ProudGrammy

Hi Rootman WooHoo - doing the happy dance. You are terrific. What wonderful stats i have been "watching" you since i started in sleeveland 4 months ago, and people like you - do make me feel great. You have accomplished so much, reading about all your excercising et al, which BTW, I hate exercise keep on keepin on continued success kathy BTW please tell me what WCS is, thanx

Pookey What a hard time this is for you, every year going through this ordeal, your sadness with a happy time for you also. One life ending, another just starting, what a contradition this is for you. Take solice in the knowledge that mom is very happy for your successess. I truly believe your mom is looking down upon you, living for your happiness. Take solice in the fact that your happiness is most important to her. I am so sorry for your loss. Be strong, but "there is no shame in reaching out" All my best thoughts go your way kathy

Hi MG all people react to drugs differently. There can be emotional side effects from Keppra i was told. Nothing has happened to me - and i've been on it for 5 years. Hope that helps. good luck kathy ps - you are right, it is interesting and nice "meeting" someone on the board who also has epilepsy.

hi sallynew a couple of times at the way beginning - i also ate too fast- or didn't chew well. Boy did i learn my lesson the hard way, my stomach also hurt. theres not a choice, you have to eat slowly and you have to chew your food into small pieces. You had major surgery to help your weight situation, the sleeve is only a tool - you have to follow the rules. just have to tell yourself to eat slowly, wait 2-3 mintues between bites, and chew & chew food into small pieces. good luck kathy

hi toddg sorry you are going through this problem. I took Zophran when i was feeling nauseas. I would put it under the tongue to quickly dissolve. In about 20 minutes it started to work, and helped me alot. hope the dr. can help resolve the problem You are doing terrific on your weight loss, congrats on that good luck, feel better soon kathy

Hi MG Welcome I also was diagnosed with epilepsy at age of 16. I'm 58 yrs young now. I didn't even think of asking my surgeon or neurologist if it was ok to take my lametctil or keppra the night before my surgery, and morning of surgery - They had my records and I knew out of necessity i must take my meds. (fyi, i used to take depekote toa. ) Morning of surgery, i took my meds with the least amount of Water possible. You can ask your neurologist about taking the meds, if it makes you feel better. Best of luck on surgery kathy

hi Mita710 WOW never having surgery before - people usually feel nervous, anxious and stuff, and most of these people are familiar to surgery. But you being a newbie to surgery....well i think your feelings are even more valid. Its true, surgery should go just fine, hopefully someone is going with you for support, if not, tell a nurse that your a "virgin" and they should even be nicer, helpful, than usual. Ask them to explain stuff to you about the anesth..., what will happen etc. that will put you more at ease too. But the anesth.... guy will come in before surgery, as well as the surgeon, very briefly. Remember, your new life begins after surgery, a lot to look forward to. Take a bunch of deep breathes, make sure to breathe out too You will be fine best wishes kathy

hi julie three surgeries in one year. What a bummer. Really sorry. I'm sure if your PHP wants to do this surgery right now, its better to get it behind you,wish you didn't have to go through yet one more ordeal - hopefully this will be it - and your health will continue to blossom. As far as the insurance company "loving" you - my goodness we pay enough in premiums ..... now on to bigger and more important things - WOW you've lost 86 lbs. how terrific it that. WooHoo Good luck on surgery kathy

Even though these overweight people should be informed it is not our job - i don't think anyone could/should go up to a stranger and start this kind of conversation. No matter how true, and how well intentioned you are. I think you PHP should bring the subject up. I heard it said that they are afraid to. I feel this is ridiculous that your dr. can't talk to there patient about there health - thats what he's there for, to help you in all physical ways. So obesity is right up there. I went to the dr. frequently do to many health issues that of course were not helped by my excess weight. He would say periodically that i need to lose weight, but then he would drop it. One day i came into his office and asked him what his opinion was on me getting WLS. All of a sudden - the door was open and we had a great long discussion. kathy

egads - i am 58 and i never thought of this possible problem. of looking older. I have to admit i have a few wrinkles here and there,, but i can see how losing a lot of weight could make you look "saggy" etc. But the more important issue, we might look alittle older, but we feel alot younger. kathy

Actually..... it was my mistake - the 3 week stall does happen at 3 weeks - and lasts for different lengths of time - I misinterpreted (msp?) your question. my goof kathy

crazy4pluto I am so very sorry for all that you have had to deal with. It sounds terrible and i am glad you came to the board to vent. This is always the place to come. I'm so glad you are off your CP machine, blood pressure meds and that your knees are feeling better. I guess if you can, there are usually pluses to many stories. For people that post they are concerned about whether or not to have WLS - its good to know that even with your problems, you would still do the WLS again. Your throwing up, not eating much, sounds pretty awful. Glad you have lost all this weight, probably unfortunately some is due to how sick you have been. You sound like a positive person knowing that these awful things happen, but there still is that light at the end of the tunnel. I don't know what a stricture surgery is, but more surgery of any kind is terrible. Wish you didn't have to go through this ordeal again. hope you feel better My very best kathy

vivievixon Taking Zoloft and not wanting to be in pictures. hmmmmm - doesn't sound weird to me. Repeating what everyone else has said, so you believe it, the psych evaluation is no big deal. Don't fret about it. You'll do fine. Be excited for your new long wonderful journey that will bring you health and happiness. good luck kathy

