JoannMarie

i joined!!!

It's good to hear from you, Doxie. I'm glad everything went well for you. I identify with the pups wanting to be part of your lap. Our lap dog is a sheltie who weighs a bit more than most "lap" dogs! He will be on the lap in a flash, though. You are on your way!

Stewie, I feel like we will be holding hands! We leave for Topeka at 6a.m. for 8a.m. check-in and surgery is scheduled for 10:00. I am going to stay overnight because I don't want the long drive back after surgery and general anesthetic. Please check back in as soon as you feel like it and I will do the same. You are in my thoughts and prayers.

Hi Soo! I am really glad to hear from you - have been thinking of you all day! Its a good tip about staying overnight if you have that option. Medicare leaves it up to the patient and I opted to stay. I have a 1 1/2 hour drive and did not think it would be much fun following major surgery and general anesthetic! I'll take a little TLC from the nursing staff for a while, thank you! DH will be with me - he is going to sleep in the recliner (I checked all this out with the hospital last Wed when I went for my lab draws.) I was told the staff takes good care of spouses - which will suit him fine. It is probably helpful for them, too, since he is there to watch my every move. Doc gave me my pain med script when I was there Wed, and I went to the pharmacy to fill it - it's in place, too. We leave around 6a.m. tomorrow - check in at hosp is at 8 - surgery scheduled for 10. I expect we will be home early afternoon on Friday. DD is taking care of animals for us, they love her. I am ready to roll! And Sue!!! Mall walking on your second day??? During Christmas shopping season??? You are one brave woman! Girl, in a few weeks you will be shopping the after Christmas sales for smaller clothes! I can't tell you how great it is to hear such good news from our early December bandsters! This is such an exciting journey for all of us and I wish each and every one of you the very, very best!

Pete, I'll be thinking of you tomorrow morning as we drive to Topeka - right about the time you will be flying off to a similar climate in your flip-flops. I am a bit envious of you today - our weather is cold and damp and I am feeling it! You will be in my prayers, Pete. I am looking forward to hearing how you are doing very soon.

Marilyn, thank you so much for your kind words. You do have a special touch, darlin'. I have been so excited all week - today I am much more subdued and getting more so by the hour! I appreciate your prayers so much. You have blessed my life.

I am with you Mr. Mike - that Protein shake sounds like filet mignon right now!!! liquids all day today - the clear kind that still leaves you hungry... Ah well - it will all be worth it! You will be in my thoughts today and I am looking forward to hearing from you soon. Pete - thanks for all you do for us! You will be leaving for sunny Mexico soon - if not already on your way. We will keep you in our prayers. Can't wait to hear how everythings goes for you, too.

Sue - its great to hear from you so soon. I'm beginning to feel like a mother hen worrying over her chicks! Well - I am worrying over my chics!! Your point about other surgeries is well taken. I had knee replacement 6 years ago this month. This LB thing is probably in a much different class than that! I'm glad to hear you did so well, and hope I do, too! You are on your way!!!

Welcome back Sue and Trina. Its good to hear you both did so well. I do the "nothing but clear liquids" tomorrow and will be headed to the hospital early Thurs morning. I am going to stay the night because it is an hour and half away from home and I don't think I want to make the trip same day as surgery. I love hearing this good news from all of you!

Good luck to both of you! Okay - how did you get that cool effect between the Hotties and the Diamonds????? I love it!

Trina, its great to hear from you today and to hear how well everything went for you. I wish you a speedy recovery.

Amen to all of the above!! Dec twosies - you are up next and we wish you successful surgeries and speedy recoveries one and all! Please keep us posted!

Good luck and prayers go to our December 2nd bandsters. I hope you will all have successful surgeries and speedy recoveries. I know we will all be waiting to hear from you soon.

Hi Motivated - welcome! Tomorrow is your big day - and yes, it is coming up fast. Good luck to you. We did a name poll - don't know if you were aware or had the chance to vote, but the name chosen was "Holiday Hotties." Second choice was "December Diamonds." One of our prolific posters, Florida Pete, kindly made a nameplate for us from each of those names. The people who did not like Holiday Hotties REALLY did not like it, so Pete created each name in his inimitable style - we can have a choice. If you check back on Pete's posts on this thread or the thread for December names poll (final) you will find his creations and the codes. I had trouble with getting the codes to work so I clicked on the siggie he had created for Holiday Hotties, and just copied the name to a word document, then pulled it in from my computer like you would a picture. (CP at the top of this page - go to edit signature and follow the prompts to browse your computer and add to your sig block.) Pick either name you like. Glad you are joining us - we will be thinking of you tomorrow and hopeful you will be back with us soon to let us know how you are doing. Best of luck! :thumbup:

Trina, you are in my prayers today. I wish you a successful surgery - and a great speedy - painfree - recovery. My best to you! :thumbup:

nljs - you need to look at other threads! There are a lot of positive people on LBTalk who are following the rules and losing weight steadily. Check through the home page for those folks - in the mentoring area there is a thread starting "I'm here to help..." started by IndioGirl for those who need the support of people who have been successful at reaching their goals. I believe we need to know that complications are a possibility, and that some people are not as successful as we would like to be. But after you have read some of those, please turn your attention to those who are successful and who can give you positive advice and help. This journey you are going on is a mental process, as well as a weight loss process, and what you feed your brain will determine how successful you will be. Be committed, follow the rules, and you will reach your goal!

