atPeace55

Congratulations!!! It's a wonderful feeling enjoy the moment!

I was notified by Alex Brecher that I have been registered with VST for two years now - doesn't seem like it has been that long and I was encouraged to share my story again so I thought that I would re-post my story. I hope you can relate and it brings some encouragement to others that in life you can make changes. I'm a Californian for life! - Wife of 7 yrs to a wonderful husband who I love very much, mother of a 11 yr son, 21 yr old daughter and 19 yr old son , god mother to my 20 yr old god daughter , older sister to 5 brothers and daughter and granddaughter to my mom and father grandmother whom I love and respect and thankful for them loving and teaching me . I enjoy making people life, people say that I'm ALWAYS smiling and I love to swim, play volleyball and aspire to be able to run a marathon. I started my research journey about weight loss surgery in May of 2009. After 10 yrs of failed attempts at losing weight on my own. My story is probably pretty common, I was never a fat or big kid, teenager or young adult always weighed within normal or above normal range and could eat anything and everything I wanted and never really exercised accept when I had too. Always busy and on the go enjoying life, friends and family I guess that kept me thin. But something happened to me when I hit my mid 20's and I started slowing my life(style) down - I started slowly picking up weight that I was unable to drop or loose easly anymore, to top it off by age 28 I became pregnant with my son( love him). I had a difficult pregnancy near the end of my first trimester I was diagnosed with Preclampsia and eventually it affected my weight, blood pressure, and if not monitored could shut down my major organs and death! During my pregnancy I gained 75 lbs which was crazy! 27 weeks into my pregnancy I had to be admitted into the hospital because my Protein levels were too high and I had to be monitored and blood drown 24/7. I gave birth to my son via C-Section at 31 wks so he was a Premie and weigh 3.06 lbs at birth! He (Kalani) was born not breathing and had to stay in the Neonatal unit for 5weeks before they let him come home with me. Initially I dropped the weight with breast feeding, however with dealing with a Premie and being a new mom I think put alot of stress on me so I sought comfort in food most of the time. I had to deal with him being so small and being susceptable to getting sick alot because he was born with under developed lungs - me putting my child in regular daycare was not an option! I eventually went back to work and my grandmother my son's great grandmother took care of him for the first 4 years of his life. She was my daycare provider and I will Always love her for that! During the first 5 yrs of his life I felt like I was always at the Dr. office or in urgent care with him being sick! So, I definitely forgot about me and it became all about him and the only thing I could think of doing in my spare time was eat or going out to eat or snacking on sweets or making sweets and eating big portions of food. I just kept getting bigger and bigger each year. Blaming my clothes not fitting on "Cheap materials!" LMBO SMH To try and get my life back I joined a gym (still a member - not using regularly yet), I tried every diet that was on TV or a friend told me about or the latest and greatest fad diet. from Atkins, Southbeach, Weight Watchers 3X, Lemonade Diet, Cabbage Soup Diet, Vitamin B12 shots, Appetite Suppressants, 7 Day Diet, Detox (Fasting), not to mention how much money I spent on Excercise Vids, DVD's! Sheeeeeesh! But, I did loose weight sometimes anywhere from 20-50lbs but I would always seem to gain it back plus some. So in 2009 I was fed up I had to do something different!!! - I had heard about the Gastric Bypass which was the most common so I did a little research but not much and had a talk with my PCP and he thought it would be a good idea so he started my paperwork and at the time I was with an *** so the requirements were I had to have 6months of weigh ins and some other things so I started in excited however once I started reasearching the R N Y and asking people that I had met and watching YouTube vids I started thinking, "I don't think this is for me I wasn't liking the "Malabsorbtion" and "Restriction" together I didn't think it was for me despite all the positive feedback. I made it to the Surgeon for a Pre Op and decided that I didn't want to go through with it. I knew based on research and talks on obesity.org and on Youtube and speaking with the surgeon that the LapBand was a waist of time (in my opinion) I saw and read about alot of folks getting revisions and switched to the sleeve or the R N Y. But then I started researching the sleeve and flet that this surgery was more along the lines of what I was looking for and since I didn't have CoMorb's like diabetes or cholesterol, etc. and it wasn't Restrictive so I thought Great! Eureka! I've found it. However, my *** at the time did not cover it and I tried to get an exception based on me having a bad back and having to take NSAIDS often for pain and the R N Y did not recommend taking those becasue it could cause issues with the R N Y. But, no go they declined me - so I stopped pursuing and thought well maybe this is not my journey and I should just keep trying to diet and exercise maybe one day I will eventually loose this weight and left it alone for about 5 months. In 2009 my husbands company was bought out by another company and when we had to re-enrolled for benefits the new company had different plans - PPO & *** options so I called each one and asked if they approved Bariactric Surgeries (some don't believe it or not) and if yes, did they offer approvals for VSG and one did - so I felt well Lord maybe this is still a journey I can take! So, I had to go through couple of their guidelines but most of my previous paperwork was still good so I didn't have to re-do anything (GOD is Good) and now hear I am almost two years later and a with a VSG surgery date for next month! Can't say it was easy but I'm so glad i'm here and I had a loving and supportive family! I still continue to read and ask questions to get my mind ready for the change but I'm so excited and ready to begin a new way of life!!! ***And now I'm living my new life i'm 21 months post-op and down 136 lbs never felt better and glad I began my new life and journey!***

