Sweedfire86

I have only seen one post about this and it was from years ago. I was wondering if there have been any Police, Fire or EMS individuals on here that have had the surgery. I am pre-op right now for VSG with a target surgery of June. I have been a career fire fighter for 8 years now and have struggled with weight my whole life. Even after 15 brutal weeks at the Academy I still weighed 285. I have tried everything out there and nothing is working so here I am. I have advised the Officers on my shift of my intentions and the Chief of the department. All are very supportive of me and my plans for surgery. I am having a hard time telling the other guys on my shift about the surgery. A few of the guys I am close with and consider dear friends I have told, but some I have not. I know eventually I I’ll have to tell them, but am hesitant. Anyone that knows anything about Firehouse culture can understand my reluctance. I’m looking for anyone’s personal experiences and any advice you can provide. Thanks in advance.

I’m 5 weeks post op and I went to buy some new shorts today because my other ones were too loose for even a belt to hold up. When I was trying on new shorts I figured that I had only dropped one pant size. Turns out I’ve gone from a 46” waist to a 40” waist. It was a nice surprise. HW:375 SW:338 CW: 301 GW: 250

Good for you. Looking great bud.

That’s amazing, you look fantastic. Congrats.

I feel a lot of fatigue the next day. Today I was working out in the yard, we had very high humidity here and I was sweating like mad. At the end of the day I had a headache and just felt drained. I have noticed that if I wear my hydration pack and remain hydrated throughout the day I am good to go.

I am 5 weeks post op and my fluid intake varies greatly from day to day depending on my schedule that day. Some days I take in well over 64oz, other days (like today) I’m sitting here at almost 9 pm and I’m working on 18oz total for the day. I am usually good at having a routine and being a good post op boy, but some days it just doesn’t happen. So I’ll be awake for a while trying to hydrate myself before bed.

I come to you all today wondering if anyone is or has experienced with I am currently experiencing. I know that they call Bariatric surgery “the divorce surgery.” I am 5 weeks post op and lately I have found myself less interested in my fiancé. It’s from nothing she herself has done, I am just not feeling it right now. I am realizing how distant I have been lately and I have not been communicating at all. I feel badly about it because I know it is effecting her emotionally. I just can’t seem to get out of this mood. I know the response from some of you will be “You need to seek a therapist”, I do have a therapist and I have an appointment to discuss this. I am just wondering who has experienced this and what they have done to deal with it. 6’3” HW: 375 SW: 338 CW: 305 G: 250

Thank you all for the advice.

This is my man Sig.

It’s perfectly normal. I was sleeved on 6/18/18 and I had the same concerns. The other members here assured me that when I got to the mushy food stage I would begin to feel the restriction. They were right. It all seems strange right now, but rest assured when you start to have some normal intake, you will feel the restriction.

I just made this tonight and it is fantastic. The only thing I may do next time is add some fresh minced garlic. It’s an outstanding recipe and the calorie count isn’t bad at all.

It’s almost laughable to write this, but at any rate here we go. I recently transitioned in to week 3 post op. My plan has me moving on to no more than 1/4 cup of tuna fish, canned salmon, 1/2 an egg and so on. I am using the My Fitness Pal app and adding up my calories for the day and I am finding myself concerned about eating 500 calories per day. Before surgery I would have considered this starving, now I am concerned that this is too much. Hahaha I think I’m going bonkers. Height: 6’3” HW:375 SW: 338 CW: 310

From what my Surgeon explained to me, if you drink 30 minutes prior you won’t be able to get all the protein in your meal because you will get full faster. And if you drink within an hour or eating you will just flush the food through the pouch and into your intestines. This will cause you to lose the “full” feeling and will cause you to want to eat more.

Was sleeved on 6/18/18 down a total of 34 lbs since surgery. Overall down 61 lbs since I began the process back in April.

I really hope that when I move on to some solids like eggs and tuna fish next week that I begin to feel some restriction. So far with the liquids and yogurt/cottage cheese phase I have felt no restriction what so ever. Has anyone else run in to this?

Thank you for the support. For a minute I was wondering just what the surgeon actually took out. Haha

What did you guys do to occupy your time post op? There are only so many walks I can take and so many movies I can watch. I’m 3 days post op at this point and I’m going nuts not being able to drive and limited to my daily movements. I’m usually a very busy person and this is all foreign to me.

Every surgery group is different. The more I read through these forums, the more I figure out how vastly different everyone’s plan is. Some surgeons are very strict and some are not. My surgeon has me on 2 Flintstone Multivitamins and a Vitamin B12 every morning. And one month from now he has me starting a Calcium Citrate regiment. They also strongly advised against gummy vitamins.

I did a pre op diet to shed some weight before the surgery. The only liquid only diet I had to do was 72hrs prior to the surgery.

Weight of Mind, I was also sleeved on 6/18/18 and my new sleeve makes a considerable amount of noise. I attribute it to the trapped gases making their way out of my abdomen. Sounds like you’ve had a relatively easy recovery thus far, congrats.

I am currently 24 hours post op and I have to admit that I did not believe all the posts I read about the “Horrible Gas Pains”. Well I’m here to tell you that the struggle is REAL. I am having horrible gas pains and my Surgeon does not believe in Barca tics for pain management so all I have is Tylenol. I haven’t seen any positive effects of walking yet but I am still giving it the old college try. Someone tell me that it gets better. Haha

Yes I have the Spirometer. Probably not using it as much as I should.

I’m 12hrs away from checking in to the hospital for my Sleeve. Of course I’m having the last minute thoughts of “is this the right thing to do?” I have done all the research, read the articles and fully understand the procedure and life after the procedure. My family and friends are all behind me and I have the support network surrounding me to get through this. But right now I’m getting cold feet and I don’t know why. Has anyone else experienced this?

I am also getting sleeved on Monday the 18th. Best of luck to you.

Every Surgeon and surgery group is different. But my Surgeon is completely against chewing gum. They said that if the gum gets swallowed it can cause problems on the sleeve and can create a blockage. But again, this is just my Surgeon, I would get ahold of your Surgeon and see what they have to say.