Kaiser Richmond Pre-op

[skiingj 0]

Hi Everyone!

I’ve quickly caught up and it sounds like everyone is chugging along. Welcome to our new folks!

I’ve been in Virginia for ten days, twenty to go… Spent the weekend down in the Outer Banks with an old friend who has a super nice waterfront house. Very busy with work and visiting all my friends in the area. Nice thing about coming out this way is the friends and old co-workers I can hang with.

It’s been a big big challenge eating out. Difficult to measure and I find myself usually having Soup. I’ve been snacking a little but overall I’m still not that hungry. Lee describes the Sleeve hunger I have very well. It’s nothing like before and such a small snack or meal satisfies it. I’m probably still losing weight but I’ve not been able to weigh myself.

For the new folks interested in the Sleeve and Doc Who (Fisher) PM me if I can help answer any questions. Doc Who is great!!!!

I hope you’re all doing well!!!!!!! Do I miss Cali!!!!!!!!!!

See ya!

[riley4183 0]

Morning again. I did good yesterday but forgot to weigh in this morning, can you believe that?? Ah, how I miss the days post-surgery where I would spring out of bed every morning and eagerly jump on the scale even before my eyes had opened, so eager I was to see another lb. gone like freakin' clockwork. Those were the weeks! Now . . . not so much. To be honest, if I REALLY follow the rules and write EVERYTHING down and do not allow myself any little slip-ups at all, I can still lose 2 lbs. a week. I've just gotten lazy.

Time to work; more later. I miss my gurlz!!!

[Ali2010 1]

Hi John, nice to hear from you. I was wondering where your travels took you. Sounds like you are making good choices in your home away from home--keep it up.

Well, I got on the scale this morning-11 days post op and I have lost 6 pds--now that is nothing to sneeze at but I am a bit disappointed in the low number. I move to mushies next week so maybe the extra calories will help me get the weight loss moving more quickly.

Yesterday I did feel a bit of hunger like I really wanted to snack on something but once I had my Soup I was pretty good. That was the first time since surgery I felt hungry at all. Today I haven't had the desire to eat but I do eventully get in some soup or pudding for b/f.

Have a great day.

[skiingj 0]

Hi Ali,

I wouldn’t be disappointed 3-5 pounds a week is excellent. My Doc said 5 pounds loss a week is where he expected me but we are all different. I know you can’t be eating and you carry a bunch of Water weight the first week post-op so it’s just a matter of time that you get closer to 5 pounds week. You now have an excellent tool to drop the weight. It will work for you big time, there’s no room down there anymore! This as I chow down a couple bits of my favorite (Chinese). I forgot how cheap it is to eat out here. $11 for enough Chinese to last 5-6 meals.

Good day everyone!!!!

[LaChica707 0]

Hi Everyone!!

ok so I had all my blood work, EKG, 2nd psych eval- and I'm clear!! well.. I'm just waiting on the call back from the Bariatrics department for my Nicotine test results.. and then..next if all goes well... they set up an appointment with my case manager... pray or wish or hope for me that everything goes well.. I've been trying ALL YEAR LONG.. I'm almost there! Any advice, pointers.. anything in regards to the VSG also would help!! thanks!!!

[tamra. 6]

Man John wish I could agree with ya about no room down there anymore cause I can eat like I use to and I never throw up nor slime. My band hates me

[MoniqueD 8]

Giod morning everyone... Happy Friday. Make good choices!!!

We need to plan our next get together... Any ideas????

[tamra. 6]

Morning everyone!

Day one of shakes - I was back up to 231 this morning. Trying to be 219 by May 25th (that would be exactly 10 lb loss since last appt.) - Now have 18 days to do so. Come on 12 lbs GO AWAY!!!

[wantshealth 0]

Hi Everyone.

I saw Lee and Beatrice at the Kaiser Rich Support Grp Wednesday night. WOW - they look fantastic.

Lee, I saw such a change since seeing you last year! You look amazing - love your hair!

We did a clothing exchange in the back of my car, so if when people are ready for Size 16 - call Lee - she has a ton of my stuff!

Analynn - congrats! You are almost there - so happy for you. Just keep on the program - the more you lose before surgery the better - it also means one less thing to stress about day of surgery - you don't want to be too close with the numbers.

Ali - you are doing fine. John is right, as you get a few more calories it helps the metabolism kick. It will come off.

Tam - sounds like you still don't have the right restriction. Mine is kicking in big time! I am eating chicken for lunch and I have gotten stuck a little for not chewing enough. What is scary to me is that even with it hurting a little I have kept on eating since I am hungry - or at least I think I am hungry.

Candra - where are you? Now that I have found my band, we need to name her. Notice I said her - I don't think mine is a boy like yours and John's. So in the superhero /fantasy world I really like Poisin Ivy, Elvira, and Cruella. What do you think? Any ideas?

