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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.

Hello to all my surgery buddies, I've read some really amazing posts on here and just want to say thank you to all of you that show support to each other. It can be a very scary time, specially for those of us who are alone in our process to recovery. I had my gastric sleeve surgery on February 8th, I am 17 days post op as of this post. I still struggle a bit to consume even liquids. I burp a lot, and feel bloated all the time. I also have a constant feeling like everything slowly creeps up in my esophagus and just sits there. My pain levels are actually quite low, and my surgery incisions are healing quite well. I'm just worried about my stomach, my doctor wanted me to start introducing some solids slowly, but I told him no way I can barely tolerate liquids. So he has me on liquids for another week. I hope I am not one of the unfortunate few where the surgery will have long lasting complications and although I will lose the weight, my quality of life will be lowered because of all this discomfort. Thanks for reading, I wish everyone here a speedy recovery.

I had a revision from sleeve to bypass, but it was due to complications, not for weight loss. When you have a revision, the amount of weight you lose is a lot less than the original surgery, and tends to come off slower, as well. For example... with my initial sleeve, I lost 103 pounds the first 8 months. Since I've had my revision (and it's been 8 months) I've lost 57 pounds. I'm not complaining, by any means, but it comes off a lot slower and you definitely lose less. Also, with the initial surgery you tend to lose the most weight in the first 6-7 months. With the revision, I noticed it was the first 3-4 months. In no way do I regret it (as I said, I had some pretty gnarly complications, so a revision was a must) but it's just something to keep in mind when looking at a revision for weight loss versus because of complications.

I have a very physical job as well and understand how hard it is. I've been out of work for 6 weeks already and due to complications and needing a lot of Iv infusions I'm going to be out another 3 weeks. Hang in there

This varies greatly by state, as each states' laws govern what is essential vs cosmetic medical procedures. For example, my work insurance is based in Tennessee, and all bariatric procedures are 100% cosmetic, so no coverage at all! To further complicate things, individual companies within these states can have varying coverage depending on how much business they get from your employer. Even if a company like Blue Cross or Aetna cover it for employees of one company, they won't for others. You will really need to look into the offerings you have available, and call them directly. You may have to get assertive with them to get a straight answer. I had one make me go through programs and jump through hoops to prepare for it, only to tell me they wouldn't cover anything when I went to schedule surgery. One even told me they would not cover any future medical procedures if I have it done anyway! I'm with another company and insurance plan now which didn't cover it either, but they didn't blacklist me for having a self-pay procedure. Good luck, hopefully you're more successful than I was with the insurance company.

Anyone else experience complications post bypass? I just had an endoscopy that found ulcers inflammation and stricture at the sit where my new stomach connects to my intestines. Apparently it's because of lack of enough blood flow to the area and is the reason I've been so sick since my surgery 6 weeks ago

Wow congratulations on the massive weight loss! Sorry to hear that you’ve had such difficulties getting there though, my heart goes out to you. I haven’t had any complications from the procedure, but my poo situation did change dramatically. I used to eat a ton of veggies and fruit, and had bowel movements 2-3 times daily on average before the operation. Obviously afterwards my diet had to focus on protein, so I lost most of the fibre in my diet. As I was taking Metformin, my stool was very soft and I didn’t notice at all until my Dr said I didn’t have to take it anymore (which was great), but then I quickly realised that I was constipated all the time. I started experimenting with different fibre supplements, and I’ve found a regime that works with my body. Nowhere near the problems you’ve experienced, but boy was it awful! I've lost 25kg/55pounds so far, and I’m definitely plateauing. Not sure if I’ll lose more, but my Dr is very happy and so am I. I’m walking every day and not calorie counting anymore as I have a good routine going. Hope you solve all your problems! Always around if you need any support or help!

Hi everyone, Just checking in to see how you are all doing now that we are 8 months on from the start of July surgeries? As I posted before I had a terrible time with complications; leak, pancreatitis, allergic reactions, abscesses and infections, I even had to be transferred to a hospital in another country for a procedure to stop the leak! But most importantly I made it through and got home from hospital the start of November. I am only starting to get my energy back now and find an interest in doing more than just coping /trying to get through the day, can see small improvements each week. My weight loss has slowed down over the last few weeks but my body, and mind, have been through a crap fest the last few months so not surprised, it will happen when it happens. I still can't always hold food down and get bad pains in my stomach at times, have refulx but it is all an improvement from a few months ago. So far I am down 38kg / 83lbs which is good going considering when in hospital I was on a feeding tube for quite a while and my weight went up due to the nutrition I was being pumped with. I may have to get a revision to bypass if the leak doesn't heal (won't know for another month or so if the treatment worked) but I'll cross that bridge if and when it comes. I hope everyone is doing well.

