VSG surgery on 12/12. Newbie with an introduction and request for prayers/good vibes...

Greetings Fellow OH'ers,

My name is Ben, and I'm an RN. I'm 45, I live in West Georgia, and I'm having VSG tomorrow morning, Monday December 12. I've been lurking on these boards for some time now, but have yet to post until now. I have found this board to be very educational, and I have drawn inspiration from many of your stories. 

I was sort of a chubby kid when I was an adolescent, but became a serious athlete during grade school and through high school. I entered the U.S. Marine Corps right out of high school, and served in Operation Desert Storm. I distinctly remember on my graduation date from boot camp at Parris Island, SC that I weighed 146 lbs (I'm 5'-8") and could literally run all day long. I was 146 lbs. of "twisted steel and sex appeal."After getting out of the Marine Corps, there was college, marriage #1 and subsequent divorce. During this time, my weight gradually ballooned up to about 270 lbs. Food has always been a crutch for me, and emotional eating was a great contributor to the state I was in. Marriage #1 ended in 1997, and I recommitted to changing my dietary habits and getting back into the gym. I got my weight back down to about 180 lbs. My first marriage was an unhappy one, and I feel that much of my emotional eating resulted from that. My current marriage, however, has been a very happy marriage. But, I think sank into such a comfort zone, that I again began to de-prioritize good eating and exercise habits.

We celebrated our 15th Anniversary this year, and we marked the occasion by taking a trip to an all inclusive resort in Jamaica. This is where I hit my nadir. If you have every stayed at one of these all inclusive resorts, you know that resort photographers are omnipresent, always there to snap a picture of you on demand. My wife enjoys pictures, lots of them. I set up a romantic dinner on the beach for the 2 of us on the night of our actual anniversary, and the resort photographers were there to capture every bit of it. Now make no mistake about it, I knew I was obese at this point, but my refusal to confront the issue kept it out of my mind for the most part. Due to the resulting self esteem issues, I typically go out of my way to avoid having my picture taken, but this was a special occasion and it meant a lot to my wife, so I did not object. When we later went to view the pictures, it illuminated to me just how fat and disgusting I had become. I didn't even recognize that guy. When we returned from that trip in February, I was at my all-time highest weight of 318 lbs.

I knew I couldn't continue to live this way, and I had to do something. It was upon our return from that trip that I began the process of exploring bariatric surgery as a potential tool to help me get my life back on track. I have been fortunate to this point to have only suffered from 2 commodities that were directly attributable to my heft, hypertension and obstructive sleep apnea.  However, especially given my profession (I am an RN) I know it is a matter of time before those conditions begin to multiply. I spoke with my PCP, and got a referral to a surgeon in Rome, GA named Dr. J Ryland Scott. I fully vetted him before my consultation, and gained a sense of trust and confidence in both he and his staff. In addition, their stats were outstanding, and the 2 patients I know who worked with him have experienced excellent results. Once all of the insurance boxes were checked off, I received notification of approval, and set up my date, which is tomorrow. 

Being an RN, I am a devotee to doing as much research as possible when it comes to things such as this. Initially, I was going to go the LAP Band route, which was the least invasive, but the complication rates did not inspire much confidence. Also, my surgeon no longer performs the procedure anymore. So after much discussion, and a lot of research on my part, I elected to go with the VSG. I guess the only thing that concerns me is the lack of long term outcome data available on VSG, as it is still relatively new as a stand alone procedure. Naturally, the questions like "what could surface 20,30, or 40 years down the road." This of course assumes that the good Lord allows me to live that long anyway. I know that gastrectomies (full or partial) have been performed for many years on patients with stomach cancer or severe ulcers, but I wasn't able to find an abundance of outcome information on those either. I do know that there are a lot of old guys still around with partial stomachs, so I guess I am able to draw some comfort and optimism from that. Plus, I suppose the VSG could always be revised to RNY or DS if necessary. But ultimately, after weighing out the pros and cons, I determined that VSG it is the best course of action for me. However, I am extremely nervous, just can't help it. If you happen to read this, please say a prayer for me, and I will try to be more of an active poster as I progress through this journey. I have been on the liquid/protein shake diet for the past 2 weeks, and it will mercifully come to an end tomorrow. I am just really concerned about the post op stuff, particularly the diet/food preparation part of it.

The process with this program is typically a 1 night hospital stay with discharge the following day, provided that liquids are being tolerated well. I have to be on a pureed diet for the first month, then a soft diet the next 2 months. From my research, their seems to be somewhat of a dearth of good recipe stuff on VSG post operative foods for the pureed and soft phases. If anyone can send me or link me to some good information on good pureed options, I would really appreciate it!

I'm ready to get back down to my "fighting weight," and tomorrow marks a new day, and hopefully a very positive change in my life. 

You know how to lose weight and now you have a tool that will help you to keep it off.  I predict you to be an outstanding success with your surgery.

My thoughts and prayers are with you today. I'm 2 weeks out and am doing well. My doctor has a 4 week full liquid diet, 2 weeks pureed and 2 weeks soft. I'm getting most of my protein by blended soups that are just meat and veg (no rice/potato/noodle) and supplement with unflavored protein powder. I measure my 1/2 cup and thin it so that it is drinkable. I'll probably do this through puree stage as well. Check out the world according to eggface online. She is 10 years out and has many recipes for different stages.

Best wishes for surgery and an uneventful, smooth recovery!

Congratulations on your decision to sleeve.  It is an amazing tool for weight loss.  You definitely seem to have you head around what you need to do, which is a huge plus. 

Thoughts and prayers for your surgery today and for speedy healing.  You've got this!!

P.

I hope everything goes well today!  Good luck! :)

Prayers and good thoughts for today Ben!!  Welcome!

Ben, from one RN to another, I feel ya!  I have some early studies posted to my 'blog' from when I had my surgery in 2008.  And I am living proof that there can be regain.  But that has a lot more to do with changes in food choices.  My sleeve is a 32F, so there isn't a lot of elasticity to the tissue left of the sleeve.  Even after four years of crappy eating and abusing my tummy, it still works.  I have been back on track for 2 months and have lost 20+ pounds.  So my long term results for the efficacy of the sleeve are good.  Me, not so much!  Where you have to make sure you are making the changes are between your ears.  There's a lot more going on there than we realize.  TRUST ME.  If ya ever wanna chat.  PM me.

Good luck. You're just at little feller at 318, but you'll do great. And I hope you stick around after surgery. The daily accountability from reading and posting here are extremely beneficial.

Thank you for your service, Ben, and welcome to the boards!

The fact that you're nervous means your're well-prepared. My surgeon told me that he'd have been worried if I WASN'T nervous, because that would be a sign that I wasn't totally aware of what I was getting myself into!

Sending good vibes for an easy surgery and a quick recovery from the Arizona desert :)

Good thoughts and prayers going your way . . . . You can do this by His grace and your careful planning.  

Joanne