Dub

Good deal. Sounds like you are smoothly on track.

No surprises during yesterday's appointment. Everything was logical and straightforward. Got some samples of Protein shakes and a ton of great information and ways of approaching the next six months and beyond. Two of my fears were allieviated: giving up cafinated coffee and my Diet Mtn, Dews. The coffee will just be for a limited period bracketed around the surgery date. Carbonated diet drinks will be dictated by what I can tolerate post-op. So...not having to give then up entirely.....just avoid for a while. Sounds like I'll naturally lose interest in the carbonated stuff on my own. She's started me on an 1,800 calorie per day "budget" with 3 meals and 3 Snacks. I've got some well layer out meal plans that are super convenient with Healty Choice meals, yogurt, 100 calorie snack packs as well as lots of good stuff to cook. Work days and days off will be easy to cover. Today was day one...no problem staying under 1,800 calories. The snacks kept me from getting overly hungry why mealtimes. Chewing things up really, really well.....much different than my normal way of rushing through meals.....was a good way of slowing down and enjoying everything. Using myfitnesspal to track. I'm pleased that nothing is really off limits like it was with my stint on the Atkins diet. I don't feel like I'm caged in. This is going to be easier than I thought, in terms of planning, cooking & convenience. Optimistic and glad to getting the pounds off by whatever means are available.

Hoping all went well and you are now recovering with a nice nap.

Is the mask aggravating? Yes, at first. The benefits of the CPAP are so great that I'd go to whatever lengths needed to use it. I've forgotten mine on road trips before......realized it when I was two hours from home.....turned around and went back to get it. Not a complaint from my wife, either. She knows how vital a role it plays.

Maintaining the weight loss for life is the goal. Looking forward to seeing the changes.

Please forgive my comparisons to war or combat. I mean in no way, shape, or form to dishonor the real warfare that our brave military members combat for real. Their real world actions provide the freedoms that I have enjoyed my whole life. It is the overanjoyment of these freedoms where I have failed. I live in a military town and am surrounded by returning vets. I see them in my PT sessions....and I see them in public and I work with them in the civilian world. I respect and honor them deeply. I have learned much from them. Please know this. My use of the terms war and fighting on simply how I feel on a personal level. At war and fighting with my internal, self generated enemies that I've let me not exert the control of the calorie war throughout my life. Most of us have had a few runs at losing on our own and had some serious success. I've done so....huge amount off.....then let it creep back on. ARGHHHGHHGHH !!!! The battles and skirmishes I've been through with my weight have not been tossed aside as failures, though. When I've gone back recently and relived those times....really thought about them......I've gained some insight into where things went well.....and why the weight loss stalled and returned. This new weapon, the bypass, though.....will help sustain the loss.....stay on the horse...and keep riding hard towards whatever BMI my body seems to level out at. I don't know of point, since birth, where I've been in line with my exact numbers on the "standard height & weight chart". Not one day. Big baby at birth, big kid.....hyooooge adult. :fofl: The really cool thing is that with this surgery and sticking with the new way of living.........I can see a point where I may be much closer to the "old standard chert numbers". Here's what I really take comfort from. This is knowledge and insight I gained from once losing over 100lbs on my own just a few years back. Even though it was short lived in terms of staying at that low weight...here it it is: My ability to loose the weight at my current state is limited due to physical limitations that limit exercise....thus I'm only able to exert control over one side of the "calorie equation" = on the calories consumed side. I struggle when this is the only side of the equation I can work on. It's almost like being in the boxing ring with one hand tied behind my back. As I loose weight, I am confident that my physical limitations will improve. Currently it's a back injury that has required 6 cycles of steriods, muscle relaxers and pain meds.....for the last 3 months. On the last day of the current steroid prescription today. Scared, too, as the next day or two are when the symptoms have often returned. The Fluid gain and weight gain from the use of these steroids has been unwanted.....but the relief necessary to be able to attend my job duties. I know that significant weight loss will ease the strains on my back and lead to healing. I know that the knees that are in need of knee replacements will be eased up, too. As I loose weight, I will become more and more mobile. Increased mobility will allow steady use of treadmill....controlled safe soft walking surface. I'll be able to walk so much further on my job every day, too. This activity will give me both hands to fight with while in the proverbial boxing ring. I'll be better able to work both sides of the calorie equation.....consumption AND burning them. This, my friends, will lead to much faster weight loss that will FEEL great. This is the state I want to be in over the time remaining before my surgery. This time is unclear as my first NUT appointment is over a week away. This is the what starts my 6 month timeline to surgery as I understand it. I've got a lot of headroom in my BMI to burn off on my own prior to 6 months. i am really looking forward to the first NUT appointment and getting a better gameplan from them. I'm hoping for a more specific gameplan to follow. Less freelance work on my own...but a factual & actual battle plan to follow. Good news is that I'm taking tomorrow and Thursday as vacation days. Tomorrow is my first appointment with my bypass / umbilical hernia surgeon. Thursday is the next appointment with my spine surgeon. There are a number of things I'll be hoping to gain from them but of primary concern is finding a way to get leverage over my mobility and off the meds that I'm needing for the back. *Is there an epidural injection process that I can get for my back to ease things off so I can get off the meds and mobile as I burn off weight during the next 6 months leading up to surgery? *Is there some type of hernia girdle or wrap that I can wear on workdays to keep this hernia from protruding from my umbilical area? This will help keep my core supported which will have to benefit my back, too. Ideas, insight and questions you think I should be asking my doctors: * * Gotta run and get ready for a 14 hr shift.......but will be checking back in later tonight. Poking around this forum and seeing the progress of the members here is something that I take great comfort and confidence from. I can't wait to get the very best results I can over the next 6 months......get this hernia repaired in the same procedure as the bypass.......and then recover.......but while recovering from the hernia (been through this twice before).....I'll be losing weight bigtime.....not simply laid up for a few weeks trying to just heal a hernia repair. As I recover from the hernia.....and the weight loss continues.......return to the job.......gain more and more mobility.......I'll be walking so much more than I can even conceive of. The future calories that I'll burn over a daily basis will be unreal. The bypass will be a huge tool on the consumption side of the equation. I can look at the old height & weight chart and now say....,"Hmmmmmnnnn"......who knows. At 46, I can easily see weighing what I did when I was 21. I've seen my beautiful younger sister go through all this 15 years ago with her bypass. She's been at her "standard chart numbers" for the past 12-13 years and is fit and trim as anyone I've ever known. She's amazing and has and will be a tremendous source of encouragement. Have a great day, folks. Let's do this thing !!!!!!!!

