Newbie...my story!

[MonkVSG 2]

Hello everyone! I am MonkVSG, and I am currently 10 days post-op. I want to introduce myself, and share my journey so far...

I am a 44-year-old educator, mom of 5, and military spouse. I have been overweight my entire life, have been over 200 pounds for about 9 years now, but only after the birth of my 5^th child (now 4 years old) did my weight spiral into the “out of control” range. I had tried Weight Watchers, MediFast, and counting calories, working with a nutritionist in a military hospital, all of which worked for a time before I would gain the lost weight back plus more.

I began researching VSG last summer, but it was only at Christmastime that I decided I would actually pursue it. I made sure I was completely up to date with all of my physicals, yearly tests, evaluations, etc. during the months of January and February. I did anything, in advance, that I knew (through research) I would be required to do for insurance approval (Tricare Standard). By mid February, I asked my PCM to suggest a Bariatric Surgeon, and she named Dr. Thomas Clark who had performed approx. 5,000 weight loss surgeries and over 1,000 sleeves. I saw Dr. Clark for the first time on March 8^th and had my surgery on March 28^th! It was a whirlwind! I had only 12 days of pre-op dieting, in which I lost 12 pounds.

My surgery went well, according to the surgeon, but I had a very bad reaction to the anesthesia. I just remember the nurses telling me how hard it was to wake me up. And then the nausea and vomiting began. I vomited nonstop (obviously with nothing in my newly stapled stomach) for over 48 hours. It was miserable. I couldn’t keep anything down – to include pain medicine, anti-nausea medicine, etc. So for over 48 hours I was in excruciating pain with no way of relief.

After the vomiting subsided, I began to feel better. My body was so depleted, though, that I couldn’t even walk without my legs cramping up with every step. It took 3 days to be able to walk without cramping, and at least 3 days after that to begin to feel like myself.

As of today, I am doing very well. I am getting liquids down easily (on liquid diet) provided they are a thin, water-like consistency. I am still not good with Protein shakes. They seem to get “caught” and I don’t feel good after drinking 3 -4 ounces. I am supposed to see Dr. Clark next Tuesday to progress to purees – I am hoping to get better with Protein Shakes before then!

So, that’s my journey! I’d love to get to know other sleevers, as I do not know anyone in real life who has had weight loss surgery, and I know that being part of a support network will really help. Please say Hi, and let me know a bit about you! I will be happy to answer any questions you have, and I am happy to be able to lend my support to all of you as well.

Excited to be on this journey!

[Valentina 2,642]

Welcome to ,"The Losers' Bench", new friend.

You are certainly warmly welcomed here. We are a conglomerate of sexes, ages, personalities, races and religions. The one thing we do have in common is WLS--either post op or pre op.

Everyone that I know of tries to be supportive to the best of their ability. Sometimes we get a wee bit off tract and get "wacky", but always in a "lov'n" sort of way. We try to remind each other when we see some one edging off track.

We share our bitches and our brags and that's a good thing. Sometime we all just need to bitch--knowing that there isn't really anything that any one can do about whatever has made us "cranky", but that too is OK. --and isn't it good to have friends who share and appreciate our "victories" along our journey's path?

Feel free to ask ANY questions you may have,(hell, it doesn't even have to have anything to do with WLS--though it's probably should be ). Even if we individually don't know the answer, we as a whole will find one for you.

Again, Welcome!