How did this happen. ..
4 years ago today, I took a drastic measure to regain my health. I had Vertical Sleeve Gastronomy Surgery. It’s not been an easy way out as some will say. In fact, it has required a lot from me. It required intention, research; follow up, planning, self-discovery, patience, and discipline.
Intention
I was the only person that could decide that I wanted this surgery. No one else could make the decision for me. At the end of the day, I knew my family and friends would be questioning my decision and I needed to know and understand the program in great detail so that I could educate them as I went through the process. This required me to educate myself through research.
Research
I attended an orientation meeting at a bariatric program close to my home. I attended one of these meetings with great trepidation, thinking I would never go forward with it. However, I found out a bunch of great information because I also got to meet with people who had been through the program and discuss their experience. This led me to research the bariatric surgeries further on you tube. You tube was a great resource for meeting and seeing many people around the country and in other countries who had been through the program. I got to hear their stories of success and struggles. This allowed me to make an informed decision about whether or not I wanted to continue.
Follow up
Once I decided to move forward with the process, I had to make a bunch of appointments and get cleared by various docs. I had to attend 3 support group meetings, 2 dietician appointments, a psych eval and a heart doctor visit. I was kind of lazy where these visits were concerned and it took me nearly 8 months to complete them.
Planning
Once I had more information, I needed to plan for the surgery. I needed to plan time off from work, plan for my food during that first week after surgery.
Self-discovery
During the process, I found that, for the first time in my life, I really needed to focus on me. There was no time or energy left to focus on others. I was doing this for the sake of my health, so all other considerations had to be secondary. Things like cost of food or what other people thought.
Patience
I had to be patient with the time it would take to get to the end goal weight. The weight was not going to drop off overnight. Sometimes this was very frustrating and at times would stall and seem like it wasn’t happening. I wouldn’t lose weight for several weeks and then drop 4 lbs.
Discipline
I decided from the beginning to develop an eating plan that would work for me. I wouldn’t eat crap I didn’t like just because it was healthy. I would only eat items I enjoy that were within my dietary parameters. So, I didn’t want to eat anything that had fake sugar in it, so I would have to find a way to have food and beverages that I enjoy that didn’t have fake sugar. It’s been the most difficult thing to do since starting the program. Initially, I would eat sugar in just really low amounts. Eventually, I found erythritol, a sugar substitute that doesn’t affect your insulin reaction. However, I have stuck to my plan that I started with by eating pretty much the same way. I eat protein with greens as my carbohydrates and drink a couple of coffees a day. I have made a concerted effort to keep my meal sizes to the amount that I was eating several months out from surgery.
Was it worth it? HECK YEAH!!!
Probably the single best decision I have made in my entire life. I have not regretted this decision at all, I feel better than I have in 20 years. One of the better decisions in my life. I was 50 years old at the time and had tried every diet under the sun and none of it stuck. My morbidity numbers were all headed in the wrong direction, blood pressure, pre-diabetic, cholesterol etc. All have improved. While I didn’t do this surgery to have better choices in clothing, I can say that I do enjoy shopping for clothes for the first time in my life. The surgery doesn’t do the work, it makes the work a bit easier.
Happy Surgaversary to me!
Until next time…
