ausmith

Six weeks from my one one year anniversary, and I am 20 pounds away from my goal. What a difference almost a year has made. I am 105 pounds down since the surgery, and I have never felt better. I still catch sight of myself in a mirror and wonder who that person is. I have sagging skin, but it doesn't bother me. I play on getting a Tummy Tuck in the near future to get rid of that annoying skin that I will never get rid of with just exercise alone, but I consider that a small price to pay for my weight loss.
Shopping for clothes has become a joy. Sales clerks treat you differently... sad, but true. I often will ask for the wrong size, just because I am not used to my new body. Hard to go from a size 4x and size 24 pants, to a size 10/12. It's a major head adjustment, and I find myself still asking for the largest size they have. It is still an amazing feeling to go into a so called normal sized clothing store, and find pretty much anything to fit me. I don't know if I will ever get used to that, especially after being overweight since I was 9.
I have gone down a shoe size and a half, which I didn't expect. More than anything, I realize how much my weight kept me from doing things I wanted to do. I was imprisoned by my own body, and it irritates me that I spent too many years unhappy with myself. This surgery has been a great tool for me... because it is a tool. I still work on it every day, and I still fight to make the right choices with my eating. But without this surgery, I would never have been able to lose the weight as I have done this last year. Best decision I have ever made, and I don't have one ounce of regrets. Thank you to all my fellow sleevers for your support and encouragement through my journey. I know when I was trying to make my decision about this surgery, I surfed these boards religiously, and every success story helped to convince me that I could also do this, and succeed where I had failed before so many times. I have posted a couple of pictures to show what a different 10 months makes. Can't wait to lose that last twenty pounds. Onwards!

Tomorrow will be 1 year. Loving the new me I started off with weight watchers @ 266. The Bariatric center started me out @ 245. I am down 122 pounds. I am now 144 pounds I have 10 more pounds 2 go but I am so happy.LIFE IS FUN AGAIN !!!!!!!!!!

Here's mine I was sleeved oct 21st 2013. My surgery weight was 231 and my current weight is 135.

It is my feeling that following a low carb diet will help maximize weight loss. Here is what I was told about carbs:
Early Bariatric patients should keep carbs at low levels; under 50 while at the liquid and soft foods stage. Staying this low for too long will slow weight loss, cause muscle loss and loss of hair
For maximum weight loss, keep carbs at 50-85 grams per day while on full diet. carbs should come from foods in their natural state: almonds, fruit, yogurt etc. You will need to add carbs for energy as you increase exercise levels
Once at maintenance levels, carbs can be at 85-125 gram range.
Fat storage begins to occur in the 125-300 gram range
I have followed this guideline the last ten months, increasing calories as needed. I also try to keep Protein levels at 40% of calories, Carbs 30% and Fat 30%.

Awh, now you guys are going to make me cry!! It's the most wonderful feeling knowing that people who have never met me are so caring and supportive. I didn't feel scared and alone on surgery day because I have all of you guys who know what it feels like and have been with me from the beginning. I'm not a very religious person but I know that all of your prayers and positive thoughts helped my surgeon fix me! I also don't understand how they could have missed the stomach herniating THROUGH my diaphragm into my chest cavity, it seems like that would have showed up on one of the scans! I also had a diverticulum which is a little hard to explain, it's kind of like a hole on the inside of your body where things can get stuck. So, I had a stricture that the acid had been eroding at for two years right where my esophagus met the cardiac "top" sphincter of my stomach, then a little further down I had a hole where food was getting stuck, and then the rest of my already small (sleeved) stomach went through my diaphragm and was in my chest cavity. HOW THE HECK DID THEY MISS THAT?!?!?! Lol, I don't blame them though because I do believe that they didn't know which isn't necessarily their fault even though they probably should have believed me and taken my pain more seriously, it's not like that's a normal occurrence.
But, just like you said..I'm making up for lost time now and I feel AMAZING! I'm so happy to be able to live my life now..the hope I feel for my future now is so strong

