kwikwits

I had a lot of trouble getting in enough grams of protein for at least the first 4 months. I also had a real tough time transitioning to mushy foods. They made me sick immediately. Every transition towards solid food was a challenge for me. Sounds like you aren't getting enough calories but at one month out expecting you to get in 1000 calories daily is to me unrealistic. Plus it takes nearly one year to be completely healed. I was still swollen at 4 months and longer - my surgeon had me getting in as many shakes as I could - which was hard enough and the suggested adding calories with soup. A few of the bariatric soups that have high protein aren't bad tasting but you can make your own too. Try making chicken soup and purée some of the boiled chicken and putting it in your portion of soup. I am talking a very small portion of soup...I. The beginning a 1/4 cup took me more than an hour to eat... Warm it up in the microwave and keep taking a teaspoonful or less. More calories will give you more energy. Your doctor maybe doing the endoscopy because of you other physical complaints just to see if you have a stricture or are very swollen. S/he wants to see if there is a physical issue with your sleeve that is making you feel so sick. It doesn't mean stretching your sleeve will be necessary he is just being cautious. Good luck. Asks lots of questions if your surgeon. And keep asking questions on VST. We have all been there... Everyone has a different experience. I was nauseous for months after I was sleeved - my nausea fairly constant though less intense lasted 6 months. Other people topped feeling nauseous right away. Try doing little things to stay hydrated and get in as much protein (ie. calories) as you feel you can without feeling sick. I was no where near 1000 calories daily after 1 month - no way.

I was sleeved 20 months ago. I have lost 138 pounds. I am much more sensitive to cold because I lost all that insulation. Also while your body is burning up (using your fat stores for energy) you feel colder. Fat insulates us...it also uses more energy to move a bigger person so you exert yourself more & harder and work up a sweat. When I weighed 296 I was always warm from just moving myself around. Moving a158 pound body takes much less exertion. Bring a sweater even if you never expect to feel cold. After 20 months I still have to remind myself I get cold easily.

VSG or any weight loss surgery isn't the easy way out. WLS has a very high mortality rate for elective surgery -- so we are risking our lives just by getting on the operating table. So you make it out of surgery alive -- then you spend the next 6 months it was for me -- figuring out how to eat with this new banana shaped stomach that holds not very much food. I struggled with solid food. I was nauseous constantly. I couldn't eat anything but Soup comfortably for nearly 6 months. I developed gastric reflux that I never had before my sleeve. I had other digestive issues that took time to resolve. Four months after surgery my hair fell out -- not some of my hair but the majority of my hair fell out. How is this the easy way? I am 15 months out of surgery -- I have lost 125 pounds. I have to work on my desire to compulsively overeat or eat for emotional reasons every single day. Yes, my sleeve makes me acutely aware of feeling full. Yes, taking to big or fast a bite of food at the beginning of a meal can mean my meal is over until the food has moved down my narrow redesigned stomach. My GERD continues to be a problem but I'm more used to it. I am healthier. I don't take any medication anymore. I feel better. I can walk around, climb stairs, take walks, be active without having joint pain or shortness of breath. I extended my life and improved the quality of my life. It doesn't count because I did it with the help of surgery? Tell the people who say that to "cheat" and have weight loss surgery and then tell me about how easy it was. Being healthier and living longer and better is what counts. How you achieve that is your own business.

Greetings NY sleevers! Last year there were not so many of us here on VST -- and considering the Empire State is pretty darn big I was worrying NY wasn't being represented. Glad to see there are more, and more NYers on VST. I had my surgery on June 1, 2011 at NYU with Dr, George Fielding. Surgery was fine. 3 day hospital stay. My big issues were nausea and trouble switching to solid food. I was eating Soup for a long, long time. But everything that was problematic improved over time. I learned to be patient. Everyone is different adjusting to their sleeve. Even now after one year -- there are times when I either take to big a bite, or eat fast or who knows what -- within minutes of eating my stomach hurts. It doesn't happen frequently but when it does I know in a few hours I will feel better and try eating some food again. Now I worry when I can eat more often -- formerly morbidly obese people have LOTS of issues. I still worry my sleeve is magic and suddenly the magic will wear off and I will eat myself back to nearly 300 pounds. Maybe that fear will motivate me to keep finding non-eating self soothing behaviors! I wish everyone just starting out a lot of luck, patience and perseverance. EJ

