Dons2.0

Hit a new milestone today. I now have a BMI of 29 which is still considered overweight but at least I am no longer obese. I started at a BMI of 41, so am very happy with the progress so far. Next goal is to get to 25 which means I need to lose another 11kgs.

Home from surgery and it's really not that bad. I anticipated far more pain. Just tired and sore. Thanks everyone for the encouraging words.

Good luck with it all! Wishing you a speedy recovery! You have earned the new you! Can't wait to hear how it went!
Donna

Yes just be patient and no you're not alone I know exactly how you feel. Just keep at it I try and do little things for my stomach like while on the elliptical machine I suck in my stomach for as long as possible and keep doing it till I get off

I'm not shocked there is hateful judgmental people but I do believe everyone is human. We all will eat/ drink things we shouldn't and when someone takes the time to post questions I don't think it's our place to judge. We all got fat from not making the right choices, and no one will make me feel bad about that more than myself. And making fun of them is childish. I researched and looked at forums for a year before I was sleeved. But questions come up, and we are here to support those who get sleeved after us. That is all...let the hating start!!!
Ps no one was rude or hateful to me and I have had nothing but good experiences personally but just hate seeing others being treated poorly. Like my mother always said if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all.

I started a thread called Manners Matter awhile back for this very reason you mentioned. If I was techno, I would move it back up, but I am very untechno. I got slammed because I chose to speak up about my true regret for having wls & then, a few weeks later...I read a couple of posts to a lady who had suffered terrible complications that were very uncalled for and another post to a guy who was really struggling post-op that were downright rude...those posts made me very upset. I ended my Manners Matter post with exactly what you said your mom told you, 'if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.'
...now I pretty much know the names of those who are so rude & negative ....I just don't read their posts at all. I am here for support not their mean, ugly comments. I try to ignore them as best I can.

I can't believe after nearly 2 and a half years living with the lap band as a failure that my big day has finally arrived to get my VSG done.
My big day is tomorrow and I'm so ready for my new life changes ahead.
This day has crept up quickly but I'm sure everything will be fine. I already have my food (liquid) prepped for when I get home.
Bring it on!

Hey Amazon... don't sound so offended. Really. I was just saying what is true for me. I had surgery, I've lost 60 pounds in 3 months, I am just being honest about my day. And yes, it was completely possible for me to eat a burger. No need to be "unsure" about anything. No need for congratulations... It's just my story... Glad you aren't tempted by fast foods!!!

Hi all i am laying here in the hospital first day after operation. They had me out of bed today , had a shower and got to put my own clothes on. Have been drinking fluids and couple spoons of yoghurt, custard and Soup throughout the day. After lunch they removed the drip because I'm taking in enough fluids. The trick is to walk as much as you can every hour or so couple laps around the ward and keep sipping on your fluids that way they take you off the drip and you can go home earlier I've been told I can go home tomorrow arvo

You have two topics so far and you've asked about eating steak, hot dogs, cheeseburgers and BBQ. Have you had at nutrition consult? Perhaps you need to sit down with him/her and with a support group to hear what your diet is going to be like before you go through surgery. The things you are asking about are not in the best interest of your new stomach, new lifestyle or your weightloss.

Nothing taste as good as thin feels

I had to do two weeks of clear liquid only and I did not cheat. I figured if I was really serious about making a change, I better start with the pre-op diet. Keep going, you're more than half way there, you CAN do this!

79.7kg...goodbye 80's forever!!!

