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I also found the caramel this week at Walmart. It will be replacing the strawberry and cream for me. It was great mixed in with my morning coffee.

My last visit for my 6 months was the Monday before Thanksgiving. I had to wait until Jan 26th for my surgeries. They may have given you a dummy date as sometimes the insurance or in my case the PCP requested it before he wrote my medically necessary form to the insurance. I took the whole 8 months I had to wait to change my bad habits I stopped drinking coffee as I had stopped drinking soda over 4 years ago. Also started taking smaller bites of food, getting in more Protein, chewing my food slowly, and not drinking during meals and at least 1/2 hour after your meal. All those changes took time and made it so much easier after my surgery to cope as I had done it all before the surgery.

Welcome to the forums. Are you seeing your surgeon for the first time in 2 weeks? It is an exciting time and and lots will need to be done before the surgery but it is worth it. I just wish I had insurance years ago that would have approved it. I am in Palm Beach County. Had my sleeve on Jan 26th 2016. Had a 6 month supervised diet before the surgery and lost 38 pounds. Just had my 6 month followup yesterday and have lost 70 pounds since surgery.

Hannah sounds like you had a good run through. I had my gallbladder removed and a hernia repair as well as the sleeve done all at once. I don't remember recovery at all. However I did have anti nasua patch the night before my surgery also and didn't have that problem. My main issue was low blood pressure and pain. Hope your recovery goes well and that the Sleeve surgery goes as well. Also hope you get the same anesthesiologist so he can experience you nice and fun side again. Good luck!

WOW!! You're doing great! I'm sure you're feeling great as well. Keep up the great job!! Thanks Tcon for the written support. I am feeling so much better and there are tons of things I can do now that I couldn't do before. I know once my back issue is taken care of I would feel even better. Now that I am below 250 I plan to get a referral to a back specialist and see what they can do for my back so I can walk again. I intend to keep losing until I get to my goal.

The nurses at the hospital told me it would be a good idea. I haven't gotten one yet. However I like some of those shown in the link. I really liked the cuff one as it looked like a regular piece of jewelry.

I started taking Biotin during the 6 month supervised diet and continued after my surgery. I am 6 months post op and despite being 60 I have not lost any hair.

Before surgery while on the 6 month supervised diet I liked the strawberry and bought 2 cases of it plus 2 of chocolate and 1 vanilla. I finished 1 case of the strawberry. After surgery I had a strawberry from the second case and it was horrible. The batch I had went bad and I complained. When they called me about replacing it, I asked for chocolate but they would only replace with strawberry. This new case is just ok, I am slowly drinking it but it doesn't taste the same to me. I am sure my taste buds changed for it. I love the chocolate and will only get that from now on as I am 6 month post op and still have to have at least 1 Protein drink a day as I am not getting enough protein from the little bit of foods I can eat. Would love to try the new flavored shakes but can't find them. Ok I am out of here for awhile have to get in my pool aerobics.

As to whether or not we have a 100 or even 200 pounds lost club on this website I don't know, but it isn't a bad idea. Maybe if we don't have one we can start one, right Alex? Anyhow congratulations on losing 101 pounds. You are rocking it!

I am not sure if I am adding these pictures correctly but I thought maybe it was time to show my progress. I am disabled and have used an electric mobility device since 1994. Now a days I am able to walk with 1 cane for about 5 minutes before pain sets in. Plus I am riding a tricycle 7 miles a day. I am very pleased with all of my weight loss. The 145 pounds I lost on my own and the additional 108 I have lost since the first meeting with my surgeon and the 3 procedure surgery he did in Jan of this year. The pictures are My highest weight 497 pounds. Last June when I first saw the surgeon 352 pound. Day before surgery 315 which was Jan 26th This Sunday July 10th 244. Total lost 253 pounds.

