Not New..But Just Returning..Please Help?

Hey everyone,

I had the lap band put in place in September of 2010. My starting weight was 315, and I'm 5'7" (can't quite remember my BMI but it was around 46). In June of this year, I was down to 195 and my band slipped. I was devastated, as they had to completely remove the band. 

I worked hard after my band was taken out, because I was terrified of gaining my weight back. I started kickboxing, meal planning, drinking only water. None of this helped, and I unfortunately gained a significant amount of weight in just three months.

I wanted to put the band back in, but my surgeon suggested I look into the sleeve surgery instead. After some research, I decided the sleeve would be a great idea for me. 

I had the sleeve done six days ago, with a starting weight of 246 (I gained almost 50 pounds in 3 months). I am currently down to 231, and hopefully will be continue losing.

My question for you guys: What are some things you found pleasantly surprising about the sleeve that you didn't expect? How long generally did it take to lose the first 50 pounds? Do you gain weight easily? Has the weight been successfully kept off? Also, anything else you'd like to say. I'm all ears, and looking to make friends and build my support system on here. 

Thank you!

Hi there,

I had a lapband too but hated every minute of it.  I never lost more than 50lbs and gained back all of it and then some.  I was sleeved in October 2012 and life has been drastically different.  The first 50lbs came off in about 2-3 months and I've lost a total of 80lbs in a year.  My starting weight was 234, I'm down to 157, and I intend on losing more.

Don't get me wrong, just like with any weight loss surgery, the weight loss slows down once you're about a year out.  That doesn't mean you can't still lose.  Also, just like any WLS type, you can eat around it and gain weight.  The ideal situation is to learn how to eat right, start a work out regime and keep to it, and keep faith.  Sometimes you will plateau or stall, but keep pushing through it. 

The first few months with the sleeve can be deceiving because it seems like you lose weight no matter what you eat but trust me, that runs out quickly.  If you don't make every effort to stick to your guns about a healthy diet and lifestyle, you can and will gain weight.  This happened to me, everything was so easy at first that I loosened up a bit about my diet.  I ended up gaining about 4 pounds over the course of the summer (so three months).  I'm not too upset about it because in the past I would've gained 10-15 pounds a summer, easily!  And with the sleeve, once I go back to basics, the weight comes right off again.  That's something that never happened for me pre-op or with the band. 

The sleeve is great but remember that it is just a tool and you need to work it to be successful! 

Thank you so much! What's offputting is how successful I was with the band. I lost a significant amount of weight in two years (I went from a size 26 pants to a size 10), but once it slipped I lost hope, and faith and everything in between. 

These words of encouragement are definitely appreciated. I look forward to seeing how the sleeve works for me :) I will remember to eat right, as you said, it can be deceiving as it was with the band very often!

I'm glad you had a good experience with the band because it has helped you live a healthy lifestyle.  The sleeve works like a band except that you don't get a "hard stop" feeling like with the band.  So it's easy to overeat but I think you got this down pat! 

Thanks for having faith in me! I hope soooo

Welcome Kris!

If you were that successful with the band, I am sure you can be a success with the sleeve. It is not magic but it is a very effective tool that does not need adjustment. Exercise helps of course, but I wanted to encourage you that it does not need to be extreme. I have lost my weight while in a wheelchair.

all the best, Katy

Thanks for the encouragement! Losing weight while in a wheelchair is extremely impressive, and definitely makes me feel confident that I will be able to have the same success you have had. I appreciate the thoughtful words :) Congratulations and good luck in the future! I am truly amazed at your capability and your motivation.

I love the restriction the sleeve gives us.  It's a clear sign to let us know when to slow down or even stop.  I've never gotten sick with the slimies or the foamies (knock on wood) & can tolerate all foods.  I will admit, when I started to re-introduce sugar back into my diet, I would feel yucky after.  I lost 50 pounds in about 5 months.  You could say I averaged about a 10 pound loss a month but everyone is different.  YES!!!  You can gain weight very easily with the sleeve, especially after a year out.  That is why it's so important for us to change our eating habits for good.  That said, it's a lot easier to get back on track with the sleeve when you need to lose a few pounds but the best thing is to not let the regain get too out of control.  I regret that I didn't just give myself a 5 pound bounce room, I let it get higher than that.  I think we can all be successful with the sleeve but since it is just a tool, we have to stay diligent and do our part too.  The sleeve will help us restrict our quantity of food but we have to control what we put in our mouth.  Carbs & sweet slide down our sleeves very easily.  Lean dense proteins are best to eat first!!!

I was actually really scared during the first few days post-op when I was drinking the one-ounce of water every hour, because it felt weird and it filled me up. I was scared my stomach would always be like that! So at first the restriction freaked me out, but as I'm healing I'm realizing I'm okay lol. I like your emphasis on long-term change in eating habits, because I think a lot of people disregard that with weight loss surgery and use their surgery as a quick fix rather than a long-term commitment. 50 pounds in 5 months is awesome! I hope to have the same success as you! 

Gaining weight back is one of my fears, though it didn't happen to me when I had the band (only once the band was taken out, and they believe it had more to do with hormone imbalance than poor eating habits). I'm glad it's a lot easier to get back on track with the sleeve, I just hope I have the same self-control I had with the band. I lost about 135 pounds with the band over the course of two years, and I hope with the sleeve to lose about 80 more pounds. :)

Welcome. I'm sorry to hear about your band slipping. That must have been so frustrating to you. Sounds like you made a good decision in revising to a sleeve :)

At almost 4 months out, I cannot answer all your questions, like the ones about gaining and maintenance. It took me about 3.5 months to lose 50 pounds including my pre-op diet. Looking at post-op only, I reached 50 pounds lost in about 3.5 months as well.

Things I have found pleasantly surprising...hmm. I read a lot about people not tolerating foods well (anything from steak, to hamburger, to mushrooms to lettuce). While some things are a bit harder to get down than others, I have not had any trouble tolerating anything I've tried (and I've tried all kinds of meats and veggies). (The exception to this is that my lactose intolerance got worse after surgery and Lactaid pills no longer work for me)

Also, I was pleased to find that I did not lose much of my muscle strength and endurance after recovery from surgery. Now, my muscle strength and endurance was pretty bad to start with, so that isn't saying much :) But for the first week after surgery I had trouble with getting out of breath extremely easily, so I was glad that that went away and my muscles didn't turn into a pile of goo.

Also, I have found that I can drink liquids pretty quickly now. Nothing like those tiny sips I had to take for awhile. I can take a few regular sized swallows, wait for it to pass through, then take a few more drinks.