BigTink2LilTink

If yours goes in the same way as my surgery did, I was ready to "go" by week 4 post surgery. And I noticed a true difference in performance/stamina/and size by week 12/14 post surgery. But everyone is different, so results will vary from person to person.

LOL......Only because I am a male, and I'm totally capable of getting multiple orgasms. Was able to do that pre-surgery and still can post surgery..........I guess not all men are created equally.

I've been recovering from a serious sinus/allergy infection so my gym time over the last 3 weeks are so has been limited. I'm hoping to get back into again starting today. Looking good by the way @@BigViffer

My experience, and this is mines and no one else so, take this information at your own risk. First time I had a drink of alcohol was literally 10 days post surgery. It was new years eve and I had like two sips of super cheap champagne and I was very tipsy right away. I didn't have another drink of alcohol of any kind until a good year after that event. What I have noticed that with drinking is that it does depend on the drink that I am consuming and I can go from tipsy, to buzzed very quickly depending on the drink and strength of said drink. Shots (tequila, rum, and whiskey) are indeed one shot and done sort of drinks for me now. If I go beyond one of those, which I think the most I have had so far almost two years out of surgery was 3 shots in one evening within a 15 minute span of consuming all three shots, and I was very buzzed (lightly drunk). It took about an half and hour to an hours for that buzz to go away where I could feel "normal" again. What I have learned is that if I pace myself, usually only stick to one or two drinks max (on the hard stuff listed above), and sip them very slowly and moderately, that I can be alright. But again a mixed drink will now last me damn near an entire night vs pre surgery I could have K.O'ed quite a few of them before even feeling remotely buzzed let alone intoxicated. I personally don't like the get buzzed "high" quick feeling that drinking gives me especially if I am out at like a bar/public environment vs at home or at a trusted friends home. When I am out, I will stick to drinks like hard ciders or dare I say a Mike's Hard Lemonades sort of drink. Beer I really don't drink much of anymore and when I do its usually a stout and again only 1 now. Stouts tend to be heavier beers than your light lagers, and with more yeast and hops makes for a more fuller tummy experience. Wine, I just had recently for the first time in years, it was a dry red wine and it did have a bit of the buzzy feeling to it but it was like 4oz and it took me a good 30 minutes to consume it. Tequila, especially patron, 1 and done. I know if I go beyond that then I'll be in some troubles. Now I will be two years post op this Dec, and I can say that in the time post surgery I can still say that I have had less than 10 drinks in that time frame. I know how drinking for some of us can be a slippery slop to leading towards unwanted addictions and coping mechanisms. I get that, and I think its why I choose to wait so long to attempt to drink anything post surgery, especially after the NYE thing. But it is something that I have learned to enjoy, just on very special occasions and in the right situations.

Absolutely amazing! Sent from my SM-N910P using the BariatricPal App

Yeah I was using Zofran for a few days post surgery. I also was using/sniffing rubbing alcohol. It was what my nurse at the hospital was using on me to help combate the nausea. It actually worked. When I was feeling like I was about to puke, I would sniff the cotton ball with Alcohol and be able to stop myself. Hugs to you, as this will get better. Also, if you start puking and can't stop, get to the hospital. The quickest was to suffer from sever dehydration is by unstoppable vomiting. Sent from my SM-N910P using the BariatricPal App

Thanks I really appreciate your help! Gives me some things to consider and think about. I am working with a therapist and I did go to Overeaters Anonymous for a short period. I would like to know if there is a bariatric support group in my area after my surgery. Have you tried asking your surgeon's office about local support groups in the area? They may have a listing of local groups in your area you can reach out to for support pre and post surgery Sent from my SM-N910P using the BariatricPal App

I would suggest that right now you look into getting some sort of therapy whether its one on one or a group setting, but any help you can get to help you get through the emotional connection and addictions to food. Trust me on this, if I didn't have the mental help in my life, my depression post surgery would have probably done me in. Food addiction is just as bad as drug and alcoholic addition. And learning how to cope with that is absolute key to being successful post surgery. In other words, you won't be able to eat yourself to mental state of happiness. Before I was even approved for surgery I had to have a mental evaluation done to make sure I could mentally handle the changes post surgery. And even though I did good on the evaluation and they initially felt like I didn't need it, after the surgery I needed it and boy oh boy did I need it badly. I too was a huge bread/starch lover before the surgery. And granted I wasn't the best when it came to eating vegetables, your taste buds will indeed change. Things that you may love now, you might not like anymore post surgery. I can think of a least three or four former favorite fast foods that I can't do anymore just on the sheer fact that they taste disgusting to me now. But what you may not notice is that you may develop a like or craving for new foods, even food that you hate now, you may learn to love and appreciate post surgery. For me that was mashed potatoes. I couldn't stand mashed potatoes before I had the surgery. And now I can tolerate them for the most part. Hell even some days I look forward to eating them. Would I would suggest for you is this. If your surgeon has a meal plan for you, to start incorporating as many of those changes into your life now, before your surgery. That way its not a 100% shock to your system once surgery happens. Start cutting out the bad foods now, which unfortunately for now is the starchy, bread, sugary filled foods. Also kinda switch your diet around to a more Atkins-is Protein first sort of diet. That will be a huge key change for you post surgery is to focus on getting in as many grams of protein per meal to meet your daily goal, especially early on after surgery. As for what I do now, I can eat bread, but I treat it more as a cheat meal/treat than a part of my daily diet. I try to restrict myself to no more than twice a week, usually in the middle of the week and on the weekends. Pasta, I don't eat hardly ever, and fried foods are even more scarce. Also on days where I know I'm gonna eat "bad" I try to prepare for it and the extra calories they will add into my diet by working out more to burn more calories.

