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mitzvahmom78
Posts: 64 Member
Hi all, I am new to MFP and seriously considering VSG. After about 30 years of yo-yo dieting, I am more than 100 pounds overweight and suffering greatly from joint problems, sleep apnea and fibromyalgia. I never thought I would opt for WLS, but now I think it may be my best way out of this vicious circle. Would anyone be willing to share their stories and help me make a decision? Thanks in advance!
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I have been overweight ever since I can remember. I was 122 pounds in 3rd grade and 200 by Jr high. When I was in my 20s I got up to 280 and managed to get down to 220 though some really serious dieting and vigorous exercise (several hours a day and hiking 10-15 miles every weekend) but of course as soon as I backed off, my weight shot back up rapidly. I am now 41 and reached my highest weight of 360 several years ago.. I managed to lose 30 pounds when I left my desk job and started really focusing on making healthier choices and eating more real whole home cooked foods. Throughout the past few years I've made several pushes to lose and couldn't seem to get past 310!
I have always had very good bloodwork as far as sugar, cholesterol, liver enzymes and excellent vital signs but my knees were really taking a beating. When I would come home from work, I'd just go straight to bed and put my feet up and cry from the pain. I decided I HAD to do something. Of course like many very obese people my problem was a combination of emotional eating and over eating. Fortunately for me, the LARGER problem was overeating... I was MOSTLY able to control the emotional aspect of food.. with some slip ups but it was definitely not enough to account for me being SO incredibly obese. When I would diet and try to eat at a deficit I felt soooo miserable and STARVING all the time. You can only go for so long basically depriving yourself of a basic human need.. the more I'd lose, the hungrier I'd be.. I'd think about food all the time and laugh when people would be all like "oh I eat a 100 calorie cheese stick and that holds me for hours"... uh, it would take a 1 pound block of cheese to satisfy me!
I chose the sleeve because I mostly can control WHAT I eat, (with some slip ups but it's maybe once or twice a month, not something that I'd need to have my intestines rerouted in order to cause dumping in order to keep me from eating certain things) I just really felt I needed something to help me with portion size in order to eat at a large enough deficit in order to lose a significant amount of weight. I started an 800 calorie VLCD in December at 335 pounds. By my March 13th surgery date I was 290 pounds. Today i am 249. I'm feeling great and eating satisfying portions of around 5 ounces at a meal. My sleeve is a bit larger than many sleevers which is fine with me. I'm a bit of a slower loser than many but I'm ok with that because I'm not MISERABLE and feeling deprived. I'm perfectly fine with this process taking another two years if need be before I get to my goal weight.
oh, also, I wasn't covered for the surgery so I went to Mexico and was sleeved for $4,500. I've had zero complications and a very easy and quick recovery. I wouldn't change a thing.0 -
Thank you so much for your response, and for all the time and thought that you obviously put into it. Your story is very inspiring, and you touched on one of the reasons I am leaning toward VSG instead of gastric bypass. Did you also consider a lap band? Can you tell me a little bit about what your first few post-op weeks were like? Thanks!0
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I've been overweight my whole life also (carb addiction) and had been bouncing 290-300 for over a year. Despite trying (lo carb diet, etc), unable to get below 290. Sound familiar?
Knees have been bad for years, but a year ago started needing cortizone, and that didn't last very long. Talked to knee replacement doctor, who said he'd do it if I wanted, but my weight would create serious complications. He suggested lap-band to lose some weight because it was not invasive and didn't cause malabsorption. It sounded interesting.
Up until then I'd never considered surgery. I had this image that it was crippling: severely limiting what you could ever eat again and requiring tons of vitamins daily the rest of your life. Now I consider it a godsend, a miracle, a blessing, a wish come true. I wish I'd done it years ago. But on the other hand, I'm glad I waited because I feel more prepared now.
After doing research I realized that eating less would not be a chore - it doesn't matter how much you eat if it is filling, tasteful and satisfying. And the extra vitamins are Multi, Calcium, B12 and Iron - vitamins I need anyway for good health - not a big deal. And I looked into results and found that there are doctors who do hundreds of procedures a year and have a very good success rate.
I decided on the sleeve simply because my doctor told me people tended to lose about 80% (like the bypass) - more than the 50% lost by lap-handers. (These are averages, depending on the individual you can lose more or less with either procedure.) I didn't want to lose only half my excess weight. That would leave me with half of it remaining.
My doctor would not give me a bypass because I'm on warfarin and it might be abrasive to the area where the stomach is sewn back onto the intestine. Also, the sleeve leaves you with the bottom part of the stomach where some digestive processes happen.
After my decision, I met people in classes and support groups who were replacing lap bands with sleeves. Someone should start a discussion topic for people to say why they changed from one procedure to another.0 -
Thank you, PaulaKro. That's really good information. Keep up the great work!0
