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Hi! I am scheduled for surgery on this coming Monday August 27th. I keep waiting to be terrified or super nervous but I have been cool as a cucumber during the majority of this journey. I started the process for my approval in October of last year and was originally scheduled for July 27th. I ended up having to reschedule due to financial issues but it's worked out for the best. I will say that I was the most nervous at my initial doctors appointment because I wasn't sure if it would be something I could do. Am I too young? (just turned 22) Too light? (250 at 5'5'') Can I deal with the radical lifestyle changes including no alcohol for 1 year+? To help with this, I made a list of questions that were most important to me and had my surgeon and nutritionist answer them all. I also came here and to Obesity Help and just started going through all of the forums. Good, bad and ugly I wanted to know EVERYTHING. I think that looking up horror stories and worst case scenarios helped calm me since they were the exceptions and not the rule. I also took stock of my own personal situation and realized that I am in pretty good shape so the odds that I will have a major complication are slim. I don't know your health history but it might help to compare yourself to some of the "worse off" people on these forums. Some started at well over 500 lbs and have been able to successfully lose and keep the weight off so the odds are definitely in your favor. Further, I fully intend on being 100% compliant and happily tell my surgeon that if I die its because he killed me (ER life has given me a morbid sense of humor). Maybe it'd help to make a running list of pros and cons in a journal over the coming months. Anything good and bad related to having the surgery should be written down and compared. And if you make it to December and cons outweigh the pros, you can always reschedule. Surgeons and thus surgery will always be there as an option so don't rush into it if it isn't the right time for you. Sorry for the long post but I'm at work and this is one of few unblocked sites lol.

Missouri-Lee's Summit, I always enjoy your fact-filled post. I never thought much about the healing process, but it is incredibly interesting. To the OP: I have eczema flare-ups on my feet. When it happens, it is excruciatingly itchy. I once itched so much, that the doctor drew a line around it in fear that it was a flesh eating disease. I spent an entire summer trying everything from soaking it in alcohol, anti-fungals (It looked like ringworm), steroids, benadryl both oral and topical and just about anything else. I would suggest 2 things. If your doc will allow it, you might try benedryl oral. I'm not positive if that will help, but it's worth a shot. The second thing is an ice pack. Works like a charm. For me, I would ice it until the ice pack became lukewarm. The effect would last for the entire duration of the ice being on it, plus another hour or so. I would check with your doctor's office first because I think the ice pack reduces blood to the area, which slows healing. Just a few thoughts.

Most of the bariatric literature on thiamine deficiency surrounds gastric bypass, but it seems sleeve gastrectomy is not immune to this problem despite that, theoretically, sleeve gastrectomy experiences fewer malabsorption issues. https://www.soard.org/article/S1550-7289(18)30222-3/fulltext Nutritional deficiencies are a recognized complication of bariatric surgery. Thiamine deficiency has been reported as a possible consequence of both restrictive and malabsorptive bariatric procedures. Most of the reported cases occurred after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery; fewer were described after biliopancreatic diversion, vertical banded gastroplasty, or duodenal switch. Adults who have a high carbohydrate intake derived mainly from refined sugars and milled rice are at greater risk of developing thiamine deficiency because thiamine is absent from fats, oils, and refined sugars. https://www.soard.org/article/S1550-7289(05)00726-4/fulltext Thiamine was the first vitamin B to be discovered. It is absorbed in the proximal jejunum and is mainly stored in muscle as thiamine pyrophosphate. It has a biological half-life of 9-18 days. Patients who experience persistent vomiting after bariatric surgery are at risk of developing thiamine deficiency. Mild deficiency should be suspected if patients complain of apathy, anorexia, restlessness and generalized weakness. Prolonged deficiency leads to beriberi and/or Wernicke’s encephalopathy. The most common presenting symptom of thiamine deficiency is a pins-and-needles feeling in one’s extremities despite normal vitamin B12 and folate. The average time from surgery to onset of thiamine deficiency symptoms was 9 months. Persistent vomiting, alcoholism, and non-compliance with vitamins are all contributing factors to thiamine-B1 deficiency. Treatment for those suspected of thiamine-B1 deficiency: 50-100mg of thiamine twice daily. https://www.soard.org/article/S1550-7289(11)00050-5/fulltext

This will not be popular but I would put the wine away. At only three weeks post op you are not able to eat enough to meet your nutritional needs. Alcohol has zero nutritional value whatsoever. I am eight months post op and eat between 800-900 calories a day. I cannot imagine 30 percent if my intake coming from alcohol. It isn’t all about calories, it is about what you feed your body too. Good luck on your journey!

