Katcloudshepherd

Hey! You are looking good! Congratulations on your success Blessings, Kathleen

Patoonces, I try to use Stevia as much as I can because it is a plant based sweetener instead of chemicals. I even have Stevia plants growing. I don't know how to process the leaves to produce the sweetener but I'd like to find out. The Stevia plants come from Asia and like heat but don't like cold. They do really well in South Texas if you keep enough Water on them. While the chemical sweeteners may or may not be bad for you, I prefer to use the Stevia even though it is more expensive. I see more and more products using it as a sweetener and I'm grateful for that. Congratulations on your 51 pound weight loss! Blessings, Kathleen

LisaLou30, I agree with SleevedSharon. I don't believe your primary care doctor understands that if you could use pills to lose weight you wouldn't need the surgery for goodness sake! It never ceases to amaze me the ignorance of some of the medical community. IF we could do it without a surgical tool---DUH we wouldn't be seeking the surgical tool! I'll never forget going to a gynecologist about ten years ago for a yearly pap smear and ALL she talked about was how I needed to loose weight. First and LAST time I saw her. I think your husband could definitely benefit from support group meetings, especially seeing other males there that have had WLS. Good luck, Kathleen

Recycled, Thank you for your response. Like I told my husband this morning, all the doctors can say is "No we can't do it." We will never know if we don't ask and pursue it. We had went to a seminar several years ago and he was told he was too high risk. I'm just hoping I can find a surgeon that thinks the risk of surgery isn't too great to attempt it. Kathleen

Hello everyone, Has anyone had WLS and is an extremely high risk patient? My husband is on coumadin,(for blood clots), has high blood pressure, diabetes and had blood clots from previous surgeries. He is on oxygen and he had so many surgeries that went through the same incision, he has no stomach muscles--just skin over his abdomen. Has anyone had WLS with severe health problems? What I wouldn't give to get my husband to where I am at. I'd go so far as to say I'd do anything short of selling my soul if I could get him back to better health. Kathleen

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You look great! I'm so incredibly happy for you Kathleen

alyce, Right now you need to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Sip, Sip, Sip MY body had PLENTY of reserves of fat to live off of after surgery. Once your swelling goes down it will be easier to get the Protein in. Listen to your body and rest when you need to rest. I had a surge of energy about a week and a half out and then BAM I was dog tired and it took me a couple of weeks to get my energy back. Delayed reaction? Everyone is different. The caffeine withdrawal could be a HUGE factor in your lack of energy. I'm so glad I got off the caffeine weeks before surgery. Hang in there. Kathleen

mezzomaybe, What I did when I ate meals was to drink A lot of non-caffeinated liquid, stuff myself with non-starchy vegetables and then eat the low-fat Protein. If you take the Water out of it--it's some what the reverse of what you'll do AFTER WLS--except you don't stuff yourself with anything after WLS. The vegetable's Fiber and the water slow the digestion process and keep you fuller longer. Getting off of carbs and sugar is an absolute bugger when your stomach is normal. You've still got the hunger hormone Grehlin (spelling?) kicking big time telling you are hungry all the time. Keep up the good fight, I know it's incredibly hard. Try to drink as much water as you can between meals and make sure you get as much sleep as you can. Being tired makes fighting temptation a lot more difficult. Kathleen

1. I don't have a fear of having to stand in line to purchase something and have terrible back and knee pain. 2. Flew on airlines and fit in the seat! No seat belt extender AND people didn't fear me sitting next to them. 3. I look good in clothes! Never get tired of husband saying: "You're looking good babe" Kathleen

Wow! Incredible transformation and you've just started! Congratulations. I know my tastes have so changed and I'm so incredibly lucky for that. I don't crave sweets like I did before and I eat almost all Protein and whatever vegetables I can fit in. Kathleen

I hope your MRI comes back OK. I'll keep you in my prayers. I hope your surgery in October goes well and you have an easy recovery. Blessings, Kathleen

A. Stoot,, Congratulations on your approval. I'm very happy for you. I hope your doc has a quick turn around for scheduling a date and your surgery goes well. Kathleen

You look fabulous! Congratulations. Kathleen

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