Finally had my initial consult yesterday with my surgeon. I have a very high BMI of 74 and he wants 100lbs lost before surgery. Was kinda down till he told me how he was going to help me with the task. I think of it as a mock-up banding. He has given me a prescription strength appetite suppresant and told me to use Atkins Diet. I went after the meeting and joined my local gym and walked half a mile! I will go daily and work my way up to more strenuous walks and workouts. I want this surgery and am ready to do what it takes... it is better than the alternative!!! Gonna do weekly weigh-ins at the surgeons office and monthly visitis with him personally to check progress. I am excited to start seeing results!

Jason

Hey congrats on possibly not needing your BP meds anymore!!! that would be so great. I know when I had to do my psych eval for Dr. Fox I had to first talk to the psychiatrist and then meet with the PA and do this test thing that basically asked you questions like

Do you ever have thoughts of killing yourself?

or

Do you ever hear voices?

things like that. It's really straight forward. have fun getting your lab work done! hahaha

Yeesh! You weren't kidding. They had to stick me 8 times before they found the vein that gave them enough blood. Fun times. So glad I am done with that. Now for the respiratory stuff tomorrow... hoping that is not much of a big deal. Talk to y'all soon!

Jason

So I am done with all of my hospital/psych testing. Today I went to the 2nd part of my psych eval which was nothing more than the guy asking me if I was depressed, hearing voices or having any suicidal thoughts of which I was luckily able to say no. The interview lasted roughly 5-7 mins and was actually pretty dull. I suppose the last thing I will need to do is to see my primary physician one time before my surgery; other than that I am ready! I will keep on keepin on with my eating habits and exercise as usual.

Anxiously waiting August!!!

Jason

Hi Jason

That rocks! Now you can breathe a little, congratulations on getting through all the testing. I'm looking forward to hearing you have a date! :eek:

side Q, where (if I may ask) was that picture of your family taken? Just curious, cause it looks like a Russian Orthodox icon on the wall.

Hope you have a great 4th of July weekend! My husband was home on leave for my surgey, so he can't be here, we're just gonna hang around at home (the evil teenagers and I).

WTG Jason!!!! You are an inspiration! Keep up the good work, and let us all know when you get your surgery date :=)

HSJ-

Thank you so much! I do have good news though, i did get approved and my surgery date is July 13th :=).

I will still be hitting my low carb diet for preop (and postop of course) and coming here for inspiration from folks like you and Jason!!

Thank you!!

Hel - Thanks and that was taken at my son's baptism at Christ the King Catholic Church here in my home town. That is the church my wife and I were married at in July of 2001!!!

Kat - Hey thanks to you as well!

My next appt with Dr Fox is July 15th. I imagine I should get a surgery date during that visit. I also have not been told about his version of the liquid diet yet. I am hoping this next visit is full of useful and exciting information. I will keep y'all posted for sure.

Happy 4th of July everyone!!!

GOD BLESS AMERICA

Jason

Hi Jason. It's always nice when someone else tells you that you are not a whack job :smile2:.... even though you already knew that. You're doing such a great job. Following your progress helps me to have that same excited, I can do it, keep on keepin on attitude that you have. I can't wait to find out what your surgery date is - it has been fun following you in your journey to get your band, and I am anxious to follow you through the after surgery part as well. We will get to our goals and this site and nice people like you make it a bit easier. Keep it up my friend!!! Take care. Becky

WOW! I just saw this thread for the first time, I have to say you are kickin butt! A huge inspiration! I am going to have to share this with my friend she was told to loose 80 lbs first.. so yeah same boat of needing a huge loss first.

Congratulations on your upcoming surgery!

WOW Jason, I am so impressed by your story and how hard you have worked at this. It gave me goose bumps when I read that your doctor was going to give you a surgery date in August. I don't even know you but wanted to cry tears of joy for you. I know you're going to be a great success story...I know that I will be following your journey and use you as a source of inspiration as I begin my journey as well.

You have a beautiful family!

Thanks for sharing!

I just want to say

GREAT JOB JASON

You have been doing a fabulous job so far. Just think of the success you will have with both the band and your determination. Keep up the positive attitude and the hard work and you will succeed.

Thank you all for your responses and continued support! Please know that it means as much now as it did during my first week. I love getting on this site and seeing people care so much about each others progress. Each of you are doing a great job in your journeys as well!!!