Omg! Sorry for this late update, but after a long time dealing with which procedure to get, I ended up going with the SASI bypass on January 9, 2024. My surgery went well. I was immensely sore. I had so much excess gas in my stomach it was unbearable for at least 3 days after surgery. I didn’t get complications until two weeks after surgery and I have been up and down on feeling ill ever since. My surgeon put me on purées for the rest of this month. 🙃 other than that, I’m alive and well. 😀

The purpose of this diet is to shrink your liver. The liver is in the path of surgery. Following the diet will use up the glycogen that is stored in your liver. Glycogen is the storage form of carbohydrates. Depleting your liver’s glycogen stores shrinks the liver, which can decrease complications during and after surgery That being said, 4 weeks of nothing but meal replacement shakes is a tough row to hoe. I agree with the broth suggestion. You may also want to ask your doctor if you can have non-starch veggies - at least for the first two weeks. I had to do 2 weeks of a full liquid diet; it does get easier the closer you get to surgery - because you are ALMOST there! And as you get closer to the date and you are losing weight and your clothes are getting looser and you feel better, it is even more incentive. Hang in there!

I had one as a complication after sleeve surgery and it was found a month later when I collapsed at home and had to go by ambulance to hospital. The cause was suture failure. My symptoms then were weakness (could barely stand), fever, nausea with vomiting and abdominal pain. It is a rare occurrence so if you are not suffering with any of these I think you don't need to worry, you are just causing yourself unnecessary stress when you are already going through enough to deal with following surgery and coping with food planning etc. I also had other complications post surgery with pancreatitis and abdominal abscesses so basically anything that could go wrong did, I ended up spending three months in hospital over a period of four months. They closed the gastric leak by using clips and mesh via gastroscopy but that failed, twice. I now have a tube coil like thing that was inserted in order to drain fluid and hope that the hole will then have time to heal and close. The only information I was given in advance of the surgery about it was that it could happen but the surgeon did not go into detail and just said she had never had a patient have a leak, guess I am her exception if she will admit it to others in the future. No other details given to me such as cause/effect/symptoms.

I had one as a complication after sleeve surgery and it was found a month later when I collapsed at home and had to go by ambulance to hospital. The cause was suture failure. My symptoms then were weakness (could barely stand), fever, nausea with vomiting and abdominal pain. It is a rare occurrence so if you are not suffering with any of these I think you don't need to worry, you are just causing yourself unnecessary stress when you are already going through enough to deal with following surgery and coping with food planning etc. I also had other complications post surgery with pancreatitis and abdominal abscesses so basically anything that could go wrong did, I ended up spending three months in hospital over a period of four months. They closed the gastric leak by using clips and mesh via gastroscopy but that failed, twice. I now have a tube coil like thing that was inserted in order to drain fluid and hope that the hole will then have time to heal and close. The only information I was given in advance of the surgery about it was that it could happen but the surgeon did not go into detail and just said she had never had a patient have a leak, guess I am her exception if she will admit it to others in the future. No other details given to me such as cause/effect/symptoms.

