Considering VSG surgery please help!
on 8/17/17 2:17 pm
Maybe taking him to meet with your medical team would help so he can ask the questions he has. I'm 1 year out. All my blood panels are normal. I've lost 99.5 pounds. My knee arthritis is so much better. I will be helping my 17 year old move into her college dorm tomorrow - something I could not have done a year ago. (My surgery date was 8/23/16). I fence 5 hours a week. I do TRX classes and Pilates. I hike, ride my bike and walk for miles without tiring. My health, overall is better.
Since your name is Twinmom - I'm assuming you have twin children. Your risks of complications was much greater in your twin pregnancy and birth than it is with VSG.
My husband had concerns too, so I had him come to my first visit with my team - they answered all his question and he was in favor of it by the time we left the office. Best of luck.
Keep on losing!
Diana
HW 271.5 (April 2016) SW 246.9 (8/23/16) CW 158 (5/2/18)
After reading Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies, my husband became comfortable with the idea. I am 16.5 months post-op. I had no complications, little pain, and no nausea. I had the surgery just after my 61st birthday. It was the best, most healthy thing I ever did for myself. The excess weight was going to kill me.
Liz 5'3" HW: 219 SW: 185 GW: 125 LW: 113 Desired maintenance range: 120-125 CW: 119ish
I have debated posting a reply for you. I asked the same questions when I started back in Dec 2016. I had about 5 friends that had it done around that time and 4 were like "it's such a blessing". The 1 had a harder time - in the hospital numerous times for fluids and throwing up like crazy. I was like "oh that won't happen to me. I'll be one with no complications " WRONG.
I did fine right out of surgery. No bad gas pains like I had read about. Only a little soreness at the incisions but they didn't last long. I did struggle from the beginning on getting enough fluids down wether it be water or protein shakes. My body just couldn't handle it. So I was extremely fatigued for 2 weeks. By week 3, I felt like I was on the mend. Week 4, my nightmare began. Click on my profile name and read my previous 2 posts. I will probably post an update later today or tomorrow.
Dont ever think "it can't happen to me" because it can. This still can be my biggest blessing but right now, I cannot say that.
Height: 5'5"
Age: 42
SW: 251 (07/05/17)
CW: 161 (03/22/18)
GW: 160
I had the sleeve. I am doing better. Still no explaination for my problems. I am on purees until Sept 1. Seems like an eternity!! Hopefully solid foods will do well.
Good luck!
Height: 5'5"
Age: 42
SW: 251 (07/05/17)
CW: 161 (03/22/18)
GW: 160
On the flipside, I had a terrible time in recovery immediately following surgery but have since had a textbook recovery.
I took Contrave pre-op, which contains a drug that blocks narcotic receptors, and none of the doctors thought to have me discontinue it in time to get it out of my system. So when I woke up after surgery the pain meds didn't work and I felt everything. It hurt bad. I then began vomiting uncontrollably for about 8-10 hours. You'd be surprised by how much blood is in there... They finally figured out why the morphine wasn't working and got the pain under control, which helped my stomach settle down.
I'm doing just fine now and my recovery at home has been ideal. I loathe nausea so I've taken my Phenergan liberally to make sure I keep the fluids down but so far all is well. It's crazy how your hospital recovery was nearly perfect and now you're having such trouble while mine was like the highway to hell and now I'm fine. You are completely right, problems can happen with anyone and there's no guarantee you won't be one of the few they happen to. All you can do is your best to follow the plan and even then it may not go perfectly.
I'm so sorry you're having such a rough time. I sure do hope they get it figured out and you start feeling better. My surgeon did say nausea is common the first 3 months post-op so not to be shy about taking the nausea meds. He really emphasized it being more important to keep fluids on board than to worry over taking the meds. Do you still get sick/have stomach pain if you take Phenergan or Zofran? I was just thinking it might help to just stay on one of them with an acid reducer for a few days to let your tummy settle. Does your surgeon have any idea about what's causing the problem?
The death rate from WLS is the same as the yearly death rate for obesity itself ... except you only have the surgery one time. While there are other complications that don't kill you ... the same can be said about obesity too. Diabetes, heart disease, cancer rates, pain, etc. etc. Every year that you are obese the risks for developing something bad goes up. Just something to think about.
Before my preop diet I had a BMI of 49.1 ... right on the line before having the label of "super morbidly obese" In the 5 months since I have lost 55 pounds ... giving me a BMI of 39.7. I'm still obese but I can drop the morbidly part of it. Health wise I am in less pain, have more energy and sleep better at night.
If you fall down you just have to get back up.