SarahMan80

Oh man, I found that super annoying right after surgery as well. I've always been the thirsty type - when I was a kid at school, my friends used to tease me because I would stop at multiple drinking fountains when walking somewhere. It was super frustrating after surgery when I'd go for exercise and get really thirsty, but not be able to drink as much as I felt I wanted. I also would get a pain like you describe, which I think was very much because air was collecting in my stomach but it was very hard to burp it out properly. Those first few months especially, I would pound on my stomach like I was a baby when I got that pain, which would usually make me burp and start feel better. I feel like maybe when your stomach is so small, it's hard for the air to rise to the top and escape by itself.

I'm 18 months out now, and it is much improved. I still can't drink as much or as fast as I want to all the time, but the amount that I can drink at once is much more than it was right after surgery. I've mostly gotten used to it though. I am usually much better about taking Water with me when I exercise and drinking something as soon as I get thirsty, rather than letting the feeling build up until I want to gulp the water down. I've also gotten used to drinking more slowly without having to stop and think about it.

Surgery was July 20th and today I hit ONEderland!

So today, for the first time in over 20 years, I am below 200 pounds. I am still astonished at my results in such a short amount of time. In mid-April, I weighed 285 pounds. Every joint in my body hurt and I had high blood pressure and slept with a C-pap machine. I had surgery on 5/18/21, and today, almost 3 full months later, I weigh 198.6 pounds. I haven't used or needed my C-pap for the past several weeks, my blood pressure and heart rate readings are on the low side and I have so much energy. I really wish the best for everyone on this forum and hope you're all one day as satisfied as I am with your results. This has been a total life-changer. God Bless all!

I am in the midst of a cross-country move so missed posting about my two year anniversary a couple days ago. I had a VSG in Seattle on 8/12/2019. My starting weight was 286, today I’m 140. Although I lost my excess weight, I gained so much in the process. I am happy, healthy, and active. My only regret is not doing this sooner. I’m off all medication and no longer have sleep apnea. My blood pressure and resting heart rate are that of an athlete. I’ve never felt better in my adult life. I had plastic surgery in January to remove the excess skin and I’m so glad that I did that as part of this process. I still weigh myself daily and track all of my intake. I have a little more wiggle room now for a treat now & then, but in general eat a pretty healthy diet making sure to get in my Protein and fluids every day.

I find it super annoying that people need to stress how supportive their spouses are obviously knowing yours is not. Literally no advice, just a boast on “my husbands better than yours” pretty much .. anyways .. understanding that your husband is unsupportive, I really stress to please try and find a support system! Even if paid, you will need support. Not to mention your hormones will be everywhere and that alone is a big one post surgery!

I am officially overweight with a BMI of 29.8! Started at a BMI of 53 at my HW and 46 at SW.

Thank you!
Yes, so I did lose a lot of inches. My waist was 42 1/2 inches and went down to 40 inches.
My Fupa was 46 1/2 inches and went down to 42 inches.
So yes, I did lose inches just the weight is still on.
I am sometimes confused on how many calories I am suppose to eat because my metabolism is up but I do get full fast, really fast.
But I am going to do cardio for the rest of this month and give yall an update on 08/30/2021

So it’s been one year!

my weight before surgery (August 2020) was 330 lbs!
my weight today is 170 lbs.
I really want to inspire people as much as I can.. I want my journey to show you that you can do it no matter what. I’m much healthier now and I feel like I own the world, my life has completely changed, I don’t have sleep apnea anymore, I’m back to being the energetic kid I used to be, no more sleeping 24/7, and I can finally drive! ( I never had the chance to due to severe sleep apnea)
I couldn’t ride roller coasters before duo to my weight, and I’ve waited in line just to discover that I don’t fit into seats many times. But now, I can fit in every single ride and I just feel so happy, I feel.. alive!



Before pics and after pics included ❤️ Hope this inspires someone!!

Stats:
Male, 6’4” (193cm for the more enlightened)
46 years old.
All time known high weight 356lbs (161.5kg) (approx June 2013)
Surgery weight 334lbs (151.5kg).
Self pay, Dr Galileo Villarreal - Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, June 12, 2020 $4400 all in, VSG & hiatal hernia repair.
Current weight 194lbs (88kg).

