Brownbear29

Congrats. It's good to hear good news from a veteran... gives us newbies some hope

That is truly amazing... Congratulations :-)

So I guess this qualifies as a NSV... at least from what I've read. Last week I was cleaning out the shed and found an old dress shirt I saved from my highschool graduation. I then proceeded to wear it work the next day. Yeah I wore an XL shirt and it looked good. :-)

So I've been an idiot. My exfiance came by for a visit and well I have been bad. She was here for two days... during those two days... I ate some pretty stupid things : 7 pieces fried calimari with a red bell pepper and black bean ragout ... 1/4 of a corn dog .... and 2oz barbecued asian pork ... and worst of all 1/2 a blood orange martini. I know that I'm an idiot but she was in town and I'm hoping this could be a start of us rekindling so I took her to eat at all of our favorite places... and well I got caught up with things. We also ... well were intimate. As for the food, well it opened a can of worms because now I want small portions of all my favorite foods... and well I definitely lifted more than fifteen pounds during well... I'm sure you get the drift... So how bad is it ?

Thanks guys... I need a good kick in the ass every now and then. Doing much better. Two protien shakes a day and one meal of soft solids (usually tilapia) with some quinoa...

I am getting some crazy off the charts BP readings post op. Pre op my BP was a little high 130's over 90's post op 170's over 110's. Did this happen to anyone? My surgeon said I should get to gether with PCP and figure out what is goin on. Is that just his way of runnin away from responsibiliity ?

Hello everyone in internet land. First I'd like to thank you guys for being super supportive and patient with my whiny butt. I had my surgery on monday... so I guess I am four days post op... and those have been quite a roller coaster. From my earlier posts I mentioned that I was having some post op complications... but they are taking a positive turn :-). I guess I should've realized that I'm a "complicated man" and expected some of these bad boys. I had what is known as sleepy bowel or illeus. Basically they couldn't wake my bowels up after the anasthesia party... things are doing great on that front. I farted yesterday... and oh what a sweet sound it was, despite the not so sweet smell. I also had a bowel movement today... basically a twoosie.... and man was I psyched. I hobbled around telling everyone and their mother... oh the things we are excited about post surgery. Other than the bowel life is good. Im rocking the liquid diet and enjoying a little R&R. Other than that, did anyone get a pain ball after surgery? THey put one on a cather stuck in a wound site after mine...so annoying. Of course the best part is the meds weren't coming out.... so I just yanked it out... and watched all that pain medication drain into my garbage bag.... did anyone have a similar situation ?? Allrighty, I'm of to bed. Best new years wishes to everyone... here's hoping by next year i'll be right where i wanna be... (maybe onderland ?)

Thanks guys. Went to my PCP and on a new blood pressure med. Hopefully will be able to taper off...

Dear VSGers, I am in needof your help and guidance. I was sleeved yesterday around noon and everythingseemed to have gone well. I walked from the postoperative care room to my ownroom and proceeded to have a pleasant evening. After the first hour, I walkedfive laps around the surgery area. Then I relaxed a bit, flirted with my hotnurse, and walked ten laps a few hours later. The whole night I felt prettydecent alternating between sleeping, flirting with my hot waitress, and walking. Now we come to where I need your guidance. I wokeup this morning and went to get my upper GI tracked. After the two sips ofbarium and I felt super nauseous. The GI study shows that the liquids are travellingway to slow from my stomach to my bowel. My Dr said I could have two ounces ofwater (and man have I been thirsty); but I couldn’t finish more than two sips.So they go get me another GI study (extremely uncommon from what I heard) andmy doctor comes with its still traveling super slow to my bowel because ofsleepy bowel. He also said the scar tissue around my stomach is causing a lotof swelling. Is this common? Am I one of the small percentageswho are going to have trouble eating and drinking for the rest of my life? I’mfreaking out and haven’t even seen my surgeon yet post surgery… help please

I'm telling everyone that I am having a bleeding peptic ulcer. Basically the same surgery, same side effects, same scars. Partial Gastrectomy's are common to remove bledding ulcers, benign tumors, and cancer. I figure faking an ulcer is the least offensive.

