Surely you are someone outside of your surgery and struggles with our weight. You have interests and dislikes and families- jobs and hobbies. And honestly- yes it is exciting to have this stool and to be on the journey- but hasn't there been enough focus all our lives on just our weight?

I know VST is dedicated to our VSG stories, but I sort of think that who we are makes our VSG surgeries that much more meaningful.

So I'll go first...

I'm Danielle. I'm 27 and I have three sisters and one nephew. I am unmarried and have no children. I work full time running the office for a respiratory company. This semester I am also attending college full time via online classes. I'm now also trying to squeeze in going to the gym three times a week.

I suffer from PCOS and had this surgery to help increase my chances of having a family of my own one day.

I am a TOTAL girly girl! I love the color pink, I like Hello Kitty the way others like Betty Boop or Tinkerbell, and I HATE HATE HATE spiders! I'm not much of an outdoorsie person- my idea of roughing it is five girls and one bathroom. That being said I do love to garden and can't wait for spring.

I love anything to do with 16th century european history and am a total fanatical nut when it comes to Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I. My favorite movie and book of allllllllll time is Gone With the Wind. I love watching old movies with my mom- our favorites are Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, anything with Doris Day and the Tammy movies. We also make a point of watching A League of Their Own together whenever it is on tv. I'm close with my Dad but sometimes I feel like we don't have anything in common.

Prior to surgery I loved home cooked food! (Along with chinese and pizza hut haha) I still enjoy cooking for my family (One sister, my parents and I all live together for economic reasons) and resumed cooking them meals within a few days of coming home from the hospital. I have a dog, she is a chihuahua/yorkie mix. Her name is Gypsy and well... she is sort of a monster!! I <3 her tho!

Now it's your turn!! Tell us who you are!

Pleasure to meet you, NtvTxn! Yes I am in the DFW area, but in Forney. I was told about support groups at my last pre-surgery appt, can you tell me what you like/don't like about them?

I have to fulfill two more appointments with my nutritionist before my Dr. gives me a firm surgery date. I'm told it will be some time in May.

Hi Don!! I know exactly where Forney is, y'all have a new Star Bucks we stop at when we're headed to see our dads. One is in Longview the other in Athens!

We were living out of state when I had surgery, but I came to Texas because I knew we'd be moving home at some point.....the good thing about all the support groups I've come across is this...EVERYBODY is welcome. You can be pre-op, post-op and you can be using one of their doctors or you can be a patient somewhere else! I found a support group near where we were living and started attending two months before I ever had surgery, just because! I loved going somewhere to meet others who'd had WLS, some were pre-op like I was, but there were folks there at all the different stages, all the way to 5 years out. I've continued to attend monthly meetings. Before we moved back home, I attended one twice a month up there....the day time one was one week and the following week they had an evening meeting. A few of us attended both, but mostly there were differnt people to talk to. To ask questions and pick their brains and listen to THEIR story and what works and doesn't work for them. It's priceless!

Now that I am almost three years out, I am the one answering questions. At all the meetings there are only two or maybe three of us that are three or more years out. It's fun to help others that are just starting! I was attending the one where I had surgery, Forest Park on Central Expressway. We were living Irving, right there in Valley Ranch and we just made an evening of it once a month. We bought a house here in NE Plano last Nov and I did a search to see if I could find another meeting and maybe attend two a month. Well there are all sorts of meetings around here! I skipped the one at Forest Park last month because there are three that are all right here near me. One is a Saturday meeting started by a fellow sleever from Forest Park. He wanted to try and get an informal meeting on a Saturday for people who had trouble going during the week. It's actually THIS Saturday at a restaurant here in Plano. If you are interested, let me know and I'll give you the name, address etc. Everybody is welcome.

Good luck......and feel free to ask questions....and think about attending, great people.

NTV TXN

Hi I'm new to the sight, my name is Daniel Kinsler Im 29yo and 8mth post op. I had VGS done at Blount Memorial in maryville, tn on 8/3/12. I have a great supportive fiancé, a beautiful soon to be step daughter and my own daughter who is my little firebird. Looking for tips, tricks, exercise tips and just support of course.

Hi I'm new to the sight, my name is Daniel Kinsler Im 29yo and 8mth post op. I had VGS done at Blount Memorial in maryville, tn on 8/3/12. I have a great supportive fiancé, a beautiful soon to be step daughter and my own daughter who is my little firebird. Looking for tips, tricks, exercise tips and just support of course.