When I was getting ready to go to my weigh-in today Dr. Fox himself calls me. He has gotten the test results back from the hospital. This is what I know so far... I have mild anemia and am at a high risk of getting gout. I went to webmd.com and read a bit about these two conditions, but am anxious to discuss things with him at my 3rd appt next week. He is planning on calling my primary physician this week to come up with a plan for treatment for me. I am not sure as of now what this entails as far as my progress goes. I hope and pray it does not postpone surgery, but will do what is safe, of course. I am following his directions to a tee. One other thing is that I am low on Vitamin D... but he already gave me a prescription for that which I will pick up tonight.

Well I had to take both of my kids to their doc appts today so I did not have much time to read about my two conditions. I must admit I was a bit nervous because I was not 100% certain what to expect. I am still not certain. Before going to their appts I am going to stop by Dr. Fox's office for my weekly weigh-in. I step up on the scale and BAM - it has to be this week I have my first GAIN. Yeesh. I gained 4lbs this past week. The good news is that I know exactly why and can certainly reverse it quickly. So this new chicken wing rest opened up recently close to my neighborhood right... LOL When I lived in Alabama we had wings restaurants around town and it was a family fav. When this rest came to town I we went 3-4 times last week. Here I was thinking... they aren't fried. They do have the skin/fat still on and I think I went a little hog wild on them. So now I have had my fix and I am not letting this happen again. I was a bit disappointed to see a gain... it is FOR SURE not as much fun as seeing a loss... so no more wings for me. HaHa!! The only change in my exercise routine was actually walking a bit faster and longer on my treadmill nights so I know I have not been slacking on the exercise. I am still doing my 30 mins 7 days a week.

Summing things up... learn from my mistakes and don't let em happen again. Also I am going to try to keep from worrying until I talk to Dr. Fox again and have more information about the problems that came up. I think I have given everyone enough to read for the time being... I look forward to talking with y'all soon!

Jason

Jason. Nice to know how things are progressing for you. Sorry to hear about the call and the news. Don't think those things are major, but good luck with them. Let us know how things turn out. The waiting is never easy, but try not to worry too much. This road we are on is long, and we sometimes come to speed bumps - both little ones and big ones - but we just have to keep on going and eventually we will get to that place where we are headed.

Now about those wings.... Doubt if there is anyone on here who hasn't been in that chair. It might not have been wings for all of us.... but it was something that we loved. You've got the right attitude. It's in the past, you learned from it, and you are already back in the saddle. It is never fun to see a gain when we step on the scale, but they do happen.... and sometimes even when you've been really good. Remember... the scale is just another tool in our new toolbox that helps us to know that what we are doing is working or what we need to change. One day at a time. Keep up the good work. Take care. Becky

I'm so happy you are doing this when you are 30 and not wait until you are 40 or even older. I wish I had taken control of my life sooner. You're gonna get down, you're gonna get mad, sad, frustrated....Stay the course. Your gonna hurt and going to the gym is gonna be the last thing in the world you are gonna want to do...go anyway. The pride and self love you will have for yourself will be a great healing tool for all the times in the past when you let yourself down. You deserve this man. Your wife deserves a healthy happy husband to share her life with. Congratulations.

My next appt with Dr Fox is July 15th. I imagine I should get a surgery date during that visit. I also have not been told about his version of the liquid diet yet. I am hoping this next visit is full of useful and exciting information. I will keep y'all posted for sure.

Happy 4th of July everyone!!!

GOD BLESS AMERICA

Jason

first of all sorry to hear about your anemia/gout. Since getting the lap band I've gotten a Vitamin b12 defficiency which can cause anemia but its an easy fix. and I have a friend that has gout and they gave him some pills and it cleared it up. Also I'm glad to hear you aren't getting down on yourself about your gain. You have been doing well and I know you will do great again this week!

Also the amount of blood dr.fox wants when he does lab work is crazy! hahahaha I got lucky in comparison because it only took them 6 pokes for me. but I've had to get my lab work done so much now you learn where the good vein is and just tell the guy as soon as you go in and they will get you the first time. My good vein is in the back of my elbow. hahahah.

ok so I can tell you about dr.fox's liquid diet. It's harsh but I'm so glad that it is because it has really taught me discipline. It's 10 days pre-op then 1 month post op. Clear liquids only, broth, Jello, things like that and you need to get 90g of Protein through shakes daily. you can't have milk so you have to mix your drinks with water! yuck! and then after the post-op liquid diet you get to move to blended foods for a month. this includes cottage cheese, baby food, things like that. finally you get solid foods again. Now dr.fox does have other limitations other than no milk, you also can have anything with more than 6g sugar. It's rough but it's totally worth it! and if you ever have questions about what this process is going to be like or if you just want to vent I don't mind. I totally know what you're going through. hahahaha