Benjamin D. Shadle, MD, FACS

I have been working toward this surgery since February, and I finally have insurance approval and a surgery date! I will be having my procedure on October 14. I have been overweight most of my adult life. After having six kids and a very busy schedule, my weight just got out of control. I have tried to lose weight several times over the years, but it always comes back + 10-20lbs. I am 5'6" and right now I weigh around 263lbs. My ultimate goal is to get down to 150lbs. My next Dr. visit is Sept. 25, and I will be getting my two week pre-op diet of shakes and vitamins. I think that I am prepared for what is to come, and I am nervous and excited. This site has been very informative and helpful. I enjoy reading everyone's reviews. It has definitely helped me prepare. Updated on 1 Oct 2015: I am all set for my surgery on Oct. 14. Had my visit with Dr. Shadle, did my blood work, EKG, and another chest x-ray. On Monday, the day before I started the pre-op liquid diet, I came to the realization that I do have an emotional connection with food. Being my last day of "normal" eating, I was often on the verge of tears. That was very shocking to me. I have never been in a situation where I had to really think about what food and eating meant to me. Now, being on the liquid diet for two whole days, I have found that it isn't that hard. My inner demon is telling me that I don't need this surgery, I CAN do this on my own. But, I know that is not true. I have been down that road before. I have had good success with dieting in the past - MANY times. I always fail, I always gain it all back and then some. I am just scared of the life change, but I am also excited and SO ready to finally gain control over my weight. 13 DAYS UNTIL A NEW LIFE! Ht: 5'6" Starting Wt: 267 lbs. Current Wt: 253 lbs. Goal Wt: 150 lbs. Updated on 15 Oct 2015: I had my surgery yesterday afternoon, and I feel great!! I was dreading the nausea, but only had one bad bout of it. No retching or throwing up, though. Thank goodness... I am getting my fluids down easily, so that is nice. I will be heading home this afternoon. Hopefully I continue feeling good and getting my fluids in. Updated on 16 Oct 2015: I am so happy I had this procedure done. I wish I had done its couple years ago. I feel really good discomfort is minimal which is good. I have a very high pain tolerance, so could be why I feel this good. I'm not going to over exert myself, though. I've read enough reviews on here to understand I need to take it easy for a few days. I started my vitamin regimen. I need to get reminders into my calendar to remind me to eat and take my vitamins. Thank you to all the wonderful people on here writing your reviews and experiences. It helps so many people! It looks like my photos might be sideways. Sorry about that. ???? I haven't lost weight yet, they pumped 11lbs. of fluid into me. As soon as I get rid of that, I'll post my weights again. Updated on 4 Jan 2016: Hello out there! I haven't posted in a while, and thought I should give an update. I am very slowly, or at least what seems like very slowly, losing weight. I am down 22 lbs. from my surgery weight, and 45 lbs. from my starting weight. I know that is a lot, and I very happy to be rid of those pounds, but I feel like the weight isn't coming off as fast as it should. I keep losing a pound, then gaining two, then losing three.... it is so frustrating! But, I have many things to be thankful for. I feel great! My feet don't hurt anymore. I have that physical reminder that I need to stop eating - which is huge, and it helps keep my emotional eating in check, too. I have been exercising, but not consistently. I need to begin strength training and doing a little more cardio with a consistent schedule. I am getting all my fluids in, getting 60 g. of protein, or more, a day on most days and getting my vitamins in. All in all, everything is great. I am just being impatient. :) Height: 5'6" Starting Weight: 267 lb. Surgery Weight: 244 lb. Current weight: 222 lb. Updated on 14 Feb 2016: So, here I am.... Four months post-op, and down 51 pounds total. I seem to have finally gotten past the plateau that plagued me for over a month. I have started exercising more consistently. Went on a 6 mile hike yesterday; that was difficult. First two miles was all uphill, but, it did it! I am looking into a Crossfit gym. I have always wanted to do that, so now that I have lost over 50 pounds, I figured now is as good a time as any. Time to get stronger.... Height: 5'6" Starting Weight: 267 