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Candy, you CAN do this! It's just food, and it's SO not worth the risk of gaining weight and being above goal. Just maybe let your self have one or two meals a week to splurge, that's what I did. I still lost, but it slowed down a lot. The "last supper" mentality is SO normal but just keep telling yourself that you can still have it someday, just a lot less of it! I think Nicole sent me this but I want to post it here, it may help with seeing food differently...it totally did for me: "Dear Food...I want a Divorce It is not that I don’t love you, but you’re not good for me. As they said in the movie…I'm just not that into you. I am sure you won’t take this news well and will fight the inevitable. Please don’t. We got together when I was young and stupid and did not understand what I was doing to myself. Yes, we will have to see each other on occasion, but I promise it won’t be awkward. We will have a more business like relationship. I wish you all the best, but it is time for me to move on and correct the mistakes of my youth."

I started to get really calm by Saturday night too. I think maybe it was the CD! Sunday I was just excited to go out of town and have a fun dinner and go hot tubbing at the hotel, I kind of forgot about surgery and treated it like a mini-vacation. I also cleaned my house like crazy and got all the laundry done. I knew I wouldn't be doing it for a while, and since being home Brian has really kept it up well and even did 2 loads of laundry yesterday. He's been AMAZING. I don't think that diet coke will enlarge your liver...I was 257.5 on surgery day and don't have a single spot of fat on my liver so I'm sure yours will be beautiful!!! I'm glad you're feeling more calm, that's very important. This is an exciting time and you should definitely enjoy every part of this journey!

Tina, DRINK THAT DIET COKE! I had my last sip of Diet Coke at 5:59pm on Sunday and am so glad I did. I woke up feeling SO much better today! I don't know if day 5 is just my good day, or if it's cuz I caught up on my Vitamins and thyroid pill yesterday...AND I weighed! I was 257.5 on surgery morning (my scale and theirs) and was 251.4 this morning! So I've lost 6 lbs since Monday and have lost a total of 46.1 lbs!!! The most I've ever lost is 45 lbs so this is HUGE! I'm only 1.4 lbs away from beint 250, and 4.9 lbs away from being at 50 lbs lost! My next big goal will be to get UNDER my pre-pregnancy weight from frickin' 2003 and that was 234. I'm hoping to be at that goal by my birthday June 5th. I know I'm feeling better because today was the first time that as I was waking up I thought "What should we do today?" and all week as I've woken up I've just thought "Oh crap...I'm awake." LOL. I don't want to overdo it and regress so I'm still gonna take it pretty easy today, but maybe we'll go to the park behind our house and have a mini-egg hunt. Have a great day everyone!

Oh, I totally will blame it on the vicodin! I've been OUT OF IT. That would be so awesome if I feel lots better tomorrow!

That's a good idea, Riley. I'll set them out instead of having them in the cupboard. I feel so dumb for forgetting them. I've always had such good pill taking habits! I'm gonna set my alarm too so that I won't forget again. Hopefully I'll be feeling better soon! I wonder how long it takes for those vitamins and minerals kick in?

Crap, I actually forgot my multi AND thyroid for the last 3 days. I just took my thyroid at about 3pm and will take my multi at 5 (have to wait 2 hours) and calcium before bed. I just slept SO much and was totally out of it and off schedule and totally forgot about my pills. I NEVER do that either, so you know I was feeling pretty bad. I didn't even think about the Iron, Riley. I bet I'll be feeling lots better after I get that back in my body.

I'm so glad the fill went so well, Riley! It sounds like a good experience, I'm sure I'll be excited for mine. I haven't had ANY meds since 4am this morning and I've been okay. I just had to realize that the dizziness and weak feeling isn't from the meds, it's from the LACK OF FOOD! lol I didn't do too well with liquids yesterday because I slept a lot and I'm trying to do better today. I think I was a bit dehydrated yesterday. MAN--a shower sure takes everything out of me! I thought I was gonna pass out after taking my shower this afternoon. I can't wait to get a bit more food/protein in me and start feeling more normal now that the pain is less. I want to WANT to go for walks and run errands and not feel like I'm gonna fall down just while walking around my house.

Nicole is still home, and is still oozing through the gauze. I don't know if she'll be going in, I think she's waiting for Richmond to call her back. Tina, I bet you'll need to be there at 6:45 too...if not 8am for sure. I can't wait for Monday to be here, I bet you can't either!

