4-year Surgiversary

Sept. 12^th was my four-year VSG anniversary. It is still the best thing I have ever done for myself. I was not “obese enough” for insurance to cover the surgery nor did I have qualifying comorbidities. I was a self-pay patient because I thought it would be wise to correct the problem before I developed those issues like diabetes, high blood pressure, etc., that would limit my life.

I had always been able to lose weight in the past, but I would plateau for several months, get discouraged and revert back to old habits. So I had a long history of yo-yo dieting prior to my surgery.

There is a local surgery group that has an excellent reputation and so my surgery was a local affair. It was exceptionally uneventful. I started at 236 lbs. on the day of surgery. My losses were large the first two months and then slowed a fair amount. At about six months, my weight loss slowed to a crawl. I believe the body has set points where weight tends to stall. The weights where I would plateau prior to surgery were the same weights where I plateaued after surgery.

In effect, the surgery saved me from myself. Where before surgery, I would get discouraged and began to make poor choices after a plateau in weight, now I could not physically eat much and rich foods bothered me to the point that I would not attempt to eat them.

My longest plateau was at 160 lbs. For several months, I sat at that weight. I finally decided that maybe this was just where I was supposed to be and I began to incorporate a small amount of healthy carbs back into my diet. That triggered a renewed weight loss and I dropped to about 147 lbs. I’m not saying that this is what everyone should do but this is what worked for me. This is the weight where I continue to sit today, four years after surgery. I am 5’6” and I wear a size 8 or a Small. This is a size where I am comfortable and where I am happy. I don’t want to be skin and bones and weighing less tends to make me look haggard.

To this day, I do not get physically hungry. In the past, I always called BS when someone said they “forgot” to eat. But after my surgery, it happens regularly to me when I’m busy doing things. I have to remind my children that they need to tell me when they are hungry because I honestly will forget to look at the clock and make meals at the appropriate time. I do still have “head hunger” and will want to engage in emotional eating when I am upset. The habits of a lifetime are hard to overcome.

I do drink diet soda. I gave it up for about a year, but stress eventually caused me to reach for my Dt. Mtn. Dew. I don’t drink coffee but I really like my caffeine. I have given up soda multiple times but I still go back to it. Unfortunately. Some people lose their taste and tolerance for sweets after the surgery. I still love them and it is something I have to keep under control. Still, if for example I have an entire piece of cake, I will be sick. Much more dangerous to me are the small pieces of chocolate, like Hershey Kisses or York Peppermint Patties (my kryptonite), where I can eat little bites throughout the day and not realize how much I have consumed.

My husband had a difficult time with my transformation. I weigh about 8 lbs. less than I did when I got married 20 years ago. I started to care more about what I wore and how I looked when I got up in the morning. I started to get more attention from men. But I wasn’t dressing for them. I was dressing for me, because clothes became fun again. And I wasn’t dressing provocatively. Clothes simply looked better and I am genetically blessed with an hourglass figure at this weight. We had to have a lot of heart to heart talks about it and he had to realize that neither of us could control what others did, but that I wasn’t in the market for anyone new. He loved me when I was big and he loves me now—that is more important to me than anything else in the world.

My hormones, never the most stable, went beserk after my weight loss surgery. I developed ovarian cysts on my right ovary that would rupture like clockwork every other month. It was incredibly painful and debilitating. So about 16 months after VSG, I had a partial hysterectomy and removed all but my left ovary. That ovary has now developed cysts as well so I am a 44-year-old woman without a uterus whose husband has had a vasectomy and yet I have to take birth control pills to control my rogue ovary.

I didn’t drink much alcohol before the surgery and I still don’t. My tolerance in my 20s was legendary. Alcohol doe**** me more quickly than it did in the past but my tolerance is still more or less in place. However, my stomach typically sours after I drink so I don’t have more than a glass of wine per month, on average. I have not vomited since the day after surgery when I had to drink barium. Interestingly, stomach bugs don’t really last for more than 48 hours at the most anymore. I’m not sure why.

In May, I had a body and breast lift. Dr. LoMonaco in Houston did the surgery. It is remarkable. I have never in my life had the flat stomach I now have. I went for a tummy tuck, but he told me he would not operate on me without a full body lift because the result of only a tummy tuck would be poor because of the excess skin on my backside. I had the body lift. My butt looks much better now! He told me that he would prefer to work on someone who still has a little bit of meat on her bones because it is easier to sculpt. Still, the removal of my excess skin didn’t result in a large weight loss because there wasn’t much fat taken off with it. I lost maybe 5 lbs. because of the surgery.

I don’t have any recent photos since I had plastics done. I find that I still tend to hide behind the camera and there aren’t many photos of me in the last 4 years and hardly any photos of more than my face that don’t include others.

Some people who have never struggled with their weight still think of weight loss surgery as a cop out or the easy way out of the addiction to food. I think that obesity is the last acceptable prejudice in our society. You shouldn’t be fat but God forbid that you do anything to attempt to correct it. But weight loss surgery isn’t magic. I know many people who have had the surgery, initially lost weight, but then regained a large part of it. Weight loss surgery is a tool. It saves me from myself to an extent, but it requires a change in habits and continued hard work and good choices in order to remain successful.

I wish you luck, will power, and the courage to do the psychological work that is required to have long-term success. You can do it!

Night before surgery                                        At about 165 lbs.                                  At 145 lbs.

Before surgery                                                Two years after surgery

Wow! What a great summary of a great experience! What an inspiration you are! This will go into my permanent file to be reread at regular intervals so I know what to do if and when it becomes difficult to lose and (later) maintain my weight. 

Thanks for posting your photos. You look very slim and stylish now, but your before-picture looks like a lovely woman who would worth getting to know. You were so smart to get your surgery before your weight started to affect your health. I sincerely wish you continued good health.

psychoticparrot

Thank you for the kind words. After four years, the specifics get sort of hazy, but I remember how much I needed to read the stories of those who were on the other side of surgery and had succeeded and I wanted to share that it can be done. Congratulations on making it to Onederland!

Thank you for sharing your inspirational story.  It really provided the truthful ups and downs that may be encountered throughout our journey. You look absolutely fantastic!  Thanks again for sharing.

You were a lovely women before surgery but you are absolutely STUNNING now!  I loved reading about your journey and how you still struggle with sugar and soda -- I do too.  But it's good to know that the VSG tool works for you and keeps you on your path of integrity.  

Congratulations on all your many successes! 

One of the things I forgot to mention is the hair loss. Personally, I still do not have the amount of hair that I had prior to surgery. After VGS, I held on to it for about 4 or 5 months and then it started to fall out at an alarming rate. I cut it shorter because it looked pretty scraggly. I've been letting it grow out since that time. While my hair grows quickly, I still do not have the same hair thickness that I had prior to surgery and, at this point, I don't expect it to return. I use a lot of product in my hair to mimic fullness, but it isn't the same. That is probably the only thing I miss from my past.

Awesome!! I love Dr. LoMonaco. He also did my breast lift and LBL. I think he is the best!! 

He really is great. I love how much time he spends with each patient and how thoroughly he explains each process. I had a hiccup with my recovery room care because the computer system in the hospital was down and by the next day I had visits from all sorts of hospital directors because Dr. L raised some hell on my behalf. I appreciate that kind of advocacy from my doctor! Not to mention that he really is an artist.

I am so proud of you. I am 59 and 3 weeks post op. I hope I do as well as you did. Thanks for sharing! May God continue to bless you!