Thanks, everyone!!!!!! Rest assist that I'll be one persistent patient along the way. I am really looking forward to the process and the changes and benefits. I'm making great headway on the diet sodas. Averaging one a day now.......which is down from 6+ per day. I'll make my July 1 goal of zero per day !!!!!!!!!!! Stopping at grocery store tonight after work to buy some Stevia for tomorrow's coffee and going to get started soon on 1/2 decaf blends........ The Stevia is a step to get away from the artificial sweeteners I use for coffee and tea. Not a bariatric thing so much as something I'd just like to rid myself of. We'll see. Stuff is expensive but my overall food cost is way down now so there is "room". ???? Amazing how much difference there is in my wallet after quitting the fast food drive throughs before and after work. More amazing is how much better I feel from eating salads, oatmeal, grilled chicken, turkey some ham, tuna, Oikos Triple Zero, occasional whole grain toast, salmon and a weekly steak. I'm not starving, either......getting plenty of calories.....too many most likely. The first step was just to move over to the new foods......next step will be to dial it down to below my maintenance level and enjoy what happens when staying in the deficit. Third step is to get into exercise as this suspect back allows.

Been a C-PAP user for a dozen years or more. On my 3rd machine now. I'm not sure if I'll be able to ever get clear of needing it. I can remember as a teenager (at ideal weight) being a horrible scorer and suffering from sleep apnea then, but not knowing any better. The benefits of the C-PAP may be here to stay for the next 46 years of my life. ????

Thanks everyone. I'll tell ya folks........right now I'm feeling mighty confident with the selection of Protein powders in my Neighborhood Market grocery store. They have some great tasting varieties. Another product that is simply killer is Oikos Triple Zero in all it's outstanding flavors, too. Superb product for sure.

Great news for you both. Looking forward to reading your posts on to the progress you are both going to be making !!!!

I've had two umbilical hernia surgeries....both open wounds......both were a month of time off work. The first was done at my current weight......and I needed longer to recover. The second one followed a huge diet and exercise push that found me 120 lbs lighter. I still took 4 weeks off......but the recovery was much, much easier. I've regained that weight......and have another umbilical hernia that's going to be repaired when I have my bypass. Hoping that 3rd time is a charm. I'm planning on taking 6 weeks for the bypass-hernia surgery recovery this next time. My job is a manufacturing supervisor. Some desk.....more walking around. Long shifts 13-14 hours. Were I going back to an 8 hour desk job it may have been quicker, however sitting at a desk is not easy with umbilical hernia repair for long periods. Hint: a well placed pillow slightly pressed over the area really helped me those first few weeks of home recovery. I wish you the best and hope that you can take the time you need to properly heal. Part of me feels that I rushed it and caused myself the "next" umbilical hernia.....and the next.

