I enjoy reading other people’s journeys and stories, so I decided to create one of my own! I’m Shelly, about to turn 35 years old on July 7^th, and I’m from Iowa. I’ve struggled with my weight ever since I was 10 years old and have been up and down too many times to count. My lowest adult weight was 165 (very briefly) and I’m currently at my highest adult weight, 242. At 5’6”, the top end of the healthy weight range for me is 154, so 150 is my goal. Funny thing is, the last time I got measured as an adult I was told I was 5’4” so I always thought I needed to get to 138 or less to be at a healthy weight!

Currently, I am in the final stages of being approved for my VSG. The surgeon is supposed to sign off on everything today and the gal handling my insurance paperwork said she would submit to insurance today and call me. She said approval could take anywhere from 15 minutes to 7-10 business days. Fingers crossed for 15 minutes! ?

Backing up a bit, I originally went to Iowa Weight Loss Specialties for their non-surgical weight loss program on 5/10/2018. Knowing my BMI wasn’t 40 or higher, I thought trying for the surgery would only end up in disappointment if I didn’t get approved through insurance plus I was still struggling a little mentally with the idea that I thought I should lose the weight on my own. While meeting with my nurse practitioner, I mentioned that I had considered WLS and she asked if I’d like them to at least look into it with my insurance company in the meantime and I agreed.

At my next appointment two weeks later, my nurse practitioner told me that surgery would be covered, all I’d need is one more nutrition counseling appointment and a mental health assessment. I thought that meant my insurance was approved, but I had misunderstood what she said. So for the next couple weeks, I was happy as a clam thinking I was approved as long as I completed the steps, until I went to meet with the surgeon and found out I wasn’t approved yet! I was devastated and in tears, which was really embarrassing but I had my heart set on this surgery and it was extremely disappointing to hear that I may not even get approved without a comorbidity. However, they did tell me they wanted to do bloodwork and possibly a sleep study to see if I had a comorbidity, but the wait time for the home sleep study kit was two weeks. ☹ Luckily, the next day when I came in for my bloodwork they magically had a sleep machine I could take home immediately, which was great news.

My bloodwork all came back normal, so I was really riding on the sleep study and praying I’d have at least moderate sleep apnea. My husband told me he thought I definitely have sleep apnea based on how loud I snore, but I was still worried. Plus I thought all this time he was exaggerating on my snoring! ? So I returned the sleep machine on Monday 6/11 and they said it would take 7-10 business days for the results. I was happy and surprised to hear back on Friday 6/15 that I did have sleep apnea which qualifies as a comorbidity and scheduled an appointment to come in Monday 6/18 to hear the results and do my nicotine test, which was the last step before submitting to insurance. I was completely shocked to hear that I have SEVERE sleep apnea. Which all makes sense now that I know and think about it. But I have to get a CPAP machine to wear from now on. She indicated they’d have me do another sleep study after I lose 10% of my body weight to see if I still need the CPAP machine, but that my weight might have nothing to do with it. Not getting adequate sleep may have been one of the reasons I have not been able to lose weight on my own in recent years. Although I dread the thought of wearing a CPAP machine, I’ve grown so used to being exhausted that I’m actually looking forward to seeing what getting a good night’s sleep feels like.

After hearing that I have sleep apnea, I briefly wondered if I really needed the surgery after all and that maybe lack of sleep was really what had been holding me back from losing weight through diet and exercise. But then I remembered how I’ve been struggling all my life and that the hunger hormone ghrelin was going to continue to be a problem for me. I really feel like the sleeve is what I truly need to become a healthy person for the rest of my life.

Finally, in addition to sleep apnea, I suffer from depression, anxiety, back pain, heartburn, and ADD. I am hoping the surgery will reduce my depression, anxiety, and back pain.

That’s all for now! I’ll update again next time I have news, which will hopefully be my insurance approval!

My first post-op appointment went well! My next appointment is in five weeks. He even released me to the pureed stage a couple days early, so I can start that on Saturday. Even though I'm not hungry, I'm excited to start eating real food again because I need more energy. And need to get "things" aka ? moving again. I was up half the night last night with bloating and constipation. The milk of magnesia didn't work so well this time around. My surgeon recommended I take some probiotics daily until I can get enough fiber from food to keep things moving. So I picked some up on the way home.

