I failed my sleeve surgery.

[Steeks 4]

I want to ask people for some advise.

Almost 4 years ago I had sleeve surgery. I was at 340 lbs when I went in for my 1st Dr. apt and was at 223lb the day of my surgery.

I made it down to 269 and now I am back up to 305.

It seems like I can eat pretty much any size portion I want. Yes I do have some discomfort when I eat too much, but I know my sleeve has stretched a lot. I have tried cutting down my meal sizes, but cant get down under 300 .

I feel like a total failure.

What are my options? Can my Dr help? Am I eligible for the sleeve again or is there another surgery I could get? Will my insurance cover it?

Lots of questions I know...

Thanks in advance.

[PatientEleventyBillion 851]

If you're making the same mistakes that got you into trouble before your sleeve, no Dr. or surgery is going to help you. Best to see a psychologist and handle whatever problems you still are having before even considering WLS again.

[linasg 26]

I'm sorry to hear. Perhaps talk to the nutritionist first. See what can be done about your intake first before you consider surgery? Good luck with whatever you decide.

[Womanvsmirror 314]

Back to basics. Are you tracking your food? What changed? What did you do different before the weight started coming back? What i have noticed in my short time sleeved, is that after the "honeymoon" (which i never had really) you have to do the work. Its almost like the sleeve restricts you long enough for YOU to develop good habits. And then you have to hold onto those habits in order to keep loosing or maintain.

There is a lot missing here. What is your diet? Not just portion size but what are you eating? Are you active? Meeting Water intake? You have not failed, you have that tool for life. I agree that you need to see someone about the reason you have these habits.

[mylighthouse 782]

Yes, we need more info on what you are eating. Are you eating low carb? High Protein? I would go for close to 100 grams a day. And you said you have cut back on portions, which may be good, but as far along post op as you are, you need to make sure you are getting enough calories, or you could keep yourself from being able to lost weight.

I don't think another weight loss surgery is necessary. You already have the tool (your sleeve) and you just need to make the appropriate adjustments to get yourself back on track.

Also, you might want to do a reset and start back at the full liquid phase again for a week or two, followed by pureed, and so forth, just like in the beginning stages of when you first got your sleeve. And also, from everything I've read, you cannot stretch your sleeve.

I think this is just an issue of re-evaluating your habits and getting back on track with the program. If you aren't already using a wonderful tool like myfitnesspal to track carbs, protein, fats and calories, then it's time to start doing that.

Good luck. It's never easy, but you can do it if you want it.

[Greensleevie 451]

As someone who just hit 3 years out, I empathize. It is natural to be able to eat more as the years pass, and to basically eat around the sleeve. I'm at a cup of food capacity now, and am hungry literally minutes after I eat. I, too have some regain, but have kept it to a minimum because I exercise. I'm at the stage where I just have to white knuckle it and use good old fashioned will power. It stinks, lol.

What newer post ops don't understand is that is the natural progression of things for everyone. It's not as easy as getting back to basics and knuckling down. That's why it's better to seek advice from people who have been though it. Most in this forum haven't. Find a Facebook group of vets who regained. They're out there.

The poster above was absolutely right, though when they said you may want to seek help with a therapist to find the reasons why you may want to sabotage yourself from becoming successful with this surgery. Maybe a combo of therapy and pursuing a bypass may be a good option for you? The sleeve isn't for everyone, and sometimes people need the additional help the bypass can offer.

But yes, no revision will work unless you understand that this is a change for the rest of your life, and are willing and able to implement them. Good luck to you! I'm rooting for you!

Edited April 9, 2017 by Greensleevie

[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

@Greensleevie Is right. People newly post-op don't understand life when you are further out. I'm not as far out as either of you but I am almost at 2 years.

I have pretty much figured out a lot of things I can basically eat endless amounts of, so I can't have those things.

I still find that steak and pork chops fill me up and keep me full for a long time, so those are all I eat basically. The amount I can eat in those creeps up, I can eat more if I don't religiously track them.

@Steeks

Going back to liquids at this point is pointless. You are just going to be hungry, starve all day and end up binge eating in the end of the day. It will also just make you feel worse about yourself and your control over food. Try dense Protein, Steak, chicken Breast, Pork chops, eat those, 6 ounces. Don't eat anything else. Report back if that makes you feel full and for how long.

[mushka 1]

It might be dilated sleeve, it can be repaired in no time with your insurance. It doesn't require surgery and it is done the same way as gastroendoscopy is done. It takes them about 40 minutes to do that. Good luck.

[Stephanie 73]

First of all you didn't fail. I'm 5 years out I have gained some too. After the "honeymoon" phase of the diet is over which is usually somewhere between 6 months and a year and not only do your hunger hormones come back fully re-charged but your stomach also relaxes and is larger than before. You also need to know how big or small your Dr originally made your new stomach. Some Drs make them as small as a Bic pen and others make them as big as a large sharpie. My Dr made mine the size of a banana. It took me a long time to lose weight. I still had lots of weight to lose at one year. There is another surgery that includes the sleeve as the first part of the surgery. It is called the DS and sometimes they do it in one long surgery and sometimes they do it in two parts giving you time to lose some weight and evaluate if you want the second half or not. You can look up the specifics of the surgury on line but the bottom line is you didn't fail but rather a combination of issues led you to failure. Click to choose files