Brand new, please help! TIA

Hi! I am brand new to OH. I'm in the process of preparing for VSG and would love to hear about real life after VSG? Does anyone have experience with IBS/Colitis before VSG? Did VSG help or hurt your symptoms? Are you able to feel normal again in a social dinner setting? Are there things you can never eat again? Thanks in advance! I am a nervous wreck and would love any information!  The good and the bad  I am a planner and it's so hard for me to not know what's coming!

Hey, welcome! The first thing I'll say is deciding to have the VSG was one of the best decisions I've ever made. It's given me a new lease on life, my family is healthier as a result and it's inspired those around me to make changes in their lives as well.

Real life after surgery: It took me about 2 months after surgery to feel "back to normal". My scars were all healed up, I was through all the liquid diet stuff and back eating solid foods according to my new diet plan. You learn to find a "new normal" in your day to day life. I replaced my old bad eating habits with good ones. I have to take a multivitamin and a fiber supplement each day to round out my diet since I can't take it all in from what I'm able to eat. I work out now instead of sitting on the couch doing nothing. I take the stairs instead of the elevator, park at the farthest spot out in the parking lot rather than the closest, etc. The excellent thing is that a VSG removes the part of your stomach that produces the hunger hormone Ghrelin, so I NEVER get the sensation of feeling hunger. Although I do get the sensation of feeling full. Otherwise life is mostly unchanged.

Pre surgery Health issues: The issues I had were high blood pressure, sleep apnea, high cholesterol, fatigue, numbness in hands and soreness in joints. I also had a hernia in my esophagus and a small stomach ulcer. All of my issues have since been healed or resolved or fixed since surgery. Now I just have flabby skin where fat used to be.

Social dinner setting: You can generally eat 3 meals and a healthy snack per day, with no eating in between meals or frequent snacking. So you need to make your meals count. This one varies for everyone but I'm generally open with my friends, family and work relationships so they all know I've had surgery. When you get a VSG, you can only consume a super small portion of food at one sitting. Like crazy small. 2 or 3oz of a protein and maybe an oz or 2 of veggies. That's your meal. Enough food to fit in the palm of your hand with a little room left over. The downside is, everyone around you will be getting a large plate of food and eating it all at a normal (fast) pace. The upside is, it'll take you about the same time to complete your tiny meal as it will for them to polish their large plate. You need to eat that little portion slowly and chew moderately, no gulping or cramming food down. In time, you'll learn what your body can handle and you'll learn the pace you need to eat at. It might sound bad or weird, but it'll be your new normal and you'll feel fine doing it. No one will know the difference, other than the occasional person asking you 100 times if the food is alright because you didn't eat a lot of it.

The worst part for me is the fact that you can not drink immediately before, during, or immediately after eating. Basically the liquid will wash the food through your system too quickly and can cause numerous issues with your sleeve, digestion and the way you feel. This part sucks but you'll get used to it eventually.

Foods I can't ever have: I don't eat carbs anymore. Not only do they turn to sugar and store as fat if you don't burn them off with excercising, but carb rich foods tend to lump up in your stomach and that's no good when you can only eat a few oz of food at a time. No bread, no tortillas, no rice, no pizza, no pasta or any noodle type foods, you get the idea. Potato chips, pretzels and snack type foods are out too. A common misconception is that you can't have carbonation. In moderation and taken slowly, you could have a Coke Zero or sparkling water without popping your sleeve. I still don't though, because keeping properly hydrated is very important so I stick to water, coffee and tea. 

Hope some one of this helped! Good luck on your journey.

Thank you so very much!  Really helpful information!

No experience with IBS/colitis, so I can't help there.
I feel perfectly normal in dinner and other social eating situations. There are things I don't eat, and I eat less than most people, but truthfully the vast majority of people never notice. People really aren'****ching what you eat. And if I don't take the bread that gets passed around the table before dinner, that's pretty normal too. Lots of people have dietary restrictions or are lowering carbs to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.

I wouldn't say there are things I can never eat again, but there are two things I can't eat without them making me physically uncomfortable, so I choose not to have them. The first is bread with yeast and the second is anything carbonated. I will have a small glass of champagne at Christmas, but that's it. Sometimes I wish I could still have those things, but then I remember they cause me discomfort and it's hard to want something that makes you miserable! Everything else I can eat with no problem, as long as I keep the quantities small.

Speaking of feeling "normal" in social situations -- I feel so much more normal than I ever did! I no longer worry about fitting into chairs or booths at restaurants or work events. I don't worry that everyone is looking at me while I eat or judging me for my food habits or my size. I don't worry about squeezing around tables in a crowded restaurant. I don't worry about having to buy an extra seat on an airplane or ask a flight attendant for a seat extender. I am a normal person (well mostly, lol) and I live my life as a normal person. I feel like I have been freed from a prison I was in my entire life. Being obese is what kept me from being and feeling normal in the world and this surgery is the only thing that's ever given me a normal life.

I'll echo the dinner part.  Lunch and dinner appointments are part of my career.  What I noticed quickly was most people were more concerned about what they put in their own mouths than what I put in mine.  Occasionally, people commented about restraint.  I'd slip in a white lie about not feeling well every now and again.

You should be fine!

Scott

I have no experience with IBS/Colitis (although my brother was recently diagnosed) but I can tell you that the sleeve is the very best thing I have ever done for myself and I do not regret it for one moment.  I am 17 months out from surgery and while I have not yet hit my goal (I have been stalled for quite some time and need to decrease my calories), I am at a weight that I haven't been since high school.  I only have one regret in the whole process; not doing the surgery sooner.  Good luck to you.

Thank you all for your responses!  It's a big decision, but I'm ready to get healthy!  Thanks again!