SKCUNNINGHAM

Another thing to consider about the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy ("VSG") - doctors have been performing gastrectomies on people for a long time for reasons other than weight loss. A gastrectomy is a surgery where most of your stomach is removed. The "vertical sleeve" is a reference to the shape of the stomach that is left. VSG are done with weight loss in mind and the pre surgery process and post surgery care are targeted for weight loss patients. A "regular" gastrectomy is done on patients who for other health reasons, need to have most of their stomach removed. I believe the VSG was developed as doctors realized that gastrectomies were really successful at helping people lose weight and maintain their weight loss. I personally had a teacher (band director) when I was in high school (approaching 40 years ago) that had a gastrectomy and lose about 60% of his stomach (due to ulcers). He is still alive and thriving. The safety and long history of successful surgeries is one of the reasons I felt very comfortable making this choice.

Bombshelle - I think you will do GREAT! I remember when I was in your shoes and joining this site. While you are counting down the days for surgery, spend your time that you normally would spend eating getting your house ready for when you come home. This site has a list of things you will need to take with you to surgery - search for it or ask for suggestions and you will get a bunch of ideas. Some things I was really glad I had with me - comfortable PJ's that were not tight over my belly, shoes that were easy to put on so I could walk the halls, my cell phone charger, a pen and notebook, lip balm, and hand cream. One thing that will be really helpful for you once you start losing is to arrange all your clothes by size - you will be changing sizes pretty quickly, and it helped me to be able to find a piece of clothing that fit while I was losing. Just because something fit you one day doesn't mean it will fit you the same way the next week - although now, instead of being tight, they will be TOO BIG (yea!). Also, think about what you are going to do with your clothes as you shrink out of them. THERE IS NO NEED TO KEEP THEM! Plan on how and where you are going to get rid of them. I gave my clothes to a thrift shop that supports a women's shelter - sold some at a consignment shop, gave some to friends, and gave some of my suits to a charity that helps women get back into the job market. Best of luck to you! Sharon

I would guess 4 - 6 weeks - ask your doctor and go with his/her advice. I love ZUMBA!

I knew I was on camera the entire time I was speaking to the director, but I had no idea they were focusing on my hands. I know I talk with my hands almost all of the time - my husband teases me that if I had to sit on my hands, I wouldn't be able to speak. I guess the camera man realized that, and specifically filmed them some of the time. I'm glad you like the shoes. I love my Chucks! I wear custom orthotics and a metal plate in one shoe, and the Chuck Taylors have room for all of that and still look stylish. I miss being able to wear pretty heels, so Chucks allow me to indulge my shoe habit and be nice to my feet simultaneously.

This topic rings SO TRUE for me. I can't judge my size relative to other people. I always think I am larger than they are. I can't tell if a pair of pants will fit me or be too tight - or a blouse. I never felt as "big" as I was before surgery,so I couldn't judge my size then, either I am making progress, though. I no longer see myself in the mirror and wonder for a brief moment "who is that?". I recognize and like the person I am now. But I haven't yet "calibrated" my head or eyes to my actual size.

I doing the happy dance for you! Congratulations!

I must be an oddity - I didn't wear spanx type garments before I lost weight - I didn't wear form fitting clothes so I didn't need to hide the jiggles and rolls. Now that I am approaching my goal weight, I ike wearing my size medium shirts and size 10 and 12 petite pants. My skin around my torso and belly is really loose and jiggly, so I wear spanx type camis to hold things in. I also wear a support panty to smooth my belly. They aren't uncomfortable, they just hold things in. I also went to Soma and had a bra fitting. The one that makes my girls look the best is a minimizer bra. The bra kind of compresses my saggy, droopy girls into a really nice shape located where my girls used to be several years ago. Through my losing process, I have gotten rid of a bunch of underwear that I would have been happy to burn. Now that I am the size I am going to stay (the last 7 pounds won't drop me a size) I have decided that life is TOO SHORT to wear anything other than pretty, well fitting underwear and bras. Sharon

I started wearing the Genie bras as soon as I shrunk out of the bras I was wearing when I started losing. I ordered some from the commercial on TV, and others from the "same as on TV" section of a store. I found they had plenty of support for me. If you need more support, it is possible to wear two at a time. I also got some with the pads that slip in the front to prevent the "headlights" from being too obvious. I throw the bras in the wash, but usually hang them up to dry. I always remove the pads prior to washing the bras. I case you wonder if the bras advertised on TV by different names are different or the same - they are the same bra. The differences are in the age market they are targeting the infomercials to appeal to. One commercial has 6 bras for the same price as the other commerical is offering 3 bras for. These bras saved me A LOT of money while I was losing. I still wear this style of bras under t shirts. It is SO comfortable. Sharon

Tiffikins - what great news that you are preggers again! I hope that your pregnancy gets easier for you during the last half. Wow, your life has been crazy pretty much on a continuous basis for the last few years. (WLS, problems, success, pregnancy, baby, pregnancy) You are an amazing strong woman and a great inspiration to me. I wish you the best going forward. Sharon

