Well my procedure date is Tuesday, really looking forward to it! I have done all the prep, on liquid diet now, have all the meds and protein drinks for after. Thanks to all who have been willing to share their experience. Your openness about the procedure, what is needed to be successful afterwards and lack of complications played a big part in my deciding to proceed. I am looking to lose about 90 pounds and get back to a weight I haven't seen since college. My wife is supportive and that's such a blessing, thank you god, she's more than I deserve!

My procedure will occur in Houston at Memorial Hermann Surgical Center, if anyone wants more info about Dr. Todd Wilson or the procedure/process, just let me know I would be glad to share and help others.

Special thanks to AlCzervik, JimL, Belle3 and AmyAlexis for your open sharing and frankness!!

Regards, Tex

Glad you’re doin so we’ll Tex! It’s all downhill from here. Gets better every day.

Hey Bubbles, thanks for your note and expression of care! I continue to feel stronger this morning, not feeling "hungry" even though the last solid food for me was Saturday dinner. Small sips of clear liquids is definitely making a difference in the amount and intensity of gas pains going down. They are very minor now, less than 30 seconds and more of an ache than a sharp pain. Thanks to ESG forum members, I knew this would come and just treat it as normal and walk it out.

I still am taking a couple of anti-nausea meds and they are working, plan to take those pills until they run out in the next day or so. I cooked the bacon for our family Thanksgiving breakfast, it smelled wonderful, didn't have a bite or any desire to nibble.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Also thanks to Amy for your support!

I will make note of the small sips of water helping with gas pains. Thank goodness for the anti-nausea meds!

The thought of cooking bacon and not devouring is dreamy. Feeling hope through your posts.

Day 4 and I feel like I'm fully back to normal, all my meds will finish today as well (just anti-nausea left). I started liquid protein this morning, using Premier Protein Chocolate flavor from Sam's club. Still staying with 1-2 ounces in sips and then wait 15 minutes. My diet has me on liquid protein for 2 weeks and I will alternate protein drink the first 30 minutes of the hour and water the 2nd 30 minutes of the hour.

I plan to do some walking with my wife this afternoon to start back towards a routine exercise regime.

One other tip my Dr. provided that I was grateful for, he suggested that the first few days it is easier for your stomach to adjust if you remain upright rather than laying down. He explained gas accumulation was less in the vertical positions than when laying horizontally.

This included sleeping sitting up through the night. I set up camp on a couch or recliner for the first two nights and it worked well for me. I was up to walk around 1-2x in the night to relieve gas pain, it took less than a minute of walking each time to feel normal again. Last night was the first night back in bed and I used a couple of extra pillows to sleep at an angle. No gas pain last night! That was awesome!!

AmyAlexis, you said it right, getting better each day! Thanks to all for the support.

Wonderful! Thanks for the advice about sleeping upright and walking for gas pain. So you are only having water and protein shakes for 2 weeks? How is your hunger? Did the procedure take away your hunger so that you find it fairly easy to only have those liquids now? Continued success Tex, you are well on your way to a new you! How exciting for you!!

You're rockin it Tex! So glad you are back to feeling well!

Hey hope4momof4 the hunger question was the biggest thing that I couldn't make sense of either before I had my ESG procedure. So I'm still in the first week (day 5) but I really have not been "hungry". I realize how strange this sounds when sitting through Thanksgiving dinner and a big family breakfast like this morning. I read about this same lack of hunger post ESG procedure in a number of posts, like AlCzervik, Belle3endosleeve, AmyAlexis and others and struggled to understand how that could be.

Here's my best guess as to why, I think it's a combination of physical and motivational reasons. The physical reason is that my smaller stomach is still adjusting to the ESG sutures and if I do drink something too quickly I can feel the gas pains I mentioned. This physical response is giving me feedback to slow down when I drink (and eventually eat), frankly this is a signal I needed as I was always the first one to finish a meal in our family (even if I ate the largest portion).

