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Good morning Sassy! Just do a google search for bariatric support groups and then your town. That is how I found two of the three I just attended. The third one was through networking, I got an invite. It was not physician sponsored, a patient from where I had surgery got it put together, it was fun! I started attending a support group two months prior to surgery. We are from TX but at that time we were living in another state. I came home to have the surgery but I knew I needed to find a group in Wisconsin. I did and they were welcoming and in fact, I still keep in touch with the two women that run it. A lady started attending that was in a wheel chair, she came to several meetings in one. Then she had surgery and she went from the wheel chair, to a walker, then one month she WALKED in!!! It was sooooo neat to see the transformation. Sooooo, if you FEEL like it, you could start going to one pre-op. She was such an inspiration!!!! Good luck, do you have a date or are you still waiting? Take care!

I found ANOTHER support group in our area, tonight was the first time I attended this one. It was the third NEW group in a seven days. Yes, I love attending these meetings. This one was at Medical Center Plano - they meet the second and fourth Thursday of each month. It is really nice to attend these meetings, the questions and answers...and stories from all of us, all at different stages....I find it very helpful. In two weeks everyone is going to bring a 'bariatric dish' to share. I am NOT sure what the means, but I'll figure it out. I know it isn't rocket science. I know for a fact that a Texas chocolate Sheet Cake is not ok. I'll figure it out. If you don't have a support group that you attend IN PERSON, I recommend finding one and going!! Our favorite forums here, do not replace face to face meeting and sharing. Good luck!

Ugh, I had one today. Eight this month, but a couple of years ago I was having double that number per month. I was more than a little worried about the medication thing. I don't take Naproxin for headaches, but I have taken it for other aches and pains and cramps. Great stuff.....it is a no no, it was specifically listed in Dr. Davidson's list of meds we can't take.. It has whatever we aren't suppose to have in it. I take Maxalt or Imitrex. Imitrex (generic) pill is first then the Imitrex injection for the 2nd course of action if the first one didn't work. After than, I have fioricet w/cod - I might have to take this, my "rescue" medication, twice a year. Very seldom. Imitrex is my miracle drug.

I know nothing about the Baylor facility, I'm sure it's nice, but I do know about Forest Park, it was wonderful. I tell people that it was like the Ritz Carlton of hospitals. Small private facility, very good care, nurses are very attentive. I have no complaints at all from start to finish....on top of the personel, it's a beautiful hospital.

Thanks y'all.....shrimp it is. It is the easiest thing to eat for me, meat wise. Goes down easy and I've never had a problem with it, making me feel tooooo full.

I am meeting a friend for dinner this evening at macaroni Grill. If possible, I NEVER go out to eat without looking at their menu on line. I know or at least have an idea of what I will get, or my husband and I know what we'll share. I haven't been to Macaroni Grill since surgery. Almost 3 years! I am thinking either Grilled Shrimp Spiedini or the Grilled chicken Spiedini, they are 380 and 410 calories respectively. Has anybody had either of these? If so, is it good, which is best etc? High in Protein for both of them, I'd eat a few bites of veggies too. If you have a suggestion, tell me!! Thanks!

I disagree, I think it is extremely important to track calories. Dr. Ashmore, a PhD that spoke at the support group last week put it this way. 100 additional calories a day.....meaning,100 more than you need to maintain.....100 calories every day is over 36,000 calories a year. Equals 10 lbs a year. I don't know about y'all, but I didn't wake up 80 lbs overweight, it happened over a number of years, probably 8 - 10 lbs a year would be a safe bet. It sneaks up on us, it doesn't just appear. We don't go to bed a size 8 and wake up squeezing into an 18 or 20. I'm just sayin'

Just wanted to pass along what a RNY patient, who is also a clinical psychologist said to me at a support group meeting this past Saturday......I too am obsessive, this is an adventure to me, I weigh myself every morning, I still log my food and weigh and measure. It is a game to me. I don't get freaked out, but I can control a few lbs, not so much if I were up ten, I'd be overwhelmed. She told me that my being obsessive is probably what will make me successful in the long run, she said "don't try and change that" Just an FYI - embrace being obsessive!!

