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YA'LL.... I am officially in a size XL (also known as a 1x). It's one thing to be pretty sure (when you don't actually have that size but the one above it is too big, so you assume) and it's another to put it on and it fits PERFECTLY. Tops AND bottoms. And the size 6 rings are starting to get a little loose. I have 18 pounds to go to hit my goal weight (I weigh 213 right now), and I wonder if I'll be in a 5 1/2 by then!!! The last 30 pounds have been a REAL fight to get off, but seeing the changes in my body and clothes has been amazing and fun. I feel so much better, I can do so many more things, I look so much better, and on a fun note, I went to a higher end thrift store to get some clothes and I was SOOOO overwhelmed by the choices in my new size!!! I started off as a size 28/30 (5x) and would literally just take whatever I could find in my size. Now, there's so many styles and designs and colors and brands lol It's been almost 30 years since I've been this size. I had literally no idea how fun it could be to go clothing shopping!!! And can I just say, my latest blood work shows my A1c is 5.5, fasting blood sugar is 98 and non fasting is 109, and all the rest of my numbers are literally perfect!!! This past weekend, my son and I went on a 8 mile hike, and other than being tired at the end, I didn't have any issues!!! This surgery is literally the best thing I've ever done for myself and my family. Even with all the complications, the revision, the hernia surgery and THOSE complications....I would do it all again to get where I am now. 18 more pounds to go and I'M THERE, ya'll!!!!! OMGGGG!!!!!!

