kwikwits

I was sleeved on 6/1/11. I have lost 98 pounds including 19 pounds pre-op.

I think everyone loses weight at their own pace so comparing weight loss can be frustrating. I am down nearly 80 pounds at 5 months but for someone barely 5 ft. 1in. I was fairly large at nearly 300 lbs and I believe my body was thrilled at the opportunity to shed some weight. I haven't had "stalls", but because eating solid food has been a challenge (even this far out from surgery) my body may have gone into "starvation mode" and is hanging on to pounds for survival. I know you have to "eat" to lose. My "fantasy goal" is 160 lbs -- and I think that is possible -- realistically I'd be happy if I'm merely "overweight" and no longer "obese". Try not to get too caught up in a numbers game -- measure success by how much better you feel, you move and enjoy living, being lighter.

Congratulations on an amazing accomplishment!

I was sleeved on June 1, 2011 by Dr. George Fielding at NYU Medical Center in New York City. I am down a total of 62 pounds including pre-surgery weight loss. Initially I had a lot of problems eating. Now I am much better but I can't eat citrus, or fresh tomatoes, or most acidic fruits and veggies. I started getting mouth sores. I have had 3 after NEVER having a mouth sore before. Dentist prescribed topical paste to treat them. Could this be the sign of a vitamin C deficiency? Has anyone else gotten mouth sores post surgery?

I refuse to weigh myself more than once a week. The most gain I've shown is 3 lbs. I kept slipping back and forth recently between 236 and 233. Then suddenly I went in one week from 236 to 231. I'm hanging out at 231 now for a week.

Oregodaisy, I'm with you...if I get a neck waddle then I'm off to the plastic surgeon. I am down 62 pounds since 6/1/11 from my highest weight. I could be down another 10 or 20 by the fall. My skin is doing okay so far. I mean okay for a 56 year old woman with pretty good elasticity.

On 8/17 I will be 11 weeks post surgery! I haven't felt this good since I was in my 20s and I am 56 and a half years old! My feet never swell up, I don't huff & puff, I don't sweat like I'm dying, I have so much energy my friends can't keep up. My cholesterol is normal, my sugar is normal, my blood pressure is much lower but not normal yet. I feel LIGHT ON MY FEET! Walking is fun again. I can go up and down stairs easily. My heart rate only increases when I really move myself -- aerobics, running, climbing stairs. I can barely sit still on most days! My sleep is better. I don't stay up all night. The biggest negatives for me are reflux and nausea BUT THEY ARE IMPROVING CONSTANTLY. It is very freaky not being totally driven by food and eating and that is taking some getting used to. Getting full, getting sick, sliming are all new and challenging. I WOULDN'T GIVE MY SLEEVE BACK OR GIVE IT UP IN A HOT NEW YORK CITY MINUTE! This sleeve gave me my life back and I am so thankful I learned about VSG!

I love hearing about everyone's success with the SLEEVE! Thanks for the stories and the support! VSG changes lives for the BETTER!

I am sympathetic to your discomfort. Immediately after surgery and then again even one to two months post surgery I was having a lot of pain, nausea etc from eating. Here is what I did and it seems to have worked for me. Check with your surgeon, nutritionist etc. First 6 weeks I just drank Protein shakes, sucked on ice pops, ate sugar free Jello. That was all I could tolerate without feeling awful. Remember they removed 85% of your stomach and you have a long staple line that needs to heal. Other people may be able to eat soft foods etc BUT I COULDN'T EAT ANYTHING THAT WASN'T liquid (SHAKES), FROZEN Water (ICE POPS) OR THICK WATER THAT COULD DISSOLVE IN MY MOUTH. Stop trying to rush eating. You will get there and have less issues if you just move very, very slowly. I am 10 weeks out of surgery (sleeved on 6/1/11) and still do best with broth, sashimi (rice and seaweed are hard for me), cooked fish, tofu, poached eggs, hard boiled egg yolks, soft cheeses in little bites. I still get sick from egg salad with lots of mayo and tuna salad etc. Those people who claim to eat a steak days after surgery are either not telling the truth or they stuck the steak in the blender. Oh, after you get totally crazy from the sweet shakes, try marinara sauces, cottage or ricotta cheese, and some melted mozzarella cheese together. GO SLOWLY -- EVEN SOFT FOOD TAKES UP MORE SPACE THAN LIQUID FOOD. Be patient. You will heal and unswell. You had major surgery -- drink the liquid Protein Shakes. Food will come when your stomach is ready. Your mouth doesn't call the shots anymore. I am down 60 pounds from my heaviest weight, 50 pounds from my surgical weigh in, and 31 pounds from the day I was sleeved. I don't huff and puff when I walk. I have enormous amounts of energy and for the first time in years my cholesterol is below 200. Please know you will be able to eat more soon. Hang in there.

I can't imagine eating the way I used to eat. I can't fit much in right now. When does that change?

