Crystal927

Yes. I started my Protein Shakes (pre op diet-2 weeks) today! The first few days are the hardest (I did this last September when I had my original surgery date but found out that insurance only paid half at the last minute and couldn't afford it.)
I survived it the first time.....I will survive it this time. By no means is it a walk in the park...but each day does seem to get easier.

Consultation went great! He answered every single question I had and I found out the exact price. Pretty much I go for the tests on a Monday (whichever Monday I choose, as soon as this coming up monday) and I start my 3 day liquid diet that day and then have surgery that Thursday. So I'm planning on the week of feb 4 for surgery! So excited/nervous/anxious for surgery and recovery!!!

Ok folks! Today is the first day of my 2 week pre-op diet. I am on 5 Protein Shakes a day.
I have already done this back in September (before I found out that my insurance company would only cover half of the surgery and didn't have the money to cover the other half).
I learned alot about myself the last time I did this. First I learned...I can do it! Secondly I learned that I could survive without physical food. During the pre-op phase, my heartburn disappeared and after about 3 days...I had tons of energy!
Starting on liquids (again) today, I had no trepidation. I have done this and completed this before. I know it was hard...but the good news is that I know and I still survived. Knowledge is power! I look forward to the weight loss I can achieve even before getting the surgery!
Wish me luck!

Awesome!!! Thank you!!!! I am a high school math teacher and must be very organized ahead of time, just my nature, so early preperation is key for my OCD! :-)

Crystal - oh my goodness we have SO MUCH in common. I felt like I was reading a bio of myself when I was reading your post. I am in corporate finance (which is basically accounting) but I come from a family of doctors and that's what I wanted to be. I got to college and was overwhelmed by my first biology class. I then thought to switch to dentistry because I was great in math and a lot of the classes were around chemistry. That didn't work and I went to Finance (blahhh - sounds far more impressing than it is). The job pays really well, sounds very sophistaicated and I am good at it but I have no passion for it whatsoever. I have been thinking a lot about changing my career because I love talking to people and helping others. I also love to cook. I was also thinking that ONCE I become successful, lose all the weight and get healthy, I could be a trainer or go back to school for nutrition or something.
 
I am going to be 28 and I also love to travel. I have the same issues when it comes to being on a plane - my boyfriend relocated out to Ohio and I am in NJ so I fly a lot based on that alone. We were out in LA for a long weekend in December and I took the redeye home to NJ and he flew back to Ohio. On the plane, I was SO UNCOMFORTABLE. First off, whoever invented the redeye is Satan. Besides that, I was in the last row of the plane and the seats were smaller than usual. I don't usually have tons of room on the plane but this seat literally left marks on my thighs. I thought I wasn't going to make it at one point...I was going to cry. Turns out, I went to seatguru.com and put in the flight information and it showed that the seats in the last two rows of the airplane are one inch smaller than usually based on the curvature of the plane. I encourage everyone, especially bigger people or hippy people to check out that website prior to picking seats on a flight. On a flight from Aruba to NJ, the seatbelt was so small that it JUST fit me. If I was 20 pounds heavier, it would not have buckled. I am tired of always having this cloud over me and I am committed to making the change!!!

Good morning Kate Thank you!! I sometimes set out to write short replies, or messages and without fail they end up forever long so I've just accepted it haha
Missionary work..lets see...I guess it really all started when I was in college and was really involved leading in the youth ministry at my church and we did several local mission projects. I've always loved to travel overseas and then had the opportunity a couple of years to go on some mission trips. Its really amazing to go and share the Gospel with people by means of meeting a need that they have...we've done remodeling work, built a house, done wedding showers, gardening, even organizing a library for children; you name it we've done it, its so awesome to just go and submerge yourself into another culture and learn about the way they live, and live it with them! So I guess my passion for travel and my passion for the Lord just lined up to form a great passion for mission work
I see your husband is a teacher? I work in the school system, at the central office...So I have my fair share of exposure to the world of education, its just a much different view than many have...I'm so over the "business world" haha
I cannot wait for a 12/14 to be my normal!!! I have a dress that I bought because I just absolutely loved it, its a size 14...I can't wait to put it on and go out on the town lol And I love Lane Bryant for "being there" all these years, but I'm so sick of keeping them in business, I can't wait to no longer need them

