AJW

I take pharmaceutical grade supplements so I'm good on the vits. No steroids, not for me. Thanks for the suggestions.

:thumbup: I'm now weighing 120-122, depending on the day. I look much thinner than the photo on this blog. I don't have any new photos at the moment, and frankly I look a tad skinny. Lost fat in my face and at my age, it looks a bit gaunt. I'm not complaining, just telling it like it is. My BMI is 18.9 or something which is below normal weight. I wear a size 24-26 jeans and leggings, and lost my butt. I've been going to physical therapy to help regain muscle mass in my glutes which atrophied from no exercise during the weight loss, that and probably I wasn't getting in enough protein, but mostly I think it was the no exercise part that did me in. I started having pain in my hip flexors, and the therapist said I was overworking these muscles which weren't large enough to support my frame. We work on rebuilding them, and I do my little work out every day now. Just be aware, there are some side-effects to losing a vast amount of weight; be sure you don't lose your ass with it, kwim?! I'm doing a lot better now than I was about 5 mos. ago when the pain started. Anyway, that's my story. I continue to lose a pound here and there, but am basically maintaining now. Hope you are all doing well on your journeys.:biggrin0:

Hey Mike, Thanks for the info. The muscle atrophy is what my physical therapy delineated, or I should say, said that because of losing my butt, so to speak, I was overworking my hip flexor muscles and they were tighening up from the over use and causing pain in the piriformis muscle and flexor muscles (I don't know all their names.) He's been working with me to tighten up or work those muscles so they don't get overworked. That and working the core muscles and legs, helped significantly lessen the pain. He still can find painful tight places when he pushes around on me, though, so I'm not done. Probably have to keep working at this for rest of my life. It started happening when I had lost approx. 80 pounds, and now I'm down 126. Never had the pain before the weight loss, and I definitely did do all the protein things. Of course I did stop the shakes when I couldn't stand the taste any longer. Oh well. One day at a time.

Hey Mary, isn't that sweet?! Good for you. I was thinking that very thing as I was reading your story: get out of the W section. Awesome! Enjoy the high, it only gets better from here out.

Thanks for sharing your story. I think these heart-felt stories really explain the process and what it's like to be the one on the journey. No one truly understands this experience until they've done it, but by sharing your personal accountability really speaks volumes. I am hoping it will inspire those who really need this surgery but allow fear to hold them back. It is indeed life-changing. I am below my goal weight and out 13 mos. from surgery. Dr. Aceves was my surgeon too. He's a great guy with a great team and a wonderful, caring doctor. I can't praise him highly enough. Thanks so much for sharing your true-life adventure with all.

I've been married 30 years this Oct. Haven't had sex in a couple of years. We're best of friends and the problem is all me. IDK why but I have no desire for it with him or anyone else. He thought the weight loss would move me in the right direction; nope. Now he thinks plastic surgery will do the trick. Can't say b/c I haven't had it yet, but probably doubtful in that regard. We don't discuss this. We get in bed and go to sleep. We're both 61 years old, not too old for sex, obviously. Does it bother me? No. Does it bother him, probably, but we deal with it and he channels his energy into projects here and there. No, he's not cheating on me, I know where he is all the time. IDK what to say except that it's not that big of an issue. I know I'm the odd one out. We used to do it a lot back in the day, but when I became fat, it stopped, that and he has a particular type of syndrome that causes the penis to curve -I forget the name - but the erection isn't as big and doesn't last, so I think I sort of lost interest. To get that "fired up" and then get no pay off, is sort of a waste of time, kwim? I know, way TOO MUCH information I realize. Just wanted to throw it out there in case anyone else is in my situation. :001_unsure:

