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Hello family, well my paperwork has been submitted to Aetna for approval to be sleeved. I called and Aetna has it as received on 10/18 and noted as "pending authorization". The very helpful service rep actually put me on hold today and called over to the authorization center to see if she could get any further information. They told her that all of my papers were in order, they just have to review all 29 pages. I am so excited and nervous all at the same time. Waiting is the pits (LOL)----we are such a microwave society---we really don't know how to wait for anything----we want everything now - instantly - well, at least in this instance I don't. I just want to get my "approved" so that I can rest easy. I am scheduled to be sleeved Nov 2nd and am scheduled to have my medical clearance process done Oct 26th. In my heart I know I'll be approved, but my mind has to catch up with my heart. After MANY years of fad diets (WW, Jenny Craig, Nutra System, Alli pills, Atkins diet, fasting, liquid diets and I could go on and on), I'm ready for my ultimate change. I'm ready!!! Pray for me that I remain positive and encouraged while I wait. Blessings2u--BJ

So I did it! I have officially had the gastric sleeve and so far the results have been pretty good. I got the surgery on 1/13 and I weighed 316 pounds. As of today 1/19 I am down to 299. I've lost 17 pounds in 6 days. Talk about EXCITED ! 've NEVER lost that much weight in a month, let alone less than a week. So I have nothing but good things to say about the surgery. Body wise, I'm good. I honestly have had NO pain where the cuts were. Weird right? But yup absolutely none. I've had some really bad back pains but I've had those prior to the surgery and it was also explained to me that because I would be laying flat on the operating table that it can cause some extra back pain and boy did I feel it. I swear it hurts more than the surgery. Now those were the amazing PROS of it. Now here's the CON, and yes there's only 1. Now I haven't been physically hungry at all but MENTALLY I've been starving. I just want to chew something. Anything. I just want to put anything in my mouth and trust me when I tell you, it's driving me crazy. I'm miserable. Depressed. Anxious. Aggravated. Angry. Then when people around me eat, it drives me WILD. I wish there was something I could do to just ignore the feeling but from what I'm hearing, it's nothing possible but just trying to ignore it. Easier said than done though. That's for sure. I was considering going to a therapist for it but then I don't wanna feel like I'm over exaggerating. I've had crying spells where out of nowhere, I just break down crying because every other commercial there's some type of food in it. Or the fact that every time I close my eyes, I'm envisioning some type of food that I want to eat. I'm having cravings of foods I didn't eat in months almost a year. But it's something that I'm gonna have to learn to just deal with it. Take it one day at a time. Everybody around me keeps telling me that it's gonna be okay but they're not going through what I am. I guess I just need some words of encouragement from someone who's went through this already or has some tips to help me get through this.

Thanks for link. My surgery was actually 353.1. so it appears that I am ahead of that chart projection, but only by 5.6 lbs or 10% of the projection. Sent from my XT1609 using BariatricPal mobile app

1. 49 2. Yes 3. 10/19/09 4. 241 5. 199 6. 89 7. no 8. 4 9. 8 10. I am successfully moving toward a goal, one that I had stopped believing I could accomplish. I feel good that I am having success instead of more attempts followed by failure.

I am pretty anxious! I literally just finished my first pre-surgery diet meals (all protein shakes). My good friend is having hers done in 2 1/2 hrs! We are 2 weeks apart. :purplebananna: She lost 10 lbs in the first week of the diet. I'm not sure about the second week. My personal goal is 100 lbs. If I loose more I'll be happy too.:Banane01:

First of all, I want to say you shouldn't get down on yourself for deciding not to have the surgery and thinking you could do it on your own. You DID do it on your own. Unfortunately, losing weight, both pre and post-op is the easy part! As you have found, it's maintaining the weight loss that's the real challenge. I like to think of my sleeve as "Weight Maintenance Surgery" instead of "Weight Loss Surgery". I was a pro at losing weight. I did it MANY times over the years. Keeping it off was always where I failed. The good news is, maintaining my weight post-sleeve has been a whole different experience. I reached my goal weight right around the one year post-op mark and have been maintaining below for almost 7 months now. That is much longer than I've ever maintained any weight loss in the past. There are a few things that make maintaining post-WLS different than maintaining after a "diet". First of all, you are never "done" with your sleeve. When losing weight through a "diet" you always have this goal weight in mind and can't wait to reach that goal and be "done". The problem is, as soon as you are "done" you start slacking on the exercise and go back to eating crap and the weight starts to pile back on. But with the sleeve, it's always there, restricting your intake. You are never "done" with it. The rules about putting Protein first, taking your Vitamins, drinking your Water, not eating and drinking at the same time, not grazing.... all of those things are truly lifetime commitments that you can't just revert away from once you reach your goal weight. In the vein of your sleeve always being there, another thing that would always happen in the past was something would happen in my life to derail my weight loss or maintenance. An injury, an illness, moving, starting a new job, etc. Anything that threw me out of my routine would send me into a spiral where I would regain weight. Now, my sleeve is there through all of that stuff. I can't just stop using my sleeve or ignore my sleeve when life happens. For example, I had a CRAZY summer/early fall. My sister and her 4 kids moved in with us when she split up with her husband. Meanwhile we decided to sell our house when we looked at a new one and decided we wanted to buy it. Well, we hadn't been planning to sell our house for a few more years, so it was a mad scramble to do a ton of home improvement projects we'd put off, get the house ready to show, show the house, and sell the house. Then we had all the stress of buying the new house and moving as well. It was complete madness. I went almost a full 5 months without a regular exercise routine and I had insane amounts of stress to deal with on almost a daily basis. I managed to maintain my weight loss for that full 5 months! Yes I was stressed. Yes I was out of my routine. But my sleeve was still there for me every single day, every single meal, and every single snack. Do I still have to WORK to maintain my weight? Of course! I'm training for a half marathon, so I am exercising every single day now. I still consciously think about everything I eat and make sure I reach my protein goal of 100 grams every day. I still make sure I have water with me at all times. I still eat on a schedule to avoid grazing. I still make an effort to avoid slider foods. I still take all my vitamins every day. I still don't eat and drink at the same time. I still plan ahead to make sure I have access to appropriate foods if I'm going to be traveling or doing things outside my daily routine. So there is a lot of effort to be made and work to be done, but it comes as second nature after 19 months.

My surgery date is a month away and I'm starting to decide what I'm going to have for my preop 10 days I would love some suggestions

Incision pain was zero. Gas pain was a 10, in waves. Especially on the 10 hour car ride home. Gas, moan and groan, pass gas, feel OK. Repeat, over and over for about 3 days. Sent from my XT1254 using BariatricPal mobile app

I had a hard time after surgery dealing with my food addiction. The problem is that mentally you want to eat any and everything in sight, especially if you're watching tv because all the advertisements seem to be about FOOD. The problem is that after being sleeved you CANT eat any and everything. Actually, it's not a problem, it's a good thing because that's why most of us end up here trying to get sleeved! I think I bitched about it in my blogs. I was literally having tantrums because I wanted to eat some real food and it was probably a whole 4 weeks before I was able to eat anything solid. I was going crazy and was really resenting the fact that I decided to have the sleeve done. After a few weeks I reasoned with myself and understood that restriction was the only thing that could help me lose weight. As much as I loved food, I loved it too much and had no control and ended up being morbidly obese. So the great thing about being sleeved is that even though you want to over eat and gorge and binge, you physically can't because it hurts so freakin bad if you eat just an ounce more than your new tiny tummy can handle. Eventually you become accustomed to eating the foods you like in much smaller portions, and you begin to appreciate your sleeve once you realize that you're losing weight and still able to enjoy food to an extent. You still get the feeling of being full, and your tastebuds still get to delight in delicious foods and tasty treats! I'm not gonna sugar coat it at all. It wasn't easy for me that first month after being sleeved. But the struggle that I went through was so worth it. I lost 63 pounds so far and haven't looked back since. I'm down from a size 22 to a size 10 and couldn't be happier. My suggestion which will probably get frowned upon by many is for you to enjoy your favorite meal before your surgery. Don't over do it, but if you like steak, then have a steak before you go in because it will most likely be a long time before you're able to enjoy a piece of steak again while you're healing. I think I was going insane because I had the pre-op diet going and then had to wait another 4 weeks before eating solids, so essentially I didnt have REAL food for 6 weeks! You know what that does to someone who loves food? LOL All the best to you...safe surgery, quick and easy recovery. Just be patient and take everything in stride. The sleeve is the best decision I've ever made for myself and I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

