Had the sleeve surgery almost a month ago, had my ups and downs for sure! I am approaching week 4 and for the last two weeks I have stayed the same weight...help I am frustrated and thinking maybe this was a mistake...not that I can go back but only loosing 20 lbs was not my goal... I eat every 2 hrs a snack or a meal, I do feel hungry is anyone experiencing these same issues? Dr Billing office and staff are wonderful and so helpful and supportive if you are considering this surgery this is the place to go! Updated on 8 Dec 2015: I decided after 18 years of being overweight and yo-yo dieting to have sleeve surgery. I have two friends that have had it and been successful. The only thing I was nervous about was being on liquid for so long...would I be in a fetal position crying for food? Surgery day came and went along with a hernia repair. I did not experience any incision pain until about week 2 then my largest incision starting burning, which I was told was part of the healing process. I did experience severe shoulder pain which was from my hernia repair and being in bed/sitting so much. I had to see the doctor a few days early as I was really weak and not doing well with the shoulder pain. Was told I needed to drink more, like it or not. Finally by the weekend (my surgery was on a Monday) I was feeling a bit better. It took me over 2 weeks to get some energy back and start getting around and back to my part time job. Still struggle with getting the volume of liquid in they want but day by day it gets better and better. Constipation has set in, caused my large incision to hurt again, need to be on myrolax now...lesson learned! I began this journey at 220 5'6" day of surgery I was 213 today I am 192 and have been for about two weeks so I am very discouraged with being stalled in my weight loss. Did I do all this for 20 pounds? Updated on 8 Dec 2015:
My story sounds a lot like so many others. I have been reading blogs, watching You Tube videos and researching the medical side of VSG for about 15 months now. I had my first consultation in Feb 2015. Because of work commitments through the spring/summer months; I opted to participate in a medically managed weight loss program for a few months. I quickly learned alot. 1. I am allergic to whey - this has made finding a suitable protien shake a real challenge. 2. I self medicate with food far more then I ever realized. 3. I seriously lack self discipline! These three things have me really worried about having the surgery. I have to start a low carb (less then 40gms/day) tomorrow. I've been playing around with it for about a week. But I always end up giving in to my cravings. I I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who can relate to these issues and my fears about how this impact my post-op success. I have been going to counseling for many months which has revealed alot about myself and I have developed healthier habits in many other areas. The finality of the surgery scares me and I am afraid I won't be healthy if my bahavior and compliance with what I need to do isn't better then it currently is. Typing this for all to read - it sounds so lame! But, knkwing and desiring to do what needs to be done doesn't always relate to doing it. Any thoughts or feedback is appreciated. Updated on 21 Oct 2015: I had pre-op visit yesterday and my surgery has been moved to 11/16. Need to get my B12 level up and a business trip planned for one week post-op was not acceptable to the MD. Can't lift more then 5-10# for 4-6 weeks. I was disappointed but better safe then sorry! Updated on 11 Nov 2015: Well, I am 5 days away from surgery date. I don't feel as nervous as I thought I would be at this point. I've been taking my vitamins just like I'm supposed to be to get my VitD and B12 up. I think I have the protein drink issues resolved now. Getting through the holiday meals and events without telling anyone about my surgery and still transitioning through the diet plan toward regular meals scares me a little. I haven't stuck to my low carb diet very well either. I hope I haven't put myself in danger by not shrinking my liver enough.... Thoughts? Updated on 16 Nov 2015: i had my surgery today!! I found other posts on surgery day extremely helpful so I am going to write a summary of the Day. Maybe it will provide support to someone else. You know, just giving back! ???? We checked in just before 10am. By 11am I was in a pre-op room in the surgery grown all tucked in under a warm blanket. Shortly after, the anesthesiologist (Dr Williams) came in to talk to me. Because of a prior event during a different