Chimera

I have a big time sensitivity to latex - it is noted everywhere in my chart. They use Nitrile gloves and I didnt seem to have any issues - the leftover adhesive seemed to last forever - I think it was 8 weeks until I could get it all off.

Congrats guys well done

Just had my 3 month surgiversary on Tuesday and this morning hit 50 lbs. down from Surgery day, and 94 lbs down total - which marks my half-way point to my goal weight of 130 This has happened faster than I thought it would and I am grateful that that I feel so much better.

I even took a change and ordered some pants that are large - rather than than 1X I had been wearing, as my pants have gotten so big that I have tripped over them (still wearing my giant 3X shirts though - I think it will take a long time until the big tummy is gone enough that I feel comfortable wearing tighter stuff on top.)

I have my 100 day post op appt next week and am pretty excited to go thanks to everyone on this board for sharing their ups and downs, it is great to know folks going through the same experiences.

Patrick you are doing great! I am sure you will meet you birthday goal that is listed in your sig. Well done sir

Three month surgiversary is tomorrow - am down 49 lbs. since surgery on May 21.

Down 2 lbs this week

What's your sign?

Libra

How would you rate your physical recovery post op (1-10, 1 being miserably long healing, 10 being fast & easy healing)

I would rate it a 6 - it took me about 8 weeks to feel okay, and that was when I felt I had a bit of energy return.

How would you rate your emotional state post-op (1-10)

Considering a had complications - 8-9, I was very happy to finally be on the other side of surgery. Surgery pain was minimal other than the gas pain the first day - which walking around gets rid of. Was not taking pain meds for surgery after 2 days - but started taking it again for the baskillion CBC's I had to have (I am a p.i.t.a blood draw lol.)

How would you rate your food tolerances? Can you keep things down r do you find that many food 'don't agree with you' now?

Early on, I always ate too much and got the watery mouth, and watery throw ups. I went through a lactose intolerant period but it has passsed, I also went through the everything tastes and smalls terrible phase which has gotten a lot better. I stick to Protein first, then veggies, etc - but have had a few bites of carb in the form of breads and rice etc, they sit pretty heavy and feel uncomfortable for me - I will hit my 3 month mark on 8/21/12.

How would you rate your general success with the sleeve. Have you made goal or are you on target to do so? (1-10).

Always afraid that I will fail at this too - but it looks like I am doing okay so far. My personal goal is to lose 10 lbs a month - and I am certain that this will become much more challenging as I get further out from surgery. Sometime in 2013/2014 I hope to hit goal.

I am approaching 50% loss of excess weight at 3 months post surgery - my surgeon says folks usually get it at 6 months. I was a high BMI to start with so those numbers make more sense.

Please if you had complications, etc please give details.

I started to bleed internally after my surgery and there was talk of going back in to repair it - my hematocrit dropped to 19 which made a couple a blood transfusions neccesary, I was released after 5 days. Once I arrived home I had an incision open up and I struggled with stopping the flow of blood - ended up back in ther ER that night, eventually all was well, took a week or so for the incision to dry up. Meanwhile, my husband who also had a VSG two weeks earlier sailed through surgery and was out mowing the lawn two days after his surgery.

Late checking in this week - was out of town for work and just got back in - was our first test with lots of eating out in restaurants, it went pretty well and got lots of swimming in which was a blast.

My husband and I are still amazed at the volume of food we used to eat - and just how little we can eat now.

Even better - down 5.5 this week

Welcome! I think any surgery is scary - what is scarier is when you are presented with the statistics and ramifications to our health if we stay obese. My husband and I both had the surgery, two weeks apart - and it has been the best thing either of us has ever done for our health and well being (along with my cutting out the smoking after 28 years) we have kids at home too and everything went just fine after the surgery, albeit with a few complications for me which were taken care of within 2 weeks.

It can be a long process - at least it is in the U.S., which is good because it helps one prepare, this board is also an incredible resource with great info and loads of support from caring people who are experiencing and preparing for life with a sleeve. Surgery day, and the day before was very scary, but before you know it, it is behind you and you are living a new life - with hope and better health.

Best. Decision. Ever.

Wow that is extreme - methinks you may hit goal by 5 months ha-ha

I was 3 weeks of liquids (and I could have my Protein shakes, but strained all soups), then soft/mushy foods for another 3 weeks, and progressed to real food at 6 weeks post. Real foods was still soft things like eggs, chicken salad etc - took a bit for chicken breast, etc. 5 months seems like a long time, but Dr's have their reasons.

No judgement - NO!

(I smoked 1-2 packs a day for 28 years and quit prior to surgery. Just remember NOPE - not one puff ever, to save your quit.)

Atkins induction - Atkins 72 induction is even better (essentially trying for zero carbs)

Up your water/crystal lite/calorie free beverages, ditch processed carbs, no flour, no rice, no sugar. Works like a charm, once you detox from carbs/sugar - you wont crave it any longer and the weight pretty much melts off, especially if you consumed this stuff before.

My Dr. tells us - stop drinking 15 mins. prior to eating (not hard) and to wait 45-50 minutes after (which is terrible!)

Everytime it is time to eat I make the choice between a drink and will often put off food because I know it will be a looong time before I can have one. I have taken a sip a couple of times to help get food down - but I have to put the drink in another room. This one is probably my most challenging post-op rule bar none.

That was a good video as well.