Me too!!! My two cents....http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/expert.q.a/07/29/weight.surgery.sleeve.jampolis/index.html?is_LR=1 kwikwits Sleeve surgery may have saved my life. 56 years old, morbidly obese, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and now high sugar. I was sleeved on 6/1/11. No it isn't EASY but only another obese or fat person would understand that but it is working and I'm losing weight despite the GERD and nausea. My numbers are dropping and not just my weight numbers. VSG will allow me to eat very small quantities of foods I normally enjoy. Skinny people have no insight into what causes we obese to eat despite it being unhealthy for us -- but now I have a surgically induced eating disorder -- like when they gave "anabuse" to alcoholics. I over eat even a little and I become deathly ill. I eat and drink Water at the same time and I get sick. I eat food that is fried -- I get sick. I find it hard to believe but I get sick enough that I've become "fearful" of eating and am very circumspect about what I eat. I have lost 52 pounds so far. Let's see if the nausea and GERD go away.

I am taking prilosec at least twice a day. I prefer to take it before bed so I wake up with less heartburn and nausea. Then I take it again around 1pm for my afternoon bout of nausea and reflux. I am trying Prevacid which is Lansoprazole another PP!. I am trying to find a PPI that is fast if taken once I'm feeling the burning from GERD -- omperazole isn't as fast acting as I'd like. I am trying to schedule the medication so that I don't have intense GERD symptoms throughout the day. I have enough trouble with nausea. I very rarely had heartburn before I was sleeved. I had the stomach of a goat before my sleeve and I weighed nearly 300 lbs. So now I'm down over 50 pounds and have to take some medications. I'm willing to make the trade off to live into my 80s!

My food monster has been vanquished by NAUSEA AND GERD! You know I never imagined in a million years that feeling ill could STOP my desire to eat and eat compulsively -- BUT IT HAS! I can't eat very much--some things only 2 ounces some things even less...two things happened fairly consistently; 1) I get very nauseous or I start out very nauseous when I wake up in the morning; 2) If I drink even a sip of Water while eating something -- I start to SLIME 3) I am NEVER hungry! The nausea is getting very old very fast. Dr. says I only had 85% of my stomach removed 7 weeks ago -- which isn't that long ago. I maybe nauseous for 6 months to 1 year out of surgery (YUCK). I take my drugs compazine, omperazole and now ginger tea and ginger gum (natural no drugs). I have been told I MUST EAT Protein BECAUSE I'M GOING INTO STARVATION MODE AND I NEED TO HEAL AND HEALING NEEDS PROTEIN! Here is my guide to protein... Tofu is a great idea -- easy to get down and a great source of protein. Ramen -- I don't do the noodles because they take up too much space and I need the protein -- but Ramen broth totally rocks! Plus good Ramen places will have fish cake, hard boiled egg, very soft pork slices (chashu) and then give broth refills! Takes me nearly two hours and I can't finish the broth but I get in a good deal of protein. Sashimi -- I can eat a sashimi appetizer in about an hour or so. Getting about 16 - 28 grams of protein depending on what types of fish and how much I can eat. I have lost more than 50 pounds including the two week pre-surgery diet. I feel the best when my stomach/esophagus is EMPTY! I am flying without a net so to speak -- not having food as an obsession is very odd -- I am less NUMB -- which means I get angry, frustrated and annoyed more easily! I sometimes don't know what to do with myself. Most planned eating experiences with others (going out to eat some place I liked before I was sleeved) haven't been so great. Everything tastes and seems different. I can't eat anything greasy and really don't want to now that I realize it tastes bad to me. I find myself "fearful" of feeling ill outside of my home -- not 'cause I may vomit -- because I don't -- I have SLIMED on the street -- but because I HATE FEELING NAUSEOUS AND HATE FEELING LIKE FOOD IS STUCK IN MY THROAT/ESOPHAGUS. Just remember -- eat slowly. Really focus on and taste the food while it is in your mouth -- the bulk of digestion takes place in the mouth. Plus if your taste buds are feeling as deprived as mine are -- food tastes so intense now -- like my taste buds were on LSD! A tomato tastes like the most amazing thing ever...it is very different. I guess I didn't pay attention to what the food actually tastes like. As for the amounts I eat -- they are laughable. In the beginning the amount of food I would eat was so meager and the risk of feeling sick during and/or afterwards so great it just didn't seem worth the risk! Now I can accept that 2 or 3 spoonfuls is all I can eat at a time. Every time I order food out I want to take a picture of what it looked like when it was served and how it looked nearly the same when I asked the server to pack it up for home! Only when I feel really, really sick do I ever think "WTF did I do to myself?" I can't help thinking my insurance company paid my surgeon to give me an eating disorder...I wonder if I will ever feel hungry again?

Go easy on buying a lot of Protein shakes. After 2 weeks of Protein Shakes before surgery (my doctor makes you do a two week liquid reduce the liver diet before surgery) and then 3 weeks of protein shakes after surgery -- I can't even look at them and frankly my assets are in liquid shakes right now. I wonder if I can sell them on craigslist or ebay????

