Miss Mac

Da Bears! Hi there.....I am southwest of the city in Alsip, retired federal employee, getting my sleeve in November, too. Will probably get a date with my surgeon's appointment later this month. My pcp referred me to the Bariatric Program at Loyola Universities Gottlieb Hospital. Everyone there has been so kind and helpful so far. I am hoping to lose about 110 pounds. I am 5'4" and 235 pounds when I started this journey. My mother passed away not much older than I am now. She was 5'2" and weighed 320 pounds when she had an aortic abdominal aneurysm. I just saw myself gradually becoming my mother and I had to break the cycle to be able to keep walking. My whole family is huge. My oldest brother had a heart attack at the age of 47 - he weighed 420 pounds. Most of my cousins and aunts and uncles are 300 plus. What is your story? Where in the Chicago area do you live? Who is doing your surgery? Welcome to the forum. You will find help and reassurance here.

Not from Nevada, but that lake behind me in my picture is Lake Tahoe, taken from a lookout on the Nevada side. I was in Reno for a business convention in 2009, and hopped on a tour bus that took us out and about for 4 hours. Tahoe is gorgeous! What a beautiful place to live and enjoy your recovery. My sleeve is not until November, so you will be ahead of me. Good Luck and welcome to the forum.

I don't know if this is the right time to suggest this, but there was a psychologist on Oprah years and years ago who was speaking on lopsided relationships. She suggested that instead of thinking "I love him/her - why do they treat me this way?" Start thinking "Why would I love someone who treats me this way?" Well, this change in perspective got me out of a dark way a couple of times. P.S. I don't like confrontation either. Oh man, sorry for the tough love, but here goes..... If this is your normal instead of an isolated incident, why are you still there? I had an ex-husband who isolated me (geographically and emotionally) from my family and friends for ten long years, so I guess I just have a zero tolerance on controlling behaviors now. It took a violent death threat for me to realize that my patient longsuffering endurance was not going to keep me happy or alive. I am sorry that this person is running interference on your desire to communicate with another person. Come on back and talk to us some more. Maybe some one else has a more clinical and less sensitive take on this than I do.

My psych evaluation is coming up on the 9/18, same day as my surgeon visit. I am actually looking forward to it because the damage to my self image comes from former spousal abuse. I was able to make a daring escape in the middle of the night, and got a divorce, and moved far away, and went back to college at the age of 56, but I never got counseling. His hurtful words come back often, but I have to knock them away like cobwebs. My self-worth shouldn't depend on the ghosts of rages past. I (and you) are loveable and worth being loved. It is bad enough that people can hurt us so much with their words, but I do encourage you to not mentally abuse yourself. The surgery can definitely be the catalyst that gets your health on track. I agree with 2Big2Skate that a psych visit can help you get your thinking on track so that the surgery has complete advantage for you. I am looking forward to mine to help me put my surgery in the proper perspective.

Sounds like you are a modern nomad. My first ex-husband moved the family 14 times in 23 years. We were always looking for a place to live, changing utilities and libraries and churches, out of touch with old friends, getting drivers' license changed, kids were the new ones in school nearly every year, changing doctors, forwarding medical records......what a hot mess. He had a chance to take a permanent position with his employer, but it would have meant less money because he would have been considered unpromotable. I wish you the best in making that decision. My vote is for being happy and stable and having roots.

One of the requirements of my 12 week pre-op program is to weigh, measure, and log my food on myfitnesspal.com. So, it's a habit now, 4 weeks into the program. I am no geek, but I can function in the program. It's helpful and reduces guessing about what nutritional values I am getting every day.

Won't have my sleeve until November, but in past surgeries the catheter has been put in after they had me under anesthetic. When the nurse takes it out, it's not so bad. I don't know what your modesty level is, but I find that the older I get, the less I care. Just do what you gotta do and let me go home.