The motivational reason is having yo-yo dieted so many times before and done the research about the effectiveness of bariatric procedures and spent the $$ for ESG I am determined to make this time successful in becoming the healthier me that I have missed for the last 20+years. At this early point after my procedure I know that liquid calories, unhealthy food choices or grazing are not taking me to a place that I want to be and I do feel my willpower has been reinforced by completing the ESG procedure. It's a different level of commitment that I feel to getting my weight and body shape to a healthier place for the rest of my life.

So yes, I don't feel it has been hard to stick to the liquid diet, supportive family definitely helping as well!! I know it's a prolonged explanation, actually I found it really useful to share my thoughts, so thanks for asking!!

I took some upper body photos (where I am carrying most of my weight) and can use these for visual reinforcement when needed (not yet).

Thanks too to AmyAlexis, for your support, hope all continues to go well for you!

I’m at 2.5 weeks in and just added soft foods. Turkey burger. Cottage cheese. Had a scrambled egg this morning.

Gotta say, hunger remains at bay. I agree some must be psychological. I’m down 16lbs from this start of this journey so I am thrilled.

Thought I would really miss carbonated drinks but this is helping me kick my Diet Coke habit

Hardest thing for me is not drinking anything at a meal and getting enough calories in.

Good for you! So happy that you’ve had smooth sailing so far. 16 pounds is an amazing feat! You’re well on your way. Keep up the great work!????

6 hours ago, Tex Slim 66 said:

Hey hope4momof4 the hunger question was the biggest thing that I couldn't make sense of either before I had my ESG procedure. So I'm still in the first week (day 5) but I really have not been "hungry". I realize how strange this sounds when sitting through Thanksgiving dinner and a big family Breakfast like this morning. I read about this same lack of hunger post ESG procedure in a number of posts, like AlCzervik, Belle3endosleeve, AmyAlexis and others and struggled to understand how that could be.

Here's my best guess as to why, I think it's a combination of physical and motivational reasons. The physical reason is that my smaller stomach is still adjusting to the ESG sutures and if I do drink something too quickly I can feel the gas pains I mentioned. This physical response is giving me feedback to slow down when I drink (and eventually eat), frankly this is a signal I needed as I was always the first one to finish a meal in our family (even if I ate the largest portion).

The motivational reason is having yo-yo dieted so many times before and done the research about the effectiveness of bariatric procedures and spent the $$ for ESG I am determined to make this time successful in becoming the healthier me that I have missed for the last 20+years. At this early point after my procedure I know that liquid calories, unhealthy food choices or grazing are not taking me to a place that I want to be and I do feel my willpower has been reinforced by completing the ESG procedure. It's a different level of commitment that I feel to getting my weight and body shape to a healthier place for the rest of my life.

So yes, I don't feel it has been hard to stick to the liquid diet, supportive family definitely helping as well!! I know it's a prolonged explanation, actually I found it really useful to share my thoughts, so thanks for asking!!

I took some upper body photos (where I am carrying most of my weight) and can use these for visual reinforcement when needed (not yet).

Thanks too to AmyAlexis, for your support, hope all continues to go well for you!

Please don’t ever apologize for a long post. The information you provide in your posts is so valuable to those of us who are preop. Just remember how much you valued the info you read from those who had the procedure before you and posted about their experiences. Thanks again and please continue to post what you call “prolonged explanations” but to those who are scared and wondering about the unknown your posts are priceless.

Some great information shared here. So valuable for the many readers wondering about the days and weeks after having the esg. Great to hear how well you are going Tex Slim 66 and AmyAlexis, sounds like you are both doing so well.

I am now well over 3 months post esg procedure and can also add that the hunger I feel now is far less intense than before esg. Head hunger still tells me to eat but when I actually think about it - I'm really not hungry very often. It's far easier to eat less and I would have to say that I am less interested in food.... and I really loved food [emoji5]. I feel like a food switch has been flicked off in my brain and I am really satisfied with smaller portions or substitutes. I took my kids to the movies yesterday and got myself a small Diet Coke as a treat. It's was magnificent. Couldn't have cared less about the bucket of popcorn the kids demolished, my drink was awesome.

