Terry H.

Hang in there Morgan. Its worth it!

All my best to you and good luck!

Sorry I missed this when you posted it. My experience was terrific. Every single person I came in contact with was professional and caring. I don't think you can go wrong with them.

I just posted this weekend about it http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/41353-xpost-1-year-into-the-journey-and-8-months-post-op-long/page__pid__370557#entry370557

Hi all. I'm in Powhatan about 30 miles west of Richmond. I had the sleeve done October 10, 2011 with Dr. Brengman at St. Mary's. This is certainly becoming a popular surgery!

What a difference a year can make. I've lost 164 pounds. I think it is fair to say I've lost a full adult. Almost 40% of my total body weight. When I started the journey I was frustrated and hopeless. The very idea of surgery was unnatural and I was sure I couldn't live with the restrictions. I've thought about WLS over the years and all of them seemed so drastic and some just seemed flawed. I became interested in the DS surgery but after attending a seminar and doing research, I decided the sleeve addressed the vast majority of the issues I had with WLS. I just couldn't keep up the diet cycle any longer and I decided to take the leap. It was well worth it. Here are a few contrasts before and now: Before: children would point me out to their parents in public. Now: still very overweight (no longer super morbid though) and I feel like I fit in. Before Car seat all the way back, belly rubbed hard on steering wheel, needed extender to be comfortable, worried that the airbag could be fatal if it deployed, belly pushed legs apart and my knee would be shoved into the car door. Now: comfortable with lots of room between me and the steering wheel. I keep moving the seat further forward and it is better every trip. Before: I actually got stuck in a pool that didn't have steps (didn't realize it until I was in the water). I couldn't get through the ladder without help. Now: I have the energy to do an hour of deep Water aerobics and easily climb the ladder out of the pool. Before: 62 tight pants, 4-5x shirts, big and tall store only, buy whatever I could find. Now: 44 pants, large shirts, shop in most stores and have huge options for what to buy. Before: Had to ask for tables at restaurants. Many times had to ask my fellow diners to move to a table if I didn't get there first. Now: Sit where I want. Before: Couldn't make it through grocery shopping without back problems and running out of energy. Walking was limited to a few blocks at the most. Always overheating. Now: No back problems (tailbone hurts when sitting too long but that is a good trade), walking distances are not an issue, always feel cool and enjoy the outdoors so much more. Before: Never felt I could get close to my wife during intimate times - my belly was always in the way. Now: Oh yeah, so much better and we are so much closer all the time. Its like a rediscovery. Both parties are much happier. I can't wait until I reach goal. I have so much more I want to do and I feel it is within my grasp. The people here gave me so much confidence that I could succeed and I thank you all for your support.

Thank you all for your kind words. We inspire each other.

Originally from Iola in South East Kansas.

Kczar, try them this way: Microwave 3 oz. Spread a laughing cow light habanaro cheese wedge on .25 a joseph's oat and flax lavosh. Put the strips on the cheese. Add some salsa. Taco deluxe! Could also add some greek yogurt and/or greens wouldn't hurt it either. I've also used low fat cheddar. Frankly haven't found a way to eat them that I don't enjoy.

I have tried the carmelized onion swiss ones. I have them on a quarter of a Joseph's oat and flax lavosh (25 calories) to get my bread fix. Much better stovetop than microwave but passable either way. Another Sam's club find - the John Soule beef and chicken fajita strips. Very high protein and microwave up great!

Mine was a 40lb bag of dog food. I had it perched on my shoulder and kinda did a controlled drop with it thinking how heavy it was. Then I realized that (at that time) I had lost more than 3 of those bags. I'm well on my way to 4 of them now. That was a hell of a wake up call about how far I had come.

Oh ya Whooz... I did the same. I am over six months out and STILL have soup that will never be eaten. My advice is to take it easy on what to buy for post op. I liked unjury chicken soup flavored protein and their chocolate as well. Regular old chicken broth also went down pretty well at first. Lots of sugar free popsicles. I'm not sure where you are located, but here in the greater Richmond VA area, Food Lion has the best popsicles in a bag on the bottom shelf. Cheap and tasty and the lowest in cals/carbs.

I was required to pay my deductible max up front ($400). My coverage was 50% after the deductible up to a max of $10K. Self-pay was $14,500 so I figured I was set and would pay about $7 or$8K. But no - the charges agreed upon by the hospital and my insurance exceeded $20K by quite a lot. So I ended up paying about $11-12K out of pocket - yes, nearly as much as if I didn't have any insurance. That was after the hospital gave us a discount for prompt payment. So here is my lesson learned. Make each provider in the chain estimate how much the charge will be prior to surgery and don't make any general assumptions. Don't rely on the surgeon's office either as they don't know what every provider (hospital, anesthesia, etc..) will charge and have agreed upon with the insurance company. I would have paid every cent I did to get the surgery btw, but I just wasn't prepared for the size of the check I had to write.