Merydia, Really enjoyed your post. Especially your last sentenced. "I am so ready for what the future has in store for me" To me its always interesting to hear about families that make these large delicious meals that people love to eat that have millions of calories and fat upon fat. When someone (like you) says no thank you to certain fods they get upset. You are right that usually these families are obese. They don't want to see anybody of a regular size because that might eventually make them haveto look at themselves in a negative way. In my situation its the opposite, I have 4 siblings and my mom . they have always been normal sized or less. Very athletic as is mom who keeps "mentioning" me being overweight. Every year for my b'day she gives me a weght watchers cupcake. Anyways, instead of my family pushing food on me, they watch to see if i could please eat less. Oh well, what can you do? Well i guess doing the sleeve is the best thing for me. Glad you had a great Easter, eating well, yet still enjoying your meal. best to you kathy

hope2Bfitand40 hmmm, let me think about that hopefully in 3 weeks best kathy

I also had problems with my insurance company. My primary was Medicare, who denies the sleeve. My seconday, from work was blue cross blue shield, who usually accepts the sleeve. but wasn't sure. I kept calling blue cross, and calling, and calling......i finally got the positive answer i was looking for, didn't hear til i pestered them so much that they eventually worked with me and i got the answer i was hoping for. Don't give up, you keep calling too til you get some help back and then a good final word. Best of luck kathy

When I came home, the first six nights i had so many problems sleeping in bed. I sleep on my right side, and the stiches made me so sore - even when i tried to turn the other way i was in so much pain. I don't think i had any "solid" sleep, maybe periodically dozed off, i really didn't get any good sleep through the night.. Day 7, all of a sudden my side started to show an improvement, enough that i could sleep much better. I continued to slowly feel better enabling me to sleep much better. Good luck to you Sweet dreams Kathy

LBeauty, Your video was very good. i know you were self-conscious and nervous, you did great. I also hate having any type of pictures taken of me. You being brave enough for the camera for all of us to see, good for you. Now you will have records of your most important journey for the rest of your life. How great is that! I wish i did it, but the truth is i don't know how to use Utube - anyways keep up that good work.. Glad you did so much research, its great that you have support from you DH and daughter, and maybe others. Sounds good about your doctor too that will perform your WLS, also very importantly the dr. that will follow through with you where you live. I always wondered about people going to Mexico how they were helped when they came home. Nice to see you'll have assistance. You are right, having WLS is definitely not the easy way out, this is a frequent conversation on the boards. Many "outsiders" sometimes sightlently or otherwise think this is vertually a cop out , but of course we all know better. Good luck on your exams. I'm sure you will ace them. Have a great flight to mexico, but more importantly have a terrific WLS. Things will go really well, i can feel it in my bones. Anxious to hear about your new adventure, starting your great journey to the new you. Best wishes Good luck kathy

ken, under my picture there is a repeat of my name of likasulema. shouldn't it say something else like, member, newbie, something like that? no biggie prob. just thought i'd ask kathy

You can edit your member title here.

hi marisa,rose You are lucky that you are only 31 - as you've noted above many people, including myself wish they had this surgery years ago. at your age i hope you don't have any health issues yet, or only a couple. The past few months before surgery, before i was having my food funeral, it was amazing how weight just piled on in such a short time. If i had kept eating, going like this - would now weigh............ As far as mourning food - i'm 3+ months out and i am usually ok without "wanting" the bad food stuff.. But i'd be lying if i didn't say i sometimes think about lasagna instead of yogurt. oh well. But just "thinking" about it. the truth is i could have 2-3 bites of lasagna, but to me thats a tease, so i would rather not eat it all. It is hard realizing for the rest of your life you'll be eating smaller portions, but healthier, other good stuff, but it is so worth it. I can tell, you are smart enough to know that. i am so happy i had this surgery, it is a life saver. i'm glad you are coming aboard too feeling better about the surgery too. welcome aboard newbie. continued good luck kathy

smileygirl Awww girlfriend if this were the worst problem we faced.... Knock your socks off and have 2 spoonfulls of those yummy mashed potatoes, no it will not hurt your sleeve, and i promise no one will call the cops kathy

Smontgomery great deal about the dress. now quick quick, wear that lovely dress before you start and lose more weight. in the time "way back" i usually would make a run trying to pull up my panyhose. But......................................i cant' tell you the last time i wore pantyhose kathy

hi dee from down under Once you have lost a bunch of weight, you do have a tendency to start losing weight a little slower. But don't worry you should be able to continue and lose the weight, it will just take a little time, this can be common for many. g'day kathy

enid many people have "food funerals" the week or night before surgery. I did, and i don't really regret it Ok, ok - maybe i shouldn't haveone out, but my DH and i went out to Red Lobster (my fav) i totally pigged out, had a drink, lots of dinner and desert, really went to town. I lived to be able to talk about it though. So if you "cheat" the night before - they won't hang you from your toenails, i promise. good luck on surgery kathy