My short term goals were simple I just wanted to be able to get up and walk around first the next was to stick with the diet that was placed in front of me (i.e. following each phase correctly). Long term goal was and still is to stay active and maintain my weight loss. How I do that is buy committing to cardio 3X per week and strength training 2X per week and be mindful of what I put in my mouth.

Congratulations on recieving your revision date! I wish you much success! For most folks it's usually a overnight stay and as long as you are able to get up and work around and their no major complications they release you with pain meds and instructions with regards to the first phase of eating which is Clear Liquids and definitly should continue to walk because those gas pains can be a pain. I don't know your level of pain but normally people take a week or two off just to get back to normal I don't know if you will be able to be back at work the next day, put I don't know how you handle pain. I hope all goes well and keep us posted.

Thank you so much for the compliment!! You guys are truly making me blush! :wub:

Congratulations!! I wish you much success!! You will be able too you will be amazed at what your body can do when you loose your first 25-50lbs!

No plastic surgery! Just working out my arms are from doing push up - NEVER thought I would be able to do one! LOL (My Kryptonite) but I do daily challenges with my FB friends and i'm up to 25 push ups per day, 100 sit ups per day, 2 minute planks per day and I do free weights and cardio classes 3X per week.

Aww! Thank you - that was the best compliment ever!!! Don't worry you will and even hotter pic!

Ditto above very normal we all have been there just walk and take pain meds - you have a lot of air from them blowing up your stomach to the size of a watermelon during surgery now that gas needs to come out. Keep us posted and take care of yourself.

Is that pain medication or Vitamins?

Everyone is different some are able to start back working in a couple of weeks, it also depends on the type of job you have are you moving around alot or a desk job. Generally it's anywhere from 2-6 weeks being the average max. I have a desk job but I had complications arise the day of my post-op appt. to return to work and I ended up having to stay out for 6 weeks.

I believe I was 3 months post-op at a 4th July party and I had a couple of sips of wine and took a sip of cognac! I could had my liquor prior to surgery but not anymore! My eyes got very low very quickly! LOL It depends on the person they don't recommend it but....

It's more of a test to see how your mental is more than anything. I was asked the same question but I stated my goal was to be healthy and to live a more active life than what I'm capable of doing now. I had done my research and understood there are some unsuccessful stories out there. Once she saw that I was knowledgable of what I was getting into she signed off with no problem wasn't even there for an hour. They know that you want to loose weight it's more of a question to make you think and look beyond the obvious which is weight loss. Don't take it personal their job is to make sure that you are mentally aware of what you are getting yourself into and the possiblity of failure (how will you respond to it). So many folks go in not researching the surgery and understanding the good and the bad and sometimes the ugly and think this is the end all/fix all and not what it is which is a tool (not a guarantee) but there are lots of us on here that have experienced and are still experiencing success! This is 90% mental and they are there to evaluate your mental. I hope I explained in a way that makes sense.

Being to walk upstairs without loosing your breath and hearing your knees crack in pain. Having your husband or significant other pick you up and carry you. Shop at a regular store and pay reasonable prices. Sit on the toliet and not cover the whole seat! (My personal Fav)! CTHU

Welcome and congratulations on receiving your surgery date! I wish you a safe and healthy recovery.

