Hi,

I'm new to the forums and in the starting stages of obtaining a VSG. Just looking to see if there are any other men who were above 400 (or even close to 500) pounds before starting this journey and how life after surgery has been. Did you suffer any complications from surgery due to your size? Did your doctor make you do anything extra or warn you of any possible issues? Did you lose more rapidly than average patients? Did you lose any motivation when you had lost enough weight to lead a fairly "normal" life, even though you might still have a good amount of excess weight?

A little background...I'm 31, 5'10", and honestly can't bear how difficult my weight has made my life. Just this weekend my wife went alone to her sister's engagement dinner at a restaurant due to my fear the chairs wouldn't be supportive enough. (I typically avoid restaurant situations unless there's a booth with a table I can adjust, ideally half booth/half chairs.) I've avoided flying for a couple years, will only attend theatre or sporting events where I can be guaranteed an aisle seat, etc. It seems like in the last 60 or so pounds many social situations involving sitting have escalated from very uncomfortable to more or less unbearable. Healthwise, I have hypertension and am very likely will be diagnosed with sleep apnea once the results of my sleep study last week come in.

Look forward to hearing from any of you have started in similar situations.

As far as the swelling goes, I'm 7 1/2 months post op and I no longer have any swelling in my feet and legs. It was a problem and I had some pain from it before but did not take meds for it. I fly internationally on flights up to 16 hrs and no longer have a problem with swelling in my feet or legs. Also, I was wearing 12 1/2 shoes because of swelling and now I'm back into 11's

@@SalOdyssey My average, since my surgery date, has been a little more than 5 lbs a week. My weightloss during an individual week has varied pretty substantially around that average. Early on, I lost a lot more. I have slowed a bit as I near my goal, but still have my ups and downs. I went through a 3-week period this month where I only lost 1 lb per week, despite lots of exercise and sticking with my calorie/carb/protein targets. I upped my calories and then dropped 5 lbs this week - weird!

Your pre-surgery weightloss is really inspiring! Great work!

Edited September 25, 20169 yr by Thucydides

@@SalOdyssey My average, since my surgery date, has been a little more than 5 lbs a week. My weightloss during an individual week has varied pretty substantially around that average. Early on, I lost a lot more. I have slowed a bit as I near my goal, but still have my ups and downs. I went through a 3-week period this month where I only lost 1 lb per week, despite lots of exercise and sticking with my calorie/carb/protein targets. I upped my calories and then dropped 5 lbs this week - weird!

Your pre-surgery weightloss is really inspiring! Great work!

Thank you!! As a guy who started in the mid 400s. I'm trying to see if my pace is good. So surgery was 7-6-16. Here are my stats based on each Saturday weigh in;

7/9: -8.2

7/16: -9.0

7/23: -2.8

7/30: +0.2

8/6: -5.2

8/13: -4.4

8/20: -3.2

8/27: -4.4

9/3: -0.4

9/10: -4.6

9/17: -4.0

9/24: -0.8

Just wish there was some consistency. My calories are around 900-1200 daily. Carbs, less than 50g daily. Just thought I see some more 5 pound loss weeks in there.

Surgeon follow up on Monday, going to see what he says about maybe improving these weekly numbers.

Thank you!!

I missed this thread because I wasn't that heavy, but it is all great stuff. Had lunch with a buddy who could use this and it is very inspiring. all of you great work and it inspires me to greater heights.

Just about 40 hours until sleeve time. How am I spending it? Sitting in the PICU with my daughter. Not the best place. We should get released tomorrow. At least I have lots of ice chips available as I finish my liquid only preop doet.

@@Dap73 I hope your daughter is OK. I'll keep you and her in my thoughts. Best of luck with your operation. We're all rooting for you.

Just about 40 hours until sleeve time. How am I spending it? Sitting in the PICU with my daughter. Not the best place. We should get released tomorrow. At least I have lots of ice chips available as I finish my liquid only preop doet.

Prayers to you and your daughter. :-(

Thanks for the prayers and kind words. We got my daughter home today. About 12 hours before go time. Excited/nervous

Did any of you experience a strong Last Supper syndrome in between scheduling surgery and starting your pre-op diet? I'm trying to take this time to eat well, get plenty of exercise, etc. The mental cravings for junk food are particularly acute. How did you cope?

