Lauranbob Mc

I emailed my NUT today with my current weight... and she told me that I am doing great and now only have to do the liquids Only Diet 3 days before surgery instead of two weeks! Can you give me a high five!
Yippeeee!

so with my husband gone all summer I am really not cooking that much but I had to give you guys a heads up. Once a week I have been going to Sam's Club and buying a whole rotisserie chicken for $5.99. I'll bring it home and take all the meat off the bone and put it in a tupperware container. It lasts me all week with myself and daughter. Their breast meat is really tender & juicey. Add it to a salad, use refried Beans and salsa for quick mexican dish. There are so many possibilties. my favorite is just adding grilled mushrooms with low carb/sugar BBQ Sauce to it. The dog loves it to because if there are any leftovers at the end of the week he gets a treat

keep it up girl.... I know that sometimes I still crave a whopper and the smell of fried foods still puts me in a tizzy... but it is not worth it. grilled chicken & veggies are my life now :-)

I started with nicholson when he was at baylor weight loss but ended up having my surgery with kuhn in Dallas. my husband is actually going thru the process right now and just got approved for the surgery. his BMI is right at 38-40 so I would make him wear work boot, lots of change in his pockets, a heavy belt and his wallet with tons of keys and a chain on it. don't laugh.... cuz I know you are right now. but his weight can go up & down by 20 lbs very quickly and I wasnt taking any chances. It took me from july of 2010 until march of 2012 to get approved and I didnt want him to go thru the waiting like I did.

i made sure I was wearing heavier clothes and drank a bunch of Water so I was over the 40 bmi. I have Cigna insurance. I was aporoved with no problems other than the 40 bmi.

Yes. Ignore him! He's having to adjust to your changes and you're dumping hormones like a crazy person right now. Those hormones will make you insane for a bit. If he wants to eat hot dogs, let him. He's only hurting himself. Once your weight loss starts showing and he sees that you are serious about adopting new, healthier habits, hopefully he'll get on the healthy bandwagon. But, you don't want to make any significant changes until you know that your hormone levels have evened out.
At that point, I'll be your cheerleader if you smack him upside the head, but family members have a tendency to irritate the tar out of us, especially in those early post-op months because WE are out of whack.
Good luck!

So, I finally broke down today and went shopping for some clothes. Specifically, I was looking for jeans, work pants, undies, and a couple of tops. I've floated through six different Goodwill stores, but hadn't found anything in an 18 I even wanted to try on, much less buy, even at discount prices. So, today I went to the Outlet Mall near my house.
I tried on several pairs of size 18 pants and jeans, but they all fit way too loose in the seat area, although they were comfortable at the waist. Finally, the saleslady suggested that I go down a size to 16s... and they fit. The waist is a hair tight, but they fit perfectly in the butt/thighs. That was the jeans! For work pants, she brought me a 16W and that fit perfectly as well!
So I totally skipped 18's!! Even better, I bought undies in a size 14. I bought 5 pairs because I know this size won't last long and the 14 is a perfect fit. I've always bought one size smaller than my pants in the brand I prefer (Cacique) and it was the right choice today as well!
So, from a 24/26 pre-op to a 16 today. I think I'll happy dance a little bit! Join in, please!!!

Check out a product called PB2. Ive never tried it but it's supposed to be a really good PB alternative.

cherries, straberries & raspberries are my go to fruit.< /p>

I went to Kohl's today to get my boys something and there was a really cute dress on clearance in the "regular" section for $18 and I had a 30% off coupon so I bought it even though it was a XL. I figured I am only 2.5 weeks post op it will fit one day. I just tried it on and it fit!!! The best part when I took it off I saw there was a zipper, I didn't even need it!!!! Now that was a feeling I have been waiting for!!

Check out this article. I think it is pretty good.

keep drinking. even sugar free popsicles ... dont worry about Protein yet. just get your fluids in. broth, Water, Vitamin water & popsicles were my go to at first. by next week you will able to add your shakes in. hang in there

Just thougth I'd post a picture update. I started at 260 lbs and am now down to 209 with a goal weight of 160. I'm halfway there! Surgery was 4/20/12 and has saved my life. I was wearing a size 20-22 and am now comfortably a 16. I can fit into a 14 but they're tight!

no regrets at all !!!

