Well, the surgeon had to make the decision to switch me from Roux-en-y to vertical sleeve gastrectomy, but the surgery was done successfully yesterday and I'm at home recouperating now. Still trying to get rid of the last of the very uncomfortable gas, but I feel okay. Not very interested in putting anything in my stomach right now, but I'm trying to get fluids and Protein shakes down...it's just VERY slow going. I get at most maybe 2oz done per hour right now. As the gas pain and general discomfort subside, I'm sure it'll get easier. Unfortunately, apparently the mesh that a prior surgeon used to repair an umbilical hernia was the wrong type, and resulted in my intestines scarring into the mesh such that he couldn't do anything without risking damage to my intestine, so he made the judgment call. I'm glad for that, I don't want complications if I can help it. It's just a bummer because that's what I've been feeding my brain with for over a year and I haven't really read up on VSG, though I imagine it's going to be much the same, behavior-wise.

Anyway, I'm glad to have it behind me and now I just want to make a full recovery and get on with this business of losing weight and getting fit.

On a side note, my pre-surgery weight was 351.2 - I lost over 35 pounds leading up to surgery. Not bad!

Edited September 25, 20169 yr by PorkChopExpress

It's quite interesting trying to convince your brain that one egg is too much or a tin of Soup is four portions. I wasted loads of food in the beginning.

Now I know how to portion out. When I go to my daughter's house, my plate has less on it than my five year old granddaughter. She laughs at me and asks why I am eating so slowly.

I used to eat fast and still eat faster than I should. I am learning to slow down.

My weight loss is right where I want it. I lost far too much too fast due to illness in the beginning. I am on maintenance now and still lose several lbs a week if I am really active.

I have fibro and have been in a flare for a week or so now. The fatigue is shocking. But I still try and walk around as much as possible.

I don't weigh myself much because my clothes tell me that I am losing. I do have a weight tracker so I weigh myself occasionally to put the numbers in.

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Gradually getting used to the new normal...every day gets better. I'm actually feeling really good physically. The incision sites are itching like crazy, so I know the healing is advancing. Still a mental disconnect with my portion sizes and what I "think" should fill me up, but I'm also getting accustomed to the new portion sizes. More to the point, I'm really eating slow, taking the full 30 minutes to eat even this little amount. That, in itself, is a massive change. I always wolfed down my food with reckless abandon. Now though, I find that I'm really enjoying the food I do get...just taking it slow, chewing thoroughly, enjoying the taste. I've just been doing it all wrong, all this time.

Finally updated my photos on my profile, they need a "during" photo instead of "after" but I guess I'll just keep updating it whenever I weigh in. I'm going to stretch the weigh-ins out though, maybe once a month. I have always let the scale weight discourage me too much when it didn't say what I thought it should, so one month gaps should be good. I guess I'm also using this thread as a kind of journal I can look back on.

But yeah...so far, so good! Baby steps, baby bites. Got to the gym five days in a row this week, gradually increasing my walking speed each time. Getting there.

I really enjoy reading your updates. I'm glad you are doing so well. Keep up the good work.

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Today was another fun milestone. I have been finding my shorts loose and baggy in the waist, so I finally decided to take out a box of clothes that I'd packed away in anticipation of the day I might actually lose weight and fit into them again. This is stuff I haven't fit into in YEARS. I tried on a pair of shorts I can remember wearing when I was dating my wife, five years ago...and I still remember when I was going through my clothes and putting them in the box, trying these shorts on and having trouble even pulling them up. They seemed miles away from being able to zip and button. Today? They fit perfectly. Then as I put my belt on, I realized that I unconsciously fastened it at the next belt hole. I spent maybe one week on the other hole before I moved on to this one. Unreal. My "starting weight" belt hole is now three holes away from the one I'm currently on. Just over a month into this process and I think I've probably lost as much as I'd typically take 5-6 months to lose, through normal dieting.

Feels good, man.

