One year out - Life is good!

[sunnyd 32]

CONGRATS TO YOU! I love to hear stories from people who are a year or more out. It assures me that I made the right decision, which of course I have questioned the last 3 weeks post-op. I love the clothes swapping too- how wondefuf for you both!

[Luanne 32]

I had to chuckle on 'the waiter looks worried' as that has happened many times with me. "Everything is fine." Thanks for sharing your story!

[cathyann 0]

Thanks, I needed to hear that.

I thought it was time to share a little of my experiences since having a VSG a year ago. Both my wife and I had the surgery, 19 days apart. To date I've lost 140 lbs while she has lost 120. Losing is not coming as easily now but we're still making progress towards our goals.

We had the surgery at the Michigan Bariatric Institute in Livonia, Michigan. They have great doctors and a wonderful support team. I did have some complications after surgery (a touch of pneumonia and Fluid near the surgical site) which put me back in the hospital for a few days and required 20 days of IV antibiotics but everything resolved satisfactorily. The doc kidded me about screwing up his statistics.

Living with the sleeve obviously required some adjustment but it was easier than I had imagined. Gone was appetite and cravings, which made it so much easier. I found I was perfectly happy with smaller portions and had no problem passing on french fries, Desserts and other high calorie foods that I used to love. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy food - I 'm just satisfied with less and tend to choose high quality versus high calorie. Even so, I haven't found any food that I can't tolerate.

One of my biggest concerns was restaurants and social situations. I needn't have worried. We have just as much fun as we ever did. Often my wife and I will split a meal and even then take some home. The wait staff always looks worried, apparently thinking that there was something wrong with the food. We've learned to choose meals that make good leftovers and as a result, get more for our restaurant dollars. We have a camper van and on a 5 week tour of the west last fall we made good use of a little fridge and microwave that I installed.

Speaking of our trip, one funny thing is that we lost enough weight during the trip that we didn't bring any of the outer garments home that we started with. They ended up dropped off at various Goodwill Retail stores which also supplied us with replacements. I was surprised at the quality of clothing available at such places and have found it a great way to replenish my closet without having to spend a lot of cash.

To summarize life a year later - happy, healthy, active - enjoying life and looking forward to a future with possibilities. This afternoon I will go out and walk my dogs, ride my motorcycle and have dinner with friends. Life is good......

[myrori 55]

I thought it was time to share a little of my experiences since having a VSG a year ago. Both my wife and I had the surgery, 19 days apart. To date I've lost 140 lbs while she has lost 120. Losing is not coming as easily now but we're still making progress towards our goals.

We had the surgery at the Michigan Bariatric Institute in Livonia, Michigan. They have great doctors and a wonderful support team. I did have some complications after surgery (a touch of pneumonia and Fluid near the surgical site) which put me back in the hospital for a few days and required 20 days of IV antibiotics but everything resolved satisfactorily. The doc kidded me about screwing up his statistics.

Living with the sleeve obviously required some adjustment but it was easier than I had imagined. Gone was appetite and cravings, which made it so much easier. I found I was perfectly happy with smaller portions and had no problem passing on french fries, desserts and other high calorie foods that I used to love. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy food - I 'm just satisfied with less and tend to choose high quality versus high calorie. Even so, I haven't found any food that I can't tolerate.

One of my biggest concerns was restaurants and social situations. I needn't have worried. We have just as much fun as we ever did. Often my wife and I will split a meal and even then take some home. The wait staff always looks worried, apparently thinking that there was something wrong with the food. We've learned to choose meals that make good leftovers and as a result, get more for our restaurant dollars. We have a camper van and on a 5 week tour of the west last fall we made good use of a little fridge and microwave that I installed.

Speaking of our trip, one funny thing is that we lost enough weight during the trip that we didn't bring any of the outer garments home that we started with. They ended up dropped off at various Goodwill Retail stores which also supplied us with replacements. I was surprised at the quality of clothing available at such places and have found it a great way to replenish my closet without having to spend a lot of cash.

To summarize life a year later - happy, healthy, active - enjoying life and looking forward to a future with possibilities. This afternoon I will go out and walk my dogs, ride my motorcycle and have dinner with friends. Life is good......

Thank you SO much for this post! I just printed it and I am giving it to my husband how is affraid of giving up food. I have been trying to tell him that you still enjoy and feel satisfied, but maybe coming from a guy he will believe it more?

[wishes 125]

Wow, that is really inspirational. Thank you for sharing!