Hello everyone, and happy Sunday! I'm feeling quite a bit better now that my body finally evacuated what was bothering it. I'd kind of forgotten about the Milk of Magnesia I'd purchased, and yesterday it came to my rescue. Those protein shakes (30g) are no joke, especially if you're taking any medication that slows your digestion further. Yesterday afternoon, even after getting past the constipation, my body just wasn't feeling like much intake, either liquids or 'food'. I found myself getting full after only an ounce of the chicken noodle soup broth and a few teaspoons of yogurt. I struggled for the first time getting my fluids in; I think I had gotten lax about the sip-sip-sip method and maybe was trying to drink too much at once when I drank. It's definitely hard to resist the urge to go back to gulping, especially when the beverage it cold and satisfying, and I feel dry mouth creeping in. Tomorrow is technically my puree day but I skipped ahead just slightly to try to move away from those heavy protein shakes. I realized I'm very sensitive to the texture of my scrambled egg and had to recook it, pre-mixed with about a half tablespoon of skim milk, and instead of the butter he'd initially tried I just used a very light splash of olive oil. That gave me the light, moist scrambled egg I was looking for. I reread my book and while it suggested you might want to start with just egg whites I just couldn't make myself hold to that. I am trying to get better about spacing out the 'not drinking 30 mins before/after' now that I'm beginning to eat some actual food. That's a very hard thing to do, honestly, because I'm noticing that no matter how much I chew without a drink the food just feels kind of stuck in my throat for a bit. I can see now why my friend said she found drinking a broth type soup in the morning 'primed' her stomach for the day. @draikaina8503 & @Pepper_No_Salt - How are you two feeling? I hope that your surgeries went smoothly. @Pepper_No_Salt I'm glad you can mix in some variety with additives to your plant based shakes - I was close enough to losing my mind during the pre-op diet so I think that being limited further would have driven me over the edge! I'm going to look up that PB2 you mentioned because I'm curious about it! (Back to you, @draikaina8503 , just saw your post-op post!) Oh my gosh I hate that your body did that to you RIGHT before your surgery. Mine at least gave me two days I'm very glad they kept you at least another night! I hope they are helping you keep your pain managed. Yeah; it will definitely take some walking to get that gas pain to leave but in the mean time don't be shy in asking for those ice packs and your pain medication! Sometimes managing the pain, then walking with the ice pack is the only way to work it out - at least that was my experience, and I've heard the same from a few others. Thinking back, one thing I wish I'd done while in the hospital was be a BIT more squeaky - I remember now that when my Mom was in the hospital I had to shove a bunch of pillows behind her back when I put the hospital bed up at an incline so she could get a good enough angle in bed to safely sip liquids. I think that would have helped me tremendously, because I relegated myself to using their recliner a lot just so I could be upright, and it didn't work very well AT ALL. Hope you're starting to feel better! (Coming back to you @Pepper_No_Salt since I now see your post-op post!) : Oh my gosh I feel you on the cold drink thing! I was a bit grumpy when I asked the nurse at my 10 day post-op and she casually said, "Oh, room temperature is mainly just the first few days because foods of extreme temperatures CAN cause uncomfortable cramping'. My fella covered his mouth to hide his snort of understanding at the look I gave him, having had to hear me whine off and on for ten days about how I'd give anything for a COLD drink of something. Figuring out the sips is tricky. They gave me little medicine cups that hold about an ounce and for me, sipping one of those 2-3 times felt about right at first. I'm sure this is another one of those things that depends on the person. I also alternated one ounce of gatorade/proper (they had brought me a kiwi watermelon that elicited heartburn, the berry was ok if I went slow - Also weirdly orange gatorade zero goes down better than watermelon, guess its all based on the acid and flavoring? @draikaina8503 - I read where you discussed being pretty limited on the shakes due to dietary restrictions. That's rough It's very cool that you write the same genres as me - I, too, have given Nanowrimo a try but never seem to stick with it to the finish line. Maybe I'll try it again this year! I'm glad you mentioned it. Yes - I meant to follow up all week long on making sure I was on the waiting list, and lo and behold... it's Sunday, and I never did. I'm bad on a good day at executive function, so during stressful times like this recovery - whew. I need to add it as a task to my Finch app so my mind stops blanking on it. I hope they were able to do your full surgery with no complications. @Singingbarista - I hope your recovery is going well! I didn't feel too terribly at first but I am suspecting more and more based off of people's feedback that I almost certainly had a nerve block that took a good 4-5 days to completely wear off. The achiness has built over time, and I hope that is different for you! @AndreaJD - Yay! Another writer & Nanowrimo participant! I guess it isn't too surprising that several of us writing folks would find one another on a forum, but I still think it's really cool. Superhero fan fiction sounds fun; I'd say that some of the powers my characters have are very overlapping, like magic use. It would be awesome if you could get some productive writing done during recovery but I also wanted to encourage you not to be too hard on yourself if you can't. My mind feels muddy and I feel drowsy far more often than I would like. I know I'll probably feel SO much better in about a week, but it's sure hard not to be impatient. I also wanted to mention that I didn't have much trouble at all getting my fluids down at first, either, and that's definitely not a bad thing. My nurse told me there will be good days and harder days, and yesterday I definitely experienced that. It was the first day I didn't make my fluid goal, like I wrote above - and I tried to push it in the evening but that was a bad idea. The Berry Propel I drank a bit too quickly before laying down (should have waited longer, d'oh!) ended up giving me heartburn that woke me up around 3am. It's all trial and error, I guess. Dang - wish I'd thought of having tomato soup pre-op! No idea why I didn't - now it'll probably be a while before I dare due to potential acid reflux. Ahh well! I'm going to try some of that blended Progresso Chicken Noodle in my puree stage I think if it passes the 'book check' - it sounds amazing. @Averdra & @caseyash30 - Are you two still surgery twins on the 21st? I'm trying to backtrack and I know that you said there were possible concerns do to a potential Covid case, @Averdra. I hope that's smoothed out for you! I realized while I was doing my recap that I never mentioned - traveling to Lithuania sounds so exotic to me, as a resident of the Midwestern U!. The furthest I've ever been is Alberta, Canada! Not that you would get to go sightseeing or anything; I get it. I know a lot of folks from the US travel to Mexico for their surgeries. Very cool that you were another WoW OG! The game sure has changed a lot, hasn't it? @caseyash30 - How goes the pre-op diet? Are you getting nervous or eager as the date approaches? For me it all just felt really surreal. @Onemealplan & @Greekmom4 - Tomorrow is my 14 day post op! I was paying close attention to your discussions about puree - because to be honest, I'm kind of stumped on this particular stage. I just managed about half a scrambled egg and a couple of teaspoons of my sugar free Chobani and I just feel so full. The whole time I was eyeballing my sugar free gatorade, thinking how ready I was to just be through with food so I could set a timer to be able to start hydrating. As it is, I have hiccups from the two tiny sips of Gatorade I allowed myself just to make the egg not feel stuck in my throat. I know everyone's experiences are going to vary significantly; the friend I have who had surgery previously said she had a lot of luck sipping the French onion soup mixed, especially in the mornings. She's two years post op and doesn't seem to have trouble eating small servings of most anything she wants now, minus much fried foods or rich desserts. She had a full gastric bypass, for reference. She told me that ricotta was a big win for her because it could be blended and made either savory or sweet, depending on if you chose vegetables or fruit, and also said she really enjoyed refried beans through the puree with mild seasoning to make it more like a taco. I have a gastric sleeve cookbook that offers a lot of different smoothie varieties. Other than that - I'm just not sure what sounds appealing as a puree, despite the nurse saying 'you can puree almost anything but stringy / dense meat!' I can see how the chicken or tuna salad would work - tuna just scares me for some reason. I wonder if I'd be able to do a salmon salad instead of tuna salad. Also - @Onemealplan - Yeah, I tried having my fella puree me some canned kidney beans on Friday, just to test the waters, and they didn't settle well for me. I can't say they are what caused me to have trouble passing gas and extra trouble with my constipation - it seems unlikely since I skimmed away the 'shell' and only ate probably a teaspoon and a half worth, but I just don't know. It tasted great to me, but just made me nervous. This is probably in part because I've dealt with IBS and beans of that sort along with ground beef or tomato sauce with too much basil were trigger type foods for me. I concur on the puree'd meats sound distinctly unappetizing. I'm hoping I can get away with mashing cooked salmon or something like that. Wooo! I did it! I hope I didn't miss anyone - I feel caught up finally! Now, to go rest with my ice pack.

