danahall5885

I gained 23 pounds from March to July during the quarantine. I’ve lost 14 of it so far. A lot harder to lose than gain!

Austin was great. We lived there from 2000-2003 and again 2008-2019. I had my youngest while there the first time (while in grad school at UT) and you know what they say about Texans having to get back to Texas!! Our kids were raised there (and of course they're in a band--still), and the culture was laid back and just groovy. Most of that has changed with Big Tech moving in and of course COVID. I hope that the live music recovers because we have many many friends who are musicians and/or in the music industry in some way. My dearest friends are there and as soon as it's safe to get back down there for a visit, I'll be there.
On the other hand, I simply LOVE Philadelphia and Jersey. I'm originally from central Jersey (yes, it is a thing) and it's still beautiful with wide-open spaces, seasonal changes that are spectacular, beaches, orchards, and trains to NYC and DC. I'm not really familiar with the Jersey cities in the north & south though. That said, I went to college in Phila, and my goodness I love being back. I'm sure it has everything to do with my neighborhood--as that's always been the case in this city.
Sorry for the bio but I rarely give up the chance to boast about "my" cities!

Hey 12/3! A year! That is a long time to prepare but I know it will pay off in results.
you don’t have too much longer so keep us posted. We will be here to help you and help each other get through this stuff. It won’t be easy but it’ll be worth it! Let us know how the pre-op diet is going; is it pretty hard?

MN Governor said he isn't shutting down elective surgeries, I hope that even of he did, it wouldn't be for a week or 2 with my surgery 2 weeks from today. Fingers crossed.

December is getting close!

I still don’t have my official date yet. :/ They just keep saying it will be before the end of the year. Well said, I haven’t heard from them in a week. Part of me wants to email/call but I feel like I’m being a pest! I may contact the girl I originally started talking to, she seemed to have the inside scoop. 😂😂

Have u ever tried meditation? It’s super easy to learn & it helped me a lot with the same issue of mood, anger and irritability.

How is it possible to be dehydrated on a liquid diet? Now my body is retaining Fluid and I’m gaining weight. Is there a waiting period? And OMG this headache!

December 7 for me. I am new here. Good luck everyone!

Got my official preop paperwork today. I have a lot of homework. I’m going to have to take a day off to get this all done. New ECG, CXR, labs, weigh in, preop at hospital. Then another weigh in 2-3 days before surgery. All while on a liquid diet. He only asked me to lose 5-10 pounds. I already feel like I’m going to lose 20 on this diet.....feeling a little dramatic tonight.

Finally I got my insurance approval for GS. Yayyyy,

Have u ever tried meditation? It’s super easy to learn & it helped me a lot with the same issue of mood, anger and irritability.

Oh that does sound very frustrating!! How much have you lost? Logically, you must be losing weight because you’re on a very calorie restrictive diet. I hope you just keep on doing the right things. Those pounds are probably dropping but Water weight is holding on snd covering the loss.

I didn't tell my work anything. I took 4 vacation days and didn't offer any other details. I was super tired for a few weeks, but was able to hide it since I'm working from home until travel is opened back up. The good thing is that I was already starting to increase my exercise program and focusing on diet before my procedure, so now that I have lost weight (and it is now obvious on zoom calls), I don't think anybody suspects anything. I'm not going to hide it if anybody asks point-blank, but I don't feel it is information that I need to broadcast.

I wasn’t going to tell my work anything. I was using a week of annual leave, then returning to teleworking. Unfortunately, I ended up back at the hospital after a few days with dehydration. Totally fixable, but I realized my recovery wasn’t going to be smooth and I was going to need more time off. (I also had an absolute need to sleep like a hibernating bear.) I needed a doctors note and an ‘explanation’. I wish I had prepared for this possibility ahead of time. Anyway, I took the .pdf of the doctors note and erased where it said “Bariatric Center”, submitted it to my boss with a very terse explanation that I had a procedure that hadn’t gone as smoothly as expected and needed an extra week using sick leave. I added that it was not related to COVID. My boss just replied with prayers, and asked for no details , but I got the impression that he thought it might be something much more serious. Now I’m somewhat worried that I might have to squash some rumors of serious illness once I get back to the office. I kind of wish I had gone with the hernia or gallbladder explanation. Even if that’s a transparent explanation/code for WLS I hate the idea that I have given coworkers the idea that I am seriously ill.

