male only Two Year Post Opp Upda

[BigTink2LilTink 723]

I am literally a week away from my 1 year surgery date and I can say that your post really helped to put things in perspective for me. Thank you for share both your 1st and 2nd year post surgery outlooks. I can't wait to see where I am at a full 24 months out from surgery.

[PlzCoolerMe 23]

It's been just about two years since my VSG and I thought I'd share an update. I've copied my post from one year out below so that you can have a point of reference.

In sum, VSG was really the best thing I ever did. While it has only been two years, my life as a big fat dude is sort of a distant memory. Let me share some of the observations I find most interesting...

Positives:

• I'm basically at peace with food. By that I mean that I enjoy and appreciate food, but it's just no longer a monkey on my back.
• I weight 186 pounds (5 pounds greater than last year and about 85 down from my peek of 272).
• There are just so many things that you can do at a lower weight that are either impossible or unpleasant at a higher weight. I played golf all summer (walking the course), do hot yoga twice a week, play squash, mountain bike, etc.. In the gym, I can do pull ups and dips. These things were out of the question before.
• I shop for clothes at regular stores and beyond being able to find my size anywhere (medium / large shirt, 34" waist), clothes just fit and feel better.

Oddeties

• I see overweight people and think they're crazy for not doing something about. I was flying home from a business trip a few days ago and saw a woman that weighed about 300 pounds shove herself into a first class seat, ask for the extra belt and then eat huge sub sandwich and a bag of chips that she brought on the plane and wash it down with a few cocktails. I wanted to send her the WLS clinic immediately. This is obviously terribly judgmental, but it's true.
• I still sort of feel like a big guy in my head. I used to always make fun of myself as a defense mechanism when I was huge. I would say things like "not bad for a fat guy" and people would laugh. Every once in a while I say the same thing and people just look at me puzzled.
• I still feel like I perpetually need to lose 5 or 10 pounds. My lowest weight post opp was 175 and though people said I looked too thin, I felt great. I'm 186 now and would really like to be 180. That's crazy talk to someone that's 2, 3, or 4 hundred pounds, but there you go.

Annoyances -- not much to report, but here are a couple.

• I still cannot eat and drink at the same time -- there is just no room. I'm used to it now, but it sure would be nice to wash down dinner with a glass of wine, Breakfast with a cup of coffee. Instead it's drink a cup of coffee, then eat breakfast. Ditto for other meals.
• I still take 20mg of omeprozole daily. With it, I'm fine. Without it, I have some heartburn. Since this hasn't changed in two years, I'm resigned to taking it perpetually.

Advice -- Everyone is so different so take this for what it is...

• If you're into alcohol pre opp, you're in for a challenge post opp. While you can't eat tons of food after WLS, it's just as easy to drink and you don't have hundreds of extra pounds to absorb it. I get into trouble with this every once in a while.
• If you're pre-opp and thinking about the surgery, consider what kind of overeater you are. If you just have a huge appetite and eat portions that are too large at meals (a bottomless pit), then this surgery will help you a lot. I used to be like this and now a big meal is a piece of chicken and a half cup of veg or starch -- even at two years out. HOWEVER, if you eat reasonable meals but have a problem snacking on junk food all day long, I don't think VSG is very effective. I can eat whole bags of dorritos, large portions of ice cream and drink whatever, i.e. slider foods. VSG just doesn't help with this stuff and it's easy to snack all day long and pack on the pounds.

I was on this site constantly leading up to and after my surgery and really appreciated hearing everyone's story. I'm rarely here anymore, but thought I'd share some perspective especially for those considering surgery and needing some extra support or wondering what the future might be like. Feel free to comment or PM me.

Family guy

My Post From One Year Out

November 25th is one year post opp for me and I wanted to share my observations for the year. Here you go....

Unwarranted Pre Opp Fears:

• I was super worried about complications and recovery and felt like I was seriously risking my life. In reality, surgery was a breeze. I had 2 or 3 uncomfortable days and then was quickly back on my feet.
• I dreaded pre and post opp diets. The pre-opp diet was harder for me, because I knew that my food days were coming to an end and I sort of had to mourn all the things I loved to eat. The post opp diet wasn't fun, but since I really couldn't eat anything (nor did I have any desire to), it wasn't all that difficult. Now that period is just sort of a distant memory.
• Standing out for eating like a mouse / not being able to dine socially -- I have a job that entails a lot of entertaining, business lunches and dinners and was really worried about this. In reality, it's been no big deal. After a while, I got used to ordering the right stuff and just picking away at my plate. When I'm done, I just put the silverware on the plate and the waiter whisks it away. This is actually what most people without eating issues do! It turns out the big eaters and the table are really focused on their plates and not yours. Every now and again, people will make a comment like "you barely ate" or "was the food not good", but they're very easy to dismiss away.

