Jimmy James

I think I started this journey in spring of 2010 at about 480 pounds. I don't know for sure because I didn't have a scale that could weigh me. Neither did my regular doctor. My insurer required a 12 month diet/coaching program. I got down to a low of 416, but I was up as high as 450 late in the program. After the liver shrinking diet, I was at 420. The day after surgery, I was at 409. Things have been slow since August 11 in that there were a lot of days where I'd see no movement or maybe even a pound or two of increase. I didn't let it get me down because I'm getting smaller even if I'm not seeing scale movement. That changed today. I just stepped on the scale and saw: 398 It is doubtful I have weighed less than this in my adult life. I haven't known what I weighed since being a teenager and getting up past the 350 that the doctor-style scales register. I feel great. I'm so happy I had this surgery, and I hope all the rest of my August teammates feel this type of satisfaction. There's a long way to go, but I'm getting a good start.

Thanks everybody. I was a bit down for a while because it seemed like I was stuck at 388 for a long time, but the stall has been broken. I went to 385 and as of this morning am down to 382! I love downward progress.

For my wife who had a RnY, it is definitely like pouring Water on top of a clogged drain. If she drinks too fast after eating, it all comes up. I think it probably just depends on the person and the situation whether that happens or things get shoved along. I do think particularly with a RnY pushing things through too fast is a problem because malabsorption is a problem to begin with. I find myself having to remind myself not to drink for that half hour period. I can handle not drinking while eating, but I often want a drink afterward. I'll get used to it, I'm sure.

On August 10, I was 420. On August 12, I was 409. Today, I stand at 394. I'll probably stay at 394-396 for a couple of days and then move down another several pounds. That seems to be my pattern. I'm feeling good, and I'm on mushy food for two days now. Instead of a 3XLT shirt, I'm getting into some 2XLTs. Instead of size 50 pants, I wore size 46 jeans today. I'm so glad I had surgery. ETA: I go back to work tomorrow, 3 weeks after surgery. I wanted to make it past my first appointment before getting back in there. The doctor saw no issues with my progress, so back I go.

I have surgery on Thursday and have gotten most of the things I need to have post-surgery for convenience sake. I have sublingual B12 and chewable Multivitamins. My plan was to use Citracal, but II suddenly don't want to be crushing what is sure to be a nasty tasting Calcium citrate pill. It seems I have two main options: an order to Bariatric Advantage shipped to my parents' house where I'll be recovering or purchasing Citracal Chewable Gummies. I know Viactiv is a bad choice due to it being Calcium Carbonate, but apparently the Citracal chewables are something called Tricalcium Phosphate. Is that acceptable? If nobody knows, I'll try to call my hospital nutritionist to find out. I can buy the Citracal in stores, and it's a bit cheaper than the Bariatric Advantage. The other side to this is has anybody eaten these Citracal gummies? How are they?

So, Hope, what happened?

It's either one chicken stock with Unjury Chicken and two shakes (Boost Glucose Control or Carnation plus protein powder) or two chicken stock with Unjury and one shake. I'm sadly just about of Unjury and chomping at the bit to get my delivery so I can minimize my shakes. They're not bad, but I feel a bit heavy in the digestive system after the shakes. I don't with the Unjury.

I feel great. My surgery was on the 11th, and I am now just chomping at the bit to see the weight loss and get back on food. I have 5 incisions -- 3 for the surgery itself, 1 for the drain, and 1 for a liver biopsy. Two incision sites are healed, and the others are on their way. I have gotten my Protein in every day, and I have taken all of my supplements on schedule. I think I missed my liquid goal one day. My followup is on the 30th, and I'm scheduled out of work until the 12th of September. I think I'm going to get that changed to let me go back to work sooner. The only downer is that I was at 409 the day after surgery and am just at 402 now. I started my liver shrinking diet at 450 and lost down from 480 during my diet/coaching period. I am seeing differences in my body, so I think it's kind of like the explanation I saw yesterday for stalls. When the body burns fat, it creates something called glycogen that requires 4 pounds of Water for every pound of it or something like that. I am therefore going to be okay with this even though I was mentally figuring I'd be in the 300s by now. I'll just get to the 300s in a few more days. All will be well.

Unless I get thrown for a surprise, I get mushies on the 30th of August and no limits at the next two week appointment after that. I had surgery on August 11. I haven't done any diet advancing, but I understand the temptation. I wanted to chew something today. In the end, it was gum.

Yeah, I don't think you exactly need to leave the board, but if you do hang around you probably want to mention you're a RnY so people can know how to gauge what you say. There are significant similarities and differences. For instance, the nutritional needs tend to be the same. The mechanism for weight loss is very different. My wife got a RnY six years ago. It's a tougher recovery route if you ask me, but it's faster weight loss. I would have had a RnY if my insurer had not begun to approve the sleeve at the end of 2010.

