vikingbeast

It's totally normal to have nerves. I had massive nerves right up until they put me under.

But seriously, I want to go back in time to pre-op fat me and shake my shoulders and go DO YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND HOW AMAZING THIS TOOL IS SO STOP FREAKING OUT ALREADY.

Stepped on the scale this morning and was under 300 pounds for the first time in almost twelve years… not gonna lie, I cried happy tears
Once I’m a bit more comfortably under, I’m going to schedule a DXA scan, since my ultimate goal is 15% body fat, and it’ll help to recalibrate where that number lies on the scale.

Stepped on the scale this morning and was under 300 pounds for the first time in almost twelve years… not gonna lie, I cried happy tears
Once I’m a bit more comfortably under, I’m going to schedule a DXA scan, since my ultimate goal is 15% body fat, and it’ll help to recalibrate where that number lies on the scale.

Stepped on the scale this morning and was under 300 pounds for the first time in almost twelve years… not gonna lie, I cried happy tears
Once I’m a bit more comfortably under, I’m going to schedule a DXA scan, since my ultimate goal is 15% body fat, and it’ll help to recalibrate where that number lies on the scale.

Stepped on the scale this morning and was under 300 pounds for the first time in almost twelve years… not gonna lie, I cried happy tears
Once I’m a bit more comfortably under, I’m going to schedule a DXA scan, since my ultimate goal is 15% body fat, and it’ll help to recalibrate where that number lies on the scale.

Stepped on the scale this morning and was under 300 pounds for the first time in almost twelve years… not gonna lie, I cried happy tears
Once I’m a bit more comfortably under, I’m going to schedule a DXA scan, since my ultimate goal is 15% body fat, and it’ll help to recalibrate where that number lies on the scale.

I lost about 4 kg on my pre-op diet, but I started the pre-op diet at 166.4 kg which is significantly more than you. There was no concern about my liver, my surgeon didn't even mention it post-op. And weight started just dropping off as soon as I got rid of the surgical Fluid and gas.
DO NOT FREAK OUT if you gain weight right after surgery. They pump you absolutely chock full of surgical fluid and gas and it can take a week to pee and belch it all away.
Make sure you have a couple of follow-ups with your psychiatrist (or whoever prescribes your bipolar meds), one 2-3 weeks post-op and one about 6 weeks post-op. You may need to have your medication levels changed a bit, and if you have extended-release meds (such as carbamazepine ERC) you will probably need to have those changed to regular release, since it won't sit in your new stomach long enough to be absorbed all day. It's annoying to have to dial in meds again but it's worth it.
All you need at the hospital is your phone, a LONG charging cable (some of those outlets might as well be in another room for how far they are from the bed), lip moisturizer, Biotene or similar mouth moisturizer, a comfy and loose set of clothes to go home in, and a pillow for the car ride home in case the seatbelt presses on your incisions (mine didn't, but just in case). You can leave the pillow in the car, obviously.

Good luck!

Stepped on the scale this morning and was under 300 pounds for the first time in almost twelve years… not gonna lie, I cried happy tears
Once I’m a bit more comfortably under, I’m going to schedule a DXA scan, since my ultimate goal is 15% body fat, and it’ll help to recalibrate where that number lies on the scale.

Stepped on the scale this morning and was under 300 pounds for the first time in almost twelve years… not gonna lie, I cried happy tears
Once I’m a bit more comfortably under, I’m going to schedule a DXA scan, since my ultimate goal is 15% body fat, and it’ll help to recalibrate where that number lies on the scale.

Stepped on the scale this morning and was under 300 pounds for the first time in almost twelve years… not gonna lie, I cried happy tears
Once I’m a bit more comfortably under, I’m going to schedule a DXA scan, since my ultimate goal is 15% body fat, and it’ll help to recalibrate where that number lies on the scale.

Stepped on the scale this morning and was under 300 pounds for the first time in almost twelve years… not gonna lie, I cried happy tears
Once I’m a bit more comfortably under, I’m going to schedule a DXA scan, since my ultimate goal is 15% body fat, and it’ll help to recalibrate where that number lies on the scale.