You look 10 years younger

I'm with you Groove! 10 more days for me and I'm really beginning to get nervous! I'm having all kinds of crazy thoughts running through my head! I'm trying to get focused and concentrate on the things I need to get done before surgery. I hope the day comes, and goes, quickly! Are you doing your pre-op yet. I am, but I'm totally sucking at it!

BetsyJane posted this and I thought it might come in REAL handy. `````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` HowtoTellWhenYouArePerfectlyAdjusted: You are losing 1-2 pounds per week. If you are not losing 1-2 pounds per week: A. You may need an eating adjustment 1. Are you eating 60 grams of protein a day? 2. Are you eating 25 grams of fiber? 3. Are you avoiding all liquid calories? a. Soup can be sign of soft calorie syndrome b. Alcohol contains a lot of calories 7 calories per gram.(It's also a stomach irritant). c. Fruit juice is just sugar water 4. Are you making healthy food choices from a wide variety of foods? a. Are you avoiding soft foods b. You can't just eat what's easy c. Cheese is glorified fat 5. Are you drinking 6-8 glasses of water a day between meals? 6. Are you eating too much junk? a. Chips, chocolate, nuts, ice cream, cookies and other highly processed junk foods are too calorically dense to be regular parts of a healthy diet. But don't avoid them completely to the point where you feel deprived. b. Stay out of fast food places 7. Are you getting in two servings of calcium daily? 8. Do you always eat the protein first? 9. Then the vegetables or fruits a. Five servings a day b. Potatoes are NOT a vegetable 10. Is your portion size appropriate? a. Meat or fish (3 ounces the size of a deck of cards) b. Vegetables (½ cup the size of your fist) c. Starch (If you eat the protein and the vegetables first you don't need much - Avoid: rice, potatoes, pasta) 11. You might try avoiding artificial sweeteners a. Some people think that artificial sweeteners stimulate the appetite b. They are HUNDREDS of times sweeter than sugar c. They teach you to like things too sweet d. There is no evidence that people who use them are any thinner than people who don’t 12. Avoid most diet foods a. Real food usually tastes better b. Real food is more satisfying than low calorie substitutes c. When you are only eating a tiny bit the caloric savings is not that great (Use a teaspoon of real butter instead of a tablespoon of diet margarine. d. The body has no way to break down artificial fats). a. They may go into permanent storage b. Some people think liposuction is the only way to remove hydrolyzed fats from the body B. You may need a behavior adjustment 1. Are you eating only when you are hungry? a. If you're not sure drink 8 ounces of water and wait 2. Are you eating three meals a day? a. With maybe 1 or 2 small snacks 3. Are you sitting down to eat? 4. Are you eating consciously? a. No distractions, turn off the TV, put the book or newspaper away, pay attention to your food and your companions 5. Are you eating slowly? a. Put the fork down between bites b. Take 20 to 30 minutes to finish a meal c. Taking longer might cause the pouch to begin emptying 6. Are you taking small bites? a. Tiny spoon, chopsticks, cocktail fork 7. Are you chewing well? 8. Are you drinking with your meals or too soon after your meals? a. Practice water loading between meals b. You won't be thirsty if you are well hydrated before the meal 9. Are you stopping at the first sign of fullness? a. Sometimes it's a whisper: not hungry, had enough b. Hard stop versus soft stop 10. Do not eat between meals. Stop grazing. 