Hi Joe! My surgery is in 4 days. I am 5'6" and at my highest weight, I was 250 pounds, which gave me a BMI of 40.3. Since starting the nutrition program and pre-op liquid diet, I am down to 228 pounds, so a BMI of 36.8. I have high blood pressure, prediabetes, and high cholesterol. Like you, I've dieted countless times. In fact, I was enrolled in the nonsurgical program at my hospital for 7 years, starting when I was 42. I found it relatively easy to lose up to about 15% of my total body weight, around 40 lbs, by counting calories, exercising religiously, and not letting my guard down for a minute. After that, I would stall. Then the weight would creep back up. My doctor would prescribe meds (including Wegovy for a while, but it's too expensive for longterm use for me), and I'd lose 10 pounds. Then I would stall, followed by regain. Or the nutritionist would suggest a new approach, and I would lose a few pounds again, followed by regain. A little more each time. After 7 years of trying, I was back to my highest weight ever. I feel like I wasted a whole lot of time with nothing to show for it. And now I'm nearly 50. My blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol all have gotten worse. My feet hurt. My joints ache. I feel older than I am, and I don't want to be old before my time. I know from reading the latest studies in weight loss science that my chance of long term success in reaching and maintaining a healthy weight without the metabolic reset of bariatric surgery is around 5%. I'm fortunate because I've seen my brother go through sleeve surgery 15 years ago. He lost a huge amount of weight (about half his body weight) and though he has regained a fair amount of that, it's nowhere near where he used to be. His appetite is now what I would call the smaller side of normal. Nobody looks at him having dinner and would guess he had surgery. So I know that the most drastic parts of this (like a liquid diet!) are phases you have to get through to get somewhere better. I feel nervous, too. I've never had surgery. I worry about complications. I'm hardly ever sick, so I sometimes think what if I'm trading decent health for problems? But realistically, problems are in my future. I've seen it in countless family members. The writing is on the wall. And the surgery is very safe. So for me, the risk is worth it. I've tried on my own long enough to know it isn't going to happen for me without this. And a BMI of 40 might not be as big as some people, but it's big enough to rob me of good health in my future. I really hope this helps at least give you some things to think about to help you make your decision. Wishing you all the best!

I agree with Arabesque, this sounds like a post viral syndrome. I'm so sorry you are going through this! You were doing so well!! What many people (and doctors) don't understand is getting any sort of virus that hits the body hard can result in a number of conditions afterwards, some caused by trying to recover from the virus, some caused by opportunistic viruses showing up when your system is low from one virus already, and some can actually be autoimmune conditions that are triggered to show up from a viral infection. Any of these could be contributing to your condition. A few years ago I got cat scratch fever (that's what I get for fostering litters of kittens! LOL). I was sick with it for a few weeks. My immune system had already been behaving badly that year, I have an autoimmune disease that flared so bad it effected my digestive system, my eyes (I was having vision problems), as well as my joints. But the virus kicked my butt royally. Then a few weeks later I started spiking high fevers at night out of the blue. I was so exhausted I started sleeping more and more every day until I was sleeping about 18 hours a day. My doctors were absolutely useless and said it was probably chronic fatigue syndrome caused by the autoimmune flare and started putting me on courses of steroids. My bones started aching so bad I would cry. I could barely walk to the kitchen to get a glass of water. My GP made out I was pain med seeking so I fired her, her lack of support was appalling. I started fainting when I tried to shower. I had vertigo all day. After fainting twice with temps over 104 I ended up in the ER where they did labs and said nothing was wrong, it was probably a virus and to go home and sleep it off. A week later I ended up in the ER again where a wonderful doctor said I was experiencing acute kidney damage from dehydration due to the fevers and that I was NOT leaving the hospital until someone figured out what was wrong. I was in the hospital for almost 2 weeks, two different hospitals where I continued to run fevers at night up to 105, it was absurd. Then suddenly one day the fevers and pain stopped. The infectious disease doctor was baffled. But when my advanced labs came back they finally understood what was going on---I had atypical Epstein Barr Virus. Atypical because mono didn't show up when tested for in the ER and I only had one lymph node swollen on my whole body, a tiny one behind my ear. Apparently atypical presentation doesn't show up on mono tests, only the two week test. Epstein Barr Virus is notorious for showing up with other viruses and generally making a pain of itself. It took me another two months before I could reliably get out of bed, and honestly my body took several years to return to a new normal. They thought I had POTS but turns out it was just severe physical deconditioning from the virus and bed rest. All this to say--if you still can't figure out what is going on after a couple of months, you might want to consider talking to an infectious disease doctor or immunologist, whoever is in your area that can treat long Covid and can test for other viruses that might be complicating the picture, as well as autoimmune conditions. Your symptoms sound so viral or autoimmune in origin. My Dad ended up with post viral arthritis. Viruses are such weird things and they can really give our bodies a hard time! Oh and one suggestion. You might want to give this device a look, it was made by two guys, one who had long Covid. https://www.makevisible.com/ I've considered getting one as I love that it helps track your activity in relation to pacing which is shown to help with post viral recovery, and in managing autoimmune conditions, chronic fatigue, fibro, etc...

