Carrie's Journey

It was 37 or 38. She sed i wud have had to weigh 243 in order for her to refer me. I was not bout to gain in order to get referred bc it still wud have taken bout 7 months or so to go thru their comprehensive preop program.

Yeah I wasn't happy about their long process either. My husband and I just figured out a way to finance the surgery and went for it. I swear my surgery happened like, 3 weeks after my first phone call to them. But I was able to get squeezed in to a cancellation spot. I think it was all meant to happen like this.

It's funny that you say that. As I am lying in the hospital bed all drugged up' date=' my husband decides to go to the caf to get some lunch. Does he eat his lunch down in the caf? NO! He brings it back up to the room. Do you know what he brought in my room after I have just had all but a teeny tiny bit of my stomack removed.... FRIED CHICKEN! I am southern Carrie, and this is a staple for southern people. ALSO... IT IS ONE OF MY GREATEST WEAKNESSES! If I could have shot him, I would have.

That being said, I do have the most wonderful husband whom is so very supportive. I guess he just lost his brain while I was losing my stomack. LOL[/quote']

Ha! How mean! I don't even think they realize how hard they make it sometimes. He's trying to be better but I think I'm just going to have to exercise a lot more self-control than I used to. The nice thing is that I only have so much room now...so if I cheat, it'll be like 2 bites of something.

I am 31. 5'5 ish and I want to be size 8 or 150. Whatever happens first. I might go down to 145 just to give me some wiggle room.

Did your dr set a goal for you? I'm also 31 and 5'5" and my dr said I should be able to get to 120! That seems super skinny to me so I told him 130-140. Ideally, 140 would be my max for a healthy BMI, I think. But I don't remember ever being less than 165 so anything less would be a dream.

Carrie' date=' I think I added you as a friend.?! LOL I had to get on my laptop to do that. The first few days were pretty hard just like everyone here, I am sure. The VSG left me pretty bruised across the middle and I had some pain a few inches above the staple site. Over all... I feel good. I never felt sick, got sick or wanted to die. However, I still want to kill my husband every time he walks in the house with food! I am down 16 lbs as of this morning and in 11 days... that never happend on a regular diet. How are you feeling about all this?[/quote']

That's awesome! I'm feeling great now! It never was horrible but now it's nothing. I have bruising still but the glue came off so my belly button finally feels good. The hard glue was hurting. I'm at 12 lbs with a total of maybe 65 lbs to lose. I also want to kill my husband! He deep fried some crap the other night and I mentioned how I'd like some (didn't of course), and he looked at his plate and said, "I'm an *******, huh?" lol so now he's going to start dieting on Monday.

I heard the Paleo diet is really fast weightloss. I think I'm going to say that! I just read about it last night. It's simple carb restrictions and focuses on food that is naturally available. Made sense to me! I'm also going to say the gallbladder thing too. And they actually found that I have a complete right sided heart block so I'm goin to say the doctor told me I had to lose weight bc I'm prediabetic. I'm not really prediabetic but it runs on both sides of my family so probably eventually I would have gotten it. But this is a great thread. Me and my mom have been trying to figure out what to say. I haven't seen my coworkers in a long time. I was 232 when I last saw them. It will bet very noticeable when I get back in two weeks because now I'm 213.6. My surgery date was 8/1.

That's a great idea! I just read about that diet too. Hmmm. I did have a hiatal hernia so I might add that I had that repaired too. Now I'm feeling a littl less anxious.

I was 32 and had high blood pressure. No insurance would cover me so I was self-pay with an amazing surgeon. I wish my insurance paid but this is definitely money well spent. 10 days out and my blood pressure is already normal again...

Thanks!

Sure! One of the pioneers: Dr Cirangle in San Francisco. It was 17,500 which is one the high side but I'm glad I went with him still. He includes 2 years of follow up visits but usually more like 5. And he leads the support groups that I'm planning to attend.

I tell everyone exactly how it is. Speaking the truth is much easier than going along with a false story.

Even when I returned to work' date=' people asked why I wasn't joining in with morning tea etc. I just told them straight out "I had wls two weeks ago and my diet is restricted for awhile". Most people are intrigued and I love sharing my story. I am proud that I made this decision to change my life for the better.

Unless you tell not one single person, someone is bound to tell someone else (unintentionally of course) but someone always lets the cat out of the bag (so to speak).

But in answer to your question...In my Dr notes, he says that if you don't want to tell anyone it was wls, you can say it was a hiatal hernia repair as the op and recovery are fairly much the same.