Just had my 3 week appointment thursday found that I lost 62 pounds all together thats 25 pre op in 37 post op looks like the surgery is really working

www.myfitnesspal.com there is also an app for you phone so you always track everything. a lot of us on here use it and it works great. with my husband gone for the summer ( he does the majority of the cooking) and me working 12 hour shifts I dont have the time cook every day. so I started taking one day a week, planning my meals, shopping & cooking and packing them in the fridge by days. I has worked out so well. i always have extra veggies in the fridge just in case. but I live on grilled chicken and mushrooms. it also has decreased my impulse restaurant splurges.

c-section is much worse. I just had a lot of nausea from the anesthesia but other than that your abdomen will be sore like you did 500 situps

I have had two c-sections.. the first much worse than the second. I have also had my gall bladder out. The sleeve for me was waaaay easier than the gall bladder and that was wwaaaayyy easier then either c section. Pain after surgery is a non issue for most people. I took no pain meds at all after day 2. You will be a little sore but thats about it, no excruciating pain. That was my experience.

Hve you ever tried Walden Farms? too me they have a chemicacl taste to them. my favorite is addiding flavored balsamic vinegar and a packet of equal. That should get you started. I love MIO. easy to carry in your purse and they taste great

I went to the mall today to return an item, and while I was there I thought I would browse the ladies section and see if anything was on sale. I found a cute shirt, but it was an XL in the regular ladies section. I've been in the women's 16-28 section for quite a few years. Just for sh*ts and giggles, I tried it on and low and behold that sucker fit!! It wasn't until I was on my way home that I realized today is the 26th and I'm exactly three months out. So when I got home I decided to weigh myself to see where I am and I'm down exactly 40 lbs! My eyes nearly popped out of my head, because I am just getting out of a 6 week stall. For six weeks I bounced around the same darn pound. It was so very frustrating. My logical self knew it would eventually end, but when you are in the moment and that moment last 6 weeks all kinds of crazy thoughts run through your head.
Just wanted to share, especially for those who are in the midst of a stall so you know there is a light at the end of the tunnel!