This turned out to be way too long… sorry.

The idea of having surgery wasn’t anything I ever really gave any thought to. I did the lifetime attempts at diet and exercise without success. The lowest weight I ever achieved was 285 when I hiked almost daily in the mountains surround Las Vegas. But like all my other attempts, things changed, I got tired of the same thing, and put it all back on plus some (yet again). Fast forward to 2020 and my wife looks at me and asks “have you ever thought about gastric surgery?”
“Well, not really but I’ll look into it.”
I don’t recall exactly how long I researched, I know it wasn’t long. One day, maybe two? I knew my insurance wouldn’t cover it at all, so self pay was my only option unless I wanted to wait and change to a different plan (I’m impatient so that wasn’t happening). Anyway I live near Houston so I started looking at the border towns in Mexico and came across the website for Dr Galileo Villarreal in Nuevo Laredo. I made a phone call to his assistant who handles US patients and had an appointment set for two weeks later (for the procedure, not just a consultation). The next few days I mostly looked at before and after photos and was really excited about the possibilities. I don’t worry about much in general(why worry about what I can’t control?) so I didn’t bother reading too many horror stories. I understood that people who have problems are far more likely to post, seeking guidance/solutions than people who cruise through easily. I did look up complication statistics and that alone completely eliminated any worries that may have existed. I watched several videos of the procedure (I was interested to see what’s going to happen to me) and that too brought me comfort, seeing how quick and relatively simple the procedure was. Traveling to Mexico also didn’t bother me in the slightest. The way I figure is a doctor either cares or doesn’t, it doesn’t matter which side of the border they happen to be on. The one obvious downside to surgery in another country is “what if something does go wrong?” But again realistically I knew that was unlikely and it’s not like I couldn’t walk into a hospital once back home to get care for anything I might have needed.
I spent the next few days having tons of food funerals. I reveled in the experience and really went crazy with the Cinnamon Toast Crunch, smoked brisket, homemade carbonara Pasta (I even found some real guanciale), more Cinnamon Toast Crunch… you get the idea..
My pre-op diet arrived via email. It was sparse and consisted of things like cream Soup, Protein Drinks, electrolyte drinks etc. I had seven days of this before surgery. This was - by far - the worst part of the whole experience. Day one I was good. Day two I was pacing frantically. Day three I cheated and hated myself for it. Day four was a little better. Days 5 & 6 I had resigned to the lifestyle and at this point I was so giddy with excitement about the surgery I didn’t care anymore about the food as much.
I was fortunate with my timing in regard to COVID. The border was still open and there were no issues about that, I was a little surprised that the Mexican Border Guards didn’t even care to see my passport or ask any questions. I was just waived through, barely given a glance. I arrived at the hospital a few minutes later to begin the pre op blood work and physical.
This is where I had my first moment of “oh shit.” It was late in the day and apparently the normal nurse who handled the blood draw had already left. So this nice young man was assigned to get my blood. He takes me into a small room and I could tell he was really scared. We had an obvious language barrier but I kept pointing to a big thick vein in the crock of my elbow that you really can’t miss. I’ve had enough blood drawn in the past, no one has ever missed it first shot. He was literally shaking and sweating all over my arm. I kept pointing and saying “aqui” but he would get the needle close then pull it back and look around and sweat some more. It was a good ten minutes of this and I was starting (just starting?) to get a little worried. Again, I could tell he either never did this or rarely so I didn’t assume this was a sign of how it was all going to go (it didn’t, it all was fine after this). Eventually someone must have recognized there was an issue. Another nurse came in, looked at the obvious vein, and popped that needle in.
I wouldn’t know if my blood work was ok until the next morning, so they drove us to the hotel (which was included in the price) and we went to bed.
The next morning they picked us up and brought me back to the hospital. I checked in, got word that my blood work was fine and I forked over the cash for the procedure ($4000) plus a $400 deposit in case I had a hernia that needed to be repaired.
The hospital was very nice. Beautifully decorated, polished marble walls and floors. As clean (to the naked eye of course) as any hospital I’ve been in. It was small, but appropriately sized for the area it served. It was not a dedicated Bariatric facility, just a typical public hospital.
