My Success Story Thus Far

[Guest liveinphx]

I had the sleeve done in MX 6/27/08. My surgeon was Francisco Contreras and he was incredible as was my whole surgery process experience.

I had surgery on Friday and was at the hotel on Sunday and back in my own home on Monday. I had no problems with liquids and could take my oral meds with no problems from day 1.

I took no pain meds afer I left the hospital.

Since surgery I have lost just over 120 lbs and am at my goal. I went from size 28 to 6 petite (surgery did not make me any taller unfortunately).

I am off all blood pressure meds and have been since a few months after surgery.

I am walking between 4-10 miles every morning without any struggle.

I have not had ANY problems with reflux, acid or vomitting. Just occassional Constipation (Miralax is my friend).

I feel like I can finally eat like a normal person, no feelings of deprivation of having diet mentality. I get full easily and stay full longer.

I feel like the sleeve has allowed me to learn how to eat normally for the first time that I can remember.

I also feel strongly that all of the work I did on myself and my relationship to food and eating has as much to do with my success as the surgery itself. Learning about my triggers and implementing new coping skills has allowed me to work with my sleeve to get to this place.

[Elisabethsew 50]

You ARE a success story! Congratulations on getting to goal!

[libguy2753 0]

4-10 miles?! That sounds like such a foreign concept to me right now! I would love to be able to do that post-VSG.

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

I had the sleeve done in MX 6/27/08. My surgeon was Francisco Contreras and he was incredible as was my whole surgery process experience.

I had surgery on Friday and was at the hotel on Sunday and back in my own home on Monday. I had no problems with liquids and could take my oral meds with no problems from day 1.

I took no pain meds afer I left the hospital.

Since surgery I have lost just over 120 lbs and am at my goal. I went from size 28 to 6 petite (surgery did not make me any taller unfortunately).

I am off all blood pressure meds and have been since a few months after surgery.

I am walking between 4-10 miles every morning without any struggle.

I have not had ANY problems with reflux, acid or vomitting. Just occassional Constipation (Miralax is my friend).

I feel like I can finally eat like a normal person, no feelings of deprivation of having diet mentality. I get full easily and stay full longer.

I feel like the sleeve has allowed me to learn how to eat normally for the first time that I can remember.

I also feel strongly that all of the work I did on myself and my relationship to food and eating has as much to do with my success as the surgery itself. Learning about my triggers and implementing new coping skills has allowed me to work with my sleeve to get to this place.

Sounds like you have done a fantastic job! I know what you mean about how good it feels to have control over food issues. It's a great feeling!

Congrats to you!

[carolnphx 16]

Hi, everybody, My name is Carol and I live in Phoenix. I went to Mexico to Dr Aceves and had sleeve surgery April 20th, 2009. I am a nurse and have never had the care or given the care that I received at the hospital in Mexicali. The experience there was awesome. I was leary of going into Mexico but was not a problem. I left my van in secured parking just across the border in California and was picked up there by Ernesto from Dr A's group and driven to hospital. He then took me, my husband and dtr to hotel. Mexico was not an issue at all.

Now to my surgery. Was a breeze. I had some pain that afternoon and the next day. Was on the level of cramps maybe. Would put at a 3-4 on 10 scale. I was OK except could not raise left leg into bed and

could not lay back in bed without holding rail. I never needed any pain meds after that except I took one to help with the ride home. Nothing after getting home.

I had no problem with the transition through food levels and now 5 weeks out I am on regular diet with no restrictions. Only thing is eat until satisfied and small bites and chew and that is a learning process.

I have followed all guidlines given by Dr. A and my coordinator and have lost 38 1/2 #'s since surgery. I am very happy and am excited to see where this will take me.

If you have any questions I am here to share what I have learned and am so glad to find this site dedicated to sleevers.

Hi to all, Carol

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

Hi, everybody, My name is Carol and I live in Phoenix. I went to Mexico to Dr Aceves and had sleeve surgery April 20th, 2009. I am a nurse and have never had the care or given the care that I received at the hospital in Mexicali. The experience there was awesome. I was leary of going into Mexico but was not a problem. I left my van in secured parking just across the border in California and was picked up there by Ernesto from Dr A's group and driven to hospital. He then took me, my husband and dtr to hotel. Mexico was not an issue at all.

Now to my surgery. Was a breeze. I had some pain that afternoon and the next day. Was on the level of cramps maybe. Would put at a 3-4 on 10 scale. I was OK except could not raise left leg into bed and

could not lay back in bed without holding rail. I never needed any pain meds after that except I took one to help with the ride home. Nothing after getting home.

I had no problem with the transition through food levels and now 5 weeks out I am on regular diet with no restrictions. Only thing is eat until satisfied and small bites and chew and that is a learning process.

