Bimbabe

Hello to anyone out there who is reading this. it has been 11 years since my gastric bypass and wow! I was reading my past entries things have certainly changed for me. I had the weight problem, lost about 90lbs, became an alcoholic, got divorced, remarried, moved to Houston, then back to Atlanta, became born again, through the peace and grace of Jesus Christ!, traveled monthly to RI to check on my parents, lost my brother and father in 2019, relapsed with alcohol several times, as of today I have been sober for 2 years!~~~~WHEW! So now I am married to Michael White, someone I have loved for over 30 years, I am living sober, grieving the loss of my brother, Chip 01/09/2019 and my Dad, Ray 09/06/2019. As for the weight, I am now 208lbs and not really happy at this weight, but Thank God it's not 275! The most important part of my journey is that I became a Christian, I would have been dead by now if I had not done that. I feel okay today, some days are difficult because I do not drink alcohol anymore, so I have to depend on God through everything...opps gotta run....

Hi Viviana, I responded to you via email, hit me back.

It has been over a year since I blogged? wow, I cannot believe it. I am holding up okay, right at 165-168. I do need to loose more, but I have not really been working at it. I have had another issue, come up and I just want to talk about it a litte. I have been drinking wayyy too much. I used to be someone who could have 1/2 glass of wine and throw it away because I just didn't want anymore. I guess I have a cross additction. I have been searching the internet about the topic and apparently it is more prevelant than I thought. I thought I was the only one. I am relieved that I am not. It started in 2009, I think. I would buy some 2.5 buck chuck from Trader Joes. It went down so easy and tasted so good, I just kept buying it, by the caseload! I knew something was not right, but I could not stop and it continued. I really noticed that I had been drinking at least one bottle of wine in December of 2009. I could not remember a day when I did not have anything to drink, crazy, right? I could go one or two days without drinking. But not a week and not a month. I would say to myself (just like the diets) "okay as of the first of the month, I am not going to drink or I am not going to drink until my next vacation. Well, that would never happen. I would keep drinking and drinking. I have now become an alcoholic, which is a bad thing, but the great thing is I was able to go to a meeting yesterday and with the help of AA, I hope to have a sober life. I am taking it one day at a time. I am sharing this because if you are having the same issues, weather it be alcohol, drugs, gambling, sex, etc. I want you to know that you are not alone and can contact me at anytime, for support. I thought I had my food addiction kicked, but it just manifested itself in another addiction.

Thankfully, I am no longer an RN in the hospital. I am a Nurse Practitioner, so I can eat every 2 hours if necessary.

I attended an information session, here in decatur, GA in 2006, my weight was 247 at 5'8". I was 100% sold on having LAP-BAND®®®®. I did extensive research (I am a Nurse Practitioner, by the way) and STILL was 100% FOR LAP-BAND®®®®. Unfortunately, I let my dad and husband talk me out of having it done. Fast forward to Jan 2008. By then I was up to 267, this is after going on yet another diet, my fasting blood sugar was 119, I was put on metformin. There was a information session on 05/14/2008, which I attended the MD was Scott Steinberg, who I love. Anyway he discussed the LAP-BAND®®®® and GBS. Again, I left thinking I am going to get the LAP-BAND®®®®, of course! So, I did more research and discovered that the cure for type II DM, is gastric bypass! What???? I then began doing more research and found that there is a 99% cure rate for type II DM with gastric bypass. That is when I started changing my mind. The things I did not like about gastric bypass, was the malabsorption issues and the potential for dumping syndrome (I will go back to that in a min.) Anyway, I told my dad, mom and hubby that I had to do this...for me! I have BCBS PPO and the office people were GREAT! They gave me a list of things I needed to submit and viola! After my psych clearance, I was given a date. 10/14/2008, the day before my 44th birthday. On the day of surgery, I weighed 275, I was sooo nervous and scared. Everything went well. My recovery was quite painless. I did have to stay overnight, not too bad. Then when I got home I began walking 3 miles per day. I checked my blood sugars, and found after week 1 I no longer needed the metformin. I am almost 1 year out and I weigh....(drumroll please) 185! I still have a way to go and a lot more to learn, but I am on my way for sure. Some caveats: Protein: use UNJURY.com. It is the best tasting protein shakes you can think of. I have a cup of chocolate soy milk (I don't like cow's milk) with a scoop of the vanilla unjury and I really feel like I am have a milk shake every morning Vitamins, calcium and vit. B: DO IT everyday, if you don't you will have NO energy. I get my vitamin B12 and bcomplex from biartricadvantage.com They have different flavors of the calcium mint, chocolate, etc. Yummy! Exercise: DO IT, I must admit, I am not the best at this. I do yoga every morning and evening. I was someone who could not imagine working out everyday, but I do, walk, it will speed up your weight loss! DUMPING: DON NOT DO THIS!! :cryin g:If you eat too many carbs, it will happen. You will feel as though you are having a heart attack. Of course, I had to challenge this by having a HUGE piece of cake. Well, i dumped. What is dumping??? Basically, your metabolism changes, so when you eat too many carbs, as you know your body produces and sends out massive amounts of insulin. Remember, if you have gastric bypass your body does not absorb all of that sugar. The small intestine is bypassed, so it goes straight to your gut. This is like taking 5000U of insulin, very scary and dangerous. My husband wanted to take me to the ER, and I refused I was too embarrassed, it did pass, but I really really will never do that again. I prayed to HIM to let me get through it! Thank God for Jesus, really.

