Smooth Sailing for Anyone?

[paulamelton 13]

I had my sleeve on 12/31/18 and other than occasional Constipation (because I don’t take in enough Water when I’m working) I haven’t had any complications. It’s been 6 weeks today and I’ve lost 26 pounds. Not the most but very respectable. I was 231 on surgery date and I’m an even 5’0 short. I believe my future is good!

[FluffyChix 17,415]

Pretty smooth here! Would do it all again in a heartbeat! Loving my life!

[Yzaroxxi 3]

Hi I'm new to this forum but I could relate to your situation; I had my surgery 12/21/18. I also had a lower BMI and I went to Mexico to have it done as a self pay it was a reasonable amount. I went to Dr. Pedro Kuri in Tijuana, and could not be happier with my results. I have several other diagnosis that I was afraid would work against me I had a hysterectomy and the last 7 years I've been struggling with an underactive thyroid. I gained 6 pounds the week before my surgery I was not required to go on a diet as I had only a week from surgery decision to actual travel date. I have not experienced any issues other than one of my stitches had some scarring that I could feel rubbing against my clothing that has gone away.

However, I'm experiencing a loss of appetite, nothing sounds good, nothing tastes the same I have to force myself to eat or I drink Protein Shakes, I'm having a hard time drinking as much Water as I did before surgery which can be a good thing. I eat cream of wheat for Breakfast or a shake, 3 ounces of food, and a Soup. I'm staying on softer foods or thicker liquids because of my lack of appetite. I'm down twenty two pounds with a goal of losing 70 or getting back to a size 4. Unfortunately, I have severe clinical depression and that still has me less motivated to hit the gym as often as I want,but I'm working on it I still move around do stretches, pilates or yoga enough for the amount of food I'm eating.

[SteveT74 359]

I would say I have had pretty smooth sailing so far--no issue with pain, drinking or eating. I am happy with my weight loss 8 weeks post-op. I had a 35 BMI on the day of surgery, so my total numbers aren't huge sounding (34.5 pounds) since my day of surgery, but it's a huge percentage of what I what I need to lose and I am only 29 pounds away from my goal. However, I battle with Constipation daily!!! No matter how much Water I drink--it's there!!! I had issues with hemorrhoids before surgery and this daily constipation has made that issue a lot worse!!! I am going to talk to my doctor about it when I see him on Wednesday for my 2 month post-op.

[FluffyChix 17,415]

18 minutes ago, SteveT74 said:

I would say I have had pretty smooth sailing so far--no issue with pain, drinking or eating. I am happy with my weight loss 8 weeks post-op. I had a 35 BMI on the day of surgery, so my total numbers aren't huge sounding (34.5 pounds) since my day of surgery, but it's a huge percentage of what I what I need to lose and I am only 29 pounds away from my goal. However, I battle with Constipation daily!!! No matter how much Water I drink--it's there!!! I had issues with hemorrhoids before surgery and this daily constipation has made that issue a lot worse!!! I am going to talk to my doctor about it when I see him on Wednesday for my 2 month post-op.

@SteveT74 Look up the recent constipation threads. I posted my protocols. For the first time in 12 months I'm going every day, pleasant, satisfying, nice consistency and pain free!!! No stress on your 'roids. Etc.

[Everything 388]

5 hours ago, paulamelton said:

I’m an even 5’0 short. I believe my future is good!

Same here! Thank you for sharing your journey!

[Everything 388]

Yza- I’m so happy everything Has been working out for you except for the loss of appetite. Which could be a good thing I guess! I also thought about going to Mexico but I was a little intimidated. I’ll be paying double in the states but the only person I know who went to Mexico speaks Spanish and said that helped her a lot in the process. Glad everything went well and congratulations on your weight-loss!

[Everything 388]

Steve you’re more than halfway there! And in such a short time! I have surgery in one week and two days. I finally feel ready! Still buying things for post surgery diet but emotionally I am ready.

[SteveT74 359]

1 hour ago, FluffyChix said:

@SteveT74 Look up the recent Constipation threads. I posted my protocols. For the first time in 12 months I'm going every day, pleasant, satisfying, nice consistency and pain free!!! No stress on your 'roids. Etc.

LOL... thanks. I'll do that.

[SteveT74 359]

8 minutes ago, Everythinganna said:

Steve you’re more than halfway there! And in such a short time! I have surgery in one week and two days. I finally feel ready! Still buying things for post surgery diet but emotionally I am ready.

