Tips, Tricks, Trips [An honest sleeve story]

[fatandbroken 3]

The Last Fall

My story started with jumping off of a platform less than 3 feet high to the ground when gardening. Wearing new long distance glasses I misjudged the distance and due to my weight broke my knee, compressed the head of my tibia, and tore my full ACL. This led to knee surgery 6 weeks on my back, and another 6 weeks with no weight on my knee. Inside my mind I'm the same fit guy I was at 20 but in reality I'm just turning 50 and my starting weight was 300 lbs (136 Kg). My body isn't what it used to be (I was a champion black belt at 20).

So I took a good hard look at myself. 115 lbs (50 Kg) overweight. The ACL tear will make my knee weak and my body is reaching critical mass. My mind and body was getting slower and my life span was being challenged. My kids may end up without a father. Time to make some serious changes.

Life as a Foodie

A little history. I"m a foodie. I'm a gourmet cook most of the time and people line up to come over for dinner. It's not in my personality to eat a lot of fast food, I don't eat 2 pizzas at a time, and I don't like sweets. My thin wife eats about the same amount of food I do and doesn't gain any weight. My metabolism seems to be pretty damn efficient. Of course I occasionally over-eat. I'm not perfect.

So I looked at my medical options. Lap bands are temporary and more or less eliminate the possibility of having a sleeve gastrectomy in the future (by-pass is recommended). After looking at a lot of research (I have a medical background) I chose to take the plunge and do the sleeve. HOWEVER: I was also told that after a few weeks I could basically eat the same food I was used to but it would just be in much smaller amounts. I'm a foodie so this is very important to me but less is fine. So far two months later this isn't really the case.

Hardcore Operation

Don't delude yourself. This is a VERY SERIOUS OPERATION. It has great benefits but your life will change significantly. You need to go in with both eyes open. Don't expect you will be the one that doesn't have problems. My recommendation is to take at least two weeks off before going back to work.

My knee recovery helped me drop the first 20 lbs *8 Kg) before the surgery.

I had the sleeve gastrectomy surgery

Day 1: The first day I hurt but it was managed pain. My wound from the laparoscopy had a bleed (twice) that needed to be re-stitched - with that and the operation I lost a couple liters of blood. I also started hiccuping wildly. The resulting medication that stopped them basically put me into a 6 hour stupor. Then in the middle of the night my previous blood loss made my labs look pretty bad. It seemed like surgery may be needed to repair a bleed. Luckily the labs got better and I was able to skip that.

Day 2: More hiccups. One bout hit me with 36 hiccups in the course of about 5 minutes. Not a good thing with stitches etc. They resolved themselves with apple juice. I couldn't eat any of the hospital liquid foods. I could have apple juice.< /p>

Day 3: I was released. I was off the IV and walking around, but I still felt pretty crappy, but they want you to go home and I wanted to go home too.

Day 4: I can't get more than about 4 cups of Water down all day. It takes me forever to drink anything. Drinking Water really hurts. Maybe a cup per hour and then I felt really full. I struggle through the day and go to sleep.

Day 5: I feel like crap. Urine is ORANGE not yellow anymore. I'm dehydrated. Very dehydrated. The surgeons nurse called me to see how I was doing. I put on a brave face. Somehow she didn't like what I said. She sent me back to hospital. They hung 6 liters of Fluid, and I drank another 2 liters over night. I was still peeing bright orange urine.

Day 6: I get up feeling much better. After the IV gets pulled I finally see some change in my urine to a lighter shade of orange almost yellow. They check me out of hospital and I go home. I actually do some work in my home office.

Day 7: I get on the scales and I've actually gained 2 lbs (1 Kg) from my surgery weight! Drinking anything is an exercise in patience. Apple juice is ok, orange juice isn't, drinking water hurts and I can feel every gulp as it hits my stomach. Protein drinks are ok in small amounts.

