brendani

Hi everyone. Good to see some new faces about to take the plunge. I didn't believe it before surgery but it truly is the best thing you will do for yourself.

I was sleeved in early March, weighing 142.6kg prior to 2 weeks of KicStart shakes. I feel really bad for those of you that have to do weeks on end of pre-surgery liquids - I was lucky!

Almost 4 months out now and have lost 30kg. Weight this week was 112.4kg. So happy to have done this and really don't miss a thing.

How's everyone else doing?

Hi new faces and old. Been a while since I last posted also. Two false starts in the past 18 months where I wasn't ready and cancelled my op midway through the pre-surgery diet. Well, I'm further in than I have before. 7 days on KicStart and I'm down 3.5kg. Sleeve day is next Wednesday 4th March at Pindara Private on the GC. NO TURNING BACK!!!

Hi I know it's early days just wanted to check in and see how your going ? Truth I want to make sure you went through with it

Haha ausmith it's almost like you know me too well. Job's done.

Lost 6.7kg in my pre-op, almost got cancelled as I was chewing gum during my fast on Wednesday morning, but as Dr Nolan keeps telling me "I took a lot of stomach out of you". Back at my hotel room since this morning and doing pretty well.

Hi new faces and old. Been a while since I last posted also. Two false starts in the past 18 months where I wasn't ready and cancelled my op midway through the pre-surgery diet. Well, I'm further in than I have before. 7 days on KicStart and I'm down 3.5kg. Sleeve day is next Wednesday 4th March at Pindara Private on the GC. NO TURNING BACK!!!

Hi all - been missing myself for over 12 months good to see some familiar names still around.

I pulled out of my surgery one week out in June of last year. Since then have attempted once more with another surgeon and just can't get through that pre-diet. It does awful things to my motivation.

I have made an appointment to see my original surgeon on the Gold Coast again (my family and I have since moved home to Gladstone to be closer to our businesses). I just hope that I can get my way through this time. I know I need this tool to get me where I need to be for my wife, my daughter and I.

Many thanks Kelliv

Camella,

A very good mate of mine manages a supplement store on the Gold Coast and can courier you whatever you need at really great prices.

dnasport.com.au

Gregor Tait

(07) 5526 6714

B

Guys, I've just realised that my psych appointment is going to clash with lunch tomorrow so I'm going to have to give it a miss. Hopefully I can catch up with you all at a future lunch.

HI everyone' date=' not sure i am in the right thread BUT i am a new poster i live in the Gold Coast and am wanting to have a sleeve. I have paid for a year of Health Insurance back in March this year and have been told i need to wait 12 months before i can claim on it. I am at the very beginning of finding out what exactly to do next! Can anyone please help me out? which surgeons are the best, in the Goldie or Brisbane? Do i need a Drs referral before i make an appointment with the surgeon? Any tips would be great.Thanks in Advance :0[/quote']

Hi Retro,

I saw Dr Nolan at Southport Bariatrics (across the road from GCH). You will need a referral from your GP and a BMI of at least 35 (if you have other health problems you may be ok lower). He's very direct and to the point of being blunt, but comes highly recommended. I wouldn't recommend the Weight Loss centre in Varsity - just mine and another member's experience.

Also try and speak with your GP or surgeon about seeing a psych for sure before you make your final decision. If you read back a few posts you'll see that I got to one week out and decided to take some more time to make my decision, work with the psych and Fiona my dietician to have one last go at doing this myself.

Whatever you choose - all the best, we are all here to help

Brendan

I just want to say that all you guys are awesome.

That is all.

I don't believe my obesity is pre-determined. I believe it has come from essentially being lazy. Being too lazy to cook or being too lazy to exercise. I don't have the insatiable hunger that a lot of you mentioned before you were sleeved. I rarely feel hungry. I eat because I like it, and I eat more because I like it. I have always been active and will continue to train 3 times a week with my trainer. Working closely with Fiona and having a burning desire to make change will see me successful this time.

Kelli - I haven't, will look it up

Misty - Yep I know one as well. Best mate actually. Was always a fat kid, and while we were living together at uni he decided to try Lite N Easy. Lost about 40kg and has gained back about 5-6kg total. He's a school teacher but works out most mornings. Still drinks like a fish too. He just really turned his life around. I know I'm up against it statistically but I have all the know how and now I have the motivation - fear. I didn't have that before. Even thought of my family's welfare if my health was to deteriorate was not enough. Now I've made a promise to do everything in my power to lose this bloody weight.

