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.

Let's get this thread active again with some updates.

I'm 7 months post op now. I've now lost 146 lbs and feel great. Started at 489 and I was 343 this morning. . I need to up the exercise now since the weight loss has slowed down some and I'm not burning as many calories. I'm off most of my meds now and was able to stop using my cpap in mid July.

Would love to here some updates from the guys a few months ahead of me. Good luck to everyone's continued success and to all of those still in the pre op phase.

Mikesyracuse1

Here are my stats from my @SalOdyssey FB page.

Weight is pretty steady right now, which is fine. I'm scheduled for an upper endoscopy Sept. 20, which should *fingers crossed* be the last hurdle before scheduling.

I went in for my first colonoscopy ever and they saw I was in the approval stages for a sleeve. Yup...they had a camera going in both ends that day. Joy, oh joy. I had an umbilical hernia repaired 2 months ago. Everything went fine, surgeon glad I had lost so much weight, much less chance of recurrence, BUT have had a hard time getting back into my exercise routine post op. Still get some minor tugging with certain exercises, and haven't gotten back to lifting yet either. How long does the repair take to heal before there is no tugging? It is the laparoscopic sites, not the mesh that tugs. Muscles moving over scar tissue I'm told.

I for some reason have been struggling with gout since surgery. I would get an occasionally but now I'm on a daily medication for gout. Anybody else experience this? Odd that as I lose weight my gout gets worse.

I for some reason have been struggling with gout since surgery. I would get an occasionally but now I'm on a daily medication for gout. Anybody else experience this? Odd that as I lose weight my gout gets worse.

SGC, my surgeon told me that it would be a good idea to stay on the gout medication for now because of the high Protein diet. He said with the increase in protein, many people have flair-ups. I stayed on the med and haven't had any trouble.

aggietop

Edited September 11, 20169 yr by aggietop

@aggietop@sgc I don't know but does water help to flush the causes of gout out of your system? By losing so much weight, maybe the irritants are flooding into your system and causing flare ups??? An increase in daily water may help to wash away the gunk. Again don't know, just a thought.

Here is my update: I hit my 10-month post-op anniversary yesterday. I'm down 246 lbs from a starting weight of 518. I took my wife to a concert for the first time since surgery and I still have a hard time getting used to being a little more normal-sized. I still worry on whether a concert arena, theater, etc. will have seats that fit me. I have not gotten past the surprise when I actually fit into the seats.

I'm really happy with how the weight loss has gone. I hit my first mini-stall since surgery a few weeks ago, only losing 1 lb three weeks ago, none the next week, and 1 lb this week, all while sticking with my eating plan (950 calories, 100 g Protein, <60g carbs) and exercising (hiking and kettlebells) an hour a day 5-6 days a week. I am torn on whether this is just a temporary lull, a sign that I need to change things up, or a sign that I may be approaching a weight where things will just move more slowly. I would like to get below the "obese" category for my BMI, but I am finding myself less fixated by the scale number than I thought that I would be.

@@Thucydides Excellent job! You may want to up your calories a bit if you stall! Add some healthy fats or veggies. Congrats!

Thanks, @KristenLe. I'm giving bumping my calories up to 1200 this week a go to see how things shake out. I won't know until I weigh in on Friday, but I am already seeing that I am a good bit less tired after workouts, so you may be on to something.

Day 7 of my now 16 day Preop diet (surgery was moved back 2 days for scheduling reasons). I'm not really hungry but I am exhausted by the end of the day. After cooking dinner and getting the kids to bed I basically just fall in bed myself. I guess I get to look forward to this for a few months. On the positive side -12 lbs.

I'm on day 6 of my 10 day liquid diet, and I've been doing alright. Being at work helps, but when I get home at night...that's when it gets tough.

Just a quick update. My upper endoscopy went fine, and I'm now scheduled for my sleeve on October 31. Can't wait.

Guys what was your average weekly loss?

Im female (obviously) but my husband is getting sleeved in about 6 weeks, which is why I was reading this thread. That and we are both ~385. I am getting sleeved in 10 days.

VDB, you mentioned edema and that it is gone now. Can i ask what kind/symptoms?

I have had idiopathic peripheral edema for almost 10 years now. The hydroclorathiacide originally used to treat it gave me gout. I have also maxed out the dosage of furosimide with no real relief. I cant even wear real shoes (only stretchy sandals) due to the swelling.

I guess i am hoping you had similar issues and it was resolved with WLS.