tizv123

I told my boss and she felt a need to share it with e higher ups. Every now and then she say things like "can you eat that" or can you eat all of that and she does it n the front of others. Oh, I'm bout to get with her.... I actually never intended for the higher ups to know. I only told her to ensure that so done at work was aware of me having a medical procedure. Not that I had to. Only a handful of people know BUT I actually HATE that anyone outside of my house knows. I'm proud of my decision.

Hi all -
I've been thinking about coming here and telling my story for some time. Today it's a cold, snowy day so I thought I'd get to the task. When I was pre-sleeve it seemed these boards were mainly populated by those who were pre-sleeve or weeks to months out. So with being over 2 years now, I thought I'd give you my story. It might help someone make a decision.
First, I could have had my surgery a year sooner than I did. My insurance began paying for the sleeve 3 years ago but I dragged my feet out of fear. It wasn't one thing I was afraid of, but many little things. The surgery itself, the horror stories you hear of failed results but mostly the idea of giving up food. I went through life wondering why I was so fat. At my highest, I got to over 365. I kept saying I didn't eat that much and I didn't deserve to weigh that much. Well, guess what. I was right. That's probably been the absolute best thing about having this surgery. There was a sort of validation that I wasn't crazy. I really didn't eat that much and I really should never have been 365 pounds. So the biggest fear of having to give up food didn't even happen for me. I can still eat anything I want. That might make some people who are saying "yea, that's me so why bother" think the surgery was of no value. But it absolutely was. Here's how it all played out:
My plan made me diet and lose before surgery. So I dieted from 365 down to about 300 "on my own". Then, during the first 6 months of healing I was extremely restricted. During that window of time I went from 300 to about 240. Those who have been there can understand how little loss that was for a six month window where I was taking in less than 600 calories most days. I hated all the Protein drinks, experience dumping if drinking something "not diet", and survived mainly on tuna and egg substutite. But now I am so glad for that window of time because that was about it for me. I'm now, as of this morning, at 232. I am still "fat". But I no longer stand out in a crowd and feel so much better. And I know that without that forced window of healing, I would have never gotten here and stayed here. Don't fight that window of time. You will come out of it and be back to where you are in control. For me, that was 'being sleeved'. That window was the only rough time of this and I wish I'd have understood that then. Now I'm just back to normal, but there's less fight to have to stay where I am.
Diet wise, I eat extremely low carb for as long as I can stand it and then I take a day off. Fish, chicken, green veggies, eggs, some cheese and beef about once a week. I've found my balance and as much as I don't like it, it is all about the carbs for me. With a full stomach, I could not stay extreme low carb for more than 4 or 5 days. Now I can do it for about 7 or 8. Then I take a day off. I am not that "perfect person" who came out of this reformed and chewing on broccoli for satisfaction. My day off usually consists of one or two pieces of pizza, a piece or two of cake (the type you make with diet soda and no icing) and something crunchy salty. And a big salad with carrots, peas, beats, and all the veggy things that are more complex carbs, but a higher level. It's a day long feast that I sort of graze through. Love every bite. Then back to the low carb where I do chew on broccoli.
And that's the positive. I feel like, for the first time in my life, I will stay just a little fat. My doctor has said that if I have the skin removal for stomach and arms, I could easily settle in about 185. I'm fine with that. And I hope to have those two surgeries next year. (Working on saving the money now.) This tool has made my life time of dieting actually effective to keep me only moderately fat. And I don't miss a thing. It's almost surgical will power. I built the habit of eating low carb and sticking with it before the surgery. This just makes it easier.
I still get hungry. I envy those who don't.
I do a pretty good job on taking the supplements, but at about 18 months I started letting up on it some. If I miss a day here and there I don't worry about it. My labs are good, so I try to not sweat the details.
I experience dumping pretty bad. It lasts about 2 hours if I eat something too sweet or rich. It's not fun. Even when I was heavy I had low blood sugar issues and I think my having such an issue with dumping is all tied together with my natural low blood sugar.
It's hard to explain what "full" feels like but it's not like the old days. That might be the only thing I miss. Every now and then I'll find myself wishing I could feel the old full one more time.
For me, this ended up being far less earth shattering than I expected. I do regret the wasted year, but I am glad I waited for the sleeve instead of gastric bypass. This is the truth. I have two friends who did gastric bypass a couple of years before I was sleeved and they have aged so hard compared to me. Yes, they've lost more weight but I wanted healthy as a side effect of the surgery and they don't look nearly as healthy.
When I read here before people had named their sleeves. I just call mine my stomach because this surgery just made me feel normal. Well, at least as far as my stomach is concerned. : )

I haven't weighed myself in a week and when I stepped on the scale this morning I dropped a whopping 1 pound! Wow! My surgery was November 19th, and I'm only down 26 pounds I feel like I'll probably be a slow loser, but I can't help getting frustrated. Anyone else out there lose slow at first and then speed up?

