newyorklady20

This is the most fantastic update to read! I’m so glad that this has been a positive experience for you and it gives me hope! I am hopeful that you continue to do and feel well!

Feb. 3 after being postponed from November due to COVID. liquid diet starts Wednesday and I keep flip-flopping between being emotional/crying to absolutely psyched and ready! (I'm a LOT of fun to live with right now, lol)

I guess I'm different because I don't have any "never again" foods. Both during my weight loss phase and now in maintenance I practice moderation and logging. For me personally, if have a forbidden food, and I succumb to it, then I fail. If nothing is off limits, I can only fail if I don't lose/regain.

Any type of Pasta or rice dish is off the menu for me. I just don't like them enough to incorporate again vs something i actually want to eat

Just got home from my sleeve surgery. I was in the operating room at 7:30 am yesterday. Turns out I also had a small hiatal hernia so they repaired that while they were in there. The pain in my chest from the gas when I woke up in recovery was excruciating. Most of my stay wasn't too bad but I definitely didn't move much. Getting dressed and getting in the car were quite painful. I am home now and took a pain pill so I am feeling a bit better. All the nurses at Hackensack Medical Center in NJ were amazing! I am a bit congested (I think from the anesthesia) and it really hurts to try and cough.
I'll check back in a few days and let you know how it is going.

My pain is by my incisions. It is really tight so getting up and down is painful and rolling over in my sleep was really hard. I still have the gas but it seems to be relieving itself. My kids are mortified. LOL

Surgery is done!!! Feel good. Worse pain was the IV’s going in (one hand and one forearm). Surgery was at 10:30 - up and walking by 2:30. Walking every hour as much as I can. Some heaviness in my chest - air from surgery - going to keep walking. No problem sipping on the Water every hour. I’m outta here tomorrow and so excited to start my best life!!!!

Absolutely surreal to be posting this as I have read so many of these threads! I didn’t think the day would ever come! Excited and petrified. My date is 2/22/21!!
Any February 2021 bypassers out there? I would love to connect and share prep plans and how things go after surgery.

Me too! Well - librarian these days, but I'm hoping for the 5th so that I can have the week before and the week of spring break for recovery. Good Luck!!

I got approved and my official surgery date is March 17th. Anyone else for March?

I'm hoping for March! I do my scope tomorrow and that's my last step before it gets sent in for approval!

A little straight talking: Loose skin versus your health & well being? Personally, I think it’s a simple decision.
I have glaucoma & the medication gives me dark, purple shadows under my eyes which nothing will cover (spent a fortune on different concealers). I’m very fair & it’s very obvious. People think I’m sick. But my choice is dark, purple shadows or my sight. Sight wins every day.
How much loose skin you will have depends upon many factors like your age, general skin elasticity, where you carry your weight, how long you’ve been at your weight, your history of weight gain & loss, & how much you lose.
I don’t have a lot of loose skin - just sort of droopy, loose, crepey bits on my inner thighs, inner upper arms & on my belly. A good pinch but not a handful. It all hides well in my clothes. I wear fitted knit dresses without any type of shape wear & even wear tops with wide straps - I just don’t wave my arms in the air lol. I’m not someone who’d have my body on display anyway - no shorty shorts, bikinis, plunging or strapless tops for me at any weight. 😁 So the loose skin doesn’t really impact my clothing choices at all.
I was almost 54 when I had my surgery so I had age against me in regards to my skin bouncing back. Honestly, when I hit my goal I had very little loose skin - was pretty cocky about it too. But the extra 11 kg loss gave me what I have now. I’ve decided I won’t have any surgery to remove the excess skin. I earned that skin & a part of me, for good or bad, thinks I deserve it too. It’s a good reminder of where I was & where I am now.
But it is your decision. We all have things that are personally important to us (for me it is my hair). I hope I haven’t belittled yours.

How old are you? I know when I was in my 30's, I was not skinny, but not fat. As I got older (I'm 57 now) it seemed like each year another 5 or 10 pounds was "acceptable, but not ideal" I found myself saying "I felt good at 210, if I could just get there!" and then "I was always happy under 230, let me try to get there"...and then I realized I'm going to be at 300 pounds in 3 more years at this rate and decided I needed to do something! I wish I had done it earlier, but who knows? If you are not committed to changing your lifestyle, you might go through this and end up back where you are. Or, you could decide you want to change your life anyway and do it without surgery. I am only 3.5 months out, so I hope I can commit and feel great forever, but at 50 pounds down, I'm committing now!
Also, I have been able to eat out, hang out with friends and still lose weight...I just order an appetizer and take half of it home and have one drink when I would have had several before (PS. I'm saving money, too!)
Good luck on your decision.

HI everyone,
I have been pondering weight loss surgery for a couple years now . I am currently enrolled in a program at my local Kaiser and am about to finish the nutrition classes which are required to qualify for surgery. I am 5'6 and weigh 242 lbs. I've always been the chunky girl not too big but definitely not skinny. I guess I am just scared that I won't be able to keep up with the requirements of the surgery such as living the healthy lifestyle or committing to exercise 5 times a week. Also I am scared of the excess skin.
I don't know if surgery is the way to go but at the same time I don't want to keep gaining weight. I am pre-diabetic and have a fatty liver I know this may be the beginning of more severe problems to come.
Any input is welcome :)

I know you were super nervous and confused about the approval dates given versus the actual surgery date. Congrats.
Advice:
Take the pre-op diet seriously and follow it to the letter to shrink your liver and prepare for surgery.
Know that you're going to be nauseous for 24 hours after surgery and it's miserable, but it's only for 24 hours and you can survive it.