Hi All,
Just wanted to say a quick hello to my fellow Aussies and others interested in this thread!
I'm Donna, 29 from the Gold Coast. I have been considering the sleeve for nearly a year now and finally have all my ducks in a row and a surgery date in Sept! I had some super released early for this operation but only had enough to go into a public hospital as a private patient. My surgeon is Dr Justin Greenslade and he works out of Greenslopes and also the QE2 for patients like me. I have the lengthy wait because he only has certain days available through QE2 I believe, but with about 5 months to wait and saving me thousands (and I mean about $10000!) I can't complain and I've heard wonderful things about him and his work!
I am currently around 140kg and 174 cm (so I have always been lucky with height) this is the heaviest I have been and have struggled with my weight since about year 8. My goal weight would be about 75-80kg for my height. Would love to hear from anyone with stats similar to mine that have already been sleeved, what is your goal etc and how is the journey going so far??
I am mainly doing this as I have PCOS and a lot of the side effects that having this brings - infertility mainly. I want to be healthy when my husband and I start a family and for people to know I'm actually pregnant! Not just overweight! I want children so badly and am also embarrassed to see an infertility specialist at my current weight. They are likely to tell me my weight is an issue ( I know this already) and I would be in a high risk category if I was to get pregnant now. All my closest friends are having or just had babies and I'm green with envy! I know I still have to wait after the op and I'm making the best decision for me and hopefully healthy babies in the future!
I'm hoping to lose maybe 10-15kg before surgery by cutting out things I know aren't good for me and trying different Protein recipes and shakes so I'm in the know when the time comes maybe even throw some dreaded exercise in there to get me started lol
Anyway enough about me! Would love to make some friends on here to share the journey.
Hugs,
Donna

Welcome to all the newbies!!!
I have PCOS. While I am not in a position where I am looking to concieve, i do know since loosing the weight I am as frequent as possible with that TOM. Some other symptoms have reduced (excess hair) but not been completely eradicated.
I can say, especially compared to Liss, my journey has been relatively easy, no complications. I started with a 53BMI, 150kgs and 5'6ft. I now have a 27BMI, lost 73 kgs and still kinda am 5'6..tho sometimes shorter as well. As well as loosing 1/2 a shoe size. While my BMI is still over normal, i am happy where I am, and most my excess weight is in skin (which may or may not be removed).
It is one of the best things I have done for myself. I worked hard and still work hard to address the behaviours that got this way. Exercise is part of my life, as needed to feeling good about myself as air (kinda lol).
Yesterday I had the worst day at work I remember in over a decade (corporate garbage), while I am emotional eatter and this does still trigger my over eatting side or my over buying food side. I did go to the supermarket and buy a whole lot of bad food, which my co-workers get to enjoy (and yes we all need a junk food hit lol) but I am forever grateful to the sleeve that limits my capacity to consumethese foods. So by the time I ate my healthy Protein centric meal, there was only a little room for the sugar comfort...so yay sleeve.