Of the eleven surgeries I have had, I was never instructed to not use a recliner, and that includes two knee replacements. With my most recent surgery (ACDF), I had four vertebrae in my neck replaced with cadaver bones and hardware, I was in a hard collar for six miserable weeks and was INSTRUCTED to use a lift recliner and sleep in it too, to reduce strain on my spinal cord. Several times I have been sent home with compression stockings, and every time I was instructed too "get up offa that thang" and move around every hour or so. You can get DVT just from a long plane flight. Our experiences with the sleeve are so individual. Follow your doctor's instruction. He/she has their reasons.

Yep. I bought the sleeve book as the download version. Very informative. I know that once I am on the far side of the sleeve, I will refer to it more. I also bought the Emotional First Aid. That one was recommended for my bariatric program.

61 until December 1. My pre-op surgeon visit is coming up September 18. Here's the thing about exercise - it does get more challenging as we get older. I will need to lose 100 pounds to get any range of motion or good form going, but here is what I am doing: I invested in a variety of exercise DVDs so that I could not get bored so easily. They have very different effort levels. I have one for bedfast people, several for chair work (chair salsa, chair tai chi, chair pilates, chair strength training, and my favorite Chair Boxing). In my collection are DVDs for Hula, Bollywood, Belly Dancing, African, and Salsa. I found a Richard Simmons Sweating to the Oldies boxed set on sale, and have done Zumba with my walker. Walk Your Belly Flat can be done with a walker. I just stand up, hang on, and try to keep up, sometimes at about half the pace. She has three 1 mile increments that take 15 minutes apiece and can be done standing in place, in your home. On any of these, 15 minutes is about all I've got. If I do 30 minutes of anything, then I can do nothing for the next 3 days - just exhausted. So do what you can and know your limits. Now, about that ice cream......what I have reduced myself to is Aldi's sugar free creamy popsicles - 14 calories apiece. Not the same, but compromises have to be made for the greater good. Here is the sleevers' mantra - PROTEIN FIRST.

When I lived in Portsmouth New Hampshire in the 80's, we made occasional trips into Boston for sight seeing. You know how nurses are always asking us where our pain is 1-10. Well, my nausea 10 is a whale watching trip I took out of Boston. We flopped around in choppy water for 6 hours, but it was so worth it to see those magnificent creatures propel themselves out of water. I would do it again in a minute, but I would take Dramamine and crackers with me! If I could ever come to Boston again (I am in Chicago for the long haul) it would be great to see Salem and Plymouth. Historically, I have many ancestors from the Winthrop Fleet. You live in a world-class city. Hopefully when you get some energy back you can make some day trips and do some walking through history. Your kidlets are old enough to enjoy it, too. Good luck with your progress.

Rock Star!

Maybe Zumba. You can by the DVD's and do it in the privacy of your home if you don't want to join a class. It's a calorie burner for sure and enhances core strength. Plus it's fun. I have a hard time keeping up because of post-stroke balance issues, but for someone steady on their feet, it will give you a hearty workout.

Congratulations on what may turn out to be the most important decision of your life.

Myfitnesspal.com is an awesome tool for accountability. I type the food in and MFP does the math on several values. You can even tell it which values you want to track instead of the default ones. It is a requirement in my program, and for my next Nutrition visit coming up, she wants my password so that she can check on me in-between visits. The catch - you have to be honest with yourself.

Will your doc let you have sugar free Jello? I find that even pre-op while I am very restricted and trying to lose pounds, Jello made a little thick helps fill the need for substance and fills the longing for something fruity to treat my palate. Boy oh boy do I miss fruit...I could eat 10 bananas a day if no one stopped me. So instead of using 2 cups of water, I use 1 3/4 to give the Jello some thickness. Congratulations on your surgery. Hopefully this experience will help you educate your family on nutrition vrs. manufactured crap. Are you in the city or do your kids tangibly know where actual real produce comes from? How old are they? Are your hubby and other involved family members supportive? When my daughters were little (they are in their 30's now, I use to get a sitter and do my grocery shopping alone. Maybe I did them a disservice, but they did get to help in the kitchen. One thing about the VGS is that most people haven't heard of it and don't understand that you've get had 85% of your stomach removed to save your life. Do what you have to do for yourself. You have to be your own best advocate and follow doctor's direction. They have done this enough times to know what it takes for your surgery to be effective. So if liquids it must be for a while, hang in there, you will get through it. Take care.

