Should I get gastric sleeve?
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The risks are pretty high with the surgery. It's just not worth it. My best friend had it done on August 17th. Seven days later she was in the icu with a blood clot from her ankle to her groin, and a pulmonary embolism. She spent 2 weeks in icu, and now she is meeting with specialists at UofM who are going to try and save her leg. If they cannot fix the massive 2 foot clot, she is going to have her leg amputated. She was a perfectly healthy 35 year old that needed to lose 100lb. No high bp, no other comorbid conditions. Now, she may be a skinny 35 year old woman with 4 children and no leg.....hmmmm.I had sleeve surgery and regret my decision. I had it done about 3 years ago and only lost about 50ish pounds. Of course others have success and I'm definitely not the poster child for the surgery but I did hit 50% of the excess weight loss. I don't like the long staple line and having these metal staples in me for the rest of my life. I had a horrible acid reflux episode a couple of nights ago while sleeping. Woke up with a choking feeling and coughed up acid into my mouth, nose, and inhaled it into my lungs. The next day it hurt to take a deep breath. Just be prepared to not be able to eat right before going to bed. I still have restriction this far out and can only eat about 2 chicken wings in one sitting or maybe 1 and a half drumsticks or 5oz of steak. The good thing is no malabsorption so that's a plus but since you wont have malabsorption everything you eat will still be absorbed. It's a restriction only surgery. If you can get portion control down without the surgery, then please do not get this surgery.
I now eat 1700 cals on non workout days and 2000 cals on workout days and am losing weight. I had to do a metabolism reset a couple of weeks ago because I wasn't losing weight at 1200 cals. Now I'm much happier and wished that I would of taken the time to learn my body back before I thought of the surgery as a solution. The surgeon putting me on a 800 calorie diet right after surgery made sense when I was first out of surgery but eventually you do get hungry and you find that the 800 cals doesn't work and you're just miserable. Screw that! Also the surgeons diet caused me to lose a crap ton of muscle. My thighs felt like mush. Sorry for giving you my whole life story but looking back I probably wasn't a good candidate for the surgery. I don't want to discourage you though but I honestly wish I would of given MFP a fair shot. Good Luck with whatever you decide.
OMG.....I am just so sorry for your friend @vlovell24 and for you "NotGnarly;33987187".....these real life experiences are just appalling and I am grateful that I NEVER to up the 'offer' to go through with WLS.
NotGnarly you are doing fabulously on your own and I really hope that with more time and continued weight loss your health improves.
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I can't answer that. I think you should track your food with a scale for a couple months and make an appointment to go see your doctor. Not a weight loss clinic. Your doctor. Discuss why you aren't losing and what can be done about it. Take a printout of your food log along.0
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Ultimately, only you and your doctors can really say if weight loss surgery is really right for you. Even getting the sleeve is still surgery with all the inherent risks of surgery.
I am not diametrically opposed to surgery, however, I believe that is should be done in conjunction with a nutritionist and therapy support as the reason most of us are over weight has more to the base then just simple over eating. For many it's a coping mechanism, so you'll have to learn entirely new strategies if this is true for you.
Like all tools, it can be useful. But the thing is, you have to use it correctly. And its definitely not a magic bullet. Good luck!
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Only if the doctor tells you that you have to in order to stay alive. Gastric sleeves are no different than tummy tucks, or anything else. They are artificial attempts to correct real issues. The answer is in two words: LIFESTYLE CHANGE. Yes, I know that some have it harder than others, but without the lifestyle change there are too many people who have had expensive and evasive surgeries that are right back to where they started. Give this a chance. A true, real, long-haul chance where you log EVERYTHING (yes, including all the condiments, butter, etc that people put on their food). I wouldn't even worry so much about "eating clean." It is calories in, calories out. The bank doesn't care about how clean or new your money is, do they? No. They care that you invest more money than you spend. Same with calories. Your daily activity and exercise deposits calories into your daily bank so that you can spend them on food. As for water, drink copious amounts. It is your friend and replaces hunger. You will see the results if you are honest about what you do on here.0
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First of all, I think you need to calculate the correct amount of calories you should be eating. Once you've done that, stick to those calories. Weigh every thing you eat for accuracy and do this for a month. You'll surprise yourself - you WILL lose weight. Exercise isn't even particularly necessary - it's that calorie deficit.
