Tiffykins

Today, I had my follow up with Dr. R. He's elated with my progress, and told me that I am doing fabulous. He's asked me to come in and give a testimonial, and "set an example" as I am their most successful sleeve patient. Boy, that was pretty awesome. I have excellent news. Before losing weight, my resting heart rate stayed between 115-125. But, my cardiac work up was normal. So, they just attributed it to my smoking and obesity. Today, my resting heart rate was 80 which is considered NORMAL. Unfortunately, I am having low blood pressure episodes, and he isn't sure what is causing this issue. He recommend that I return to my PCP for weekly blood pressure monitoring if it continues. I noticed the last 3 days when I would walk around the house, I would get dizzy, and even though my eyes were fully open, my eyesight would go black except for just little slits of light shining through. It was definitely un-nerving, and I'm not sure what is going on. I've never had blood pressure issues, high or low so this is an entirely new problem for me. Other than that, my appointment went great. I broke down and went shopping again today, BUT I got a pair of leopard print flats, SUPER ADORABLE for 75% off at the military mall. I'm such a clearance whore, it's pathetic. I had put myself on a shopping ban for at least 2 weeks, but how can I pass up a pair of leopard print flats to wear with my skinny jeans for $8.50 ! ! ! Have a great week everyone. . .

You aren't being paranoid or anything of the sort. I chose to tell everyone that would listen about my decision to revise from the band to VSG. I only had one friend here at the time so it wasn't a huge ordeal. I ended up losing that friend because of the surgery, and well she's pretty psycho so it wasn't a loss I mourned. Many people are simply ignorant when they hear about WLS. They don't understand because they haven't struggled with it. My husband is naturally thing, and while he supported my journey, he didn't understand why I couldn't keep it off. You may get mixed reactions. With my new found circle of friends through our spouse's club, I have found nothing but support and encouragement. I bowl on our spouse's club league, and my bowling partner is going through the steps to get the sleeve with one of my surgeons. Another of my friends is on Addipexx (legalized speed) to lose weight for the 6th time, and she made kind of harsh comment last week at lunch. She said " well if I gain back the weight this time, I'm going to have make the same drastic decision you did to have my stomach removed." Now, this is coming from a 50 year old woman that has taken prescription diet pills 6 times, loses 60-75lbs, and always gains it back plus some. My reply was " yeah, it seems drastric, but losing and gaining the same 400 pounds over the last year seems like a big waste of time, and I was ready to live my life to the fullest and quit the yo yo'ing up and down." She just looked at me like I was crazy for saying that to her, but it's the truth, that woman has lost and gained over 500 lbs in the last 10 years, and she's trying to tell me what I chose was drastic. My mom was not supportive of my decision to revise. She has a band, and has a bad case of morbid jealousy (google that for a definition), and she no longer comments on my weight loss because I weight 40lbs less than her now. She has a horrible life with the band, but she told me once "I'd rather puke a couple times a week than make a wreckless decision to have my stomach removed." My reply to her was " make sure you remind yourself of that thought process when your band slips, or erodes into your stomach, then we'll talk about wreckless." I don't tolerate bad behavior from people, and I speak my mind quite often. If they don't want to be supportive that's fine, it's my body, my future, and my life. Yes, it's nice to have support, but I have found those that truly care about your well-being, and future will stand by your side through thick and thin. Also, education is power, ignorance is the number 1 reason why people aren't supportive. It was easier for me to explain the procedure, the benefits, the risks, and the overall long-term effects of WLS instead of getting defensive. Once you educate someone, they can form a more solid opinion, and hopefully realize that it's not for everyone, but to give you the best chance at survival with obesity related complications and co-morbidities, WLS is a choice your making to improve your quality of life. Sorry for the ramble. I'm pretty opinionated about WLS and people's reaction and lack of support. It's like someone who has never suffered with alcoholism trying to bash an alcoholic for trying to get clean and relapsing. They just don't understand, and their ignorance clouds their judgement on the subject.

Congrats on a wonderful experience. Take care of yourself, and keep us posted on your progress.

It really won't make a huge difference for your overall results. I have a 32, and I can eat more than some people with a 34-36. There's a lot of factors that go into sleeve capacity. I just had an endoscopy performed, and during my follow up appointment yesterday my surgeon advised me that my sleeve is not too narrow, and isn't stretched. I may just chew my food differently than others, or take longer to eat my 4ounces of steak. On stretching out your sleeve, it's really minimal stretching that occurs because the tissue that is left is the muscular part of the stomach.

http://verticalsleevetalk.com/pre-operation-vertical-sleeve-surgery-vsg-questions-answers/3321-thinking-band-now-vsg-help.html Check out that thread. I know of another member on the board that had their sleeve in that region as well. There's details in there.

