HaddocksEyes

I just realized this morning that for the first time ever, I will be going to my next class reunion (25 years in 2016) as a normal, thin person. And then I realized it's 25 years since I graduated high school - geeze where does the time go!!!

LOL - Funny!!

The psychologist and I just had a pretty normal conversation where we discussed why I wanted the surgery, if I thought I could be successful, what my personal goal weight was and other things along that line. I had taken a computer-generated test prior to our meeting, which we went over. At the end she said, "well, I am giving you full clearance". That was nice of her so I didn't have to wonder what the decision would be. It is a lot easier than people think and I will agree with the others that have posted on this particular subject that they just want to make sure you understand all of it and are prepared for the surgery and afterwards. My next and last visit is to the nutritionist. Once she gives me clearance, I will have passed the last hurdle for surgery, test-wise. However, they did find I am anemic so I will have to delay surgery until I can get to normal levels, which is around 11.5 - 12.0. And that is okay because the goal is to be as healthy as possible going into surgery.

All of you looks so good but I was particularly drawn to your arms. They look fabulous! You've gained some impressive muscle mass in them and great definition...love the biceps and shoulders. And thank you for addressing the issue of caloric intake for weight lifting/crossfit purposes. I have been wondering about that myself as I really want to put on some impressive muscle mass once I have lost weight (well, actually, I plan to start lifting heavy before i get to goal). It's nice to know that it is possible!

I know who you are talking about. Her attitude is so inspiring as well.

You will do it! That is an awesome goal.

LOL - I love to go to the men's side and lift just as heavy as some of the guys (but not all of them,, at least not yet). "Little woman" - yeah, there's nothing little about me.

Just wanted to throw it out there. It has been a dream of mine for some time to become a competitive bodybuilder in the female fitness category. I know it is hard to get in calories and Protein when you are trying to bulk with a sleeve but the way I figure it, I can do quite a lot with supplements on the protein and calories front. We'll see. Good luck to all of those that are currently on a path to strength and wellness!!

I am also really interested in this topic. I'd like to know how many people didn't have GERD or heartburn before surgery and then developed it later after they had surgery.

"Res Ipsa loquitur" - the thing speaks for itself I just wanted to send you positive thoughts on the bar exam! Yay for you! It's a hard test but it is totally doable. Tackling the bar and losing weight are two of my top goals so I can totally appreciate what you are going through and wish you the very best with both challenges.

Thank you for the advice! Makes a whole lot of sense.

I have elevated food to a pleasure-centric status and often wonder why I have done this because the pleasure is just temporary. If doctors could "cure" the mental part of this disease, we wouldn't need surgery.

I am with you on this one! It's hard. I am supposed to be practicing drinking one ounce of Water over 15 minutes, abstaining from caffeine and any kind of carbonated beverage (diet soda is currently a vice of mine), exercising and of course, losing weight. The drinking the water thing isn't too bad, but I could see how it would be hard if you had to do it 24-7. Practicing is far different from having to do it all day every day for days on end when your stomach is still sore and swollen from being cut and stapled. Yeah, I drink a can or two of diet soda a day, have caffeine here and there (drinking a fat free, sugar free iced coffee as I type this) and I have yet to do any more exercise than riding my bike to work (about a mile) and doing work around our property. And I have gained one pound since my very first doctor's appointment about 1 month ago. I had Taco Bell over the weekend and Jack in the Box and I are recent acquaintances, although I am glad to report we are not best friends. I know what I need to do. I know I cannot continue on like this, especially after surgery. it is up to me to do the right thing. I guess I am trying to "get it all in" before I "can't" anymore. That mindset is the one I must rid myself of. I want to be successful and I know success starts now, not after surgery. It's just hard getting there.

I have been on a liquid diet before (one of my attempts to lose weight). It was similar to MediFast but the products came from a different company, since I cannot tolerate MediFast's soy products. If you are on a similar high-Protein diet, the first few days are the hardest. You are tired, cranky and may have headaches. After the first few days, your body goes into ketosis and you begin to burn fat for energy. You feel a lot better at that point. The stupid thing about it was I was actually mad during those first few days. I was mad at me because me was telling me I couldn't have what I wanted to eat. How silly is that? But I will say it forced me, for the first time, to realize my relationship with food was not where it should be. I realized I was eating when bored or for pretty much any intense emotion because the food was no longer there to comfort me. It was interesting, to say the least. But I lost about 25 pounds doing this and it is totally doable. Good luck!

You look great! And I'll bet you feel really great too. I'm at 284 right now, but I will be starting a pre-op diet soon to lose weight prior to surgery. It's nice to know that someone that is a little smaller than me can have such great results.

I am also considering the gastric sleeve. I go back and forth between "Yes! Let's do it" and "Hmmm...is this really the best avenue for me to take?" I don't have any co-morbidities other than being really overweight so the idea of doing something and making myself into a sickly skinny person dependent on medication or pain relievers for the rest of my life has me a bit afraid. I didn't want the lap band because I didn't want something foreign in my body. I didn't want gastric bypass because it is more involved than the sleeve. However, all but one person I know that has had weight loss surgery had the Roux-n-y. The main things these people have complained about is (1) the bad gas they can get eating certain foods (think sulfur and brimstone type gas - ha!) and (2) dumping (only in the very beginning until they discovered what they could and could not eat) and then one of them had stricture issues that were eventually resolved. Otherwise, each one of them (even the one with the strictures) has said the only regret was that they did not do it sooner. The one person I know personally that had the gastric sleeve surgery did fine, no complications whatsoever and she is so happy with her new life (she looks so healthy). She lost all but 20 pounds of her pre-surgery weight. After losing 130 pounds, 20 seems a drop in the bucket to me. My main concern now is the possibility of developing severe heartburn and/or GERD post surgery, which is a complication that they don't really talk about. I also have read the stories of those who developed strictures, abcesses, leaks and other serious complications scare me as well. I shared these concerns with the staff in my doctor's office and so now he wants to see me so that we can talk about these things face-to-face. I am wondering if the technique used to create the pouch has anything to do with the onset of severe heartburn and GERD. What about the method to create the shape and size of the new pouch? Does that matter in preventing any complication? What about the pre-surgery weight and overall health of the patient? How does that affect recovery and healing and in what way? Do some conditions play more of a part than others? What about age of the patient? How big a part does compliance play? If someone messes up and has something one or two times during the first four weeks (like eating mushies when they are supposed to be drinking liquids only), does it severely impact them? If any of you are interested, I'll be glad to report back what we talked about and what he said. As an aside, thank you to those of you that have shared the good with the bad - us newbies really appreciate it. I'm a big fan of informed consent.