Hi Aussiegirl! Great to see you on here and to hear that life is going so well! I must say you are looking smokin' in your profile photo! I have not been on for ages so have a lot of catching up to do! For those of you who don't know me, I had my op 2 years ago on the 18 July. I reached below my goal in twelve months which took me to around 60 kg. I have mantained that for over 12 months but have just recently found that I can eat a lot more and I am now around 62-63kg. I can't say I am totally comfortable about putting on weight as the old fears rear their ugly head - but I know I have to be realistic. I am 167cm so I am well within the healthy weight range and like Aussiegirl I was looking a bit too thin. It is so easy to become a bit obsessive after this long journey. I was on the low end of obese so loose skin has not been an issue and at 52 who cares! Unfortunately I am one of the people that will be on Nexium for the rest of my life. Other than that, I have no issues - I can literally eat anything I want to now but still limited to about 1-11/2 cups in one go. I also. have my hunger back and really feel totally normal now. The hunger is nowhere as bad as pre-op and is easily satisfied. Well, I hope that gives people who are just starting out what the future will be like. It's great!

Just an update! Since my last update I have been hospitalized 2 more times and had approx 5 more corrective procedures. I had a stent that ran from my lower esophagus to my stomach for 3 weeks until it caused an occlusion and had to be removed a week early, I have also had 2 dilations to open up the sleeve. I am 2 and a half months post op and still off work sitting at home on tube feedings 20 hours per day. The stent shrunk my pouch that had formed and straightened out my stomach, it just caused a lot of inflammation. So I am just now being able to tolerate Clear Liquids in very small amounts. This has been a challenging journey for me and my whole family, but I am hoping and praying that I am finally on the road to recovery.

Way to go! You have done great! I go to my 6 month appointment next week! I can't believe it has been that long already! And I see the 2nd ammendment is alive and well where you live ..ha ha congrats on your success and thanks for sharing!!

I wrote a response in the original thread I posted, I'm doing so good that I'm not on as much! I'm just out living my life again, I got a little teary-eyed writing that post in the other thread because I'm finally starting to believe that the nightmare is really over and I can actually live a happy, healthy, pain-free life.

Yep, I'm doing great and the revision went very smoothly! When they got in there they found that my stomach had herniated up into my chest cavity which is obviously very abnormal and could have been the source for some of my pain. Surgery was supposed to be about an hour and a half and it took them a total of four hours to get my stomach pulled back down to the right place and then of course do the bypass. When I got out of surgery I was in a lot of pain and the next day was in tons of pain but ever since that third day things have gotten better and better. I have no pain with swallowing anymore and I'm eating more solid food now then I have in 2 years!! I feel great, have tons of energy, am doing great in class and my whole future looks 100x brighter now. I can't even begin to describe how happy I am that I did this, it's already drastically changed my life and it's only been a month! I've also lost 20 pounds since pre-op so that's a cool bonus! I'm progressing well and was just cleared for exercise which is exciting since I actually have the energy to go to the gym they keep telling me this is the part of recovery where you have the least energy but I think that I was in so much pain before that this feels great and if it really gets EVEN better I just don't know what I'll do with myself lol I'm back to the old straight A kickin butt student that I was before I had surgery I keep acing quizzes and exams, doing great in my lab (even though it's 3 hours with no air conditioning, sitting down, eating, or drinking allowed!) and am finishing all the homework early, heck I'm even back to having time to re-org all my notes..I don't sleep all the time so I just have all this extra time, it's CRAZY! My mom asked me why I think I'm doing so well in my classes because she's seen me struggle for my B's over these last few years and I could honestly tell her it's because I feel so good, we both cried. I just never thought this was possible, it amazes me every single day.
YAY!!!!!

