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A New Beginning
 

Moving Forward

Well, things are moving forward. Dr.'s office got the psych eval (I'm guessing since the guys with the white coats aren't chasing me, this must be a good thing). Today they contacted the insurance company, and low and behold they need more than they told me (twice!) when I called them before and after the seminar. Turns out (even though I've had the same insurance with the same company that last 13 1/2 years I've worked where I am) they need height/weight information for the past 5 consecutive years! Really!? Because over the last 13 1/2 years you've paid every claim I've had for primary and OBGYN, so isn't there somewhere, some way that you ALREADY HAVE THIS INFORMATION!? OMG! Anyway, I called my OBGYN and they pulled up the information and are faxing it to the bariatric center. (2 different hospitals) Now, I'm hoping this will satisfy what they need and I will be able to get approval so we can move another step closer to a surgery date and my new beginning!!
Blog 90465
 

People Please!

I really wish for all that is holy that people would stop getting lapbands in Mexico. Number one they are a third world country. Do you really want medical care there! I am a registered nurse and have seen the screw up from these doctors and patients. Don't do it! They don't provide the correct or if any pre op teaching so post operatively people are doing things that screw things up. Your health is worth a lot more than saving some money. Yes it is cheaper but have you ever thought why? Mexican doctors and I use the term doctors loosely do not receive proper medical training. This isn't the place to go to get a lapband.     I see it at work everyday and as a lapband patient I just nod my head in disbelief.
ICUnurserachel

ICUnurserachel

1
mimi-chan's Blog
 

The Start Of It All - Uk London

I am making video blogs so I will just post the link for it here. Its approx. 10 mins long and its an introduction to myself as well as some important points about the starting steps to lead you down the road to having a sleeve.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iE2thJPrXY&feature=plcp
mimi-chan

mimi-chan

0
WeightWatchMe's Blog
 

Scaling Back

Ok so today I made my Husband take the scale out of the bathroom and hide it from me....I was driving myself completely crazy...I would get on the dang thing everytime I walked by it...I mean I'm not sure what I was expecting to see everytime I got on it...I mean it's not like I was gonna drop 10 pounds every 10 minutes lol but apparently that's what I was looking for...But it's gone now and I only want to see it maybe once every 2 weeks....hopefully this will lighten the stress and craziness in my head!!!
WeightWatchMe

WeightWatchMe

3
Melissa's Blog
 

Less Than 24 Hours..... Hopefully!?!?

Here I am, writing this blog from the Detroit airport. I still can't believe how fast this day has come! I'm feeling happy, anxious, nervous, excited, scared.... etc.   While most people in my position would be worried about the procedure tomorrow, I'm more worried about getting to California in time for my procedure. I have sat through TWO cancelled flights and am praying I'll board and depart on the third booking. And then there's the connecting flight in Arizona.... ay caramba!   Please say a couple prayers for me. I need this and am beyond ready to begin this journey to my new, healthier life.
~*~ Melissa ~*~

~*~ Melissa ~*~

3
BarbH's Blog
 

Pre Admission Testing

I began this journey towards a healthier life in March. Finally I have a date, August 1, 2012. Today I spent the morning at the Barix clinic in Pennsylvania. I had preadmission testing. After agreeing to give them my first born child if I couldn't pay my bill, (haha, no one wants a .22 year old journalism major), the fun began. I stepped on the scale. I was down 6 pounds from my consult. This is only about 1 1/2 pounds a month, but apparently was not expected. Everyone who entered my room started with "Wow, you've lost weight already." I thought this was the expectation, after all we all want a tinier liver before surgery. In my exam room I was given a gown that actually met in the back. Wow, love a bariatric specialty hospital.   Next came the blood draw. My phlebotomist was excellent. As she says, "I do this every day" Thank God, because I really hate when people go fishing for my veins. Next the nurse came in to do an H & P, however the computer put a hate on her, so on to xrays. Had a total of 5 takes for 2 pictures, the first was fine, view 2- into the developer too soon. Repeat of view 2- artifact on the film from the developer. Shot 3 of the second view, I coughed which is not a good idea during a chest xray. Shot 4 after juice and a break=success.   Next up- Respiratory therapy. First up, she did my EKG- no I am not confused, small hospital- every one has multiple jobs. Lesson for the day- Powder and EKG tabs don't mix. Then on to spirometer practice. You get to bring this home to practice before surgery. One more thing on the list- looks like a hooka attached to a piston. Next pulmonary function tests or PFTs. Does anyone ever realize how hard it is to exhale forcefully over 10 seconds? Apparently the 4th time was the charm.   Yeah! Jen the nurse is back and has conquered the computer gremlin. She does a history, then gives me my preadmission and discharge instructions. What a great system. Patients should know what to expect before every surgery.   My next visitor is Elana. She is the dietician. I am now the proud receipent of a glossy magazine style book with all my rules and recipes for taking care of my sleeve. She also reviews how to read a label and gives protien shake samples. I wish you could sample all, because some taste like medicine instead of food.   My last hurdle- the independent physician exam. The good news, I passed, the bad, I still have low iron and ferritin levels as well as low B-12 levels. Back on supplements. How can someone who weighs almost 300 lbs now have enough nutrients? One of life's ironies I guess. After 3 hours I am on my way with a very heavy tote bag, B-12 tablets and overwhelming information. Now to digest everything in the next 2 weeks.
BarbH