My insurance requires 6 months of supervised diet and covers at 50%. Going to use this time to lose as much as I can on my own and still qualify for surgery.....and get adjusted to new way of eating as much as I can.

Thanks everyone! Patience is something I can use, too. Sidelined lately due to some injuries made me feel like a kid being grounded as punishment. Was beneficial though as if forced me to sit and think. Think for days on end. Took a pause from everything and just healed up and considered the possibility of actions I could take to get my life back from the current and future monster of obesity related injuries. I'm coming out of that with focus and resolve to do this bypass and gain my life back. Patience will be tested because once I make decisions......I want immediate results. Who doesn't, right? December? Great. January? Great, too.....more time to plan and adapt, although it'll just suck paying up all the deductible cost upfront. Heck, it's going to be spent next year, anyway.....just going to get it paid earlier than later.

Gotcha. I sure was hoping for sooner. Mid December ties in perfectly with my work schedule.

I ask this because it seems like a very tight window. I'm having to satisfy a 6 month supervision period under the NUT with monthly meetings that begin on July 7th. Program nurse said that this begins the 6 months. She seemed confident but I'm clueless as to how this stuff generally tracks. I'm hoping to have all the other requirements done earlier in the 6 months so I'm simply waiting on that 6th appointment to roll around in early December.

Tried it under year when I was doing Adkins. Worked okay but led to bad juju for me as it opened the door to breads in general. I'd always done best to stay away altogether. Same thing said about the Adkins Snacks for me. Their snack bars were the undoing of my discipline. That was during a hardcore 8 month Adkins push. Now, though, it may be a product I revisit.

Amazing results. I can't wait to see the benefits post op myself. Hoping to be there by year's end.

Amazing and inspiring pics !!!!!

Great news !!!!

Good luck to you both !!!!!!!!!

Tea sounds doable. Thanks for the tip.

I can't believe how timely this thread is. I'm just two minutes done with a conversation about my HUGE umbilical hernia and trying to figure out how to live with it for the next six months. I don't see my surgeon for the first time until early next month. I have already had two operations on the same. Holding a pillow against the post op site really helped me for the first weeks when I'd be moving around or sitting up. I'm wondering now if a compression wrap of some type around my abdomen would help me get through until surgery. I believe that tonight I am going to be emailing the bariatric program nurse and ask to see if my surgeon will call in a prescription for such a wrap. I just hope to hang on until the end of the year and have it repaired during the bypass. The first time I had it done was above my current weight and the recovery was painful as heck. Outpatient and rushed. Open surgery. The second time was done after a year long exercise & Adkins push where I was 120 lbs lighter and much stronger from weight lifting and long daily cardio sessions. Outpatient and open wound. Two hernias repaired but the recovery was much easier due to greater health. Never made it back to lifting. Stayed away from gym and let cardio sessions fall off. Dropped Adkins. Three years later I'm now carrying 100 lbs of what I'd lost. Huge hernia is back. Dealing with spine issues.....taking yet another round of steroids right now for retuned back spasms........but......MOTIVATED LIKE A BEAST and supper happy now that I'm on the path to bypass. It'll be the tool I need to help me continue losing weight even when I struggle with developing physical injury from time to time that halt gym-cardiovascular efforts. Weight loss will keep going and I'm sure help my spine issues......prolong knee replacements.....hip replacements.....and hernia reoccurrence. I'm thinking that yoga will be a good thing down the road for me.....hopefully this time next year I'll be looking into the classes offered through my gym. I'm seriously hoping they build a pool by then, too. Going to email the nurse tonight and ask for that compression wrap prescription. Surgeon may not since he's not seen me for the first visit. I'll poke around online tonight and see if I see anything that may work anyway. There has to be a product out there....... Good luck with yours. I know how aggravating they can be. Mine has improved since I've lost some weight on my own. The big meals I used to be be eating weren't helping the hernia. I'm virtually off fried stuff and things like pizza and Pasta. Tuna, chicken, salads, oatmeal, Soups, yogurt and such have been easier on the hernia.....and the Fluid loss is noticeable in my knees and legs. Good luck.

Thank you !!! That gives me some serious leads. Oikos Triple Zero Greek yogurt and Quest bars are big favorites already. Glad to know they'll be staples.

Good call on the Propel. I really like it as well.

Cool. Thanks. We have a Vitaminshoppe and a Sam's. I dropped Sam's membership after costco came to town. May be time to ease back in there and look around.