Hi My name is Marina and i had my sleeve done on May 10th at 9 am and was finally able to come home the following night! I am 5 days post op and really felt alone until i stumbled across this forum!! For the past 3 days i have just been stalking everyone's chats... but now i'm ready to tell my own story. I am 35 years old , married with 2 children. I am 5'81/2" tall and before i started the process in nov '11, i weighed at my heaviest 335 pounds. My decision to make a change? 2 reasons 1. Well,, my best friend had bypass done a few years back and after a year of healing she is now running marathons and is the happiest i've ever seen her!! However, she did have difficulties with iron deficiencies and had to have transfusions for a few months. So i did my research and decided i would pursue the sleeve ! 2nd reason.. one day while i was driving home after picking my son up from daycare, my son asked me.."mommy , all my friends in school say you are fat?" I know , i know, kids are brutally honest even at 3 years old... but it hurt like hell. I grew up all my life with kids tormenting me and i just let it roll off my back.. or just went and grabbed a burger to make the hurt go away, or better yet.. chimed in with the kids and made fun of myself for being fat .. but hearing it from own kid.. i knew right there that i had to make a change. I started my journey Nov 7 , 2011 with all the nutrtionist visits, meetings etc.. and May 10th was the big day! I went home weighing in at 303 #s.. mainly the weightloss was because of the 2 weeks preop of liquid diet i had to do.. that was hard!! I just want to tell everyone that i am excited to be on here and be a part of a group who have had the same struggles as myself! I go to the doctor on may 18th.. so hopefully more weight has fallen since then!! ( we dont own a scale in our house!) I now understand what head hunger is.. I am not hungry but i find myself wanting to just taste everything .. becuase i cant have it.. or more than likely becuase i've been on a clear liquid diet since april 26th!! I'm sick of the clear liquid diet. lol.. Well thank you everyone for listening to me and again I love that there is so much support from everyone!! Oh.. for those of you pre-op wondering what to expect.. soreness on my right side.. doctor said it is because that is where they took out the stomache .. dont be a hero take your pain meds when you are supposed to , it'll help you function better and walk more.. walk , walk , walk... sip .. sip... sip... lol... thats what i'm doing now.. Good luck everyone!!

Congratulations on your procedure. Hope all works out for you. Hang in there.

Welcome Marina,

I can certainly relate to much of your story. Its great that you did this while still so young. I wish this would have been available when I was 35! Best of luck to you.

Welcome Marina! Thanks for posting your story! Sounds like you are doing great!!! For me, this has been the single most valuable thing I did for myself. I am so happy I cannot tell you. I am coming up on one year on June 6 and have lost about 92 pounds - about 103 since my highest. And all and all it was not that difficult - in the sense that before my VSG I did the same as now: eat healthy and work out like crazy. Yet NOW it seems to pay off and before I often felt like I was just treading water and any little blip I would go back up. So even though I have been one of those that stalls and drops, stalls and drops, it's been steady down and I am THRILLED!!! :-) Best of luck to you on this incredible journey!!!! Looking forward to reading more about your progress!!!!!

Thank you everyone!!! I really am excited not only for myself but for everyone elses' success stories!! I love reading them , it is what keeps me going!!! Soon , i'll be a success story too!! I cant wait!!

Congratulations! I'm in the pre-op process currently with Johns Hopkins. By any chance, did you do your surgery through them? If so, I'd be curious to hear about your experience with the staff and hospital. It has been hard for me to pin my surgeon's patient coordinator down...

Congrats and welcome!!! What part of Maryland are you in?

Good luck with your journey.

You will find lots of information and support on here, even a little inspiration when you need it.

Congratulations! I'm in the pre-op process currently with Johns Hopkins. By any chance' date=' did you do your surgery through them? If so, I'd be curious to hear about your experience with the staff and hospital. It has been hard for me to pin my surgeon's patient coordinator down...[/quote']

Hi, I'm a Marylander, too. And am curious about who you used for your surgery like Alithinos. Welcome to vst

Welcome! And thanks for sharing your story!!!

Hi Marina, welcome. It does help to have this great big wonderful group all dealing with similar issues. I will look forward to hearing more from you. I can relate about the kids, though, my children have all voiced similar "concerns". Hopefully, all that will change for us!

Welcome to the club. Remember the hard part is over.

Hi My name is Marina and i had my sleeve done on May 10th at 9 am and was finally able to come home the following night! I am 5 days post op and really felt alone until i stumbled across this forum!! For the past 3 days i have just been stalking everyone's chats... but now i'm ready to tell my own story. I am 35 years old ' date=' married with 2 children. I am 5'81/2" tall and before i started the process in nov '11, i weighed at my heaviest 335 pounds. My decision to make a change? 2 reasons 1. Well,, my best friend had bypass done a few years back and after a year of healing she is now running marathons and is the happiest i've ever seen her!! However, she did have difficulties with Iron deficiencies and had to have transfusions for a few months. So i did my research and decided i would pursue the sleeve ! 2nd reason.. one day while i was driving home after picking my son up from daycare, my son asked me.."mommy , all my friends in school say you are fat?" I know , i know, kids are brutally honest even at 3 years old... but it hurt like hell. I grew up all my life with kids tormenting me and i just let it roll off my back.. or just went and grabbed a burger to make the hurt go away, or better yet.. chimed in with the kids and made fun of myself for being fat .. but hearing it from own kid.. i knew right there that i had to make a change. I started my journey Nov 7 , 2011 with all the nutrtionist visits, meetings etc.. and May 10th was the big day! I went home weighing in at 303 #s.. mainly the weightloss was because of the 2 weeks preop of liquid diet i had to do.. that was hard!! I just want to tell everyone that i am excited to be on here and be a part of a group who have had the same struggles as myself! I go to the doctor on may 18th.. so hopefully more weight has fallen since then!! ( we dont own a scale in our house!) I now understand what head hunger is.. I am not hungry but i find myself wanting to just taste everything .. becuase i cant have it.. or more than likely becuase i've been on a clear liquid diet since april 26th!! I'm sick of the clear liquid diet. lol.. Well thank you everyone for listening to me and again I love that there is so much support from everyone!! Oh.. for those of you pre-op wondering what to expect.. soreness on my right side.. doctor said it is because that is where they took out the stomache .. dont be a hero take your pain meds when you are supposed to , it'll help you function better and walk more.. walk , walk , walk... sip .. sip... sip... lol... thats what i'm doing now.. Good luck everyone!![/quote']

Thanks for sharing your story Marina. My surgery is tomorrow....

Congratulations! I'm in the pre-op process currently with Johns Hopkins. By any chance, did you do your surgery through them? If so, I'd be curious to hear about your experience with the staff and hospital. It has been hard for me to pin my surgeon's patient coordinator down...

No I didnt have mine done at John's Hopkins, i had mine done at Sinai with Dr. Cynthia Long. My experience was great, i loved my nurses! The only thing i didnt like was that when my surgery was over at 1 pm, there wasnt a room available for me until 9 pm. Dont expect to get too much sleep once the anesthesia wears off, because you are constantly getting checked on. The only uncomfortable thing for me was when they took the drainage tube out. It doesnt hurt, it's just weirdly uncomfortable.

Hi, I'm a Marylander, too. And am curious about who you used for your surgery like Alithinos. Welcome to vst

Thank you! I went to Sinai hospital and used Dr. Cynthia Long. She is wonderful and caring!

Thanks for sharing your story Marina. My surgery is tomorrow....

Best of luck!!! Just think of how much healthier and full of life we will all be!!!