VSGAnn2014

Stop spending money on room service and spend it on a therapist.

I say, go for it. Wear the dress. Experiment. Find out what happens.

Surgeon said alcohol was OK 48 hours post-op? Seriously?!!!!! That's crazy to me.

It sounds like your heart doctor has VSG surgery confused with gastric bypass surgery. Seriously.

I didn't even know there was a 0X. Talk about vanity sizing!

Also singer Ann Wilson (Heart) And author Anne Rice (Vampire Chronicles, etc.) And Carnie Wilson had a second WLS -- lapband.

I didn't freak out at all. I was so f**k**g ready for the surgery and had been for so many months. I was just excited that it was finally happening! Amazingly, although I'm 68 years old, it was my first surgery and first time being admitted to a hospital. I had tremendous confidence in my surgeon and his team. Like someone else said above, I was very focused on the future benefits of the surgery. And I knew I couldn't have those until after the surgery.

Best to you, Kristina. I am betting you reach your goal.

I guess that's why they call it "recovery." Something big just happened. And it's going to keep happening for a while (some say). The changes we're going through post-op are significant -- physical (healing), nutritional, hydration, behavioral, social, sleeping (for me), and tons of other ways. Pre-op, we knew how to do the basic things we're now learning from scratch again. But all the reading I've done online tells me we go through many, many phases. I've come to appreciate that there is no finish line. We just keep opening new gates and going across new valleys and over new mountains. I don't think we're ever going back to our old haunts. And that's a little freaky. Or exciting. Or both.

CGJ - what an amazing post! Every bit of it. So much good content here for reflection. Hmmm ... Thank you for all your contributions here and elsewhere. Your contributions are almost always ones I think about for some time. You help.

Good grief. Those online "calculators" / "predictors" (in big fat air quotes) of how much weight "you will lose" (again, big air quotes) are based on the past weight loss / maintenance success of large samples of WLS patients, including those who refused to give up sweet tea, who were uncompliant from day one, those who work out six days a week, those who never left the couch -- and everyone in between. Those apps are, in effect, nothing more than actuarial tables of how successful a lot of WLS patients have been at losing / maintaining weight. Those apps do not predict how much weight YOU will lose. Your consistent personal behavior and discipline re eating, drinking, exercising is what determines how much weight YOU will lose and how well you maintain your weight loss. That is all.

Hell, no, I don't regret being sleeved! Although I'm only 8 weeks post-op, I am so glad I did this. I researched this procedure and WLS in general for over a year before having VSG surgery. To learn about how people feel about WLS here, you really should search this forum. There are dozens of threads like this. It would be so much more efficient for you to read those than to wait for people to post here. Search for: complications or regrets or failed / failure. Having said that, I hope you know that WLS is really successful (in terms of long-term weight loss maintenance) only for 50% of WLS patients. You should also search here for: long-term success, veterans success, two years, three years, four years, five years

Thanks for this thread and the comments. This lightheadedness started happening to me the first few months prior to WLS. (I had then put myself on a 1200-1400 calorie diet to lose some weight pre-op.) It's still happening, but (maybe?) less so than it used to right after WLS surgery. First time I have EVER had this problem. I'll keep an eye on this and, if it doesn't resolve in a month or so see my PCP about it. Thank again.

Boy, that was dramatic. Maybe if you hurry, you can get your old stomach back. Seriously ... in less than a month post-op you lost 15 pounds. FYI, my surgery weight 8 weeks ago was 216. One month (30 days) later, I'd lost 10.4 pounds. And I was thrilled. Thrilled! I cannot remember (decades ago?) the last time I lost 10.4 pounds in 30 days. Also consider this: About a month ago, I gained four pounds in two days. And then two days after that I stepped on the scales and had suddenly lost 8 pounds, for a net loss of four pounds in four days. It's not typical. But it happens. I would suggest that with the purees you've taken in some salt and maybe also have some constipation that's causing a temporary weight gain. Don't go off the deep end every time you get on the scales and see they've gone up or haven't gone down--especially if you're eating/drinking what's recommended by your surgeon. Give yourself a break and appreciate that you / we will NOT lose our overweight in a straight downward path. (Also google "three week stall" if you don't know about that. Happens to almost everyone.)