lb. Surgery Weight: 244 lb. Current Weight: 216 lb. Updated on 8 Mar 2016: I finally figured this whole thing out. I have been slowly losing weight; losing 3 lbs., gaining 2 lbs, on and on. It was getting really frustrating. I found that I had fallen back into some bad habits that I had before surgery, and although I was keeping my food calories in a good range, I started drinking red wine again. It really slowed my progress! At first, I thought, well I will just exercise more. Nope, that didn't work. I really needed to stop with the wine. Keep in mind, I was drinking 2-3 glasses a night. So, I have cut the wine out, but have continued with more exercise; and, I feel great! I have more energy, and I am getting stronger. It is such a great feeling! I joined a Crossfit gym 3 weeks ago. I have been doing one workout there a week - doing two this week, I'll be ramping up to 3 in a couple weeks - and also walking or hiking 3-4 days a week. I wear a heart rate monitor when I work out to get a more accurate estimate of the calories I burn and the effort I am putting out. I am really pushing myself. I love it! This week alone, I have lost 6.2 lbs. 12 more pounds to Onederland! I have lost 45 lbs. since beginning the pre-op diet October 1, and 56 lbs. total from my highest weight in September. Not as fast as some of you on here, but as long as the scale continues to move in the right direction, I am okay with that! Height: 5'6" Starting Weight: 267 lb. Surgery Weight: 244 lb. Current weight: 211 lb.

SO I just scheduled my first consultation for a gastric bypass for the 5th of February. I've wanted to get this procedure for quite some time but couldn't find a doctor. Maybe i just wasent looking in the right places? But this past September I attended an informational meeting and Mercy San Juan in Sacramento and found a Dr.:) I had to wait to get new health insurance but now I'm ready to move forwards with the whole thing. I've set some pretty realistic goals for myself during this transition. After surgery I want to loose 22 lbs per month. i'd like to loose more but realistically i think starting with a manageable goal is important. If I can maintain that rate of lose I caould be at my goal weight 1 year post opp. with a total loss of 264 pounds which is a very exciting thought. Updated on 17 Jan 2015: So i thought I should tell everyone a little about myself and why I've decided to go through with WLS. Im a 26 year old grad- student here in Sacramento working on my Masters in educational counseling and my Peer/Pupil Service credential. I should be graduating in the Fall. I have a 3 year old daughter and my boyfriend and I have been dating for the past 10 years. I am 5'6" or so and 431lbs last time i weighed my self. my goal it to loose 264lbs following my surgery and I have a goal weight of 170 lbs give or take a little. My goal is to be curvy but not fat. i really done want to be thin and the lowest weight i think i'll be happy at is 150 lbs. I've been heavy since middle school and obese since about my jr year of high school. I have tried so many diets i have lost count. Many of them worked for a time but i always seemed to stop loosing and start gaining the weight back even while i was still following the program. I use to bike every where! honestly i loved biking. I also love to cook and am a total foodie. I LOVE the farmers market and healthy eating but the larger i've gotten the less i get out and the worse my food chooses have become. The final straw for me was when I got fired for my weight. Obviously my boss dident say that but i know it was major part of why she let me go. I was good at my job but i guess no one was willing to see past my weight. Secondly around the same time i stopped enjoying my relationship with my boyfriend. How sad is that! 26 and i dident like sex any more. that was a deal breaker for me i feel like i've always been fat but i was enjoying my life, now im not so it's time for a change! im looking forward to this whole process pain and all :) i started looking into body reconstruction once i scheduled my first bariatric consultation ( FEB 5th!) Dr. said it usually takes a month or so to get the surgery approved by insurance so hopefully i can have my surgery before my 27th birth day which seems like as good a time as any to make this change. Updated on 21 Jan 2015: So to help make this surgery a possibility I signed up for Blue Cross using Covered CA, Just logged in to make my first payment and it said that my account had been canceled and was not available for reinstatement :( IDK what