DrmBig4Evr

Well I think that it is a sad state in our society but I can now agree that thin people are treated differently than fat. Now that I am thin, people are way nicer to me and I get alot more attention in general everywhere I go. When I was fat people wouldn't give me the time of day.
Now it is nice to get compliments from co-workers; though it doesn't mean that you have to be friends with them. Be choosy as to you find really is interested in you whether fat or thin.

I would recommend giving people the benefit of the doubt. It can be frustrating to have people suddenly pay attention, but maybe they just didn't know how to talk to you before because they were shy or whatever. Now they have a compliment to open with, "You look great," and it makes it easier to start discussions.
Also I know I tended to look sad a lot at my heaviest. It's possible you were unknowingly pushing people away like I did, and now that you're happier, people feel comfortable talking to you.
You're a gorgeous woman, and you really do look great!

I was walking a couple of hours after surgery on March 4th, I walked around the block first day home. Two miles around the neighborhood two days later. The weather turned bad so I went to my gym and tried walking on a treadmill, I hate the treadmill, so I jumped on an elliptical and went for 35 minutes and have been going every day since, 45 to 60 minutes fairly hard HR around 150. I worked out hard before the procedure figuring I'd have a head start after I had it. So far so good...

apricot11119 as everyone else said, this is a very personal decision/choice
decision can't be made one afternoon on VSG board!!!!!
"years back" - as you "became an adult"??, things were "supposed" to happen
high school, maybe college, fall in love, get married , couple of years later - THEN, baby makes 3
doesn't work that way anymore!!!!!
you don't need to give birth to prove you are a women!!!
people want their careers, enjoy life - marriage? significant other? or happiness within themselves - without partner - or with???
"rule book" should/has been thrown away!!!!!
population explosion/unwanted kids
if you are doubting yourself even a "smidgin" about having kids - my opinion - go with your first thoughts
People will "get over it" - its not their business - and don't feel you have to explain yourself
I "hear" you are a successful weight "loser" - i can tell you are 100% a winner!!!!!
do whats best for you!!!!
good luck
btw - high school, married at 19 - beautiful daughter at 21 - divorced at 25 - remarried at 38 to a keeper for 21 years and counting - became a ProudGrammy at 47!!!!

I am a child lover. My entire life evolves around children. My education, my career, my life, etc. with that said, I have the utmost respect for people who make the choice to not have children. You know what's best! I admire that. I wish more people would actually think about it first. Good for you!
Personally, I would much prefer people that decide they don't want kids than to people who have kids and not want them
On a side note.. Hehe, I didn't have I motherly instinct in my body, mind or soul until I held my first born.

Well I had my kids very young. It is a very personal decision. Would I have more children? No, but I love them with all my heart. I think if I would have waited I wouldn't have had any kids or I may have adopted once I had my career and relationship solid. Now I am on a 5 year IUD and I am happy that I made that choice. My boys are now 11 and 18. With that said...I can't wait for grandkids (hopefully 10 years from now) because I have friends who I visit often and when their grandkids are around its sooo awesome.

Hello! Welcome!

Well I had my kids very young. It is a very personal decision. Would I have more children? No, but I love them with all my heart. I think if I would have waited I wouldn't have had any kids or I may have adopted once I had my career and relationship solid. Now I am on a 5 year IUD and I am happy that I made that choice. My boys are now 11 and 18. With that said...I can't wait for grandkids (hopefully 10 years from now) because I have friends who I visit often and when their grandkids are around its sooo awesome.

Beautiful as always! Great job! Keep it up!

I thought this was a bit humurous and thought we all could relate.

carminative

flatulence or abdominal pain or distension








Fennel is a carminative herb that helps alleviate gas after a spicy meal.

"Cumin seeds contain numerous phyto-chemicals that are known to have antioxidant, carminative and anti-flatulent properties, and are also an excellent source of dietary fibre." — From an article in Facts For You, May 5, 2012

I just signed up for classes in EFT, emotional freedom techniques or tapping. It's a simple, scientifically proven technique to help release negative feelings. It's also used in helping with weight loss goals. There are some videos on YouTube that show the technique. I am fortunate that my local hospital is presenting this class.
The presenter has a web site: www.YourTappingCoach.com.
You can also Google EFT or Tapping to get more information.

