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Hi Marci, Welcome to VST! I'm not on the losers bench yet but wanted to say hello. When I started researching WLS in October, I knew I didn't want the RNY so I figured it was LapBand for me. Once I started reading about the Band I knew that I really didn't want it and felt sunk. Then one day I read about someone having the Sleeve and I immediately knew I wanted one. They're fairly new at my medical facility but my doctor said that I wasn't suited for the RNY and that the Band doesn't have good long term results so it was Sleeve all the way! I'm scheduled sometime in February or March. Not sure yet. Good luck on January 21st! You'll find that everyone here is incredibly supportive and friendly! Hey, we have the same ticker.... obviously the same great taste. :biggrin0:

Good Morning, I'm still pre-op so I don't know if it's Sleeve related, but I had that sort of pain when my gallbladder was acting up. I kept telling my doc I had a cramp in my side. She was certain it was back pain, muscle related, until the ultrasound. Do you still have your gallbladder?

I can't wait to hear the reports of what a great time you all had today! :smile2:

I'm sorry this has been so rough on you. Only three days left. You can do it! Where are you having your surgery done? I go to Kaiser Richmond in N. Ca.

Hello Excited, I'm really feeling your pain. I'm pre-op and things always creep into my mind, but as your last sentence says, you know this is the right decision for you, as do I. I think it's normal to have questions/fears about taking care of your 13 month old. Heck, this may force her to walk! You said that you'll have some help post surgery. Do you have any friends that you can solicit for a day at a time worth of help? Do you have a partner that you can get creative about how to time-manage so that you won't have to be doing the lifting? How about temporary daycare? I know it's expensive, but cheaper than hurting yourself in the long run. How about an old friend that you can invite to come stay after the first few weeks? Make a list of everything that you can think of that might be helpful, then see how you can act on it. Having thick hair is the best. I bet the hair loss will barely show on you. Now about those drinks. Hold your nose! You can get through this. You're going to be so happy that you did! Do you have a surgery date? Hey, I was born and raised in Cleveland. Many of my school friends lived in Columbus!

Good morning team! I hope you all have a wonderful time walking today! I wish I could join you all but I'll be walking in San Fran with my family. Maybe next time. Have a fun fun fun time together!! My food wasn't great yesterday. A few cookies, a few chips. My saving grace was a 1.5 hour walk at the dog park. This morning i'm down 1.2 pounds. I'm going to walk for hours today and stay away from all J.U.N.K. while eating out in the city. I still want to shed 6 pounds by Wednesday weigh in. Ok.. so stop laughing everyone! Happy Saturday... good choices to all.

Tamra, I'm in for the 1200 calorie diet as well. I really want to be down at least a couple pounds by the Wednesday night weigh in. I hope to drop a couple of carb pounds. That said, being pre-op, I'm very happy to have maintained my weight over the holidays. I have a 1 hour walk planned for this afternoon at the dog park. I hope it doesn't start raining before then because my throat is still a little off. Later this afternoon I have an open house to attend. I'm going to be very mindful of what I eat. I think I'll have a Muscle Milk Light in the car before walking into the party. In 2009 I learned about WLS and I learned that it's not a moral issue and it's not about my "failing" that's brought me to this point of lining up with surgery. I've learned that I really need help to shed the pounds but more importantly to keep them off for the rest of my life. I thought I wanted the LapBand, then researched, talked to my surgeon and learned that the Sleeve is my best option. I'm looking forward to the surgery and recovery in 2010. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! :biggrin: Happy New Year!!!

OregonDaisy, thanks for starting this post. As a pre-op I want to get a supply of samples. I understand that post-op my tastebuds may change and it will be great to have samples and not have to purchase big containers only to find that I don't like it.

Happy New Year Team! Welcome to the new people! I went out with a friend tonight. We went to Elephant Bar while waiting for our movie. I had 1 margarita (i have about 1 mixed drink a year) and 1 appetizer. We were planning dinner for after the movie but at 11 decided to just go home. We saw It's Complicated which may be for the "older" crowd like me. I totally enjoyed it and laughed so hard. Here's to a great year for all of us! A new Year, a new Decade!

Good Morning Team! Tamra, you're right about the Richmond meetings. Next Wednesday is the first of the month and the last time to be able to weigh in there. All of you are doing so great. I love reading about petite leather pants and size 32 body shapers. I'm so excited to get into this game and start losing. Heather, hang in there, it's all temporary. I did ok eating out last night. It was one of those very small servings/big money type restaurants. I left hungry and broke. Today is more restaurant food. I'll be so happy when Monday comes. I'll need to do several days of protein shakes to try to get a few pounds off before the weigh in. This morning I'm 234.4 which is the weight I was at my last Kaiser weigh in on 12/18/09. I feel like I barely kept my head above water with the holiday eating but I'm proud of myself for at least having some mindfulness about choices. UGH! Bring back the boring food please! HAPPY NEW YEAR and wishing everyone a svelte, healthy new year filled with joy and prosperity.

Congratulations! What a wonderful New Years gift to give yourself!!

Josephine, you're doing so terrific. You must be so happy!

Judy, what a cool post! I'm so glad that the Sleeve is working so well for you!

