Vertical Sleeve Questions

Hello, all! 

I just took a major step and filled out registration paperwork to have a meeting with the local bariatric facility covered by my insurance. I have a ton of technical questions for the doctors, but I have a lot of more... lifestyle-y questions for you all. I'm sorry if any of these have been asked before.

1. I love food. I hate cooking. My boyfriend hates cooking. The closest we come to cooking is lean cuisine in the mic or making a frozen dinner in a skillet. Instead of cooking, we eat out quite often. My big fear is that I won't be able to eat out ever again - that I'll have to start finding time to cook in my schedule, that the foods I love will simply be dropped from my diet. I'm not talking about quarter pounders and fries (though I'll miss the occasional one), but steak and green beans, creamy asiago chicken, chicken parmesan. I guess my QUESTION here is this - after your stomach has really recovered from the surgery, can you eat "normal" foods in small portions? 

2. I read somewhere that after surgery, I'll no longer be able to have a drink with my meal (i.e. iced tea). That my stomach won't be able to hold both the beverage and food. Is this the case in your experience?

3. What was your biggest fear about life after surgery? How has it turned out?

4. Would you get the surgery again if you had to go back and do it over?

5. What is the one thing you miss the most about pre-surgery life (if anything)?

Thanks so much for your answers. I'm incredibly excited, but intensely nervous. I don't know yet if this is the right decision for me, but it's time to do something. 

Hello, all! 

I just took a major step and filled out registration paperwork to have a meeting with the local bariatric facility covered by my insurance. I have a ton of technical questions for the doctors, but I have a lot of more... lifestyle-y questions for you all. I'm sorry if any of these have been asked before.

1. I love food. I hate cooking. My boyfriend hates cooking. The closest we come to cooking is lean cuisine in the mic or making a frozen dinner in a skillet. Instead of cooking, we eat out quite often. My big fear is that I won't be able to eat out ever again - that I'll have to start finding time to cook in my schedule, that the foods I love will simply be dropped from my diet. I'm not talking about quarter pounders and fries (though I'll miss the occasional one), but steak and green beans, creamy asiago chicken, chicken parmesan. I guess my QUESTION here is this - after your stomach has really recovered from the surgery, can you eat "normal" foods in small portions? 

2. I read somewhere that after surgery, I'll no longer be able to have a drink with my meal (i.e. iced tea). That my stomach won't be able to hold both the beverage and food. Is this the case in your experience?

3. What was your biggest fear about life after surgery? How has it turned out?

4. Would you get the surgery again if you had to go back and do it over?

5. What is the one thing you miss the most about pre-surgery life (if anything)?

Thanks so much for your answers. I'm incredibly excited, but intensely nervous. I don't know yet if this is the right decision for me, but it's time to do something. 

**EDIT**

THANK YOU! I so appreciate everyone's answering my questions. I'm a lot more confident that this is the right thing for me to do. Obviously, I have to talk to the doctors and ask them all my crazy technical questions, but I think I have a much better idea of what life will be like in a few months now. 

Thank you for your honest post. I"m getting sleeved in 2 weeks and while I'm not having second thoughts about the surgery itself and actually going through with it, I've been dwelling a lot on the "can't-haves" of my future--I can't have this, I can't have that, etc. Your post has definitely made it easier to remember that the "can't-haves" are going to be "can-occasionally-have" and "probably-won't-want"s (as delicious as fried chicken is, isn't just not healthy). 

I am 1 year out from my surgery and have lost 100 lbs..I am allowed to eat whatever I want, but find I try to stick to the lower calorie end..as far as drinking and eating, the drinking will cause your stomach to empty much faster and you won't stay full...I have also found that if I drink, I will throw up...also if I over eat I will throw up and if I eat to fast I will throw up..so you see that you do have to change your life style in many ways, but in the end it was well worth having the surgery, and yes, I would definitely do it all over again! Please keep us posted on how it's going for you and good luck to you!

Hi there

Hmmm let me take a stab at your questions!

1. I love food also. I also love cooking and eating out as well. This is not inconsistent with WLS but you need to be careful about your choices more when you go out and do not control what is in the food you order than if you were to cook it at home. It is doable nevertheless. I can eat anything and have no intolerance after surgery. It is different for everyone though. I have read posts from people who have post op intolerance to certain foods. 

2. It is recommended that you not drink after eating for 30-45 minutes. It helps to keep you full longer and keep your pyloric valve closed. It also gives you more space in your reduced stomach for the protein and nutrients that you need. Sometimes in the immediate post operative period of say about six months to a year, I have read that people have food and liquid come back up if they drink right after eating. It has never happened to me. I stuck to not drinking with the meals and after for the recommended period but that is not to say that I could not do it - I have never had anything come back up.

3. My biggest fear was losing too much and not being able to enjoy food or eat enough to meet my nutritional needs. Ha! I laugh at that fear now. 

4. Yes, every day if I had to! Best thing I ever did for myself and my health.

5. Nothing. Really, nothing at all. In my life surgery changed my weight and hence my wardrobe. Everything else in my life, family, career etc. has remained the same. It was positive before surgery and it is still positive now. So there is really nothing to miss - and I certainly don't miss the 3X clothes!!! Nor the diabetes or high blood pressure. And I certainly don't miss the weight.