I attended an information session, here in decatur, GA in 2006, my weight was 247 at 5'8". I was 100% sold on having LAP-BAND®®®®. I did extensive research (I am a Nurse Practitioner, by the way) and STILL was 100% FOR LAP-BAND®®®®. Unfortunately, I let my dad and husband talk me out of having it done. Fast forward to Jan 2008. By then I was up to 267, this is after going on yet another diet, my fasting blood sugar was 119, I was put on metformin. There was a information session on 05/14/2008, which I attended the MD was Scott Steinberg, who I love. Anyway he discussed the LAP-BAND®®®® and GBS. Again, I left thinking I am going to get the LAP-BAND®®®®, of course! So, I did more research and discovered that the cure for type II DM, is gastric bypass! What???? I then began doing more research and found that there is a 99% cure rate for type II DM with gastric bypass. That is when I started changing my mind. The things I did not like about gastric bypass, was the malabsorption issues and the potential for dumping syndrome (I will go back to that in a min.) Anyway, I told my dad, mom and hubby that I had to do this...for me! I have BCBS PPO and the office people were GREAT! They gave me a list of things I needed to submit and viola! After my psych clearance, I was given a date. 10/14/2008, the day before my 44th birthday. On the day of surgery, I weighed 275, I was sooo nervous and scared. Everything went well. My recovery was quite painless. I did have to stay overnight, not too bad. Then when I got home I began walking 3 miles per day. I checked my blood sugars, and found after week 1 I no longer needed the metformin. I am almost 1 year out and I weigh....(drumroll please) 185! I still have a way to go and a lot more to learn, but I am on my way for sure. Some caveats: Protein: use UNJURY.com. It is the best tasting protein shakes you can think of. I have a cup of chocolate soy milk (I don't like cow's milk) with a scoop of the vanilla unjury and I really feel like I am have a milk shake every morning Vitamins, calcium and vit. B: DO IT everyday, if you don't you will have NO energy. I get my vitamin B12 and bcomplex from biartricadvantage.com They have different flavors of the calcium mint, chocolate, etc. Yummy! Exercise: DO IT, I must admit, I am not the best at this. I do yoga every morning and evening. I was someone who could not imagine working out everyday, but I do, walk, it will speed up your weight loss! DUMPING: DON NOT DO THIS!! :cryin g:If you eat too many carbs, it will happen. You will feel as though you are having a heart attack. Of course, I had to challenge this by having a HUGE piece of cake. Well, i dumped. What is dumping??? Basically, your metabolism changes, so when you eat too many carbs, as you know your body produces and sends out massive amounts of insulin. Remember, if you have gastric bypass your body does not absorb all of that sugar. The small intestine is bypassed, so it goes straight to your gut. This is like taking 5000U of insulin, very scary and dangerous. My husband wanted to take me to the ER, and I refused I was too embarrassed, it did pass, but I really really will never do that again. I prayed to HIM to let me get through it! Thank God for Jesus, really.