Good Morning Team! I'm back to work today after 5 days off. Kinda glad to get away from the food. We went to Napa yesterday which was fun but I did eat a bagel which stuffed me for some reason. Dinner was fish and green beans and 1 cookie. Son's girlfriend brought a huge box of baklava type pastries as a house gift. GRRRRR. Scale back down this morning to 12/18/09 weight. Now I need to really get serious. I'd like to be down at next Wednesday's weigh in at Kaiser Support Group. Food today. B. Muscle Milk Light L. Mahi-Mahi and green beans S. 110 calorie protein shake if hungry D. Camino Restaurant in Oakland for birthday dinner for friend. Looking at menu now. Very limited. Probably very small portions so that will be ok. Have a fun Wednesday everyone!

Cheering you on from afar!

Marci, congratulations on your date!

Anne, Congratulations on your surgery today. I'm so glad to see you posting so soon after surgery. Jennifer, good luck tomorrow!

Tiffy, this is AWESOME news. I'm so happy for you. You encourage each of us and show us by leading the way. Thanks for everything you do here at VST!

Hi Everyone! Riley, I used to be a vegan so I ate a lot of tofu. When I made it fried like you're suggesting, I ate it like french toast and put a bit of sugar free syrup on it. YUM! I had an interesting day today. Picked up Zach's girlfriend at SFO, then we drove down to Half Moon Bay to walk around and have lunch. We went to my favorite organic cafe. I split my lunch with my son. I wasn't full when I finished which was great. On the way home we ordered a Zachary's Pizza. I ate one slice and made a salad. Tomorrow heading to Napa for the day. Probably lunch in Calistoga at my fav place where they have great salads. Food today: B. 3 oz turkey breast from Thanksgiving L. 1 very small chicken enchilada, 1 T black Beans, 1 T rice D. 1 slice pizza, bowl of salad (I only eat a piece of pizza when Zach is home visiting which is once or twice a year. He won't be home again till after surgery so I'm delighted I had a piece so I won't think about ordering before surgery) All of my food was planned. No snacking, lots of walking. I'm hoping the scale goes down in the morning. I think I'll get up early and walk on the treadmill before we go to Napa. We can do this girls... and John. :biggrin:

Tracy, my Costco has the Muscle Milk Light in cases. I think they're $1.37 each when purchased in a case. I really like it. For now, pre-op, it tastes like chocolate milk and sustains me from breakfast to lunch.

Good luck to all of you that are having surgery this week!

Good Morning! New week, new challenges, new goals, new determination! What we do today reflects how our new year will start. Let's get our priorities straight and follow through. We have each other. We can come here and commit to exercise. We can come here and talk about what's up before we stuff it down with food. We can support each other on this journey to making better choices. I think it starts with wanting to make those better choices. We can come and write before, not after to help us be accountable. For today: I am making my plan of the day. I will move my body. I will eat a big salad with protein at Cafe Shea Chez in Half Moon Bay. For dinner I will eat a big salad here at home with some mahi mahi fish. I will remember that my son can eat lots of nuts on his salad. I can not. I will drink all of my water/tea today. I will go to bed by 10pm so that I'm not tired tomorrow. I will take time throughout the day to remind myself of my goals so that I can be successful. My son's girlfriend of the last year, that I've never met, should be arriving this morning. I haven't met her because they were living in Dubai, both on Fulbright Scholarships. I'm on vacation today and tomorrow. I think we're going down to Half Moon Bay for the afternoon to go to the ocean. Tomorrow the plan is Napa. Hopefully we'll have some sunny spells. Pysch consult on 12/18/09 my weight at home was 234.8. This morning 235. I still have a bit to get back to where I was two weeks ago. If I can be lower than 234.8 on January 2nd then I'll feel that the holidays weren't a disaster. Maintaining during the holidays may be the best that a compulsive eater (ME) can do. So.... the rest of you?

Hello to one and all! Happy Boxing Day. This morning my scale said 236. I was 234.4 the morning of 12/18/09 for my psych consult. So this holiday season put me up 1.6 pounds. I am still keeping my eye on my goal of 230 at Kaiser the evening of the 1/5/10 meeting. Probably not so realistic, but I'm going to fight for it. I asked my son to help me. I think I need to start listing my food to help me stay accountable to the group. The problem is all the eating out while son is home. I'm going to keep trying! We had a fun day today. We went to the Japanese gardens in Saratoga, then went to the Rodin Sculpture Gardens at Stanford. We walked a ton on the Stanford campus before the rains hit hard. I planned the day as a surprise for Zach because we both love the Japanese gardens we've gone to in Japan, and we both love the Rodin Museum in Paris. B. 1 slice trader joe's sprouted protein bread, avocado slices and 1 oz fresh mozarella cheese. L. 100 calorie bag of baked potato chips at the museum, 1/2 banana D. Big green salad with vegies and 1/2 an apple, 3 oz turkey. S. I may still have an apple as dinner didn't fill me up. I'm hoping to be down 1 or more pounds in the morning! I need to be around 227 on my home scale to meet my 1/5/10 goal. Tomorrow morning I'll be down in the gym on the treadmill, then doing the weight machines. *sigh* I hope you've all had a wonderful day. Let's please keep each other on track!

Hope, being pre-op, I have no answers. But I did want to come give you a hug and tell you that I'm sorry that you're having a tough time getting in fluids. I think calling the doctor is a great idea. I have read that sometimes dehydration can cause nausea. I hope you wake up tomorrow feeling much better.