I don't have bad knees but I was born with half of a hip bone and my back was injuried in the 1990's. I was told by the Doctors if I ever got below 250 to come back. At that time I was over 400 pounds and went even higher due to the injury. I couldn't walk and have been using an electric mobility device since 1994. I have since lost 253 pounds. Due to the weight loss I am finally beginning to walk short distances with 1 cane. I still have horrible hip and back pain and will probably need surgery but it is better than it was. I use to have horrible pain in my back within 1 minute of standing if I was able to even get up. Now I can not only stand up but can also walk for about 5 minutes before the pain starts. So yes the weight loss will help. I also wanted to thank those whom have had surgeries and talked about all they want through. Based on what you wrote Crevidae I think I will continue to wait until I am below 200 pounds. I am on disability and use the scooter anyhow and I think it would be an even better recovery for me if I waited. So I thank you and the others for all the detailed info even if it was dealing with your knees.The info has helped me in making a surgery decision.

WOW I am surprised it is your PCP doing the supervised diet. It was the surgeon who did mine and I was required to follow the high Protein low char diet for the entire 6 months. I also had meetings with his staff as to the type of foods I shouldn't be eating after the surgery, the Vitamins I would have to take and how my weight loss and exercise progress was going. I didn't have to lose a certain amount but they kept close tabs on all the testings I had to have done before the surgery would be approved. I took the time to ask him many questions about the whole process of having my hernia repair, gallbladder removed and getting the sleeve.Also took the time to stop drinking coffee, eating sugar and getting myself healthier so I didn't have any complications. It was the 6 month wait that has made my journey so much easier.

My surgeon was going to wait until I was approved. However my PCP was not going to fill out the medically necessary form until he had a date, so the surgeon gave him a dummy date. My last 6th month supervised diet visit was 2 days before Thanksgiving. I had to wait until Dec to have the heart and breathing testing done and finally got approved the day before the New Year. Had surgery Jan 26th 2 months after my last supervised diet visit. So depending on your Dr you might get a dummy date.

Gina I have been reading your complication postings. I am so sad to hear you are struggling so much and don't have the help you need. Others have given some great suggestions and I tend to agree. Losing 66 pounds in 6 weeks is a huge amount. I truly hope they found out what is going on with you and that you start to recover better. Your in my thoughts and prayers.

When I was 420 pounds I married a man I thought loved me but came to find out later he was just a Fat Admirer. Sounds like that is the type of man you may have also married. When I had gained (due to a back injury) up to 497 pounds I asked for his help and he aid NO! I tried to get counseling with him and when he didn't show up for the appointments and for other reason (which I will not go into here) I served him with divorce papers. I did what I had to do for my health and I am now 253 pounds lighter. I hope you both can get counseling and you don't wind up divorced like I did. But please if it does come down to that don't let anyone or anything stand in your way of getting your health back.

Never heard of eatmequiltfree protein brownies but I did find their site. Do you make the various recipes they have on their site and are they good? Which is the best? I would think that they would fit into our program better than the candies that were previously mentioned.

Thanks is good new Kimba. My support group is over an hour away but they will be establishing a new virtual online support group where I can stay home yet still see and hear everything that goes on in the group and they can see me. However I am finding that I don't really need the support as I have plenty of online support groups I am in.

Good for you in realizing that it is time for the WLS and that your insurance is willing to cover it. I tried in 2008 but the insurance wouldn't cover it. I finally changed insurance in 2015 and they covered mine this past Jan 2016. I also had to do the 6 month supervised diet. I weighed 352 when I started it and lost down to 315. As was mentioned above they usually go by the weight you start at. However I have known of some who were refused the day of surgery because their BMI was below a certain amount. You would have to lose about 70 pounds to have a BMI below 40. It wasn't easy for me to lose the 38 pounds I lost as I was hungry and I had at least 1 week a month when I didn't follow the high Protein, low carb diet I was put one. Keep in mind you can always slow down your weight loss too if you see you are getting too close to the lower BMI. Check to make sure your insurance will use the BMI you started with and not calculate from your last weigh in. Once the weight starts coming off with the 6 months supervised diet you will become healthier and better able to handle the surgery. I had 3 surgeries at one time and was home in 2 days and back to work in less than a month. Good luck with everything and hope to see more of your postings.

