DouglasP13

Hello justmel1957! My surgery was with Dr. Argotte on Dec. 26th, this past Christmas. I have lost 106 pounds so far, and I think he is a great dr. I am usually at the support group meetings, and we have lots of fun there. You should come to our Christmas Party on Tue, Dec. 4th at 6:00 p.m. It'll be a blast! Good luck to you, let us know how it goes.

Welcome MysticstarD! My surgery was about $15,000. I was a self pay as well. There are good loans out there, you just have to find one. My doctor had 3 different finance companies that they deal with for loans on this surgery. You might want to ask you doctor about it.

I started on here before I had the surgery, and it was a wonderful thing for me. Welcome aboard!!!

By the way, I'm in Paducah, not far from Hopkinsville.

Have the willpower to tell yourself this is for a better you. I already feel at the top!

Good suggestions to come....read on.....

Okay, so much to reply to. 1st, Ene, I had the Icopure zero carb clear liquid drink from GNC, dr. said to do it, it's perfect for this. Yes, it is $3.75 a bottle, but a bottle is 40 grams of Protein in a 20 oz. bottle. Also, I would say go ahead and try some full liquids like Protein shakes. The best is unjury, you can get at www.unjury.com and it has 20 grams of Protein perserving. You just mix the powder with milk or whatever. Tastes ok, but it's well worth it.

Now, GrumpyNYC, hello to you as well. As far as pain, I'm just about done with the pain. I got pain pills, but I have stopped using them. The only pain is my throat gets dry quickly, especially over night. They at the same time did an endoscopy to remove some pre-cancerous cells from my reflux that I didn't know I had.

Okay, my secrets of the trade. 1st of all, I have an amazing doctor and staff, especially the staff. The nutritionist had come up with a 30 day liver shrinkage diet. It was 2000 mg sodium per day, 1200-1500 calories a day, and 30 grams of fat per day. Mostly fresh fruits and vegetables. Don't eat too much that is in a box, bag, can or bottle. As soon as I got used to this way, I would cook 3 or 4 meals at a time, and put them in tupperware. I found no sodium added green Beans, corn, peas, veg-all. And then I found low sodium forzen dinners in Healthy Choice. To help me splurging on this diet, on days that I wanted to cheat, I would look up the nutritional info on fast food stores, and then if I wanted something that had too much fat or sodium, I knew I had to drink the Unjury shakes the rest of the day. My favorite is McDonald's Big Mac, only 1010 mg sodiu, but 30 grams of fat, with 56o calories. I would have one of those and then shakes the rest of the day. This way, I had 25 g protein from the big mac and then 20 g protien in a shake. I always bot low calorie, low fat, low sodium stuff. It was great. Also, I'm very active, I walk every day, not that much, and not at once, but I made it work, and it worked well. I have lost about 15 pounds since the surgery.

I truly do have a wonderful dr. Lots of people don't like him cuz of his attitude, but he is very cautious and concerned about his patients. Here is what my diet was supposed to be.

30 days before surgery - low sodium diet

24 hours before surgery - go on Clear Liquids ONLY

for 3 days after surgery - Clear Liquids

next 2 weeks - full liquids like shakes and cream Soups

then for next couple of weeks - pureed food and MASHED POTATOES!!! gotta love KFC!

Please, if anyone has any questions, please pm me, or ask me, I am very glad to help. Please ask away, it makes me feel useful, and it helps me repay those who have helped me and answered my questions along the way.

Thank you for all of your support. Please pm me with questions, I love the attention! j/k

Love ya all!!!

Hello Lydia! Glad to hear things have begun. Sometimes it can be a long process. Where are you from? I am from Western KY.

Thank you skinnymom. The pre op diet was awesome. It was low fat and low sodium, and it was mainly to shrink the liver for the operation. And it worked wonderfully. Not many dr's at all do this diet. But right before the operation, I only had to go on a 24hr clear liquid diet, which i have heard that most people do lots more clear liquids, or they have to drink this stuff to clean out their system.

