ItsMe2033

It seems like I saw a link somewhere on VST that pointed to all the available local support groups in the US, perhaps broken down by state, etc. I looked a few minutes ago, but could not find it. Can anyone point me to it please. Thanks

I've only been at the stage in my diet where I could eat chili for about 3 weeks. The first two or three times I tried chili it gave me fairly strong heartburn. I still enjoyed the chili though, and I have continued to eat it. It doesn't bother me now. I have also made some chili with ground turkey and it turned out well and it might sit better on your stomach. Perhaps you could eat a tums or two prior to eating the chili.

So did you discuss this with him before the surgery and did he agree that he would change as much as you have? If so then he is doing something wrong. If you did not discuss this with him then why do you expect him to change as much as you have or to even change any. I think if you want to leave him you should leave him, but you should be honest with yourself. Maybe you "setteled" for him prior to the surgery because it was the best that you felt that you could do. Now that you've had the surgery and are feeling like you could do better, you aren't as interested in him anymore. That's fine. It's OK to move on if you want to, but you should accept full responsibility for it and not blame him for anything. He was probably just as unsupportive before, but you didn't notice it or didn't care. Plus more than likely he may be sensing that you have one foot out the door. Of course he doesn't sound like he's any angel, and maybe you should never have been with him in the first place, but just don't blame him or hold him responsible, because it sounds to me like you are the one who has changed.

I recommend that you read the book "Dr Bernstein's Diabetes Solution." Once you read it your eyes will really be opened. I've was diagnosed as a type II about 15 years ago and my A1c was 12.5 at the time I was diagnosed. . For the first year or two, I continued to eat in a very bad way and even with taking meds my A1c was about 8.5. I started eating low carb and exercising about 13 years ago, and within a few months I go my A1c below 6. Over the last 12 years my A1c has ranged from 4.5 to 5, and my fasting blood sugar was around 85 - 90. I was sleeved six weeks ago, and my fasting blood sugar is still in the 85-90 range. In terms of exercise, don't use excuses not to exercise. Just start out very slowly and work your way up. Also if you eat a low carb, high Protein, fatty meal prior to exercise then you will require less insulin and have less chance of your blood sugar dropping. Please read the book I recommend. It can really change your life.

The pain that I had on the day of surgery felt exactly like I was very hungry. When I took a pain shot, the feeling went away.

Totally normal. A lot of it depends on how much your sleeve swells after the surgery and how soon the swelling goes down. I was sleeved 6 weeks ago, but when I was 1 week post-surgery I could drink a 16 oz bottle of water in about 15 minutes.

You might be able to appeal being dropped with your state insurance coverage commission. It will be very difficult to find coverage that won't charge you a lot of money because of your weight. Next year the ACA will kick in and you should be able to find affordable insurance, but I don't know if it will cover WLS.

When I was in the pureed stage, I fixed something that might satisfy your "Italian Food" taste buds. I used one cup of turkey meatballs (cooked as directed on the package), 1/2 cup pizza quick sauce, and 1/4 cup low-fat ricotta cheese and 1/4 cup chicken broth (to thin everything enough to blend). This will make 4 1/2 cup servings. You can do it one of two ways. Either you can just blend everything together, and keep it in one container, or you can blend each ingredient separately and use four small containers. If you want layers, put a layer of turkey at the bottom of each container, then a layer or ricotta, and finally a layer of the pizza quick sauce. Store in the refrigerator, and heat each one in the microwave when you are ready to eat it. Yummy. Note that your doctor might not allow tomato products during the pureed stage, so you should check your instructions.

Just have one soft drink today, and maybe one tomorrow, then stop and you should be fine.

He's right that low-carb is a great way to lose weight, but he's oh so wrong for trying to impose it on you. You need to internalize your own set of controls on what you eat and the way you eat it. If you have an external critic, then it will lead you to having one set of behaviors around him, and another when you are not with him. If you're not careful, you might end up eating things you shouldn't when you're not around him, just to exert some control over your life. You need to get him to stop this now. I'm a big fan of the Atkins diet, I was on the Atkins diet for 13 years. It's great that it worked for him, but he has some strange ideas about it. On Atkins, you only need the very low carb levels for the first few weeks. After that you can get around 50 grams of carbs per day and still lose weight just fine. If you can I encourage you to follow a low-carb lifestyle. I really think it's great. But it has to be your decision. Your husband needs to understand that your journey will be different than yours and that by trying to be the food police, he will be undermining your efforts. And when I say he needs to understand that, I'm saying that it's up to you to get him to understand. Hopefully in ways less drastic than suggested by some, but he does need to know that he needs to back off. And that doesn't just apply to saying things to you, but to even thinking that you are going to undermine yourself. Think about it like he's a carpenter and his hammer is low-carb and he thinks that can be used to solve any problem.

