XtinaDoesIt

Thank you all for your feedback, concern, well wishes. I have since spoke to the surgeon again on June 16th and he has determined that we will try again. July 29th is the new due date. He recommended I lose 10-15 pounds more, giving me 6 or 7 more weeks to lose it until the new date.

I will admit to myself that I am not sure if this is a good idea anymore. I am ashamed at what I allowed to happen on this journey and my behavior to the doctor and staff the day of surgery and the aftermath. I saw everyone as the enemy. I didn’t look forward to anything anymore and I hated everyone and everything. But I know who’s fault it really is. I knew even the day of surgery that it wasn’t his fault. He just had bad bedside manner and I wanted him to slip in a puddle of piss and die. This guy doesn’t know how to be reassuring or sound empathetic at all. But he wants to try agin with me. When I saw him on the 16th of June, I’ve since calmed down enough to speak to him and so has he. It was a more pleasant experience. He wants to increase the amount of receptors or whatever as well as the robot for the surgery.

i don’t know if this is a good idea. At all. I am still going to do the liquid diet for 6-7 weeks in anticipation of the surgery but I’m not looking forward to it as much anymore. I should stop being a baby, I know, but y’all I had a lot riding on this. I shouldn’t have but I did. My fiancé and I as well as family did. It is part of the reason I didn’t want to tell anyone because of the shame and disappointment. I was a fool for thinking what I did so far was enough. I was a fool for making this seem like the be all end all of things. It isn’t and I will think of a plan B this time.

Gosh this really pulled at my heart. Not the same, but a while back I managed to lose around 30 lbs and had saved enough money for lipo... but the surgeon I was recommended to wouldn't even do it. He said I needed to lose another 20 or so pounds. I was around 200 lbs then. After the months I put into it, it seemed he dismissed me in minutes. It was probably the most depressed I have ever been about my weight. I just cried and cried. The work I already did just felt so little. Needless to say I spiraled and gained all my weight back plus another 50 lbs. Now I am working so hard just to get back to 200lbs.
My only words for you is not to give up. Try hard not to live in self pity and shame for too long. It took me 3 years to crawl out of that space and try again. The difference is WLS is soo much more work than Lipo. You already committed to this much, you can try again! Maybe with a different surgeon...

It’s been difficult because she knows how well I’m doing and she genuinely is happy for me, but I try not to talk about myself too much because it’s an obvious comparison to her non-results. She’s had a million tests and tried a bunch of different medications that are supposed to help. The worst part is she eats less than me, always has. And has always eaten healthy. She exercises, does everything she is supposed do. She did prior to surgery and a little common sense should have told us surgery wouldn’t work (her calorie count was already low, restriction wasn’t going to change that).

Stats:
Male, 6’4” (193cm for the more enlightened)
46 years old.
All time known high weight 356lbs (161.5kg) (approx June 2013)
Surgery weight 334lbs (151.5kg).
Self pay, Dr Galileo Villarreal - Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, June 12, 2020 $4400 all in, VSG & hiatal hernia repair.
Current weight 194lbs (88kg).

This turned out to be way too long… sorry.

