Frisco- 6 Years !!!

It's been 6 years since my WLS !!!

The stats:

Heaviest recorded weight: 352lbs.

Surgery weight: 338lbs.

Total WL from heaviest: 200lbs.

WL after surgery: 190lbs. in 13 months

Lowest weight post-op: 145lbs.

Highest maintenance weight: 160lbs.

Current weight range: 150-155lbs.

BMI- 54 ------>24

Waist 54" ------>31"

Suit size Unkown/Custom ------>38

Shoe size 10 ----> 9

Shirt 4X to S-M

Surgeon: Dr. Paul Cirangle LapSF.com

Sept. 30, 2009 CPMC San Francisco

Surgery Type: VSG

Self Pay $17.3K

- How has life changed: In a nutshell, I got my life back.

- Has it been easy: No

- Has it been rewarding: Yes, in more ways than I could ever have imagined.

- Would I do it again: Every year if I had to.

- Does it get easier: Yes and no, Yes, less figuring out........ No, the further out I get the temptations win more often than they should.

- Am I fixed: Nope, I'm in remission from obesity......just an ex fat guy that now has a fighting chance.

I could accomplish just about anything I put my mind to, except my weight.

I'm not saying my issues with food and eating are any worse or better than the next person, we will just assume that anybody who is clinically deemed Super Morbidly Obese has a multitude of issues and didn't gain the weight by eating a few to many tic tacs.

I'm the guy that went to the bakery and had them write Happy Birthday on the cake so it deflected any thought that the fat guy was gonna eat the whole cake and in reality, the fat guy ate the whole cake!!! or ordered lots of take out with utensils for four......Ha! fooled them !!!!

I was at my wits end and didn't have another diet left in me. To many January 1st. came and went with failed attempts. I did lose weight on Jenny Craig and many other diets, but always gained the weight back and more.

I was ready to give up food and turn my body over to science. For a couple years I looked up WLS and the Lap Band and RNY came up. LapBand sounded good until you start reading the horror stories and the RNY just plain scared me. But there was another surgery, Mini Gastric Bypass by some guy in Las Vegas, this was it ??? I even called there office..... something was very fishy! High pressure and why is he the only one doing this procedure????

Fast forward..... a guy that works for a friend of mine had WLS and told me about the procedure he just had...... the VSG. I studied it and decided that I could do that, it made sense and was understandable.

That was about when I discovered OH. I studied and studied. I was on a quest for the best VSG surgeon in the country, price not an object. Not that money is a non issue, this was something I had to do right the first time and not be looking for the deal. Everything kept coming back to a guy in my own backyard. No.... it couldn't be that easy. There was no question that Dr. Cirangle's patients were doing great with most at goal and maintaining. All I wanted was what they got and the price was right in the middle.

I finally got the knards to "make the call", went to the appointment, walked in the office and saw this skinny woman walking out...... I thought I had walked into the wrong office, I must have walked into a dentist office or something...... I walked outside the door to check the name on the door, right place, I checked in and saw another woman walk out that looked trim. That's when the self doubt kicked in......I looked like Jabba the Hutt and no way could I ever be trim. Dr.C answered all my questions and explained the process in detail and I signed up for surgery in 3 weeks,

Here are some fundamental key points that I have learned about this process. I'm not saying any of this is the law or am I asking anyone to agree or believe me. These are what I know to be some truths about the VSG. DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH !!!

- Surgeon choice and individual surgeon stats is a great first step. Matching your goals to your surgeons stats can help greatly as surgeon and program goals can range from 50-100% EWL, this is a non-standardized procedure and results are all over the place and reflective of that. If you want to lose 100% EWL do you go to a surgeon that routinely get their patients to 100% EWL or do you go to a surgeon that routinely gets patients to 50% EWL? Not saying anything is impossible or your doomed, just saying it helps to match intentions.

.

- Larger sleeves and higher calorie programs "tend" to have lower WL and higher regain.

- WLS is not so much about the WL, it's more about keeping the weight off that you lost. Sleeves should be sized for long term, like 3 years and beyond retaining significant restriction.

- 50-60% EWL is the stat that gets thrown around as average which sounds about right as a whole.

- Very few people make 100% EWL. Lots of people don't lose the last 20-30lbs. and many more fall way short.

- Goal weight is personal, but as time goes on with the VSG, goal weights seem to be getting higher and higher. If your happy at a weight, perfect.... own it, you did it ! The only thing I can say about this for me....... the difference between 175lbs. where I could have stopped and 150lbs. where I have been maintaining is HUGE, that 25lbs. feels like 100.

- Building the foundation is key, I credit my surgeon for his aftercare program and his personal accessibility for support, guidance, motivation, knowledge, experience and science as well as being open to learning from his patients.

- Learn to under eat your sleeve capacity, eating to full is how most of us got fat. Constant over eating is about the only way to stretch your sleeve, preserve your restriction for the long haul.

- Understanding satiety with the VSG is a learned skill and has many levels. Most of us have a lifelong connection with gorging full to the max as satisfied.

