Hello, I am here to tell my story. I decided to have surgery almost a year ago. I went to one of Dr. Husted's seminars and began the process of my weigh-ins, tests, and learning about the surgery procedure. I have completed all my tests. If the last test results come back "ok" Thursday, then I will be ready to turn them in to the surgeon. I am also waiting for my phyciatric evaluation to be turned in this week or next. Right after they receive this information, they will submit it to my insurance to see if I am approved for the VSG surgery and if I am, I will receive my pre-op packet with my surgery date. I will begin my pre-op diet of milk shakes. Dr. Husted told me that I would be on the pre-op diet for two weeks before the surgery. I started my weigh-ins the month of Feb. 2009 and my weight was at 253. I have lost and gained several times. My weight reached upwards to 266 and I weighed in at 244 this month. I am hoping that I will lose some more with the pre-op diet. I have sleep apnea, high blood pressure, arthritis, fybromyalgia, mixed connective tissue autoimmune disorder and some other health issues related to my obesity. I have had a total knee replacement last year, now I don't have to walk with a cane! I am waiting, hoping and praying that I will be approved for the surgery. I want to have the surgery and lose weight to live a longer healthier life. I am learning many things from all the people who are posting on these forums, and I hope one day soon that I will be able to help others from my experience. Thank you all for being here!!! I will try to keep you updated on my surgery date, and my progress.

Edited September 29, 200916 yr by mountain_lover

I want to say Thank You everyone for your comments and support. I am on an emotional rollercoaster ride, but I am so happy that the sleeve was approved and will be done soon.

I am so glad that I made it this far and did not quit. I am putting all my faith in God and the hands and knowledge of Dr. Husted. I am so happy that He came to Somerset recently and that I had the opportunity to choose him for my surgeon. I will let you know how my Pre-Op diet turns out, I start Wednesday. I went to GNC and purchased my protein Meal replacement for my Milkshakes. I have Strawberry, Chocolate and Vanilla. I still have to get a few more items, but I am going to get them today.

I know that everyone's outcome after surgery is similar in ways, but can be so different in other ways. I can only plan the plans, I cannot plan the results. I am just hoping and praying that God will make my journey a successful one. I believe that He will help carry me through all of this. Thank you all for your prayers!!!!

Wow! Congrats to you! You have prevailed in all your "road blocks" you are going to do soooo well with the sleeve on your side. (your inside,hahahaha)

Keep reading and posting here. I am so excited for you.

Good for you! You'll just need to keep us posted on your progresses!

Hi Mountain_Lover,

I started my pre-op diet on Tuesday. Was suppose to start a week before, but was too stressed due to the appeal. Anyway, I am on day 5. You really have to have your head in the right place. I was using Atkins Advantage shakes. By day 5, I can only tolorate the dark chocolate. I have Lipton chicken Noodle Soup (yes, I know we're not suppose to have the noodles), but it's only 60 calories a serving. I add powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury unflavored Protien to it (soup must be warm, not hot). That has been my saving grace, along with crystal light green raspberry tea.

I'm still hoping my surgery is Tuesday. I've been calling all week, and the assistant that takes care of scheduling has been out sick. I finally got a hold of another person from the office. She said she had my file on her desk and would call me back. Never got a call. This makes me very nervous since I usually receive a letter in the mail for any appointments or pre-op procedures that I had. To date, I've received nothing. Trying to keep my stress levels down and hoping that everything is ok.

Anyway, give the soup a try if you get to the point of "Not another shake!".

Hugs,

JoAnne

Thank you all for your comments. I will start my pre-op diet in 3 more days. I went to the store and bought some more items for pre and post-op.