My six month surgiversary was yesterday and I’m feeling great. I’m losing at a pretty consistent 14 lb a month rate right now and I think that is terrific. I don’t lose every day – in fact I often go up a pound or two and stall out for a few days and then lose for the next few. Here is a roundup of my NSVs since I started losing weight pre-surgery last June: Now wear large t-shirts and polos down from 3-4x before 2x dress shirt as opposed to 5x before Pants size 46 down from a tight 62 before Walking has become very easy and I’m not intimidated by distance any longer One night I jogged to my car (parked in the far end of the lot) in the rain I’m doing deep Water aerobics 2x a week and regular water aerobics 1-2x a week Every physical aspect of my life is so much better and I have a tremendous boost in energy So far, I’ve not had any issues with food worth mentioning. I’m finding it pretty easy to stick to the 600-800 daily calorie intake with 60-80g Protein and 30g net carbs or less. This site and others have proven to be very valuable to me because when I get the urge to splurge I look for something to inspire my inner chef and stay on track. My diet is as varied as fish tacos with low carb lavosh to slow cooked bbq pork with a no calorie bbq sauce. My restriction is very good and I only eat 2-4 oz of protein depending on the density. I’m working to add more fruits and veggies to my diet now but protein is first and the king of my plate. When eating at home, my wife and I make our own meals about 75% of the time. Prior to surgery I would have found this unacceptable. I think that was a symptom of my obsession with food. Now I see it as we both get what we want. When we do share a dish it fits my meal plan and she has lost about 20 pounds too. She also exercises with me very often. This has benefited us both. Going out to eat with my wife and/or friends has been fun too. I’ve learned to order whatever I want – and I want food that fits my plan. I don’t worry about wasting food. I order by taste so that I don’t feel deprived. Sometimes just an appetizer. Sometimes a full entrée with left overs. Sometimes a shared app and entrée. Taking food home is an option and because I ordered food I liked, I often have the leftovers for 2-3 meals. Most of my fears before surgery have not been realized. I’m pretty comfortable with myself right now. I get impatient and want to lose faster but then I consult my logs and see how far I’ve come and that really helps. I’m now preparing myself for the possibility of plastic surgery at the end of my journey. I wish everyone as much success as I’ve had so far.

SleeveinSD, I used Walton Farms calorie free bbq sauce. They have a bunch of no calorie sauces that range from not bad to yucky. This is one of the good ones (in my opinion). Terry

Thanks to everyone that responded to my post. It is great to get that boost!

Doing fine here. Just a pound shy of 135 lost since I started dieting in July last year. Being in the 280s is a wonder compared to my 420s life. My only frustration is a tendency to stall for several days just before any milestone but everything keeps going down if I'm patient. Running a bit anemic but otherwise my stats are looking pretty good.

What is weird for me is that my waddle changes daily. Some days none. Other days it will be saggier - sometimes more later in the day than early. Seems to track with losing inches so I think it is part of the redistribution process. So I'm not going to wig out about it but wait until I get closer to goal to see what the more permanent skin tightening looks like. I will say that I'm very happy to have a neck back though.

I'm 5 months out. Sometimes I surprised at what I don't miss. I used to drink 3-5 glasses of iced tea with a meal. Now none. Doesn't bother me in the least (but I am a bit more careful about temp and spice). I thought I wouldn't be able to enjoy dinner out with my friends. I go out at least weekly with friends and do just fine. As long as I don't make a big deal out of it, they don't either. And I do enjoy my food. My mind has adjusted to smaller portions (but believe me, it is more than a cracker) and I no longer crave carbs so focusing on Protein is easy as pie (well, maybe meat pie). Of course everyone is different, but I've been surprised how easy it is to adjust to the lifestyle. As soon as you accept the new norm, then it can be routine and rewarding. Hope that helps.

How about, "Me taking the easy way out? What about your short cut to being an idiot with the brainectomy you obviously had?"

For years I thought about getting WLS. The band seemed to be risky and had uncertain results. The bypass seemed to be drastic and I couldn't get over losing the pyloric valve in favor of a stoma. So I likely wouldn't have had surgery without the sleeve coming about. It seemed the best of both worlds and if I need the malabsorbtion later I can revise to DS - but that would be a real last resort. I'm happy with the sleeve so far.

The FFV factory in Richmond used to make those cookies (I don't think they still do). When they started baking them, the whole area around the factory smelled like those cookies and sugar. Worse than seeing boxes!

It is great that you recognize this. Our minds do weird things to us as we change our lifelong processes and move through the food phases. What's weird to me is how my brain has adapted to recognizing small portions as a lot of food. Sometimes I have to double check my diet log to be sure my meal is really around 200 calories. I also had a problem moving from liquids to purees because I didn't want to have pain (I never did) and I was convinced that solids would hurt my stomach. I pushed through these issues and I'm sure you will press through yours. If you continue to have trouble though, you might consider consulting a psychologist or a NUT to help work through the issues. Guilt could lead you down a bad road. Best to you emlefe.

Cheese crisps and soy nuts generally take care of my crunch desires. Good protein too.

So here is something I found that I really liked early on. I would order steamed dumplings and discard the wrapper. That gave me a moist and well seasoned little bite. Put some soy sauce on it and I was set. You can even find recipes online for the dumpling filling and make it yourself without the wrappers.