GASTRIC SLEEVE FAILURE!

Emu33, I really feel for you having put on weight after the sleeve.... I really hope you sorted out why and are now enjoying a better outcome. Please come back and tell us how you're going?? We all care and like to hear that even if there are difficulties, its all good in the end.

J:)

I'm glad you went back, Lisa. Sometimes things look better even just from getting them out there and discussing your problems with someone (and of course Ian is a lovely man to chat with). Are you looking into getting your knees done? If you don't want to go to a public pool, maybe you could have a chat with your GP and see if there's a rehab. pool in your area that you could use?
Funny about the reception staff at Ian's - I've really liked both of them and they've absolutely bent over backwards for me when I've needed something. The older woman has a brilliant sense of humour!

Hi Lisa,

Check out your local gym or YMCA. A lot will have hydro pools, a super warm pool that eases pain and allows you to exercise.Just after surgery, I just walked laps in my local. My YMCA also holds water aerobic classes a few times a week in theirs. I know they are 'catered' towards seniors, but I've been and the age ranges astound you!

Good luck!

Oh Lisa, I'm so glad to hear that you went back to the doc, and that you're now feeling a bit better about the whole thing.
Bum knees are a bugger, aren't they? You don't realise how much things like that impact on you until you can't use them (except for the pain, of course, which you really know about!) ifywim
So have you booked in for surgery, or is that not an option just yet?
I know that a lot of the community centres etc offer exercise classes for people who don't have a lot of movement (generally for older people, but who cares?). They are often ones that you can do while sitting, so that might be a good place for you to start. You might be able to find some of those on the net, if you don't like the idea of a class.
PM me if you want to talk...
Great big hugs
Chris

Oh good on you for braving it, I am so glad he was nice. Is your dietician Sarah? I really like her. The reception staff.. eh, they are okay but I always felt made out like doing their job was a real effort! One of them was telling me the week before my op that I would have to cancel as Ian wouldn't operate since I was flying overseas a few weeks later... when I spoke to him, he didn't say anything like that, I guess it was just her opinion!

So what about swimming scares you? What about aqua aerobics? Sounds old fashioned but it actually is a decent workout and hardly any impact. You can do weight training too - building muscle = increased metabolic rate so you burn off more cals at rest.

Hi Everyone,
Well I went and saw Ian (my surgeon) and your right Emily he didnt say "told you so". He was great as usual and not overly concerned yet as I took in my food diary and saw the dietitian as well and my problem is not what I eat or dont eat (dont need extra protein though, so have to cut out opti shakes as too much protein can cause you to bulk up), my problem is simply lack of exercise.
Which is quite a big problem for me at the moment as my right knee is totally bone on bone and very arthritic (need knee replacement asap) and my left knee is not much better so cant do any weight bearing exercises, so even the Dr and dietitian couldnt come up with any ideas other than swimming which just the thought of sends me into a panic. I have borrowed my mums swing walker thingy where you glide your legs from the hips so dont bend knees so I will give that a go and I see Ian again in March or before if I need to, and we will discuss my options then.
Overall I feel a little better about myself, and no longer feel a complete failure, there is a little tiny light at the end of a very long tunnel......
(Emily I am glad I am not alone in finding his reception staff "snarky")
Lisab

I see my surgeon later today over much the same. Had 45kg to loose, lost 30 and stalled. Regain of 4-5kg since. I am 18 months post op.

You are not alone and there will be more and more as time passes. My sleeve worked. I wore I size 22 and now wear a 12/14. It did its job. Sadly that was not enough to move my BMI from Obese to Normal.

The best thing you did is post. The worst thing you can do is give up. I am trying everything to solve why I am hungry all the time. My answer is somewhere from diet to exercise to reflux.

Go call the surgeons office and talk. The worst that can happen is you dont find your answers there.

Lisa, knowing Ian I don't think he will say "I told you so" at all - his recommendations are based on what he has read in the literature and what he's seen in his patients, so I'm sure he just recommends what he honestly feels is best. I know he leaned towards bypass as he told me they just don't have the longterm data about VSG yet - I agree, but I thought it was a risk worth taking as I still had the DS available if needed.

Honestly, I only found Ian to be sincere and kind (although reception staff could be snarky...) and I would urge you to just go and talk to him.

I don't think you're any kind of failure though - if we could do this alone, none of us would be here.

Are you still seeing your dietician?

No worries, Lisa. Good luck at the doc's, and make sure you tell him what you're eating and ask all the questions you have, too. Regardless of his suggestion, you went with what you thought was best for you, and have a right to all the medical follow up.
Let us know how you go.
Big hugs
Chris

Good luck Lisa!

Thanks Apple and Chris,
You have both made me feel a little less down on myself, it is hard to keep positive when I have been on this WLS roller coaster for almost 8 yrs now, I had hoped that the sleeve would be my last surgery but I will give myself another year (couldnt handle surgery now anyway, plus they wouldnt risk it with my blood pressure so bad at the moment) then I will look at the bypass.
Thanks for offering to come with me to the surgeons Chris but I'll be fine I just know that he is going to say "I told you so!" because he did tell me that the band had wrecked my metabolism and that I should get a bypass! I'll just swallow my pride and tell him he was right! He'll like that!!! lol
I am going to go back on the optifast for the next 2 weeks before I see the Dr and see if I can get the weight back under the 100kg again ...
Thanks again lovely ladies :)