Sue - welcome and good luck tomorrow! We will be thinking about you and hoping you are back to report soon! and SuzeQ! Wow - what a surprise! That is a great advantage to you, but when I think about trying to get prepared in 3 days it is mind-boggling! After all this waiting, testing, etc., it is great that you don't have to wait another 2 months. Good luck Tuesday! Hurry back to let us know how you are doing! 4 days to go for me...

You all are getting pretty creative with the Optifast! I have been known to doctor shakes with just a teaspoon or so of SF-FF jello instant pudding powder. A bit of choc fudge inst pudding blended in that strawberry shake may help it along. Be sure to put the pudding powder in blender with just a little of the pre-made shake to blend, then add the rest of the shake. Most strawberry flavored things - candies, shakes, etc., taste pretty bad IMHO. I add SF-FF pudding powder to other flavors - choc fudge to improve the choc shake, butterscotch or pistachio to flavor the vanilla - it works pretty well and you can pick the flavors you like. I am on 2 Adkins shakes a day, along with the usual SF juices and drinks, broth, jello, etc. I can also have 3 or less servings of dairy (8 oz sk milk or 8 oz. light yogurt or 1/2 cup cottage cheese). I always liked cottage cheese, but I can't believe how good it tastes these last few days! Please - anything that is not SWEET! The Adkins shakes are pretty good and filling. I am in my 3rd day, have lost 7 pounds, and not hungry... Doin' okay. 4 days to go.

Welcome to all the new posters! I'm glad you are no longer lurking! and decided to join us. We have lots of company being banded in December and it will be great to share our experiences in the next months as we reach our individual goals. Danielle, my date is Dec 4th, too, at St. Francis Hospital in Topeka KS. I had my pre-op labs at the hospital on Wednesday and at this point I am impressed with them. I hope to be as impressed next week at this time! I have been very happy with my surgeon, Dr. Bernita Berntsen, and her staff. They are very responsive, and claim I have not asked a dumb question yet. I think they tell everybody that! I only had to do a week of pre-op diet, so today is my first day. So far I'm not starving. I do think it will be hard the first couple of days, but will get easier. It will help to see some pounds go away, esp since I know they are gone forever! The journey has begun!

Hi Marg, it sounds like things are going pretty well for you. It is a good thing they found your high blood pressure now. I'm willing to bet you will be back off those medications after you have lost some of your weight. Your insurance should be paying for treatment for that diagnosis - really has nothing to do with the WLS, was just found during the pre-op testing. We had Cigna for a while through an employer. I was never very impressed with them. They took forever to pay claims - I know my employer was fielding complaints from us all the time. They kept them for a year and switched, to the cheers of all their employees. It does help to complain sometimes!

Good morning all, I started the pre-op this morning. I enjoyed my Thanksgiving with my family. DS and DIL had the festivities at their house and others brought many of the side dishes. It was fun, good food, grandchildren (including our first great-grandchild!), time to visit and enjoy. We missed our DD, SIL, and grandson who are posted in Korea till next summer. It is getting harder and harder to have family celebrations without them. My heart goes out to families whose family members are serving in the war zones. God bless them and bring their children home safe. As I said, I started my pre-op diet this morning. I think the first couple of days will be kinda tough, but it will get better as I get used to it. We did not bring many leftovers home with us - just a few things DH really likes - so I don't have a lot of temptations around here. Off to a good start - the ball started rolling this morning! I am excited!

Wyllis - that was tough for you (it is for all of us). There is a beautiful young woman in there - and she is about to emerge. It will take a little longer than it does for a butterfly, but she is there and she will have a long and healthy life in her new body. This is true for all of us...

You are a good guy, Pete! We are lucky you are here...

YLJones - you need to go to the positive threads on this site! Go to the age-group area and try the 50's and 60's. Esp in the 50's - a thread called "Hey 50 and over gang -" and the 60+ thread in the 60's age group area. Also there are mentoring threads - esp "I'm here to help" started by IndioGirl. Other threads in December 2008 Bandsters are also great positive threads. Start with "Do You Have a December Date?" and go from there. I read all the negative stuff when I first started with LBTalk - I believe we need to know both the negative and positive aspects of this venture. After a while most of the negative posts sounded like a continual b**** session. I figured if it was that bad, why would anyone do it??? I began to look for the positive, supportive threads and found several. You are going to need positive support and sometimes some tough love as you go on this journey - you can find it here. Sorry I got off your original topic - I am 66 years old, my starting weight is 244, my surgery date is December 4th, surgeon is Dr. Bernita Berntsen at Tallgrass Surgery Assoc, hospital is St. Francis, Topeka, KS.

Pete, I'll be thinking of you on Friday if you will be thinking of me on Thursday!! Get back to your computer as quickly as possible. We will all want to hear from you!