is happening. I havent received any letters saying that the account was cancelled or why. the Payment isent due for 12 days and now i am FREAKING OUT. has anyone else had this issue? any recommendations? Im callong Blue Cross in the morning but other wise i dont know what to do Updated on 15 Aug 2015: So its been 7 months since i posted anything and I was hoping that at this point I would have already had my surgery. Well no such luck. I was stuck without insurance after my last post and I just got insurance again in July. I had to change networks and pick a new doctor :( but now everything is going again and moving fast. I had my first informal class about a month ago, chose my surgeon, my bariatrician and have a possible surgery date in November. Since i first started posting i have lost 10 lbs and am now 421 lbs :( and i need to loose 41 lbs to be eligible for surgery with my insurance. I joined a monitored weight loss program at my bariatricians office last week and i start the diet this coming Tuesday :I. I am looking forward to getting my official surgery date but i know im going to hate every day of this diet. the program has 2 shakes during the day and 1 200-250 calorie meal at night, no fats, dairy, or fruit. just protein and veg. And i know its going to get boring quick. Im hoping to get to my goal of a 41 lb loss well before my deadline of November but considering my bad luck with diets in the past im not sure what my results are going to be. at least this time i have the doctor to talk to and a weekly support group. Updated on 26 Aug 2015: So i was supposed to start the new directions diet on the 17th, well that morning i got a call from my diet clinic saying that my insurance would not approve the program and that I would be paying out of pocket a total of $2098 for the 3 months before surgery :/ I thought about doing the program anyways however after taking to the doctor he recommended that I self monitor and use premier protein shakes/ Atkins shakes rather then spend all of that money. we agreed that 1200 calories per day was reasonable . so far i've been doing pretty good only one day (the first day) where i went over my count my more then 50 cals. not bad in my opinion. one bad thing is i cant weight in since my mom bought a new scale that dosent weight over 400 lbs. :( I ordered a scale that i can use and i hope that it get here by next Tuesday so i can see my two week progress. Updated on 30 Aug 2015: So yesterday i took a day off my diet for my daughters b-day party and today im regretting it. I was so TIRED this morning. in addition to being tired i want to eat everything today. I'd been having less cravings but afters yesterdays carb fest im feeling really hungry again. i tried to stick to the diet today but went over my calorie count 1339/1200 and 107/100 im not really happy about it but its still better then the first day of the diet. I dont know if im going to take another day off before surgery or not. Im also SUPER frusterated that i havent gotten the high weight scale i ordered almost 2 weeks ago. I know that waiting will make a bigger difference but i want to see my progress. my mom says i look better and my clothes are fitting better but i'd still like to know how close i am to my 40 lb weight loss requirement for surgery. Im meeting with my surgeon for the first time this Friday an hopefully i will get my official surgery date :) 2 other bariatric appointments this week for follow ups and upper GI screenings. Updated on 1 Sep 2015: so i bought fruit snacks for my daughters party over the weekend and i should NOT have gotten the jumbo pack from costco. I love gummy candy and fruit snacks are no exception. i have 3 little baggies today there 35 cals each so i thought no big deal until i started looking at the carbs 19 carbs per pack :( well over my carb count today and not to happy. Over all today was better then yesterday. follow up appointments tomorrow/ today ( since its after midnight). I need to get all of this junk out of my house ASAP Updated on 1 Sep 2015: YEAH! 14 lbs down and 28 more to loose before November ! really really happy that my diet seems to be doing the trick. Updated on 15 Sep 2015: not so happy these days weight loss has slowed down to a crawl. after loosing 14 lbs in the first two weeks i've only lost 9 lbs in the past 2 weeks. its still a good loss but i was hoping to keep loosing a pound a day. thinking about that kinds of exercise i can get into my daily routine Updated on 17 Sep 2015: yesterday while shopping I realized that I had been calculating