blackcloudkygirl

Any day of the week, after 5:30pm, works for me. I'm really excited and hope we can get this going. Please let me know if I can help in any way.

I just moved back to Louisville this week and am looking for a support group to attend. Please let me know if this is happening or if you know of any other support groups. Thanks!

Ah, I finally found the right forum for me. I'm 417lbs and want the sleeve but doc is recommending bypass. Doesn't sound right for me for so many reasons so I'm thrilled to see so many success stories with similar starting weights and great successes. I'm committed to the process and feel I'll have great success with the sleeve. I hear it's not really very easy to stretch like you hear people talk about because it's actually the less stretchy part and more muscular part of the stomach that the sleeve is made from. Have others heard this too? So happy to have found you all.

The day I met with my surgeon, I was 438lbs and he recommended the sleeve...but said that I would only lose 60-70% of my excess body weight from surgery itself. He said sometimes patients of my size will have to go from the sleeve to the bypass...to lose that last bit of weight...but he said that doesn't always happen, just in so e cases. I'm happy to report that between the 12 week nutritional program and 4 week liquid diet (they wanted be under 400 before surgery) I lost like 70 lbs pre-op and was 360lbs day of surgery...today, 10 months post op I am down to 227lbs. I met with surgeon and he said I was still following the rules and exercising and thinks I will continue to lose weight and not need to bypass. But I think some surgeons think if a person is over 400 that they will not lose enough with the sleeve....but you can, you just have to follow the rules and exercise...good luck with whichever surgery you have!

Hi. I started at 438lbs and the surgeon put me on a 4 week liquid diet, along with nutrition classes, so by surgery time I was down to 366lbs. My surgery was June 3, 2013 and I am now down to 270lbs as of today, Nov 6, 2013...this is 167lbs down...I love my sleeve! I feel great, it was the best decision of my life. Good luck!

Hi. You need to stop, take a deep breath and regroup yourself. A 60lb lost is fantastic, why are you throwing that away, you have done great so far. This surgery is not a cure all, it is a tool, a tool that you use in conjunction with eating healthy and exercising. We all fall off the band wagon at times, it's human, but then we get right back on. Think about those 60lbs, think about all you have gone thru with the surgery...you don't want that to all be for nothing. So you ate this stuff and you didn't feel anything, if you keep eating this, then your stomach will stretch, don't keep pushing it. Do you want to gain those lbs back? You are an inspiration to so many people, wow 60lbs lost, just think about that. Don't let your old habits take over your life again, you can stop now and get back on track...I believe in you and so do others.

Hi' date=' my name is Olivia and I am sixteen years old. I was sleeved June 25th of 2013 and this looked like a cool group. I have lost 78 pounds total, about 30 pre-op and the rest since the surgery. I have been consistently losing more than ten pounds a month however this last week i gained four pounds. It kind of freaked me out. I have been taking in more calories that my usual 700 lately but mostly not over 1000 and NEVER over 1300. It seemed to come on so fast.I usually exercise much more than I did this week due to bronchitis but it still seems like i should be at least maintaining at my calorie intake. Has this happened to anybody else?[/quote']

Hi Olivia. You're doing great! Listen, we all go through stalls...in fact you are lucky that you haven't gone thru one until now. I had a 3 week stall once and then all of the sudden it just started back up. Your body does crazy things, especially when it is sick, and you said you had bronchitis, so I wouldn't worry, it should straighten itself out in the next week or so.

Surgery 6/26/13 HW 328 SW 308 CW 256 72lbs! I'll take it! It's has been frustrating not being able to get back in the gym. I've been battling low potassium levels on and off since surgery. Doc says no pushing my heart till it's up or my heart can go start beating irregular.

Hi. I too am having problems with my potassium levels dropping since surgery. Right now I am taking 120 meg per day..that's 12 pills...this happened after I was hospitalized for a week with them trying to get my levels back up. I know that low potassium levels control your muscles and your heart can stop, so it is dangerous. No one can tell why it is happening though...did you doctor find out why it is happening? By the way, you are doing great!

I just wanted to post a update' date=' I started my journey at 371, I was 354 the day off surgery, I have had many ups and downs along the way, I am now down to 301lbs. I know I have a long ways to go but I'm on my way!! I've attached current pictures and pictures of the previous me... [/quote']

You have done amazing! Wait until you hit that 299, trust me it is such a wonderful feeling.

My surgery is Monday and I'm so afraid I have an extra large liver and will wake up unsleeved. Is this a fear anyone else had?

Hi. My surgeon told me the same thing, that my liver was larger and it could cause the surgery not to take place, but then he said that the liquid diet before surgery should work to shrink the liver and eliminate any potential problems. My surgery went great, no liver problems. Don't worry, I think they just tell people that as a precaution, you will be fine...plus the preop weight you have already lost has made a huge difference and will really help the surgery go smooth. You are doing great!

First weigh in with surgeon in March I was 449. Monday when I weighed I was 419! That was one week into my two-week preop diet. Today I go for my preop testing (little nervous' date=' praying nothing is found) and have surg on Monday. Not only is my weight lower--I already feel so much better. Not out of breath as much. Less fatigue. Just generally feel better. Don't get me wrong, the lower # on the scale is wonderful, but the health benefits (and clothes feeling more loose) are amazing![/quote']

Hi youthguy80. I can totally relate to how you are feeling, I started at 438lbs and now I am 3 months post op and down to 293lbs...I can't believe how great I feel inside and how easy it is just to breath with no shortness of breath. Good luck Monday and have a speedy recovery, you will do great.

