Would like to hear to "good, bad and ugly" about the VSG

Hi Christine :)

The good:  It makes losing weight easier & the ability to keep it off seem like it is a true reality.  I am the smallest I have ever been in my adult lift and I am just under 6 months out from surgery.  

The bad: Recovering from surgery was harder than I thought.  Junk food slides right through (for me at least).  If I eat the right things, I am satisfied and even full off of a small amount of food, but I can do some damage with certain foods -- junk, nuts, protein bars etc.

The ugly: extra skin -- boo.  I look fantastic in clothes and get lots of compliments, but under my clothes I am not happy with my body.  I am going to have plastic surgery -- the works.  I just need to finish losing and then stay stable for a bit.  I'm aiming for late this year :) 

I would totally recommend it.  I'm so happy with my decision.

Only 1 CRAPPY. Thing I could think of...

CONSTIPATION !!!!.....no pun intended....

OK!!! PUN INTENDED!!! 

Whatever you do, please be sure to take care of your mental health as well.  Therapy to flesh out the reasons I eat has been one of the biggest keys to my success so far.  Remember, surgery doesn't operate on your brain, just your belly. :)

Good luck to you!

You're welcome to read my journal, I've chronicled my entire experience since I started the process.  The link is in my signature below.  

I'm in my 12th post-op week now and life is great.  I'm more active than I've ever been and things are super.  I'm able to eat whatever I want- the things I want are just different now.  I don't have hunger or cravings the same way I did before surgery.  My recovery process was a breeze - I took pain killers for a few days and then was pretty much fine.  I haven't had issues drinking post-op and I found a protein shake that I like.  

Some things to keep in mind:

• Finding the eating/drinking routine that's right for you post-surgery is hard work, and you're mostly on your own.
• If there is an emotional component to food for you, it will still be there after surgery.
• Fatigue is a very real thing for the first couple of months. Don't expect to be able to jump right back into your routine.
• Everyone is different, but chances are that successful maintenance will involve fewer calories and more exercise than you were accustomed to before surgery.
• Post-surgery adjustments can be hugely overwhelming. Get a therapist on your team before surgery to help.
• Friends and family (no matter how well intentioned) who have not gone through WLS probably won't understand what you're going through. Find people who do.

I'm sure there are lots more, but I'm tuckered out for the day. Best wishes for a successful surgery!

I have a couple of posts on my profile related to my experience.  The sentence, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." comes to mind.

I would do it again in a heartbeat but it hasn't been easy, I'm 5 months out.

Hi good luck with the psych eval... mine was pretty uneventful. He just wanted to make sure I continued to go to counseling after surgery.

I have been very happy with my decision and would do it again for sure. My surgery and recovery were both uneventful. I had an easy recovery and didn't have much pain except from the incisions, which went away after about 3 weeks. I went back to work (a pretty active job) after 2 weeks, and I thought that 2 weeks was a good amount of time to take off. I was very tired for the first few days, but my energy levels got better. I was one of the lucky ones and didn't have trouble really with any foods, except milk for the first 2 weeks or so, but now I make all my shakes with milk. Lots of people have problems with eggs too, but I was lucky enough that I did not, which is good because I love eggs!

As for my diet, I did a week of liquids only before the surgery, which was rough, especially because the second day was on valentines day! That was not fun because there was tons of food at work that day. But I'm glad I did it because I lost 15 pounds and it got me used to drinking shakes. I was in the hospital for one night, and the first 2 days home I was on clear liquids only. On day 3 I started pureed foods/full liquids, and after week 2 I started to introduce soft solids. That lasted until 2 months post op when I started to add more solid proteins such as chicken breast, which is the last stage of the diet.

Things started to get really rough for me around 2 months post op, but that was mostly psychological. I lost my grandma on easter and went through some other family stuff, as well as finding out I might be losing my job (I did), which made me want to go back to my old habits of comforting myself with food. Luckily I pulled myself out of that period and didnt do too much damage, but I do still monitor myself closely to keep myself from going back to old habits. It is definitely getting harder. Some people say they don't get hungry anymore, but I do. I still do take my PPI which helps, but I do have snacks between meals, I just make sure to have protein rich snacks on hand like string cheese, and I still have a shake for breakfast every morning.

I was losing weight pretty quickly at first. I think things have slowed down, maybe partly due to the bumps I experienced during month 2, but the weight is still coming off slowly, and I havent seen any gain which is good. I try to keep my carbs below 60 a day but sometimes I go over. I do add milk to my shakes which adds carbs, and I eat fruit which can have carbs, but that does not worry me and it is what works. Maybe down the road I will need to change, but for now I do okay.

For me...

The good - surgery motivated me long before I was actually cut to get my act together.  I lost 63lbs before surgery because I wanted to be in the best shape possible when going under.  Since surgery almost 8 weeks ago I have not felt hungry.  I can tell when my sleeve is empty and needs some food in it but it's not hunger for me.  I've lost almost another 40lbs.  I feel great.  I look a lot better.  I'm more confident.  I am more active.  I am making better choices for myself.  I've gone down 5 pants sizes.  I don't really want "bad" foods very often.  I had a birthday cake for a coworker in my fridge last night and it didn't get touched.  I was thinking that in the past I would have caved and started eating it then replaced it with another cake on the way to work.  This would have been after I ate a bunch of other stuff from the bakery.  But, I didn't touch it.  It's sitting on my desk right now and I have no desire to eat it.  In fact, it smells yuck to me.  My sleeve saved me from a major binge.

The bad - horrible nausea and vomiting after surgery.  This was probably due to the pain medication.  I was fine after the first night.  I took my nausea meds for 5 days and then quit without a problem.  It was my biggest fear and it came true.  Nothing that I couldn't handle, though.  I had no pain and never took a single thing after leaving the hospital.

The ugly - my arms.  They are some of the ugliest arms I've ever seen.  I'm not exaggerating.  They are horrid.  Losing 100lbs has not been good to them and I'm afraid of what they will look like after another 100lbs.  I'm embarassed by them.  I hate them.  Of course, I hated them before surgery, too.  I love the way I look in clothes but even then, my arms are a disaster.  I will have to save up for plastic surgery because I cannot live with these things for the rest of my life.

Thank you SO much for all the wonderful information and advice! I apologize for not getting on here sooner to thank everyone but my KIDS are home from school now and it's been CraZEEE!! Lol..

It looks like a July date as of now. I will keep all these things in mind and GwenMo - I will definitely read your journal!! The next thing I need to do is my EKG and Chest X-ray but other than that all has been good. :)

Thanks again for all the answers. They were all so helpful. Even the constipation answer!! Lol