magtart

There is a whole section on this site for "Self Pay" options.

When I got on the scale this morning it said 299!! I had to reweigh myself to confirm it, I haven't been under 300 in over 10 years, I am so excited I just wanted to share it somewhere I have my 6 week surgery follow-up tomorrow and hopefully will get cleared for going back to my normal cleaning/lifting habits so I can do more I am already off my diabetes medication and now this, this surgery has been so worth it. I had a rough few days at first but I am so glad I did this!

Yeah!

Well this was definitely an eye opener! No more messing around...just praying I didn't do damage

So cute! Being the oldster that I am, I once actually had and wore a poodle skirt.

Ok, I've been grumpy pants about not losing more but I just got into my halloween costume that was custom made for last year & too small!!! I've never worn it til today!
And... I won the costume contest! Against the whole hospital I work at!
Having a great day!
allons-y

Cara,
I may be an odd ball, but I do NOT struggle at all with keeping the weight off. No white knuckling here! I reached goal in six months and that was back in Dec. 2010. I've been maintaining for over 2.5 years.
I would do this again in a heartbeat, I wish I had been 35 or 40 instead of 50 when I had VSG!!!! It's life changing, life altering - it's wonderful, every day is STILL is exciting to me. I've been on board and beyond thrilled since I woke up in recovery. It's fun, it's a wild ride and you will not believe how different your life is a year into this journey!!!
I am pretty darn lazy, and by that I mean, I am not a gym rat, I am not a member of a gym and I do not do any 'formal' exercise. I park as far out as I can in parking lots, even in triple digit heat, and I do it on purpose, I go up and down our stairs more times than I need to. I have a 5 lb weighted ball that I toss around on occasion and I have even started doing 'wall' push ups. That's it. I know me, I have the attention span of a four year old. I did NOT want part of my weight loss to be due to my sudden interest in exercising....so I can honestly say, NONE of my weight loss was due to joining Curves, Gold's Gym etc. I DID know that I would need to make lifestyle changes that I could do forever, changes that would become my new life, my new normal. That is what I did and that is what I will continue to do. Age, boredom nor a twisted ankle will be a stumbling block and deal breaker!!!
There are things I do that I call my 'dashboard' - just like on my truck. I watch my dashboard and if something needs 'changing', I know it right away.....not eight or ten pounds down the road.
1) I weigh every morning
2) I weigh and/or measure my food when I'm home
3) I log my food on line (my fitness pal, I keep track of calories and protein)
Last but not least, I attend support groups. Most people go to one, I have four that I attend each month. I feel like I'm paying it forward. So many folks let ME pick their brains and ask numerous questions & calmed my fears early on. Now I am doing it for others. I am usually further out than most people at the support group meetings, so I seldom come across somebody to answer MY questions, but there are plenty for me!!! LoL
There are other little things that I started doing prior to surgery and continue to do, at least most of the time. Keep in mind, a lot of our 'issues' are all in our heads!! I eat on a smaller plate, a salad plate or bread and butter plate, it's great for 'visually' seeing a plate that isn't all plate and a dab of food. I eat with a seafood fork most of the time. Little changes like that, also become habit and it is helpful.
Good luck on whatever decision you make. Make sure to research, ask questions.....get on board, all of you, to make lifestyle changes. I feel like I eat like a naturally thin person, for the first time in my life, I am in control, food is not. Know that the doctor removes approx 85% of your stomach, after that, it is all up to you. This is a life time commitment, and like I said, I don't consider it work or time consuming, it's my new life. It is forever, there is no end date and it is worth every single change I've made. I still eat, nothing is "off limits" to me except carbonation, big deal, right???!!! There are things I choose not to eat or at least not often, but no hunger makes it much, much easier to resist when I need/want to.
Again, good luck!!

Congrats! I hope to join you there one day.

Congrats! I hope to join you there one day.

Good luck to you!

