My 2 year update

My 2 year anniversary was October 2, 2019 but I just had my doctor follow up yesterday. I would like to give out some info and my observations.

The numbers. I was a 65 year old 6' tall male and started at 307 lbs. My surgery was October 2, 2017. For me the pre op diet was a 2 week liquid only diet. The pre op diet was difficult for 2-3 days but after that it was OK. I lost 19 lbs in those two weeks. On the day of my surgery I was 288. The surgery was actually pretty easy. No complications, two nights in the hospital and an easy home recovery. I am fortunate to live in Northeast Ohio and had surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. Great pre op testing, nutritional advice and psychiatric counseling. A true world class facility. I lost very quickly the first two months. I lost almost 40 in those two months. I then settled in at a consistent 6-10 lbs. per month loss. At around 10 months I surpassed my goal weight of 220. I settled in at 210 lbs. I stayed between 204-210 for the last 14 months. I am thrilled.

Clothing. An expensive proposition. I am an avid golfer and golf shirt collector. I used to wear a XXL golf shirts. I now wear a large size. Slacks and shorts went from size 44-48 down to a 36. Dress shirts went from 17 1/2 -35 down to 16-35. Sport coats went from 50-52 long down to a 44 regular. I gave away about 60 golf shirts. I gave away or donated clothing I had that still had tags on them. I caught my golf pro in a good mood and bought a dozen golf shirts early this year. I am slowly building my inventory. I went from a size 12 wide shoe to an 11 1/2 medium width. Well worth the expense.

Medication. I am off cholesterel medication. I am off blood pressure medication. My cholesteral is around 175 and my BP runs 124 over 65. My doctor says I have a near zero chance of ever having a diabetes problem. Some family history of that but not for me. I had a constipation problem but diet changes and fiber supplements helped a lot. That problem is now behind me. No pun intended.

I feel great and have so much more energy and mobility. As an ex athlete my knees, ankles and hips feel so much better.. Walking without pain is a blessing. We all need to walk but if it hurts its tough. No more pain. My golf game suffered the first year adjusting to my new body and loss of strength. I used a personal trainer and gained back so much strength that my game recovered. I play nearly 100 times per year. My index is down to 9.1.

My advice. When I had my sleeve I told my doctor I would attack this from every angle. Diet, walking, strength training, counseling and absorbing as much info as I could. I learned so much from the success of many of you here. Those who are struggling don't give up. Work the problem. Walk, drink the fluids, work out research your diet. You CAN do it. For those considering a sleeve research everything. Read about it ask questions. It works!!! I check this site out almost daily what a resource.

Problems. Every life change brings challenges. It took me several months to identify problem foods that caused me problems. For me chicken breast, pork and tougher cuts of beef are out. Chicken thighs and beef filet work. Turkey bacon works. Any vegetable. I love pasta with a good red sauce but can only eat a couple ounces. I developed a sweet tooth. No cake or pie but candy. I can limit this by not buying it. If its there Its gone. I need to watch my drinking. I love good single malt scotch and now buy better scotch and drink less. I use to love beer. I can't handle the carbonation anymore. I think I've had a total of 6 beers in two years. O well.

I wanted to give my male point of view because 80% of sleeve patients are women. Maybe you women are smarter after all. You know a good thing when you see it. If any men have any questions you can PM me.

best of luck to all of you. Best thing I ever did for myself.

Congratulations!

Ohmygosh! What a praise report! I am so happy for you. Your confidence is shining through your post. I love how you said you "attacked It" at all angles. That's a perfect way of saying that you were ALL IN! It's amazing how you end up having to replace every single piece of clothing isn't it? Continued success!

Absolutely love your post. So happy for you!

That clothing expense happens to all of us. I went a little ( a lot) overboard.

What a great post.
Congratulations on your surgiversary.
This is very helpful coming from a male perspective as you say most of us on here are female.
It sounds like you have nailed it!

Excellent post! Congratulations on your success!

My in laws all live in Cleveland, and my sister in law works at the Cleveland Clinic. I love Cleveland... Mr. Hero!! Maybe you can send me a Roman burger one day ;)

I have the same food issues as you, but have finally found a frozen bag of precooked teriyaki chicken thighs from Sam's that I'm living off of now. My stomach handles those and fried chicken best. I have always done well with pasta, too, until recently. Chicken lo mein was a go to in the beginning. Lately I've not been tolerating pasta very well. I also developed a mad sweet tooth. I eat a pack of Mentos every day along with way too many cookies. That sweet tooth is the devil.

Continue to do and be well. Best wishes to you.

Same, Sharon. I hate shopping, so I don't even know how I've managed to amass SO MANY clothes. Though I never like how I look in them, so many of them just take up space.

congratulations. Well done on your 2 year anniversary.

Woohoo, yay for you! Sounds like you've worked the sleeve exactly how it was meant to be. It's a new lease on life in my opinion.

What a great post! And I agree if you have the demon sugar in the house, for me it comes in a single serving, even if it takes me 2 days to eat it slowly. So I bake things for neighbors & husband, who can eat them, and just don't make the kinds I like.

I didn't like beer before (except a Guinness on tap once in a great while), and never did carbonation. Tried Kombucha - it was tasty, but not a happy stomach experience.

I was 65 when I had my sleeve as well, and best health I've had in about 20 years! :)