Nancy E.

Little update on me everyone's looking great xx
I'm nearly 10 months post op, 93 lb (42 kg) lost so far, still have 28 lb (15 kg) to lose but I'm getting there with sweat and hard work
My stats : Height - 5'9" (1.76 m), SW - 287 lb (130 kg) , CW - 194 lb (88kg)
TW - 165 lb (75 kg)
Can't believe I'm posting a picture of me in that state. The before picture was 3 days after my surgery, when I got home

When I went to my psch evaluation the doctor there told me your body knows when it needs to stop loosing weight. That your not going to end up being way underweight is what he told me. He had it done 5 years ago

With the utmost respect for those who have a different opinion, I'm not big on goal weights or time lines for weight loss. Both are too often frustrating at best and at worst, self-defeating.
I never set a goal weight and interestingly enough, neither my surgeon nor any member of her team ever suggested one. I went into the journey believing that my body would tell me when it was where it wanted to be - and that's exactly what happened. About fourteen months post-op my weight loss slowed to a crawl and I knew I had arrived at my destination.
Time lines for weight loss offer a similar dilemma. Even your surgical team can only make an educated guess. There are simply too many variables. So why try to guesstimate it? Why complicate it? For me, it was much better to go into the journey with the idea that it would take as long as it takes. I committed to following my plan, as closely to the letter as I possibly could, until my body told me that I had reached its goal.
I was three years post-op two days ago and my weight has been within a five pound window for almost two years. I had my three year follow-up with my surgeon yesterday. Lab results showed that the entire Vitamin profile, A1c, bp, liver, kidneys, cholesterol - all spot on. In her words, "You are one healthy dude." Lol - and then she totally unexpectedly gave me a hug!
Allow your body to find its own way in its own time. Trust the process. It is so much less stressful and so much more fun. Your body will tell you when it's where it wants to be and at that point - you're gonna love the new you!!

I have had one almost yearly for Barrett's Esophagus and they have always used propofol and once they put the "block" in your mouth you don't remember a thing, just waking up. No pain at all. You will do fine!

Nancy,
Stay stong. I know it is rough, but as you know it will be worth it. I would highly recommend keeping a list of all the reasons you are doing this and all the amazing things you will be try to do post surgery on you at all times. That way when things get super rough you can take some time and read them to remind yourself it will be worth it. Another thing is to keep yourself busy, even if it is as simple as going to the mall or a bookstore. Just try to do things otu and about and avoid food places. The other thing I did was immerse myself in television, particularly shows of people doing all of the things I wanted to do. I recall during my week before surgery I watched every Ironman World Championship race in the last 12 years and most of them I watched more than once. It is just flooding your mind with the constant reminders of why your putting yourself through this and how amazing it will be in just a few short weeks.
If I don't speak with you again good luck on your surgery and welcome to the rest of your amazing life. I can't wait to see how you are in a year. If you need any help, encouragement, or advice at any time please email me or contact me through the links below. If you need it, I will email you my phone number if you need to text or chat with someone. I want to see you succeed because I know how amazing life after surgery is.

Wow! I can lose pounds, but you, my dear, have lost years!
We'll done!

I'm a little under 15 lbs from my ultimate goal, but after buying new clothes for spring I decided I had to show them off!
HW: 260
CW: 164
GW: 150

^ Before
^ After - last weekend
I'm rockin' the sleeve! Best decision I ever made for myself!

Another great post, Johnathan Blue! I see my surgeon next week and then will begin my Hell Week except mine is two weeks. How does anyone survive 2 weeks of liquid Hell??? Not looking forward to that, but I am determined to make it through, knowing that I am trading 2 weeks of hell for a lifetime of health. My surgery is November 12. Can't wait for that day to be over! Thanks for sharing, Johnathan Blue!

Wonderfully wrote! Totally saving this so when I'm in my "hell week" I can re read this to get me through!

