Gastric sleeve results

I'm going to be completely honest with you and I am probably the only person who will have anything negative to say.

I had the sleeve in May 2009. I did not lose my hunger. And in the beginning, I could barely eat anything. I became iron deficient, B12 deficient, and magnesium deficient. The dietitian at the surgeon's office said after a couple months, I didn't need supplements because "only a portion of the stomach was removed and it still works normally." Well, for me, it doesn't. I went from being someone who never really had to take antacids to someone who is dependent (and still is) on proton-pump inhibitors to suppress the acid production in my sleeve.

It is no secret that I did not use the sleeve properly. I wasn't ready. And at the time, I thought I was. If I could do it again, I would not have done it. Now there are whole programs devoted to surgery readiness. I paid cash and still didn't make it work for me.

My results are: My highest weight was 380. I had surgery somewhere around 330. I got down to 250 and couldn't get lower. I felt hungry all the time. Like my body was starving or something. I can't really explain it. I was so tired and felt so awful immediately after surgery. I have since had another baby and got back up to 305 or so. I'm on my way back down.

The sleeve works well for many people. If I had known then what I know now, I would have just kept trying on my own. But for every one of me, there are 99 others who are very happy with their decision. I just want people to know that it's not all rainbows and puppies after the surgery.

Good luck!

I updated my profile pic to a before and after pic. :-)

I had gastric sleeve on 7/9/13 and I've lost 62 pounds so far. 20 to go. Not sure if I can add a photo here from my iPad or not. I am very happy with my decision. Let me know if you have specific questions. :-)