You sound so much like me it’s scary. Im 26, a nurse with no health problems. I had my surgery on 1/4/24. I had issues with self confidence, I’ve always been bigger and that really are at my self confidence. However I went into this with nurse brain, it’s quick low complication surgery, being young you’ll recover well. I was obsessed with information, and I thought it would be amazing. I was so excited till about 2 weeks post op, and then the severe depression came. I was not ready for the emotional challenge. Right now, I wish I had never done this, I would give my left leg to anyone who could help me stretch this or transplant a new one, anything. I lay awake thinking that I should have made one last try at something different ( I tried ALOT of things). Don’t under estimate when they tell you it’s HARD! I did, I thought about it medically, and not enough of how I could react to this. I don’t want to sway you either way, most say it is the best thing they’ve ever done, but just be ready. I wish someone had done that for me

If you're having your surgery in the US, your surgeon's office will do the follow up care. If you're having your surgery outside the US, most US surgeons won't do the aftercare because they don't want to be responsible for any complications that may come up. If there's any kind of complication that is emergent, you can go to an ER and they should take care of the immediate issue, but follow up care will likely still be a problem. If you have complications that are non emergent (like I did), you'll be hard pressed to find a surgeon that will take care of it. But again, if you have your surgery here in the US, none of this is an issue because your surgeon's office will definitely do all aftercare and treat any issues that may arise.

I made it down to 144 on my own but I finally reached goal thanks to plastic surgery. I'm still recovering from my surgery 3 weeks ago. I actually went to mexico because I found a great Dr that I loved his work and he is board certified in the US as well as Mexico and Cuba. He is known for being very safe and I had to be pre screened medically twice before he would even operate on me. He also works out of a hospital so I thought I had all of my bases covered but my luck is always bad lol. I had complications but I still received amazing care. My only symptom after surgery was a fast heartrate. They brought in all the guns and had a cardiologist, the surgeon himself, a radiologist and the surgeons partner all come in and test me and discuss on my care. My blood came back with a hemoglobin level of only 6.9 and the ultrasound showed a large hematoma. So they immediately wrapped me in a compression garment and then taped me even tighter and I was given 2 blood transfusions through the night. Early the next morning at 7 am I went in for a second surgery to remove the hematoma and to see if I had any active bleeds which I did end up having an arterial bleed which they then fixed. I was also given one more bag of blood. I have the pictures of me opened all the way up during the original surgery and you could not see any bleeding at all so I don't know how this bleed happened but they acted quickly and I felt safe and taken care of the whole time. My dr always has everyone stay at least 1 night in the hospital and I think that is what saved me. So many people go home right away and if that had been me with no other symptoms, I am afraid to think of what could have happened. I was never dizzy or nauseous or even really tired. Just a fast heart rate of 120 with spikes to 150. Unfortunately because I had to have 2 surgeries my front tummy tuck scars are taking forever to fully heal but they are still doing great. No infections, just slow healing. I had a lower body lift which is the cut that goes all the way around and is great for tightening the front and the back. Lipo to my back and flanks, a small bbl and breast reconstruction. So I did have a ton of stuff done and with hind sight I may not have chosen to do it all at once because I wonder if that was increasing my chances of complications After the fact though I'm so glad to have it all done and not have to face any more surgeries. They removed about 8 lbs of skin and 2 in fat. I haven't weighed this little since middle school and I'm still swollen so who knows what my final weight will be. I'm so happy with my results and will have to share pictures once I'm fully healed. My youngest daughter and I went shopping this week and bought crop tops to wear together to celebrate. I've never worn a crop top ever. So I'm looking forward to wearing it in the near future. Gastric bypass certainly has changed my life in amazing ways

Has anyone needed post op care/follow ups/complication care in the US? Were doctors ok with doing so? Were there issues? This is the big barrier of going for my spouse and I. Thanks

unfortunately, the sleeve is not reversible - they remove 75-80% of your stomach and throw it out. However, if you're really early out, I wouldn't start worrying about this yet. You could be dealing with buyer's remorse (common during the first few weeks after surgery) or a minor complication that is likely "fixable". I agree with NickelChip - we need a lot more information to comment on your situation.

So, I am graduating this May with my bachelor's and applying to law schools for this coming school year (2024-2025). One thing I had considered is going to a law school in another country (and staying there after for work), but I will be having my bypass surgery this April and I am unsure what bariatric care is like in the various countries (in Europe). The majority of information I keep finding is about where to go for the surgery, but I am curious about if I have any post-op complications (since I will be less than a year out when I would go to school) and the choices for bariatric vitamins and meal replacements. What experiences have any of you had while abroad with dietary and medical needs being a bariatric patient? I am also considering applying for the dual degree programs with the American law schools I am applying at and law schools in UK/France/Italy/Spain that I would apply for while in my first year, so either way I would like to know.

