New to the group and just starting my VSG journey

mncmom3

Hello Everyone,

I am looking for people in process with this procedure. I am just starting my journey- paperwork submitted and I am projecting to have the surgery in late June or early July 2015.

Just a little bit about me: I have been married for almost 8 years & I am now a mom of 5. I have 3 biological children ages 3,5 & 7 and recently opened my home to my 2 nieces, ages 3 & 6. It is a long, horrible story but I am happy to report that both of them are thriving, happy and becoming healthy after a long road. My husband and I went through the arduous court process to obtain permanent 3rd party custody of them and were successful in March of this year! I am a stay at home mom and work part time from home although my business has not been as successful as it was previous to taking in my nieces due to several (8-10) medical and school appointments per week. I know, this sounds like I have my hands full (and I do) but I am praying that we can get on a waiver program for some nursing care and or respite care to help me balance out my calendar.

Two years ago, I was very active on MFP and lost almost 50lbs!! Unfortunately, I gained it all back and more. I decided to look into surgical interventions as a last resort after trying many methods previous to this. I currently weigh 262 lbs and am hoping to get down to 225 prior to surgery. I have been researching like crazy and crunching numbers to see how I can get down to my goal weight and MAINTAIN my goal weight. I am addressing my love/hate relationship with food to help me with long term success.

I do have a few questions for real people (not all the text book answers I read haha) if you wouldn't mind sharing:

Do you have any words of wisdom based on your experience with this procedure?

How long was your recovery before you felt comfortable moving around and doing daily activities?

Did you have any complications from the surgery?

What was your favorite and least favorite part of this surgery?

Thank you so much for your time,

MNCMOM3 aka Sarah

joysie1970

Hi Sarah! Welcome, first off congrats on your decision! I'm a newbie here I was sleeved on 4/7 had my first pre-op on Thursday and was released to resume normal activities - my surgeon said I was healing fantastic. Word of caution though every surgeon like every person is different...I spent four days in the hospital after where most people go home after just one night, I had a paraesophageal hernia repair done at the same time that threw a little hitch in my giddy-up, we didn't know about it until they were in there. Once I was home though (a Friday), I was moving and doing things, a little slow at first but it didn't take long by that Monday I was to working from home and haven't stopped since. Today I cleaned, did some laundry, went for a slow stroll around the big block. I wouldn't call my secondary surgery a complication it was a necessity - for long term success just hiccup. My incisions are great and practically healed completed (remember I am less 10 days post op). My surgeon has moved me to soft foods already too - not every programs has the same steps though, some stick to liquids much longer. Least favorite part hands down was the gas they pump into you to be able to see and move around to do the surgery - but with walking you can deal with it, I must have logged 100's of laps in the hospital. When they tell you to walk - it's no joke...walk walk walk and then go for walk! LOL! Not sure what my favorite part will be - but for now I will tell you, it's been the amazing support here on the forum, these folks are a wealth of information, they are inspiring and just all around good peeps! Good luck!

loriloftness

Hi. Had my sleeve 11/19/14. To answer your questions: 1) try to adapt your diet pre-surgery to more like what it will be post-surgery. Cut back/eliminate sweets and pop. The pop/caffeine elimination was the hardest for me. 2) not sure what you mean by daily activities. You will be up walking the day after surgery. But if you mean lifting, etc. that may take a few weeks. 3) no complications. Had a bit of reflux the first couple weeks but the Medes took care of it. I also slept inclined those weeks because it helped. 4) least favorite was the dye I had to swallow the 2nd day post for the leak test. Also the room temperature tap water they tried to get me to drink after the test. I much prefer cold temperature. Also the 1 incision goes thru muscle or a muscle sheath and that one stays sore for a few weeks. I do also sometimes miss not being able to eat as much of a good food as I used to, but that is a head thing that I am working on. Most favorite is how quickly my physical health has improved, including my blood pressure & blood sugar levels. All normal now. Feeling and moving easier is great. And I won't lie, looking better and getting cuter clothes certainly doesn't hurt.

imboswell

Do you have any words of wisdom based on your experience with this procedure? If you can take 4 weeks off after surgery do it. It will help you get your mind together. When you are on liquids and soft foods all you think about it eating.

How long was your recovery before you felt comfortable moving around and doing daily activities? I took the 4 weeks off. The first week I could only walk down the end of the block and back and was exhausted. The second week I was walking about 1 mile. The 3rd week I could do almost everything except lifting. The 4th week I treated myself to a vacation in Antigua. (I was able to do everything including snorkeling.)

Did you have any complications from the surgery? No complications.

What was your favorite and least favorite part of this surgery? Getting off of my blood pressure medications. I am loving shopping now. My least favorite was the soft foods. I hated that part.

Good Luck!!

juneaubug

mncmom3 wrote: »

Do you have any words of wisdom based on your experience with this procedure?

How long was your recovery before you felt comfortable moving around and doing daily activities?

Did you have any complications from the surgery?

What was your favorite and least favorite part of this surgery?

Thank you so much for your time,

MNCMOM3 aka Sarah

Hello! My best advice is to really embrace the process and follow what your surgeon's office tells you. I had seen my gynecologist a couple of days before I had the surgery and she told me how she had friends (that are sisters) who both had gastric bypass and lost about 100lbs each, then both gained it all back and have terrible anemia and end up in the ER regularly having transfusions. EEK! So that was enough to scare me into making sure I take my vitamins every day, and following the food program. I'm not saying this to scare you! I was really happy she told me because I think it's very easy for people to stop taking the vitamins and become lax with their diet once they feel good and have lost most of the weight. I basically approached this as my last ditch effort to lose weight and that I needed to make it count.

