Before and After VSG With Peggy S. Down 138 Pounds!
June 20, 2023Why I decided to have WLS
My journey began after my five-year-old granddaughter offered to help me get up off the floor if I could get down there and play with her. At that time, I had difficulty getting down onto the floor, or getting back up. I also had trouble just walking across the parking lot to get to and from my apartment or my truck. I would get out of breath, have back pain, and had a surgery pending on my Achilles tendon.
I worked with a lady at the time who had used Dr. Alvarez five years prior for sleeve surgery and spoke very highly of him. I started researching him and learned of dozens of people in my local area of Northeast Arkansas who had used the same surgeon in Mexico! Many of those people were medical professionals who worked at the same hospital as my sister did, and several of them I knew personally from having worked at the same hospital. My niece and I both wanted/needed the surgery, and scheduled it for November of that year.
We later learned that Dr. Alvarez was going to be in Memphis, TN for a patient seminar and reunion the last weekend of October 2017 (just a week before we were scheduled for surgery). We went to Memphis, heard his seminar, and met him personally that weekend. That eased our minds tremendously. We met several of his patients in Memphis that weekend and became much more confident in our choice.
Prior to deciding to have surgery, I had tried numerous diets and exercise programs -Weight Watchers, Curves, HCG, Fast Metabolism Diet, calorie restriction diets, etc. While I would lose weight on those diets, I would always regain the weight, plus an extra ten or twenty pounds.
When I was younger, I could eat anything I wanted and never gain an ounce. I was in the Air Force and once I retired from the Air Force and had no weight restrictions, started gaining weight. I also started a job which was mostly sitting, plus lots of potluck dinners, and food always in the office. I gradually started gaining, and then when menopause hit, nothing seemed to work to keep the weight off.
Before and After VSG With Peggy S.
Name: Peggy S.
Surgery Date: 11/4/2017
Total Weight Loss: 138 pounds
Surgery Type: VSG
Surgeon: Dr. Guillermo Alvarez
Hospital: Endohospital
My Surgery and Post-Op Life
I finally decided on surgery because I was tired of fighting the weight, tired of always being tired and out of breath, and worried that I would eventually weigh as much as my mom had weighed when she passed away, which was over 350 lbs.
Surgery day came, and I won the biggest stomach award that day, though it was only my niece and I who had surgery that day. I followed the prescribed post-op requirements to a T and began losing weight. The following October, Dr. Alvarez had another patient reunion in Memphis, which my niece and I again attended. This was 10 months after our surgery, and I had lost 108 lbs by that time. We had taken pictures on a stairway at Graceland the year before, and did so again. I stalled for several months after that, but eventually began losing again, and lost another 50 lbs over the next several months.
Before and After VSG With Peggy S. Non-Scale Victories
There have been several non-scale victories that I have celebrated. The most important one to me was being able to get on the floor and play with my grandchildren without having to have help to get up off the floor. That five-year-old granddaughter is now 12 years old and I have played with her in many ways I couldn’t prior to the surgery. We have hula-hooped together (she is much better than I am); I played volleyball with her this past weekend, and there have been several times we have gotten on the floor to play without her having to help me up off the floor.
Another non-scale victory is that I am able to work a part-time job that requires me to stand, sometimes for up to eight hours. This would not have been possible prior to the weight loss surgery. I also moved into a third floor apartment about 18 months after my surgery (with no elevator) and was able to climb those stairs all the way to the third-floor without having to stop or take a break on the way up. Another victory was walking the Branson Landing shopping mall without having to stop and sit at each bench I passed.
There have been so many victories that I can’t name them all, but none of them would have been possible without Dr. Guillermo Alvarez and his surgical expertise. He gave me the jumpstart I needed to become a healthier, happier person.
Celebrate your own Before & After WLS Success, milestones, non-scale victories like Before and After VSG With Peggy S. 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.
