JudyM

Brilliant news - thanks for the update - you must be feeling better by the day! Sooo glad your friend and her mom were there for you too x

Cindy - I didn't mean to leave you out, but not sure when your surgery date is? Just hang on in there - you have come a long way already, and it would be a shame to make a U-Turn just now. Try and stay positive xx

Dear Mary and Sherri - Here I am, also anxious about the 22nd!! All 3 of us on the same day!! I have been busy fiddling about with this and that... I have made some Soup that I have pureed and put into the freezer in little bowls ready for 'thick liquid' phase! I've done the ironing, dusted and polished, and I have exfoliated, trimmed, tweezed, plucked and conditioned myself.... I go in to hospital tomorrow afternoon, then home again Saturday, they said - France does like to keep you in hospital a long time (if I can get out earlier, I will!). I'm most anxious about the pre-med drowsy bit (I hate not being in control :001_rolleyes:) and the 24 hours after surgery. Other than that, I think I'm fine. I keep daydreaming about buying clothes in a UK size 12-14 instead of UK 22-24. Bring it on, I say! Let's be gorgeous slim girls together - I want to rediscover my ribs and cheekbones! 'Bon Courage' as they say over here!! Go girls!!! :thumbup::thumbup:

Bonjour! Well, it's Sunday. Off to the hospital tomorrow. I have to be there for 3.30pm, even though the operation isn't until Tuesday morning. I get a 'light supper' about 5 pm, then apparently I'm to have a shower and wash my hair with some antibacterial jollop that smells like drain cleaner! and again in the morning. The instructions are very precise on how and where to wash - makes particular mention of your bellybutton and between your bumcheeks :scared0: Hope they don't come and inspect!!! The hospitals here are very hot on preventing MRSA (do you have that in US?) by scrubbing everything and everyone to within an inch of their lives. Which is a good thing. I took the dogs up around our fields this morning - the sun is shining, birds were singing fit to bust. :thumbup1: I collected the eggs, did a bit of weeding in the veg patch and planted some more salad crops. Couldn't help wondering when I will do that next - not too long, I hope! Spent ages in the bathroom, used all my body scrubs and delicious shower gels (had already got rid of the 'lady garden' (TMI, I know :thumbup:)... Buffed my finger and toenails, did the cuticles... I'm scrubbed, smoothed, trimmed and fragrant as can be. It is all about displacement activity and that pretence of being in control again!! Tomorrow is my last blog entry before I'm a fully-fledged sleever! Can't believe it.. Will load some more radio programmes onto my iPod today - I have Book at Bedtime, Play for Today, the News Quiz and The Archers Omnibus x 2 and Desert Island Discs (All from Radio 4 and 7 - the Brits on here will recognise the progs!). French TV is so rubbish, it isn't worth me paying the equivalent of 10 dollars a day for my own TV.

Thanks so much for your kind comments. To know that you will be thinking of me, and that you know what I'll be feeling is soooo comforting, even though we haven't met! The support on here is truly phenomenal. x

What is the lung ball thing, ladies?

ohhhh nooo. I suppose it is something we will all face at some point. I hope you feel better now? Yoou would think chicken broth would be soooo innocuous, wouldn't you. Take care xx

This Time Next Week... is what I have been saying for the past month as in "This time next week: ... I'll have had all my pre-op tests ... it will be one week to go ... I'll be going into hospital ... I'll have had the op ... I'll be post-op And today, I can say, "This time next week: ... I'll be going home! I have set my sparkly new yogurt maker in action, so I can have guaranteed no bits yogurt when I get home. I imagine that cool yogurt is very soothing to a sore throat and tummy! I must go and redo my height and weight thingy on the ticker. :thumbup: My new scales are toooo good. With a BMI of 41.8, I really need this operation, and the new lifestyle after it. I do worry about the lifestyle thing though - the social side of eating. Being in France, so much of life revolves around having people around the table. It amazes me how French women in general are sooo thin! :scared0: I also love to cook and to please people by providing them with food that makes them groan with pleasure... Hopefully that will still happen, even though I am not eating as I did! there! I've said it. I was that glutton :thumbup1: Rest of today will be catching up on ironing, cleaning, dusting, cos it sure as hell won't happen while I'm in Le Clinique next week! I'll be packing my bag too - still no idea what I'm taking in with me! No flowers or plants allowed, and of course food or drink isn't appropriate. The shops sell French language magazines (which I can read okay), but Brit friends are all wondering what to bring in! One pal Clare has announced she is going to give me a pedicure and foot massage and paint my toenails - what a star! Am more worried about after-pain than anything else. And I hate being sick. Hate it - I cry like a baby. What a Wuss!! My Mum and her 'boyfriend' (both in their mid-80s) are off on holiday today for a week. They get home the same day I do! I haven't told my Mum, as she will worry. She thinks I'm working away from home for a week (we usually speak every day). She also thinks I am on the SlimFast diet, so will be looking for a weightloss when I see her in mid-July! I may tell her then... not sure.

