rebecca_dsu

Princesstia you are looking beautiful with your lighter body!! Great job girl!!

No, I haven't yet. I'm scheduled for June 7th! I hope you'll stick around!

Your BMI is actually a little less than 41... (I am around your stats and thought that 44 seemed high so I recalculated it using the stats you gave on height/weight) I'm the same as you.... exercise isn't my issue...what I eat and the amount is. Good luck with those appointments and hopefully you'll let us know when you finally get through all the insurance rig em roll and get your surgery date!!

Dude...you look like you gave birth to that baby... Where did your stomach go?? Ha!!! Congrats! You are lookin' tight! Great job on not just losing the weight, but for strength training. Awesome!!

Hi there! I'm Self Pay also...going to Mexico, but to Dr. Aceves. I'm pretty sure the process is pretty much the same with any of the doctors down there. So here's my answers: Contact, timeline, etc..... Email. (I haven't had to call the patient coordinator at all. Usually I get a response to my emails within a few hours...sometimes minutes.) No approval process like insurance. There is a form you'll need to fill out with basics like height, weight, age, comorbities, BMI, current medications etc, and then the doc will approve you. I'm sure there are some reasons for denial...but I don't think there are many if you are mostly healthy except for general comorbities (high blood pressure, sleep apnea, high cholesterol, etc). I had my actual date scheduled within a week of initial contact. They could have scheduled me as close as 4 weeks out, but I chose to wait until June 7th for scheduling reasons. (trip to hawaii coming up in 3 weeks and my husbands school schedule had to be worked around). And absolutely by your birthday. I would think if you got your paperwork in next week, and your deposit, you'd probably be able to get a June date.

I am in East TN (Maryville). My mom lives down in Mobile... so howdy neighbor! Ha!! Good luck to you. I can't wait to hear about your journey as well

I'm very ready for the change in eating habits forever. I know it won't be a pleasant process, but it is so much better than the yo-yoing. And once I get that truely "adventure ready" body, I won't want to give it up.

Happy Anniversary!! 37 years is a rare thing this day and age. So congrats on staying with the love of your life!! You will make it to your goal soon enough!!

Good luck!!! Let us know how things go after surgery.

Thanks for the heads up... now...go take a nap

So this is my first blog entry on VST... I have a couple blogger blogs, but I'm not ready to share with blogland, and my family who reads those blogs, the fact that I'm getting ready to have WLS in 7 weeks. So, for now, I'll just blog here, with you guys A little bit about me. I grew up overweight...and not just a little. My weight began to climb when I was in first grade and by 5th grade I was 165. By the time I graduated from high school I was at 275, and by the time I turned 25 I was 320ish. I am originally from Mississippi (the most obese state in the nation), though I now live in Tennessee. I love food, especially sugar, and over the past year I've had trouble with binge behavior. When I turned 25, I hit my all time "pit of despair" moment. I was broke, having to move back in with my parents after being out on my own post college for only a year, and I was at my heighest weight. I decided to finally get my finances back in order, and to finally drop some weight. I had been on a ton of diets, but just like a yo-yoer I'd lose 20, gain back 25...but something "clicked" this time. I started cutting back and trying to make better food choices, and started exercising. I went from 320 to 245 in 2 years (2006 - 2008). I then met a boy, got engaged, moved to another state and got married, and here I am just having had my 3 year anniversary. Since 2008 I have yo-yoed again from a high of 255 to a low of 215 and I've been up and down and all around in between those numbers for the past 5 years...and it is BEYOND frustraiting and heartbreaking. I feel defeated. Every day I think about food...about wanting it, about wanting to lose the weight, about feeling guilty when I eat something I shouldn't, about needing to go the gym, about it all...and I'm "exhausted" of the merry go round. I agreed to move to TN because after losing some of my initial weight, I found out how much I love the outdoors, and being next to the Smoky Mtns, I have plenty to do. I love hiking, biking and kayaking, and sometimes, even running the local greenways. But I have a mental and physical battle against my own body, and the weight that holds me down. However, no matter how hard I try, I always end up turning to food, and with my big ole stomach, I can eat tons of it. On Easter weekend this year, after haven eaten about 6 reese's pb eggs & 2 cadbury eggs, and a ton of jelly beans...we were driving home from my parents when I got upset my husband wouldn't stop at a DQ for a blizzard. "You want ice cream after eating all of that...?!" I just felt horrible, and he was right. Why did I crave soooo much and have room for sooo much? From out of nowhere (well I believe it was the holy spirit...) the thought of weight loss surgery came to mind (all these years battling this and I never once thought of WLS as an option). Within a week I had secured the funds, the doctor, the airline tickets, and a surgery date. Now it's just a waiting game. I'll blog later about what I've done to try to lose the rest of this weight... but I do know I'm a food addict...well a sugar addict (I won't binge on broccoli and fish...) And I am fearful of finally having to face my relationship with food head on and break up with it. The past few weeks I have neglected the gym and I have had wayyy too many McD's chocolate chip cookies. My brain is freakin' out over what I'm about to do to my body, and I'm having a hard time just getting back into a place of maintaining my weight before I start the preop diet in a few weeks. But I am so ready...I've been ready... June 7th, it's on. Wish me luck! Before - 320lbs (2005) This Easter - 245ish (2013)

Glad you found something you like. Just an idea... would it be possible for you to mix in a half a scoop of an unflavored protein powder into that to up your protein (10g just doesn't seem like a lot for a protein drink). Remember you are gonna have a very tiny tummy and have to get in a lot of protein (65-80g) So be creative on how to get in the most "bang for your buck" as far as how much your tummy can hold in a day. Keep experimenting!

