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Day after tomorrow!

Well I have eaten my last solid food for a long time. Tomorrow's diet is 3 protein shakes and LOTS of water. I cannot believe the day is almost here! What a long, long ride this has been. I am so grateful I got a little break between band removal and bypass. I definitely needed to let my body rest. My esophagus is back to normal. Crazy! I thought I would be messed up for life from the problems I had with the band but apparently I am resilient.   Getting through tomorrow will be rough. Lots of last minute details to take care of and a couple of long car rides, but by this time tomorrow night I will be in a motel room with my daughter getting ready to go to sleep. The next morning we are off to the hospital! Surgery is late morning, and I am very glad about that. I am pretty tired of being hungry, lol.

Sreeves

Sreeves

 

Stall at 5 weeks post op

The dreaded "stall" has arrived. The scale has not budged in a week and I am compliant with diet and exercising a lot. Knowing that it is normal helps but of course I want to see scale budge down. Tring to be patient and let my body do what it does. Hope everyone doing well.

Goatfarmer

Goatfarmer

 

I can do this!

Well yesterday was the last day of my liquid diet required as part of the approval process for bariatric surgery. The first few days were really rough. Not so much feeling hungry, but mentally exhausting. I never realized just how much I depended on food for every emotion and occasion. I am very proud of myself though for sticking to it. This process really gave me hope that when I have the surgery I can commit to the life style changes necessary to lose weight. Heck, I even spent 7 days in Las Vegas while on this liquid stuff. It is still amazing me that I could do it.   Now a few more medical tests (an x-ray and sleep study) and then my case goes up for approval. I am excited an nervous at the same time.   My goal for now is to stay as committed to losing weight as I can until I have the surgery and not sabotage myself. I just keep telling myself, It is just food. I only need food to live, that's it! Nothing more.   So for now, I wait.

staceymeaux

staceymeaux

 

Let's Begin

Hi!   I'm a 22 year old opera singer just about to graduate college. I spent most of my life overweight, really starting to gain around 10 years old. I was fairly athletic though, and kept it under control until I stopped dancing at around age 17. Then, I ballooned and gained over 100 pounds in 5 years. Across those 5 years, I've been fighting as hard as I can, but my impulsive eating habits were not curbed until recently. And, even now... it's difficult controlling impulse.   I have two wonderful godparents who spent a decade trying to deal with gastric bands. It was not a success for them. They struggled a lot with them. But, then, my godfather tried the gastric sleeve surgery and he lost over 100 lbs. And, he's kept it off for a year now. He's also had cancer during that time, and I am so proud of his strength.   I learned from them that the struggle continues even after surgery. BUT, the surgical benefits are enormous. He tells me that he felt like he had a fighting chance. His morale was higher. His energy was higher. His depression was lessened... and, these are the tools I need to overcome my weaknesses.   I feel like, with the maturity I have now that I didn't when I was a teenager, I could fight the good fight from ground zero. But, with all these cards stacked against me... limited mobility, hurting knees, constant hunger, emotional distress from my weight... It's too much for me to even take a small bite out at a time.   I haven't given up. But, at this point... I NEED some help. I have to learn to let go of my pride and use the tools available to me.   I am just in the research process right now. I hope that this community will help me supplement information I get from well-meaning family (you know what I mean...) and possibly greedy doctors (I just don't want to be taken advantage of!). And, I'm also hoping for people to help support me in this journey... It's so hard for me to share with words out loud. I'm hoping I can publish a blog and people can support me through that.   As for personal info, I'm a musician! I am a singer, baritone. I love to listen to all kinds of music. I'm a Sufjan Stevens fan. Bon Iver. Thank You Scientist. Progressive Rock and Bluegrass mostly. Punch Brothers.   I have ADHD, untreated. But, I'm in counseling.   I'm considered to be very intellectual, but supplemented with a high spiritual presence. I am loud, fast talking, and sometimes speak before I think. That's something I'm working on.   Hooray! Let's get started.