Hopefully you won't identify deeply with it for the rest of your life. People are different and everyone's boat is rocked by something else but it always gives me the creeps when people relate to themselves as some kind of disease. "I'm an alcoholic". "I'm a diabetic". 'I'm a food addict". "I'm a WLS patient". ___ Have you ever heard someone say "I'm a lymphomic" or "I'm a myocardial infarctionist"?

Maybe I should clarify that at my one month post op I was cleared to resume normal activities as tolerated. You know the saying opinions are like a-holes? This goes for doctors too. If you read these forums you will see just how different pre-op and post op diets/rules are depending on the surgeon or practice. As for beer "eroding" my staple line; Would you say the same thing if I said I drank a fountain coke? I could understand your worry if I had said I drank a six pack. The fact is beer is heavily carbonated, and like soda, we are to refrain from it because it is empty calories and can cause excessive gas - which you have after surgery anyway. Why on Earth would I do that? Because I am a normal human being and being social is part of that. I am not swearing off alcohol for life and I wanted to see how it effected me since I was cleared by my doctor. Thank you for your judgmental concern.

Why would you have a beer? From what my doctor told me, alcohol is abrasive on the staples, and the little bits of flesh that were stapled can erode and you can get a leak in your stomach that can be life threatening. I cannot imagine why on earth you would risk it.

I do not but I am only 8.5 months post op. I do not drink alcohol and have not for years so that’s not an issue for me. If I eat out I order an ice water, sip it a bit before my meal comes, then I leave it there when my meal arrives. If anyone has noticed they haven’t said anything. I am sure plenty of people enjoy a glass of wine with their meal now and again.

I sometimes do when at restaurants or when invited to dinner (think alcoholic beverages). I try to not making it a habit.

To the weight loss surgery patient slider foods are the bane of good intentions and ignorance often causing dumping syndrome, weight loss plateaus, and eventually weight gain. Slider foods, to weight loss surgery patients, are soft simple processed carbohydrates of little or no nutritional value that slide right through the surgical stomach pouch without providing nutrition or satiation. The most innocent of slider foods are saltine crackers, often eaten with warm tea or other beverages, to soothe the stomach in illness or while recovering from surgery. Understanding Slider Foods The most commonly consumed slider foods include pretzels, crackers (saltines, graham, Ritz, etc.) filled cracker snacks such as Ritz Bits, popcorn, cheese snacks (Cheetos) or cheese crackers, tortilla chips with salsa, potato chips, sugar-free cookies, cakes, and candy. You will notice these slider foods are often salty and cause a dry mouth so they must be ingested with liquid to be palatable. This is how they become slider foods. They are also, most often, void of nutritional value. For weight loss surgery patients the process of digestion is different than those who have not undergone gastric surgery. When slider foods are consumed they go into the stomach pouch and exit directly into the jejunum where the simple carbohydrate slurry is quickly absorbed and stored by the body. There is little thermic effect in the digestion of simple carbohydrates like there is in the digestion of protein so little metabolic energy is expended. In most cases patients in the phase of weight loss who eat slider foods will experience a weight loss plateau and possibly the setback of weight gain. And sadly, they will begin to believe their surgical stomach pouch is not functioning properly because they never feel fullness or restriction like they experience when eating protein. The very nature of the surgical gastric pouch is to cause feelings of tightness or restriction when one has eaten enough food. However, when soft simple carbohydrates are eaten this tightness or restriction does not result and one can continue to eat, unmeasured, copious amounts of non-nutritional food without ever feeling uncomfortable. Many patients turn to slider foods for this very reason. They do not like the discomfort that results when the pouch is full from eating a measured portion of lean animal or dairy protein without liquids. Yet it is this very restriction that is the desired result of the surgery. The discomfort is intended to signal the cessation of eating. Remembering the “Protein First” rule is crucial to weight management with bariatric surgery. Gastric bypass, gastric banding (lap-band) and gastric sleeve patients are instructed to follow a high protein diet to facilitate healing and promote weight loss. Bariatric centers advise what is commonly known among weight loss surgery patients as the “Four Rules” the most important of which is “Protein First.” That means of all nutrients (protein, veggies, complex carbohydrates, then fat and alcohol) the patient is required to eat protein first. Protein is not always the most comfortable food choice for weight loss surgery patients who feel restriction after eating a very small amount of food. However, for the surgical tool to work correctly a diet rich in protein and low in simple carbohydrate slider foods must be observed. The high protein diet must be followed even after healthy body weight has been achieved in order to maintain a healthy weight and avoid weight regain. Feature courtesy of BariatricPal.com

