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That's very sad. There but for the grace of God go I.
I think it was very compassionate that the firefighters were holding up tarps to try to keep the media from getting shots of the man, though.

Are you exercising?

Fat takes up waaay more room in the body than muscle.

That's very sad. There but for the grace of God go I.
I think it was very compassionate that the firefighters were holding up tarps to try to keep the media from getting shots of the man, though.

How are you sleeping on half an Ambien? If well, maybe you can take it down to a quarter?
You may not have been sleeping well because of your weight, so I wouldn't be surprised if you find that you can sleep okay without the "help" of sleep aids when you've lost some weight. Something to keep in mind as the weight comes off.

How are you sleeping on half an Ambien? If well, maybe you can take it down to a quarter?
You may not have been sleeping well because of your weight, so I wouldn't be surprised if you find that you can sleep okay without the "help" of sleep aids when you've lost some weight. Something to keep in mind as the weight comes off.

That's very sad. There but for the grace of God go I.
I think it was very compassionate that the firefighters were holding up tarps to try to keep the media from getting shots of the man, though.

A friend of mine who is a therapist suggested I write a very long letter to myself before I have the surgery, laying out exactly how I feel every single day at this weight and why I want to have the surgery, etc.
She suggested that later if ever I feel I haven't changed or get discouraged that pulling out the letter and reading it will reinforce how far I have come and how I never want to feet this way again.
I think some people just forget the misery they used to have and then maybe they're not-so-happy with where they are. I don't know. It's unfortunate she feels that way. I think glass half-full is definitely the way to go.

I had a very thought provoking encounter yesterday. I went to get a new set of custom orthotics made yesterday (I have foot problems that pre-date my sleeve surgery). I mentioned to the tech I wanted to get a new pair, as my old ones were not fitting well because I had recently lost a bunch of weight. We got to talking about weight loss, and come to find out she was also a sleeve patient. Her surgery was around Thanksgiving of 2010.
The first question she asked me was "Do you regret having the sleeve?" I said "Absolutely not, it's the best thing I ever did for myself." She got quiet and I asked her whether she regretted surgery. And, to my surprise, she said she did - she wished she hadn't done it. And, she said she hadn't lost all the weight she wanted to yet (she is about 30 pounds from goal). I don't know how much she had lost, or where she started from - she looked about a size 14 to me.
As we were talking, and I was sharing all of my positive health benefits, she told me she had gotten off of all blood pressure medication, all cholesterol medication, all diabetes medication and gotten rid of her CPAP machine. To me, sounds like she should be pretty happy. I have the same results as her (except I wasn't diabetic) and I am ecstatic about it.
I asked her why she was unhappy with the sleeve. She said she didn't like not being able to go to restaurants like she did before. She didn't like having to be so careful planning before she went somewhere (like a day at an amusement park) to make sure she could get her Protein in when she needed to. And, she is having some digestion problems with eating certain food (hamburger patties, for one) - although she doesn't routinely take any PPI's or acid medications.
We got to talking about waking up at 2 or 3 am ravenously hungry if we didn't get enough protein in during the day. This has happened to me occasionally, and I now make sure to get enough protein in for dinner!
Not a hard problem to overcome.
Our experiences were so very similar - yet I am absolutely THRILLED and HAPPY with my sleeve and she is UNHAPPY and REGRETS her decision. I look for solutions to the bumps in the road I experience - she seems to just keep hitting the same bumps, and is unhappy and regretful.
So, my take-away from this encounter is this. Your attitude towards what happens with your sleeve is critical to whether you view your experience as a success or not. Your attitude will determine whether you are a happy post-sleeve patient or an unhappy one. I also think have realistic expectations about goal weights and life after sleeve are important for people to understand. If you are unrealistic in your expectations, you can set yourself up for failure.
I don't know if she goes to a support group (there are plenty here locally) and I don't know if she uses this forum. I think both types of support have been very helpful to me in helping me find solutions for the bumps in the road, and for having realistic expecations for this new life.
I challenge all of us to view the glass half full. I think many of us got accustomed to viewing it half empty when we were obese. There are great resources on getting or keeping a positive attitude towards life. Lil Miss Diva here in Vertical Sleeve Talk is a great source for inspiration and for positive attitude.If she could bottle her attitude and sell it, she could be a millionaire! I recommend you read her posts to soak up some positivity about this sleeve journey we are all taking.
Another source is Norman Vincent Peale - his "Power of Positive Thinking" was the first in a long line of attitude books - and Peale is the precursor to other motivational speakers like Tony Robbins. Both of them have wonderful writings on keeping things positive.
Both Peal and Robbins were influenced by a book called As A Man Thinketh. It has a great message. It was written by James Allen in 1902 and is based on his meditations on Proverbs 23:7. "Your mind is like a garden, it will bring forth. If you cultivate it, it will produce good results, results that you want. If you let anything grow then your results will be the same as if you let your garden grow – you will get weeds."
Didn't mean to make this so long and rambling. I am going to keep a positive attitude! I am going to keep looking at my glass as "half full". And, in the garden that is my mind, I will strive to "plant flowers" and "pull the weeds".

