stephh

You can do it! You will be fine. I read your blog, and I can tell your a smart, strong woman. You can get through this =)

October 24th here. Super excited and nervous all at the same time.

My date is Oct 5th

I just got my date yesterday - October 14th. I'm super excited!

Sorry you had such a difficult time. You also look nowhere near old enough to have a grown man for a son! Some people are so stupid!

Just got my date! October 13!

Just got my date! October 13!

Hi everybody
I am more of a lurker than a poster but read the forums every day and love hearing how everybody's getting on. Before and after pictures really kept me motivated when I was starting out, so here is mine as I officially hit a normal bmi yesterday! Taking a lot of courage to post my before pictures, they make me so sad. I can't believe I was ever that big - I certainly didn't feel it at the time.
I was sleeved on the 5th October 2013 with a BMI of 44 weighing 240lb. As of yesterday my weight is 132lb with a BMI of 24.9. I have gone from a size 20 a 4/6. I want to lose another 12lb to give me a bounce range, but now mainly working on tightening everything up .

Today will be my second to last post, I will post one more time after my birthday so everyone can see if I achieved my goal of being 25 lbs down by my birthday. I'm really close so here's hoping. The scale did jump up this morning to 253.2, Probably just Water weight from this weekend.
I had a blast yesterday, Mt. Charleston was gorgeous and the weather was perfect. At one point I just sat on a log and looked out over the trees and it was really peaceful. We didn't hike, we walked this little trail that was paved, we went off sidewalk for a bit to get to that log and then climbed back up, so otherwise it was just really relaxing, though the walk back to the car was exhausting, lol it was all uphill. But I did really well.
We ate while up there, my first meal in a restaurant and I got a bowl of no bean chili ate about 4 spoonfuls and it was nice. My bill with tip was $10. I can already see that I will be saving so much money. Overall it was a beautiful day and just what I needed. I'll see you all this weekend (birthday is Friday so I will probably post on Sunday!
EDIT: I keep forgetting to mention. I do have difficulty with drinking Protein Shakes if I add greek yogurt. It becomes too thick and then I have this uncomfortable heaviness in my tummy for up to 45 minutes. And if I'm hungry my body feels weird, until the actual hunger feelings show up. Those have been my only difficulties since surgery.

I think I'm doing great! Today is Day Seven post-op for me.
Came home from hospital Day One post-op. Had my WTF?! day on Day Two. Was over all that by Day Three. Finally hit 60 grams of Protein on Day Four -- will hit 74 grams of protein today.
Have been sleeping well, and surgery gas is mostly gone.
Am walking for exercise a bit. Have had some very energetic days (laundry, light housekeeping, exercise, grooming like a teenager, etc.) alternated with days when I nap a lot. No pain, although some occasional tummy soreness.
The biggest surprise for me is that I can drink (better every day) and eat yogurt and Soup just fine. I burp sometimes, but I have had zero nausea and haven't thrown up at all.
Oh, and I'm down 5 pounds from pre-op. So that's -11 pounds dieting on my own earlier this summer, -8 pounds on pre-op diet, and -5 pounds since surgery = -24 pounds below my highest ever.
Have my first surgeon visit this coming Thursday. That will be Day Ten.
I'm on my way.

Hello kiddos!! I weighed in yesterday afternoon and it was 251.6 and I didn't believe it. I was pretty sore for the day. I weighed in this morning because I didn't believe the weight from yesterday and I really am down to 251.6 holy cow!! Such a difference a day makes. I think I was tricked into hiking today so I'm having my Protein early so I don't kill myself up on Mt. Charleston.
As promised here is my 1 month change picture! I do see a difference!

Yay the scale went down, and so has my belly! I weighed in today at 255.2 lbs this morning. Woohoo. I ate In-n-Out for dinner last night. I did the whole single patty Protein style and ended up ditching 98% of the lettuce and 60% of the Tomato and ended up with a patty, cheese, and thousand island. It was good though. It hit that spot thankfully and it was less than $2.50!! I'm saving money!
I've noticed that I hardly spend any money lately and I think that falls on the shoulders of my recent divorce (since I don't go out much anymore) and this surgery (since I don't eat fast food or go out to meals anymore). Which is really nice!!
3 more days until my one month and I am officially 20 lbs down. I'm very pleased.

About how much did you lose? Pictures would be amazing if you don't mind sharing =)
With the wraps do you mean like It Works?

So here I am 25 days out and the scale moved down again! I am at 256.8. It is very exciting to see it go. I haven't weighed that in at least 5 years. I can see a difference in the clothes that I wear and at 1 month out which is Sunday I will post a side by side and you can all judge for yourselves. 18 lbs down is a pretty decent accomplishment. I'm hoping to be 25 lbs down by my birthday, which is the 29th.

So yes, my stall is in fact actually over. I went down to 257.6!! Took my measurements and they really didn't change at all. But I do look a little smaller. I'm happy.

Congrats on your loss today! I've been following your posts everyday =)

Congratulations! What a huge accomplishment!

