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OH MY GOD...CONGRATULATIONS!!! That is so awesome and I'm sure you feel very, very proud as you should. You are an inspiration to me, I'm thinking about trying to jog one of these days.

Congratulations! You look great!!!

That's interesting, but it didn't work out for me??? I don't think there can really be formula because there are so many variables involved.

Welcome to the bench! I'm glad to hear you are doing better. I wish you continued healing.

You were in my thoughts today. Please let us know how you're doing as soon as you feel up to it.

I'd call and schedule an appointment with the surgeon in the next couple of weeks. I would not set this up through the insurance lady, but the office coordinator. You could say it's to discuss your surgery options (I'm assuming this surgeon does more than vsg) and at the appointment explain yourself to the surgeon and what you need. Also, you may want to postpone or cancel your surgery date and let them know that you still aren't sure if insurance will cover.

Maybe call another surgeon, talk with their staff and explain the problem...maybe you'd be better off??

Good luck!

Being nervous is very normal. I did not do a liquid diet, so have no suggestions there.

My pre-op blood work showed I had a Vitamin D deficiency (18), so I took 10,000 IUI's of Bariatric Advantage Vitamin D (although a capsule, it's made for us so it dissolves before it hits our stomachs). I also used chewable Multivitamins, a sublingual B12, and my surgeon wrote me a prescription for solutab Prevacid (melts on your tongue). Check with your surgeon/nutritionist though because all of my Vitamins were based specifically on me.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Welcome to VST! There are members here who have had both and I'm sure will chime in with the differences, but obviously they've revised to the sleeve, from the band, so for them I'd venture to guess there are more positives with the sleeve.

I started my wls process looking and planning to get the band as well. I started reading the complication's forum on lapbandtalk.com and decided the band wasn't the best thing for my life. I won't talk about the negatives with the band or other wls (you can read the complication's forums on both lapbandtalk and obesityhelp.com) because I've never had it, but I will share with you how I thought the sleeve would be a good fit for me.

-I still have a completely functioning stomach and can take pills; I'm only 30 and didn't want to restrict myself in case I needed specific medications later in life.

-It's permanent; I do not ever want to gain the weight back (I realize that this is only a tool and I do have to make some permanent lifestyle changes).

-I do not have to worry about extra supplementation due to malabsorption.

-I do not have to worry about continuous follow-up care (fills and unfills).

-At 7 months out, I now live a very normal, active life!

Not saying that other procedures aren't as good. This procedure just matched my life best, and it has been one of the best things I've ever done for myself.

I am so sorry for your loss.

I had to bring my CPAP machine to surgery and they had it handy to put on me right after surgery. I believe it was put on in the recovery room (but don't know for sure, but I think this is what they said would happen). I know that I had difficulty breathing when they first moved me to my room (the first time I remember being awake after surgery) and the nurse told me to hold on as she fit the CPAP machine on me (it had fallen off?).

My surgeon required a sleep study before surgery that I thought was just silly. The technician that night did not have me do the second part of the study--sleeping with the mask--because he wasn't sure that I had enough episodes that night to warrant it. But after my data was gone over I had to go back in for a second night with all those wires...it was horrible to have to do two nights. So if you do a sleep study, you may want to ask them to do both parts of the test in one night if possible.

Good luck!

Congratulations on your loss and wonderful outlook on life! You are going to have a blast on your upcoming trips (and possibly shopping for those trips???). Keep us posted.

I started eating turkey Jerky when on the soft food stage. I got the Trader Joe's teriyaki flavored and it was so soft and easy to chew. The only thing I had to watch out for were the carbs (because of the teriyaki flavoring), but I thought it was a great source of Protein. I started beef jerky when on regular foods. I love jerky! I still use it for protein and on the go meals.

Very little. It depends on you, but I had had surgery the January before (my first) and discovered I didn't really use anything.

I brought (I think):

lotion, chap stick, comfy dress to wear home (mine was in August), flip flops to wear home, and slippers

Welcome John! I'm glad you've found us, keep us posted on how your journey progresses.

CONGRATULATIONS! You've done so well in such a short time. Thank you for sharing your journey so far.

Congratulations! That is a great victory!!!

Excellent job!!!