I go in for my surgery tomorrow morning. So excited to take this next step. I started at my highest weight of 471 lbs. back in March 2013 and am around 415 today. I will keep you all posted.

How exciting, you will do great!

Thanks for the advice great ideals

Hi. I was having bowel troubles as well and my doc had be start taking a stool softener and then the nutritionist had be start eating chia seeds. I just sprinkle a few chia,seeds on my yogurt or in a smoothie and it has worked great. I really believe it is,the,chia seeds, cause I took the stool softener form2 weeks and got no relief, but as soon as I added in the chia seeds, I was better in a few days....so I am going to continue to do both.

I'm 11 weeks post op, down 62lbs since surgery and 139lbs total from initial surgeons visit 5 months ago. Feeling great, I can't believe I am in the 200's. I would love,to se everyone's progress...I know everyone is doing do great. If you are on myfitnesspal please add me as a friend...blackcloudkygirl.

My nut said I should be taken 500mg of B-12 sublingual...so I bought some from GNC, but I realized I had bought 5,000mg and had been taking it all along. I'm going to keep taking them, cause,they are really giving me energy and they take away the fatigue I was having.

-Christy

Doing well thanks I too have a lot of weight to lose' date=' that pre op diet was rough but I didn't cheat either. What kind of diet are you on now?[/quote']

Hi. I am trying to do a low carb, high Protein diet, sort of like Atkins. I try to stay under 35 carbs a day, of course sometimes I go a little higher, but 35 seems to be a good fit for me. I am also getting all my Protein from actual food, no Protein shakes, bars or powders. This is just my personal preference. My calories a day range from 800 to 1100, which at first I was freaking out about, cause I thought it was way too much compared to others, but my nutritionist said that was ok, cause I am eating a lot of protein. I only eat 3-3.5 oz per meal and about 1.5-2 oz for my Snacks. My surgeon recommended eating 3 meals a day and 2-3 Snacks per day, eating every 2-3 hours...I think this helps eliminate the urge to graze.

What type of diet have you been following...I see so many different paths people take on here, I guess everyone has to find the right fit for them.

If you use myfitnesspal you can look up my food diary and add me as a friend...anyone else reading this post is welcome to add me as well. My username is blackcloudkygirl.

-Christy

Hi ecteacher. There are a few reasons on why I lost so much pre surgery...first, I did the 4 week nutrition classes, plus I had already begun following a weightwatchers like plan about 3 weeks or so before the nutrition classes started. I really followed the WW plan because I was afraid my insurance wouldn't let me have the surgery if I didn't show I could lose. So I lost about 35+ lbs then, but my surgeon asked me to go on the liquid pre op diet for 4 weeks, opposed to the normal 2 weeks. He said, the more I could lose before surgery, the safer and better my body would react. So 4 weeks of a liquid diet, was crazy and I could never ever do it again, it took all I had...lol I lost about 40 lbs on the pre op diet. I never cheated on the liquid diet, cause I was so afraid of having complications in surgery. It seems so crazy to me as we'll to have lost so much before surgery, but I have so much to lose, that in retrospect it's not actually that much.

How are you doing after the surgery, everything going good?

-Christy

Nice job, you hit onderland! Not sure if tats how you spell it...lol

Thanks Brenda0928, you are doing great as well. I feel like a new person, I'm so happy I had this surgery. This past week I have been stalled at 300lbs....so close to 299...it's killing me...lol I haven't weighed in the 200's for 20+years.

Hi Beleive. I went into surgery weighing 360lbs, my surgery was June 3. You will get out of the stall, I promise and then you will lose like 10 lbs+. I stalled for 3 weeks, I was so frustrated, but then all of,the sudden it started back up and now 10 weeks out, I am down 60lbs. You can do it, just hang in there. I just hit another stall...at 300lbs, I think my body is playing games with me cause it knows how much I want to weigh in the 200's, so it's messing with me...lol Do you use myfitnesspal? You can look me up, if you want, see my diary, I eat very low carb and that's what works for me, under 40 carbs per day. I have lost a total of 136 lbs, counting pre op liquid diet and 4 week nutrition classes. Myfitnesspal username is blackcloudkygirl.

I was sleeved on June 3 and now I am in a stalled at 300lbs....ugh...can't it stall at 299...lol I have lost 60lbs since surgery, so I feel really great about that. I started this journey at 438lbs and lost 78lbs pre op...they made me do a 4 week liquid diet (harsh) plus a 4 week nutrition class.

June 3 was my surgery date...I have lost 60 since surgery and a total of 138. My highest weight was 438lbs, now I am 301.4.

Hi. I had my surgery at Salem Hospital 2 months ago, and it was great and the staff was great. Let me know if you have any questions.

Hi. I am scheduled for surgery June 3. My starting weight was 438 and now I am down to 372. My surgeon wanted me down to at least 400lbs before surgery, so he put me on a 3 1/2 week liquid diet...which has caused me to lose 30lbs so far with another 9 days to go. The other weight i lost was just by following the nutritionist/low calorie diet since March. The liquid diet sounds harsh, and I am hungry, but I feel so much better knowing my surgeon is pleased with my weight for surgery...plus 68 lbs down keeps me going on the liquid diet, I feel so good. Good luck with everything.

Such great success stories, everyone is doing so good, it makes me feel like I am making the right decision. My surgery is scheduled for May 29 and I'm just feeling nervous. I started in at 438lbs, I'm now down to 416lbs and feel really good, so my mind is saying, wait maybe you can do this on your own, but then I think of how I've struggled my entire life and I realize I can't do it and I need this tool. I just want to cry, what is wrong with me...lol

May 29 for me!