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.

33 minutes ago, Tristenhilpert97 said:

My heaviest weight was 408 pounds so I think I qualify for this thread.

Current weight is 388 with surgery scheduled for November 8th. Very excited and anxious. My wife and I are getting it done at the same time

You doing the sleeve or the bypass? I have had great success with the sleeve. Started at 417, 379 the day of the surgery 1/29/2021, currently at 285.

We are doing the sleeve!

Congrats on your success! I am only 24 and have struggled with obesity my entire life. If/when I get to 285 pounds I will be less than I was my freshman year of high school!

Hey Guys! I had my RYGB on August 4th of this year and am doing pretty good. I started the program at 384LBS, but was hanging out in the 390's prior to my initial weigh-in March of 2020. My dad had the RYGB back in 1999-2000, and was right around 500LBS before his surgery. 20 years later and he has lost nearly 300LBS and lives a life I can only hope to at his age. He was actually a big inspiration for me to get the surgery, b/c I was having all the health problems he did, but 5 -10 years earlier! I saw how it changed his life and he is so much happier now, and I want that! I've been losing pretty good so far, and I have a lot of good days, but there are still some emotional ones as I still am battling a number of health issues that I hope clear up as I continue my "new life!"

Anyways, just wanted to say hi, maybe make a couple "bro" friends, and join the discussion. Hope everyone is well and had a good weekend.

You're right about where I was when I started (I was 392, 375 when I started the weigh-in process, bounced between 350-400 for ten years). I am almost five weeks out and a week from tomorrow I can start slowly re-incorporating weights back into my life (the barbell is one form of therapy...).

Hoping to get down to 240 or so. I was 220 when I was playing rugby and had a flat stomach, so I think 240 some (*cough25cough*) years later is a decent goal for me.

Currently in my three-week stall. Sigh. Get going body, I'm feeding you plenty.

I know I'm late to the game, but I started at 600 pounds, down to 488 for surgery.

19 hours ago, Slingshotpup said:

I know I'm late to the game, but I started at 600 pounds, down to 488 for surgery.

Wow! Keep up the great work! You will shed a bunch after surgery, which will keep your motivation up! Great job!!!

On 6/5/2022 at 10:28 AM, FINFAN3DP said:

Wow! Keep up the great work! You will shed a bunch after surgery, which will keep your motivation up! Great job!!!

Thanks! Just weighed in today - 6 week check up - down to 450.9!

New here, Hi.

I'm currently sitting at 450, though I've been up to 480. Just had my first consultation yesterday. Trying to get a sleeve done before the end of the year. I have met my deductible with a hospital stay and my out of pocket is 0 right now. I have tried to get this done 4 times over the last 10 years and something always happens with insurance or other factors. I've been reading and lurking for a bit and decided I would finally say hi.

On 9/30/2022 at 4:31 PM, BlueHogg said:

New here, Hi.

I'm currently sitting at 450, though I've been up to 480. Just had my first consultation yesterday. Trying to get a sleeve done before the end of the year. I have met my deductible with a hospital stay and my out of pocket is 0 right now. I have tried to get this done 4 times over the last 10 years and something always happens with insurance or other factors. I've been reading and lurking for a bit and decided I would finally say hi.

Hey Bluehogg,

I was 417 when i started, currently at 278. I walk 3.5 miles every other day, and ride stationary bike 9 miles twice a week. You will do great!

Hey y'all - first timer here. I'm having my consult Wednesday. Getting this surgery scheduled has been more than a fiasco due to insurance and such. But finally its happening. I've let myself get to over 450. Thankfully, I'm 6'6 and I could kinda hide it when I wasn't 450, but now, I can't even wear 5xlt shirts without having my gut stick out the bottom. I hate going out in public. I've become a recluse. My dog is suffering because I can't exercise her like she needs to be right now - and its caused me a blood clot, and anuerysm, hypertension, and going anywhere with stairs is just a terrifying experience. I even dread walking down the hill 100 feet to get my mail as I know I'll be out of breath and gasping when I get back, sadly. I always ask specifically for a table at restaurants because I can't fit in booths - but I'm embarrassed to be even seen in public because I've let myself get to this point in my life. I'm 43, and I have the body of a 95 year old man whos been dead for 300 years. I have nobody to blame but me. I'm hoping to find some support and maybe even some accountability here - kind of a "comrades in arms" thing maybe. Anyhow, I'm not sure with all the surgeries and all I've had to rectify the abdominal anuerysm how its going to work. Anyone wanna be buddies in this?

I have no idea what my actual initial weight was because I refused to buy a higher capacity scale, so my heaviest measured weight was 396. But I’m sure I was more than that.

All those things you mentioned struck a chord with me. I remember having to ask for tables, not booths, and then having to size up the chair to see if I could actually sit. I didn’t have an aneurysm but I had uncontrollable hypertension and was getting precursors to heart attacks.

So I’m here to tell you that it all changes, and very quickly. I’m 18 months post-op. I didn’t hit the goal I wanted but I did get below 20% body fat and am within 10 pounds of my lowest weight of 262. (I’m six feet tall and built like a brick sh!thouse even without the fat).

I eat intuitively now (after therapy to help get me to have a better relationship with food) and I exercise a lot. I’m running a 5K on Sunday and it’s… just not a big deal. I fit in booths and I can run up and down stairs and jump to a 30” box. I am not on any blood pressure or blood sugar medicine, and I no longer need a CPAP. I wish I would’ve done this a decade earlier.

Here’s the thing, though: the program where I had my surgery done was not that useful. I ended up with a nutrition coach I hired, who got me eating correctly while still losing weight hand over fist. I had already been doing CrossFit (yes, at 400 lbs—the coaches simply scaled the workouts so I was getting the same stimulus as the jacked beasts in the gym but at a level I could do) and building muscle helped with fat loss and body comp. I needed therapy and psychiatric help to resolve my anxiety and depression.

You’re gonna do great. Write down all the stuff you can’t do now and use it as a checklist for later. You’ll be stunned how quickly it happens. Just make sure you have the support team with you, don’t rely on the bariatric program; they’re a hammer and everything they see is a nail.

I’m happy to pass along contacts for the nutrition program I started at 3 months post-op, or give details about my exercise program, I just don’t want to look like a spammer.

Please send me that information. Can I do you here with my email and all? I am ready to get back to having a life. Doing music again. Taking trips. Not having to worry about if I can go somewhere as I might not be able to get into someone’s car. Part of that is being so tall, but the weight definitely doesn’t help. I think what I’m looking forward to most is just doing things that seem normal to people that aren’t obese.
Things like sitting in a booth at a restaurant. Flying on an airplane. Fitting in a normal sized car instead of only a dang suv. Shopping for clothes at regular places and being able to go up stairs and downstairs without gasping and panting.
Im so ready to do this. I want to be active. I want to stop turning into my desk chair.