Note that if you are taking this product: GNC Potassium & Magnesium Aspartate 250 That you are getting the following ingredients: Monomagnesium Di-L-Aspartate 250.00 mg Monopotassium Aspartate 250.00 mg The weight of the supplement is the weight of the magnesium or potassium plus the weight of the aspartare. This is substantially less magnesium and potassium than 250mg. By law (21 C.F.R. § 201.306) any potassium supplement with 100mg or more of potassium must be labeled "Rx only." Please don't try to supplement 4.7 g of potassium per day. Your body and especially your heart is very sensitive to the ratio of sodium to potassium, and some other minerals as well. I recommend that you get some of the 99mg potassium supplements and take them perhaps 3 x per day. 300mg of potassium may not sound like much, but it will help more than you might think. If you use salt, you could also get Morton's light salt which is half sodium chloride and half potassium chloride, so you not be too likely to get the two out of balance. If you still get cramps after that, you should see a doctor to see if you need a prescription potassium supplement. Just keep this in mind. If you take too much Vitamin C, you may have to take a trip to the bathroom, but if you take too much potassium you may take a trip to the morgue.

Please don't take me to be unkind for what I am about to say. I'm saying this to try to help you. Your quote above suggests that you are interested in something else happening, and it almost seems as though you are suggesting that if it happens it will be your husband's fault because he is not giving you as much attention as other people are giving your. This is a terrible basis for making a decision about him and about your marriage. You have every right to leave your marriage if you wish, and I'm not trying to talk you out of that, but I'm just saying don't leave it because other people give you more attention than he does. If you choose to leave it, leave it because he doesn't give you as much attention as you need in a relationship. That's a perfectly fine basis, but just don't compare him to others and find him lacking. That's a recipe for disaster in personal relationships. Unless your relationship is truly terrible I encourage you to not make this kind of decision right now. Wait a year or two if you can. You've undergone some much change so rapidly that your mind doesn't really know where you are right now emotionally. It's great to get attention from others that you have been lacking, but you've spent a lot of time in this relationship where you are now. I encourage you to put as much effort into making this work as you possibly can. That way if things don't work out, you will know that you really tried to make this work. Just imagine how you might have felt if your husband had left you a year or two ago because he found someone he liked more, or who was thin. Now think about how you might feel about yourself in a few years if something does happen and you regret it later. I encourage you and your husband to go to counseling. I wish you the best of luck.

Thank you for sharing your story. You write so well that it was like I was there watching it all happen.

Thus far has your journey been easier than expected or more difficult?

Yes, I think you should start a pre-pre-surgery diet to get your numbers down. In addition, I think your doctor will start you on one or more medications as well.

I haven't been sleeved yet, but I will be in a few weeks. I was diagnosed (HGbA1c=12.8) as a diabetic about 15 years ago, and initially with medication and exercise my A1c would only come down to around 8. Over 12 years ago I started on a low carb diet which has been awesome for controlling my diabetes, and now my A1c runs between 4.5 and 5 with diet and exercise only, and no medications. Although no one can say for sure, if you are on a strict low carb diet, your A1c will probably come down, although as makemyownluck posted, it will take a while to come down because A1c measures your average blood sugar over a period of a few months. In my opinion if your fasting blood sugar is below 95, then you should make a strong case to your doctor that you don't need any meds to help control it.

I will be sleeved in about three weeks. I've never had to take them before, but my surgeon wants me to take them leading up to the surgery, and afterward for a while. I wonder if maybe taking them at half the prescribed dosage would give me enough benefits with fewer side effects?

For the ready-to-drink shakes, I prefer Premier Protein, which is available at Costco and Sam's and probably other places as well. For a protein powder, I like Carb Solutions. It used to be available in chocolate or vanilla, but as far as I know only the chocolate is available now. I think drugstore.com is the only place that sells it now. This is a blend of several protein sources and not just whey based protein, which may make the taste more tolerable to people who have tried whey and don't like it. According to their label, their protein is from Soy Protein Isolate, Calcium Caseinate, Sodium Caseinate, Whey Protein Isolate, and Dried Egg White. Over the last dozen years I've consumed dozens of cans of this stuff. And over the last few years, I've consumed dozens of cases of the Premier Protein ready-to-drink.

I am self-pay and I will be sleeved in less than a month by a doctor that offers BLIS Insurance coverage and I need to decide what level of coverage to take. As part of my decision process I would like to hear from anyone who had surgery that was covered by BLIS and who actually had a complication. I'd like to know if everything went smoothly or if BLIS tried to avoid covering something that should have been covered. A friend of mine who is an attorney once told me "Insurance companies are in the business of cashing premium checks and denying claims." I want to see if anyone thinks this would apply to BLIS as well.