I go into hospital on Monday for the VSG operation on Tuesday (morning, I hope!). I have been doing all sorts of mad things to try and pretend I have some control! This forum has been incredibly helpful; I have read everything everyone has written on here, whether it is relevant or not.... ! I'm almost all prepared for next week. I have all the tests done. No pre-op diet as Monsieur Boullenois (Boo-Len-Wah!) said it wasn't necessary when I asked him. I've nonetheless been drinking Slimfast drinks and having one light meal per day. Whether 7 days makes any difference, who knows?! I've had my hair cut and coloured, and my hairdresser Sophie gave me a fabulous pre-hospital deep conditioning treatment for free. Nice lady! I've been and bought some hair removal cream from the chemist to get rid of my "lady garden" No way do I want the infirmières advancing on me with their razors! I made them laugh in the pharmacy when asking for the cream, by mixing up the word la poêle (frying pan) with les poils (hair)... both pronounced the same... :scared0: Have also bought a ridiculously expensive set of bathroom scales, that also measure body fat and water content. 10 memories for all in the family to have their own weight loss program (There is only my husband and me, so will have to weigh the dogs, ducks and chickens to get my money's worth!). The scales show that the weight I put on the Tracker thingy is way off, so am off to amend that now! What else did I buy? Oh yes! A little plastic bottle with a very fine spray on it. I figured I could fill it with water and spray my mouth if it got v dry in hospital... Good idea or not? It was only 3 euros anyway, so can use it to mist the plants if it doesn't work for my purpose. And... (blimey!! how much did I SPEND today? :thumbup1:) I bought a yogurt maker. That was a bargain. 15 euros (about £10 - or 8 dollars). I've already got some 'brewing' - will see what it is like. Will need to think about flavourings. Oh yes, and a portable DVD player that was on offer. Thought that might be useful in hospital - French TV is pretty rubbish for the most part, and I have a lot of films I haven't watched so will take those in with me. Till tomorrow!:thumbup:

You cannot know how reassuring your post is!! I am grinning from ear to ear, as that will be me in a week's time! Well done. What is gasx? I know I will have trapped wind, (gale force, it sounds like!!) is Gasx something you can buy over the counter? I can look up the French equivalent...

:scared0: I am going to have a slimfast shake for lunch now, instead of the ham sandwich I had planned! Does anyone have a diet sheet I can follow for the last few days? I spoke to a lady who had her sleeve done 17 months ago with the same surgeon, and she had no pre-diet either. She is my motivator, as she has gone from a size 30/32 to a 16-18 (and is still losing, though more slowly now). She looks amazing...

Can you not say that you have been up all night with a tummy bug? Or perhaps that you are going out for a big meal with the family in the evening, so want to keep yourself free for that? Bless your mom! That is exactly why I haven't told mine! I live in France, so she just thinks I'm working away for a week and won't be able to get to the phone!

I don't have to have a pre-op diet either! I was really worried, the surgeon said it wasn't necessary.... I'm so glad I'm not the only one!

That is exactly how I feel - like there is a huge lump in my chest/back that I can't swallow out of the way.. and I haven't had my op yet! It goes if I chew an indigestion tablet. I have had this since my endoscopy thing (camera down the throat). I'm sure he scratched my oesophagus when he dragged it back out!:001_smile:

I suppose everyone handles it in their own way.. I have told some people, but some (including my Mum) I haven't said anything to, yet. I will probably tell people eventually, so I'm trying to avoid saying anything too specific... I did think about saying gall bladder too, but then thought - what if I do have to have a gall bladder removed later? What would I say to those who thought I'd already had it removed?? :001_smile:

The sore shoulder tip is also from trapped wind apparently! Well done on the operation - all these quick responses are giving me confidence for mine (I am such a baby, have a v v v low pain threshold!)

Hi Ladies! I'm British too - there is a website I found; will try and send you a link on here. I've just had all my pre-op tests, and am waiting for a date; if it isn't April, it will have to be back end of May, to fit in with my diary! I'm having the sleeve done in France, surgeon French of course - but it is costing me around 1600 euros (about ?1500) to get done, which is a bargain! How soon after the op are you 'up and about' again, and able to drive distances on your own? Judy x Here is the link for the UK forum: http://www.ukgastricband.co.uk/forums/viewforum.php?f=35