I had my RNY procedure last January at 52. So far so good. 2 days in the hospital, I managed my pain at home with Tylenol instead of the hydrocodone I was given. No complications, I did have a bout of dumping when eating peanut butter for the first time post-surgery. I can tolerate it now. I lost a total of 85 pounds. I had a 3-week stall last March. I am off CPAP. My A1C is at 5.5 and I am feeling great. I love my new body. I am working on minimizing the scars with silicone scar and tretinoin via the advice of my dermatologist. My asthma is way under control so need for my maintenance inhaler. I feel that this was a reset in my life in many ways. I do Zumba, walk, and use dumbells to stay in shape. I make sure to stay hydrated per my surgeon's instructions. I follow my surgical team's advice to the letter. I'm just feeling blessed. Best of luck in your journey.

Okay now that I’ve told my regain story and done as much research as I can (there is not a ton of info out there about the SADI) I have questions. Some that are white awkward tk Ask the doctor. First and foremost is how many of these procedures he had done. He is a very well knows surgeon, head of the bariatric department at the hospital even but I don’t think he has done a lot of this particular procedure. In fact the poster schematic is not yet on the wall and his office did not have any information packets to share about the procedure yet. If he says I am first I want to ask what makes him comfident he is capable? I’m pretty sure he just does sleeve and bypass primarily. So how differnt is if than a bypass?? I sorta understand the gist of it but I admit I don’t understand normal anatomy nevermind the exact differences between the procedures. also, I read some medical research on the procedure and they were talking about less complications after the learning curve a couple years later. Did that mean the individual surgeons learning curve or did they mean the field has learned from each others mistakes. I have to admit maybe being in the first few adds a little bit more anxiety to all this. Next I need to ask him, if he made my sleeve to big if he will correct that as well I have always felt like my sleeve was a little larger than everyone else’s based on how much I could eat so if he gets in there and that’s the case does he fix that as part of the procedure if so, is that now a differnt procedure and does that matter? I am not expecting anyone to know answers to these questions just help me with the way to word them so that I can feel comfortable asking I don’t want him to think I am questioning his surgical skills because I know he is really good but I still need some reassurances here

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.

