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Yay Laurel! I can't wait to hear all about it. Hopefully you're up and about enough to post your story before I go in on Monday the 6th. Good luck!

Tina, I've been having those last panic feelings like "OMG I won't EVER be able to eat this again!!!" and I feel the need to pig out BUT I don't. But today I read a thread about this same thing and someone responded and it hit me like a ton of bricks. The poster was talking about all the "lasts" and wanting to have too many "last" meals. He responded with: "Just think of all the "Agains" you will now have. Like getting my wedding ring on again, fitting into those pants again, not hurting in the morning again. I like AGAINS." What a great point, right? I'm now trying to think of it that way. Don't get me wrong, I fully intend on having probably 3 more yummy dinners spaced out during the next 6 days, but I don't feel that panicked out of control feeling to eat my "last" favorite foods because all the the "agains" will be so much more worth it!

GOOD LUCK!!! I can't wait to hear from you tomorrow. I'm sorry I wasn't available this evening, I ended up being at my mother-in-laws all evening and just got home about 5 minutes ago...we were chatting and my sis-in-law was over too. It was a blast. I hope you get decent sleep tonight and I'll be thinking lots and lots of good thoughts!

We're being banded on the same day, Scottyjay. POST POST POST!

What an awesome point you just made! Why have I not thought about it that way? I'm having surgery a week from today and have found myself justifying lots of "lasts"...until now. Thank you for posting this. I'm going to write it down and put it on my fridge.

CONGRATULATIONS!!! Isn't this the most exciting day? I was freaking out the day I got my date, it just makes everything seem VERY real. I'm a dork and even made a paper chain that I rip one link off of every day. Only 7 left, WOOHOO! Keep us posted with the pre-op diet and how you're doing. Have they had you lose any weight up until this point? I'm gonna check out your blog now. Congrats again!

No Vicki J....I wish! I think she may be going to an informative seminar about weight loss surgery before getting her referral to Richmond Kaiser. I hope someday they have fill centers at our local Kaisers. That would be excellent!

Thanks Kathy! I'm getting really excited and have had butterflies in my tummy all day...probably because I was out shopping and buying all the stuff I'll need at and after surgery. Both appts are pieces of cake, no need to stress about them! Your surgeon will talk to you about your reasons for having surgery and what kind of weight loss programs you've tried before. He'll probably have you lie back and feel your stomach to get an idea of your liver size and how fatty your stomach is. Then, he'll tell you how much you need to lose and what your surgery goal weight is, and then you can ask any questions you have. This appt was about 15 minutes long. The psych eval was pretty quick and painless for me as I don't have any history of depression, suicidal thoughts, eating disorders (besides just eating too much, lol) and stuff like that. It was about 30 minutes long. They'll ask you lots of weird easy common sense questions to make sure you're mentaly fit (like what day is it, who is the president, what state to you live in) and then kinda weird questions like: Have you ever tried to blow up a building? Have you ever intentionally inflicted pain on another person? Do you have or have you ever had suicidal thoughts? Have you ever been admitted to a psychiatric facility either on your own or against your will? You'll be weighed at both appts and then after that you'll just have to lose the weight and then go in for your case manager appt where you'll get your surgery date! YAY! It all goes pretty quick now, looking back. I had orientation 11/25 and will have surgery 4/6 so just about 4 1/2 months. Good luck! Keep me posted!

Riley, what kind of liquids did you do?

That's kind of what I'm going to do too. I'm going to have my "last supper" on Saturday night, but do mostly liquids on Thurs, Friday and Saturday (except for dinner) and Sunday. Did you get below 40 BMI? How much did you lose during the liquid days?

I haven't minded the wait time. I've lost 40 lbs since Dec 1st and had a great head start. I feel like I'm already on a great path as far as eating and exercise go and being banded 40lbs down already will be pretty motivating for me...plus it's less weight that I have to lose with the band which gives me better chances of losing all of my excess weight! Don't get me wrong, I was bummed that I had to lose weight pre-op and that I couldn't have surgery ASAP, but now that it's almost here, the wait and the weight loss have totally been worth it.

I think she wonders how they prepped you?

That is WEIRD Pam! With how strict they've been on weighing us every time you'd think this would be the last weight that really mattered. What if we went out of control and got above our goal weight? They wouldn't even know! Thank God I'm almost 10 lbs below goal, that buffer is very reassuring. I'd be SO stressed this week if I was only a couple lbs under goal.