Can't believe how quickly this has all come around.
Had my dietician appointment today, got rather emotional and embarrassed with her.
Was very confronting putting all your measurements down and your weight and explain why you are so fat.. ( telling someone what you eat)
But I walked away feeling happy and relieved.
The physiologist was awesome as well!!
Found my biggest down fall is using food as a reward or use food as a tool for the spending family time together. So no more eating out in cafés for breakfasts or restaurants for dinners etc.. ( only every now and again)
Quality time will be movies, skating something just does not have to revolve around food..
So I went in feeling very anxious today about these appointments and came out feeling good and not like I was being judged..
Anyway I just had to share, my little experiences for my long journey.
I start my pre op diet tomorrow and 3 weeks tomorrow until my sleeve and I can't wait!!
This is starting to get REAL...

Buy the Syntrex nectar and add it to Water no carbs and high protein. I count it towards water and Protein. I am totally exceeding my protein quota and stick to 800 cal. ( I like the fuzzy navel the best it's a combination of orange and peach and taste great

I have been up and down the last month 2-3 lbs. I am finally starting to stay at a weight that seems good for me. I am happy with this and it is making my family happy as well...Hoping plastics next!
Now if I can stay out of the hospital. Things may start to move a head......Yes!

Cassie congrats on your decision! I think you're right- the surgery is the easier part and the aftermath is a lot harder mentally to deal with. People do treat you different and you have to mentally maintain a sense of self constantly in those situations. I'm the same person whether I'm my size now or over 300lbs. It seems like people have a harder time adjusting to being around you than you have adjusting to the new you. I admit I'm sure it is a shock when you look totally different than you ever have, but some of the comments are annoying. My mom said to me "don't act a b!&$h now that you look good" the other day when I went to visit my father and all I said was that I didn't want to hear his nurses personal problems that day I just wanted to visit with my dad. I listen to his nurse talk nonstop regularly but I just didn't want to hear it that day but I'm still trying to figure out what that has to do with how I look. I'm going to let it go, but things like that where people treat you different and make reference to your loss or your look will happen all the time. Im no different than I was 10 months ago and I wouldn't have wanted to hear his nurse talk whether I was fat or thin or somewhere in between. I just think it's important to be yourself and remain aware of that through the process.

Pagie, I know its hard, but you are back here now, and asking for help. This is a good place to be! eat a nice Protein dinner, then get to the kitchen and start getting rid of the food you know you shouldn't have. If you have family that eat it, put it someplace for them and set some ground rules. Use your MFP every day, plan Snacks (three of them if you have to!)... lay pout a couple of days of eating plans to get you off the ground. You still have a tiny tummy, you can still use it. I know its hard to get back into a routine, but maybe you can up your walking or use an exercise dvd in front of the TV or something to get you back moving. Use the old rules, protein first, no drinking with or after meals. Take your vitamins.... and come here for support! We are here for you!

started the 5:2 plan last Monday. feeling more optimistic that I can calm the beast inside. ugh!

So, I got the most hated comment (for me anyway) the other day:
Someone congratulated me on my weight loss & asked how I did it. I'm always very open and honest about my surgery, so I told her I had the sleeve....
Her reply: "oh, I thought you did it yourself."
My head said "b*tch!" But my mouth said, "well it was a lot of hard work." -- I didn't look, but I could feel her rolling her eyes, but I beat her with the flames coming out my ears.
People have no clue.
I WORK at this-- the results speak for themselves. I don't have to explain myself to anyone.
We work hard. Pat yourself on the back! This life isn't easy-- it's high maintenance. Not everyone can do what we do. Don't let anyone's opinions bring you down.... Cheers to us!

Misty

Thanks for all the prayers! I'm truly blessed. Today was my first radiation treatment. I slept the majority of the day because it really does suck the life out of you. I was unable to keep anything down today so I'm hoping for a better day tomorrow. Thanks again for all the support. God bless!

Thank you all for the words of advice. My sister is a former gyn surgeon. She pulverized her right wrist in a fall and is now a fiction writer, but even she said that this sounds like the right move for me since she had seen me lose this weight so many times just to regain it. She's pretty conservative - medically and I was surprised to hear it.
I guess I always knew it was coming - having to lose weight for heath reasons rather than just for hating my body shape.