It's tough to get enough calories in when we aren't hungry. Most patients experience the "evil 3 week stall" so you aren't in the minority here. I had a goal of 4 meals a day consisting of at least 15-20 grams of Protein per meal. I didn't really snack, just focused on meals, and getting my protein in. But, if you stay too low on calories, your body can hang onto the weight out of pure survival. If you're working out, or walking a lot, your body needs calories to burn the fat.

Best wishes. I know that Tricare Prime and Standard are NOT covering VSG at this time. Now, with that being said if you can find a military hospital that is performing the VSG it is approved via MTFs. I've been through this several times during my Quest for a qualified revision surgeon, and have been researching it for almost a year with Tricare. It is still not covered by Medicare/Medicaid, and Tricare shows a trend of following suit after Medicare/Medicaid approves a procedure. Both are gov't ran insurance programs to an extent, and Medicare/Medicaid is still considering the VSG as a stand-alone procedure as "not proven to be an effective WLS as a stand-alone procedure". Don't give up. I know one other member here that is coming to Dallas, TX to have her surgery here in the states because she can afford self-pay and she won't settle for a band or bypass.

Most have ZERO carbs ! ! !

I could only tolerate Splenda. I've always been a salty/savory/crunchy craver so sweets were never my thing.

My surgeon's recommendation is 600-800 calories per day, no more than 30gr of carbs, and 64+ ounces of water.

Hi, Pamela and welcome. Those are great questions and I'll try my best to answer based my surgeon's recommendations and my own personal experience. 1) It is recommended to not drink while you eat with the sleeve for a couple of reasons. a) it hurts early out because of the swelling that is still apparent from the initial surgery it flushes food through quicker therefore you may not feel full as long as some patients c) I started sipping a little bit when I ate spicy/salty food. Essentially, just enough to wet my whistle. If I'm having a glass of wine with dinner, I do sip my wine before eating, and maybe a few sips with my meal. I'm several months out (8.5), and have learned to deal with the not eating while I drink, but sometimes I need a little swallow. It has not negatively effected my weight loss or my satiety during my meals. I did make the mistake of taking a decent size drink early out, and it caused immediate cramping, and discomfort. 2) Post op diet recommendations per my surgeon a) Clear liquids for 2 weeks Full liquids for 2 weeks c) Mushies/purees soft solids for 2 weeks d) progress to solid, more dense Protein filled foods as tolerated 3) Actual recovery time varies by patient. I know a lot of patients return to work, depends on job type, within 7-14 days. Average hospital stay is 2-3 days. My surgeon requires 2 nights in the hospital. Healing time on the staple line is 6-8 weeks(this is the biggest reason for the slow progression of the post-op diet) With the sleeve, you can drink right up until you take that first bite since you do not have a "pouch" like with RNY and the band. With RNY or the band, you can't drink 30 minutes before eating, during eating, and 30-45 minutes after eating. I had the band so I had the learning curve beat when I revised to the sleeve. You should wait 30-45 minutes after eating to resume normal drinking to ensure the food is digested and you aren't pushing food through. For me, the sleeve has been fabulous. Hope this helps.

You can also get sugar-free Smuckers preserves and add it to the plain Greek yogurt without all the sugar and carbs.

Hi MLK, and welcome, we're glad to have ya ! ! ! Congrats on getting the sleeve soon, it's a wonderful surgery. Keep us posted on your progress.

Hi Sarah, glad you are home and recovering. Keep sipping, walking, and resting. Take care of yourself, and keep us posted on your progress.

You are not alone in this feeling. In fact, I stayed on soft solids longer because I could get in my Protein without eating dense/heavy protein. I literally lived on deli meat with cream cheese, tuna and chicken salad for quite some time. I could eat some chinese food meat like chicken/broccoli or beef/broccoli but it had to be super soft. I didn't push solid foods for awhile just because I was doing so well on what I was I doing, I didn't want to risk getting sick again. Tuna with light mayo or miracle whip worked really well for me. I hate cottage cheese so I never even attempted it. It's scary when something doesn't work. I did eat Pasta sauce, like Prego/Ragu mixed with ricotta cheese that went down really well, and was a nice change in flavor profiles. Try just 1ounce of something to begin with and then try 2 ounces if you are able to get it down, and it stay down.

So, this week marks a pretty awesome point in my WLS journey. I started my WLS journey with the band at 270lbs, sleeve revision at 263lbs, and today I'm weighing in at 135. I've lost literally half of pre-op self ! ! ! Just thought this is a really awesome moment for me so I thought I would share. I bought new skinny jeans this week from Rue 21, they're a size 8/9 and they are way smaller than my other 9's in the closet. I seriously love my sleeve. For those of you debating this surgery, do it. I couldn't be happy with my sleeve. I couldn't imagine living the life I'm living today.