Riley - so good to hear you checking back in. Life sounds crazy as usual. Gotta find some time to connect again.

John - good to hear from you and that you miss us and CA! I bet you are still losing - I think it can be easier sometimes traveling, because you have limited access to food - which isn't the case when you are home.

Maria - glad you are back too.

I am really trying to work on the mental side of this food/weight issue. Thoughts for the week from my therapist: How to change / break my relationship with food and put food in its proper place - what it is for, as opposed to what I use it for. Eventually need to make peace with saying good bye to it as something more than just a way to nourish myself, since it will be different for me for the rest of my life. On the practical side, am trying to work on eating slower (i.e. put dow the fork between bites) and more mindfully - need to enlist family to help me.

I am usually fine during the day, but when I get home, my pattern is alway to relax with food; it is my comfort. I really have to find ways to still relax, get comfort at the end of my day without using food.

OK - Hugs to everyone. Wishing all the Mom's a Happy Mother's day this weekend!

[Canolie 0]

Happy Friday everyone!!

So Im finally wathing the scale drop again. Down back to where I was when I saw the doc at my 6 weeks. ( I had gained 6 lbs back) Anyways, it sure is nice. I still dont have restriction but I stop when I think Im full which is about 1 cup of food or so... We will see. I go to the fill center in the next town over on Thursday which I am super excited for. They will do a barrium swallow and then a fill. She asked me what I had in my band and I told her I was told over 5 so who knows for sure. I told her that I had lost 15 lbs since surgery and at my 6 weeks I had only lost 2 lbs in one month and her exact words were "WOW you are definatly ready for a fill" So IDK why every where is so different. I asked her if they can tell me exactly how much is in my band and she said of course. Curious to see. She said once they fill me if within 2 weeks I still dont have good restriction they will give me another fill for $50 so thats good to know. Im looking forward to finally maybe feeling some restriction. Wish me luck lol.

Lee and John since I didnt get to see ya'll before I left post some pics, I cant wait to see how much you are ROCKIN IT!!

Its a beautiful day here in Anacortes, like 63... OMG its so awesome tho. My first week of work went great! I think I am going to fit in just fine there. They all know already I have the band because I had a slight PBIng incident because I didnt chew good. I was sitting at my desk eating and working and yeah just wasnt paying attention. BIG NO NO!! So they all kinda wondered WTH I was doing lol. Oh well.

Robbie and I are going to look at a place tonight, its someone his uncle knows who owns it and said if we like it we can have it for A$500 a month WOW.... IDK we will see it tonight at 5pm.

How is everyone. I miss all of you so darn much. I might just have to make a suprise appearance sometime soon!!!

Hubby and I were going to go for a drive along the coast this weekend and to Forks but we have to watch the doggies so we are going to go next weekend. YAY. I cant wait!!

I will post some pics tonight in a new album so you guys can see what this place looks like.

Have a happy mommy's day to all the mommys. I may not have kids but Riot sure acts like one so thats ok with me lol....

Love ya all....

Nicole

[Desperate1 1]

Thanks all for the b-day wishes!

Riley: I believe i mentioned this before but, statistics show, that falling in love is the #1 cause of weight gain. (#2 is winning the lottery LOL) I hear you about stress, money, bill collectors, bridezillas throwing around expensive commands, lack of work, blah, blah, blah! It all adds up and the next thing you know... Hang in there honey pie you'll find your mojo soon enough!

Pat - have you picked out a name yet? I love Poison Ivy but that is way too sexy a name for this beast - might wanna stick to Cruella. Elvira is good! G.I. Jane or Bionic woman, ooh, Isis - remember isis - not the egyption goddess but the superhero! There's Medusa or Tanya (harding LOL) Buffy and Xena the warrior princess - the list is endless hahahaha Sometimes rambo feels like medusa - turning my food to stone in my throat!

John - glad you'r enjoying yourself with your old friends. Can't wait to see new pictures - I, on the other hand, haven 't lost any wieght. Crazy cuz i don't really eat much anymore but I've fallen back into my old habbits - eating nothing all day long then snackin in bed at night - just messin up my metabolism. I'm so friggin lazy LOL. I have been trying to have Protein Shakes for b-fast just to get the ball rolling. I really don't want to eat but my mouth wants to snack. Love to Nikki!

Coco - so glad you called tonight - wuv u

Chrissy - so glad my hubby & I got to hang with you and Dave today - even more glad that you aren't psychotic - now i can relax around you my "bosom" buddy LMFAO.

Jes - Thanks for dinner wednesday. greatly enjoyed myself & my Jello shot (shhh). See you soon.

Tina - haven't heard from you girlie - keep me up to date on what's what~

Pammie - how are you? I can't get my emails thru to you guys - UGH!

Donna - It was good to hear from you this week - sorry i had to cut it so short - my hubby, who spends way more time in the mirror then I do, gets so impatient LOL.

TamTam - how is school going ?