For starters, you are WAAAAY too early to be weighing every day and worrying about weight loss. Your body is still healing.
Let's take a look at this objectively. You just had 85% of your stomach removed. You are eating between 300-500 calories a day. What does it mean if you lose 1 or 2 pounds? That you lost fat? What about the swelling in your stomach and your incisions? That is basically Water and it is reducing ... right? What if you don't lose at all? Does this mean you are a failure and you won't lose any weight at all? What if you gain? Does this mean you are gaining fat?
Really?
It is so easy to get your head spinning around during these early days, but you have to remember your body is healing. It just went through major surgery. It is no longer being fed the way it was. There are some adjustments that it has to make. Give it room to do this without worrying. Again, you just had 85% of your stomach removed. You have read the postings on the forum. Do you really think you are not going to lose?
Stop weighing yourself. It does yourself no good and sound like it may be giving an unsupportive husband ammunition to help sabotage your self esteem. Just don't do it yourself. No good can come of it. Wait a couple weeks. Weigh yourself monthly. You will see losses and it will do wonders for your self esteem. (Plus disarm any non-supporters in your life) If people ask, "How much did you lose today?", tell them that you are not going to be a slave to scale and that you don't know. It is non of their business, anyway.

I'm not sure how large your Mom's company is, but most companies would be required to offer COBRA coverage after an employee is let go.
Basically, that means your mother would have the option to continue her current insurance for a period of up to 18 months, however she would have to pay the full premium cost.
In other words, assuming your mother wants to keep her insurance (which I assume most people do until they find other work), she will be able to continue under her current plan. It will be waaaay more expensive to pay the premiums, but a lot less than paying for the surgery out of pocket.

I'm not sure how large your Mom's company is, but most companies would be required to offer COBRA coverage after an employee is let go.
Basically, that means your mother would have the option to continue her current insurance for a period of up to 18 months, however she would have to pay the full premium cost.
In other words, assuming your mother wants to keep her insurance (which I assume most people do until they find other work), she will be able to continue under her current plan. It will be waaaay more expensive to pay the premiums, but a lot less than paying for the surgery out of pocket.

I'm not sure how large your Mom's company is, but most companies would be required to offer COBRA coverage after an employee is let go.
Basically, that means your mother would have the option to continue her current insurance for a period of up to 18 months, however she would have to pay the full premium cost.
In other words, assuming your mother wants to keep her insurance (which I assume most people do until they find other work), she will be able to continue under her current plan. It will be waaaay more expensive to pay the premiums, but a lot less than paying for the surgery out of pocket.

Hey everyone...I weighed in today and for the first time my lovely Wii told me I am overweight! hehe. When I started this journey I was morbidly obese....and felt like death was chasing me. Now I am just overweight and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel...and it isnt death...lol
So happy to just be overweight now! cant wait till I am normal weight!

I self-paid for a lap band out of state ten years ago. I lost thirty pounds in four months, and then I had a weird fill and had no restriction. This led to a year of me getting fill after fill after fill--while I was insisting I had no restriction-- and basically being ignored by my surgeon who was saying everything was fine. Grr.
For about eight years I kept that weight off, but lost nothing else and had no restriction. When both my knees went out and I was diagnosed with arthritis and my mobility went down the crapper, I started putting on weight again. I finally made an appointment with the surgeon here, hoping that maybe he could figure out how to get my band working. Unfortunately they did some tests and confirmed my band was completely defective and they couldn't get it to work. He suggested I have it removed and either replace it or do a different surgery. As a self-pay patient, though, I decided that I couldn't afford it at that time.
A year later and now not only am I gaining weight, but I am breathless walking across the room because I'm so sedentary with my knees. Enough. One home equity loan later....here I am, praying that when I get my date and have my surgery that everything goes smoothly, because this is taking my last thin dime. lol.

There's an interesting book called "Do One Thing Different" that I enjoyed. It's about stopping those "automatic" behaviors by changing just one simple thing that sort of jars the "automatic" behavior out of being automatic, and makes you make a conscious choice.
I have to remind myself to use the tools in it, but I managed to quit picking up fast food on the way home by purposely changing what exit I get off the highway, for instance.
Anyway, it might be worth the read. I'm sure after surgery I will have to have a slew of new tools to use to replace the way I've been using food.< /p>