From Knoxville, TN on Delta... $500 round trip. (layover in ATL)

I think they are pretty good with just Water. When you are right out of surgery, no you can not add fruit or milk or anything other than water. (You can add milk in the full liquid phase, and fruit in the "puree" stage if I'm not mistaken). Go ahead and try one with just water and see what you think. I really didn't think it was bad.

Did your surgeon require you to lose weight? Was it mandatory to lose a certain percentage or amount? If not, your preop diet is all that is important and is needed to shrink your liver so it won't be in the way during surgery and can easily be moved around without bleeding. If we were successful at diets, we wouldn't need this surgery, so don't beat yourself up. Your new "tool" will help you from being able to yo-yo. But do yourself a huge favor and do the preop diet as best you can. It will help you ween yourself off of carbs before surgery and you will feel better. (most people are on it for one or two weeks...some liquids only, some low carb...it's whatever your doctor/nutritionist has told you to do). Just because you fail at "diets" before the sleeve, does not mean you won't be successful with the sleeve.

Ha! Exactly!

Thanks for the link! Those shakes look very yummy. I never thought of using cottage cheese in a shake... I'll give it a shot!

I'd find another surgeon. You probably don't want to be one of his first sleeve patients (I'd want a surgeon who has a couple hundred under their belt already)...but that's just me. So sorry for all your troubles and frustration. I'd put in a call to my insurance and see what will need to happen if you switch surgeons.

I haven't had the surgery, but did want to just give you a ((hug)) and say I hope you will use your "tool" to get to your goal. We all know the sleeve doesn't cure us of the mental attachment to food...that is a life long process for a lot of us. Have you tried counseling to deal with the "head hunger"? Your sleeve is just like my treadmill at home. I know how to use it, but it does me no good at getting to my goal if I don't use it (and turning it on and letting it run without me actually stepping on it does not count). Your sleeve is just a tool...and the great news is you still have it available. Go back to how you started after surgery. Start eating those Proteins first 60 - 80g a day. Drink your fluids. Start walking and build up from there. Track your calories and stick to around 800 - 1,000 (or whatever your nutritionist recommended after your tiny tummy healed up). 5 small meals a day and no grazing... You can still get to your goal. There is hope for you girl...so run with it! But as someone about to have surgery and who is a food addict, I sure do appreciate your honesty. It means a lot to me, and I know dealing with my own head stuff is gonna suck bad...

Gosh, poor guy. I couldn't imagine going through that. It's kind of hard to equate for us women, but I think it would be like getting breast cancer and having your boobs removed (and not being eligible for reconstruction), or being a woman in your child bearing years and having to have a hysterectomy for medical reasons and never being able to give birth ever... See it from his point of view. In his mind, what makes him a "man", what he uses to show you love and where he gets satisfaction....is giving up on him. He's probably hurt, embarrassed, feels useless and probably somewhat worthless. Of course he's not going to want to be close to you and certainly doesn't want to do other things in the place of actual sex. I know when I feel like crap the last thing I want is my husband all up on me. "In sickness and in health"...girl, here it is...be with him through this. Talk with him about it, and get rid of your selfishness for the next few months. Find out how you can help him instead of being in the frame of mind of "he won't cuddle me". You will be fine without some huggin', cuddlin', makin' out for a while. Be there for him. This is the biggest blow to any man's ego and pride...so find ways to lift him up. And ask him how you can help him through this, and assure him that he will get through this. Go to doctor visits with him if he wants. Help him find help and the answers. I know you are frustrated...but this ain't about you Show him Love...and that don't mean physical touch in any fashion right now. (Are you familiar with the different love languages? Quality Time, Acts of Service, Words of Affirmation, Gifts, Physical Touch) You getting skinny + his penis not working would be tuff on any man..ha. Good luck!

Silly question...but are you "regular"? Did you know the human intestines can hold up to 25lbs of waste? If you aren't getting in your Water...perhaps, things aren't being "flushed out" properly. Just a thought It's just not possible for your body to function normally and not be burning fat if it's only receiving 800 calories of "energy" from what you eat. And on top of that you are exercising...so that's more calories burned a day on top of your BMR (the base calories your body would need to perform normal functions if you just sat all day). So don't worry...the scale will follow...

So sorry that happened to you. I definitely wouldn't recommend that doctor to anyone for sure. I hope you can heal and get on with you new life. So very sorry.

That's fantastic! I'll have to come visit you on the 6th when I come for preop testing!!

My mom lives in Mobile! Is it possible for your daughter to self pay? (I'm 32, 250, 247ish and insurance will not pay, so I'm heading to Mexico and self paying). Good luck to you both though!

I could be wrong, but for most folks the preop diet is more about shrinking the liver, and not about losing so much weight. I don't think you will be seen as a failure...10 lbs is great!