the carbs for one of my meal items wrong (chicken dumplings) and that I had exceeded my carb allotment on most days over the past month. While I have still been losing weight this got me to reassess my items and where possible make adjustments on my consumption. Another error that I found was for the shrimp I had been eating almost daily. While I had been basing my estimates on steamed shrimp with a little digging I found more accurate nutritional information for the item (Costco cilantro lime shrimp). I am frustrated by these overages however I am glad that I found them and now I can have more accurate information in the future. visited my dr. today and had a weight in. So far 26 lbs down in 30 days. blood pressure is also a whole lot better then it was when i started. I got a fenfen prescription today as well to help with the problems i have had being constantly hungry and crabby. over all i feel like i've been getting better habits and have been felling more energetic even with out a lot of caffeine. 14 more pounds to loose before my pre surgery weight loss goal, after that i can get my surgery date. Updated on 17 Sep 2015: I have to say that so far i love Fenfen. I took my first dose about 2 today and about 3 or so i have been cleaning working or doing something. I dident sit down except for to eat, drive or clean something low down for the better part of 8 hours. and about 5 of that was on my feet! i have the feeling that by the end of the week my house is going to be freaking immaculately clean and organized. I feel more focused and i can ignore all of the background ideas and distractions so much better, i also feel agitated when i cant finish a task. like this afternoon i was late to a friends wedding rehearsal because i lost track of time cleaning! that NEVER happens and my partner usually does most of the cleaning. So far so good. cant wait to get my activity monitor to see how many calories im burning! Updated on 29 Sep 2015: so the weight loss is still slowing down but i am feeling much better. i've lost 29 or so pounds in the last 40 days. Im a little frustrated that my scale seems to weigh differently then my dr.'s scale so im not sure exactly how much weight i've lost. i got my activity meter about a week ago and its been interesting to see how much activity im getting, and to be able to see how many calories i should be eating to maintain my weight. still trying to stick to the 1200 calorie limit but its been hard because i've had so many things to do including a friends wedding. im trying to learn how to eat out with this diet and it hasent been to bad at all. Updated on 6 Oct 2015: So as of today I have lost about 34 lbs in about 6 weeks. Im almost to my 41 lb weight loss goal to be approved for surgery. 6 more lbs to go! Im still not sure that my scale and the dr's scale are the same because there seems to be a 2 lb difference when i go in vs when i weight at home but the doctors scale is always lower :) going in again next week for a check up and hopefully i can get my date soon. Updated on 7 Oct 2015: so over the past couple of weeks i've been looking for easy things to cook but now im realizing that the trade of is how much i can eat. while i've gotten good at counting calories and following the diet but so days i want to eat more! tonight i made a veggie casserole and the whole pan would have been 700 calories. so i think im going to be trying to cook more veggie only dishes. Updated on 13 Oct 2015: so i had been hoping to hit my 41lb loss goal by todays appointment and dident. I guess that the Dr.s had my first weight at 421 lbs not 426. they also want me to loose 42-43 lbs before they will submit for approval on the WLS :( so that means i have another 11lbs to lose now. i know i can do it but i have another month to lose it all and meet my 3 month goal. Updated on 22 Oct 2015: so the weight is still slowly coming off. today when i weighted in i was 387.8 lbs which leaves me 7 lbs to loose according to the Dr. and about 3 lbs away from my original goal of 385 lbs. still finding it very frustrating that either i was wrong about my starting weight or that my chart is wrong :( if feels like a huge bummer that i am so close to what was my goal only to find out that i have even more to loose. still 34 or 37 lbs lost is huge :) Updated on 3 Nov 2015: so today when i weighted in i was 384.2 lbs which is not a huge loss but the weight is still slowly coming off. Last week i only lost a pound but im happy that i havent been gaining anything back. my totals loss is now 36.8 lbs. 5 