1. What was the best part of surgery for you? The jumpstart to weight loss was obviously amazing, but I was surprised how quickly my usual body pain & aches stopped bothering me. My knee problems have basically vanished, and the lower back pain I had gotten so used to living with has gotten so much better. I can breath easier when doing things that used to have me out of breath -- going up 2 flights of stairs, for example. 2. What was the worst part of surgery for you? The pre-OP shakes -- I'm lactose intolerant and have trouble with stevia, and there were no shakes my care team could find for me that didn't have one-or-both things, so I spent a good 8-9 days barely keeping anything down. The surgery itself went off without a problem, and the pain wasn't as bad as I thought -- other than the car ride home! If you get WLS, bring a pillow to clutch to you afterwards!! 3. Did you have any complications (minor or major) during or after your surgery? Nothing during, nor after -- but I'm only 10wks post-OP tomorrow. 4. How has adjusting to your new life been for you? I too am on SSRIs for long-time depression & anxiety. Most days have been awesome and cheery. Even during the initial aches and pains of recovery, just knowing that things were going to start changing for the better improved my mental state. I still have bad moments / days but once I started seeing all the improvements to my life it makes it easier to push through. It certainly helps to have a good support system -- people in my life, but also honestly this forum. TBH I was in a #$%& mood all day and feeling lethargic, but logging in here I know that everyone here understands and it just makes me feel more settled. 5. How long did it take you to feel comfortable eating food? I am currently having a ton of problems with chicken breast. I hate 'dark meat' poultry, but tried chicken thighs recently and it's not too bad but still leaves me with a heavy feeling in my stomach -- still better than the stuck feeling in my chest that the white meat gave. I feel like no matter what I put on it or how I cook it, it's just clearly a No for now. That said, for the most part everything else has gone down well as long as I eat slowly, and make choices consistent with my care team's plan / schedule. Going from puree to soft foods was probably the hardest for me physically, because it felt so different in my stomach. 6. Is there anything you can’t eat anymore that you used to enjoy? It's early on for me, but the changes in my body's hormones seems to have stopped most of my cravings. When I'm having a rough time emotionally, I still have momentary yearnings for old 'comfort foods' but honestly just the thought of some of them will turn me off within a few minutes. (For some reason if I think about fatty oils too long, I just get nauseated). And many of my old comfort foods have just updated into healthier things I can eat. Instead of my mum's Dutch mashed potatoes, I have a smaller bowl of healthier mashed potatoes (or cauliflower, or heart of palm) with a scoop of bone broth powder to up the protein. Instead of spaghetti and meatballs, I have homemade meatballs and extra sauce -- or a ricotta bake instead of lasagna. 7. What was your recovery like? Any vomiting or dumping syndrome? I've had one instance of dumping syndrome so far, and it was 100% my own fault. I knew what the culprit was immediately (white-flour leftover tortilla and more difficult chicken breast). I won't lie, I seriously wanted to die for probably an hour, and then slept the rest of the day away. It's horrid. I'm hoping that I've learned enough to take better care / caution and avoid any more instances. Other than that, recovery has been pretty smooth. All my incisions healed up without issue, the gas pain only lasted a few weeks and then there was just a strange tightness / mild soreness on one side of my body for the first 5-6 weeks. 8. How long did it take you to feel semi-normal after surgery? I want to say 2-3 weeks. Around the time I started eating puree (week 3), my energy levels started bouncing back much more rapidly -- which let me walk more easily. 9. Did you experience higher energy level post surgery? 100% yes. NGL, sometimes I feel like skipping even though it's not suitable for someone my age, LOL. I feel like I've been more efficient at work post-OP just because of the energy improvement, and physically I notice the increased stamina every time I go on an errand or for a walk with my dog. (I tire her out now!) 10. Did surgery affect your mental health? For the better. Some of it is because the energy and the physical improvements make me feel better about myself in general, but part of it is kind of a trickle-down effect. I spend more time making good, healthy choices for myself, spend more time being mindful whether it's while I'm eating, or making a grocery list, cooking, etc. It's so much time spent on self-improvement and self-care. So I have less time to worry about what other people's secret thoughts or judgments might be and take people more at face value. I have less time to waste on people that bring toxicity to my life or can't respect my boundaries. It's like this microcosm of self-care made by investing my energy in my current journey has expanded it's hooks into the rest of my life. I feel like for the first time in my life, I am actually one of my top priorities. 11. Do you regret it? Would you recommend it? I had moments of regret during dumping syndrome, for sure. But as soon as I recovered from that one bout, I was still happy I'd done the surgery. I think it definitely forces us to take ownership of our own health and making the best decisions we can towards that. I would recommend it to anyone who has struggled with weight loss and can honestly look at their life and see themselves living in this framework for the rest of their lives. By all accounts it seems to be incredibly important to keep it all up -- the vitamins and supplements, the healthy choices and portion sizes, etc. I would NOT recommend it for anyone looking for a magic pill. This takes work, will continue to take work.

