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It would be interesting to see what your surgeon recommends. I say this because I know some surgeons will recommend bypsss or won't do the sleeve because of GERD. However, my surgeon doesn't think you shouldn't do a sleeve on someone just because they have GERD. Those were the words I wanted to hear since I didn't want bypass. Boy do I regret it now 😧

PCOS = Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome It has all kinds of nasty and anoying symptoms, e.g. hair all over, acne, skin tags, weight problem, no ovulation, irregular or no periods, infertility. Many women with PCOS loose their babies during pregnancy. My son Lucas was born at 20 weeks in November. It took doctors years to diagnose me. I am on Glucophage XR, taking 1,500 mg/day. It helps a little, but weight loss should have major impact on most my problems. I'm one of the lucky PCOS sufferers with no acne, no major facial or body hair issues and I'm looking forward to getting rid of the rest of the issues. Renata

I have struggled with my weight my whole life. Im 29 and weigh 255 pounds. I have finally scheduled my informational session for bariatric surgery in January. From there I will get a consult with a surgeon. I am having to follow steps in order to get my insurance to pay for the surgery. I'm stuck between Gastric Sleeve and Gastric Bypass. What is everyone's opinion on the two? What are some things that can help me through this process?

Looking for a Facebook group to get a crew to stick with for the long haul! Any leads on existing fb groups? Thanks!

I was told to make tomato soup and mix it with milk as a full liquid, which did not seam appealing to me. I did have tomato soup from Panera Bread this afternoon. I could not eat the entire bowl. But it was delicious and took away some of my anxiety. There were herbs in it, but nothing else and it did not cause any discomfort. I had my bypass on 3/23/15. Not sure if that helps, but wish you the best of luck.

Hi, my name is Jen. I had gastric bypass surgery on August 26. Everything went perfect. I was able to resume exercising a week after surgery. I am currently following all the rules set up by my doctor. I eat 3 meals a day of 3-4 oz meat, cheese or eggs. I work out 40 minutes a day, 5 days a week. I do not snack or drink any caloric beverages. I swear I am doing all these things every days. My initial weight loss was good, I am down about 30 lbs, but I have not lost anything in 3 weeks. How can that be? I am so discouraged. I am questioning everything. I'm so afraid that I went through all this for nothing. Any advice? Thank you

Stay away from most of the protein "bullets" and "shots" that you will see in stores and read about online. If you look closely at their ingredient list, you will see that they are made with "collagen" protein. These products are attractive to bypass patients because they contain very large amounts of protein in very small volumes - usually 3 to 4 ounces. The problem is that collagen protein is an incomplete protein (meaning that it is missing one or more of the nine essential amino acids that your body requires and cannot manufacture). In addition, collagen (aka "gelatin" protein) has a PDCAAS (Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score) digestibility score of 0.08. The PDCAAS has been adopted by the Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the World Health Organization as the standard for measuring all proteins. Proteins are ranked on a scale of 0 (least digestible) to 1 (most digestible). Whey, Soy, Milk, and Casein proteins all have a PDCAAS score of 1.0. All the protein in the world is useless if your body cannot digest it.

I will have all of my requirements finished by the end of September and I am getting super excited! All I think about is my surgery. Hopefully Cigna approves me in a timely matter so I can get a end of October or beginning of November surgery date. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Oh my God--I know what you mean. I paid up front for everything and am now trying to get reimbursed from United HealthCare--what a nightmare! They have screwed everything up--I have had to send one check back 2 times because they keep using the wrong tax ID number when they process it, and they are sending payments to the providers instead of me, and lots of other crap. I had my surgery in November and have not gotten any money back yet. It is sooooo frustrating!

Yeah the surgeon offered the sleeve but I stood firm on my choice and he didn't say NO.. they usually do work with you unless they are not confident on the bypass? My surgeon is one of the best in the country he even goes overseas to teach other surgeons

While I have been happy with the weight loss progress that I have made since surgery in November, today was the first day that I felt genuinely excited. For years, I have wanted to take my wife to the Dallas Arboretum, which is a pretty spectacular 66-acre place near where we live. A trip there involves a good amount of walking. Since, before surgery, I would get out of breath just walking from the parking lot to my office or my back would be agonizing just waiting in line briefly for something, a day at the Arboretum was previously impossible. When I had my surgery in November, I swore that I would make enough progress to be able to do a trip to the Arboretum before the new year. That was today. All in all, we had a great time and I walked over 4.5 miles with no back pain and no breathlessness. I actually felt like a normal person! My knees hurt now, but I will take that.

