jc4444

Hello everyone, it's been a while since I've been in here, I was sleeved march 20th by Dr Stowers in Decatur TX. Life has been amazing since my surgery, no major complications, i feel healthy for once in my life, no more knee pain, blood pressure and cholesterol are great! I'm at my goal weight of 175, I'm 5'10". I if your thinking about getting the sleeve, STOP THINKING AND DO IT! It helped me in so many ways and I am very happy with my decision. Yes some set backs, like not being able to eat a whole plate if food sucks for the first 2 months, but after your mind changes and you get comfortable eating small quantities, it gets better. Now when I got out to eat with friends, and I have take home food that lasts 2 more meals. And, when I see them eat, I think? "How the hell can they eat all that?" Mind has changed for the better, seeing all that fat, sodium and other junk entering their bodies makes me even happier that I made a decision to change my life. Yes it sucks not being able to eat ice cream, "more than one scoop", but I'm happy when I don't. You can eat more, but your stomach won't like it at all, you will be going to the RR to throw up and have an awful stomach ache for about 30 mins. You can eat whatever food you want, just not nearly as much as you would have before. •PAIN- never felt any major pain at all after the procedure, incision lines never hurt, and the only time when my stomach hurt was on the staple line when I sneezed, coughed or the 2 times I threw up after the surgery. <"2 weeks only". I had the HH repaired and drinking Water felt weird for 2 weeks afterwards, after that it went away. The gas pain I felt in my shoulders for about 2 weeks, nothing after that. The only regret I have is not getting it done sooner. Yes I was scared, but it's human nature to be scared of such a major procedure. ***But, ID RATHER SOMEONE WORK ON MY STOMACH THAN MY HEART"*** If anyone has any questions Id love to hear from you, take care and God bless you.

PS, once your sleeved, stalls will come and and go, one day you'll step on the scale and it will be 2 pounds lighter that a few days ago, then the next week it'll say the same as last week. From my research, stalls come due to your body changing from storing fat, to reducing fat. Plus, most of us largies think were all fat, nope, Water weight on us is ridiculous. That's the majority of the weight you will loose in the first few months. You won't be taking in all that sodium, so your body won't store much water at all. Me, I used to go to McDonald's, eat 3 McDoubles, large fry, and 2 Dr Peppers. Then the dollar hot fudge sundae to make it a complete meal. Now, I still go, but like today my daughter wanted a happy meal, so I took her. I got one McChicken, no mayo. That's it, I ate about 2/3's of the sandwich with no fries or drink. I was full, so full I felt as if I ate all I did before as in the first sentence. And that's the feeling you want, get fuller faster. Imagine this, not only will you be saving all that crap from going in your body, you will save a lot of money. It's a loose/win situation that your happy with on both sides.

Before and after

No problem, if I can help someone overcome the fears it's all worth it. I was scared too, but I prayed and asked god if it was for me make the fears go away, and they all did. It was a decision I choose to make to live longer and healthier. Do I miss eating like I did, not anymore, although I have seen a few people regret the surgery, it's usually due to the very few that have complications. It's been a journey I'll never forget, I still remember being wheels back to the operating room thinking, "this is all worth it", well and it has been. hair loss, well not sure if it affected me bc I've been a baldie since I was 21. I've heard of a few loosing their hair, but I believe that only occurs when you don't get enough Protein. The hardest part for me was the liquid diet. A week of Protein shakes was horrible. I cheated countless times, but when I did, I did the best way of eating grilled chicken and boiled broccoli. One thing you don't wanna do is cheat and eat fattening foods such as burgers etc. The point of the liquid diet is to shrink your liver and reduce the fat around it and your stomach. The worst thing that could happen is for your surgeon to open you up and have to close you up because you didn't follow procedures. Keep in mind, life is what you make of it, I believe if god gives you the means to get the surgery, it's meant for you. Go for it, the only thing you have to loose is weight, and gain many more years on your life. Take care

Here's a few photos of me, thanks again for everyone that helped me get to my goal!

Surgery was 6 months ago, and I'm loving it! I now weight 175, which is actually below my goal weight of 180. I'm happy though, everything went well and I'm enjoying my life. I feel better, healthier and it has changed my life for the better. I never had any major complications, or nausea. Thank you for supporting me and helping get through everything.

Forgot one

anytime, trust me, I'd do it again! I'd say the worst thing of the whole surgery, is that stuff they make you drink afterwards when you do the leak test, surgery and everything else was a breeeeeeeeze!

Be happy you lost 40 pounds! That's remarkable success!

Get rid of those negative thoughts, a new life is ahead of you! You will be fine!

Hi everyone, I was just wondering is it possible to get a leak after your stomach is presumed "healed"? Thanks!

Thanks for the help! I know anything is possible, but hopefully everything goes well for everyone.

It gets harder as you get farther!