Also today I went to the flea market and bought me a pair of pants and two blouses, and they were smaller sizes than what I have been wearing. (My clothes were getting baggy on me.) I tried them on when I got home and they fit!!!! I have been wearing size 22 pants recently and 2x tops. It feels good to buy smaller clothes before surgery, it gives me a some more hope for how it will be after surgery. The pants I bought were SIZE 18,

Carolina *Plus* Blues by Carolina Colours stretch with stripes going up and down. They are a big change from my usual black or blue colored jeans. One blouse was a white size 1x and the other was a maroon size Large blouse. I wore the pull over white one with the maroon blouse, which is a button up, over the white one and left it unbuttoned. I thought it looked nice and it made me feel better knowing that I have lost some weight before surgery. Also I only paid $5.oo for the entire outfit. It matched the shoes that I have been wearing, they are EARTH brand name shoes which I only paid $3.00 for them. They are suppose to be good for posture and it is suppose to be like walking on an incline all day. It is nice to be able to buy nice clothes for a reasonable price, because if all goes well with my surgery, I may be doing this real often. I love shopping, so this should be very fun. I will post more later, have a good day.

Mountain, congratulations on your weight loss!!!! Way to go girl!

Good Will, Salvation Army, etc are great places to shop. There are sometimes new clothes there that still have the tags on!! If you can find one in a college town or town with big medical centers, the clothing seems to be a little better quality. Must be all the professors wives, doctors wives haha!!!! Nothing wrong with taking advantage of everything you can on your weight loss journey, especially since you will be changing sizes rapidly. Hugs, Marilyn

I am so happy for you. I know that you are going to do great with the sleeve. Looking forward to keeping up with your progress.

Mountain, congratulations on your weight loss!!!! Way to go girl!

Good Will, Salvation Army, etc are great places to shop. There are sometimes new clothes there that still have the tags on!! If you can find one in a college town or town with big medical centers, the clothing seems to be a little better quality. Must be all the professors wives, doctors wives haha!!!! Nothing wrong with taking advantage of everything you can on your weight loss journey, especially since you will be changing sizes rapidly. Hugs, Marilyn

Thank you for your information, I appreciate it very much!!

Thank you so much. I went out for supper with my daughter for thanksgiving dinner since I will be on milkshakes during the holiday. I am having a hard time sleeping and my I feel like I am climbing the walls. I am so excited that I am really finally going to get the sleeve. I want this to be successful and I want to get to my goal weight and keep it off. It still is hard to believe that I am really going to do it.

Wow you are doing so great. 34 pounds in 6 weeks is so good. You have lost 1/3 of your goal weight loss. Soon you will be down under the 200 pound marks, I want to see those pictures of you for sure. Please post some pictures soon. It really is an inspiration to hear your story.

Hello Ky.hen glad to hear from you,

Thank you so much. I went out for supper with my daughter for thanksgiving dinner since I will be on milkshakes during the holiday. I am having a hard time sleeping and my I feel like I am climbing the walls. I am so excited that I am really finally going to get the sleeve. I want this to be successful and I want to get to my goal weight and keep it off. It still is hard to believe that I am really going to do it.

Wow you are doing so great. 34 pounds in 6 weeks is so good. You have lost 1/3 of your goal weight loss. Soon you will be down under the 200 pound marks, I want to see those pictures of you for sure. Please post some pictures soon. It really is an inspiration to hear your story!!

I posted some photos of me in a new album " Night before Pre-op diet pictures". I will be posting some more after I get done in two weeks, the night before surgery. I didn't have a sports bra or shorts so I took them in the next best thing to show how I really look without being dressed up. Stretchy sweat pant type pj bottoms and a short blouse all in light colors really make me look so terrible and really, really Big. I have lost approx. 30 pounds since July and I am happy that I did, especially after looking at these pictures. I know that my clothes are really getting loose and I bought a smaller outfit, but I have got a long way to go. I am ready to for the change!!

I finally figured out how to put my ticker ruler on here. I am down to 232 pounds now. I hope I will lose some more the next 9 days on this pre-op diet of Protein milkshakes, Water and Protein Bars.

