mdnitdreamer
Hello everyone I hope my story helps someone as many stories on here have helped me. It has been two months since my surgery so I will try to give a quick summary of those two months.
My heaviest weight was 311 and I was on several medications for Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, high Cholesterol, depression, arthritis, fibromyalgia, acid reflux, just to name a few. I also suffered from severe sleep apnea. I can't tell you how depressing it is when you are loading a weekly medicine holder and you realize you are taking up to 30 pills a day. I knew I needed to do something and soon but I kept putting off the option of surgery because I felt I would be failing myself because I couldn't stick to a diet/exercise plan. But after realizing that I needed more help than just a diet and exercise plan I started to research different bariatric surgeries and with my doctors help I felt the VSG would be the best surgery for me.
I had my VSG surgery on 12/10/10 I didn't have the full 2 weeks to do a liquid diet before the surgery but I was still able to lose about 15 pounds before doing the VSG. I was lucky enough to have some one give me a different protein drink to try instead of using slim fast. This protein drink has been my savior before and after the surgery so I would like to recommend it to anyone that needs to get their set amount of protein in every day. The name of it is Premier Nutrition Chocolate Shake it has 30 grams of protein in it and only 1 gram of sugar, 170 calories, plus it has all these vitamins and it actually taste good. I found it at Costco for $23 a case which is a 18 pk. I know you can also order it online on Premiers website or Amazon but you will have to pay more. They also have vanilla but I didn't like it as much.
The day of my surgery I was so scared and I was passing on information about arrangements and my wishes just in case the surgery didn't go well. I did this because surgeries in the past have not gone well for me because of my sleep apnea. Sad to say this surgery was no different I did have complications due to my airway. So I spent two days in ICU and then two more days in a reg. hospital room till I could breath well enough to go home. I am glad that I spent time in the ICU because I think it helped more with my recovery than what I would have went through on my own at home. I can say the best thing to do is get up moving as soon as you can because it will make your recovery go so much more smoother.
I was curious to know why in the hospital they didn't weigh me in during my stay as I was told that they would. I found out later it was because you gain several pounds back because of the fluid you receive in the hospital. I know when I got home I had gained back most of what I loss before the surgery but I was also on iv fluids for 4 days. But the first 15/20 pounds came off really quickly. I did notice that I would get really hungry every two hours or so and that worried me because you are told that they remove the hormone that makes you hungry so I thought something was wrong. But everyone is different and there are some that are never hungry but I just wasn't one of those lucky ones.
Once I transitioned to semi soft food and then to solid food I struggled more on finding the right food to keep me full for a long period of time. I also struggled with taking the calcium pills since they are known to make you really constipated. So I did gain a little over 10 lbs. back. But I have figured out the food and I am still working on a balance of the calcium pills so I can say I am back on the right track and have loss those 10 lbs. and more.
It is really important to remember that the surgery is not going to fix all your problems but it will be a successful key in losing the weight and changing your life IF you put in the work needed. I know I try to work out every day and eat right but I am human and I still have my ups and downs. But it has been two months since my surgery and I am happy to say that I have loss over 60 lbs. and I am currently off of all my prescription drugs with the exception of two pills. My diabetes and blood pressure are back to normal without medicine and that in itself has been worth it.