11. Do not eat when you are not hungry C. You may need an activity adjustment 1. Are you getting in 30 minutes of physical activity at least 3 times a week? a. Over and above what you would do in the usual course of your day b. Could you make it 4 or 5 times a week? c. Could you make it 45 or 60 minutes? 2. Are you taking advantage of opportunities to increase your physical activity? a. Taking the stairs instead of the elevators or escalators b. Walking on the escalators instead of riding c. Parking your car further away from the entrance d. Getting out of the car instead of using the drive through e. Getting off the bus one stop before your destination f. Washing you car by hand instead of the car wash g. Playing with your kids D. You may need an attitude adjustment 1. Are you committed to your weight loss journey? 2. Are you totally honest with yourself about how much you are eating and exercising? a. Log your food and activity on ww.fitday.com for 3 days 3. Are you using food inappropriately to deal with emotional issues? a. Have you identified what the emotions are that drive your eating? b. Can you think of more appropriate ways to deal with those emotions? c. Are you willing to seek help from a qualified counselor? 4. Are you attending and participating in support group meetings? 5. Have you drummed up some support from your family and friends? 6. Have you dealt with saboteurs realistically? 7. Do you have realistic expectations about the weight loss journey? 8. Are you still obsessing about food, weight, dieting, eating? a. Obsessive compulsive thoughts (Obsess about something else) b. Perfectionism (All or none, black and white thinking) c. Patience with the pace of healthy weight loss 9. Are you acknowledging your successes with non-food rewards? 10. Have you learned how to take a compliment? 11. Are you giving up diet mentality? a. Stop weighing yourself several times a day or every day b. Stop dieting c. Stop depriving yourself d. Stop defining food as good and bad e. Stop rewarding and punishing yourself with food 12. How do you feel about all the changes taking place? E. You may need a band adjustment 1. You feel like you are making healthy food choices in appropriate portion sizes but getting hungry between meals? 2. You can still eat white bread, fibrous vegetables and large portions. 3. You are having to struggle to lose 4. You are gaining weight in spite of eating right, exercising and having a good mind set. F. You may need your band loosened 1. There are times when you can’t get fluids down 2. You are vomiting too much a. How much is too much? 3. Do you have frequent reflux or heartburn at night? a. Do not lie flat or bend over soon after eating b. Do not eat late at night or just before bedtime c. Rinse your pouch with a glass or water an hour before bedtime d. Certain foods or drinks are more likely to cause reflux: (1) Rich, spicy, fatty and fried foods (2) Chocolate (3) Caffeine (4) Alcohol (5) Some fruits and vegetables (6) Oranges, lemons, tomatoes, peppers (7) Peppermint (8) Baking soda toothpaste (9) Carbonated drinks e. Eat slowly and do not eat big meals f. If you smoke, quit smoking g. Reduce stress h. Exercise promotes digestion i. Raise the head of your bed j. Wear loose fitting clothing around your waist k. Stress increases reflux l. Take estrogen containing medications in the morning m. Avoid aspirin, Aleve and ibuprofen at bedtime (Tylenol is OK) n. Take an antacid (Pepcid complete) before retiring o. Try other over-the-counter heartburn medications p. See your health care provider

I have the realize band, I was banded a year ago, Ilost 100 pounds in 10 months. I dont know the diference, but it worked for me.

I too feel hungry (I'm 10 days post op) but I don't think its hunger rather than the acid or something. Every time I feel hungry I eat Jello.

