Before & After VSG with Annie, losing 68 pounds!
June 5, 2018Why I Decided To Have WLS
Most of my adult life, I weighed 127-135 pounds. After four children, I had gained and lost a good bit of weight over the years. With my children and working a full-time job, I managed to keep my weight around 140 pounds.
In October of 2002, I weighed a healthy 142 pounds and worked out each day before work. I have a genetic and hereditary mutation called MSH2, which puts me at 70% risk for six cancers; I've had four, along with a lot of health challenges, treatments, and medications. By January of 2013, I weighed 240 pounds, with a BMI of 41.2. At 5'4, it was a lot of weight.
Taking 20 medications for my chronic health issues packed on the weight, reduced my energy, and drained the happy right out of life.
I was deeply depressed, and very ill. I had heart issues, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, angina, and strokes. I could not walk a block without intense angina, which medication was unable to control. Being so disabled, it contributed to my depression, over-eating, and no exercise. I had to have five heart stents. By April of 2013, when I had to have a triple bypass (which subsequently failed at six months out), I had managed to lose a few pounds, down to 228.5 pounds. Over the next four years, I tried everything (including diet and exercise, lol). The most I could get down to was 198.6 pounds.
I broke down weeping sharing my despair with my husband after investigating the VSG procedure and finding out insurance would not cover me, because I was not "fat enough." After lots of hard thought, prayer and discussion, my husband and I made the decision to investigate having a VSG.
To our surprise, even with my co-morbidities and support from my cardiologist, oncologist, gastroenterologist, neurologist, and primary care physician, I was not "fat" enough for my insurance to cover the surgery. We elected to invest in "self-pay" to pay for my surgery. Since we are retired, it was a difficult decision to spend over $13,000.
Before & After VSG with Annie
Name: Annie
Total Weight Loss: 68 pounds
Surgery Type: VSG
Date of Surgery: 10/5/2017
Surgeon's Name: Dr. T. Ryan Heider, MD
My Surgery and Post-Op Life
My consultation was September 20, 2017; my surgery (because it was self-pay) was scheduled for October 5, 2017, so I started the pre-op diet the day I had my consultation. Two weeks of Optifast shakes/bars/soups at 800 calories daily were a big change from my in-love-with-carbs diet! The first 3-1/2 days were awful, with headaches and nausea. Then, I started to feel better. In part, because we were self-pay, I did not deviate, wanting to be surgically ready. Mine was the first surgery of the day. Since I have had so many major surgeries, I was not particularly nervous going into this one.
However, about an hour out from recovery, I developed serious bleeding issues. My cardiologist was called and did an ultrasound to ensure it wasn't related. Thankfully, it wasn't so my bariatric surgeon went back in, cleaned things out. Although by then, the bleeding had self-corrected, I needed 2 units of blood transfused.
I had to add three days to my surgical stay in the hospital, but I did not need pain medication, nor even acetaminophen. My doctor does anti-nausea and Lyrica for nerve pain as standards surgical orders. I was incredibly thirsty, and probably didn't walk as much as I should have, but gas pains weren't even noticeable. We had prudently taken out the complication risk insurance, so no issues there.
Going home I was able to do anything I could prior to surgery, except I wasn't cleared to drive for a few days. I completed clear liquids in-hospital, so at home, I was able to progress to regular liquids. The informational notebook from the clinic made choices easy, although getting all the liquids and protein in was a challenge. Pureed foods were so good. Loved refried bean soup. Soft foods were off-putting because of the texture but thank goodness it was a short stage. I found I missed "chewing" food. I struggled with the vitamins and biotin until I found gummy chewables.
At six months out, I was already at goal! I have met almost all the daily goals in terms of protein and carbs, and eat 4-5 meals daily to get in my calories (still at 850-900) plus protein.
I've learned to add protein to my coffee to help with liquids. I've gone from 20 daily medications to down to only four, plus one shot every two weeks. My blood/mineral levels are in the middle of normal for the first time in 14 years, and I have lots of energy.
This was truly a life-saving experience for me; all 7 of my "ologists" have given me a thumbs-up for this, and support me through any issues, as does my primary care doctor. I only wish I could have known about it earlier because it would have changed my life so much. I would have done it years ago to have this much life in my years (I turned 66 in May)!
Special Milestones and Non-Scale Victories
The best and most unexpected milestone for me was the complete cessation of my chronic, unmanageable angina. I was taking 2 large doses of medication twice a day, along with frequent nitroglycerin tablets. We were looking at getting in a stair chair because I could no longer do the stairs without severe pain and short-ness of breath. I could not walk a 1/2 a block, nor stand at church. Within a week of the surgery, all of those issues just disappeared!
My next non-surgical milestone was being able to reduce my medications from 20 per day to only four. My A1C dropped to a normal range within three months, and my triglycerides went from 295 to 93 at a 3-month check, and my cholesterol went from 156 to 95, with an increase in good cholesterol from 45 to 48. These were huge health markers for me.
Scale victories? Being under 200 after pre-op diet; getting back into a size 12 pair of jeans and then doing the Fit3D scan and actually seeing in 3 dimensions the change in my body fat vs muscle.
I am currently in a size 4 jeans, size 8 dress, and top. I didn't wear single digit sizes prior to VSG, so this is new territory. I did have hair loss (due to vitamin struggle + 2 transfusions + 2 surgeries). But it's coming back.
The biggest is being able to do stairs, being able to drive a long trip alone, being able to grocery shop, and having enough energy to make a huge Christmas dinner for four of our six children and their families. Life is incredibly good!
How has ObesityHelp been a part of your Journey?
I learned about ObesityHelp from VSGAnn2017, who was in another group with me. I began reading the posts, the sharing, and the journeys of others. I found the information to be spot-on; I found the nutrition to be accurate and sensible (and moderate); the kindness, sharing and care was obvious, and it is a group I look forward to being in for many years in order to can pay the help forward. I also feel like it will be crucial to my journey into maintenance and continuing to improve my health. I'm looking forward to using this wonderful tool of VSG and support to make my life the best it can be while helping other people to hit the same goals.
Share Your Before & After Success!
Celebrate your own Before & After WLS Success, milestones, non-scale victories, and inspire others! The OH team wants to hear from you to share your weight loss surgery journey. Visit our Before & After Submission page for details.
