Newbie Sleeved On July 2, 2012

[Timetrax 1]

Hey guys my name is David 26 years old from Palestine, Texas. Got sleeved on July 2, 2012 by Dr. Dirk Rodriguez. http://www.drdirkweightloss.com He just recently started doing the procedure in Palestine, so I decided to go and visit with him on June 18, 2012. The visit date and the surgery date are awfully close but i have been reading up and researching this for months. I know a few extended family members who got the gastric bypass and have all been successful at weight loss. I have struggled with weight my whole life, instead of continuing like this I decided I want to do this to get healthier, bring my blood pressure down, and see my 2 year old son grow up.

Dr. Dirk Rodriguez is an awesome guy, he answered all my questions, got right to the point and understood all of my concerns. His staff back in Dallas was also really great to work with. I spoke with the Doctor and his staff at least 10 times before surgery date. The doctor called me from his cell phone the day after surgery just to check up on me. I highly recommend him for anyone in the East Texas area especially now that he does the procedure in Palestine.

My surgery went real good, no problems(so far), I am 2 days post op, I am sleeping on both sides comfortably, no real pain. Only problem I had was the gas issue. The nurse told me that to see inside my throat they put some gas in me to widen the canal. The day of surgery and day after I had a tough time swallowing anything down because of the sharp pain that came from around my diaphragm everytime I took a sip. Right after the sip, oh boy it hurt. Today July 4, 2012, its alot better, still hurts a bit but not as much. I got in about 20 minutes of walking around today. I am going to increase as much as I can slowly. Still not getting in as much fluids as I should, I did get in 50 grams of Protein today, only 25 yesterday though. I order the fruit Blast 100% whey Protein isolate by 4 ever fit, flavor tropical mango. It tastes great, been drinking it for a few months, 24g of protein, 1 carb, and 100 calories. (try to mix with room temperature Water for the powder to dissolve better, cold Water will make it chunky).

I take a 3 tablespoons of hydrocodone/APAP soln every 6 hours for pain. Haven't had to take the metoclopramide or promethazine yet. I take one prilosec in the morning with my Protein shake, i try and work in 3 Gas-x strips a day, morning, afternoon and evening, seems to be helping out alot. I take two of the chewable Bariatric Advantage Multivitamin twice a day and two of the sublingual b-12 twice a day. My weight before surgery date was 256, day before surgery was 250, today weight is 240. Mostly has been water weight I assume, I do however seemed to be urinating alot the first two days even though I haven't consumed much liquids.

This forum helped alot, I checked it everyday for almost 3 weeks before surgery date. I wanted to share my story for any new sleevers out there!

[scaredoftheunknown 95]

Glad to hear your surgery was a success. HOpe you have a speedy recovery.

[Pre-OpLoser619 36]

Congrats & thanks for sharing!

[Believer 2]

Congratulations! How are you doing now? Getting sleeved on Tuesday 7/24...so excited!

[Timetrax 1]

Sorry about not posting sooner. Have been really tied up at work. its been 24 days since I have been sleeved. Feeling great, I wasn't feeling so great the first week (obviously right) week 2 was getting better and I think after week 3 I got back to my normal self. Protein intake is going great, I went to sams and picked up this box of 12 count 11oz Protein drinks. 30g of Protein per serving. I have one during mid afternoon at work. I start my day with the powder 25g protein shake in morning with my prilosec. I try to get in some food with protein usually chicken breast (you can buy at wal-mart comes in 2 pack for $3.88, garlic herb marinated, you dont even have to warm it up) and i also pick up at Walmart a box of chicken breasts in cut up pieces usually found near where the deli meat is, also very cheap and rich in protein, which I eat in small bites throughout the mid morning to mid lunch.

food is still in test mode, I do not get hungry that much anymore. the first two weeks - i was craving alot of food, especially since i was laying around watching TV, i never noticed how many commercials came on about food until then. Now i do not care for it, i am saving so much money by not eating out, because i eat healthier options, and the best thing is go to wal-mart and pick up their deli items. keep at your desk or at home and eat little bites throughout the day, i learned that if you eat little bites throughout the day, you feel alot better instead of trying to fill yourself up like we used to do in our pre-sleeve days. After week 3, I started the solid foods, I ate the whole chicken breast serving in one sit in and i felt so full and bloated and i felt like i was going to throw up the whole time. It took walking around and staying active to push the food down. I learned my lesson not to do that again. Now I just cut up the meat in small pieces and eat in increments throughout mid morning to mid lunch. Finally I try to polish off the day with another protein Protein Shake if I can.

Have been slowly working out, nothing crazy. I go to the local park and walk the trail at my own pace. I get in about 2 miles everyday. I started lifting a little bit of weights every other day, havent had any problems yet.

Have lost 25 lbs so far, I stalled for a week during week 3, but then slowly started to see 1lb lost here and there. Weight before surgery day was 250, now I am 221. It seems like the pace is about 10lbs a month, we will see in September how it goes!

Hope your surgery went well, hang in there, it gets better I promise! If you need anything just post it!