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So it's day 5 of the liquid diet, surgery is Tuesday morning. If you read everything there is to read on this site for everyone that has gone through this process you'll learn one undisputable fact, this is different for each person, although somethings are universally true. I'm learning about one of them right now. Expect to have issues in the bathroom. Just keep it in mind, stock up on toilet paper. It's not gonna kill you but I can guarantee it's going to annoy the crap out of you, no pun intended. Urination is the biggest annoyance. I sincerely cannot pass by a bathroom without needing to use it. I went to town with my friend the other day, I was out there for less than 3 hours and was in the restroom 3 separate times. It seems to be hourly but sometimes it's just half an hour between visits. I'm struggling with bouts of unexplained nausea and a lingering headache that I can only assume is the start of serious sugar withdrawl but I can't be certain. I'm also on my period so it might be the start of some shifts in hormone levels. Only time will tell. For some reason I feel short of breath on occasion, I'm assuming that might be a bit psychological and perhaps I'm a little more anxious about this process than my mind is ready to admit. We will take this one day at a time, one moment at a time. I think my stomach acid levels are little warped, I suppose grabbing some antiacids might be a good thing to do some time soon since this is extremely uncomfortable. I'll be boarding a flight for Dallas TX tomorrow afternoon. I'll meet up with my parents and head to the hotel for the evening. I suppose we will probably grab something for dinner, I hope the soup is edible. Then up early tuesday morning to be checked in at the hospital by 8:30am. I'm already emotional, I'm can only imagine how I'll be then. But I trust that God has big things planned for my life, I feel his hand guiding me through this whole process. I need only be ready for the journey that will come. If you are reading this and are a believer please say a quick prayer for me, for my parents, for my family. Thank you and God Bless!

July 8th here too in Dallas.

4th day of all liquids and so far so good. I've had hunger on occasion and just drank more liquid to curb the desire to cheat and eat something solid. I'm looking forward to eating normal food again but I've learned that this is a great training time of how it's gonna be after surgery. Not that I'll be drinking liquids forever but for a time it will be a good go to. I have to thank my new friends I've made here on this site for being a huge encourgment to me. Their stories of success and struggle help paint a more accurate picture of post op life. You can read dozens of blogs and forums but until you've made a few vets your friends you'll be missing out on that special indepth knowledge that only experience can afford. I want to put my whole experience out there, warning to guys this is about to become about ladies stuff. Namely menstruation. So I was worried that I'd start my period just a day or two before surgery and have risk of bleeding out while on the table or worse (ok bleeding out is worse but it's all in how you look at it) them post poning the surgery. Luckily it started early but it's strange. I'm guessing because of the drastic eating change it's affecting my entire system but I'm not sure. The good thing it so far it's the lightest, least painful period I've had in a long time. I have one more day at work before I go on this adventure. I'm blessed to have encredible support from family, friends, a church congregation, and online support friends. I'm grateful to be an inspiration and to be inspired by those around me.

Howdy y'all. And so the journey begins. Full liquids. I have my protein shakes and calorie free beverage and am set. I keep thinking I'm gonna mess this up some how, or there's gonna be some reason why they will deny or postpone my surgery.

I bought the tub o' Powdered protein shake mix because I'm cheap! Body Essense purchased at Walmart. Liquids I picked up a bunch of different cream soups and broth soups. I found a yummy sugar free lemonade at KMart, Smart Sense brand.

Torani Sugar Free Coffee Syrups are great for boosting the variety of your powder flavors especially with the Vanilla.

The Healthcare Marketplace has plans that cover WLS. healthcare.gov

so it's 10 days away... the count down has begun. Tuesday starts the liquid diet for real, although I have been testing things out this last week to see if I like any sugar free, fat free stuff. I'm pumped and terrified! So most of you reading this are on this journey with me, so you've been standing in front of the protein aisle at any number of stores staring at protein levels and prices and flavors and the bars etc. I started to twitch in KMart, although it didn't have much in the way of variety. Then I decided perhaps GNC would be better. Some of those tubs you could fit a small child in. Who eats this stuff on such a regular basis that they need a 6 month supply at a time? In the vitamin aisle I nearly had a nervous breakdown. How many kinds of chewable vitamins do we need? Really? I'm happy and proud to say that I'm all stocked up for at least a month or more. I looked at a number of web sites that specialize in bariatric stuff and it just seems like such a racket. The prices seemed so over inflated. I know they need to make a profit but aren't we already going through enough learning how to work our new digestive tracks? Should we also go broke trying to maintain it?