The idea of having surgery wasn’t anything I ever really gave any thought to. I did the lifetime attempts at diet and exercise without success. The lowest weight I ever achieved was 285 when I hiked almost daily in the mountains surround Las Vegas. But like all my other attempts, things changed, I got tired of the same thing, and put it all back on plus some (yet again). Fast forward to 2020 and my wife looks at me and asks “have you ever thought about gastric surgery?”
“Well, not really but I’ll look into it.”
I don’t recall exactly how long I researched, I know it wasn’t long. One day, maybe two? I knew my insurance wouldn’t cover it at all, so self pay was my only option unless I wanted to wait and change to a different plan (I’m impatient so that wasn’t happening). Anyway I live near Houston so I started looking at the border towns in Mexico and came across the website for Dr Galileo Villarreal in Nuevo Laredo. I made a phone call to his assistant who handles US patients and had an appointment set for two weeks later (for the procedure, not just a consultation). The next few days I mostly looked at before and after photos and was really excited about the possibilities. I don’t worry about much in general(why worry about what I can’t control?) so I didn’t bother reading too many horror stories. I understood that people who have problems are far more likely to post, seeking guidance/solutions than people who cruise through easily. I did look up complication statistics and that alone completely eliminated any worries that may have existed. I watched several videos of the procedure (I was interested to see what’s going to happen to me) and that too brought me comfort, seeing how quick and relatively simple the procedure was. Traveling to Mexico also didn’t bother me in the slightest. The way I figure is a doctor either cares or doesn’t, it doesn’t matter which side of the border they happen to be on. The one obvious downside to surgery in another country is “what if something does go wrong?” But again realistically I knew that was unlikely and it’s not like I couldn’t walk into a hospital once back home to get care for anything I might have needed.
I spent the next few days having tons of food funerals. I reveled in the experience and really went crazy with the Cinnamon Toast Crunch, smoked brisket, homemade carbonara Pasta (I even found some real guanciale), more Cinnamon Toast Crunch… you get the idea..
My pre-op diet arrived via email. It was sparse and consisted of things like cream Soup, Protein Drinks, electrolyte drinks etc. I had seven days of this before surgery. This was - by far - the worst part of the whole experience. Day one I was good. Day two I was pacing frantically. Day three I cheated and hated myself for it. Day four was a little better. Days 5 & 6 I had resigned to the lifestyle and at this point I was so giddy with excitement about the surgery I didn’t care anymore about the food as much.
I was fortunate with my timing in regard to COVID. The border was still open and there were no issues about that, I was a little surprised that the Mexican Border Guards didn’t even care to see my passport or ask any questions. I was just waived through, barely given a glance. I arrived at the hospital a few minutes later to begin the pre op blood work and physical.
This is where I had my first moment of “oh shit.” It was late in the day and apparently the normal nurse who handled the blood draw had already left. So this nice young man was assigned to get my blood. He takes me into a small room and I could tell he was really scared. We had an obvious language barrier but I kept pointing to a big thick vein in the crock of my elbow that you really can’t miss. I’ve had enough blood drawn in the past, no one has ever missed it first shot. He was literally shaking and sweating all over my arm. I kept pointing and saying “aqui” but he would get the needle close then pull it back and look around and sweat some more. It was a good ten minutes of this and I was starting (just starting?) to get a little worried. Again, I could tell he either never did this or rarely so I didn’t assume this was a sign of how it was all going to go (it didn’t, it all was fine after this). Eventually someone must have recognized there was an issue. Another nurse came in, looked at the obvious vein, and popped that needle in.
I wouldn’t know if my blood work was ok until the next morning, so they drove us to the hotel (which was included in the price) and we went to bed.
The next morning they picked us up and brought me back to the hospital. I checked in, got word that my blood work was fine and I forked over the cash for the procedure ($4000) plus a $400 deposit in case I had a hernia that needed to be repaired.
The hospital was very nice. Beautifully decorated, polished marble walls and floors. As clean (to the naked eye of course) as any hospital I’ve been in. It was small, but appropriately sized for the area it served. It was not a dedicated Bariatric facility, just a typical public hospital.