Thank you for the advice, Riley! I think I'll get the chewable ones today. You're right, the liquid tylenol is NASTY and so thick and sweet, I almost gagged yesterday when I took it. So you just got the chewable kids' Tylenol? (acetaminophen) How many did you take? I'm due for medicine now but I really don't want to take Lortab anymore. Good luck at your fill! I can't wait to hear all about it. Please let us know all the details when you have time!

RILEY--how many days did you take Lortab for? Did you use all of it?

The Lortab makes me feel VERY relaxed and at ease (like my CD, lol) and they give you a big container of it, although I only have about 1/4 of it left. Hopefully I won't need it after Friday or Saturday...that's what I'm hoping. I know some of this advice is yucky stuff about the complications and not feeling good, but at least you'll have an idea of what to expect just incase it happens. I DO know that this will all be worth it, and I'm already down almost 4 lbs since Monday. WOOT!

Ok girls, so this has been a pretty bad day for me. It's been about as bad as yesterday and I think I tried to get off the Lortab too early. PLEASE--take it as long as you feel like you need to! You're body will tell you when you're ready for regular Tylenol. I had my first crying episode today, I was in SO much pain and am getting tired of needing help 24/7. I'm very independent and this is hard for me. But then I took my Lortab and passed out for 2 1/2 hours and I feel MUCH better now, lol. So just a word to the wise: Take the hard stuff as long as you need to! Don't try to be tough. I just had applesauce sprinkled with cinnamon for dinner and 1/4 and I was full again. Very weird but kinda cool! And holy crap! It kinda hurts to burp and hiccup, watch out for that.

I can't even BEGIN to tell you how bizarre it is to be totally full after eating 1/4 c. of lemon yogurt. It's SUCH a weird feeling!

How much liquid tylenol did you guys take when you stopped the Lortab?

Work and friends are DEFINITELY 2 different things! Abd surgery is fine, just tell them it's a hernia. My sister had hernia surgery Feb 4th and she has 4 lap incisions that look almost like mine! And her healing was about the same too. Liz will give you a bunch of stuff at your pre-op classes and the CD will be one of them. I'm not really a meditator but the CD really worked for me. I didn't laugh during it, I kinda liked that parts that referred to the surgeons as having "caring, respectable hands" etc...made me feel safe. I didnt' take any drugs from 10:40pm last night until 7:45 this morning...BAD IDEA. DON'T do that. I'm hurting big time now and just took more of the stupid Lortab. I really wanted to be off that by today. Bri went to get liquid Tylenol last night and bought the crap that's for colds and coughs. FAIL. He's heading out to take Soph to preschool and he's gonna go get the right stuff. Hopefully it'll be strong enough to wean off the Lortab so I can start feeling more normal! Ok, I'm rambling...pain does that to me.

Tina, I hear ya with the love affair with Diet Coke. I had my last sip of it at 5:59pm Sunday night! I was taking every second I had! But you know what? I bet we won't miss it as bad as we think we will. Oh, I also chewed gum on Sunday and ate 3 pieces of See's candies. So sue me, lol. They were delish. I played my CD on my Ipod too. I had the choice of them putting on any of my favorite music, but I just wanted to relax and also didn't want to choose what they listened to. I wanted them focused while they were cutting into me!

I like your new ticker Candy! I like the ones that show our actual weight. It's easier to keep track of our progress! So, is your work okay with less than a month notice for surgery? What are you gonna tell them for why you need off and how long will you take off?

THAT IS FREAKING CRAZY!!! I knew you were gonna go super fast. I've never heard of the process go so fast and I'm SO SO happy for you! We'll be less than a month apart which will be so cool. Definitely call me tomorrow, I can't wait to hear all about your appts. Very cool that you also have Dr. Baggs, I really like him alot. You go girl! Keep to that 1200 cal diet and I bet you'll be down 25 lbs by surgery. You rock!

Tina you're cracking me UP! Deep breaths...deep breaths... You can shower totally normally on surgery morning, I even shaved my legs (knew I wouldn't be able to for a while). BUT--after showering, don't put any lotions or perfume on. That's all they care about. I put the saran wrap on today and when I talked to Liz just now she said I didn't have to. But for ME--I feel better keeping the glue as dry as possible for the next couple days. I'd rather play it safe than have the glue open and start oozing or bleeding. That would freak me out big time! My incisions are looking really good and I still don't have a single bruise anywhere on my tummy! I have a little bruise on my arm from the shot of heparin and a little bruise on my other arm from the IV. I'm so surprised at my tummy though, I totally expected to be all black and blue and it's not at all. I'm not complaining though!