I am 65 now and they’re about to send my file to the insurance co. Ive gone through 2 other programs in the last six years & my family talked me out of it. Now i am pre-diabetic and I have made a firm decision that I need to do this or my years on Earth will be severely limited. My back is degenerated from injuries; carrying this extra weight is painful & making it hard to be active. I am accepting the low risks of surgery because diabetes is very high risk. And I don’t want to live with morbid obesity from a wheelchair when my back crumbles. This surgery is, the way I see it, a ticket to a better and longer life.

What a terrible thing to say after all you’ve been through and how hard you have worked. Extremely insensitive, especially by your son. They should apologize. You’re going to be around for them a LOT longer. They should be more grateful. Are they obese?

I am 65 now and they’re about to send my file to the insurance co. Ive gone through 2 other programs in the last six years & my family talked me out of it. Now i am pre-diabetic and I have made a firm decision that I need to do this or my years on Earth will be severely limited. My back is degenerated from injuries; carrying this extra weight is painful & making it hard to be active. I am accepting the low risks of surgery because diabetes is very high risk. And I don’t want to live with morbid obesity from a wheelchair when my back crumbles. This surgery is, the way I see it, a ticket to a better and longer life.

I am 65 now and they’re about to send my file to the insurance co. Ive gone through 2 other programs in the last six years & my family talked me out of it. Now i am pre-diabetic and I have made a firm decision that I need to do this or my years on Earth will be severely limited. My back is degenerated from injuries; carrying this extra weight is painful & making it hard to be active. I am accepting the low risks of surgery because diabetes is very high risk. And I don’t want to live with morbid obesity from a wheelchair when my back crumbles. This surgery is, the way I see it, a ticket to a better and longer life.

What a terrible thing to say after all you’ve been through and how hard you have worked. Extremely insensitive, especially by your son. They should apologize. You’re going to be around for them a LOT longer. They should be more grateful. Are they obese?

I have been feeling pretty good about how I have done with my weight loss. That is until this past week when my husband and my son separately told me that I need to do something about my loose skin. That it looks bad and I need to tighten it up. I have loose skin on my upper arms, thighs and a bit on my upper calves. Are there any exercises that you all have done that are effective in tightening these areas up? I have started with some light dumb bells for my arms, but am clueless as far as my legs go. Any help will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!

Thank-you all for your uplifting and supportive comments. I am 55 so myself I don't care what the world thinks. It was hurtful to hear it, because I know there is nothing I can do about it, but they keep cheering me on. I have starting to lose weight again, but at a much slower rate. So maybe that will help future issues. Again thanks to all of you, you are my biggest supporters!

I am 65 now and they’re about to send my file to the insurance co. Ive gone through 2 other programs in the last six years & my family talked me out of it. Now i am pre-diabetic and I have made a firm decision that I need to do this or my years on Earth will be severely limited. My back is degenerated from injuries; carrying this extra weight is painful & making it hard to be active. I am accepting the low risks of surgery because diabetes is very high risk. And I don’t want to live with morbid obesity from a wheelchair when my back crumbles. This surgery is, the way I see it, a ticket to a better and longer life.

That’s wonderful! Congratulations!

Tonight we talked about the surgery. I told him I don’t feel comfortable telling him my actual weight. But I did send him a full-length picture. He sent back a thumbs up but hasn’t anything yet. Being a mature guy who has also struggled with weight I think it will be alright.

Had the revision done at 7 30 am this morning weighing in at 180 my original goal weight. The first 12 hours were horrible. This was a very painful surgery for me and I don't know if it was because they also took the hernia I had. ( I believe they said they took it and not fixed it but I am still on the drugs. ) I have been given morphine to start with then they switched me to dillata because the morphine wasn't cutting it. I am back on liquid hydro now. I wasn't able to urinate either for the first several hours and I am still having a hard time with it. I have been crying through most of the day. Pain, anxiety and lack of sleep have been my companions as they are still not letting visitors in. I cant tell if I still have GERD . The gas pain has been in my neck and shoulders it sucks. I did 3 laps around the ward at 1 am to see if it would help because I thought I had read it helps with the gas. Well I will keep updating my progress here. Good night