Newfoundlanders who have had VSG in last 12 months

Am very curious to hear about the journeys of locals who have had this surgery in the past year. Has it been successful? Have you lost what you had hoped to lose? Do you still struggle with cravings or grieve the foods you cannot have anymore? I am having the surgery in May and would like to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly..

Unfortunately there is good, bad and then the ugly side of vsg.

I actually am 2.5 years out from surgery. I had it done and have never had a moment of regret. So that the good.

The bad is no one told me what a toll it can have on your body. I was 7 weeks out of surgery before I could function somewhat normally. I was living on about 200 calories a day and so fatigued that I'd have to have a nap after a simple task like having a shower. Then all of a sudden one day I woke up and felt wonderful. Lucky for me I was able to take 12 weeks off work and by doing so I recovered well and got use to my new lifestyle.

The Ugly well it's got to be all the loose skin. I guess I was one of those people who thought oh no worries it'll spring back cause it's not that bad, well 124 pounds of fat lose mean lots of loose skin and saggy breast. I have currently seen a plastic surgeon for a tummy tuck and boob job but have to save a little over 10 grand to do so. Also hair loss, well everyone told me it would happen but again it didn't happen at 1st so I thought that it wasn't going too and then boom right around the 3 month mark it happened and my hair got extremely thin. But oh well it's only hair and by the year mark it was filling in again. It's hard to get all the nutrients you need to sustain all the health factors in life.

When it comes to food craving, well surgery doesn't cure that. I struggle with a new chocolate addiction but I know now that I can have a piece of it and count my calorie, before a piece who be a whole bag of chocolate instead of 1 piece. There are also times when I forget that I can't eat like I use to and over full my plate. Old habits really do die hard.

If you use this board and do lots of research you will be fine. The clinic I went to was amazing and they started us off right away with tracking our food, drinks, calories and why we ate.....hunger, boredom, emotional. They encouraged us to wear pedometers and track our steps and counselling was hugh. It's a life altering surgery and you need to be physically and mentally prepared.

Good Luck and wishing you all the best.

K.

Thanks for the reply. I am getting counselling so I will be in the right head space. I am 3 weeks away from surgery and am both scared and excited. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

Good luck on your upcoming surgery....I had my sleeve done Oct 1st 2012 and have lost a total of 95 lbs Its a learning experience thats for sure...we have a Facebook group that is awesome with so much support if you would like to  join, just let me know and I can ask admin to invite u into the group :)

don't worry! be excited! the bariatric team here is excellent. make sure you keep your food diary, accept that drastic times call for drastic measures, try your best to let go of any food addictions like fast "food", sugar, margarine, etc.  i'd also cut out the dairy, except for the unavoidable dairy and egg protein in the protein shakes. if you smoke, quit. and go for walks. short, slow, walks are conducive to clear thinking; faster ones with a good music playlist boost your metabolism, your mood, and your sense of control over your body.

i'm almost 6 months post-op, and i'm doing really well. i did *a lot* of prep work in the year or so before surgery. i found myself having to redecide to go through with it sometimes... it was like the primitive part of my brain was saying, "oh hell no, you can't live without a stomach, nononoNONO". then i'd re-evaluate and again conclude that the only way to prevent myself from overeating was to remove the thing that caused such agonizing hunger pangs and pains, even when i was full.

last summer, after a LOT of research, i fasted, a true fast - jus****er - for 6 weeks, the first 4 days being brutal, then i was in ketosis and i got my mind back but my body was still "noodly" with no stamina.

i went vegan about 2 years ago and bought myself a proper gym-quality treadmill; i was determined to get this weight off, and i kinda didn't believe that the surgery would ever really happen, let alone relatively quickly (i waited almost a year). i made so many of the necessary lifestyle changes with the support of my family - my mother went vegan too, and my brother and sister-in-law and their 2 1/2 year old daughter. i could not, however, maintain my treadmill walking as i have the same ligament blown in each knee (both ACLs) from years ago when i was a dancer (irony!), before i ate myself into oblivion. so i ahd to restrict my calories even more; i kept it between 400 and 600 a day, sometimes fewer. i had to be so disciplined, because for me, if i didn't lose the weight, i was headed for a wheelchair, because no orthopedic surgeon would fix my knees if i were morbidly obese.

for me, the surgery went well; some pain requiring morphine and some nausea, but after the requisite 2 days i was out on 400mg of ibuprofen, which worked. i haven't had any issues with the incisions, all sealed up, a bit of redness in one scar but it's fading as my abdomen shrinks.

