why the sleeve? and a crash course on MY experience

[tony b 64]

These are my opinions mind you and my experiences so everyone is different remember that.

I studied all options and came to these brief conclusions.

lap band? No i did not want a foreign object inside my body. Also you have to go in every once in awhile to have it tightened. Just on that alone I was speaking with someone and he said "oh i love it cause I don't go in around the holidays so I can eat a lot" Really? His appearance was still quite large and gee after 3 years post op is when I saw him. This is a decision for life not convenience so I said no to this cause I can cheat on that diet. Why do it in first place knowing I can cheat.

Bypass? Hell no, to many horror stories. I was born with all these intestines for a reason..they serve a purpose and for all you out there say well I had my tonsils removed and it hasn't affected me. My answer to you is you HAD to have them removed due to medical reasons and in my opinion and only my opinion being obese is a medical position you put yourself into and only you. I've just heard to much negativity about this surgery so it wasn't for me.

That rouy en ex surgery Look it if i can't spell nor pronounce it I'm not doing it period.

Leads me to sleeve. Not because others weren't my choice its just what I was comfortable with.

1- when this is performed the remaining cut away portion of your huge belly is removed from your body not left inside to float around attached to nothing. Had ulcers? good luck in treating them since your stomach that floats has no way of accepting medicine ..enough said

2- The surgery that removes the stomach also removes that nasty little gurgling sound screaming feed me feed me. What I mean by that here I am 3 years later NEVER getting hungry but just knowing I have to eat to survive. I no longer live for food but need food to live so I'm careful on quality and health benefits of what I eat since its all Portion Control.< /p>

3- The surgery is permanent if not abused. You made the decision to do this why abuse it? Meaning lets say you have a 6 ounce pouch as a new stomach and everyday you eat that one bite too much. It has the possibility of stretching out slowly but surely over time. Once eating you feel full stop right there and don't ever have that same after thanks giving day meal feeling of holy ^&%$ I'm full and tired and think I only had 7 ounces this sucks . Bad attitude.

Also If you are worried about not being able to drink my 2 all time favorites soda and beer again then you may want to reconsider choice. Don't get me wrong live your life like you want to but keep in mind carbonation is something that bloats your stomach and after time who knows how much it gets bigger coupled with the eating one too many bites. Me every Friday and Saturday I sit and enjoy some wine which I hated preop and now get my weekly buzz from it and hell it tastes pretty good.

4 Less invasive,less side effects and bottom line is I lost 180 pounds so if anyone says I'm biased towards this well I am wouldn't you be? duh! lol

My story

I'm 46 now and had surgery almost 3 years ago. Prior to that most of my life I was the fat guy and twice in my younger years lost over 100 pounds thru dieting. If you are on this site my guess you have done the same, only to gain it all and then some back. Pre surgery I weighted 400 pounds with a 54 inch waist and a 5 xl shirt and was the fat and dorky also known as big and talls stores best customer. I used to have kids pointing and making fun of me. Damn those bastards haha. I couldn't fit in an airplane seat a dining booth and amongst all the other stories which you all have this is why I did the surgery

I did all the prep requirements needed starting in June and decided "am I serious about this" so I decided to give up my 12 can a day of soda to prove I can do this and be successful at post surgery. Well I haven't had a soda since July 22 2010. Hence why I have done so well 3 years later. Because I KNEW i could do it.

After the surgery I was sore, tired, cranky, thought why did I do this what an idiot. I felt miserable I mean after all, flavored shakes for 2 months, wonderful. Oh don't do what I did and buy one huge same flavored shake and go with it for 6 weeks. Hint..I can't stand the smell of a banana to this day. It gets better as the days pass you start getting strength and gaining confidence. My first meal other than milkshakes was a can of chicken broth and to this day that can has been my all time favorite meal and will never be topped because after 37367363 banana drinks dog crap sounded good.