I actually enjoy the experience of being put under anesthesia and I wasn’t nervous at all so I declined the sedative and just went for it. The weirdest part was the staff asking me questions through google translate on their phones. Dr. Villarreal and his assistant spoke perfectly fluent English but the pre op staff had a lot of questions to ask. Even though they spoke some English and I spoke some Spanish, when it comes to translating medical related stuff it was definitely better using the app, it was just a little surreal.
I was wheeled into the OR, greeted again by Dr. Villarreal who asked if I wanted any music played (I did) and I went under listening to some classic rock.
I woke up in moderate pain, but nothing too bad. I was brought to my room where my wife was waiting for me. The first few hours I just relaxed in bed. Eventually I was given some ice chips to suck on and allowed to get up with assistance and go to the bathroom. Things were tender but I don’t recall being in a lot of pain. Walking was a slow shuffle and I was given permission to do laps around the hospital. I met a couple other people who had the same procedure the day prior and we nodded and smiled knowing we were on the same journey together. They were nice moments and I hope they’re doing well. Later in the day I did a barium swallow to ensure there were no leaks. It tasted like shit (sorry), and I got to watch it on the monitor. It was pretty interesting to see. Doctor visited me several times, and I asked if he had video or photos of my procedure, and he sent me some cool pics of my removed stomach and of my hernia and repair. I was given an antibiotic pill. I had read enough “no pills after surgery” posts here that this gave me concern. The pill was literally the biggest pill I have ever taken in my life. It was an inch long and thick. I pointed at my stomach and said “esta bien?” and she nodded and so I took it. It went down fine, didn’t hurt or anything. We stayed over that night which was more walking and ice and eventually electrolyte drinks and some Jello. I was given a bag of pills, more of those giant antibiotics, anti nausea meds, and some non-opioid pain pills. They wheeled me out where my car was waiting for me and we started the drive home.
The drive home the next day was about five hours total, we took our time. Getting into the US took an hour or so, but wasn’t an issue. One thing I took particular notice of on the ride home was just how many restaurants there are. I was obviously hyper focused on food and I was dumbstruck at the endless strip centers filled with high calorie options. Just endless.
I’ll speed things up here….
The first week was fine, some pain in my left arm that scared me. Spoke to the doctor and he explained that gas left over in the abdomen can rest on the diaphragm which can translate into left arm pain. He advised the typical “walk it off” prescription and sure enough that fixed it.
Food intake was slow but I didn’t care. This was much easier than the pre op diet even though it was essentially the same. Broths, Gatorade, Protein Shakes. By week two I was feeling great and ready for mushy foods. Cottage cheese was my friend. By week three I felt normal. I starting having a scrambled egg here and there and that’s when I began to feel the restrictions. The first meat I tried was around week three, I had some ground chicken with seasoned salt and it was pretty good and didn’t bother me.
I visited my regular doctor a month or so in and he was happy with my weight loss. My back doctor was also happy and we both were hopeful it would fix my back issues (spoiler it didn’t completely).
One year out I still have zero hunger. I had one spell in December where I thought it returned and it was disappointing and scary. It only lasted a few days and I don’t know what caused it. It really felt like the MORE I ate the hungrier I got and if not for physical restriction I would have eaten myself out of any other normal “diet.” Fortunately that’s gone and I’m back to no hunger, one year out. But im prepared and ready should it return.
There are no significant stories or details for the rest of my journey. I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve had zero problems. No foods have bothered me, I did not get sick, my tastes didn’t change (my eating habits did but not due to bad foods no longer tasting good, Cinnamon Toast Crunch is still awesome but I just don’t eat it any more except a couple pieces here and there). My main drinks are coffee, diet Mountain Dew and Monster Zero Ultra (the white can). I’m not going to pretend that I’m a model citizen of this forum. There are plenty of things I eat and drink that I probably shouldn’t. I’m in maintenance mode now and still losing (very slowly) even though I’m eating garbage like peanut m&ms to try and up my calories without increasing capacity. I know there are better options but I like them and it’s working fine for me. I don’t take Vitamins like I should but I just had my one year blood panel done and all my labs came back in the middle of the normal range so no worries on that front. Somehow my Vitamin D is normal for the first time as an adult. Again, don’t look at me as a guide, but it is what it is and I think it’s important share what is working.