I'd talk to the patient advocate at your surgeons office or whomever is handling your approval. You can fight it and might be worth it. I tried to fight it but it didn't work so when I landed a job with better insurance I tried again with the same letter and diagnosis and I was approved. My thought would be to sit down with the insurance coordinator or whomever is working on the approval for you and put together an appeal package. It can't hurt.

How did I know you posted this!
Very good point!!!

I was recently at a support group meeting, headed up by a clinical psychologist. He broke it down like this. 100 additional calories per day, 365 days a year.....36,500 calories and that equals approx. 10 lbs a year. None of us went to bed thin and woke up fat. It happened over time, over years. One year you weigh 7 lbs more than you did one year before, but hey, it's only seven lbs, easy to lose. Then we get accustomed to it and that's that. Then the next year, 6 lbs heavier, but it's only six lbs. In two years, that is 13 lbs. That is how it happens, that is how it happened with me. I remember when I woke up weighing 180, 'at least it is WAY under 200'. OMG, then all of a sudden, in ten years I am in a constant struggle to maintain 225. Seriously!!!
Let's examine this, how easy it is to do this. For many of us, we can get an additional 100 calories just tasting while we are cooking. I suspect when we are cooking a holiday meal, we can get in an additional 300 calories or more. For young moms, eating what your toddler doesn't eat.....that adds up quickly. Shoot, a Quaker lower sugar granola bar is 100 calories!! Think of all the 100 calorie pre packaged stuff we can get.
In my opinion, this is why it is so important to stay on top of it, forever. Log what we eat, weigh and measure when you're at home. It's just so easy to go '100 calories' more than we should.

Good evening everyone! Just introducing myself here, my name is Yvonne.
I'm 31 years old, married, no children. I enjoy computers, video games,
painting/sketching, aquariums (saltwater & freshwater), my 2 cats, and
many other things.
I've been obese for a very, very long time. I was a chubby kid and a fat
teenager, transitioned into morbidly obese in my early 20's. Of course
I've always had issues with self-esteem, so with that I never really had
the desire to lose weight.
That changed of course when I met and married my husband, I started
becoming frustrated with how my weight effected our relationship and what
it meant years down the line. I decided I wanted to do something about
it, not only for us, but for me as well.
I've always been 100% healthy even with my obesity. I've never had blood
pressure problems, diabetes, cholestoral issues, or any co-morbidity
aside from a very light case of sleep apnea, and even then that was very
recently.
However, I also wanted to make sure none of them became a problem down
the line.
This is why I decided to opt for the VSG.
I started the process last year in July. I found a local surgeon, Dr.
George Woodman, and attended the required class. Unfortunately, shortly
after starting the process I was informed that my insurance company does
NOT cover anything coded "obesity", so this had made things very
difficult. I was able to secure a loan for MOST of the charges, but I
digress.
I obtained my pre-surgery work up and assessment from my primary care
doctor. Most of the bloodwork was covered, however I still had to pay
close to $1,000 out of pocket. It was also discovered that I had a minor
blood clotting issue, which I was referred to a blood specialist, and
even though it had nothing to do with my obesity I was still forced to
pay out of pocket for all of those tests.
Let me just say, I am not full of money, I live check by check.
Regardless, I met with Dr. Woodman after everything and was advised to
lose 30lbs due to my BMI.
My first weigh-in with him I was 360lbs, also note I am 4'11.
I was all set and ready to begin the required weight loss, I started
dieting and exercising. I managed to lose about 15lbs, then in August I
had a really nasty celulitis infection in my leg.
This put me in the hospital for a week. During this time I also had a
nasty break out of sores inside of my mouth due to the antibiotics, so I
couldn't eat anything at all. I also couldn't move or get out of bed.
After my week in the hospital I fell into a depression and gained back
everything I had lost during that time and a little bit more.
Finally in January I was able to shake off the depression and continue my
journey. I contacted Dr. Woodmans office and explained what happened, we
met for a new weigh-in and I was 367lbs. He still told me that due to the
anestiesiologists rules I would need to be less then 70BMI before they
could provide the surgery. He provided me a tenative date of February
13th.
I got back on the horse and managed to lose 25lbs by that date, and
thankfully the anestiesiologist accepted this and allowed surgery to
commence.
I really didn't have any issues, Dr. Woodman had told me surgery was a
bit rough due to my weight but he has had tougher situations.
Surgery went smoothly. My family and friends were there for me in the
hospital.
It's now been a month since surgery, and I've lost a total of 45lbs (this
includes the weight I lost before surgery).
I'm feeling a whole hell of a lot better. I no longer need a scooter when
I go shopping. Hell, I even went walking around the mall, something I
haven't been able to do in years.
I look forward to losing more weight, but for now I am happy with the progress I've made so far.
I have a question, what is the average amount a sleever loses in 1 month? I feel like I'm losing a bit slow.
I've attached a picture of myself, this one is recent.

