cmbtexas

Hi Tammy from Michigan. I haven't been on here in a long time. I too share a similar story. I am open to supporting one another on our journey. I successfully lost almost 150 pounds and kept it off for over 5 years. Through a series of life events and depression I stopped all of my food tracking, stopped exercising, and developed a seriously unhealthy relationship with alcohol. I unfortunately regained 120 pounds. It's been a very difficult thing to come to terms with... especially when blaming yourself, beating yourself up and feeling like it is dam near impossible to loose all that weight again without the surgery. The embarrassment facing the world who had watched my journey and been so proud and supportive.. only to years later look at what I essentially did to myself.. I had to shut all of those thoughts out and take time to look at what got me here. So I'm starting over and diligently making my plans with daily effort to work towards my goal. One week at a time. I can't live in the debilitating self hate any longer. However, the addiction to alcohol and now overeating has been a huge hurdle to get over. Finding support, being open about it and accepting myself is keeping me on track..

I am almost 5 years out from surgery. I lost around 155 pounds and kept it off for about 3.5 years. But in the past 1.5 years, I have suffered from depression and started drinking alcohol excessively ( I typically would have ate food excessively in the past). In the past I could have several drinks and be fine; however post surgery the side effects were much more severe (depression, a feeling of real dependency, blacking out suddenly with no recollection of where the cutoff point would be i.e. 2 drinks now was just as strong as drinking 5) The alcohol goes so quickly into your system that it is a real danger if not properly monitored. Although my eating habits didn't change, without daily exercise and with the added calories of excessive alcohol consumption, I regained around 60 pounds. In addition to the weight gain I have struggled with the affects of alcohol dependency, which I never had experienced before. As VSG patients we were all cautioned on drinking and how it affects us differently after surgery. I didn't really take heed to those warnings until it had become a problem for me. I am working on it daily now and also am struggling to lose the weight all over again, which feels pretty much like as difficult as it had been prior to surgery. I think this is not talked about enough and I'm sure I am not the only VSG patient who has experienced this. As a community being open with one another, and as individual seeking out help earlier, I probably wouldn't be struggling with these 60 pounds now. Anyone who's been through it should reach out sooner than later. Not only have I suffered from this issue, I have had to deal with the fact that I messed up my own progress and success and now have to deal with the ramifications of starting all over again so to speak. This I can say for certain, staying in a support group and dealing with your issues is imperative to continued success in this journey. I'm not sure if I'll loose all of the 60 I've regained again, but I am willing to fight the battle to do this all over again and to warn others of how dangerous alcohol consumption is for us post surgery!

I am almost 5 years out from surgery. I lost around 155 pounds and kept it off for about 3.5 years. But in the past 1.5 years, I have suffered from depression and started drinking alcohol excessively ( I typically would have ate food excessively in the past). In the past I could have several drinks and be fine; however post surgery the side effects were much more severe (depression, a feeling of real dependency, blacking out suddenly with no recollection of where the cutoff point would be i.e. 2 drinks now was just as strong as drinking 5) The alcohol goes so quickly into your system that it is a real danger if not properly monitored. Although my eating habits didn't change, without daily exercise and with the added calories of excessive alcohol consumption, I regained around 60 pounds. In addition to the weight gain I have struggled with the affects of alcohol dependency, which I never had experienced before. As VSG patients we were all cautioned on drinking and how it affects us differently after surgery. I didn't really take heed to those warnings until it had become a problem for me. I am working on it daily now and also am struggling to lose the weight all over again, which feels pretty much like as difficult as it had been prior to surgery. I think this is not talked about enough and I'm sure I am not the only VSG patient who has experienced this. As a community being open with one another, and as individual seeking out help earlier, I probably wouldn't be struggling with these 60 pounds now. Anyone who's been through it should reach out sooner than later. Not only have I suffered from this issue, I have had to deal with the fact that I messed up my own progress and success and now have to deal with the ramifications of starting all over again so to speak. This I can say for certain, staying in a support group and dealing with your issues is imperative to continued success in this journey. I'm not sure if I'll loose all of the 60 I've regained again, but I am willing to fight the battle to do this all over again and to warn others of how dangerous alcohol consumption is for us post surgery!

