Fabiana87

Its hard! But DOABLE! I smoked 5-6 cig a day..and about 2 months ago i cold turkey quit! My surgeon will not operate on anyone that is currently smoking and he does a nicotein test before. Now let me tell you...i feel better it was hard at first but after 2 weeks and coughin up the mucous i can finally breathe and stop coughin up a lung. It is better for u to quit now while u can. Good luck to you.

Its hard! But DOABLE! I smoked 5-6 cig a day..and about 2 months ago i cold turkey quit! My surgeon will not operate on anyone that is currently smoking and he does a nicotein test before. Now let me tell you...i feel better it was hard at first but after 2 weeks and coughin up the mucous i can finally breathe and stop coughin up a lung. It is better for u to quit now while u can. Good luck to you.

Define "arrogant"?
People who tell you that smoking hinders healing? Or people who wonder why you would have this surgery to become healthier, yet continue to do something that is obviously unhealthy?

@@Dub i have quit smokin cold turkey about 2 months ago. Im pretty sure this as well is leading to my anxiety...i feel muchhhh better and i am able to breathe a little better. Thank you for ir kind words i do appreciate it.

Thanks guys @@Dub @@Bufflehead

@@Dub i have quit smokin cold turkey about 2 months ago. Im pretty sure this as well is leading to my anxiety...i feel muchhhh better and i am able to breathe a little better. Thank you for ir kind words i do appreciate it.

5 months post op..96 pounds lighter
[ATTACH]11864[/ATTACH]

The photo at the top left is me at my heaviest (489lbs) and the photo on the bottom right hand corner is me today at my current weight of 260lbs.

I am a few days shy of the two month mark... i am down 76 pounds so far

Hi Stacy,
I am just over half way there and I use my before and after pics to keep me motivated, especially when I am in a stall ... I am real slow loser but I am losing...
Here goes, hopes this helps...
[
this was the day I went in to hospital 2nd July 2010

this was the end of June 10

last week

side view!!

this is this week at 32 weeks post op, my most recent pic
Like I said, I still have a fair bit to go, but when I look back and am pleased with the progress so far... I look forward to sharing goal pics!!

hello i àm interested in the care package my surg is in 2wks!!

I skimmed through the last page, but I have to say something to you, and I really, really need you to hear this and think long and hard about your future with this man you married.
You do not have just an inlaw problem. You mainly have a husband problem, and that has allowed the inlaw problem to develop and the grow out of control. No man who loves his wife would let the rest of his family treat her the way he is allowing them to treat you. He would have slapped them down faster than fast and told them in no uncertain terms to treat you with courtesy and respect or he would cut them out of his life. There is no way this man is treating you the way you should be treated. He is a coward and spineless or just plain lazy and self centered... none of which are admirable traits to have, and mean that you will spend the rest of your married life feeling like you don't matter to this man since he can't stand up for you and give you the love and respect you deserve.
I had husband/inlaw problems in my early days, and I had a spineless husband that allowed that crap to happen. I could stand up for myself until the cows came home but ultimately, without him finally locating his spine and tell off his mother and laying down the law about how things were going to be... well, I'd have left otherwise.
You deserve to have a loving relationship where your husband protects and looks out for you, just like you should do the same for him. Ignoring the issues or saying it's not his problem is a horrible cowardly and lazy and HURTFUL thing to do. It is no wonder you're feeling lost and unsupported... because YOU ARE. How you can say you are in a loving relationship - sure, you say you love him but what does he do show he loves you just as much? It is all made up fantasy land stuff unless and until he stops letting his own family treat his wife like a doormat. A true marriage is not lopsided like yours appears to be - there is mutual respect and love and support. You seem like you give all and get nothing. Why is that?
You deserve so much more than this. Keep talking with your counselor, but it might be time to really examine what you're getting from this relationship if he can't even support you and show you are loved and cared for.

Hi guys...stopped smokin cold turkey about 1 1/2 months ago and got my blood test for nicotein last wk....results were neg!!!! What a releif!!!

Hi guys...stopped smokin cold turkey about 1 1/2 months ago and got my blood test for nicotein last wk....results were neg!!!! What a releif!!!

I feel like I want to scream that to everyone! Like, "Just wait, everything's gonna change in a couple months. I know I look gross. I know I don't fit in that chair. I know I'm not healthy! Just hit the pause button! I'll be there soon!"
Does anyone else want to hit the pause button on life until your surgery comes!?!?!

Yes absolutely! I just had my sleeve done on Tuesday and the weeks before we're awful. I was soo scared that I would be in that low percentage of people with complications. I thought I would be out of it for weeks, scared of the head hunger and even dying on the operating table lol. But once I woke up and started drinking Clear Liquids I was extremely relieved and everything went away. And even though I am only 6 days out I can already tell this was the best decision I have made for myself.