I sent you a message Nevermore.

I don't know what you mean exactly by detox. I make all of my own Soups using natural ingredients such as Soup bones, freshly chopped veggies, herbs grown in my yard, soaked and then boiled Beans, barley, and so on. I just make different soups out of what I have with no set recipes. I will sometimes use a recipe for something like french onion or cream of carrot, but otherwise I just add a ton of fresh veggies to whatever base I want, add herbs and spices, then eat.
I will have to admit that I have never had a smoothie.

I have BCBSTX and they cover it.

Ketosis is most likely the cause.

Three and a half drinks last night over a 5-6 hour period.. Lots of Water and some food in between and I STILL promised the Irish boy sitting next to me that I'll be his NEW BFF and I'm pretty sure I kissed a man with Maori tattoos on his chin. I'm 40 years old and up until last night, I've never been intoxicated... EVER.... I thought I was doing good with pacing myself and eating bits of food etc....WRONG. So glad I looped in my friends PRIOR to going out of the possibility of alcohol affecting me differently because BOY, did it EVER....but fortunately they kept me in check and took me home and tucked me in... BUT now as a special added bonus..Now I'm hungover and ridiculously nauseated... Who gets hungover on three and a half drinks???? OK, just wanted to share the experience. If you choose to drink post sleeve, please be sure that you have friends who will watch out for you.. or drink at home.

I am so sorry to hear that. I am 59 as well and have never had a scan. I guess I had better get my butt in gear and get it done.

IDK, I would be popping an immodium. That doesn't necessarily mean it can't run it's course, just slow it down a bit.

I'll have a Lemondrop Martini, please. I wonder how it would taste with unflavored Protein Powder in it.

Narcotic pain killers can really constipate you. I would suggest a daily dose of Miralax or the store brand. It can be dissolved in any liquid and is clear and tasteless.

Narcotic pain killers can really constipate you. I would suggest a daily dose of Miralax or the store brand. It can be dissolved in any liquid and is clear and tasteless.

I'm going to use the beginning of my pre-op diet.

Maybe she could reach out to the medical groups that do the surgeries and offer her services as an aide for their patients.

Omg im so happy the RN that will be on my case in to surgery and after surgery finally called today . Time is going slow but. Im trying to be patience im just ready and I cant wait so excited and scared at the same time
Dionb26

Hi Everyone,
I am celebrating year 5 of having a very successful weight loss surgery! I was 63 when I had sleeve surgery done, so it is never too late to have weight loss surgery!!!!
This was very best choice I have ever made in my life. I had my Weight Loss Surgery in Oct 2008. After a lot of investigating and considering all the doctors and places I could have my surgery. I made the choice to have Dr. Aceves in Mexicalli Mexico do my surgery. I was a self-pay, and believe me I really checked out every option there was. I was an older person and I really took my time to figure out what was best for me. I talked to a lot of different people who had already had weight loss surgery about who their doctors were.
It wasn’t something I rushed into. It took me about 6 months before I knew for sure that I was going to the right place for me. I also made the choice to have VGS aka the sleeve. I lost of total of 105 pounds and it took me 14 months to do this. Was it easy, yes and no? The 1st month was the hardest month I had to do. After that it just kept getting better and easier each month. It is NOT a magical cure. It is my tool to allow me to use to reach my goal. The big question you are thinking is have I maintained my weight loss goal? The answer is YES, I fluctuate between 5 to 7 pounds sometimes. I still eat healthy, make sure I get enough Protein and stay away from too many carbs. It accurately is a lifestyle change NOT a diet. It is easy for me to live like this and eat like this for the rest of my life. I have some really delicious meals and I never feel deprived at all. Do I eat deserts, yes and it is made healthy and is extremely good. Do I eat deserts every day; the answer is no. I love all the lifestyle changes I have made in my life and it will always work for me.
I was the person who hated to exercise. Now I do something every day. Last Sept, I thought I would just see if I could walk 7 days a week for a month and I did just that. Well that became a good habit and I walked EVERY DAY for one YEAR without missing a day. Yes, I walked outside when it was raining or not nice weather—I am always coming back home, so I will get dry if I get wet while walking. I walked between 3 ½ miles to 4 miles a day. Five years ago, I could have never walked that much. Find some type of exercise that you like and it will be easier to do. Start out slow and then add to it. You don’t have to do it 7 days a week, but do something at least 3 or 5 times a week.
I want you to know that you too can become successful at weight loss. I am 68 now and life is so different for me. If you are thinking about having weight loss surgery, I am living proof that it does work and you can do it too.
Suzanne Beaty
Sleeved Oct 21, 2008