BarbH

1
YellowRose88's Blog
 

July Update

Nothing has changed in the last two month weight wise. I'm still hovering between 181 and 182. I seem to have hit a hard plateau and struggling to get over it. I am still sprinting every other day and have added toning exercises on the days I’m not sprinting. I’ve stopped my morning walk at work because it is too HOT to come back presentable, LOL!!   I love :wub: the way I feel and can’t wait to drop the next 30 lbs. I do have an aftercare appointment next week and a doctor’s appointment the week after. I really think I need a fill. I have only had two and the last one was in April. Until next month…
yellowrose88

yellowrose88

1
boysfabmom's Blog
 

Glad I Found This Blog

I am 140 days post op (5months). Wow time has flown by. I have lost 27 lbs since my surgery date and 42 since the beginning of 2012. I have had 3 fills and i am just starting to get what the restriction should feel like. My last fill last Thursday was eye opening. To be honest I have been able to eat everything and with the occational vomiting. I had to get serious with myself and stop and evaluate what I was doing.   Taking it one bite at a time!.     Well I am glad to share and hear from you.   Take care all.
boysfabmom

boysfabmom

1
CdnExpat's Blog
 

Amusing Myself

This morning while spinning away my 30 minutes on the stationary cycle (I hate this form of exercise ) I was cruising the TED talk forum again, and came across this talk. This guy (Jared Ficklin) is a serious geek. I mean really. But, he's also fascinating enough to while away 10 minutes of my stupid peddling. This is the real gauge of any of the TED talks I watch. If the one I'm watching is fascinating enough to make me forget I'm sitting on a cross between an elliptical trainer and a stationary bicycle, it's a five-star in my estimation. (I'm not sure how others rate the videos, but I suspect they use a slightly different measuring stick.)   The comments after each video are interesting as well. There's always someone who criticizes, someone who wonders what the point of this talk is, and someone who believes that the speaker needs personal defending. Sometimes the comments will keep me peddling mindlessly for a few extra minutes after the video is finished. When the TED email comes out each week, sometimes it's a total bust. Everybody is boring or a horrible public speaker, or the subject is so mundane or esoteric I can't get into it. In that case, I go to TED.com and choose "Inspire Me" and ask for videos about the length of the time I need to cycle. So far, this random picking has worked out pretty well.   So while I'm exercising, I'm getting smarter - I can feel it. Just hearing all these talks by geeky, brilliant, quirky, famous, or creative people adds brain cells and grows my brain. (Did you know there's a great Ted talk by Thandie Newton?) So the whole process has been part of changing my lifestyle. I need to exercise... no, I choose to exercise, but I have to do something that will increase the likelihood that this is a sustainable behaviour change. I'm not going to run out and buy a treadmill (my preference over the wretched peddling) until I know the habit of exercise is a part of my new life. So I am making do. And I do that by watching TED talks.   Who knows? Maybe my IQ will go up as my weight goes down. Wouldn't that be something?
CdnExpat

CdnExpat

0
goal_will_be_met's Blog
 

Help!!!

I also went to the forum but figured I'd put it here ...I am not sure what to do...   I am not sure if I am in the green zone or too tight…If your in the green zone are you able to just take sips because to big of a drink hurts going down or comes back up? Same with food. What about gurgling…do you gurgle after each drink even water? I also burp a lot with water when I didn’t before I am just not sure if I am good or too tight…help!
goal_will_be_met

goal_will_be_met

3
sissy12's Blog
 

First Month...nailed It!

It's been a month today since my surgery, so I thought I'd add a quick update. The first week was HARD, lots of pain and discomfort
Week two was a bit better, but still painful and had major gas pain on my shoulders
Third week, the gas pain started to taper off, had very little energy
Week four, less pain but have started having the "pulling" feeling around the band area, still tire easily and have little energy
Total Lbs. gone for ever=18   Would I do it again? yes! What I would do differently? seriously do a pre-op diet. It wasn't required for me.   I'm looking forward to feeling more like myself in the next few weeks, I feel drained by mid-day, I also wish the swelling in my stomach would go down already...baby steps, I know...I know.
sissy12

sissy12

6
NuManMitch's Blog
 

48 Hours Post Op - Very Surprised And Pleased

Having read quite a bit pre-surgery, I knew there would be many different possibilities post-surgery. So far, my story has been a best case senerio. At the hospital, I walked quite a bit and the nurses were quite pleased with the amount and speed I walked. I think, because of this, I have no gas pains at all. Had a gallbladder surgery 12 years ago and my wife said I had terrible gas pains.   The pain I do have is in my chest which my doctor said is due to the hiatal hernia repair I had but it is better today. Been sipping on Ensure Clear and that is going down well. Gain 2 pounds in the hospital, which made me laugh. Figure that will disappear soon enough.   So far, I am happy with my progress and am trying to be good and compliant with my recovery plan.
NuManMitch