Several tips that work for me and have made it easier to be successful.

1) Under eat your sleeve (just because you can, doesn't mean you should) Meaning, I am not experiencing 'real' hunger, and I stop BEFORE I have that uncomfortable full feeling. I could put a little more in there, but don't. Under eat it.

2) Log your food on line. Myfitnesspal or Fitday - both are good, I've used both over that past three years. I STILL log my food, you'd be surprised how quickly you can go over what you should and you'd be surprised the calories in some things!! 100 additional calories per day is 36,500 calories per year....and that equals about 10 lbs, which is why many of us have ended up getting surgery, 5 or 10 lbs a year over a course of 10 or fifteen years.

3) Three yrs out and I still weigh and/or measure my food. I know what my little tummy can hold, and the 'one bite too many' term is very real

4) I've weighed EVERY day since 2 months prior to surgery. Unless we are traveling, I weigh. I want to know where I'm at and what's happening, it's a game to me, it does not 'get me down' or 'depress' me if I'm up a lb or two, it keeps me informed and on top of things! It is much easier to nip 3 lbs in the bud than it is to weigh once a month and your 8 or 10 lbs heavier. Yikes!

5) Protein, protein, protein. I've lost 2 lbs this week just adjusting my diet a little. I wanted to see if I could. I've upped the protein from approx. 65 - 70 to getting in 85- 90 in the past 6 days. It's shocking....and I've done without NOTHING, including a 1.5 slices of mushroom pizza one night and a mini vanilla scone from Star Bucks.

You'll do great - congratulations on all the good things that are happening in your life!!!! Good luck and remember, this is part of what works and continues to work for me....everyone is different!

I am Marla and I am 37 years old. I have been married for 11 years (second marriage) and together we have 3 children age 17, 15, 13. We have had custody of all 3 so they are as close as siblings can be (with all of the fighting). My 15 year old son has pervasive developmental disorder so life is interesting and organized chaos. He goes to a special needs private school and I thank God we have this school in my town. With 3 teenagers my house is full of drama and upset kids (as you can imagine) but they are pretty good kids. I am a RN, BSN and work for the state of Texas performing utilization review of programs that serve clients with intellectual disabilities. I also work part time as a contract nurse administering the state Nurse Aide Certification test. I LOVE that job because I get to see a lot of joy and fresh healthcare employees. I have been a nurse since 1997 and can't believe it has been that long. Both jobs require travel but usually it is day travel. My husband is a car mechanic but is graduating in May for aviation mechanic so he is hoping to have a job change. I serve on the family advisory board of my 15 year olds school and I am the room Mom but really all the Moms pitch in and with only 8 kids in the class it is a pleasant duty. My 15 year old is starting soap box derby tomorrow and he does BMX bicycling. My 13 year old is a hip hop dancer, runs track, and is in modeling classes. My 17 year old is "finding himself" as he graduated from high school at age 16 and had no plan for life as an adult. I LOVE the gym but only group classes and try to go 5 days a week. My favorite classes are spinning, combat, and body pump. The gym is really the only time I have peace and alone time and my family knows that Mom gets her hour a day for the gym so it is not a struggle (in the beginning it was and I had to remember I deserve to take care of myself) and I am hoping to do the color run 5K this June but I had knee surgery in November so I'm not sure. My favorite singer is PINK and I went to her concert in February. That sums up my silly life

Howdy Y'all!

My name is Carlos . Vertical Sleeve Talk was suggested by my nutritionist on my first visit with her in February. I've been lurking here since and I believe this is my first post.

I am a 50 year old male. I am married going on 23 years. I have a 20 year old daughter that should be graduating college this December. I'm an Information Technology type currently in the role of a Datacenter Specialist.

I've struggled with weight my whole life. I grew up in basically a poor household where cleaning your plate was mandatory at every meal whether you were full or not. My weight started gaining rapidly in college and I basically starved myself to lose 88 lbs. It got me in the weight range acceptable to join the Air Force but little did I know the weight would come back several times over. To say I caught grief over my weight in the military would be an understatement. As soon as I got out my weight started going up again. Many time I would start exercising and eating better and lost 30 - 50 lbs only to put it on again. There's a price to be paid for doing this over and over again and for me it was finding myself at 415lbs at the end of last year. This is fine if you're 8 feet tall' date=' not so much if you're 5'9". I finally gave in to my wife's repeated suggestion that I consider weight loss surgery. So many people we knew had it and were doing well with it.