I was not told no gum. Chewed some on day 5 following surgery. Accidentally swallowed it- panicked! Called my surgeon on the weekend, he said I would be just fine. 8 days later and I was and am perfectly fine.

I think that it is natural to fear regaining the weight. We all have been in the endless cycle of losing and gaining and losing and gaining again. I think you have to take a different approach this time with the sleeve. Sure there is a possiblity of gaining weight, IF you fall back into the habits that got you to point of needed the surgery to begin with. Learn those good habits early on in your process and you will have a better chance of success. We are very much like an former alcoholic that is just one drink away from going back to being an alcoholic. We have to focus a little bit more, work a little bit harder. That doesn't mean we can enjoy eating and eat the foods that we love, but use the sleeve as a guide. It will certainly tell you when you've done too much. Getting in the mindset that you will not return to your old ways is also key. I haven't done it yet, but I plan to cleaning out my closets and getting rid of anything that is too big now. I've been up and down the scale so many times, that I have clothes of every size. But no more. I didn't sprawl full out on a cold OR table and let a group of strangers cut out my stomach to go back to where I was. Keep a picture of your former self somewhere and look at it regularly to remind yourself of where you've been. I don't think that you'll go back to that person anytime soon. Hang in there!

That all makes sense then. Keep away from I guess dense carbs? Because they expand and thereby will expand your stomach. And in the beginning while your stomach is healing, it could become dangerous. Sugar, is addictive, high in calories, it will keep you wanting more. Caffeine, is a stimulant that keeps you from feeling full.
Did I get that right? If you have more info, I would love to hear it. Thank you for all the comments so far.

I really am working on not eating sugars because sugar is what has contributed to my past weight gain and diabetes. Sugar is addictive and you can eat a lot of foods really easy that are sugary. those foods are sliders. I choose to avoid sugars as much as possible and eat a wholesome diet focusing around Proteins and veggies. I eat or drink anything with caffeine in them now either. i don't miss it either. My plan is to eat healthy and balanced, like the Paleo diet. I even choose to eat foods that are organic without pesticides and antibiotics put in them. Healthy only for me.... I really love this. A side note, I am not perfect and will occassionally eat something that is not organic when eating at friends houses and restaurants. I love my new life style.....

I have my 2 Week post op appointment today with my surgeon. So far I'm down 38 pounds. 21 during my pre op diet, and 17 from my surgery. Hopefully he progresses me to the soft food stage! I'm really starting to get sick of just drinking Protein Shakes. I wan't real food!

I didn't even know that was possible. Things are slowing down now but that's okay. I know it's all going to work out
Sent from my iPhone using VST

Update, I was sleeved on the 8th! Feeling much better now. I will post a blog later today and give details of my experience! Good luck to all March Sleevers the ones already sleeved and the ones yet to be sleeved!!!

Im super excited. I must say my approval process was much shorter than expected. My consult appointment was 1/12/13...and already on the surgery schedule