Met with the PCP today to get my pre op labs done. I had no idea they were needing all of my blood!?! Some 12 vials of blood later and I'm still here, so I guess I'll be fine. I guess this is a good time to mention about my surgery, I'd hinted about it in the first post but this seems a more likely place to include it. Several years ago, maybe even more than a decade ago but I've slept since then so I may be way off, my daddy's sister, Sandy, had the Roux n Y surgery. It was new to all of us back then, I think to most people. I didn't live around her so I don't know exactly what she went through after surgery. I know she lost a bunch of weight, yo-yo'd a little after my grandmother died in 2002. It was after my granny's passing that two other of my dad's sisters had the same surgery and just a couple years ago my dad's brother. Then as if that wasn't enough, my uncle's son and his wife had WLS, I don't know if they all had the same one, I'm pretty sure they did. And finally, if you are still with me, my own father bit the WLS bullet June of 2013. He is doing fabulously well. Can I be completely honest? I'm mad at them. I'm mad at them because we were a fat, jolly family that loved to eat and have a good time. And now it's all about getting smaller. I'm excited for my own transformation but I find I have a bit of anger towards them. If they hadn't gone through this I certainly never would have. I know they all did it for health reasons certainly not due to vanity. It's just different at family gatherings now. I'll see them all in October, some 4 months following my own surgery. I want to blow them away!! And I want to shed the anger I've held onto for so long. When I heard about my dad going through with his VSG I had a few tears of grief. My daddy has always been a big fluffy guy. I couldn't fit my arms around him when I gave him a hug and that's just the way things were. I'm gonna see him in a just under 2 weeks for the first time since he had the surgery and although I've seen pictures, it's gonna be difficult to choke back the tears of missing that big guy that I'd always known. Now I'll have to get to know him as this skinny guy, a stranger really. I know I'm sure I'm being more dramatic about it than I need to be, but darn it it's frustrating. Oh so back to me, I am scheduled to have the Duodenal Switch on July 8th in Dallas. I've been thinking about this seriously for a year, and started with docs and prep work in March. It's been a bit of a whirl wind, but that's better for me. Less time to stress about insignificant things. I mentioned before that I have never been thin, I doubt I'm alone in that. I don't know if there is any way to really prepare myself for how I'm going to react emotionally to the change. I already think I'm beautiful. There are so many things I like about my physical self none of which will change with weight loss. My eyes and my hair are my favorite things. I understand I should expect some hair loss after surgery, but I already have Hashimoto's so I'm used to losing a bit of hair. I'm looking forward to shopping in the normal sized clothing section, although to be honest I'm 5'10"... normal is not really achievable. I think I might start wearing dresses. The whole idea is exciting. Well I think that's it for now, I'm exhausted from them draining me of all my blood. Can't wait to hear back from the lab about how many deficiencies I have and the steps to improve that I'll have to go through. Thanks again for reading!

Hey there welcome to my blog. I'm so happy that you have chosen to read a few thoughts that I have about the world. I pray you find this entertaining, enlightening, and encouraging. A little about me. I am 40, just turned the big 40... I don't know how I feel about that quite yet. It seems to have snuck up on me. I am a California native living in West Texas where they could seriously use a mountain or two, if only in the distance. I have always been heavy for as long as I can remember. I've been the chubby child who grew up into the plus sized teen, and then to become the obese woman I am today. I don't know any other life. But I will very soon, in less than 2 weeks to be exact. But I'll get into that more later, that's not what I'm here to discuss with this intro blog. I am a Christian, I know for many of you it has been Christians that have been the most condemning of you for where ever you are in your life. Christians seem to be the harshest critics in most things. I'm not saying all of them, but it's tough to find one that will just accept you where you are. In fact it took people outside a church building to show me what unconditional really meant. And I still fail at it, daily. I fail at it most of all with myself, but certainly others. I've learned to be prejudiced about so many things, and it's a difficult habit to break. I'm gonna confess something right here that I've not told any one;I can't help myself from judging someone I see that is obese, whether they appear larger or smaller than me. I am guilty of having those same judgmental thoughts in regards to how lazy they must be, or how they shouldn't be eating or doing whatever they are eating or doing at that moment. Who am I to judge those people? I don't know them. I haven't a clue where their life has lead them, what health conditions they are plagued with or what mean, awful things they tell themselves that are so much more harsh than what anyone else says to them. Truth is I do know them... I am them. I am everyone of them. I am the person at the donut drive through picking up a dozen for myself or the one in the drive through pick up a double decker bacon cheese burger with a diet coke of course. I am the non exercising, every excuse not to do something or go somewhere just because it might make me sweat. I am the one that avoids sitting in a chair that looks sketchy cause I have broken several in my day. I'm the one that hates flying because the seats are PHYSICALLY painful and the judgmental stares from other passengers can't even compare to the humiliation of having to ask for a seat belt extender or being handed one without asking. I'm not judging them and their behavior, I'm judging myself and those things that remind me of my own short comings. I'm also a judge for those that are considerably thinner. I judge them because I just know the thoughts they have in their head about me. I know they see me as ugly, gross, unworthy of acknowledgment, lazy... scum of the earth. I'm much more harsh on men than women. Although I have had the company and attention of some incredibly handsome guys, but they would never show me off. I was never their arm candy. I wasn't paraded in front of their friends and family. So I judge them all with the darkness in my heart that scares me. I'm not a naturally hateful person. I am no different than anyone else. You may argue that you don't do these things, but we are all carved from the same piece of wood. Your slice may look different, it may have different rings, but in the end, deep down, we all are searching for meaning, purpose and most of all validation that we are important. I feel sorry for younger generations as they grow up in a very visually stimulating, instant gratification, money centric society. They don't know the joy of hanging out on the street with friends just enjoying the day. Bravo to the parents who get their kids to play outside. I digress... Bottom line, I am an evil awful person, who would want to be my friend? I have the most disturbing thoughts about strangers, and even harsher thoughts about people that I call friends. The ironic thing is that the people who know me the best would tell you I am the sweetest, kindest, most generous person they have met... that I am willing to go that extra mile for others, that I'm full of rare wisdom and way too much knowledge. I'm sharing this with you because if you are going to read my blog, then you should know me deep down as I don't want you to waste your time with false ideas about who I am or what I am about. I'm not here to impress anyone, but I hope by sharing my story that I can encourage others that they are not alone, and compared to me they just might be sane!

