endless80

You always put things into perspective for me. Yes, it was a long ass post but I was holding it in and I needed to purge a little. Maybe I should start a blog. I felt like my process happened a little more organically. I am always willing to show people my progress and how this surgery has and is working very well for me because I now have a sense of balance in my life when it comes to food (even though I do eat crap sometimes) but I don't think I can, in good conscience, recommend to someone that this surgery is a good idea and that they should check it out. A lot of that is because I feel like I was lucky. I feel like everyone's experience is different and I'm just afraid that my recommendation could lead to someone making decisions that affects the rest of their lives negatively.

Careful, at only 6 weeks the small tiny pieces of popcorn can cause discomfort. I am almost 12 weeks out and I haven't had any yet.

It makes me uncomfortable, and let me tell you why... When I started this journey there was a series of events that triggered a shift in the way I thought about gastric surgery. A few years ago I had a friend who died from complications of Gastric Bypass. It turned me off to it completely. I lived with that for years and as I was creeping up above 360 pounds and I felt like I had been on some sort of a diet for the last 15 years of my life. I thought about my weight constantly. I was in deep DEEP denial of reality. The reality was that I was OBESE. I was 6'2 and 365 (my highest) pounds. It was an ongoing frustration where I would take 2 steps forward and 3 steps backwards when it came to food. I simply could not find balance. I was lost in a sea of 'do this, do that, don't do this, don't do that' when it came to healthy food choices. I was like a tennis ball just bouncing back and forth on a very large court. Paleo, low carb, low fat, 5:2, vegetarian, vegan, rice and chicken breast, Healthy Choice meals everyday, multiple gym memberships over the years, $200 trips to Whole Foods for a WEEK of groceries, juicing... I'm sure some of you can relate. Then one day, a coworker came back from a leave of absence and she looked amazing. I walked by her and whispered in her ear that she looked incredible. That innocent gesture would be the starting point that would change my life forever. About 6 months to a year after that another coworker came back from an extended leave (I work in a department with a lot of people so someone leaving for a while is not terribly noticeable until they come back) and she looked AMAZING. She had lost quite a bit of weight. What I didn't know was that these girls we're very close friends and they had both gone to the same surgeon. I approached her in the break room and asked her how she lost her weight and she told me she doesn't tell a lot of people but she had the Gastric Sleeve done. I had never heard of it before. I had only heard of the gastric band and RNY. She told me that she had an amazing surgeon and that she was the happiest she had ever been before in her entire life. It was yet another domino falling in my decision to get the surgery. So I thought about it some more, went through the normal "I'm gonna try to lose this weight on my own one last time" kind of thing and I gave myself a time frame of 4 months to lose 40 pounds due to a flight I was scheduled to take and I was petrified I wouldn't fit in the seat and be able to buckle the seat belt. About 2 weeks before the trip I had only managed to lose 10 pounds and I made my decision to seriously start researching and initiating the process of my gastric sleeve. I actually had my partners approval and support which was SO IMPORTANT to me so I booked the seminar and the two surgeons who perform the surgery's came in and explained all of my options to a small group of us. I felt like I was in a room full of lost souls. The underlying sadness in the room was palpable but so was hope for a better future. Once that was over I waited to schedule the first consult with the surgeon till after my trip. Well I am happy to report that I was able to fit on the flight and not weigh the plane down to the runway, thankfully. And on that trip I started telling those that we're close to me. Well to make this long story short when I got back it took me 3 months to finish the requirements for my insurance to get the surgery. In that time I discovered this forum (quite possibly the BEST resource I had for knowledge) and started mentally preparing myself for surgery. I knew there was complications but I also knew that I would be okay. I knew I was young and healthy and if I was ever going to get the surgery than getting it now at 33 was my best chance for a complication-less surgery. So I went for it. I trusted my surgeon and I bypassed my fear and jumped in head first. I was ready for change. At that time I had no idea what form that change would take. I was very transparent about my decision to get the surgery. I didn't mind telling folks, especially if I thought it would help them. Well, when I came back from my leave (30 days), I had lost about 45 pounds since anyone had seen me. A coworker, not unlike myself started taking notice. She is a friend, a wonderful woman who was just so interested in the whole process. I explained to her that I had little to no complications and that I felt great. She was fascinated just like I was. She had another friend who worked in a surgeons office that performed these surgeries so she decided to go with them instead of my surgeon. They seemed to streamline the process much differently that my surgeons office did. It's like they pushed her through SO FAST. What took me 4 months only took her 1 month and her surgery was scheduled. She was so happy and even though I had some reservations about her process compared to mine I kept them to myself because once you get into that head space you have blinders on. I couldn't blame her, I did the same thing. I was happy for her. Then she had the surgery. I kept in contact with her through her surgery and stay in the hospital. The complications started almost immediately. She failed the upper GI because of the swelling, fluids would sit in her esophagus for a minute before it drained into her stomach. She was in a lot of pain. Almost 4 weeks out she is still in a lot of pain and can barely eat, fluids still taking their time going into her stomach because of the swelling which should have gone down weeks ago. I referred her to this group to check out the 'Complications' section and talk to folks who are having the same (or similar) issues. She can barely eat, drink and I am sure very scared and feeling isolated because of her complications. Plus she had issues with the company who handles our leave and she was only able to be out for 3 weeks. This is crazy because she IS NOT healed yet and her surgeons office didn't extend it. This makes me so mad. She has to WORK, in an office, and be productive while she can barely drink anything and is suffering and out of pain meds. I think I am going to fill my final 2 liquid pain meds that I didn't take for my own surgery and give them to her. I will NEVER recommend this surgery to anyone ever again. It's a shot in the dark if you will recover the way you're supposed to. I will tell people I had this surgery and show them my very obvious progress but the phrase "you should look into it" will never cross my lips again. Because the truth of the matter is, you never know. And I refuse to my the catalyst for someone ruining their life when my intentions were the complete opposite. Sorry this was so long. Your thoughts?