Ankle weights!!! GREAT idea!

I love seeing your ticker move, Riley! I'm gonna have to come out to SR and meet your skinny booty one of these days. How far are you from Petaluma? We drive through there all the time on the way to Dillon Beach. Did they weigh you on your surgery day? At the support group on Saturday the girls that had surgery in SSF said they didn't get weighed...I thought that was weird. I WANT to get weighed so I have an official surgery date weight.

I'm with Kaiser too but my BMI was over 40 with no co-morbs. I would try the quarter thing and wear your heaviest clothes and layer them too. Why put on more weight when you'll just have to lose it to get your 10% off before surgery? Good luck with your orientation!

I have Kaiser and went to orientation 11/25. Met with surgeon 12/10, had psych eval 12/11 and then had to finish losing the 10%. Did that and had final case manager appt 2/23 and surgery was scheduled for 4/6...a week from TODAY! For Kaiser, this was a pretty quick process. From orientation to surgery it will be about 4 1/2 months and they tell us to expect 6-18 months. I'm excited!

YAYAYAY!!! I can't wait to hear all about it, I'm sure you're gonna do great. The next 3 weeks are gonna be busy on this board--you tomorrow, me next Monday and Tina the Monday after that! GO US! I'll definitely be praying for you. <3

Yay everyone! I'm a week from today, getting closer! Good luck to you all this week, I hope all your surgeries are smooth and you're all feeling great and shrinking SOON. Can't wait to read all of your surgery day stories! I'll be thinking good thoughts for all of you this week!

Hi everyone! My name is Christine and I'm 32 years old. I've been married for 14 years and have a daughter that will be 5 in May. I've been overweight since about 1996 (got married, fat and happy!) and have tried so many weight loss programs it's not even funny! I lost 50 lbs in 2003 before getting pregnant with my daughter but then gained it all back and then some from 2004 to now. I found out in November that I have hypothyroidism and am fortunate that that's the ONLY health problem I have. My highest weight was at my Lapband orientation 11/25 and I was 297.5 UGH. I've been following the Kaiser 1200 calorie meal plan and have been exercising 5 days a week and am now 260.2. I've lost almost 40 pounds and my surgery is week from tomorrow--April 6th!!! I'm so ready for this--not nervous, just excited and SO ready. I can't wait to get to know you all and share this journey with you.

I tell anyone! I know it'll have people paying more attention and that might be frustrating if the weight isn't falling off of me, but I think it'll also keep me more accountable and on track. I have a really supportive group of family and friends and wouldn't be able to be on this journey without them!

I've gotten almost everything except for the food/liquids. I'll do that this week. Some things that I have on my list to do/buy that you didn't have(it's so helpful to compare!) are: baby spoons (to remember to take small bites) ear plugs/eye mask for resting in hospital hot Water bottle stool softener pillow for ride home (to cushion between tummy/seatbelt move things you need in fridge to top shelf take BEFORE pics! BIG mug for ice chips on ride home What a great thread!

Hi girls! I'll be there on Saturday too. Looking forward to it, they'll have an author there. She wrote "Fat No More" and she has had wls surgery too. She'll be selling her books and signing them. They're also doing a clothing exchange so if you have clothes that are now too big that you want to get rid of, bring them on Sat! TINA--the bloodwork is not biggie. They check a bunch of stuff and it was 4 vials of blood that she took. Did you hear i got moved up to the 6th of April instead of the 14th? Glad your trip went well and you're back safely! Hope to see you on Saturday.

I'm having surgery 2 weeks from tomorrow and I can say I don't have any health problems...YET. But I know if I continue the rest of my life being 250+ that it's just a matter of time. I'm only 32 and have only been overweight for about 12 years. I was pretty average growing up and gained weight after getting married, fat and happy. :crying: I must admit that I can't wait to feel truly pretty and feel good about the body I'm in. I want to feel like I can shake my booty and have it look cute. I wanna have the body I deserve and I want to live a long time in it!

I did get one, but haven't gotten around to listening to it yet. I'll try to do that this weekend. Maybe I'm nuts but I'm really not nervous, just really really excited! I don't have any worries (maybe I should!) and I'm just ready to do this and start the next chapter of this weight loss journey. I'm sure the nerves will kick in soon, maybe when I've only got one week to go. How are you doing?