Scared newbie

Thanks for your reply. With everything I'm reading about the DS, it really does seem like the better choice for me. As to your question about how diets have worked for me? Not so much...

Why would we tell you it's a set back? I'm 11 years out and still maintaining a 300 lbs loss.

Sorry, if you need that much "convincing" you should not get the DS. You should get the VSG. The DS is a lifetime commitment. I know that sounds hard, but this isn't a shirt ...you can't return it in the morning.

Think twice....cut once.

Scott

Hey, no matter which surgery I get, it would involve cutting up my digestive track so, no, I don't regard it as a t-shirt. I wouldn't have taken 15 years to think about whether it's right for me and if I could commit to the drastic changes in the way I eat and drink.

You've kept 300 lbs off for 1 years?? That's amazing! You must have put in a hell of a lot of work to be that successful. I hope I can follow in your footsteps.

I think my original post was kind of knee-jerk. I had just been told that basically I was too fat for a gastric sleeve and that if I didn't have the DS, I would die soon. I know, I know - reality check. But noone ever said facing reality was easy.

Thanks for replying to my post!

GJ

Sorry, I meant to write 11 years!

GenJones that's why those of us who had the DS love it so much. I've maintained a 175 weight loss for almost 13 years and don't see anything changes. As I've said in some of my other posts, I eat alot of food but I'm able to maintain my weight loss because of the malabsoption. No other WLS offers this. Is it alot of work, oh yes it is. Do I sometimes wish I didn't have a take a fistful of vitamins three times a day, you betcha. Would I change anything, absolutely not!

No ....no real work at all. Just a lot of vitamins.

What drastic changes? We eat low carb but other than that pretty normally. Protein and fat are pretty much free foods. And you will still have a stomach, not a pouch so we drink normally too.

I assume you mean several months (years?) out from surgery? I have to say it's really good to know that life will be kind of normal at some point post-op. Can I ask, is it difficult to eat veggies?

Most people have trouble the first 6 months with veggies. Some people can add them quicker than others. Most people get to the point where they are OK with veggies. You can always tell by how fast they go through your system. A lot of people are always eager to restart salads and most learn to take it slow. :)

A lot of the issue early on is that you just don't have room for both protein and veggies. Reading some of the other posts brought a couple of things to mind.

it took a while for me to learn new signals that I was full. I finally just weighed things and knew from experience that 3.5 to 4 oz was my limit at a meal and then I was able to add a little more later. I got over that but it was strange. There was even a phase where I just didn't care if I ate, not that I actively didn't want to eat but there was nothing motivating me to eat. I eventually put my meals on a schedule for that phase otherwise I didn't get the protein in.

While most foods were the same post-op there were a lot of times that things I was looking forward to just didn't strike me as being what I remembered. A good thing in the case of things like cookies. I still have an occasional treat like that but nothing like pre-op. Some of that came back but never equivalent to before.

Just to let you know what can happen, I was up early today and went out and rode 20 miles on a bike path. Great ride even with rain threatening all the way. :)

Pete

Thanks Pete - you're a real inspiration!

- GJ