Wow! That's awesome. Congratulations. I am a 22/24 hoping for a size 10. I haven't been a size 4 since junior high. Did your feet get smaller too? Did your hair fall out / come back? My surgery is coming up in November, and I am so worried about my hair..........It's hard to see the pictures. Do you have more?

You can tell by my username of Miss Mac, that I am Scottish. I was born with red hair, and it is just now at age 61, starting to go white. My dentist obliges my pain levels with extra relief, but the doctor who gives me spinal epidurals for sciatica at the pain clinic doesn't buy into the theory. As for me, I believe it. When I had some spinal reconstruction this past February, I had to stay in the hospital an extra day because of crazy pain that they were not expecting. Dilauded helped, by made me really loopy. In order to sleep when my sciatica acts up between appointments, I have to use a topical nerve cream (Voltarin gel), hydrocodone, lidocain patches, and sometimes sleeping pills. My doctor told me to knock off with the sleeping pills on top of hydrocodone He said he would rather have a patient in pain than a dead patient. So, he has a patient in pain. Sorry, if that's no comfort, but it helps to validate the Scottish / Irish pain threshold concept. If I have pain issues after my sleeve, in spite of meds, I will probably be slapping Lidocaine patches every where.

Michael Pollen has written some books on what real food is and how it is so different from the genetically modified crap that the large conglomerates pass off as food. Basically, if you can catch it or pick it, go ahead and eat it. He has also discussed cultures around the world and how their various cuisines affect their national health. One concept that has helped me resist bad decisions lately is to think of all of this commercially produced food as poison, like McPoison's, Poison King, Poison Donuts, Poison Castle, Poison Bell. Get the picture? - Yes, we see. A couple of weeks ago, I was on a three day road trip with my daughter, who is a vegan. We were in a small Indiana town that only had a McPoison's and a Poison King fot restaurants. We asked during our tour of the local Historical Society's Museum where the locals go for real food. She steered us to a restaurant in an old house. We weren't too sure of how our experience would go, but the place was very charming and we got to dine al fresco on the covered veranda. My daughter had a Portobello mushroom salad, and I had the Portobello mushroom sandwich and pulled off about half of the bread. It was the most awesome lunch I ever had that was not cooked at home. So, just sayin' we had to dig to locate a healthy option, but it was right under our noses. Anyway, once you see that other junk as poison instead of tasty friends that you miss, it will be a little easier to make good choices. I know we get tired of being strong, but those are times when your forum buddies can give you strength. I have eight more weeks of prep before my surgery, and then I am sure I will have questions daily. We can't be Miss Dolly Sunshine all the time. You hang in there, Gamegirl...we've got your back.

Go as if your life depended on it. We're all rooting for you!

You learn something every day. Today's lesson for me was to look up the word pudendal. I didn't have a clue. I appreciate that people in this forum don't hold back and just tell it like it is. Your honesty and openness is indeed helpful as we give each other gentle doses of the truth.

How inspiring for those of us further back in our journey. Sorry about your gallbladder. I haven't had one for forty years (out at age 21). You will get along fine without it. It was a fair trade for the weight loss and a healthier you. Congratulations.

When I go for my surgeon visit on September 18th, I am adding this to my list of questions. I get epidurals in my lumbar and sometimes thoracic spine to treat radiculopathies 3 - 4 times a year. They are really helpful for soothing over nerve pain for months at a time. Since this sounds like an additional tool for pain relief, I will ask about it. You do mean IN ADDITION to general anesthetic and not instead of....right?

Dude.....you look awesome!!! Do not listen to the haters. I had a mean old rotten (now ex) husband who commented (after a successful 50 pound Atkins weight loss) "Every time you lose weight, you get jowls." Once when I had just gotten down to a healthy 135, the husband of a church friend frequently commented on how hungry I looked. Recently, my daughter told me of a t-shirt that said: YOU DO YOU.

Looks like the brand I will go for.