NuManMitch

3
dpeeler28's Blog
 

5 More Days!

Well Monday is the big day!! i have so many thoughts about the whole thing that i cannot sleep! i'm doing ok on the preop diet, i'm down 10 pounds as of this morning. Hopefully i can get at least 5 or 6 more off before Monday.   Yesterday i was sitting in the car with my mom and out of no where i blurted out--what if i look like a big wrinkly prune when it's all over with??!! my mom started laughin and so did i! i realize this is the best choice for my health, but i'm super nervous!
dpeeler28

dpeeler28

2
Sleeve Newbie Too's Blog
 

A New Day Today

So, woke up feeling rather normal this morning. Had my oatmeal for breakfast -(pureed time) YUMMY. I actually started enjoying my oatmeal. Next week I will go back to my oatmeal with flaxseed. Tired of eating suagr free popsicles to help with my hydration. Drinking G2 to help with it. Forgetting to take my vitamin at night, Morning ritual coming along nicely. Still wondering why I went through with this - and trying to let that go as it is time to move forward. My newest friend , Ann M., has assured me things will get better. She is 5 weeks out and sems to to be doing well! I have no pain anymore. Still have numbness which feels wierd... 2 of my 4 sights have healed beautifully. The drain hole still looks strange. Wondering why the doctor didn't stitich it closed once the drain was removed. All the 1uestions come up now that I am no longer fuzzy from any pain meds. HAHA My son hugged me the other day and said, "WOW. MOM! I can hug you, I mean REALLY hug you!". Validation for sure. I think I will hold onto that for today and smile. Have a good day everyone!
Just Keep Swimming

Just Keep Swimming

1
Mimi's Journey 07/03/2012
 

Puree Stage In Progress!

Ok. Today I started the puree phase. Now it's two weeks of blended loveliness. I went a little wild though and felt that I overindulged. My tummy took it all in well. I added pureed Turkey pastrami to the mix! It was WONDERFUL. A very refreshing change from creamy chicken broth and SF jello.   The good thing is that I stopped myself from spiraling out of control and started labeling and prepping my meals in these little cups. I also created a nifty little meal planner worksheet in Excel to schedule my meals and track my calories. (I know there are apps for it, but I think mine will work better for me!).   Since I'm not on full liquids, I'm going to try to focus on the meal guidelines and teaching myself how to not drink 30 mins prior to or 30 mins after my meal. Incorporate that in my new lifestyle changes and train myself to eat on the schedule.   After looking for several timers, apps and watches, I finally just set my scheduled times as alarms in my Iphone to make sure I eat on schedule. I-phone let's you add several "alarms' in a day. Got a new arm band for it so that I can keep it on me in the office too.   I'm fearing that as I progress to "regular" foods my old triggers will come into play and I'll sabotage my progress. The thought of failing after all this surgery bruhaha would be devastating to say the least. I don't want to contemplate a step so far backward that I actually hurt myself with food....On the other hand when I really think about it I've been hurting myself with food for the past 15 years and did a bang up job at it!   Geez, see I just took a step back with that last comment alone. I'm hopeless!   Also I'm having a COPIOUS amount of gas the past two days. It's embarrassing! I'm not hurting just tootin away (I know TMI...my apologies again).   Very tired now...will have more to say tomorrow....BACK TO WORK DAY!
Mz_Elle

Mz_Elle

3
NewJourneyMom's Blog
 

2 Days Post-Op

Hi everyone! I am 2nd day post-op. Yeah, I have been sleeved! Yesterday and the first half of today were extremely rough. But things have started to even out this afternoon and am finally getting a little bit of clear liquid down. I hope to get to go home tomorrow but they haven't had me up walking yet so may be another day or so. I am very thankful to have this opportunity to change my life and become the mother I want to be and that my children deserve. I love reading about everyones journeys so keep the info and advice coming.
NewJourneyMom

NewJourneyMom

2
Sweettenshi247's Blog
 

Crazy Day

I only told my mother, brother, and my aunt that I was doing the sleeve (aunt still not sure.)I really couldn't tell my father cause he shuts down on me when I talk about. The reason is My mother had the roux en y in '05 and less than a year my mother left him. so weight loss surgey, bad taste in mouth. My dad decided stay home today, and when I went to grab a bowl of cereal, he asked " Have you decided on what surgey you doing?" I was shocked. so I told him about the sleeve and my reasons.He said that he support me. How happy I am about that, I feel... i don't know, weird about it. I just hope i'll get over the overthinking.
Sweettenshi247