You'll be there any day Reggie, don't worry about it. Just keep doing what you're doing and it'll happen! I'm so excited for you to have a cm appt and to get a surgery date, it's gonna be awesome when we're all on the post-op side of this, isn't it? I'm so dizzy today but my pain is much better. Liz should be calling this afternoon and I'll probably get to start having full liquids tomorrow so that'll probably help with some of my dizziness. I need protein! I took my first shower today and covered up my tummy with saran wrap and first aid tape. It felt so good to wash my hair and body but WOW---it took a toll on me. That's a LOT of exercise with 0 calories in my body, probably another reason for the dizziness. I'm very tired today and I didn't even wake up until 10:20am, but I'm gonna listen to my body and sleep until I can't sleep anymore. Then walk, then sip, then sleep, then walk, then sip...etc.

Tina, I had the same thoughts...if I can lose 40 can't I lose 100+? The answer for ME is Yes. I probably can lose it. BUT--can I keep it off for the rest of my life? No. I've lost weight several times and every time I gain it all back and then some. I don't want to keep playing this health roulette into my 40's and 50's, etc...I need to get my weight under control while I'm young and lucky to have NO health problems. Don't worry, after all is said and done you'll be SO glad that you did it and your family will be shocked at what a hot mama you are (even though you are absolutely beautiful already!) Start listening to that CD, it really is awesome! The second and third tracks for pre-op I listened to twice a day starting 3 days before surgery and I listened to it during pre-op prep AND surgery too. If you're feeling some anxiety it would be great to start listening to it now. You can DO this. (((hugs)))

TINA--I ABSOLUTELY do NOT regret it! I keep telling my hubby that and I've tole Nicole too. I'm trying not to complain too much about the pain because I know it'll all be worth it! I only want to talk about it here because it's so important to know what to expect. Let's put it this way, I cried when I had my wisdom teeth pulled, cried with I had Sophie (from pain and emotion) BUT I haven't cried yet and I'm feeling better almost every hour so I don't think it's gonna happen! This was by far the 3rd best decision I've made in my life! (First was getting married, second was having Sophie). I know this journey is gonna have it's up and downs with pain and emotions and "do I regret it?" thoughts but I know it's all going to be worth it for all of us! NICOLE--You're right! I have a pillow under my legs too. What divas with our 5 pillows!

TINA--I ABSOLUTELY do NOT regret it! I keep telling my hubby that and I've tole Nicole too. I'm trying not to complain too much about the pain because I know it'll all be worth it! I only want to talk about it here because it's so important to know what to expect. Let's put it this way, I cried when I had my wisdom teeth pulled, cried with I had Sophie (from pain and emotion) BUT I haven't cried yet and I'm feeling better almost every hour so I don't think it's gonna happen! This was by far the 3rd best decision I've made in my life! (First was getting married, second was having Sophie). I know this journey is gonna have it's up and downs with pain and emotions and "do I regret it?" thoughts but I know it's all going to be worth it for all of us! NICOLE--You're right! I have a pillow under my legs too. What divas with our 5 pillows!

Tina, will you have someone staying with you the first few days? I hope you do because it's seriously impossible to get out of bed alone. And all the little things that Brian's doing like getting me water, broth, heating pad, medicine, EVERYTHING. I'm not doing really very much alone. He's holding onto me whenever we walk... A tip if you haven't heard for when you're in bed. I have 2 pillow laying normal, then on laying long ways so it's under my back and then one more laying normal on top. My mother-in-law is a nurse and recommended doing that because it'll prevent the gas from rising up the body. It totally worked! My gas is pretty much gone from in between my boobs and I've never had any gas pain in my shoulders or neck.

Ok, I'm gonna go that. I've only been doing 1 or 1 1/2. I'll do 2 for the rest of the day. How many times a day did you walk and about how long each time? I walk around the house about every 1/2-1 hour when awake and we've taken about 2 big walks for about 20-30 minutes really slowly twice so far today. Does that sound like enough or not enough or just right?