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Ok, folks I am new to this forum, I want to share my story to hopefully help some of you stay on track and to hopefully get myself back on track. In May of 1999 I had the VSG surgery, I was at 350 lbs and in less than a year I was down to 255 when I stopped losing weight. I should back up and tell you I was a police officer fro 20 years, when I cam out of the police academy in the early 1990's I was 267 with 12 % body fat, running 5 to 7 miles a day and very healthy. Overtime the drive throughs and my constant schedule chages helped me to gain weight. After I had the vsg I felt great, I was back to exercising, but I still didn't eat the best. I will say I pretty much hate the color green oh and I didn't metion yet that Diet Pepsi is like crack to a crack addict for me. So over the last 15 years I have been putting the weight on once I got back to my orginal start weight I pretty much through in the towel and didn't really care. I marked it up as a failure which has never been my norm. I am up to 473 pounds and I have had enough. I have contacted my local hospital and will be meeting there staff to see what I can do. I am hoping to be able to get a vsg pouch back to working if that is possible. What I want to say to all of you brave people is DO NOT DRINK ANYTHING WITH YOUR MEALS NOT EVEN A LITTLE. AND NEVER QUIT YOUR EXERCIS EVEN FOR ONE DAY. AND NO MATTER WHAT NO SODA.

I will keep you all posted as I will look for stength and encouragement as I start this journey again.

Steve

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Steve, thanks for sharing...I look forward to hearing updates from you... best wishes!!

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VSG is 1999? Are you sure? Maybe you mean gastric bypass? Where did you have it done?

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wow, thank you for sharing. it just goes to show us that this surgery isnt a majic wand. we all have to work at this and stay on track if we want it to work. I wish you the best in this new journey! :)

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VSG is 1999? Are you sure? Maybe you mean gastric bypass? Where did you have it done?

the vsg has been around for a very long time....it is only now that it has become more popular. :)

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Thanks for sharing Steve.........you are a very strong and intelligent person and you are already on the right path to getting there again.........Good luck on your journey.......

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Thanks for sharing Steve, best of luck to you on your journey. Keep us posted.

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the vsg has been around for a very long time....it is only now that it has become more popular. :)

It was called another name, something like duodenal switch ---- but it has been around for several years

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Ok' date=' folks I am new to this forum, I want to share my story to hopefully help some of you stay on track and to hopefully get myself back on track. In May of 1999 I had the VSG surgery, I was at 350 lbs and in less than a year I was down to 255 when I stopped losing weight. I should back up and tell you I was a police officer fro 20 years, when I cam out of the police academy in the early 1990's I was 267 with 12 % body fat, running 5 to 7 miles a day and very healthy. Overtime the drive throughs and my constant schedule chages helped me to gain weight. After I had the vsg I felt great, I was back to exercising, but I still didn't eat the best. I will say I pretty much hate the color green oh and I didn't metion yet that Diet Pepsi is like crack to a crack addict for me. So over the last 15 years I have been putting the weight on once I got back to my orginal start weight I pretty much through in the towel and didn't really care. I marked it up as a failure which has never been my norm. I am up to 473 pounds and I have had enough. I have contacted my local hospital and will be meeting there staff to see what I can do. I am hoping to be able to get a vsg pouch back to working if that is possible. What I want to say to all of you brave people is DO NOT DRINK ANYTHING WITH YOUR MEALS NOT EVEN A LITTLE. AND NEVER QUIT YOUR EXERCIS EVEN FOR ONE DAY. AND NO MATTER WHAT NO SODA.

I will keep you all posted as I will look for stength and encouragement as I start this journey again.

Steve[/quote']

Thank you for sharing your story. Please keep us posted on your progress..good luck on your new journey !!

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It was called another name, something like duodenal switch ---- but it has been around for several years

Oy. This is simply incorrect. The duodenal switch is a different surgery. VSG is part of it, but DS also involves rerouting your intestines.

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I don't understand why drinking with meals and drinking diet soda caused your weight gain. It was more likely your poor diet, but gl with your journey.

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Drinking with meals can cause food to slide through faster and thus causing a person to be hungry more frequently. The diet soda is carbonated and caffeinated. The carbonation is bad for a sleeve and can cause expansion, possibly(nothing proven). Caffeine can result in a person feeling hungry more often, too.

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Thanks for sharing. I know you must be going through a difficult time. Let us know what the doctor(s) say and how you're doing.

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I'm sorry you gained so much weight back! I feel awful for you! I agree with you NO DRINKING DURING MEALS! This is one of the top rules for post op sleevers. You are NOT supposed to DRINK and EAT at the same time. Soda is also one of the worst things for a sleever. Especially if you drink soda AND eat at the same time! Drinking soda on occasion won't hurt anything especially if it's flat soda. But drinking it all the time? It's a recipe for disaster. Anyone who thinks eating and drinking at the same time won't result in weight regain over time is WRONG. According to studies, after the sleeve food goes through almost 5x faster than a regular stomach. So flushing it through with drinks is the wrong thing!

And YES VSG was being done as a stand alone procedure in 1999. There have been studies and articles about hospitals doing it around that time period. Some of them started out doing the VSG as the first stage of the 2-part duodenal switch surgery and realized after the patients lost enough weight with VSG, they did not proceed with the 2nd part. This is how the VSG was began as a primary bariatric procedure instead of always just the first part of the duodenal switch.

it's true, back in 1999 they did the sleeve quite a bit larger than it is done today. The percent of weight kept off over the years was not near as good as it is now with the smaller sleeves. I think it's a great idea to look into getting a smaller sleeve. I personally know people who have gotten re-sleeved. TWO of them.

I wish you all of the best in losing your excess weight. I hope you keep it off this time. I already know you won't be eating and drinking at the same time this time around ever again and I can bet you will give up the diet pepsi. I used to be hooked on diet coke/coke zero/diet dr pepper before my surgery so I know how it feels to be hooked.

Good luck!!

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
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    • KimBaxleyWilson

      Three months and four days ago... I was in Costa Rica having a life changing surgery! Yesterday we had a followup visit with Dr. Esmeral via video chat and this morning my middle number changed.  I'm down 47lbs and two pants sizes. I can wear a Large tshirt for the first time in like... 14 years! Woot!! Everything is going great. I have zero regrets. I went down to the riverwalk with a friend and walked 2 miles on Monday without even getting fatigued. And no more snoring or chugging pickle juice for crazy leg cramps! I need to go to the gym more... I'm making new shirts next week so that will motivate me. LOL But I'm also just not as TIRED all the time! I have a LONG way to go...but seeing the progress on the scales and in the mirror is a huge motivator!! Thank you all for cheering me on and supporting me!!
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