6 Month Surgiversary

[SleeveDreamer 383]

Happy 6 month Surgiversary to me! I luv my sleeve and would do it all over again. I will be 62 next week and honestly can say I feel like I am in my 30's for the first time in years. It's hard to believe it has been 6 months ago today that I was so miserable, with only 60 pounds of weight to lose, but ALL in my abdomen and chest area heading for my heart! I could hardly breathe after I walked and was constantly out of breath. I have gone from a size 18 jeans to a size 6. My % of body fat had gone from 57% to 32% (at last month's f/u visit). I could not get any of my clothes on, and when i did always wore a Spanx or a flexees and was still miserable. I refused to buy any plus sizes.

In 1999 I had Nissen Fundiplication surgery for my severe reflux condition. 1/3 of my stomach had protruded up though my diaphragm and was lodged between my lungs headed for my heart. In 1999 the doctor had literally sutured the top of my stomach to my esophagus. My abdomen and chest area was like a rock. Thank God for my VSG surgeon in La Jolla, Dr. Bhoyrul, who i feel literally saved my life. Took him 2 hours just to fix the esophagus and get my stomach bacj through the diaprhagm before cutting off the 85%. He was awesome and will spend as much time with you answering questions that you need him to. Because of his extensive repair, I was on a TPN for 18 days to make sure I would not get a leak in my esophagus. I am so lucky I had a doctor who took that precaution, even though the TPN for 18 days was not fun. (TPN is an iv for nourishment and hydration because you can't swallow anything). So for 18 days I could not swallow anything. I had no food or Water, other than sipping Water and swishing and spitting it out. I did not ever get a leak because of this precaution he took. This had nothing to do with the VSG surgery part, this was because of all the repair work he did from the previous surgery. I had so many stitches in my diaphragm where he had to attach it back to my esophagus that I coughed for about three weeks until the sutures dissolved. I never had any pain or nausea even after going through all this repair. Had my drain removed after one week and didn't even know he removed it until he showed it to me.

I have never felt better. I am now only 7 lbs. away from his goal for me and 13 lbs. away from my own personal goal. It is harder to lose the closer you get to your goal, so I will continue to go upstairs and do the endurance interval workout he has suggested for me on the treadmill.

I have before and after pics on my profile page. The after pic was May 10th so I was at almost 5 months out.

Please remember, that your time will come where you can eat anything you want and feel great. Your stomach needs to have atleast 12 weeks to heal. Give it that chance. Don't push it or try to rush it and you will do fine. Of course, when you see a juicy burger on every TV commercial, you are envious! But you will be able to eat it one of these days. Just not as much! There is nothing I can't eat. My sleeve is very accomodating! Please DO NOT get discouraged when you are in a stall. You are not going to lose a pound or so everyday. If I was in a stall, I would have Protein only and no carbs. I drink almost a gallon of flavored water each day. (After sipping on plain water for 18 days and spitting it out, I don't like the taste plain water anymore). Before surgery I was a Diet Pepsi addict. Don't even want it now. Don't want or eat anything fried now. Instead of bags of potato chips, I now eat Lundberg Rice chips. I used to eat overly buttered popcorn every night after dinner. Since I have only eaten about 1/2 a snack bag or Smart Pop when we went to the show because i thought I would crave it, but didn't eat anymore than that. You may need to decide what you can and want to do without to take advantage of thie new healthy lifestyle you are now experiencing. It is worth giving up some things. You will LUV shopping for new clothes. It is so comforting to me to go to my closet now and put on a pair of jeans (even after washed and dried) and being able to zip them up and button them and feeling comfy the entire day.

Keep a positive attitude and praise God that you are fortunate enough to do this for yourself! Enjoy the moment and don't worry so much about where you will be weight wise in a few months or what you will be able to eat in a few months. You won't know until the time comes and you try it anyway, so why worry about it now!. There is no way you are not going to lose. You aren't eating hardly anything and your stomach has been decreased by 85%. You will lose! Don't worry! And please don't forget to take the time to ask questions of your doctor.

LUV MY SLEEVE! Good luck to all of you who will have your surgery in the months to come. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you.

Janet :) :) :) :)

[HalfTheWoman 107]

Great advice! I love hearing success stories. I am scheduled to have my lapband taken out and get sleeved on June 25th.

[shangefan 193]

thanks so much for your testimony, Janet. It is very inspiring.

[SleeveDreamer 383]

Great advice! I love hearing success stories. I am scheduled to have my lapband taken out and get sleeved on June 25th.

You will be in my prayers!

[favoredone 590]

Congrats.. and thanks for the advice!!!

[SLIM12 19]

Great motivating post. You covered it all. It's wonderful that u found such a skilled and caring doc. you suggested that we go to your profile to see before pics. Can u tell me how to do that? My surgery is 6-18-12,

[SleeveDreamer 383]

Great motivating post. You covered it all. It's wonderful that u found such a skilled and caring doc. you suggested that we go to your profile to see before pics. Can u tell me how to do that? My surgery is 6-18-12,

Just go over to the left where my picture is and go down to : Patient Information and click on View my Profile. Thanks!

[littlebits 154]

Congrats!

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,282]

Congrats! You are doing fantastic!

[tjmom 200]

Janet you touched on all things important! So much of what you said hit home for me... Had my sleeve on May 2nd and have stalled for about 10 days now... Was feeling pretty low until i read your post....thank you so much for putting a smile on my face ...

[GivingItMyAll 168]

Thanks for sharing your experience. You ROCK!