Your doctor is a Healthcare Provider. Emphasis on the PROVIDER. My PCP wasn't convinced that surgery was the way to go for me either but I insisted on it. I didn't want to take diet pills - I didn't want the potential side effects and they aren't effective long term. Go in with an arsenal of information about how WLS is the most effective weight loss solution, how it is a safe procedure, how you are informed about the sacrifices that you'll have to make when you get it (no more binging, gulping, no NSAIDS, limited caffeine and alcohol) This is what I had to do. It was a 45 minutes appointment of him telling me what to do to lose weight followed by me telling him that I've done all that in the past and continued to get heavier and heavier. I told him that I had no indication that my future would look any different than my past because I'd DONE all that. I didn't want to try again only to be 10 years older and 50 pounds heavier and back to looking at weight loss surgery. He is to provide healthcare for you. He WORKS for you. Be determined. Let him know you are well informed about the healthcare choice you are wanting to make and that you need his help. Tell him straight up if he isn't going to help you with the healthcare choices you've made that you will find another healthcare provider to fit your needs better. Good luck!

Ok so I have a real question for all of my fellow cheaters: Say you knew before surgery that you were probably never going to be an exercise fanatic Running/biking/hiking on the weekends or never giving up chocolate/alcohol/donuts... Whatever Is it then a cheat or is it just your lifestyle and you lose what you lose taking into account your lifestyle?

Drinking alcohol daily in excess. The thought of drinking now leaves a nasty taste in my "mental" mouth. haha

After goal, all the sex and sizzle of rapid weight loss and comments are gone. Things get normal. My interests change and evolve over the years. Things that I used to do. large amounts of alcohol and food at parties/holidays laying around the house Watching the food network and my 600 pound life going to bariatric group negative people in my life - Poof they are gone people pleasing

@ Palomabella, my precious, you have ME! Yes the self-same oldest presurgical person on Bariatric Pal. You're worried at 56, sad to say I could be your mother, I'm 16 years older yet.Yep 72, I'll be 73 the day after Christmas. But I am marching forward, head held high, well maybe my neck is frozen in that position, but I don't think so. 3 weeks from yesterday I will have my surgery. Its a toss up whether I'll resemble a shar pei or basset hound afterward. I might have a body,only,Jabba the Hut could love but it beats being dead all hollow. And if I look like an Irish Setter with mange, so be it. At least,this winter I can pull on a knitted or crochet hat, I must have 2 dozen lying around, I went on a craft binge a couple years ago. And by spring new hair will have sprouted, maybe I'll get my birth curls back, I was a very cute infant with curls all over my head. My mama said so, went,to her grave,believing,i was the greatest thing since sliced 🍞 bread. I probably will look like something the dog dug out of the garbage and just left there. I have very fair skin, strawberry blonde hair, I probably will look like Ronald McDonald after an alcoholic weekend with dark circles under my eyes. Now you couldn't look THAT BAD! I will probably be holding onto my son's arm, flinching as I walk but I will have a s***-eating grin on my face, I've proved all the nay-sayers wrong. I could do it, I did do it and by golly I'm going to rock the rest of my years. This is a new lease on life for ME! Now don't you want to join me? Gonna be like nothing the world has seen , I need a Thelma for my Louise, are you game?

No alcohol for at least 6 months.

I suggest reading every food label. If you are not making it from scratch it will have unexpected macros. Those carbs/sugars can add up quickly and you want to know if they are naturally occurring, added, sugar alcohol, fiber or net count. Safe Journey

Hi all, I was supposed to get a MGB done but I changed my mind and opted to go for a sleeve instead. Although my doctor suggest MGB I am certain I can make the Sleeve work for me. But I do have a few questions: 1 - For someone who does not have a history of reflux - how likely am I to get it post opt? Would the type of good play a factor? 2 - Alcohol. I plan to stay away from beer what so ever but what about enjoying some occasional whiskey or vodka? 3 - Would 'dumping syndrome' be a menace? Look forward to hearing back from you all.