Ali - how are you doing thus far?

I just want you all to know that my cat didn't come home last night! She NEVER leaves the front porch let alone stays out for more than 10 minutes a day so i was freakin out - I was up every hour checking for her. I got no sleep so I'm delerious - time for bed!

[Ali2010 1]

Good morning

If I ever see Tomato Soup again....urggg. I have my apt with Robyn on Monday and let's hope she advances my diet as I've pretty much got my fill of this full liquid stage. My biggest pleasure has been the Fiber One Key Lime Pie yogurt. Never before would I have enjoyed that!

I did get on the scale this am and I was down 9 lbs since surgery! Yeah! That makes me so happy. Hopefully before Monday will be another pound and that will make 10 lbs lost in 2 weeks. I think yesterday was the first day I got all 64 ozs of my Water down, now it took me until midnight but I did it. Also I walked 9 holes while my hubby played golf so that was nice to get some good excercise. Today I am going to keep up the water and keep up the walking.

I have SO SO many clothes for the next meeting. My neighbor has given me tons of clothes as well as my own that I have "under" grown...These are mostly size 22. So if you need 22's see you at the next meeting and bring a bag or two.

Something I learned on Dr Oz yesterday--don't put onions or pototos into the refergerator as it creates sugar in them...I thught was a good tip.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a great day and enjoy's the weekend. Rain here tomorrow...boo

[singand_dance 8]

We're painting the house today. Stayed up till 1:30 getting everything ready, and there's still more to do this am. So tired, this weekend isn't going to be restful, and we're hoping to be moving in next weekend. I'm going to be exhausted continuously for 3 whole weeks. Not great, now I understand why they say moving is one of the top stressful events in a person's life... You're sleep deprived for weeks, and the strange toll it takes on your body. Up the ladder, down the ladder, move the ladder, repeate. Taping baseboards is a pain in the a**, literally.

New puppy is super cute, he's so proud of himself when he jumps on the couch. I'm less than amused. So, painting/packing/moving and training a new puppy. GO ME!

Hope you're all doing well!

[swrktp 1]

I am back working with Kaiser again. Got a fill yesterday with Dr. Baggs and no I didn't lose any weight I gained. Long story but I couldn't be in bandster hell anymnore. 7 months was to long and my morale was totally shot. I pled my case to Kaiser and we are back on track. I am down 3 pounds this morning I think I am back in the game now. I bargained for my fill I have to do weekly food logs and fax them in, get back counseling to address emotional eating issues and have to be back in a support group so Point West is going to be a priority again. That is what I said I could do to earn a fill!! LOL. I won't say it was easy to convince Kaiser but I am so glad I stuck it out and was persistent. Been a long 7 months. So glad to be back in the program. I think my sweet spot is back as of this morning.............

I LOVE Dr. Baggs he really gets how hard this stuff is and he helped me alot yesterday with all the things we talked about. He totally gets it and while they are not thrilled I went to the fill center he welcomed me back no problem. NOt that all of Kaiser did but who cares.

I also talked to him about converting to the sleeve but he really thinks the Band is gonna work with me if I work with it. He said sleeve and RNY are the same as band and if you don't stay on top of your game you can gain weight back with all three. No magic cure..........****sigh******

Pat I hear ya on the emotional stuff. I am trying to find a therapist to specialize in eating issues. The psychologist at Richmond is trying to help me find someone here in Sac. I am also dealing with night time eating issues. The fill center said I need to balance the calories out by three meals.

So I also talked to Dr. Baggs about the group on LBT splitting off. I told him that pre op and post op is so different. He said splitting the group would be a shame since the new people need to hear and learn from the people further out. He said a huge part of the group is having someone ahead of you to learn from. For me that was Pam and than Riley!! COuldn't have done it without all the information and support. I said ya but us oldsters can be negetive and we put out alot of frustrations. He said like I said before people new to the game need to hear it whether they like it or not because it is the truth there is nothing easy about the band. He said this stuff is some of the hardest stuff you will have to face this weight loss stuff and there is nothing easy about it. The sooner you get that the better. He advised methat somehow we all try to learn from each other. I told him I got called on saying negetive things about Kaiser and the program an and he said but you were honest about how you felt and people need to know the good and bad before they decide to have surgery. He saidthat is better than not saying anything and than pretending it is all good, leads to stress eating as we all know. HE said people need to know the good and the bad it is the only way to deal with how hard this all is...........he advised me to show up on line now and than :-)

So not to bring up old issues but I found his perspective very interesting. So I might be around off and on more often.................

Edited May 8, 2010 by swrktp

[Ali2010 1]

Welcome back to the board; glad to hear that things are moving a good direction for you.

I am glad the board has not broken up as learning from you "post" is very helpful to me now that I have had surgery but it was very helpful to me during my pre-op stage as well.

Keep checking in and posting and look forward to meeting you on the 22nd @ point west.