NO chicken?!?!?!?! Oh my ....

Casey I'm going to give you my email. Can you give me yours because I'm sure I'll have a zillion questions in March. My surgery date is March 9.

info(at)sydneywyatt.com

I agree - thanks for the honesty, Judy!

To offer another perspective, I have a sleeve stomach (plus some intestinal bypass, but I'm far enough out now that I likely no longer malabsorb any calories). I can eat anything I could before my surgery. For me, this is wonderful, but it does mean that, just as without any surgery, I'm still in charge of making the right choices. I am nearly 3 years out and still can't eat as much at one time as I could before my surgery (which is sort of the point!). If I do what I know I should and focus on protein first and include plenty of fat, then I'm good to go. But if I allow myself the evil carbs in any large quantity, well, I can consume a LARGE quantity! I've honestly been eating not-so-great lately (I'm 34 weeks pregnant and super busy with work and moving to a new home, so I have neither the time, energy, norr desire to cook healthy meals) - fast food is a very regular occurence in my diet, as is convenient foods from places like 7-11. If I allowed myself to do so, I could easily cram myself full of things like cereal, chips, mac n cheese, etc. But if I focus on eating things with good protein and fat, then I can't eat as much (I practically live on chicken and cheeseburgers, my favorites right now).

That said, of course, everyone's experiences are unique with any surgery. I've seen some complaints with the band that they can't really eat anything but junk ("slider") foods, and they end up losing little weight, if any. I've seen some folk with a sleeve end up with so much restriction that they are "mourning" the loss of food for quite some time because they can only ever manage a few small bites of food at a time. I've personally had a great experience with my surgery, but I know (and knew going in) that there are other potential outcomes even with the same procedure.

Jill congrats on the pregnancy!!!

Do you think the WSL helped your fertility?

Thanks!

Weight loss in general and low-carb diets have both been known to help with fertility, so it is possible. However, I never tried to get pregnant before my surgery, so I have no way of really knowing.

Thats exactly how I feel. I've never been pregnant before, but I've never ever (ever) tried. But in my heart of hearts I just feel like as soon as I get some more of this weight down, I'm gonna start a family fairly quickly.

hey I tried to mail you but your messages are full. Let me know if you have questions.

I had a vsg last July. It is...without question the best thing I've ever done for myself. Look through my past posts and see how many times I tried to low carb. Weight watchers about 10 times more than that. I lost 75 lbs once with weight watchers and exercise and then I blew my knee out and gained it all back and then some.

I had secondary infertility and did fertility treatments for 8 years until I had twins at age 38. My highest weight is 283 day of surgery. By this time, I had very high blood pressure, no menstruation at all, sleep apnea, prediabetes, an extremely high bmi and no confidence that I would ever be able to do it "on my own" and I was so burned out from years of failure that I couldn't take it anymore.

I went off metformin (which is the only reason I held off diabetes), a couple of days before surgery and haven't been on it since. About 3 1/2 weeks post op, I no longer needed my cpap. I went off blood pressure meds day of surgery and my blood pressure is excellent. I have lost 95 lbs since surgery last July. I'm also ovulating again and now have to use two forms of birth control. Ironic since I couldn't conceive because I wasn't cycling and certainly not ovulating before.

I came back to this sight because I was diagnosed with epilepsy last September. I had symptoms that went undiagnosed for over a year. I've not driven since September and it will be at least September before I can drive again if I am seizure free until then. I've been reading that a modified version of Atkins can assist in seizure control.

The vsg has been done for somewhere around 100 years to treat stomach cancer and ulcers with no ill effects. It was observed that people were losing weight and keeping it off, and became an approved weight loss surgery.

WLS was the right choice for me. That doesn't mean it's the right choice for everyone. Guess what...that's ok. I get so tired of people judging, being arrogant and condescending when others choose WLS.

I also want to add that I went from a very tight 26 to currently a size 14. I no longer crave sweets because they just don't taste the same. If I do have something sweet, I'm only able to eat a bite because it just doesn't taste that good. I was a MAJOR sugar addict. Because of my epilepsy, I am cutting Splenda and aspartame out of my diet because they are known seizure triggers.

Good for you Deborah. I worked in the medical field prior to retiring. Quite a few coworkers had bariatric surgery. Some have been diligent adhering to the diet ,changing habits,
drs orders/etc.. Unfortunately some did not and put back weight.
Sounds like you are committed to your health....
Do keep us up to date on you improved health. So inspiring.
Bariatric surgery is a big decision not made lightly.

Me, too Well, I was in a tight 22 pant and probably should have been in more 24s when I started, and I was wearing 26/28 tops, but I got down to a regular/misses 14. And now I'm pregnant, so those 14s will have to wait it out in the closet for a bit :P

It's been awhile, but I've found my way back here. I'm still doing great! My seizures are in control, and I am able to drive again. I've met my goal weight (although my stats need to be changed here). I wear a comfortable size 10. My surgery was 14 months ago. I do not regret my decision to have a VSG for even one second. It was the best decision I could have ever made for me, my health, and my family.

Thank you for posting about your experience. I have decided to start the 6 months of insurance hoops for the bypass.

I find it funny that people question my decision, and did I know how terrible Dumping can be?... when taking Metformin for my diabetes made me mess my pants at work last Monday. IMO, there is nothing this surgery can throw at me that would be worse than the diabetes, sleep apnea, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, depression, and joint pain I am dealing with now.

You give me hope. Good luck to you.

Best decision ever for me. I still low carb - I CRAVE protein. I always have, but moreso now. I'm down from 386 to 255ish right now and that's after 8.5 months? Yeah. I really do feel amazing. Its not the easy way out. Its not cheating. Its something that can work for people. I cannot tell you how amazing of a turn my life has taken because I took this chance. Its NOT for everyone. You still have to address the problems that you have with eating. I've addressed so many issues within myself. I don't binge (yes its possible to - just on a smaller scale of course) - but that behaviour is just.....gone - no matter what's going on in my life. In the last few years I've battled with Wilson's Disease, Cushings Syndrome, Extreme weight gain from Cushings, Breast cancer, and an unfaithful husband. Now my only issue is finding clothes that aren't too big! This surgery in itself was cathartic for me.