Katcloudshepherd

Timothy Gibson Ten days out and you're down 30 pounds--great start. My highest weight was probably 363. I consider my starting weight to be 338 since that is what I weighed when I began the whole process. I lost 11 pounds pre-op and the rest after surgery. Welcome to the "loser's" bench. Kathleen

KattattaK, You're very welcome. It took me years of therapy to overcome some childhood issues but I am still very much a work in progress. I wish you well on your journey. Blessings, Kathleen

Good luck y'all. So happy for you to get the opportunity to improve the rest of your lives. Kathleen

une nouvelle vie, My God woman--you have lost a whole lot of weight in a short period of time! I'm very proud of you and very happy for you I don't count calories. My main goal is to get that Water in, get the Protein in, take my supplements and get the sleep and exercise I need. I sleep in as dark a room as possible, take an herbal supplement to sleep and it seems to work. Studies have shown lack of sleep has a negative impact on your bodies ability to lose weight. Those studies were done on people with a whole stomach not a smaller one. So I would think sleep would be especially important to those of us with a sleeve instead of a full sized stomach. Blessings, Kathleen

I suffered from depression before surgery and I went through a very dark period several months after surgery. I tried to stop taking my antidepressant and was not able to. I ended up going back on it. I think losing THE coping mechanism of food was a significant part of that dark period. I used food to cope with all negative emotions and life stressors for decades and then it was not available to me. Having to FEEL those emotions whoa--that was so challenging. For almost 37 years I was able to stuff those emotions down with overdosing on food. Then I had the surgery at 48 and BAM no longer could I anesthetize myself with carbs and sugar. I'm still taking it one day at a time and learning things I should have learned growing up. Oh well, it is what it is. Good luck with your paper. I don't know what specific type of info you need. I'm probably not a good candidate for input since I had depression before surgery and my family is genetically predisposed to depression. Kathleen

Is your primary care doctor through Tricare prime? I have insurance through my employer and see a civilian doctor. I am covered under my husband's Tricare prime but it is secondary to my insurance and rarely pays for anything. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I think I agree with KattattaK. Please don't think I am excusing that type of behavior but I sometimes wonder if there is some primal need to compete with other women? I've always wondered that. Do we have some mechanism in the brain that makes us see other women as contenders as mates for the dominant male? I'm no psychologist or sociologist but I've always wondered that. Or is it lack of maturity? Lack of development of one's confident ego? I work very had to see people by their actions and interactions with other people instead of their appearance. I don't always succeed though. Kathleen

I've been using this site since last year and I try to be positive in all my responses and fortunately--I've not had a negative response to any of my posts. I think many people who use this site are under a great deal of stress no mater what stage of the process they are in. Everyone communicates differently. Some people are much more direct and some perceive that directness as being brusque. Everyone's perception is their reality. Have a good one y'all, Kathleen

mz.newlife54, My endoscopy went well. They gave me some wonderful drugs and I went to sleep . I hope your approval comes quickly. Kathleen

Andrew0929, I sure hope my cravings don't come back. I so far am still sick of sweet stuff--THANK GOODNESS. Sure hope that lasts. I don't have any advice but I hope you can keep up the good fight! Blessings, Kathleen

mellytoon0908, I didn't have a head cold. I hope that doesn't cause any problem for you. I hope you have an uneventful, routine surgery and an easy recovery. When you can walk, do so as much as possible. When you are cleared to drink, sip, sip, sip. You can't drink very much at once and your body needs the fluids to recover. Good practice anyway because it takes a while before you can drink a good amount of liquid at one time. I hope everything goes well. Kathleen

I replied on another post but I wish you all the best alyce. I'll keep you in my prayers. I took things and I didn't need them. I was too medicated to do much of anything but pee, walk, sleep, pee, walk, sleep and then when I was cleared to drink: pee, walk, sip, sleep, pee, walk, sip, sleep……... My surgeon uses two IVs so you are completely full of fluids--gets your butt out of bed a lot to pee too . I did use my cell phone to make a couple of calls. I'm sure the people I talked to could tell I was pretty out of it. Oh well. That's OK. Walk as much as you can to prevent blood clots and get the CO2 out of your body. When you are cleared to drink--sip, sip, sip because you can't drink very much at one time. When I got home from the hospital I continued to sip, sip, sip and walk, walk, walk. I hope you have an uneventful surgery and easy recovery. Kathleen

Good luck to y'all. I'll keep you in my prayers, alyce. I hope all of you having surgery tomorrow do well and have an easy recovery. Blessings, Kathleen

Hi everyone! I have a doctors appointment tomorrow to let me doctor know that I do want to move forward with the weight loss surgery. How long did the process take for you once you said yes let's move forward? Thanks in advance! I would write down questions you want to ask the doctor. This worked well for me. In the excitement you can forget things you meant to ask--at least I could. Everyone's requirements for approval and surgery are different. I was fortunate in that I had Humana Federal Employee PPO, not an Health Maintenance Option, (***) and it only had minimal requirements. I had a two month supervised diet with my surgeon's office. I started the process in September 2013, (9/30/13 was 1st appointment) had surgery 12/11/13. good luck, Kathleen PS. this is the 3rd edit--it kept putting asterisks in for H-M-O--I don't know why?