Day 8 - 14: Wounds are healing. I'm not hungry at all. I still struggle to get a litre a day of water and Protein Drinks down (about a third of the recommended amount). Pain is going away but drinking isn't good. I go see the surgeon for my checkup. I've lost 18 lbs (8 Kg) by 14 days after surgery. The nurse tells me that usually a patients weight loss is about half the rate as the first two weeks. In my case that was 9 lbs a week. So a predicted 4.5 lbs a week going forward for the next 6 months (108 lbs). The nurse said my rapid weight loss was unlikely to continue at the same rate (my early issues may have caused the extra weight loss).

Week 3 and 4: More of the same. Difficult to drink anything but Protein shakes and water. Weight loss continues at a high rate. Regardless of the what the nurse said I'm losing weight at 4.5 lbs per week. At the end of the first month I weight 26 lbs (12 Kg) less than pre-surgery. The weight is dropping off my face, arms, legs, but less in the middle. Its like the layer of fat under my skin is dissolving. I've started to eat solids but they constantly make me vomit even when only 50 mls at a time.

Month 2: I'm eating solids but sometimes I have a couple bites and minutes later massive slimy mucus is produced until I vomit. Even though I macerated (chew) food into a fine mush. Protein seems to be the worst. Yogurt, mashed potatoes, and some other things are ok. When I vomit it isn't the food in my stomach. I first vomit two or three times of pure frothy clear mucus. Then if I continue to vomit I finally start to vomit the food. Sometimes however - I can eat quite a large full meal and no issue at all? Other meals and 2 bites later I'm up and frothing at the mouth. I can easily drink wine - even some beer. Wine is much easier than food. I've lost a total of 40 lbs (18 Kg) I had to go have all my belts have new holes put in them. A lot of new holes.

After two months I CAN'T eat whatever I want or just smaller amounts as I was told. Eating is now a chore not a pleasure as it was previously. I have had some luck eating very small tastes over a long period of time. Wine is easy - sometimes I feel just drinking would be easier.

I eat only a very small amount of food every day. Soups without chunks or high protein in them work well. cheese is good. Still I probably eat less than 200 ml of solid food in a whole day. I don't have headaches, I don't feel faint, and I survive very well with only a fraction of what even the doctors say I need. Even eating so little I'm only losing about the minimum I want to lose to be on target. By the six month mark I expect to lose 88 lbs (40 Kg). I'm trying not to vomit and I do so by eating very very little. Apparently that's what my body needs and all that it needs.

Clothes Shopping

I had to go buy new jeans today. I went from a 42 to 38 in size. 36 in some brands. When I was 25 and probably about 15 lbs (6 Kg) off my ideal medical weight I had a 34 waist. If all goes as planned I will be a 32 waist when I'm done. I will be happy with 34. As I said earlier in the post the weight comes off everywhere starting with arms, legs, face and the gut is lagging behind. It looks a bit odd. From my belt down I'm close to perfect fitness and size, arms are thin as rakes, but the gut remains (slowly reducing). It makes me look a little like a mushroom but MUCH MUCH better.

Courage

I feel healthier, no headaches, no faint feeling from lack of food, and my brain is working faster. My kids are happy and I'm going to be around. They loved me regardless of what I looked like, but inside I was still the black belt champion at heart. I needed to get out and take control of my life.

It takes real COURAGE to undergo sleeve surgery. It isn't EASY. Your life will change dramatically. Some will be for the worse. The process is very hard and long. The end result is worth every bit of it. You just have to want it badly enough to let the person inside you, the one that you were when you were younger, come out and play!

I will try to keep you up to date.

[oceangirlpc 68]

OMG!!!!! Thanks for sharing your incredible honest story. I am having sleeve surgery tomorrow and to know the brutal truth I am aware that I may feel all to common with you and your experience. I am nervous but like you said you wanted it. I am ready for the battle. I admire your brave honesty. God Bless you on your journey and I hope you gained many years to enjoy your children and family. Thank you so much. i will pull on my big girl pants and try to muster up bravery.