Stephanie Kelley

I had my surgery on March 8th. I am down a little over 70 pounds which is actually not really hitting me yet. Here is what I have jumped for joy over. My scale will never hit the dreaded 300 mark again. It will also not hit 250. I have not been under 250 since my early 20's Bigger victories? I am no longer on ANY medication. supplements are the only thing I NEED. No more arthritis pain. NONE...EVER No more CPAP machine....and my kids are not afraid I am going to die in my sleep! No more antacids. No more blood pressure meds NONE!!! All erased from my life. YAY! Silly things to many that make me smile I ran 2 miles...and lived to tell about it...I did not even FEEL like I was going to die. My dog LOVES her 3 walks a day! (she has dropped a few pounds herself I am saving a TON of money...just the amount I was spending on soda and Snacks for my home was ridiculous! My kids are eating a better diet...hopefully they will not get my "fat" gene! and the #1 Victory Today my 1st pretty bra and pantie set was delivered and I can wear it proudly COMFORTABLY I have not had a pretty bra since I was 13 YEARS OLD !!!!! I feel FANTASTIC!

To be 100% honest I felt like complete and utter CRAP for about 8 weeks. NOTHING felt right going down. Most came right back up. I had no energy and to top it off I had acne and seat like a farmer, It DOES GET BETTER! I promise. Recovery was something I was not fully aware of. No one can ever describe just what happens or how long it takes. Just give yourself a break, take it slow and cry when you need to...or throw things when you need to.

I drink Muscle Milk Light. It tastes good and is low calorie.... it is also about the only one I can handle without gagging.

I have had a rough time healing, but at a little over 3 weeks I am starting to feel better. I also have a LOT of fatigue.. My Dr has said that it is because I need more Protein, after we start adding "real" protein to our diets we will have more energy. 3 days post op I was still in so much pain I could not do ANYTHING... it gets better.

As a Mom with 3 kiddos I do have to say that I probably would have been kicked out of the restaurant if ANY of that happened to me. You do not take food off of anyone's plate...PERIOD... unless it is OFFERED, if you do then you need to be stabbed by a fork...SERIOUSLY! Your husband seems very insensitive...and not about the surgery, how much respect can he have for you if he lets ANYONE treat you in the way that he himself treats you and allows his child to treat you. I am dealing a LOT with the food police. My younger ones were very worried about my health and while happy I got the sleeve, are very concerned that I would be hurt... so they are often quick to ask me if something I am eating is on my diet. I went ahead and posted it on the fridge for their reference so they would leave me alone Whether sleeved or not NO ONE deserves to be disrespected. I think having low self esteem is common in people before WLS, and they let things slide that they normally wouldn't.

What do all of the acronyms and "lingo" mean? (that one has kept me from posting more... do not want to feel stupid about posting something that was already there just in VSG "slang) Links to various online diets and stages from VSG surgeons (what works for one may not work for another...giving ourselves options makes, I know ME, feel more in control and more apt to comply, during this VERY out of control time period) Poop... some of us have constant runny ones several times a day... others need a little help... what is "normal" CHEAP links... I have found most of the specific bariatric products to be very costly. ex... my Vitamins are actually more well rounded than Bariatric Advantage and with a subscription to them from Amazon I only pay $8 every 2 months. Sometimes it sucks... and that is OK. Sometimes there are complications... Does not mean you had a bad surgeon or did anything wrong... so that is OK also.

Hello, My name is Steph. I just turned 38 on the 1st. I have 3 kiddos 10 and 13 year old boys and a 16 year old daughter. As a kiddo and a teenager I was always very VERY thin. Then somewhere between 19 and 22 I gained almost 75 pounds. In October of 2010 I was 36 years old and 368 pounds. I have tried every diet known to man and I would lose then immediately gain even more. I was so depressed and was starting to "fee" old and fat. I was having a lot of issues with GERD and was in constant pain. I went on a "fairly" gluten free diet and started dropping a lot of weight with little to no effort. I also started looking into Lap Band. I started a new job (with insurance that covers the surgery...THANK GOODNESS) The spring of 2011 I was down to 320 pounds, but stalled. I started going to MyNewStart (which I can not recommend) I spent 5 month working with them before they dropped me from the program with no explanation as to why... I had done EVERYTHING that I was supposed to do and had almost completed all of the requirements for my insurance company (they required a 6 month supervised diet) I was heart broken. I started looking for new surgeons. I found out that once a surgeon drops you it makes the rest in the area leary of taking you on. Even if no reason was given. Then when I thought all hope was lost I found MyNewSelf at DesPeres Hospital in St.Louis (my hometown) and called Dr. Minkins office. He got me in and less than 2 months later I was having surgery. He was very honest with me and I with him. I am a smoker (actively trying to quit) I think that was one of the reasons it was hard to find a surgeon. I also have sleep apnea which increases my risks during surgery. I had a 3 day full liquid diet...not bad at all. Surgery was uneventful and went without complication. The 1st 12 hours I had intense pain in my shoulders. Getting up and walking was really the only thing that helped that. The rest of day 1 and all of day 2 were in all honesty the most painful time of my life (and I have had 3 c-sections and my gall bladder removed) I am now on day 3 and I have to admit at some point last night it just got better. If I have to deal with 2 days of intense pain to have a lifetime to be healthier it was worth it. Oh and when I woke up I was down 16 pounds from the morning of surgery!

The program I went through gave me a laminated card for restaurants (and emergencies) asking for me to be allowed child or portion size meals. The emergency side kind of freaked me out with the new "rules" in place due to the surgery.

I am so glad someone other than me brought this up! My surgery was on the 8th. I have not had a regular BM, but what can only be considered liquid movements 3-4 times a day since Friday (the 9th) I have even "cheated" and tried eating a few oyster crackers and a couple bites of tuna in order to try to firm things up a bit. o_O

To be honest I was shocked at just how painful it was. My nurses were very good at trying to keep it under control, but the 1st 2 days the only thing that helped even a little was walking. I know when you are in a ton of pain you do not want to walk, but it really does help! I was also very very weepy, which I did not expect. I am on day 4 now and doing OK. Still doing lots of walking. Good Luck and remember it is totally worth it!

Walk Walk Walk! After surgery my shoulders hurt so bad I honestly thought that they were dislocated. Walking did help...but you just have to get all the gas moving out. Walking has helped me so much. I just had surgery the 8th.

I had the 2 part leak test. Thank goodness no leaks. The tech added the blue ink to way to much ice and it took me forever to get it down. I also asked if I could lick a sucker and you would have thought I asked for crack! The barium was not that bad, just a few sips and I was good to go.

You can no longer take NSAIDS with Sleeve either. It is also very possible to gain the weight back. It is probably the easiest bariatric surgery to "cheat" with. Best of Luck!

I am with ya! I have had 3 C-Sections. NOTHING could have prepared me for the constant never ending pain. I had my surgery Thursday morning. When I woke up today I can say I do feel remarkably better. Still in pain, but not unbearable. Good Luck to you!

3 days. Full liquids. Surgery was yesterday.