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

[MINI GASTRIC BYPASS THREAD – PLEASE CONSIDER YOUR SURGERY AND EXPERIENCES MAY NOT APPLY TO MINI GASTRIC BYPASS PATIENTS] Hi all BP’ers and lurkers out there; especially hi to everyone who had the mini gastric bypass (AKA the one-anastomosis gastric bypass/single-anastomosis gastric bypass/omega loop gastric bypass) It’s my surgiversary! I can’t believe it’s already been a year. But what a year it has been. Man. I wanted to share a lot of thoughts about my journey – there’s not a ton of MGB patients out there yet, and especially not in the US. I’ll admit I’ve been working on this for a while, because I want to share the good word about the MGB and contribute some of the things I simply cannot find out there. Well, now I know, at least how it’s been the first year for myself. So that’s my small contribution. Below, I’ll post the following posts individually so it’s easy to browse for anyone new: The surgery: what is it, how does it work, what does science say about weight loss and complications with MGB? My journey to weight loss surgery My weight journey for a year after the mini gastric bypass My diet and calories – stages + what does a typical day look like after a year? Exercise – what and when and how much? Alcohol and MGB What I wish they had told me prior to surgery Setting a goal Why I think you should consider the MGB What it’s like being a mini gastric bypass patient on BariatricPal – what I found useful, and why I needed a pause from participating on the forum What now? I hope you’ll find some of this enjoyable.

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.

Thank you both. Spinoza thank you I know with my mental health issues that my journey doesn’t look exactly like everyone’s here but some version of what happened to me could happen to everyone I hope my story helps someone. I know that so many people here have helped me along the way. I wish I wouldn’t have gotten so embarrassed and stopped posting last time. Things may be different now. But, I put my story out there and from now on I am looking forward. BlondPatriotinCDA That’s what I try to tell my husband. He has always been very fit and he tries to empathize but he just doesn’t understand and sometimes he says all the wrong things. Recently He said I don’t get it, you quit smoking why is this so difficult for you. I said because I don’t have to smoke three puffs a day to survive and not smoke anymore than that. I know if I had one cigarette I would be a smoker again. In fact i did and I was until I quit the second time and now I know I can’t have just one. But, I do think knowledge is power and I will know when I do go off plan again which I inevitably will. I will know that give it a few days and my body will stop screaming at me that it’s starving because that’s what it takes for me. I eat carbs and my body craves them for a few days afterwards then the cravings are a lot less. Then I’m good until the next holiday or dining out temptation or if I’m really stressed I eat off plan. Those are my triggers. I’m hoping that information will make it easier for me to get back on track next time. This time I already told all my loved ones to please try not to offer me food that is not a good choice for me and I am eating low carb already. I also just declined a lunch invitation with my craft group being honest that I’m too tempted to eat bad when dining out. Maybe once I get back on track I said but for now I need to stay focused (to a group of mostly really skinny women who probably totally don’t get it but they didn’t say anything at least). Anyways. Yes. My plan is to keep chatting here with people Who actually get it and to try to find that therapist and pay out of pocket as Spinoza suggested because this is it. It is not like they usually revise a third time and even if they did the complications and risks are scary enough the second time around. This is my do over and I have to do it right this time.

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

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.

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. 😀

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!

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 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.

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.

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!

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