I actually enjoy the experience of being put under anesthesia and I wasn’t nervous at all so I declined the sedative and just went for it. The weirdest part was the staff asking me questions through google translate on their phones. Dr. Villarreal and his assistant spoke perfectly fluent English but the pre op staff had a lot of questions to ask. Even though they spoke some English and I spoke some Spanish, when it comes to translating medical related stuff it was definitely better using the app, it was just a little surreal.
I was wheeled into the OR, greeted again by Dr. Villarreal who asked if I wanted any music played (I did) and I went under listening to some classic rock.
I woke up in moderate pain, but nothing too bad. I was brought to my room where my wife was waiting for me. The first few hours I just relaxed in bed. Eventually I was given some ice chips to suck on and allowed to get up with assistance and go to the bathroom. Things were tender but I don’t recall being in a lot of pain. Walking was a slow shuffle and I was given permission to do laps around the hospital. I met a couple other people who had the same procedure the day prior and we nodded and smiled knowing we were on the same journey together. They were nice moments and I hope they’re doing well. Later in the day I did a barium swallow to ensure there were no leaks. It tasted like shit (sorry), and I got to watch it on the monitor. It was pretty interesting to see. Doctor visited me several times, and I asked if he had video or photos of my procedure, and he sent me some cool pics of my removed stomach and of my hernia and repair. I was given an antibiotic pill. I had read enough “no pills after surgery” posts here that this gave me concern. The pill was literally the biggest pill I have ever taken in my life. It was an inch long and thick. I pointed at my stomach and said “esta bien?” and she nodded and so I took it. It went down fine, didn’t hurt or anything. We stayed over that night which was more walking and ice and eventually electrolyte drinks and some Jello. I was given a bag of pills, more of those giant antibiotics, anti nausea meds, and some non-opioid pain pills. They wheeled me out where my car was waiting for me and we started the drive home.
The drive home the next day was about five hours total, we took our time. Getting into the US took an hour or so, but wasn’t an issue. One thing I took particular notice of on the ride home was just how many restaurants there are. I was obviously hyper focused on food and I was dumbstruck at the endless strip centers filled with high calorie options. Just endless.
I’ll speed things up here….
The first week was fine, some pain in my left arm that scared me. Spoke to the doctor and he explained that gas left over in the abdomen can rest on the diaphragm which can translate into left arm pain. He advised the typical “walk it off” prescription and sure enough that fixed it.
Food intake was slow but I didn’t care. This was much easier than the pre op diet even though it was essentially the same. Broths, Gatorade, Protein Shakes. By week two I was feeling great and ready for mushy foods. Cottage cheese was my friend. By week three I felt normal. I starting having a scrambled egg here and there and that’s when I began to feel the restrictions. The first meat I tried was around week three, I had some ground chicken with seasoned salt and it was pretty good and didn’t bother me.
I visited my regular doctor a month or so in and he was happy with my weight loss. My back doctor was also happy and we both were hopeful it would fix my back issues (spoiler it didn’t completely).
One year out I still have zero hunger. I had one spell in December where I thought it returned and it was disappointing and scary. It only lasted a few days and I don’t know what caused it. It really felt like the MORE I ate the hungrier I got and if not for physical restriction I would have eaten myself out of any other normal “diet.” Fortunately that’s gone and I’m back to no hunger, one year out. But im prepared and ready should it return.
There are no significant stories or details for the rest of my journey. I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve had zero problems. No foods have bothered me, I did not get sick, my tastes didn’t change (my eating habits did but not due to bad foods no longer tasting good, Cinnamon Toast Crunch is still awesome but I just don’t eat it any more except a couple pieces here and there). My main drinks are coffee, diet Mountain Dew and Monster Zero Ultra (the white can). I’m not going to pretend that I’m a model citizen of this forum. There are plenty of things I eat and drink that I probably shouldn’t. I’m in maintenance mode now and still losing (very slowly) even though I’m eating garbage like peanut m&ms to try and up my calories without increasing capacity. I know there are better options but I like them and it’s working fine for me. I don’t take Vitamins like I should but I just had my one year blood panel done and all my labs came back in the middle of the normal range so no worries on that front. Somehow my Vitamin D is normal for the first time as an adult. Again, don’t look at me as a guide, but it is what it is and I think it’s important share what is working.

