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Oh, the waiting at the hospital has to be no fun! I hope it's gone fast for you and you can look back at this as a wonderful decision!!

So exciting! I'm loving these "almost in surgery" and "out of surgery" updates! Let us know how it's going, out of the rain

A million stomach crunches? Well, since we all do a million stomach crunches at least three times a day, that's no biggie, right? So glad you're doing well!

I'm irritated on the preop diet of Protein only. Stupid meat. My kingdom for a carb!! I'm going to be difficult to be around.

Courtney - can you just add my name to all of your posts, because I'm right along with you! My brain keeps going to the little things to worry about, I think to avoid the obvious stuff. I can't have any hair product. Oh, no! And no deod? What if I'm so nervous I'm stinky?! Next year, we won't worry about how our hair looked, if our skin was moisturized or if we were a little smelly. We'll just be so happy we did it! Good luck - I want an update when you can!

Congrats! Good luck - keep up updated when you can!

Aren't husbands funny? (Sorry guys who are reading this!) Really, I think it's just the non-surgery spouse who doesn't quite know what to say or what to do. My hubby said "I'll do the 2 week, 20 carb a day diet with you!" but he keeps forgetting and ordering mac and cheese and drinking milkshakes. I'm strong, though - people are going to drink milkshakes in front of me and that's their decision. My decision is to follow all the rules and kick some sleeve butt.

Another April Sleever - CHECK! It's exciting to have our group get started and hearing your updates. I hope we're all feeling well enough after surgery to check in with our "family" here. Carly - how you doing??

I had that, too! Surgeon said No worries - we'll fix that while we're in there. And apparently inflamation can be from anything and probably temporary. It is unnerving to go in for something that you think will be normal and have them find something weird, huh?

Thanks for the idea, Disney. I'd really like to stick with my surgeon. Everything is lined up for next week. I'm just confused with what the surgeon's insurance person told me. Basically my insurance company is telling me they'll pay for anything related to the hernia repair, but the person at my surgeon's office who is doing the billing says she won't even bill them.

Hi All- I am lucky enough to have great insurance, but they require a 6 month diet/fitness at a location that I just can't do. So, I decided to go ahead and self pay. Ugh. 20k here in Seattle. When my surgeon did the endoscopy, he found a hiatal hernia that he's also going to repair. I talked to my insurance company to see if they'd cover the hernia repair that was being done at the same time. They told me they'd cover that, plus the anesthesia, hospital room, etc - anything related to hernia repair. Whoo hoo! Right? I called the surgeon back and the insurance person there says it's still 20k, that they will bill my insurance for the hernia repair but it doesn't change anything because the surgery is actually more than 20k and they are giving me a price break because I'm self pay. Anytime I see my insurance paperwork, the in network providers (which my surgeon is) always gets a huge discount. I can't imagine they'd lose money by charging a self pay person less than the surgery costs. So - what do I do? The insurance specialist at my surgeon's office pretty much shut me down and said I have to pay the 20k. Help!! This doesn't seem right.

Yay Carley! You did it! We're all cheering for you - hope you feel great!

I wonder if they will give us a little "something-something" (Valium!) before surgery. At my NUT visit, I started having a little mini panic attack when she was talking about how much our eating was going to have to change. I don't want to totally freak out and run down the hallway in my hospital gown!

I agree! Even though my husband is as supportive as possible, if I thought he wouldn't miss me, I'd sneak off and never tell hiim I had the surgery. It's just embarassing to think I weigh this much and the less people who have to know, the better. That's one reason I didn't choose the band - I don't want to have to go back and mess with fills. I want to fix this once and for all and move on as a NORMAL person. April 10 for me too - gonna be a great day!

I'm two weeks preop, but it must be maddening to be following all the rules and barely eating just to hop on the scale and see a gain. That's definitely the kind of thing that would make me think "Well, this diet isn't working - I should give up and have a cookie." That scale can be such an enemy. Your gain is probably just your body storing water to repair the muscles you're building - hopefully the scale will show results for you soon! Good luck!

Hey Krissy - I was going to complain about my preop diet (only 20 grams of carbs a day!) but yours is worse! No carbs and having to lose 10 pounds must look like a difficult two weeks - but at least we're on the home stretch. I hope your family is super supportive - good luck! We can do this!!

Courtney - I think we were on the same eating plan as 14 year olds! I was thin and all I ate was a single hoho for lunch and small bag of jelly Beans for dinner. No wonder I'm here now,huh?! Yay for no more pretending to not exist so people don't notice us. And let's all think skin tightening thoughts so we look awesome in those swimsuits!

hair loss is a worry, and it totally reminds me of one of my old excuses. "I have to shower before I take my kids to school so I look good when I drop them off, then I don't want to come home and get all sweaty and have to wash my hair again!" Haha! How lame is that excuse?! It's okay to be fat, as long as I have good hair. The things we tell ourselves...

Tomorrow is preop admission stuff for me, plus the visit with the surgeon, nut, etc. And when I give them my $$ and convince myself this is going to work. April 10 seems far away since it's still March! I'm having a hard time convincing myself I could actually be thin. Nothing has worked before and I don't want to get my hopes up. Trying to maintain a positive attitude!

The pros and cons of stretchy pants! Congrats on your loss and loose pants!

Haha! Gotta have some humor.

April 10! Excited. Nervous. Still wonder if I'll hide under the bed when they come to wheel me in. Wonder if it won't work and I'll find a work around. Wonder if it will work too well and I'll look all deflated and have big, floppy skin that I have to carry around. I'm self pay - worry that there will be a complication and my cost will skyrocket. Wonder if my four kids will even notice I'm eating less than they are. Wonder what my husband will go through. Wonder if it's worth it. Fingers crossed!!!

jocelyn - I tease my husband, what if I change my mind after they are rolling me down the hallway? Will they be mad at me? Good to know the preop isn't too bad. I guess I've made it this far, so a few more people asking questions and poking at me isn't too bad. I just want to jump ahead, oh, maybe next year this time!

The phone call was the wow moment. Up til now, I've been jumping through hoops, etc,not really looking further ahead than the next hoop. Now I'm outta hoops! The Nectar protein powder is good, btw!

Does anyone know what the preop is, exactly? I'm always more nervous when I'm not sure what to expect!