Hop_Scotch

Hi hope4momof4,

Its ok and I'm sorry to snap back. Absolutely no hard feelings [emoji173]️. I know exactly where you are, because I was there too. Researching everything I could and focusing on bits and pieces of what I find. It's such a huge decision and it's never the wrong approach to proactively go into something with all the info you can find.

The common themes I see with many people who have had an esg is an initial good weight loss and then slower progress after that. I certainly was frustrated when I stopped losing weight every single day but I realise all good things must come to an end. As nice as it would be to hit goal in record time, I think this stage is really valuable. I am learning how to eat all over again. Eating slow, choosing nutritious food, moving more and psychologically moving on from unhealthy eating. For me, I think being in ketosis initially allowed a big weight drop but when I added more calories and healthy carbs, my weightloss slowed. I would say if you stay in ketosis then the weight would continue to drop off quicker.

Definitely don't stay off the internet, and certainly not off this site. We would all miss you greatly. You are a wonderful encourager and I always look forward to hearing from you xo

Quick update on the morning after ESG procedure. Feeling much better, walking around and getting some energy back from a tiring day yesterday. I'm drinking 1 ounce of clear liquid every ±15minutes and that is going well. Definitely able to stay hydrated doing this. I think I might have been drinking liquids too fast yesterday afternoon and this may have lead to some of the minor gas pains. If I get a gas pain I simply get up and walk around and within a few minutes they are gone. Headache is also gone!
Drinking (sipping) slowly is a big deal to avoiding discomfort.
Day 1 is great start for me, I have clear liquids for today and tomorrow then shift to Protein drinks.
Happy Thanksgiving to all, mine will be a clear liquid day, for which I am giving thanks!
Take care, Tex!

Thanks to all for support and interest, I made it through my procedure today. Started in OR about 0730 and was out of the OR in about 2hours, took another 2 hours or so in recovery room to feel good enough to go home. Dr. said procedure went well, no issues/complications. Thanks to my wife for all her support, especially today! We arrived back home about 1 pm and I'm just sitting up and taking it easy.
I'm still a bit groggy, taking anti-nausea and pain meds now as I had a headache and some gas pains coming out of the recovery room. Gas pains are 2-3 out of 10 on the pain scale, headaches is getting better 1-2 out of 10 (which is great because I have had Migraines in the past) and hope both of these go away soon! I plan to walk a bit this evening and progressively more tomorrow.
I'm drinking Clear Liquids now, small amounts spaced out every 5 minutes or so, for the next couple of days. Next step after that is to go on Protein Drink diet for first 2 weeks. I will keep sharing my experiences as I progress thru recovery and towards the new me! Really looking forward to this change!
Special thanks to home4momof4 for the prayer, it worked!

Thank you everyone for some wonderful information about ESG which I am seriously considering. I will likely have the procedure done in Melbourne if the one surgeon in my home state (who does these) hasn't done too many ESGs. I like the idea of it being non-surgical as well as non-invasive. A drawcard to Melbourne is also robotic surgery.
If I go ahead with the procedure I hope to have it done fairly early in 2018, hopefully February.
I would like to lose about 25kilos (though I do need to lose more)...any more than that would be a bonus.