenever I drink water I get that pre-vomit spit thing that happens and my mouth just makes spit for like 30 minutes and I feel awful. I think lack of physical activity has kept me held back in terms of the stagnant weight, I spend most of my days in bed or sitting in a chair at a desk. Is there anything that has helped anyone, any slight tricks to fix me? I don't want to hide and say I'm doing all the things right I'm doing great anymore, I know I'm not doing the best and I am looking to find support in getting there.

Thank you for sharing @n3turner3 your experiences & perspectives on the weight loss & maintenance adventure - excellent advice. How wonderful too you have such a supportive spouse & family who have been by your side through out - it can make such a difference Congratulations on your weight loss & achievements. All the best with the ‘unlimited possibilities’ in your future.

Hi! I was wondering if anyone who is 5+ years since surgery is still experiencing any issues? I find that when I eat certain foods, much like when I was about a year or so out, that I have a feeling of being too full and can’t keep the food down. It isnt all the time. And it isnt really if I eat too much or too fast. I still eat pretty small meals at any given time and typically just eat 6 or so very small meals. An example would be if I eat pasta, maybe 1/3 to 1/2 a cup may feel unbearable and too full and can’t keep the pasta down. It could be something random like a handful of jelly belly jelly beans. I would say it happens maybe 1 a week? Just curious if anyone else has this issue. I have done well at keeping the weight off since the surgery and have hovered around 130-140 for the past 2 years. I am fairly active 50’s, 5’5 female. Thanks!!

OMG I love your hair color as well. You look so much younger. Great job with the weight loss. I am going for the same hair color as well after losing my weight. You are a great inspiration.

Hi there! I just had my surgery last Monday on February 19th! I am on day 8, and honestly, im starting to feel almost back to normal! Struggling with the fact that I can't eat anything other than soup and pudding despite being so so hungry. Everything has been going down really good. I have had no issues getting in protein. I have 3 premier protein shakes a day, which equals to 90g of protein. I just wish I could eat soft foods like mashed potato and eggs. But my nurse practitioner wants me to stay on the liquid diet for another 3 weeks. YEAH RIGHT, hahah im going to be introducing some foods next week I think. I can't wait any longer. I am so hungry! I hope you have a speedy recovery from surgery! If you need any advice or have any questions, I am always here for you! Heaviest Weight: 376 - April 2023 Weight on day of surgery: 291 - February 2024 Total lbs lost before surgery: 85 lbs Current weight (1 week after surgery): 280 Total lbs lost since April: 96 lbs Im so close to meeting my 100 lbs down goal!!

Thank you. I honestly have no idea how they would think it’s a sensible way to schedule anything, honestly, I was so shocked I couldn’t say anything to her on the phone. I think I may call tomorrow to ask for a complaints number to be honest. I just can’t understand how that is even justifiable. I’d love to go private and I did look into it, but I had a few complex needs that they advised I go back to the tiered weight management service the NHS offer for help and therapy first. At this point I wish I’d have ignored their advice and booked anyway!

Hi everyone. I thought I would pop this on here, and someone who is feeling incredibly frustrated and let down by the whole waiting process. For context; I am waiting for a gastric sleeve date, after almost 5 years on the waitlist with the NHS based in England. Ironically, I could've paid for private surgery almost twice over with the amount of tax I've paid since waiting! I have been 'at the top of the list' since October last year, and have done everything they have asked of me - kept my weight below my initial weight at the beginning of my consultations; diet change; lifestyle change; everything to try and help eleviate some of my PCOS symptoms whilst I wait. I'm just feeling so ticked off today. I missed a call by a couple of seconds whilst I was driving to work, and had a gut feeling it would be from the hospital I'm having the surgery in. I tried to call back, but typical, it was a number that didn't receive incoming calls. I tried for 20 minutes to get through to the right department (had the phone put down on me when I was put through to the wrong team, and asked to be put back to the switchboard?). When I finally managed to call through to surgery admissions, I was advised that because I didn't answer the phone (despite LITERALLY not having a number directly to call back on), they had already called someone else and given my slot away. Livid and heartbroken do not come close to how I felt today. I am so exhausted of the waiting game, even moreso when there's been several times I've had appointments in person cancelled at the last minute, after travelling 2 hours there and back; cancelled phone calls at the last minute; zero in-person physiotherapy despite being told for over 2 years I would receive them. I now have to wait - god knows how long - for the next phone call, that heaven forbid it's unsafe for me to answer my phone at that point in time. Has anyone else in the UK had anything like this before? I just can't believe they wouldn't give me a chance to call back as I did, or call me again within a couple of minutes. I'm self-employed, and as the spring/summer months approach, I may lose out on a lot of work and earnings with surgery recovery, which is why next month would have been perfect. Any support right now would be great. I'm feeling so deflated and worn out by this.

