Lissa

Hi Patty and Jess! I just moved out of Port St Lucie, but I'm there nearly every day for work. I bought a place in Vero Beach just before New Years! Jess, Dr D did my surgery, too. I think he is AMAZING!!! The psyche who does his consults is a little weird, and she runs his support group meetings, but she approved me for surgery, so she must be okay somewhere in that blond head! You'll love Sebastian River Medical Center. The staff there is amazing and you'll have a private room, probably at the end of a hallway near the nurse's station. If you have questions about anything, feel free to PM me. BTW, I chose Dr D because one of my good friends is an ER nurse at SRMC and raves about Dr D's bedside manner and responsiveness to his patient's needs. For a doctor to stick out to an ER nurse, he has to be amazing, IMO!! Patty, I went to Strax in Fort Lauderhill for a consultation, but not all the way to Miami. I'm glad you found a doc you are comfortable with, but there are a couple of well-regarded doctors closer, if you decide you want to look. Dr. Domkowski in Sebastian did mine, and there is a group of WLS surgeons affiliated with Jupiter Hospital, as well. I'm not trying to change your mind, just letting you know if you want someone closer to home. I'm so thrilled to see people from close to home on here!!!

I'm really glad you guys posted this, and all of the follow-up information! I have been eating celery for a couple of weeks, not tons, but enough! I think I'll skip the celery from here on in! Are there any other foods we should be avoiding for similar issues?

Please do let us know! I worry about that in particular!

Wow, congrats to you both on your weight loss!! You will get to goal, just keep rocking that sleeve!! The pics show an incredible journey for you both!!

Congrats to all of you! That is terrific news!!

Sorry to hear about your mom passing! Thank goodness she got to see your accomplishment!!

Personally, I think you're going to have a real hourglass shape when you get to goal! You look really great so far! Keep on rocking that sleeve, girl!!

Shell, I had three surgeries in less than 5 weeks, so I know what you're saying about vein pain! I did okay until the last one when it took six sticks to get an iv started. I wish I'd have thought about it the day before and really loaded up on some extra water! I still had bruising from that last iv for about 3 weeks and the bruised areas hurt for awhile. It will get better, just drink some extra Water to keep things hydrated in there. Good luck!!

Wow. Anderson, I hate to see you leave this group because I think it's an amazing place for support after surgery. However, you must make your own decision on that issue. As for calling PDXMan a know it all...he is. In the best possible way! I look for PDXMan's posts on exercise and carb issues whenever I have questions about them. I appreciate his input and support. Seeing that he has definitely been very successful with his sleeve makes me read his posts with an open mind. The whole point behind VST is to provide us all with support and answers to questions that we may not be able to get in our day to day lives. I know that, just today, I learned about a potential sleeve problem that I'd have never thought to consider asking at my IRL support group meeting. (Celery, for those interested) I will be asking my doc that question when I see him next week. Good luck to everyone!

Sleeve4Me, That's the sensation I had when I first got my blood clot in my leg. It was like the worst charley horse ever and didn't go away for a couple of days. It's fairly quick to diagnose for a doctor, but the self-tests my nurse friend had me do did NOT give me conclusive results, so I'll leave those out of this post. I think you should at least call your doc, if not go to the urgent care or ER. I know you're a long way out from surgery, so maybe it's not a clot, but I'm very paranoid over clots after my own experience.

cscake, I think you should still go to the ER. Blood clots are NOTHING to play with. I had one that shot two clots into my lungs. I was hospitalized for those two pulmonary embolisms and, more than six months later, I'm still taking rat poison (coumadin) every day to keep my blood thinned. A pulmonary embolism can kill you instantly, with no warning, and it's NOT pleasant.

(((Pookeyism))) I'm so sorry!! That's the absolute hardest thing to deal with at this point in time! My best friend passed on Jan 7, 2012, so I've been a little hit and miss on posts here. I'm so sorry I didn't see this sooner!

I had my surgery August 30, 2011 in Sebastian, FL. Dr. Patrick Domkowski was my surgeon and I think he rocks!!! He saved my life, literally, with this surgery! I paid $12,500 for surgery and would do it ALL again in a heartbeat!

Y'all are killing me! I love celery! I don't eat tons of it, but it's a great crunchy food for me. I do de-string it before I eat it, but I'm not super vigilant about getting all the strings off it. Guess I'll have to settle for the baby carrots!

I use Neutrogena Body Oil on my skin. I have noticed that my legs are dryer than before, but I attributed it to lack of swelling now. When I don't get in all my liquids, my kidneys hurt, so I'm pretty on top of that issue.

I agree. I've bought several cute (thrift store) sweaters and a couple of thick bathrobes, added a couple of blankets to the bed. I'd much rather be cold than have that 81 pounds of insulation back!!!

I drink decaf coffee a few days a week and haven't had any real constipation issues, either. A small gain around your time of the month is normal, and usually disappears (with friends!) afterwards. Since you just started mushies, you may be putting in a few more calories than before, but it's not enough to make you gain "real" weight. Good luck!!

Kthump, Search for 3 week stall, although it sounds like yours may be starting a little early. Especially if you lost a good bit of weight on the pre-op diet, the stall kicks in and you may not lose anything for several days. It is normal, natural, and it will pass. Theories abound, but I think it's our body's way of readjusting to all the changes after surgery. You have gone from eating whatever you like to barely putting any calories in and your body says "Whoa!" The weight loss will resume, but this is a great time to measure yourself and see the changes in your size/shape that are going on. I walked out of my first size lost during a stall. I hadn't dropped anything pound-wise in days, then I put on my work pants and they fell to the floor. That's a big WOW moment, and it happened when I thought I wasn't losing anything. Look for the NSVs (non scale victories) and pay attention to the inches lost, especially during stalls. The stalls will happen, but they usually mean that you're losing inches as things adjust themselves. good luck!!