I found this information and I thought it was good to post it's something that some of the long term sleevers have concerns about even some of the newbies have concerns about what if: Weight regain after bariatric surgery can be an uncomfortable subject and one that both surgeons and patients want to avoid talking about, but can’t. To be sure, weight regain happens – the real question revolves around the cause. We understand that the choice to have weight loss surgery was a big one and the return of weight (in any amount) is disappointing. But understanding the way our bodies work and what may be behind the weight regain can help us address the issue more effectively. First and foremost, don’t get down on yourself. In all likelihood, your surgery did work and you are doing the right things, but our bodies change. As our bodies change, so too do our needs. Natural Regain: Some weight regain after bariatric surgery and especially gastric bypass is normal. If you regain 5-10% of your excess body weight after a few years of losing consistently, don’t fret. Speak to your surgeon, but it is likely no problem at all. Diet modification: Many of us tend to overdo it in our diets. It is tempting to over-diet, but the results can be counterproductive. Crash diets can even cause us to retain more fat than a diet of moderation. Be sure that you follow your diet plan closely and work with your dietician to ensure the very best results. Exercise habits: As with diets above, there is a fine line between good and bad exercise. Understanding the exercises to which your body responds and working with an exercise physiologist can help ensure that your exercises are doing good and not harm. Pouch or stoma enlargement: The stomach pouch and/or stoma (the opening into the stomach) can in fact stretch over time. This can cause mild or significant weight regain and can be corrected with one of several simple outpatient procedures. Revision Surgery can be effective, but ONLY as a last resort. Simple outpatient procedures and even major surgery can be used to revise an unsuccessful primary procedure. While revisions are generally effective, they do carry a higher risk of complications and all other solutions to the weight regain should be implemented before considering a revision procedure.

Very happy to hear that you are kicking the door down and pushing through to conquer fears and assasinating ALL negativity good for you! Very impowering story! I wish you much success in your WL journey! As far as heels go - rocked them at my heaviest and still continue to rock them I'm 5'10 and I wear 5-6inch heels ALL the time, the only difference now is that I don't feel any pain in my knees! LOL My husband is 5'11 and does have a problem with me where my heels he loves it so I hope that you find that special someone that will LOVE YOU for who you are and what you like to ROCK on your feet! Blessings Sweetie!

I'm glad to hear things are going smooth for you!

Yes, my insurance requested 5 yrs of showing that my BMI was over 40. So I had to go to my OBGYN and get my weigh ins for my annual for 5 yrs and also went to my Regular Dr. and got weigh ins for my annual check ups as well as just some appointments I had and took the ones that the BMI were 40 and above and presented those. It's a process...it's insane I agree! Just hang in there.

Haha! Ditto to what everyone has said I especially loved the term "buyer remorse" I had that! I felt like WTF had I done to myself I can't eat what I want and I barely drink anything....it goes away like everyone above is saying! You're body is in shock right now and is trying to recover, you're swollen so you're not going to be able to eat as much as they say you can until the swelling goes down. You're probably suffering from some dehydration which can hinder weight loss and don't forget we are woman so hormones and Water weight will definitely play parts in watching your weight go up and down. If you can which "watching the scale" is a very common topic on VST if you can refrain from stepping on the scale daily and look at inches lost and not the number on the scale it will be a nicer journey for you. Watching your clothes fall off your body is a way better feeling than watching the scale. Just my two cents. Good luck at the doctor and feel free to vent all ya want we've all done it on here trust me!

Awesome! Congratulations!!!! That's alot of weight in 11 months very inspiring!

Yeah I don't know if your friend is "Thick Madame" or not but have you ever heard the old saying misery loves company? Sometimes people like to sabotage you because they want you to be like you were. Lots of people don't understand why we would do such a thing to our bodies they think it's insane what we have gone through and say things like "girl I never would have did that to myself"! But you know what that's thet problem and they need to get over it you did what you did because you wanted change. And if she take it so personal because she bought you the food - girl I would give her the money back and tell I got it don't buy my food next time! This is a touch subject for me because I've been there but - it usually my friends who are still obese and trying to do it as they say the "natural" way! Whateva more power too you but why you still going up and down and in and out of weight loss I have arrived and loving life! Girl don't trip! Do you and do what you need to do to stay on your journey!