jencomenz

I went from a 36G to a 32D - and I use the term "D" very loosely, I literally roll a mound of empty skin into my cups every morning...

This would be nice! I currently attend the support group through my doctor but am one of only a couple of sleeve patients in a room full of bypass patients. This is close to Westside Church...am I thinking of the correct area?

I don't count calories, carbs, Proteins either. I eat what I want, when I want it and it's what works for me. I knew very early on that if I treated this like another diet with counting and restrictions that I would end up on a binge and so I don't deny myself anything and as a result don't desire the bad stuff nearly as often as I used to. At about six months out I confessed to the nurse that I had been "cheating" the whole time and that's when she told me that I'd discovered the secret to success...to stop being obsessed with food. Good food, bad food, it doesn't matter; if it's all you think about it's still controlling your life. Kudos to everyone else that's doing what works for them, listening to what their body tells them it needs, and finally Living Life to it's Fullest!!!

Yes I used my FSA account as well, it was a lifesaver!

So I was pretty much in denial about how obease I'd become. Losing 10, 20, 30, even 40 pounds didn't have much of an impact; I know, every little bit helps, but I was still above 200 and people still weren't noticing any changes. At 50 and 60 pounds gone people were starting to say "have you lost a little weight?" and in my mind I was thinking - a little are you kidding me? But my response was always "yes and I have a long ways to go" after all, I was only half way there. Not until 70 and 80 pounds did it finally hit me that holy moly I've lost a LOT of weight! Now I'm at 90 pounds, and on the inside I'm so proud of myself and my accomplishment, but on the outside I'm almost embarrased to tell people that huge number. Because that means admitting out loud that I had that much to lose in the first place, which has been hard for me to accept from the very beginning.

I had to take my nose ring out for surgery. I even changed it to a clear retainer to try and be able to leave it in but they still made me remove it. I guess it would depend on the hospital though. I was allowed to put it right back in after I woke up. Good luck on your surgery! Jen

So after thinking about it for months, and putting it off, I decided to join Curves (again) and got the support from my surgeon and even a WLS coupon for the sign up fee. This time I chose a location close to my work. The plan is to go on my lunch hour. This will a) keep me from feeling rushed after work and/or coming up with reasons I can't go c) keep me from eating out during lunch and d) keep me from, ahem, shopping too much during lunch. Seemed like a win win win win situation. I make my sign up appointment, walk in excited, and proceed to fill out the paperwork. One of my questions was if I would need a doctor's note to pause my membership during my first month post op. Well, I should have never said ANYTHING! The owner(?) proceeded to tell me that she did not support WLS and was going to talk me out of it. Kept saying things like "they are going to cut on you" and "that's just not natural" and "can't you just eat less" and, wait for it, "that's easy way out"!!!! It was all I could do to not get up and walk out of there. She even proceeded to tell me that her overweight son was signed up to have the surgery and she talked him out of it! Seriously? I got some digs in. Told her the statistics of perminant weight loss with surgery vs. without. Told her that being overweight just "is not natural" either. Told her that anyone that thinks this is the easy way out isn't educatated about the process. And I also told her that she should be ashamed of not supporting her son, that it isn't an overnight decision and it took a lot of courage for him to a) come to that decision and c) confide in her for support. She said he could lose weight other ways. I said has he? She said no. I said well those other ways aren't exactly working then are they. I thought about not going back there. But I need this. I need to incorporate regular exercise into my routine. I think it was good in a way. This surely won't be the last person I come into contact with that disagrees with my decision. And I feel like I held my own and knew the facts and answered back in an educatated and confident way. I'm just really hoping come July that I prove her wrong! Anyways the whole point of my rant is.....Isn't Curves for Women supposed to be one of the places that WLS doctors recommend? Maybe the employees need to take some information and/or sensitivity classes!

Hello ladies! There are several KC-ers on here we are in the Kansas City social group...feel free to join! Welcome and good luck Jen

There is a lot of discussion on the board if you search for Effexor. I take 150mg of XR twice daily and only missed 1 dose the night of surgery. Other than that I have been swallowing them whole since I got home. The only thing I've noticed is that I start to feel like I need my evening dose earlier than I used to (you know, that "feeling". blah) I've been trying to not eat or drink anything after I take my pill for a while to try and keep it in my stomach a little longer and see if that helps.

The best thing is to be honest with your doctor...and yourself. I lost 0 pounds during my supervised diet. If it was that easy we wouldn't need the surgery. This is the time to dig deep and figure out why you aren't able to stick to the plan. The more we figure out about ourselves before the surgery, the better.

My biggest incision looks like this too. I am going to the doctor tomorrow to have it checked out. I do remember having a spot like this on my c section scar too and thinking it wasn't going to heal. What actually happened is that instead of that part healing outside first, it was healing from the inside up. 4 years later it all looks the same. I'm hoping that my incision is doing the same thing and just healing "backwards".

I was JUST sitting in the bathroom thinking this exact same thing! Not to mention it took 5 days for liquids to even come out that end! Thankful I'm not going back to work for a month

I was just sleeved last week on the 12th... Jen

I just had my surgery on July 12 and am going through this now. The way my doctor explained it was that not everyone's spleen is attached to their stomach and for some reason mine was. They clipped the artery and had to just wait to see how the spleen would react. My spleen was angry and irritated and I ended up with the rapid response team in my room rushing me to a CT scan and a night in the ICU. ( Of course my Dr's calm explination was the morning after the fiasco ) They did not go back in and remove my spleen, they are managing my pain while parts of my spleen are dying off. I feel like I am significantly behind in my healing process because of this but it is getting a little bit better every day. I would love to hear from the others that this happened to and where they are in their progress now. Jen @~~~

My official last meal was at a japanese steak house. Wonderful food and fun to sit around the grill with my closest friends on my final night. However looking back I spent at least the last month frantically eating out all over town...I think they call this the "last supper" syndrome.