Search the Community

Surgery is coming up so fast. Im soo excited but very scared. Anyone else having the sleeve done on the 13th?

Petra, You and I are similar. I am about as far in to the process as you and have doubts now and then, but then I get on here and all my doubts go away. I'm 35 and my BMI is 38 and I have high triglycerides and high fasting blood sugar. So I'm not diabetic yet, but w/ my fasting sugars and the fact that my identical twin is already diabetic, I'll take the small chance of possible risks over the ill health effects I'm already having. Nicely put by SoCalDixieGal I am an RN and I'm getting surgery so don't feel bad like you're taking the easy way out! My primary care doc who is skinny is AWESOME and she said it nicely when she said I'm taking control...as are you. I think the rate of leakage complications is 1-2% so I'll take that over the 50% chance I have of getting diabetes. I had gestational diabetes when I was pregnant so that increases my risk. You will be able to have foods you had before but in much smaller amounts and not until probably 6 months to a year out (at least that's the idea I've gotten from these boards and my classes I've had so far:) Good luck to you, wish me luck that my insurance approves me! They say they want a BMI of 40 or 35-39 w/ co-morbidities which I have, but they seem to be more strict for the sleeve than the bypass which seems backwards doesn't it? Oh well, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Every insurance company has different requirements. I have an out of state BCBS (illinios) and my employer is Catholic Health Initiatives and they have a program called carewise. Through them I had to have six months of phone nutrition calls with a documented end weight from primary doctor at end of six months. I also had a RN case manager. Basically, we talked about any diagnosis I had, concerns, changes I needed to make to prepare for surgery. I lost maybe 10 pounds then regained bc I hurt my back and was literally in bed for a time. So in the end I weighed 3 pounds less then when I started. They were fine with that. I struggled with years being insulin dependent and very metabolically resistant even when I ate low carb. I also had to have a psych review, primary doctor review. The entire process went fast even though initially I thought six months would take forever. I am glad it took that long gave me plenty of time to weigh my options and do lots of research on complications and lifestyle changes. I started the process May of 2012 and had surgery Jan 24 2013. I can say trying to eat smaller portions, with baby spoons and all that is tough prior to surgery and for the most part I didnt do it just knew I would have changes to be made after surgery. I have had no issues since surgery. Good Luck

"Never trade what you want most for what you want at the moment" In this WLS journey I find there are temptations everywhere. Turn on the tv it's filled with never ending food commercials, driving there's food advertisements on bill boards or fast restaurants on every corner, celebrations with friends, family and co workers seem to all be centered around food (not fruit and veggies either). With that said the thought provoking quote above have been very helpful in halting me from derailing all the great things I've put into play during my 6 months. By no means am I saying I'm perfect as I have my defeats like everyone else but it has definitely helped me take that extra time to say IS THIS TEMPORARY PLEASURE WORTH IT...nottttttttttt

It's Friday so I wore jeans to work today and as I walk down the hall all I can hear is swish, swish, swish..........I will be so happy when I can walk down the hall and not have the noisy darn sound of my FAT thighs rubbing together ughhhhhhhhhhhh!! Monday April 14th won't come fast enough I'm so ready to be sleeved!

Hello everyone! My medically supervised weight loss program begins today! I've chosen the 2 shakes and 1 meal a day... my plan is to have a shake for Breakfast, a shake for lunch and a mean for dinner. I travel a lot for work so I'm thinking this will be easiest for me. I plan on snacking on fresh fruit, nuts and veggies. Today marks the day that I give up soda, sparkling Water and all fast food. (fast food is the devil!) I'm excited to begin this new journey and I'm so grateful for all of the support that you all give me! please share some healthy recipes or snack food ideas that you have...let me know what works for you p.s. I have to lose 15 lbs in 6 months. Starting weight is 273.

Do you have full day or half day with them? I teach 4th graders, and I felt fine going back after a week... I *think* two weeks is the a general amount of time that doctors advise taking off. If I had kiddos that little I would take the two full weeks. The tiredness and lower energy level lingers for a few weeks, so if you have full days you might even want 3 full weeks off (since you have the days). There is no real way to predict how fast you will bounce back.