Gastric Sleeves, in my opinion - are a very aggressive way to lose unwanted pounds. If you are medically advised, then by all means proceed but you just need to be a lot more mindful of your calories and your portion control. I really think this is the issue. Also, you claim to have lost weight in the past and gained it straight back which suggests you were doing something totally unobtainable for you and your lifestyle. It doesn't HAVE to be complicated and impossible. Yes you need to work at this but you CAN do it.
A gastric sleeve isn't a magic wand. It won't suddenly erase your food issues. You can just as easily put weight back on with this too. So you really need to get educated about the process and give yourself some time to realy make a go of this. You can do it, I promise
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cupcakecomatose wrote: »
Yes I'm eating about 1,500 calories a dayLiftng4Lis wrote: »Are you eating at a deficit?
You probably are eating more than that. Like most of us you are probably underestimating what you are eating and overestimating what you are exercising. You can eat your way around the sleeve too. Get realistic about your logging. Make a solid eating plan and stick to it. You are not dieting.You are changing your lifestyle permanently.0 -
The risks are pretty high with the surgery. It's just not worth it. My best friend had it done on August 17th. Seven days later she was in the icu with a blood clot from her ankle to her groin, and a pulmonary embolism. She spent 2 weeks in icu, and now she is meeting with specialists at UofM who are going to try and save her leg. If they cannot fix the massive 2 foot clot, she is going to have her leg amputated. She was a perfectly healthy 35 year old that needed to lose 100lb. No high bp, no other comorbid conditions. Now, she may be a skinny 35 year old woman with 4 children and no leg.....hmmmm.
Losing a leg will get her much closer to goal. But I'm guessing that wasn't the plan.0 -
In summary the answer for me was not just no but HELL NO.
Your answer may vary.0 -
Ask your doctor.0
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It really hit home when my bf got the clots. At first I didn't realize how serious it was. They dissolved the clots in her other leg, and stopped one of them that had broken loose. They were able to get the large one down to 2 foot in length, rather than the entire leg, but, it doesn't matter. If the vascular surgeons cannot do something, then her leg will be taken. Then, to make it worse, she was on massive doses of heparin and Coumadin to thin her blood. Of course, there was a very real risk of her sleeve bleeding from the inside due to the medications. It was enough to keep her in critical care for 2 weeks before she was moved to the floor. It is NOT worth it. I get it, your overweight; but are you healthy? I had 90lb to lose, and I have already kicked 50lb just by using mfp and eating right. I feel guilty sometimes because I did it this way, and she went the other route...and now her life is so messed up. We have been best friends since 5th grade, and I cannot even imagine her being gone. Especially over something as stupid as a gastric sleeve. If you are going to get it done, at least see a hematology doctor, and have a full clotting factor panel done. This will tell you if you have a genetic mutation that predisposes you to clots. It is very common.0
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cupcakecomatose wrote: »this is something I've been debating with myself for a while...
I've been struggling with my weight my entire life. The last time I was at a normal weight was when I was 5.
I've started a lifestyle change and I've been eating clean and exercising regularly for about a year and I'm very comfortable with it, but I'm not losing any weight. I lost 10 lbs, and then that's it. Once a couple years ago I lost 30lbs, but gained it all IMMEDIATELY back!!
I'd say no to the surgery. To me that is something I would only do in very dire health circumstances and would have many conversations with a doctor about it.
10 lbs is progress.
You don't have to eat clean to lose weight. You can eat that way if you want but losing weight is all down to calories not the type of food. You just need to eat fewer calories than you burn. You are capable of losing weight based on your past. If you aren't losing weight now then you are eating more calories than you burn.
I would give MFP a solid try for a year before talking to a doctor about surgery.
Give MFP your stats. Set a reasonable weight loss goal and being patient. If you have more than 50 lbs to lose than 2 lbs a week might be okay for you but 1 lb a week is good too. If you aren't losing weight after several weeks check your logging for inaccuracies, check your calorie goal to make sure it is right, or check that you are not overestimating how many calories you burn.
Weigh and measure what you consume and log everything as accurately as you can. Eat a portion of the calories you earn from exercise. Try to eat in a way that you can for the rest of your life.
I find planning meals and pre-logging my day to be helpful.0 -
The gastric sleeve is not a miracle solution. If you don't change your diet afterwards, you will gain the weight back too... and you'll have wasted money on surgery... plus all the risks... not worth it at all.
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Agreed with all the posters encouraging you to speak to your doctor instead of going by Internet opinions.