I had RNY in November 2019. Overall I have lost 40lbs since the surgery, but I have not lost anything in the last month. I had a routine doctor appt with my GP a month ago, and I was 276, and I still am. it has fluctuated a little, ranging between 278 and 273. I'm taking my vitamins, getting my protein, eating about 1000 calories a day and logging my food. I am exercising. I know I could do more exercise, but my schedule is a little crazy right now (I do taxes for a living so real busy time of year plus a couple kids). I just really wish I could figure out what is going on. Does this happen to other people? I have read about stalls but usually what people describe is a week or two, not a whole month. My sex drive is non existent as well, and I don't know if that is a symptom of why I am not losing, or a result of being depressed over not losing. I have a follow up with my surgeon in 2 weeks, and unfortunately I can't really move that up at all, because of my schedule and he is an hour away. I've been slow to lose the whole time since surgery, but the nurtritionist and the surgeon weren't worried last time I saw them. I know that even just the 40lbs is great, better than I could do before the surgery, but it is just really hard to be doing everything and not seeing results now. This is what I always encountered before and why I ended up with surgery, so if this doesn't work, I have no more options.

I had surgery on Monday 8/30. Since then I have had 1 of my 6 incision site continuously been extremely painful. It's the only site that's bruised, steri-strip is bloody and it hurts soooo much. When ever I move or have to engage that part of my core (sitting up, going to the bathroom, laying in bed, even just standing up) it hurts. It's like a burning, sharp ripping feeling and it legit makes me see stars and lose my breath. I called and sent a photo to my doctor and they said it was normal. They gave me a stronger pain medication but it only makes me high and doesn't tough the pain when I move. Could they have stitched me up a little off? Anyone else experience this? I need it to be tolerable by Monday so I can go to my work office for 1 hour. I feel alone and absolutely hate doing anything right now because of this. Sent from my SM-G981U using BariatricPal mobile app

Hi teacher girl. It sounds too me Lyk your band may be too tight at the moment. Especially if you can only get down ssoups and liquids before 2. Be very careful though u may initially lose weight this way eventually u will start to gain weight again (this happened to me). Your band has to be in the right zone, too loose or too tight can cause major concern. Try removing a small amount to start with. You should be able to eat a healthy chicken salad and be satisfied afterwards in the right zone. I advise doing this asap as it sounds to me that you aren't in the zone. But if you do wait the 6 week mark is usually when morning sickness will begin and it's very important to be able to get some nutrients to you and your baby during this time as eating can become very difficult at this stage. Good luck and keep us informed. P.s I'm 10 weeks pregnant and I have a sustainable amount in my band where I can still eat enough for baby and me but I don't overeat.

First, I did like you attend a seminar. Next I made an appointment with the surgeon. After that initial meeting, he said I was a canidate. Yeah!!. Next thing is 6 months (continuously, with no breaks) of medically supervised diet. That meant I had to see my doctor every month for 6 months and tell him I was on a diet and exercising. They document your weight and that's it. Then after I needed a Psychological Evaluation. After that I needed to see a Dietician/Nutritionist. Then I was complete. Next step was to tell my surgeon I completed the 6 months. My insurance requested 5years of medical history with weight documentation and list co-morbidities. Once my surgeon received all that which took about a month, they submit to my insurance and it took 5 days for the first denial then 2 days after my appeal I was APPROVED!!!. I have been on Optifast since 2/19. Preop testing took avout an hour, which included bloodwork, EKG, & Chest Xray. I see the surgeon on 3/3 for my preop visit and on TUESDAY< MY LIFE WILL BE BETTER. All in all it took almost 1 year. Only because I had a break of the 6mons of visits, which I didn't know I did until I completed the first 6 visits and they advised me that on month 5 the doctor didn't write that I was there for weight management. SOOOOOO, I had to start my 6 months all over again....it was a bummer, but look at me now. Hope this helps you. GOOD LUCK IN YOUR JOURNEY!!!!

