Mary Gordon

nice and congrats!!!! sorry to hear about your friends, i am sure you will find good friends out there who will support you and empathize with you.

Hello guys,

My surgery is Tuesday and Im scared and excited at the same time! I weigh 192 and im 5 feet tall. I hope to get down to atleast 130-140 range. I dont want to loss to much weight because that is not a good look either. Today I was walking throught the mall getting some last minute surgery stuff like Vitamins and pajamas and my knees were hurting so bad after 15minutes of walking. Im so thankful that im getting this surgery so that I can walk around like "normal people". I will keep you posted on my success. Blessings everyone!

wish you the best, i am sure everything will be fine.....welcome to the loser;s bench.....enjoy your new journey to weight loss.

i always try to teach my kids to order healthy things on the menu, and they share with me or i order a vegetable soup....and salad.< /p>

you have made the best decision. for now just listen to anyone and everyone, then you will show them your results and they will stay quiet.....rock that sleeve girl....you deserve the best and the sleeve is the best!!! wish you the best of luck.

I will be 3 weeks out tomorrow. I just started using my Wii Fit yesterday. I have been doing the steps for now. I did 800 yesterday and 1700 today. It's good because it gets you moving without hurting yourself this early on. I heard from my friend who is a Zumba instructor that the Wii game is quite the workout.....but the classes are more fun.

i don;t have a Wii but my nephew does, and i have really worked up a sweat....i am seriously thinking of getting one for me......i have also been in the zumba class at my gym and i really love it too!!! i love any exercise that really makes me sweat.

Anyone out there been in the Curves fitness program & if so, is it good? Were you successful with toning up?

I started my membership Monday & will be going 3 days a week. Any suggestions or opinions about it, please chime in.

Thanks,

Rhonda

i have heard that doing exercise at Curves is less intense and i personally like more intense exercise, more on the note of kickboxing and weight lifting....but any form of exercise always helps, so try it, go for it....if you don't like it the first month, then try something new....best of luck.

My name is Cathy, and I am a 47 y/o 5'3" wife and mother to 2 boys and 3 stepdaughers. In the summer of 2009 I had "raw dieted" my way into a size 12. By this summer I was back up to 222 and not fitting in my big size 16s. I was put on medicine for high blood pressure, told I was pre-diabetic, and had obstructive sleep apnea. I was losing my breath climbing one flight of stairs. Both knees were bothering me, and I had bursitis in my hips and ankles. Just miserable. I got Lyme disease and ended up with a fairly serious depression. I am tired all the time. My dad died in January 2010. I just sat on the couch and binged my way out of all my clothes, and all my enthusiasm for life. The day before yesterday I had sleeve gastrotomy done after one day of clear fluids only. Today I am still sore (but better). I can't possibly drink all the fluids they want me to drink, but I'm trying. I am not at all hungry, and looking forward to 2011 being a much healthier, happier year for me. My surgeons were Dr. Val Prokurat and Dr. Earl Noyan and the surgery was done at Robert Wood Johnson hospital in Hamilton Square, NJ. They also have offices in Freehold and do surgery in Freehold. Just having a little trouble with terrible thirst. I want to gulp my fluids, but I can't. I'm happy to deal with it as long as I can climb the stairs again and not be out of breath. A good night's sleep without apnea will be a major bonus too!

congrats!!! you will do just fine, welcome to the loser's bench...and please keep us posted.

Just keep doing it, you can never get it right the first time around, it takes a couple of tries.

i second this, it is a challenge at first, and after some and some more repetitions, you will start getting the hang of it......the important thing is that you are doing your exercise and physical movement that burns calories. best of luck\!!!

Here's me at 168 ...I'm soooooooo not comfortable with body pics, but I really do need to document, plus my friend wanted a picture of me in the sweater she bought me for my birthday. It's storming here in So Cal and just got back from errands, but it was now or never (have to get dinner started). Pics were taken with my blackberry so not great quality.

OOPS here's a before pic too...

now or never....this is definitely your year!!! you look greattttt.....keep up the good work, you will have the best year because this is just the beginning of your journey to weight loss.....congrats.

I admit that I like to drink. In the last year I have cut my alcohol use down significantly from a cocktail or two per night to one-two per week instead. I also make smaller ones than I used to. After VSG why are we not supposed to drink alcohol? Is it just the extra [empty] calories or is there another reason? I have already cut down from 7 oz martinis to 3 oz ones. I have 1.5 oz martini glasses I can switch to in my bar if it is just the calories. I do enjoy drinking wine as well and have cut down from 3-5 bottles per week to just 1.

If there is another health issue other than the calories? It is no big deal to drop my consumption to almost nothing but really don't want to lose the booze completely (although I am willing to do that if necessary).

i cut down to having 2 glasses of anything....call it beer, wine or whisky.....at the beginning couldn't finish the whole glass....now i do but i can't eat anything.....when i do drink, i make sure to not skip my exercise routine......this has helped me maintain my weight.....very important to also drink lots of Water.

12 oz Longhorn cheese, grated

3 eggs, beaten

1 can green chilies; chopped

Mix all together well. Lightly butter a square dish. Bake @ 350 degrees for apx 20 minutes or until melted and slightly brown around the edges.

This is a big hit at parties.

thanks for the recipe, i will for sure try it out.....sounds delicious.....

hi welcome to the forum!!!

Hi All,

I am newbie. I orginally planned on having my surgery with Dr. C in Mexico Feb 10. But after doing tons of research, I am leaning towards getting to know Dr. W. I haven't contacted them yet. I have been very happy with Dr. C's staff and this experience with GPS. I have aftercare set up here in ATL. But I am wondering on the cost of Dr. W's surgery. While price is NOT my driving factor, it does have some weight. Dr C is $8,000. As a self pay patient, this I can afford. Can you give me a range on his prices? I will still call myself, but I want to be prepared.