surgery and a genetic enzyme condition, I had sent records to them ahead of time for review. I had also had a phone consult. I will attest to the confidence I have in this group! They were both so caring, compassionate and educated on everything I was dealing with. Then Dr Billing came in and we reviewed Step by step what would happen in the OR. I consented to a hiatal hernia repair if he found. Next, the OR nurse came in and repeated a lot of the conversations. They to me ahead of time this would be done. I was not at all bothered by it. In fact, I found it reassuring that there process called for everyone to Gather infostion and confirm it. Better safe then sorry! So next they wheeled me into the OR and things started happening just like they said it would. Except - as the mask was lowered toward my face - panicked set on and went from 0 to 80!! All the self doubt, questions and fear about surgery and living with a sleeve surfaced in that moment! I said, whoa - panick strikes!! Again, these wonderful people JPEG into action. One offering the oxygen via a tube instead of mask, someone holding my hand and strokingy Palm, telling me everything was ok. Dr Williams offering to get something started quickly to end my sudden anxiety. The room went dark and the next thing I remember, they were helping up to walk to my post op room. Whew! I did it! Updated on 17 Nov 2015: My post surgery saga continues. I've been in post op now for about 14 hours. I had stay over night because of sleep apnea and the use of a CPAP machine. There are three of us here overnight. all sleeves and all using CPAP. The staff have been fabulous. Yes, you get awakened every few hours, but it's great. Fresh drinks, ice chips, a stroll, trip to the bathroom and pain meds. Vitals checked and back to sleep!! As for thrist - OMG' despite the liters of IV hydration, I am so thirsty. They have kept a steady supply of ice chips, water and crystal light. I think it's the oxy that's making me so thirsty. As for pain, it's minimal. Mostly the incision sites. My oxygen level and tendency to stop breathing are a bit of concern. They have me a nenulized medication treatment and that has brought it back up. I'm also now having to use a spirometer to move air in and out of my lower lungs. So that's about it.?my daughter got here and we left at about 5:30am. I'll check in later! Updated on 20 Nov 2015: this day 4 after my surgery. I am feeling pretty good as far as pain goes. Very little pain, mostly just the incision sites. I was told to consume at least 30 oz of fluids per day. I did good on day 2 at 48oz, day 3 was only 33oz and I'm off to a good start for day 4. I didn't feel well yesterday. I started having some back pain between my shoulder blades and anxiety. I took Xanax and got up and moved around more. That seemed to help. I think I've been laying/sitting around too much. Today I will call the MD office just to check in. It's Friday and my post op visit isn't until Monday afternoon. I'm not hungry at all. Cream of chicken soup and Gatorade have been tasting real good. I also got Pedialyte Popsicles and they are good too. So far I have no regrets! Updated on 21 Nov 2015: yedterday was hard. I felt lousy, like I really needed food. My energy level was low and I felt light headed. So I decided to add some protein powder to some stage 1 baby food (bananas) and thinned it with soy milk. It was GROSS - but I ate it all. Haha. And for the first time since my surgery I slept really good and felt satisfied. Today is the 7th day on liquids (including the clear liquid pre-op day). I really just want to chew something. And take a big drink or cold water. Of all the things I miss most, drinking clear cold water when I brushy teeth! Lol I typed "vsg day 6" in the Google bar and EVERYTHING that came up had to do with people either eating something solid, being near a breaking point and/or seeking support for both! So I'm not alone. I know this too shall pass. I'm just needing to vent. My daughter is super supportive but I refuse to verbalize too much to her on the negative or challenging stuff. Not because she wouldn't understand or want to support me, but because I chose this and I just don't want her to have to hold me up through all the little stuff. So, I'm venting here instead. Thanks to anyone taking time reading this and all comments/suggestions welcome. Updated on 25 Nov 2015: I had my post-op visit yesterday. Everything looks good. I am apparently right on target. I had one concern that the MD told me was ' very common' and 'not to be concerned' about. I'll share it here in case it