I came back slightly anemic and there was absolutely no reason for it that Dr. O'Brien could see. On a hunch of experience she ordered the copper test and lo and behold that was the reason I was slightly anemic. She put me on 2 mg copper per day for 3 months and retested me. My anemia was resolved, but my copper level was still not quite where it needed to be, so now I take 2 mg and 4 mg per day alternately to get the levels just right. I have to go in for a retest sometime before this month is over!

Your message is loud and clear and gets a hearty, "Amen, Sister!" from me.

You are so right about the sleeve not being magic. It's not. It always boils down to what we throw down our gullets, not the receptor! I'm a year and a half out and I KNOW I could eat all kinds of crap, if I let myself. I have yet to have a piece of pizza or a sandwich or any pasta. I still don't eat bread regularly (unless at a restaurant and then only the really good stuff - most of the time I'll skip it) and don't miss it. These are the kinds of foods that played a big role in getting me to FAT, so I stay away from them. So far so good for me. I hope that as long as I stay sort of neurotic about my food (some say vigilant, or OCD, or anal.... those all describe me, too!)I'll be okay.

As for vitamins, I'm on board with you. I do believe there is malabsorption with the VSG. It may not be nearly as profound as with the RNY or DS, but we have had part of our digestive tract removed. We have to supplement with B12 because we don't make enough intrinsic factor to absorb it via the stomach any more. I also ended up with a copper deficiency within a year of VSG. Huh???? Like who knew about that, right? So now I take copper every single day. I am absolutely diligent about my vites. I do take more vites than I am required to by my doc, but I'm absolutely regimented about what I have to take and when.

Glad you are successful once again with your DS. That was a huge step for you to take and I bet you are awfully happy you did it! Congrats and thanks for the great post!

I've tried compression garments. They work pretty well, but they do feel weird. I am thinking I may start using one with some regularity, too, because I'm starting to have loose skin issues  - very minor but enough to bug me.

Spanx are expensive compared to Under Armour. Under Armour is half the price and works equally as well, and it's made in the USA. Just sayin'......

Sorry you're having such a hard time right now. It does get better, honestly. Some folks recover much more rapidly than others. I think it's very individual. (As a comparison, my gall bladder surgery was far worse than VSG - go figure! The gall bladder surgery had me down for a few weeks. VSG maybe a week and I was good to go.)

Anyway, do know it gets better and better. Soon this part will be a faded memory!

Hey, First things first! Good for you for posting and getting back into the game! Yours is a good question and one I'm sure a lot of people want the answer to.

So, here's mine: a sleeve revision is very dangerous from what I understand. The staples left in your stomach present a huge obstacle for a revision to a smaller sleeve without causing a leak or other major complication. A sleeve can be made tighter via a plication (sewing the sleeve tighter) by experienced surgeons. A less experience surgeon, I think, might encourage you to convert to a bypass. You will have to consult several surgeons to find out what your options are.

Now, that said.....

You are only a month behind me on VSG date. I was sleeved in December of 2011. You were a month later. My restriction is still very good, but I sure do know how to eat around my sleeve and get all sorts of crap food down my gullet! So my big question for you is this: Are you absolutely certain you have ruined your sleeve? Or is it that you can eat tons and tons of crap food?

See, I can eat carbs until there's no tomorrow. I could easily eat cookie after cookie. I can eat chip after chip. I can eat popcorn by the handful, I'm sure. I have never tested my limits with these items, but I know without a doubt that I have little to no restriction with these types of foods. They also trigger me in a way that only one of us can really understand. Thank goodness I have not had pizza or pasta since August 2011 because I'm sure I could pack that crap in, too!

So, are you willing to start eating a VSG friendly diet? If so, you can still lose weight. No problems there. It won't come off like when you were first sleeved and only eating 400-500 calories a day. You're not there anymore, so the weight loss won't be either. But you could easily continue to lose 2 pounds per week, IF you eat according to plan and are willing to commit to changing how you eat.

There is no reason to be ashamed. We all are here because we have issues with food. In that you are not alone. We all get it. Me, I'd look into getting some therapy to deal with what is triggering you to eat "out of control" like you said. And, yes, I'd wait on the plastic surgery for now. I think you have more important things to deal with and why not wait until you've lost all the weight you want? You look all that much better for waiting!

You can do this. Good luck. Let us know how you're doing.

First, I'm proud of you for disagreeing and you bet, you can beat his odds. No question there!

Hmmm..... I'd still be obese/overweight, if his theory held true. Somehow, his news never got to me. I guess I messed up. I lost all my extra weight. I should have paid better attention. LOL!

Seriously, my surgeon never gave me a goal weight, but instead encouraged me to lose as much as possible and get as healthy as possible and gave me the tools with which to do it. He didn't want me hung up by a number. He said the number would come later, and it did. I picked it and it was the RIGHT number and weight for me.

I think crappy food plans and a lack of understanding on how a bariatric patients needs to eat are the main reasons that most WLS patients don't get to goal. I read of people eating some pretty outlandish things early out and those foods are actually one their food plans, so it's not as if they are eating off plan. I think it's sad that there are plans out there that actually set it up so that patients only lose 50-60% of their extra weight.

Having been at goal for almost a year now, I have some thoughts on this set point thing. I don't really buy it anymore, but what I do buy is that it takes far fewer calories to maintain a lower weight than it did my obese weight - even with all the exercise I do. I think that is what many, many people just don't really grasp once they hit maintenance. I know I did not at first. It took me some time to really get that fact to sink in. Those for whom this never sinks in, I think, are bound to gain some weight or maybe not even ever get to goal. Thus, they start gaining weight and go back to that imagined "set point". I think it's because those people are eating too much all over again and their caloric intake is just too damn high to maintain their current body weight.

For me, this is very true. If I begin to eat off plan and allow treats and carbs back in I am suddenly a few pounds higher by the end of the week and then I have to detox, decarb, and lose the weight all over again. I decided I just didn't like this ritual and that it wasn't worth it to me, so I've made some changes in my eating and lo and behold my weight is stable.

Go figure. Eat like we're supposed to, get regular exercise and the weight stays stable within a two or three pound range. That I can live with!

Man you must have used a lot of high quality TP!

That is one method used to figure out calories to MAINTAIN current weight. My doc likes to use the X10 method.

My work is very much the same - a crap food trap!

I have made a contract with myself to not eat any food that can be construed as a "baked good" until after June 10th. That gets me to summer vacation when the food temptations will be much less. I have told my partner, friends on OH, my dad and brother, and two of my best supports at school (work). This strategy is making  it very much easier for me to hold to my contract and stay away from those triggering carbs.

Just a thought for you, if you think it might help.

Wow. I did not know this was possible. I have heard of VSG to RNY or VSG to DS, but never RNY to VSG. Hmm....Learn something new everyday.

I wish her the best of luck. Sounds like a tricky surgery, indeed.

You should just talk for me!

And it just gets better and better! Wait and see!!!!!!