davemdg
Update on my sleeve - 16 Months Post-Op
Aug 01, 2010
It's been awhile since I've posted my progress, so here goes: I'm now 16 months post-op and I now weight 254 lbs. (My HW was 417) I've lost 163 lbs and 18 inches in my waist and my shirt size is now 2X - down from 6X. As I posted earlier, many of my weight loss related co-morbidity's have VANISHED! (Diabetes: GONE; Sleep Apnea: GONE: 14 daily Rx pills before: NOW, ONLY 4. I feel 25 years younger! Etc., Etc., Etc.
I did have a Vitamin D deficiency that developed 3 months post-op, but that was resolved by taking 50,000 unit Vits=amin D supplements (prescription) over a week for 3 months. The hair on the crown of my head thinned significantly, but has grown back entirely (this time curly). This 55 year old guy used to have to take those little electric carts at WalMart & supermarkets but now I LOVE to travel and walk everywhere! For example, I just got back from Las Vegas where I walked the entire Strip and toured 9-10 large casinos. I've attended music festivals & I've walked almost the whole French Quarter in New Orleans several times. My energy level is astounding! Wish I would have gotten my sleeve done years earlier.
Now the "down side" ... Two months ago I began getting spells of nausea, profuse sweating and I nearly passed out on a couple of occasions. I discovered I had a "resting" pulse rate of nearly 150! The docs tried all sorts of heart med combinations but nothing was controlling my racing pulse. Doctors told me I had something called "A-Flutter" (similar to "A-Fib") and that I was heading to Congestive Heart Failure and soon! In a nutshell my heart electrical rhythms (sinus node) had a few hay-wires that needed to be fixed. I finally agreed to an out-patient heart surgery procedure called "Cardiac Ablation" .. They went in through both groins (like they do when you have an Angiogram and/or have stints put in.) They "traveled" through my views into the inside of the upper heart chambers and basically "intentionally" nuked 3% of my heart. But I left the hospital (the SAME day!) with a resting pulse rate of 65. And, it hasn't been above 80 since the surgery 9 days ago! AMAZING what they can do nowadays!
I was worried that my rapid weight loss "caused" my heart rhythms to go crazy, but 2 cardiologists told me the exact opposite was true: Had I still been over 400 pounds, it would have probably been fatal. Scary!
The only other "negative" outcome to my WLS was I've lost all interest in food, fine restaurants, etc. Eating (maximum 6-8 ounces at a sitting) has become a "distraction" and is something I only out of necessity. Please understand, I've been an amateur Cajun chef for 40+ years and I watch cooking shows any chance I get. Still do. (Most Cajun men are taught how to cook gumbos, jambalaya, etc. at an early age ) I still love cooking large meals for my family & friends, usually 30-40 people, but I no longer have any interest in day-to-day eating, trying out new restaurants and experimenting with new recipes. Oh well, I wouldn't trade the overwhelming GREAT things that have happened in my life because I "had" the surgery.
Has any of my fellow sleevers had a similar loss of interest in food? My surgeon said I should be careful I don't "trade" addictions. She told me some people who get a little depressed about food sometimes seek another "pleasure" to replace tat loss (i.e. drinking, gambling addiction to replace the pleasure with food addiction.)
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I did have a Vitamin D deficiency that developed 3 months post-op, but that was resolved by taking 50,000 unit Vits=amin D supplements (prescription) over a week for 3 months. The hair on the crown of my head thinned significantly, but has grown back entirely (this time curly). This 55 year old guy used to have to take those little electric carts at WalMart & supermarkets but now I LOVE to travel and walk everywhere! For example, I just got back from Las Vegas where I walked the entire Strip and toured 9-10 large casinos. I've attended music festivals & I've walked almost the whole French Quarter in New Orleans several times. My energy level is astounding! Wish I would have gotten my sleeve done years earlier.
Now the "down side" ... Two months ago I began getting spells of nausea, profuse sweating and I nearly passed out on a couple of occasions. I discovered I had a "resting" pulse rate of nearly 150! The docs tried all sorts of heart med combinations but nothing was controlling my racing pulse. Doctors told me I had something called "A-Flutter" (similar to "A-Fib") and that I was heading to Congestive Heart Failure and soon! In a nutshell my heart electrical rhythms (sinus node) had a few hay-wires that needed to be fixed. I finally agreed to an out-patient heart surgery procedure called "Cardiac Ablation" .. They went in through both groins (like they do when you have an Angiogram and/or have stints put in.) They "traveled" through my views into the inside of the upper heart chambers and basically "intentionally" nuked 3% of my heart. But I left the hospital (the SAME day!) with a resting pulse rate of 65. And, it hasn't been above 80 since the surgery 9 days ago! AMAZING what they can do nowadays!
I was worried that my rapid weight loss "caused" my heart rhythms to go crazy, but 2 cardiologists told me the exact opposite was true: Had I still been over 400 pounds, it would have probably been fatal. Scary!
The only other "negative" outcome to my WLS was I've lost all interest in food, fine restaurants, etc. Eating (maximum 6-8 ounces at a sitting) has become a "distraction" and is something I only out of necessity. Please understand, I've been an amateur Cajun chef for 40+ years and I watch cooking shows any chance I get. Still do. (Most Cajun men are taught how to cook gumbos, jambalaya, etc. at an early age ) I still love cooking large meals for my family & friends, usually 30-40 people, but I no longer have any interest in day-to-day eating, trying out new restaurants and experimenting with new recipes. Oh well, I wouldn't trade the overwhelming GREAT things that have happened in my life because I "had" the surgery.
Has any of my fellow sleevers had a similar loss of interest in food? My surgeon said I should be careful I don't "trade" addictions. She told me some people who get a little depressed about food sometimes seek another "pleasure" to replace tat loss (i.e. drinking, gambling addiction to replace the pleasure with food addiction.)
