VSG Maintenance Group
1 yr Surgiversary (x-post)
Hard to believe its been a year! It has flown by. I can tell you I feel better than I ever expected. I look great (if I do so say myself), and get compliments all the time. This is the best thing I have ever done for myself, and I am very glad I did it.
My labs are good overall, though my ferritin has been trending down. Still normal, but I don't like that its dropping. I have added iron to see if that will help. This most concerns me because donating blood is important to me, and I don't want to lose the ability to do that.
Obviously the easiest thing to measure is weight lost. At my highest: 228. Day of surgery: 208. Today: 121.4 Ihave been hanging out in the low 120s for a few weeks and fluctuating a little. It never even occured to me I would lose that much. I would have been happy to get down to 150. I guess I am pessimistic at heart. But everything else had failed, and studies show 50-80%EWL with the sleeve. So this is amazing! I am normal. And really, it was easy. No, I can't eat like I did before, but that is a small price to pay for feeling so much better. And being off my BP meds, and rid of my CPAP. I can wear a size 4! I can run, ride my bike, exercise, whatever I want, and it feels good, not like my heart is going to explode. The simplist thing, like climbing on the counter to get something off a high shelf is easy now, and I struggled before. Work is easier because my belly isn't always in the way.
One of these days I will get around to putting an updated pic up. One thing that hasn't changed is my hate of having pictures of me taken. I am still very self conscious in that regard, though I know I look better.
So... drawbacks. Nothing that would make me not do this, but I lost a lot more hair than I expected, and it is very slow to grow back in. Not a big deal. I never thought I would want plastics, but now I am pondering it. My boobs are gone. I know 70 year old ladies with less floppy breasts than I currently have, so some augmentation is tempting. My arms, which had batwings for a while, have actually tightened up quite a bit, so I am happy there. My biggest problem area is my stomach, which doesn't have a lot of fat, and not really a panni per se, but is just not pretty. A tummy tuck may be in my future, if I can ever afford it and be able to take the time off to do it. The only other problem area is my butt- I have developed bumflaps! But maybe some exercise will help tone that a bit. I'm not so concerned about that.
That's all I can think of to say for the moment.
My labs are good overall, though my ferritin has been trending down. Still normal, but I don't like that its dropping. I have added iron to see if that will help. This most concerns me because donating blood is important to me, and I don't want to lose the ability to do that.
Obviously the easiest thing to measure is weight lost. At my highest: 228. Day of surgery: 208. Today: 121.4 Ihave been hanging out in the low 120s for a few weeks and fluctuating a little. It never even occured to me I would lose that much. I would have been happy to get down to 150. I guess I am pessimistic at heart. But everything else had failed, and studies show 50-80%EWL with the sleeve. So this is amazing! I am normal. And really, it was easy. No, I can't eat like I did before, but that is a small price to pay for feeling so much better. And being off my BP meds, and rid of my CPAP. I can wear a size 4! I can run, ride my bike, exercise, whatever I want, and it feels good, not like my heart is going to explode. The simplist thing, like climbing on the counter to get something off a high shelf is easy now, and I struggled before. Work is easier because my belly isn't always in the way.
One of these days I will get around to putting an updated pic up. One thing that hasn't changed is my hate of having pictures of me taken. I am still very self conscious in that regard, though I know I look better.
So... drawbacks. Nothing that would make me not do this, but I lost a lot more hair than I expected, and it is very slow to grow back in. Not a big deal. I never thought I would want plastics, but now I am pondering it. My boobs are gone. I know 70 year old ladies with less floppy breasts than I currently have, so some augmentation is tempting. My arms, which had batwings for a while, have actually tightened up quite a bit, so I am happy there. My biggest problem area is my stomach, which doesn't have a lot of fat, and not really a panni per se, but is just not pretty. A tummy tuck may be in my future, if I can ever afford it and be able to take the time off to do it. The only other problem area is my butt- I have developed bumflaps! But maybe some exercise will help tone that a bit. I'm not so concerned about that.
That's all I can think of to say for the moment.
Katie 
the start of my brand new life was on 5/28/10
Congratulations on your successful year!!!!! I hear you about the improvements in health, fitness and energy levels, and getting rid of sleep apnea. I just found out that I no longer have sleep apnea. That was a wonderful NSV. The sleeve has changed your life and I am also finding that my life is changing.
The bum flaps are troublesome and I am trying to firm them up, but it might be a lost cause.
WLS has been a wonderful gift!!! Congratulations once again!!!!
The bum flaps are troublesome and I am trying to firm them up, but it might be a lost cause.
WLS has been a wonderful gift!!! Congratulations once again!!!!
" 