I am almost 5 years out from surgery. I lost around 155 pounds and kept it off for about 3.5 years. But in the past 1.5 years, I have suffered from depression and started drinking alcohol excessively ( I typically would have ate food excessively in the past). In the past I could have several drinks and be fine; however post surgery the side effects were much more severe (depression, a feeling of real dependency, blacking out suddenly with no recollection of where the cutoff point would be i.e. 2 drinks now was just as strong as drinking 5) The alcohol goes so quickly into your system that it is a real danger if not properly monitored. Although my eating habits didn't change, without daily exercise and with the added calories of excessive alcohol consumption, I regained around 60 pounds. In addition to the weight gain I have struggled with the affects of alcohol dependency, which I never had experienced before. As VSG patients we were all cautioned on drinking and how it affects us differently after surgery. I didn't really take heed to those warnings until it had become a problem for me. I am working on it daily now and also am struggling to lose the weight all over again, which feels pretty much like as difficult as it had been prior to surgery. I think this is not talked about enough and I'm sure I am not the only VSG patient who has experienced this. As a community being open with one another, and as individual seeking out help earlier, I probably wouldn't be struggling with these 60 pounds now. Anyone who's been through it should reach out sooner than later. Not only have I suffered from this issue, I have had to deal with the fact that I messed up my own progress and success and now have to deal with the ramifications of starting all over again so to speak. This I can say for certain, staying in a support group and dealing with your issues is imperative to continued success in this journey. I'm not sure if I'll loose all of the 60 I've regained again, but I am willing to fight the battle to do this all over again and to warn others of how dangerous alcohol consumption is for us post surgery!

I understand how most of you feel!! I have been weighing myself and found that I have been getting upset and thinking way too much about what if I did all of this for 30 pounds and no more loss ( I am 3 weeks out, lost 14 pounds since day of surgery, and have not lost a pound in a week). I am worried I will start self defeating if I don't stop weighing all of the time. I think once a week is sufficient and a great idea to remind yourself that this is as much about positive thinking and longterm committment as it is to instant gratification with a daily scale read! That is what I am telling myself anyways to feel better about a stall 3 weeks out.

I am scheduled to have my surgery tomorrow and believe me I have been going through all of the same emotions you are feeling now and I am finally to a nice calm feeling about everything. In the beginning I too had a mourning stage for the food and eating habits I was about to change. It was hard the first few days with hunger and headaches, but once you get past that it was not too bad. I found then when I started to feel hungry I would just drink some more water or broth and the feeling would pass. It was a great training tool so to speak in that you realize how much you were consuming before and what life is going to be like afterword. Take advantage of the two weeks and really stick to it because it's important for your physical well being in preparing your body for surgery and you wouldn't believe how much you mentally will feel stronger and more in control at the end of the two weeks; which is a great way to feel entering into your surgery. I also had to address the what ifs of the trainer/dieting/etc...if I only gave it one more chance...I just had to finally come to terms with the fact that for whatever reason I have not been able to be successful with these methods and view the surgery a new chapter in my life and forgetting about the other alternatives that you may feel you need to try one more time. The surgery is your new chance and by doing all the things your surgeon recommends and being fully informed you will be successful forever and not have to try and try again as I have done for most of my life! Good luck to you and I know you can do it! Stay on track and all of these feelings will pass!

Congratulations on the loss! That is definately inspiring for those of us about to embark on our journey! I am scheduled to have surgery tomorrow afternoon Take care and keep up the inspring loss!

I am interested in hearing about this as well..I also have hypothyroidism but will have my surgery on 11-26. I will be more than happy to compare with you once I have started loosing. Have you had your surgery yet?

When checking out a local supplement store today I asked the owner if they carried any supplements for bariatric patients and he proceeded to tell me how I would regret the surgery ( I am scheduled for 11-26 ) and that I would be facing serious medical reprocussions in the future as I age and get older due to insufficient nutritional support and other various issues that weight loss surgery patients incur as they age...he stated that he felt compelled to ask me to reconsider the surgery and try again to get help from professionals such as a nutritionist and other scientifically based programs for weight loss. When I told him that I was going to have the surgery and I respected his opinion but my mind was made up, he continued to plead with me as if he was trying to save my life! I even felt raddled enough to reconsider for a brief second..I was just wondering if anyone has read any research on bariatric patients as they age. I am still having the surgery, just thought maybe someone out there might have come across this subject.

Hello, I was looking into Dr. Mirza, for those of you that used his as your sureon, how do you feel your follow up care has been and his skills as surgeon?

Thanks for the response, what about finding a physician to do follow ups with in the states? Did you even worry about finding one or do you plan on doing any sort of in person follow ups with a doctor for lab work or anything else?

Hello, I just joined this site today. I am scheduled to have the gastric sleeve with Dr. Alvarez in towards the end of October. I need to send my deposit for surgery this week and I am a little aprehensive about going to Mexico still. I have several issues I would like to have some help with from those of you who have already been to see Dr. Alvarez: 1. Is it really safe to go over the border? There is a posted red alert travel warning from the US for all citizens crossing the boarder in the area. 2. What type of security, if any, did the doctor provide/and-or the hospital. 3. Since I live in Houston I was planning on driving down with my mother which is about a 6-7 hour drive. How difficult is it to ride in the car post surgery and would it be realistic to think I could endure that long of a car ride on my way back. 4. The concern of finding a phyician here to follow up with for check ups or god forbid an emergency situation related to the surgery. I have been told by several medical professionals that I would practically have to be coding (i.e. seriously bad medical status) to find someone to help me due to liability reasons. I would appreciate some input on these subjects from the community. I feel really solid about Dr. Alvarez and his expertise just a little worried about the above mentioned factors which are making me question whether I should just have the surgery done in Houston. Thanks.