I am a pre-sleeve person and I also found your initial comment to be offensive. I didn't read the OP's post as a call for help, simply "hey this is what is happening to me and it sucks!" Also, people on here can give valuable information that a doctor or a nurse can't give, unless the doctor or nurse had the surgery themselves. People on here can give antedotal advice such as I did regarding choices for Protein drinks. How many drinks does the doctor or nurse try themselves? Of course, in matters of medical expertise, they would be the ones to consult. But the OP wasn't asking for a medical diagnosis, just some comraderie with fellow sleevers. For all of you that have had complications, or are suffering through them as I type this - thank you so much for coming here and being honest. To truly make an informed decision, those of us who have not yet had surgery need all the "dirt", both the good and the bad, to make an informed decision.

Nature's Best makes a product called Isopure. You can mix it with Water and i think it is pretty good. I used to mix it with half water and half milk and if I let it sit in the fridge for a bit (since I mixed it with ice) it would get quite watery. I do hope things get better for you! I have not yet had the operation and have been really thinking the whole thing through. I have come to the conclusion that I can suffer from any to all complications, and I guess I have to be okay with that before i can move all the way forward. I used to get a Protein drink from Diet Direct that you mixed with water that came out like orange Kool Aid, but with no sugar and a good amount of protein. There's also Syntrax nectar, which I have not tried but hear it is fabulous. It's not milky or heavy.

UPDATE - My boss asked me yesterday why I was having surgery and I just didn't feel comfortable telling her. She was super cool about my decision to keep it to myself. But, as someone else pointed out, I will eventually have to spill the Beans, so to speak. It's hard to keep something like this a secret because the weight loss coupled with the time out of work is a huge indicator. I think I will be okay with being open with people later on. In fact, if I can help someone else make a change to improve their quality of life, whether with diet and exercise or with surgery, that is always a very positive thing.

Good luck to you!! May it go smoothly and as painlessly as possible.

Even though my boss is very sweet, I do not feel comfortable telling her why I will be out of work and I hinted to her that I want to keep my absence on the "downlow" as much as possible, which she understood. Eventually I will talk about it, but for now, this is how I would like to proceed. BTW, as an aside, it is illegal in California for an employer to demand or even ask for a reason why the employee is out on leave for a medical issue.

Thank you for the response! Makes a whole lot of sense to me.

I've tried this product before (in grape) when I was weight lifting and I actually liked it. I haven't seen anyone mention it yet. It packs a punch at either 25 or 42 grams of Protein in under 4 ounces, and they are highly portable. Does anyone use these? I am thinking of stocking up on these for post-op so I can be sure to get my protein in. Hopefully, I will still like the taste of them. Also thinking of stocking up on Syntrax nectar - heard it was pretty tasty. As far as Protein shakes go, I've tried WonderSlim and New Lifestyle (same manufacturer Robard, different franchise name) and Nature's Best Isopure. I liked them all but Wonderslim/New Lifestyle tends to be a bit sugary and ispure gets watery if you let it sit too long in the fridge. I'm a Protein shake fan. Hope I stay that way!

It sounds like to me you aren't quite ready. You might be close, but you're not there yet. However, I am not in your shoes, so I would hate to try and speak for you. I can remember 17 years ago I saw a commercial on TV about a vague "hospital' weight loss program, so I called the number. When the lady told me it was weight loss surgery, I told her politely that I wasn't interested in something so drastic and ended the conversation. I thought I could do it through dieting and excercise, so I joined a gym that same week and started to work out. It was the same story, year after year - diet and exercise to try and lose the weight. I've been overweight now for over 20 years (struggled with weight for most of my life too). This is the biggest I have been, even after having my second child. So now, I am coming to terms with the fact that if I could do it on my own, I would have already done it. Good luck to you in your journey and I wish you success, no matter what form it comes in.

Thank you for posting this! I have told myself that the "only" thing wrong with me right now is that I am 140 pounds overweight. The scared part of me tells myself "maybe you don't need to take such drastic measures; you're not trying to cure diabetes or high blood pressure". But I am tired a lot and my body feels heavy and sluggish on a regular basis. I don't last that long during physical work before I have to sit down and rest. Not a 10 or 15 minute rest, not even a half hour rest. I have to rest for like an hour or two, then I can get back at it for a couple more hours. Then I have to rest again. We live in the country so I am constantly frustrated by the lack of ability to get things done. But even at work, just sitting on my behind at a desk, I feel really tired when I'm done for the day. I have little motivation to exercise because I feel "blah" most of the time. That is no way to live. It's been so long since I have been at a normal weight, I have completely forgotten what it was like to be that way. Thank you for reminding me!! Every day I come on here I find more reasons to see this through because of all the really special people on here who share their experiences and stories. You look absolutely great by the way. I love how happy and heathy you look. Those pictures just ooze vitality.