This is the second post in my series on how I prepared for weight loss surgery. The first post covered how I prepared my body for the surgery and offered a few tips to those who may not be able to follow the same course of action that I took. This post will deal specifically with how I mentally prepared for surgery and all the changes I was going to need to make to be sure I was successful.
A lot of other bariatric surgery patients I have spoken with have all said they had an "Aha" moment. No such moment came for me. There was no parting of the clouds. There was no light from heaven. There definitely was no life altering "Aha" moment. My change was gradual. My determination grew gradually, but to tell you where it started, I could not say for sure.
In looking back, the process to begin mentally preparing for surgery started long before I had even contemplated the surgery. The process began, in fact many years before when I was younger and getting made fun of for being a big boy. I can still remember very vividly some children calling me fat on the playground at school. I can remember tearfully running and hiding under a car and not going in when the teacher called everyone in from recess. I can also remember the teacher finding me a getting in trouble. I wasn't even that overweight at that age, I was just taller than all the kids in my class. I can remember countless incidents through the years of being made fun of. I addition to this I can remember the feeling of sitting in a chair at a party and having the chair break because it couldn't hold me. I remember the feeling of shame and embarrassment as everyone laughed at me while I died just a little bit inside; trying to put on a brave face and laugh it off myself. I can also very clearly remember and incident where my mentally ill father told me he wished I wasn't his son and that I had never been born. He then went on to call me fat and useless.
You see, my catalyst to change came about when I finally stopped listening to those people and I started hating putting on the brave face. It came when I stopped listening to the people around me, the voices in my head, the haters, the non-believers, the dream killers, the bullies, and I told them all to shut up! My journey began when I got fed up with the status quo and refused to accept a normal life; when I realized my life could be amazing and it wasn't.
This frustration and anger led me to look for an option that would work and I began exploring the surgical option. It was an option that many people, doctors, friends, family, and even coworkers had recommended that I should look into. Up until then I just hadn't reached that point of frustration mentioned above. The next step in mentally preparing for this journey was knowledge.
The next area of mental preparation since we have spent time remember all the bad things your weight has caused will be to think of all the good that will come from the weight not being there. I started to dream and I dreamed big! I created a list from the simple to the insane of all the things I wanted to do that my weight had held me back from. I wanted to do something as simple as walk down a flight of stairs like a normal person instead of tentatively one at a time. I was always worried I would get hurt or a stair would break. When I accomplished this goal for the first time I sat at the bottom of the stairs and cried for like 10 minutes I was so happy.
I dreamed about the day I could try scuba diving. I thought about how amazing it would be to run, or ride a bike, or climb a mountain. Side note: I haven't climbed any mountains yet, but I will. I dreamed about running my first 5k and finishing my first triathlon. I thought about how it must feel to work so hard and to finally cross that finish line.
I thought about all of these things up to what it would be like to compete and finish an Ironman race. What it must feel like to be running across the finish line as an announcer yelled, "Jonathan Blue, you are and Ironman!" I get chills even as I type this. I spent hours watching past years Ironman races on YouTube at home or on my lunch breaks at work.
I wanted all of these things so bad I could taste them. I began to obsess about them. At this stage in the game that is a great thing because then you don't obsess so much about food. As things got tough and I felt like giving up or giving in I would go back to the list of things I wanted. I would sit back a watch an Ironman race and I would do everything possible to rekindle the spark. Dreaming about the amazing things I would soon be doing really helped when things got rough and kept me motivating as I prepared for my impeding surgery.
When it comes to the surgical options and everything surrounding the process of pre and post op care, knowledge is power. If that was true I wanted to be as powerful as possible. I studied and researched for weeks and weeks. I learned everything I could about the pre-op plan and the how's and why's of everything. I took the time to study all three surgeries to learn which would be the best for me and why so when I spoke with the doctor I already had a plan in place. I went so far as to go on YouTube and watch all three surgeries. I memorized the post op care plan and began testing recipes that I would need to know. I spent time scouring over forums and blogs soaking up every piece of information I could. There wasn't much I didn't know prior to them wheeling me into the operating room. I was fortunate in that I worked for the hospital I was having the procedure done, so I knew the nurses and staff I was interacting with.
All of this information allowed me to accept the aspects of this process that scared me or seemed daunting and those were the areas I spent more time learning about. The more I knew the more comfortable I became. There wasn't much of anything that surprised me with the whole process. There were even points I was asking nurses if a certain procedure was supposed to be next or a specific test and they wouldn't know, but upon check found out that it was next to be scheduled. I knew it all! This allowed a level of comfort, peace, and understanding unlike anything I have ever experienced.
The last major area where I needed to mentally prepare for the surgery was in learning to let go of food. This was probably one of the hardest things I had to do pre surgery. Goodbyes are never easy. Saying goodbye to an addiction is even harder. The silver lining is that once I had surgery, most of my cravings and desires for foods went away for a very long time. That made things a lot easier.
So how did I say goodbye to food you might ask? How else... Eating. You might be thinking I am crazy right now, but what I did was create a food bucket list. This was all of the foods I thought I would miss the most or hadn't tried and really wanted too. The list included some of my favorite fast food restaurants, a nice steakhouse, and many many sweet treats. My surgery was the beginning of November and I knew I would be sitting Thanksgiving out. It's one of my favorite holidays so I was pretty bummed. On my bucket list was Thanksgiving. My entire family was absolutely amazing by getting together a month early and celebrating with me: Turkey, mashed potatoes, and all!
Each and every time I had that meal I treated it like it was my last. I took my time. I ordered whatever I wanted. I savored every bites, trying to imprint every taste and texture in my mind. I even cried a little at times. I let myself experience the full range of emotions. I was grieving and you need to let yourself grieve.
Now here is where I need to make a small note. I was not eating a bucket list meal for every meal. I had one of these meals two to three times a week after I got past my initial qualification stage. I allowed myself these meals with the promise that all other meals would be on point and that I would stay as active as I possibly could be, especially on bucket days. This made me feel better about having these meals and also helped me to maintain the weight loss I had worked so hard for up until that point.
Everything I did above did wonders in prepare me for the actually surgery but it also helped me to survive "Hell Week". This is the one week prior to surgery when you are on a liquid diet to let your stomach empty out and make it easier to work with. There is no cheating on this week or you could seriously hurt yourself. I don't want to sugar coat this for you. You need to understand going in that it will be the most trying week of your life. You will be angry, you will snap at people, and you will generally be a very unpleasant person to be around. The entire week you need to just keep your mind busy and keep telling yourself that its only a week. I kept a countdown on my phone to show me how long I had to hold on. At the end of this hell is surgery. One last big push to the promised land!
So when it comes to preparing your mind for surgery keep in mind that you need to constantly keep a reminder in your head about why you are doing this. You need to be dreaming about all the things you are going to be able to do because of the surgery. Keep in mind the knowledge is power so get as powerful as you can. Finally, you need to let go of food and prepare for hell. This will culminate in a surgery that will absolutely change your life. It will start you on an amazing journey of discovery and adventure as you explore your new body and find out exactly what it is capable of.
If you have any questions about my process please post them in the comments below and I will try to answer each one as I get them.