I can't believe how proud of myself I am! I feel great! I have tons of energy now!! I just had my 2nd follow up appointment 12 weeks out from surgery and I am down 65 LBS!! I have gone from pants size 24/26 to size 18, I had to go out and buy all new shoes because my old ones I was slipping around in! I even had to cut off a bunch of my belt (didn't want to buy a new one) so that it didn't look rediculous! I haven't had a bunch of pictures taken of me lately but I will post some of my current look as soon as I remember!
I am just so excited at my new lease on life! Everyone at work and at home is so proud of me, it's amazing!! I still have a large amount of weight to go but I feel like the huge hurdle is already past! I am loving it! Best decision ever!

So yesterday was my 11th anniversary. I have lost about 65 lbs since surgery and nearly 90 lbs since my highest weight. So my husband brings in a Victoria's Secret bag and I'm thinking to myself, that had better be body spray because that's the only thing that I can wear from Victoria's Secret. But no, he bought several pair of "cheeky" panties. Mind you, I have been shopping for undies at Lane Bryant for nearly all of my adult life but my cute LB panties have become Granny panties. So my husband decided to take matters into his own hands and buy me some new ones. But from VS? I would never dream of buying anything from VS. so, I reluctantly try them on. Drum roll... They fit! And my butt actually looked good in them. Score one for me... And my Hubby.

It's true that people take advantage of the small things in life. I read on here that some one just wanted to shop at Wal-mart. It's amazing to me that it's all about perspective and that achievements are achievements no matter how seemingly tiny. I can officially cross my legs like a girl. I also posted a full body pic on Facebook. Anyone else have things like this?

Onderland Yahoo!

Hello all,
I recently logged back in after a two-year hiatus to ask some plastics-related questions and figured I might as well post an update after seeing a few familiar faces. I am not going to answer any questions about my surgeon, details of my post-op recovery, post-op diet, etc, since I think this information is readily available from other posters who are less far out from their operations. When I first joined here, there was a dearth of VSG veterans on the forums, so few of us had any idea what to expect after the honeymoon period is over. I am hoping my post will help people wondering about the long term.
PLEASE DO NOT PM ME WITH QUESTIONS. I am happy to respond to questions posted here. I don't really have time to address individual questions in private and I think it's best to ask and answer questions publicly so as many people as possible can benefit.
My stats: 25 at the time of my VSG, 5'5", highest weight 228 lbs, weight on day of surgery 208 lbs. Post-op goal 150 lbs (BMI 25), lowest post-op weight 136. That weight required significant effort to maintain. I settled around 140-13. I then started Crossfit and put on a lot of muscle mass. I am now sitting right around 150 lbs.
My surgery: Aug 9, 2010 in Mexicali, Mexico by Dr. Aceves. I self-paid, surgery cost around $8700 and then I had to pay for the flight. Laparoscopic VSG with no complications. Easy recovery. Reached goal weight in less than 5 months.
Thoughts about the long term:
Reflux: I occasionally have some, it's pretty minor. I don't take anything for it. Part of it is due to my penchant for coffee. I drink about 4-5 large mugs of coffee a day.
Complications: other than the mild occasional reflux, I've had none. No strictures, etc.
Foods: I can eat anything I want. After about a year out, nothing really upset my stomach anymore. I don't get nausea, sliming, or anything like that. I have always had a sweet tooth, and I still find many sweets a little too much for me. That said, I did go on a Haagen Dazs spree last week. But food just doesn't hit the spot like it used to. I don't really get major cravings anymore. I can easily keep ice cream and chocolate around the house and not eat it. When I do decide to have a treat, it's more like, "It's so hot now, ice cream sounds pretty good. Maybe I'll have some, it's pretty yummy!" rather than "I WILL SELL MY FIRSTBORN FOR A BIG MAC NOW, GET OUT OF MY WAY, NOTHING ELSE WILL SATISFY ME" like it was back in the day.
I can eat pretty decent amounts of food now. I still occasionally get comments about eating too little, but I think that has more to do with other people eating way too much, to be honest. For reference, I can eat a McDs cheeseburger and a few fries without a problem. I can force an entire Big Mac down my gullet, but some of it definitely sits in my esophagus.
Scarring: you can barely see the tiny divot from the scar where Dr. Aceves removed my stomach. I showed it to a few general surgeons (I'm a physician myself) and they couldn't believe the results, they thought it was just from a small mole excision. I don't think a layperson would even notice it. You can't see the 3 scars from laparoscopic instruments at all.
Esthetics: I have maintained the same overall bodyshape (pear). I have a very small amount of loose skin on my stomach that does not preclude me from having 6-pack abs when I closely watch my diet and exercise. It hangs slightly when I hold the plank position, but I honestly don't care. I think of it as insurance against stretch marks during pregnancy in the future! I have some loose skin over my butt and upper thighs. My breasts are still a D cup, but they are quite droopy, and when I really watch my diet, they get very flat and dumpy-looking. I worked very hard on my fitness the last few years and have come to the conclusion that I've probably gotten within 90% of what's achievable for my body with exercise, so I am having a breast lift with augmentation and lower body liposuction next week. I was originally curious about a lower body lift, but both plastic surgeons I saw felt that the improvement in my case would not be worth the scar as my situation is not that bad. The plastic surgeon believes he will achieve good results with Lipo, although of course I will never have a super-tight rear end like someone who's never been overweight at all. I can deal with that!
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