Hate to be the D in this, but if you were eating healthy thin person sizes, you wouldn't need WLS to begin with. You will lose weight and you will realize fast just how small your meals become and how much you ate before. On the plus side, if you are eating healthy, good for you! Better habits to start your journey

I cheated with unsweetened organic applesauce. I started my diet on 7/27 and have stuck to it 95%. I have lost 7 lbs. At work I am busy goes by fast. I don't feel so weak anymore. I am diabetic and have stopped taking my medicine. I do check my blood sugar twice a day. The clear liqiuds will be tough but you can do it just prepare have a variety of them available. Stay busy. Do fun things go window shopping see what clothes you might be getting very soon after surgery.

First I'm very glad to hear your Mom is doing well! This is the first I've heard of this, so forgive me if I haven't sent my well wishes... Thank you also for posting this and putting it out there. I have never been more glad to have my band removed than I am right this second. And believe you me, I was pretty darned glad before!! I wish your Mom a complete recovery and FAST!!!

Prayers going up and Blessings coming down....Praying for a fast recovery and a speedy loss

In December I thought the exact same thing! I had finally made the decision to have surgery and I wanted it NOW. But now here I am scheduled for surgery next week, all testing and medically supervised visits done and can't believe it went by so fast! Make use of this time. Start gradually making some changes in your diet, start being more physically active and gradually build up activity. Read as much as you can and think about what your routine will look like post surgery. Make a list of the things you are most looking forward to being able to do as the weight comes off - keep this list and look at it any time you start to second guess yourself or just need a little motivation.

I love this thread - thank you! My goals are: Get to onederland Be able to buy all my clothing from non-specialty stores Get in good enough shape so stairs/hills/running doesn't wind me so fast I want to feel healthy and able to run and play with my DD8 before she's too old to run and play anymore. Happy Trails to all of us:)

So five days post op and every day is getting better, sleep is improving which is very nice and the swelling at the incision sites is going down and is much easier to live with. If I drink too fast or don't pay attention to how fast i eat my jello my new stomach will let me know right away there is a problem. I also have to consciously remind myself to sip water all day to get in my liquids but overall each day is better than the one before it.

My wife was originally planning on having WLS (specifically VSG) after watching my successful recovery with relatively minor complications and successful weight loss. She was going to wait 6 months after my post op to see how things are progressing for me before making a decision to attend a WLS consulatation. Regardless, her latest decision is to not have WLS for a couple reasons. 1. Slimes and throwing up: She didn't like all the slimes and throwing up I went through when adjusting to the solids phase. It was mainly my fault because I am a fast eater and it took me a while to learn to "hear" the full signals. I had to learn how much to eat, how fast to eat and what types of food my sleeve an tolerate over time. Regardless, she didn't like seeing me in the bathroom so much after eating. I am better now, but still have issues with eating stringy things like roast bean or string green Beans in addition to fatty meats. Truely, it feels like dumping syndrome. I do try to explain to her that not everyone slimes and throws up and most of the time, it was my fault. 2. Auto-immune disease: She has at least 1 auto-immune disease. The one that she has requires an infusion of remicade every 6 weeks. This is one expensive infusion. It is called Ankylosing Spondylitis. You can follow the link for more details. It is basically an auto-immune disesase that attacks all the joints and there is no cure. When we talked to the surgeon during one of my pre-op visits, he said that people with auto-immune diseases might have more complications, but did not go into the details. She might also have PCOS. We do not know yet and will find out soon. This is where I could really use some advise from others. She has about 150 lb to lose as we both ended up in the same weight range at our heaviest earlier this year. Maybe it is because of life stresses? Who knows. The fact is that her extra weight may be contributing to other complications like high blood pressure, pregnancy issues, lack of desire to be outdoors like walking and hiking and on and on. There are plenty of reasons here alone that would make sense for her to consider it. She has tried manu diets (as I have), but has never lost more than 10-20 lbs on them. Atkins, weight watchers, etc. I've had fairly good results from the diets because I am very focused when something needs to be done, but then I lose my focus and the weight comes back. Hence, WLS was the only tool left for me in order to stop the up and down of weight gain and weight loss. She used to be "thin" (size 12) in high school, so I am pretty sure she remembers what that is like. She was a pretty hot girl in her younger days. In college she was slightly overweight, but still very hot and sexy (we got married then). We both put on a lot of weight in the last 12 years of our marriage. I don't hold the weight against her (never have), but I would like her to be healthy to avoid future weight-related complications. The weight does not cause her to be unhappy about her life (mainly family is what makes her happy). She is usually in a positive mood and certainly brings happiness and well-being to my life. I would like her to consider WLS because it is life-changing and truely opens up a lot of opportunities that did not exist before. However, I don't want to push her into something she is against. Any thoughts?