Nancy,
If you do not already know how to swim, now would not necessarily be the best time to start. I think it would be an amazing goal to learn how after surgery as soon as you feel as though you are able you and your doctor says you can begin working out again. i lost my first 150 lbs. just by different ways of swimming for about the first 6 months after surgery. It is still a workout I do at least two to three times a week. I would encourage you to make learning a point.
As far as between now and surgery. I would strongly suggest Water walking. If you have access to a pool, all you want to do it get into Water that is between your belly button and chest and just walk. You want to take wide, determined strides with an emphasis on walking heel to toe. The water will reduce the preassure on your knees and ankles and make it easier to do. I would do this for as long as you can each day and just try to add on to it prior to surgery.
An interesting fact. If you ever want to know what your body could possibly feel like at a lighter weight, try moving around in the water. As an example, if the water is up to your belly button, then it is the same as if you were half of your body weight. If the water was at mid chest it would be like you were walking at 20% of your body weight. So when your in the pool, play around, dream, and most of all have fun!
If there is anything else I can do to help be sure and let me know. My contact info is below.

@@Nancy E.
Here is a link to the Protein that I use. http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/p/dymatize-nutrition-iso-100-gourmet-vanilla-1-6-lb-powder/d4-1055#.VEPR-JUtDIU
I have the vanilla and the chocolate/peanut butter that are pretty good. I add a few splashes of the sugar free Toriani syrups to and a bit more flavoring.

@@jrotondella Congrats on all of your success! Your pictures are fabulous.
I am about 3 months post op now and have lost abut 75 lbs. so far. My only problems is food getting stuck. I guess from eating too fast or taking too big of bites. Even though I thought I was eating slow and taking small bites I have the problem pretty often. (about once a week) Any suggestions? Do you eat a lot of meat or mainly get the Protein from shakes.
@@Beni I also prefer the Premier Protein Shakes from costco. They taste great and have a lot of Protein. I've recently switched to a whey isolate protein that has no carbs/sugars with 27 grams of protein in a little scoop and only 130 calories. The taste is really good too.

I have surpassed my doctors goal and now am only 22 pounds from a normal bmi. That is my goal. My biggest worry is to stop there. The weight has been just melting off and I worry I will keep losing past my normal bmi number. I haven't excercized at all. I figured I would when I stopped losing which never happened lol I'm still losing 10 pounds a month.

I've not had surgery yet but my bet is that the success of this group is due to the fact that the ppl on here are getting extra support!! Which we all need. They are asking questions, starting connected, using resources, getting inspiration, going to follow up etc etc

If you get Muscle Milk Light it has under 5 grams of sugar and it's not bad at all!

The pro series is less sugar and more Protein its a new line of muscle milk

Hello i have a question. If i continued to just drink my Protein i really dnt have to eat?
I am finding myself not hungry and nothing satisfies me when i do eat.
I am 8weeks out. I lost 44lbs so far. My dr feels i lost too much too fast and placed me on a regular diet, lol, not working. I dont like food, as funny as that may sound.

