singand_dance

I had my pre-op appt with Dr Alami on Tuesday, everything went well, then..... I wake up the next morning with a major cold. Dang.... I spoke with one of the nurses, she said to wait and see how I feel on Monday. (Surgery is Wednesday). So not cool!

I love the idea if the Protein Drink try-out that Kelly posted a few pages back. I'd love to try other brands. I drink the Premier Nutrition ready-to-drink from Costco. I drink both the chocolate and vanilla. I tried the Worldwide as recommended by the dietician but it had a really metalic tast that I couldn't tolerate. I also have a huge stash of samples. I waiting until after surgery to try them because I've heard so many people say their tastes have changed after surgery. I have the syntax nectar sample pack (tons of flavors!) unjury, and a couple of protein shots. I also bought one bottle of each flavor of Isopure (ready-to-drink). I hate muscle milk but I bought a whole case at costco before trying it. I'm hoping I can tolerate it after surgery, if not... they're free to a good home.

Thanks!

Tomorrow's the big day Neil! Woohoo! Who is your surgeon? I've got my pre-op appt tomorrow. Should I be bringing anything other than my binder? When I was with Richmond they said you have to bring all your vitamins to the pre-op appt, but I don't think SSF told me anything like that. Aaacckkk! I'm so excited! See you in recovery, babysista!

I've heard so many good things about the Santa Rosa support group. I feel like I should make the drive sometime. (I'm from Sacramento area)

Hey Ladies! I have less than 2 weeks until my surgery! I'm so obsessed. All I can think about is surgery/recovery/my future body! Agggghhh! Seriously. Today I kept thinking... "2 weeks from today I'll be discharged from the hosptial and drive home from SF..." I've missed seeing everyone, so I'm thinking about hosting a brunch in a month or two (Once I'm on solid foods again!) What do you think? I've so missed our get-togethers. I'll send details later, but I'd love to see y'all!

Hey Neil! I'll be at pre-op when you're in recovery! I'll send good vibes up your way.

I'm a Kaiser patient also (Northern CA, I don't know about other programs) I was told you don't need to worry about losing too much weight. If you're in to the orientation, you're in the program. I even had my first surgeon say if I lost 140 lbs pre-op, he'd still do surgery.

Of course its normal! I'm having the same feelings right now, my surgery is in 2 weeks. You'll do fine! You've done your research and you now must have faith in your surgeon. Always remember, he really doesn't want anything to go wrong... just like you. I'll be thinking of you tomorrow! See you on the loser's bench!

June 22, San Francisco, CA! I'm completely nervous today. Only two weeks....

I asked this same question when a plastic surgeon spoke at a WLS support group. He said get the plastic surgery first!

I have pre-op class on Tues 6/14... how strange since we have the same surgery day!

What do you thin the beans with?

There's a large group in Sacramento that meets at Kaiser Point West on the 4th Saturday of every month from 11 to 1 with a clothing exchange. All the clothes that aren't taken are then donated to charity. It's a combined WLS support group with RNY VSG and band but the last time I was there, it was 50/50 for RNY and VSG and only 2 band.

Thanks! I'll be thinking about you Monday! I'm having my gallbladder out at the same time, so I thought it might get me a little more time off work, but no such luck!

OK everyone with surgery coming up.... How long did you get off work? Dr Alami is giving me 3 1/2 weeks off work. My boss loved to hear that, but it makes me super nervous. It just doesn't sound like enough time. I thought 6 weeks was pretty standard and know people who took 8 weeks. 17 days till surgery for me! Babysista- I feel the same way as you... I'm glad Dr Fisher refused to do my surgery for so long, I might have been stuck with a band! Of course, I'm also glad I switched to SSF because Dr Alami rocks!

When did the thread move? I kept looking for it in General Sleeve Surgery Discussion but I had to look up someone's profile and find the thread from there... Now I know where to find it again!

How did it go? I was out of town for the past two weeks, I would love to have been there! Is this going to be a monthly thing?

June 22, Kaiser South San Francisco, CA. I can't believe I've got 19 days left! I even got a countdown app on my phone and I look at it every day and get excited. I'm starting to get really nervous now, the clock is ticking.

That sucks Christine! Is Dr Machado at UCD? She used to be at Mercy San Juan. I went to her orientation about 5 years ago but was told I had to go through UCD's program. The UC Davis doc didn't do many bands and said there was no way I'd lose 100 lbs with a band. So I told him I wouldn't get surgery from a dr who doesn't believe in me. I think I offended him. I'm so glad I have Kaiser now.

I'm surprised to hear she was rude... Dr Fisher I would believe... I went to orientation at Richmond 2 years ago, assigned to Dr Fisher. He said I needed to lose 85 lbs before he'd schedule surgery. (Yes, he was serious). I worked really hard for months and lost 50 lbs but it still wasn't good enough for him. I finally decided to have my care transfered to South San Francisco. While I did have to start over as far as going to another orientation and psych appt again, I've got a Dr I love (Dr Alami is awesome) and I have my sleeve surgery scheduled. If you're having that much trouble with Richmond, do not hesitate to get a second opinion. There's another thread on here with Richmond patients, its hundreds of pages long but jump right in, everyone's frendly.

Hi ladies! I just heard some good news for the Sacramento area bandsters... I was in the E.R. this morning for my stupid, stupid gallbladder and the Dr and I were talking about WLS. He told me they will have a bariatric surgery center in Sacramento in about a year. He said they're currently recruiting surgeons. Good news, eh?

I decided to go with the sleeve after following along with everyone over the past two years. Too many people can't eat the right foods, but the wrong foods go down fine. I also talked to several people who had the band and wished they hadn't (or wished they'd just had the sleeve in the first place). One of the things that really helped was learning that my grandfather had essentially the same surgery in the 1950's. He had ulcers and back in the olden days they would remove about 80% of the stomach. He could never eat a ton of food at any sitting and was a very slim man while his siblings were morbidly obese (and they were both diabetic, Type 2) From what my grandma told us, he actually was on the hefty side before his surgery but ever since then he was slim. He lived well for 45 years or so after his surgery. I have surgery in 46 days! I'm really excited now. I've been working so long and it's finally my turn. I'm excited to see the body hiding inside me. And I must admit, I'm also excited to take the time off work, and to finally get rid of my gallbladder (I've had at least 9 attacks) I wonder if they'll let me play with my gallbladder after surgery? I hope you all are doing well! I miss my ladies!

Do you also have nausea/back pain? It could be gallbladder. Probably gas though.

The 'reasoning' behind the NO PROTEIN DRINKS rule is that you eat food, you don't drink it. You shouldn't drink your calories...it's a slippery slope etc...... that's Kaiser Richmond for ya!