RareGold3000

Just wanted to start a post from ALL AUGUST 2012 post op VSG peeps to let everyone know how WE are doing after ONE full year POST OP. Post your pre surgery weight, height, surgery date, weight now AND your own personal 'goal' weight, and PLEASE post some before and after pics THEY are ALWAYS awesome to see!! CONGRATS to us ALL!! Here are my stats: Pre surgery: 249 lbs Height: 5'5" Surgery date: 8-21-12 Weight now: 159 lbs (90 lbs lost) My personal goal weight: 135-145 lbs Pre Surgery Picture July 2,2012 (249 lbs) Post Surgery Picture August 21,2013 (159 lbs) Karen

My VSG experience at one year post op: I was sleeved on August 21, 2012 in Lancaster, PA by Joseph R McPhee IV, MD. My highest weight was 249 lbs, and I am 5’5”. At the time of my surgery I was 48 yrs old. The full liquid pre surgery diet that my surgeon requires for 1 week helped to prepare me for my post op 2 week full liquid diet. After that, then I had a 2 week puree/soft food diet. At 4 weeks post op I was allowed regular foods as tolerated. Each surgeon is different, so follow their designated plan for you. YES, you will most likely be sore after surgery, it’s normal, it was major surgery after all. Yes, you will most likely have reflux and pain in your shoulder from gas. Yes, the first 4 weeks after surgery basically sucks. BUT, it’s ONLY a very small portion of time in our very long lives, look at it that way. Before you know it, you’ll be recovered, barring any major complications. Follow all instructions from your surgeon, to prevent leaks and any major issues that might arise if you choose to do what you want to do. Remember, you did NOT gain all this weight in a year, and most likely will NOT have it all off in a year unless you have less than 100 lbs to lose. So many people that I see here get so discouraged and say “I ONLY lost 10 lbs this month, is this normal?” Or, “I am in a stall, now what?” Our bodies need to recover and need to catch up and when else have you lost 10 lbs in a month, and not gained it right back? Calm down, quit whining and just keep doing what is right and it will all be ok. MOST of us have gone thru MORE than ONE stall and they last weeks upon weeks, so again, stop whining. When I see posts that say “50 lbs GONE FOREVER” and the like, it makes me cringe!! This surgery is NOT a be all/end all to our weight issues. It’s a forever change in attitude and diet and exercise. It’s for life. If you think once you lose any weight you are NEVER gonna gain it back, you better get more help because IF you do gain it back, then what? As my surgeon says “one in five of his patients gains weight back”. Make sure you aren’t that ONE patient. Many do not work out/exercise at all. I find that for me, although trust me the gym is NOT one of my favorite places to be, it helps me mentally to wrap my head around the whole ‘change’ in lifestyle. The gym or exercising helps with energy and helps with burning calories and helps with strengthening and helps with toning as you lose the weight. I’m not saying it will get rid of all loose skin but it definitely helps with overall health and muscle mass. I am at the gym 5 days a week with 50 min of cardio/the arc trainer and 3 days a week I add in 15-20 min of strength training. I burn like 600-630 calories doing the cardio, each time, which is awesome. I found that after the 6 month mark, maybe because I didn’t have hundreds of pounds to lose, that the weight loss slowed down A LOT even with being at the gym 5 days a week. It did not discourage me though from continuing on with the gym and how I was eating. One month I lost 1 pound and a few months 3 and 4 pounds, and at month 10-11 I lost ZERO pounds. There is no rhyme or reason to it and I still kept losing inches. My suggestion is to do what I do and that is this……track with myfitnesspal or a similar app, everything that goes into my mouth I track. And, I take my measurements every 2 weeks faithfully. I also weigh myself daily ONLY ONCE though. Do what works for you, once a day, once a week, once a month. I don’t think it’s good to do it though more than once a day. Even with losing slower after the 6 month post op mark, I also know that I did not gain, so there’s the positive. I would suggest if your surgeon has a support group to attend them. My surgeons’ practice has a support group every month and I go faithfully. It’s a wealth of knowledge and there are so many who can share with you what they have learned and you can also pay it forward to those who are starting their journey. The sleeve WILL prevent you from putting too much into it at any given time, you will pay that price, although I never threw up, I knew when to stop. If you push beyond that point, get some help from your surgeon or nutritionist or psychologist since you obviously are over eating even with this. The sleeve WILL NOT prevent you from putting whatever you want into it. Sure, you can eat ice cream all day long and other NOT good slider foods. So, if you want to trick it and do that, then why bother having major surgery. Again, get help with your relationship with food first. You can and will gain weight again IF you do not realize that this is NOT a miracle cure for your eating issues. At the beginning of my journey, I bought what I thought was a ‘goal outfit’, and it was a size 8 skinny jean and a small dressier blouse/shirt. Not realizing that sizing over the years has gotten bigger. Back in 2005 when I weighed 142 lbs I was a size 8 jeans. I fit into my ‘goal’ jeans at 165 lbs so, yes sizes are bigger these days, not sure why?? I am currently at 160 lbs at ONE year out, having started at 249 lbs. I thought at a year out I’d be at 149 lbs with a bit more to lose, BUT I am happy to have lost almost 90 lbs since starting this journey. Like I said before, we did not gain it in a year, so please have realistic expectations, and do not compare yourself to someone else who is your height and starting weight. For me, I know that I am hypothyroid and it makes it harder for me to lose weight even if it’s being regulated by medication. I think a goal outfit helped me to visualize where I wanted to be and kept me continuing at the gym and eating properly. It might help you as well! I just had my 1 yr follow up appt today (8-21-13) with my surgeon. He said to follow the rules of 80 grams Protein and 90 grams of carbs per day, and 1500 calories per day as well. I’m not even at those calories per day now. I get between 800-1200 calories per day total due to burning 600 calories 5 days per week. I know I want to lose another 15-25 lbs although he thinks I’ll be good with 5-10 lbs more. As I said above, I weigh 160 lbs now and want to weigh between 135-145 lbs. He also said that throughout maintenance to expect to fluctuate 10 lbs, but to watch if it goes above that 10 lbs. He said to revisit what I’m eating and see what the reason is that it goes above that. He also said that the expectation with the sleeve is that we lose 70 percent of our excess weight, I have reached 76 percent, so I’ve gone beyond the expectation. I hope I continue on to have it go to 100 percent of the excess weight!! I hope this post helps some of you with your journey, and I pray that each of you is successful in your journey to get to where you want to be so that you can enjoy all the things that you want to do. Karen This pic was taken before surgery 249 lbs This pic was taken today 8-21-13 160 lbs (almost 90 lbs lighter)

Awesome pic and progress!! You look fantastic, thanx for sharing!! Karen

Awesome progress, you look amazing!! How in the heck does your cell phone case match your shirt? Or is it an optical illusion LOL. Thanx for sharing such great success. Karen

Caffeine is typically allowed after one month, check with your surgeon. Caffeine is a diuretic, stimulates gut motility and increases appetite, it also isn't good for the healing process. Karen

You look fabulous, congrats and thanx for sharing!! Karen

You look beautiful!! What a great difference. Thanx for sharing!! Karen

Awesome progress!! You look beautiful!! Congrats and thanx for sharing!! Karen

For me, I found that after my 7 day required full liquid diet pre surgery that I was actually grateful for doing it because it prepared me for what I was in store for the 2 weeks following surgery, FULL LIQUIDS. It wasn't a hard transition then to do that for 2 weeks after and then the 2 weeks of puree/soft foods. Again all surgeons are different with pre and post op diets. Best of luck to you! Karen

You look fantastic!! Awesome job!! Thanx for sharing!! Karen