batty_vsg

Oh yay! I have been looking for more people who have their surgery date in December.
I'm December 12th!
All I have left to do is figure out FMLA/STD with my employer and my pre-op testing (in November.)

I am so happy to see more December sleevers! Wooohooo!

I have CIGNA insurance and they required 90 days of nutrition classes. Due to the way the classes were set up, I actually ended up having to do 4 weigh-ins. My surgeon did not require me to lose weight (though it was definitely encouraged) but I could not gain weight during the 90 days.

Hello everyone!
I was approved a few days ago (after only waiting a week) and received my surgery date for December 12, 2018! I chose this date out of the few offered to me because I am currently in college and I will be able to finish up my classes prior to the surgery (which was a huge worry of mine.) It's about two weeks before my birthday too!
Anyone else scheduled out in December?

Would anyone be interested in a December VSG chat? I am not sure if it would be on Facebook, or Discord. I thought maybe it would be nice for all of us to chat about our experiences when the time comes. Just a thought! I'm normally pretty socially anxious, so I wouldn't talk much, but I'm putting the offer out there to those that may be interested.

LOL, this made me laugh.

I struggle, too, with people making unhealthy eating choices around me. I know that a lot of the struggle is mental and when I'm in a good mindset (I suffer from mental illness) I can generally post-pone eating in an ugly manner (e.g. food I shouldn't eat, or make good choices when I order out.) It helps having a support group (like this) when you are about to make a bad choice.
I try to remember the reasons why I am doing this surgery. Not only for health reasons, but because I want to feel good about myself. Some of us may unconsciously want to self-sabotage that progress because we don't think we're deserving of . . . well, feeling GOOD about ourselves. But it's okay. You have every right to access self confidence and make yourself feel good about how you look and what you've done.
I want food to mean something, just not some garbage that I shoved into my mouth. I will not deny that food is a very socially oriented activity and while they are definitely alternatives, I feel that successful WLS is embracing how to compromise the new lifestyle (if you know what I mean.)
Anyway, I feel like I'm rambling. Work is a stressful time for me concerning food (especially with my mental illness) but I'm trying to find forgiveness in myself so I can move on and make better choices the next time around.

LOL, this made me laugh.

I struggle, too, with people making unhealthy eating choices around me. I know that a lot of the struggle is mental and when I'm in a good mindset (I suffer from mental illness) I can generally post-pone eating in an ugly manner (e.g. food I shouldn't eat, or make good choices when I order out.) It helps having a support group (like this) when you are about to make a bad choice.
I try to remember the reasons why I am doing this surgery. Not only for health reasons, but because I want to feel good about myself. Some of us may unconsciously want to self-sabotage that progress because we don't think we're deserving of . . . well, feeling GOOD about ourselves. But it's okay. You have every right to access self confidence and make yourself feel good about how you look and what you've done.
I want food to mean something, just not some garbage that I shoved into my mouth. I will not deny that food is a very socially oriented activity and while they are definitely alternatives, I feel that successful WLS is embracing how to compromise the new lifestyle (if you know what I mean.)
Anyway, I feel like I'm rambling. Work is a stressful time for me concerning food (especially with my mental illness) but I'm trying to find forgiveness in myself so I can move on and make better choices the next time around.

LOL, this made me laugh.

I struggle, too, with people making unhealthy eating choices around me. I know that a lot of the struggle is mental and when I'm in a good mindset (I suffer from mental illness) I can generally post-pone eating in an ugly manner (e.g. food I shouldn't eat, or make good choices when I order out.) It helps having a support group (like this) when you are about to make a bad choice.
I try to remember the reasons why I am doing this surgery. Not only for health reasons, but because I want to feel good about myself. Some of us may unconsciously want to self-sabotage that progress because we don't think we're deserving of . . . well, feeling GOOD about ourselves. But it's okay. You have every right to access self confidence and make yourself feel good about how you look and what you've done.
I want food to mean something, just not some garbage that I shoved into my mouth. I will not deny that food is a very socially oriented activity and while they are definitely alternatives, I feel that successful WLS is embracing how to compromise the new lifestyle (if you know what I mean.)
Anyway, I feel like I'm rambling. Work is a stressful time for me concerning food (especially with my mental illness) but I'm trying to find forgiveness in myself so I can move on and make better choices the next time around.

LOL, this made me laugh.

I struggle, too, with people making unhealthy eating choices around me. I know that a lot of the struggle is mental and when I'm in a good mindset (I suffer from mental illness) I can generally post-pone eating in an ugly manner (e.g. food I shouldn't eat, or make good choices when I order out.) It helps having a support group (like this) when you are about to make a bad choice.
I try to remember the reasons why I am doing this surgery. Not only for health reasons, but because I want to feel good about myself. Some of us may unconsciously want to self-sabotage that progress because we don't think we're deserving of . . . well, feeling GOOD about ourselves. But it's okay. You have every right to access self confidence and make yourself feel good about how you look and what you've done.
I want food to mean something, just not some garbage that I shoved into my mouth. I will not deny that food is a very socially oriented activity and while they are definitely alternatives, I feel that successful WLS is embracing how to compromise the new lifestyle (if you know what I mean.)
Anyway, I feel like I'm rambling. Work is a stressful time for me concerning food (especially with my mental illness) but I'm trying to find forgiveness in myself so I can move on and make better choices the next time around.