Welcome to VST! You have a similar story to many who have wls. My surgeon wasn't the most experienced with the sleeve either and had had one major leak before me that had him start oversewing the staple line. But he had other things important to me in a surgeon...number one being he was covered by BLIS (complications insurance for wls). I was also self-pay to the tune of $19,000 and my (and husband's) big concern were for complications during or after surgery, we really didn't want to see our savings wiped out in part or whole.

As for the anxiety, speak to your surgeon about this. I guess there is a prescription that he can give you to take before coming to the hospital (the nurse informed me that I should have done that when I was shaking so bad from nerves as she was trying to start my IV).

Good luck and keep us posted!

Congratulations!!!!!!! This is definitely the right forum to announce your terrific weight loss, exercise, and attitude victories.

I hemmed and hawed over my goal and ended up using one higher than my surgeon recommended. I still toy with the idea of getting to his (about 6 pounds from where I am today), but I'm really happy at this weight.

Good luck with the rest of your loss to -100 pounds. That's amazing!!!

I think the literature my doctor gave me said 65% EWL was averaged with the sleeve. I think at my last follow up appointment he mentioned that my 100% wl would be a bmi of 22.5, and that is not my goal...so that might mean people like me (who want to stay at a higher bmi) bring the percentage down?? I'll try to look through the materials I was given because this could be way off or maybe someone else will be a little more knowledgeable.

Welcome Yolanda! I'm glad you had a successful consultation. Good luck with the rest of your pre-op appointments!

Good luck!!! Welcome to VST! You seem to have your head in a very good place to go forward with this AND be successful. Thank you for sharing your story and keep us posted on your pre-op journey.

Each week post surgery got significantly better and I just kept waiting and then one day I felt good/normal around 3 months post-op.

Thanks for the encouragement. I do walk for 40 minutes four to six days a week, and I try to drink lots of Water. I know that since I started eating more carbs with the introduction of bread (which I don't eat very often) rice and Pasta, the weight loss has really slowed. Do most of you eat almost no carbs. I know I didn't crave them when I couldn't eat them for the first three months after surgery, but now I find I want them and my sweet tooth has returned. I was so afraid of dumping during the first three months I didn't touch sugars, but I started to eat them around Christmas at six months out and found I could tolerate them. Bad discovery!! Do you think if I cut carbs completely for a period of time I will stop craving them? I'd lime to loose another 30 to 40 pounds. Before the original surgery I weiged 325. I got down to 165 then slowly gained weight back up to 278. I was 273 when they did my sleve on 6/18/09. Today I'm at 209, my lowest weight so far.

At this point, actually starting around 4 months post-op, I eat pretty much what I want to following simple good, healthy eating guidelines. That might mean anywhere between 20-100 carbs per day, although it was a gradual increase in months 4 and 5. I also get in around 500-1000 calories per day, averaging between 700-800. BUT I started exercising 5-7 days per week, in ADDITION to walking, beginning my 2nd month post-op. During the winter I stopped the walking, but continued with other forms of exercising.

This past month, my exercise routine has suffered a bit and I only got in 2-3 days per week. I agree with the previous poster regarding the need to change up the routine. Just yesterday a friend and I took a walk for a couple of hours (pretty leisurely) down to the boardwalk and around town. Within the first 20 minutes she commented on what a great workout she felt she was getting. I realized I wasn't anywhere near sweating or really even feeling it. Just saying that my stamina has now been built up that basic walking no longer gives me the workout it used to and that might be you too at this point. Now by the end of the 2 hours I felt soreness, but it wasn't like it would have been as a pre-op or early post-op.

I know we are all different, so you'll need to see what will work for you. I guess my advice would be to either drop your carbs back down to under 30 per day and/or really work on upping your exercise.

Good job on your weight loss so far! Let us know of what you decide to do and keep us updated with your progress.

Congratulations on your decision. We also went to California to get married, just the two of us. My plan was never to do a big wedding and he didn't mind at all. The funny thing was my family (and there are a lot of them) were all okay with it and actually expecting it, but his were kind of weird about the whole thing. Oh well, it wasn't their day, but ours.

Yep, all we needed (wanted) was bridal bouquet, officiant, marriage license, and photographer (we went the day before to get the license and bouquet). Good luck!!!