Lisab

liseb a tiny 1 to 2% of people may require going onto a DS. Something like 99% of those who do are ones who either started at a very high weight or have had failed lapbands. the reason for this is the damage done by bother tings to their metebolic rate. Some recover and go on to lose but a number will only achive a weight loss to just below about 100kg and nothing much more will help. Honestly you had a more than 99% chance of the sleeve working. You had a 40 to 60% chance of a RNY bypass failing if you had gone down that road and NO where you could have gone after. As sad as this is you do have the choice to go onto a DS bypass if nothing happens in the next 12 months.
The sleeve itself works, it does its job it reduces the volume of food one can eat to approx 250ml. the sleeve is not designed for and never will be able to fix a shocking metebolisim.
I being once around 200kg have one of those metebolisims and do not lose an ounce at anything more than 600 calories a day. I have choose to accept the sleeve did its job stopped be gaining another 20kg a year the rate I was going and I was not a huge eater. I have choosen to accept the weight I have achived and just love being so much healther than I was. I have many chronic health issues and if they prove to be more difficult down the line and I need to take off more weight for them then I will consider the DS, but not for now. I do tho like having the option there. I in no way consider myself a failure and certainly not the sleeve as it is perferming exactly as advertised and "sold" to me.

Seriously yes your band was a failure it did not do its job, seriously you are NOT a failure, and to be honest your sleeve if you can only get in approx 250ml is not a failure. Your metabolisam is just out and out being a mean rotton sod to you.

applesauce

So sorry to hear that, Lisa.
Listen, go and see your doc, with a sample list of what you're eating. There may be a good reason for the problems you're having, and it might even be easily solvable. But you won't know unless you brave the doc. Do you need someone to go with you?
I could potentially do that - if it fits around my own never-ending appointments and I can get public transport there (won't be driving for a while yet). I'd be happy to go, if you want me to.
Big hugs
Chris

Yes I'm a double failure,
First I failed with the band and now I've failed with the sleeve!
I know that the problem is that I dont (cant) eat enough protein (in my diary I have listed what I eat in a day)so I realise that is why I am not losing weight but what I dont get is why, when I am eating less than a third of what I ate when I had the band out, am I putting weight on quicker than ever before? I cant help feeling like a failure especially as my Dr recommended that I have the Bypass
and I insisted on having the sleeve done so I am embarrassed to go and see him and have canceled the last 2 appointments but I have to go see him in November as all my health problems are returning (blood pressure through the roof, and diabetes is back ).
Sorry to whinge and I do know that the sleeve is just a tool but I am just sooo tired of thinking about my weight and letting it rule my life....

Lisab

I think this is a great thread, and anyone else who feels like they have failed should contribute. This site is a very positive one, however there are definitely people here who think that the sleeve has failed them too.
And I don't think that the rest of us need to assume that the problem is theirs - it could be, but equally, it could be that there are things happening that we just don't know about.
Great bigs to everyone who's having problems with their sleeve - and I'd like to think that this is a safe place for you to talk about it.

are u still on here i would love to talk to u and see wot happened?

I was out the door to my walk but should have added that a 5kg regain is considered very normal after the sleeve. Regains of more than this can happen. the most common causes for this are those who had VERY tiny sleeves to start with and got stuck that way for an extended period of time then when the sleeve finally settles to the 250ml which is normal the body goes oh my gawd I am not starving any more and gains pretty easily after living on such tiny amounts for extended periods. Bad habbits returning which is we stop behaving ourselves and those things that take up no room like potato chips and chocolate sneak back into our diet in larger and larger amounts. Remember your sleeve can hold a 250gram packet of chips or a family block 250grams of chocolate. As time goes on our tummies heal and we do not keep that constant full feeling so if we allow ourselves we eat between meals. Nobody is perfect but it can get out of hand. Finally and something I have heard about but in all my years researching the sleeve not seen is a surgery gone wrong that didnt show up until late, as in it stretched. 99% of sleeves done wrong show up VERY early out you know something is wrong when you can just eat to much. It means the surgery was not done right and has failed. Things going wrong later on can mean a fold was there and it unfolded over time allowing for a larger stomach. Again I have heard of this especially when band to sleeve surgery is done in one go. But I am yet to actually speak to anybody who this has happened to.

Everybody who has regained and talked about it has fallen into the tiny 100ml extended time tummy on occassion and for just about all the bad snacking habbits.

The good news is there are lots of easy to do things to break those bad habbits if that is the case and losing a few kg is not hard with the sleeve.

applesauce

applesauce wrote:

You need to work out if it is the size of the sleeve that is the problem or what and how often you are eating is the problem. The sleeve ONLY works to limit the amount of food you can eat at ONE sitting to about 250ml. How often you choose to fill that up and with what is up to you.

So lets work out the problem and see if we can work out how to make it work for you.
First thing is we need a 100% honest food intake for a few days, the VOLUMES of ever single thing you are eating are very important in that food intake to work out if it is a volume problem or a snacking problem.

applesauce

Brilliantly perfect reply!

(just had to say that)

You need to work out if it is the size of the sleeve that is the problem or what and how often you are eating is the problem. The sleeve ONLY works to limit the amount of food you can eat at ONE sitting to about 250ml. How often you choose to fill that up and with what is up to you.

So lets work out the problem and see if we can work out how to make it work for you.
First thing is we need a 100% honest food intake for a few days, the VOLUMES of ever single thing you are eating are very important in that food intake to work out if it is a volume problem or a snacking problem.

applesauce

Perhaps try another surgeon? They may be able to shed some light.

I was sleeved back in August '09 and just five months after the op I noticed that I could consume larger quantities therefore stopping any weightloss. I am now nearly a year after the op and have put on 6 kilos of the 30 kilos that I lost :( I don't know what to do now, as I am back to square one and going downhill fast.

Can't go back to my surgeon as he has no bedside manner and if you ask a question he just grunts instead of answering.

Any suggestions?

Emma