I’m supposed to be having my sleeve revised to a bypass in November due to GERD. I have a hiatial hernia for the 3rd time and the surgeon as well as the 2nd opinion surgeon says not to repair the hernia, just revise to bypass. Evidently my cough is acid aspirating into my lungs, and most of my allergy symptoms are from the acid. This is on top of the regular nasty acid symptoms. I had originally asked for the bypass because I already had GERD and I knew that VSG could make GERD worse or cause it if you don’t have it. The surgeon said that if I had another 100# to lose he’d recommend the bypass but he said I probably have a hernia. He’d fix it, therefore fixing the GERD. So, 3 hernias later, I’m revising to a bypass, and I’m terrified. I’ve been very pleased with my sleeve except for the GERD getting worse. So... 3.5 years later I’m finally getting what I originally asked for, but now I have to go through a 3rd surgery (VSG/hernia; hernia again; now bypass) to do it. I should have just pushed for the bypass at the beginning and I’d be done with it.

Okay - I have an update on the March of Dimes Walk at Callaway Gardens. The cost will be appx $16.00. I spoke to Linda at the March of Dimes and she said that Callaway Gardens has changed the date to Sunday, November 16th. Tickets must be purchased through the March of Dimes. Once we get a consensus of who is going we can e-mail her and she'll send us the information along with the price...we send her the money and she will in return send us the tickets. They cannot be purchased at Callaway Gardens. I say we Carpool. I'm sure we'll get in late. I'm not sure the time it will start. As soon as I know more I'll post.

Hi everyone, I 'checked in' w/my doc office today to see if they'd heard from my insurance company, they said they'd been trying to call me b/c they want to schedule my survey for July 3! (It's June 22! Not sure if my vm was full or what?!) I mentioned I have a fatty liver and asked, don't I need the 2 week diet (their 2 week diet), they said a week should be fine. So....tell me what to do and buy and for how long I should have a sitter watch my kids afterward and are there any decent sized vitamins out there that I can actually swallow, and any other advice? I was picturing being told my date was 3-4 weeks away, I'd eat a few of my favorite meals, have my last margarita and diet coke, but I guess I am on shakes starting asap! Thanks in advice for any info and advice!

I did in Jan. I did have a minor complication. I came through the surgery ok and was doing fine when a couple of hours later I had a sudden drop in BP. They did an ultrasound and thought that there could be a bleed somewhere so they took me back into surgery and also gave me 4 units of blood. No major issues found in 2nd surgery. I have since spoken to the Doc and he says that the trocar probably damaged a minor blood vessel in the stomach layers - a complication that could have happened with any surgery. I was in hospital for 5 nights and did feel like I had been hit by a bus. On day 5 I developed mild asthma, I couldn’t wait to get home. Felt very weird for the first couple of weeks. Head was fuzzy and I felt like I had a hair in my throat. Possibly Ketosis combined with an ear issue! I have lost all the weight that I regained when my band stopped working and now feel fab. I weigh 50kg. The bypass is so much better than the band. My diet is much healthier, when I’m full I feel it in my stomach not in my throat and chest and I can go out and eat and not spend the night in the bathroom throwing up because 1 bite went down wrong. I don’t have any food issues, I can eat just about anything. I do have to be careful with sugar, too much gives me the shakes, palpitations and leaves me feeling generally awful - this is a good thing.

I haven't had mine done yet, but I am going from band to bypass on October 24, so I'll be right behind you. My office said it typically takes about 2.5 to 3 hours for a revision surgery, this wasn't directly from the surgeon's mouth though, just office staff, so I'll be sure to ask him at my next pre-op appointment. All I know, is I think this will be so much better for us than the band! If your experience from the band has been anything like mine, almost anything would be better

I second that- ask your doctor to help you fast track as you are a teacher and need to do it at that time. Also, doesn't starting in November count?