I'm 8 weeks post-op. I didn't break out in hives, but until a week ago I did have some pretty big bumps (maybe 15-20) that showed up on my arms, legs, chest and even face. They itched a lot and reminded me of enormous mosquito bites. I finally called my surgeon's office and spoke to the long-time bariatric PA who's well educated about WLS phenomena. She said my maladies weren't familiar to her, but then said that the skin is our biggest stress-absorbing organ. She told me to take Zyrtec or other allergy meds and that they'd probably go away. I wound up not taking any meds. And this is the week that the bumps went away. Just another WLS oddity, I guess.

Good OP. You asked: "Why are you doing/did you do this? What moments were really memorable in your decision making process?" Frankly, I was desperate. In my late 60s, I had suffered some health and stress setbacks the previous year and a half and gained considerable weight. I simply could not fathom any form of satisfactory retirement (next year) and had no idea how I could manage to lose as much weight as I had to lose (nearly 100 pounds). I also knew that even if I lost the weight I'd never maintain the weight loss -- since I NEVER HAVE BEFORE. I remember telling someone I was just so f**k**g disappointed in myself. In the end, I really had no other options. I'd tried all the others (at least 40 diets throughout my life, lots of weight lost and regained). I kept thinking of the famous Einstein definition of insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I'm not insane. And I'm not stupid. And I don't have time to mess around anymore. So I did this.

You guys have reminded me that when I had gallbladder surgery 4 weeks post-VSG-op, the attending anesthetist said the same thing when he was hooking me up to the surgical drugs. "Gee, I didn't know they did weight loss surgery on people your size." I said, "Well, I was fatter when I started this process." People just blather, and stupid stuff comes out of their mouths.

I've told only my hubby and two friends who I knew would be supportive. I don't ever have to have these conversations. Or conversations that are even more annoying. Ever.

Is this an online chat -- or a phone chat?

Congrats to all the 65-and-overs who have had this surgery of late. I'm just being as compliant as possible. Protein, Water, moving, no drinking with meals, etc. With my own pre-pre-op diet, the pre-op diet, and post-op losses, this morning I was down 40.5 pounds. In a few more pounds, I'll be halfway to my goal of 150 pounds. Haven't weighed that since my 30s. And yes, I'm pretty sure reaching and staying at 150 pounds will delay or possibly even forestall knee surgery for me, too. My take on this surgery right now is that it's a freakin' miracle!

Hey, Idaho. Glad to hear you're getting better every day. That's exactly how recovery works. On my surgery day, I weighed 216, and here are my first seven weeks weekly weight losses: 4.2 2.6 2.4 1.2 3.8 2.0 1.2 I will probably be down 2.5 pounds for Week 8 (this coming Monday).

All my eating instructions say to eat the foods that I "tolerate well." And if I don't tolerate those foods well, I'm to stop eating them, try some others, and then reintroduce the offending foods weeks or months later to see what happens. My instructions also say that meats (including chicken) should be moist and not dry or stringy. Tonight I had BBQ salmon and ate it with a tablespoon of sour cream. Same thing with chicken. A little melted cheese can sometimes make a meat just the little bit moister that my sleeve appreciates. Good luck.

Glad you found your way back onto the path you chose.

LOLing at the "targets" I see people setting for the speed of their weight loss. Just do what you're supposed to do. You'll lose the weight -- at your body's rate. Control what you can control (what you eat, drink, and how much you exercise). About the rest (how fast you will lose), fuggedaboudit.

@@JustWatchMe ... GREAT post and thread. Respect.