It's my turn now. I'm going to be able to enjoy life again, to go out and do things with my family without having to constantly worry about a place nearby to sit. Or having to worry about fitting in an airplane seat. Too many more things to list.

Thanks for having me.[/quote']

Thanjs for the info

Hi everyone. Rebecca here. I am in the very beginning stages of getting ready for pre-surgery. I'm pretty certain I am going with Dr. Aceves in Mexicali. If you have any thoughts on him, let me know, though I've seen lots of positive comments about him on this forum. I am having to pay out of pocket because my insurance does not cover any bariatric surgeries.

My story goes something like this: I've been obese since I was 5. In 5th grade I weighed roughly 165. By the time I was 18 I was around 275. In 2005 at age 25, I reached my high of 320, and finally started working on my health. Over the next 2 years I dropped 75lbs by simple lifestyle changes, eating less, incorporating exercise. Then from mid 2008 til now, I have struggled beyond belief every day through gain/loss cycles trying everything from Weight Watchers, Medifast, The Eat Clean diet, Calorie counting on MyFitnessPal, etc only to roller coaster up and down between 256 and 215. (5' 8")

215 is the lowest I ever saw (and was the lowest in my adult/teen life), and it only lasted 1 week before I shot back up. It's so frustrating. Finally, a few weeks ago, weight loss surgery came to mind and I began researching like mad. I was sad to find my insurance didn't cover the surgery, so I started "shopping around". To have the surgery here in east Tn, I'm looking at $18k by the time all is said and done. If I fly out to San Diego total cost including the flight I've chosen is going to be around $10,000. It's worth it to me to fly out.

I know how to eat right. I know how to cook healthy real meals. I know how to exercise. What I can not do is tame my appetite and this large stomach which takes forever to fill. You can only eat so much raw broccoli and spinach in an attempt to fill this thing before you get frustrate

Thank you all for sharing your experiences and successes. It means so much.

Well im new to the site and was browsing and came across this post.

I'm 33 yrs old and have 2 children, a 14yr old daughter and a four year old son. I live with them and my boyfriend of 9 yrs. I previously worked for a non-medical home care agency as a human resources/payroll manager and left due to redirection and downsizing. I was unemployed for about 9 months and am currently working at a hospital scheduling outpatient appts. Being that I've worked in an office for the last 7 or so years has not helped with my weight. Offices have alot of luncheons and ur pretty much confined to ur desk for many hours at a time. I enjoy the work I did and do now but its not the best setting for an overweight person.

I have struggled with my weight since i was a child...i came out looking and being built exactly like my dad while my brothers have the luxury of being like my mothers side of the family(thin). Well almost 6 yrs ago my father died of a heart attack at the age of 56....his father died the same way at the same exact age! What does that mean for me....well it means i have 23 more years till my demise if i dont do something to break that chain. I have been on every diet imaginable and have even tried starvation and vomiting to be thinner. I finally heard about this surgery from a chance meeting with someone i now call a friend. She shared her story and i did research and am now on my way to getting my surgery. I have a 6 month waiting period, i have to do all pre-testing and nutritional education, etc so my insurance will approve the surgery so needless to say, this will be my last summer being unhealthy and i cant be more excited to start my new life.

Hello all,

Well I'm a 37 year old lady with 3 children. I have always been large from around the age of 8. I started to eat more and more to block out my brother's and his friends sexual abuse. It continued for 4 years until my family found out that the boys were being sexually abused themselves by my next door neighbour. They were using me to prove that they were not gay. Hey ho, anyway, I had gotten into the habit of eating by then and carried on I had boyfriends and even married once and had to children with him. He turned out to be paranoid and would follow me everywhere including to the toilet and whole I was having a bath. I was diagnosed with PCOS and told that children would be out of the question. Surprisingly I fell pregnant with my daughter, it was 4 years before my son came along to the amazement of my gynaecologist. Both were conceived and born naturally. I eventually left my husband and met my present partner and had a girl with him again conceived and born naturally. The weight just kept piling on. I have tried several diets and went to my GP for a gastric band while waiting to see the specialist I had a stroke 5days after my 38th birthday largely due to my weight. My mum got so scared she has now offered for me to got private and I am now waiting for my date. I have to attend the support group next Tuesday and then I can go on the next available operating day. I looked into all the WLS but found the sleeve seems to be the best to go with my lifestyle. Along with coping with my issues I also care for my partner who is long term emotionally disabled and also for my mum who is physically disabled. I live in the U.K.

my name is Patria am 40 years old, i am Puertorican and live in New York City.

