Gastric Sleeve Surgery--My Journey To a New Me! - Tijuana, Mexico

Hey guys, I'm now 9 months post op! Still doing really good! After about 9 months, your stomach is mostly healed from all the swelling. The first 3 months you can eat very little maybe one or two ounces of food. After about 6 months you can eat about 2-3 ounces of dense protein like meat or chicken but you can eat more soft foods like yogurt or cottage cheese (around 4-5 ounces of soft foods). Now that I'm about 9 months post op, I can eat about 2 ounces of protein that is dense and also some vegetables with it with no problem at this point. I can also eat about 4-6 ounces of softer foods like cottage cheese or yogurt. So yes, your capacity does increase as the swelling stops. My weight has been great. I'm still losing slowly at this point. The bulk of the weight loss occurred in the first 6 months. I am fine with losing slowly at this point because I'm SO CLOSE to GOAL! -) This surgery has been excellent for me and I really hope that it works out well for anyone who gets it. I find that this surgery is a great compromise for someone who doesn't want to get the lap band because it's a foreign object that probably won't last longer than 5 years and someone who doesn't want to get the gastric bypass because the vitamin and mineral deficiencies sound too extreme. I think the VSG is the perfect middle ground and that is why I chose it. I would do it all again! I will post again when I'm a year or so post op and let you know how I'm doing. And of course I'm thrilled with my jeans now too--getting into the single digit sizes now! That's a nice plus.

Well, in a day it will officially be my 5 months post op. I just want to let everyone know I'm doing well. I have lost a ton of weight. I am adjusting pretty well to life after surgery. I still have times where I eat a few bites too many or eat too fast and have what is called "foamies". It is when you've eaten a few bites too many or too fast and the body makes it come back up in sort of a spit. I know it sounds unpleasant, but it's not a big deal. It does NOT happen very often. It is when I am not paying attention and just accidentally eat a bit too much and miss that full feeling. Honestly, since surgery I've done really well with the post op rules. After sleeve surgery, you are supposed to eat protein first--never drink and eat at the same time--and chew slowly. I've done wonderfully on the protein first and not drinking and eating at the same time--but not at the chewing slowly. It looks like I'm going to be a really slow learner at that part. Thankfully, I usually stop eating when I feel satisfied. However, when eating too fast you don't always realize you've suddenly gotten full and then one bite too many means the foamies LOL. That is my issue.

The other issue I've had since surgery is reflux. I do have to take a PPI like Prilosec to keep the acid reflux at bay. It works wonderfully though. As long as I'm taking my PPI, I do not have any issues with reflux.

So those are the only issues I've had since surgery. Reflux and foamies. Reflux is in remission with Prilosec. Foamies are of my own doing because I sometimes eat too fast and that results in missing the full feeling. Slowing down on the chewing is my last sleeve obstacle to overcome.

Now for the BENEFITS!! The benefits are so huge! The benefits are like 99 times more than the two small issues I've had. I get satisfied/full on small amounts of food and I am able to tolerate anything. I choose to eat healthy proteins first and save a bit of room for complex carbs or veggies. Occasionally I will have a treat like low fat no sugar added frozen yogurt/dark chocolate/ wheat thins. Nothing has give me issues except eggs when i was first sleeved. Since about 2 months after surgery, I've been able to eat scrambled eggs with no problem at all.

The weight loss is phenomenal. Those first 3 months the weight flew off. I have still continued to lose around 8-9 lbs a month the last 2 months. I will probably continue to lose between 6-8 lbs a month for the rest of the time until I'm at goal. That seems to be about the average. I only wanted to lose 75-80 so it looks like I will hit goal within the next few months and may even go a bit below goal. My main goal is to have a normal BMI. I don't want to be super skinny. Just healthier and not overweight anymore.

My diabetes is doing much better. The high protein diet of the sleeve is a life saver. It is so much more tolerable to do it with the sleeve. Hunger is tolerable after the sleeve as well. It removes the part of the stomach that produces grehlin (the hunger hormone). Grehlin is still produced in other parts of the body. Some people who have sleeve report zero hunger. I do still have some hunger and I'm okay with that. It is WAY better than before surgery. I remember feeling hungry way more intensely before surgery.

This surgery has been one of the greatest things I could have ever done. I am so pleased with everything. Food does not control me anymore. I'm learning to control it and develop a healthier relationship. I'm not perfect. No one is. It's not humanly possible. But it's so much easier to make far healthier choices and I'm so grateful for that. I am so happy I had the sleeve and I'm so grateful for all of the wonderful health changes I've had. I would recommend anyone get the sleeve surgery if you have a weight problem that has gone on for years and years with little success. I used to yo yo diet a lot. The problem? The weight would always come right back. This surgery will definitely exponentially increase the chance that once I lose the weight I will keep it off this time! I have such a great tool to help me out.

I will update again later on this year to keep everyone in the loop. Hopefully I will update again at 8 months post op and then for sure I will update at a year post op! I hope to reach my goal at least by a year post op,,IF NOT SOONER :-) I have done so much better than I ever thought possible. I never thought that anything would work for me. I was so skeptical when I got this surgery...but I was so HOPEFUL this would really help. I'm so pleasantly surprised that it has!

So now I'm 3 weeks post op. I am feeling back to normal except for the fact I have a tiny stomach. I went out to eat for the first time today and was able to eat sweet potato fries (only was able to consume 2-3 of them) and some bits of lump crab meat tilapia from outback. It's recommended to eat soft foods for the first 4-6 weeks. I was full off of that small amount of food! It's amazing. When you go from a 60 ounce stomach to a 3-4 ounce stomach you can definitely feel the difference. If you are a binge eater or boredom eater, this is a great help! Even if you are an emotional eater, it may not be a cure-all, but it can help you restrict yourself. There is a psychological aspect to overeating, emotional eating, and etc. Obviously food is a coping mechanism to many overweight people. This definitely helps eliminate that uncomfortable hunger and cravings.

I have lost a bit of weight so far and my pants already baggy. I will keep reporting back and let everyone know how my weight loss goes and if it was worth it or not. So far, it's looking that way.