When I started I was a type 2 diabetic with an A1C of about 13% and I was taking about 100 units of Lantus insulin a day. My blood work from last September showed my A1C at 3.5% and I've been off of Lantus insulin for about a year now. I was taken off the insulin about 4 months post surgery and I was told that I could stop fully monitoring my blood sugars after my A1C came back at 3.5%. Diabetes was the primary reason I had the surgery. I felt like time for me to reverse it was running out if I didn't loose all the excessive weight I was carrying around. And now that I no longer have to give myself up to two shots of insulin a day, and countless finger pricks to check blood sugar levels is well beyond worth it. I haven't suffered from diabetic neuropathy in almost two years now.

Good luck to you. As for the pain I would say that on a scale of 1 to 5 for me the first 24 hours was about a 3.5/4. After that I went down to about a 1/2 for the next 10 days are so. I think what made it mostly painful for me was the gas. I had a hard time getting rid of the gas that they pumped into during surgery, so my body took it sweet time getting rid of that and I felt ridiculously bloated and gassy at the same time. I would say that you will probably feel some discomfort for a few days, and then after that you should be good to go. Now when I say discomfort I mean that, the bloating and gassy feeling. If you still feel like you are in unbearable pain then something went wrong and you would need to get in contact with your surgical team.

Emily, They ruled that my memory loss was due to an allergic reaction the anesthesia I was under during surgery. It has taken the better part of almost two years for me to say that I'm like 95% recovered from it. I think the other 5% is all in my head and I'm still working though it. As for what I did. After seeing a neuro-surgeon and going though a bunch of tests including having spinal Fluid taken from my body. I was put on a prescription of Donepezil (Aricept) for about 5 months, which helped me recover a great deal. I also included Thiamine (B1) into my daily regimen of Vitamins that I take daily. And since then I've been totally fine. I can now remember well past just a few days and I'm no longer confused like I was early on in the process.