I had my temptations. My way of dealing with it was to acknowledge that these things were going on and recognize potential traps. Where is the food coming from that you were tempted with? My temptations were "extra" food that lingered around the house like popcorn and cheesecake in the freezer, and fast food coupons almost giving the food away for free. Then it was to promise myself to eat what I was supposed to and see how bad the temptation was then. Good luck, I'm post op less than a week and still struggle with the same temptations. Thankfully I am able to feel full most of the time so it's easier to say no to.

Any advice on how to lose 17 pounds fast I need to lose them by my pre op my schedule surgery is march 3!! Please help Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Whew! I needed you guys yesterday when the site was down. My mind is ready for the surgery, but my body did not catch up. I was doing fine at work then suddenly while I was teaching my k5 students how to write a letter on a chart tablet my back spasmed and I almost hit the floor. I could not move some students thought I was being silly. My more observant students were like are you okay Mrs. B? I told them I needed a chair---my one sweetie swung my chair to me from across the room and two other students helped me get to the chair. I was in pain. I could not walk. I rested for a moment and was able to walk shortly after. A teacher gave me 2 tylenols and I was able to finish the day. Fast foward---I think it might be stress. At night I started feeling better once I was passing gas and emptying my bowels. This a.m. too. I report for surgery at 11. Do you think my body is nervous, but my mind didn't get the message? Well I'm checking my bag again. talk to everyone once I get out!!!

Congratulations! Wish mine would hurry up and get here! :-) praying for a fast, speedy recovery with much success!

Wow just came back from my nut's office she told me i could now drink Water whenever i ate don't have to wait any longer before i drink after i eat ok to drink only 24 oz of water and i can eat fast now!!!! oh no more moderation on my eating!!!!! btw april fools did i getcha???? kathy Rotflmao.......pahahaha good one u had me going! I was like WHATTTTTTTT how is that and why water and 24 ounces of it at that ANDDDDD u don't have to eat slow anymore. I was LITTERALLY saying what theeeeeee H.E. Double Hockey Sticks lmbo

WOW that is fast...meant to be. Congrats!

Holy fast track!! Went to my initial appointment with my primary care doctor today got a EKG and physical done all at once. Answered a few questions and the dr. told me I was a good candidate for this surgery! Wooohooo got my behavioralist appointment next Wednesday and the following week I meet the surgeon. I'll be having my surgery in about 6 weeks!! Yaaaaay!!

hi - did my 2 week slim fast only drinks - cheated a few times( i know i suck) with healthy food - tomorrow I start clear liquid for a day and they surgery on Wed....is crystal lite considered a "clear" liquid. thanks

I am so excited....I received my surgery date this afternoon. My date isn't until April 18th, but I am just glad I have a light at the end of my tunnel. I know the time will go by fast as the time between now and then is so busy at school (I teach first grade!). I will be able to get through all the necessary things at school before I take time off.

Thanks everyone for your kind words, I definitely needed the encouragement. I have decided not to investigate this operation or videos anymore than needed until my surgery. I am going to try my best to not think about it the next two days (yeah right good luck to me there!). Its good to know that I am not alone. My body just needs to get on board with this thing because its happening no matter what! I think your right about it happening fast, I think deep down until my surgery was approved I was happy to embark on my new journey but worried it wouldn't go through and I really needed it to and then after it finally went through my body was like WOW this is a for sure thing and its in a week! I thought the emotional rollercoaster came post surgery boy was I wrong lol I do have to go into the center today to get some supplements and things I will see what they think maybe there is something they can give me to calm my nerves that was really good advice. Im hoping I feel some sense of relief after surgery but I think that may be wishful thinking on my part. I probably wont feel relieved until about 2 weeks post op. I really do love this site. Thanks to all of you!