I can feel that my stomach's capacity at mealtime has increased just a touch, since I started on mushy foods. Seems my stomach is recovering, the swelling must be going down now. I was driving to work tonight and was just sitting there thinking, "I feel pretty darn good right now." I'm really not feeling much of any aches now, stomach incisions are healing up well, I'm doing my normal stuff with no ill effects. The only difference is, I eat like my 9 month old! Although I'm more accurate with my spoon

@@PorkChopExpress - you asked about weights...about one month post op, started very light. Went up 10% per week. It's a good thing. Keep your showers as cool as you can, lots of Water, stay out of hot tubs and tanning beds and moisturizers seem to help in the winter. You want healthy happy skin.

I looked my best when I did yoga 3 times a week (dang studio closed, so I need to find a new one).

Glad you are doing well and finding a new normal. Old clothes fitting is a great NSV. BTW, look into calipers and tape measures to measure body fat. As you gain muscle, you may not see the scale move, but having the body fat percentage go down was a nice way to monitor progress.

@@OKCPirate Thanks for the info on lifting. I'll probably get going on that in another week or so...the abdomen is feeling pretty up to snuff recently, so I think it should handle some basic lifting. I won't get into a "real" program of strength training until I around 20-30 pounds from goal, I think.

I recently bought some Nivea lotion for tightening/firming skin, so I'm trying to get into the habit of using that. I hadn't heard about the cool shower tip though, I'll try that too. Anything that'll help! I know that at 45 and after a lifetime of being obese, it's unlikely the skin's going to be too forgiving but anything I can do to aid in recovery is good.

Starting week four! One more week and I will be one month post-op. Incisions have shed most of their scabs and are healing up nicely now and the fur's growing back

When I received the instructions for weeks 3-5 I was told to gradually advance from ground meat consistency Protein, to shredded, and finally to whole pieces. This week, it's shredded meat! I bought some very good pulled chicken in the refrigerator case at Trader Joe's, and I've had it several times. Chews to paste consistency easily, and I've had no ill effects. Stomach seems like it's healing up pretty well, the ache of eating is decreasing gradually every day. I still find that it aches a bit more first thing in the morning, with Breakfast...but every meal thereafter is okay. I am up to 1.5oz of meat at a meal, so it's going well. That only works out to 5 grams of protein though, which is so frustrating. I do wish I could meet more of my protein goals with actual meat, but for quite some time I expect I'll be relying on supplements. The GENEPRO works well though, mixed it in with some chili and didn't even notice it.

Having trouble reaching 64oz of Water every day, which was my target...but eating 3x a day takes away about 4 1/2 hours from drinking, since I have to stop 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after. The window the nutritionist said was 48oz to 64oz, and I'm getting in that window...but to get 64oz would require drinking just about every other minute, it's really hard to achieve. I'm not hitting 90 grams of protein either, I'm settling in there somewhere between 70 and 90 which is again the window they wanted me to shoot for, but I wanted to do the maximum. I'll get there, it'll just take time. My stomach has to heal up and be able to handle a little more meat. They say after three months I should be able to do 2oz of meat or more per meal. So we'll see how it goes.

Interesting how much my priorities in eating have already changed. I am very protein-centric. Not to say that I don't still like having a little bit of carbs in there, but my focus in eating is protein and that's what I enjoy. I don't crave the breads anymore, pastas and things of that nature. Sugar is also not a craving, I think I pretty much detoxed from that after the month long liquid diet. So far, so good...but man, have I grown to hate the Vitamins I bought. The Bariatric Advantage chewable Multivitamin now tastes heinous to me, I cringe and almost gag when I have to chew that thing up and swallow it. Then I have to chase that with the also awful "chocolate raspberry" Iron chew. It's a brutal way to start the day. I can't wait until I can just swallow normal Multivitamins and not taste them, again.

Edited October 17, 20169 yr by PorkChopExpress

@@PorkChopExpress How are you adjusting to the new food and meal requirements (eating slowly over 20-30 minutes at fairly regemented times) now that you're back to work? (Maybe I missed that--are you back at work?) I'm nervous about that transition.