Connor Martin Lidell

Connor Martin Lidell

 

MY JOURNEY

OK this is the frist time I have done a blog...I have been overweight for as long as I can rember...Tryed every diet there was and nothing seem to work....Skipping ahead year's.... Back in February I went to the Bladder Dr he told me that I needed to lose 100lbs..yah right....So he recommend me to the Bariatric Center,,I went to the frist information meeting and thats when I decided to have the Bypass done.... Willl it's been about a month and I have lost 12lbs...Idid alot of cutting back,,no soda, no junk food...Lot's of exercise and lot's of protien and water.... When my Dr's nurse came into the room to talk to me first thing she said is how did you lose 12 lbs in a month's time...I wanted to cry just out of happiness yeh me... My surgery maybe in May I have to have a bunch of test done on my heart the 8th cause they found a spot on it so they want to be safe.... For exercise I do the wii fit twice a day unless i can get out and walk then it's once a day..I also joined the gym which operated by the hospital But I have to wait for apporval for a schoarship ... I want to be down at least 100lbs when I walk out of the hospital after my surgery...

NY51

NY51

 

Is it really happening this time?

After 4 months of rest from Lap-Band removal I am finally staring bypass in the face! April 8, 2015, is my surgery date. I start the preop diet in just 2 days.   I am almost afraid to breathe. What if something goes wrong again? I did not manage to keep my weight at exactly what it was before Lap-Band removal. I have gained 8 more pounds, now weighint 284 pounds, my highest weight ever.   My job ends forever in 7 days. My department was outsourced. These past few months have been nothing but stress, but that too is coiming to an end, just in time for surgery! I will have 8 days to clean my house from top to bottom and read anything and everything I can get my hands on about head hunger. I will also start walking during that time so I am primed and ready to go post op.   This surgery has to work this time. I am terrified it will be the Lap-Band dabaucle all over again and I just cannot let that happen. I need to make major changes in my life and they need to be forever. Considering I am 13+ years clean from a major meth addiction, this should be a piece of cake, right? Funny thing about that piece of cake. It is NOT the same thing. I am not confronted with my drug of choice day in and day out like I am with food. I know this is where I get hung up and I need to find out why and conquer it. I am grateful to have the support I have through this. I am going to need every bit of it.

Sreeves

Sreeves

 

I never knew

Wow, yesterday was tough. I have known for a while that I have a problem with food. But when they take it away from you and tell you to drink only liquids you begin to realize just how bad that problem was. I really feel like I have lost my best friend. Food could comfort me and satisfy me. I am really embarrassed and shameful that I let myself get to this point where I rely on food to fill my emptiness. People say things like "it is just for 2 weeks, you can do anything for 2 weeks", well I know that, but it does not make it any easier. Most people do not understand people like me who have such terrible issues with food. They can understand an alcoholic or drug addict, but food. Just stop eating they say. And quite honestly that really is what needs to happen, I just need to stop eating. But it is so hard. I really wish I could go to sleep and wake up when the 2 weeks is over. I am really questioning whether or not to even have the surgery. If I cannot learn to deal with all of these emotions and stuff in my head then I fear the surgery is really a waste. I wish I were feeling starving on this liquid diet, then at least I could say I am just hungry. But that is not the case, I have not really been that hungry, it is just all in my head. Dang it is hard! But I am going to keep forging on and checking off each day and learning to deal with the emptiness until I conquer this demon.

staceymeaux

staceymeaux

 

first dumping episode nightmare and current weight

last night I dumped it was horrible I ate a few bites of my daughters cheesesteak not the bread just the meat and cheese and a few hours later when I was sleeping it hit me it felt like labor pains I was sweaty I was nauseous and I had diarrhea never again also 5 weeks out I lost 5 pounds since last week I'm down to 179 178 and mean

Christina44

Christina44

 

written March 9th Almost one month post op Gastric bypass...lbs down and experiences stuck food and med scare