happens to anyone else, maybe it will help. On night 6 - i woke up at 2am from a sound sleep with theost excruciating hot stabbing pain in my stomach. It scared me, no it terrified me. I've had almost no pain - only took pain meds for two days. After a few minutes of debating to call the office or 911, I managed to calmyself down. I took a Pepcid and lagged a few inured it started to ease up. I have an irrational fear of a staple line leak, and of course everything is worse in the middle of the night. But after a short time it started to subside so I rationalized that if the Pepcid was helping them it wasn't a leak. After reviewing with my surgeon my activities and intake throughout the day, he pretty much concluded that it was "bubbles" (gas). I hade consumed two new things that day, a puréed potato soup that was seasoned with onion, bacon and cheese and a cup of McDonalds hit chocolate. Either of those could have created painful gas. So... I will be much more careful about introducing new things and make sure I stay away from high fat goods and anything not sugar free. I'm feeling really good, physically and emotionally! I am so grateful that I have come this far through the grace of God. Updated on 29 Nov 2015: oh my gosh! I was really concerned about spending Thanksgiving with my entire family who are not aware oft surgery. Our family Thznksgiving is pretty typical - lots of fun, laughter and food at the center of it all. I had posted on the site my concerns and got some real good advice from longsleeved. So I took her advice, basically just commented several ted that I had 'snacked too much' the night before during my food prep and that my stomach was feeling a 'little off'. That seemed to appease any inquiring minds about why I wasn't eating asuch as usual. I did eat though. I am still in the purée stage so I was very careful to really mush EvERYTHING I put into mouth and added gravy. It was a little tricky, but there was so much conversation and activity around the table, it was fine. The amazing thing is that I had no hunger! No yearning to eat and no anger that I couldn't eat! I am in awe of that fact. Usually I way over eat, feel miserable and have a huge helping of self loathing afterward. This year - none of that! A few well chosen bites that tasted soooo good and all the fun of the day. Very cool! I hope everyone had a great day! Updated on 10 Dec 2015: I am almost oneo th out, down 15lbs and feeling good most all of the time. I have had a lot of heartburn the past two weeks. I can't take PPI mess so just using Pepcid and Tums. I think maybe part of the problem is that I'm not getting it not recognizing signals of when I've put enough into my stomach. I realized that last night so today I am going to extra careful and very mindful of how I feel after each bite. One of the many reasons I decided to have this surgery is to not be so food/hunger/weight focused. I'm sure it's just because I'm still so close to my surgery dare that it seems like I'm spending more time and energy now then I ever did focused on these things. It's driving me nuts today! I'm really sick of it all! Counting ounces of water, remembering to drink protein shakes, etc-etc! And honestly, why do protein drinks have to taste so bad? Whey is the only protein available in a form that adds no texture, taste etc and those of allergic are left to the horrid experiences of soy, hemp and pea powder. Pea Powder? Really? Have you tasted that stuff or Hemp? Any way, I'm venting and being grumbly, sorry. Thank goodness I have a counseling appointment this afternoon. It is out of character for me to be this annoyed. The good news is, that I know it's temporary and soon I will be back to my usual self. For now, I will take a long walk with my dog in the rain and shake this bummer mood. Till later... Have a great day! Updated on 16 Dec 2015: had my one month post op visit this week (I'm in week 5 with my sleeve). I am doing really good. Total loss 25 lbs - that includes pre-surgery loss. Met with the psych and fitness guys. Got some very simple strengthening exercises for the upper arms. I really want to minimize the arm flapping if I can! I'm getting used to eating mushy foods and technically can move on to my 'regular' diet now. But I've having a little trouble with what I describe as spasms in my throat when I eat solid foods. Dr. said that should subside in the coming weeks. It can happen I guess when food gets hung up in the esophagus. It's a little bothersome, but nothing to get too worked up about I guess. All in all, I have no regrets and am feeling really good!
