RollTideRosss

Hello Everyone!

It has been a while since I posted on here, but I wanted to get some input and reassurance/knowledge from others who have potentially dealt with this. I had GS surgery done on 9/5/23 and things were ROUGH at the beginning. It did not help that my surgeon is out of state an their office was not the best with returning calls and in a sense "caring" about my progress/recovery. It is a longer story for another time, as this post is about something more current but somewhat related. Since my surgery I have no gone to my follow up appointments being that 1. I decided to not work with them after the complications and lack of any kind of support/communication from my surgeons office until right before my 3 month appointment, 2. They are out of state and I had not found a primary care physician in my new state, and 3. Probably because I am stubborn as hell, LOL!

On the 5th I will be 9 months post op, and after I somewhat got my food/liquid intake figured out I was able to get things moving. Being a food addict I have a love/hate relationship with food and emotional connections to them. I am not the type of food addict that if its there I am going to eat it. Once I am full I do not crave or even want to think about food. So, with the lack of hunger from the surgery I was feeling like I was unstoppable. I was eating when i thought i was hungry/knew it had been several hours. Looking back i think it was the common fear of it all that probably set me up wrong, but we live and we learn. I was afraid of eating too much and afraid to see the number go up as well. I would basically only eat at Breakfast and dinner and maybe a snack somewhere in between. I thought i was doing well honestly an thought it was normal. Well here we are nearly 9 months later and I was maybe eating 5 ounces a meal and it was like a single taco or 1.5 sausage patties and some eggs. again, thought it was totally normal. Then i spoke to a friend who did the surgery and she informed me of what she was able to eat by the time I am at and i realized i am eating way way way less than what she listed. So, I have been trying to increase my portions/time in between meals. I have a food scale and weigh out majority of my ingredients and now am calorie obsessed. I am doing it to hopefully eat enough and make sure I am getting enough in me to help with my dizziness and hair loss/brittle nails issues. Since doing so though now I have MAJOR fear that i am eating too much and i am doing it wrong. I am terrified i stretched my stomach and something is not right because i am not gaining weight. I am up 4 pounds and in my terrible mind it feels like I've gained 40 pounds. I was consistently walking everyday until mid-December, but stopped due to pain in my hips (another long story), but have started walking again consistently as of last month. I am also trying to find a new doctor/surgeon here in Tuscaloosa or Birmingham to have a consistent source of information/support. But until then I am in mind panic mode. Has anyone felt this way or dealt with stretching? My family is convinced it has not stretched, but I being the crazy one worried about it feels like i have. I am open to private messages if thats a thing and willing to answer any questions as well!

hello everyone!!

I thought since this is brand new to me, and I just joined today that I would introduce myself to everyone since I've seen other people do that. My name is Ross and I am 34 years old. I was born and raised in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas, and last June moved to Tuscaloosa Alabama. I moved to Tuscaloosa with my little brother who is a student at UA and a member of the coed cheer team. I also cheered for many years of my life, so it must run in the family. haha! I am an unapologetic Disney nerd who truly loves anything and all things Disney. Also, in my part time when I need a little decompressing I like to crystalize Water bottles and phone cases for myself and friends. I would say I've been a food addict or someone who relied on food for emotional support majority of my life, unfortunately, due to outside influences that encouraged the eating.

A big reason why I am having the surgery is simply I want to live. I really can't say it more straight and narrow than that. Another reason is I had Covid in 2020 like I'm sure many of y'all did but unfortunately, my case was a little different and I ended up on ECMO for four days and a ventilator for a month. I coded twice while intubated at which point the hospital staff told my family i would have about a 15% chance to live and if i did i may have severe brain issues. Thankfully when I woke up I was myself for the most part, but I had severe paralysis on my left side which required me to spend an additional three months in the hospital learning how to stand and walk again. I still have a pretty significant neuropathy on my left side. My left arm has some weakness with things and my left leg is completely numb to the touch. So I have low hopes for any kind of change, but still keeping hopeful that maybe with the surgery and weight loss some of the mobility and feeling will come back. I have been "creeping" on the forum for a few weeks and I can't tell y'all how much your stories, encouragement, and transparency has helped with my own journey without even meaning to.

I am paying out-of-pocket for my surgery due to not having health insurance with the job I currently have. I've done all the required testing and I am hoping that tomorrow 8/21/23 will be the day that I get my surgery scheduled. We are aiming for the last week of the month for my date, so fingers crossed! I am going to be flying back to Texas for my surgery and staying there for a couple weeks to recover with my family. Which leads to the question I had for those who had to travel for the surgery. When you flew back post surgery with the weight lifting restrictions, how did you go about getting your bags and things like that? Did you notice any real pain post surgery when you were taking off for landing? Any other tips or experiences are always welcome to be shared as well!

Thank yall again for taking the time to read this little bit about myself and my journey. I look forward to being on here more and more and sharing my own journey with yall as yall have bravely done already!