LoserMama

Hi guys, looking to start talking more about the upcoming surgery. As I mentioned in the december sleevers thread in pre-op, or I think I did anyway I am approved and will get my date tomorrow when the person who does scheduling is back in the office. I am hoping for 12/21 or 12/22. I wonder if we could share some basics about ourselves, apart from our major shared topic of vsg? :) My name is Julie, I am 38, mom of 4 kids, I work in high tech from my home most of the time, and travel fairly regularly, though it is quiet now and probably will be through the holiday. My hobbies include knitting and crochet, and for many years I made glass beads, but when I had little kids again, I stopped because there was no time and it was hard to setup a safe way to do it! I will again some day. I love it. I've been overweight most of my adult life, started to climb after I got married. Most people think I gained weight from my kids but my big climb came pre-kids, actually. I was probably 230 when I got pg with my first. I am working on emotional eating issues in advance of the surgery of course....the program I am using online is at shrinkyourself.com... kind of an online process for cognitive behavioral therapy for overeating. its interesting. I am tracking my eating...was using weightwatchers for quite a while, but I just let my subscription lapse because I am trying to track Protein and carbs now more than points. So switching to something else. Do you have a favorite? I have several, myfitnesspal, sparkpeople and lose it, but can't decide on which one to use. I am using a fitbit for tracking my activity/movement. I've purchased and tried some different Proteins and have ordered some Multivitamins to try different ones....I've also purchased a bunch of small dishes to fit my new tiny portions. Hard to fathom eating portions that small at this point. Okay, enough rambling, who is next?

sorry to hear you lost your december date benisa Boo. But please do be an honorary member! roxyrooster -- no, i have not heard of impact advanced recovery, is it a Protein drink? Did I stumble into a december 2011 subforum at one point? Anyone want to expand out there as we start to have a flurry of posts?

so happy for you. Prayers going up and hugs going out.

I don't have answers but wanted to bump this up for all the smarties on here!

peacequeen -- wahoo!!! That is great, hoping we will be christmas sleevers together I had my last required visits last week, hoping to hear the same good news this week as you

Whew, I am right there with those experiencing cold feet. and Amanda, what you said about feeling like you were killing your best friend food.....I don't know what I am going to do to 'entertain" myself anymore! But I know its going to be the right thing. This was a good thread, thanks!

sorry you had such a hard time of it, hope you are recovering well at home. How did you know you had a hiatal hernia to be repaired too? I wonder, because i was just diagnosed with silent reflux and wonder if I should be having them check out anything else prior to my surgery to see if there is anything else that needs to be done

You will do great, you have a plan, and you're thinking about it. I had to open this because this is one of my worries too. I travel about once a month, usually (and have come to Plano twice in the last few months :) ) and am worried about how I will manage travel eating post sleeve, particularly if I have to travel in the first six weeks post sleeve? Anyone had to do this? Anyway, not to hijack, but just wanted to say its good you posted it to be accountable, and you'll do great as a result. PS -- Sunny days -- cardboard coolers? what are those and where do you get them?

Ian, I could write your post. I'm going to be having the surgery in December and just had my last weight supervision visit yesterday, so its becoming really "real" that I am doing this. The dietician visit just hit me like a ton of bricks, I feel kind of like I am in mourning for my friend food. I have managed to lose 25 lbs in my three months of pre-op dieting, and I get people asking (and I am asking myself) why don't I just keep doing what I am doing? I too am worried about the hair loss, and hoping to get my Protein and Vitamin ritual firmly established to help minimize....I am just really having cold feet. I am sure I will do it, too, but I am really doubting myself right now. I think ultimately because I've managed to lose this amount of weight before, but then I gain it back, i know that something big has to change to make this finally work. And seeing the stats that most people who are morbidly obese (what is it, like 95%) will fail without wls....I don't really think I'm part of the 5%. But I do worry that somehow I will screw this up or become so desperately unhappy because of my loss of food. Sorry, I will get more positive soon, I know, but I'm in that "place" right now

How do you get yourself past the smell and aftertaste of the powders? I am a little over a month from surgery, but had my big post-op nutrition counseling session, and got several samples of things from the dietician and also went down the pharmacy and picked up some additionals. I have some stuff I purchased in the pantry early on --body fortress brand from walmart, I think, and the target brand as well. both are just meh. I tried the nectar strawberry kiwi today, and it tastes ok, but the smell, even with a shaker cup with a lid, just is awful, and the aftertaste...bleah. Does this get easier with time, just get used to it?