I want to thank everyone for the kind words and provide an update. I had my one-year post op doctor appointment yesterday. It went well and they were happy with the results. I still need to get blood work done, which I will do tomorrow. The blood work is probably the most important part of the visit, so I am hopeful that everything is right with it. I have had the 'normal' hurdles over the last 16-months that everyone has to deal with, and I am very thankful for little to no complications. I feel for those that have had more challenging journals, since I have been so lucky. Again, I want to stress that I am not special or unique. I hope someone out there might read this and it helps them in some way. It is hard work to lose weight no matter how you do it. It requires mentally reprograming how you have lived your entire life and making physical choices to match, but it can be done. Tons of success stories in this group are proof. Stay positive and go day by day with it. Stay off the scale and celebrate the non-scale victories. My wife and two kids have been so supportive: everything from education to food prep to walking with me to listening and talking about the process. Not an easy process, but because of their support it has been much easier. I am so grateful for the changes they made to support me. I will probably never be able to express that to them at the level it deserves it. I have never been happier. My wife attended the appointment with me yesterday and the update went as follows. I started in 9/2022 at 514-lbs. I had my surgery in 2/2023 at 488-lbs. My weight yesterday was 254-lbs. Its official I am truly half the man I was compared to the start of this program. Weight loss is different for all, especially someone that started as big as me, but it was great seeing those results. My 'ideal weight" connected to my 'normal' BMI would require me to loss another 80-lbs. I told my doctor from the beginning that I never cared about being skinny or normal and that has not changed. I wanted to improve my quality of life by being less huge. I wanted to be able to participate in activities with my family. I am happy to say I have achieved that goal! I am not done yet! This is not a diet -- it is a lifetime change! I do not care if I ever become 'normal,' but slowly losing and not gaining is the only plan. The future holds unlimited possibilities for me and my family. Future goals for me are to increase my exercise plan by adding strength training as priority number one. My second goal is to continue to try new 'healthy' foods that I may or may not like but expanding my options for more variety and balance helps me stay on plan. I will finish by saying if anyone has questions or thoughts, especially those big boys out there, feel free to ask and I will provide more detail about my experience. I am no expert, and we all have different programs, so I can only share my experience, if that can be of help to anyone. Good luck to all with your own personal journeys.

It's hard to understand. When my girlfriend lost a lot of weight, her skin and breasts changed significantly, you know, and she was very hesitant to undress completely for a long time, not to mention being in the light. I tried to convince her for a long time that it didn't matter. Now that I've gained weight myself, I don't know if I should feel self-conscious; I just don't feel as calm anymore. And she says everything is fine, but you never really know how you're perceived. I'm confused.

I just want to say that this thread makes me smile. 5 months ago, I came out of a 7 year relationship. He loved my body and I’m grateful for that, but unfortunately has a lot of demons of his own he was not willing to work on, so it ended badly. Now that I’ve started this journey and am losing the weight, which is still so new as I’m only one month out, I see the change in my interactions with men and I find it very interesting. I am TERRIFIED of eventually getting back out there and dating. I’m afraid they won’t understand my story, my body, the inevitable loose skin or that I will be a different person entirely. It’s such a strange thing to think about. I’m just happy to hear that so many of you are in body positive, supportive relationships. It means those men are out there.

I love this! I know my partner loves me regardless of the weight I am as long as I am healthy. (one of the convos we had that if anyone on of us became unhealthily overweight we would have a conversation about that- I wasn't there) He does have to navigate how this is going to go and how he will feel towards me. The parts that he loved are getting small, so I have these self destructive thoughts. Its a me thing and I know that, because my guy always compliments me and tells me how much he loves my saggy boobies LOL or my handful of a butt now. he's encouragement. I don't want to put so much emphasis on looks but man its tough when that's the only thing that is changing! Then I had an HR rep come up to me and tell me I am withering away and I look great. Like omg I wanna cry. I feel like I was this huge person walking around and more ppl want to talk to me. My partner is more handsy. Idk I didn't expect this. Its a lot ( I am rambling I know). I went through a lot of therapy when I left my abusive ex and I consider myself a very strong woman but my god the last week or so I have been feeling a type of way!

I have not but I've known a few WLS vets who have - and all have had great results. I've read a lot of people regain the weight after they discontinue it, though. so you'll either have to keep up with it or else be really careful.

2 lbs a week is considered "rapid weight loss". I know it doesn't seem like it, especially when comparing to others progress, but it is true... By 3 months you want to have lost 25% of your excess weight to be "average" and right on target, though even if you aren't at 25% lost there is still hope, because some people lose very slowly the first 3 months, then pick up the pace. If your surgery weight was somewhere around 286 and your goal is 150, your excess weight is 136 lbs. 25% of this would be 34 lbs. You have lost 43 lbs. So you have actually lost 32% of your excess weight! That is excellent!! You are ahead of schedule... Percentages IMO are much better to use than actual lbs lost because it is the percentages that really show you where you are! And on a funny note, I was exactly where you are at 3 months--43 lbs lost, 137 lbs excess weight, so 32% towards my goal weight! LOL Your team should be thrilled! Sorry your boobs are going south too... A good bra does help, I am losing fast in the band size for some reason, I have to buy a new bra every month! LOL