I’ve included two screen shots of some graphs I used in a spreadsheet. The first is simply my weight loss over time. The second is a rolling weekly average using the past seven days. So each point on the graph looks back seven days, takes that weight, subtracts the current day’s weight. “I lost 2.4 lbs the past week” etc. This graph highlights stalls, and recovery from stalls etc. so you can see my weight loss was really fast at first. The big stall during the holidays where I didn’t gain or lose. For me this graph was more useful as sometimes I felt like I was stalled but the graph proved otherwise.

Here is a breakdown of my loss at 30 day intervals. Don’t compare me to you or to anyone else. There are over 7 billion of us and we’re all unique.

Day 30: 29.2lbs
Day 60: 46.0
Day 90: 63.5
Day 120: 74.6
Day 150: 92.1
Day 180: 102
Day 210: 103 (holidays/long stall)
Day 240: 113.6
Day 270: 120
Day 300: 129.5
Day 330: 135
Day 360: 138.8

Conclusion and final thoughts:

For some of us this journey IS the easy way out, and I honest to God don’t care. Im happy and healthy and I’d do it again without hesitation. I want people on the fence about having the procedure to know that. It’s easy to get lost in the problems people post about. Those problems ARE REAL and do happen. But I really think there are a lot of us out there for whom this journey has been easy, you just don’t hear from us as often. People who are having a difficult time need advice or want a solution so it’s natural and helpful to post questions about those problems. But it does skew the impressions towards the negative.
I wish I did this years ago. I don’t know why I never even thought of it. I guess it was one of those things I thought was reserved for medically necessary intervention. But you know what? I had a BMI over 40. It was medically necessary. I’m VERY lucky that at age 45 I was not on a downward spiral health wise, but it could have started any day. My wife’s dad was a “big guy” too, and was active and worked hard. Then one day, diabetes. Another day, bad knees. Another day a stroke. He had the sleeve AFTER these things and did lose weight but he can’t walk, can’t enjoy life, he’s miserable because he waited too long. Don’t wait. If you need to lose weight do it now. Figure out a way that works for you. Surgery is relatively safe, with far fewer complications than doing nothing and assuming you’ll just always be a healthy “big person.” But it’s not the only solution. Whatever it is that works for you, make it happen.
I know I won’t live forever and I know I can regain and I know lots of bad things could be lined up in my future.
But today I feel great.
Today I’m happy.
Today I look at myself and I see the me that I always knew existed. It’s the most wonderful feeling. I hope from the bottom of my heart everyone here will feel it too…..

….But I know not everyone will. My wife for example. Surgery has done nothing for her. 20lbs in a year. And she DOES follow the plan. For those of you in her situation who are probably cursing me and telling me to shut the f up, I get you. And I’m sorry. Don’t give up though. We’re all here for you; this forum is a great asset. We want you to succeed. Vent, cry, scream out, ask a million questions, we hear you. Just don’t give up.

I always feel awkward when answering these. Most of the time I type all this out then don’t send it. But I’m having one of those days where I don’t care about giving perfect advice or worry about upsetting someone so here it is.
Simple and best answer: follow your plan. Realistic talking to a human answer: yeah you should be fine to have a little nibble. One word of caution, be self aware. That means know yourself enough to know if this little cheat will lead to another. Some people can handle it, some can’t. If you don’t know where you fall on that spectrum I would be very cautious. None of us are perfect but that doesn’t mean don’t try to be perfect with the plan.
Me? I didn’t like my plan so I found one that fit what I wanted to eat. I’m not assuming my doctor is the be-all-end-all best doctor in the world and all the other doctors who have different post op plans are idiots. I found one that listed cottage cheese early and said “hell yah I like cottage cheese” and switched. I didn’t die, I was very successful with my weight loss. At four weeks I was told to try anything I wanted and if it didn’t agree with me I’d know it. Keep the portion sizes in check though. I believe that is the most important advice I can give. Love the restriction, don’t abuse it.

Gosh this really pulled at my heart. Not the same, but a while back I managed to lose around 30 lbs and had saved enough money for lipo... but the surgeon I was recommended to wouldn't even do it. He said I needed to lose another 20 or so pounds. I was around 200 lbs then. After the months I put into it, it seemed he dismissed me in minutes. It was probably the most depressed I have ever been about my weight. I just cried and cried. The work I already did just felt so little. Needless to say I spiraled and gained all my weight back plus another 50 lbs. Now I am working so hard just to get back to 200lbs.
My only words for you is not to give up. Try hard not to live in self pity and shame for too long. It took me 3 years to crawl out of that space and try again. The difference is WLS is soo much more work than Lipo. You already committed to this much, you can try again! Maybe with a different surgeon...

I didn't like the Quest chips or any Protein chips I've tried... I wouldn't eat those kettle chips though. I loved them prior to wls and had some after but I always stall when I eat them... after a while they didn't even taste as good and feel heavy in my stomach. If you plan to do it any way, at least get the 100 cal bags for Portion Control. I have had some popcorn though... I make it stovetop with the bare minimum oil and salt. BUT I am not cleared for it and my nutritionist told me NOT to do it ( I'm 4 months out). I try to eat a few sunflower seeds when I have that craving but I was advised to limit that too. 😞... I just keep thinking of my goal and putting one foot in front of the other...

Seven years ago today I got a second chance at life. I had multiple comorbidities and 2 organs were quite literally failing. I would have died within a couple years for sure. Surgery saved my life. Literally.
I've had a great post op course. I had some regain, one of my health issues returned, I focused and got even more serious and have been on track since.
What an incredible seven years I've had. Without VSG I may have very well not seen my child graduate high school this year. Or been here to support my mom when my dad died very quickly from cancer. Finished Nurse Practitioner school. Helped my husband through a complete 180 in his career. Or a million other things.
What a massive gratitude I have for this surgery. I will always identify as a WLS patient. I'll never take it for granted. Yes, I'll always have to work at it (I'm unfortunately not a patient who reached goal easily and moved on) but it's worth it.
My life is worth it.