I am just over two weeks away from having surgery. I was diagnosed with PCOS in my 20s and have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and am prediabetic. Because I wanted the best shot at having those specific co-morbidities resolve, and because I have a family history of GERD, I decided to go with the RNY gastric bypass. But gastric sleeve is also a good surgery. Overwhelmingly, you will find that people who have these surgeries have no regrets other than wishing they had done them sooner. A small number will have complications, but even among those, most will have no major regrets. My brother had the sleeve 15 years ago and says without a doubt it saved his life. This is a risk calculator that will also help show you the chances of various conditions resolving within 1 year for the various surgeries: https://riskcalculator.facs.org/bariatric/ This is a video from a bariatric surgeon that looks at both surgeries and how to decide: I suggest watching all of Dr. Weiner's YouTube videos. He's very trustworthy and knowledgeable, and a much better source of information than TikTok videos! (Although I watch YouTube channels for several bariatric patients and do really love hearing the stories).

I'd contact your surgeon, especially since you were "fine" beforehand. It might not or might be stricture, I'm not a doctor so contact your surgeons office. Stricture presents symptoms that can "include nausea, vomiting, trouble swallowing, feeling fullness in the upper-middle abdomen, and trouble eating" "The patient may also experience pain when swallowing or experiencing difficulty swallowing." ** This is what you're describing!? "Generally, when a patient complains of feeling like food is getting stuck, or they are throwing up, we immediately assume it is an anastomotic stricture. An anastomotic stricture after gastric bypass is the most common complication. "Near 60% [of patients] present a mild stricture (with a diameter between 7 and 9 mm), [with] 28% asymptomatic. This complication is easily treated by endoscopic procedure if it is diagnosed early (3 to 4 weeks) after surgery. Routine endoscopy 1 month after surgery is the only objective scientific way to determine the real true incidence of this complication." You are better off directing your concerns to your doctor just to be safe!

What kind of BCBS coverage do you have? When I had my initial sleeve surgery (and my revision an year later to bypass due to complications) I had BCBS (the highest Diamond plan) and they approved my initial surgery in 48 hours once it was submitted and 72 hours for my revision once it was submitted. I know some plans don't offer a lot of coverage, or require a thousand hoops to get an approval.

FWIW, dehydration will cause at least half the things on your list... I know it is hard, but you really have to hit that 64oz minimum as soon as possible. Dehydration is a major complication after WLS and it will do a number on your skin, make you tired and nauseous, contribute to dizziness, and worsen head hunger... You are only a few weeks out from a major surgery, low libido can take a while to rebound and the rapid weight loss releases bursts of hormones that cause mood swings, sometimes impacts our libido, make our cycles weird, and caused a few meltdowns in our house early post op. 😂 For the constipation try stool softeners combined with Miralax. These are non-stimulants so your system won't get addicted to them like it can the stimulant laxatives. Also, try increasing your fat a little. That might help with the dry skin and dry lips too. The post-op diets are extremely low fat, which made me super fatigued too.

You are 6 days post op?? You should be getting the bulk of your protein from things like protein shakes, protein waters, fairlife milk, and other things like that. Your tummy is way too small and way too raw to be getting your protein from actual food yet. I know every surgeon varies and some do purees early, so I won't comment on that, but even then, you can't possibly get enough in on food alone to hit your protein goals. Some soft things to try on the puree and soft food stages: very softly scrambled or poached egg, cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, greek yogurt, sugar free pudding, sugar free jello (you can even get protein jello), some even include bean purees though I found those VERY hard on my stomach. You can also puree proteins into a soup base. I did a lot of cream soups and strained soups. I was on strict liquids the first two weeks. In soft foods you can also try things like egg salad, chicken salad made with chicken thighs because they are more moist, and tuna salad, but don't add things like onion and pickle to it yet. Too rough. ETA: Generally patients are encouraged to focus on their hydration goals for the first two weeks. This is because dehydration is the number 1 complication of bariatric surgery. Our bodies have protein stores that will last us the first few weeks after surgery. So focus on those 64 oz of water and if that is going well, then you can think about getting some protein in as a bonus!