I noticed a few July folks posting on other threads and thought there might be enough of us to start our own thread (rather than hijacking whatever threads we find with a July surgery in them) - so I invite anyone with a July surgery to post their story here so we can support each other and share our experiences.

I'm C and my surgery is scheduled with Dr. Aceves on 15 July. I'm 29 and married to an Army man - we're currently stationed in Germany. We have two year old boy/girl twins. I'm choosing to self-pay because Tricare does not currently cover VSG and none of the overseas military facilities do the procedure at this time. To complicate matters, our next assignment is (as of right now) in Yerevan, Armenia. Getting this surgery in a remote location like Armenia isn't even a possibility. I'm not willing to wait more than two more years for this surgery.

I started my research in the summer of 2008 when my doctor diagnosed me with Type II (I developed gestational diabetes with my twin pregnancy and it stuck around afterward) and suggested the band. After much research I decided the sleeve best suits my needs.

I'm 5'1" (and some change), 240 pounds and I would be happy with any weight under 160 pounds. I haven't weighed less than that in more than ten years and I have been plus-sized since high school.

Please, hop in and share your own stories so I can share this journey with others instead of doing it alone! If I am successful my mom would like to have the surgery, too, but she's very nervous because she has never had surgery before.

~C

Hi everyone, I had my surgery on the 29th july, so it's been 3 weeks and 2 days and I lost about 22 pounds since the surgery. I live in England and got it done here, had to pay for it though, if I wanted to get it done on national insurance I would have to wait for aboout a year! I'm still mostly on protein shakes as well as soft cereal with milk in the morning and soup for lunch/dinner. Should be on a mushy diet, but blended chicken with vegetables isn't very nice. Feel a bit lonely as you all liove in the States, came across a few people who live in England, here it is quite new. I can't wait to see where I am at Christmas, I'm hoping to get rid of about 30 lbs by then. Good luck to you all!

Crying!!!

I'ts been week 4 AND week 5, with no weight loss!!! None, nadda, zip...nothing. I've not been cheating. Week 4 was expected. I had not been able to eat enough calories, so I upped my fats to between 10-20g (they were between 5-10g) which allowed me to up my calories. Each day this past week I managed to "just" make my 600 calories. I thought this was what I needed to do to "jump start" my body...carbs are at between 20-30g and protien is between 80-90g. I've been making all my goals this week...all of them! What the heck is going on? I'm feel bloated....and am getting about 7 glasses of Water in a day....no less, no more. HELP please!!!

My nut told me to up my calories to around 1,000. Hope that helps. My loss is slow. Since surgery it's 3 lbs a week, with a stall in the middle when I went on a trip. This week has been slow for me too, but it's inching down. I've lost 17 lbs since surgery, and we were sleeved within a day of each other. It sounds like we're pretty much in the same territory.

If you're bloated, I'd check the sodium content of what you're eating too. You may need to reduce sodium and/or increase your Water intake (I know it sounds dumb but more water usually = less bloating in a healthy person as you flush everything out).

Otherwise keep going.. it'll come off eventually!

Thanks so much Donna and Emilygrace. Donna, I can barely make 600 cals a day....and feel like I'm eating all the time....how can I up my cals without blowing my fats and carbs out of the water? Emilygrace, I'm going to make upping my liquids a priority this week, thanks. "sniff, sniff".

Check out my blog (below) to see what I'm eating this week. I use meat and cheese to up the calories. (Lean and lowfat though). A few veggies/carbs because my nut ok'd it--less than 35 carbs a day usually. Each meal is 200-300 calories.

Donna, Your food sounds amazing...I am going to make some of your food....I eat alot of the same things, but I've been eating some couscous/quinoa...my carb content is a little closer to 80 than to 40....so I'm going to make an extra effort this week to cut it down Thanks for the ideas

Thanks Donna, most helpful. I'll watch for the recepies. The only thing my DR suggested is to lower the protiens to 70g. Told me to stick with cals ect as they are.....whimper....I'll keep you all posted. Thanks for the great support.... *snif*

Hey... I my op was 3rd July (anyone with the same date?) and although I am really happy with my 26lb weight loss, I have 'only' lost 2lb in the last for weeks and I am getting a little OCD about it all...!

I'm following the three meals a day style programme with 100g of protein, vits and plenty of water... I also exercise 3-4 times a week at this stage.

I know stalls are really common and I don't expect the weight to melt off but I do expect a little loss each week, I resigned to being a slow loser and that is fine as long as I lose...

Was wondering if anyone else who is also at my stage is in the same boat and if anyone has any handy hints or tips for me...

