Kristina J.

Scheduled for May 3rd... this wait is going to be torturous which seems silly since it's been a couple of years in the making...
I'm filling my time with getting started with an exercise routine, though admittedly, I'm not doing as well as I should. Working up to it. I have hired a very handsome personal trainer (henceforth known as "Hottie Trainer") who kicks my booty once a week and I try to walk with my handsome hubby a couple times the rest of the week. Also filling some time working on passport applications right now and some new diet routines to carry through post op.
Who else is finding the wait unbearable (either scheduled or close to it)? What are you doing to pass the time?

hanging around VST!!!!!

Read this whole thread... Now I'm horny AND I want a brownie!!!! Hahahaha
I'm very lucky in that I have a husband who likes it as much as I do.... BUT, with that said, even being totally in sync with my partner sexually, I still think "taking some time for yourself" is an essential part of life!! If I don't know what I like, how can I tell him?!
Let's not generalize that personal gadgets are only for single ladies or sexless marriages lol

Jacee, that made me tear up! I couldn't have said it any better!!
I am a bit lucky in that most of the things you need to avoid with the sleeve, you have to avoid with the band too, and I've been banded for the better part of a decade. I do think the one thing I am going to miss is chugging a drink. With the band I can still down a bunch of liquid... it will make me full in minutes, but not painful at all. I am not good about drinking throughout the day and end up crazy thirsty and downing half a bottle of Water in a drink or two! I am working on drinking throughout the day now so that it won't be such a transition and the more I stick to sipping regularly, the less I feel a need to chug later on! lol

Ok ladies, this is my first sleeve coming up in May, but unfortunately, not even close to my first abdominal surgery!!! Lol I've had a total of SIX now (place band, remove band, replace band, gallbladder, 2 c-sections and hysterectomy... Yikes)!!! I'm going to tell you the greatest secret I have in my surgical arsenal after all that experience...
Maternity pajama/yoga pants!!!!!
I know it's a little embarrassing to think about going in and buying maternity pants when we already feel like everyone and their mother are looking at how fat we are (hint, they're probably not lol), BUT a fellow "bandster" told me this before my first abdominal surgery (after I posted about not being a nightgown kinda girl, with my monster thighs making me uncomfortable and all) and I never turned back! It gives you a bunch of room and therefore loose fabric over those sensitive incisions and tummies and they cover up perfectly with a big t-shirt. No one will know the difference. I'm bringing mine from my last pregnancy with me in May!! Loose, comfy and acceptable in public!
BTW, Target usually had the best selection at the best price when I was pregnant a year ago!!

Ok ladies, this is my first sleeve coming up in May, but unfortunately, not even close to my first abdominal surgery!!! Lol I've had a total of SIX now (place band, remove band, replace band, gallbladder, 2 c-sections and hysterectomy... Yikes)!!! I'm going to tell you the greatest secret I have in my surgical arsenal after all that experience...
Maternity pajama/yoga pants!!!!!
I know it's a little embarrassing to think about going in and buying maternity pants when we already feel like everyone and their mother are looking at how fat we are (hint, they're probably not lol), BUT a fellow "bandster" told me this before my first abdominal surgery (after I posted about not being a nightgown kinda girl, with my monster thighs making me uncomfortable and all) and I never turned back! It gives you a bunch of room and therefore loose fabric over those sensitive incisions and tummies and they cover up perfectly with a big t-shirt. No one will know the difference. I'm bringing mine from my last pregnancy with me in May!! Loose, comfy and acceptable in public!
BTW, Target usually had the best selection at the best price when I was pregnant a year ago!!

I fear another failed WLS. I am afraid of getting my hopes up and not getting results.
And (because I have faith this will all work for me despite my fears) I'm afraid my husband won't leave me alone once I'm really losing He's pretty darn handsy now!!! lol

Me too... I answer them. I like getting to know people through pms and helping them.

Rather than thinking about whats loved and will be missed, maybe we could think of this as the opportunity to really get it right and leave behind those things that are really not healthy for us. I have major issues with some complex carbs, so as much as i would like to eat like a normal person and not diet once i have gotten down to goal, i may remain a carb addict and never be able to limit like a normal person. So for now, i am thrilled that i have broken my coffee addiction and will not start it up again, just because i can, and i am hoping i can limit carbs once i start maintenance, but that remains to be seen. I am however, not going to mourn getting rid of some of my unhealthy habits and waste time thinking about what i cannot have. My dreams are all about the blessings of the future.

all of the above! and surgery this Wednesday, but most of all, I am afraid of not facing my fears and using them as an excuse to run right out of the hospital, seriously I would probably stop at Wendys drive thru on my way home to "self medicate" my anxiety.
That's what I am afraid of.
But I am not going to do that.
I am going to use my big girl strength and courage and I am going to push my self through this, with no expectation of it being simple,easy, pain free or not challenging and incredibly emotional.
I need it to be all of those things so I appreciate it and not take it for granted.

