1 Year surgiversary!
I just realized today that it's a few days past my surgery date last year, thought I would post my thoughts , as I have always enjoyed reading people's post op stories.
I had my surgery 12/22/14, I have lost 65 pounds which is 5 pounds over my doctors goal and am now working on the last 15-20 that are my goal. I had no real complications, just several weeks of persistant nausea that cleared up on it's own. The actual surgery itself was a breeze, can't say enough about Dr Boyce, he was great, absolutely no pain. I had never had surgery before and was VERY nervous. The worst part for me was getting up and down dragging 2 poles to the bathroom every 10 minutes. My husband was my support but had to go home as our 2 boys got the flu the day of my surgery, so I was solo. Nursing staff wasn't great, which I attributed to being holiday staffing.
I lost the 65 pounds by late summer , then stopped losing, which I attribute to my increase in calories. I think I went to maintenance level intake and am having to cut back down, which is INCREDIBLY hard once you have let it creep back up. 800-900 was hard for me to maintain. I didn't do any real exercise other than walking the dog, I wanted to see how much would come off with out it first, I have since started at the gym 3 days a week, working on the last 20 pounds. I probably should have done this earlier. Hindsight is 20/20.
I went from size 22W to a 14, which I haven't seen since middleschool. I am so tickled with being able to find clothes pretty much anywhere and cheap. I still head to the plus section most of the time, then after trying on the 16's and even some 14's, I move on to the regular womens area.
I had quite a bit of hair loss right at 6-7 months, but it is coming back. I got a new cut and style which I love. I dont have any before pictures sadly, and I don't know how to edit out people of my after pics or I would post those. That was one goal. I had never had my picture taken with my boys, which is heartbreakingly sad to me, and I had a whole photo sesssion this summer which turned out great.
I get cold easily and I feel like I am weaker, not sure if that is imagined or not..lol. My mind does strange things, I am the same wieght I was over the summer and I felt so light and slim, but now I feel heavy and fat, I don't know what it going on there.
I think I am developing a little shopping crossover, not just with clothes, pretty much any shopping, so I am trying to get that under control, it has surprised me. I have alot of energy and have lots of "projects" started. I have found that I need to stay busy.
Relationship wise, it's been a little weird with my husband. He is overweight too , but thinks he looks "normal". He hasn't said one complimentary thing to me in the past year about my weightloss, other than "I can tell you've lost wieght". I feel like I look the best I've looked since we got married, I thought he would be a little more "impressed" but I guess he has his own issues, it has made me sad though. I have mentioned it to him, he says I'm crazy and that he has said things, but he hasn't, so maybe he has thought them and didn't vocalize them..lol. I'm not going to bring it up any more, I did this for myself and whatever he makes of it is on him.
I am more active with my kids, we have taken up hiking in good weather.
I am hungry now, but it is easily taken care of with some protein. Tonight we went out to dinner, which we hardly do anymore. I was looking around at the people eating and it was kinda making me sick. I remember eating like that, shoveling it in before I even noticed if I was full or not. Ordering an appetizer knowing I wouldn't be able to eat my dinner, then eating my dinner b/c i felt guilty for ordering it!! I am so grateful for the freedom this surgery has given me to get past those feeling and just eat a reasonable meal. Tonight I had 1 chicken tender, 1/2 small garden salad and about 4 steak fries and i was full! I hope this is something I can hang onto, b/c I believe it will be pivotal to maintaining my weight loss. I am by no means a perfect VSG person, I cheat and I dont always get in my protien or water, and the fact that a year later I am still working on the last 20 pounds demonstrates that, but I know for a 100% fact that I could not have lost this weight with diet/exercise alone. I weigh myself everyday to keep me on point.
So if you are thinking of having this surgery, I highly recommend it if you want a life changer. You don't realize just how much your life has been hindered by your excess wieght till it's gone. I remember thinking that I would be thrilled if I could even just lose 40 pounds with this surgery, so I am thrilled with my progress.
Hope someone gets something helpful out of this, I always read people's one year posts for encouragement.
Hope everyone has a happy and healthy NEW YEAR!
Many people do not mention weight loss because they do not want to be rude and imply you were "unacceptable" before the loss. I hope your husband tells you how beautiful you are, even if he is not mentioning your weight loss.
Laura in Texas
53 years old; 5'7" tall; HW: 339 (BMI=53); GW: 140 CW: 170 (BMI=27)
RNY: 09-17-08 Dr. Garth Davis
brachioplasty: 12-18-09 Dr. Wainwright; lbl/bl: 06-28-11 Dr. LoMonaco
"May your choices reflect your hopes and not your fears."
I just realized today that it's a few days past my surgery date last year, thought I would post my thoughts , as I have always enjoyed reading people's post op stories.
I had my surgery 12/22/14, I have lost 65 pounds which is 5 pounds over my doctors goal and am now working on the last 15-20 that are my goal. I had no real complications, just several weeks of persistant nausea that cleared up on it's own. The actual surgery itself was a breeze, can't say enough about Dr Boyce, he was great, absolutely no pain. I had never had surgery before and was VERY nervous. The worst part for me was getting up and down dragging 2 poles to the bathroom every 10 minutes. My husband was my support but had to go home as our 2 boys got the flu the day of my surgery, so I was solo. Nursing staff wasn't great, which I attributed to being holiday staffing.