Hey ENE, my dr. had me on only 3 days of Clear Liquids, then 2 weeks of full liquids, which includes your Protein Shakes. I am in the full liquids stage right now, but I have had a few little bites of food, just chewed it well, and haven't had a problem at all. I also don't know the difference between the 2 bands, and I don't know which one I got, but I don't think it was the Swedish. Anyway, if you feel like trying a shake, I say go for it, just do it slowly. Baby steps!!!!

Hello Everyone! I was banded on Dec. 26th, and so far things are going wonderfully! With the pre-op diet they had me on, I have now lost a total of 43 pounds in the past month! I'm doing the happy dance now! Can't wait to hear from lots of you.

Congrats Laci! I get banded on Dec. 26th. I'm so excited. So do tell, how are things so far? Any details you would like to share?

Well, soniacan, that's another one down!!!! I feel as thought I have succeded!

Yes, it is called 'In the Garden.' I love it too.

*singing* Fr. Abraham had many sons; many sons had Fr. Abraham. I am one of them, and so are you. So let's just praise the Lord......

come on, everybody join me.........:clap2:

Oh yes, the guy that reads the books on tape is Jim Dale. He is amazing. he is actually in the guinness book of world records for creating the 134 different character voices in 1 book, and that would be 'The Order of the Phoenix' If you like himk you should check out some of his other books. I have, and they are just as wonderfully done as the Harry Potter series. His web site is: http://www.jim-dale.com/ They are all wonderful!

And, have you seen the trailer yet for the new movie? It is incredible. Release date is July 13th, and book 7 should be out about that time as well. So much excitement for our world!!!

Glad to hear there are several fans out there! Welcome Turner24! And I do agree that the new Dumbledore almost ruins the movies. That is one thing that I actually look forward to at the end of #6, his death. And to be honest Wheetsin, I didn't get the curtain thing either. I listen to the books on tape, and I had to re-read that chapter a few times. Not sure where that one came from.

Hey julesings! Don't you just love singing. I really enjoy teaching it. And, I haven't been banded yet, the date is set for December 26th. I'm very excited. Also, you just have to love those accordian nerds!!!! We totally rock. I am the only accordian teacher in town here, and I also enjoy playing it with a local polka band that we have. If Weird Al can make it work, so can we, right? More power to you Devana!

I do agree with you jojo, I can see your point about women being judged on their looks and such, I just never have done that. Some of the sexiest girl that I've dated have been overweight, and some not that pretty, but they had something that I liked, and that was personality. I see what you're saying about guys not liking fat girls, but fat single guys also have the false image of being perverts, or worse. This is something that I and others that I know have had problems with.

I don't think that either way is better or worse, the grass is always greener on the other side. I think it is equally problematic. I don't know the sturggles the ladies have gone through, all I know is mine, and how much I want to make it better.

Okay Tommygirl, you have a great point. I'm one of those nice guys, and I have been told that a lot too. I console a lot of my female friends who have idiots for boyfriends, it happens way too much.

And Laurigee, I totally understand what you're saying. I try not to continue the cycle, that's why I'm letting it out here. I can't talk bad about my pastor to anyone around here, even though hundreds of poeple have complained about him. I try not to classify people in any category, cuz it just ain't right.

Hey NuMe, I'm not schedueld yet for my surgery, but hopefully on Monday, at my appointment, I will get that shceduled. My insurance is not covering it. My employer has chosen that as an exclusion, so the only hope I have is for my employer to change their policy, which ain't gonna happen, so I'm gettin a loan, and I'm goin in debt!!! Oh well, it happens.

Let me tell you: I love kids!!! I don't get discrimination from them at all. The kids love me, and always want to hang with me. When they want to go out on the weekends, and their parents say they need an adult with them, they call me. So lots of times on the weekends, I spend it with the kids because they want me there, and the parents feel comfortable with me. However, the only way the parents feel good with me is because they got to know me through their kids. It is always the kids that see the real you, at least that is what I see, and what I have experienced. The parents didn't trust me to begin with because of the way I looked, and I have had a couple tell me that, and apologize after they got to know me. But once they got to know me, they knew that they could trust me with their children.