I had told my surgeon I wanted one as I have incontinence due to a back injury and a very difficult time walking. I was having 3 surgeries and didn't know how I would feel. It was put in after I was asleep. I had no idea I even had it in until I mentioned the next day that I haven't peed since I had gotten there the day before. The nurse said I must have forgotten I told the Dr I wanted one as I have it in. A few hours later they removed it and a few hours after that 2 nurses managed to get me out of bed and to the bathroom. Unfortunately they had to call a PT with a lift belt and finally the 3 of them got me off the toilet as I couldn't do it myself. If you are able to walk and don't have incontinence you may not get one.

Hi Everyone NOTE****** This posting was written Jan 26th 2016 not July 9. Somehow it never got published and when I clicked to publish it today it came up after my 1 year posting. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused. ****** Today Sunday Jan 24 is my birthday and I had to start my 2 day liquid pre-op diet. We celebrated last night with a Wine and cheese fondue party. I had 2 small glasses of wine and some vegetables, meats but the fondue was a flop. It isn't as easy to make fondue as it seems. I guess we should have made some fondues before we had the party. However my favorite the ice cream and the cupcakes were great. This past Tuesday during the pre-admission workshop I was told to stop taking my Meloxicam for my arthritis as it will affect me during surgery. I was also told to stop taking all the vitamins and supplements I take for various problems. Well about an hour after the party ended I started getting my horrible leg craps. OMG! I had such horrible leg cramps in both legs in various locations throughout the night from 10 pm until 6 am. At 3 am I couldn't take them any more and took one of my Clonazepam. I am hoping taking the clonazepam doesn't affect me in any way for surgery. I had a few more cramps after the med but they were not as intense as the ones that happened between 1 to 3 am. Around 3 am I thought I could have a bottle of Powerade Zero which would help as it restores electrolytes. I finally fell asleep around 6 am and slept till 10 am, Today I had 3 protein soups, a SF Jello and popsicle and of course plenty of Crystal Light. and Powerade zero. I mostly just sat around the house but did do 2 loads of wash, started getting my hospital bag in order, and froze all the vegetables and meats left over from the party. This evening my body is feeling badly mainly due to not being able to take my Meloxicam. Only being able to drink I am peeing every hour and am really sore from all this standing up and down. Despite having protein in my soup and drinnks my tummy is growling at me this evening. But I am staying busy. I hope tomorrow will be better. Will continue writing more tomorrow. I am basically calm now but who knows what will happen tomorrow. Ihope I don't have any more leg cramps tonight. Wish me luck as I don't know if I could stand another night like last night.

I came on this site one year ago June 15th 2015. I too have seen the changes in the type of postings, the replies and have seen the veterans leave because of the lack of respect toward them. I am not good at expressing myself but I am very grateful to the veterans as they were there for me when I had a zillion questions. Without their help I wouldn't be where I am today. I read and listened to everything they had to say and as a result I was better able to adjust to my new way of life. I hope those veterans who have left will come back in awhile like you did Djmohr as the veterans provided me with so much knowledge, wisdom and support and I would hate to think what these boards would be like without them.

Two days before my surgery I turned 60. I wish this surgery would have been available when I was 40 and maybe the last 20 years of my life would not have been so difficult. In 2004 I weighed 497 and had tried for the past 12 years to lose on my own. Since then I got down on my own to 315. Since surgery which was Jan 26th 2016 I have lost 67 more pounds for a total lost of 249 pounds. Today I weigh less than the weight I have lost.

Moving sounds like a good idea to me. You certainly don't need unsupportive people around you. Also once you have the sleeve surgery your hunger should be gone for quite some time. The surgery reduces the amount of ghrelin, which is produced in the stomach portion that is removed from the body. The blood ghrelin levels decreade significantly in patients undergoing the sleeve. This decrease is presented from the first postoperative day and lasts for more than 24 months after surgery. Doesn't your surgery team have a support group? Mine does and they meet monthly.

Oh my gosh the list is too numerous to post here. At this stage I am still eating mostly Protein and getting in a few vegetables. Have a 6 month followup on July 25th so perhaps more foods will be added at that time.

Your welcome! Hope the next few weeks will be better for you.