im 6 foot tall weigh right at 500 pounds..ive seen people on youtube bigger who have had vsg but theres not a hell of a lot of info out there...anything i should be concerned with and follow through with pre and post op?

I'm not sure but I would think making sure you get up and move around a lot after surgery and keep walking and walking as much as possible to prevent blood clots. I would say your Dr should let you know if there is anything special they want you to do. Otherwise I would follow the regular plan for post op and pre op.

When is your surgery date?

may 21st puerto vallarta with dr. armando joya..and ya ill deffinately be asking questions

There was a 4-part special on... TLC I think called My 600 Pound Life. It followed 4 people through 7 years after their gastric bypass and what they went through. I'll admit I cried a couple of times. Even though you're not as heavy as they were, I recommend watching it.

If you watch the 600 lb life series, make sure you see the one with the girl who ended up working at her dr's clinic. Grr for the life of me I cannot remember her name though! (sorry) The last episode that I saw was on the guy that ended up pretty bad after he did drugs during one of the year follow ups. It is an awesome show.

Ok tips... come on this site and read around a bunch. Ask alot of questions now - before your surgery. Make sure you understand what your dr's requirements are for the pre op diet. If your dr. is strict on yours, make sure you STICK to it.

It's honestly unreal to "get" it (or was that just me) prior to your surgery. Your life is TOTALLY going to change after this surgery. If you can find any books on WLS from ppl that had the surgery and what their journey is like, read those (I read a good one by Katie Jay and I cannot remember the title...sorry I DO need ginko biloba, sigh).

Congrats tho! This journey is WELL worth it!

I'd recommend talking to your primary care doctor about what you can do to make surgery safer for you. Perhaps start the liquid diet earlier than others might. Paola, one of the posters here, lost 80 pounds pre-op, which I'm sure helped tremendously when she had surgery.

You might also want to start exercising as much as you can now. I was barely able to walk pre-op, and started out literally walking up and down my hallway to get the gas out after surgery. I'm now up to walking to and from my gym, which is about .7 miles each way. One bonus of building up muscle is that it continues to burn calories even when you're not being active. Another great bonus of walking is that it improves your circulation, which will help prevent blood clots both pre and post-op.

Start now to work on breaking any addictions you may have: smoking, caffeine, etc. It's much easier to do those things before you start the pre-op diet rather than struggling with two or three different stressors at the same time.

Read all you can from others who have gone before you. It will help you mentally prepare to deal with the after effects. I know there are a couple of guys on here who have lost large amounts of weight. Their threads would probably be very helpful for you. There is also a forum specifically for those who have "200+ pounds to lose", also.

Good luck!!

Hello,

Pre op I was 473 pounds (close to 500) at 6'5". Here is what I did pre op (and post op) to help me get through the VSG. Keep in mind that I am not a doctor and therfore you should consult him/her, but here goes.

1. Quit coffee, soda, and fast food. Some people have that last meal mentality and binge on all of their addictions but I felt it was counterproductive.

2. One week prior to my 10 day pre op liquid diet I replaced two of my meals (usually Breakfast and lunch) with a Protein shake. I then had a sensible meal for dinner. Yes it is similar to the slimfast diet but it helped me on my liquid only diet.

3. Do the pre op liquid diet. Every doctor is different on this so follow what your doc says. Mine was a 10 day full liquid diet. Do the diet and do not cheat on the diet. I did not and it felt great to know that I was able to accomplish this.

4. Follow the post op diet to the letter. I am exactly four weeks post op now I still have not eaten anything very solid. The most solid Item I have eaten is a vegetarian chik'n nugget...which by the way is still pretty soft.

5. Exercise. I am not the best at this but I feel I would have even more success if I were more consistent in this area.

February 28th Pre surgery consultation = 473 pounds

March 16th - start 10 day liquid diet

March 19th Pre surgery physical/history = 452 pounds (21 pounds lost)

March 26th - day of surgery = 446 pounds (27 pounds lost in less than a month)

April 4th - post op check up = 425 pounds (21 pounds lost in the eight days after surgery)

April 17th - PCP check up = 420 pounds (53 pounds lost since February 28th)

GOOD LUCK!!!