I am being sleeved in 3 days, I think I am going to miss my morning toast the most. It is english muffin bread with real butter and it is my biggest treat all day.
I will not miss wearing black, feeling invisible, being envious of the skinny girls, seeing my profile in the mirror or feeling like I want to curl up and die every time I leave a dressing room at the mall.

Good luck. I will be there tomorrow.

I do realize that you are telling your story, but this board is full of hopeful people and I guess I would hate someone to get scared and cancel their surgery. Also the virulent self-loathing just took me aback. I've lost over 50 pounds and think I look at a 100% better. For a moment after reading your post I thought: "Maybe I am just a fat cow thinking and feeling slimmer. People must think that I'm disgusting."
Then I quickly shook it off and am walking proud again. People here have been through all of the shame and all of the self-loathing and it's easy to fall back into it sometimes. I know bad things happen, but I like to stay focused and positive.
You had a bad time, but go on from there. Next time you are in the hospital, have an advocate there for you. My husband was with me almost the whole time. You always have to have someone looking out for you no matter how great the hospital is.

Also do not think we should be saying "fat wildebeast" some people here work very hard after surgery to GET to 5'2" and 200 lbs.....

I <3 this forum. Thanks to the OP and all the positive reinforcement from all the other posters. It's nice to be on a journey together even if our paths and paces are different.

This topic and discussion are exactly why I joined this site. Everyone is so encouraging and ready to help. I loved reading your story and your information is wonderful to hear 8 weeks out from my revision surgery.
Thank you so much for sharing and congratulations!!!!!

This topic and discussion are exactly why I joined this site. Everyone is so encouraging and ready to help. I loved reading your story and your information is wonderful to hear 8 weeks out from my revision surgery.
Thank you so much for sharing and congratulations!!!!!

With my first lapband I lost 100lbs and felt like a completely different person with different interests. My first marriage suffered for it. I was eager to get out and enjoy life since I felt so much better, but he was content to sit at home and missed me sitting with him eating on the couch. Our marriage eventually ended, and while I certainly don't blame my weight loss, I can't deny that it was a factor. He wanted the old me and I loved the new healthy me.
I had a bit of a roller coaster weight story, and am now back up to just shy of my peak weight. But this time, I don't fear it effecting my marriage (my 2nd marriage). When I met my current husband, I had already lost a bunch of weight and knew how I wanted to live. I find myself lacking the energy to do that these days, but I know it's what I want and that is what he wants for me.
I think it all comes down to how solid your marriage is to start with and how supportive your spouse is. Of course there are issues with being noticed in ways you weren't before, but I found those to have little to no effect on my marriage, even though they're a nice flattering change. For me, having my partner involved and wanting that active life with me only encourages me and my weight loss can only strengthen our marriage. And I just didn't have that situation at all with my first husband.
Keep your communication open and express your fears. The best way to deal with fears in your marriage is to talk about them with your husband. Good luck!

With my first lapband I lost 100lbs and felt like a completely different person with different interests. My first marriage suffered for it. I was eager to get out and enjoy life since I felt so much better, but he was content to sit at home and missed me sitting with him eating on the couch. Our marriage eventually ended, and while I certainly don't blame my weight loss, I can't deny that it was a factor. He wanted the old me and I loved the new healthy me.
I had a bit of a roller coaster weight story, and am now back up to just shy of my peak weight. But this time, I don't fear it effecting my marriage (my 2nd marriage). When I met my current husband, I had already lost a bunch of weight and knew how I wanted to live. I find myself lacking the energy to do that these days, but I know it's what I want and that is what he wants for me.
I think it all comes down to how solid your marriage is to start with and how supportive your spouse is. Of course there are issues with being noticed in ways you weren't before, but I found those to have little to no effect on my marriage, even though they're a nice flattering change. For me, having my partner involved and wanting that active life with me only encourages me and my weight loss can only strengthen our marriage. And I just didn't have that situation at all with my first husband.
Keep your communication open and express your fears. The best way to deal with fears in your marriage is to talk about them with your husband. Good luck!