Sweetvee, I am losing slowly too but don't care. I was sleeved on December 19th and have lost around 15 lbs. The lower your BMI the slower we lose. As long as I lose I'm happy. Can't wait to start working out since I'm feeling very flabby. Hang in there!!

I would not trust a public scale at a gym - most likely it isn't cared for or calibrated like it should be. I am sure your Dr's office wouldn't mind you stopping in to check on their scales.< /p>

Wow, these are great recipes.....I needed this...maybe it will help me get through the rest of this puree cycle.

I guess every doc is different because I am 2 weeks post op and I came home from the hospital on day 3 eating cream of wheat, cream Soups, puddings etc....as a matter of fact, they gave it to me on the hosp....Today was my 2 week follow up and I am off of food restrictions....just eat when hungry, eat til full, chew, chew, chew and hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.....I tried puree and could not handle that....10 days post op, I tried the string cheese....I haven't been nausea once.....

Me too! I could not sleep in clothes or I would soak them in the middle of the night. We kept the a/c down low 68/65 and just a sheet for me and I would STILL sweat. Since the surgery it has been awesome! sleeping through the night and I can even use a quilt!

I had Dr. Pilcher and I am at Methodist TEXSAN

I was a self pay here in Texas. I paid the doctor, hospital and anesthesia separate. The hospital was $9250 for 1-3 days. Based on that wouldn't you want to stay the whole three days?

When i woke up from coming out of surgery, i was in pain. The docs quickly took care if that.
Not much pain or anything now. I have a compression garnet on. I just can feel how tired my body is. I self payed and the hospital was 9250 for 1-3 days. They were gonna let me go home and i told them id rather stay another day.
I meant I just got sleeved.

Surgery yesterday went well. No issues other than a few moments of nausea but they started diluting the pain med in my IV and that solved that! I never once used my morphine drip. Didn't need it at all
Just got approved to be discharged. So happy to be going home and getting started on the new me!
I hope everyone else is doing great!
Thanks to everyone for the kind thoughts and prayers. They were very much appreciated!
Take care everyone!
Julianne

So far so good. Came out if surgery and sleep most of the day. Woke up this morning with a new outlook. I go home tomorrow. Pain is maybe a 3-4. Light gas. I'm ready.

So far so good. Came out if surgery and sleep most of the day. Woke up this morning with a new outlook. I go home tomorrow. Pain is maybe a 3-4. Light gas. I'm ready.

So far so good. Came out if surgery and sleep most of the day. Woke up this morning with a new outlook. I go home tomorrow. Pain is maybe a 3-4. Light gas. I'm ready.

So far so good. Came out if surgery and sleep most of the day. Woke up this morning with a new outlook. I go home tomorrow. Pain is maybe a 3-4. Light gas. I'm ready.

I am 41 and just sleeved 5 days ago. I've had a lot rougher time with it than the ones I read about in post sleeve forums. I still move around like Im ninty from the pain when I walk. I walk bent over holding the drain bandage. Going through all kinds of emotional things. Has anyone else over 40 experinced this? What did you do to make it through the first week? When do you start to have hope of "normal" again?

Woohoo! So glad I found this forum. I am 5'4 +- at 215...Started at 225 (I think the scale was wrong - but whatever) I have been feeling really crazy because when I went to my seminar, everyone looked at me crazy. I was by far the smallest one in the room BUT,like everyone sitting in there, my weight is a problem and has been. I just retired from the military on 30 Apr, but myretirement ceremony was in Jan 2012. Once I knew I would never have to weigh in again, my weight began to climb. I sat at home and gained, then quit smoking on 9 May and added another 20 pounds. I went to the recruiter in 1991 at 244. 5 months later I joined the Navy at 162. Did that with slimfast, boiled chicken and walking 5 miles. I have tried EVERY diet and prescription drug and over the counter known to man kind only to gain and lose and gain and lose. I remember days before weigh ins and I'd sit and bake in the sauna. I have done every drastic thing a person can do to make weight for the past 21 years....I am ready for my new life. The people in the room with me at the weightloss seminar may have thought I was just slightly big but the military weight guidelines have made me feel less than for years. I was always the biggest person in my class, workspace etc...Anyway, I am glad I found this forum. I am so excited. Monday is the day.