Hi Stacy, My name is Stacy too...and I'm maintaining. It's a whole new ballgame. First of all, I lost weight when I was eating between 450 calories at the beginning to eating between 650 and 800 calories when I reached goal. I couldn't stop, my size 4's were getting baggy and there isn't as much to choose from in a size 2, plus I am too tall (5'6.5") and needed to get a few of those lbs back. Can that happen??? It still amazes me that I needed to gain a little and stablize at about 145. I learned from my dietitian that I'd need to ADD calories back into my diet and find out what I needed to maintain. OMG, ADD calories. Ok, I can do that. She said a couple of small Snacks or a maybe an additional meal and then go from there. I can only eat so much at a meal, so I eat about three small snacks a day. I like LF Graham Crackers with a little Natural Peanut Butter on them. Sometimes I'll have a mini scone at Star Bucks, if I'm there. I'm good at grazing, it is something I had stopped prior to surgery.....now I'm doing it again, and for now, it is what I MUST do to maintain. I just cannot let it get out of hand. It IS a slippery slope we ride on. I never have anything carbonated and I don't snack on chips or anything like that, those are so easy to over do on. I still log my food on line and weigh and measure when I'm eating at home. I weigh every single morning, it's habit, it's what my doctor recommened and it's like a game. All this works for me and I know I am in control. Good luck, and enjoy!!

do not understimate what you can do with this 'tool'. I was simply amazed. I would have been happy as a clam if I never lost another lb when I hit 170 and slipped into a 14, but it happened so fast, I knew I could do much better. The doctor set a goal of 150, wow, was that possible? My NEW goal was to wear a size 8. How crazy is that????!!!! I kept going down, down, down. A size 12 and then I got into an 8, that is what my mom wore before we lost her. She was always so small, at least to ME she was! I set me newest and last goal at 5 lbs under Dr. Davidson's goal, 145. Seriously.....I weighed 160 and wore a size 9 when I was 19. My wedding dress is a 9. I'm 53 now!!! LoL In the end, I got UNDER my goal, but was looking gaunt and my size 4 jeans were getting lose. I upped my calories and stabled out at 146. I have been maintaining between 145 and 148 for about two years. I buy GAP jeans and the 4's and 6's are what most of them are, onc style is an 8. Life is good, I still will hold up a pair of these pants and say to myself, "NO WAY" So....what I am telling you, I am certain you can get to your CURRENT goal, and then lose more. I'd bet money on it and I don't bet!!!

BMI, 36 - barely. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I've loved every single minute of this adventure since I woke up after surgery. I had NOTHING wrong with me except I was fat. I wanted to love shopping, look nice in clothes and not be the biggest girl in the room. My father's sisters and his mom were all over weight, all but one over 300 lbs in their later years. I have cousins that NEED to do this on my dad's side of the family. I struggled to maintain 225. I've been to WW several times, popped pills, more often than I care to remember, seen a nutritionist, Medifast. All sucessful a little, for a little while. This is by far, without a doubt, the single best thing I've ever done for me. I wasn't unhappy before, but now.....wow. Not one second of buyer's remorse!

Hi, I just looked it up on their web site, it's been so long, I couldn't remember the brand. I knew I'd recognize it though!! Brand is IDS Sports New Whey 42 liquid Protein. Here is a link to the web site. My favorite, and that doesn't mean you'd want to belly up to a bar and order one....but the least offensive was Blue Raspberry. http://www.gnc.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=liquid%20protein%20shots&origkw=liquid+protein+shots&f=Taxonomy/GNC/13200328&sr=1 If you just go to the GNC site, search for Liquid Protein shots.

Y'all are welcome!! You'll love it....YES, it is a nice surprise and to get the full affect, you need to be able to lay a REAL picture, thirteen of them, side by side. With a digital, unless you have one you won't use for anything else and won't give in and look back......then it won't be the same. Never the less, even if you do have a spare camera that you don't need for the next year except for this purpose, you'd need to print the pictures out!! ** I was mistaken, it is THIRTEEN pictures, not twelve at the end of one year **

Keep in mind, unflavored protein doesn't mean there is no flavor...it just means it isn't vanilla, chocolate or strawberry! Finding something was a challenge for me. I finally settled on the bullets, some say not the 'best' but it is what didn't gag me and I was off supplements altogether at 2.5 months. Anyway, I drank the bullets (got mine from GNC by the case). They're only about 3.5 oz and that is not much at all. 42 grams of protein and even though the taste was not any better, it wasn't as thick (I'm big on texture!) and I could hold my nose and breath, just like a kid, and take a couple of sips in the morning, at noon'ish and before bed. I'd rinse my mouth out afterwards and survived!!! Good luck and congratulations!

I read this three years ago, just a couple of months prior to my surgery. (June 11, 2010) I hope some of you will do it, you'll be glad 12 months after you start on your new adventure!!! Go to Wal Mart or wherever and buy a disposable camera. It has to be disposable, not digital.....have someone take your picture the day of surgery. (or the night before) Every month on that date, have your picture taken. After your ONE YEAR surgiversary, take the camera and have the film developed. Actually laying out, side by side, those twelve pictures, wow, there is NOTHING like actually seeing your transformation right there in front of you!!! Do it, you won't believe how your body and your life, change in 12 months!!!! Good luck!