Dr. Schulman, Thank you for the reply. Since my hernia is excessive in size, in my opinion, would it be more likely to be able to be corrected in a way that could be similar to a tummy tuck? Is there any phrasing that could be used to encourage "tightening up" during the hernia repair, and therefore getting the surgery covered by insurance? The hernia is the result of three abdominal surgeries with mid-line incisions. The incision begins approximately 2 inches above my navel, takes a turn to the left to bypass the navel, and then continues down for approximately 8 inches. The scar above the navel is relatively normal (for a scar), but then the navel is canted upward, in a comma-shape. Under the navel, the hernia bulges out, and is about three inches wide. The scar in this area has stretched out due to the hernia. When I lie on my back, and the intestines settle back into their semi-proper place, there is a gully on my abdomen that can get about 1/2 to 1 inch deep. I have to place my hand against my lower abdomen when I sneeze or cough, or I will hurt. I don't know if I would have enough excess skin for a panniculectomy, since most of the excess apppears to be just the bulging area of the hernia. Thank you for any further thoughts.

Hi everyone! I have been lurking around many WLS sites for months, this is my first time posting. I'm having the Roux n Y bypass on March 12th. I can't believe how close it is! I'm getting nervous, but I'm far more excited than I am nervous. A little about me...I'm 37 single mom of a 12yr old boy and 2yr old girl. I have struggled with my weight pretty much since I can remember. However it has really spiraled out of control these last 10 years. I'm 5'2 and a 1/2 (lol) and 270lbs. I'm looking forward to a much more active lifestyle, I have a long list of "first's" to complete. Most importantly I want to be a better example to my children, as well as be able to physically enjoy time with them outdoors etc..

Thank you for the great responses. Logging may be in my future if I find that I am not loosing without it. I've done it before, but I love to cook and mix things and it becomes very difficult to try to figure out things that aren't listed, or things with multiple ingredients that I didn't weigh first. I just went over my monthly weight loss from November, December and January, 8, 3 and 6 respectively. And 2 this morning. I agree about the consistency of workouts and meditation also. I think slowing down and focusing on our next steps is helpful. Will keep these tips in mind. Thanks again