I keep telling my fiancé I'm gonna be his arm candy. 🤣

I think I'm going to have to choose either mashed potatoes or stuffing this Thanksgiving... and there's no contest, mashed potatoes hands down. bread tends to sit heavy on me anyway, and I'd rather save that for a couple of bites of apple pie (hate pumpkin pie).

Have you looked into going to Mexico? Laredo or if you want to come out West, Mexicali or Tijuana? It'll be a heckuva lot cheaper to self-pay, too, and the doctors and clinics are reputable.

Once you get the surgery, you may find that you are not interested in eating a lot of different foods. Your restriction is going to limit you anyway, so for me, I just ended up not really bothered by the smell of cooking. Once you start losing the weight and get the desire to keep it going, you will be even more uninterested in those things. Things that I could not walk by without grabbing a piece have no power over me any longer.

Every year our boys' PE hosts a Turkey Run and invites staff to run the mile. Never have I EVER even thought about walking it. Too embarrassed about how I looked, what would jiggle, how long it would take me, that I'd be huffing and puffing... you know all the reasons why. Today, I RAN with them. RAN!! Some of them were still faster, but I had to giggle at all the stragglers who would all of sudden find the energy to run when their librarian was coming up behind them! We were supposed to do 4 laps. I ran 6 and walked 2. So proud of myself. I never, ever thought I'd be a runner. EVER. I started a Couch to 5K app in July, and now I can run 40 consecutive minutes! I'm running 2.5 miles 3 days a week, and I'm signed up to run a 5k in February with the school's team.

So I got a semi-funny one:
Last weekend me and Mr were out at a bar and upon coming back from the bathroom, he introduced me to some new people he met at his “trophy wife”.
The strong, independent woman in me is officially offended, but the slightly inebriated me was all giggly schoolgirl. 😂😂😂
Granted, he was pretty drunk himself so…😂

I was actually a food writer for about a decade... you don't write about food without eating in restaurants all the time, which is part of how I ended up two french fries short of 400 lbs. I had the same concerns.
But here's the thing—I don't actually miss it. As corny and BS as this sounds, a taste is enough.
My mother-in-law made a pie. I had two small bites. It was enough. I catered pizza to my daughter's school; I had a few bites.
And if I do overindulge on something, the restriction kicks in right away, and reminds me why we don't overindulge on everything.
I do find myself suggesting more active things ("let's go have a bonfire at the beach", "let's go hike through the nature preserve", etc.) rather than just defaulting to a meal with people. And if I do go to a celebratory meal, I just... don't eat much.

Today is a year since my sleeve surgery. I started at 294 lbs and this morning I am 175. I bounce around the low 170s. I feel good and would do it again in a heart beat. My aches and pains are mostly gone and so is my severe sleep apnea. At 53, I weigh less than I did in high school. Lol

Complications are fairly rare. And honestly—this is from someone who resisted the surgery because "I can just do it on my own"—I wish I had kicked my own butt 15 years ago. It's not that it's effortless—I have to put in work to lose weight—but it's that when I put in the work, I actually lose the weight, instead of that incredibly frustrating "why isn't this working" garbage.
Basically what you're getting is a tool that doesn't allow you to deviate much from the plan. But you still have to reduce eating and get in exercise. The difference is you can't fall off the wagon. Your new anatomy won't allow it, and by the time you get to the point where you could overeat, you'll be so used to tracking what you eat and being careful that it'll be second nature. I mean, I'm only two months out (from sleeve, not bypass) and I already always automagically reach for my phone when I set food down in front of myself.

I think a lot of us had that same worry.
I'm here to tell you that the eating habits DO change.
Sometimes, if I'm out, I'll order food like The Before Times... and then after a few bites I'm all "yeah, not doing this". Tonight there was cake. I had a few bites and pushed the rest away. The old me would have et the whole dang thing and gone for seconds (and possibly thirds).
The whole point of the surgery, really, is to give you a tool that makes it a bit easier to develop better habits.
You know how when you start a diet pre-op, and the first week or few days you're ALL IN on the diet, and the weight starts to come off, and you feel like you can just DO this?
Now imagine that for six months. Or a year. Because the weight will just come off. Especially for us—it is, unfairly, still easier and faster for male bariatric patients to lose than female (in general).
By the time the weight loss slows down, the habits you need are ingrained.