You're probably consuming more Protein from meat than you realize. One ounce of meat averages 7 grams of protein. If you're eating 1.5 ounces a meal, that's 10 or 11 grams.

Edited October 17, 20169 yr by Ignatius

Doing good so far, although to be honest it's SO hard for me to go slow. I have had such a bad habit all my life of wolfing my food down, taking tiny bites and thoroughly chewing them is a bit of a struggle. However, I have definitely learned that if I DON'T do that, I get too full too fast. My new stomach needs time to register what's in it and there isn't much room. It's good that I'm starting to get into things that I really need to chew a while, shredded meat and stuff, because it actually slows me down and that helps. Chili and things that go down easy are more of a challenge.

Work has been fine. I go with a cup for my Crystal Light / Protein mixture, and I have one meal there. I got these little Ziplock 1/2 cup containers and they work perfectly for my meal portion. I weigh out 1.5oz of my meat, and a little over 1TBSP for my veggie (usually potato right now) and that container ends up being the perfect amount of food. It's still so small though, I feel self-conscious when people come into the kitchen with their full-size tupperware containers full of food, and I'm sitting there nursing that little bitty thing

I log everything in MyFitnessPal to see where I'm at, and I guess I was thinking of my 1oz numbers when I posted...going up to 1.5 has only happened over the past few days, when I realized I was comfortable doing it and not feeling too full. I am generally getting in the neighborhood of 25-30g of protein from my meals now, I think. So it's not terrible, but I really want to work up to the point where I'm getting 50% of my protein from actual food. The Protein powder is just so darned expensive...but I know it's gonna be a while before I'm to that point. Probably at least 6 months. Can't rush this process, it's coming along and so far, no vomiting...so that's a big win, to me

Edited October 18, 20169 yr by PorkChopExpress

Was Dr. Quilici from Burbank your surgeon? I'm scheduled for surgery with him on November 11th

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He was! He does a good job with the surgical part, not so good with the bedside manner...but all I cared about was a good, complication-free outcome and he certainly provided that. I followed his instructions to the letter, and I have had very little to complain about in my recovery. But he really herds them in on surgery day, you'll find that you end up going in to get prepped for surgery at around the same time as probably one or two other people. But it was kind of cool in my case, because the people I went in with were people I met in the pre-op nutrition class, and we all recovered together, crossing paths while walking and checking up on each other. It was good camaraderie.

Good luck! Just follow all of their instructions and you'll do great, I'm sure. His practice has a tremendous track record and very low complication rates. Technically mine goes into their complication record as a "conversion" but that was due to a screw-up by the surgeon who repaired my umbilical hernia, using the wrong type of mesh. My intestines grew into the scar tissue and mesh, making the Roux-en-y impossible. But the sleeve is working out just fine and in my further reading, and talking to some longtime gastric bypass patients, I feel like ultimately it may have been the best move anyway.

Was Dr. Quilici from Burbank your surgeon? I'm scheduled for surgery with him on November 11th


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Started on the elliptical yesterday after a couple weeks of treadmill. Wanted to wait until I didn't really feel any kind of soreness in my abdomen, before I got on the elliptical. I had been doing 30 minutes on the treadmill at a fairly decent clip, but man...I'd forgotten how much the elliptical works your quads! I only managed 20 minutes and my legs felt like noodles afterward.

Today, I went in there and banged out thirty minutes, no problem. Gotta love that...I was feeling good.

Packed shredded beef for lunch tonight (I work graveyards) and it worked out perfectly, no issues. I had been a little nervous about it, because I've read people talking about having trouble with beef after their surgery and first trying it, but chewing it as well as I do everything else, it gave me absolutely no trouble at all. I've been really happy with my recovery. I haven't experienced anything seriously negative so far (knocking on wood as I write this) and no vomiting. I feel a little "gnawing" in my stomach sometimes that reminds me of hunger, but I know it's the acid buildup in my stomach. The surgeon told me that would eventually resolve. I guess the stomach needs time to adjust, too.