Happy days and more NSVs for you Misty. I'm so happy for you Looking forward to meeting you on Monday.

Update on me, and thanks to all that gave me such fantastic advice last night and this morning. I emailed back and forth with my dietician today, and spoke with Dr Nolan's crew and decided that I'm not mentally or emotionally ready to have the sleeve. I'm not writing it off, but I really think I owe it to myself to give it one last red hot crack with good old willpower and exercise. The advice you all gave really rang true, but Fiona (my dietician) said something that really stuck with me - that her many successful clients that WERE ready to be sleeved, all couldn't wait to be full from half a sushi roll - and I just couldn't bear the thought.

So I'll be off to a psychologist Monday, which I probably should have done earlier in my journey anyway, and then will consult closely with Fiona going forward. I know what I need to do, I just need to execute. Perhaps I can take inspiration from the QUEENSLANDERS on Wednesday night (thought I'd drop that in )

Ill continue to hang around, and look forward to meeting you SEQ peeps on Monday. Onwards and upwards hey? Congrats to all of you who are doing such great things, and best of luck to those of you who are pre-op in not falling at this final hurdle as I have.

Cheers,

B x

Guys, I just wrote this email to my dietician. I need some help. I feel like I've almost swayed too far the wrong way...

Hi Fiona,

Have been sitting here talking to my wife, Sarah, about the changes I'm going to have to make to my lifestyle to adapt to the sleeve, and I don't know that I'm ready.

All the pep talks from yourself and from Dr Nolan's reception girls, and friends and forum posts are great but no-one knows what happens in my head. No-one has had the same experience with food that I have, and/or likes the same things I do.

I've never thought of myself as an emotional eater - I still don't think that's the case. I think that I really enjoy certain things (many things), and I just can't bear the thought tonight of only being able to take a couple of bites of something I love, and not be able to continue - whether my body says I'm full or not. I fear that even if I can get over this mental hurdle and do go ahead with the surgery next Friday that I am going to do myself damage, physically and mentally by pushing it too far.

We talk about, and I read about the guidelines on "how to eat" post-sleeve, in the sense of slowly, small bites etc.. My mouth isn't going to be any smaller! I was speaking to (a friend) on Tuesday and she mentioned that it would take her 2 sittings to eat a single sushi roll. I can't imagine how hard it will be, for a big (and I mean tall by that) guy like me to take tiny little bites of a sushi roll - it doesn't even work that way! I don't like the seaweed or the rice by themselves. I know I'm rambling but I guess it just illustrates my point - I can make peace with the 1 (or maybe 2 if I'm a lucky one) small slices of pizza, but how can I reconcile with myself that I can't even eat a normal amount of something healthy like a chicken breast or a salad sandwich??

The more I write this, the more I fear I'm changing my own mind further - this pre-op diet is doing my head in. I would die for a salad sanga at the moment. This diet is making me realise the fantastic array of healthy options that I have, that I just haven't bothered to take in the past when it's all gotten too hard and would just jump in the car to go and get KFC for dinner.

I fear feeling abnormal. I realise being obese is abnormal in itself, but the rest of my life is a really long time to live with the regret and mourning for something that I have enjoyed so much over my first 30 years.

It feels like I am voluntarily going in to have my right arm amputated.

At the moment I'm feeling like perhaps this is the kick in the arse that I've needed to actually get this weight off. When I'm honest, even though I've made numerous attempts at losing my weight over the past 10 or more years, it's always been a little half-hearted, or it's been full-on and only lasted a short period of time. I have the knowledge, and have the tools, and I have the desire to make it happen, so why can't I do this on my own, and still be able to eat a normal sized healthy meal, and the occasional Quarter Pounder??

Please give me call, or a return email as soon as you're able - I need to resolve this before I go through another weekend of indecision and despair.

I had an awesome morning with my appointment with my Gold Coast dietician Fiona Brown who did a full body composition assessment - I only have 5% of body fat left to lose and 4.5kgs of muscle mass to build and then I'm in the perfect range..very healthy visceral abdominal fat and once I reach the above' date=' I will be under my metabolic age Good days xx[/quote']

I see Fiona too - isn't she great?