LOL, this made me laugh.

I struggle, too, with people making unhealthy eating choices around me. I know that a lot of the struggle is mental and when I'm in a good mindset (I suffer from mental illness) I can generally post-pone eating in an ugly manner (e.g. food I shouldn't eat, or make good choices when I order out.) It helps having a support group (like this) when you are about to make a bad choice.
I try to remember the reasons why I am doing this surgery. Not only for health reasons, but because I want to feel good about myself. Some of us may unconsciously want to self-sabotage that progress because we don't think we're deserving of . . . well, feeling GOOD about ourselves. But it's okay. You have every right to access self confidence and make yourself feel good about how you look and what you've done.
I want food to mean something, just not some garbage that I shoved into my mouth. I will not deny that food is a very socially oriented activity and while they are definitely alternatives, I feel that successful WLS is embracing how to compromise the new lifestyle (if you know what I mean.)
Anyway, I feel like I'm rambling. Work is a stressful time for me concerning food (especially with my mental illness) but I'm trying to find forgiveness in myself so I can move on and make better choices the next time around.

Cuz bottom line...we can live for a very very very long time without food at our former sizes. We are carrying a literal ass-load of fuel on our bodies. BUT you WILL die if you do not hydrate. If you don't hydrate, you have about 3 days MAX before death. And it's probably less cuz of the surgical stress on your body.

Would anyone be interested in a December VSG chat? I am not sure if it would be on Facebook, or Discord. I thought maybe it would be nice for all of us to chat about our experiences when the time comes. Just a thought! I'm normally pretty socially anxious, so I wouldn't talk much, but I'm putting the offer out there to those that may be interested.

Another December 12, oh my goodness!

I'm scheduled for December 28th. I too am a college student. I'm 35 years old and have decided to leave my former career of retail management to become a registered dental hygienist. I had to schedule my surgery right after Christmas because I have classes all the way through the 20th.
I just started my extended pre-op diet, my current weight is 248 and theyd like me to at least reach 235 before surgery.

Sent from my LG-M255 using BariatricPal mobile app

I've been going back and forth between being super excited and then downright scared. So, coffee is definitely going to be off the table for a couple of weeks post-surgery, but my surgeon said that after a certain point (when I'm comfortably getting in liquids) I can start drinking coffee again. I don't drink mine with a whole lot of sugar (actually, I just put a splash of heavy whipping cream in it.)

That's what my surgeon said. They agree that coffee is a good way to get Protein Shakes down (you can add them to your coffee.)

Surgery scheduled for Dec 4th!!!

As someone who will likely shave their head and wear a wig (I don't think I have alopecia, but my hair reacts badly to weight loss) after the surgery, this makes me heart swell so much with love and reassurance! When I told my husband that I was scared to lose my hair (as a possible reason why not to have the surgery) he said I was the silliest creature alive. He told me to shave it and wear some sexy wigs!
You look absolutely gorgeous, with or without the wig. ❤️

There is no guaranteed anything that will prevent this. You can take all sorts of things and if your body decides to put more follicles into "hibernation" than that's exactly what it's going to do.

Google "Telogen Effluvium" It's not "hair loss" exactly either. Your body shuts down follicles all the time as part of the normal shedding process, surgery, drastic diet changes, stress, etc can cause your body to shut down a much larger percentage of follicles than it would normally. So when those follicles finally do turn back on and start producing hair again, the hair that it was holding onto, gets released... so you folks end up shedding much more than they normally would.

Once it starts, it's way too late to even attempt anything... You can try to take Biotin and keep your Protein levels high pre-op, but again, there is absolutely nothing that will guarantee you won't "lose hair"

Definitely this.
The brain doesn't consider our hair to be a priority, so when stress hits us (losing weight, surgery, stress, etc. . . ) hair is usually the first thing to go. Instead of directing nutrients to promote Hair growth, it's now being redirected to another job in your body. Hair loss after a major weight loss event affects people in different ways. Some will lose a little, some will lose a lot (like I did when I lost 90 lbs), and some won't lose at all. It's a horrible genetic lottery.
It may sound a little dire, but the only thing to help you prior to this event is to be prepared for it. Make sure you're getting the Protein amount recommended by the doctor, drink plenty of Water, and get your Vitamins in. If your hair is still falling out in clumps a year out - then there could be a nutritional aspect to your hair loss. Find a shampoo/conditioner set that builds volume and learn that you don't need to wash your hair every day. Manipulating your hair to make it seem fuller will be difficult, but the hair will grow back.
Me? I mean, I lost a ton of hair back when I lost 90lbs through the Keto diet. I am not looking forward to losing it again, but I've talked with my husband and will likely shave it off + find a really nice quality wig. I've been wanting to shave my hair anyhow, so it may be the perfect opportunity.