Thanks for all of the encouraging words - this board has been gold to me during this whole process, I learn from everyone here - thank you!

Wonderful! You are doing great, thanks so much for sharing your journey

The scale vistory is that I weighed 229 this morning - which means I am now simply 'obese' - no longer morbidly obese, no longer super morbidly obese either Overweight here I come!

Non scale victory - Sunday night the family was sitting on the sofa all watching Breaking Bad and I realized that my legs were crossed - I dont think I have been able to do that in at least 15 years. Slowly the big stomach is going away - when we would go to restaurants I was too big to fit in a booth, now there is plenty of room, plenty of room with the steering wheel in the car as well.

The clothes are starting to get really big - so big that my husband tells me that I cant go out of the house in 80 percent of my wardrobe lol.

I never thought I would be a success, I always thought that this is something I will never win, this fight for a healthy weight. Now it feels possible!

It gets better - for me it was at about the 8 week mark. I was desperately thirsty all the time and was so sad I could not take a good swallow - all day long the last day before surgery was chug down drinks because I knew that would be coming to an end.

Now I can do what I call a mini-chug lol - nothing like before, but now I feel satisfied. I think it must be related to swelling/healing. My sleeve was done with a 40 fb - my doc like to use the larger ones because there are far less complications - it will get better!

I have tried the bariatric Nacho cheese Pasta they have at my Dr's office, most bariatric places online sell them - not bad, I don't seem to have the same yearning for Pasta post sugery. I tried it because it has Protein added.

Bariatric Advantage has a lot - but I have not tried them all.

http://www.bariatricchoice.com/bariatric-diet-protein-meals-entrees-18.html

Like Dooter I am obsessed with tracking - I track everything - I use MFP on a spotty basis, but I do not take a walk without Runkeeper. I track food, drink, meds, supplements in the little paper journals from my Docs office. I even grabbed enough to make sure I had 24 total for after surgery(representing the 2 years of losing window it can take for someone with as much weight to lose as I do) which is just a goofy thing I know.

I dont have before and after picks yet because I am a work in progress - I will post those when I meet my goal.

I especially enjoy when folks post their monthly losses in their signature - this really is inspiring when you see a person make goal weight and often times their losses for a month were small. The next 30 - 35 lbs of weight to go to 200 and just below are filled with milestones for me - weights were I was for years and thought it could not get worse in terms of being heavy (then gained another 100 and really had my health fall apart) as I approach 100 lbs down, and my halfway point, tracking and sharing it here is very inspiring and fun for me - it helps keep me present and focused on my goals. The last week my body has changed and all of my clothes look like clown clothes they are so big - same for my husband.

I feel that everyone here who shares their journey is an inspiration for us all.

My BMI when I started was 56.3 - with pre-op losses my surgery day BMI was 48.5. I have heard that BMI's of 55 and below will have a better chance of reaching goal weight. I am losing at a healthy 2-3 lbs a week now and hope to be under 200 by the new year - and close to goal sometime next year - well see how it goes, but so far so good.

It seemed like it was forever with the pre-op dieting, but now I am super thankful that I did it.

My surgeon has his patients do Atkins induction for 2-3 weeks prior to surgery - we didn't have to have shakes unless we wanted to. I lived on grilled chicken, turkey, tuna fish, small caesar salads, steak, and cheese here and there - dropped 14 lbs in a week and a half and I guess my liver was lean and mean when they got in there.

Every doc is different - but if you can start to drop those carbs to 20 or less - it is pretty much what you will be doing once you start eating again. I am also one that does not care much for sweet tasting things.

Ketones from the burning of fat is actually one of the body's preferred and most efficient fuels - it is remarkable how much better you feel, and look. Just make sure to get your fluids and Vitamins in. I still have a few Premier Protein shakes a week - I look at it as a supplement/medicine with a 30 gram wallop of Protein

Down 2.5 this week I'll take it!

The nausea medication they prescribe before surgery is something I would definetely get - I did and had minimal nausea, really the only time was that first time sitting up in the hospital - but it passed quickly.

I think the worst right after surgery was feeling deperately thirsty with a very dry mouth. I lived for those little swabby sponges dipped in Water they give you. For the first few weeks after surgery I was pretty upset, feeling that I would never be able to get a good couple of swallows of liquid down, you can sip only tiny bits at a time at first - now after a couple of months I can take very satisfying drinks - nothing like the chugging/guzzling I could do before, but much better.

I did not think the pain was bad at all - the gas pain the first day is pretty uncomfortable but that went away pretty quickly with strolls around the hospital, which were enjoyable. I had more pain with about a baskillion needle sticks and 2 IV moves, turns out I had internal bleeding and needed a couple of blood transfusions which necesitate multiple CBC's (like a draw every 4 hours all through the day and night - and I am a terribly hard blood draw as it is. I still have bruises and my surgery was 5/21 lol.

But the surgery pain was remarkably little - now tiredness is another story, I was utterly exhausted for weeks, but that could very well be due to my low red blood count after surgery. I was not taking my pain meds after 2 days, and truthfully my period cramps are worse so i saved them for those times of the month.

What a wonderful slideshow of your journey - makes me think maybe I should take some photos during this process rather than hide from the camera like usual Your journey is very inspirational - hope I can be close to those 130's this time next year.

Thanks for sharing, and your hubby is a sweetie for putting that together.