sdb1147

Positive is me! The 'leak' turned out to be a thin portion of stomach material that connected the old to the new stomach. Unusual, at best. The operation in Nov. is to cut the material, re-staple or apply sutures, then I'm good to go. Hospital stay should only be 2-3 days, per the doctor.

Good luck on your journey & always keep in mind that what works for others doesn't always work for you.

I had to stay in the hospital for seven (7) days! Had a leak. Have to go back at the end of Nov. for operation #2 to fix things. Staying positive.

Good morning peskypisky from Seattle, WA. Congratulations on your decision to have weight loss surgery. I, like you, made the same decision & had my surgery on Aug. 14 of this year.

Diabetes was my biggest motivator. Several family members & friends died due to that dreaded disease. As you indicated, it's a slow killer: first a toe or a foot, than the leg, then...

My journey started in Januar, 2012 and I haven't looked back since. Started off weighing 304-lbs. and today I'm 242-lbs. Hooray for me :-) Just had a check up with my doctor, had a complete lab test done and low 'n behold, my A1c has gone from 11 to 5.5.

Where I used to take 1,000mg of Metformin at Breakfast & dinner, I now take (only) 500mg in the mornings. No longer take Glipizide & ALL my other meds are gone.

One thing I've learned is that everyone is different with respect to the healing processes. Additionally, different foods, and supplements taste and work differently for each individual. I give everything a try & see what works best for me. My kitchen & pantry are loaded with things that haven't worked out well.

Keep your goals in mind & love in your heart and you'll do well. God bless & Godspeed to you.

I found Fruit20 at Sam's Club. Great tasting. No calories. No carbonation. No sugar. Gives a break from plain 'ol Water. Try some Crystal Light powders in your bottled water. I especially like the Peach flavoring. Hope you continue to get better, and you will. Stay focused.

Hi jessicanelson89. Hope your week is going good. When I started looking into weight loss surgery, I was interested in the sleeve. But, due to the fact I'm on Medicare now, my surgery choices were limited to the lap band or RNY.

I didn't relish the idea of putting something foreign in my body (lap band) and then have to constantly return to the hospital to have a saline solution put into the band for adjustments.

I'm going for the RNY surgery on Tuesday, Aug. 14th., 2012. Just a few more days away and I'm really looking forward to it. Been on a no/low carb diet along with lots of liquids for the past two weeks.

When I initially began my weight loss journey back in January (2012), my initial weigh-in was 304-lbs. I'm currently at 277-lbs. One of the biggest reasons I'm pursuing the surgery is that my Type-II diabetes may be cured (so I've been told). I'm keeping my hopes up, but won't be totally disappointed if that doesn't happen, but perhaps the medications will be far less.

Anyway, please stay in touch and keep posting your progress/journey.

Good luck to you Repoman. You & your family will be in my prayers. Keep us tuned in as to your journey.

With respect to men supposedly not being able to express themselves, think genetics. We are different in many respects. And "norm" is subjective.

The only way to filter out muddy Water is to filter it out then determine what's causing the mud. Communications is kind of like that.

At the surgery center, about to be taken back. Keep me in your prayers please!!!!

Good luck and God speed. Prayers & best wishes coming your way. Please keep us posted post-op.

I found Body Fortress to be quite good. I buy most of my Protein powders in vanilla as you can add liquid/powder flavoring agents or frozen fruits. Right now I'm using Six Star from Walmart. Vanilla Creme flavor. Tastes real good.

I ordered the sample pack from Syntax, but have only tried a few. Yesterday I made a drink with the caribbean cooler pack & Water. It separates from Water to easily. Had to keep shaking the cup to keep the contents mixed. The taste was OK, but I wouldn't buy a tub of it.

Hope all is going well for you. Keep posting your journey. God bless & best wishes.

Good luck on your journey. Sorry you have no one to travel with you as it's always comforting to have a partner. God will watch over you and best wishes & vibes coming your way.

This is probably one of those things that differs from NUT to NUT, but I believe I was told no more than 25g/day. I rarely hit that.

Only 25-30 grams of fat per day I eat more than that just at Breakfast. Will have to try harder. Haven't got to trying only 3-ounce portions at each meal yet.

I feel like I should be doing something more. I am just sitting around waiting for all of my test results to make it to the Dr's office. It's the weekend, so I can't even call and find out what else needs to be done.