Irene - I don't mind at all - I am going to put up the link on my facebook, too. Interesting that you and Coops think I have a calm and soothing voice. It's nice to be thought of it sounding that way. Quite a difference from when I was a child. When I was a small child, I had a speech problem. I couldn't pronounce the sound of the letter "R" - it came out like a "W" - like the Elmer Fudd character in the cartoons. I had some speach training to correct it before I went to school. Now, my "R's" disappear only if I have had too much to drink or I am tired to the point of exhaustion. Kind of a good thing to have - it tells me I need to STOP what I'm doing and take care of myself. I do enjoy public speaking - I have done a lot of it in my career. I was pretty relaxed while they were filming - the director made me very comfortable during the proccess. Thank you for all of your support. Sharon

Well, the ad is up on my Doctor's website. Here is the link: http://www.nicholson...nials/#!zoom/4/ Please don't take this that I am trying to convince anyone on this site to use Dr. Nick. He is a wonderful surgeon and I am very happy with him. Picking your surgeon is personal choice - I don't think you could go wrong with Dr. Nick - but there are a lot of good surgeons out there. I am putting this link up here to share my story with you guys here on the site. You are the people that helped me through the pre-surgery and post-surgery process and I wanted to share this NSV with you. I have also attached a couple of pictures that the photographer took. Sharon

I use three flavors of nectar protein: Fuzzy Navel, vanilla Bean Torte and chocolate Truffle. I use them when I make a smoothie in the morning. The Fuzzy navel is great with any flavor of fruit. I also use the vanilla flavor when I need to put Protein in something cold (pudding, overnight oatmeal). I don't get a bad aftertaste at all. I think the nectar protein is by far the best tasting powdered protein mix. Sharon

I had a very thought provoking encounter yesterday. I went to get a new set of custom orthotics made yesterday (I have foot problems that pre-date my sleeve surgery). I mentioned to the tech I wanted to get a new pair, as my old ones were not fitting well because I had recently lost a bunch of weight. We got to talking about weight loss, and come to find out she was also a sleeve patient. Her surgery was around Thanksgiving of 2010. The first question she asked me was "Do you regret having the sleeve?" I said "Absolutely not, it's the best thing I ever did for myself." She got quiet and I asked her whether she regretted surgery. And, to my surprise, she said she did - she wished she hadn't done it. And, she said she hadn't lost all the weight she wanted to yet (she is about 30 pounds from goal). I don't know how much she had lost, or where she started from - she looked about a size 14 to me. As we were talking, and I was sharing all of my positive health benefits, she told me she had gotten off of all blood pressure medication, all cholesterol medication, all diabetes medication and gotten rid of her CPAP machine. To me, sounds like she should be pretty happy. I have the same results as her (except I wasn't diabetic) and I am ecstatic about it. I asked her why she was unhappy with the sleeve. She said she didn't like not being able to go to restaurants like she did before. She didn't like having to be so careful planning before she went somewhere (like a day at an amusement park) to make sure she could get her Protein in when she needed to. And, she is having some digestion problems with eating certain food (hamburger patties, for one) - although she doesn't routinely take any PPI's or acid medications. We got to talking about waking up at 2 or 3 am ravenously hungry if we didn't get enough protein in during the day. This has happened to me occasionally, and I now make sure to get enough protein in for dinner! Not a hard problem to overcome. Our experiences were so very similar - yet I am absolutely THRILLED and HAPPY with my sleeve and she is UNHAPPY and REGRETS her decision. I look for solutions to the bumps in the road I experience - she seems to just keep hitting the same bumps, and is unhappy and regretful. So, my take-away from this encounter is this. Your attitude towards what happens with your sleeve is critical to whether you view your experience as a success or not. Your attitude will determine whether you are a happy post-sleeve patient or an unhappy one. I also think have realistic expectations about goal weights and life after sleeve are important for people to understand. If you are unrealistic in your expectations, you can set yourself up for failure. I don't know if she goes to a support group (there are plenty here locally) and I don't know if she uses this forum. I think both types of support have been very helpful to me in helping me find solutions for the bumps in the road, and for having realistic expecations for this new life. I challenge all of us to view the glass half full. I think many of us got accustomed to viewing it half empty when we were obese. There are great resources on getting or keeping a positive attitude towards life. Lil Miss Diva here in Vertical Sleeve Talk is a great source for inspiration and for positive attitude.If she could bottle her attitude and sell it, she could be a millionaire! I recommend you read her posts to soak up some positivity about this sleeve journey we are all taking. Another source is Norman Vincent Peale - his "Power of Positive Thinking" was the first in a long line of attitude books - and Peale is the precursor to other motivational speakers like Tony Robbins. Both of them have wonderful writings on keeping things positive. Both Peal and Robbins were influenced by a book called As A Man Thinketh. It has a great message. It was written by James Allen in 1902 and is based on his meditations on Proverbs 23:7. "Your mind is like a garden, it will bring forth. If you cultivate it, it will produce good results, results that you want. If you let anything grow then your results will be the same as if you let your garden grow – you will get weeds." Didn't mean to make this so long and rambling. I am going to keep a positive attitude! I am going to keep looking at my glass as "half full". And, in the garden that is my mind, I will strive to "plant flowers" and "pull the weeds".