I've struggled with depression before and after surgery. I'm glad you are seeing your therapist Thursday Wisdom2KnowTheDifference because that is best. You are so correct JamieLogical you will have to deal with difficult and uncomfortable feelings after surgery without turning to food. Like I have said before, the mental part of this is much more difficult than the physical part--for most people. Like Teresah18 said, once you have the surgery--you will have a physical tool to manage the bodies hunger mechanism and that made a tremendous difference for me. Hopefully you will be one of the lucky ones who does not experience hunger after surgery. For me that was the best thing that could have happened. It gave me a chance to work on the other parts like my "fat brain" way of thinking. Good luck to you. I hope you both have uneventful surgeries and easy recoveries. Blessings, Kathleen

Dragonsmate, I had the surgery at 48 and was already starting menopause when I had the surgery. I am officially now menopausal, since I haven't had a period in over a year, going on two years. I have occasional "personal summers" but THANK GOD they haven't been too severe. I remember my mother's and I hope I don't get to experience the same kind of "power surges" she had. She would turn bright red and just start sweating. Too bad that "power surge" can't be harnessed in some way . You had your surgery in February and you've already lost 86 pounds. WOW! That's very impressive. I agree about the Texas heat. It's been triple digit and I am so ready for the fall cool-down. We're supposed to get a "cold" front through and the temperature is going to drop down to 97--man I better get my sweaters ready--NOT . At least now I don't sweat as much as I used to! All this talk about sweating is making me thirsty , Kathleen

You're welcome. Like RJ said everyone is different in how they have conversations. I've lost 100 pounds and my excess skin doesn't bother me but I'm not one to wear a bikini in public . I do wear a swimsuit about 3 to 5 times a week--a one piece for me. I will confess, I have had non-surgical work on my face and neck. I was getting Botox before surgery and after surgery I had the procedure where they use radio waves to tighten the skin on the neck. It has worked but not as well as surgery would. I'm saving money and if I can save enough, I'll have plastic surgery probably only on my "bat wings". I can live with my stomach and legs for now. To me, they don't look that bad. If I can save enough money in a few years I'll have more plastic surgery. I don't have any medical conditions that would cause my insurance to cover it--so I'll be financing it myself. The reason I get in the pool is because no way in Hades could I do on land what I can do in the Water. I have so many orthopedic problems I can't exercise any other way. Walking is GREAT exercise if you can do it. Before I had to start using the pool, I was walking several miles at a time. If your body can tolerate it--keep walking and as you lose weight--up the distance. Walking is one of the least expensive ways to exercise since you usually only need a good supportive pair of shoes. I wish you the best, Kathleen

Hang in there honey. It will get better and everyone has their own time table as to when. I felt much better when I was still restricted to Clear liquids and was able to drink some Isopure clear Protein. Until then, I felt so incredibly weak. I don't think the beef and chicken broth was giving me enough protein. Once I purchased the Isopure and drank it I felt better. Hope you feel better soon. Like others have said, get that Water in and the protein the doctors allow you to have. Your body has just been traumatized by the surgery and it needs lots of TLC to recover. Kathleen

Wow! no pre-op diet. That's great. So happy for you I hope you have an easy time through surgery and recovery! Blessings, Kathleen

Sandstress51, I just read the string of posts you are referring to. I think many people are coming to this site in a heightened emotional state. People are in different stages of the process--going through the required supervised weight loss, getting all the pre-op work done, waiting for approval, getting approval and setting a date, going through surgery, recovery and subsequent absolute utter complete life changes. During all those stages we are all under a tremendous amount of stress. I think during all the stages peoples emotions are so raw and near the surface that things which would otherwise not bother us--set some people off. People who have not undergone a COMPLETE lifestyle change have no clue just how stressful it is. I don't have any answers but that is my theory as to why some posts turn more negative. I hope your surgery goes well and you have an easy recovery. Blessings, Kathleen

Hey all, I was just sleeved on Friday and I feel like garbage. Im tired constantly, cant get my fluids in (have gotten about 24 oz of Water a day) and only maybe 20 g of Protein. Anything more and I want to puke. I also had a Haital Hernia repair and I think thats whats causing this bad pain in my chest. That is the most annoying thing. That hurts everytime I swallow. I want so badly to be the good patient and do what Im told but I feel so awful right now and dont care if I get protein in. Ok I do care but I just feel so emotional about it. Speaking of emotional, I feel like Im on the verge of tears constantly. Is all of this normal? Im so unhappy right now and wish get in my fluids and protein and be happy with this but Im not I need some cheering up, any stories of similar tantrums and how you came out golden on the other side?? Sorry for the pity party, I just dont have anyone to vent to right now! Having your surgery on Friday means your body still is reacting to the anesthesia and trauma of surgery. The anesthesia alone will make you more emotional. I was in the hospital and the nurse was taking blood and I was bawling like a baby. Try and sip as much water as you can and walk, walk, walk as much as you can. Like someone else said--you have to get through this. Hope you start to feel better soon. Kathleen

Congratulations! Before you know it you'll be traveling down the "loser's" highway with us!!!

I used to require a size 13 M or even 13 W. Now I can wear a 12WW. My feet are long and they have gotten "skinnier". I notice there is actually a noticeable space between my toes! It helps me tremendously because there aren't many woman's shoe companies that make a size 13 but many make size 12WW. Still depends on the style for comfort in wearing. I don't wear ANY heels--don't' need to and my knees and back could never take wearing heels. I always wear flats. Kathleen

Congratulations! You look absolutely fabulous! :) I'm so incredibly happy for you. Kathleen

Good luck for your surgery. Take it easy and slow after surgery--give your body time to heal but walk as much as you can. When you are cleared to be able to drink--sip, sip, sip. Getting that hydration in is key. Your body needs that Fluid to heal. When you go home, continue to walk as much as possible and sip, sip, sip. Blessings, Kathleen