Did any of you experience a strong Last Supper syndrome in between scheduling surgery and starting your pre-op diet? I'm trying to take this time to eat well, get plenty of exercise, etc. The mental cravings for junk food are particularly acute. How did you cope?

I actually decided a couple of weeks before the two week pre-op diet that I was going to indulge my various cravings, as a sort of "last blast" before everything came to a stop. I must have eaten at Buffalo Wild Wings like four times, had various favorite dishes at different local restaurants, ate junk...just indulged, basically. Not the healthiest move, no...but I knew I was never going to do it again. That was going to be THE END.

I was going to save my favorite sushi place for the last day. As the end of my splurge neared, I started finding that I had kind of "burned out" on it. I wasn't really craving anything, just eating routinely, and I started to come to the realization that by needing to do that splurge, I was acknowledging how great food's control had become over me. It was at the wheel, and not me. I started asking myself, why did I feel the need to do that? Was what I was giving up so important, in light of what it had done to me?

I didn't go to the sushi place, my last day. I went to a Subway and had a turkey sub, chips and one last Coke. The next day, I started the liquid diet and no matter how hungry I got (and I got REALLY frickin' hungry), I never once cheated. Not once. I just buckled down, got serious, and dedicated myself to the change. The hunger was only temporary, I knew it was only two weeks, and after that I wouldn't be feeling it anymore. Sure enough...I don't. Surgery was 9 days ago, and I don't feel hunger at all. I'd be lying if I said I'm not going through my own mental process right now of sort of "mourning" food, and my old lifestyle and stomach size, but none of that did any favors for me...it just made me obese. If I list the pros of eating whatever I eat in one column, and the cons in the other, I easily fill the page with cons...and get maybe three pros. It's all in the mind.

So for me, doing the pre-diet binge was helpful in clearing a mental hurdle and sort of preparing myself for the process...but again, not a real healthy thing to do. Still...upon weigh-in before surgery, I had lost 35 pounds from my high, a month earlier. So it didn't do THAT much damage

Edited October 3, 20169 yr by PorkChopExpress

Been awhile since I updated. I started at over 470 pounds. Don't have any pics when I was that size. First pic I took was at about 425. Now at 324 so I lost 100 pounds since my last pic. Decided to take the pic in the same location.

Still need to lose about 100 more pounds.

Did any of you experience a strong Last Supper syndrome in between scheduling surgery and starting your pre-op diet? I'm trying to take this time to eat well, get plenty of exercise, etc. The mental cravings for junk food are particularly acute. How did you cope?

So for me, doing the pre-diet binge was helpful in clearing a mental hurdle and sort of preparing myself for the process...but again, not a real healthy thing to do. Still...upon weigh-in before surgery, I had lost 35 pounds from my high, a month earlier. So it didn't do THAT much damage

This +1... found the binge/food funeral to cold turkey 2 week liquid diet was a huge mental boost going into the surgery. 2 weeks of all liquids is one of the hardest things to do, but it is such an important mental step.

Here's me the other day (Oct 1st) on my first surgiversary... from over 400lbs to around 215lbs. Even if I don't lose another lbs, I'm already a good 30 lbs lighter than when I graduated high school 18 years ago.

Edited October 6, 20169 yr by goblue9280

@@goblue9280 Thanks for your input, and congrats on your progress! Your photos remind me of something I'm looking forward to: Pants that actually fit at my waist. I'm sick of wearing pants with crotches near my knees and the cuffs being destroyed in weeks

P.S. - My wife is a Michigan alum.

I'm actually finding clothes hard to fit. I have an inner tube thing going. My chest and shoulders and thighs have gotten small but around the middle is still large and start to hang and I have handles on the sides. Shirts that fit well around the chest and shoulders are tight around the stomach so I end up with shirts to big around the shoulders.

@@sgc, I too have the same problem. I often, but not always, wear a compression T (sleeveless). I am currently wearing XL stretchy shirts(polos, T shirts) but wear a 2X in a button up cotton dress shirt. I fit in a XL button up shirt AS LONG AS I STAND UP. Sit, and it pulls across my stomach- even with 240 lbs lost! Even as I lose my last 60 lbs, I think I will always have the same issue until plastics takes care of my extra middle. Having started with 5 X's, I am thrilled with just one X (0 X's will be even better). Keep up the good work.