I find that people in general are just uninformed and way too opinionated. I have an acquiantance who works in a hospital. She's seen maybe 2 bad bypass scenarios and keeps telling me how fortunate I am that I didn't end up like them. I'm like, "you have no idea what you're talking about." She's obese and chooses to stay that way; that's fine, can't change anyone or make them want to do something good for their health, that's totally on them. But then when they complain that their husband doesn't want to have sex with them and they don't know why or what to do, I'm like....."Well, you could take off some of those fenders and feel better about yourself," but you can't say that, can you?! She complains that she has "back boobs" and how ugly that is....yep, that's true, but to actually take the action to fix these self-esteem issues, oh HELL NO, not going to do that, way too scary. You see where this goes, right? Some people would rather just be fat and use food as a crutch than to have a real life, be healthy, and unobsessed with food, but then they'd have to deal with the underlying issues of their personality dysfunction. Yep, it's one big old rolled up ball of wax, all that emotional junk that gets trapped in us. At some point you have to start to unwind all that crap and get down to what's really going on. The eating and weight is just a symptom of the underlying trapped junk. You got to fix it eventually, either from the outside in or the inside out. I say congrats to all of us who've taken the initiative to resolve our addictions and create a better life for ourselves and our families. Yay!! :thumbup:

Glad you're doing better. I'm 13 mos. post-op and lost all the weight. I was never nauseous and had no complications. I remember mood-swings as that's a common thing. I was told not to worry about getting in all the protein in the very beginning, so I didn't. The first 30 days are the roughest. I also remember being told not to begin the next phase of eating until it was time to do it. But since your doctor told you OK, I guess it's OK. Just be careful with that as you have a brand new small tummy and it needs time for the staple line to heal. That's the biggest deal in the beginning. Hope you continue to improve every day. Yes, the heightened sense of smell is part of the process, too, sometimes that's a good thing and sometimes not. Your taste will change too and foods you used to like will taste like crap now, especially if they are unhealthy foods. We all have our favorites from our "foodie" days, mostly fast food and the like. Now that stuff tastes like artificial crap to me. It's funny how this surgery changes you forever but in a good way.

How does it feel? It feels great, normal, you're one of the "in" crowd. You're thinner than most people are who are considered "slim." At least I am. My weight at this moment is 121 pounds and at 5'-7.5" tall, that's about a size 2-4. I have not yet shopped in a store for sizes that will fit me now. I keep losing so I'm trying not to buy clothes that might end up being too big in a few months. I was recently thinking, however, that I should go to Macy's or something and try on dresses for sizing. IDK what size I wear in dresses or skirts. In pants I'm a small or a 24/26 in jeans. Anyway, you too can experience this and more. I no longer feel excluded by fashion because they don't make it in my size, kwim?!

Then come on and JOIN us.........thin people. It's a trip and a half.:001_tt1:

Hi April.. My name's April, too. Here's the deal with VSG: you won't care about food after this surgery, so there is NO slipping back into old habits. You will lose the HABIT after the surgery. However, it's always a good thing to be evaluated by a food shrink, aka nutritionist, so you won't cross-adict to something else, like for instance, alcohol or drugs. Because after this surgery, you really won't care about food anymore, so if food is your crutch now, you'll have to wean yourself off the crutch or find a more healthy crutch - like exercise - so you're doing something good for yourself, because food will become something you simply don't care about any longer. It won't taste the same and you'll lose the Ghrelin so you won't feel hungry basically at all. I know it sounds too good to be true, but it is. If you're not sure what Ghrelin is, click on the word to know more.

Don't be scared. You will succeed with this surgery. I am 11 mos. post-op and lost more than 100% of my excess weight. I am now skinny, and even though I thought I'd have more loose skin, it's contracted pretty well for someone of my age (61) so you'll be surprised at how your body can suck back the skin. And if you need loose skin taken off after you're all done losing, that can be done in Mexico with Dr. Bello. IDK who your surgeon will be, but I'll assume this is being done in the USA. I went to Dr. Aceves in Mexicali, who is excellent, and the cosmetic doctor he refers to is Manual Bello, MD, who operates out of the same private hospital as Dr. Aceves. Where there is a will, there is a way, is my fav saying. I wish you the best. If you don't get ins. approval for sleeve surgery, my best advice would be to self-pay and go see Dr. Aceves. I don't work for him and have no association, he's just a great guy and doctor. Keep coming back here for more support on your journey.:biggrin0:

Hi everyone, I lost another pound and am now sitting at exactly 125, which was my original goal. I changed my goal to 135 because everyone said 125 would be too thin and frankly, I wasn't sure it was achievable. Guess I was wrong. I do look a tad thin with bones showing on the chest and back. I sort of have a pin thin look, but have actually weighed as little as 103 when I was in my 20s, 40 years ago. I looked too thin then, for sure. Now people that I haven't seen in awhile look at me and say "you're wasting away to nothing." Not sure if that's a backhanded compliment or not? I think you can tend to go to the anorexic side if not careful. For those of you who still have some to lose you'll probably be asking, "And the problem is.........??" But it can get to be a problem if not watched. You'll still think "I could lose a couple more pounds" but everyone else will think "Auschwitz survivor," kwim? Oh well, just my musings on a Wed. morning weigh-in.

Hi everyone, Congrats on your losses. I lost another pound and am now sitting at exactly 125, which was my original goal. I changed my goal to 135 because everyone said 125 would be too thin and frankly, I wasn't sure it was achievable. Guess I was wrong. I do look a tad thin with bones showing on the chest and back. I sort of have a pin thin look, but have actually weighed as little as 103 when I was in my 20s, 40 years ago. I looked too thin then, for sure. Now people that I haven't seen in awhile look at me and say "you're wasting away to nothing." Not sure if that's a backhanded compliment or not? I think you can tend to go to the anorexic side if not careful. For those of you who still have some to lose you'll probably be asking, "And the problem is.........??" But it can get to be a problem if not watched. You'll still think "I could lose a couple more pounds" but everyone else will think "Auschwitz survivor," kwim? Oh well, just my musings on a Wed. morning weigh-in.:thumbup:

Hey you guys.....great stories!! Love the last one, Chancie. Good for you, a 35 yo boy toy...way to go, girlfriend. I have officially lost 120 pounds, down 9 pounds below goal. I weigh 126 pounds and am 5'-7.5", so I'm a skinny bitch. Wearing size 2 pants....that's skinny. Great for all of you......wishing you all the best and little sizes. Keep it going.:nono:

My morning weight today is 127. I'm below goal by 8 pounds. Good going everyone!

What you're describing sounds like a major re-haul boob job. But I'm not sure how any surgeon can know where you'll end up when you're 3 weeks out from surgery....I mean, seriously, how can he know how you'll heal. He's going by what he's seeing now, which isn't where you'll be in the end. You need to wait until you're in the end zone to visit surgeons and get quotes, you know? You have to realistically give yourself 2 yrs. from date of surgery to even begin to see what you're left with; trying to "nip it in the bud" doesn't work in this regard, although I applaud your sense of adventure, so to speak.

Finally got down 100 pounds today. This is a big moment. I just wish I felt better. My Piraformis muscle on my left buttock has been bothering me for a month. Looks like I'm going to have to have botox injected into the muscle to paralyze it. Chiropractor says it's because I lost the weight so quickly. Didn't seem quick to me......9.5 months. Anybody have this issue with their piraformis muscle cramping up due to weight loss and sitting? Please let me know how you resolved it.

Update: I'm 112 pounds down and at goal. My PCP thinks the piriformis muscle issue is occurring from an old vertebra fracture I had back 10-11 yrs. ago. She thinks losing the weight has caused my spinal center of gravity to shift - I mean when you think about it - that could be so. I'm now quite thin. She thinks the nerve is being irritated because of this shift AND the old fracture (which healed completely.) IDK, it's a working theory. Having an MRI on Fri., July 2nd, will let you know what they find, if anything. IF there is something going on in there, I'll try to get set up for an epidural cortisone injection at UCLA's spine clinic and see if that will take care of it. Time will tell. Keep good thoughts for me. It's a trying time; this isn't the only "problem" in my world, the others are not physical though. Thanks!

Officially 1 pound below my goal weight. Lost 100% of my weight in 13 months (inc. pre-op dieting.)

Congrats Chancie!! Great stories, that's fabulous. Big hugs for all your victories!