I've had my lap band for about 5 years now. At first I was loosing weight slowly (due to other separate health problems) then last summer, i lost a huge amount of weight very quickly due to extreme stress, and where my port is I was having discomfort, so i went to my new doctor who told me I had to gained weight and that would help with the discomfort, but did not want me to gain too much. I am 5'9 and I was 135lbs and he told me i needed to be at 160lbs. He is not my original doctor that did my surgery and fills. We moved to a different state. Over the last 5 months I (reluctantly) have gained the weight the doc told me to, and even though some of the port discomfort is gone, I now have constant heart burn and acid reflex and pain under my ribs after i eat (I had my gallbladder removed last year) or drink too much I do not drink any alcohol, soda or things like that mainly water tea sometimes and coffee and food has been getting stuck more than it use to. It is extremely hard for me to get back into the doctor, but do see my family primary monthly. I am wondering what type of tests should i ask my primary to order to make sure everything with the band is ok. And if anyone else has had similar problems and what helped. I'm thinking of trying the apple cider vinegar to help with heart burn acid reflex but am open to trying something

Mine had me give up caffeine, alcohol and carbonation. Told me to practice "eating in order" protein first, then veggies and then carbs if still hungry. Make sure and include a fruit or veggie at every meal. Oh, and not to drink my calories and aim for a minimum of 64 oz of water a day. Also to practice not drinking with my meals.

I've had kefir, and it reminded me not even one little bit of drinking alcohol. It's like really tangy, thin yogurt. If you're worried, you could just have yogurt. Chobani has a pretty good mix of happy yogurt bugs in it. (And Light 'n Fit is absolute junk, probiotically speaking. They don't list what strains they include, which makes me suspect they don't really include any.)

I love these forums: where else would you get bugs, poo trandplants, insect eating and discussions of grilling salmon in the same conversation! Imma look at the gut stuff too. Find me some fermented stuff. Question about kefir I'm told it contains alcohol and I'm abstinent from that for very good reasons. Would kefir wake up my booze monster? Is really rather not, you see!!! But I would like to try some new foods.

I’m assuming that post op diarrhea is normal due to the stages of eating . I just had a revision from band to rny on Thursday so I’m 6 days post op. I was just discharged Sunday . I’m on stage 1 of clear liquids still and protein. I’m gassy and every gas is watery stools and constant . I’m also on an antibiotic and the side effect could be the trots . I’m sure sugar alcohol had aggravated it too. I’m just worried about dehydration happening as I’m trying to stay hydrated . I did introduce a triple zero Greek yogurt today because I’m tolerating fluid fine just being slow as instructed . I have had waters, a premier protein shake , some broth, some high protein low sugar ice cream (Enlightened) so about 300 calories today . I’m probably extra gassy from the 3 net carb good for you ice cream but I was already pouring watery stools being just on clear fluids . I’m hoping that once other textures come back that this tapers off? Thursday they should start me level 2 since I ate Greek yogurt today as I consider it liquid once it goes in.

I’m in the same boat as you but six months ahead. In fact had my last of six nut apts yesterday. Just need lab work and X-ray and I can file for insurance approval. I lost six pounds then gained five over the last two months - when I went from having a drink every night to once a week - go figure! My wife had the same responses as you and I approached it as I’m going to go through the steps and then make the decision. I drop comments along the way to peak her interest because I know she will research it. I’ve discussed the biggest loser research, and most importantly the almost seemingly instant cure of co-morbidities. I periodically sent her links to articles as well. It’s unfortunate that WLS is so effective but so under utilized because of the stigma that’s it elective or you should try harder. I look at it as an addiction - do you tell an alcoholic to just stop drinking or a junkie to stop shooting up? No it doesn’t work that way and it doesn’t with weight loss either. Food is a chemical and mental addiction. She’s still not 100% on board but I’d say she’s now 75% and I know she would support me if I decide to go through with it which I’m getting closer to doing. One thing I asked her to do was keep it between us, which she didn’t do and she told my sister. Come to find out my sister is behind it 100% so that has helped. As others have said we can only do this for ourselves but having a spouse on board is very important IMO. I just finished Al Rokers book and now she is reading it. I find it’s easier if others tell my wife their opinion - then she listens more! I’ve read this forum up and down and there’s a lot of good info if you dig. I think the stigma that WLS is giving up is what holds back a lot of people from supporting it at first which is just a lack of knowledge.

It's just an alien alcohol drink........