More2Adore's Updates

You're doing great! though actually, a bmi of 30 is low for bariatric surgery. The usual minimum is 35 with a serious comorbidity, or 40 without comorbidities, though there are some people with lower bmi who self pay (you can get almost anything with self pay if you shop around). But you have still lost a whole good-sized person and that's a great accomplishment.

I figured out why I thought it was 30. Apparently they sleeve people here in Australia at a BMI of 30 all the time. I'm in a lot of Aussie sleeve FB groups and someone started a thread about it today. It's pretty common here, it seems. I have a hard time wrapping my head around needing WLS at a BMI of 30 with no comorbids, but it's not my place to judge other people's journeys, I guess.
 
Interesting! I've heard that lap band is much bigger in Australia than in the USA, but was not aware they would do sleeves at a bmi of 30. In a way it makes sense, because a purely restrictive operation is most likely to be helpful for people who need less help, but it will be interesting to see if it helps them permanently or temporarily.
 
Yeah, lap band is huge here, but even in Aussie groups when people talk about the band, it's usually negative. So I'm glad it seems to be falling out of popularity here, too. Lots of revisions happening - unfortunately they're all from band to sleeve, or band to bypass. Whenever I mention the DS, no one has ever heard of it. And there are lots of folks asking how to get "resleeved," because clearly if it didn't work the first time, it will SURELY work the second. Sigh.
 
@Larra - Saw someone being sleeved at 70kg (154 pounds) today with (she says) no comorbidities. If we're getting the full picture from her, I honestly feel like that's just absolutely irresponsible.
 
Okay, way overdue for an update! I've lost 240 pounds and I'm down to 360 pounds now (well, I was last Friday... who knows, when I weigh in tomorrow it may be even less. :)) (Recent comparison pic posted in this thread if you want it.) Given that I haven't been in the 350s since my early twenties I'm in shock at the prospect, honestly. Haha. That was *cough* like 15 years ago. I was 325 in high school, so it will be INCREDIBLY meaningful for me when I hit that number as well.

I'm still having reflux issues. Had a barium swallow/meal (during which I threw up the stuff they made me swallow and then had to re-swallow what I'd vomited... SO MUCH FUN). Radiologist told me "off the record" that the junction between my esophagus and my sleeve seems to have been made too narrow and food is sitting in my esophagus for long periods of time instead of going straight through to my sleeve. My esophagus is starting to pooch out where the food is sitting. The "reflux" I thought I was having at night is actually food sitting in my esophagus for hours and hours after I go to bed. FUN TIMES. Surgeon wants to do a gastroscopy on me himself, so we'll have to make another trip to Melbourne. Hoping that whatever the fix is (any chance this might be just a dilation fix like they do for strictures, do you think, @Larra ?) we can get it taken care of during the same trip. Really hoping it doesn't have to be fixed surgically. :( I was a virgin sleeve and this guy is the best in the country... I guess I'm surprised there might be something that needs to be fixed surgically several months out.
 
I understand it wasn't supposed to be changed, but mine is apparently way more narrow than it is supposed to be. The radiologist said the surgeon "made it more narrow" but maybe he misspoke or just didn't know what he was talking about - entirely possible. Maybe it's just a simple stricture?
 
@more2adore this is exactly why the surgeon wants to have a look with the scope. The findings on the x-rays don't fit with the operation you had, since the junction of the esophagus and the stomach is not altered with a sleeve. So maybe the problem is actually slightly lower, i.e. in the sleeve itself, and maybe it's something that can be dilated and maybe...well, you get the idea. You and the surgeon need more info and that's why the scope. More fun times! Though probably not as bad as re-swallowing an upchucked swallow. Yuck!

I don't know quite what to say about the 154 lb person getting a sleeve except that at least she didn't get a band. In the USA, at least a few years ago, there was talk about using the band for people who were obese but not MO, like with bmi of 30, or 50 lbs to lose, etc. The idea was that since the band seems to work best (if at all IMHO) for the people who need the least help, this was a potential marketing target. There has never been any talk that I know of for insurance paying for lap band for such lightweights so we are talking self-pay, of course, but people who are willing to doctor shop and pay up front will find doctors who will accommodate them. For people like you and me who have struggled with morbid obesity for most of our lives this may seem frivolous and irresponsible. Maybe for someone who has struggled with 50 excess lbs for years and feels miserable at that weight it seems like a reasonable thing to do. I don't know the right answer and will not be judgmental.
 
Well hello @more2adore ! Congratulations on your amazing loss. Putting it really in perspective, you've lost two thirds of what you weigh in total today with *just a sleeve*. Wowza - that's a heck of a lot of willpower! Hope they find something readily fixable and get it done right away. All the best, Hil
 

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