Hi everyone,
Just thought I'd share my story. I am a nurse and I live in Perth WA. I took out private health insurance in January to have the VSG op next year. By Feb I was getting really down about my weight and really didn't want to wait another 12 months. 12 months when you are big and have your mind set on something seems like an eternity. So I looked into getting my super released early. Because I'm a nurse in the public health system we go through a different regulatory body which really makes you jump through hoops and basically was all down to whether I could afford to have the surgery done or not. Well, I could afford to pay for the surgery myself, but didn't want to use all of my savings on that, hence wanting to release the super. However, the downside to releasing the super was the amount of tax they would take too, so the sum I actually would end up paying was HUGE. So I decided to see if there was anything overseas that would be cheaper as there was no way I was going to pay $22,000 for the surgery. Even waiting the 12 months would end up with me probably being a whole lot bigger and still paying a huge gap fee. So I was glued to the internet basically 24/7 for a whole week and found this forum and the Mexico thread. Well, I contacted alighterme.com and got all the info I needed. Very professional and helpful I decided to go to Mexico for the surgery! I had it all booked within a week. I managed to have time to do the 9 days pre-op Optifast diet. I booked a flight through Virgin/Delta into San Diego and got collected from the airport by the company driver and checked into the Marriott hotel for the night. Next day I was picked up from the gorgeous hotel and taken to the hospital. I had bloods done, paid the bill, did the paperwork and was settled into my hospital room. I spoke to the surgeon and the nurse put in my IV access. Then I was taken into the operating room by wheelchair. I hopped up on the table and the anaesthetist did my consent and asked me if I wanted to wake up quickly or slowly, I said slowly. He then asked me about how my flights were over to Mexico and that's all I remeember! I don't remember getting back to my room, just the next morning when the nurses asked me how I was. I was in pain so they came round like clockwork with anti emetics, anti reflux, IV antibiotics and pain relief, on the dot! Everything was so well done, and the universal precautions were better that what I have witnessed in Australian hospitals. Everything was very clean and they do so many very obese patients that I knew I was in safe hands. I was up and walk walk walking around the next day...loads of us doing the IV shuffle! (helps with getting rid of the gas pains) Got to meet some really nice fellow sleevers who I am still keeping in touch with. I had to drink some blue dye that day to check for leaks that would show through my drain. The next day I went down to X-ray to drink the other stuff and check for leaks under X-ray. I didn't find this a problem at all, the drink tasted fine and it was really interesting seeing my new smaller stomach on the x-ray. I left the hospital after 2 nights there back to the Marriott where I stayed for another 5 nights. The bed and pillows were to die for, the best I've EVER slept on! They give you 2 bottles of Water, 3 bowls of chicken broth and 2 popsicles a day. The chicken broth was yum! I was supposed to be on clear fluids for a week post op, but stayed on this until I got home so it was actually 9 days. But this didn't bother me at all as I had no appetitie and still don't. I got taken out by the driver with other sleevers into Tijuana on a shopping trip to the tourist area, looked round some shops, saw the donkeys painted as zebras giving rides?! we drove down the red light district (very entertaining!) and also walked round the corner from the hotel and up to the shopping centre to Walmart and the Swarovski shop (SO cheap) and bought myself a souvenir or two! I drank what the hotel allocated me and also bought Isopure drinks which have 40g of clear Protein in each serve and are very nice, good varied flavours.
Everyone at the hotel and the company I went with treated you like a rockstar, and there were plenty of other sleevers there to talk to if you wanted to. The Dr visited me 3 times in my room to check on me. I took my laptop so I skyped my hubby every day - yes, I went alone and loved it!
I had a lovely relaxing time, doing my walk walk walking myself to fitness doing laps around my hotel floor and then in the gym on the treadmill. I knew all the maids by the time I left, and I knew every piece of artwork on that hotel floor!
The journey home was fine, good to be back in Australia and my own surroundings. Have progressed to mushies and am loving it. Have blitzed my usual chilli I make and it is amazing.I serve it with a little mushed up avocado and sour cream YUMM! Have also got some recipes from the blog the world according to eggface, and they are great also (the crock post roast beef with chicken Soup is amazing). I have also made corned beef hash and that is also a winner. I did have the up and go energize when I first got home but found the texture a bit ickky and I also drank one too fast.....you know the feeling you get when you don't know if you need to be sick or use the toilet? Well that's what it was like. I'd read about this, so knew exactly what it was. I took myself to the loo, but all was fine there, so I just had to lay down half upright on the sofa with my head back, heart pounding, sweat all over me, groaning, not moving a muscle, waiting for this drink to eventually make it's way down!! I haven't bought any more! I still have an optifast shake a day, for fluids and for the protein. I add a bit of cinnamon and take it warm/hot, rather nice...plus I fill my shaker with water so it's not as thick. I am walking every day for about 30 mins and intend to start light weights on my arms soon so as to avoid the dreaded bingo/bat wings. I was sleeved on 20th March, it cost me $1600 in flights and $4650 for the op and $150 for the extra nights I had at the Marriott ( I spent some money on gifts when out shopping too).
I totally enjoyed the experience and would highly recommend it. I should have stayed in San Diego after too as I would have loved to have gone to the zoo to see the pandas! But I did go shopping there to H & M and got some nice things that were so cheap compared to Oz.
I go back to work tomorrow and have not told anyone about what I have done. The good thing is that I checked with my private health fund (Bupa) before I left as to what would happen if I had any problems when I got back to Oz and they said that because there is nothing left inside me, like there would be with the crapband..opps, sorry lapband! they said it would be classed as a new condition and I would be covered under my fund! So I got that double checked and got the reference number for the conversation! If I had had the band put in and had problems after I wouldn't be covered as the band was there for a pre-existing condition.
I also asked the Dr's that I work with what would happen if I turned up in ED with a problem? They said they have to treat you the same as anyone else, it's their duty of care, they can't legally turn you away, they have to treat you, so double win! My incisions are healing nicely, they stitch and glue them, my drain site is healing slowly, but that's to be expected. The surgeon used a 32 bougie and sutured as well as stapled. My only regret and I say this is the only regret I have is that I wasn't informed that there was a 'spider' sleeve gastrectomy available where they only have one incision just by your belly button, as I would definately have paid the $1,000 more to have only one incision. Actually, there is one other regret.....i wish I had done this years ago! I was on the smaller side with a BMI of 34. There were other ladies there with a lower BMI too,( I probably wouldn't even qualify for surgery in Oz) but they do the lower and the very high over there.
All the ladies I met said that we knew this was the way foward, no more yo-yo dieting, gradually gaining more and more and existing rather than living our lives. I turn 40 in September and can truthfully say I can't bloody wait....LIFE WILL DEFINATELY BEGIN FOR ME AT 40!! I have been fat ALL my life, my mother put me on weight watchers when I was 10. Diet after diet after diet, I can now say goodbye to all that. I am really enjoying my journey and can't wait to finally wear something that isn't an XXL or elasticated.
Sorry this has been so long, hope it helps someone. bye, Sharon