I have a woderful and supportive husband an two precious daughters Kaulani 21 and Nayarit 15. I have a Cat name Lola and A dog named Canela.

I work with mentally ill population, and I love what I do.

I feel Bless that my nutricionist gave me site for network. please lets build a family. thank you

Aww welcome! Have you been sleeved yet? If so when? If not, do you have a date yet? How far along in the process are you & give us some numbers please. (Height, weight, goal weight, etc.) Thanks & welcome again

I agree! We are so much more than our weight or surgery. I'm a 58 year old wife, mother, and professional. I've been married to my best friend for 38 years and have an amazing, 28 year old son. I also have a 16 year old American Eskimo, the worlds sweetest puppy! I love to read, swim, travel, ride horses, and drive the golf cart while my husband plays golf! I hope to be able to join him playing golf soon, not just driving the cart. :-)

I had VS surgery on March 20, 2013, surgeon Dr. Tuesday Cook, who has been extremely responsive and supportive since surgery. I am so impressed with Dr. Cook's skills and compassion. I have experienced a few bumps in the road over the past 4 weeks, made it to the soft food stage then had to go back to liquids because of esophageal spasms, but I'm looking forward to overcoming the challenges and getting healthier and more active. I don't regret my decision to have VS surgery, just the opposite! I'm so happy to be on the road to better health.

I'm happy to have discovered VST and look forward to participating and reading all of your advice and insights.

Hello! My name is Pamela. Just found this site about 2hrs ago, read a few posts and really liked what I saw and the support given here. :wub:

I'm pre-op, have been to the seminar, had my first doctors visit April 18th, am on target with the 6 months of diet, will start the insurance (United...they pay) process when they tell me, and my surgery will probably take place in early November 2013 with Dr. Alfredo Fernandez.

I've researched and read. I know at 5'6" 258 lbs and being almost 50, that I do not want to go into the next 35-40 yrs of life being this heavy or heavier. So I made the decision to alter my life. The sleeve is perfect as my only co-morbidity is my BMI of 41.7 and I don't really want to wait for more to jump on board!

I look forward to reading the various topics and asking many questions. My plan for diet is to eat clean for the next 6 months, start a Vitamin routine, and buy a bike.

I am 34, I had my surgery a week ago on 4/16/13. I am an RN and I work in Neonatal ICU. I have been happily married for 13 years, but we've not been able to have children. My husband actually had gastric bypass in 2009 and lost 150 lbs. Our pets are our "children" for now - we have a yellow lab and 3 kitties, all of whom are very spoiled! I have 2 little nephews (also spoiled by me!) and adult neice who is about to graduate from grad school and an adult nephew who just graduated college. Also I have 2 sisters and 2 brothers, and my best friend who I consider a sister as well.

I was a thin child, underweight actually until puberty. My weight gain was gradual starting around age 17. I married at 20 and was diagnosed a couple years later with PCOS while we were still in college. We were told we could not conceive without medical intervention, which turned out to be true. When we graduated college and were ready to start a family, we went on fertility treatments right away. 3 pregnancies in about 6 years of active fertility treatments (everything but IVF) all ending in early first trimester miscarriages. After extensive testing, no reason was found for the miscarriages except for my PCOS and insulin resistance. We are very hopeful that reaching my goal weight after surgery will help with conceiving and carrying a child.

Hi my name is Kelly. Since about age 13 I have always suffered with weight issues. No matter what I tried nothing seemed to work. I have been debating this surgery for a while and in December decided to go for it. I started the process. Thankfully my insurance didn't require a length of time. I had to meet with a pulmonologist, get a psych consult, ultrasound and 1 nutrition appt. I am done and now just waiting for my surgery.

Yesterday I was given my date. I will have my surgery on May 20th and start my pre-op diet on May 6th.

I am for once putting myself first. For so many years I have put everyone else first.

I justed joined the forums, so I thought I would introduce myself. My Name is Eric. I live in Ohio & back in Sept 12' I have the Vertical Sleeve Surgery. I was 340 pounds the day of my surgery(49.5% BMI), & currently I wiegh 255 pounds (36.6 BMI), I am 31 years old, father of 2 teenage daughters. Its been a rough journey so far but looking forward to the furture.