jalb

I used St Lukes South in Overland Park. Dr. Slayden.
It was well worth it and I have not had any regrets.
I would be lying if I told you I was not nervous too, when I had the surgery. Coming up on one year post op, But again for me it was well worth it and the whole team was very supportive.

Chike brand of Protein coffee is awesome. Good hot or cold. Add unsweetened cocoa powder to make a mocha. I bought it online direct.

I am a coffeeholic! Some of my favorite coffee Protein drinks:
1 scoop Chike (standard serving for Chike is two scoops, but I only use one because otherwise it is too high calorie for me) + 2 tsp instant espresso powder, mixed with skim milk, or Carbmaster milk if that is available 1/2 packet Syntrax Nectar cappucino + 1/2 scoop Unjury chocolate splendor, mixed with milk 1 scoop Unjury chocolate splendor + 2 tsp instant espresso powder + 1 shot Torani sugar free almond roca Syrup, mixed with milk - makes a delicious chilled amaretto mocha Protein Shake.< /li>

Lot of great posts.
I love running, have ran my whole "fat" life. When I was getting ready to do my first marathon I got a book that I loved. It is called Galloway's Book of Running. It had a lot of awesome information.
From a personal perspective, I only noticed this after running a long time, I am a shuffler so I dont actually lift my feet of the ground that high, so I was not using a pounding type action or bend my knees to much. This is what really saved my knees I think as my stride was a bit differnt than "normal runners" :-)
Does it get easier? You betchya as long as you enjoy it. I think and again just my humble opinion, the secret to fitness is to find something you like and don't think of it as exercise but it just becomes another habit you love and don't want to live without.
One of the things I use to do was while walking, I would walk for about 5 minutes, then pick a spot and jog to it. Slowly decreasing my walk time and increasing my run time. The C25k I think uses the same type of principle, walk and jog building you up to eventually running the full time.
For shoes I agree a specialty running store is great. I use mizuno beast because my feet are pretty wide and they come in a wider shoe plus they are built for heavier runners.
Good luck on your journey.

I was in a similiar situation. My surgery was Dec 10th just before all the Christmas and New Years parties.
Did not tell anyone until after surgery. When they wanted to discuss it I explained I had thought about it for a couple years and tried several alternatives along the way. Finally this seemed to be the best choice for my health moving forward.
They seem pretty receptive and even if they arent thats ok with me, you can please some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all the time :-)

Hi not sure how bad your gout is.
I suffer gout episodes, usually start on one foot on the big toe then is the most painful thing after it is done it moves to the next foot.
I don't have them often and when I did I alway's got Knudsens Just Black Cherry choice and this redued the pain by about 50 to 60%. The content in cherries and other fruits I think like blueberries breaks up the crystalized purine that forms.
About a year ago I spoke with my doctor and started taking allpurinol and have not had any major issues.
Sorry for the long story, to make it short, I had the sleeve in December and knock on wood and a lot of prayers have not had any big flare ups.
I think you definately want to discuss with the Dr prior to surgery since it is my understanding purine is high in protien from meat sources. So an alternative is to look at plant sources. But and I am no expert, the amount of any of the protien we consume is quite a bit reduced from when we did not have the sleeve, having half to three quarters of a chicken strip vs two chicken breast would have a lot less purine :-)
The biggest issue with gout is moving after surgery. You want to be sure to keep those legs, toes and feet moving to keep circulation going and prevent clots.
Good luck