mrchris

I didn't sleep the night before either... But that was in large part because I'm usually up until 2 to 3am and my morning starts around 10. Day of surgery for me I was the first one up and had to be at the hospital checking in by 4:00am. Just made more sense to stay up. A minor case of the nerves made it so I never would have slept anyways. Just relax and know that in a relatively short amount of time you will be exceedingly happy that you did this.

Okay reading this thread while trying to eat lunch... Not working so well, I think I just blew chili out my nose laughing so hard, pun intended! I've got to say it's likely not so much gaining length as uncovering what's already there. Having not gotten heavy until my thirties and now doing this surgery in my 40's, I did have some vague recollection of how things used to be but then I was the guy usually showing it off as a party favor in college. I will say that the wife has realized just how much more "prominent" the thing is now. She keeps telling me the best best way to market the VSG is show men a before and after pic of just a pecker. I realize x-rated marketing materials probably wouldn't sit well with the medical community but geez would it be effective.

RNY or the DS statistically are a little better. I "had" type 2 diabetes for roughly 10 years prior to the sleeve. Well controlled with Metformin and Byetta (no insulin). I stopped all diabetes meds the day before surgery and haven't needed them since. Surgery date was Nov 15th so I'm nearly 3 months out. Diabetes is gone, typical fasting glucose is around 90 and after a meal I might hit as high as 160. While not perfect it's well within "normal" though I wouldn't mind seeing the fasting glucose closer to 75. Cured my hypertension too. Only prescriptions I am on now are for b12 injections and 50,000 iu's of vitamin d. It's been exceedingly effective for me.

So I've always hated having my picture taken (despite being a professional photographer) and dread any picture of me being posted but my wife encouraged me to put this up. Please disregard the image quality, these were just snapshots. Before pics were taken on Nov 10, 6 days into pre-op diet and 5 days before surgery. After pics were taken today 6 weeks post op (plus a day). I've been really pleased with the progress based on comments and scale movement but when you look in the mirror at yourself several times a day, it's easy to miss the changes. Seeing these images side by side really surprised me.

Here is a follow up pic with a week 10 image added... had a follow up with the doc today, they are very happy with my progress, as am I. I do own more than one shirt doc's office want's me to try and be as consistent as possible with the images so as to focus on results and not wardrobe changes....

The two week pre-op liquids were the worst... Day one not so bad, day three and four... Holy hell that was rough but by day 6 it's not a big deal from there to surgery day. Day three and four I had the shakes, bad headaches, seriously grumpy, etc. Day 3 some guy cut me off in the parking lot and I was so out of my mind I spent 15 minutes yelling at him and made him cry. By day 6 I realized what I had done and felt terrible about it, but the headaches and the rest were gone. I did cheat somewhat in that the purpose of the Clear Liquids is to shrink the liver and abdominal fat to provide extra room for the surgeon to work. My understanding of a no-carb diet like Atkins is that it will do the same thing. So after day 5 I had a very small (2oz) piece of chicken breast each evening and a hard boiled egg each morning. Otherwise liquids and the Protein shakes. Then went all liquids the last 48 hours before surgery to make sure things were cleaned out. I was frightened they would know I cheated, but I was actually complimented on how healthy and small my liver was for surgery and it worked out perfectly.

I know the feeling, I'm 10 weeks out and if I finished your plate I'd be uncomfortable, realistically I'd only have gotten through 3/4's of it. What I find interesting is how hard our bodies will fight to keep the weight. Yes I've lost weight and I've actually been surprised at how much and how fast. BUT I've had two, week long stalls that despite eating "less than a two year old" took a week to 9 days to break. It just doesn't want to let it go easily.

Although I haven't had any issues in this area, I've had the same PCP for 20+ years, he's like family and is a great guy. A few years ago (actually on my 40th birthday) he gave me a paper bag full of samples of all three (as pills not the liquids) and said here, try this, you'll be like a 16 year old again. Well he was right. Not ideal for every situation but it makes things fun when you use it. Fast forward to post surgery, I've popped a few levitra since, no issues at all. Not sure why you'd need the liquid form the pills are small and I had no issue getting them down or with them working. One of the benefits of the sleeve is that it is more "pill friendly" than other procedures. What I will say is that I expected it to work a little faster with the smaller stomach and in actuality it took a little longer, (60 to 70 minutes instead of 30 to 40). But it's not particularly known for any stomach irritation nor did it cause any for me. The only pills post surgery I was suggested to avoid were NSAID's because they can irritate the lining of the stomach and long term even contribute to ulcers. I don't see the magical boner elixers doing that.

The hospitals would argue that they need to charge 35k to get the 6k and if they charged less, they would get less. I dunno who's right, I do know cash prices tend be a lot less for those paying cash.