more pounds to go :) Updated on 10 Nov 2015: im 2-3 lbs away from my goal of loosing the 41-42 lbs needed to be approved for surgery!!!!!! i have lost 39 lbs in 9 weeks smile emoticon super stoked and now im wishing i would have weighted myself before i ate lunch unsure emoticon. glad this is still working despite everything that has happened including thinking my starting weight was 5 lbs higher then it was on my first visit and being told at my last appointment that i had 11 more lbs to loose not 5 which was a bummer but now i really am almost done! Updated on 28 Nov 2015: so as of the 17th i only had 1lb left to loose. only problem is that i have been really off my game this past week. fiances birthday was the 23rd so we went out to dinner (Italian and totally not diet friendly) 24th we had a family day trip so i ate whatever, one diet Wednesday did fine, obviously Thursday was thanksgiving so i ate like a pig. Finally yesterday went to a friends party and ate about 1500 calories. today was also a bad day I ended up eating 1433 calories. SO im trying to regroup and get back on the ball. Will be weighing in Tuesday and see what the damage has been. Updated on 29 Nov 2015: did a little better today then yesterday. most of the thanksgiving leftovers are gone which helps and i dont have any cookies around now either. ended up eating 1327 calories today so slowly getting back to my 1200 cal limit. Updated on 1 Dec 2015: well even after the disaster of last week i dident gain ANY weight :D weighed in this morning at 379.8 lbs meaning i have 0.8 lbs left to loose before i can be approved for surgery! so far this year i have lost everything i had gained in the last 2 years :) at 57 lbs! super stoked Updated on 16 Dec 2015: so at my last weigh in i was 374 lbs. so now im just waiting to be approved by insurance and waiting for my gyn exam of all things. everything should be in order next week, and hopefully i'll here something back before the holiday break! Updated on 6 Jan 2016: So after the holidays i had my fist weight gain since starting this diet. after taking 10 days off the diet in December i gained back close to 6 lbs. but today i have been back on the diet for about 2 weeks and im back down to 372.4 lbs. Updated on 12 Jan 2016: well its official everything is done and the paperwork is being filed. waiting to hear back from the surgeon so i can have my last meeting with him and schedule a date for surgery. Bariatric dr. said im probably 4-6 weeks out but it could be sooner if the paperwork is done quickly so now its just a matter of waiting and trying to stick to my diet Updated on 21 Jan 2016: SO when i first started my journey towards WLS i thought having a lot of change all at once would be a good thing that would keep me going but damn! maybe i was wrong :( I've been working back to back shifts a work on the weekend so i can keep my insurance so basically i work 12 am Saturday until 4 pm Saturday and then 8pm Saturday until 5 Pm Sunday so i can keep my 32 hours that i need to stay insured. During the week in trying to work on my internship which is 600 hours of basically free labor so i can get my PPS credential :/. Im also working my my thesis during all of this o_O. then add in actually spending time with my family im going kind crazy and my diets gone out the window this week. Trying to breath over here! i still havent gotten a data scheduled but i am looking forward to getting my bypass done so i can focus on everything else and maybe have a little time off! Updated on 21 Jan 2016: got the call today my date is scheduled for Febuary 22nd. liquid diet starts the 8th. Updated on 2 Feb 2016: so I haven't exactly been doing a good job of following my diet the past couple of weeks :( I'm a little worried that my Dr. might postpone my surgery. I haven't weighed myself so I don't know how bad it is but I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced any pre-surgery? weight gain and what their Dr. did/ said? Updated on 2 Feb 2016: So when I weighed in this morning I was at 374.6 pounds. at my last dr.s appointment I weighed 380 pounds so I'm not sure if my scale is off or if I some how managed to still lose weight despite all of my stress eating? Updated on 9 Feb 2016: so far im not doing well on the liquid diet. im 2 days in and i have been sneaking snacks. the protein shakes they have me on are god awful grainy and gross. so i've been eating turkey jerky in the morning which i know i shouldn't do but the shakes are so gross. trying to do better but this stage sucks so bad Updated on 19 