chad2rad

So good to see all the nurses out there ready to make the change. As the natural nurturers we are, many times we suffer for it. Long hours, physical and mental stress. We eat the wrong things, too exhausted to exercise and take care of ourselve. Well, Nurses, WE ARE WORTH IT! Looking forward for my surgery date, almost nervous it may not happen. good luck and prayers to St Catherine Siena, Patron Saint of Nurses, for everyone's health and speedy recovery.

This video is a really good visual aid to show you why drinking while you are eating can sabotage your weight loss.

lol I was thinking about this last night also. I can't sleep without my fan and it's kinda bulky but I will definitely bring it or else I wont be able to sleep.

I feel the pain as each person shares their story. Sometimes those memories are still vivid and real. Reading these through, I see a common bond... we are not a lot alone. We are strong and overcomers.
I hope each us finds the strength to let go and heal. We are worth it.
I can't wait for surgery this fall. The journey continues.
Peace
Chad

I feel the pain as each person shares their story. Sometimes those memories are still vivid and real. Reading these through, I see a common bond... we are not a lot alone. We are strong and overcomers.
I hope each us finds the strength to let go and heal. We are worth it.
I can't wait for surgery this fall. The journey continues.
Peace
Chad

I feel the pain as each person shares their story. Sometimes those memories are still vivid and real. Reading these through, I see a common bond... we are not a lot alone. We are strong and overcomers.
I hope each us finds the strength to let go and heal. We are worth it.
I can't wait for surgery this fall. The journey continues.
Peace
Chad

That was one of the final straws to say, I need help and wls.
Not what I want life to look like, in that state.

I feel the pain as each person shares their story. Sometimes those memories are still vivid and real. Reading these through, I see a common bond... we are not a lot alone. We are strong and overcomers.
I hope each us finds the strength to let go and heal. We are worth it.
I can't wait for surgery this fall. The journey continues.
Peace
Chad

That was one of the final straws to say, I need help and wls.
Not what I want life to look like, in that state.

I am a lifetime ww member, loosing 160 lbs to get to goal around 2003. Kept it off for about 2-3 years then life happened again and I gained 100 back. I have since lost the same 50 or so lbs or so until i get comfortable and quit loosing and have to start over.
I am not sure how one would compute ww points to a sleeve diet, it may include way too much food and carbs. When I was on their program at 280 lbs I could not get all my points in at times.
The support is great at the meetings, but I may not feel comfortable telling them I did not get back to goal without the ww way. The sleeve is just a different tool for weight management, not sure I would want to be the only one is a audience specific meeting.

I have this one, the kids use it all the time to make smoothies. It goes right thru ice. I plan to use it a lot after surgery.
http://mobile.walmart.com/m/phoenix;jsessionid=AB8E60B25F52A8CB90BF99BBDFCD5D33#ip/Ninja-Frozen-Treat-and-Drink-Maker/19855960

I am so sorry to hear about your dad. I hope he continues to improve.
I want to continue prepare and research until I have surgery. I know all the risks are in small print. Feel I have to still take a risk and go for it. Otherwise I am a walking dead man inside forever.
Praying for a full recovery.

Was scared of the same thing... went to the weight loss seminar and met the surgeon even before we (pcp) talked about it. I had a dream he told me I was crazy. I was more anxious about that more than anything.
So I met with my PCP yesterday and it went great. The Bariatric Coordinator gave me a sample letter for the letter of necessity he had to write to my insurance. I filled in the details for him he did not remember and that was it. The letter helped give a frame work for our discussion and whet he needed to know and provide. You are doing this for you, and not to please your PCP. While you need his/her cooperation, you are the one choosing and doing all the work for transformation. Be your best advocate. You are worth it.