What I love about my esg is that I can still eat anything I want, I just don't to want to eat as a much or as often. It's taken me a couple of months to get my head around what I can and can't eat due to a lifetime of dieting. Portion sizes are very important now but really nothing is off my menu. I seem to look for healthier foods now, I am in love with grapes and apples and have lost my sweet tooth for candy and chocolate.

My weight loss has really taken off again and I have lost a kg per week for the last 2 weeks. Remember to eat enough once you have recovered to keep your metabolism ticking along and the nutrients up to feel like exercising. My dietician has been crucial in helping me change my mind set about seeing some foods as bad and snacking as a barrier to weight loss. She tells me that carbs are not bad but how healthy some are and said that snacking to her means an opportunity to get some more nutrients in. I now have an apple, almonds and a square of dark chocolate most afternoons as my only daily snack and it's delicious.

I wish you all continued success. I am nearly half way to my goal weight after just 3 months. So grateful for the opportunity to have this procedure and change my life for the better.

And hope4momof4 - thank you for being such a encourager to all on this forum. You are a blessing to us all and it's heartwarming to see how much you want everyone to do well. Good luck with your progress in finding a surgeon who you feel is the "one" to provide your weight loss solution xo

Awww! Mel you’ve been a gift to this forum. ? You have given us solid ground to move forward into a territory that is now much less unknown. I don’t really think I would have had the courage to move forward with this had it not been for the encouragement and priceless info you as well as Tex Sleeves m, AmyAlexis, and belle have given me. It’s scary trying to do this almost alone (I have introduced the idea to my husband) and you can’t know how wonderful it is to have this forum. For people like me who choose to be very private it is and will remain my lifeline. Tomorrow is important as I will call to make an appointment for my consultation. As I understand it, as I have spoken to that doctor’s office a few times, if I am approved I will have my esg date at my consultation. Excitement is starting to build now. Of course I’ll keep everyone posted as I am depending on all of the brave pioneers, Melesg, Tex Slim, and AmyAlexis to do the same please.

Melesg, great post! Your thoughts and approach to life post ESG are remarkably similar to mine, it is very comforting to see the progress you have made in the last 3 months! Incredible to be half way there in 3 months.

So happy for you that you are past the stall. Agree with hope4momof4, your posts have been very valuable to me in my decision making and have provided me a clearer understanding of what life is like after the ESG procedure, thanks so much for that!!

Good luck tomorrow hope4momof4 with your your call and decision about how to proceed!! We're rooting for you!

1 hour ago, Tex Slim 66 said:

Melesg, great post! Your thoughts and approach to life post ESG are remarkably similar to mine, it is very comforting to see the progress you have made in the last 3 months! Incredible to be half way there in 3 months.

So happy for you that you are past the stall. Agree with hope4momof4, your posts have been very valuable to me in my decision making and have provided me a clearer understanding of what life is like after the ESG procedure, thanks so much for that!!

Good luck tomorrow hope4momof4 with your your call and decision about how to proceed!! We're rooting for you!

Thank you Tex Slim. You guys have all been my strength. I’ll keep thinking of you all as I proceed!!

Melesg, great post! Your thoughts and approach to life post ESG are remarkably similar to mine, it is very comforting to see the progress you have made in the last 3 months! Incredible to be half way there in 3 months.
So happy for you that you are past the stall. Agree with hope4momof4, your posts have been very valuable to me in my decision making and have provided me a clearer understanding of what life is like after the ESG procedure, thanks so much for that!!
Good luck tomorrow hope4momof4 with your your call and decision about how to proceed!! We're rooting for you!

Thanks Tex Slim 66. I'm glad we all have each other to talk to about our experiences. It feels somewhat like uncharted territory and it could be quite an isolating experience having an esg due to the recency of the procedure. I imagine it will be sometime before we cross paths in our daily lives with someone else who has had an esg.

I think that's why this community is so important to us all.

I hope you are still recovering well?

Mel