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I have a few questions. I was an original sleeve patient in November of 2011. I had a severe stricture that was finally corrected with a bypass in August of 2012. I had lost 110 pounds. Scale finally kinda quit moving but ok with that I guess. I was at an ideal weight and had lost all "my girls"! LOL. My sweet husband agreed and paid for me to have a breast augumentation Thursday of last week. The scale gained almost 10 pounds. I know those silicone implants did not weigh 10 pounds. Help! What happened? I haven't felt real well or ate a whole lot since that surgery Thursday. Any idea where that weight came from ? How to get rid of it? I can't exercise for a week or so. Anyone else experienced this ? Help I'm struggling.

I haven't heard of many people getting a catheter... where was your surgery? Congrats on your revision! I will be joining you on the sleeve side soon!

Hello my doc wants me to consider gastric bypass. I'm terrified to have surgery... and I don't want to have xtra skin hanging. Any advice?

Melanie, while I was in the pre-op area waiting to get my band, I saw a surgical nurse I knew. I hadn't seen her in about 2 1/2 years. I knew she'd had the bypass and had lost a lot of weight. But she had gained about half of it back. It was just an extra reassurance to me that I'd chosen the right WLS.

@@haleymarie A psychologist isn't a medical doctor and should be advising your about your weight loss and what you can expect. It is pretty unethical in my opinion. A masters degree or a Doctorate of Science does not make you a MD. Next to you see her tell her that, and hopefully find someone else to see. The psychologist is probably using the excess weight chart estimate. http://www.obesitycoverage.com/weight-loss-surgeries/gastric-bypass/how-much-can-i-expect-to-lose Something like that. The thing is, you can lose whatever you want to lose. If you decide you want to keep losing and you make it a serious goal for yourself. You will probably lose 70 or 80lbs just follwing the program in 6 months with little effort, then after that is going to require more work, possibly. You are really young so I think the weight will come off pretty easy, if you can resist alcohol. The next time the psychologist offers you medical advice, tell her you are going to report her ass.

How is it going? I'm just starting my journey to get on the path to revision...my GERD is out of control and ruining my life. Meds don't help, my band is unusable; either too tight or too loose and I've gained weight. Meeting a team this week to learn about options, but I'm pretty sure RNY will be the result. How are you feeling?

Congratulations on your weight loss thus far. One thing to do now at this stage is to assess your protein intake. Your daily protein requirement is met by a combination of the amount of protein you obtain from food combined with the amount of protein from protein supplements (protein shakes, protein bars). Right after gastric bypass surgery, the volume of food you consume is minuscule (2 ounces) per meal. But as you get further along, the meal volume increases. Therefore you have a very important option available to you. As a result, you can begin to reduce your reliance on protein shakes. I went from 3 a day, down to 2, down to 1 and eventually none when I reached 1 cup per meal at a year and a half post-op. This offloading of protein supplements is important because protein shakes contain calories. If you can reduce your caloric intake, then you can maximize your weight loss. There are two phases to weight loss surgery. These are the weight loss phase and the maintenance phase. The weight loss phase is fairly short. In my case I transitioned into the maintenance phase at around 7 months.

We're submitting to insurance either today or tomorrow! The coordinator thought we'd have a better chance of approval if it was submitted as an original surgery (different insurance company than my first band and rebanding) than as a revision, so I had to jump through a few hoops (slightly fast-tracked). Hopefully, will hear back relatively quickly!

Hell it's possible they can do this for you while you are under for the bypass. Ask the question! Guys room Jess...

Why did you want to revise from sleeve to bypass? I had horrible reflux and unsatisfactory weight loss. I had taken the medicine to reduce acid for so long I was having side effects from it. I have not had one episode of reflux since my surgery. Thank you Dr. Illan.

I'm going to be discussing with him the right surgery for me. I weigh in the 350 range and I'm really thinking about gastric bypass. It's going to be at least 6 months because of my insurance but I think the nutrition classes will do me some good. I hope everything goes well. I've NEVER been skinny. I've been down in the mid-200s but never lower as an adult. I'm already picking out clothes and it's going to be another 2 years before I am anywhere near my goal! Also, for the guys who are starting/started around my weight, what did you pick for your goal weight.

That should be told to the revision patients, and maybe it is but it wasn’t told to me..If that would have been explained to me my expectations would be different.. “catwoman7” what is a virgin bypass?