Yep nothing to worry about... In fact yes caffeine is a diuretic but the amount of caffeine in an average cup of coffee would eliminate less Water than there is in that same cup so it works out just fine. My doc was the same, prefer you stay away from caffeine but will allow it after 7 days. Relax and don't sweat it.

Puree's are generally anything you blended yourself or were pre-prepared as blended like hummus, refried beans, applesauce etc. Soft foods would be like eggs (though that was tough for me at first) cottage cheese, beans/chili, soft cheeses. Really though soft foods are a tough one.

I've heard stories of it happening and I'm sure somewhere somehow someone has (wow that's a lot of "some's") But you'd probably have to do a lot wrong. Even if you really tried I can see slowing down the weightloss but with a tummy capacity of what it is, I can't imagine a scenario that you'd really blow it unless you really and truly purposed to do that.

Yeah mine was very strict too. Weeks 1 and 2, Clear liquids Weeks 3 and 4, full liquids Week 5 puree's Week 6 and 7 soft foods Week 8 anything except meat Same as the others above, Protein first, no milk, processed foods, bread/pasta and minimal natural carbs. But it's worked and been worth it!

My doctor strongly recommends one more or less as a "tummy protector" for the first 30 days. After that it's only if you need it. Basically just to lower acid levels a little to help facilitate healing. But what he prescribed was just generic Prilosec (relatively cheap at Costco).

I hear what you are saying, and have carried for 20+ years. But I also know it's my last, final option and I would still like to be able to sufficiently apply myself. I was initially surprised by the total differences between the men and the women on the topic.

I can appreciate that and I guess if I was in that situation I might feel the same way. I spent 20 years as a grocery store meat manager which entailed throwing around 200lb boxes of meat all day long and was strong as a horse. Then changed careers and got a desk job in IT. It didn't help my waistline any but I could still throw a refrigerator for distance and I could walk miles of flat ground (stairs got to me though after 4 or 5 flights) so I never felt weak or incapable I just didn't have the endurance I had before, I just knew that I needed to lose it before I got older and I knew I wanted to be closer to where I was weight wise in my early 20's.

The catheter wasn't a big deal for me and came out minutes after I woke up... To be honest I'd had a very bad experience with a vasectomy a year earlier that was infinitely worse than any catheter (the urologist failed to get me numb, not pleasant at all).

I have the same issue, in fact it has always felt like food stuck halfway down without something to wash it down with. I've found that when needed a very tiny sip (like 1/2 teaspoon or less) of something can help without being so much fluid to push things through. Moister foods I've gotten used to and can get down without, but sometimes the drier things need that tiny bit of liquid to work.

That was my doc's criteria as well, no significant fever. Cold's and runny noses fine...

I had my surgery on Nov 15th, just a little over six weeks ago. Here is a link to a post with a before and after pic I made last Friday at 6 weeks post op. I've got a long way to get to my goal but even in that short a period of time you can see significant changes. http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/63165-6-weeks-post-op-before-and-after-pic/#entry611109

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I was concerned about this going in... And I've been thrilled with my results. Honestly I don't know how someone could "eat around" the sleeve like some people have with the band. I realize that high calorie liquids would probably do it but it's not that hard to avoid those. A few bites of semi solid food and I couldn't squeeze another bite in for hours. In all honesty I'm starting to get concerned with getting enough in rather than too much. I have no problem eating and so far none of what I have tried has caused any issues it's just that I can eat no more than about 3 ounces for breakfast and I don't feel like eating again the rest of the day. But I also think that for the guys it's a little different perspective. We don't have to chase the smallest possible size, in fact the BMI charts put me around 160lbs (I'm 6'1") but if you look at pictures of me at 180 I looked anorexic. My personal goal is 225 and I see that as being very achievable but even if I stopped losing at 260/265 I'd still be thrilled at the results, still look 100% better than I did and still feel 100% better than I was.

I did that for broth a lot. A case of ramen is cheap, tossed the noodles and didn't give it another thought, immensely tastier than plain old chicken broth.

Everyone is a little different. I had my surgery the morning of 11/15 (a Thursday) and I was up and about Saturday and felt fine and worked a full day that Monday just 4 days later and never looked back, and never felt like I was overdoing it. My career is in IT so I was in and out of client offices and sitting at desks or driving most of the time, nothing heavy or involving lifting. Never had any nausea, any significant pain and the gas was gone within a few hours. Honestly I had more discomfort and more issues weeks after my vasectomy than I did 2 days after this. Of course YMMV but there are lot's of people on here that came through without any significant discomfort.

Yes it gets better, days 3 and 4 are the worst and then it quickly gets better. Pre-op clear is no fun but I was able to get by on lots of tea and coffee, crystal light and sugar free Hawaiian Punch along with lots of jello and Popsicle.