Good luck with whatever decision you make[/quote']

Good for you. Maybe I'll have the courage to tell closer friends at work at some point (knowing itll get out). But I totally did have a hiatal hernia repaired! I didn't know I had one...So that wouldn't be lying.

I tell everyone exactly how it is. Speaking the truth is much easier than going along with a false story.

Even when I returned to work' date=' people asked why I wasn't joining in with morning tea etc. I just told them straight out "I had wls two weeks ago and my diet is restricted for awhile". Most people are intrigued and I love sharing my story. I am proud that I made this decision to change my life for the better.

Unless you tell not one single person, someone is bound to tell someone else (unintentionally of course) but someone always lets the cat out of the bag (so to speak).

But in answer to your question...In my Dr notes, he says that if you don't want to tell anyone it was wls, you can say it was a hiatal hernia repair as the op and recovery are fairly much the same.

Good luck with whatever decision you make[/quote']

I may have the courage to tell my closer friends at work (knowing that everyone will find out)...just not right now. Great idea with the hernia because I actually did have one repaired! I didn't know I had one but I had a small one. Hmmm

I just tell them the truth: I eat less.

If I deem them worthy' date=' they hear the rest of the story.

If not, that's all they need to know.[/quote']

You're totally right!

Carrie' date=' I am also 10 days out and only told close family and friends. I feel the same way you do. I think I will just tell people that I finally wanted to get healthy and am doing something about the weight.

Some may guess about the surgery and some won't. But eating smaller portions and exercising will only show that you are serious about getting the pounds off. No matter what anyone says to you, keep you head up. You made a great decision to get healthy, let them say what they want. When we are both at our goal weight with ROCKING BODIES... Who will care? <img src='http://www.bariatricpal.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />[/quote']

You're right. Maybe if they see me eating smaller portions and no crap it'll make sense..

Thank you. I'm not sure how to add you as a buddy or something. Lol since you're day 10 too! How's it been for you lately?

Me too! But i talked to my PCP and kaiser can follow u and guide u post op with a referral from ur doc! Awweeesome! Im going to kaiser richmond. I think theres on at kaiser fremont but. Check to make sure. Good luck!

Really? What is your BMI?

Awesome! what are your stats?

My surgery was on 7/31/12 and it would be great to have a buddy or two share experiences and go through this journey together! I'm almost 32 and my starting BMI was 32. I live in the East Bay (CA).

I'm in San Ramon (east bay). I was self-pay because I wasn't obese enough to be covered through Kaiser...

I'm 31 (almost 32) and was sleeved 7/31/12 by Dr. Cirangle in San Francisco. Anyone out there who was sleeved at a similar time so we can go through the stages together, sort of? I was a lower BMI: 32 so weight loss is slower for me but the experience should be similar. I'm at Day 10 and have lost 11 lbs.

Anyone interested in keeping in touch like pen pals?

I'm 10 days out and have told the people who matter. I go back to work in a couple weeks and I'm just waiting for the comments..."Carrie, you look great! What are you doing??" which will be nice comments to hear, but I'm just not ready for the whole school (I work at a high school) to talk about me. I know...I need to figure out how to stop caring so much about what people think.

I was thinking of saying gallbladder surgery , which prompted a new diet (low fat) and once I started losing and feeling better I continued... I don't know. It's probably easier to tell the truth but I feel ashamed in a way. The nice thing is that I'm a lower BMI (started at 32), so I know the weight loss will come off slower. So maybe it won't be so obvious...

What did/do you guys say?

I'm 5'5" and my doctor's goal is 120 but I'm thinking 130-140. Why do they go so low?

I did too and got the rest of the glue off today. All better now!

July 31st and 11 lbs.

The sleeve was NOTHING compared to my c/s. I remember the agony of walking the first time after the c/s, but it was pretty simple after the sleeve. I also felt like it took several weeks after the c/s to feel somewhat normal (physically), and i felt pretty darn good after a week with the sleeve. When I first talked to someone in my surgeon's office, she told me how much easier her bypass was than her c/s and I was sold. No regrets.

17,500 self-pay with Dr. Cirangle in San Francisco. I have Kaiser and I wasn't obese enough to be covered.

I'm a newbie (9 days post-op) and had a BMI of 32. I've lost 11 lbs so far, which I think is pretty dang good. I'm excited to lose more but I'm actually ok if I lose slowly...I kinda don't want a ton of attention at work (I work at a high school). My doctor believes that in my first 3 weeks, I should be around 20 lbs, so we'll see...

Awesome! I'm on day 9 and week 2 is SO much better than week 1. Just sip all day and rest and week 1 will be over before you know it.

My nut said 400 calories the first 2 weeks and then under 600 for the rest of my weight loss phase.