I'm also scheduled for the 22nd. And my nerves are pretty bad I'm just ready to get it over with. I start my liquid diet Thursday's

Howdy folks.
I hope all are doing well today.
I've had a lot of activity leading up to today and now it slows down for a short while.
I had my pre-op with my surgeon yesterday, pre-op with the hospital yesterday and my EGD this morning and it went really smoothly.
Seems like it's been a whirlwind of activity.......checklist items completed.....one after another after another. NUT, Physche evals, appointments, workshops, education and etc.
Now I'm done with all that and can relax. I started my 14 days of liquid diet this morning after the EGD. I can tell it's going to suck.....but, that's just part of it. The NUT guideline says I can have 5 Protein Shakes per day (from the approved list of Protein powders and ready-made shakes), however my surgeon is sticking to his guns.....he says only 3.
I've lost 40 pounds since deciding to do the surgery......it wouldn't surprise me to lose 20 more during this next two weeks.
The whole time I was seeing my first surgeon it was a foregone conclusion that I would have bypass (my choice). I chose this thinking it would offer the most benefit long term and I'd make biggest changes with it. He supported it.
As things progressed...and my insurance really started to present delays and roadblocks.....I switched over to the other local option. It's another bariatric center.....a center of excellence and is much larger than that previous program I was in.
More insurance delays after switching over the center of excellence finally made me made enough to tell them to piss off. I self funded the procedure and things began moving at a very fast pace. I'd completed 2 of my required 6 months diet when I made this decision. I'm able to have the surgery in the 4th month vs waiting what was actually going to most likely take several months more.
My employer is dropping our current insurance provider and doing open enrollment now for our new provider.....things were being delayed to the point where I could see my late December surgery being pushed back well into next year.....new deductibles to meet with a new provider to work with........arggghhhhhh. At best they were going to pay only 50%. The decision to self fund actually was cheaper for me in the long run. Crazy, insane scenario but a testament to the games played by insurance companies.
Anyway.....the new surgeon has been good. He's been upfront and consistent in his message from the first time I met with him.
He's sees my very pronounced umbilical hernia and knows that is going to be a large repair to work around. Today he also found the hiatal hernia that he's repairing at the same time.
He's concerned over my high bmi and doing the bypass at this point. He said it could be very tight having to pull it far up to reconnect it. He reserves the right to make a decision once inside to go with the sleeve after looking around and evaluating. He's done many of these and I trust his judgement. If it's not safe, then its just not safe.
The options were for me to delay the surgery and keep dieting for a couple more months and burn off some of the internal fat to provide more room........or do the sleeve now.
He maintains that he's seen equal effectiveness with each procedure in terms of weight loss in his 8 years of practice.
He also is aware of my poor knees and back injury situation and prior surgeries as well as the fact that nsaids are a source of relief for me.
I don't have reflux trouble.
There were other reasons he went into as well that everything in his opinion was pointing me towards having a sleeve not bypass.
So......after a long night staying up reading, studying, evaluating......I told him this morning that a sleeve was what I wanted to do.
Ordered my Vitamins, Iron, B12, D, Protein powder and Calcium. I know what I'll be taking to the hospital. Have my script for post-op pain meds. Recliner and extra pillows for the bed are ready....
A couple more weeks.....

Got out of surgery about 4 hours ago. I made it! !!

Just got home. Everything seemed to take just a little longer than expected. Arrived at hospital at 11:30 for 2:15 surgery, but I didn't have surgery until after 5 so there were several hours of nerve-wracking waiting. Today I was supposed to be discharged between 1-2 but they didn't get all their ducks in a row until after 6....more sitting around waiting. I have a little soreness but nothing too terrible. Now, I am enjoying my Premier Protein shake, first non-clear liquid food I've had in 5 days....its so good! LOL.

Need a sleeve buddy for support! Anyone in Dc/MD/VA

Through all our bad days and good days we have to keep remembering our reason for this transformation. For a new life, another chance to get it right. A healthier you. A chance to have children.
With these thoughts they will get us through our darkest and hardest moments. Together we can encourage and relate to each other.
I can't wait until the day when we look back to say wow. All of this right now was worth every minute of it. Every hard hour, every hospital trip and doctors visit. It was all with it. We are new again.

I'm a bit of a over packer but I took soft comfy PJs, a robe, slippers, Chapstick, gas x strips, biotene mouth spray and lozenge, my iPad, extension cord for all my electronics so I wouldn't have to get up the first day, soft pillow, fem wipes, my own body wash and Shampoo & a glade plug in for my room because I don't like the smell of hospitals so I got a apple cinnamon one. Only problem with that is all the nurses and staff wanted to hang out in my room, they would literally come sit on my bed and tell me how much they loved my delicious smelling room lol! @@monaleesa

Hello everyone,
I don't post on spotlight, so I don't know most of you. But someone told me about this new board and I love the idea.
Anyway - my name is Erika and I live in Houston. I was banded by Dr. Spivak on 9/30/02 and I've lost about 96 lbs. I say about because I saw 198.5 a few weeks ago but rebounded to 204 and have been plateau'd ever since. But I still count 198.5 as my weight!
I have about 50 lbs more to lose and hope to get there in the next 6 months or so. But am trying to be calm about it.
I'm really looking forward to getting to know you all.

Woohooo!!!! Congratulations, and best of luck!!!