Cheers in advance,

During a stall, which I am told might last a couple weeks, you may not lose anything! So don't worry. Just stay the course and you'll reap the rewards soon! We don't need instant gratification anymore. This is for the rest of our lives...and for making the rest of it count!

gg

Georgie Girl, you're so right!!! Thanks for the reminder.....

So my first month I was losing almost a lb a day and I only lost 1.5 lbs this whole week! I'm a little down but I'm blaming my time of the month and hoping this coming week will be better!

In my first 3 weeks following surgery I lost 25 lbs. Not a lbs since. BUT I realize that most of that weight loss was dehydration. I actually gained a bit once I was able to get enough fluids and more food/calories. But that's back off. I'm not discouraged because this happened following my band surgery too. I continue to lose inches and can wear smaller clothes now than I could when the 25 lbs first came off. I expect that once that 25 lbs comes out to an average of 2 lbs per week I'll start losing again.

Oh wait... just got off the scales and I'm down 1 lb. Need to update my profile. LOL

I don't count calories or anything else. I try to keep nutrition in mind when eating and make better choices MOST of the time.

Regarding the challenges of staying clothed during weight loss. I started at 250 the day I was banded 2.5 years ago. My lowest weight was 160 (just about where I am now). I found that skirts that weren't designed to fit anywhere except the waist worked well. The ones with draw strings are even better. But I've actually pinned the waist (by the time I would have altered them they would have been too big LOL) and wore shirts to cover. I was fortunate enough to have a sister who was banded before me who lives out of state. Each time we'd visit she'd have clothes she'd ungrown for me. If I found basics (like black slacks) on sale I'd buy them a little tight and two sizes smaller.

Hello July Sleevers,

I am seeing the light...FINALLY, after almost 2.5 week stall, the weight has started dropping again. It's amazing what kind of effect this has on me...the stopping and then loosing again. When the scale is moving (down), I such a happier person. Motivated to excersize and keep moving....I'm happy to say I lost 3 lbs last week, and another 3 lbs this week...so it looks like my stall has ended, for now.

The one thing I wanted to mention is that even though the scale was not moving for these last few weeks, I was shrinking. All my tops and pants are too big now...and I'm fitting into size 18 jeans that are too baggy (started at tight 22's). My tops are all way too big, so I'm thinking I'll need to hit the stores to prepare for the winter. So, for those of you who are stalled, like me, try taking some measurements or tryin on smaller clothes, you may be surprised.

Oh, and come back to this form often, and keep us updated. I notice it's been a while since some of us have been posting....and I find the posts so helpful.

Take care,

Hello July Sleevers,

I am seeing the light...FINALLY, after almost 2.5 week stall, the weight has started dropping again. It's amazing what kind of effect this has on me...the stopping and then loosing again. When the scale is moving (down), I such a happier person. Motivated to excersize and keep moving....I'm happy to say I lost 3 lbs last week, and another 3 lbs this week...so it looks like my stall has ended, for now.

The one thing I wanted to mention is that even though the scale was not moving for these last few weeks, I was shrinking. All my tops and pants are too big now...and I'm fitting into size 18 jeans that are too baggy (started at tight 22's). My tops are all way too big, so I'm thinking I'll need to hit the stores to prepare for the winter. So, for those of you who are stalled, like me, try taking some measurements or tryin on smaller clothes, you may be surprised.

Oh, and come back to this form often, and keep us updated. I notice it's been a while since some of us have been posting....and I find the posts so helpful.

Take care,

Hihi. I'm writing, I'm writing!! I haven't been keeping up on here much because I'm BUSY!!! My business is picking up, and I'm planning for a couple of upcoming shows, and trying to get my web page up (hopefully this weekend). The boost in energy level has a lot to do with my sudden activity. Did I mention that I'm LOVING it??

I'm still losing weight on a consistent basis, but I've managed to convince myself--at least part of the time--that weight doesn't matter as much as clothing size. I'm almost down to a size 12, so it's easier to convince myself of that nowadays.:thumbup:

Now that I'm getting acquainted with the idea again that I have an existing skeletal structure (instead of layers of fat), I've realized that I really DO have large bones, and I'm probably being either foolish or just plain stupid to try to get to 125--lotta people think I'd be TOO thin. So maybe I need to adjust my target weight up ten pounds or so.

As my PCP pointed out, BMI is a VERY crude measurement of weight that doesn't take into account bone size/thickness or muscle mass (muscle mass of course being far more dense than fat mass). Heh. We'll see, when I actually get into that range. :biggrin0:

So how's everybody else doing?