Good afternoon, everyone. I'm new here. I was looking for some kind of forum where I could interact with others like me. I think I may have found it. I live in South Texas, and I had a sleeve gastrectomy in Mexico in 2009 when I was 35. I initially weighed 340 lbs and lost 149 lbs. and went from a size 32 to a size 14. My goal was a 12, but I was really happy. I was exercising 5x a week on the elliptical for a whole hour nonstop! I kept the weight off for approximately 6 years. Unfortunately, all kinds of tragic events started changing my life. In 2014 my father passed away, and I took it really, really hard. I ended up on Xanax and Ambien. In 2015, I got divorced. In 2016, my mother passed away. In 2017, I was transferred from a job I really enjoyed to a brand new location with all different people to work with. Then the COVID Pandemic kept me teaching from home for a year and a half. It was literally one heartbreak after another. Rather than looking for actual help, I helped myself... to pills, alcohol, and crap food. Over the past 9 years, I regained all my weight. Even though I still felt restriction in eating (i.e. only half a burger or 1.5 slices of pizza, with no sides or drinks and I was done). I was 10 lbs away from my original weight before my sleeve. Last year, though, my school district sent out an email stating that WLS was now covered by our insurance. I was so excited! I looked into it, made many calls, and thought coverage was out of the question because I had already had a surgery. Our insurance covers "one surgery per life." However, since my first surgery was private pay, they went ahead and accepted covering my revision to a bypass. Today is my 18th day post op. I've lost 42 lbs altogether since May 11, but only 10 of those lbs since the surgery. I feel a little blue because I was hoping for more than a 10lb loss in 3 weeks. I lost more weight at the beginning when I started a semi-liquid diet to prepare for surgery. I was doing 3 shakes and one solid, no-carb meal. I know that revisions are slower than virgin surgeries. I am doing as much reading and research as I can. I just can't help it, I guess. After my sleeve, the weight loss was phenomenal. Right now I am consuming 450 cals, 60 g protein, and keeping my carbs under 40g. I am walking around my house (not outside because South Texas) 4x a day and was told I could start on the treadmill this coming Monday. Maybe I'm doing something wrong? I'm also trying to find ways to consume fiber without a lot of carbs. I've eaten 1/2 cup of pinto beans twice but, man, that's a lot of carbs. I wanted to try raspberries, but I'm afraid of the little seeds getting stuck in my sutures. Any advice, thoughts, suggestions?

Hi, I am a newbie here. I finally agreed with my endocronologist to have a lapband. He had been suggesting gastric bypass for a couple of years, but I was afraid. I have been dieting and exercising since I was 13yrs old, with varying degrees of success. I am 54 yrs old, female, BMI 49.9 with co-morbidities, diabetes, hypertension, GERD and hip/knee joint pain. I am an ICU RN working 12 hr shifts, feeling exhausted. I was told with my HgA1C 9.9 and BMI that I have approximately 10 yrs to live. I am scheduled for the seminar 7/17 in Pittsburgh, Pa with Dr Joseph Colleti. I have a million questions. How long will I be off work or restricted with lifting? How long will it take to get the ball rolling? TIA for sharing information. SweetSmile

Hi! I'm Stephanie. I originally posted in the wrong section, so forgive me. I have been banded for 5 years! I have been noted as being one of the success stories for my area. I lost a total of 137 pounds with hard work and then assistance of my band! After losing the weight, I had 10 pounds of excess skin removed and I was ready to move on with my life! My surgeon that removed the skin told me that in some band patients, as the swelling from my skin removal subsided, my band could potentially tighten. Did it ever! I got down to 147 pounds and eventually had trouble drinking Water (all of a sudden one morning). I went and talked with my lap band doc and he decided to take all of my Fluid out. He scheduled an upper GI and I was unable to have my X-ray done because I found that I was pregnant. I told myself, "you know what to do, so just take care of you and baby." To my dismay, I miscarried at about 10 weeks. Since then, I emotionally ate because I was sad. One morning, I looked in the mirror (after gaining 36 pounds) and realized, "this is how you got as big as you were, get it together." So, I started working with a nutritionist and a trainer 3 months ago. In that time, despite my hard work, I have only managed to lose 4 pounds. Weightloss is good, though! I was tired all of the time and never had energy. I am also hypothyroid diagnosed. I met with an endocrinologist at the beginning of the week to have a complete blood panel and talk about my struggles. He told me with a smirk that patients with hypothyroid only can be purely successful with the assistance of WLS. Then proceeds to tell me that my surgeon no longer offers banding. That my doctor saw that the failure rate was far too high. He's strictly sleeve and bypass now. I suggests converting my band to sleeve since I ran into so many complications. So, I contacted my band surgeon's office to tell all of this to. An upper GI has been ordered and I have an appointment with my band doctor next week. I was told he only converts band patients to sleeve if they meet certain requirements. What I'm wondering now is if I actually weigh enough to qualify. SW: 268 GW: 145 CW: 179 Has anyone else gone through any of these struggles or have similar personal experiences? I know that I'll officially know next week during my doctor's visit if I qualify but I worry and stress over things like this ahead of time. Any kind words, similar stories or advice would be much obliged. I'm feeling like a failure at this point and need some friends. Thanks for reading, Stephanie Memphis, TN