Ehrm… I am definitely not one of those guys who is fond of sharing intimate details on the Internet, especially when its fundamental goal is a lack of privacy. But I am here, because I am so scared of this surgery and have a pretty limited support structure. Hopefully opening up here will let everyone know who I am and where I’m coming from in terms of this surgery. Basically my story is … I am a fat guy. Of course all of my friends and family like to use terms like big-boned,fluffy, squishy, stout, and my personal favorite full-bodied (makes me soundlike a wine). My fiancé likes to say there is “more of me to love” and I am her “big teddy bear”. I tell everyone that I am fat; I’m not ashamed of it. This fat man started his journey as a fat kid, a roly-poly chubby cheeked fat kid; and I loved it. I never had a problem with being picked on, fat kids are funny and I knew how to box. I also did all right with the ladies, not as good as my friends, and I had to work a bit harder… but good enough for me. Fast-forward to age 22, and I realize being fat is a lot of stress on your body. My joints started hurting, my BP started rising, and little brownbear had trouble finishing. So I got on an organic vegetarian diet and lost about 30 lbs… leading to me crouched over the fridge eating a pound and ahalf of Canadian bacon at 2:30 in the morning. I then tried weight watchers, jenny Craig, Atkins, and pretty much everything else. I’ve lost over 100 pounds and gained back over 150. I am now a 300lb 25-year-old assistant professor who is scheduled for VSG on the 27th of December and sh*t-scared. My obvious fear is dying on the operating table. But I think a deeper and much stronger fear is that this surgery will ruin my long running relationship with food. I love food. Food has always been there for me: in kindergarten, when I gave Stephanie Miller my cupcake and got a kiss on the cheek in return; tacos on my tenth birthday when I got hit by a car; lo-mien when my aunt died of breast cancer in 7th grade; burgers when I fell in love with Kelli Moreno freshman year, and half a cheesecake when she broke my heart junior year. Food has been with me through high school, college, grad school, and my dissertation. And I am so afraid of losing it. And I know this makes me sound like a total lard ass. My support system for this surgery consists of three people with varying opinions : my mom, my dad, and my baby sister. My mom’s support is unconditional, she would support me in any decision I made. My sister is supportive and a bit jealous, probably because she spends so much time trying to stay in those size 2 mini-skirts. My dad is … less than thrilled, more like disappointed. The first thing my dad did after I suggested this is call me a coward. He said that a real man can handle his problems without resorting to shortcuts. To be honest, he brings up a good point. How can I tell my students to struggle and work hard when I am cheating? As you can see, my dad really knows how to get to me. I guess you’re asking why I am doing this surgery if I have so many doubts? Well my trigger was when my fiancé dumped me (I know technically she is no longer my fiancé, but I refuse to call her anything else). Now I know what you’re thinking, she did not dump me because I was too fat…. Well at least I choose to believe that. Jill was diagnosed with lupus at the tender age of twelve years old, and has spent the last ten years in and out of Doctors offices. She and her folks are hesitant to settle down with an “obese” individual who has an increased risk for medical issues. So even though love is blind, it prefers a BMI under 28. Thatis the main reason that no one else knows about this surgery and no one will. I know her family would never approve, and don’t want this surgery to be a barrier. I refuse to be known as the fat guy who needed surgery to stay healthy, even though that is the obvious truth. I am not sure what I am going to tell everyone when they notice the changein my sizes, both portion and waist, but I’ve got a few ideas. I’m thinking of telling everyone that I had a bleeding ulcer that had to be removed. It has the benefit of showing the exact same post-operational symptoms and explaining my weight loss and portion size. I feel like a jackass for doing this, but I am determined not to let Jill’s family know I had WLS.

First, I'd like to say thank you. I posted this thing yesterday, and already have so much support. It's pretty amazing. As the day gets closer, I'm feeling a little bit more confident. The results of all my tests seem ok, so I'm gonna go drop off my $ 15,000 cashier's check tommorrow, a down payment on skinny me. @bilka - I'm definitely going to start attending my doctors VSG group, of course their next meeting is post surgery. @Tiffykins - thanks for your response. I've read many of your posts and they were one of the reasons I really got on board with VSG instead of the band. I am also surprised by such a prompt reply, you're a veteran. Thanks for sticking on the forum to help us newbies @ Lila21 - MFA? really... thanks for the compliment. I've got a PhD in polymer chemistry... and the only thing I write is technical papers and they're not very good. @mbridgeman27 - I'm sorry to hear about your marital woes. It kinda sucks that food takes so much away from us. @Flygirl - Thanks that was one of the things I was really worried about.

I'm kind of in the same boat. I don't want to be the WLS guy for the rest of my life. As of right now only three people know, my folks and my baby sister and I intend to keep it that way.