After years of partying and always being the jolly fat lad, I decided after a harsh relationship break down to take stock of my life. I seem to have spent the majority of my adult life on a diet losing a little bit here and there but thing major and I would always end up pilling the weight back on plus a bit more. I am not unhealthy I was in the gym 3-4 times a week an playing rugby but nothing seemed to move the weight. I got injured playing rugby and had to stop playing an weight just spiralled out of control. it all came to a head in the summer of 2014 I was 31 years old and out of breath walking up the stairs at home and work. I grew bored of making excuses as to why I was out of breath and found it hard to admit that it was because of my weight but I knew something had to be done. I went to the my GP but he advised me there was 3-4 year wait for a consultation and offered me half price vouchers for a slimming world class. I advised him id tried that an weight watchers and the Cambridge diet etc. I decided I would go private I booked a consultation and met with the Spires health group in Bromsgrove at this point I had not told anyone about having surgery and contained to play the jolly fat guy. The morning of the consultation was the hardest thing I had done to date. I had a lot of doubt in my mind of I was doing the right thing or if I was a failure as I couldn't get the weight off and stick to a diet by myself but walking through those doors was the best thing I ever did the staff there where professional and treated me with respect. I met with my consultant Mr Nirja, and he conducted all the relevant tests an took my weight BMI etc. he then sat me down and explained both the sleeve an bypass options we decided between us I would go for the sleeve. After my meeting with Mr Nirja I was then taken in to another room and spoke to a lady called Sally who has actually had one of the first bypass in the UK many moons ago. this was just an extra thing they offered encase we felt we couldn't ask the Surgeon. All in all I was in there for around 2 hours. I came out feeling positive for the first time in a while, I decided I would have my surgery on the 20th December for the reason being I would have broken up from work by then and I would have 2 weeks off to recover as I had no holiday left to take. At this point I still had not told anyone I was having the surgery done. I was to start my liquid diet of 3 pints of milk an 2 yogurts on the 6th December 2014. I was excited and very nervous at the same time. on the 4th December after stressing about how my family would react I finally plucked up the courage to tell them. All the thoughts I had about how they would react and the questions id get bombarded with proved to be untrue my family were very supportive even if it did take me a few attempts to explain what exactly I was having done and what would happen. on the 6th I started the liquid diet and passed this off at work as another fad diet I was trying to much ridicule as per usual, It was probley the hardest 2 weeks I had in life up to that point as its a mental battle as there is nothing stopping you from actually saying sod it and eating normal food. The first 3days for me personally was torture I had stomach cramps and flatulent. But on the 4th day my body had accepted it and the rest of the time was a breeze. On Saturday 20th December I checked into the hospital in Solihull at 11am, I asked my parents to leave as I felt I had to brave this on my own. At 1pm I was walked down to theatre which was an experience in it self walking into a room that looked liked an alien space ship. I remember waking up around 6:20pm on that afternoon surrounded by doctors and nurses apparently my heart had stopped twice during the operation and I had to be brought back. I didn't wake up in pain just a dull ache really. After I spoke to a doctor they wheeled me in to ICU where I spent my first night with my new stomach. That night I didn't sleep much and spent the night talking to the nurse who was appointed to look after me. I had the last of my pain killers at 2am on the 21st December less then 12 hours post surgery an I have not had a single one since It wasn't me being a Martyr I just wasn't in any pain. On the Sunday morning my family visited me apart from being tired an sore I felt good I was up walking about. Just after lunch on the Sunday I was taken back to my room and I decided I would walk it instead of using the wheel chair. That Sunday was spent just watching TV and drifting in and out of sleep I was so bored lol. The Sunday night I slept like a log and a woke about 7am on the Monday morning a nurse asked if id like a cup of tea which I accepted and it was the best thing I had tasted in my life lol, My consultant came and visited me at 9am and said I was allowed to go home as soon as the nurses had brought my medicine from the pharmacy. I was discharged around 10:30am that morning with a bag of FastTab anti acids and some dissolvable paracetmol for when I need them (Still unopened) The First week was an eye opening experience first time Id had half a can of Soup for xmas dinner. I am now into week 7 since the op and I am not allowed to do any exercise at the moment until the end of February 2015. But I have lost 85lbs in 7 weeks so I am happy with the way its going. Already I feel so much better and happier in myself and clothes are getting baggy already, well this is my story so far sorry for waffling and ill keep updating it every so often. To anyone thinking of having surgery DO IT you wont regret it its not going to be easy far from it but my god its worth it!!!!! if you ever have any question please get in touch.

Hi everyone, I just had my gastric bypass surgery and hiatal hernia repair on Tuesday. Getting into the groove of drinking water every 15 min but did a bad job yesterday. I’m really struggling with this liquid diet and can’t wait until I can eat soft foods after my doctor clears me on Dec 12 for my follow up appt. Any tips on making it through the liquid diet? I’m getting tired of soups and protein shakes only. I’ve lost 5 pounds since my surgery so far so I’m on the right path also 15 pounds since starting my liquid diet 3 weeks ago. One day at a time.

On most things you strive for 'healthy' levels, just like non-ops. You'll find that 60g of Protein is what non-ops should get. The extra may be to compensate for malabsorption, but my plan called for 60g. Sodium, like non-ops, you want to reduce. 600 calories is a draconian crash diet in non-op life and like I said folks that do that have willpower that I don't have. For my plan from day 1 I was learning how to eat for the rest of my life. I basically ate to maintain my goal weight and lost weight down to that balance point. At any rate, for everyone losing all that weight is/was great positive reinforcement, telling our lizard brain "plan = good." All minerals, vitamins and other nutrients: you need what a non-op needs. Except you may need a bit more iron and calcium as our malabsorption seems to hit those hard. Again, fat is the same as for non-ops. Reduce it. Some Gastric Bypass folks (like me) dump on fat, so be careful. Just because we are eating less and consuming fewer calories, it doesn't mean we can reduce everything by 75% or 60% or whatever. Generally, we still need 100% of most vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. Bottom line is you need everything a non-op needs to be healthy, you just have to do it in 600 calories. If your nutritionist shrugged on this question, well... Good luck, Tek