And it's true that I can lose this weight without surgery but it's going to come right back on. Forty years have shown me this.

Jan

Thank You so much for the update, great to hear life is going well for you

Attention ! Australian Sleevers is the link on this site where you will find someone from the Gold Coast. Good Luck with your surgery

Thank you so much, that means a lot to me..everyone here is amazing! I know there will be lots of prayers and positive thoughts sent my way tomorrow which is a really wonderful feeling I will make sure to keep everything updated as to how it all went and how I'm feeling!

Hi. New guy here. This topic made sense for me to introduce myself because I definitely did have a 'final straw'.
I've been trying to loose weight off and on for a long time now. However, I do remember a moment when I decided that surgery was my best option and that enough was enough. Funny thing is, it seems insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but it packed a punch for me that I could no longer ignore.
It was 2 years ago at NYCC(NY Comicon) 2012. I'm an artist in the process of making a career for myself and my wife and I attended NYCC so that I could meet some of the professionals there. I also hoped to show some of my art and get a critique.
So before getting to artist's alley, there are many obstacles one has to navigate. There's the walk from the parking garage, the long lines, the endless crowds and the confusing and Godzilla-sized convention center itself. Intimidating, but not so bad for those lighter on their feet.
Then there's me. I plod through there like Steve Martin trying to get out of a prison cell in the Three Amigos: all weighted feet and arms outstretched, grasping for my destination. I was exhausted. I couldn't make it the length of a hallway without needing to stop. By the time I got to artist's alley, I was out of breath, dripping with sweat and my back felt like someone took a chainsaw to it. Embarrassed and feeling like I was going to faint, I walked past everyone whom I idolized since I was a kid and collapsed in a corner. I didn't talk to anyone and I didn't show any of my art. I just sat there on the ground with my back propped up against the wall. I just sat there with my heart racing and every inch of my body in pain. I sat there and saw my hopes and dreams slipping away.
The next thing I knew my wife was besides me. She had gone ahead when we entered the convention center to another exhibit and the plan was to meet in artist's alley when she was done. I didn't see her approach - I guess some time must have passed because I didn't expect her till later. I only remember staring into space, not being able to think of much, and then she was there. That's when the punch connected.
You see, I was knocked down physically by the exhaustion I felt and even emotionally by the embarrassment of the experience, but the actual knock out punch was the realization I made that what being this unhealthy really meant.
It meant that if my health failed, I might not be around to make my hopes and dreams a reality. More importantly, (I realized as my wife helped me to my feet), wass that I might not be around for her, and the family we hope to create. My nephew might not have his uncle; my sister, and brother and parents and friends and all the rest of 'em might not have me in their life any longer...
...and I was not about to let that happen!
So we left there and I decided that I needed to have surgery. We researched the options together, and in 2013 I started on the process that has lead to now - about 5 hours away from getting my actual surgery date.
It's been a long process but I'm as dedicated to this path now as I was when the 'final straw' happened to me.
Thanks guys for taking the time to read this!

O....M.....Geeeeeeeee! Im now in a size 14 freaking SIZE 14 JEANS!!!! From size 28/30 to 14. A-MAZING!!

I have kept to the diet described in my Surgery Bible. I do not eat anything that my nutritionist says is objectionable. I know me. If I start binging on foods that are sorta on the list of bad things. I will explode! I know of 1 person that lives in my building that had the same surgery. He lost some weight. But started eating all the same FAT and SUGAR stuff he ate before.
That is not for me! I have a long journey before I am through. I will not eat pizza. I will not eat Junk food. I am a food ADDICT. If I start down that road, The Gremlins in my head will tell me SURE IT IS OK. Eat what you want. Your tummy is all shrunk up. No problem.
BULLCRAP! I have to not give in to my cravings. now Addictions. I have been Sober from Alcohol for over 24 years. I had just switched Addictions from Alcohol to Food. I had to learn how not to drink 1 day at a time. I am learning how not to Eat as an Addict.
This to me is a WAR that I aim to win! 1 meal at a time!