Before & After VSG of Dr. Youssef, losing 111 pounds!
July 17, 2018Why I Decided To Have WLS
Hi, everyone I am 64 years old and an obesity surgeon. In addition, I'm a Sleeve Gastrectomy post-op since 2012. I want to share my Sleeve Gastrectomy experience with you.
Being an obesity surgeon, I was not afraid of the surgery or its potential complications. What concerned me very much is losing a tool which I used for my life to relieve stress. I am a basically tense person and when I experience pressure, I've escaped it by eating. So, my big question after my own bariatric surgery was what shall I do when I am tense?
I am short, only 5'4" and when my weight reached 293 pounds, I struggled with back pains that became increasingly worse. I found great difficulty to stand even to perform surgery on my patients. I was obliged to make my prayers sitting and not standing as it should be done.
I made the decision to take charge of my health and had the VSG. It was worth any risk of complications to be able to change my life. I had a dialogue with myself, "This is an accepted life and I should oblige myself to look for other tools for stress relief." Actually, it was some sort of gambling, but I was so disappointed in the lower quality of my life pre-operatively and its limits that I moved forward with surgery.
Before & After VSG of Dr. Youssef
Name: Dr. Mohamed Youssef
Weight Lost: 111 pounds
Surgery Type: VSG
Surgery Date: October 2012
Surgeon's Name: Dr. Faheem Basiouny
My Surgery and Post-Op Life
I called one of my young colleagues to perform my WLS surgery. He told me, "No, Dr. Mohamed, you should talk with Dr. Faheem, the most senior obesity surgeon in Cairo University."
The operation went smoothly. I was planning to leave the hospital the same day to make the rest of early my post-operative care by myself at home. I left the hospital after 20 hours of taking the iv fluids and the remainder of the medications home with me.
I started to fulfill the agreement with myself. I have used other tools for stress relief, I started exercising early post-op and followed the nutritional advice given to me by my colleagues. I can actually say I have succeeded in finding other tools, sports mainly, swimming, jogging, and some spiritual practices such as praying in stressful times and having a monologue with God.
After six months my life has changed completely. Daily walking, swimming twice per week, controlling food and drink, and I'm now able to stand for two to three hours in the operating room.
One of the stressful side effects was constipation. After trying different means for constipation, I have reached the best solution: 500 cc of warm water with one spoon of honey on empty stomach and five pieces of prunes on daily basis.
My surgical practice has changed since my Sleeve. I regularly attend many meetings and conferences to talk about nutrition, psychology, and behavior therapy after WLS. Actually, I was attending as a patient and a surgeon at the same time. Now, I offer my patients more preoperative counseling and preparation, and even more post-operative integrated care after surgery.
The most important point I would like to share is my weight regain experience. I have weighed 293 pounds, I went down to 182 pounds in one year, then up to 216 pounds the past two years. I assume the cause was that I stayed with my daughter in Canada during the winter, and ate more and exercised less. I've lost down to 205 pounds and am maintaining a range of 205 to 209 pounds.
The question is - what helps me in reducing my weight? It was regular exercise and intermittent dieting for 30 days –which we do a special form of it in the Month of Ramadan of Muslims. I was focusing to reduce calories after breakfast which is at sunset. I succeeded to lose 11 pounds during this month.
In conclusion: WLS opened a new door for me to a new enjoyable life. My only regret is postponing having bariatric surgery. Now, I am enjoying my life and my work in the operation theater. My friends, please do not hesitate!
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