I am sorry to hear you had to pay for everything yourself. I have looked into bypass multiple times over the years. I will tell you my doctor made all the difference and the support groups he offers. Listening to others who don't regret anything really made me finally take the next step. I am 8 days post op no real pain other then minor I was surprised the little pain I felt. I did get thrush but am being treated and am feeling much better. I have be dealing with hunger but the intake helps and I lost 15 pounds week 1. I hope you become more comfortable with your choice! Best wishes

Keep in mind, everyone gets cold feet the last few weeks, so what you are feeling is normal nerves. BUT there are people that get the surgery and regret it long term, so use this time to weigh all your options. Option 1. Get the surgery as planned. 2. If you are a candidate, go with a sleeve instead.. fewer complications (but if they do happen, they'll be just as expensive as the bypass ones). 3. Cancel the surgery, with the understanding that you may reschedule when you are comfortable. 4. Reschedule the surgery for January. 5. Have the surgery in Mexico, and that would leave quite a bit of money in your bank account to help with any complications. (I went to Mexico with Dr. Illan, and have no problem recommending that option to others. It was a very good experience.. and Dr. Illan is willing to help with any future issues, you just have to be able to fly down for the care). Complications from surgery would be expensive, but so are complications from morbid obesity. Diet and exercise programs are a bargain, so if you haven't tried them, that may be a great thing to do if you choose options 3 or 4.

I seem not to be able to stand or tolerate any meats. How normal is that? Will I regain taste or ability to tolerate? Tx julie oh I had gastric bypass

I'm 32 and had gastric bypass 2/16/17 and am down 90 lbs. I'm looking for someone around my age that would like to text or Facebook to keep each other on track.

I asked my Weightloss Center and they only support vitamins that are sold by the WLC. It's a horrible place to go and I do not recommend them to anyone. Anyway, I bought Bariatric Fusion Tropical Fruit Bariatric Multivitamin Soft Chews for Post Bariatric Surgery Patients Including Gastric Bypass and Sleeve Gastrectomy, 60 Count, 1 Month Supply and I asked my WLC dietician and she was upset that I did not want to take the Celebrate MC r18 that they sold. I explained that the chewable they sell makes me sick and I cannot even force myself to eat them without getting ill. She said "fine" then told me that I could take the ones I bought but didn't tell me how many I needed to take or if the recommand two chewable a day were fine. Anyone know if two chewables a day are fine? I'm not sure if it's natural and I never noticed, but today I was able to see my hair start shedding and I had my surgery 3 months ago today. I haven't noticed this in the past.

HI everyone. I had a Lap band to a Mini Bypass revision on July 5th. So far. I have lost 23 pounds, but somehow I keep feeling that it should be a bit more. after some difficulty in the first two months with my eating. With a lot of food rejection, I now feel that I can eat quite well. I can eat a small size of fish, or one whole very well cooked and soft chicken thigh. I avoid carbohydrates to maybe one dry diet cracker in the morning with cottage and s bit at lunch (at the most have half a potato or a spoonful of carrots or zucchini with the protein) and concentrate on the protein. I walk a lot on my job (I am a tour guide) sometimes for two whole hours.. I try to drink enough ( I usually mix water with sugarless ice tea powder, as flavoured water goes down easier for me ) I completely avoid sweets, pasta, bread, and eat very little fruit. Also I am not experiencing any cravings really, and because I am eating protein 3 times a day I think that I am getting enough protein and still the weight loss seems to stall. Or am I being unrealistic?? Or maybe I am doing something wrong? Last week. I was at 24 pounds less, this week it came back to 23., I am starting to feel frustrated with this up and down effect!! I would really appreciate some feedback from those of you who went through this before, and how you managed to overcome this! For the record, as this might be an important detail, I am 61. Thanks a lot for taking the time to read and answer. All the best to everyone. Sent from my D6603 using BariatricPal mobile app Sent from my D6603 using BariatricPal mobile app

Gastric bypass on 22nd, good luck Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

Hi guys! As I am preparing for my band to bypass revision, my doctor made it crystal clear I have to stop smoking. I have been smoking for about 5 years, which is terrible for me to even say, and I know I have to. if it came down to it I know I could just torture myself and do it cold turkey, but I am asking for advice or things that people have done that has helped them. I am considering the nicorette gum but again just asking for advice! Thank you!

I am in the same situation. I have PCOS and hypothyroidism. I weigh 319. My doctors all said bypass would be better for me because of my problems. I too would also like to hear from women who had bypass who have the same problems. CW: 319 SD:May 2017 GW: 128

Had my RNY bypass yesterday. I am waiting to check out and go home. I feeling great, no sickness as of yet. I got a lot of pain in mid section but its liveable.