So I read this on other blogs and posts when I've asked for advice about STOPPING the weight loss...
"I wish I had that problem"
This is not something I would wish on people I don't like, never mind folks with whom this journey has been shared (all of you here and on other sites). The decision to have VSG was a sound decision I made with my PCP, my husband, my family.
After my VSG there were all the usual adjustments and new learnings; How to manage on such a small amount of food, how to choose the right foods and to eat the protein first, remembering to take my vitamins, dealing with hair loss and dry skin, managing the mind-f*$# of stalls, and powering through each and every new challenge as it presented itself. I did it. I came out the back end of that in a comfortable and appropriate size 10. I started in a size 24. I wasn't too thin, I wasn't too gaunt, and I wasn't overly concerned about how others felt. I felt good, and looked good.
I then met with a plastic surgeon and had a full belt-lipectomy and mastopexy. The excess skin is gone, the tummy is tucked, the girls are reset back to early 1993. My clothes fit, I have a closet full of great clothes, some designer because well... I can buy them and fit them off the shelf. But now... They are all too big. My tailoring bill is going to be extortion assuming I need only do that once.
So that "problem" people think they want....
I have GERD so bad that I'm on to my third thoracic surgeon to see if we can find a solution to the acid that is burning holes in my esophagus.
I can not eat more than 2-3 oz at a time still. I'm 16 months out and my stomach never did 'relax' or 'stretch' or whatever it does for people who can eat more than they could 3 weeks after having their stomach cut out.
My surgeon did a scope of my esophagus and stomach and couldn't turn the camera to look the way back up because my stomach is still way too small.
I am NEVER hungry and eating is a pain in the backside since I seem to need to eat all day long just to get enough calories in to not drop weight.
I have no fat left to cannibalize to stay alive.
I lost 3 lbs this week.
I can't exercise since I can't eat enough calories to do that healthfully.
I can't eat chocolate, caffeine, or high sugars or anything that triggers acid but could help with the calorie intake.
My vitamins make me nauseous regardless of when I take them.
I have to track everything I eat and hope at the end of the day that I've had enough (rarely the case)
I still can't eat and drink together for the pain.
My husband is worried. My family is worried. I look in the mirror and don't recognize the skeleton looking back at me.
I know how to diet. Hell, we ALL know how to restrict our calories/carbs/fats/sugars or whatever diet du jour we were all on. I do not know how to eat to maintain when I have neither the appetite or the capacity to eat.
So tell me I'm not the only one in this position. I'd love to find some folks going through the same, or who have gone through something similar and can offer advice on how to deal, maintain, STRETCH my stomach? I'm open to other ideas. This is not somewhere I thought I'd be. I am one of the very small percentage who have not had an increase in capacity since the day of surgery.