I'm not even sure if my insurance company has approved me for the procedure yet. I want to keep the ball rolling, but I'm sure there is anything else that can be done right now. I have shopped around for ideas for my liquid diet phase, I even bought a few Protein shakes to practice with.

I can't wait for this next chapter in my life, and I hate that I have no control over how long this is taking. I want it to hurry up and be surgery time already. Ahhhh! Sitting around doing nothing isn't helping me at all. Is there anything else I can be doing right about now?

You know the old saying, "Patience is a virtue & none of us are virtuous." LOL Can't control the things you can't control so don't beat yourself up. Get on line and start reading about pre-op & post-op diets. Go to YouTube and watch some of the people that have posted videos. Lots of great information. Good luck on your journey. Sending you best wishes & good vibes from WA.

Stay positive and keep up the exercising. Your goals are just a few steps away. Good vibes coming your way from WA.

it has passed...June 28th 2012.....we can now have our gastric sleeve....

Called Swedish Hospital Weight Loss Center yesterday & spoke to Linda & she said that Dr. McMahon was aware of Medicare passing sleeve surgery however, the process is slow to move from one state to another so there's no telling how long it'll be until Seattle, WA gets the go ahead. I asked her to keep informed on the processes and if it should be approved prior to my surgery date (08-14-12), I'd like to have the sleeve surgery done vs RNY.

Thanks to all of you who posted the information. Great news.

My surgeon's insurance coordinator told me today is the day that NY Medicare makes a final decision on the VSG. I am hoping and praying!! I met with my PCP yesterday and we agreed that if it doesn't approve, then to go ahead and do the Lap Band and he had suggested initially. Dr. Ren is one of the top Lap Band surgeons in the country and he is very confident things would go well with that. I'll just have to wait and see what happens today. I lost 7 pounds last month and keep my weight off this month. Given that it was a rough month and I didn't really try to manage my diet too much, the fact that I didn't gain any weight surprised me. I guess it's a good thing, my metabolism is cooperating. Even just those 7 pounds have made a difference. I can move around a little more easier without getting tired so quickly.

Okay, will post later. Have a good day everyone.

That's great news...for NY. Out here in Washington I hope it's approved soon too. That's the original weight loss surgery I wanted, but Medicare (as of this date) doesn't support it. I'm scheduled for surgery Aug. 14 and hopefully sleeve surgery will be approved by then. Hope, hope, hope.

Thanks for spreading the word.

Could some of you help me with a meal plan for Phase 2 . I need to put myself on a schedule but have no where to begin ! What r y'all doing?

Sorry Courtney333, can't help much right now. I'm about a month pre-surgery so I've been dieting on my own (no guidelines yet from nutritionist). I keep hearing that Phase-2 is a liquid diet and I've attempted to mimic that on a couple of days & can't seem to catch on or I'm doing something wrong. Felt like I was starving. I'll wait and see what other people say so I can get some ideas too.

Congratulations on your surgery and best of luck on your journey.

What a wonderful story Hello fellow Washington sleevers! I have a pal who is going to the puget sound center next week to get started and I had my VSG on May 21st with Ross McMahon and am doing well - my husband had one as well 2 weeks before me and he is doing just phenomenally.

thanks for sharing your great story of improved health and vitality!

What did you think of Dr. McMahon and his team? I'm meeting with them Aug. 1st. to initiate surgery orders & see the nutritionist. Scheduled for surgery Aug. 14th.

Great news & congratulations on your surgery. Blood pressure medications is just one of the health issues I'm looking at either reducing or curing all together. I also have Type-ll diabetes and it's been suggested that weight loss surgery helps with that disease also. I go in on Aug. 1st. to meet once more with the doctor, his team in order to sign off on surgery orders and get my pre-op diet. Looking forward to it.

Good luck on your journey and keep us posted.

At my psychological evaluation I told the 'shrink' I had been a police officer & he said that I was 'nuts'. The moral to the story is don't take yourself to seriously & be honest (be yourself). Don't try & read anything into the questions.

Good luck to you on your journey & keep us posted.

I really like your attitude; upbeat & positive. Keep it up & keep posting your progress. Congratulations.

Think positive! Good luck & God bless. Let us know the outcome. Keep a

I don't imagine she told you who to marry, or what kind of car to buy, so why does it matter what YOU want to do for yourself?

Take him shopping and show him that pretty red (or black, or blue ?), skimpy dress you'll be able to fit into. Just a thought. Good luck.