Weight at surgery: 197

Present weight: 161VGS Surgical Date: 12/20/10

Today's Date: 1/31/11

It's been about 40 days since my VGS surgery and wow, it's been a wild ride. The flight to Tijuana went without a hitch, the surgery went well, however, i experienced a short burst of excruciating pain post-op but drugs became available and I rested for a few days at the guest house before flying home. My surgical roommate & I were wiped out, didn't feel much like shopping but enjoyed each other's company; she made me laugh until it hurt! She and I have been in contact at least every week to check on each other's well-being and share stories of what's agreeing with our bellies and what does not. I wouldn't have been able to get through it without her.

Stages

The liquid stage wasn't too bad because I wasn't hungry and off work for several days to just lay around & recuperate. The mushy stage was a little annoying because I really wanted to eat and I've never experienced such "deprivation" with regards to eating whatever I wanted. It's the period you think you can eat anything but 5 minutes later are in the bathroom regretting it. It was a major adjustment but a very quick one. Realizing that 1/4 cup was a lot of food to take in seemed unrealistic and I paid the price. I'm now on a basic diet but my sleeve must be so super small, it's practically invisible. I can eat very little. 2 or 3 small bites of anything can max me out. I almost think I ate more a few weeks ago than today but oh well, I'm going with what feels right.

In just 40 days, I've managed to lose 36lbs!!!! It's incredible. I never told anyone what I was having done, so my co-workers are becoming suspicious why I'm hardly eating; I'm sure more have noticed the weight loss but are not saying anything. A few folks have noticed the weight loss and have been very vocal that they noticed right away. I have avoided buying new clothes because it would be a dead giveaway if they could see the change but will need to soon as my pants are so lose at the waist, it looks like one of those ridiculous TV commercials where the person is pulling at their waist and could have a second person fit in the pants with them. For now, I'm on the down low about it.

If I could change anything, it would be to have the ability to eat anything and not worry if it will get "stuck" going down. It can be a little scary to realize I didn't eat slow enough and it may either come back up or take hours to go down. The first day I had a small wedge of a flour tortilla, I thought I would die. Bread does not work for me anymore. Period.