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I am having my VSG on March 15th. I have every confidence in my surgeon. My doubt is.......will this work for me? I have been on Jenny Craig three times, Weight Watchers twice, HCG drops, Adkins, and caloric restriction. I always gain my weight back. Now that I am menopausal, I can look at food and gain 2-3 lbs. This surgery is my last hope............will it work?

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Now I haven't had my surgery yet...but what I've gathered from my new obsession "VSG-er stalking" :) lol....You/we will FOR SURE lose the weight to begin with...but the maintenance and how much we lose will be up to us and our choices. Youtube has been very informative in actually seeing people and what they have gone through. Many post every week and you even see them when they are having a bad day. I too have tried everything...this is it for me! Hope my ramblings helped.

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I never really doubted surgery, but the doubts I had were tied to my previous diet attempts and failures. With VSG, I didn't feel like I was dieting at all. It was easy to follow my dietary guideline. The fact that I've lost all my physical hunger is a huge contributor to my success. At 21 months out, I still never experience true physical hunger.

Losing was easy, maintenance was tricky. I had to establish a new relationship with food. I have to still make the very best choice on what I put in my mouth. BUT, making that best choice is much easier with VSG. I lost 138lbs with VSG in 10.5 months. The first 115lbs were lost in 6.5 months post-vsg so losing was easy for me. I was diligent with my carb intake, and Protein intake. It's a lifelong change, and honestly, establishing better habits, and seeing food as fuel helped me be successful.

I honestly believe that with any of the surgery choices that our amount of success is completely dependent upon on US. No surgery fixes our head hunger or bad habits. Success is a choice, and I chose to make the best choice about 85% of the time. I have been in maintenance for almost a year, and honestly, it's still pretty easy to stay the course. I have indulgences, I eat junk food, but moderation is what keeps me in check. I wanted to be as "normal" as possible, and I firmly believe normal, naturally thin women eat Cookies. Big difference now is I can eat 2-3 Cookies instead of the entire package, and I am truly content.

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My story sounds like yours - I did everything to lose weight and always gained it back. I was my own worse enemy - I accepted the failure time after time rather than working hard to keep the weight off.

I'm only three months post-op but I feel empowered. I have the tool that will help me be successful this time! I'm 55 yrs old and have never felt more energized! I actually walked up 4 flights of stairs on Friday and did not feel short of breath. I'm almost at Onederland! What a thrill that is!!!

Tiffykins is right - you have to make the right food choices. I also discovered that I'll still have to fight days when I'm very frustrated and want to comfort myself by eating everything in sight. Failure is not an option this time, my future depends on it.

Good luck!!!

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Nah... it won't work. ;)

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OK really... it can't not work, at least for the first few months. At first, because of the swelling, you're SO restricted it'd be impossible not to lose weight (and please, please don't let a stall freak you out. We ALL get them, so expect it and know that one morning you'll see a huge drop--it's just your body holding Water trying to equalize itself), but there will come a time when it's not the sleeve doing all the work anymore, and it's on YOU to keep doing things the right way.

Through my first 50 lbs or so, I had trouble believing that I'd just keep losing and losing 'til I got where I wanted to be, but when I passed that 200 mark, suddenly I finally let myself believe that YES, I'm gonna do this!! I've been stuck--no, that's the wrong word. Rephrasing: I haven't lost anything in several months now, but that's because I've slipped back into pre-surgery mode, mentally... I'm maintaining just fine, but still have a ways to go. But even with that--I'm down from a tight size 20 jeans to a solid TEN (which I thought I'd be thrilled to see, and am, but it'll get even better!) and even an eight on one lying brand soooo... kinda hard to argue with that!

Anyway yeah--you'll have to experience it to believe it, but it'll work. :)

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We're hand in hand! = 55, surgery 12-9-10, about 36 lbs lost, and I'm almost at onderland too, 207 this morn. Great to meet you! Lu

My story sounds like yours - I did everything to lose weight and always gained it back. I was my own worse enemy - I accepted the failure time after time rather than working hard to keep the weight off.