well my 5 month surgiversary was on the 15th! I'm a few days late, but better late than never in my book. I'm so happy that i decided to do the revision and get rid of my CRAP BAND!!! that thing was the worst, especially after it slipped. So, since 10/15 i am down 50 pounds! my blood work is great except for Vitamin D which i am working on now! I am now down 77% of my excess body weight since surgery, the lowest that i have been since college! I have so much energy, that my kids are finding it hard to keep up with me! I can eat pretty much anything that i want, which is a double edged sword! I sometimes 'want' what i shouldn't eat, but a few bites and i'm good! before it would be all or nothing! My husband and son think i'm HOT, that is so cool! I am looking forward getting the last 19 pounds off and getting to goal! that is when I am going to buy a new wardrobe! Until then, my baggy size 10 jeans will just have to do! thanks for reading and being a great support group!!! Patti

My insurace said yes my date is set for monday th 15th of october im so happy. :whoo:

So I had my 2-week post-op appt. today. Saw Dr. Schram only briefly...he had more surgeries to get to and since I'm doing well, he didn't linger with me. He did say my incisions look great (still have most of the steri strips attached), my daily food intake sounds spot-on, and since I've lost 13 lbs., I'm considered to be doing excellent. Nutritionist came in and gave me the okay to begin purees. I spoke to her about my enormous hunger right now. She said it sounds like I healed uber-fast and although she would like me to stick to purees for at least 1 week, she said my 2nd week of purees I can begin soft foods...but not too many each day. After that I'm on softs and easing back into normal life. I'm okay with that. I did ask what the difference was between pureeing food before it goes in my mouth versus eating soft foods and pureeing them by chewing them down to nothing before swallowing. She kinda didn't have anything to say about that, which leads me to believe they are just worried that people won't chew well enough. So, I'll puree when I can, but if I'm in a place where I can't, then I'll chew down to puree. I think I've got this all figured out. Today's food: BREAKFAST: 1 peach Light & Fit yogurt smoothie SNACK: 1 large decaf coffee w/ cream LUNCH: 1 cup Cream of Wheat made with 1% milk No snack DINNER: 1 burger patty chewed to puree (no bun) w/ mustard & ketchup 1 TBSP baked beans 3 pretzels chewed to puree 1/2 cup milk SNACK: 1 chocolate-coffee ice cream bar 1 cup milk w/ 1 scoop protein Eh. I gotta do a little better tomorrow I think. For some reason, today's foods don't seem quite healthy enough. Getting used to all this is gonna take some time so I'm not aiming for perfection quite yet. I'm also worried because I have not lost any weight since last Sunday. Weird. On a diet like this I should be dropping like mad. Hopefully (maybe) it's because I'm still on my period?? Could be a bit bloated, although I don't really feel it. I'm going to begin working out 30-40 minutes each day. I'll probably just start with treadmill since I have my baby and getting time away from him to go to a gym is virtually impossible right now. He'll be 6 months old in a couple weeks! My daughter just turned 10 in October, so doing this all over again is wild. It's amazing how much you forget about the baby stage after your kids are older. :eek:

