Ok so I have been reading the forums for only a short time now and decided to introduce myself.

My name is Natalie and I am 30...almost 31 years (1 week). I have been overweight for at least 20 years.

I was recently married almost 1 year ago and we can't wait for children but haven't been able to get pregnant. I have high blood pressure so far. I do have PCOS which means I am at risk for others such as diabetes. I am absolutely miserable. I can't fit into my scrubs and my clothes I keep growing out of. Most importantly I feel like crap daily, I want to be healthy, I want to be off my medication for HTN, I want to exercise but I feel like crap once I do.

I worked at a hospital in Phoenix on the bariatric floor and I loved it. I could totally sympathized with these patients coming into my care. At that time I had thought maybe I would look into the WLS as an option for me. For some reason I kept thinking "no Natalie this is totally the easy way out, you can lose weight with diet and exercise". I thought that WLS was an easy out of being overweight. Now that I think about it I know my attitude was because I was in denial and frankly I was terrified. I hope I don't upset anyone but I absolutely do not think it is not an easy route whatsoever now.

Fast forward a few years and here I am in Northern CA and I finally got up enough guts to seek out help. Like always I did a ton of research and found a surgeon that had the credentials I was looking for. My insurance didn't require a referral. So last Tuesday I had my first consult with the surgeon and it was a one on one consult lasting 1 1/2 hours and I was totally at ease with the surgery. My last appointment with the surgeon is in September sometime I can only hope and pray that I will be sleeved in October. That would be fantastic. It seriously cannot get here fast enough. I am addicted to VST on here constantly. I am sure my husband thinks I have some online relationship going.

I have been researching things to buy and I have purchased a heating pad for my tummy, baby spoons and forks so I don't eat too much. Baby bullet for pureed and mushy stage. My surgeon wants me to start on Protein shakes to lose roughly 30 lbs before surgery. Tried one this morning and barfaroo. Totally gross for me. I hope I can find some tasty ones.

Well thanks for listening and hope I get to know some of you out there.

Your stories have encouraged, motivated, and absolutely calmed me while some have outright scared me. lol

Good luck. Try the Syntex brand fuzzy navel. You can buy it on line or at the vitamin shoppe.

Ok so I have been reading the forums for only a short time now and decided to introduce myself.

My name is Natalie and I am 30...almost 31 years (1 week). I have been overweight for at least 20 years.

I was recently married almost 1 year ago and we can't wait for children but haven't been able to get pregnant. I have high blood pressure so far. I do have PCOS which means I am at risk for others such as diabetes. I am absolutely miserable. I can't fit into my scrubs and my clothes I keep growing out of. Most importantly I feel like crap daily, I want to be healthy, I want to be off my medication for HTN, I want to exercise but I feel like crap once I do.

I worked at a hospital in Phoenix on the bariatric floor and I loved it. I could totally sympathized with these patients coming into my care. At that time I had thought maybe I would look into the WLS as an option for me. For some reason I kept thinking "no Natalie this is totally the easy way out, you can lose weight with diet and exercise". I thought that WLS was an easy out of being overweight. Now that I think about it I know my attitude was because I was in denial and frankly I was terrified. I hope I don't upset anyone but I absolutely do not think it is not an easy route whatsoever now.

Fast forward a few years and here I am in Northern CA and I finally got up enough guts to seek out help. Like always I did a ton of research and found a surgeon that had the credentials I was looking for. My insurance didn't require a referral. So last Tuesday I had my first consult with the surgeon and it was a one on one consult lasting 1 1/2 hours and I was totally at ease with the surgery. My last appointment with the surgeon is in September sometime I can only hope and pray that I will be sleeved in October. That would be fantastic. It seriously cannot get here fast enough. I am addicted to VST on here constantly. I am sure my husband thinks I have some online relationship going.

I have been researching things to buy and I have purchased a heating pad for my tummy, baby spoons and forks so I don't eat too much. Baby bullet for pureed and mushy stage. My surgeon wants me to start on Protein shakes to lose roughly 30 lbs before surgery. Tried one this morning and barfaroo. Totally gross for me. I hope I can find some tasty ones.

Well thanks for listening and hope I get to know some of you out there.

Your stories have encouraged, motivated, and absolutely calmed me while some have outright scared me. lol

You can order samples check out this link protein samples which is located in the food and nutrition section. Samples are the better way to go so that you can find something that you could possibly like. Oh and some people find that the Protein Shakes taste a bit better if they are chilled. Try with ice cubes.

Welcome! I love that we have so many nurses here. YAY!!! I did a med-surg rotation earlier this semester that was on the bariatric floor at a hospital here in Tucson, and it COMPLETELY solidified in my mind that this was the right thing to do.

As for the Protein shakes, don't buy the big containers of the powders until you find one you actually like. I go buy some at costco and they're tasty. (Can't remember the brand name, but they're premixed, in a white container that say "Protein" down the side.) I also bought a few Syntrex flavors that have been good so far. (Wild cherry, caribbean cooler, and Cappuccino.) I also bought myself some unjury chicken broth for my clear liquid stage post-op. (Can't tell you how it tastes yet...it's spendy and I don't want to have to buy more of it in case I REALLY like it. LOL)

Good luck to you!

Welcome Nataliee! Glad you are here! You are taking control of your life and have begun a wonderful (albeit) difficult journey. We are here to help and support you each step of the way. Keep us posted!

Thank you everyone!! I will absolutely order the samples and find a few different Protein shakes that will appeal to me.

Thanks for the kind words:)

To make the shakes you have more palatable try adding some sugar free syrups like Torani or DaVinci.

Welcome! I love that we have so many nurses here. YAY!!! I did a med-surg rotation earlier this semester that was on the bariatric floor at a hospital here in Tucson, and it COMPLETELY solidified in my mind that this was the right thing to do.

As for the Protein shakes, don't buy the big containers of the powders until you find one you actually like. I go buy some at costco and they're tasty. (Can't remember the brand name, but they're premixed, in a white container that say "Protein" down the side.) I also bought a few Syntrex flavors that have been good so far. (Wild cherry, caribbean cooler, and cappuccino.) I also bought myself some unjury chicken broth for my clear liquid stage post-op. (Can't tell you how it tastes yet...it's spendy and I don't want to have to buy more of it in case I REALLY like it. LOL)

Good luck to you!

I actually tried the Unjury chicken Soup protein today and it actually tasted okay...it kind of reminded me of chicken flavored Ramen noodle broth. But I do have to mention that the after taste was awful - probably from the high amount of protein - after about thirty minutes i finally had to brush my teeth. I'll be eating this again tomorrow because I need to get my protein in since i'm only a few days post-op...but i'll brush my teeth as soon as i'm finished.