I'm only three months post-op but I feel empowered. I have the tool that will help me be successful this time! I'm 55 yrs old and have never felt more energized! I actually walked up 4 flights of stairs on Friday and did not feel short of breath. I'm almost at Onederland! What a thrill that is!!!

Tiffykins is right - you have to make the right food choices. I also discovered that I'll still have to fight days when I'm very frustrated and want to comfort myself by eating everything in sight. Failure is not an option this time, my future depends on it.

Good luck!!!

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    • Aunty Mamo

      Iʻm roughly 6 weeks post-op this morning and have begun to feel like a normal human, with a normal human body again. I started introducing solid foods and pill forms of medications/supplements a couple of weeks ago and it's really amazing to eat meals with my family again, despite the fact that my portions are so much smaller than theirs. 
      I live on the island of Oʻahu and spend a lot of time in the water- for exercise, for play,  and for spiritual & mental health. The day I had my month out appointment with my surgeon, I packed all my gear in my truck, anticipating his permission to get back in the ocean. The minute I walked out of that hospital I drove straight to the shore and got in that water. Hallelujah! My appointment was at 10 am. I didn't get home until after 5 pm. 
      I'm down 31 pounds since the day of surgery and 47 since my pre-op diet began, with that typical week long stall occurring at three weeks. I'm really starting to see some changes lately- some of my clothing is too big, some fits again. The most drastic changes I notice however are in my face. I've also noticed my endurance and flexibility increasing. I was really starting to be held up physically, and I'm so grateful that I'm seeing that turn around in such short order. 
      My general disposition lately is hopeful and motivated. The only thing that bugs me on a daily basis still is the way those supplements make my house smell. So stink! But I just bought a smell proof bag online that other people use to put their pot in. My house doesn't stink anymore. 
       
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    • BeanitoDiego

      Oh yeah, something I wanted to rant about, a billing dispute that cropped up 3 months ago.
      Surgery was in August of 2023. A bill shows up for over $7,000 in January. WTF? I asks myself. I know that I jumped through all of the insurance hoops and verified this and triple checked that, as did the surgeon's office. All was set, and I paid all of the known costs before surgery.
      A looong story short, is that an assistant surgeon that was in the process of accepting money from my insurance company touched me while I was under anesthesia. That is what the bill was for. But hey, guess what? Some federal legislation was enacted last year to help patients out when they cannot consent to being touched by someone out of their insurance network. These types of bills fall under something called, "surprise billing," and you don't have to put up with it.
      https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises
      I had to make a lot of phone calls to both the surgeon's office and the insurance company and explain my rights and what the maximum out of pocket costs were that I could be liable for. Also had to remind them that it isn't my place to be taking care of all of this and that I was going to escalate things if they could not play nice with one another.
      Quick ending is that I don't have to pay that $7,000+. Advocate, advocate, advocate for yourself no matter how long it takes and learn more about this law if you are ever hit with a surprise bill.
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    • BeanitoDiego

      Some days I feel like an infiltrator... I'm participating in society as a "thin" person. They have no idea that I haven't always been one of them! 🤣
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    • ChunkCat

      Thank you everyone for your well wishes! I totally forgot I wrote an update here... I'm one week post op today. I gained 15 lbs in water weight overnight because they had to give me tons of fluids to bring my BP up after surgery! I stayed one night in the hospital. Everything has been fine except I seem to have picked up a bug while I was there and I've been running a low grade fever, coughing, and a sore throat. So I've been hydrating well and sleeping a ton. So far the Covid tests are negative.
      I haven't been able to advance my diet past purees. Everything I eat other than tofu makes me choke and feels like trying to swallow rocks. They warned me it would get worse before it gets better, so lets hope this is all normal. I have my follow up on Monday so we'll see. Living on shakes and soup again is not fun. I had enough of them the first time!! LOL 
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    • BeanitoDiego

      Still purging all of the larger clothing. This morning, a shirt that I ADORED wearing ended up on top. Hard to let it go, but it was also hard to let go of those habits that also no longer serve my highest good. Onward and upward!
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