I haven't felt "hungry" since before surgery. I don't get hungry. Sometimes I remember liking some kind of food and I think it would taste good to try it -- but I'm usually disappointed. Partially because it doesn't taste like it used to taste and partially because I can't eat very much of it. I am 6 weeks out since surgery. I am having issues with nausea and not being able to eat very much. Before being sleeved I never let feeling too full or feeling sick stop me from overeating. Now I sometimes start the day feeling so nauseous I just can't "risk" making myself feel worse by eating something. I never, ever felt that way before or thought that way before. I told my surgeon I didn't think there was anything STRONGER than my desire to eat and to over eat. I guess I was wrong. I am finding being at odds with food and eating very strange. The nutritionist says I have to "force" myself to eat Protein so I can heal. For all these years I had to "FORCE" myself to STOP eating -- I never would have predicted this. I am afraid to eat other foods I used to like the taste of or feel comforted by -- baked potato, fresh tomato, goat cheese, bleu cheese, corn on the cob, a hamburger -- once I realize there aren't any foods that taste like they used to or comfort me like they used to I think I will be very sad.

So sorry to hear you are back in the hospital and feeling crappy! I hope by the time you read this you are home with your family. I hate that swallow test so much...bad enough you have to drink that awful stuff BUT HAVING TO STAND ON THAT LITTLE PLATFORM IS JUST ADDING INSULT TO INJURY.... Are they sure you don't have a stricture? When I was having problems moving to soft foods and described feeling anything I "ate" just sat either at the bottom of my throat or the top of my esophagus -- the doctor wanted to make sure I didn't have a stricture. I didn't have a stricture -- but I'm still swollen and inflamed. broth and ice pops are my mainstays. Sometimes it is easier for me to have a popsicle than evening trying to drink Water. I worry I'm not getting in many calories. How can I lose weight when I barely eat anything? When I do eat --- it is Protein, protein, protein. But I don't think I've broke 300 calories if even that. I am so "afraid" of feeling sick from eating -- that I rather keep my stomach empty. Since I never 'feel" hungry so that isn't an issue. I never thought eating/stomach aches/chemistry/etc would be my issue. I used to have the stomach of a goat -- I could eat metal! Now a half cup of wonton Soup (sans wontons) and I'm in the toilet all night feeling my life pass before my esophagus. I hope you are feeling better and home. My advice is to keep an eating journal -- so you can remember what you ate and how it made you feel. Otherwise you just forget! My other piece of advice is to EAT very slowly. Even if that first taste is AMAZING...slow down because it doesn't take very long for your head to realize your full. Let me know if there is anything I can do to cheer you up and cheer you on! Estajo

Now that is a great NSV! For all these years assuming I have girly parts has been a huge leap of faith! I can't wait to meet my va jay jay! Fortunately, there have been persons in my life willing to perform reconnaissance missions and verify.

My surgeon was Dr. George A. Fielding at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, NY. Dr. Fielding is the weight loss surgeon to the "stars" having performed lap band surgery on NY Jet coach Rex Ryan, and Khaliah Ali (daughter of boxing legend Muhammad Ali). I chose Dr. Fielding because he used to be morbidly obese. In 1999, after performing about 600 weight loss surgeries in his native Australia, Dr. Fielding, at 42 years old, weighed 320lbs, had asthma, reflux, sleep apnea, depression and heart arrhythmias. Dr. Fielding wrote about his experience being the weight loss surgeon and the weight loss surgery patient. http://thinforlife.m...everyone-dreams http://thinforlife.m...e-him-big-loser Dr. Fielding has been instrumental in the development of laparoscopic surgery and has taught the techniques to surgeons around the world and has published more than 150 journal articles, abstracts, and book chapters. Dr. Fielding met and married his wife, Dr. Christine Ren Fielding also a distinguished weight loss surgeon while, at NYULMC -- now they are a NYC weight loss surgery "uber couple" often being mentioned in NYC gossip columns! Dr. Fielding is an arrogant, albeit, very charming, SOB and one hell of an excellent surgeon -- he also had me pegged as the "go f-yourself" kind of woman I am -- I was going to get the lap band and within minutes of meeting and talking to Dr. F he told me "the food restrictions you are going to have with the lap band are going to make you rebel" -- he was right. I didn't know much about vertical sleeve gastrectomy. Dr. Fielding suggested I do some research and have a 2nd surgical consultation. I did my homework (right here on VST!) and knew getting sleeved was the right procedure for me. Dr. Fielding does love being a weight loss surgeon -- as the fat keeps melting off my body, Dr. Fielding is my biggest cheerleader and is often giddier about my rapid weight loss (6 weeks post surgery and I've lost over 40lbs!) than I am!

That is a fabulous contraption to have!!! When all else fails there is ONE food that never makes me feel like my esophagus is going to explode or nauseous -- sugar free ice pops, ices, etc... Wow, now I want a snow cone machine!!! How cool is that!