Almost three years out and I still read everything I can on our surgery! My nurse said I was a bit 'rigid' and 'obsessive' - really???!!! LoL It's like a game for me, I've loved this journey from the time I made up my mind to have surgery - it was about 2 AM one night in December 2009 - and I still enjoy it. I love the support group meetings (we had a new informal one today) - I love weighing every morning since a couple of months before surgery, I love logging my food and weighing and measuring it. It may be weird, but it's my new life. Educating yourself is great, this is a great place, and real live support groups are WONDERFUL. Good luck, a year from now, you won't believe how different your life will be!!!

We're less than a mile from that CVS on Custer and Hedgecoxe, going towards the Tom Thumb on alma. Do either of you attend one of the area support groups? BTW, welcome to Texas!!!

Congrats Pottergirl. Almost three years ago I had my sleeve done, and I had no issues. None. Easy, easy!!! Enjoy the ride, it's wild but fun!!!

Chapstick A travel pillow or your reg pillow for the ride home. Put it between your tummy and seatbelt. I actually MUST have my pillow to sleep on! phone and charger clean panties loose clothes to wear home. I actually wore TO the hospital what I planned on wearing home. I took slippers, but they had those little socks for me. I took a gown, but just stayed in theirs.

What's for dinner? Buca di Beppo - we get Shrimp Fra Diavolo, I eat shrimp because it is soooo easy. I'll eat about a fourth cup of the pasta and a piece of bread, dipped in their yummy olive oil.

BTW - self pay in Wisconsin was between 18k and 25k. I've discovered healthcare in the south is less costly and I'm not sure about the rest of the southern states, but it's hard to beat the doctor's and hospitals in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin.

I was living in Wisconsin but have since moved to Texas - going to Mexico wasn't even a thought for me, but I did have to go elsewhere. I came 'home' to Texas. Surgery for self pay in Dallas was just over 12k and well worth it. Dr. Davidson at Forest Park Medical Center is who I used. Voted 'Top Doc' by his peers (D Magazine) for 19 years. It included follow up visits for the first year. Seminar, blood work the day before. Up to two nights in the hospital. Not to mention, Dallas is wonderful. Northpark Mall is close by, a good place to window shop for all those new smaller sizes AND get your walking in!! You WILL have to have a one week follow up, or at least this was the case back in 2010.

I was self pay and flew in from out of state for surgery at Forest Park Medical Center. I was a patient of Dr. Davidson though. Great facility and nothing but good things about Dr. Nick. I had a leak test the following morning after surgery. The rooms are private and there is a couch in there. Someone CAN spend the night if you want them to. Be prepared, the nurses do NOT sleep, they had me up walking the hall at midnight or some gawdawful hour.....that first night!! Nurses are GREAT! The hotel you mention, may be the one we stayed at the night before surgery, I'm not sure. If THEY recommended it, it will not be too far away. It is probably on the opposite side of Hwy 75 AKA Central Expressway, you'll go down the access road and under the over-pass then north on the other side of 75. A couple of miles is my guess. If you're self pay, it's easier than those who have ins. paying. I had to have blood drawn and pre-registered. No big deal at all. I had none, zero complications...I'd do this again without hesitation. I've enjoyed every day since I started on this journey. With self pay, at least with Dr. Davidson, no psch eval Good luck, you'll love your sleeve!!

I used Dr. Davidson in June 2010.....absolutely a great doctor. He does surgery at Forest Park Medical Cntr and he is also at Presbyterian here in Dallas. Being a top doc in D Magazine is what led me to him. I mistakenly said in another thread that it was 18 yrs, never the less, he was voted by his peers for a LONG time!!! I knew I wanted a 'Center of Excellence' doctor and both he and Dr. Nicholson were voted 'top docs' and both had the Center of Excellence stamp of approval. I went with Dr. D because he did surgery on Fridays and Dr. Nick did not.....Friday was more convenient for me since at that time, we were living out of state. I am sure I'd feel the same way, had I gone with Nicholson.

I used Dr. Davidson, a D Magazine 'Top Doc' for 18 years - I don't know Dr. Barker, but I've heard good things about him. I DO know about Forest Park Medical Center, it was wonderful. Beautiful facility, great staff...there was nothing I can complain about when I was there!!! I am sure you'll be in good hands with Dr. Barker....good luck, a year after surgery, you won't believe how your life has changed!!!