I’ve included two screen shots of some graphs I used in a spreadsheet. The first is simply my weight loss over time. The second is a rolling weekly average using the past seven days. So each point on the graph looks back seven days, takes that weight, subtracts the current day’s weight. “I lost 2.4 lbs the past week” etc. This graph highlights stalls, and recovery from stalls etc. so you can see my weight loss was really fast at first. The big stall during the holidays where I didn’t gain or lose. For me this graph was more useful as sometimes I felt like I was stalled but the graph proved otherwise.

Here is a breakdown of my loss at 30 day intervals. Don’t compare me to you or to anyone else. There are over 7 billion of us and we’re all unique.

Day 30: 29.2lbs
Day 60: 46.0
Day 90: 63.5
Day 120: 74.6
Day 150: 92.1
Day 180: 102
Day 210: 103 (holidays/long stall)
Day 240: 113.6
Day 270: 120
Day 300: 129.5
Day 330: 135
Day 360: 138.8

Conclusion and final thoughts:

For some of us this journey IS the easy way out, and I honest to God don’t care. Im happy and healthy and I’d do it again without hesitation. I want people on the fence about having the procedure to know that. It’s easy to get lost in the problems people post about. Those problems ARE REAL and do happen. But I really think there are a lot of us out there for whom this journey has been easy, you just don’t hear from us as often. People who are having a difficult time need advice or want a solution so it’s natural and helpful to post questions about those problems. But it does skew the impressions towards the negative.
I wish I did this years ago. I don’t know why I never even thought of it. I guess it was one of those things I thought was reserved for medically necessary intervention. But you know what? I had a BMI over 40. It was medically necessary. I’m VERY lucky that at age 45 I was not on a downward spiral health wise, but it could have started any day. My wife’s dad was a “big guy” too, and was active and worked hard. Then one day, diabetes. Another day, bad knees. Another day a stroke. He had the sleeve AFTER these things and did lose weight but he can’t walk, can’t enjoy life, he’s miserable because he waited too long. Don’t wait. If you need to lose weight do it now. Figure out a way that works for you. Surgery is relatively safe, with far fewer complications than doing nothing and assuming you’ll just always be a healthy “big person.” But it’s not the only solution. Whatever it is that works for you, make it happen.
I know I won’t live forever and I know I can regain and I know lots of bad things could be lined up in my future.
But today I feel great.
Today I’m happy.
Today I look at myself and I see the me that I always knew existed. It’s the most wonderful feeling. I hope from the bottom of my heart everyone here will feel it too…..

….But I know not everyone will. My wife for example. Surgery has done nothing for her. 20lbs in a year. And she DOES follow the plan. For those of you in her situation who are probably cursing me and telling me to shut the f up, I get you. And I’m sorry. Don’t give up though. We’re all here for you; this forum is a great asset. We want you to succeed. Vent, cry, scream out, ask a million questions, we hear you. Just don’t give up.

I want to kayaking and ride a seadoo. I want to ride a horse and stop having so much anxiety on whether people like me or not because I'm so big.

Seeing my face smaller in my DL photo 📸

I hit the next goal!

Down 101 lbs. 5 months post sleeve, 1 week post Gall Bladder removal ( Cholecystectomy).

HW 264
SW 235
CW 163
GW 130-145

Clear Liquids (according to my diet plan) are Water, broth, sugar free Jello, calorie free gatorade/powerade, sugar free jello, sugar free popsicles, unsweet tea, Decaf coffee, calorie free- non carbonated drinks, and clear Protein Drinks. And if it is really needed, pedialyte.

It took me about a week and a half for the gas pressure to go away. I used gas-x, walking, sitting as straight as possible while resting (don’t know why but it made me feel better) and sleeping on an incline.
I also found that only drinking clear liquids during this time helped. The creamy Protein Shakes I liked before surgery were disgusting and hurt my stomach after surgery. I am not sure if this assisted in the gas pain but it helped in my overall pain and discomfort. I stuck to the Isopure Protein Drink Powder (tastes like Vitamin Water to me).

