PhatGurl80

Okay, so I've really been trying to tackle this 14 day pre-op diet. A protein shake for breakfast, one for lunch, and a sensible green salad with a protein for dinner. Sounds simple right? WRONG! I'm doing well with the shakes and vitaminds, but once I get home from work it's all over. It's almost like I can't STOP eating once I get home. I have my salad and grilled chicken, but I find myself foraging on my son's mac n' cheese, or my husband's steak or whatever else they have for dinner EVERY NIGHT. And they don't stop me either. Maybe subconciously I'm going into panic mode thinking I won't have those foods ever again? I don't know. But now i'm 6 days pre-op and i REALLY want to do welll these last few days. Starting Monday I can't have anything but clear liquids, but If I can't master this now, how am I goign to do after surgery???????

As I inch towards my VSG on August 11 ( in Tijuana), i feel like I'm getting expontially more anxious, nervous, just plain crazy! I find myself logged into VS Talk and other websites every waking movment of the day, even while i'm at work. I have it on my phone....it's ridiculous. I think part of my anxiety comes from the fact that 1). I"m leaving the country for one 2). paying cash money and 3). Not sure how my afercare will play out once I get back to the states. And boy have I read some horror stories....but on the flip side, so many positive stories. I can only hope that I don't fall into that small category of folks who now are dealing with compclications. I mean, I think about this so much, I started having psychosymatic post-op pain in my gut. lol. I even feel like i might vomit after I eat my normal meals...crazy, right!?! Anyone else going as crazy about this as me???

Hi Brandnew2011, I just pin pointed my next available time off and sent my request to rescheduling for September 14th. So, if all goes well, i'll still be having surgury with Dr. Garcia, and I can still give you the run down on my experience. I've emailed him a couple of times with a list of questions which he (or his medical staff) thoroughly answered. I feel much less anxious that there weren't a bunch of posts about him on the forums. I'll keep you updated on my date! Thanks for your condolences. It is greatly appreciated

I may be late to this post but I agree with not going with depo. Especially if already on it long term. A few years ago I stopped taking BC altogether to see if that was the cause of my weight gain. Plus I think the depot was making me go crazy! When I got back on bc I went with The Nuva ring. It stays in for 3 weeks and on the 4th I take it out and have my period. I love it and so far no significant weight gain that I can tell. Only thing is it's hella expensive and your insurance may not cover it. I know mine doesn't and theres no generic

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and prayers! Grandma will be laid to rest shortly, but she will forever be with us in spirit. Rescheduled my surgery for the first week in September. Thanks again for everyone's kindness and I'll be sure to keep updating everyone on my Sleeve Journey.

Sad news today. My grandma passed away just last night. I'm alll the way in Louisiana and she's in Philly. Needless to say I am postponing surgery a little while. Hopefully I will be a September sleever. Good luck to everyone on their journey!

Ha! Little burgers....I was thinking about those too!

Phew! Okay guys I saw the cardiologist! And he said in his own words, "There's nothing wrong with you". LOL. I was so relieved to hear that! What he also said though is my weight had a lot to do with why the reading appeared to be normal. Apparently my boobage hindered how the electric signals got through to my heart and back. He ended the appointment with telling me I need to diet and lose some weight. Go figure!

Oh wow. I had no idea! Thanks for sharing!

I've been using calorie counter app by fat secret.com . It works great for me and never any complaint. Actuallybeen using it for about 2 years now. Use on your phone or computer.

Just Fyi... If you buy five 365 brand vitamin or supplement you get the 6th free. This includes protein powder. They'll give you a punch card to keep track.

Sorry just read the bottom of the card " Little Rock, Tulsa, Houston, San Antonio, Louisiana stores only" But I'm sure if demanded they'll expand to other areas as well. Happy Wednesday!

Thanks Marie. I'll keep everyone posted!

Hi MsSlim, From all the reading I've done on the forum, it seems it just depends on the Dr. I've seen some who are 14 days purely liquid or only 3 days of liquids. My doc put me on protein shakes for breakfast and luncjh then lean meat and leafy veggies for dinner. It's only during my last 3 days that I have to do all liquids.

Hi ladies! My surgey is August 11 (next week). I'm struggling with my pre-op diet. Just no self control. The first few days I did great and lost about. 6 lbs, but now with 9 days left to go I feel like I'm failing. This is the exact same diet rut I get myself into over and over and over.... I am hoping that after surgery o will finally find some relief! Good luck to all u ladies!

I tell people I have a lot of muscle underneath all this fat. I just need to exercise a little!

Go Hokies!

Hi there. Only two ppl know I'm going to Mexico. My sig other and my bff. Surgery date is Aug. 11,yikes! When's yours? With who?

I know this is a weird question but does anyone know if its safe to have colonic done after being sleeved? I'll make sure to ask the doc as well but as just curious if anyone on here had experience first hand. Thanks!

**UPDATE** At two weeks until my surgery I took some of everyone's advise and went to see my primary care physician. I felt like a teenager that had to break the news to her parents that she banged up her car lol. I was kind of nervous, so while Iwas getting my 'well woman' exam, I started talking about bariatric sugery and eased into telling her I needed some pre-op tests before traveling overseas. To my surprise she was very receptive of the whole situation and even added in a couple extra tests so I can take those results with me . Overall, much of my anxiety has gone away because now I feel that i do have a local medical professional that I can go to for any hiccups I face after the surgery. What a sigh of relief...Sigh...

bxmama2011 I didn't see your post until today! I pray that everything went well with your surgery. Let me know how you're doin!