I have followed all guidlines given by Dr. A and my coordinator and have lost 38 1/2 #'s since surgery. I am very happy and am excited to see where this will take me.

If you have any questions I am here to share what I have learned and am so glad to find this site dedicated to sleevers.

Hi to all, Carol

Hey! I know you! You are Sonia's Mom!

It's really good to see you over here. I'm impressed with your weight loss. Clearly you are doing everything exactly right.

How's the head part going for you? Are you struggling there? Wanting to eat when your stomach doesn't really want it? Wanting bigger quantities that fit in there? Any of that stuff?

[carolnphx 16]

Hi Wasa, Yeh, I'm Sonia's Mom. For everyone's info my dtr, Sonia, has a lap band and has lost 125 # so far. She has a ways to go but has done fantastic with no problems at all. Hope the band and she continues to behave. ha

No, I have had no head hunger. I'm lucky there. My only issue is eating to fast/too big of bites and I get like a knot in my stomach. It doesn't hurt per-say is just uncomfortable. I sit back and wait and it goes away in maybe 5 minutes. My husband says, haven't learned yet, I say nope not yet. Hopefully I will.

It feels so nice to be very comfortably satisfied with such a small amount of food. It has just been a little over 2 weeks that I could eat with no food restrictions and I have eaten out several times and have done well.

I am going slow trying things and have been OK with every thing I have tried. This is exciting to find out "for myself" that I can still eat out with family and friends and eat what I want. Granted small quanities but I am very satisfied and eat slowly...hopefully ...and I sit and enjoy the visiting.

I told my son that I had had pizza and wings the other night and he said yeh, right with the "I don't believe you look". I said I did too. I had the topping off of 1 slice of a small double pepperoni pizza and 1 wing. I was so happy to be able to eat that with NO problems and be full. Goes to show I did not need 1 dozen wings for me. ha never would of thought it.

Let's see, I have tried Soup & salad Buffet, a beef enchalida, soft chicken taco, pizza & wing, Carl Jr hamburger, BBQ ribs.

Now before you fall on floor laughing like my son let me add a note here. Soup & salad was 1/4 Cup cottage cheese & 1T egg...used my WLS card...., ate 1 inch of the beef enchalida, all of taco with part of tortilla pulled off so was 1 T of beef with sr cream added, 2 bites of Carl Jr small hamburger meat & cheese only , the rib was 1/2 of baby back rib with lots of sause.

It sounds like allot but has been in very very small portions and all Protein. Was my b/day and everybody wanted to take me out. So I did and did fine. Was not hard to follow my rules and in all that I had no issues at all. Is a relief to know that we can continue living life and enjoying what we want to eat.

As far as wanting more than I can eat no I am just so happy to know I can eat the things I want and I am OK when I get to the satisfied point.

I know when I was reading on LBT I kept trying to see what people were "able to eat" so hope this gives you some idea as to what to expect.

Hope all goes as well for you in your "adventure" with WLS. Carol

[Oregondaisy 2,019]

You are 10 days ahead of me. I had surgery on 4-29. I haven't eaten many solids yet.

It's pretty hard for me to judge how much I am supposed to eat. I was happier on mushies and liquids. I want to keep trying solids, but I need to learn how to be a better judge of how much to eat.

[carolnphx 16]

Oregondaisy, I know the feeling. I think the transition from mushies to hard Protein was the hardest transition. I too wanted to go back to mushies. They were easier and tasted like food. Was so nice after liquids.

I weigh all my Protein. I was trying to eat 3 oz but found I was "full" and could not eat anything else. So Sunday I reduced my protein to 2 oz. and now I can eat a few bites maybe a tablespoon of veggies also.

I eat cottage cheese as a main protein 1 of my meals most days and then I do more firm protein for my second meal. Also I bought smoked turkey deli slices today and it had 11 gm of protein and 60 calories for 2 oz. That did well. I also have about half of a scrambled egg at Breakfast with applesauce.

I drink 1 or 2 of the Premier Protein drinks a day. Suzanne on LBT wrote about them. They are very good. They are at costco and taste just like chocolate milk. I put in a frosty mug and it is very good. It is 11 oz, 30 gm protein and 160 calories. If I can eat sufficient protein in with the 3 meals I just have 1 of the Protein Drinks a day. With the drinks then I can keep my protein level at 60 gm as needed.

Do you keep a food log. I have my pad right by my place at table. I record everything I eat or drink. No matter what diet I have been on I always had a food log. It keeps me on track. I know then how to plan my food for rest of day. Dr Aceves wants his patients to have 64 oz of Fluid, 60 gm of protein and 600-800 calories. I am good with intake and protein usually but am only high 500 - mid 600 calories a day.

Keep trying to eat some hard protein. It is just the same ole-same ole.... small bites, slow and chew. I hope that comes natural some time like woofing down has been natural to me for years.

