Rainbow_Warrior

Hear, hear to that. Condensed commonsense.

I'm finally under a fortnight to go. I'm due to be done at 10:15am on October 12th in the Lingard Hospital, Merewether, NSW (Australia). It's 10:10am on Friday 29th September right now and I am warm with excitement.

A most admirable goal. (And one I share. From the 15.5 year old to the 2 month old, to date none of my seven grandchildren have seen me as anything but morbidly obese. I deserve better; they deserve better.)

Agreed. Any my points to the two people in recent days who have poo-pooed the idea of having a phone there after your surgery would be: * Some of us are staying longer than just 2-3 hours after the surgery. My Doctor says "at least one night, possibly two" * My phone is not just a phone ... it has a range of health apps, my music, an app that generates white noise or restful sounds to aid sleep * And, like Williwaw, I have friends and close family (as in my daughter and S-I-L) who don't live in this state or this country that keep track of me. I can deal with an SMS or iMessage if I wish to respond to them. * And, if something is not going well or not going right at the private hospital, I may wish to call my wife, a relative or my best man to come be with me. While some people are not keen on the phone idea, I see something a bit more complex and helpful.

A polar bear enters a new bar in his home town and speaks with the bartender (whom he's never met before) ... BARTENDER: What'll it be, pal? BEAR: Please get me a gin ... err ... The bartender steps back, turns, then opens a bottle from the shelf behind him and pours a shot over two ice-cubes. He motions to place it in front of the polar bear. BARTENDER: There you are! BEAR: And tonic, please. The bartender clicks his tongue with frustration at the late change of order. BARTENDER: Hey fella, why the big pause? BEAR: No idea. My dad had 'em too. It must be hereditary.

Hear, hear to that!

Roll your mouse/trackpad over the selection of text you want to quote. It will "highlight" in light blue. Seconds later, a black secondary "pop-up" will ask "Quote this?" ... so just click on the "Quote this?" or touch it and your quote pops into a box atop a new message!

Seriously Morbidly Obese.

Well done. It must be a chest-puffing moment to pass a hurdle like 300. Good on you.

Big board shorts and a 5XL rash vest when I started. In a 3XL rash vest now (and smaller board shorts). Except for the youths and school kids at the pool, everyone looks fat, obese or "well-worn". Mind you, those of us who have been at it a while are less fat/obese. Swimming is good for the lungs and toning most muscles.

75-125 minutes at the pool. (25 metre pool) I try to do 120 laps or three kilometres of breaststroke and walk (wade chest-deep) another 20 to 30 laps. Swimming is very kind to joints and arthritic pain whereas walking is tougher for me because of pain.

Well done, you! It's not just the obvious weight loss either. Your face/skin and posture in the 'after' photo have stripped years from you. Superb choice. Good to hear you're out there exercising too.

For my first two nights, I had a couple of unexpected middle-of-the-night trips to the toilet to urinate. And I probably took longer to get back to sleep. That was probably major extra water loss in losing a few pounds quickly and processing three protein shakes and extra drinking water. It might have also been the adjustment to the higher-protein/lower-carbohydrate regimen. I'm now at day 14 and the 10 of the 11 nights since the first two have been superb. 7:35 to 9:15 sleep according to my Vivofit and 45% to 55% of that in the deep sleep zone. The only night that was different was after my day at the day surgery centre where I slept or was under anaesthetic for nearly five hours between 11am and 7pm. You may improve after another night or two. Do you wear a fitness band that measures your sleep and movement?

Mine said 9 to 16 days is the normal range for time not driving or not attending high-motion working environment. When my son-in-law was sleeved 26 months ago, he was told 15 to 28 days. Things change. Doctors learn tighter techniques. Intrusion is less. Pain relief, if required, is a lot better. I'll listen to my body and observe its feelings.

My best man had his surgery on Monday, 11th Sept and was, in his opinion, ready for work on Thursday 14th Sept. He did return the following Monday, 18th Sept ... office job.

I see your Hodgetwins and raise you a Luke Heggie ... check him out on YouTube!

I'm amused after being here barely a fortnight to find that someone starts this topic (or one with a very similar name or theme) every other day. Hey, mzsantiago88 , I suggest you use the search tool at the top of the page. This topic is done to death.

The British National Health System uses this quite realistic HEIGHT-WEIGHT chart. n.b. A 'stone' is 14 pounds.

This was me. My serious overweight/obesity has been a 25 year battle of yo-yo dieting. consistent exercise and emotional eating. You'll see from the attached graph that it became my choice to stick with surgery this time. (The red line is BMI of 23 ... ideal weight/mass. All masses are in kilograms.) I'm 61+ and, in Australia, 65 is the cut-off for surgery. I have good health insurance. I have seven grandkids. Yours is your choice.

My surgery is 16.5 days away ... Thursday October 12th. My packing plan, so far, includes: * my own face washer, toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, shampoo, deodorant, * a dressing-gown, a couple of changes of underwear for my 1-2 overnights, clothes and shoes for when I leave for home, * iPhone, tablet computer, Kindle, earphones, three charger cables and a couple of plugs, * reading glasses, cryptic crossword books and my regular medication. * and, on the advice of others, some lip-balm or a chapstick (for the expected dry lips).

In a nutshell! Best wishes for whatever path becomes your chosen future!

Yeah, a good list ... I plan on taking my own face washer, toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, shampoo, deodorant, a dressing-gown, a couple of changes of underwear for my 1-2 overnights, clothes and shoes to leave for home, iPhone, tablet computer, Kindle, earphones, three charger cables and a couple of plugs, reading glasses, cryptic crossword books and my regular medication. And, now, on the advice of others, some lip-balm or a chapstick.

Best wishes to you and a steady hand and steely eye to your surgeon.

You're doing this naked?