I remember my blood work before surgery and when the doctor uses those numbers (need to be between these in order to be good) Lol I was so bad I was a diabetic, depressed,cholesterol filled how the hell am I still living. If those results were an actual test I had to do on paper then it may have well been printed in Chinese cause I failed miserably.

Bottom line do I still have some diarrhea to this day. Of course I'm drinking tons of Water and limiting food intake... go figure...does it bother me NO Ladies you sit to pee anyway so big deal. Guys the ladies want you to sit and pee and will be grateful. Yes of course I do not have it all the time it depends how many meals I had that day compared to liquid intake. etc. BTW my one side effect was dehydration and it was bad to the point of me passing out numerous times. Simple solution drink Water every minute you can. I don't go anywhere without 2 bottles and Oh I love crystal light iced tea as well.

It honestly took me a good 4 months to feel I had made a good surgical decision after the pain and all the newness that I was experiencing. I will say when I had a weight tracker on my bathroom wall and was listing weekly weight and watching it drop so rapidly all the bad memories went out the window it was such a great feeling.

I liken this surgery to running a marathon. You stand at the starting line and say holy cow I'll never finish this thing I have started and suddenly your Bariatric doctor pulls up beeps horn and say get in. He drives you to the 23 mile post and lets you out and says now finish the last 3 miles with my help. He/she gave you the head start needed to lose all that damn weight you carried for so long.

I'm going to skip a bunch of months till now and tell you what I have done and have continued to do.

You saw my stats above and today as I am typing this I weigh 218 when my goal was 225. My original goal was 235 but nope this is too easy lets keep going. BTW some schmuck doctor will say (in my dumb ass cynical voice) " well you should weigh 189" my answer, kiss my %$# I wear a 36 waist and a Large shirt and I literally am a blood specimen and have none of the above mentioned issues I had earlier. Then i proceed to tell my 5'6 doctor and his string bean pole that I have a monstrous frame with huge shoulders and if I weighed 187 I'd look like gumby and peeps would throw food at me and they always see my side on my opinion of the perfect weight haha

When I was able to eat regular food again I ate 4 portions per day NONE after 5pm and when I got to desired weight I moved to 5 portions only to discover I was still losing. Now depending on what I eat I consume 6 or 7 meals to "maintain". If I start to gain weight I drop one meal.

I have posted a few threads on here and will and can answer questions if need be but I not online a ton. I wrote these because with all the peoples information I read on here pre op it helped me. What I tried to do with this post was to sum up all the information I learned from different sources into one long letter.

Now lose that weight and give that fat person in the mirror the finger and SAY NO MORE, BYE BYE SADNESS, HELLO NEW LIFE. Wont believe all the things I can do now and would never try then I hope you use my email as an inspiration and someday down the road do what I did and help the people make a decision that they are struggling thru as you are now or will be soon.

Thanks all Tony

[kiki1196 101]

What a great story and inspiring post. Thank you.

[LiggleLiggle 84]

Tony, that is fantastic and should be a great help to those on the fence about surgery. Job well done!

[Ms.AntiBand 2,984]

Ok, now you're just awesome! Thanks for sharing.

[kamero 3]

Great story!! Reading experiences helps so much!!

[rosita13 10]

Thank you so much for your story! You changed my outlook on this!! Thanks!!

[dave61 2]

Thanks for telling your story my name is Dave live in Texas I weigh 340 at present time I am presently doing a 6 month nutrition counseling had my psychological evaluation surgery will be in December your story helped me with high expectations I to will be giving up soda in the months to come.

[stacy03 50]

Thank you for sharing your journey!!

[reno1128 34]

Great story! ! Very inspirational

[awifeinmichigan 233]

Tony this is just the type of post I look forward to. Awesome!

[tony b 64]

Thanks for telling your story my name is Dave live in Texas I weigh 340 at present time I am presently doing a 6 month nutrition counseling had my psychological evaluation surgery will be in December your story helped me with high expectations I to will be giving up soda in the months to come.

Good stuff show commitment

[Lunaya 64]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!