Feb 2016: so surgery is less than a week away and I'm starting to get really nervous, im worrying a lot about what could happen and the possibility of leaving my daughter without a mom and what that would mean for her and her dad. i know statistically speaking that i have very little chance of anything serious happening, but i've never had any surgery or procedures that require anaesthesia so i really dont know what to expect. Updated on 22 Feb 2016: so 10 hours til i go in :l getting very anxious and trying not to think about it too much check in is at 10am surgery should be about 11 and i should be out by 1 if everything goes as planned Updated on 24 Feb 2016: Had surgery Monday morning and was discharged yesterday afternoon . Starting to feel better Updated on 24 Feb 2016: so first day in the hospital i spent most of the day sleeping and not eating much. second day was discharged and was how by about 2 pm spent most of the day sleeping after that. today i slept til noon then got up, went for a short walk and have been up for about 8 hours at my desk, watching tv and now much else. Drinking lots of Isopure and broth. now here's the TMI, if you have the surgery expect blood in your stools and lots of it. like most of you, I got laxatives to keep things going, and I don't know why I didn't expect it but I didn't and honestly it scared me a bit until I talked to my nurse. I feel like I've lost a little weight already and I'm going to try and weigh in tomorrow at some point. when I checked into the hospital i weighted 367 lbs so about 180 more lbs to loose to get to my goal weight of 180lbs Updated on 25 Feb 2016: after surgery I felt fine wasn't hungry at all and everything seemed fine however, yesterday my appetite came back like a sledgehammer. I feel like I'm always eating now and that is never full despite eating as much as advised (1-2 oz at a time) and drinking most of the day. is this common? am i still just adjusting to the surgery? or could this mean that my stomach is emptying too fast and the surgery is failing already? Updated on 1 Mar 2016: Went to the ER Sunday afternoon borderline septic diagnosed with a blood infection this morning (though I'm not sure the difference between the two) not sure when I'll be back home. I've lost about 5-7 lbs but struggling with eating and getting enough to drink Updated on 2 Mar 2016: finally home again after going to the ER Sunday, doctors were never sure if I actually had a blood infection or not, but I definitely have pneumonia, which is almost better. was sent home with three days of antibiotics. One bright note in all of this is that my surgery sites are healing really nicely and i have lost 10.8lbs in 10 days even being bed bound for most of that time :) so at the very least the surgery is doing its job. Im going to schedule an appointment to see a nutritionist soon but other wise im just happy to be home. Updated on 4 Mar 2016: Highest weight 426 Surgery weight 367.4 Current weight 349.9 Updated on 4 Mar 2016: Went to see my surgeon for the constant pain and discomfort I have while eating and drinking, turns out he thinks I have stomach ulcers and that my mucous membranes in the stomach and small intestine are still inflamed after surgery. got a prescription for Carafate which is SO helping! I actually ate two meals today without feeling like I was being shived. timing drinking is still hard since it washes part of the carafate out of my stomach which brings back some of the pain. BUT for those of you still considering the surgery or who are post opp and in pain when you eat TALK to your surgeon ASAP they can help! Updated on 5 Mar 2016: so these pictures are at my friends wedding in september 2015 when i was about 400 lbs. I dont have very many pictures of myself since i hate the way i looked. Updated on 9 Mar 2016: so weighted in this morning and the weight loss has slowed down significantly now that I can eat :l not sure how I feel about it but still glad not to be in pain all the time. Highest weight 426 Surgery weight 367.4 Current weight 347.0 my goal now is to lose my first 100 lbs by my birthday on March 27th im just 23 lbs off from this goal so I think that it's reasonable :) After leaving the Doctors Monday I was really kind of shocked when I realized that I had lost 80lbs since last year when I decided to seriously start loosing weight Updated on 17 Mar 2016: ok so this one is a bit personal but here it goes. When should i expect to get my cycle back after surgery? I was cramped up a few days ago and then it just stopped, but IDK if this