Had surgery last week on Wed. and I've already lost 26 lbs

Thanks to everyone for the support! Just thought I'd update. Since surgery, my husband has been great! I think he was super scared about me going to MX and having surgery and blamed money instead of expressing emotions. When I came home his attitude totally changed. And now that I'm 23 pounds down, he can't keep his hands off of me and compliments me all the time! I'm so happy I stood my ground and went ahead with the surgery. I was so serious about this that I probably would have left him if he gave me an ultimatum.

My husband was unsupportive before surgery to the point that he told me to eat less and exercise more. Now that I've lost over 120 pounds, he's the first person to sing the praises of WLS. He's still a huge jerk and will soon be my EX, but he did come around on that issue. Don't let your hubby keep you from doing this for you!

Hi Texas girl!
I did the same thing. I had a low bmi and I only have about 50-60 to loose. I went to Dr. Garcia in Tijuana. I am one month out and feeling ok. Still struggling to get my Water and Protein quotas daily...but other than that...no problems at all. It has been difficult to go through the holidays and eat when I can't have what my family is having but I will get over it. I am down 20lbs this month so that is good. I can now have some soft solids from what my doctor told me and the things I couldn't wait to have don't taste right. Ughh...I've tried to cheat and eat pizza topping, and ice cream...amongst other things...but they taste like crap! All food tastes bad except for baked fish and soft cooked leafy veggies like spinach...what the what?!?!? I didn't realize that my tastebuds would change too!
I know this sounds cool...but it is a big mental and emotional adjustment. I am realizing how much I relied on food to make me feel ok. I have found that now I have to stay busy just to keep my mind off of eating. So I'm working on getting some hobbies going. I have to replace the solace that I used to receive through food. I kind of wish I had have prepared myself a bit more mentally for this change. I didn't search this board like I should have before I had my surgery. But I will adjust and overcome. As everyone will tell you...time makes everything better. You will see healing milestones everyday. That's the awesome thing about this surgery.
Whatever the case we are making room for you on the loser's bench over here...come on girl!!! Get ready for some loose hanging clothes and renewed confidence. I swear I look 10 years younger...not sure why but even my husband noticed. He loved me before...but he doesn't notice how much more loving he is now. He loves to cuddle and pick me up now...so come on over to the "light" side!!!

First I just want to tell everyone how helpful this site, forum,blog is to those of us that are just finding it. I am a self pay, and having surgery with Dr. Alvarez on March 13th....I'm so excited! I do have a low BMI and knew insurance would never pay for me to have, what I'm considering to be (or at least hoping) a life changing choice. I have about 55 - 60 lbs to lose, but want to do this before I have 100 to lose. I have read so many times on here that the only wish would be to have had the surgery sooner. I have fought the yo-yo diets for years and I'm just ready to not have that worry on my mind 24/7. As i am preparing mentally for my surgery I often wonder what life will feel like on the other side, or "loser bench" as its called. I would love to hear input from anyone with a low bmi and what your surgery experience has been. Have you lost what you were hoping to lose. Again, I want to tell you all thank you so much. My husband is the ONLY person that knows about the planned surgery. The only reason I'm not telling anyone is because I have lost the weight so many times only to put it plus an extra 5 so many times. I don't want to feel like a failure once again. This site is my support and salvation right now....THANK YOU!!!!

I requested from 11/15 (day before surgery since they required a bowel prep) until 11/30. Today (day 5), I feel like I could go back to work on Monday, but being the Office Manager in addition to my Exec Asst duties, it would require me running around the office quite a bit. just walking 2/3 of a mile right now wears me out, so I asked the dr to clear me to return on 12/3 so I can use next week to get my stamina back to be able to handle days like I was prior to surgery. I've read several posts, and a majority of those I have read suggest at least 2 weeks off to recover.
Much luck to you on your recovery! I hope it's a smooth as mine has been.

I am 26 Nov here in San Antonio. Very nervous.