Well thank you for sharing your story and I have great news! I too had a revision on September 10, 2012, with Dr Fernando Garcia and am now .6 pounds away from my goal weight. I lost 60 pounds in the first 4 months and now have lost 77.2 pounds. You will not reget having this surgery and Dr Garcia is an amazingly skilled surgeon. I had my band for 5 years and from what I understand he had no issues with my surgery. I now have a $16,000.00 souvenier lapband.
You are making the best decision. All the best.

With my first lapband I lost 100lbs and felt like a completely different person with different interests. My first marriage suffered for it. I was eager to get out and enjoy life since I felt so much better, but he was content to sit at home and missed me sitting with him eating on the couch. Our marriage eventually ended, and while I certainly don't blame my weight loss, I can't deny that it was a factor. He wanted the old me and I loved the new healthy me.
I had a bit of a roller coaster weight story, and am now back up to just shy of my peak weight. But this time, I don't fear it effecting my marriage (my 2nd marriage). When I met my current husband, I had already lost a bunch of weight and knew how I wanted to live. I find myself lacking the energy to do that these days, but I know it's what I want and that is what he wants for me.
I think it all comes down to how solid your marriage is to start with and how supportive your spouse is. Of course there are issues with being noticed in ways you weren't before, but I found those to have little to no effect on my marriage, even though they're a nice flattering change. For me, having my partner involved and wanting that active life with me only encourages me and my weight loss can only strengthen our marriage. And I just didn't have that situation at all with my first husband.
Keep your communication open and express your fears. The best way to deal with fears in your marriage is to talk about them with your husband. Good luck!

My story has been a long 10 year roller coaster ride both in weight and emotion!
I was banded at 18 in California. I was just under 250 at 5'1". I had an easy surgery and started losing pretty quickly. After a couple years, I was down almost 100lbs and feeling great until suddenly, in August 2005, I couldn't swallow Water. My band had slipped and badly. I went into surgery the next day to have my band fixed, but due to erosion, it was removed and as the surgeon put it to my parents, he "MAY have punctured my stomach trying to navigate scar tissue, but it was difficult to tell what was a puncture and what was an erosion." I was devastated to put it lightly and spent 9 days in the hospital recovering.
Insurance refused to replace the band (despite multiple appeals) because my BMI was too low. My surgeon and I worked through the year on appeals and by June, I had climbed back to my starting weight of 250. We found out in March that when my insurance changed at the beginning of the year, they had made WLS a contract exclusion and we had exhausted our appeals.
I decided that if I wanted my band back, I would have to pay for it and began looking into options out of the country. For a bunch of different reasons, I ended up choosing a hospital and surgeon in Mumbai, India. The surgeon in Mumbai told me that my first band was placed so high, that my scar tissue wasn't in his way at all. I now wonder if that is the only reason it worked so well. I had a new lap band placed in August 2006 at 269lbs (my highest weight) and went home filled with hope.
My hope faded as over the next year I only lost around 40-50lbs or so. Not a small amount of weight, but only half of what I lost the first time and only about a third of what I was hoping for. This band never worked like the first one. By 2012 I was back up to 250.
My current insurance has a contract exclusion as well, and instead of going through lengthy appeals (since that worked so horribly before), I decided to self pay again. This time I am going with Dr. Fernando Garcia in Tijuana with Ready 4 a Change. I have my surgery scheduled for April 25th and I'm fearful that I am starting to get my hopes up that this will be the right path for me. I am hoping that this roller coaster will take one final dip (hopefully at least a 100lb dip lol). My kids need a mom that can keep up with them and I know I can't do that on my own.
Anyone else struggle with the fear of getting your hopes up before a revision surgery?? How did it go for you?
And more importantly, after going from band to sleeve, what would you say were the biggest changes for you?
I'm so thankful for any input anyone has to share

With my first lapband I lost 100lbs and felt like a completely different person with different interests. My first marriage suffered for it. I was eager to get out and enjoy life since I felt so much better, but he was content to sit at home and missed me sitting with him eating on the couch. Our marriage eventually ended, and while I certainly don't blame my weight loss, I can't deny that it was a factor. He wanted the old me and I loved the new healthy me.
I had a bit of a roller coaster weight story, and am now back up to just shy of my peak weight. But this time, I don't fear it effecting my marriage (my 2nd marriage). When I met my current husband, I had already lost a bunch of weight and knew how I wanted to live. I find myself lacking the energy to do that these days, but I know it's what I want and that is what he wants for me.
I think it all comes down to how solid your marriage is to start with and how supportive your spouse is. Of course there are issues with being noticed in ways you weren't before, but I found those to have little to no effect on my marriage, even though they're a nice flattering change. For me, having my partner involved and wanting that active life with me only encourages me and my weight loss can only strengthen our marriage. And I just didn't have that situation at all with my first husband.
Keep your communication open and express your fears. The best way to deal with fears in your marriage is to talk about them with your husband. Good luck!