I started having the pain a week post op, started after I vomited. Felt horrible, sharp pain, throbbing, and especially when I got in/out of the car. Being a police officer I get in and out several times of the day, I took 2 weeks off after my surgery and I've been back for a week now. Today I was stupid and went to DQ and got a vanilla shake, BIG MISTAKE!!! I threw up and BAM the pain hurt so bad I was laying on the ground. My partner called for an ambulance and I was so embarrassed when over 12 squad cars showed up, my sgt and my LT. Grrrr, I got to go home early though,

I'm making this for those of you that are thinking of getting the sleeve and have questions. I, thought about backing out so many times, and after reading the consent forms, well I almost did. But I thought "why should I?, why not go for it?, why not take a chance for a healthy life I've always wanted?" Well I decided to go through with it, and so happy I did! DAY 1: sleeve pre-op, day 1 was horrible, drinking Protein shakes for a whole week, my body and mind was so hungry, so I cheated on day 1 with a grilled chicken sandwich, chicken and bottom bun only. DAY2-3sleeve pre-op, did cheat on day 2/3 with the same, a grilled chicken sandwich, meat and bottom bun only. The shakes just did not do no good at filling me up DAY 4 sleeve pre-op, shakes all day, but had a few bites of lean beef Jerky DAY 5/6 sleeve pre-op, no cheating at all, my body felt so good at this time, I guess from not eating junk and the liquid diet was much easier to deal with. Went to the doctor on day 5 for the consent forms, blood drawn and hernia test, under anesthesia. Doctor found the medium sized hiatal hernia and was told it could be fixed with no problems. DAY 7 sleeve pre-op, I was so nervous, all I could drink was Water, no shakes and I did drink one bottle of Isopure. Drank 2 16.9 bottles of water at midnight. SURGERY DAY March 20th: woke up, got some good sleep! Nothing to drink, prayed when I got to the hospital, and at 8:37am they called me back. Said goodbye to my best friend, and walked to my room. Got my IV in my left hand, and waited for 1 hr and 1/2. 10:08am, anesthesia doctor came in and talked to me, told me about the anesthesia and what to expect, nurse gave me and anti-anxiety shot in my IV and at 10:22am the nurses came in and wheeled me into the surgery room. (It was so cold in there) POST-OP: 12:34pm I woke up in the recovery room, no pain, no nausea until I looked down and saw 5 wounds in my stomach area. Nurses came in and gave me a nausea dose in my IV, nausea went away. 2:47pm, woke up, no pain, no nausea, never vomited and felt good! Went to go pea for the first time and walks a little, still no pain! Walked back to my room after a small walk around the floor, and got some sleep in before my mom arrived at 6:00pm. Was awoken by my mom and still no pain, no nausea and no vomiting. 9:00pm, my mom left and I went to sleep, nurses came in and checked on me all through the night, no nausea, no pain and no vomiting all night. DAY 1 post op sleeve: woke up at 7:49am, no pain in the stomach area, no nausea or vomiting again. A little pain from the hernia repair, had a little difficulty swallowing, but I hit the pain pump and it went away. Doctor came in at 1:58pm and talked to me, was released and went home. Stayed in bed most if the day, walked every other hour and hernia repair spot was still hurting so I took my hydrocodone. DAY2 post op sleeve: woke up feeling better, still no nausea, vomiting or pain. walked throughout the day and rested the rest. Ate Popsicles (chocolate and cherry sugar free) all day, drank water and walked more! Not much isopure, just 3/4's of a bottle, and 3 bottles of 16.9oz water throughout the day. DAY 3 post op sleeve: no pain to think of, no pills, no nausea and still no vomiting. Still eating Popsicles and cherry Jello (all sugar free). Feeling good, not really hungry I'm the stomach, just the mind thing.. I'm so glad I got this done, thanks to all of you that kept me on track, so many to thank, so many that could have left this site after surgery and never looked back. It's nice to know that so many people are willing to stay around and help with people like me that was scared and wanting to back out. Thanks Kirk for keeping me in check, and we all enjoy this site! Laura and movie mom, y'all were more than helpful, I now have a few more friends I can chat with! For those of you scared, don't be, some will have complications and not everyone's will be smooth going. It's an invitation to a healthy life, a new beginning and most of all, a new you. Remember, God made us all different sizes, some small, some very large, but we all are who we are. We can change or get worse living a shorter life. Whatever decision you decide to make, be happy with it, and leave it in Gods hands. Take care everyone.

Hey Laura doing great! Almost 2 weeks post op and never felt so good since I stopped eating all those processed foods! How are you?

That's where I got mine done, really nice staff and the nurses check in on you ever other hour after surgery. A+ experience

Where you getting your surgery done at?

I had a wonderful food funeral! Don't regret it either!

I was scared too, put your fears aside, ask yourself would you rather someone work on your stomach, or your heart?

Hello everyone, I watched this video over 20 times before my sleeve, here's the link if anyone wants to see how ones done. It's probably the best one on YouTube, as I've seen several. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CDMQtwIwAg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DCD1afDem8yM&ei=qtxPUZCBAue-2gXs6ICoBw&usg=AFQjCNE32deM9HONBQoAdGQU2byKh8izaQ

Y'all don't worry, it'll come and go and everything will be better before you know it. Good luck to y'all!