I hope your pain settles soon.

Congratulations! I am glad it worked this time! I am 4+ weeks out and can tell you that it will get better. Just work on drinking Water, ingesting Protein and walking. It will be worth it!

First I want to say thank you to so many of the veteran posters on here. I hope you gals and guys know how much your experiences and feedback have helped me and I suspect many others. There's just such a fantastic mix of people and experiences - It's great knowing you aren't alone in this journey.

The first few months after surgery were easy. The weight was simply falling off, there wasn't anything I couldn't eat or drink - And better yet, I couldn't overeat because of the restriction. I felt fantastic most of the time, had all sorts of NSV's and loved my new life. From August until January I lost almost 50lbs - I was so close to Wonderland I could taste it. THEN reality struck - Suddenly I was one of those "slow losers" - It took almost 2 months to lose 13lbs. UGH, I WAS going to be one of those slow losers. OK, fine, I'm 52 and it is what it is, right? From January until May, I "only" lost 33lbs. Again, every week/month I told myself that I would lose the weight, I was just in some sort of a stall and things would magically pick up. Well, they didn't, I would lose 2-3 lbs and then I would gain 2-3 lbs. Again, "it's normal" I told myself.

Fast forward to a week ago - I jumped on here for some motivation (reading stories, etc.) and I took a hard look at what I was doing. Basically, I was being lazy - I was eating whatever I wanted and justifying it by saying "I only eat small portions" - Well, yeah, that was true...BUT I was grazing, I was drinking too much alcohol, and I wasn't tracking. I honetly have no idea how many calories I was consuming (especially on weekends with family and friends). I played mind games with myself and said "As long as I'm not gaining, I'm doing things right." - Well, that was a giant load of (@*$.

This past Tuesday (after a weekend of Mimosa's, Crown Royal, and some really great BBQ), I woke up to a 5lb gain (BTW, yes I realize some of that was Water retention). WAKE UP CALL. 5lbs? Seriously - Time to go back to basics before that's a 10lb gain. For the first time in MONTHS, I tracked every thing I tracked everything that went into my mouth (water, food, etc) - I did 3 days of liquid - In two days, those 5lbs were off. Rather than what I've done in the past, I didn't stop there - I continued tracking, I continued being cognizant of what and when I was eating. I said "no" to many things that I thought I wanted. I lost 6.8lbs from Tuesday to Sunday. What? I'm NOT a slow loser - I'm a LAZY loser.

Folks, for many of us, it's EASY in the first few months, it's EASY to convince ourselves that we're doing OK, it's EASY to compare ourselves to others, it's EASY to ignore signs that you're falling into bad habits, and it's EASY to get lazy. In reality, it's HARD to stick to your plan when you're feeling fantastic and patting yourself on the back for losing so much weight. I'm choosing to be thankful that this happened now rather than 2-3 years into it. I'm glad that reality smacked me in the face and forced me to face the fact that i wasn't doing what I needed to do. Right now it was EASY to get back on track before I let it get out of control. For those of you experiencing the same - Buckle up buttercup, start tracking, weigh yourself often if you need to, and take a good look and when and why you're losing weight and when and why you aren't.

Again, a very special thank you to you old timers for always keeping things real and giving out such fantastic advice.

This measuring tape is awesome. It connects to your phone via Bluetooth and its ‘FITINDEX’ app works well with my older Bluetooth enabled scale.

This measuring tape is awesome. It connects to your phone via Bluetooth and its ‘FITINDEX’ app works well with my older Bluetooth enabled scale.

I’m officially 1 year 8 months out I’m still about 15lbs from goal probably would have made it by now if I hadn’t got pregnant immediately after surgery 🤦🏽‍♀️. My starting weight was 299lbs and I’m currently 174lbs I feel amazing but I definitely still feel like I look fat. Even though I’m not to goal I definitely feel great that I did this and have zero regrets my family constantly tell me I look great and not to lose more. The only regret I have is not doing it sooner! I go to the gym 3x a week alone then 2x with my trainer. I love the gym I try to get everyone I know to go with me lol. I can’t wait to get to my goal to Celebrate with a Tummy Tuck 😂.