attended an information session, here in decatur, GA in 2006, my weight was 247 at 5'8". I was 100% sold on having LAP-BAND®®®. I did extensive research (I am a Nurse Practitioner, by the way) and STILL was 100% FOR LAP-BAND®®®. Unfortunately, I let my dad and husband talk me out of having it done. Fast forward to Jan 2008. By then I was up to 267, this is after going on yet another diet, my fasting blood sugar was 119, I was put on metformin. There was a information session on 05/14/2008, which I attended the MD was Scott Steinberg, who I love. Anyway he discussed the LAP-BAND®®® and GBS. Again, I left thinking I am going to get the LAP-BAND®®®, of course! So, I did more research and discovered that the cure for type II DM, is gastric bypass! What???? I then began doing more research and found that there is a 99% cure rate for type II DM with gastric bypass. That is when I started changing my mind. The things I did not like about gastric bypass, was the malabsorption issues and the potential for dumping syndrome (I will go back to that in a min.) Anyway, I told my dad, mom and hubby that I had to do this...for me! I have BCBS PPO and the office people were GREAT! They gave me a list of things I needed to submit and viola! After my psych clearance, I was given a date. 10/14/2008, the day before my 44th birthday. On the day of surgery, I weighed 275, I was sooo nervous and scared. Everything went well. My recovery was quite painless. I did have to stay overnight, not too bad. Then when I got home I began walking 3 miles per day. I checked my blood sugars, and found after week 1 I no longer needed the metformin. I am almost 1 year out and I weigh....(drumroll please) 185! I still have a way to go and a lot more to learn, but I am on my way for sure. Some caveats: Protein: use UNJURY.com. It is the best tasting protein shakes you can think of. I have a cup of chocolate soy milk (I don't like cow's milk) with a scoop of the vanilla unjury and I really feel like I am have a milk shake every morning Vitamins, calcium and vit. B: DO IT everyday, if you don't you will have NO energy. I get my vitamin B12 and bcomplex from biartricadvantage.com They have different flavors of the calcium mint, chocolate, etc. Yummy! Exercise: DO IT, I must admit, I am not the best at this. I do yoga every morning and evening. I was someone who could not imagine working out everyday, but I do, walk, it will speed up your weight loss! DUMPING: DON NOT DO THIS!! :cryin g:If you eat too many carbs, it will happen. You will feel as though you are having a heart attack. Of course, I had to challenge this by having a HUGE piece of cake. Well, i dumped. What is dumping??? Basically, your metabolism changes, so when you eat too many carbs, as you know your body produces and sends out massive amounts of insulin. Remember, if you have gastric bypass your body does not absorb all of that sugar. The small intestine is bypassed, so it goes straight to your gut. This is like taking 5000U of insulin, very scary and dangerous. My husband wanted to take me to the ER, and I refused I was too embarrassed, it did pass, but I really really will never do that again. I prayed to HIM to let me get through it! Thank God for Jesus, really.

