Let's get to know each other before our surgery...I'll go first.

My name is Amy (37 years old). I live in central FL with my husband and two kids, 3 yo DS and 4.5 yo DD. I work in IT doing technical writing and operational readiness. I love photography and have a small side business, and when I'm thinner, I really enjoy running and spinning.

I was banded in Nov 2009 at 374 lbs. From my banding until Dec 2011 (2 years), I lost 198 lbs. I was thrilled! Despite the occasional vomit and inability to eat certain foods, I was still 99.9% happy with my band. Right after Christmas this year, however, I got a terrible upper respiratory infection. I coughed and coughed and coughed. I coughed until I puked, which caused a slip.

I got a complete unfill in early January. Once the slip was fixed, I started getting fills. But then my band developed a leak and slipped once again. Since the surgeon I was seeing was less than helpful, I found a new surgeon, Dr. Domkowski, who finally treated me without acting like I was crazy, as my last surgeon did. Based on his recommendations and test results, we decided to do the removal and sleeve in two separate surgeries.

Dr. D removed my band on August 3, 2012. Because of the extent of damage done by the band, including scarring and pulling the fundus through the diaphragm, I am waiting around four months to be sleeved. I'd love to be banded on November 25, which would have been the three year anniversary of my band.

I've gained about 70 lbs since December. Sigh. The good news is my surgeon is not at all concerned about my weight gain. He is 100% convinced that I'll lose it all once I'm sleeved, since I was so successful with the band. I'm a bit of a goody two-shoes, and I followed the rules to a "T", and I intend to do the same with the sleeve.

I hope the next four months fly by!

The protein is called Berry Chiller by RD Body; however' date=' its pretty much the same as Iso Blast 800. It's not too bad by itself, but with a bit of mio, it is not bad at all :-)[/quote']

What is mio? Thanks for sharing

Size today is the day!!! Good luck to my sleeve sisters today. Xx

So today is the day!!! Good luck to my sleeve sisters today. Xx

So today is the day!!! Good luck to my sleeve sisters today. Xx

Best wishes!!!

What is mio? Thanks for sharing

Mio is a water enhancer. It comes in different flavors. You can get it at Walmart or grocery stores, usually by the kool aid. Zero calories, no fat...nutritionist says its okay to use. I recommend the orange :-)

Just tried the strawberry-watermelon mio, it was awesome!!

Thanks!

Got my sleeve on Tuesday. Had 2 days of really bad nausea...vomited about every hour. My awesome nurses stayed right on top of it and tried lots of different drugs. They hit the right combo and everything was great. Just home from the hospital, minimal pain and no nausea. Sitting here sipping my water. When I get my 12 ounce bottle down, I will try a protein drink. Thanks for all the prayers, I know they made a big difference.

Anyone heard from George?

I'll continue to pray for all my nov sleeve brothers and sisters! I have no regrets!

I felt the first nurse in the PACU wasn't in tune with what patients are going through. She gave me 0.4mg of dilaudid for my 10/10 pain. I'm am a big guy' date=' this was like peeing in the wind, forgive me but it was. I am a nurse also and I recover open heart patients, so I felt I know somewhat of what a PACU nurse does, I felt she wasn't handling my pain with what she had to use. She had fentanyl, toradol, and dilaudid ordered. I'm not saying everybody would go through what I did, I'm just saying that this is what I went though.[/quote']

I totally understand they gave me dial lauded right after surgery then gave me NOTHING for over 6 hours later!

Congrats to all who've already been sleeved!

My big day is tomorrow! I'm not even nervous now, just excited!

Congrats to all who've already been sleeved!

My big day is tomorrow! I'm not even nervous now, just excited!

Mine is today so I know how excited you are!! I am leaving the hotel in about an hour and 15 mins

Best of luck to you tomorrow & hope for a speedy recovery!

Hi there! I'm 37 (38 in Dec), mom of two (son 16, daughter 11), and a lifelong Pacific NWer. Started my journey at 5'9" and 333 pounds in June. The day of surgery, I was 290. Had my surgery on the 1st, and I'm down 10 pounds. Happy! I'm missing the taste of real food SO BADLY after almost 3 weeks of liquids and 3 more to go, but...the good news...I'm not hungry. It's all mental. At this point, my dream meal is a big, leafy salad!!! Wishing everyone the best!!!

Congrats to all who've already been sleeved!

My big day is tomorrow! I'm not even nervous now' date=' just excited! <img src='http://www.bariatricpal.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />[/quote']

Good luck tomorrow. Hope everything goes well! So exciting!

Mine is today so I know how excited you are!! I am leaving the hotel in about an hour and 15 mins <img src='http://www.bariatricpal.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

Best of luck to you tomorrow & hope for a speedy recovery! <img src='http://www.bariatricpal.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

Hope everything went well. Can't wait to hear an update.

Hi there! I'm 37 (38 in Dec)' date=' mom of two (son 16, daughter 11), and a lifelong Pacific NWer. Started my journey at 5'9" and 333 pounds in June. The day of surgery, I was 290. Had my surgery on the 1st, and I'm down 10 pounds. Happy! I'm missing the taste of real food SO BADLY after almost 3 weeks of liquids and 3 more to go, but...the good news...I'm not hungry. It's all mental. At this point, my dream meal is a big, leafy salad!!! Wishing everyone the best!!![/quote']

Congrats! It is a mind game most of them time. You can do it!!!