I am still a newbie, and just browsing around.... saw many share where they are, so I wondered how many people are from Jax.

Hi Angi. In Jax, Dr. Uchal also. Have you been at any of the meetings, had surgery? Which surgery? Did not see any information on your stats. Welcome here!

Hi Angi. In Jax, Dr. Uchal also. Have you been at any of the meetings, had surgery? Which surgery? Did not see any information on your stats. Welcome here!

Hi Linda,

Thanks for the welcome. So far I went to the seminar on 3/11/14. Then I just had my meeting with the patient advocate 3/17/14. I have my first meeting with Dr. Uchal on 3/27/14. My choice is for the sleeve. I am excited and a little nervous too. So far it looks like my surgery might be in July. I would love to keep in touch, if that is ok.

I am trying to find people to talk with that understand. Right now the support of 4 of my doctors, and my husband is supportive. Others that I have tried to talk to about this and why I am choosing this, well, they care and are not really in agreement or support of this choice.... plus they start to plant 'doubts' in my head... to make me feel like I will not be disciplined enough etc. I know they mean well, but it really starts to hurt. I know my parents would have been supportive, but sadly my mom passed away 14 years ago,and my dad passed away Sept.2013.

Anyway, I thank you for your reply. Hope I didn't say too much...lol

Sincerely, Angi

Hi Angi. In Jax, Dr. Uchal also. Have you been at any of the meetings, had surgery? Which surgery? Did not see any information on your stats. Welcome here!

Hi Linda,

Thanks for the welcome. So far I went to the seminar on 3/11/14. Then I just had my meeting with the patient advocate 3/17/14. I have my first meeting with Dr. Uchal on 3/27/14. My choice is for the sleeve. I am excited and a little nervous too. So far it looks like my surgery might be in July. I would love to keep in touch, if that is ok.

I am trying to find people to talk with that understand. Right now the support of 4 of my doctors, and my husband is supportive. Others that I have tried to talk to about this and why I am choosing this, well, they care and are not really in agreement or support of this choice.... plus they start to plant 'doubts' in my head... to make me feel like I will not be disciplined enough etc. I know they mean well, but it really starts to hurt. I know my parents would have been supportive, but sadly my mom passed away 14 years ago,and my dad passed away Sept.2013.

Anyway, I thank you for your reply. Hope I didn't say too much...lol

Sincerely, Angi

Tomorrow I am headed out of town for a week. I am going to friend you and send you a personal message. Advice to you: My husband and I told no one of the surgery except daughter, nurse and cousin who had WLS. The more people you tell, the more chatter you will get. Seems like you are talking to a lot of people and see it already. Spend your time on here talking to the experts who have had the sleeve and know what it is about. Have your husband read with you. I feel like a million dollars 4 months post op, and Dr. Uchal and his staff has us from hello. We went to seminars for 10 years.....so we researched well before we did the sleeve. Would love to guide you Angi, as it was scary for us also. We had a lot of health issues. Linda

Hello i'm currently living in Jax. I'm 6days post op and i'm happy to see people on here from Jax.

I'm just outside of Jax, in Orange Park. I used Dr. Uchal, and will be one year post-op May 8th. Are any of you attending the fashion show on Friday at Riverside with North Florida Surgeons?

Hello there! We are not planning to attend. Looks like you have done an excellent job on the weight loss. I have inspiration. I am a work in progress a little over 4 months post sleeve. I would be happy where I am, it feels great!

Hello there! We are not planning to attend. Looks like you have done an excellent job on the weight loss. I have inspiration. I am a work in progress a little over 4 months post sleeve. I would be happy where I am, it feels great!

Do you go to the support group meetings? I never seem to be available to go, my daughter is in jr high, and always seems to have homework or my hubby is working and I can't be at the meeting, due to her needing to be home and in bed for school the next morning. I was banded before my sleeve, and had major complications, so I was revised to the sleeve last May. I LOVE my sleeve, it was the best thing I could have done.

Do you go to the support group meetings? I never seem to be available to go, my daughter is in jr high, and always seems to have homework or my hubby is working and I can't be at the meeting, due to her needing to be home and in bed for school the next morning. I was banded before my sleeve, and had major complications, so I was revised to the sleeve last May. I LOVE my sleeve, it was the best thing I could have done.

Hello there! We are not planning to attend. Looks like you have done an excellent job on the weight loss. I have inspiration. I am a work in progress a little over 4 months post sleeve. I would be happy where I am, it feels great!