I went to the flea market this weekend, and I was so happy that I found a plastic smoothie POPS@ container to freeze my milkshake into popsicles. They have 4 long ones on it and the plastic sticks with rubbery grips that you put on top before you freeze them. I don't know if they have them at Wal-mart or not but I am sure they might have something like them. I used them just a few minutes ago when I made my chocolate milkshake. When I poured it into them, I still had half of the mixture left (which I freeze in my plactic mug that has water inside it that freezes in the freezer, and it makes it like ice cream. Then later I can eat it when I need it, and it stays frozen until I get done eating it). I read on my pre-op diet, that you can freeze the protein milkshake, but you must eat it frozen, DO NOT LET IT THAW. MY QUESTION IS THIS: DOES IT DO SOMETHING TO THE PROTEIN OR SOMETHING ELSE? I HOPE SOMEONE HAS AN ANSWER.

I really enjoy my shakes by experimenting like this and making them better. I have always liked ice cream so I am not having any problem right now. I do miss the food when I am around good smelling food, but it is only Head hunger. I am going to post something that I posted on another thread about milkshakes.

Please read:

Re: protein shakes-I'm going to starve!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote:

Originally Posted by RubyTuesday

Hi Lucy-

I find the powders are much better. I put a scoop of vanilla Isopure brand in, add frozen fruits, ice, and skim milk or yogurt (depending on your desired thickness) and blend! and you can barely taste the powder. If the powder makes the consistancy add 1/2 scoop, and just add little scoops here and there to compensate. I love frozen blackberries, mango, raspberries. Makes the best shakes ever!! Also, I've been drinking Isopure brand Fruit drinks with 40 grams of protein and 160 cals per 20 oz. bottle. And I personally think they are very tasty.

Let me know if you try that stuff and how it works out for you!

You are doing just about the same thing that I have been doing. I have only tried banana and pineapple fruit in mine. I also have tried some walnuts and pecans. I wanted to let you know that when I received my pre-op diet from my surgeon's office, I read on there that the milkshake should have 20-35 grams of protein in each one. It warned about using those with high amounts of protein, because Mega-dose Protein Drinks in excess of 40 grams per serving may cause kidney damage. I don't know how true that is I have not read up on it, but I don't want to take any chances without knowing for sure. It also said that the whey protein is easier digested and absorbed than soy protein. So I am keeping this in mind when drinking the shakes. I got my protein from GNC and I really like the flavors. They are really expensive, but I found them on sale, so I paid about $25 each tub. The serving size is 3 scoops, which has 60 grams in each serving, so I use 1 1/2 scoops which gives me 30 grams. It is really important to check out that information on all the tubs, and adjust your serving scoop size accordingly. I am very glad the fellow at GNC pointed this out to me, he was a big help in my search. Have a great day.

Edited November 23, 200916 yr by mountain_lover

I used grape Isopure with grape juice for frozen popcycles. Pretty good. Waaaay better than drinking just the Isopure.

I have completed my pre-op and going for surgery this morning. I survived the holiday without cheating on my diet. I weight only 225 on my scales, but I officially weight at the BC on their scales at 232 pounds, so that is what I am posting on my ticker. I want to thank everyone for all your prayers and I hope I can get back real soon to let you know how surgery goes this morning. I had to take my bowel prep late because of a hold up at the pharmacy so I have been up all night from that and my anxiety. I am almost ready to go to the hospital. I have to be there in 2 hours and have surgery at 7:30 am this morning. It did get here so fast. I went out of state for the holiday and I was so busy visiting that time went by quickly. I am hoping that I will be able to use the Lap-top at the Hospital. I have to only stay 2 days, if no complications. I have to take my last antibacterial hibcleanse shower and get dressed to go, so I will have to get off here soon. I want to go to the other threads on pre-op and post-op. Thanks for all your support.

Congratulations ML! I am keeping you in my prayers and sending good healing energy. I know you will do great!

Hugs,

JoAnne