Medscape Medical News from the:
American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) 29th Annual Meeting
June 17 - 22, 2012; San Diego, California
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/766243?src=nl_topic
http://www.medscape.com/viewcollection/32520
Sleeve Gastrectomy Gets Boost in Push for Insurance Coverage
Kate Johnson
June 22, 2012 (San Diego, California) — With a final decision expected within days from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, there is now ample evidence supporting the agency's full coverage of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG), researchers asserted here at the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) 29th Annual Meeting.
Reporting the largest series to date, John Morton, MD, from Stanford University in California, said "laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy is positioned between the band and the bypass for both safety and efficacy."
In a separate, unrelated study, Abraham Fridman, DO, from the Cleveland Clinic Florida in Weston, reported that sleeve gastrectomy showed the lowest morbidity of the 3 procedures.
In March, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services revised its blanket policy of no coverage for LSG by allowing limited coverage of the procedure in randomized controlled trials.
In its so-called "coverage-with-evidence-development proposal," the agency is considering comparative evidence for LSG against other obesity surgeries, with its final decision due on June 27.
"There's considerable amount of evidence now for coverage of the sleeve. It's actually overwhelming, the amount of evidence," said Dr. Morton, who presented a national comparison of LSG vs laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRNYGB) and laparoscopic gastric banding (LGB) from the Bariatric Outcomes Longitudinal Database (BOLD) from 2007 to 2010.
The analysis included data on 271,726 patients from 540 hospitals and 1200 surgeons.
Comparing mortality, morbidity, and efficacy outcomes for 117,365 LGBs, 138,222 LRNYGBs, and 16,139 LSGs, the data clearly show that LSG is safe and effective, concluded Dr. Morton.
At 1-year postsurgery, the absolute body mass index [bMI] reduction was 16.6 kg/m2 for bypass patients, 13.4 kg/m2 for sleeve patients, and 7.6 kg/m2 for band patients.
Length of hospital stay was a mean of 2.3 days after bypass, 1.9 days after sleeve, and 0.7 after banding.
Improvement of baseline comorbidities of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and dyslipidemia was seen after all surgeries, but was most significant in the bypass group, said Dr. Morton.
The bypass group also had the highest 30-day mortality and serious complication rate (0.14% and 1.25%), followed by sleeve gastrectomy (0.08% and 0.96%), and then gastric banding (0.03% and 0.25%).
The readmission and reoperation rates were also highest for bypass patients (4.62% and 2.73%), followed by sleeve patients (3.61% and 1.7%), and then banding patients (1.38% and 0.65%).
Although 30-day follow-up data were "great," Dr. Morton noted that the limitations of the study included poor follow-up beyond this time and lack of information about patients who might have been admitted to other hospitals.
However, he said, the data are convincing for the safety and efficacy of sleeve gastrectomy.
The second study, which included 2433 bariatric procedures, was performed at the Cleveland Clinic Florida between 2005 and 2011, with a mean follow-up of 17 months.
Similar to the BOLD study, this study also showed that BMI loss after the sleeve procedure (11.2 kg/m2) fell between that of bypass (14.8 kg/m2) and banding (5.6 kg/m2).
A total of 1327 bypass, 619 sleeve, and 233 band procedures were included in the analysis, reported Dr. Fridman.
However, looking at readmission and reoperation rates, this study showed that sleeve gastrectomy was superior to both bypass and banding.
Specifically, the average number of readmissions in the sleeve gastrectomy group was the lowest (1.49), followed by the band (1.54), and then the bypass (1.96). Similarly, the rate of reoperations for complications was lowest in the sleeve group (1.8%), followed by bypass (6.6%), and then banding (14.6%).
Asked to comment on the evidence for sleeve gastrectomy, Michel Gagner, MD, told Medscape Medical News, "I think it should be covered [by insurers]."
Dr. Gagner, a Canadian bariatric surgeon, practiced in the United States for 15 years at 3 different centers before returning to his native Montreal at the Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur.
He said he now performs sleeve gastrectomy in 90% of his patients, and "I think the evolution I went through we will see in a lot of practices in the United States," he said.
"Outside the US, sleeve gastrectomy is growing very fast, and there are several countries where it is number one," he said. "In Chile and Japan, it is very popular; in India, it's the number one procedure; and there are many countries in Europe where the number of sleeve gastrectomies has surpassed the number of bandings. This is seen in France and in Belgium, for example."
The BOLD data place sleeve gastrectomy between gastric banding and bypass in terms of morbidity and mortality, he noted. "When surgeons are looking at abandonment of banding, they are looking for a procedure with similar risk ratio, and actually I think that the weight loss and comorbidity resolution with sleeve was better than banding, while the mortality and morbidity rate was slightly higher. So I think it's still an excellent risk–benefit ratio."
In fact, Dr. Gagner said, the BOLD data for sleeve gastrectomy is likely to improve, as the current figures still include a steep learning curve for the new procedure.
"We know it's in the first 100 cases that we get the highest rate of leaks, highest rate of bleeding, and strictures and mortality. Once they go beyond, we're going to see a drop by 2-fold in the leak and major complication rate. So what we're going to see in the database in the future of sleeve gastrectomy is that it's going to be very close to banding, so it's going to be very convincing for surgeons who've been using banding that they could adopt a procedure that has almost the same morbidity and mortality as banding, but yet an increased benefit."
Dr. Morton noted that he is a consultant for Vibrynt and Ethicon. Dr. Fridman has disclosed no relevant financial relationships. Dr. Gagner is a speaker for Covidien, Ethicon and Gore.
American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) 29th Annual Meeting: Abstracts PL104, presented June 20, 2012 and PL133, presented June 21, 2012.

our hospital requires all new emloyees to pass a nicotiene test before they are hired. How dare they tell us what to do on our own time. Maybe we should breathalyze every employee that walks in the door reporting for work. Many a nurse would be turned away from drinking the night before.

OMG,
I just realized that I passed the halfway mark on weight loss. so far 2 months in and I am feeling great !!!!

kitchen ninja is the bomb!!!