Before & After Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy with Brandi
September 20, 2016I am very excited to share my Before & After VSG journey!
I am, and always have been, addicted to food. I love everything about it. The smell, taste, texture, family functions, celebrations, etc. Weighing in at a whopping 399.4 pounds, I would say I am your normal weight loss surgery patient.
Four years prior to my surgery, I joined every weight loss program, weight loss center, and even a liquid program through our local clinic. With all of those, I lost around 60 pounds and would hit a plateau that never seemed to budge. Plateaus are very discouraging after spending thousands of dollars and putting so much time into each program. It just seemed like it was a vicious cycle that never ended.
On January 20, 2015, my life was changed forever. I lost my mother to a massive heart attack. I was lost. She never had heart troubles or health problems. Our PCP told me that my mother was morbidly obese and experienced high levels of stress. These two factors made it highly likely the causes of her heart attack. Our PCP immediately sent me a referral to have VSG surgery at our local hospital. My insurance denied because I was a healthy 400 pounds! I was astonished and experienced that same feeling of being lost.
Our PCP told me about Dr. Alvarez and gave me referrals. I recalled several of my friends and acquaintances that had used Dr. Alvarez. After long talks with my husband, sister and brother-in-law and my sister, I scheduled my surgery. July 2, 2015, was my new Independence Day, as Ms. Susan George of Endobariatric named it for me!
Before & After Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy
OH Username: myVSGjourney15
Weight Loss Total: 140 pounds
Surgery Type: Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (VSG)
Surgery Date: July 2, 2015
Surgeon: Dr. Guillermo Alvarez
VSG Pre-Op: I had a 30-day liquid diet in which I did succeed! I lost 22lbs!
VSG Day of Surgery: Everything went exactly as I was told it would. Everyone was so nice and friendly. Dr. Alvarez was everything I had read about him and more. His bedside manner is amazing. He will sit and chat, or answer any of your questions, no matter how big or small. I wanted a photo of my tummy and he got me one. I was so shocked at that. After getting back to my room from surgery I had to raise my gown to make sure I had surgery because I didn’t have any pain.
When I arose to look at my body, I could feel the soreness in my left side like I had pulled some muscles in my stomach. My sister and I started walked the halls every hour. I had NO gas pains at all.
VSG Post-Op: I took off work for only seven days. I am a cosmetologist and knew I needed to take it easy getting back to work. I was tired for several weeks after returning to work. I just took it easy and stayed hydrated. Now I am on a low-carb, high protein diet. Every day is a new day. Dr. Alvarez and his team are always cheering for me on social media. That says tons to me that Dr. Alvarez has approximately 10k patients and he makes sure to tell us how proud he is on our posts. I am very blessed to be a patient of Dr. Alvarez and his team! They come highly recommended by me!
Non-Scale Victories
The very first time I crossed my leg like a lady was such a powerful feeling. I was all smiles. My husband just looked at me and grinned, it was nice that he noticed too. It was such an amazing feeling. It is crazy how some of the smallest things really stand out even more than seeing the pounds move.
I bought my first pair of heels!! I feel 7 feet tall in them and sassy! Also, buying size 20/22 from a size 28 5 months ago is amazing!! I have lost a total of 79 inches so far!!
I love posting pictures of my meals on Instagram and having people ask what I am eating. It fulfills a big part of me that wants to help others!
How has ObesityHelp.com been a part of your journey?
ObesityHelp.com has helped me in many ways. The knowledge of information I found on the website is simply amazing. I love how everyone helps each other in fighting this journey of obesity. I wanted to learn more about each weight loss surgery when I was deciding what I should do and I fully understood after reading all the awesome information on ObesityHelp.com. Thank you ObesityHelp for giving us a place to refer to for great information!
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