ToDream

Thanks for the welcome! If you visit, don't venture to Saskatchewan or Manitoba. B.o.r.i.n.g. BC is by far one of the prettiest provinces and then Alberta (western side near the Rockies)

My name is Cheryl. I'm a Canuck.. is there room for us here!? My hubby is a member of the Retired (yay!) Canadian Army. 20 years and 4 tours later they released him with a medical pension and a host of fun issues to deal with for the rest of our lives. His last post brought him to Edmonton, Alberta before he went to Afghanistan. We are contemplating a move to Vancouver next year.

Hi Dwayne, I'm from Edmonton as well. I had my VSG with Dr Almanza at the end of April. Best decision I ever made... seriously. I wish that I had known that I had this option years ago. I was one of the many uninformed out there that thought that WLS was only for people over 500 lbs. Now, I'm enjoying my life again and looking forward to each day. My asthma is better, I'm off my anti-depressants and my blood pressure is now hovering on the low side instead of high! You ask about if you can have a normal life post-vsg... I guess it really depends on what you consider "normal". If your normal is eating to excess, eating poorly or using food as a response to stress or emotions... then no. It will be far far from normal after surgery. You will gain a REAL normal. A healthy respect for your sleeve is definitely needed going through this process and if you don't, it WILL remind you. Is it easy? no freaking way. It's absolutely not easy.... however, weight loss is guaranteed with this option. For you, all you have to do is learn how to have healthy habits post-op so you stay healthy and keep the weight off. Support post-op is incredibly important and self-pay sleevers often have difficulty getting that. I know 2 other Edmontonians that are successful sleevers that can help. Private message me if you want more info! Cheryl

Given how I felt for the first month post op I wouldn't have wanted to be on a vacation. I wanted to sleep all the time and going through the food stages wasn't much fun. I had issue getting in my water. I couldn't imagine sweating all the time while recovering. I'd likely hide in my room most of the holiday.

I average about 700 calories a day right now. I'm 4.5 mo out.

I do it monthly on my anniversary date ... so the 27th!

Last time I measured (Aug 27) I was down over 40 inches! I'm still very "hippy" so I expect now that the upper body has lost most of the inches, my lower half should catch up.

Much like Tiffykins,my bp hangs low as well when I'm in a lower weight. Especially when I'm exercising. I too was diagnosed with hypotension a couple of years ago (before I regained a bunch of weight again).. mine too was mainly postural/positional. My doc told me to wiggle my feet before standing, not do anything where I have to shift positions quickly (like burpees much to my delight!) , increase fluids and sodium intake and take care when standing quickly. I found if I stood too fast everything would go spotty and spin!

Congratulations on your sleeve-versary! Thank you so much for meting with me before my VSG... you're an inspiration!

Definitely keep us posted! I have been oogling the bodybugg for a couple years and just found out about the fitbit... I'd love to know which is better!

I'm travelling for business next week and this was very informative. I'm pretty nervous how I'm going to manage my eating while on the road... especially with a bunch of co-workers that don't know I've had this surgery!

It's really important that you eat every few hours. Your body is going through alot right now with healing and losing weight. This is basically skipping meals and that is really bad for your metabolism. Skipping meals contributed to how many of us got heavy and couldn't keep it off to begin with. Set an alarm, have a spouse or friend call or text to remind you. Do SOMETHING to make sure you're getting your meals in. It's really important for long term success.

I too had Dr Almanza. I was very pleased with the facility, staff and my surgery!

The average diet means that surgery or not, most people need a daily vitamin (at least) anyway. Frankly, most people aren't getting the foods their body needs because of the over-processed nature of the foods we consume these days.

This is a great list. I've reposted most of it on another board (with credit given to you of course) to share this great list with other to-be sleevers! Congratulations on your fanastic loss and maintenance!

85 LBS! CRAZY! Congratulations! I'm at 39 pounds. Surgery date April 27. Feeling great!

I was driving around the 10 day post op mark. Back to work 6 days post op.

Death happens. It is surgery. MAJOR SURGERY. Where you have the surgery (Mexico, US, Canada etc) doesn't change this. A single death wouldn't change my decision if I had researched the doctor well enough.

I got off just before surgery (because I wasn't going to be able to swallow them for awhile after surgery anyway) and with the exception of about 1 week where I really thought I couldn't do without them, I haven't taken them since.

I had my surgery with Dr Almanza in April and was very pleased with the whole experience. The place is spotless and the staff are really great!

SN..............Starting Wt........Current.......July 4th Goal.......Lbs to Goal ToDream..........223..................187..................180....................7 Didn't make goal but I'm ok with that. I've done great IMO!

Looking great! I should do side by sides too. I have had a NSV (size 18 to 14 squee!) but I feel like its not that noticable. Not a single person has commented!

I don't "low carb" as I have never been able to stick to that diet. I got sleeved in order to not be on a "diet" ever again as they don't work for me. I just track my calories and eat mindfully and with my sleeve giving me the restriction, its working

I guess I need to book with PCP then! I was avoiding it as she doesn't yet know that I've had the sleeve (I'm self pay) so it will be a bit of a surprise I think!

I'm re-posting this from my blog in hopes that someone might have some insight for me.... In the past couple of weeks I've been really struggling to maintain my mental faculties. I'm pretty new in my department and I have a very technical job, it scares me because I find my retention really poor lately. It's as though my brain just stops before it even starts thinking. It starts at " I know I need to think about this..." and that's as far as it goes. I can't even get to the stage where I can't remember.... hell I can't even START thinking about remembering! I'm afraid I'm going to burn the house down. Driving even makes me nervous as my attention span is really poor right now. I'm sure that its related to my diet and that I must be deficient in some things. I just wish I knew what it was and what I could do to change this Anyone else experienced this? Any suggestions?? x-posted to OH & GS