It is never too late to be healthier! I am 57 years old and had VSG surgery on 6/1/11. Nearly 9 months later and I have lost 118 pounds. More importantly, my blood sugar is normal, my cholesterol is 188, my ratio of HDL to LDL puts me at the lowest risk for heart attack and my back, knees, ankles and feet don't hurt and don't swell. I walk fast everywhere, I bound up and down steps and I feel terrific. VSG and the weight loss it facilitated shave at least 10 years off my age. I look younger and feel younger. I sleep better. I eat better. The foods I used to crave constantly no longer appeal to me. I quit drinking soda two weeks before surgery...and I haven't gone back. I don't even like soda now and I've tasted it. Now, I eat a little bit (2-3 ounces) mostly protein every 4 to 5 hours -- if I feel hungry. There are always left overs. I still prefer soup to many solid foods. If I eat too fast or take bites like I did before surgery I can feel full pretty quickly. There isn't anything I can't eat. I just eat a very small amount and I'm satisfied. I was a quantity eater -- I was a compulsive eater -- I never stopped eating until the food was gone. I could eat a dinner out and come home to eat another dinner. When my surgeon told me VSG would make me feel less hungry my response was "who eats from hunger?" I ate because I was happy, or sad or it was rainy or it was sunny -- hunger had nothing to do with my eating. Now, my sense of fullness is impossible to ignore. I don't get sick but I know when to stop and I know I can eat again in a few hours IF I WANT TO. I don't feel deprived one bit. I still enjoy good food but in much smaller amounts. When dining out I eat appetizer portions. Some things I can eat full portions (there are still leftovers) like sashimi or mussels. They don't take up as much space in my new banana shaped stomach. I don't eat many starchy carbs -- not because I am an anti-carb zealot -- but because they fill me up too quickly and I prefer filling up with protein. I am a criminal defense attorney -- actually I am the Public Defender here in NYC. Today, I wound up representing a former client from 2007. I told his mother that I was half the size I was back in 2007. She greeted me in court and said "You said you were half the size you were in 2007, I disagree, you are a quarter of the size you were back then." The truth is -- sometimes I don't recognize myself. My whole face has changed along with my body. It does take some getting used too -- but looking better is just "gravy" -- I did this so I could move without hurting, not feel breathless all the time, and not worry I would die prematurely. I am rocking my sleeve & I am pushing 60 years old!

kenbr14 - Dr. Ren is excellent -- she is bariatric surgery super star! Dr. Ren is now Dr. Ren-Fielding because she is married to my surgeon -- Dr. George Fielding. The only reason I didn't use Dr. Ren is because Dr. Fielding used to be fat -- he has been lap banded since 1999. When I initially had my surgical consultation with Dr. Fielding I was going to get the lapband. It was Dr. Fielding who suggested VSG. He even told me to make an appointment for a 2nd surgical consult so I could research VSG and see if it was for me. I had my surgery at NYU June 1, 2011. They will keep you there for 3 days to make sure you aren't "leaking" i.e. bleeding internally. I have been very pleased with the NYU Weight Management Program since my surgery. I am down over 100 pounds from my heaviest weight and 101 pounds from what I weighed when I first went to NYU for my surgical consult. VSG was right for me. Currently I can eat just about anything (but my tastes have changed drastically since I was 100 pounds heavier) -- I can't eat a large amount of food. I can eat 3 - 4 ounces of food -- possibly more when it is sashimi. I prefer to eat Protein mostly but I'm not totally carb free -- I just can't eat much so I prefer to fill my sleeved stomach with protein first -- also I feel that carbs make me fill full faster and I haven't gotten in the grams of protein I need to keep healing (it isn't 1 year yet so I still need protein to heal my surgically altered stomach) and to keep me losing weight. I am still losing weight but slower than I was in the first 6 months. I had lots of different issues transitioning to solid food but in time things got better and easier. My only side effect that continues is I developed gastric reflux -- which I treat with omeprazole (Prilosec, Nexium, Prevacid). I don't eat as many tomatoes, or citrus as I used to because of their acidity. I take a B12 sublingual tablet daily too because taking a ppi (proton pump inhibitor) interferes with your ability to asorb Vitamin B12. More importantly, I feel great! No more high cholesterol, my blood sugar is normal, I don't take any medications anymore. My knees don't hurt, my back doesn't hurt and I can move quickly and easily. Good luck to you on March 1st!

On 12/22/11 I weighed 195. Today, 1/17/2012, I weighed 187. I have stalls and then I drop some weight. I'm losing more slowly than I did when I was heavier. I can eat most foods. I can eat about 3 ounces of solid food at a meal. I feel like I can eat soup and sashimi the easiest and the most volume. I am trying to eat more veggies and fruit. I don't eat starchy carbs because they fill me up and reduce the amount of protein I take in at a meal. I'm not carb adverse I just choose to eat protein first, then veggies. I was never a big bread eater. Pre-surgery I did eat pasta pretty often. I don't miss it. I am having more urges to eat some of the crap I used to eat. I'm a believer in harm reduction. If I want a salty snack I may eat some nuts, pretzels or 100 calorie bags of microwave popcorn. If I crave sweet I will have a small portion of sorbet or a cinnamon cookie. I have gastric reflux which I didn't have prior to surgery but it is getting better. My doctor says I may "grow out of it" as time passes. Most of my negative side effects (nausea, stomach aches) have improved or disappeared. Best thing is my joints don't hurt anymore. I move easily and quickly. I don't huff & puff when I walk. I've gone from a 26/28 (often a 30/32 in tops because of my arms) to a 14/16.