Yes, you will be successful! Congrats on taking this step for your own health!! There are some videos for people who cannot do standing/walking exercises, perhaps those would work to help you tone as you lose weight. If you are up to it, you could also do some very light weight lifting with 1, 2, 3, or 4 pound weights. I do several arm exercises with 3 pound weights to help tone my arms up and I'm working on raising the number of repetitions rather than adding more weight since all I want to do is tone. I'm sorry to hear about your foot. I have an aunt who spent nearly 3 months in the hospital with diabetes complications for an infection in her foot. She kept hers, but very nearly did not. It sounds like you might have had a similar experience. THAT is a tough journey! I started out barely able to walk from my front door to my car, and, 4 months/81 pounds later, I do 2 miles on the treadmill 3 times a week. I'm still very slow, but I can walk now! I hope your experience will be similar to mine! You have made a huge, positive change for yourself! I hope you'll keep us posted on your journey. Good luck!!

In It, You are totally right! This is all about YOU. Your health, your welfare, your life expectancy and well-being. Whatever it takes to get you healthier, you should do. Imagine the results for your (future?) kids of having a healthy parent who can teach them how to avoid the pitfalls of obesity!

Ana, *I* am the poster child for VSG, IMO. My surgery went fine, no complications and I've had amazing increased energy since being sleeved. I've lost 81 pounds so far. I could barely walk from my front door to my car pre-op, and I've slowly built up to walking 2 miles on the treadmill at a slow pace. A few days ago, I cut down 4 small trees in my front yard, cut them to size, and bundled them for trash collection. I'm down three pants sizes and my labs are great, except I'm still on meds for blood clot issues. Technically, I'm still obese, but I WILL make it to my goal. This surgery saved my life. I may not say it in so many words, but it did. And, VST helped me make that life-changing decision. I try to pay back/forward the help and encouragement I got before my surgery.

I posted this earlier, but I'll paraphrase it for you (and your dad). I have been heavy most of my adult life, gaining a few pounds a year. But, I've been mostly healthy with no major problems. Until last May, when I got pneumonia and ended up in the hospital, which started a roller coaster ride of co-morbidities. Within three months, I was on oxygen, coumadin for blood clots, was dx with rheumatoid arthritis, borderline diabetic, etc. The list was as long as my arm and then I was hospitalized a second time for the blood clots, which threw two pulmonary embolisms into my lungs. Between May and August, I was told to prepare to die three times. My doctors told me I wouldn't live another year unless I got the weight off me fast. I'm not looking for sympathy by posting all of that, just telling you that you can be perfectly healthy one day and practically on death's doorstep the next. When the problems hit, they hit with a vengeance. I was lucky that I didn't die from the pneumonia or from the pulmonary embolisms. It was almost too late for me to have WLS when I finally decided that I had to do it. Because I had all those other problems, instead of "just" being sleeved, I had to have two more operations in order to have the sleeve done. Nobody knows how much time they have left, but I was determined to give my body a fighting chance at living. I hate to see you put it off, although it sounds like you've made up your mind already. If you're ready and want to take this weight off now, this is an amazing tool to help do that. And, I hope that it will save you from having to go through what I've been through.

I'm about 4.5 months out and started eating steamed veggies and iceberg lettuce salads (with lots of protein) again at 3 months post-op. However, Rex (my sleeve) is just now starting to really like the raw veggies. I usually drink V-8 or order steamed broccoli, or have a bit of frozen veggie heated with my Protein. I made beef stew tonight with carrots, onions, tomatoes, and some garlic. It was luscious!!! I have eaten some raw veggies that Rex didn't like, but I think it was just too early. I didn't slime, but I felt uncomfortably full a couple of times, even though I'd only eaten two celery sticks one time and two small pieces of raw broccoli the other. While I was cooking tonight, I munched on a carrot stick and didn't have any problems.

BTW, I personally stuck to one "sound bite": "My doctors have told me that I will die within a year if I don't get some of this weight off of me NOW." It was pretty effective about shutting up even the most determined nay-sayer.

Well, first of all, you can disagree with someone and still be friends. Ask me how many years it took me to learn that! LOL Secondly, your stomach is not necessarily a "vital organ". You CAN live without a stomach completely, perhaps with alternate feeding methods, but don't sweat the pesky details. The sleeve gastrectomy has been done for years and years as a treatment for cancer, ulcers and other stomach issues. My late mother in law had one because of stomach cancer. It is a safe and well-researched operation. Thirdly, your current stomach has either been stretched out, or is larger than the stomach of other people because you can and do eat more than others. It contains a hormone called ghrelin which causes hunger feelings, and larger stomachs produce more ghrelin, causing you to eat more and gain weight. What the doctor will do is remove the part of the stomach that produces ghrelin, which keeps you from feeling as much hunger and restricts the amount of food you can eat. This will automatically lead to weight loss in the short term and will, hopefully, give you some time to learn how to eat more normally. Fourth, having this surgery will help eliminate or prevent co-morbidities which could shorten your life. No parent wants to see their child die young, so this should be the deciding factor for your father. Good luck!!