attended an information session, here in decatur, GA in 2006, my weight was 247 at 5'8". I was 100% sold on having LAP-BAND®®®. I did extensive research (I am a Nurse Practitioner, by the way) and STILL was 100% FOR LAP-BAND®®®. Unfortunately, I let my dad and husband talk me out of having it done. Fast forward to Jan 2008. By then I was up to 267, this is after going on yet another diet, my fasting blood sugar was 119, I was put on metformin. There was a information session on 05/14/2008, which I attended the MD was Scott Steinberg, who I love. Anyway he discussed the LAP-BAND®®® and GBS. Again, I left thinking I am going to get the LAP-BAND®®®, of course! So, I did more research and discovered that the cure for type II DM, is gastric bypass! What???? I then began doing more research and found that there is a 99% cure rate for type II DM with gastric bypass. That is when I started changing my mind. The things I did not like about gastric bypass, was the malabsorption issues and the potential for dumping syndrome (I will go back to that in a min.) Anyway, I told my dad, mom and hubby that I had to do this...for me! I have BCBS PPO and the office people were GREAT! They gave me a list of things I needed to submit and viola! After my psych clearance, I was given a date. 10/14/2008, the day before my 44th birthday. On the day of surgery, I weighed 275, I was sooo nervous and scared. Everything went well. My recovery was quite painless. I did have to stay overnight, not too bad. Then when I got home I began walking 3 miles per day. I checked my blood sugars, and found after week 1 I no longer needed the metformin. I am almost 1 year out and I weigh....(drumroll please) 185! I still have a way to go and a lot more to learn, but I am on my way for sure. Some caveats: Protein: use UNJURY.com. It is the best tasting protein shakes you can think of. I have a cup of chocolate soy milk (I don't like cow's milk) with a scoop of the vanilla unjury and I really feel like I am have a milk shake every morning Vitamins, calcium and vit. B: DO IT everyday, if you don't you will have NO energy. I get my vitamin B12 and bcomplex from biartricadvantage.com They have different flavors of the calcium mint, chocolate, etc. Yummy! Exercise: DO IT, I must admit, I am not the best at this. I do yoga every morning and evening. I was someone who could not imagine working out everyday, but I do, walk, it will speed up your weight loss! DUMPING: DON NOT DO THIS!! :cryin g:If you eat too many carbs, it will happen. You will feel as though you are having a heart attack. Of course, I had to challenge this by having a HUGE piece of cake. Well, i dumped. What is dumping??? Basically, your metabolism changes, so when you eat too many carbs, as you know your body produces and sends out massive amounts of insulin. Remember, if you have gastric bypass your body does not absorb all of that sugar. The small intestine is bypassed, so it goes straight to your gut. This is like taking 5000U of insulin, very scary and dangerous. My husband wanted to take me to the ER, and I refused I was too embarrassed, it did pass, but I really really will never do that again. I prayed to HIM to let me get through it! Thank God for Jesus, really.

? permalink Quote: Originally Posted by BrendaNNC Hello, I'm a 59 year old lady and I'm trying to decide on having the LAP-BAND®® or the Gastric Bypass. I weigh 236 and I'm 5'4". I'm a type II diabetic on oral medication and take one blood pressure medication. Please advise!!!!! I live in Raleigh, NC. Hi and nice to meet you. My name is Sue. Okay, so here is MY story....(lots o' details, I will try to be brief) I attended an information session, here in decatur, GA in 2006, my weight was 247 at 5'8". I was 100% sold on having LAP-BAND®. I did extensive research (I am a Nurse Practitioner, by the way) and STILL was 100% FOR LAP-BAND®. Unfortunately, I let my dad and husband talk me out of having it done. Fast forward to Jan 2008. By then I was up to 267, this is after going on yet another diet, my fasting blood sugar was 119, I was put on metformin. There was a information session on 05/14/2008, which I attended the MD was Scott Steinberg, who I love. Anyway he discussed the LAP-BAND® and GBS. Again, I left thinking I am going to get the LAP-BAND®, of course! So, I did more research and discovered that the cure for type II DM, is gastric bypass! What???? I then began doing more research and found that there is a 99% cure rate for type II DM with gastric bypass. That is when I started changing my mind. The things I did not like about gastric bypass, was the malabsorption issues and the potential for dumping syndrome (I will go back to that in a min.) Anyway, I told my dad, mom and hubby that I had to do this...for me! I have BCBS PPO and the office people were GREAT! They gave me a list of things I needed to submit and viola! After my psych clearance, I was given a date. 10/14/2008, the day before my 44th birthday. On the day of surgery, I weighed 275, I was sooo nervous and scared. Everything went well. My recovery was quite painless. I did have to stay overnight, not too bad. Then when I got home I began walking 3 miles per day. I checked my blood sugars, and found after week 1 I no longer needed the metformin. I am almost 1 year out and I weigh....(drumroll please) 185! I still have a way to go and a lot more to learn, but I am on my way for sure. Some caveats: Protein: use

How did it go? Which seminar did you attend? I had my surgery done by Dr. Steinberg in Decatur.:tongue2:

Hi and nice to meet you. My name is Sue. Okay, so here is MY story....(lots o' details, I will try to be brief) I attended an information session, here in decatur, GA in 2006, my weight was 247 at 5'8". I was 100% sold on having lap band. I did extensive research (I am a Nurse Practitioner, by the way) and STILL was 100% FOR lap band. Unfortunately, I let my dad and husband talk me out of having it done. Fast forward to Jan 2008. By then I was up to 267, this is after going on yet another diet, my fasting blood sugar was 119, I was put on metformin. There was a information session on 05/14/2008, which I attended the MD was Scott Steinberg, who I love. Anyway he discussed the lapband and GBS. Again, I left thinking I am going to get the lapband, of course! So, I did more research and discovered that the cure for type II DM, is gastric bypass! What???? I then began doing more research and found that there is a 99% cure rate for type II DM with gastric bypass. That is when I started changing my mind. The things I did not like about gastric bypass, was the malabsorption issues and the potential for dumping syndrome (I will go back to that in a min.) Anyway, I told my dad, mom and hubby that I had to do this...for me! I have BCBS PPO and the office people were GREAT! They gave me a list of things I needed to submit and viola! After my psych clearance, I was given a date. 10/14/2008, the day before my 44th birthday. On the day of surgery, I weighed 275, I was sooo nervous and scared. Everything went well. My recovery was quite painless. I did have to stay overnight, not too bad. Then when I got home I began walking 3 miles per day. I checked my blood sugars, and found after week 1 I no longer needed the metformin. I am almost 1 year out and I weigh....(drumroll please) 185! I still have a way to go and a lot more to learn, but I am on my way for sure. Some caveats: Protein: use powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury.com. It is the best tasting Protein shakes you can think of. I have a cup of chocolate soy milk (I don't like cow's milk) with a scoop of the vanilla unjury and I really feel like I am have a milk shake every morning Vitamins, Calcium and vit. B: DO IT everyday, if you don't you will have NO energy. I get my Vitamin B12 and bcomplex from biartricadvantage.com They have different flavors of the calcium mint, chocolate, etc. Yummy! Exercise: DO IT, I must admit, I am not the best at this. I do yoga every morning and evening. I was someone who could not imagine working out everyday, but I do, walk, it will speed up your weight loss! DUMPING: DON NOT DO THIS!! :frown2::crying::crying::crying::crying::sleep::crying::crying::rant::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying:If you eat too many carbs, it will happen. You will feel as though you are having a heart attack. Of course, I had to challenge this by having a HUGE piece of cake. Well, i dumped. What is dumping??? Basically, your metabolism changes, so when you eat too many carbs, as you know your body produces and sends out massive amounts of insulin. Remember, if you have gastric bypass your body does not absorb all of that sugar. The small intestine is bypassed, so it goes straight to your gut. This is like taking 5000U of insulin, very scary and dangerous. My husband wanted to take me to the ER, and I refused :smile2::blushing: I was too embarrassed, it did pass, but I really really will never do that again. I prayed to HIM to let me get through it! Thank God for Jesus, really. One more thing: the people who have had the band the same time I had the GBS, have lost about 50% less weight than I have. Questions.....let me know!!! :smile:

Where is everybody and how are you doing?:bored:

Down 90! What a difference a year makes!

OMG!! I HAVE FORGOTTEN EVERYTHING. HOW TO POST PICS, UPDATE PHOTOS, ETC......HELP. I AM DOWN 90 SINCE SURGERY DOS 275 10/14/2008. AS OF 09/18/09 185:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

Okay, so they are posted! It took me a while, because I didn't feel like I really lost that much, but I posted them anyway. Enjoy!:confused:

Okay, so they are posted! It took me a while, because I didn't feel like I really lost that much, but I posted them anyway. Enjoy!:cool:

Wow it has been one month! I can hardly believe it. I have been feeling fine. I am up to walking 3 miles 4-5 times per week, more if I can get it in. I really enjoy walking outdoors, the air is crisp and cool, so pleasant. I live outside of Atlanta, so it does not get too terribly cold here. I have not done my picutres yet! I have so many issues. I took some and compared to my "before" and I could not tell the difference. My clothes are literally falling off of me, but pictures really don't show quite how much I have lost. I need to get over it! So, I am going to have my husband take some pictures today and I hope to get them posted by tomorrow night. I also have issues with how I look, as in my face, I can see all of these "spots" and so my face looks crazy. Anyway, I will post pics tomorrow, spotty face, and all! BTW I am now down 35lbs!!!:cool:

Wow it has been one month! I can hardly believe it. I have been feeling fine. I am up to walking 3 miles 4-5 times per week, more if I can get it in. I really enjoy walking outdoors, the air is crisp and cool, so pleasant. I live outside of Atlanta, so it does not get too terribly cold here. I have not done my picutres yet! I have so many issues. I took some and compared to my "before" and I could not tell the difference. My clothes are literally falling off of me, but pictures really don't show quite how much I have lost. I need to get over it! So, I am going to have my husband take some pictures today and I hope to get them posted by tomorrow night. I also have issues with how I look, as in my face, I can see all of these "spots" and so my face looks crazy. Anyway, I will post pics tomorrow, spotty face, and all! BTW I am now down 35lbs!!!:willy_nilly:

Hi GrammaLisa! Congratualtions on your date! You should be fine with returning to work after 2 weeks. The worst part are the gas pains that lasted about 6 days for me. Walking and gasX really did help. As far as your post-op diet, WOW! That does sound really restrictive. I had to have liquids for 3 weeks, now I am on the mushies until the 25th of November, just in time for Thanksgiving! After that, I have 6 small meals per day. I cannot have salads until 3 months out. Maybe they are really into getting dramatic results, which you will on that diet. If you are not able to have fruits and veggies, I strongly suggest you check to make sure you can use metamucil ( I take the non-gritty kind, 2 TBSPS once per day). I had trouble with constipation until I started doing that. Don't worry about being hungry, you will find you have to REMIND yourself to eat:blink:! You will be able to follow their diet, but just ask about having some soft fruits and veggies, see what they say. Head hunger is another thing:cursing:, which you can work through, by recognizing it. Don't worry, you will soon discover what I mean by that. I am a salad lover and cannot wait until 01/14/09, I will Celebrate by having a small salad. You will find yourself thirsty as well, and as you know Water is fine. Let me know if you have any other questions. Sue

that is great 18lbs! Keep up the good work!

Hi GramaLisa, Good luck!:thumbs_up: I am 3 weeks out and doing well. I have lost 28lbs, and I feel wonderful. If you have any questions, just ask! I will be glad to help and support you!:frown:

Whoo Hoo! Week three is here. Drumroll please..... I have now lost 28lbs! I am so happy. I have had a couple of bouts with vomiting, due to my rapid eating habits. I really have got to remember to chew, chew, chew!!! I worked in the hospital as a RN and we would get a 10-15min break in 12hours, no kidding, so we learned the bad habit of stuffing a meal down within seconds! This is a habit that I am going to have to learn to break. The vomiting helps, because that is my least favorite thing to do is vomit!! OMG it is so gross. Another thing I need to do is get back to excercising. I only walked once this week, I am going to have to force myself to get on the treadmill tonight for at least one hour! Well that's it for now. Next week is week 4 and I will post some progession pictures as well as blog.

Whoo Hoo! Week three is here. Drumroll please..... I have now lost 28lbs! I am so happy. I have had a couple of bouts with vomiting, due to my rapid eating habits. I really have got to remember to chew, chew, chew!!! I worked in the hospital as a RN and we would get a 10-15min break in 12hours, no kidding, so we learned the bad habit of stuffing a meal down within seconds! This is a habit that I am going to have to learn to break. The vomiting helps, because that is my least favorite thing to do is vomit!! OMG it is so gross. Another thing I need to do is get back to excercising. I only walked once this week, I am going to have to force myself to get on the treadmill tonight for at least one hour! Well that's it for now. Next week is week 4 and I will post some progession pictures as well as blog.

I live in GA and I have BCBS PPO. I had to have a psych, pulmonary and Primary Care Provider approval, I also had to see a dietician. Also, I had to have a BMI of 40 or above or a BMI of 35 or above with a comorbid condition, such as hypertension or diabetes. You can call your ins. company and they will send you information on what you need to qualify.