Judymday

I'm a day behind you!! Best of luck!!

All these are great!! I just want to be able to wipe my own ass without being a contortionist!

The Pre Op is the hard part!!! Its almost over:)

All these are great!! I just want to be able to wipe my own ass without being a contortionist!

All these are great!! I just want to be able to wipe my own ass without being a contortionist!

All these are great!! I just want to be able to wipe my own ass without being a contortionist!

All these are great!! I just want to be able to wipe my own ass without being a contortionist!

Surgery is 4/23 & I've been weaning myself off coffee. This is my first hurdle to jump & I'm already finding it so difficult. I'm so TIRED!! I don't want to complain to anyone (as this is an elective procedure and I have made a decision to go through with it!). So here I am complaining to you all!! I will make it.
On the brighter side, I had my final appointment with my surgeon & my pre op liquid diet includes some broth, fruits and veggies as well as the Protein shakes! That will definitely make life a little easier. I also made my final payment to him and found out that because I am a nurse in the system where I will have the surgery, they are waiving my hospital co-pay!!

Thanks for sharing! The pictures help keep me going! Not sure why, I think I'm visual? You look fantastic!

Hi Everyone, I’m finally on here again to tell my Post-Op story. My surgery was on Tuesday April 2nd and I came home on Thursday. I waited until now to write because I needed to be in the right frame of mind before I write this or I was worried that I would scare everyone away. I would love to sugar coat everything and tell you that my journey so far has been wonderful, but I’ve decided to just be honest because after all it IS my journey. First of all I woke up from surgery! So yay that was wonderful, but then I am told that they are taking me to ICU because my oxygen level was very low and they were worried about that with my sleep apnea, ok, no biggie. Now when I finally get to my room, wham the pain hits me. Honestly I am not a big cry baby when it comes to pain but I have to tell you, I was not expecting the amount of pain I had. When I read other peoples stories on here that say they had NO pain, I just find that so hard to believe how you could have 5 incisions and your stomach pulled out through your skin and not have ANY pain, KUDOS to all of you that didn’t, but I certainly did. Ok so I dealt with the pain, I’ve had trouble breathing since my surgery ( I will address this tomorrow with my surgeon), and now I finally get to come home, pain and all…I, like most of you have been wanting this surgery for over a year, I fought with my insurance for over a year to get approved, I have been on these forums 24/7 reading as much information as I possibly can to be prepared, well let me remind you, that like anything else in life, until you experience it for yourself, you can not possibly know how something is going to be until you go through it yourself. Now please know that I am not saying this to scare anyone, I am not unhappy with my decision to have the surgery and today I finally have a better out look on everything, but you can not imagine how you are going to feel until after you have had the surgery yourself no matter how much you read or think you know. What I mean by this is that everyone’s relationships with food are alittle different and everyone is going to react differently when they actually can NOT have food. For months now I have been telling myself that I am over food and I can’t wait to get this done and start my journey, it took me by such surprise that when I got home, I was feeling so down, I couldn’t understand why until my husband starting eating a pizza and the smell of it just made me want to cry, and everyday since, watching my family eat, is pure torture for me. You kinda forget that their life goes on and they are going to eat and they are going to eat in front of you, you can’t avoid that forever. I know that this too shall pass and I know that I will get through this, but I’m just letting you know to be prepared that it’s not easy, afterall, didn’t we always fail before on diets because our willpower wasn’t great enough to keep us going? Well now no matter how much you may want to “cheat” you CANT or you will hurt yourself, yes I guess that is a good thing, but is not easy. Plus I had to give up smoking in January to have this surgery which would be my other “go to “ crutch that I now don’t have either.
So back to when I get home, as I said, I was so prepared, had everything I needed and I swear when I got home I felt like I had no idea what to do, I thought they must have taken my brains out with my stomach cause I could not remember anything! I got so confused on –what’s a meal, whats a liquid- how much of each, when, etc..Well my brains finally came back and I’m figuring it out, but it’s not easy. It has become my full time job all week just trying to get it all straight and get it all in. I realize it’s not forever and that’s the only thing that gets me through the day. Trying to keep track of every 3 hours a meal, but half hour before don’t drink, then a half hour after don’t drink but then after that you better take in liquids every 2 minutes and then figure out your Protein intake has become my job now. I thought I would try to go back to work next week, LOL yeah right..I need to have all this figured out first. I have never used my timer so much in my life! I really don’t mean to be a downer here, as I said, this is why I waited all week to write because if I had of written right away it would not have been good. This is only MY journey and how I have felt so far, I do not regret having the surgery because what is getting me through these tough days is the outcome and knowing (hoping) that it will be worth it, but I guess when your feeling this way and your still Fat, doesn’t help, LOL…For everyone who is upcoming in their surgery, I wish you the best and I’m sure you will be fine and not have my experience, and to everyone who’s had their surgery and had NO pain and everything has gone smooth sailing and so easy for you, KUDOS to you, but I did want to be honest so that if anyone experiences what I am experiencing I want them to feel they can come to me at any time to talk, because I will probably know how you feel and hopefully already be past that and able to get you past it as well. So please message me if you need any support at all. Sorry this was so long, I tried to make it as short as possible and I just want to end with this, if anyone has a dark day, my best advice to you, is to remember why you did this in the first place and that everyday it WILL get better, I promise..That is the only thing that got me through so far, Oh and by the way, I have lost 9 pounds since the day before surgery, so yay me!..Thanks for reading…Kari

A very modest goal of 150 but I haven't weighed 150 since 6th grade

How many people had surgery by Dr. Clark?
I had mine July 2011. I am 173 pounds happy.
Dr Clark gave me my life back.
Same guy & girl 5 years apart.