But there is several different situations. The kids love me, and want to hang with, but they are looking for someone they can trust, look up to, and they inherently need, and want to some degree, guidance. And that is what I give them. A good role model who tells them that it doesn't matter what you look like, you can be a success at most anything you want. However, when we're talking about bosses.....let me tell you, I have always worked my butt off, and done an extraordinary job. I'm not just full of myself, this is what my evaluations have told me, along with other people as well. Now, I have had this boss for the past year or so, and he is a retired col. from the army. 35 years in the army to be exact. And, when he sees me, he automatically assumes that I am lazy, dont' do my work, he can't depend on me, I do less than standard work, and basically that I'm not that good. I have not had a true compliment from him since he has been there. Now get this, I am a church music director, full time, and my boss is the priest. Yes, a priest who is prejudice because I don't look like him, and I am not as structured as him. Believe me, the discrimination is there. At times I have wanted to leave, but I will NOT let him run me off. If anyone disagrees with this situation that I'm in, I shall give you several several instances of this discrimination, and what he has done to me. I have kept a journal on that alone. Don't tell me that some bosses don't discriminate because you are fat, because I have one that does that! I'm not saying all bosses are that way, but some are. My last boss wasn't, he thought I did a most awesome job, and so has all the others that I have had at the church.

Okay, I'll shut up now before I really start ranting and raving on this subject.

*smiles*

I totally agree with everything you all are saying. I don't know what is worse, being a fat man, or fat woman. Case in point, since I'm fat, I have no girlfriend, of course, there are probably other reasons as well. I work with kids, and when I work with teen girls, I get a look like I'm a sexual predator, but when a single fat woman works with young boys, she doesn't get looked at like that. I work with both girls and boys, don't get me wrong, but I have had that look quite a few times. I have been told that if I had a wife or girlfriend, it would be different, or if I were a woman it wouldn't be as bad. Tell me about that!!! Let me do say that the teens parents think I'm the best, so much as a single mother who had 3 children, thought the world of me as a person. I helped her with her family, and the middle child, who was a girl, became close to me. Since I was like an older brother, or uncle-like to her, the mother made me a temporary legal guardian of her daughter for when we were together. Now that says a lot about the family thinking highly of me, but others that don't know me, see what I look like, and think one thing, or lots of them do.

Now, I do want to say that I have dated a wide range of girls. From thin to fatter than me. From pretty to ugly. From rich to poor. From smart to not-so-smart. In all combinations of them realm. I have given everyone a fair chance, and it just hasn't worked. I have met girls from church, the library, the book store, waitresses, other youth ministers, a wide range of places. So I don't look for the 'perfect girl' in fact, I'm attracted to the 'not-so-perfect' girl, at least in the eyes of most men. I'll give anyone a chance.

yeah, me too! But I think I've gone past my bedtime, not that I have one, but I'm about to fall asleep. Talk to you lata!

Awesome!!!! You are then one of us!!!! ) So what are you doing up so late?

Hello all! I was hoping to hear from any musicians. I am a private voice and piano instructor. I am also a professional musician. I am the full time music director for my church. I write music, and play several instruments. I would love to find more of us out there.

Piper, I think this is an awesome site, and it has helped me immensely. Most everyone I know is not overweight, so it's like I'm just different from everyone. When I talk about my diet to anyone, they are like "you are fine for who you are" "I love you for you" "you wouldn't be doug if you weren't the way you are" "you don't need to lose a pound" and "you aren't fat, you're Doug!" This is nice, but GRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!! They may all feel that way, but not a one of them would consider me as boyfriend material. Finally I have found people to talk with about this. I have never felt comfortable saying what my weight was, but here I feel fine. I'm almost 400 pounds! I'm not ashamed, I love me for me, but I do need to lose, and I know it.

Piper, if you ever want to chat, pm me. I would love to get to know you better.