Yes, my husband and I do go to the ones at Riverside. One lady brings her teenage daughter who reads during the meeting. I really do not like the format though. There are about 20 people, and some love to hear themselves talk too much. One man last time finally made himself be heard which was nice, he had some important things to say. I have heard the horror stories of the band, and I am glad you now have the sleeve. We have done well and happy with the sleeve. We are retired and finally hope to do more traveling. My one problem since the weight loss is gout in my big toes. The pain gets horrible and the medicines are not good for the sleeve. I am struggling. I learned in Pensacola not to ever take meds without food in my stomach because I ended up in the hospital after 8 hours of non-stop vomiting.

I hope we can all keep in touch on this thread and maybe one day we can meet on a Saturday for lunch. Angi, how are you and Catherine doing?

I have a bypass friend that swears by cherry juice to help with his gout attacks. He says it cuts the pain, and flareup time in half. Something in the juice that reduces the uric acid absorption. Might be worth looking into? I would love to meet up for lunch somewhere, name the time/place and I will make it work.

I have had fresh cherries, tart cherry juice and dried cherries. I have to find some combination or cure. The doctor changed some meds yesterday. Maybe we can meet up in Orange Park soon. I just need a few days to feel better, and have plans this weekend. Would love to meet you also. ldav@clearwire.net

I'm available during the week also.I'm not working at the moment, so any day is good for me. I have a really good RA doctor if you want to seek a second opinion for the gout.

I'm just outside of Jax, in Orange Park. I used Dr. Uchal, and will be one year post-op May 8th. Are any of you attending the fashion show on Friday at Riverside with North Florida Surgeons?

Good to meet you and congratulations on your surgery!. I am not able to make it to the fashion show. I am glad to meet other patient's of Dr. Uchal. =)

Hi Angi. In Jax, Dr. Uchal also. Have you been at any of the meetings, had surgery? Which surgery? Did not see any information on your stats. Welcome here!

Hi Linda,

Thanks for the welcome. So far I went to the seminar on 3/11/14. Then I just had my meeting with the patient advocate 3/17/14. I have my first meeting with Dr. Uchal on 3/27/14. My choice is for the sleeve. I am excited and a little nervous too. So far it looks like my surgery might be in July. I would love to keep in touch, if that is ok.

I am trying to find people to talk with that understand. Right now the support of 4 of my doctors, and my husband is supportive. Others that I have tried to talk to about this and why I am choosing this, well, they care and are not really in agreement or support of this choice.... plus they start to plant 'doubts' in my head... to make me feel like I will not be disciplined enough etc. I know they mean well, but it really starts to hurt. I know my parents would have been supportive, but sadly my mom passed away 14 years ago,and my dad passed away Sept.2013.

Anyway, I thank you for your reply. Hope I didn't say too much...lol

Sincerely, Angi

Tomorrow I am headed out of town for a week. I am going to friend you and send you a personal message. Advice to you: My husband and I told no one of the surgery except daughter, nurse and cousin who had WLS. The more people you tell, the more chatter you will get. Seems like you are talking to a lot of people and see it already. Spend your time on here talking to the experts who have had the sleeve and know what it is about. Have your husband read with you. I feel like a million dollars 4 months post op, and Dr. Uchal and his staff has us from hello. We went to seminars for 10 years.....so we researched well before we did the sleeve. Would love to guide you Angi, as it was scary for us also. We had a lot of health issues. Linda

Hello again. I agree with you. The first time I considered surgery, I talked to quite a bit of people that i knew... looking back I know it was because I was not quite ready and sure in my decision. This time, I knew deep down I am ready, it is for the right reasons... so I have told very few. The hard part is a 2 of the few are not happy with me and my choice, and they seem to be freezing me out... but I just have to move forward... I look forward to days ahead and I would love your guidance and friendship... I appreciate that very much. I look forward to having a better quality of life...

Talk to you soon...

Angi, good to hear from you again. The topic of weight loss dominates every conversation and I get so tired of it lol! Trust me you can do this. You definitely will have a better quality of life, all of us. We can keep this thread going and meet up one day. I am here to offer any advice or guidance. Keep your focus on becoming a healthier you. It is kind of scary, but honestly, it was TEN times easier than I expected. The unknown is what scares us. Go to those meetings! We are cheering you on here, you can see our weight loss.

Hello, I am a newbie also. I live in Jacksonville Florida I'm 67 and I'm in my 3rd month of my 6 month waiting period. My first visit with my Bariatric surgeon was in April. My psychologist appointment is this Monday. So now I'm waiting on my cardiologist and should know the middle of July if she gives me clearance. I've gotten clearance from all my other doctors. My endoscopy was done in May. Still debating on whether to have the sleeve or the bypass. Really thought I knew what I wanted and although I am leaning towards the sleeve it seems the more I research and read I have more questions than answers. My doctor is Dr. Ahmed.