So I had my 2-week post-op appt. today. Saw Dr. Schram only briefly...he had more surgeries to get to and since I'm doing well, he didn't linger with me. He did say my incisions look great (still have most of the steri strips attached), my daily food intake sounds spot-on, and since I've lost 13 lbs., I'm considered to be doing excellent. Nutritionist came in and gave me the okay to begin purees. I spoke to her about my enormous hunger right now. She said it sounds like I healed uber-fast and although she would like me to stick to purees for at least 1 week, she said my 2nd week of purees I can begin soft foods...but not too many each day. After that I'm on softs and easing back into normal life. I'm okay with that. I did ask what the difference was between pureeing food before it goes in my mouth versus eating soft foods and pureeing them by chewing them down to nothing before swallowing. She kinda didn't have anything to say about that, which leads me to believe they are just worried that people won't chew well enough. So, I'll puree when I can, but if I'm in a place where I can't, then I'll chew down to puree. I think I've got this all figured out. Today's food: BREAKFAST: 1 peach Light & Fit yogurt smoothie SNACK: 1 large decaf coffee w/ cream LUNCH: 1 cup Cream of Wheat made with 1% milk No snack DINNER: 1 burger patty chewed to puree (no bun) w/ mustard & ketchup 1 TBSP baked beans 3 pretzels chewed to puree 1/2 cup milk SNACK: 1 chocolate-coffee ice cream bar 1 cup milk w/ 1 scoop protein Eh. I gotta do a little better tomorrow I think. For some reason, today's foods don't seem quite healthy enough. Getting used to all this is gonna take some time so I'm not aiming for perfection quite yet. I'm also worried because I have not lost any weight since last Sunday. Weird. On a diet like this I should be dropping like mad. Hopefully (maybe) it's because I'm still on my period?? Could be a bit bloated, although I don't really feel it. I'm going to begin working out 30-40 minutes each day. I'll probably just start with treadmill since I have my baby and getting time away from him to go to a gym is virtually impossible right now. He'll be 6 months old in a couple weeks! My daughter just turned 10 in October, so doing this all over again is wild. It's amazing how much you forget about the baby stage after your kids are older.

Like many of you out there I am one out of 10 women out there with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, AKA PCOS. For me lapband surgery was a no brainer but before I go into that I want to talk about what led me to my decision. I was fist diagnosed with PCOS in 2004. From 2004 to 2011 I was taking high doses of metformin and spirnolactone. This was to assist with my hormonal imbalance and to assist with monthly menstruation. In late 2011 I developed health problems related to the medication I was taking. So I decided to go on an organic diet, limit my calories and up my exercise. I signed up for my first 1/2 marathon with a friend and began doing yoga a couple of times a week. I lost little to no weight. So I decided to see a natural doctor and starting taking herbs to assist with my ailments. After a year of my efforts the symptoms of my PCOS were not reversing but in fact getting worse. Although I was exercising I managed to gain 15 additional pounds as well as excess belly weight. I finally decided to make the decision to have lap band surgery. I want to have children one day and found the lap band to be less evasive and also be at a low risk for any health issues. I have been battling PCOS for so long that I was tired of trying so hard to see no benefits in return. I did some research on the lap band and women with PCOS and found it to be successful for them, in hopes it would in turn be successful for me. Sometimes it is hard to battle the bulge alone especially when your body is working against you. I wanted to create a blog where I could inspire women to keep moving forward and to not give up on their goals of weight loss and possible pregnancy. I was hoping to hear from other women and their success stories. So here is to 2013, let's make it memorable with stories and pictures and show it is possible to overcome PCOS. For more information on PCOS please visit: http://www.pcosfound...on.org/ http://women.webmd.c...-topic-overview

I am considering taking about 7-10 days off and then tell my manager that i had some other surgery because she is a real gossip munger and everyone in the dept store will find out if I told her that I had lap band surgery! now im trying to come up with another "fake" surgery i could tell her I had so i could get away with not carrying things/do less strenuous work once i get back.. i would love it if there were some boys working with us to help when it comes to the lifting/etc... but its a jewellery store so all our employees are girsl >21 years of age... so not much help with them!

Hi!! I know this is probably answered somewhere else on the website, but I am still doubtful so I hope someone could answer my question! I have my lap band surgery scheduled for the 28th of November and that is exactly one week after my final exams finish so i would have to start my pre-op diet straight after my exams, however, I needed to know how much time I need to take off from work after my surgery because I work in retail at a department store, at a jewellery kiosk. Generally my shifts are anywhere between 8-10 hours a day with about a half hour break... there are no seats so I would essentially have to stand for the entire duration of my shift... any advice on how long to stay off work safely would be much appreciated! Thanks!!!