Bryn Dawson

I breathe through both my mouth and nose when I sleep (mostly my mouth.) I also can't tolerate a normal full-face mask because the bridge of my nose is a big bump (genetics and a couple breaks when I was a kid) and the full face masks were wearing the skin off it big time - hurt like a b**ch. So I have the Resmed Liberty mask, which has part that covers just your mouth and then has nasal pillows to handle the nose part. I find I don't swallow air this way, nor do I get chipmunk cheeks or any of the rest of the complaints you see with full-face masks - I don't even have leaks very often. Maybe trying this mask would help?

Good luck! Please post and let us know how you are doing when you are feeling up to it!

Help! I'm being eaten alive by the what-ifs! Like 'what if it doesn't work' and 'what if I'm miserable for the rest of my life' and 'what if I'm always nauseated' and 'what if I can't eat solid food' and what if, what if, what if... Ugh. And my surgery is still a week away. I gotta calm down and I can't. Help!

Congrats on getting a date!:cheer2:

Every single one of you rock my socks. I'd be up sh*t creek if it wasn't for you folks. All the support makes me kind of sniffly, in a good way. Thank you all so much. You have helped immensely.

Thank you all for your responses... I am breathing and trying to keep things in focus. It is helping some. You all are right - I would have way more what-ifs if I DIDN'T have the surgery. Thank you for the perspective, everybody! Hopefully this is the last of the jitters.

Please add me to the July 12th list! Thanks!

I've been taking Prilosec OTC for over a year (over two, actually) and haven't fractured anything. I'm willing to take the 25% increased risk, me. It's better than having acid reflux every day. My body, my choice.

Condolences to you and both families. I am glad you have reached a decision.

Every time I think I have something insightful to say, Crosswind beats me to it. Excellent post, Crosswind! Just to throw my (probably obsolete) 2 cents in - I think what will be part of it for me is that I have spent the last 6 months focusing on a BIG turning point - THE SURGERY (dun dun dun!) So now that I am about to go through that, it is the biggest thing on my emotional horizon. Once that is over with, the biggest thing on the horizon will be GOAL WEIGHT. But that doesn't take into account the HUGE journey between SURGERY and GOAL WEIGHT. It's a lotta miles of road to cover between the two, and its easy to gloss over the journeying that will be taking place. I try to remind myself every time I start feeling down like you that walking the path is just as important as getting to the place to which the path is leading. I love the path already, but I do need reminding from time to time that I'm walking it - it is not the Autobahn and I am not driving a Lamborghini. (This is also why my weight loss ticker dude is a little snail.) Speaking from experience with depression (I'm Bipolar II and have suffered depression on and off, mostly on, since I was 8 years old,) there is nothing that is unreasonable about it - you ALWAYS have a reason, even if you can't identify it and neither can anyone else. You spoke quite clearly on your reasons, so this isn't the case with you. Don't beat yourself up over being depressed - it happens. Seeking counseling or seeing a psychiatrist may help. Psychs can write scripts if they feel you need it. Also remember - counseling isn't everything. Sometimes medication is in order, and that is OK. Unless you turn out to be bipolar like me, you won't have to be on it forever. Just until things start getting brighter for you. Which I hope they do, very soon. *hugs*

Hi all, I'm still pre-op (only for 12 days more, yay!) but I'm posting here because I think I'll get a better response - basically what I want to know is: What is a 'slider' food? I have seen this term used a lot and I don't know what exactly it means. It's not a term my NUT uses. Any help would be appreciated. I feel dumb not knowing. Thanks!

Thanks all for all your responses! I have a much better idea of what this term means now. Have a happy holiday weekend! Bryn

I have had a similar experience. I have Bipolar II and for me that feeling of being stuffed not only brought security but relief from the bipolar depression for a little while. It has been VERY hard to learn to live without that feeling, but it IS possible. I have learned to feel satisfied (not the same way, but still satisfied) after smaller portions and not feeling stuffed. It also helps that I over-stuffed myself once and was fully conscious of the misery it caused after being on smaller portions for so long (6 month supervised diet.) All I can say is that it IS possible. Every one of us has to find our own motivation to deal with it, and we all have to find our own replacement for that security. Welcome to the world of emotional eating. Know that you can do it. It is not impossible.

