Margareta
When i came back from Europe last summer I had gained weight and weighed more than i had ever weighed before. I had also developed Diabetes. For 5 years I had been fighting a metabolic syndrome ,a prediabetes, with diet but in the end I could not do so any more. My mother died at 69 years old because of Diabetes. it ravaged her body and it was so difficult to see her die piece by piece.My mother was not overweight but had insulin dependent diabetes 2.
I did NOT want to go the same way. I had heard that you could possibly reverse Diabetes with Gastric surgery. A friend of mine had a RNY a few years ago but I thought I would lose too much weight with Gastric surgery then. I researched B ariatric surgery on the WEB and found that it was done even for people with moderatly high BMI . I then checked out the different sites for surgeons in Clifornia and came up with LapSF as being the most experienced and safe. I made an appointment with Dr Jossart not knowing what surgery would be best for me but thinking that I needed a bypass for sure since I have such a quirky metabolic system. He instead recommended the VSG (which I had never heard of) because ,he said, I was a high risk person. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis, Asthma, high Cholesterol, high bloodpressure and undiagnosed sleep apnea.
I felt so relieved after seeing Dr Jossart . Because I have RA and Asthma I have to take cortison now and then when I have a flare up and I could not have the RNY for that reason. I loved being able to still have my Pyloric valve and not having a bypass.I felt that the things that could go wrong with this surgery were minimal. I looked at the statistics and saw that the weightloss was similar to the other surgeries done.
Growing up I was a skinny child and weighed 110lb as an adult. My weight started increasing and after my son was born I had trouble keeping my weight off.
After nursing school I decided to become a flight attendent for a year with Pan Am (to see the world). This meant that I had to keep my weight at 132lb to keep my job. It was a struggle to do that and for 24 years (which is how long I stayed with Pan Am) I kept my weight off. When I met my present husband I quit working ,got married and gained 70-80 lb in the next 19 years. This year I had to take cortison on different occasions and after this summer, when I gained another 25lb I simply gave up and felt that I could never conquer the weight and physical problems, that were adding up fast, without help.
I have always been very interested in sports and used to play tennis every day i could until I had an accident skiing. I severed my posterior cruciate ligament. I still played tennis but now less avidly.When I got Rheumatoid Arthritis i had to give it up though because I could not hold the racket. Oh, I loved that sport so much!!. I also rode horses and rode Dressage. I had to give that up also. I took up swimming again which I had done growing up and loved. So now I still swim 1-2km a day. I also do Pilates.
We have 3 dogs I walk every day 3 times a day. WE have 2 shih-tzu and 1 mix between a poodle and a golden ,...we think. She is a rescue dog.
To go back to my story: I had surgery on the 18th of September. I woke up in the ICU and remember that I felt VERY bloated ! When I was wheeled into my room my husband and son were there. i did not feel any pain and I was surprised that I did not feel anything where my stomach was. I thought I would feel where they had cut it. I tried the morphine pump but i could not carry a conversation with my family so decided not to use it. Dr Jossart came to see me and gave me Ibuprofin IV to lessen the inflammation in the body and therefor the pain also.
The nurse gave me water to sip on and some Jello. I felt pretty good so I tried the Jello. It just turned around in my stomach and flew right out again. WOW. I must have eaten that too fast I thought. I never felt sick to my stomach. Strange feeling. After my husband and son left I asked the nurse to take me for a walk which she did a few times. I slept well that night and the next morning I went home.
I was sore in the right side of my stomach where the stomach had been taken out but i did not have any pain to speak of so did not use painrelievers except when I wanted to sleep at night the first two nights. I started walking three times a day at once hanging on to my son the first few days and walking 15-20 minutes to begin with each time. I loved the liquid stage. It was rather easy. At the end I looked forward to the soft food stage but I was happy to leave that and enter into solids.
Now 2 months have past and my weight loss is rather slow but I like that. I do not take meds for diabetes, high bloodpressure or high cholesterol although i think I will have to go back on the Lipitor again. My Asthma and RA seem better and I do not want to sleep in the afternoons anymore. I have a lot of energy now and can walk much more than I have been able to in a long time. This surgery ,the VSG ,is incredible. I do not think about food anymore and am never hungry. I have to plan my meals so I get my nutrition. I eat a lot of protein and some vegetables and berries. I can really recommend the VSG. Easy is the word that comes to mind.
