Pinky Green

Hi, tqmeri30, I'm 5' and my doctor's goal for me is 130 but my goal is 120. I weighed a bit more than you at 240 but hopefully we'll both reach 130 or even 120 for me.

I suppose that actually depends on if his incidence of leaks is very high or really low.

I lost 12 lbs pre-op and 10 pounds the first 2 weeks after surgery.

Oh, and he had me scheduled for 2 days but said I had done so well, he said I could leave the day after surgery - but I didn't feel comfortable leaving and stayed the extra day.

My doctor said that having a drain and checking for x-rays while drinking is "old school" and that he checks for leaks while he is still working on you. He did a fairly new procedure called a Spider incision.

I'm two weeks and one day. I really haven't yet been exercising enough. I did walk up and down the stairs of my apartment 5 times in a row. And I've taken a couple of walks. Plan to go swimming tomorrow. I still get pretty tired.

I saw my doctor yesterday and he approved me for anything but weightlifting. He said I could walk, swim, ride a bike or even do crunches.

I didn't really have much pain. You get plenty of pain medication in the hospital and I had liquid lorcet at home which I used exactly 2 days. After that the only pain I had felt a little like menstrual cramps or like I'd done too many crunches. But I have been very tired. My short-term disability approved me for 3 weeks and I'm taking them just so I can rest and also exercise some.

If you can have it before the end of the year you won't have to start over on a new insurance year - if your insurance is paying. All your copays this year will count toward your out-of-pocket and you might not even have to pay the full price for the surgery. My surgery maxed out my maximum out of pocket and I don't have to pay anything else for the year.

I recommend Omron Pedometers. Their model HJ-112 can be worn on your belt or carried in a pocket or purse. I always had problems with the clip on the pedometer breaking and it becoming useless. This pedometer fixed that problem. http://walking.about...gr/omron112.htm

Congratulations! I am 2 weeks out and lost 10 lbs at my 2 week follow-up visit. It won't keep up that much forever - or hope it doesn't - I want to lose it more like 1 1/2 or 2 lbs a week - and I'd like to lose it steadily but that probably won't happen either.

I was just getting tired of drinking Chocolate Protein powder shakes. I've got some strawberry-kiwi Mio also and am going to try that too.

Take a cup of skim or 1% milk and put it in a shaker cup, add a half a cup of fat free unflavored greek yogurt - add 2 squeezes of Mio - I used Berry Pomegranate flavor. It was delicious. Almost 20 grams of Protein - 19.5 grams of protein

Here are some sample menus from my doctor's website for diet prior to weight loss surgery: http://tlcsurgery.ehclients.com/images/uploads/Weight%20Mgmt%20sample%20meal%20plan.pdf

I had surgery 9/26, 2 weeks ago. I've lost 12 lbs pre-op and 8 lbs after surgery.

Fat Free Greek yogurt has 23 grams of protein.

I was told that they probably wouldn't postpone the surgery unless you have a fever. I had asthma and a bit of a cold the day of surgery. They had to give me some oxygen post-op and kept telling me to breath but I was ok about 2 hours later.

Sounds like we are all doing quite well. I've been stalled at 20 lbs for 2 days (after losing 12 lbs in 2 week pre-op and 8 lbs in 2 weeks post-op) That's 20 lbs a month. But I don't think that's abnormal. I will lose a couple of more pounds when my body adjusts. I'm hoping after the initial 40 lbs or so I will be losing at a 1 to 2 lbs average a week - less loose skin if you lose it slowly.

My, my surgeon must have done a really good job because I was sleeved on 9/27 and I no longer feel much pressure from clothes on my belly or from the steering wheel of the car that is still a little tight.

I understand that we need vitamins because we might not get all the vitamins we need from what we eat after surgery, but since we don't have malabsorption why do we need super extra bariatric vitamins? Why not just regular liquid or chewable vitamins?

Most insurance will accept if you do the 6 month NUT in your home town - I've heard of them accepting medifast or with a nutritionist in your home town. You could do the preliminary required testing in OK City and have the surgery with a physician in Dallas. They could have you do the follow-ups with your PCP in Oklahoma City.

Have you considered going to a different city to have the surgery? Maybe there is an in-network doctor and an in-network hospital in another city not too far away. I live in Houston so there are plenty of in-network doctors. Lots of people come to Houston from as far away as Beaumont or Victoria (125 miles away) to have surgery. I see you are in Norman, OK. How far is that from Dallas? Or Tulsa?

I usually look to the right side bar for Recent Topics for the most recent conversation and read what other people are saying. Most of the time they talk about things that either I was thinking about or hadn't thought about but should. Also if you have a particular question you can put a key word in where it says search, click on This Topic to change it to Forums and then click the magnifying glass to search and it will bring up topics related to your keywords.

That worries me a little too. I met my boyfriend when I weighed about 170 and and then after a number of stressful things happened I got up to 240. Now I'm down to 220 and I am sure he will be ok with me being 170 and probably even 150 - but what about if I get down to my doctor's goal of 130 or my personal goal of 120. But what worried me more is that I might have to have knee replacement surgery at 55 or that my blood pressure which used to be low all the time and had started creeping up to the 140's and I might have a stroke or heart failure. Or that I might die in my sleep from sleep apnea. I want to be healthy and if he's not happy with that I'm a strong, independant woman and I will get along just fine without him.

OK listen, right now you are trying to lose weight, even though you may be able to eat these things with no problem - and you want to eventually be able to eat them in moderation - stick with low-fat things right now and keep your carbohydrates fairly low. I was told to mostly make sure you got at least 60 grams of Protein and make sure you get enough fluids - at least 60 oz a day. And eat your protein first. If you eat your protein first, low carb vegetables and fruits next and then you won't be able to eat as many high carb fruits and vegetables and grains.