UnknownJorge

First time posting on these forums, so hello everyone. Glad to have found this space to talk about my experience as I find it very hard to communicate with everyone else in my regular day to day life. I'm exactly 15 days post op (Gastric Sleeve) as I type this. And honestly, after reading many replies on here, I almost feel survivors guilt, but I do feel blessed as I thankfully did not experience many issues whatsoever. 24 hours after surgery I walked out of the hospital on my own, sore, but proud. I guess my biggest issue has been sleeping as I move around a lot while I sleep and at the beginning it would wake me up from pain for twisting and turning while I slept, and even then, that's no longer an issue. But, I never had nausea, or vomit, did not take any pain medication past the first 48 hours, I'm not trying to brag, just feeling fortunate after reading some stories on here. Everyone has their own stories and journeys, for me I was obese my whole life. This was ok through my 20s as I felt invincible, and eventually those checks I was writing on my body came back to collect. Back pain and diabetes were first. But it wasn't until a week before the world shut down that things went really off the wall. A long term relationship ended, and as the world closed, it kept me from my support groups, and led me down a dark path of basically eating and drinking myself almost to death with nowhere to go. At my absolute heaviest I thought I would die at a staggering 407 pounds. Poetic as that's the area code for my city lol. Knowing I had to make a change or I would not make it to 40 I went to a doctor, which led to a cancer scare. At that moment my life changed, and I knew change needed to happen now. I began diet and working out and made it down to about 375-380 where I had been hovering for over two years. Bariatric surgery is what I knew I needed to help me, and after fighting with insurance for two years, I finally got a new job last November, and the insurance there covered the surgery 100%! So I began the process in January. And on May 30th, 2024, at 10AM, I went in for surgery. To say that life has changed, for the better, is an understatement. In two weeks I have dropped almost 30 pounds. I'm feeling amazing as far as my stomach (kinda weirds me out to say pouch lol) is concerned post surgery. Still in the liquid diet though looking forward to chewing something this weekend, as I'm absolutely sick of Jello. I am still not hungry, and almost feels like a miracle. My blood sugar is stabilizing without medication. My blood pressure is improving almost daily. Walking a mile a day does not leave me searching for oxygen, and I can't wait to start the gym on June 30th and really kick this into high gear. TL/DR: This is a second change at life, and I will not waste it. Look forward to learning more from others through this process. Onwards and upwards.

Lets go! I know that feeling of dying. At my heaviest I was prepared for heart failure at any moment. Now we are past that. I see you've dropped over 100 pounds! You've shed an entire person! I'm so proud of you! Onwards and upwards!

You're welcome. You're so young and have a beautiful life ahead of you that you will add so many years to. You got this. And yes, scrambled eggs taste like a dream now lol

Thank you, you got this! In the long term you will add years to your life. Best of luck!

Thank you! I'll try to reply to everything. It took me some time, but for me personally the main reason I went with the sleeve is because I want to build muscle on top of the weight loss over time, and nutritionally it is easier to get the amount of nutrients needed to bulk up with a sleeve. However, that was not an easy decision and I did speak with two doctors first to educate myself. Both recommended that I went with a Deudonal Switch because of my diabetes as it would help that faster, however that is an option I have in the future if need be. Of course I'm not a doctor, so I would say this depends a lot on your personal factors and what would help you best. My sister had a DS done and she dropped over 200 pounds of fat, she's a different person now. My sister is also very short and I'm 6 feet tall so we carry the weight very differently. Either way, as long as you get it done I think you will be alright. No disrespect to the forums, but I understand the hesitancy from looking around here. However, I would say to look at this as more of a support group and a place for help from others that have gone through it. Everyone is completely different as far as what happens. I have been fortunate to have little to no side effects at all, others are not as lucky. I can say that before and after surgery it's up to you to control how well you achieve your goals. It's hard but absolutely worth it. You got down this far on your own, you should be proud of yourself. I'm proud of you. Don't look at surgery as a miracle cure for weight loss. Look at it as a tool that will aid you to achieve your goals much faster. After all, once you have the surgery it's on you to follow the meal plans, supplements/medication, and exercise in order to truly achieve your goals. And knowing your journey so far, I think that whatever you have done will help you immensely. Thank you again for sharing your story. Feel free to reach out if you ever need to.

Thank you so much! The old "admitting you have a problem" before you can fix it saying is so true. In my late 20s/early 30s I did so many diets and exercise to various degrees of success, until I admitted that I was the problem, and so far 15 days in, it is the hardest and best decision I've made. Congratulations on your journey so far!

It truly is the closest I've experienced to a miracle. I can't explain it. I've learn so much from it about myself and the human body in general. Good to know! I will keep note of that. I'm in Florida so I'm already drinking more than the 64oz of liquids a day if I go outside cause it's so hot, so I will keep that in mind for the gym, thank you.

Thank you! I know that feeling of shutting yourself down and not wanting to interact with the world. Even though it sounds dramatic it feels as if you're already dead but just walking around like a zombie. I'm glad you were also able to come out of that and found your turning point. Proud of you as well. And I'll say this, this morning I finally had breakfast. It was just a scramble egg with like 2-3 ounces of grilled chicken. And like I told my best friend, Hilary Duff(my celebrity crush lol) could have knocked on the door looking for me and I would have been like "Not now, I'm having the best breakfast ever" lol. It taste like heaven. Thank you again, you got this as well!