I LOVED potato chips before surgery and would eat a bag in one sitting. I bought my first (post-bypass) bag last week since I am trying to eat more calories as to not lose more weight (I have a lot of healthier high calorie foods too). I ate some chips. They tasted good. I had some the next day…not tasting as good. The rest of the bag is sitting on the counter and will probably get thrown out. I would rather have a big scoop of Peanut Butter for the extra calories 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️😬

Hey, what some people call addictive or obsessive behaviors, others call persistent behaviors... I say if it's not causing anyone harm and makes you feel better, persist!

I've stopped losing inches now. Everything has just come to a total halt for the past 3 weeks or so. I did go on vacation week-before-last, so that particular week is a wash. I didn't eat everything in sight, but I did decide I could have dessert and drink wine with the husband. That said, me eating a lot now would probably hit 2000 calories -- it's so hard to overeat. I get full for an entire day on what would have been one standard meal out of 2 or 3 before. I have to break this stall naturally eventually, right? Physics says so?
My bathroom scale is irritatingly unreliable. I can stand shifted to my right foot and gain 5-10 pounds, to the left and lose 5-10. It's obnoxious. I think I'm around 230-235 right now. It makes sense with how I'm fitting into my clothes and how the scale has wobbled around. Dishearteningly, that's where I was before I gained the pandemic weight. So really, I look no thinner than I did before Covid. Ugh. That said, I did lose 20-30 pounds in 2 months, which is astounding compared to past progress. That's about 3 lbs a week, which IIRC is considered really dang good. Maybe time is just going slower since the ESG than I think.
I know I'm slipping on drinking Water. I don't like having to pee frequently. That said, I'm sweating more, which is a good thing considering I'm just about anhydrotic most of the time. Maybe I've just been dehydrated my entire life.
I picked up weightlifting again. I started out pretty weak, and I've had to skip some days because of the extreme heat (no AC in the gym aaaah) and work stress. That said, I'm up to 185 lb squats and 95 lbs bench-press now. That's something.

I might actually go to a friend from college's wedding in June instead of sending my usual gift and excuses.

184.4 (goal of 184.0) so I'm .4 away. Almost there. Got a little more work to do this week.

My boyfriend brought my engagement ring a month or two back (mom can't keep a secret and told me). I wonder if it will fit when he finally pops the question?! I'm 3 month post surgery...

I might actually go to a friend from college's wedding in June instead of sending my usual gift and excuses.

Wearing shorts without chaffing... much 😁. I cant wait not to chafe at all!!!

Love this! Lol. Im soooooo tempted to look around for it now... BUT I will practice this new found self control that wls has given me.

Wearing shorts without chaffing... much 😁. I cant wait not to chafe at all!!!

YESSSSSSS!!!!!!!!

My periods have been lighter after surgery. Not sure what that's about but after reading this thread,I won't look a gift horse in the mouth!

My period was due to hit day of surgery, thankfully it waited a day. Made for an interesting first post-op day, between cramps & gas pain...my abdomen was the one least in pain 😂

My weight loss is also VERY slow
22lbs in the 3mth Post surgery sw was I've spent hours trawling through the Internet trying to workout the biochemistry/cellular physiology of what exactly happens during a stall ( I lost a few pounds over the first month but then stalled for 3 weeks)
How can intake be 600 kcal and enough Protein but no weight loss ... right !!!
Measuring was the only thing that convinced me something was happening (7 inches from my waist and 1 inch from my hips!).
OR
maybe you could be on track for a Nobel prize for groundbreaking research on the revised laws of thermodynamics!!!!!
How far out post op are you? And what was your surgery weight? ( it factors in as well)
IT WILL IMPROVE . it has too!
All the best

Tonight my husband invited me to go into the hot tub with him and it was the first time in a long time that once I got in it didn’t overflow half of the Water.

Going to the beach and finally removing my coverup/moo moo/ 3XL tee shirt and just wearing a bathing suit like everyone else!

I was so happy when my 21 day stall was over. I dropped 7 lbs too. One week later, another stall.... But at least I know there will be gold at the end of the rainbow... I hope this one is shorter though...