Pleasant Surprises:

• I started the process at 255 (275 highest ever) and was hoping to get down to about 200. That goal seemed like a big stretch because the best I ever did on my own was 225 and that was by starving myself for months and working out like dog and I was only at that weight for about 5 minutes. About 9 months after surgery, I bottoming out at 175 and currently hover between 178 and 182. I didn't think my current weight was even possible, but it turns out I feel and look great at this weight. I wear a medium shirt and have a 33" waist, down from xxl and a 42" waist. This is just shocking to me.
• Everything is easier. sleeping, tying my shoes, clipping my toe nails, sitting in airplane seats, shopping for clothes, exercising, playing sports, etc.
• My joints feel better and my frequent head aches have gone away.
• I was pre diabetic, had high cholesterol, and elevated blood pressure. All gone.
• Not having food monkey on my back. I still think a lot about what and how much I'm eating and have some bad habits (see below) but the monkey is gone! For as long as I could remember prior to surgery, I woke up every morning hoping that I wouldn't overeat that day and went to bed every night feeling guilty about all the eating. Food just doesn't occupy my mind like it used to.

Annoyances:

• Every once it a while, it would be fun to man down a big meal. I recently went to an amazing new BBQ joint in town and it would have been a great time to wolf down a huge plate of smoked meats and sides and wash it down with a few beers. That's just not possible. I had a glass of wine before the food came and ate about 20% of the plate of food I ordered and was absolutely stuffed.
• It would be nice to eat and drink at the same time. Breakfast with Coffee, lunch with Iced Tea, dinner with Wine -- I've been doing this for 40 years but again, that just doesn't work with VSG. Sometimes I eat and sip (small sips) but that's about it.
• I was prescribed omeprazole (prilosec) right after surgery to control heart burn. If I take it everyday, I have zero heart burn. If I stop taking it, I have a little (not horrible) heartburn. I was kind of hopping to not have to take a pill for ever, but I think that might be the case.

Bad Habits / Struggles / Watch Areas:

• Slidder foods -- chips, ice cream, candy, etc. I can pretty much eat these foods in the same quantities as pre opp and will munch away if I'm not watching it. I've found that the best strategy is to eat the good stuff (proteins) first and then there's really no room for junk. Starting with the junk first is a bad idea.
• Alcohol -- I liked to drink pre opp and that hasn't gone away post opp. In fact, since food is much more effort, drinking sort of becomes easier. I now see why people caution about the dangers of substituting.
• Eating too quickly or too much. Food still tastes good and if I'm not concentrating, I can still eat too much and really regret it. This happens less and less now that I'm 12 months out, but it's still something I'm always watching for.

In sum, VSG was the best decision I ever made. If I could go back in time, I would have done it 10 years sooner. Comments or personal messages / questions welcome.

Wow, this is nearly identical to my experience 16 months out. I completely agree with the comment about wanting to "advise" other folks to look into the surgery. As you said, it comes off as "judgey" in my head, but, I just know how much of a positive change it has been for my life.

I also think it is funny how I view myself. I don't think I ever saw myself as large as I really was. In the same respect, I still don't believe I see myself as skinny as I really am in the mirror... It takes me seeing pictures of me with other friends in the same image to register with my brain... Not sure if that makes sense? It's all about point of view I guess.

One other thing, it took a while, but, I think my brain, eyes, and stomach have all come around to agreeing what the right portions are and when i'm actually full. This took a while to learn for sure. I also think it's interesting now, how something I would consider a "large portion" differs from what it was prior to surgery. There are just times where I feel like I may have eaten too much and get conscious about it, but, it's actually smaller or equal to what an average person would have eaten at same setting.

Thanks for the post.

[mirv550 11]

Great post! I see some of the same pitfalls with myself, and I am working on that. I am finding ways to be better, and so far not doing to bad...The Iron Sleeve lives up to it's name, and it's funny I actually want spicy foods now..hot sauce on everything almost...lol