Hello All!

Absolutely love this site! I feel more motivated then ever after coming here and reading everyone's posts. its good to know that a lot of people have had the same worries and questions that I have.

I am 31 and a single mother of three, but I actually have four children. My father passed away in September from massive heart failure, he also had diabetes. with my dads passing it left me to care for my six year old baby sister. I knew right then that I had to make some major life changes. I need to get healthy for my babies, all four of them. I don't want them to have to go through what my sister is going through right now. I want to be able to be in their lives for a very long time.

I looked into bariatric surgery a little over a year ago and was talked out of it by my mom, who isn't really understanding or supportive right now. I will be taking her to my steps for success class on Monday so that she can have a better understanding of why I have made this decision. I hope it helps, I am really going to need someone to lean on for that support. I know it is going to be a hard road, but I am ready!

So far I have gotten my initial consultation out of the way and am working on my check list. I have my steps to success class on Monday and my psych eval scheduled for Friday. After that everything else is done but the hard part. I have to give up smoking for six weeks, which is not a bad thing, it will be hard, expecially, starting out with my pre op diet at the same time. I have to lose 30 lbs before surgery so I will be on a 4 week diet.

Wish me luck... cause I will definitely need a lot of it.

Thanks for reading, and good luck to all of you while you are on this journey!!

Its a good idea to give up smoking for good. I quit a year prior to my surgery because I wanted to have the least possibility of complications. And I figure if I am going to alter my insides to get healthy, why destroy it with cigarettes? Getting healthy is what this is about. I should really get off my "quit smoking" soap box and just say....WELCOME!!! we are a good group of people who just want to be here for whoever needs some advice, a pat on the back, or a kick in the pants. All the best to you on your journey to great health! Wishing you lots of luck and lots of successes!!

Awww I'm so sorry about your dad. Your baby sister is lucky to have you I've lost both my parents, and it's so hard.

You've been through a lot. You've got this. I think your mom will come around once she gets some education about it. You're doing the right thing by having her go to classes with you.

Not gonna lie, quitting smoking during a pre op diet is going to be hard, but can be done. My insurance required a 3 month supervised diet, and I needed to quit smoking also. I started vaping, and tapered down the nicotine until I was down to none in my vape. By the time I had surgery, I had stopped vaping altogether. And I still managed to lose weight Obviously it must have been good enough for my insurance! I'll be rooting for you because I know how hard it is to quit! Good luck with the process and keep us posted!

Vaping has saved me. I have always used 0 nicotine. and love melon ball flavor!! But, I'm a dork...so.

Thank you guys! Glad to have support here.

I thought vapor cigs all had nicotine... I am definitely going to have to check this out.

It was required by my insurance to do a 16 week diet prior to surgery at the University but because I live more then 30 miles from reno I didn't have to complete it.

I use the e-cigs that don't really "look" like cigarettes. There is a clear chamber at the top where you pour your e-liquid into it, and the rechargeable battery is screwed onto that chamber. The e-juice comes in different flavors and levels of nicotine. I just knew I wanted to be completely nicotine free, so I went that route and used the 0 nicotine from the start. I never have missed smoking, and I still blow out (what appears to be) smoke.....but it isn't. Its Water vapor that smells like melon balls!

Thanks for the info, going to the value store too get to see what they got.

Vape store tonight.... Dang chubby fingers.... Haha