After what seems like a million years I finally got my approval!!! I am ecstatic and overjoyed! Now that it is really happening I can’t lie I am kind of nervous because I never had a surgery besides a c-section almost 20 years ago lol I am waiting to speak with the nurse so I can pick a date but I know it will be sometime in February omg!!!! Any helpful tips and tricks will be highly appreciated!

I am in a similar situation! I am 36, have slowly been creeping up in weight through life and I have finally had it having a BMI of 42. However, I knew, and I’m finding out as I do the initial work ups, that I don’t have any other health issues. I don’t take any meds and don’t have any other problems other than my weight. However, that is the reason that I want to have the sleeve done. I’m otherwise healthy now, but if I continue on this path it won’t last forever. And I’ve learned over the years that I am just not successful at losing the weight by myself over time. The yo-yo dieting and losing/regain is going to cause major problems over time!
It’s unfortunate that the surgeons questioned the validity of you requesting this surgery, but you should just know that you know yourself and your needs best and you should stick with your instincts. Unless someone outright tells you that you shouldn’t because it’s unsafe or something, advocate for yourself!

I haven't heard of such a service, but if you're willing to pay, I'm sure you could get a private chef to prepare stuff for you. But honestly, I don't see a need for it because (1) the liquid/pureed stage is very short in the great scheme of things (I mean, it feels like an eternity when you're in it, but it's really only a few weeks), and (2) you're so limited in what you can eat that it's pretty easy. Has your surgeon provided a list of foods for each stage? Take those foods and add some Protein Powder and you're all set for the pureed stage.
I over-stocked pureed foods. I bought a bunch of sugar-free pudding and unsweetened applesauce for the pureed stage, and I made a big batch of pureed black bean Soup (frozen in individual servings), and 5 months later, I still have a lot of it. I even stayed on pureed foods for longer than required because I was afraid of getting sick from eating solid food. I guess I was kind of stupid when I bought all of that because I wasn't thinking about how I could only eat half a container at a time. Since I've been out of pureed and soft foods, I haven't eaten much of that stuff because there are better things I can eat now.

I also found the first weeks pretty easy because everything is so limited. Protein Shakes, Water, and broth is all you need at first. Your program should give you a list of foods for the various stages, but your body will tell you which ones will work for you at that time. I wouldn't advise to prep lots of meals, because you will probably waste a lot. I prepped fish, chicken, and ground beef in 3 oz servings and froze them. But I could only eat half of that and it was just too much to handle. Then I kind of got sick about them and didn't/couldn't eat any of it. I stuck with cottage cheese, refried Beans thinned with broth, and yogurt for my soft stage. Really pretty simple and not a lot of work. Don't get too stressed by these stages. They pass quickly and you will advance to regular foods within a couple of months.

I agree, the early stages were quite easy. I also ate a lot of the same things every day, including Protein broth, yogurt, eggs (never finished in one meal) and Protein Shakes. Since then, it's been trial and error. Some foods sit well, and others do not. I could not stand Premiere shakes anymore post-op for example.

I found the food prep in the first couple of months really easy. Because you eat so little (like only 1/4 cup) you only need to prep food every couple of days. The freezer & microwave were my friends - they still are actually. If I scrambled 2 eggs, it took me three days to eat them. Like Catwoman7, I rotated through a small number of meals too. A lot of my old favourites did not taste the same (your taste buds temporarily change) & I admit I had to toss some things I made because they tasted terrible. While I didn’t experience any issues with food intolerances, I added new foods to my diet slowly.
Good luck on your journey.

I've never heard of such a business, but that sounds like a good idea! Although post-op diet plans vary somewhat (for example, I was on purees as soon as I left the hospital, whereas some people don't start on them until they're a couple of weeks out). So there really wouldn't be any standards for a business to follow...unless your clinic started up such a service for its own patients.
I didn't find the first couple of weeks that difficult. I got good guidelines from my dietitian and I pretty much ate the same three or four "meals", in addition to my yogurt and Protein Shakes. I think it'll be easier than you think...

I too wrestled with this decision. I was on board at 280 lbs, but after I dropped 36 lbs with diet and exercise, I considered stopping and just keep going with my 1200 cal diet. The reason I chose to move forward was that I have always been good at losing weight when I try hard, but every time I lose a bit and hit a wall, I get lazy and start falling back into old habits. Something like: diet + exercise> lose 30 or 40 lbs >get sloppy and slip back into old habits > gain it back plus 10 lbs. I'm tired of that cycle repeating over and over and I felt the sleeve was the best way to get to a place where I am happy with my weight permanently. Yes, I will have to do the work and make good decisions.
Good luck with your decision and only you can make it.

Hi Everybody! I'm new to this site and hoping to meet some like-minded people going through the VSG process. So, I am 37 days into this journey. My pre-op journey will total 91 days, so I'm getting close to my surgery date. I have prayed, spoken with several doctors, done tons of research, read as much as I could find, watched videos on the procedure, studied patient success stories and horror stories...and yet, I still feel like I don't have total peace about the surgery. To be honest, I'm afraid. I have small kids and I don't want to do anything that would take me from them. I know the pros, cons, and risks of this type of surgery. And although I'm still moving forward in the process ( seeing all the required doctors, etc...) I just keep going back and forth on if I'm 100 percent ready. I have struggled with my weight since I was a kid. I've tried diet after diet with success. But when I hit that wall and no matter what I do to adjust, I can't breakthrough, I tend to let go. What were the determining factors for you all? What made you say, "I have to have this surgery".

My Mom died 10 years ago and my sister and I divided her personal belongings between us. My mom had a fabulous wardrobe but because I was at my top weight, I couldn't wear anything of hers. Last month, I asked my sister to pick me out one or two items that were Mommy's since I can fit them now. My sister generously picked out several of her most gorgeous outfits and I can fit them all now! It feels surreal, like a dream. It's another way to connect with her now that she's in heaven. ☺️