Thank you Missy, thank you so much for your kind words. You know I will be divorced 2 yrs this coming June, wow, how time flies. The hardest part for me is, I still love him, dang him. He just up one day and decided he wasn't happy and left, later I found out it was another woman. Yes, I was at fault too, we hadn't been happy in the last few years but I also want to add that I had watched him become an alcoholic the last 4 yrs of our marriage, not violent, just out drinking every night till the wee hrs of the morning and watched him lose a high paying plant managing job and college education to alcohol. He is a good person and we had many wonderful years, he was good to me. Guess that's why I still love him. Don't know why I got off on this, guess I needed to get it off my chest tonight. When I can let go of him, and the good Lord knows in His time I can feel pretty. But for now, it's time to focus on my weight loss, my health, me time, and maybe someday remarrying, woohoo....heehee. Had to find humor in there somewhere didn't I? Thank you again Missy.
Donna

I had to talk to the insurance lady to get the exact price, which I had to request, but I wasn't self pay.
Be sure to ask lots of question- anything you feel you need to know. The doctor is always the best person to get advice from. Make sure you get an overview of what to expect pre and post op- this way you know what you must have on hand. Some docs require a pre diet others don't. See if their is a question or help line/email. My doctor has an email address you can send questions to and he will respond in 24 hours- this has been a HUGE help to me.
Good Luck- Congrats on the start of the wonderful journey.

Crystal, I love reading your stuff You have a nice writing style.
 
Missionary work? How cool! How did you get into that?
 
I have no major health issues other than my degenerative lumbar, great cholesterol and such, too. I feel like I wanna hurry up and "catch up" before my age starts taking my weight seriously, LOL.
 
I'll tell you what my experience with this was...Once that weight started coming off, I literally lost interest in the scale. I would weigh myself every day, then stopped and did it once a week. Life started taking over! It was amazing. My mom would exclaim that I was shrinking every time she saw me, but I didn't REALLY see it. Or believe her. The scale said I was losing, my clothes were hanging on me, but for some reason I ignored weight and weight related stuff and just got distracted by work and friends and personal projects. I actually like that. I stopped obsessing, watching, waiting for my moments to live. Before I knew it, I was 190. All I kept seeing was another 30-40 lbs to lose, but when I took pics of myself I would be SHOCKED at how thin my face looked. It took me a while to resolve the person in the 14 pants and having only one chin with how I still felt. It was weird It took a year or two to accept a size 12 as normal, and feel normal, and no longer shop at Lane Bryant.

Let's see..for me...my biggest fear is that I will fail. BUT I'm not going in with failure as an option. I am trusting and believing that this is it!! I know that I can lose the weight, I've done it before, I just need this tool to help me keep it off once its gone once and for all! I can't wait to see that boost in confidence as those first 30-40 lbs fall off and then to grow from there. I'm a really active person, I love love love to travel and do all kinds of adventurous things (white Water rafting, skiing, snorkeling, jet boating, etc) I can't wait to be able to do more of those types of things that I have always wanted but couldn't due to weight limits (zip line, paraglide, kayak, etc) So for me its not really about being a certain size as long as its one that allows me to do all of the things I want to do! In my mind my goal would be 161 just because for my height on the BMI scale that puts me "normal" and I've never been 'normal' lol but really...I just want to be healthier and happy!
I also really enjoy doing mission work here and overseas...The thing with going overseas is that I've always needed a "buddy" to go with me so that ya know, no one embarasses me on a plane because those seats are so 'small' So I look forward to the freedom I will have that if I just want to hop on a plane I won't have to plan everything around my size and can just GO when the urge hits Besides satisfying the spontaneous traveller in me, I'm also doing this for my health... during my 6 month doc supervised diet for my insurance I was diagnosed with high blood pressure at just 30 years old... Fortunately it wasn't real high but was high enough that I was put on a diuretic to bring it down for surgery purposes and once I start working out again we expect that will be enough to keep it in check. I am really blessed that I haven't had any other health issues, heart's good, lungs are good, sugar is good, cholesterol very surprisingly is perfect...so my "insides" are all good for now and I'd like to keep it that way as well as getting the outside to match
I'm also considering a career change. I am currently an accountant. I'm good at it. But I have no passion for it nor do I really like it. I started college doing Pre-med and between being overwhelmed with too many classes I started questioning myself and I bailed. I've always really loved working with people and I have been told multiple times that I have "too much" personality to be an accoutant, I just don't "fit in" this field. So recently I've been exploring options in the bariatric field. Nutritionist? Nurse? Personal Trainer? I think that while walking through this journey I can be taking steps toward a career change as well...I'm not sure what that looks like just yet, but I think I would really love getting up every day and going to work with people just like me, I know I could be passionate about that. So now its just to figure out what that looks like and how it will work out.
So thats me in a nutshell, fears, expectations and goals Sorry for the novel length, I tend to get going and it just grows from what I ever intended it to be!

