Not All Sleeves Are Created Equal

My friend and I had the same surgery on the same day with the same surgeon and our experiences have been completely different.  First of all we are different women.  I am a smaller person than she is overall (excess weight aside) and had 85 lbs to lose while she is taller and larger and had 200 lbs to lose.  Right from the start I followed the plan we were given to the letter never pushing the envelope "just to see" if my sleeve could handle it.  My sleeve is a little particular even if I wanted to experiment, which I don't.  My friend could and did include foods not on plan early on and can and does eat beyond our calorie limit often.  I have to work at getting my 800 calories in every day as my sleeve can only handle very small amounts of dense protein and even at that I'm still limited or else my sleeve feels uncomfortable.  So I take my time and add new foods as I can tolerate.  My friend has been able to tolerate almost anything she wants to eat from the beginning.  I can eat 2 oz of dense protein and she can eat 6 oz of the same food.

Our weight loss has also been very different.  She had a big drop pre-op and during the first 2 weeks post-op but since then has had a very slow weight loss with only a couple pounds lost in the last 4 weeks.  My weight loss has been more consistent. 

I find this very interesting and wonder if the surgeon custom sizes sleeves for different sizes of people?  Does anyone know anything about this?  How is it possible that I have significant restriction and she seems to have very little?

Although I am not responsible for my friend, I care about her very much and am a little worried that she is heading for frustration if she continues to push the limits.  Maybe I'm wrong though and, even though our experiences are different, there is more than one way to success and she will be just fine.

I know that others will disagree, but I think success has very little to do with how large your stomach is, and almost everything to do with how well you stick to your plan. I can eat 8 ounces of steak at a meal, but have lost almost 300 pounds, and have been maintaining well below my goal weight for over a year. Because I stick to my plan.

Give yourself most of the credit. I would bet you any amount of money that you could eat enough in the course of a day to gain weight right now if you went off the rails. Your friend has wandered wayy off her plan. No one --NO ONE-- does poorly because they eat 6 ounces of healthy food for their meals. They do poorly because they eat between meals and make poor choices when the do eat.

Your stomach will get less sensitive as time goes on. You will be able to eat more, and more different things. You will succeed because you will stick to your plan, not because of a tiny stomach.

Far be it from me to disagree with a guy who's lost almost 300 lbs!  You should likely know a thing or two by now I'd say.  Thanks for your response.  

I'm glad you posted this!  I was thinking the original post sounds more like "not all people are created equal" more than it being the sleeve. 

I totally agree, Grim. I can also eat a ton and probably more than all my other RNY friends but I choose not to. I am also determined to keep off my weight.

Personal responsibility is key.

Wow I also have a friend who had surgery 1 wk ahead of me and my #1 mistake was to always compare surgeries which we shouldn't do. Trust me, it messed with my mind. She healed faster, was eating a lot more, wasn't keeping a journal, not following the plan, not losing as much, etc. I wondered the same thing... is her stomach bigger? How come I can't eat as much as her? But then I saw her eating a donut 5wks post op and I realized it's exactly what Grim_Traveller says: it doesn't matter what size your stomach is it's what you decide to put in it. I honestly thought my friend and me were going to be a great support system for each other after surgery but we're on different plans as far as weight loss.  I have to worryabout me for now. I really want to be successful so I'm sticking to my NUT's plan. 

I have to agree wholeheartedly with Grim Traveler too. Success comes not from what we can do but from what we choose to do. I have no idea how much I could eat because I never eat more than one cup of food in a meal. I measure and eat what is there and sometimes not even all of that. Its all about our choices and its our responsibility to make good ones if we want to loose the weight and keep it off.

Yes -- it isn't the sleeve as much as what we eat. 

I do completely think that taller people have longer stomachs, so we can fit more in, but that doesn't really matter!  If we eat dense protein, we get filled up fast.  If we eat sliders we can sabotage ourselves.  

Congrats on your success!

She very likely is eating a lot of slider food. If she were to stick to protein first, then small amounts of veggie and no drinking 30 minutes after I think she would be surprised after a few days of how much restriction she has. I am 6'2'' and I can absolutely out eat many sleevers, but my restriction is great assuming I do not persistently eat slider foods. IMHO if she continues this path, she will see relatively minimal loss and at high risk for regain. Get her on th boards here if you can, go to support group with her... if she goe much longer like this she will begin to be at risk for feeling like she has failed and that will make it even harder. 

I will respectfully disagree with the idea that sleeve capacity is a non issue.  From my personal experience, observation and (what to me is) common sense, I believe that weight loss and maintenance is comprised of a number of factors that work synergistically.  For me, those factors are 1) the eating program of your surgeon, 2) your compliance,  and 3) the capacity of your sleeve.  These three things work like the legs of a stool, without anyone of them, the program eventually falls apart.  If capacity truly did not matter, than we would not need the surgery in the first place.  Most of us find it difficult to continue to stay as strict as we were early out over a long period of time, it is then that the sleeve capacity really becomes an issue.  On the other hand, eating high calorie and high carb foods even in small amounts many times a day can defeat even a smaller sleeve.  I think that this is a hard journey and that we can all use the most help we can get, especially in the long term.  Others can disagree and choose a different route, I personally am really  happy to have a smaller sleeve and there are many occasions when its capacity serves as my safety net.  I wish I was perfect in my discipline but then I would have never needed this surgery in the first place.