Hormones, pain meds, and not having the numbing comfort of food can all be part of the problem. Your body is being flooded with extra estrogen right now as the fat cells release the stored estrogen into your bloodstream. You could also be having a reaction to the oxy. I can't believe they gave you the strongest pain med on the market for pain management after this surgery. I recommend you wean off of it and use some other weaker pain med instead if you still need pain management. Are you exercising any? Exercise is a good way to work off all of these "extra" feelings you are having right now. Good Luck. Sharon

Congratulations! You have done great! Sharon

I am glad you found out the problem. If you hadn't had the surgery and the follow-up, you wouldn't have found out. I am sorry you are having to go through this - my prayers are with you. What Sassygirl said about her girlfriend is great to hear, you may have the same positive results. Best of luck to you. Sharon

My size 12p jeans are now so large they fall down. I really can even wear them with a belt. I just bought new size 10 petite jeans. How sweet it is! I am still wearing size either size 12p or 10p in dress pants - depends on the brand. Love my sleeve! Sharon

Have the baby first. Talk to your doctor about eating during the pregnancy to gain the minimum weight, the baby can draw on your excess weight for what it needs. A friend of mine did this and she ended up at a net weight loss after delivering the baby from where she started - and the baby was 100% healthy. After the baby is here - start the prework for your WLS. Why is their a 12-18 month waiting list for your surgery? It only took me a year, and I thought that was about as long as anyone had to wait. Good luck with your choice. Sharon

I had belching after surgery when the bites I took were too large and I didn't chew them up enough, or when I swallowed air as I was eating. Make sure your bites are tiny and you chew them to mush before you swallow them. Are you still on mushy food? I was on liquids for 3 weeks then mushies for 3 weeks. Sharon

Dooter - that is great!

Carrie, Kat Good luck to both of you on your sleeve journey. I am 14 months out, and this is the best thing I ever have done for my health. I got off of both my BP medications, both my cholesterol medications, my CPAP machine for sleep apnea, and got rid of metabolic syndrome (pre-diabetes). I went from a 26W to a 10 or 12 petite. I feel wonderful. Sharon

Here's the background data. I took an early retirement package from my employer at the end of December of 2011. They were having some tough times financially and wanted to reduce costs - so when they offered the package, I accepted it. I took a gamble on myself and my skills being marketable in the bad economy. Not a fun time to be in the job market. For those of you who haven't looked for a job recently - it is completely different than it was even two years ago. If you don't know how to use social media, have a great "content-rich" resume, and are willing to network almost continuously, you are going to have a difficult finding a new job. I am 55 years old, and am competing with "kids" half my age and willing to take less money than me for the very same job. Here's the NSV - I received four job offers! The first was about 3 weeks ago, for a contract position - which I accepted. That seemed to bring all sorts of other good things my way. I received three additional job offers in the last ten days. All three of them were good offers for permanent positions (if any jobs these days are really "permanent"). I had the amazing task of deciding which one was the one I wanted - because I would have accepted any one of the three. I did a little negotiating with the companies - to maximize the offers - and picked the winner. I resigned from my contract job, accepted the job I decided on, and told the other two companies, "no thanks". I think the fact that I had successfully lost 100+ pounds and am a "normal" weight both really helped me have a successfull job search. I believe the confidence boost I got from having beat my personal demon carried over into my interviews. I know people looked at me differently during the interview process at a size 12 petite than they would have at a size 26W. I didn't have to worry about hiring managers or human resource people worrying about the costs of insuring an obese person. I think I look younger than I did 100+ pounds ago - and younger is definately better in today's job market. It is going to be nice at the new company to just be known as "Sharon - the new woman" rather than "Sharon - the fat woman who is new". I look forward to planning what I will be wearing the first week of work! Sharon

Fat cells store estrogen. As the fat leaves, the estrogen is released into the blood stream. Then the "fun" stuff starts. It is different with each of us. All sorts of reactions happen - changes in menstrual cycle frequency, changes in how fertile you are, emotional changes due to the hormonal flux. It will moderate as your weight loss slows down (mine did). My recommendation while you are losing is to be careful practicing birth control - you don't want to become pregnant while you are going through losing your weight. Good Luck. Sharon

Yes, it is normal. My garbage disposal was busy early on with stuff that made me green to smell it. Also, sometime I would start to eat something and it was fine, then it would suddenly NOT be OK. It will get better. Now the only things I can't eat now are BBQ, much raw celery, milk, ice cream, fluffy breads, Pasta, carbonated beverages, super spicy food and much sweets / desert. Everything else is OK.