BigDaddyJoe

That's just an average so you're not upset if you don't lose more than that. I'm only 7 weeks out from surgery and have already lost over 50% of my excess weight. If you follow the nutritional recommendations and do some exercising, there is no reason you can't get down to your ideal weight.

OK, I think I'm all caught up with the invites. I set up the group, but anyone who is a member can invite people, so if you are already a member and see someone posting here that they'd like to be added, you can go ahead and do it, so they don't have to wait for me to get to it.

Tyra - the Facebook page was something I created, but then people were concerned about the page being visible, so I deleted it. It takes 2 weeks to delete a page. I created a 'secret' group that people need to be invited to. I will invite you right now.

So, I went for my 6 week follow-up visit on Thursday, and also saw my primary care physician the same day. First, the follow-up. My surgeon was very pleased with my progress. I've mentioned about the scale discrepancies before. The first visit with the doctor, his scale and my home scale showed the identical weights (274), so that's what they had as my starting weight. Every visit since then, their scale has been 5-6 lbs higher than the home scale. So according to them I went up to 280 before the surgery, but they still have 274 listed as my starting weight. This last visit, they had me in a different office than usual, and that scale was 7 lbs higher than the home scale. So according to them, I have lost 36 lbs, even though at home I know it is 43. I'm not going to argue, they are still very happy with 36, and I would be also if I didn't know it was actually 43. Now for the primary MD visit. He was amazed at the difference in how I looked, and my weight loss. My blood pressure was 110/80, and he said that in 2 weeks I can start cutting my BP pills in half and he would evaluate me again in 6 weeks. This is huge for me, getting off the medication was one of the major reasons I did this surgery. Also, big news - on Friday my wife was sleeved! That's why I haven't blogged about this other stuff until today. She is doing pretty good now, her recovery has been much different than mine. She has had a bit of a rougher time than I had, but I know she will get through it.

I looked at it as a test to see how dedicated and determined I was, and to see if I was mentally prepared for the lifelong changes I was about to make.

I had made a blog post very similar to this a while back, and someone posted the following link to help me understand what is going on: http://www.dsfacts.com/weight-loss-stall-or-plateau.html It really made a lot of sense to me, and helped me get through it. In my first month, I had a 5 day stall, and a 9 day stall, and still lost over 30 lbs. I'm now 6 weeks post-op and I've lost 45 lbs. It will come off, it has to. It just doesn't come off evenly or in a straight line. There will be periods where your body has to re-calibrate itself. The day after my 5 day stall, I lost 5 lbs overnight, and the day after the 9 day stall I lost 2 lbs overnight followed by a lb a day for 4 or 5 days after that. Just try to stay positive. I know I got a bit discouraged, I just went through major surgery and expected results overnight. But now that I look back 6 weeks later, it feels like 45 lbs DID come off overnight.

My wife and I both followed the pre-op diet to a T for one week. My wife works with a couple women who had the lap band from the same surgeon we used, and she asked them about what they did for the pre-op diet. One said 'Are you kidding? I was at Red Lobster the night before surgery', and the other one said 'I started it the day before'. These women are both nurses, who you would think should know to follow doctors orders. So no, I don't think there will be any issues.

I just need to add another reply, because I didn't want to keep seeing that last reply show up at the top of my subscribed posts on my VST app anymore, LOL

If no one does it by morning, I will add you. I can't do it from my iPad for some reason, only my computer.

You've been invited

I should be all caught up with the invites to the group at this point. Let me know if I missed you. Also, anyone who is already a member can invite other people, so you could help me out so I don't have to do it all. There is a link at the top of the group page that says 'Invite by email'. Thanks

Sunette, I just tried to invite you again, but it says you've already been invited.

Done!

Done!

I hope I have a very similar story to tell! Congrats!

I'm in New Jersey, and had a BMI of 36.9, and have sleep apnea, high blood pressure, and GERD. I think most surgeons will do it if your BMI is over 35, and you have at least 2 comorbities. It all depends if your insurance will cover it or not.

Wrong forum, but I added you!

Thanks for the info/advice. This might all seem like common sense to you, but it's all new to me, which is why I asked the question. I figured as long as I was doing what I could, the heart would catch up. I was only able to do 10 minutes the first day, 22 minutes the second day, then 25 minutes the third day. It's been getting easier every day, so I figured I was progressing nicely. I question the accuracy of the monitor, it doesn't make sense that I would be at 115 when I first set foot on the machine.

So are you saying I would be better off NOT working out?

Thanks! I thought it was really high, but since I didn't have any lightheadedness or dizzyness, I figured it was ok, and would just come down as I got into better shape.

Thanks for the input. I am 42, and my starting weight was 274, as of this morning I am 239. I am on blood pressure medication. About 5 years ago I went for a cardiac stress test, and was told that I had a slightly leaky valve. My cardiologist and primary doctor didn't seem too concerned about it at the time, just that it was something we would keep an eye on. I had to do another stress test to get clearance for surgery, and haven't been told of anything alarming. I have an appointment with my primary next Thursday, I will definitely bring it up to him.