mstratto

Typing this post from the gym this morning. Literally one year ago this morning, I was on the way to the hospital for the band-to-bypass revision... Today, I'm going to run 5 miles on the elliptical... Life has changed and I am so thankful for friends, family, and this community for the support and encouragement along this journey. As I often tell folks, I may have reached my weight loss goal, but the war of the scale and heart remains...always need to focus on maintaining a healthy weight and living life. Moderation is my friend. Binges are no more and emotional eating is always on my mind...... Reflection is key. It's not easy, but the surgery wasn't a magic pill -- just a tool among other tools to help me along the way. Maybe my new birthday will be Jan 21, 2013 instead of my actual birthday

Haven't been on in a while, but so glad I did to see all of the amazing before and afters! so inspirational. Here's mine!

before and after...

I had the band in 2008 and recently the band-to-bypass revision. Super happy with the bypass and 'should have' done that in 2008. BUT, I'm in a better place emotionally than in 2008 so I know this will be a more effective tool to help me achieve my goals and maintain my weight. Good luck to you on your journey!

That's so awesome!!!!!! I'm in a bit of a plateau for whatever reason. 265 right now. I had a blood clot post-op that has me out of work and a bit more sedentary than I prefer. It's in the abdomen area so they can't operate and it's quite painful when I eat/drink certain things. On soft foods now maybe that's why I'm plateauing. Will just need to keep an eye on it. Goal is 2-3 lb loss per week, but that's assuming I workout. Not doing that now as I said, which is a bummer. Hope to slowly start next week per the doc. Anywho... I'm rambling (probably the pain meds - haha). Dude, you are an inspiration :)

hi all - surgery was Jan 21 and went home that Wed Jan 23! Wahoo!!! However... I'm back in the hospital. They discovered after about two days of being back home in major pain that I have a severe blood clot next to my liver and intestines. It's causing some major pain - really indescribable (sort of like appendicitis multiplied by 100). Anywho, not sure how long I'll be in here. It's been since Sunday AM and no major news to report. Some of the pain meds are working, but I'm NPO other than when I take meds by mouth. They are thinking any stuff going down the intestines are causing problems because the blood isn't moving through quick enough thanks to the blood clot blockage. On blood thinners and hoping that'll help. They keep saying my body needs to heal - that the bypass surgery itself created the clot, but no real medicine or surgery will fix it booo... It's painful to say the least. Glad to be alive as my RNY surgeon said they're pretty dangerous, especially since it could kill off my intensities. Others who experienced blood clots in the abdomen area after surgery? What did you do? Recovery time? Did it adversely impact your loss goals each week? Believe it or not I'm still thinking about weight loss at a time when I should probably be thinking about my overall health... just in that RNY mindset about goals, etc... Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

How did it go??? are you home now?

totally... probably from the anesthesia gas pumped in to us (if you too had it laparoscopically). mine went away this afternoon, but now I have hiccups... ugh

Got home yesterday from hospitals stay. Band to RNY surgery went really well. In some pain as usual but I'm walking around and attempting to get all my liquids consumed. Good on the water but harder to get all my protein, but I'll keep trying. About how long did it take all of you to recover so you could go back to work, etc.? BTW, thanks to all for their emails and supportive posts.

OMG!!! 3 more hours. Just checked in at the hospital. Wahoo! Here's a before pic (2007 at my heaviest - 365) and now today for surgery date at 283. Super excited!!!

Surgery is in less than 18 hours (Jan 21 @ 8am)! Lots of ups and downs since I started this long journey in 2008. I joined this group April 2012 when I originally thought I was "approved" but later found out I was actually denied (insurance mix-up). After some hard work and determination, my appeal to the insurance companies (primary/secondary) was approved! If it wasn't for this online support group and MyFitnessPal, along with some very close friends, family, and my partner, I'm not sure how I would have made it so far. Achieving my weight loss goal will be easier than maintaining. That's my longterm focus - staying at or closely around my goal weight. I struggled ever since college - 10 years of undergrad, grad, and doctoral studies came with a sedentary, stressed life with nothing but carbs and fat, and the occasional up-and-down dieting. Patterns learned long ago in childhood and adolescence were reinforced as I continued down a path of self-destruction. That continued through adulthood... Lots of learning has occurred in the past years, but now I'm REALLY learning and DOING... "Knowledge is no guarantee of good behavior, but ignorance is a virtual guarantee of bad behavior" (Martha Nussbaum, 2010). I will need to continue learning, but also recognize that knowledge (while important) needs to coincide with consistent, reflective action. For me, I believe exercise is going to be key along with therapy and conscious, healthy eating. RNYTALK.COM and MFP are going to be there every step of the way. I'll post tomorrow morning my pre-surgery weight and some pics from the journey

best of luck to you!

Jan 21!!! One more week...excited about the future. It'll be a challenging road ahead, but all the hard work in the coming months (and to maintain in the years ahead) will be worth it!

Bought the vitamix...already loving on day 5 of liquid preop thanks for ALL of the suggestions!

thanks for the heads-up and advice just wondering if I could add Protein Powder to the juice (e.g., with kale, tomatoes, lemon). On my pre-post op food list, I'm allowed to have low sodium V8 juice with protein powder. I'll have to ask my doc to see.

‎...anyone have a Vita-Mix? thoughts/reviews? I'm also looking at the magic bullet, but it has mixed reviews (though I do like the small size for travel). just looking for something to make smoothies with protein powder, ice and select/few veggies/fruit.

Excellent point about post-op and sugar. Was thinking protein powder combined with kale and other veggies (maybe an orange) might be ok. I'll talk with my nutritionist and doctor...and let ya know

Hi all, I start pre-op liquid tomorrow and thinking about juicing veggies and some fruits to go along with Protein powder? Advice, suggestions, and/or considerations? I recognize too much sugar/carbs can come from the fruit so I hope to do this on occasion. Is it worth it? Any fruit/veggies to stay away from? Thanks!

Jan 21 revision date

Yep! Scheduled for Jan 21 surgery date!!!