@@Nancy E. Anytime

Congrats on your new journey.
I also did well during my recovery and is now 8 weeks post op. I am doing the opposite with the Water and food. Loving the water, on a regular diet but my stomach doesn't like too much of what i have tried to eat. Soups, lots of water, and yogurt is my favorite. I am also having trouble with my shakes. I get gas, bloating, and sometimes vomiting.
I have lost 44lbs so far. And just order "New Whey"protein shake (clear), to see if i can tolerate that better.
Well, welcome to the forum. Good luck????

Hello, I'm Ldyshecat. I just had my surgery on Oct 10th. Thankfully my body has been with me 100% throughout this journey. In order to have my insurance cover the surgery I needed a pysch eval, 3 mo doctor monitored diet and a cert from my regular physician saying I was OK for surgery. When I started my diet I weighed in at 295lbs...after the three months were up I weighed 254lbs. I still chose to do the surgery though, even though I'd proven to myself that I could lose the weight on my own, because I wanted to make sure it stayed off and I think the surgery will help me take my weight to my goal (125) as well as maintain it.
So...for my facility (Rocky Mountain Assoc. physicians) they required about three classes prior to surgery and a 1k diet started 10days out from the date of surgery. That was difficult...but I had a few Snacks and things set aside I already knew were low cal as well as that I liked them. The day of surgery was scary as hell since I had never had a surgery before in my adult life, but my husband stayed with me as much as he was allowed. When I woke up the first thing I did, when I was allowed, was to get up and walk...and I normally did this once every few hours...when I was awake. I also tried really hard to drink the 1oz of Water given to me every hour. As a tip for anyone that hasn't done it yet... If you feel a lot of pressure anywhere after surgery (from the air they pump into your abdomen) holding a cold pack of ice against it works great to break it up...same with walking. I had little to know pain during my recovery at the hospital...but I also used the pain pump as often as I remembered and was awake. I didn't want the pain to get a foothold.
I was released the day after my surgery and told I had been a star patient and done everything I was supposed (the others that had the surgery the same day had to wait at least another day and were told they would probably go home on oxygen). The liquid diet...was agonizing. My stomach tolerated it fine, but I got bored and didn't have an appetite for the broth or the Jello...it also made me very jealous of everyone else getting to eat normal food. I'm now on the semi-liquid diet (cottage cheese, yogurt, strained soups) and again my stomach has been fantastic in working with me and accepting new foods. I have found that the more gourmet type foods I get the less likely I am to feel deprived. So I got some yummy butternut squash bisque, Progressive Tomato Basil Soup and some Protein rich Greek yogurt that I love (Dannon, if anyone's interested). At this point the hardest thing I'm finding is that my stomach is not very happy with water...I get bloated and gassy feeling after only a few sips no matter the temperature. In the program I'm with they allow herbal tea as a Water substitute and I'm getting by on some yummy Blackberry vanilla tea until I can figure out water that works for me.
Well, that is where I'm at right now....if anyone having surgery soon has questions about anything I did or didn't do, please ask....and the same goes for anyone else....this is all very fresh in my mind right now for this stage of recovery. ☺
I was released the day after my surgery

Thank you LilMs Diva Irene! I think the staying in my room is probably going to be my best option! I'm not a happy camper if I'm hungry and I don't want that to overflow onto anyone else!
I know I will just have to "bite the bullet" and get through it like everyone else but I can't wait to be on the "other side"!
Thanks again!

Thank you everyone for putting into words what I couldn't have said better.

I am glad (and not glad at the same time) to hear I’m not the only person dealing with this issue. I too was publically embarrassed by a nurse at my mandatory information session for being a “lightweight.” She didn’t tell anyone they were too big, too old or too sick to leave so they wouldn’t “waste their time,” just me.
Why are naturally thin people allowed to be happy and healthy, super obese people allowed to choose bariatric surgery and be happy and healthy, but the rest of us in the middle, with ONLY 80 - 100 pounds (or less) to lose are just supposed to suck it up? The more research I do and low-BMI success stories I read, the more confident and excited I am about my decision. My PCP, orthopedic surgeon and husband all support me and that’s enough. This is the first time I’ve felt hopeful in a long time. Be strong everyone… we deserve to be happy and healthy too!!!

I think that's so true Ginger Snaps. I think someone else also said that Americans and I think western society in general no longer recognizes what a normal weight looks like. It can make being overweight "comfortable" because you fit in with all that's around you. But you know that your health is suffering and that you're not participating in activities that you used to enjoy and it generally affects your life style. It's just not sustainable.
She said "Oh, there was no way you needed that surgery!" How funny complimenting how I look great and then telling me I didn't do it the right way.
Yes that is funny. Maybe sometimes people are trying to be nice in their own way not realizing that what they say may be hurtful or strange at the same time.