is normal or not? I would think that i would miss a month but i've never had surgery so I don't know for sure? I do have an IUD at my surgeons suggestion but IDK whats "normal" Updated on 20 Mar 2016: very frustrated that I haven't been losing any weight lately :( I know I haven't been getting in all of my protein or fluids so I do think that's a big part of the problem, but I do think I have been getting most of my exercise. Im going to start biking soon, and im joining the gym in April. IDk what else to do to get things going again so I need some advice please! Updated on 24 Mar 2016: Highest weight 431 * went back and read my oldest post and that's what I weighed not 426 Surgery weight 367.4 Current weight 342.8 weight lost since surgery 24.6 lbs :) feeling better now that the weight loss has started up again and I'm getting closer to my goal of 100 lbs lost. I've lost 88lbs since last January! I will be getting a gym membership before the start of April which i think will help a lot with speeding up the weight loss and getting in all of my fluids :) Updated on 29 Mar 2016: Highest weight 431 * Surgery weight 367.4 Current weight 340.4 Lost: 90.6lbs Lost since Surgery: 27lbs Updated on 1 Apr 2016: I keep having to remind myself that WLS and keeping the weight off is a marathon, not a sprint, I find myself getting frustrated sometimes that the weight isn't coming off faster, but then I? remember that it took years to put on so it will take a long time to get off too. Updated on 5 Apr 2016: so I'm about 6 weeks out from surgery and am still having a lot of trouble eating, most things make me feel sick to some degree after eating, the only things that don't seem to bother me are canned chicken, bananas, avocados and miso soup. Most of the pain from the stomach ulcers is gone and most days my stomach doesn't bother me between meals anymore. I'm still having trouble getting enough water and protein which is frustrating but I am losing weight :) Highest weight 431 * Surgery weight 367.4 Current weight 337 Lost: 94lbs Lost since Surgery: 30lbs Updated on 8 Apr 2016: So over the last week I have been doing a little experiment with myself, I am suspicious that I am developing a gluten intolerance after surgery. each time I eat carbs, usually wheat bread, I have a lot of stomach pain, this past weekend I bought gluten free pita bread and didn't seem to have the same painful experience of eating regular bread. So I'm? wondering if anyone else has experienced this, or developed a known gluten intolerance following WLS? Updated on 11 Apr 2016: So as of this morning, I am SO CLOSE to losing the first 100 lbs since I started pursuing WLS last year. I have 1.8 pounds to go! SUPER EXCITED to hit this goal at some point this week :) after I get there hopefully I'll post some new pictures too. Highest weight 431 * Surgery weight 367.4 Current weight 332.8 Lost: 98.2lbs Lost since Surgery: 34.6lbs Updated on 12 Apr 2016: So since I had surgery I've been thinking about writing a cookbook for WLS patients. I know that there are some books and I have ordered 2 but I feel like there just something missing from them since the?re're few pictures and they seem almost like we don't still like to eat good food. So my question is what would you like to see in a cookbook for WLS patients? What would you find helpful and what do you think should be included other than good pictures and recipes? Updated on 16 Apr 2016: So saw my Dr yesterday and I've lost over 1/3 of my excess weight. Just 150 more pounds to go Updated on 5 May 2016: So not very happy lately since I haven't been able to go to the gym and I have been working so much that I don't have much time to get out at all and just go walking. My weight has stalled a few times so far and I have found that the week before and after my period I usually lose no weight which both makes sense and is very frustrating. Overall I'm happy with my weight loss but it's definitely? not as easy as people seem to think it is to lose weight even after the bypass. Highest weight 431 Surgery weight 367.4 Current weight 324.4 Lost: 106.6lbs Lost since Surgery: 43lbs Updated on 8 May 2016: So over the last 2 months I've been having more and more trouble with loose skin. I knew that this would be an issue but i wasn't expecting it to be a problem this soon after surgery Updated on 12 May 2016: Highest weight: 431 Surgery weight: 367.4 Current weight: 321 Lost: 110lbs Lost since Surgery: 46.4lbs Updated on 25 May 2016: Highest weight: 431 Surgery weight: 367.4 Current weight: 314 Lost: 117lbs Lost since Surgery: 53.4lbs Updated on 8 Jun 2016: Ok so here are some new pictures. 