My story...

[Chris R 217]

I'm Chris. I'm 50 years old. I had my vertical sleeve gastrectomy last Tuesday, February 12, on my 50th birthday - my present to myself lol! Here's my story.

I've been overweight all my life, and have dieted 'successfully' several times, losing up to 83 pounds at a time. But each time, I'd eventually fall off the wagon and gain back everything I lost, and then some. I never even considered surgery for a moment - after all, I knew I was able to diet successfully, I just had to find a way to stick to it.

I have two children, both of whom are also overweight. When I realized last Spring that my 18-year-old son now outweighed me (I was 450 lbs!) I knew something had to change. He was thinking about surgery, and although I did't relish the idea of his body being irreversibly altered at such a young age, I also didn't want him to suffer through the physical, psychological, and emotional pain that I have had to live through. We talked, and decided that we would look into the surgical option together.

We went to Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, NH - about an hour from where we live. Their Obesity Treatment Center is rated as a Bariatric Center of Excellence. They have a very comprehensive program. You are required to attend an informational session and two support group sessions, a lifestyle changes class (6 monday evenings or two Saturday mornings), two visits with an exercise physiologist, two with a dietitian (one to advise on the pre-surgery weight loss, and one to go over the 2-week pre-surgery liver-shrinking diet, the 1-day pre-surgery clear liquid diet, and the first two phases of the post-surgery diet), and and lose 8% of your body weight before you can schedule your surgery. They do lap band, sleeve, or roux en y bypass. After surgery they do several follow-ups, including two more visits with a dietitian to educate you on the post-surgery diet phases and one more with the exercise physiologist, as well as follow-ups with the surgeon, and they follow you up annually for the rest of your life.

We started early last May. I had a lot more success with the 8% weight loss that my son. He's still got about 12 lbs to go. I lost 57 lbs before my surgery over 9 months. I think it's harder for a teenager to make the kind of changes in diet - but he's working toward it slowly. He hopes to be ready for surgery by the beginning of the summer, after he finishes his freshman year of college. I used myfitnesspal.com to help me with the pre-surgery weight loss. I can't get him to record what he eats, and I think it would really help him. I don't think he actually realizes how much he eats, especially when he stays up late at night gaming.

As for me, so far, so good! My surgery went smoothly. My incisions are healing nicely - just a very uncomfortable pulling sensation on the largest incision when I walk for very long, which my surgeon said will magically disappear as soon as the internal sutures fully dissolve. I'm still on phase 2 - full liquids. I've been eating a lot of cream Soups, but I'm really craving something I can actually CHEW! I get to start phase 3 on Monday - soft solids, including cottage cheese, tofu, mashed potatoes, pureed poultry, fish, and veggies. Just give me some FLAVOR and TEXTURE! I haven't had any problems with sliming or vomiting. My surgeon told me let my sleeve be my guide - just eat until I feel satisfied - and don't drag out a meal by eating until you're full, then waiting a while for that feeling to subside and eat more. He said if you feel hungry a couple hours after a meal, then eat again. I've been eating about 800 calories a day since I've been on the full liquids. Usually one to two Protein shakes made with milk, one greek yogurt, and some cream Soup made with milk for lunch and/or dinner, I use myfitnesspal.com to record what I eat - it tracks not only calories, but Protein, carbs, fat, Vitamins - very handy. I gained about 10 lbs in Fluid from being on the IVs while I was in the hospital after my surgery - I've lost all that, plus 3.2 more lbs since then, 10 days post-op. Just 230 more lbs to go! LOL!

[suepeeps 230]

Good luck to you . Getting sleeved was the best thing I ever did! I am 5 1/2 months out and down 77 pounds! I feel awesome. Good luck to your son too!

[CarrieP 50]

Thanx for sharing! Hoping to join you soon

Sent from my iPhone using VST

[JenC 90]

Happy Belated Birthday Chris! The sleeve is the best gift I ever gave myself...hope you feel that way too! Good luck on your journey.