I considered wls for many, many years, but never seriously. When I was a new RN in 1997, it was fairly new and I saw people die from it, so I was always scared of it. I also never had insurance that concerned it, so I knew I'd have to pay out of pocket, and I was overall healthy, so I figured I could do it on my own. I had my son in 2010, and that's when I really started to gain a lot of weight. I had done WW before I got pregnant and had lost 45. I was down to 263. After he was born, the weight started piling on. I was sick all the time and got diagnosed with asthma. I was in pain all the time. My liver enzymes increased slowly year by year, until 2020 when my doctor decided I needed to see a liver specialist. That same January, I had my gallbladder removed and that surgeon offered to biopsy my liver and it showed Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis, with hepatic fibrosis. As a nurse I had seen people die of liver failure and it is awful. This scared me to death. That surgeon recommended wls, and he was one of the only doctors who had ever acted compassionate and non-judgmental about my weight. He told me I had very little chance of losing it and keeping it off on my own. I took his advice and made an appt. That day with a bariatric surgeon. I saw him in March and he recommend gastric bypass. I started getting the required testing and had just had my EGD when the hospital decided to let a bunch of staff go due to COVID. That surgeon was one of them. I decided to go to a different hospital and surgeon and this one recommended Loop DS. I had not heard of it, but he said I was a perfect candidate with a BMI of 69.9 and since I was paying for it myself, as it was a newer procedure that insurance didn't usually cover. I researched it and decided to go with it.
My high weight was 393 pounds. I am 5'3". I was 368.8 on the day of my surgery, July 23, 2020. As of today I am 226.4. I never thought I'd be even close to this weight again. I am hoping to lose at least 200 pounds total. I am getting close.
I was close to borderline diabetic, had just been diagnosed with hypertension, and had liver disease. I could barely get around or keep up with my active 10 year old son. My hypertension is gone, my blood glucose is normal, and my liver enzymes are now normal, so I have reversed my fatty liver disease. I turn 50 on August 2nd and this will be the best birthday ever! I am so happy I had this surgery!
I can't get my befores to post right now but I'll put them here once I do. Here is me today.  
Sent from my Nokia 7.2 using BariatricPal mobile app

Thank you!! I will definitely check into it. It looks like it is about the same pricing as around here, in Alabama. Great job on the pounds lost!

I am in San Antonio, Tx so I might be a bit far for you.
I went to Dr Cárcamo at South Texas Surgeons and spent $9,900 for my sleeve. Self pay made everything super easy, I was able to schedule my surgery for 2 weeks after my initial appointment. The package includes the surgery, anesthesia, about 24 hours of a hospital care, 2 meetings with a nutritionist and a total of 3 or 4 appointments with the doctor afterwards. They are super nice and always available if I have questions.
I got the sleeve four weeks ago and after the initial post surgery discomfort (not pain) I am feeling fine and about 40 pounds down from when I first walked into the place. I'd recommend them to anyone.
https://www.stxsurgeons.com/

I am in San Antonio, Tx so I might be a bit far for you.
I went to Dr Cárcamo at South Texas Surgeons and spent $9,900 for my sleeve. Self pay made everything super easy, I was able to schedule my surgery for 2 weeks after my initial appointment. The package includes the surgery, anesthesia, about 24 hours of a hospital care, 2 meetings with a nutritionist and a total of 3 or 4 appointments with the doctor afterwards. They are super nice and always available if I have questions.
I got the sleeve four weeks ago and after the initial post surgery discomfort (not pain) I am feeling fine and about 40 pounds down from when I first walked into the place. I'd recommend them to anyone.
https://www.stxsurgeons.com/

2016 vs. 2021. I'm in better shape than I was in my 30's.

I've been thinking about this a lot and I just started my weight loss less than a month ago. I have come to the conclusion that I will answer unwanted weight questions with another question to put the onus back on the person and hopefully make them realize that they are asking an intrusive question.
So, if anyone (who is not closely acquainted to me) asks....'How much more weight you going to lose?' or 'How much have you lost?' I will respond with a very serious 'Why do you ask?' because my weight is no one else's business.... and no one has the right to comment on my body anymore.