I am one week out today, and I'm down 14 pounds from the day before surgery. I was actually gaining weight but losing size for the first several days, which suggested to me my body was burning fat and gaining the hydration that the liver shrinking diet had deprived me of. My doctor told me after surgery that my liver was amazingly small and not in his way. In fact, I think I gained a small additional incision necessary to get a clean liver biopsy because of it. I cannot yet sleep on my stomach, but I can sleep on my side and about 1/4 of the way onto my stomach. This is making sleep easier. I've been off of narcotic pain medication for nearly 3 solid days now. I find that I can go out and walk stores with relative ease, but I am getting tired after a while. I'd say my activity stamina is actually down slightly from before surgery at this point. I'm getting in my 60 grams of Protein, my 64 additional ounces of Fluid, and my medications/supplements. I'm starting to really want something to eat, and I have to wait until August 30 to get clearance for that from my doctor. It's not at all a hunger. As somebody else wrote in a thread, it's more a desire to chew. I have been eating a lot of sugar free pops which feel great on my stomach. I have also decided that refried Beans will make up my first mushies meal because I miss them so much. I'm shocked by the change in my body. One thing is that it's harder to sleep on my side because my ears keep getting flopped over and kinked. It's because a lot of the fat on my head is already melting away. I'm also seeing less fat on my calves and more muscle definition. 14 pounds in a week isn't the best result I've seen, but I'll certainly take it. This to me isn't a race -- it's the beginning of a new healthy way of life. My diet is heavy on unjury chicken Soup. I often have that twice a day. I am also using Boost Glucose Control in vanilla and Carnation Breakfast Essentials in chocolate. I have some Protein powder from costco my parents gave me, and I also have Pure Protein in chocolate and vanilla I'll start using when I run out of the Costco stuff.

Outstanding! In my experience from a week ago, it gets better pretty quickly. Welcome to the other side!

Refried beans will be my first mushies meal. They're an excellent source of Fiber, are very low in sugar, and while they do have a load of carbs they also have a good amount of Protein. The only bad for refried beans is sodium. I'd say in the context of our diet they're not an every day food but are a good semi-regular food that is not bad for you.

I'm now 6 days out, and I'm still hanging at 409 (where I was post-surgery). I can tell a difference in body shape and I think am clearly building back up the water in my body that the liver shrinking diet led me to shed. The weight doesn't matter much to me compared to the prospect of long term health. I'm getting in my 60 grams and 64 ounces, and my incisions are healing very nicely.

My surgery was 8/11. I came home late on 8/12. I walked up to the scale in the hospital and got a weight of 409 (down from 420 the day before surgery). I won't have access to a scale again until probably tomorrow. I think I took my last pain medicine at noon today, but we'll see. I went out for the first time today and walked. I've mostly been taking it relatively easy and focusing on getting the 60 grams of protein plus 64 ounces of liquid my doctor has mandated. I'm not missing food, and I'm tolerating things well. I'm eating various combinations of Boost Glucose Control, Carnation Breakfast Essentials plus protein powder, and Unjury Chicken Flavor. I think I messed up calculations and didn't get the 60 grams of protein in yesterday, but I got it in today. I go to mushies at a two week follow-up. I'm sure I'll welcome the variety, but I think I can do this no sweat until then. I haven't felt hungry, and I have rarely felt more than a little sore.

It appears my doctor does not want me on calcium until either after 2 or 4 weeks (I forget which the paper says). Post-surgery, I am on B12 and a multi. I think it was likely based on labwork, but I can't be certain.

I had surgery Thursday. It was Dr. Bautista's first use of DA Vinci for a VSG (he is an old hand at it for RnY). He had my drain pulled yesterday, and I finally got home at 10 PM. It is so much more comfortable here than at the hospital. Best of luck to everyone!

I'm probably 6'4" but seem more like an inch shorter because my gut tends to make me hunch. The least funny thing was yesterday from 5 to 10 PM after they took out my foley and I had to give them 250cc of urine. I finally did it after hours of straining so they discharged me. I am so glad to be out now and due to all those fluids I am going like a racehorse now!

My funny moment was that the OR table was too short for me and they could not find the extension! They had to roll mw back out and replace the table with a spare!

I'm sorry you folka are having trouble. It is worth it. I just saw my surgeon and he said my liver (while fatty) was tiny. Hang in there!

I'm on the other side! It may be the Morphine PCA (Im not using it much), but I feel much better than I figured I would. Good luck to all of tomorrow's sleevers!

I'm at the hospital registering for my 8 AM surgery. See you on the other side!

I've never heard that, but I'd tend to think you should follow the instructions of your doctor. Perhaps he intends to re-start you on the Vitamins at week 4. ETA: It may be something particular to you based on a blood draw presurgery, at surgery, postsurgery, etc.

It's really great to hear such a realistic but positive account of your surgery and first week or so with my surgery coming up this week! I hope things continue to get better for you.

Gummys apparently don't have I want to say Thiamine, so bear that in mind. I have a big container I bought at Sam's Club before I knew what to look for. I plan on mixing them in over the next year so I take chewables recommended most of the time but use the gummy ones maybe 40% of the time until they're gone. It's good to know I should be sure to have them on hand in case I can't tolerate the chewables at some point because I do agree they're certainly better than nothing.