. The DS has the VSG as part of the surgery but in the end they are VERY different when it comes to maintenance. VSG will eventually be able to eat fairly normally. DS has a malabsorption component that leaves patient with having to take Vitamins and eat lots of Protein and healthy fats for life.

July 8th. Although I'm having DS surgery. Haven't found a similar thread in that forum. I'll be in a Dallas. Lucky enough to have insurance covering the cost.

by law personal medical information should not be shared with employers. It's illegal for them to hold it against you as long as you give them notice that you are going to be doing something, you have no obligation to be specific. HR might need to know but only if you need job modification. And they are legally bound not to divulge that information

Plans have been made to arrive in Dallas on July 7th, surgery is the 8th and back here to Lubbock on the 11th if everything goes well. Glad to see other Texas peeps here. I look forward to this jouney and hope to make a few friends a long the way.

I noticed there are many VSG patients on the DS board giving out suggestions and tips some of which seem counter intuitive, how different is the diet and issues for each? It would seem from the malabsorption part of the DS that they would be very much different. I'm wondering about real world experience, I realize I could just Google this.

Is Beer even allowed for bypass with all that carbonation??

I'm due to have surgery in a few weeks and this is so inspirational, as I'm certain those kind of arguments and rationalizations are going to be taking place. Nice to know I'm not alone.

Shopping in the normal sized clothes section of the store.

If the member services of your plan do not know what Bariatric Surgery is ask to talk to a supervisor, it should be plain in your plan whether or not those services are covered, and it is highly unlikely to be considered regular surgery since it is an elective procedure. BTW I work for BCBS for Pharmacy Benefits, and I've seen it states clearly on most plans, sometimes referred to as Weight Loss surgery/treatment

There are hundreds of BCBS plans out there, even within the same state. Your member services number on the back of your card will get you to the customer service professionals that you need to speak to. They can tell you if bariatric surgery is covered, be prepared that it might not be it's not universal by any means. It's the first thing I looked into when choosing my insurance. There are apparently a number of financing companies that specialize in self pay patients, you may have to consider that option.

I was told my face & neck look like Tales of the Crypt and that I needed to gain 30 pounds back. To hell with them. I'd rather look like it than be dead in a crypt. I got a panni. I'm done with plastics. And done giving a damn about who thinks they have a right to an opinion about my weight or my looks how rude some people can be! I'd try to think of some snappy comeback but they just don't deserve the energy that would take.RJ just keep on standing out in the sunshine... To hell with them! I'm wondering if any one has faced judgement for choosing surgery rather than "diet and excersize", as if no one has ever tried that method before choosing surgery... There seems to be a palpable divide between various weight maintenance methods, even amongst those in a gym setting where some love cycling but others love Zumba... just pondering. In a more related comment, if anyone says anything about sagging skin to me I'll tell them it's my badge of honor cause I took control of my health. On a side note, you could mention to them that you could get plastic surgery but there is no cure for their stupidity!

Hi I'm Kara. My surgery is slated for July 8th. I look forward to the journey. I am here for support and questions. If I don't have the answer, I'm certain to help you find it.

Hi all, I'm slated to have surgery in July if all goes well. I'm looking forward to the journey with excitement and curiousity. I have 3 aunts, an uncle, a cousin and his wife, and finally my own father that have all had various forms of WL surgery. My dad had the sleeve last year and is doing well. I'm having the DS as recommended by my doc. The more research I do the more it seems like the only real choice.