I will point out that even the show My 600 Lb Life, which tends to "pimp" gastric bypass, also cites the fact that only 5% of patients see long term success. Additionally, one of the things they highlight is that many responsible doctors will make you lose weight before you ever go under - just to prove you know how to do it and are committed. (So losing is something you need to learn how to do, regardless of your decision.)
It's another tool in the shed, essentially. If you have a healthy and clear perspective on what the surgery can and cannot do (via the discussion with your doctor), then more power to you. Just be sure to educate yourself.0 -
The risks are pretty high with the surgery. It's just not worth it. My best friend had it done on August 17th. Seven days later she was in the icu with a blood clot from her ankle to her groin, and a pulmonary embolism. She spent 2 weeks in icu, and now she is meeting with specialists at UofM who are going to try and save her leg. If they cannot fix the massive 2 foot clot, she is going to have her leg amputated. She was a perfectly healthy 35 year old that needed to lose 100lb. No high bp, no other comorbid conditions. Now, she may be a skinny 35 year old woman with 4 children and no leg.....hmmmm.
Wow that is so sad. I hope she doesn't have to get to that.
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The gastric sleeve is not a miracle solution. If you don't change your diet afterwards, you will gain the weight back too... and you'll have wasted money on surgery... plus all the risks... not worth it at all.
Yep.
I know four people who've had it done. All viewed it as 'the easier way' rather than alter their diet. I'll qualify this by saying that three of the four went to Mexico to have it done, so take that for what it's worth.
One landed in the hospital with multiple organ failures (they think it was caused by sepsis, but it's a chicken and egg problem). Interestingly, this one is the one that had his surgery in the US. He was lucky to survive and come out the other side OK - at one point, they were discussing the likelihood of needing to do a transplant. The rest had no complications.
Of the four, all dropped a bunch of weight initially on the liquid diets. All kept losing slowly for about 8-12 months. Then they must have gone back to more normal eating habits, because all gained at least 75% of it back.
One of the four who used to be an athlete decided that enough was enough and went back to the diet and exercise he'd refused to do before. He lost all the weight and is in great shape. It's just a shame that he put himself through surgery instead of just doing that from the get-go.0 -
ManiacalLaugh wrote: »Agreed with all the posters encouraging you to speak to your doctor instead of going by Internet opinions.
I will point out that even the show My 600 Lb Life, which tends to "pimp" gastric bypass, also cites the fact that only 5% of patients see long term success. Additionally, one of the things they highlight is that many responsible doctors will make you lose weight before you ever go under - just to prove you know how to do it and are committed. (So losing is something you need to learn how to do, regardless of your decision.)
It's another tool in the shed, essentially. If you have a healthy and clear perspective on what the surgery can and cannot do (via the discussion with your doctor), then more power to you. Just be sure to educate yourself.
Once someone gets to point of the people on My 600 Lb Life, I think WLS is a good solution. It has a built in system of structure, accountability and incentive that has the potential to replace the current system of massive overconsumption and enabling by family members.- Want to get the surgery? Lose X pounds first.
- Follow up. Pointing out that according to the scale, patient is not following the diet.
- More follow up.
- Want skin surgery to remove loose skin and/or lymphedema? Lose X pounds first.
- Follow up.
- More follow up.
I can't tell what the OP's starting weight is, as there is a flower over it, but it looks like 260 or 280 pounds, and for this amount, I think the "pain" of devising her own system of structure and accountability outweighs the risks and complications of surgery. Some people find Weight Watchers good for accountability.0 -
I would agree if the risks were minor, but there is no way that the pain of accountability could be worse than ohhhh....death. Not a die in your sleep death, but a holy cow my sleeve staples opened and I died a horrible and painful death from sepsis; Or the myriad of other awful complications.0
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My usual response unless someone's weight is actively and currently causing them serious and permanent health problems that are so severe that they warrant a surgery that can have dramatic and devastating complications...then, no.
I do understand, I do....that weight loss can seem overwhelming. It can seem like a mountain that you just aren't able to climb, however...and I mean this...if I can do this, so can anyone else. I am no one and nothing special. You just have to do it though. I'd talk to your doctor about more support. I'd get a dietitian. I'd talk about a referral to a support group. I'd be asking for anything and everything before I even considered going under the knife.
All of this.
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I say no. The problem will still be there and you will eventually gain it back. Ask my sister. I guess it was important to her to be "thin" for one year and not change her bad habits than it was to be healthy for life. I'm not shaming; just stating what I saw and still see.0
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