davemdg
MY WLS STORY: October 11, 2009
I battled weight all my life (I weighed 12 pounds at birth!) I've been on more diets than I can possibly count and twice I lost 100+ pounds on Atkins but always gained it back. At age 55, I was 6'1" and weighed 417 pounds. I can't remember the last time I was able to buy clothes in a regular store. I was lucky to "only" have had one mild heart attack, severe sleep apnea, high blood pressure and Diabetes. Even though those conditions were "under control" by my taking 14 prescription pills daily, I knew I wasn't getting any younger and mortality was starting to concern me.
A couple of friends of mine had WLS and I thought about it the last couple of years, but frankly I was afraid of surgery having been turned down for a knee operation because the doctors were concerned I wouldn't survive the anesthesia. I finally got the nerve to go to a WLS introductory group meeting in August of 2008 and that started the process. At that first meeting, the surgeon talked about "this new procedure called a sleeve" and I was instantly hooked on VSG! A week later my insurance said "NO!" I wasn't thrilled about parting with a substantial chunk of my life's savings but I've never seen a U-Haul attached to the back of a hearse. Before committing, I made appointments with every doctor I have (five of them) to seek their advice. They were unanimous in their endorsement of WLS so I began the battery of required meetings, lab tests, nutritional consults, etc.
On March 3rd, 2009 I was wheeled into surgery weighing 406 pounds. I'd be lying if I said the next 72 hours were "a walk in the park" but, in retrospect, it's kind of like getting through a real bad case of the flu. You know you're not going to die, you just wish it would hurry up and be done with! 2-3 weeks later I was at 95% and had ZERO post-op pain or discomfort.
It has been 7 months since my sleeve surgery. My life has changed dramatically! I now weigh 281 pounds (down from 417 - I lost 136 pounds!) Most importantly, I feel GREAT! I haven't had this kind of energy in over 25 years. I actually ENJOY walking and I'm able to experience things I never thought I'd ever be able to do again. My Diabetes is GONE! My sleep apnea machine is in my closet to stay. My cardiologist cut out 3/4 of my heart meds and my blood lab work is nearly perfect. My shirt size is now 3XL - down from 6XL and I've lost 16 inches in my waist. Having to buy new sets of clothes every 60 pounds or so has actually been fun, especially now that I can go almost anywhere to shop for them.
The only "issues" along my journey have been a mild Vitamin D deficiency and my hair is thinning though they tell me this is only a temporary condition. I hit a serious plateau in the 340 pound range that lasted 3 weeks and I just started losing again after stalling in the 290's for over a month. Everybody kept telling me to be patient, that stalls are a natural phenom, and they were right. But plateaus are frustrating. I DO count calories (limit of 1500 a day) but I'm not a fanatic about it. My biggest vice that drives my surgeon nuts is my 2 daily diet sodas. She tells me it can stretch my new small stomach which will eventually make keeping the weight off more difficult. Frankly I've had other people tell me this applies only to Rouen-Y & Band patients. (Sleevers do not have a "pouch" - we have a iddy-biddy stomach).
My advice to anyone worried about WLS: Don't be! It will change your life in more ways than you can possibly imagine. Don't worry about never being able to wolf down a giant steak or a large pizza with a pitcher of beer - You WILL NOT MISS those things. WLS makes it VERY easy.