Thank you so much for your encouraging words Lee! "a powerful warrior woman" I dig it!! I am a pretty determined chick and can't wait to have the band as a tool to help me finish this! And we had some pretty hefty medals! Which after enduring what I did to complete it I'm pretty sure that I would've worn anything proudly!!
And yes 13.1 is a long way! And YES I would love to do a triathlon!!! There is a sprint one near me (I live on the gulf coast) and I would love to give it a shot as I love love love to swim! You don't have to have a special bike for those shorter distances do you?
On a different note, I read your sisters blog...do I remember her saying you are now a personal trainer? I would love to get my certification one day as well. Accounting is just boring and no fun lol I wanna help people.

Thank you so much for your encouraging words Lee! "a powerful warrior woman" I dig it!! I am a pretty determined chick and can't wait to have the band as a tool to help me finish this! And we had some pretty hefty medals! Which after enduring what I did to complete it I'm pretty sure that I would've worn anything proudly!!
And yes 13.1 is a long way! And YES I would love to do a triathlon!!! There is a sprint one near me (I live on the gulf coast) and I would love to give it a shot as I love love love to swim! You don't have to have a special bike for those shorter distances do you?
On a different note, I read your sisters blog...do I remember her saying you are now a personal trainer? I would love to get my certification one day as well. Accounting is just boring and no fun lol I wanna help people.

Thanks guys, your words are keeping my sanity tonight haha, ill keep everyone posted!

Mine is booked 2/12 - very excited and nervous as well

I'm penciled in for feb 15th... Dr will verify on Thursday ... Scary close..., yet excited just the same!

Donna, I'm not just saying this to stroke your ego or be nice, I mean it. You really are a beautiful lady. You should try to look in the mirror objectively, like you were looking at a photo someone else, and see just how pretty you really are.
You ex husband was a fool...don't let one man who doesn't deserve you cloud your self perception and damper your self esteem.

4/2009 so few months will be 4 yrs : ) I will be 49 wish I would have done it 5 years earlier - def best decision ever !

If some one would have told me your going to run 5 miles...I would have laughed in your face. I amazed myself the other day. My endurance is through the roof! I ran the 5k in November, and my goal is to do the half marathon!!!

My name is Kate. I live in the Philly suburbs.
Rather than post a long paragraph about my journey so far, here are the highlights:

Banded in 2004, 296 lbs, size 20
1 year later, was at 192, size 14
Stopped losing weight, took 6 months to realize I had a slow leak
Continued getting fills and played with the same 20 - 30 lbs until 2009
2009 had major skin removal - breasts, arms, belt lipectomy (13 lbs of skin removed) 216
Had leaking port replaced in the same surgery
1 year post op, weighed 205, size 12
Was pretty happy and intended on losing the rest "someday" but enjoyed flatness and ability to eat in moderation
Maintained for 2 years
March 2011, major leak, no restriction
April 2011, tube replaced (up to 210, worked hard NOT to gain, proud of 5 lb net gain)
Feb 2012, first pregnancy
April 2012, tube disconnected, zero restriction. Bad abdominal pain, nobody able to diagnose.
Gained 65 lbs in 6 months (275 with baby at heaviest) (guess who was tired of fighting food? now add pregnancy hunger...)
Dec 2012, saw lap band surgeon - verified band disconnected, no erosion. Now 255
Replacement scheduled Feb 2013
Want to get to 150 this time!

Vanessa from Tampa, Florida. Scheduled for surgery on Feb 7th! Super excited. This has been a journey of about 3 years to get to this point. I don't plan on looking back! I look forward to sharing my journey and following yours!

I'm Felicia. I live in Michigan. Like Dave, I have surgery tentatively scheduled for February 19. At my heaviest, I was 275. I'm at 244 now. My goal weight is 135. I've struggled with the decision to have wls for years. I'm finally at peace with the decision and can't wait! Like many others, I have concerns about what happens after surgery. However, I know I'm in a much different space than in the past as far as weight loss is concerned. That being said, I also realize that I need the assistance that the lb can offer in my journey. Good luck to everyone! We can do this!!!