I also picked up my new toy, the Instant Pot mini. Even though they're all the rage I hadn't bought one yet, but since they get meat so much more moist than other cooking methods, I decided I needed one. Plus I got a pretty good deal, about $67 with tax. I think Saturday I will roast a whole chicken and make some mashed cauliflower in my Instant Pot. And I'm planning on having a scrambled egg with cheese for breakfast at my first meal. I hope I can tolerate this stage as easily as I've tolerated everything else so far, like my water and yogurt. I really, really, really hate vomiting. It's not like anyone likes it, lol, but I really hate it.

One disappointing thing my surg told me is to reduce my walking to only 30 minutes per day. I had been walking quite a bit the last few days, more like 2 hours per day (broken down into six or so walks). While it does make me more tired, since I'm just sitting at home I really wanted to walk a lot to jump start my results and build up my endurance for when I'm released to full exercise. I really do follow my surg's instructions to a t, but might not on this aspect. He did have a good point about the heat here right now, so I'll do the treadmill instead. And maybe scale it back a little. Because otherwise my butt is sitting in my recliner or on my deck not moving at all!

Today my last day on liquids!!! I went to the grocery store today and let me tell you, it was very exciting buying real food for myself. I'm excited, yet nervous at the same time. I'm really hoping everything goes smoothly. I bought eggs, cottage cheese, a whole chicken to cook in my Insta pot, a piece of tilapia, cauliflower, and stuff to make the Ricotta Bake recipe. Oh, and an avocado. I have missed avocado so much!

Weight loss is still going strong at about a pound a day. I fully expect that it may stop or go up, and then fluctuate, once I start eating real foods. And that's okay. I should probably stop weighing myself daily but we'll see. ?

Well Shells a bright new day has dawned and I hope you and food have signed your formal truce, no argument from your belly. Guess I never did answer what you asked. In my Life After Bariatric Surgery booklet it says" We routinely require a 2 week? liquid presurgical diet" well since I am not the average beat as dear Yogi Bear was want To say, maybe I'll get away with not doing it? Well that's my dream!?

Hi Shelly! I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your posts of your sleeve journey. My surgery date is August 1st and it is so comforting to be able to read about how others are experiencing what I am about to experience! I hope your transition to pureed foods has gone well. Best wishes to you!

Sent from my SM-J320R4 using BariatricPal mobile app

@Frustr8 I only had to do a pre-op diet of 1200 calories per day for two weeks, then two days of the liquid diet. I am really picky, so I was glad I didn't have to do the liquid diet longer than that, but as long as you like more than the protein shakes, broth, and SF Popsicles like me, it shouldn't be too bad. I did end up finding one kind and flavor of yogurt I can choke down, so that helped for the post-op liquid diet.

@nourishing heather Hi! Thank you so much! I find Journaling about my experience has been therapeutic and am glad you and hopefully others and enjoying and benefitting from it. I know I loved to read about others' experiences before my surgery. Congrats and best wishes for your upcoming surgery! ?

OK, time to check in on this whole soft foods stage! Right now I'm finding that eating is really just a hassle. Mainly because of the no drinking during and 30 min after and having to eat sooooo slowly! It's nice to taste other flavors and my empty lurching tummy feels better, but sometimes I wish I could just stay on liquids. I'm sure it will get better with time when I can eat more at once instead of 6 times a day.

But I'm tolerating everything I'm eating just fine! Yay! So here's what day one looked like:

1. 1 scrambled egg with cheese (could only eat half--it tasted very rich)

2. 1/2 serving of the Ricotta Bake recipe (had three bites left over that I couldn't finish.)

3. 1 oz pureed chicken with a dab of salsa and light sour cream (no room left for cauliflower puree)

4. 1 oz of pureed chicken with a dab of salsa and light sour cream (still no room for veggie)

5. 1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese (Much like yogurt, this seems to be a slider food since I could finish the whole 4 oz)

6. Protein shake. I needed this to hit my protein goal of 60-80 g per day. I ended with 66 g of protein.

Day two was more of the same. Except I had two egg whites instead of the whole egg. And I was able to eat 2 oz of chicken at one time instead of 1. I ended up needing only a half a protein shake to meet my goal.

