We are open to any BP member for support and feedback. Please join in. And hey, it's ok if you're 54.

Hi - I have been lurking on this forum since May - figured now that I'm sleeved, I might as well jump in! My name is Ellen. I'm 56 and live In beautiful Connecticut. I have named my sleeve Tiny Tina (although I might change it to "she who must be obeyed" .) When I was in my early 20s, I was dragged to a gay bar by my sexually ambivalent boyfriend to see a female impersonator named Tiny Tina. She was probably 400 lbs, but boy could she move! She showed me that you could be fat and fabulous. Well, now some 30 years later, I want to be slender and fabulous!

Tiny Tina was born 10 days ago. The surgery was a breeze. Had it at Yale New Haven Hospital. The nursing staff was really nice. I almost didn't want to leave. I went home to my parent's house for a few days and believe me, the hospital was less stressful! I love my parents and appreciate them so much, but oy vay, are they loud! They're in their early 80s and Dad is so hard of hearing. At least they didn't hear my trudging back and forth to the bathroom all night long! Every time I got up, my 2 miniature poodles would get up with me. Towards morning, my boy dog was starting to give me dirty looks! I actually gained about 8 lbs from the surgery, but I've lost that and the scale is now going down, but of course not as fast as I would like.

For those of you who are waiting for surgery and have read so many posts about gas pain, nausea, trouble drinking, etc., please be comforted to know that not everyone goes through that. I actually called my program because once I was home I was worried that I could drink and get my Protein Shakes in no problem and had to ask them if I could exceed 64 oz of water! I have been lucky, lucky, lucky. Supportive friends and family, understanding boss, no issues with the insurance company. I took the week of the surgery off, and my boss is letting me work from home until Sept 8. It is nice to not have the long commute and the peace and quite (now that I'm back in my own place .) I'm still on full liquids until Wed, then on to purees. The best thing I have learned on this board is about PB2. Have you all heard of it? It's dehydrated Peanut Butter powder with most of the fat removed. 45 calories for 2 tablespoons and 6 grams of protein. I add it to the unjury brand classic chocolate Protein Powder and mix with light soymilk and boy is it good! I don't see myself giving up that drink even when I'm back on solid food. I think that will be lunch at work.

Although I am somewhat tired, I have to say that I am getting more and more excited as the days go on. When I set up my ticker earlier today, I knew in my guts (or in Tiny Tina I should say), that I will be successful and I hope that I can make some new friends here who will be equally enthusiastic! Sorry about the looooong post - hope to meet more of you soon.

Ellen

Ellen, I'm so glad you joined us. I would love to see this particular thread become a real support for us.

I'm in PA, though originally from NJ. We are lucky we have had such excellent experiences. I think one thing that held me back from even considering surgery for a long time was that I just assumed it would take a long time and be very expensive. I was wrong on both counts. It took me three months to satisfy all the requirements, and cost me about $500 total, including meds. For those entire three months I read everything I could find on wls, and I just couldn't wait for surgery day.

Hi. 56 year old gal from Colorado. Banded in 7/22/14. I am happy with the decision I made to take control of my life and get healthy.

Hi. I'm 60 years old and I live in the wine country in Northern California. I'm a little rattled right now because we just had a pretty strong earthquake. But the earthquake reminded me of how lucky I am. Not only did my friends, family and job all come through the earthquake just fine, but I had my 3 month follow-up appointment with my surgeon and was told that my A1C level was absolutely normal. I was so happy, I would have hugged him if that would not have been completely inappropriate. But my list of good fortune is actually much longer and deeper than that: I have a great, supportive husband, two adult children who are healthy and happy, and the two cutest grandsons on the planet. I know everyone thinks that, but for me, it's true :-)

Hi. I'm 60 years old and I live in the wine country in Northern California. I'm a little rattled right now because we just had a pretty strong earthquake. But the earthquake reminded me of how lucky I am. Not only did my friends, family and job all come through the earthquake just fine, but I had my 3 month follow-up appointment with my surgeon and was told that my A1C level was absolutely normal. I was so happy, I would have hugged him if that would not have been completely inappropriate. But my list of good fortune is actually much longer and deeper than that: I have a great, supportive husband, two adult children who are healthy and happy, and the two cutest grandsons on the planet. I know everyone thinks that, but for me, it's true :-)

Hi so glad to see you on this post were you on meds be fore your surgery and are you still on any I sure hope I can get off mine after surgery. So glad you're OK I have never witness an earthquake but I sure it's scary

Nice to meet all of you. IcanMakeit -- great news about the A1C level. Talk about a non-scale victory!! Not great news about the earthquake

Hi All - I am a 58 year old female... wife, mother of 2 grown boys and grandmother of 2 as well. I am having RNY revision from LapBand on 10/3 at Roger Williams Hospital with Dr. Pohl. I live in Taunton, MA but chose a doctor in RI due to my company's bariatric policy requiring a UHC certified Hospital of Excellence. I have heard AWESOME things about Dr. Pohl so am very happy he is my surgeon.

I had the lapband installed in 2008... lost 58 lbs in 6 months... and over the last few years have gained back every pound of my loss. I get stuck all the time and end up having to vomit to stop the pain. Sometimes it lasts for hours.

I am excited to be a part of this fledgling group and hope to offer as much support as I am sure to receive from all of you.