My Vsg Journey To Jacksonville Fl

[Snoopy 0]

I am 38 years old and have been overweight my entire life. I have been on numerous diets loosing up to 35lbs but gaining it back within a few years. I hit my all time low last year when I couldnt stand to be in this body any longer. I began researching weighloss surgery as I have done so many times but this time I found a new one, VSG. The more I read the more I liked. The problem was, my BMI was only 38 (5 foot - 206lbs) which meant no insurance, I assumed. Luckily, I have a wonderful husband (of 20 yrs) that knew how badly I have wanted this for so long so we agreed to finance and get it done! I began looking into local Docs and found that most either didnt do it or have not done very many. I contacted a friend in Fla who has also truggled with her weight for a while and she said she had just had the sleeve done in her area by a very experienced surgeon and it was in my price range! I called, began phone interviews in July 2011 and set my surgical date for Sept. That may seem super fast and you are right. I had taken 2 weeks off work and found childcare for my 3 kids so that I could make the trip down. The docs office was very accomidating for out of towners. There was also the fact that I was self pay, no insurance hoops to jump through. I began my pre-op diet and had already read everything there was to know about the surgery not to mention my friend had it done by the same doc in May so she filled me in on all the goods. I was scared, but ready! With my kids and husband in NC, I drove down to JAcksonville, Fl and had my sleeve done on Sept 9, 2011 and it was a huge success! My doc was awsome, I actually drove back home to NC 3 days post-op. That was pushing it, but I had to get back to my kids, hubby and work.

I went back to work 4 days post-op. :smile1: I was on high alert listening to my body to make sure nothing was going wrong. I began walking right away which was painful. The diet was the worst part. Absolutly no more cheating (or I'd regret it due to pain) and that was hard watching my family eat things I couldnt eat (1-2 weeks post-op). Now that I am 4 months post-op, I can eat most anything (which I understand is not true for bypass patients) and really the only thing I miss is diet soda. Everything in moderation (about 4 bites and Im done) and make sure each bite counts! My biggest problem to date in I did not keep up with my Protein intake and my hair is falling out. My hair was thin to begin with so needless to say, Im being very diligent to take in as much protein as I can stand during the day. My secret is Rx Big100 bar Peanut Butter pretzel, and EAS shakes. That totals 50g protein and then add in my regular foods and I take in about 80g now. Cant say that I see my hair coming back just yet, but I think the shedding has slowed.

[Lissa 2,631]

Congrats on being sleeved!! I take Biotin to help with hair regrowth. It also supposedly helps your skin and nails, so it can't hurt, IMO.

I hope you're taking a Multivitamin and some Calcium as well. There is a ton of information here, but it wounds like you're doing pretty well so far. Stick around. This is a great place for support!