I weigh 183 now. So I have lost 20 pounds in one month since surgery. I'm down from a size 18 to a 13! I can't believe it has been a month already. I was able to get 1/2 cup in early on in the soft food stage but now I am barely able to get 1/3 in. I drink two high protein shakes a day and eat once or twice. I love the light babybell cheese for a snack or meal...and the P3 protein snacks are a favorite though I can't usually eat the whole thing. My second day on meats I made a roll up with deli chicken breast and egg and didn't chew well enough. The food got stuck and it was absolutely horrible. I tried papaya enzyme and it didn't work...I stood over the toilet for an hour afraid to throw up because I didn't want to hurt any stitches in my belly but it was a nightmare. I kept spitting out saliva that made it's way up every thirty seconds. Finally, I gave in and threw up foam. It was weird. But I wasn't finished, I still felt like a boulder was lodged in my chest. If you've ever gotten a lump of bread stuck in your throat imagine that times 50. I finally threw the rest up and felt better. If that happens again I won't hesitate, I will be sick right away.That hour standing over the toilet hurt my back as well as my stomach. My pouch was tender after retching but felt better the next day. I never want to feel that way again! I am trying to not be afraid to eat non soft foods now so I am easing into it. I have no appetite really but if my pouch gets empty it hurts so I know its time to eat. I tried coffee the first time yesterday and it was delicious! Taking it easy on that I just wanted a taste. Also, I have a head cold. I called the pharamacy and the pharmacist told me I could take any cold medicine I wanted to.. A nagging feeling told me to get a second opinion so I called another pharmacist. I wanted to take phenylephrine for sinus pressure and wanted to know if that was ok for gastric bypass almost a month post op. He told me he didn't recommend it because it can cause a spike in the blood pressure so sudden it could cause rupturing...even with my low blood pressure of 94/62. He recommended no cold medicine...only saline nasal spray. So I suffer. But at least I'm alive to suffer. Really greatful for that voice that told me to get a second opinion.

Christina44

Christina44

 

How did this happen?

As I begin this journey to get approved and hopefully have WLS I have been pondering "How did this happen?". How did I get this big? I just simply call it life. Life happened. I let my life take control of my eating, my emotions, my physical activity, everything. I just gave up and gave in. I have struggled with my weight since I was a young child, I was always the "fat girl". Luckily I had the gift of humor and a fairly good self image to be able to shrug most of it off. I won't lie, sometimes the taunting hurt, but I learned to deal with it. When I was in my eighth grade school year I had a P.E. coach that was very good to me. He would try not to embarrass me in front of the class or make me do something that he knew I could not do or would make me uncomfortable. But one day in gym class we were jumping rope. He said "Bush" come try it. Well amazingly I tried it and I liked it. I was actually pretty good at it. So after those few weeks of doing jump rope in P.E. he gave me a rope (the old beaded type) and told me to take it home and use it. He said "you will be the prettiest girl in high school". I have never forgotten those words.   So my first weight loss journey began. I jumped that rope everyday rain or shine. By the time I started high school I had lost 90 pounds. People did not know what to think when they saw me. It was quite the transformation. From age 14 till about age 22 I continued to jump rope nearly everyday. I was able to maintain a weight that was healthy and manageable. Then I graduated from college and got my first job, it was very sedentary. I finally had a little more money than I had before too. I began to eat out more and got totally out of my routine and was far less active than I had been in college. My weight creeped up to 215 by the time I was 25. I got married that year and managed to maintain my weight around 215 for many years even between the births of my 3 sons. After the birth of my 3rd son I developed very bad postpartum depression. I was prescribed several medications to help control the depression and anxiety. Well the pounds began to come on, before I knew it I was 265. I had never weight that much, not even 9 months pregnant. I was mortified.   So my second real significant weight loss journey began. A weight watchers group was established where I worked. I joined with quite a few others from our office. I followed the program and had the support of others too. I lost 80 pounds and I was down 185. I felt good at that weight and I liked the way I looked. I was happy. I was so proud of myself. But about a year after I lost the weight my marriage as on the rocks, my depression was at an all time high and I was just generally a basket case. I began to use food for comfort. I ate and ate and I ate for every emotion, bored, happy, sad, you name it until I reached over 300 pounds. I was really mortified. I could not believe that any human could weight that much, especially not me. What had happened?   So over the next six or so years until most recently I tried all kinds of diets. I would loose 20-30 pounds and gain 30-40 back. This roller coaster really sent my depression to an all time low in 2012. I was nearly hospitalized, but found the courage to get help out patient, my medicines were changed, I had a regular counselor, and I managed to get through it. But my weight was and is still and issue. I feel like everyday that I am this overweight I am missing out on more and more. I tend to isolate myself. I am not totally depressed, I just want to do so much more with my life.   So about a year ago I researched a program available to Louisiana State Employees called Heads Up!. The insurance for state employees excludes any type of bariatric surgery so this program was formed to "study" the effects of weight loss surgery to determine if eventually this exclusion would be lifted. I registered for the program in February 2014 and made it through the initial screening and my name was put into a lottery drawing. Every month I have waited for the call that I won the lottery. Well March 2nd 2015 I got the call that my name had been drawn. I really felt like I had won a million bucks! I went on March the 9th for my first appointment and they did all sorts of medical testing and a complete physical and started me on a 2 week liquid diet (I am on day 2). I go back on March 31st to submit my daily food report and have some additional testing done. If all of this looks good then my information will be submitted to the surgery review board for final approval and then I will be sent to the surgeon.   Since the call on March 2nd my emotions have been all over the map. Can I really do this? Will I be the only fat person to have weight loss surgery and not lose weight? Is it worth the risk to have surgery? But I can honestly I am ready to start my new life. I am up for the challenge. I love Bariatric Pal, what a huge blessing for those considering and those having WLS. I plan to use blogging as a way to encourage myself and others as I begin this new journey in my life. Till next time.