Today is Thursday July 14, 2011 and exactly 28 days from my Verital Sleeve Gastrectomy. Well, like many of you, I came to the point where my confidence that I'd be able to one day slim down finally crashed and burned. I finally came to a point where I felt that even with all of my dtermination and hard work, I simply could not pull off what seemed to be a minor adjustment in diet and exercise. I've been on that diet roller coaster for too many years, I've been living with that perverbial monkey clawing at my back for way too long. In September of 2009, I had a very casual phone call with my very best friend from childhood. She lived in Raleigh, NC and I lived in St. Louis at the time. We've shared many things with eachother including an uncanny resemblance to eachother which caused people to beloeve we were beyond the "blood sisters" that we ceremoniously donned eachother back in the 4th grade. We were both weighing well into our 200's.... me at a staggering 250 and her at 238. In that seemingly routine "catch up" conversation she dropped the bomb. "I"m going to have the Lap Band surgery." What in the world? Did she honestly think she was so obese that she had to have some kind of invasive surgery. Was this her only choice? I shared those concerns with her and in addition secretly chalked her decision up to the fact that she was just lazy and didn't want to exercise. Afterall, it's all about the math...less calories in and more calories out. I got the picture. I was so convinced that this was the only way that weight loss would be met and kept. So, in the next coming months, I was as supportive as I could be when she called and told me aobut all the many Dr. appointments trying to "qualify" for the surgery through her insurance. Around January of 2010, she was hit with the bomb that her coverage would be denied because her BMI was not high enough for long enough. Her hopes went flailing down the toilet. And my secret objections to it all were satistified. In the meantime, I did get curious about it. I talked with my insurance carrier just to see if it would be covered and of course it wasn't. So, any flighting thoughts of me having this kind of surgery as well were quickly spat on. But behold! in February she told me of another plan she concocted to leave the U.S. and have surgery in Mexico! WTF?!?! NOW she really IS nuts! Then I decided to get serious with my diet and exercise to prove to her that invasive surgery wasn't needed. In June 2010 she got the Sleeve done and 6 months later I saw her for the first time when I went to visit for Christmas. Ironically, I posted the below exerpt from a blog that I had on Fatsecret.com "While visiting a friend in NC over the holidays, I did a lot of thinking about why it's been so hard for me to lose weight and keep it off. My friend, is 6 months into recovering from a weight loss surgery called "the sleeve". It's a procedure where they take 80% of your stomach to keep you from eating a bunch of food at once. She described how she had to only eat liquids for a whole two months afterwards and now when she eats solids, it's only a miniscule amount...too much will cause her to throw it all up (which I also witnessed). I gotta say, she went from about 240 lbs (similar to my weight) and now she's a svelt 1401bs. In only 6 months. Her body type was such that she didn't look obese or overweight, her BMI wasn't even high enough for Doctors in the US to operate (she went to Mexico), yet she decided that having her stomach removed was the easiest route to weight loss. I brought this up to my significant other and since he's a great man who only wants to see me happy, he offered to send me to Mexico as well and have the surgery. So, now the very wish that I've had for years has been sat right down in front of me. In the past few days, I"ve thought long and hard about actually having this surgery and what it would imply about who I am as a person. Am I the type that takes the easy road? Am I the type that takes the hard road for no reason? Would I be giving up? Could I just work really hard to exercise and get better more healthy-looking results? I'm not sure exactly what to do here, but I know that psycologically and physically, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to have this type of surgery. We can afford it, then I would drop more than enough pounds to fit into the wedding dress of my dreams...but I think i'm stronger than that. I think I can do this the natural way and feel much more accomplished once I hit my goal. And I WILL do it." Looking back at that blog excerpt I still feel like I gave up. I feel like that all that hard work I put in to eat right and exercise was so useless that that reason I've opted for the Sleeve is because I'm a failure. Is it just me? Does anyone else feel the way I do? So, this past May of 2011, i convinced myself that going to Mexico and paying $5K would be the best thing for me to do. And I'm a big ball of emotions right now, I'm not really sure how to handle the feelilngs I have about feeling like a failure for doing this. I also find myself saying things like "oh when I get skinny, i'll be able to shop at ___ store..." Scary. So on to the next level of my first blog: Going to Mexico. I used the same coordinator as my friend, Sandy at A Light Me. She set me up with a relatively newer surgeon by the name of Fernando Garcia Govea at a newer hospital. My insurance company doesn't want anything to do with weight loss. Seriously. I can't get anything covered concerning weight loss. But, I can however, get reimbursed through a flexible spending account for gym or nutritionist if my Dr. writes a note that says I need it because i'm obese. But what if I don't have a flexible spending account... Thank God I do, but really? Why can't something like this be covered by my carrier. They'd rather pay for me to be in the hospital for heart attack due to clogged arteries. So Mexico, here I come. Over the next few weeks...months really, i'll be documenting my experience and ferociously lapping up all of the the other postings out there from people who are also going through this. To everyone out there in the blog-o-sphere, good luck! And I pray that everyone gains what they are searching for. Current Weight: 270 BMI: 43.6 Height: 5'6" Age: 31 Goal Weight: 170-180

Kemo46 - I am having my surgery with Dr. Fernando Garcia Govea at the Mi Doctor Hospital. I've been going back in forth via email with all sorts of questions with him and my coordinator Sandy. How long ago did you have the surgery?

Ha! Well I actually feel a little better after I got that off my chest . Thanks everyone!

August 11th. Going to Tijuana! Anyone else having their surgery at the Mi Hospital?