Congrats on getting your date, and choosing an amazing surgical team. You'll have to keep us posted on your progress, and if you have any questions, post away. We'll be saving you a seat on the loser's bench ! ! !

I really enjoyed the Zumba classes I attended, but hated the music the instructor had chosen to use so I opted out. I truly love Hip Hop Abs. I love to dance, and I tried a Hip Hop class the same instructor offered, and unfortunately her taste in Hip Hop and mine are so different. She used Michael Jackson "Smooth Moves" and other songs of his for hip hop class. To me if there isn't Beyonce, JayZ, Nelly, Chingy and little 50cent in there, it just ain't hip hop. So, I do my hip hop abs at home 1 day a week for my cardio, and lift weights the other 3 days. The hip hop abs definitely will kick your hiney, and get your abs in great shape. My stomach shrunk up, and lifted substantially by doing those exercises.

Best wishes tomorrow with your consult. I hope you get some definitive answers with the insurance company. The DS is definitely not something for me, but I know some people love it. The amount of malabsorption is just not my cup o' tea.

I only increased my carbs when I got closer to goal, but I still stayed around 45gr of carbs until recently and only get in about 60 a day. I work out 4 days a week, but I do more lifting weights than cardio so I don't ever feel worn out or hungry after working out.

Ash, when I felt like it was just too much, I literally looked at my before pictures. Then I would look at myself naked in the mirror, and see the difference and progress I had made. It especially helped get my butt to the gym. My entire family eats completely differently now. It helps that John started lifting weights while deployed, and got more health conscious, but we eat a lot healthier now. His cholesterol has dropped 25 points since being home, and it wasn't high to begin with, but it's super normal now. His skin has improved, and so has mine. I cook very hearty, health, balanced meals without skimping on flavor. We've switched over to a lot venison, and I'm trying to get them into ground turkey, but it's not working yet. I have become obsessed with recipe websites, and I love that I can modify the ingredients and make healthy substitutions to accomodate our lifestyle. You can get back on track Ash.

I would post this on the main board under the surgeon forum, and on Obesityhelp.com especially on the VSG forum, and your specific state forum to see if you can get any first hand experience from other patients.

Congratulations, and make sure you post when you can about your experience. Sip, rest, walk, and repeat. We're all scooting over on the loser's bench for you.

VSG vs. C-section is night vs. day. I was super painful after my c-section. The worse part of the pain post a laproscopic procedure is the CO2 gas they fill your abdomen with has to be released. So, gas bubbles can be trapped in your abdomen or other parts of your body which is more painful that any incisional pain I dealt with. As for the working, my instructions were nothing strenuous for 6 weeks. You do not want to stress anything internally because you can get incisional hernia, or Fluid pockets/hematomas at the incision sites, and that just slows down healing. I had my revision from band to sleeve at a MTF here in Florida. The self-pay cost here for just the sleeve is around $15,000, in Texas the sleeve runs 10k-15K, Mexico between 8-9k with a phenomenal surgeon(Dr. Aceves), and that gets you 3 days in the hospital. If Tricare Prime would not have covered my revision, my happy hiney would have traveled to Dallas to see Dr. Nick Nicholson, or Dr. Aceves in Mexico. #1 piece of advice is do not advance your post-op diet early #2 would be to follow the rules, don't stress, trust your surgeon, and be positive. #3 Be your own personal health advocate, do not settle for something you do not want, trust your intuition, and believe in yourself #4 When selecting a surgeon, make sure they have performed over 300 sleeves. That they keep you overnight (at a bare minimum). The reason for 300+ sleeves is that technique is perfected with practice, don't be someone's guinea pig, and complications decrease with having this many sleeves under their belt. Leaks stats should be less than or = to 1%. Ask for patient testimonies, and ensure you ask what boughie size is used to measure your sleeve size during surgery. If you have any other questions, feel free to post away, and we'll try to help out as much as possible.

I didn't have to do a pre-op diet with the exception of low carb/high Protein. Some surgeon do a more stringent diet to help shrink the liver because it helps make the surgery a little easier since they have to retract our livers out of the way to get to our stomach. Other surgeons base the pre-op diet requirements off of each individual patients BMI and co-morbidities. There's a lot of debate on the effectiveness of "liver shrinking" diets so I'm not sure on the actual facts. Some surgeons may want a pre-op diet done to help prepare a patient for life post-op. The first couple of weeks are usually the most difficult.