[SleeveDreamer 383]

Janet you touched on all things important! So much of what you said hit home for me... Had my sleeve on May 2nd and have stalled for about 10 days now... Was feeling pretty low until i read your post....thank you so much for putting a smile on my face ...

Awwe gee, that makes me feel so good to know I put a smile on your face!

[babydoll56 1]

Happy 6 month Surgiversary to me! I luv my sleeve and would do it all over again. I will be 62 next week and honestly can say I feel like I am in my 30's for the first time in years. It's hard to believe it has been 6 months ago today that I was so miserable' date=' with only 60 pounds of weight to lose, but ALL in my abdomen and chest area heading for my heart! I could hardly breathe after I walked and was constantly out of breath. I have gone from a size 18 jeans to a size 6. My % of body fat had gone from 57% to 32% (at last month's f/u visit). I could not get any of my clothes on, and when i did always wore a Spanx or a flexees and was still miserable. I refused to buy any plus sizes.

In 1999 I had Nissen Fundiplication surgery for my severe reflux condition. 1/3 of my stomach had protruded up though my diaphragm and was lodged between my lungs headed for my heart. In 1999 the doctor had literally sutured the top of my stomach to my esophagus. My abdomen and chest area was like a rock. Thank God for my VSG surgeon in La Jolla, Dr. Bhoyrul, who i feel literally saved my life. Took him 2 hours just to fix the esophagus and get my stomach bacj through the diaprhagm before cutting off the 85%. He was awesome and will spend as much time with you answering questions that you need him to. Because of his extensive repair, I was on a TPN for 18 days to make sure I would not get a leak in my esophagus. I am so lucky I had a doctor who took that precaution, even though the TPN for 18 days was not fun. (TPN is an iv for nourishment and hydration because you can't swallow anything). So for 18 days I could not swallow anything. I had no food or Water, other than sipping Water and swishing and spitting it out. I did not ever get a leak because of this precaution he took. This had nothing to do with the VSG surgery part, this was because of all the repair work he did from the previous surgery. I had so many stitches in my diaphragm where he had to attach it back to my esophagus that I coughed for about three weeks until the sutures dissolved. I never had any pain or nausea even after going through all this repair. Had my drain removed after one week and didn't even know he removed it until he showed it to me.

I have never felt better. I am now only 7 lbs. away from his goal for me and 13 lbs. away from my own personal goal. It is harder to lose the closer you get to your goal, so I will continue to go upstairs and do the endurance interval workout he has suggested for me on the treadmill.

I have before and after pics on my profile page. The after pic was May 10th so I was at almost 5 months out.

Please remember, that your time will come where you can eat anything you want and feel great. Your stomach needs to have atleast 12 weeks to heal. Give it that chance. Don't push it or try to rush it and you will do fine. Of course, when you see a juicy burger on every TV commercial, you are envious! But you will be able to eat it one of these days. Just not as much! There is nothing I can't eat. My sleeve is very accomodating! Please DO NOT get discouraged when you are in a stall. You are not going to lose a pound or so everyday. If I was in a stall, I would have Protein only and no carbs. I drink almost a gallon of flavored water each day. (After sipping on plain water for 18 days and spitting it out, I don't like the taste plain water anymore). Before surgery I was a Diet Pepsi addict. Don't even want it now. Don't want or eat anything fried now. Instead of bags of potato chips, I now eat Lundberg Rice chips. I used to eat overly buttered popcorn every night after dinner. Since I have only eaten about 1/2 a snack bag or Smart Pop when we went to the show because i thought I would crave it, but didn't eat anymore than that. You may need to decide what you can and want to do without to take advantage of thie new healthy lifestyle you are now experiencing. It is worth giving up some things. You will LUV shopping for new clothes. It is so comforting to me to go to my closet now and put on a pair of jeans (even after washed and dried) and being able to zip them up and button them and feeling comfy the entire day.

Keep a positive attitude and praise God that you are fortunate enough to do this for yourself! Enjoy the moment and don't worry so much about where you will be weight wise in a few months or what you will be able to eat in a few months. You won't know until the time comes and you try it anyway, so why worry about it now!. There is no way you are not going to lose. You aren't eating hardly anything and your stomach has been decreased by 85%. You will lose! Don't worry! And please don't forget to take the time to ask questions of your doctor.

LUV MY SLEEVE! Good luck to all of you who will have your surgery in the months to come. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you.

Janet <img src='http://www.bariatricpal.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> <img src='http://www.bariatricpal.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> <img src='http://www.bariatricpal.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> <img src='http://www.bariatricpal.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> <img src='http://www.bariatricpal.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> <img src='http://www.bariatricpal.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> <img src='http://www.bariatricpal.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> <img src='http://www.bariatricpal.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />[/quote']

Thanks for the info. I also have a ring around my esophagus. I was so afraid the dr would not be able to perform the sleeve. I will have completed my pre op procedures by September. I'm excited and impatient. Like you I'm trying to see what I can and can't do. I like swimming. So my daughter goes with me and we do exercises she makes it fun. She's proud that I decided to do this sleeve for "myself". Reading different journeys encourages me immensely.

[babydoll56 1]

I also have a ring around my espaghous Nissan procedure. After going thru all the steps I was told by physicians in Memphis Tn I would not be able to have the surgery. I was told that perhaps I could have the surgery at Vanderbilt hospital in Nashville tn. I'm on a fixed income and there's no guarantee they will be able to do the surgery Please if anyone knows anything I could please let me know. I finished all my pre op steps. I told my patient advocate that I shouldn't start my pre op diet for my liver. Before hand I was told my surgery would be in late September early October.