December 22nd, 2014 was the day that I had changed my life and body forever. On that day I had a Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy done to help me lose a lot of excessive body weight. In 366 days, I have gone from being 463lbs to now 267lbs as of yesterday afternoon. I though that by having the surgery that I was taking the easy way out......Boy oh boy was I freaking wrong. There is nothing about this process that is easy. In fact its the total opposite of easy. Its hard as f**k. Probably the hardest thing I've had to overcome in my life so far. Besides the reality of having one's body altered forever, I had to learn how to eat all over again, deal with emotional issues I've spent a lifetime trying to avoid, and also dealing with some of the complications post surgery, that even now 1 year later I still have to struggle with. So what are some of those bad, not so easy things have I had to deal with within the past year. Well for starters I've had to give up the following items for a time period and/or forever: Bread/Wheat - Forever Pasta - Forever Rice - Forever Red Meat/Pork - 6 months Sugar - 6/8 months Soda (Carbonated beverages) - Forever Alcoholic beverages -6/8 months Smoking - Forever And then there were the habits and routines I had to take on as part of change. Things that I had to make habit forming and stay consistent with in order to be successful with this. Multivitamin supplements - Forever Iron Supplements - Forever B12 supplements - Forever Yearly blood/cholesterol checks - Forever Daily walking/cardio work outs - Forever Yearly checkups with Surgeon to make sure I have no ulcers or leaks from staples - Forever Yeah, and then there were the complications from the surgery that I had to and still am having to deal with. One of the main ones was short term memory loss and comprehension issues. Issues that even as I type this post I am still dealing with in some shape or form. Just this past Monday morning I had to have spinal Fluid drawn from my back (better known as a Lumbar Puncture Procedure) to be analyzed by my Neurologist to give a final determining cause as to why I've been suffering from short term memory issues post surgery. Right now the major ruling is some sort of allergic reaction to the general anesthesia I was under during my surgery. Its funny cause I have been under anesthesia before, its just that I wasn't under for longer that 15-20 minutes at a time. When I had the surgery I was under for almost 3 hours. My life has gotten a lot better in the last year, its just that things just haven't returned to a state of normalcy that I would like it to be at before the surgery. So as I sit around and wait for the test results of my spinal tap to come back, I move on and keep moving forward. I have too. If I sit around and dwell on everything that has/had gone wrong in the past year, I would be so depressed and miserable . And I refuse to allow that to be. So I stay focused on the positives of what has happened. I take comfort in all of the things I can check off my list as successes, and I continue on to the next goal. I look in the mirror and I see a person staring back at me that I am now getting use to seeing. A person that I am actually comfortable seeing in the mirror. And not the stranger I was seeing for the first few months of this year as I was drastically dropping weight off of me. Dropping years of the affects that emotional eating had caused me. Its a change that I can now say that I comfortably welcome, from both the physical and now emotional aspect. As far as weight lost goal, I am still about 70-80lbs away from the goal that I had set for myself. These last 70 -80lbs are going to be the hardest to get rid of, but I accept the challenge. I have no choice but to, because I didn't come this far, sacrificed so much just to quite 3 quarters of the way from completing the race. I share this with the world because I know that my words, my thoughts right now, may not only help me down the road at some point, but it may help someone else out there right now who is struggling with self-image/body issues, obesity, diabetes, and/or deciding whether or not to have weight loss surgery. I hope that my words and experiences can help you when it comes to making a decision on surgery or not. The question I am sure that anyone who is reading this would ask me: "knowing now what I know, would I still have gone through with the procedure/surgery?" My answer would still have been yes. Yes because now I no longer have to take insulin to keep my body's blood sugars under control. Yes because I can now buy clothing out of Walmart & other stores like a normal person and not having to go to the Big & Tall custom stores to find simple things like underwear and socks. Yes, because when I look in the mirror I see the person I was meant to be and not the person I was dreading to see. And finally yes, because I know that by doing this, I've given myself a fighting change to reach a longer life expectancy than 50-55 years. So did I do this all for me, you better believe I did!

Kick Ass man. I tried to do my first pullup yesterday at the gym. It wasn't a success by any means, but the fact that I'm comfortable enough in my own body to try them now after 27 years is telling in itself.

WOW..this picture really showcases how much of a transformation you went through. You look great! Sent from my SM-G928T using the BariatricPal App Thank you.

Actually I should have posted this picture up instead of the other one. Sent from my SM-N910P using the BariatricPal App

Nice man. I have to admit, I've incorporated some of your routine into my own and slowly but surely I'm starting to see some differences. Finally I say, FUCKING FINALLY! Sent from my SM-N910P using the BariatricPal App

So 7 months of gym work and I'm starting to see the differences. Sent from my SM-N910P using the BariatricPal App

So 7 months of gym work and I'm starting to see the differences. Sent from my SM-N910P using the BariatricPal App

Thank you

So on Facebook tonight a bunch of my friends are posting new profile pictures showing when they first joined Facebook vs what they look like today. So needless to say my picture indeed made an impact. This picture on the left was taken back in April/May of 2007 and I was 27 years old at the time. Yeah I was around 575-580lbs give or take back then. I wasn't quite at my highest weight, but I was indeed flirting with it at that time the picture was taken. Fast forward to tonight's picture, and I'm closer to 250lbs and I'm 36 years old. So nine years later and a whole hell of a lot smaller to say the least. My mom asked me how I felt about the changes, and I told her I felt better. I absolutely feel a hell of a lot better.

Let see, highest recorded weight that I know I was at was 597lbs and that was back in May of 2014. Had my VSG on December 22nd of 2014 and on that date I weighted in at 463lbs. So 18 months out from my surgery I'm now down to around 247-250lbs range. I've been floating around those same 3 to 4lbs for a few weeks now. Now I'm 6'5 and my surgeon wants me at 190lbs-195lbs, however my own personal goal was and still will be 225lbs-230lbs. So I'm really close to my own personal goal, but still quite a ways away from the surgeon's goal. Either way you can't beat going from Super Morbidity Obese to now just overweight in less than two calendar years.

As a male I can tell you I experienced the exact opposite. I didn't have any hair loss at all on my head or face. In fact I got hair growth. My body especially my belly and thighs are now covered in hair that wasn't there before I had surgery.

I would suggest to you look into some Fiber such as benefiber and metimucil. I started taking Metimucil a week after surgery and stayed on it consistently for about 6 months (taking it daily in the am), before I started to wean myself off of it. Now I take it about once or twice a month if I feel like I haven't been consistent with bowel movements.