Had a coworker laugh when he walked in on me in the kitchen eating my little bitty 1/2 cup container of food. He didn't mean to be rude (he knows I had surgery) and I know how comical I must look, 340 pound guy (or so, haven't weighed since my last doctor visit) sitting in front of that tiny little tupperware for twenty minutes, nibbling away at it. But hey, I'm doing great so far, so I don't mind

Edited October 20, 20169 yr by PorkChopExpress

Ended up taking a break from the gym today...I'm SORE. My body isn't used to all this MOVING business.

Heading into week 5 and that means I get to start on whole pieces of meat for Protein...no more need for mushy or shredded. This is the final week of restrictions, and then I am left to my own devices, to try things and see how they work out for me. So far, I haven't had anything give me trouble...but I haven't been very diverse about my selections, either! I guess we'll see.

The funny thing is, the freedom is a little daunting now. I'm not sure what to try. I know I'm only supposed to try one new thing at a time, to isolate which ones do and don't work out...but I also don't want to waste a bunch of food (and money). So I'll be getting stuff that can stay frozen, I guess. Trader Joe's has been a good source of protein options so far, I expect I will keep going back. Might try Whole Foods too. I find that I care much more right now about the quality of what I'm putting in than I ever did, before. It's a very positive development.

I went to a local Thai place and picked up an order of chicken satay today, now that I have finally graduated to "whole pieces of meat." It's one of my favorites. I chopped it up into small pieces, tossed it in the peanut sauce and then separated it out into 1.5oz servings with my little ziplock containers. What came with the satay was fried rice with shrimp in it, which I didn't realize (I should have just ordered it alone, but apparently they misunderstood and gave me the dinner order). First of all, looking at that giant portion of fried rice and then the 8 skewers of chicken, I found myself going, "This is a dinner...for how many frickin' people?" As it is, the chicken alone is going to last me three days. My how times have changed.

So I decided I'd eat the shrimp and the egg in the fried rice, which was good. Shrimp seems to be agreeable. I took a couple small bites of the rice, and realized that I wasn't very interested in it. Another change...because I really used to like fried rice! I just knew that it was only going to swell up in my stomach and rob me of space for "the good stuff."

It's weird how bread, Pasta and rice have all sort of fallen into this category of "pointless foods" to me, now. It's great, it feels like I'm adapting, but it's a strange feeling. Or being at the stores and knowing that in the checkout aisle pre-surgery, I'd have been tempted by a candy bar or something...and now I look at them and think, "What is the point of these things?" I'm surrounded now by stuff that makes me realize how much food = entertainment in our culture, now. Go to the movies and you HAVE to have treats, right? Candy and goodies, and wash it all down with a sugary soda or a slushie. But for what reason? It's not for fuel, it's not to feed your body...it's just to entertain yourself.

I'm realizing that I'm not just the product of my youth and low self-esteem, but I'm also a product of conditioning...social behaviors and marketing have helped create an environment where you will really struggle to succeed without help, as an obese person. Now that my eyes are wide open, I can see how we're doing all of this to ourselves in American society...the messaging and the culture are all creating an environment that encourages obesity. It's hard to fight against that machine.

Finally weighed myself during a visit with my family over the Halloween weekend...what a trip, seeing numbers on there I haven't seen in nearly a decade. I'm averaging five pounds lost per week right now. More shocking to me is that I'm down 60 pounds from my high weight when I started, and I've done that in two months. The best I've ever done on my own is around 55 pounds, over a period of about six months.

I'm now in week 6 and my program has given me free reign to try anything I want to try, of course avoiding sugar and excessive fat intake. Took my wife to a great new steakhouse and it was delicious. Weird to leave such a huge amount of food to be boxed...very weird. But I ate on that meat for three days! Not quite as good reheated, but still very good. Funny how I now feel like I'm getting a lot more value for my money, because it lasts so long