Honestly I think this is one of the reasons therapy is so helpful when going through this experience. Even if you don't go every week, having a person who has both perspective and understands the ins and outs of abusive relationships and how they echo through us for years after can be immensely healing. You are changing a LOT and it is normal to have feels about that. And he will have feels about it too, because he loves you and as you change, he will have to change in some ways too, to accommodate and appreciate the ever-changing being that is you! My partner doesn't care what weight I am. I gained 100 lbs since we were first married. We've been together 17 years. They look at me with just as much, if not more, desire than they did when I was young and smaller, which is hard to wrap my head around! They have always encouraged me to dress in ways that feel good. They prefer curvy women, always have. I have been worried that as I lose weight they might lose some of that attraction to me because in time, I will be smaller than they've ever known me, smaller than I've ever been in my adult life! But they assure me that while they aesthetically like the look of curvy women, they LOVE me in all my forms and my health and wellbeing is more important than anything else and no matter how I change, I will still be beautiful. If they loved me at 200 and they loved me at 320, they will love me at 170 or wherever I land. I've done enough work in therapy with the abuse I dealt with in the past to be able to trust what they say. But it still gets to me sometimes... Today I noticed my boobs have become visibly flatter. This is really hard for me because I LOVE MY BOOBS. 🤣 I have always been booby and I like it! Last year I found out I carry the CHEK2 mutation and with my cancer history combined with it I have a much higher risk of developing breast cancer than I'd like. The specialist I saw advised I consider an elective mastectomy after my weight loss stabilizes. I understand the logic, but I've already had to bid goodbye to my reproductive organs thanks to cancer, I wasn't expecting to have to consider saying goodbye to my boobs too. So I was standing in the bathroom today having the feels about my flat boobs and my partner came in so I pointed out the change. They admitted they could see the difference but very stubbornly said "These are my favorite boobs in the whole world. They are the best boobs ever, no matter what size they are." FFS, really?? Am I not supposed to cry at that?? They said something similar when we talked about a mastectomy. I feel very lucky to have a partner that can abide all the changes that I've gone through in this life and still look at me through the eyes of love. I hope I succeed at giving that back to them...

I'm a little confused. According to your sidebar you've lost almost 100 lbs in 3 months?? How much were you expecting to lose? I'm guessing your surgery weight was different than your starting weight. To put this in a bit of perspective, I had surgery almost a month before you (Nov. 1st), my highest weight was 320 but my surgery weight was 307 and I'm currently at 251!! And my weight loss is considered quite a good pace and certainly within the realms of an excellent result thus far. That change in clothing size is way more important than a number on the scale! Feelings with these surgeries are tough because for some reason our brains expect years of weight to take a few weeks to come off. LOL Everyone thinks they need to lose faster, even the fastest losers among us. Everyone thinks they should be further along, even if they are quite far. We have really high expectations of ourselves and our bodies, probably in part from years of everyone else having unrealistic expectations of us and our bodies. This surgery is an opportunity to give ourselves a bit more kindness and compassion, and maybe recalibrate our expectations. Healing takes time. Even with surgery, weight loss takes time. And the entire process is SOOOO frustrating! I get it, I experience frustration on a regular basis. Today I was lamenting the fact that suddenly my boobs have flattened like pancakes. 😢😂

Hello All, I'm 24 years post-op and I'm getting some out of range lab results and wanted to hear about other people's experience in these areas. Specifically....high ALT value. My liver panels have been all over the place for many years. I had an ultrasound last year which said "probable fatty liver" but it also said it was hard to be accurate because of so much gas in the way. My doctor told me to lose weight and that would clear it up. I lost 25 lbs (yes can you believe it) but my ALT is still high and this was drawn this morning. I was hoping to hear about other long timers' experiences with this. Years ago my old internist wanted me to get a liver biopsy but I saw a hepatologist who ordered an MRI-spectroscopy which did NOT show fatty liver. Maybe I should insist on that again...? Thanks.

It can feel awfully confusing, right? My lovely husband of many years never reacted any differently to my body regardless of size, and at my highest weight I started hiding out, not changing in front of him, etc. He told me then that my feeling awful about it was basically my issue and he shouldn't be punished for it. I remember crying and laughing through my tears. Today I'm 60 lbs down from 6 months ago and the look in his eyes hasn't changed one bit. He still loves me and my body. I'm a lucky gal, and I know it, but for a while I didn't know it, or couldn't internalize the fact that he loved me and my body the same. He also encourages me to wear clothes that are flattering because he knows it makes me feel good and when I feel good, he's more likely to be the recipient of that emotion. Abusive relationships tend to taint everything, and it's hard to change the response to comments from well intended people to the appropriate response of knowing that they want the best for us and are sincere. Try giving him the benefit of the doubt.