I lost the 65 pounds by late summer , then stopped losing, which I attribute to my increase in calories. I think I went to maintenance level intake and am having to cut back down, which is INCREDIBLY hard once you have let it creep back up. 800-900 was hard for me to maintain. I didn't do any real exercise other than walking the dog, I wanted to see how much would come off with out it first, I have since started at the gym 3 days a week, working on the last 20 pounds. I probably should have done this earlier. Hindsight is 20/20.
I went from size 22W to a 14, which I haven't seen since middleschool. I am so tickled with being able to find clothes pretty much anywhere and cheap. I still head to the plus section most of the time, then after trying on the 16's and even some 14's, I move on to the regular womens area.
I had quite a bit of hair loss right at 6-7 months, but it is coming back. I got a new cut and style which I love. I dont have any before pictures sadly, and I don't know how to edit out people of my after pics or I would post those. That was one goal. I had never had my picture taken with my boys, which is heartbreakingly sad to me, and I had a whole photo sesssion this summer which turned out great.
I get cold easily and I feel like I am weaker, not sure if that is imagined or not..lol. My mind does strange things, I am the same wieght I was over the summer and I felt so light and slim, but now I feel heavy and fat, I don't know what it going on there.
I think I am developing a little shopping crossover, not just with clothes, pretty much any shopping, so I am trying to get that under control, it has surprised me. I have alot of energy and have lots of "projects" started. I have found that I need to stay busy.
Relationship wise, it's been a little weird with my husband. He is overweight too , but thinks he looks "normal". He hasn't said one complimentary thing to me in the past year about my weightloss, other than "I can tell you've lost wieght". I feel like I look the best I've looked since we got married, I thought he would be a little more "impressed" but I guess he has his own issues, it has made me sad though. I have mentioned it to him, he says I'm crazy and that he has said things, but he hasn't, so maybe he has thought them and didn't vocalize them..lol. I'm not going to bring it up any more, I did this for myself and whatever he makes of it is on him.
I am more active with my kids, we have taken up hiking in good weather.
I am hungry now, but it is easily taken care of with some protein. Tonight we went out to dinner, which we hardly do anymore. I was looking around at the people eating and it was kinda making me sick. I remember eating like that, shoveling it in before I even noticed if I was full or not. Ordering an appetizer knowing I wouldn't be able to eat my dinner, then eating my dinner b/c i felt guilty for ordering it!! I am so grateful for the freedom this surgery has given me to get past those feeling and just eat a reasonable meal. Tonight I had 1 chicken tender, 1/2 small garden salad and about 4 steak fries and i was full! I hope this is something I can hang onto, b/c I believe it will be pivotal to maintaining my weight loss. I am by no means a perfect VSG person, I cheat and I dont always get in my protien or water, and the fact that a year later I am still working on the last 20 pounds demonstrates that, but I know for a 100% fact that I could not have lost this weight with diet/exercise alone. I weigh myself everyday to keep me on point.
So if you are thinking of having this surgery, I highly recommend it if you want a life changer. You don't realize just how much your life has been hindered by your excess wieght till it's gone. I remember thinking that I would be thrilled if I could even just lose 40 pounds with this surgery, so I am thrilled with my progress.
Hope someone gets something helpful out of this, I always read people's one year posts for encouragement.
Hope everyone has a happy and healthy NEW YEAR!
Congratulations and thank you so much for posting. You have a wonderful Weight Loss as well as many important NSV's! You also have a great attitude and perspective! TFS! :-) Kay
5'7" HW 256 (1/6/2014) SW 236.2 (VSG: 1/26/2015) CW 165.5 (01/10/2016) Total Weight Lost 90.5
Pre-Op: -19.8; Month 1: -19; Month 2: -12.7; Month 3: -9.9; Month 4: -7.2; Month 5: -6.4; Month 6: -2.8; Month 7: -3.7; Month 8: -4.2; Month 9: -0.6; Month 10: -2.1; Month 11: -0 Month 12: -2.1
GOALS: BMI Normal = 159 (6.5 to go); 100 LBs Lost = 156 (9.5 to go); FINAL GOAL: 139?? (26.5 to go)
You and I have similar journeys except I started out at a higher weight than you. I am almost 15 months out and still have 13 lbs to go (I don't update my ticker often and I gained slightly). I too am by no means a perfect VSG'r but I am trying to find a happy medium so that I don't live my life obsessed with calories. Good luck to you on making your goal!
Congratulations on your 1 year surgiversary! Lots of good NSVs here and self-realization (shopping CAN be a tranfer addiction!). Don't put too much pressure on hubby - if he wasn't constantly giving you feedback on your looks/weight before surgery it's probably a good thing that he's not saying anything now 
Tracy 5'3" HW: 235 SW: 218 CW: 132 M1: -22 M2: -13 M3: -12 M4: -9 M5: -8 M6: -10 M7: -4
Goal reached in 7 months and 1 week!
Lower Body Lift w/Dr. Barnthouse 7-8-15
I hadn't thought about it like that.. but you're right, he never said much before. I just thought that with such a dramatic change that he would say something. This is the best I've looked in 20 years!
I need to look into the shopping issue, so I understand it better, b/c I can actually feel a "compulsion" to shop. This has been one of the most surprising things to me.