Wow that's great work! You look amazing!

I'm so sorry you feel that way and I so hope you will be able to find happiness with your sleeve. Yes, you are in the minority, but that is how you feel now and I would hope you are not slammed for it. There are probably things that contribute to your feelings that people here have no idea about.
I really do hope you will be able to find the peace you seek, we were sleeved on the same day so I feel a slight kinship with my fellow March 6th sleevers.
If you ever need to talk, you can message me.
Hang in there, you may be surprised.

Luckysmomma, I am sorry you've received negative feedback about your journey. Personally, I wish the feedback was more supportive. This WLS journey is uniquely individual and your experience is your own. I don't believe it should be challenged.
I am sorry you regret your decision and wish you all the best during your journey. If you want to talk, without judgment feel free to send me a message.

So I took my first 'hot yoga' class last night. Before being convinced to go, I was afraid of the heat. Being a previously larger person, heat and I were not friends so of course I was concerned about it. But turns out it wasnt the heat that was the hard part. It was the moves. Holy nuts! This sh*t was no joke.
I got into the room very early and the heat wasnt bad at all. I had taken previous yoga classes but this one apparently was for more experienced folks because there were some moves that had my thinking in my head "you got to be out of your mind". The times that I couldnt do the move or felt a little light headed, I just sat in childs pose and drank some Water and blotted my dripping face. No one judged and there were people as large or larger than myself which made me feel comfortable. I just didnt have the muscle strength to do some of the moves.
Im proud to say that I stayed in the room the whole time and managed about 80% of the moves. When they say you will be drenched from head to toe, they mean it! I know I got a good workout because I slept like a rock and Im sore today.
The best part, I lost 2 pounds overnight

Wow! Such great weight loss! Can't tell you how inspiring it is to us pre-sleeved people!

Black dress 294, pink shirt 250, black shirt 215

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Just packed my bag for the hospital. I have to be at the hospital at 8am, so glad that it is so early. This clear liquid diet is a killer and I was afraid I would be waiting around till the afternoon. I was really nervous but I just got off the phone with a friend that I don't see very often, she said "the next time we get together you'll be a skinny Minnie" .... Just the thought of that being a possibility made me very excited!! Still so glad I found this forum a few Weeks ago, I,have learned so much and knew exactly what to put in my hospital bag!!