I hope you get an answer, weird to think of a company not changing its policy terms on the start of a new year. I think most do, but heck, there are probably odd balls out there. (BTW, my husband is from Traverse City, so I am very familiar with TC and Petoskey....( :)

family and friends I am telling, yes, but I am not telling at work except on a need to know basis. I work from home most of the time and don't see people very often unless I am traveling for business, so they see me sporadically enough that it will just be that I lost weight. I will tell my boss if there are any complications or issues that cause me to miss work of course. I think its important to tell friends and family to get support. I was not happy with my parents reaction when I told them, it was all fear mongering, "I know this one person who died from weight loss surgery, so therefore, you will die." or "this other lady i knew was miserable and in hell for the rest of her life because her health was so bad after weight loss surgery." To which I calmly return, yes, but both of those people that you mentioned has their surgeries in the 1970's. Um, things have changed a bit since then. I swear, is there a FAQ for how to respond to each one of these objections to us having WLS? Hubby and other family and friends have been supportive.

Hi, I had my last supervised weight loss appt and my visit with the dietician to go over post-op nutrition today. I don't have my date yet, because they won't give a date until insurance approves, but they have worked with my insurance quite a bit before and say the approval will be quick, typically 2-3 days, so, that I should have a date within a week. The date I want is December 21st, because my work has basically two weeks where no one works anyway, so I will be able to do the major part of recovery without working having to know about it. I hope my doc will be working that close to Christmas. the coordinator thought chances looked good. To ChunkyandFluffy -- my highest weight was while I was PG at about 305, but I'm not gonna count that. My highest weight non PG was in August at 278, I am 5'7". Its funny to me that we all are such different sizes in clothes even being similar height and weight. I was wearing size 24/26 pants in August and 3/4x tops. The 24s were really tight. I am now down to 253, and was able to buy a new suit a couple of weeks ago in size 22. That was pretty awesome. I am able now to wear some clothes in my closet I haven't worn in years. My blog is at http://www.losermama.com. I will probably be writing more now that it is getting closer, haven't been writing for a while!

Is the hair loss similar to post partum hair loss, if you have had kids?

I wish I got 15 min on the couch. They told me to plan on THREE HOURS.

ivy, I loved your post, love hearing from someone used to digging into biological research. I will take some time to read and absorb!

I am the queen of resurrecting old threads...but curious -- who here is on Wellbutrin, and how much? I'm only 150 mg a day, and I don't see much difference in weight loss. I am on it as an alternative for adult adhd, and it does seem to help a bit in that area. But no effect on weight loss or libido that I can tell.

Thanks to replies here and the links and PMs as well. I am trying to remain focused on the positive I expect to get out of this and be truthful but focused on having my own reason, having support, having realistic expectations of what the surgery will and won't do, how to manage the changes. I think i can point out my "win" of the Living with Diabetes award from the regional diabetes clinic as proof that I can be compliant and knowledgeable about my surgery. I do worry about what constitutes food addiction....and to get to this weight, don't most of us have some kind of crappy relationship with food?

Mine is next week, I am nervous.

Kelly, Veda, Laura, thanks for sharing! yeah, I would love to just kill two birds with one stone I have a job where I don't want to be off a lot of work!

I wonder....are there any studies about vitamin deficiencies in normal people as compared to those who have had the sleeve?? Sorry, I'm continuing to resurrect old threads, but very interesting stuff!

I know its not technically necessary, but with a rate of something like 1 in 3 people needing their gallbladder out during active weight loss, I would love to just circumvent a repeat hospital stay. Has anyone had their gallbladder out at the same time as the sleeve? Dare I even ask the surgeon?

DS is a lot more extensive in its rerouting from all I've read and seen, than the RNY. Its a major major diversion of the intestines, resulting in severe malabsorption. I guess its most similar to the Distal RNY in malabsorption, but that isn't the typical RNY done. Don't quite want THAT much diversion...., just the same degree as RNY :) I wonder if a doc will do a DS with a proximal diversion? That would be it, right?

I am digging through old threads, but any new thinking on this? This scares the bejesus out of me. I already have ADHD, and my job relies on my ability to be a clear, articulate and compelling speaker. How long does this fog period last? Could it also be related to pain meds after surgery in addition to anesthesia?

I am wishing for more definitive data. I was not happy to see 30% needing chronic PPI meds -- is that the experience here, as well? And seeing 15% converted to RNY. What I want is a RNY sleeve! Make my stomach smaller, like sleeve, but do the malabsoprtion, like rny! :)