3 years ago today I had the VSG!
So much has happened in the last 3 years in regards to my attitudes, abilities and awareness surrounding my body, what I eat, and how I exercise. I will do my best to keep this short!
First and foremost, I am one of those people who had a surgical procedure to help me lose weight. And I hit a "low" weight and then, in the space of about 10 months, regained about 20ish pounds. Nothing is more humbling than being a "statistic" in this way. I had always heard that this regularly happens to WLS patients and a part of my brain said "oh that won't be me!" Haha. Lessons learned the hard way are sometimes the ones that stick with us the most.
So if any of you have the question "is it possible to regain weight with the sleeve?" ...the answer is YES it is possible. The regain is actually quite easy. You quit tracking your food, you eat a few more calories than you need to, extra "treats" find there way back into your life, and you slack off on the exercising. Losing the extra regain...well notsoeasy. I have lost -12lbs of my regain and will continue to fight until the regain is gone.
Here are just a few quick things that are true for ME, personally.
1. We can live on a lot less food than we think we can live on. If you take nothing else away from this post, please remember that statement. During the time that I had regained some weight, I found myself wanting to eat more and the truth of the matter remains that my daily caloric intake needs to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,400 calories or less for me to maintain or lose weight, regardless of how much I exercise. This is completely reasonable, doable and normal for me. And I am finally OK with this. (Yours may be completely different!!)
2. Don't underestimate the importance of exercise!! It's taken me a while to finally push myself out of my comfort zone when it comes to exercise, but I've found out what a really challenging workout does to me mentally and physically and I know when things get to easy that I need to push myself farther. If you have never exercised before in your life, then your goal is to GET UP OFF the couch and DO SOMETHING. And if exercise is not completely foreign to you, then you need to set some goals to push yourself harder.
3. Plastic surgery. I have not had any...yet. I went for an initial consult this past May. It was really hard to see how much damage being morbidly obese has done to my body and how much it would cost to get a nice "perfect" body. I've had a lot of time and space to think about what I learned at that consult and what I realize now, is that I'm not sure I can afford perfection. Or that it necessarily exists. I just know I could put one of my kids through college for what I was quoted for plastics. So I'm currently on the fence and in the mode of trying to be happy with where I am and not worry about chasing a down a body that might not exist for me.
4. I constantly drink Water. I drink (half-caf) coffee (usally 2 cups a day), I rarely drink alcohol and I never drink anything carbonated. I've been carbonation free for over 3 years now. I also rarely use any type of crystal lite, or flavor enhancers etc. Sometimes I drink plain (unsweet) tea.
My net loss is somewhere around -90lbs. My husband is also sleeved and did NOT regain any weight. He is 2.5 years post-op and seems to maintain his more modest loss (-70lbs) more effortlessly than I do. He also can eat more calories than I do, so right there are complete differences among sleevers! I just don't think we can ever "give up" ...and there is no "finish" line! There might be a GOAL WEIGHT, but once you are there, it's still a journey to keep the weight off. And for that reason I'm eternally grateful to my VST 'family' for always being here!
BEFORE VSG 2010

AFTER VSG 2013 (all of these photos have been taken in the last 2 months)

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