Congratulations and great job! I am so impressed!:cheer2:

Wow, I see a lot of other Marylanders here. Hi! I'm in Cockeysville/Hunt Valley area! I am not with Dr. Cantor or Holy Cross - I'm actually going through the COMP program based at GBMC in Towson. My surgeon is Dr. Peter Liao. I don't know how many of you are close to Baltimore, but might it be worth it to switch over? He has no long waiting period to start with, just go to the seminar and schedule your first consultation from there. The other doc in the program, Dr Moeinolmolki is similar. This may speed up your process or may be completely off the wall, not sure. Just wanted to throw my 2 cents in.

Congratulations on your approval! Go you! :cheer2:

I can completely empathize with your situation. I had an ongoing issue with my insurance that was only resolved on Tuesday, so I know how you feel. It's hard to jump through the hoops, especially when they feel redundant or arbitrary, and it's hard to know you're stuck to the timetable of the insurance passing info back and forth with various doctors when you want to be on your OWN time table and have the surgery like yesterday already. I can only tell you what others told me, which I didn't want to hear at that point but which I knew was true: This too shall pass. You can do it. Just hang in there. You're not alone - many if not all of us have been through it too. *hugs*

Oh my god, this killed me. I am literally sitting here in tears from laughing so hard. I MUST find this book now and own a copy of it. Mittens, indeed. *snort* THANK YOU for sharing!

I am glad to hear that you are feeling better, Leslie. Detox is always the hardest. I have actually GAINED a pound so far going on the low-carb as my body tries to figure out what the heck I am doing up here in brain-land. Poor body. It's in for a real shocker in a couple weeks! LOL I usually have emergency cheese sticks and some emergency pepperoni around - Hormel makes a turkey pepperoni that is low in fat AND low carb and I am all about it right now while the hunger wears off - for some reason switching to low carb always makes me hungry for the first little while.

Big Sis, I am sorry I don't have more info for you about the BO issue, but I have to join in and say how proud of you I am for your weight loss. If you can take this much off BEFORE surgery, you are going to leave me in the dust afterwards! Go you!

Yay! Congrats!

Hi All, Guess I should introduce myself. I'm Bryn; I've only just started this weight-loss process but I am 99% sold on the VSG and this forum has so far proven to be a GREAT resource that I am glad I found! So many of you seem very nice and friendly, incredibly knowledgable and from so many backgrounds that 'troubleshooting' seems like it will be, if not a piece of cake, at least easier than it would be on my own. I've been overweight since I was a little kid (like 8 years old) and obese (I hate that word) since I was 20 or 21; I'm 32 now. Some of the symptoms I am having of being so big are debilitating (back pain) so the lightbulb eventually went on and I decided I needed to do Something Big. Hence Operation New Leaf. Based on what my insurance will cover (I am SO lucky here) I have selected the sleep Study: 1/21-22/11 EKG: 1/22/11 Bloodwork: 1/22/11 Psych Eval: 1/26/11 (I am bipolar, so am having my regular psych do this instead of one of the GBMC-COMP in-house psychs) I am both excited and scared by the long road that I see in front of me, but I know that I can do it. Moreover, I know that I have to or the life that I want to live will be beyond my grasp. These new leaf things are awful heavy! Nobody warned me! Anyway... that's my story so far. Best, Bryn

Well, things are still going along as they do. I just got my approval yesterday and am pretty SQUEE about that - it kept me from falling asleep last night, in fact - I had to take sleeping meds for the first time in a long time to get to sleep. I was like a kid with a new pair of shoes! Monday I started my low-carb pre-op diet - less than 100g carbs, 2 Meal Replacement shakes plus a 'lean and green' meal. So far I'm doing well on that, though the scale hasn't moved yet. Silly scale. Don't you know you're supposed to make me happy? Surgery will be proceeding on July 12th. Less than 2 weeks away, now. I'm excited about it. The nervousness hasn't hit yet. Another milestone reached. Next one's the biggie. Then it's just a matter of staying on the right path! Thanks to all for their various encouragement and congratulations and all that good stuff. This forum has been incredibly helpful in preparing me for the surgery process and beyond. You should all pat yourselves on the back. Hugs from me!

Don't give up. Your body is going 'WTF?!' and holding on to every last bit it can because it thinks it is starving. It'll settle down, just give it time. This is why they say for us to stay at 1200 cals or above - our bodies go into starvation-mode on anything lower and don't want to give up the goods. But it's okay! Just stay on-track and the weight will start coming down. It takes a little while. Good luck, and congrats on making it through the first 3 days - they're always the hardest!