I feel pretty good, but kind of worried that eating two oz of chicken this soon is too much. I might call my nutritionist. It just seems like people quite a bit farther out than me aren't able to eat that much. I know it varies with each person but I want to make sure I'm not pushing my pouch too much. It's difficult for me to figure out when I'm feeling full or not.

Today I haven't done quite so well. I had my two egg white with cheese for breakfast, but then I had to go pick my sister in law up from an auto repair shop and drop her at home, then I had to drive to the city for a dentist appointment. After that I had a couple errands to run. Then I got home and decided I needed to cook. I am trying a pulled pork recipe in my Instant Pot and made a batch of Ricotta Bake. Hopefully the pulled pork with agree with me. I found a low sugar BBQ sauce to try. I am not a huge fan of pulled pork, but my husband is and I wanted to make him something special for dinner. He has been pretty great about everything before, during, and after my surgery. I'm a lucky gal! Anyway, I totally got off track there (lol) but the moral of that story is I need to get some more food in my belly today! I should have thought ahead and put a protein shake in a cooler for after my dentist appointment. And maybe should have eaten before cooking and coming on here! Oops! Oh well, I'll just use shakes for whatever protein I can't get through food today. OK, I'm going to sign off and go eat something! ??

Thank you@Shells83 for the well wishes! I am so excited! I agree that journaling helps a lot. Just knowing there are other people on similar journeys! I even started a blog---crazy out of my comfort zone but so is surgery lol! Www.nourishingheather.com is the blog address if you are interested.

Goid job paying attention to portions and what soft foods work for you. Identifying slider foods is so wise! I am gonna to try to take good notes and pay attention while I'm eating like you.

Sent from my SM-J320R4 using BariatricPal mobile app

Shells an update, now have a surgery date. 9/ 05/2018 7am. 2 to 4 weeks, 4 shakes, 1 meal, below 300 cals, no corn, peas, potatoes, high protein low carb, 2 snacks, banana, orange, Apple or 3/4 C berries. And of course plenty of unsweetened drinks and water. They claim if you do 4 weeks you'll heal better than the 2 weekers . General consensus,of my Bari-pals is sure, as long as you don't go crazy 1st, everybody says they'll never drink another shake after that day.

Shells an update, now have a surgery date. 9/ 05/2018 7am. 2 to 4 weeks, 4 shakes, 1 meal, below 300 cals, no corn, peas, potatoes, high Protein low carb, 2 Snacks, banana, orange, Apple or 3/4 C berries. And of course plenty of unsweetened drinks and Water. They claim if you do 4 weeks you'll heal better than the 2 weekers . General consensus,of my Bari-pals is sure, as long as you don't go crazy 1st, everybody says they'll never drink another shake after that day.

Yay, you have a date!!! Wahoo!

My Blog: www.nourishingheather.com

HW: 325
CW: 314
Surgery Date: 8/1/18
GW: 160

On 7/11/2018 at 3:47 PM, Shells83 said:

My first post-op appointment went well! My next appointment is in five weeks. He even released me to the pureed stage a couple days early, so I can start that on Saturday. Even though I'm not hungry, I'm excited to start eating real food again because I need more energy. And need to get "things" aka ? moving again. I was up half the night last night with bloating and constipation. The milk of magnesia didn't work so well this time around. My surgeon recommended I take some Probiotics daily until I can get enough Fiber from food to keep things moving. So I picked some up on the way home.

I also picked up my new toy, the Instant Pot mini. Even though they're all the rage I hadn't bought one yet, but since they get meat so much more moist than other cooking methods, I decided I needed one. Plus I got a pretty good deal, about $67 with tax. I think Saturday I will roast a whole chicken and make some mashed cauliflower in my Instant Pot. And I'm planning on having a scrambled egg with cheese for Breakfast at my first meal. I hope I can tolerate this stage as easily as I've tolerated everything else so far, like my Water and yogurt. I really, really, really hate vomiting. It's not like anyone likes it, lol, but I really hate it.