Sweettenshi247

0
I'm in control now.
 

109

109 lbs gone in less than 6 months. I'm very happy about that. I'm wearing clothes I haven't worn in years (thank god I saved them) and I feel really great. I need to work out more. I know that being more active because I can helps a lot, but I need to do the extra too. I'm so satisified with my decision on this surgery. I have ZERO regrets. I don't even regret that I didn't have it done sooner really because I think my experience wouldn't have been as great as it was with Dr. Almanza. I have had zero complications - I've not overeaten, I've not had any dumping or reactions to food. If I crave something, I have a bite and either throw the rest away or give it to my hubby to finish and I'm satisfied. I've never really had an overeating problems since I was a teenager (which wasn't about anything other than being starved by my mother) - once I dealt with that, it wasn't ever a problem. Now its more about eating all the protein that I can fit in my stomach. I take my vitamins as well. I know I need to get more veggies in and I do try. I feel that I'm on a good path and I'm looking forward to staying on it.
circa

circa

5
GiGi's Plication Surgery Blog
 

Had My Surgery Yesterday!

HI fellow Plicationers,   I made it through the storm (Pre Op Diet) then through the Hurricane of surgery. I was brought back to Surgery at 6:30am yesterday July 16, 2012. The nurse went over what was going to happen. I was given a shot in my belly fat which was a blood thinner, an IV was started and they gave me an antibiotic. At 7:30 I went in for surgery and 3 hours later I was waking up in post op. I had a horrible pain on my right side that was horrible. They said it was due to the way I was laying during Surgery. I was taken to a post op room and I was pretty out of it for about an hour. During that time Dr. Ponce came in and rubbed my side and said it was a muscle. I had no nausea and still have had none. I was able to drink fluids and walk around and my blood pressure and oxygen was good so they released me about 1:30pm. When I got home I went to bed but woke up every two hours to walk around and do my breathing treatments.Every 4 hours i took my nausea pill and my muscle relaxer. I had bought some Isopure and using a sippy cup finished that off. It is a liquid ready to drink and has 40 grams of protein. So that has been my routine for 24 hours. I moved from my bed to the recliner and didn't sleep as much today. I have a friend over helping me and my Husband has been helping me too. I was taking thel iquid Loratab also. I am going to stop taking the Loritab now and see if I have any actual pain. My throat was very sore and it was very hard to talk.Today I had a can of vegi broth and another Isopure and a jello. I feel okay just a little strange inside. The gas is still in my body and I am about to take some prune juice and see if that get's me to use the bathroom.   Everyone seems pleased at my progress and I hope I feel even better tomorrow. I know this is short and will pick up again tomroow. Right now everyhting seems sorta floating like. I am just trying to drink as much water I can so I am not dehydrated.   Peace folks... I will check in tomorrow!
GiGi

GiGi

0
tammy1126's Blog
 

Anxious

Hi - This is the first time I have ever blogged. I am due to have the sleeve this Thursday, July 19 and am a little afraid and anxious at the same time. Would appreciate any feedback.
tammy1126

tammy1126

5
Kekeboo's Blog
 

Day 1 And 2 Post Op

I am hanging tough through a tough time. I have NO regrets, I am just posting the facts. I am sore and the gas bubble are excruciating. I am taking gas x strips, it is not helping. I am walking as much as I can, it's not helping. I am just biding my time until I am past the initial aches and pains. I know this will be easier in a few days, I am excited to get to the point where I can see some results. I know it's based on my actions, I am 100% dedicated. I couldn't imagine going through this much pain and not follow through.
Kekeboo

Kekeboo

6
A New Beginning
 

Help In The Strangest Places

I was skipping around reading different posts on Facebook, and found an article by Dr. Laura Berman (you know, the sex therapist on Oprah), and she's talking about her challenge of fighting breast cancer and what it's like going bald during the chemo treatments. While reading that article, she said something that struck me SO deep, that I wanted to share in hopes that it hits someone else too. You see, I'm scared to death of who the "new me" will be. Will I still have my self-deprecating humor? Will I still enjoy what I do today when I'm thinner? Will people still like and love a thinner me even though I've been overweight all my life and this is how people identify me? I'm going to have to learn that my overweight self today isn't want defines me. That being a thinner me and having health and happiness is OK! Here is the quote:   "It is amazingly empowering to let go of something you think defines you, only to discover you are a truer version of yourself without it. It’s like letting go of an anchor that’s holding you down." ~Dr. Laura Berman   I'm ready to meet that truer me!!

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