That's great!!! Just a word of advice, don't overbuy. What you think you're going to want/need before surgery is not the same as what you will actually want/need after surgery. Of course, have your Protein Shakes, gas tablets etc. lined up in advance, but I spent a few hundred on stuff I didn't need/use--don't make the same mistake. If turns out you want/need something you don't have, Amazon can get it to you in two days (one day if you want to pay a few extra dollars).

[zombieskayer 84]

On 2/2/2019 at 11:14 AM, Everythinganna said:

Hello everyone! I am new to this forum but have been researching for a while. I am scheduled to get the gastric sleeve week after next. I am a low BMI and self pay. Because of my low BMI and no other real health issues, I was not required to do the two week pre-op liquid diet nor the Endo. My health is generally good except for degenerative disc disease and back pain. I am 41 years old and hoping to lose about 60 pounds. I have already had my gallbladder removed. I do have insurance but it will not cover the procedure. I am reading all of these threads and have growing concern about complications. Being self-pay I know that any additional procedures will come out of my pocket. I would like to know — has anyone ever had a trouble-free surgery? Every post I read seems to talk about some sort of complication, pain, vomiting or other problems. Has anyone had a relatively easy sleeve procedure? Thanks!!!

I was sleeved 12/20 and have had no complications. The pain is common I wouldn't call it a complication. You just had the majority of your stomach removed you should expect to feel pain. Other then that and some queasiness day 1 I've been fine. I'm back to work with a weight restriction, my incisions healed nicely and I haven't had any problems with my gallbladder (since I still have mine) next month I go for blood work just to check my levels but the doctors don't have any concerns.

[2Bsmaller18 436]

Thank you to everyone for adding to this post. I am scheduled for Monday and am getting very anxious. I am trying to remind myself that more people post problems vs. if everything is smooth sailing. I just want to fast forward a week and have it behind me. I am tying to "look forward" to relaxing and watching some movies etc verses my typical running around all the time.

[SteveT74 359]

For most people, it's smooth sailing with VSG. Every now and then someone has some difficulty with nausea the first couple of days, but that's not common. A few people may have some issues getting their Fluid in and later one with some foods. That really depends on how well they are healing and the degree of swelling they experience. To the extent people have issues, they fall more into the nuisance category rather then anything that's a real concern (i.e., all the stuff we b***h and moan about on the forum). I haven't read of anyone on here experiencing a leak or something serious. A few people have issues with their incision sites others have had issues with nausea or gerd. All that stuff can happen, but it's very manageable. I have had issues with GERD and Constipation since the surgery, but nothing I can't handle (with a few pills). I didn't have any real post-surgery pain---really, none at all. I did have gas and bloating, but even that was pretty tolerable (strep throat hurts a lot more!!). The serious stuff like leaks at staple line or embolisms probably happen to some patients some place, but I haven't seen anyone on here that posted about going through something like that. If you're going to a center of excellence for your surgery in the US, the changes of having something like that happen are less then 0.2%. What ever mild discomfort you have in the first couple of weeks of recovery is pretty minor in the scheme of things. When you get on the scale and see those numbers drop, it's all worth it!!!

[JessLess 1,163]

I was sleeved 10/15/18 and it's been very smooth. I was working from home at my desk job after a week and back in my office after 2 weeks. My sleeve was a single incision (through my belly button). My surgeon told me they usually only recommend that if your BMI is 35 or less but mine was 40.

I have degenerative disc disorder too and my back has been better since losing 45 lbs.

I think it has gone smoothly because my program was awesome and I followed almost everything they told me to do. I take all my Vitamins, took Ursodiol to prevent gallstones (which you don't have to worry about) and took Omeprazole to prevent GERD.

I have thrown up 3x but each time it was from eating too fast (I thought there was always room for Jello!) and really my fault.

I have had zero hours of regret.

Edited February 13, 2019 by JessLess
grammar

[DanaC84 1,116]

On 02/12/2019 at 10:49, 2Bsmaller18 said:

Thank you to everyone for adding to this post. I am scheduled for Monday and am getting very anxious. I am trying to remind myself that more people post problems vs. if everything is smooth sailing. I just want to fast forward a week and have it behind me. I am tying to "look forward" to relaxing and watching some movies etc verses my typical running around all the time.

Hahaha!! Yea, I binged watched a lot those first few days. And it took me a few days to get my days and nights back in order