Howdy Everyone!
Today marks 9 months since I had surgery! I find it symbolic that that is the length of time I was pregnant - creating my daughters....
ANd that is how long it has taken to create the new me. Was a size 24....now a size 10.
292 day od surgery....188 this morning.....
I can honestly say I am perfectly happy at where I am now. I would love to MAINTAIN where I am now....so IF I lost anymore, bonus! If not - that is fine!
This surgery works! It may be a little slower for some than others....but it WORKS!
I am the happiest I have ever been!
 

Some of you were able to see my pics yesterday, but someone gave me a tip about using picmonkey to do a side by side comparison. I still have a LONG way to go. I don't see it when I look in the mirror, but when I look at these pics side by side I can definitely tell the difference. I would really recommend this to anyone, but especially to those like myself who have a really large amount of weight to lose. Trust me, I would have never complained about losing ONLY 76 lbs. in 4 months in the past, but when you get sleeved you want it all to melt away quickly. It still holds true that we did not gain this weight overnight & we won't lose it overnight. I will be keeping a pic log from now on so that I can see the results more clearly for myself & stay motivated! The before pics are me at 418 which was my highest weight and also my weight on the day of my VSG. The after pics are from yesterday...4 months & 4 days out at 342.

Black dress 294, pink shirt 250, black shirt 215

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Bring ear plugs and a sleepy mask to hosp

Down 54 pounds

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One year later and 140 pounds lighter!!

Hi ya'll!!! My surgery is scheduled April 23!!

Oh man, there has been a change in me. For the first time since I have been old enough to drive and have my own money I am not obsessed with running to buy clearanced easter candy. This week I was able to eat pretty intuitively (not obsessing over limits) and still lose three pounds.
This is more than I could have ever wished for.

Hi all! I'm an RN also. I was an LPN for a couple years and did nursing home and a peds office. Went back and got my RN and did ICU for 7 years and a short stretch of home health. I even did travel nursing for 3 assignments. Got to live/work/play in LA, San Diego, and New Orleans. I became a stay at home mom though while pg with our 7 year old daughter. Worst pregnancy ever . Hyperemesis gravidum until mid 2nd trimester finally got to work a few shifts before pre e set in and doc said no stress pfft I was an icu and trauma nurse . So I quit.
Now have two kids and our daughter has Aspergers so it's easier for now if I don't work.
Anyhow. I was actually a skinny Minnie through high school. Graduated weighing 105 fully clothed - then it slowly started creeping up until I hit 200+. Got married had two kids, tried every diet to just yoyo up and down. I am now at 270.
Went to my first doc appt and see the nut this week. Dr said end of may beginning of June as long as insurance plays nice

I was really sore the first day. I didn't want to walk.. but I did. This is SO IMPORTANT if u are to avoid bloodclots. This is day 5. Each day the pain deems to subside more and more ESPECIALLY when Ur taking the pain meds. I've been taking my vitamins.......everything except my Protein which I start on day 8. I've lost close to 10lbs post op. AWESOME. For the most part craving food hasn't been a major problem. My soreness is what keeps me in check with the food. I bought this blue lawn chair like chair that allows me to sit propped up.

Before and after pic! Its been 6 months and 78 pounds gone!

Hello all! I, too, am a registered nurse in California. I got finished my accelerated MSN program in 2008 and since then I've worked in Quality Management, Med/Surg, Tele/Step-down, ICU, and I've now landed as the Clinical Nurse Leader/Assistant Manager of the Outpatient Surgical Service at the VA. I had to change jobs because I suffered a job-related injury to my back and could no longer work as floor nurse. But there is a silver lining... my former hospital had a clause in their health plan that they would not, under any circumstances, cover weight-loss surgery. I fought that for about a year, when my lawyer told me to give up. So I finally got a job with Veterans Affairs... much lower salary, but their health plan covers Vertical Sleeves! Yay! I started my job in Sept 2012 and by March 6, 2013 I was sleeved! I am so happy and lucky to have had the surgery... and I think it's great that you made a support group just for nurses! I've been asked by patients "when are you due" and gotten the incredulous looks when I counsel them on diet and exercise... I'm so glad I will now be a model for the behavior I preach!
Happy St. Paddy's Day everyone... No green beer for me this year - but I'm sure not complaining!