4 weeks out....for the man who has everything but.....my story for real

[jjmcrash218 94]

I am a (now) 51 year old male. I have a great life ....married 26 years two college educated kids...great Job... the only thing I have never beaten was my weight Last year I turned 50. While not a tall guy only 5'4.5"... I carried 260lbs... I Have high blood pressure, and thyroid disorders.... at that weight I had problems walking, shortness of breath, was on 4 blood pressure meds, a thyroid med, and an ED med (due to the blood pressure meds), couldnt even exercise due to this weight. Always a lover of food....especially pizza and burgers...but a very occasional drinker and occasional cigar smoker, food was my vice for much of my life. Overweight in different weights all my life since childhood on several occasions I actually got down to a reasonable weight...only to slowly fail again. Exercise, Atkins, Alli pills, you name it I tried them all.... and always failed.....every time.

About 2 years ago a good friend out of the blue had gastric bypass and went from 320 to 160 (there were complications that brought him to 120 for a short time but he rebounded to his current 160). It piqued my interest at the time but I shelved it as well not for me. After my 50th birthday I began thinking about the surgery and did occasional research and discovered that my insurance would cover this operation (Harvard Pilgrim of Massachusetts) if I had at least one co-mobility ( I had 2) and my bmi was >35 (mine was over 40). I had a physical with my doctor and asked him about the options due to my blood pressure and thyroid co-morbilities.....he was great about it.... set me up with Dr Kruegar of the southcoast bariatric program I attended the seminar and was off to the races. I met with him and he felt I was a good candidate for the sleeve (VSG) surgery..

The program started off with an initial appointment with the doctor then over the next 4-5 months... several Nurse practitioner appointments, 2 psychology appointments. 2 nutritionist appointments, a 3 session (2 hrs ea) psychology workshop, a preop nurse education workshop. The scheduling of these appointments took about 4 months for me....I work nights so I could take any appointment they gave and completed the program I think faster than most. The time line was for me Sept 11 seminar.... Oct 8th first appointment with Doctor,,, Psych and Nutrition appointments the rest of October and first week of November. NP appointment end of November.... Psy workshops the first 3 weeks of December... Approval from Insurance Surgery date scheduled and the nurse education the end of December. Surgery date was January 20th. @ Tobey Hospital in Wareham Massachusetts

I can say that I never had that much pain. The first day the worse thing was that after surgery I felt sick and vomited blood from the operation which was normal. I did as they asked and walked as much as I could after the surgery. Day 2 I was able to take in Water at first and other liquids later that afternoon... I was allowed to be released that evening at 8pm...

Other than soreness I was not in much pain at all ( I think due to my general size ). Some people in the program were much bigger than me so i think theirs pain might have been different.

Over the past 4 weeks (30 days) I have lost 33 lbs (starting weight 258.0.... surgery weight 252.5.... current weight 225.0). Clothes are fitting great... I am now down to 2 bp meds and 1 thyroid med. I have to say I haven't felt so good in 15-20 years. I seriously have had no problems. I have to emphasize eating slowly!!!! I bought small plates too!!!! It helps with portion size. I found that if i eat 1/2 of my meal slowly and put it down and wait.... the full feeling either is there or not.... I then pick slowly at the remaining stuff. The full feeling sneaks up on you and it really sucks when you realize that you went too far.... you get physically ill and have to ride it out untill you either accept the food.... or your body wants to rid itself of it.... so beware! A tough element is no liquids with your meal....and it's a hard habit to break... sometimes if you have too dry food (moisten everything with small amts of ketchup etc) hiccups will happen and it will sometimes start a very nauseous feeling....I will sometimes drink the smallest sip of water just to moisten up the food in that case as a last resort.... remember slow eating and moist foods.

A work in progress but doing fine.

[aSleeveStory 128]

You're doing fantastic... and congrats on both making the decision to better your life, and for the awesome weight loss so far.

I was fortunate enough, somehow, to not have blood pressure problems, diabetes problems, etc. before my surgery... in fact one of my reasons for doing it was to NOT cross those lines, because Lord knows it was only a matter of time... but one of my favorite things on here is to read when someone gets to ditch those meds. That's an exciting step.

Keep up the great work!

[ProudGrammy 8,322]

full feeling sneaks up - sucks when you realize you went too far

@@jjmcrash218

welcome welcome welcome welcome

i can see you are a smart cookie since you realized having the sleeve is great!!

we're all here to support each other

give advise/suggestions,expertise

share are experiences to help people

good for you on using small plates

try baby silverware too

i used my baby spoon for a long time

clothes fitting better

meds being decreased

down 33 lbs

buttttt

a few comments /suggestions nicely spoken

to help you

"kindof" sounds like you get that full feeling at one point

rest a bit then continue to eat

no no no

before you are full stop eating

not when you are already stuffed

when you are approaching that full feeling you should (must) stop

good for you that you are working on eating slower

that is very important

you will get that full feeling quicker

you should/must measure your food

my surgeon told me to eat until i'm "almost" full

then stop 2 bites earlier!!!!

the sleeve is here to help you (me/us)

when it tells you to stop - listen to it!!!

please ???

you work with the sleeve and it will work for/with you!!

do you have a NUT (nutritionist)you can talk to for help?

can you find a support group around you?

many people (me) go their for help, discussions about food/program

IMO the Water rules are the most important to follow

being told not to drink while you eat is very hard to follow

but we must follow

you are waiting 45-60 minutes before you drink after your meal right??

you stop drinking about 1/2 an hour before you eat??

you drink at least 64 oz of water/liquids

i'm sure you already knew these things and are following

lots of rules we must ALL follow to be successful

these new habits do not stop once you reach goal

you have "signed" up for this new lifestyle with eating/drinking for the rest of your life

it really is doable

i know you will be a success

good luck

kathy

Edited February 19, 2015 by proudgrammy

[jayhawkgirl 33]

Way to go! Depending on your surgeon, the tips given may vary a bit. Mine told me to stop drinking 15 minutes before meals and not to drink for 40 mintues after. You don't want to push the food through or you will feel hungry after. I was also told that I should be completing a meal in 20 minutes. They don't want you to take breaks and space it out because they don't want us to come to close to old "grazing" habits. The hiccups are not uncommon. I still get them sometimes and that's my sign that I likely wasn't paying attention and I ate too fast, swallowing air as well! My stomach growled at lot in the beginning. It was crazy! Sometimes it would wake me up at night. At first I was worried, bu then my dietician and surgeon both told me that our brains associate that with hunger and that's not what it is. It's all the air and your system "adjusting." If I drank more Water, it would usually go away. Now I find that if it's growling and I drink more and keep my mind focused on something else, it stops as well. Best of luck to you!