You might be in a stall. They happen. They're frustrating. And they all break. Just keep following your plan. If you're truly stuck for like a month, then ask your nutritionist about shock calories—a week of an extra 100-150 calories to get your body to think something else is happening.
Are you measuring yourself? When I hit my three-week stall, the inches kept coming off even though the scale change was pokey.

Complications are fairly rare. And honestly—this is from someone who resisted the surgery because "I can just do it on my own"—I wish I had kicked my own butt 15 years ago. It's not that it's effortless—I have to put in work to lose weight—but it's that when I put in the work, I actually lose the weight, instead of that incredibly frustrating "why isn't this working" garbage.
Basically what you're getting is a tool that doesn't allow you to deviate much from the plan. But you still have to reduce eating and get in exercise. The difference is you can't fall off the wagon. Your new anatomy won't allow it, and by the time you get to the point where you could overeat, you'll be so used to tracking what you eat and being careful that it'll be second nature. I mean, I'm only two months out (from sleeve, not bypass) and I already always automagically reach for my phone when I set food down in front of myself.

I think a lot of us had that same worry.
I'm here to tell you that the eating habits DO change.
Sometimes, if I'm out, I'll order food like The Before Times... and then after a few bites I'm all "yeah, not doing this". Tonight there was cake. I had a few bites and pushed the rest away. The old me would have et the whole dang thing and gone for seconds (and possibly thirds).
The whole point of the surgery, really, is to give you a tool that makes it a bit easier to develop better habits.
You know how when you start a diet pre-op, and the first week or few days you're ALL IN on the diet, and the weight starts to come off, and you feel like you can just DO this?
Now imagine that for six months. Or a year. Because the weight will just come off. Especially for us—it is, unfairly, still easier and faster for male bariatric patients to lose than female (in general).
By the time the weight loss slows down, the habits you need are ingrained.

Thought I would give an update here. VSG was done 9/14/2021, today is 11/14/2021.
THE GOOD:
Down 55 lbs from surgery, 64 lbs from the start of the pre-op diet, and 94 lbs from my heaviest weight. Hypertension and asthma diagnoses were officially withdrawn. Hypogonadism is under review. CPAP average setting went from 16 cm H2O to about 7 cm. Have an appointment soon to see if I need it any more. Depression has almost completely been put in remission. Went from 52/34 to 36/34 in the same cut of jeans, and actually need to go see if they have 34/34 at the outlet. Went from 4XL or even 5XL shirts to L or XL (mostly XL). Went from 15EE boots to 12D; my arch has returned, which shocked my surgeon and my PCP. Running and enjoying it for the first time ever. Way too many NSVs to count THE BAD:
Still occasional bouts of Constipation which mess up scale results, but then it all, um, resolves and the number on the scale goes WHOOSH. Had to fire my NUT for being a horrible person. Found a new NUT who is amazing and who does the same fitness I do. The extremely restrictive diet (especially under the old NUT's "guidance") caused a massive drop in strength, which did not help at work. It also caused me to stall out. The new NUT increased my intake from 600-800 to 1000-1400 cals a day, and WHOOSH went the scale once again. It actually hurts to sit down because my butt is bony. I'm cold all the freaking time, even when it's objectively-by-any-sane-standard not cold. Needed a chiropractic adjustment because my hips are not used to carrying 25% less of me and were hurting badly. Had to replace expensive work boots because they were giving me blisters. Clothes I can get from the Goodwill and Ross Dress For Less; work boots not so much. THE UGLY:
Eating too fast or even one bite too much means spending the next 30 minutes to an hour in great physical discomfort. It takes time for the full signal to arrive in my brain. Eating lettuce salad was, in hindsight, a really, really bad idea. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Some gnarly skin tags as my fat melts away, and the beginnings of some loose skin. Added in a daily dose of collagen peptides to help. One incision is still quite visible, though it's healed over. Starting to notice a little more hairfall, including head, beard, and chest. Still the best thing I've ever done for myself.