120 pounds down since the first pictures I uploaded. Maybe one of these days I'll do a pic with a tighter fitted shirt or body shaper but I think this gives you all a good idea of my progress so far :)) Updated on 10 Jun 2016: Highest weight: 431 Surgery weight: 367.4 Current weight: 308.8 Lost: 122.2lbs Lost since Surgery: 58.6lbs Updated on 17 Jun 2016: I had my 4 month appointment today and i have lost about half of my excess body weight. i still havent chosen a goal weight but instead i have a weight range that im aiming for which is between 160 and 220. I know that this is a big weight range but i think i'll have a better idea of my goals as i get closer to the low 200's. At the moment im focusing on trying to get in more fluids and to get to the gym more often so i can get back into the 200's which i havent seen since my first year of college back in 2006! I did get into some old clothes about a week ago and they fit! some things were still to tight but it was great knowing that im close to the same size now as i was when i graduated high school 10 years ago. Highest weight: 431 Surgery weight: 367.4 Current weight: 306.6 Lost: 124.4lbs Lost since Surgery: 60.8lbs Updated on 23 Jun 2016: Highest weight: 431 Surgery weight: 367.4 Current weight: 301.8 Lost: 129.2lbs Lost since Surgery: 65.6lbs Updated on 9 Jul 2016: [url=http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker][img]http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ticker/show/1211/7927/112117927.png[/img][/url] Updated on 11 Aug 2016: so im still around :) still losing most weeks i lose about 3 pounds maybe more depending on if i get to the gym or not. I've been working a lot of overtime lately and that's been really messing up getting to the gym. but schools almost back in session and that will make getting to the gym easier since the high school i'm finishing my internship at is 3 blocks from my gym. so here are the current stats: Highest weight: 431 Surgery weight: 367.4 Current weight: 284.6 Lost: 146.6 lbs Lost since Surgery: 82.8 lbs Updated on 16 Aug 2016: So it's been one year ( tomorrow) since I decided to buckle down and lost weight. In that time I have had lots of ups and downs but I am 151 pounds lighter for all of my effort. its been almost 6 months since I had my surgery and while it was a hard process to go through I would do it again in a heartbeat. I still think that this is the best decision that I have ever made for myself and my health. New pictures coming soon~ Updated on 18 Aug 2016: Updated on 6 Dec 2016: So I guess first things first - an update of my progress: Highest weight: 431 Surgery weight: 367.4 Current weight: 259 Lost: 172 Lost since Surgery: 108.4 lbs So a lot has been happening lately, I'm currently wrapping up school and 2 internships. I just submitted my 4th thesis revision yesterday and hopefully it will be done soon. My daughter also started kindergarten and that has been hellish, shes not listening to the teacher at all and just got diagnosed on the autism spectrum last week and now the school is trying to push her into special ed even though she can do grade level work with direct instruction. :/. So on to my progress, with everything that has been happening I haven't gone to the gym in 2 months, I finally went back yesterday and hopefully I can get in again tomorrow. A few weeks ago I got curious and tried to weight my excess skin I think its around 15 pounds just in my stomach. Honestly, all of the skin is getting pretty uncomfortable and hard to manage. I'm still following a 1000-1200 calories diet depending on my day's activities. Will try to get some new pictures up before winter break. Updated on 11 Jun 2017: Hey all! It's been forever since I checked in but still around and still losing weight! So here's the stats Highest weight: 431 Surgery weight: 367.4 Current: 240 Lost 191 lbs Updated on 4 Jul 2017: So during my last appointment with my bariatric surgeon, I asked for a referral to a reconstructive surgeon and he agreed! We both acknowledged that I'm not ready for skin surgery yet but he thought that consulting with a reconstructive specialist would give me a better idea of what I still need to lose and when I could expect to qualify for my skin surgery. At the moment I have about 15 lbs of skin on my stomach, 1-2 on the upper arms and about another 7 on my legs. I know I still have a lot of fat to lost but im 18lbs from the top of my goal range so its time to start planning my next steps.