Susie, I love the way you post and your encouragement! I hope we get to see you around more often!!
Congrats on the weightloss! You've done really well!

Thanks everyone. See below for some answers to your questions.
cyncitygirl: You are doing great. Don't stress about eating more yogurt than others - as a soft food it will go down easily. Once you are on solids you will see that you can eat much less. Even at almost a year out I can't eat more than 2.5 oz at the most of meat - and it's rare I even eat that much. I have greek yogurt routinely as one of my breakfasts - I like the Dannon Light & Fit - but I'll also use plain and then put SF Torani Syrup in it to flavor. Those are 5-6 oz and I have no problem eating them though it takes a while.
Lisa: Read what you wrote and think about it - 'only 101 pounds!' since May - Holy Cow - that is phenomenal!!! I know it's very hard to do but try not to compare your rate of loss to others. I always figured 10 lbs a month would be good and you are doing much better than that! Congrats on your success.
As for my diet, I will say that my surgeon had a stricter program than most that I've read about on here. I was not allowed to have simple carbs (bread, Pasta, rice, etc.) and even nuts for the first six months. My main focus was on Protein. I was lucky if I could eat 1 or 2 T of veggies with that but, to be honest, lots of times that 1 or 2T caused me not to be able to keep the food down so in general I just stuck with Protein. I also would never be able to get my protein in without having at least one shake a day. The overall plan that worked best for me over time and is essentially what my surgeon's program is was to stick with the following limits.
Water - 100+ oz per day (I keep a 24 oz bottle of Water a day with me at all times. I use Crystal Light - well really Walmart brand). I buy the individual packets even though they cost a little more. I set out four of them a day and that lets me get in 96 oz and I'll have another glass of water here or there. My favorite flavor is fruit Punch. I never was a coffee drinker so the first bottle I have in the a.m. is one of the "Energy" versions which has caffeine in it - that's my 'coffee' which I usually have only on M-F when I'm working.
Protein - 60+g per day - I get this usually by having either a Protein Shake or greek yogurt for breakfast; ham and cheese rollups for lunch and chicken, beef, etc for dinner. If I don't have enough in for the day after dinner sometimes I will make have the juice mentioned above and will mix a scoop of unflavored powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury powder into it. Hint: With Unjury I've learned to let it sit for a few minutes before drinking - it smells horrible and that gives time for the smell to go away.
Carbs - Less than 40g per day - I track my food on myfitnesspal - I love that program. I have no excuses because it's always available online, through my iPad or iPhone. I've met other friends from VST on there and we encourage each other. I found earlier on that looking at others food diaries gave me good ideas when I was getting bored.
Fat - I really never worried about how much fat I ate.
Vitamins - I take Building Blocks chewables - a.m. = 2 Calcium, multivit, Vitamin D3; p.m. = 2 Calcium, multivit, CQ10 - I also take a chewable Iron tablet in between those - must be at least 2 hours before or after calcium.
Exercise: My surgeon started off with requesting at least 30 mins per day; 60 minutes later on. I was better in the beginning and would make sure I got out for a walk most days. I worked out with a personal trainer for a while once a week. I love to swim so when the weather was warmer I was swimming in my pool for 45-60 mins most days. Even in FL I can't do that right now.
I followed the above pretty consistently for the majority of the year and in general ate an average of 600 calories or so when I was in my prime losing months. I have to admit that since having less than 10 lbs to lose, I've relaxed quite a bit and average more like 1000 calories these days. I have had to travel for work several weeks since the beginning of the year. I've still managed to lose at least a lb a week which I'm thrilled about. The fact is that once you have a sleeve it really would take some determination to truly overeat - at least if you stay away from sliders. If I eat more than I should I just tell myself it's a maintenance day. I think the most I've ever ate in a day would be 1800 calories which will not make me gain weight. I still try to make it a point to track on myfitnesspal regardless - it keeps me accountable.
Hope this helps..... Stay with your program and you will do and continue to do Great!
Susie