We will get there but sure takes effort and paying attention. The rewards are great tho..!!

Keep me posted on your progression into solids. carol

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

Oregondaisy, I know the feeling. I think the transition from mushies to hard Protein was the hardest transition. I too wanted to go back to mushies. They were easier and tasted like food. Was so nice after liquids.

I weigh all my Protein. I was trying to eat 3 oz but found I was "full" and could not eat anything else. So Sunday I reduced my protein to 2 oz. and now I can eat a few bites maybe a tablespoon of veggies also.

I eat cottage cheese as a main protein 1 of my meals most days and then I do more firm protein for my second meal. Also I bought smoked turkey deli slices today and it had 11 gm of protein and 60 calories for 2 oz. That did well. I also have about half of a scrambled egg at Breakfast with applesauce.

I drink 1 or 2 of the Premier Protein drinks a day. Suzanne on LBT wrote about them. They are very good. They are at costco and taste just like chocolate milk. I put in a frosty mug and it is very good. It is 11 oz, 30 gm protein and 160 calories. If I can eat sufficient protein in with the 3 meals I just have 1 of the protein drinks a day. With the drinks then I can keep my protein level at 60 gm as needed.

Do you keep a food log. I have my pad right by my place at table. I record everything I eat or drink. No matter what diet I have been on I always had a food log. It keeps me on track. I know then how to plan my food for rest of day. Dr Aceves wants his patients to have 64 oz of Fluid, 60 gm of protein and 600-800 calories. I am good with intake and protein usually but am only high 500 - mid 600 calories a day.

Keep trying to eat some hard protein. It is just the same ole-same ole.... small bites, slow and chew. I hope that comes natural some time like woofing down has been natural to me for years.

We will get there but sure takes effort and paying attention. The rewards are great tho..!!

Keep me posted on your progression into solids. carol

Sonia's Mom....

Have you tried Calorie Counter, Diet Tracking, Food Journal, Nutrition Facts at The Daily Plate or FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal They are great for tracking food, protein, calories, carbs, etc. I've used the weight graph since I was banded. It is really satisfying to see your weight going down on a graph, it's a sense of accomplishment. I still look at that every now and again.

[carolnphx 16]

I used Fit Day all the time when I was on Atkins years ago and it worked good for me however I tried using it with my sleeve and since I was/am eating such small amounts of food I couldn't figure out how to convert the informtion. As I said, I really like tracking my intake so if there is a way to track say 1 T etc please let me know. I have not looked into any of the other tracking programs.

Thanks for mentioning the various ones. I will go see what I can come up with. Can you point me to one that would work with where I am now?

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

I used Fit Day all the time when I was on Atkins years ago and it worked good for me however I tried using it with my sleeve and since I was/am eating such small amounts of food I couldn't figure out how to convert the informtion. As I said, I really like tracking my intake so if there is a way to track say 1 T etc please let me know. I have not looked into any of the other tracking programs.

Thanks for mentioning the various ones. I will go see what I can come up with. Can you point me to one that would work with where I am now?

I am familiar with how to do it on Calorie Counter, Diet Tracking, food Journal, Nutrition Facts at The Daily Plate only because that is the one that I use.

If the serving size shows 1 cup and you ate half a serving you would enter 0.5 and it calculates it for you.

One thing you have to be careful about with any of these sites is that members are the ones that add to their data base. I verify the nutritional/caloric info on the site to the product itself to make sure it is accurate.

Also, the one site I LOVE LOVE LOVE is here:

Nutrition facts, calories in food, labels, nutritional information and analysis – NutritionData.com

You can enter a recipe here, enter the number of servings and it gives you a complete food label for your recipe.

[learned2bskinny 81]

Carolnphx,

I am also a nurse here in phx. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU so much for your post about youre progression from clears to solids. My surgery with Dr Aceves is July 10th (I seem to say that every time I post, I think seeing the date makes it more real!) and I have been wondering what to expect after the clears, fulls and mushies. Not much is posted after those stages. Now I have a much clearer idea, and I am much more sure I CAN do this! THANK YOU.

[Oregondaisy 2,019]

It's really hard for me right now because my dad fell and broke his hip after having a broken pelvis in April. I am not home in my own kitchen. My weight really hasn't changed since moving to solids. I need to take advantage of this time, but it's difficult for me to think about solids sitting in my dad's hospital room. The great thing is I am never hungry.

I tried that Premier Protein drink from costco and I thought it was disgusting. I ordered something today from vistacost.com that someone on the other board suggested. Lean Dessert or something like that. I ordered the chocolate coconut flavor. I already love the Peanut Butter chocolate that WasA recommended to me from Netrition.com a long time ago. I should have brought some with me.

[MacMadame 81]

Lots of people love the Lean Dessert. I'm not one of them. :laugh0: but from the stuff you do like, I bet you'll like it.