The risks were laid out to me clearly. Any surgery is a risk. When I started reading the risks that I had to sign off on with my Dr. my head dropped in my hands and my heart started beating rapidly. then I thought about all of the risks involved with me being morbidly obese. I took the risk of surgery and signed off on the paperwork...the fine print and all.
I pray for all of us who have undergone the WLS that our bodies will heal and the weight will fall off and stay gone.
Sent from my iPhone using VST

Went to my primary MD for a letter of necessity for surgery today, met my surgeon one on one a few days ago... And its all good! Have my Psych evaluation July 16. Then we can submit to my insurance. Just started this two months ago....
For some reason, I was apprehensive about meeting my PCP, but he was very supportive. No judgement.
Looks like September or October if I am approved. Pray it will be so.
Sometimes, I think I am crazy, but then I think of my quality of life without the sleeve.... So glad I am finally doing something great for me, my health, wife and kids.
I want to live! Amen.

I am a food addict. Or should I say I have an addictive personality. If I enjoy something I have an intense drive to over do it. I don't know why this is, but I am working really hard to fix it.
I. AM. NOT. PERFECT.
But, I will admit I have problems in my head and I need to fix them.
I am posting the 12 Steps of Addiction Recovery.
Know them, learn them, live them.
The 12 Steps

Step 1 - We admitted we were powerless over our addiction - that our lives had become unmanageable
Step 2 - Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity
Step 3 - Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God
Step 4 - Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves
Step 5 - Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs
Step 6 - Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character
Step 7 - Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings
Step 8 - Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all
Step 9 - Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others
Step 10 - Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it
Step 11 - Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out
Step 12 - Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs

Where I found this information: http://www.12step.org/

I received a lap band in 2009 (had complications with it and had to have it removed in 2010) and now getting a sleeve on the same date, July 9. I can tell you from experience, the pain is minimal. If you do experience discomfort, you will be given pain meds to minimize it. Gas pain is probably the biggest cause of discomfort from this type of procedure, although not as common as in years past. If you experience this type of discomfort (pain in your chest, shoulders, back, etc), walk as much as possible. This helps to disperse the gas. I can tell you that this surgery is a very safe, not only as a patient, but as a medical professional. I am a Surgical Technologist and can attest that this procedure is extremely common and safe. There a many abdominal procedures that use a laparoscopic approach and patients tolerate it well. Your experience will most likely be a good one. When you return home, you will have a new life to ahead of you. This is my third trip to the operating room (as a bariatric patient) and it's well worth it! I am so grateful to have this second chance. Good luck to you all and God Bless!

I fully agree with everyone who has posted so far. If you can lose the weight and keep it off, that is fantastic.
And yes, it's true that this time you've educated yourself regarding nutrition, which in theory will help you maintain your weight loss.
I have done the lose/gain, lose/gain cycle myself countless times. And the last time I lost weight (in 2006), I lost over 100 lbs by myself. I became VERY educated regarding nutrition. I read every label I could before I put anything in my mouth. I tracked my intake, did TONS of exercise. It was AWESOME!
Then life happened (my Mom died unexpectedly, followed by my brother 5 months later). The stress totally put me off track, I "self-medicated" with food to help overcome the pain and stress and loss I was feeling. I regained most of my 100+ lbs. ( I was 330 lbs when I started, 225 lbs when Mom died, then back up to 318 prior to my VSG surgery).
During this regaining period, I still had my knowledge of nutrition, but it didn't help! I was ignoring everything I knew and volume/binge eating and satisfying all cravings.
Now, with my sleeve, even if I do go "off track" and eat things I shouldn't I won't be able to volume/binge eat. It is far less likely that I will regain a significant amount of weight. The "slippery slope" is more easily avoided with the sleeve.
For me, I knew I needed the additional help of having "built-in" Portion Control. No amount of health and nutrition knowledge was going to help me in moments of intense weakness, stress and reckless abandon.

I'm looking forward to not having the steering wheel rub up against my stomach when I'm driving because my belly is too big and my legs are too short to make driving possible otherwise. I'm looking forward to going out to a restaurant and not worrying if I'll fit in the seat or the booth. Oh, and to have the towel fit all the way around me. To not have my feet hurt after standing for only five minutes. To not get winded walking up a flight of stairs. To not always be the biggest one in the room. To maybe, possibly find someone to settle down with and live this blessed life with!

And not a XL beach towel, because that's the only one that covers now!

Protien pudding... Do you like pudding? Make a box of suger free fat free pudding with skim milk and add 2 scoops of protien powder when mixing it up. TONS of protien in a small amount of pudding. It's an easy way to get the protien in.