I lost weight as well. 3 pounds last night. I ate like total crap yesterday.

Nothing and I mean NOTHING annoys me more than the food police. The other day I literally said to someone "I've lost 70 pounds in 9 weeks eating what I like and without your advice, I don't need your input. Thanks' and shut them up real quick.

I love that though! It's our sleeve working. I am surprised at how much food I can eat sometimes. Thin crust pizza has been my weakness lately but its just my 2 maybe 3 small squares of it and I'm done instead of the entire pizza plus wings. For a while I was really on the fence about if I made the right choice but lately I really think I did. I love my sleeve. I love the balance it gives me when it comes to food.

I'll eat a little bit of everything except stuffing or anything overly carbtastic.

Are there any guys in the Atlanta area that were sleeved?

I've been taking capsules since week 5 just fine.

Get a good probiotic.

If nobody said a word we'd have a status about how nobody notices your weight loss. I guess I just don't understand why people noticing your shrinking body is a bad thing. It means you're on the right track.

I was sleeved on 9/10 and I'm down 69 pounds so far.

I hate this new layout.

Congrats!! It is scary and the recovery sucks but just know this... no matter how crappy you feel tomorrow, it only gets better from there. Really think about why you're doing this... pray/meditate/think about the new transitioning state you will be in for a while and let yourself heal, physically and emotionally. This has been a great journey so far.

I am such a slave to the scale. I really just want to get rid of it but I know I wont. I weigh once a day in the mornings. I really should switch it up to once a week and get a little more bang for my buck.

Amazing! I wanna have a night of dancing. It's been a while.. a long while.

Congrats!! It's the best feeling when they call you and tell you that you're able to proceed. Good luck, big change is ahead of you.

Sounds like BS to me. 1 pound a week? I could have done that without the sleeve.

Just kidding. haha!

I'll take them!

Personally I think that if you have 100-135 pounds to lose the sleeve is the way to go. If you have more than that or are diabetic and/or love sweets and don't think you could live without them than bypass is the way to go because of dumping and its a little more severe (surgery wise) than the sleeve. You will lose more weight with bypass (maybe, there are exceptions to this).

Oh it's okay, we all have different tastes. Thank you for the suggestion though. Cause now I know and once you know... lol

I didn't have to do a diet before my surgery at all, just 2 days before surgery I had to only drink liquids. PreOp diets... I GET that they're "supposed" to do something important in theory but I don't buy them really. Everyone I know cheated and everyone I know still got the sleeve and lost a ton of weight. lol

I have awful heartburn as well. I have had it before and after the surgery. In the last 2 weeks I've started taking Prilosec once a day (just 1 pill) and also one of these Probiotics (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005P0NYFI/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and there is a world of difference. These probiotics are inexpensive and they WORK. I've been heartburn free for 2 weeks now.

Thanks! I'll check it out.