Hi Everyone,

My name is Michelle.

I'm a mother of 2 wonderful young men (at the time I'm writing this, they're 20 & 13).

I'm a remarried widow, to a man that makes my soul sing, my heart soar and my dreams come true each day that I wake up and see him next to me.

I'm of Italian / Greek decent, and my entire life was based around food.

I'm not an emotional eater, but there was always food around based on emotions, for example, lots of food for weddings, funerals, graduations, celebrations, birthdays, good days, bad days, etc.

A few years ago I looked into getting banded but my insurance wouldn't cover it.

I felt completely defeated, between being rejected for surgery, yo-yo diet plans, and everything that goes along with it.

Then, last year (2014) I decided to look into it again since my insurance company finally changed, and I noticed procedures did too. The sleeve caught my eye immediately and I researched it for quite some time before meeting with my dr and making the choice to move forward. And now, finally, on March 18, 2015 I'm getting the Gastric Sleeve procedure done and couldn't be happier to finally leave this old me behind and break out of this jail cell and walk in the sun of life again a free woman.

This is so exciting reading the updates of the surgery you ladies have just had. Nothing but good vibes!

I'm going to be paying for surgery in New Zealand around August but am suddenly considering having it done in Mexico to save myself 10 grand! Especially reading about the lack of complications etc.

While it's an investment I don't want to feel ripped off!

I live and work in Russia at the moment. There's definitely no english support groups here so I am thrilled to have found this forum.

Day 3 Post-Op and I'm feeling great!
To be honest, I'm rather surprised based on things that I've read and people that I've talked to that have had the same surgery.
Many were saying they were very tired, still in pain, etc, but not here...
I'm still on clear liquids through the rest of the day today (mainly just had Water or water with a Protein & fiber enhancement in it) but feeling really good, lots of energy.
I was able to get back to my "norm", ran some errands this morning, got about 30 mins of walking in, was sure to keep my water bottle with me and sip sip sip smile emoticon

@kazza58. So great to hear success stories! I'm scheduled for surgery on March 24th and really starting to feel nervous about it. I'm struggling with this pre-op diet and have had a particularly bad cheat day today! ???? thank you for reminding of the goal ahead - better health and mobility!

good luck with your new future wishing you all the best and a fast recovery ????

I over did it this morning with trying to do a 30 minute walk at once... I was ghost white my husband said.

I had my 1 week post-op appt today and everything is great!

I'm down 15 lbs! Started at 253 and today at 238!!!

Yay me! LOL ????????????

Congrats Michelle! I'm 6 mo. post-op and had a similar experience to yours. Isn't it great to feel the control in your hands? Yay for you for sure! :-)

I can't believe everything is so smooth for me. I've been reading how others are dealing with pain, vomiting, cold, no energy, etc. I've not dealt with any of that.

I started walking the day I had surgery and have been walking more each day since. This morning I got a wonderful 30 minute walk in and have over 4,000 steps on my fitbit so far for today. All before 9am LOL

Yep...I got busy walking as soon as I felt ok, about a week? And have had almost no issues. In the last few months I did have two vasovagal attacks when I accidentally ate too fast and overdid it a bit. I fainted at the dining room table! Scared the heck out of my family but know now that I really have to be careful not to overeat even a mouthful. Otherwise, smooth for me too...losing consistently now but more slowly.

Edited March 26, 201511 yr by LovinSoul

Great job!

I'm still on liquids, so it's a protein shake in the morning, yogurt for lunch and another shake for dinner with lots of water throughout the day.

I'm so inspired by how well you are doing!!! My surgery is a week from today ????

Thank you so much Annie!

You know, to be honest, I followed everything to a "T" with what my doctor told me as well as with the pre-op diet.

I was sure to get up the day of my surgery and move around, walked a few laps around the nurse's station and have been active each day since.

I'm very in tune with my body and listen to it more so now when it comes do putting anything in my stomach. Even though I'm still on a liquid diet til Wednesday, I track EVERYTHING!

A little something I also started as of the day of my surgery, I bought a nice journal and each night when I get into bed as my husband is watching TV, I log my day.

I enter any activity, food / liquid intake, things I experienced that day, and whether it was a good or bad day for me, that way I can look back on it and see how far I progressed. Inside the cover I put my starting weight, and all my measurements and a small monthly goal I want to hit, than once a month I will be updating that as well as my goal.

I hope this helped and good luck with your surgery, you're going to do great!

Hi all! Just checking in. So far I'm down about 12 pounds from my weight the date of the surgery. I've been walking almost daily, except the last two days. Got back on the treadmill with a vengeance today. 64 minutes walking plus about 15 minutes of yoga. This is the last weekend before I go back to work. Each day, I learn something a little different about how to be successful. Like organizing my meds and vitamins. Hope everyone is doing great!

@@LaTrisha R. Lake That's so awesome!!!

Congrats on the loss! Keep up the great work.

Oh I wouldn't go all FB public lol!

Edited March 28, 201511 yr by Elode

I actually "came out" to all of my family and friends, as well as everyone that knows me on Facebook, and it was actually such a huge weight lifted off me when I did because I don't like feeling like I'm lying or keeping a secret, especially when it's something so life changing to me.

Everyone has been so supportive and loving, so I'm so happy I did it.