shrinkingpamela

I am 10 years out from my sleeve surgery. I came to give an update (I used to love them when I was new!) and a warning. Update - I weighed 275 at surgery and now weigh 177. My weight varies within a 5 pound window. I don't worry about it, don't think about it, and rarely weigh except at the doctors office. It took several years to relax and get to the point of stepping away from the scales. My stomach has not stretched. I can eat approx 1/3 to 1/2 cup at a time and eat 4 or 5 times a day. Cautionary tale - I have eaten as I was told to do, always putting protein first. I take vitamins. I try to go for nutritious veggies after protein. After 2 years of feeling awful I now know that I AM MINERAL DEFICIENT! It's a long story about how I found out, but I now have concrete results from hair tissue mineral analysis plus extensive blood work. Mineral deficiencies are rampant in the population, not just bariatric patients, but we are more susceptible due to our diets. Our soils are depleted of minerals so our food is as well. It's not just about, for example, being calcium deficient. It's about the ratio of all the essential minerals like magnesium, iron, etc. They have to be in balance for them to work. So taking calcium supplements or iron or whatever aren't doing any good if the rest isn't there for them to work with. (hope that made a little sense) You aren't going to hear this from most doctors, it usually takes a functional doctor to be willing to dive into this. One symptom was passing out whenever I got hot. I was taken by ambulance to the hospital twice for this. My "regular" doctor kept telling me I was dehydrated and to take potassium. (Note: I still drink 100 oz a day since surgery, how am I dehydrated). He was looking at basic blood work. Under his treatment I got worse. Once I had all the tests done, I have almost too much potassium but practically no magnesium and low salt, both are needed to interact with the potassium. Good news - This can be reversed. I am telling everyone I know to start supplementing trace minerals. It's easy, I use a few drops of trace mineral concentrate in my water all day. Due to my deficiencies I take some other mineral supplements but that is the main secret sauce. And it's so easy! I feel like I have come back to life!! That's probably way more than you wanted to know. I'll be quiet now. LOL I just hope I help to keep someone else from going down this path.

It'll get better, give your body time to adjust and heal. As for the emotional aspect, regrets, second thoughts, all that stuff, it's normal. Of course you're scared! This is a major change for you in both mind and body and that is scary ****. You WILL feel better and come through this healthier. If you are anything like me, 10 years from now you will look back at this as the best thing you ever did for yourself. I love my sleeve!

I'm aware of the migraine/magnesium link. I belong to a Facebook group about minerals and there are many there who use it for migraines. I still take multivitamins but I have switched to raw vitamins. I no longer take calcium as I found out I have plenty on board, it's just not being utilized well due to the missing minerals. I have not had any stomach issues with the trace minerals. You are only taking 40 drops a day and there is a variety of minerals in it. You aren't getting a whole lot of each one. A straight up magnesium supplement can cause issues. If you need it and it does cause problems, you can take magnesium transdermally. No any stomach upset that way.

I have no problem finding it at major online retailers, at places like Whole Foods, etc. The one I take is called ConcenTrace, here's a link to the manufacturer so you can see it. trace mineral drops I recommend shopping around for price,I do find it in sale sometimes. ETA: you only need 40 drops a day, this bottle will last a good while

I am 65, 10 yrs post surgery in a few months, and I have maintained my weight loss. Weighed 275 at surgery and I now weigh 177. My weight fluctuates within a 5 pound window. I do not feel that my stomach has stretched beyond the initial healing, I can eat approximately 1/3 - 1/2 cup of food at a time. I eat about 5 times a day. That said, I came here to post an update on mineral deficiencies which I have encountered. Will be posting on another thread here on the VSG forums. ot trying to be scary, just want others to be careful.

You're saying the same thing every vsg patient does. We all have our moment of freak out! LOL As long as you pay attention to what you're doing and don't sabotage yourself you WILL lose weight. I couldn't imagine it working for me for more than 20 pounds but here I am 95 pounds later. It's been a year and I still have a tiny tummy. I just got home from lunch out with friends at a Mexican restuarant. Before vsg I would have eaten a whole big plate of food and a basket of chips. Today I had 1 chip, 1/2 a taco and a few bites of rice and I was stuffed. I love it! I hope all goes well with the testing and you make it thru to surgery! Good luck!

It seems like no time to me but it's been a whole year since my vsg! I thought I'd stop in and say what a wonderful year it's been and how happy I am with my decision to have the surgery. I haven't regretted it for a moment. My weight is now the same as it was when I got married almost 22 years ago. If you want to hear more it's on my blog... Shrinking Pamelalala

I'm sure you will be!!

I've never heard it mentioned in relation to a vsg. I don't think it's an issue. Of course, I'm not a doctor so don't take my word on it.

Hi everyone! This is my first time here. I decided to check it out after LngRedRose posted about it over at OH. Hi girl, how are you feeling these days?? I'm always up for meeting new sleevesters. And I'm always willing to answer questions if anyone wants some imput from someone almost a year out.

Yeah, I see ya! I also see you got the feedburner thingy figured out. LOL

I went to Dr Hargroder in Baton Rouge, LA. I was looking for someone in driving distance who had lots of experience with the sleeve and he fit the bill. Also, I was self pay and his fees were within reason.

I don't fore see having to do anything with my vsg either. The sleeve is made from the less stretchy part of the stomach unlike the pouch that is made for the rny. They usually don't stretch. I've never heard of doing a band after a vsg, it's mostly the other way around, converting from a band to a vsg. I'm at a weight already that I would be happy with if I stopped losing. My ideal is to lose maybe another 20. If for some reason I starting gaining it all back I guess I would go for the ds, the vsg is the first half of the ds. I don't plan on it!

My one year surgiversary for my sleeve is 9/13. I am thrilled with it! My surgery was uneventful as well as my recovery. I was self pay and chose to go to Dr Hargroder in Baton Rouge, LA. The cost then was 11,900 and that included everything. I considered Mexico but my husband was more comfortable with my staying in the states and Dr H was a 6 hr drive from home. If it had just been me, I probably would have gone to Mexico to either Dr A or Dr H, they both have lots of happy patients over on obesityhelp. As for why I chose the vsg, I didn't like the rerouting aspect of the DS or the RNY. I didn't like the foreign body aspect of the band. I heard too many people having to have revisions due to slippage, erosions, etc. I also didn't want the maintenance of fills and unfills. With my vsg it was one surgery and no maintenance, that's my kind of surgery. With any surgery there are risks of complications so you have to take that into condiseration as well. There was also a recent study about all wls and it said that the bigger, higher rated hospitals have smaller complication rates. If you want specifics, I posted about it a week or so ago on my blog and there's a link to the article included.

What a great success story! I love meeting other sleevesters who are working the sleeve. LOL I too love my sleeve. It's the best money I EVER spent. Getting my life back was priceless. Hope to see ya around and can't wait to swap stories.

Thanks, Karen! I just posted another recipe on the blog if you're interested.

Karen has said it well, there are many advantage to the sleeve and it has a very low complication rate. ANY surgery has the potential for complications, that is the nature of surgery. The risks of infection, blood clots, etc are no higher than in any other weight loss surgery. As for the results, I am a month away from being 1 year out and I love my vsg!! I don't dump (very few do). I can eat anything including spicy foods, I just eat much smaller portions. I am currently at the weight I was when I got married 22 years ago. I never thought I'd see this weight again! If you want to know more about my story, check out my blog, the addy is in my signature.

Hi ya'll! I heard you have a new VSG board so I decided to check you out. I had VSG last year and I'm loving it. I'm always up for meeting new fellow wls people. Nice to meet you!