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Great work

I have been drinking Coke since I was a toddler. I drank it all the way up until the first day of my pre-op low carb diet. I actually even had one the first day of the diet. But after that, none. Not a drop. Oh, wait. Dr. Aceves lets you eat your 'last meal' the night before surgery, so I did have one that night. Then, none. Not a drop. Keep in mind, that is all I ever drank. No Water, no tea (and I'm from the South), no fruit juices. Just every once in a while I would have some orange juice for Breakfast. That was my sole source of liquids. Sad, right? My poor kidneys. And it wasn't even the diet kind. Anyway, surprisingly I never had a headache, or any other withdrawal symptoms. I feel lucky about that after reading some of these posts. I have been reading about people drinking soda again after several months, but I am so over it, I think it would be crazy to even try it again. I just don't care about it anymore. If you knew me, you wouldn't believe that was <i>me</i> saying that My advice is to do it cold turkey. Seems like just easing off of it is kinda torture. Like teasing yourself with it. But, you might be one of those that would get a headache, so it might be best to taper off. I think what made it easy for me to do it quickly was that I waited till the very last minute to quit and I knew I had to do the low carb thing in order to shrink my liver for surgery, so there was no choice. Good luck to you and good for you for preparing yourself earlier than you have to. Hey! Remember in that movie ELF with Will Farrell, when he was drinking that 2 liter coke right outta the bottle? That reminds me of me! That's how much I loved Coke!

That is so great! One less thing, right?

WOW. You look FAN-TAS-TIC! I love the before and afters. So inspiring. One question. Did the 'dumping' resolve itself or do you still get it? Or was it because of your gallbladder? Thanks for any info!

Wow! What a change already!! Don't you just LOVE your sleeve? You look great Hey, I am 13 pounds from Onederland! We will be there soon!

Congrats! Glad you are here!

I didn't have a 3 week stall, but I did have a stall at around 7 weeks. Then the weight just started dropping off again. That's why it is a good idea to not weigh every day. I know it seems impossible (it does to me) but if you could only weigh every 2 weeks, you would have a great big loss and you would never even notice that little stall in there. In other words, even if you don't lose for a while, it WILL come off in the end, so it all evens out eventually. It's nice to see those numbers go down, but when they don't, it sucks. So, weighing less often can only give you GOOD news!

Thanks for being such an inspiration to all of us, as always. I hope you are feeling better after looking at those pics of yourself. You deserve to feel good about what you have already accomplished, that's for sure!

Well done! Thanks for sharing the pics with us!

Some Drs say when incisions heal, others say 3-4 months, and I think the difference is because swimming uses LOTS of muscles, especially in the abdomen. Probably would depend if you were just gonna play around in a pool or do some serious laps. I would say follow your own Dr's advice.

It is very hard, but I totally agree with what Meggie said, things are amplified right now and you always (at least I do) consider the worst possible scenario when something major is about to happen. Like this surgery. It is completely normal and the only thing I can add to what others have said is, just try and keep yourself busy and focus on as many other things as you can. Watch a movie on your laptop, listen to some music on your ipod, just keep busy. I will tell you this, I noticed you are going to Dr. Aceves, well you will be at ease as soon as you meet him and Dr. Campos. I felt so comfortable during/after the "talk" he gives right before surgery. As soon as he was done, all my worries just went away and the next thing I knew, I was waking up and I was on the glorious other side of my life. My new life. One that will be better, not only for me, but for my little girl and DH, too. I won't event tell you to relax. That's just a word, but keep busy till you get there and then just listen to Dr. A and everything will fall into place. Just look at all of us who have been in the very room you will probably stay in at the hospital. Accidents can and do happen, but hey, look at the Good Dr.'s track record, it speaks for itself. Hang in there. BTW, go ahead and write the letters, it might help you feel more comfortable about going ahead with the surgery. When you get back home, just tear them up. Done.

You have done an amazing job! Congrats on the new 'style', too!

I read that wrong, Crosswind. I thought you ate a 65 gram protein cookie. I was about to order me a lifetime supply

How precious! You look so happy with her. Glad things worked out for you

I have the unjury unlflavored, also and like Kelly said, Yuck. But I also did not like the chicken soup flavored one either. They both had such a strong, strong typical Protein powder smell and taste that I could not do it. I will be interested in the responses here, as I would love to find one that is truly tasteless. I don't have high hopes, though

Yes, go to the hospital. I hope you are already there. Vomiting blood is never ok.

This reminds me of that trick about putting all the ingredients for an omelette into a plastic zip lock bag and boiling it. It comes out just right! The microwave idea seems much easier and less messy

Haha....those Proteins drinks actually WOULD kill him!! YUCK! Don't leave one sitting around the house

Put that scale in a cabinet or in your garage or somewhere that you won't step on it every day. It will make you crazy. Once a week is plenty. Longer than that is even better. I can't go more than a week though. Sometimes I don't even make it that long, but checking your weight every day is such a roller coaster. Keep up the good work and you WILL certainly lose, there is no doubt.

Same with me, I was there with one from this board, and there was another lady I met there from Canada and we keep in touch, still. You will find there is plenty of time for "visiting" while you are recovering. Have fun and good luck to you

The weight gain after surgery is usually just from your IV fluids. This will correct itself.

Stevia might be your friend but that does not mean everyone likes it or can even tolerate it. Preparing for surgery ahead of time has nothing to do with it. I have never been able to eat or drink artificial sweeteners or the new "natural" sweeteners like stevia (which has the exact same disgusting aftertaste) in my life, so researching and/or "life changes" weren't going to change that fact. Everyone is different. This is not a one size fits all lifestyle.

WOW! That is exciting! I can't wait to hear how everything goes and I know Dr. A and Dr. Campos are going to be happy to see you, too! Be sure to tell them how much their patients love them Good luck to you and update when you feel like it

I voted Vicki! I hope you win. I love your video.

AMEN, it is crack. Except my drug of choice was regular coke. Been drinking it since I was a toddler and had to stop cold turkey for this surgery and haven't had one since. I have never like coffee, I used coke to wake me up for the day. Never drank anything else. Sadly, no Water or anything. I don't want to get back on it EVER and hope I never take a sip and can tolerate it.