One disappointing thing my surg told me is to reduce my walking to only 30 minutes per day. I had been walking quite a bit the last few days, more like 2 hours per day (broken down into six or so walks). While it does make me more tired, since I'm just sitting at home I really wanted to walk a lot to jump start my results and build up my endurance for when I'm released to full exercise. I really do follow my surg's instructions to a t, but might not on this aspect. He did have a good point about the heat here right now, so I'll do the treadmill instead. And maybe scale it back a little. Because otherwise my butt is sitting in my recliner or on my deck not moving at all!

Congrats on your journey so far! Keep up the great work! I own an Instant Pot that I bought about two years ago. It was great at the time for making soups, chilis, and other one-pot meals. Then it broke (outside of the warranty period)... so it has been sitting on my counter since. After I started my journey, I thought to myself that I need to replace it. I was eying the small one like you bought, but I could not budget it into my finances. Then on prime day, the 6-quart model went on sale for just less than $59. I decided that it was better to get one for less money than one that held less. It should be here Friday. I also bought some of those silicone molds for making small egg dishes in the Instant Pot.

12 hours ago, macadamia said:

Congrats on your journey so far! Keep up the great work! I own an Instant Pot that I bought about two years ago. It was great at the time for making Soups, chilis, and other one-pot meals. Then it broke (outside of the warranty period)... so it has been sitting on my counter since. After I started my journey, I thought to myself that I need to replace it. I was eying the small one like you bought, but I could not budget it into my finances. Then on prime day, the 6-quart model went on sale for just less than $59. I decided that it was better to get one for less money than one that held less. It should be here Friday. I also bought some of those silicone molds for making small egg dishes in the Instant Pot.

@macadamia Thank you! I'm glad you were able to get the 6 QT at such a great price on prime day. I am loving mine so far. I also bought one of those silicone molds for egg bites. I think they will be great to take to work when I go back.

On 7/17/2018 at 7:57 PM, Frustr8 said:

Shells an update, now have a surgery date. 9/ 05/2018 7am. 2 to 4 weeks, 4 shakes, 1 meal, below 300 cals, no corn, peas, potatoes, high Protein low carb, 2 Snacks, banana, orange, Apple or 3/4 C berries. And of course plenty of unsweetened drinks and Water. They claim if you do 4 weeks you'll heal better than the 2 weekers . General consensus,of my Bari-pals is sure, as long as you don't go crazy 1st, everybody says they'll never drink another shake after that day.

Congratulations @Frustr8 Hoping the time flies until your surgery date, which I'm sure it will. ?

Not much new to report here. I'm just sticking to about the same foods each day and still walking 1-2 hours daily. Weight loss ranges from half to a pound per day, usually less than a pound now but I'm still very happy with it. I weighed in at 220.4 today, so I'm very excited about getting into the teens in the 200's. I haven't worn anything besides workout clothes since surgery but I feel like some of my shirts are looser!

I have to go back to work on Monday. ? It's been so nice being able to sleep more, wake up naturally with no alarm, and go for a walk every morning. But, gotta pay those pesky bills. So I'll need to do some meal prepping this weekend.

I actually put on make up today! I'm going to get my hair done, so I just wanted to feel good about myself after being a scrub these past few weeks. ? Tomorrow I'll get a pedicure. One thing I want to do is set some rewards for myself when I hit a certain weight on the scale. But it will be tough since I won't set food rewards, and no clothing rewards until I get closer to goal. So that leaves.... Massages, shoes, purses, jewelry.... Hm I need to get more creative.

Great job. Thank you for sharing your journey with us. You have a gift with writing. :)

1 hour ago, Shells83 said:

@macadamia Thank you! I'm glad you were able to get the 6 QT at such a great price on prime day. I am loving mine so far. I also bought one of those silicone molds for egg bites. I think they will be great to take to work when I go back.

Do you do anything special for your egg bites? I'm thinking that I'll just make scrambled eggs and put what I would put in the pan with them into the raw eggs and use a hand blender to mix everything together, then pour them into the molds. How long are you cooking yours? Have you had any issues with the silicone smell or taste? (some reviews said this was an issue)