I took a week off of work, but I work from home and probably could have gone back earlier. You are up walking around a few hours after surgery. I had my gallbladder out a few years before that, and was worried because I had so much pain from that. This was nothing compared to the gallbladder! The pain for me was not bad at all. I do remember being quite tired for awhile though. Even a couple of months out. At my 3 month follow up, the doctor told me that it seemed counter-intuitive, but that I needed to work out more because that would end up giving me more energy. I wanted to punch her in the face, but I took her advice and she was right.

I didn't not have any complications other than severe nausea about a day after the surgery while I was still in the hospital. It was a reaction to the anesthesia and I was maxed out on the anti-nausea meds. The doctor finally tried a patch and that made a huge difference! I ended up staying an extra day in the hospital because of that. I was there 2 nights, but that actually seems pretty normal from the other people I've talked to from my same surgeon.

Least favorite - I still struggle with head hunger and wanting to eat to cope with things. The sleeve is a great tool and keeps me from overeating, but I have had to work on actually feeling my feelings to deal with them.

The best part - I love feeling like I'm fit and healthy. I'm 5'10 and went from 320 to about 185. I'm 18 months out. I'd still like to lose another 15-20, but the weight loss has slowed down a lot! I ran 3 miles on Saturday. I go to crossfit 5 days a week, and often run or do other activities on the weekends. I have a fantastic group of people from my gym who are so supportive and cheer me on. They keep me going on days when I don't feel like working out, and I never thought I'd be the person that says this, but I love working out!

I recently had a friend ask me that now that I've changed my lifestyle, if I think I could have done it without having the surgery. I was a little taken aback by the question, but my answer was a resounding no. I spent over 10 years dieting to lose 30-50 lbs, only to gain it all back. Over and over again. The surgery isn't magic - you still have to choose what to eat, you have to choose to be active, etc. But it's the best thing I ever did for my health and I'm so happy I made the decision to do it. It's not easy, but for me, it was worth it!!

rpyle111

I am coming up to seven months post surgery, but I honestly think of my progress as one year since I started the Bariatric program.

My main advice to new folk is that starting on day one, you need to hit the pre-surgery program as hard as you can. In my case, I had about 180 pounds to lose (starting at 420) to hit the middle-ish of the Overweight BMI range. Honestly, I am not sure I ever thought I would get there. What was clear to me, though, was that since a majority of the weight loss post surgery comes in the 6-9 months post-surgery, I was unlikely to lose that much. I would need to lose as much as I could pre surgery.

My program laid out the pre-surgery plan relatively simply:

1200-1500 calories
100g of protein
64 ounces of water
Start exercising
Log everytihing (food, water and exercise)

I jumped in with both feet and was surprised at how successful I was. I was losing so quickly that I asked the nutritionist if I should reduce the caloric deficit. She told me that if I was tolerating it, i should continue because it was set up to train me for post-surgery life. I continued and lost 100 pounds pre-surgery, which left 80 pounds to lose post surgery. I hit that goal last week, 6.5 months post-surgery and one year to the day after I started the process.

I believe that the high protein was the key to my pre-surgery success, because I had never tried high protein in my previous dieting, and the protein kept me from being hungry. My main concern coming up to surgery was if I could do it without the surgery. I looked back on my history (you can see the chart of my weight since 1999 in my profile pictures) and every time i was successful in dropping weight, *something* happened and the motivation/desire/habits slipped away and I regained. Having the surgery would give me a physical backstop if my habits start to wane, reminding me why I did it and hopefully kickstarting me back into good habits. I obviously don't know what the future holds, but do not regret having the surgery at all.

One of the big things I learned was that for this to be successful, you have to make yourself a priority. I can see that being difficult with your home load of responsibilities. It might be why it took me so long (about 5 years after starting to think about it) to decide and fully commit to having the surgery. My kids are now 13 and 16 and I have more freedom to take *me time* to go to the gym, cook and eat the way I need to (although for the most part, we all eat the same stuff, i just eat less and more of the protein). There needed to be a bit of selfishness for me to be successful.

I also echo juneau's comment to trust and commit to your program's rules. There are a lot of edges to my program that don't make complete sense to me, but I do my best not to push the envelope to see if it really is a hard rule or not. I gave myself to the program as much as I could and was successful (thus far). I recommend doing the same.

I suggest you read as many pages of topics in the groups here (VSGers and Gastric Bypass/VSG/LapBand are the two most active I have found) and add as friends people in all stages of the program who resonate with you either from a physical similarity, similar family situation, or just makes sense to you. By having friends on your newsfeed you will see the real day to day successes and struggles, check out eating patterns and get ideas, etc. My stable of friends is an extreme help when things are going rough.

As usual, I ramble, but I hope you seize this bull by the horns and jump in as fully as you are able. Hit your surgery date in the best physical shape as you are able and having lost as much weight as you could. You will love the results!

Rob

bethkallastrask

Welcome! What a journey it will be. First couple of months are the hardest especially as you change your eating habits and you way of life. Then after you are able to eat more you have to make sure you stay on top of proper portion sizes. I started back at weight watchers 9 months after surgery and I had about 20 pounds left to lose. It jump started my weight loss because I realized I was eating more than I thought I was. I was about 8 pounds from goal and I just had a tummy tuck to remove all of the skin, and a breast lift with implants to give me back volume. All of if is worth it. You deserve to be healthy and you really deserve to feel good about the way you look. Best of luck to you!!!!!