Down to 87.6! That means I have lost more than 10 kg and I have lost 10% of my weight' date=' in 6 weeks. [/quote']

So happy for you Misty that's great going.

Getting there! Hardest was last night (night 3) sitting at the table with my little one eating dinner. I just wanted a bite of her toast!! I called my dietician this morning and she's happy with my loss so far (about 4kg) so is happy for me to replace each 2nd dinner's shake/soup with 120g of lean chicken/fish/beef. I'm on Kickstart too which is apparently a whole lot more palatable than the Opti.

You guys are right though that once the hunger is gone, the mindset is changed, you feel like you can really do this! I was afraid that I was equating the feeling of hunger and deprivation that comes with the first few days of pre-op with how life will be after surgery.

This feeling of just wanting a quarter of a piece of toast, or one chicken nugget is preparing me I think. I don't for a second want to go and get a pizza I just want some real food haha.

This Friday coming Kelli? I'd love to meet up with you guys and get over this pre-op hump of mine

How exciting for you to be back in the land of normal ness! dinner outings are a little weird for me ATM. I barely make a dent!

Every time I go out for dinner everyone always says 'aren't you hungry?' or 'Don't you like it?' Even waitresses ask 'was there something wrong with the meal love?'

Why do I feel like I have to make excuses all the time instead of telling everyone 'hey' date=' I just got a sleeve ok'. I mean really its no ones business!![/quote']

My plan is to just tell waiters, flight attendants etc that "I've just had surgery and can't eat much at the moment". Hopefully this circumvents any further questioning and makes me feel ok that I'm not having to lie to people.

Thanks all. Day one almost down and yeah the hunger is there but it's nothing I can't handle.

Just knocked up some Tomato, onion and garlic in the pan to go with my dinner shake, and I'm clearly no Masterchef. If I keep making a mockery of cookery this is going to be easy - I won't want to eat!!

Well guys this is it, I just finished my last normal (or should that be abnormal) meal before starting pre-op tomorrow. KFC Fillets box and a Quarter Pounder. Not what I would have chosen if all had gone to plan but a 2 hour delay coming home from NZ put paid to our plans of a family dinner at Sizzler. Kind of fitting really that my last big meal was a combo of the things that put me in the position in the first place.

I am so ready now. I think that my surgery is coming just in time. Have put on an additional 8-9kg since making my first appointment with Dr Nolan, and the past few weeks have been awful. I feel like I have the early symptoms of sleep apnea - just can't get enough breath even when laying in bed sometimes. The feeling in the morning is not much better and I fear that I had a negative effect on my wife's holiday in Auckland because of it. It saddens me so deeply to think that my condition, caused by nobody but me, has now caused hurt to someone I love. Add to that my back has been giving me more grief than ever before and I just cannot wait to get this happening.

Sorry to unload on you all but I don't keep a diary - I guess I needed to spew this all out.

food funeral!!* Oh my God haha.

How's everyone going?? Been a bit quiet this week.

Wasn't going to have a good funeral but have been counting down my "last meals". 3 days in Central QLD and then off to NZ for 3 nights next week so going to have my fill of eating out for sure. Mum is coming to cook for me even Sunday night!

Ok no more Origin talk, I come here for support and inspiration, not depression. But it's ok. #8inarow #QUEENSLANDER

Well guys, I'm officially booked in.

9am Friday the 5th of July @ Allamanda (Southport GC).

Two more weeks of normality before liquids and then the new normal. Can't wait.

Hi all' date='just wondering if anyone has experienced any back pain.I was done may 22nd and I still have such bad back pain.Walking,standing for long periods is agony.Didnt have any before surgery.[/quote']

Was thinking about this through the night Cathy - bear in mind I'm only pre-op so just an idea. Perhaps your back pain is coming from a compensation issue. With the subconscious being such a powerful thing it's quite possible you are protecting your core abdominal muscles and overworking your back without even realising.

I'm doing ok thanks Misty. Yeah my surgery is tomorrow. I have to be at the hospital at 6.30. I'm excited but getting more nervous as the night goes but it'll be ok

Good luck Bec - we're all here for you.