i stayed on a clear fluid diet longer than the team suggested; my pouch did not like many full fluids, except tomato soup for some odd reason. i am still having acid reflux problems and some days i get nausea episodes; i'm seeing my GP and Raleen about these things this week. i listen to my new body: 2 days ago, even a sip of water was making me feel not great, so i stopped drinking. the next day i was fine. some days i even eat scrambles egg whites or a bite or three of chicken breast or whatever Dad is eating; i'm willing, for a year or so or whatever it takes, to sometimes eat egg products or very lean meats but i STAY THE HECK AWAY FROM DAIRY because it causes so much inflammation in the body. gluten is another nasty thing. it's in everything and we simply aren't built to process all this stuff. we didn't evolve the mechanisms to deal with processed food because it didn't exist. (i am not cowed, pardon the pun, by the north american dairy and meat industries: a human does not need to drink the milk of another animal, especially when it's half-rotten (yogurt) or rotten (cheese). i know many of you would disagree but please do some reading - "The China Study" is an easy read and it's written by a 77-yr old doctor and food researcher and his medical doctor son. watch "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead", "Food, Inc.", "Food Matters", "Supersize Me", etc. (you can download these or google them and maybe find them on YouTube or hosted on another site.)

2 years before surgery, at my heaviest, i was about 355lbs (i'm 5'3"). pre-op, my BMI was still high - 60 - but i had lost almost 60 lbs on my own. i am now, as of today, 257lbs, so i've lost around 100lbs so far, and it's falling off. every day i wake up smaller and the hunger pangs are gone. i do still sometimes want a bite of cake or something, like for my birthday, but i can honestly say the pouch is better to me than my stomach was. and yes i have done a few bad things, like try to eat a few mcnuggets; i barfed them up after 5 minutes. since i hate vomiting, even when it doesn't hurt (for me, it's like my body hits the eject button and it just pops right up, no retching), i avoid what i shouldn't have.

i bought myself a juicer and i highly recommend this to everyone. i should have done it last year pre-op so i could do a juice "fast" (which isn't a true fast).  you can juice fresh veg and fruit and get all the fabulous nutrients and soluble fiber (and Yes, a lot of plant protein!!) you need without having to eat a lot of bulk... which we cannot do, post-op. Google some juice recipes and you'll find lots of tasty ones to get started.

post-op, listen to your body. if you can't tolerate much after surgery, don't agonize over it; wait a bit, maybe a day, and try again. don't force things. you will try things and you will vomit. no biggie. for me, most days are heavenly now but i do still have bouts of reflux and nausea. it's all par for the course. your body will change shape so fast, and your metabolism will adjust, and you'll notice a difference almost right away. avoid people or places that trigger cravings, if you find you still want no-no foods... but i bet you'll watch others eat and eat and eat and wonder how the heck they can clear a whole giant plate of nachos. without ghrelin (one of the known hunger hormones produced by the stomach), you won't feel so hungry. i find that if i'm honest with myself when i feel i want, say, pizza, i realize i'm not physically hungry: my mouth wants it but the rest of me doesn't. so that takes practice, and maybe a few spit-ups before you get turned from the "food" you thought you wanted.

pleaseplease try to stick with fresh or frozen produce, if you are a meat eater, keep it to a minimum because MEAT IS SO DENSE AND HARD FOR THE BODY TO DIGEST THAT YOU'LL BE VERY UNCOMFORTABLE. you'll have to chew it a thousand times. buy a bunch of nonstick frying pans and some plastic spatulas, use a bit of light oil, like a tsp of grapeseed oil, and just chop and toss veggies into the pan. you'll find you create your own favourites. try different produce, like chinese cabbage, leeks, chick peas, tyes of onions, parsley, throw in a hndful of almonds, cover and simmer for a couple of hours, throw in a bit of pineapple or mandarin orange, and pow, you've got the best-smelling chinese food on earth.

i'll hush up now. i didn't realize this post, my first, was so long! i'ma copy and paste it into its own thing.

GOOD LUCK! ENJOY! you are NOT dooming yourself to a life without tasty things, you are healing yourself from the inside out. my anxiety and depression lifted and now i am not ashamed to go out in public. i got my face back and i love it. i'm not sure how much loose skin i'll have, but i'm going to fight MCP for coverage while saving up to pay for it elsewhere if need be. i think in a year i'll be down to around 140 and i'll see what i look like then. don't worry about that. just be kind to yourself every day and you'll find this operation helps build your resolve. there's nothing like watching the weight come off to strengthen your willpower. and don't let anyone sabotage you! my father's not helping with the garbage he eats but it just turns me, i don't want it in my tummy.

relax and enjoy! some people say, post-op, that "now the hard part begins". NOPE. the hard part is over, especially if you've been prepping properly. unless you graze on junk bite by bite all day forever, you can't "eat through" this. when you feel full, even after only 2 bites, STOP. the discomfort and potential vomiting is not worth it; you'll learn!