- I can not stress this one enough.... learn to cook if you don't.... very critical. Home cooked meals with choice known ingredients is key to long term weight control. Understanding nutrition and knowing what's in your food and how to prepare it is part of the program. This even helps when your out to eat, because you can have a pretty good idea how it's made and what's in it.

- I didn't take an interest in cooking till almost a year after my VSG, it has been very enjoyable and rewarding. Do I eat on point all the time? No, not by a long shot, but even with my travels and eating from catering a lot I can make some pretty good choices and stay close.

- Flavorful and tasty "on plan" meals can curb the temptations for crap food.

- Calories..... The reality is that this is a calorie game. My WL calories were/are less than 200cal meals. My maintenance meals are 3-400cal meals by increasing "content" vs. quantity or frequency. I question..... No, I totally think surgeons/programs that don't count calories are doing their patients a big disservice and might even be a set-up for failure.

- Understanding the function of the pyloric valve makes things a lot easier. Even at 6 years out, I'm still conscious of the workings of my pyloric valve.

- Choose long term sustainable activities, I admire the people that go from obese to super athletes, but only few will sustain that level.

- Watch what you read here on OH or any other forum. Learn to decipher the information as there is a lot of wonky information being posted. I'm not even saying to listen or to believe me. Do the research.

- There are many people here that have done well, lost the weight and maintained. If you don't have guidance from your surgeon/program, learn from the people that have done what you want to do. Learn from people that have experienced regain and why, but than have figured out how to reel it in and not from someone who hasn't even lost the initial weight. If you were to follow a little bit from everyone, I'm thinking that would be very confusing.

- Many things about this process are technical, theory and practice and may never have case studies and make it to the brochure. Although WLS is based on medical science, medicine and science is based on forward thinking that is both practical and creative with a few accidents in there that have made significant advancements.

There are 3 basic parts to this process:

- Effectiveness of the surgical procedure.

- Aftercare and/or education.

- Commitment and compliance.

If you are short in one area you must make it up in another.

Most people, who don't do well at this tend to have not done the education part or they have plain run out of commitment and compliance or both.

Build a strong foundation to get you through to the next level, continue to learn and develop good habits based on knowledge, always building on that foundation. Things can go array at times as life happens and having that foundation gives you a baseline to fall back on.

There are no guarantees and nobody is doomed, but it is all you and you control your own outcome. You truly get out of it, what you put into it.

I could of made a rainbows and unicorn post because there are a ton of fantastic things that have happened, but bringing some realities to light seemed more helpful than another cream puff post. (although I love the cream puff posts also)

Bottom line..... Longer term, this is not easy, give yourself every advantage you can and try to always choose the higher percentage route. It is so easy to take a wrong turn especially when reading a grab bag of info on here or any other forum.

A big problem with this process is that surgery is such a huge step in our lives that most of us can't see past the first month, let alone the first year. Always keep the big picture in mind..... forever is a long time.

I wish that everyone who has had any of the WLS procedures gets out of it what they wanted. I especially want to see the VSG evolve, get standardized and help many more people with a better quality of life !!!

frisco

Working with Warner

Simple on Point Meal

Spain- Bike ride with my GodKids

I didn't do this at 350lbs.

Congratulations Frisco!

Great job maintaining...the meals you share so graciously have helped so many of us.

Keep up the good work!

Congratulations on keeping with it for 6 years! And thank you for sticking around to share your experience with us new kids!

Your doing GREAT !!!!

Awesome numbers !!!

Keep the path !!!

Congratulations! Fantastic post. Your continued success and commitment is inspiring and your candor on the boards priceless and welcome.

I've been struggling lately, playing a little fast and loose with my sleeve on 'special occasions' like vacation and family events since hitting goal and it's messed with me badly. I'm flailing a bit and your post was exactly what I needed to hear tonight. It really is about the long term picture and at almost 18 months out I feel like my work has just begun and it ain't easy, son. It's somewhat comforting to know the vets struggle, too, (and admit it publicly) but also will share real, viable, unfluffy advice. I don't need anymore unicorns.

Wishing you continued success, mindfulness and the more of the life you've always wanted.

Frisco-

Thank you for investing the time to share your experience and insight. A successful veteran is not an "accident" or good luck. The hard work and life long commitment are key. You are an inspiration !

Congrats Frisco, great job. Love this post and the great information you share. You keep it real without having to add in the rainbows and unicorns and that is what a lot of us need to hear. I did appreciate the birthday cake story :)

Love this line... had to save it for when I start feeling ****y about food.

"Am I fixed: Nope, I'm in remission from obesity......just an ex fat guy that now has a fighting chance."

Congratulations Frisco! You rock! Amazing journey.

What my RNY did for me was to level the playing field and give me a chance to get to my goal weight and a tool to maintain it.

I weigh daily and never want to go back to being obese. For me, even five pounds can feel like a hundred. It definitely puts me up a size in some clothes. I weigh daily and always know exactly what I weigh. I see my surgery as a second chance at life and am grateful for my surgeon and for the input of people on these forums.

Thanks for sharing your milestone and your story.

Frisco,

Thank you for this informative and insightful post. Congratulations on your long term success at weight loss and maintenance.

We are so lucky to have you here at OH, guiding and inspiring us. Thank you for your generous spirit. You are a treasure.

Carol