Hi! I am Danielle and I have surgery on 2/1 - that is NEXT FRIDAY! AHHH. I am going to be 28, been struggling with weight for 10 years and I am going into this surgery weighing about 260. My goal is about 175. I have tried everything before and always failed the maintenance part. I am ready to make the change with the support of all of you guys! I plan to start doing the couch to 5K once I am all healed and look forward to getting in shape. I seriously don't know what I would do without this website. Creating this group was a great idea!!

I can't believe I'm just under 3 weeks away from my big surgery day, February 11th. It took me over 2 years to make this decision. In fact, I first met with the surgeon in January of 2011, but I chickened out because of the fear of how drastic the life style changes will be.
I guess my biggest fear is how much this will effect my family. I'm the only one overweight, but we love to eat. Every time we get together, food is a big part of it. We get together to play games, there will be chex mix, brownies, chips and dip, etc. Yesterday the family wanted me to make caramel popcorn. I LOVE caramel. I made it and was okay until I saw the leftover caramel sauce that I had poured onto a tray. There is nothing like that chewy buttery flavor. At the start of making the recipe, I felt strong and that I would be able to make it without even a taste. By the end, I lost my resolve. I have not yet begun my official pre-op diet, but I am trying to ease into it. In my mind I gave myself permission to eat some of the caramel because I "still have time." But I know in my head that I should have been strong enough to resist it. This tells me that I will no longer be able to cook those yummy treats for the family, at least not in the beginning. Overall that is much healthier for all of us, but my family will still want it and I am a pleaser and have a tendency to put them before me all the time. It breaks my heart when I give them what they want.
My other fear is of the exercise. I have a spinal cord injury which limits my exercise ability greatly. I can walk slowly on a treadmill by holding on to the handrails. What if this isn't enough? My doctor has assured me that the trainer will work with me and help me to find things I can do. Water aerobics is one, but I live so far away from a pool that this will be a problem.
My positives are that I want this! I WILL find a way to adapt with the family. My college daughters were all home this weekend and wanted baked potato Soup, filled with cheddar cheese, bacon bits, and sour cream. They can still eat it without it going to their hips! I cooked it for them without being tempted to eat it. I had some pineapple and a Protein Shake and felt completely satisfied. So for regular meals I think I'll be okay. I am confident that I can follow the rules regarding quantity of food. Yes, I know it will be hard, but I can do it. I just have to avoid the sweets. I'm the only one home during the day. Evenings will take the most strength, and my family tells me they will help me, so I'm very optimistic.
I have struggled for 6 years with being basically homebound. I used to be a vibrant energetic person who didn't let anything stop me. The SCI stopped me in my tracks though, and I spend a lot of time in bed, mostly due to pain. I am having a trial for a pain pump on Thursday (January 24th). So I have a lot of hope for 2013. My goal is to get back to living again. At a weight of 270, I get tired from even the most basic activity. I stand for 10 minutes and need to go sit down or lay down. I walk for 5 minutes and can't go anymore. I'm tired of living like this. 6 years is way too long.
For me, this surgery is about feeling better. this surgery is about living my life again. Losing weight will help my pain. Losing weight will help me to function better. Getting the pain pump will help the pain too. I decided that I can't do anything about my injuries, but I can use whatever tools are available to help me get back to living. The lapband and the pain pump are key to my future, and I will make both of them successful. My goal is to weigh 160 at the end, but that is because this is a healthy weight. More than the pounds, I want to just feel better. Losing 100 pounds should give me a big boost.
I look forward to doing this together with all of you. 2013 is our year. We can and will do this. I will need lots of encouragement, so I'm happy to have found this site. Also, I will give lots of support, so please feel friend to become my friend.

You can do this!!! I love to eat, but I want my life back!! Spring will be here, we will all be getting healthy, and feeling good again!! I am sick of feeling miserable all day!!! Been battling the bulge over 20+ years. I teach on my feet, but have to sit down at times, unlike in the past. It's getting worse and time to act!!

These are my before pics and 8 wks post op and 6 mos post op. I am now 7 mos out but haven't taken any pics as of today but I am down 54 lbs today. It took a lot of courage to post these pics and I still have a long way to go.