Thanks.

Anna

hi anna, have you checked out dr. aceves information? his charging 8750, and he is totally worth it. every penny is worth the price.

I was sleeved 11/22. I lost 15 pounds between then and 12/1. I have been fluctuating the same three pounds up and down for the last ten days. I am still on liquids. In addition I have been constipated, I have added benefiber 3 times a day and I think it is helping. I also think I need more fluids as my fingers feel puffy and stiff in the morning like I am retaining Water, so I tried to push the fluids yesterday and got in less than 300 calories. When I try to take in more substance my calories are around 600, but then i don't get enough fluids. You can see my foods on fatsecret.com. I am just feeling sad today and could use some cheering up.

hang in there, be patient....sometimes we have good and some others are bad days. but the majority are good, and we should be grateful for having had the opportunity to have this surgery. so cheer up, all will be well.....smile and chin up.

You pretty much can't find yogurt with that low of carbs, Greek Yogurt has less carbs and more protien. a lot

of people like carb master that you can get at Krogers. I think it's tasteless. I like Chiboni yogurt the best.

I also like Brown cow that I get at walmart.,

thanks for the tip, i have tried krogers as well....but i will be sure to try out the ones you have mentioned.

hi i am doing great...good to hear you are doing great as well.....taking care of myself more than the usual, getting ready for next week, xmas food, don't want to over do it. welcome to your new journey to weight loss. enjoy and best of luck.

I was sleeved by Dr. Landerholm at the Puget Sound Surgical Center in Edmonds, Washington yesterday. From what I can gather, this center is one of a very few that does the procedure as an outpatient. I was there at 8:30 in the morning, surgery by 9:45, and in recovery by 11:00. They gave me a IV of saline, and sent me off. Because I live on an island, we took a motel room nearby, because I needed to go back today for two more saline IVs.

According to the doctor, it went beautifully, and apparently I have a lovely liver, something that, up to this time, I was completely ignorant of.

Thus far I have had zero difficulty getting down the Water. I keep a glass by my side, sipping constantly. The incisions are still oozing, but not terribly. I am more sore today than I was yesterday, but it's like I've done a thousand situps - uncomfortable, but not impossible.

Yesterday and today, clear liquids. Tomorrow, I start Protein drinks. The few I've tried all tasted horrible, but I've got LOTS of samples.

I'm thinkig of going to the gym tomorrow for the treadmill -- then I won't find myself exahausted and a half mile from home. Then again, I may just feel like lying in bed moaning...

How are my sleeve brothers and sisters doing?

wish you the best of luck, you really sound calm and ready to enjoy your new journey to weight loss.....go for it,....may God bless you and rock that sleeve. Please keep us posted.

Hi folks,

After much todo, filling out of forms, meeting of doctor's and starving on the 2 week pre-op diet (10 lbs down as of today!), I am ready to be sleeved tomorrow, along with my pals KGremmy and Bumblestich.... anyone else I've forgotten who is getting sleeved tomorrow??? I just want to thank everyone for all your input, and for sharing all your stories. I can't tell you how reassuring your friendship has been and how much I appreciate all the time people have given in sharing their answers to my questions (Tiffykins and LilMissDiva, you guys are truly amazing resources!).

You have really helped me to prepare, and to feel optimistic about what I can expect. I feel ready for possibly having trouble swallowing, hating my Protein shakes, feeling a bit blue after surgery, and on the upside, feeling ecstatic as I drop this weight that has plagued me on and off the better part of my adult life, feeling stronger as my workouts get better and better, and as someone else said, "telling food we can just be friends." Thanks so much to everyone who has supported me in this journey, and I'll see you on the other side!

P.S. Your thoughts and prayers are DEFINITELY welcome!!!

55min walk/jog today. Freezing outside, but at least I got out there with the dog before the wind picked up.

excellent!!! today was my first day of my xmas break so i also walked jogged for 50 mins....excellent morning, sunny and warm.

Thank you! That answered alot! Does that also include a place for family members to stay or would they need to find their own motel or something?

yep, i think one person can be included, and they can stay with you at the hotel.....but if you need further information, please feel free to call NIna, she's the patient coordinator.....dr. aceves is totally worth every penny and effort. goodluck

thankyou for the advice, ill make sure to try it out.....

How soon were you able to return to work and what kind of work do you do? If you don't want to disclose exactly what you do, please give me an idea of how much time you spend sitting, standing and bending.

I'm concerned about how much time I'll need to take off and trying to plan ahead. I stand a good part of the day and am usually slightly bend over at the waist working on clients. I also walk up a lot of stairs. I work for myself and can go back to work scheduling a break between each client at first if I need to.

How long until you could do whatever physical activity you wanted (within reason)? (not due to being overweight, just due to surgical healing).

well i took like one week off.....pretty strange when i went back to work, but i survived. you will too....wish you the best and welcome to the loser's bench!!!

i recommend Mexicali, Mexico - with Dr. Aceves....he is definitely your best choice. He and his staff are very reliable and professional. If you need more info, please feel free to contact NIna, she's the patient coordinator and she's great as well.

Well, there are Americans being shot or kidnapped in America every day, so I'm gonna say you're safe. 100 million Mexicans go about their life with work, school, and chores every day and they do just fine. Just don't get involved in any drug deals....

i totally agree with you blackberry - if it's your time to pass away to a better life, it'll happen anywhere, either in Mexico, or china or usa....so remember live your life like if it were your last day!!!