Wish you the best in making your decision.

I'll say ditto to smf8396's reply but want to provide more information about drinking while you eat.  It has to do with how long your smaller stomach has to digest food.  Frisco posts this article every few months to provide more complete info to newbies.  https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/VSG/5359480/Frisco-Pyloric-Valve-101-repost/&sa=U&ved=0CA4QFjADahUKEwjXjYG-rfHGAhXLMYgKHQvxAKI&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNHXBFKeejROCu-AANbUZ53246M_sA

1.  Some foods will not agree with you. I found it is still a trial and error.  You need to make the better choices.  Don't eat the bun on a burger, etc. I do not eat pasta at all and I avoid pizza and carbs. 

2. I have a hard time not taking a sip when eating. I think it is all in my head. I consciously try to not gulp. 

3. My biggest fear was people finding out. Only my family knows, others just think I have lost weight. I don't like to lie to people but I do not feel it is anyone's business why I chose to do this. 

4. Being almost a year post op, I would say now I am happy I had it done. It is a difficult journey. One day at a time. 

5. I miss eating what everyone else is eating. My choices now must be for me, focusing on protein, healthy choices etc. But then again that is what got me into this situation in the first place.  I learned this is a tool to help you not a magic pill. I can see how peole put the weight back on by making bad choices. 

Good Luck!

1.I guess my QUESTION here is this - after your stomach has really recovered from the surgery, can you eat "normal" foods in small portions? 

Yes but define "normal." I choose to focus on lean protein, green veggies, moderate amounts of fruit, dairy, and tree nuts. I can physically tolerate almost everything else, but the best eating plan for me is relatively restricted in scope.

2. I read somewhere that after surgery, I'll no longer be able to have a drink with my meal (i.e. iced tea). That my stomach won't be able to hold both the beverage and food. Is this the case in your experience?

My surgeon says no eating and drinking at the same time, and I follow his orders. I have slipped on occasion and had a few swallows of a drink with a meal, and it feels weird to me now. I can't say that I couldn't physically tolerate it, but it felt weird and uncomfortable. Honestly I don't miss drinking and eating together. It's not a necessary thing, it's just a habit. Once you get over the habit, it's not a big deal.

3. What was your biggest fear about life after surgery? How has it turned out?

I didn't have any fears about life post-surgery. I guess my biggest fear was a major complication like a leak but I didn't have any complications.

4. Would you get the surgery again if you had to go back and do it over?

I would get this surgery once a year for the rest of my life if I had to. Best decision I ever made.

5. What is the one thing you miss the most about pre-surgery life (if anything)?

Champagne (I can't tolerate more than a few sips of anything carbonated) and yeasted bread, which is uncomfortable for me to eat, so I just avoid it completely. That said, I don't spend a lot of time thinking about how much I miss them. Very small sacrifices to make IMO.

1. Preop my hubby and I went out to eat a lot. It is not hard at all to eat out post op, but you do have to be mindful about what you order due to many restuarnat dishes being crazy high. You can find restaurants with light menus like Olive Garden, Chiles, Applebees, etc. They have terrific options to chose from. Otherwise, I would pick the healthiest prepared options and always check out the nutition guidelines prior to going so I woud have an idea of what would be suitable. Frankly, I am super lazy and hate cooking too. During my weight loss phase I bought a lot of conventiant options to just throw in the fridge or pack easily. For example, Trader Joe has tons of tasty protein options that you just heat and eat. I used RTD protein shakes all the way through and those are super easy. Cheese sticks, hard boiled eggs (can buy them done in the store this way) etc. makes for simple to grab options that keep you on plan. I can eat all of the same foods as I could before surgery, with the only exception of having to be careful of really well done (dry) meat. 

2. I can drink during a meal. I try not to only because it pushes the food through the stomach faster, leading to wanting to eat faster later on. I do take a couple of few sips during a meal to help get things down as needed. 

3. Biggest fear(s): Discrimination issues at work (I never told them and that worked out for me), and something happening medically because of the surgery that would forever impair what my "new" norrmal would be. I expected the restriction so not that... more of throwing up all the time, leaks, things like this. I had absolutely no issues the whole way through though.

4. I would do it again without hesitation. Words simply cannot express how you can get your life back and the quality of life improvement that resulted from this process. 

5. I don't miss anything from my preop days. The closest thing that relates to this is that I don't like eating such small portions in front of my work colleagues. Early out, it was very evident that I was hardly eating anything and I was constantly monitored and questioned. In my case I am also a cancer patient so not too many questions, as I requested that the staff not ask about my health status due to it being difficult to constantly talk about. Consequently, many attributed my weight loss to cancer. Indirectly this is true, as I went through with the surgery due to the cancer diagnosis, but misleading in that I think some thought I would not survive given the drastic drastic change in how I looked and the weight loss. Personally, I do not feel I need to explain every detail on my medical situation particuarly since the boss discriminates something fierce and causes a lot of problems.