staceymeaux

staceymeaux

 

Day 2 -- Surgery Prep

Here we go - again.... The short story is that in 2008 I had LapBand surgery, lost 75 pounds, started gaining it back, couldn't get my LapBand adjusted because the port came unattached and couldn't get it fixed because I no longer had health insurance. Then in 2014 I had health insurance again and finally got my LapBand port re-attached only for it to come unattached again within a couple of months. Grr!   So, after much prayer, soul searching, talking with the surgeon and others at the gastric surgery center I have decided to do a revision and am scheduled to have gastric sleeve surgery on March 26. Woo hoo!   Yesterday I started my 10 day out liquid diet and it's been a challenge so far -- I'm hungry! This afternoon I was in Target and smelled all their wonderful food and thought to myself, "why am I doing this? I'm choosing to give up delicious food and torture myself." And then I remembered I've got to keep my eye on the long-term prize -- a long and healthy life! More energy to live my life, being able to ride the amusement park rides with my son, wearing clothes that look good instead of just fitting on my body, and on and on.   Looking forward to my hunger pains subsiding.

Shari McGuire

Shari McGuire

 

IM BACK ... for this evening anyway!

So, I jumped on here tonight trying to catch up with those of you I have been chatting with and wanted to see updates on everyones status!! I am once again suprised at MY TICKER!! I logged my current weight on my ticker and noticed my weight loss and goal weight are getting close to the same numbers! WHAT??? How exciting is that? I am down two pants sizes and starting to feel lighter now. I just thought I was feeling lighter before... now I am starting to see that I really do have bones under all this meat. I have had my ups and downs and I get so frustrated still that I can not drink while I eat, but I am noticing that I am not even ordering a drink until it is time to go! I am down 50 lbs in two and a half months. WHOA!! That was fast. I am so glad I did what I did. I will never hate the fact that I am healthier every day! Hope all is well with everyone!!!   newmetwenty15

newmetwenty15

newmetwenty15

 

Birthday Thank you

Just want to say thank you to Alex for the Birthday wish. I am so happy that on my 60th birthday I am in the best shape and health I have been in, in years. Wanting to encourage all of you to continue to take care of yourself it is well worth it!

Happyfrog4u

Happyfrog4u

 

The Big Change

When you see people a lot it's harder to tell how much weight they are losing. I had my surgery on December 3rd and I attend church weekly and have meetings several times a week there as well. My loss (now about 80lbs) is noticable but people have been able to see it gradually leave over several weeks.   Living in New England we have a lot of Snow Birds. Those are the retirees that leave and spend the winter in Florida or someplace much warmer than Rhode Island in winter... especially this winter. One of those snow birds came back to RI today and saw me for the first time since before my surgery. I was so happy to see her that I hugged her and she couldn't say anything. Her mouth was just gaping open and she kept staring at me. She was stunned to say the least.   I have to say it felt nice to get that reaction. I haven't been too focused on how I look just how I feel but it was nice.

rhodywoman

rhodywoman

 

getting started

been needing to get this started, my first appt. with WLIA was in January. was a little scared had no idea what to expect, except for weight loss. have come to the conclusion that I am going to have the lap band. you go through life thinking the weight will come off by itself, news to myself "its not". I have been going through the steps before the operation. the staff at WLIA have been so helpful, even though its a clinic where the waiting room sometimes feels crowded it never takes a lot of time to see the doctor, I'm pretty impressed with that. I want to feel healthy, don't think ill become a model but want to be able to go camping, pick up grandkids like there is less effort. my Dr. Orris has been very helpful with this plan I'm on. For all of you out there in the same boat, life can get better. I'm on my way dee

Deloris Boivin

Deloris Boivin

 

3 month weigh in (A little late because Doctor canceled visit)

This week is my 3 month visit and I am terrified he is going to tell me I am a failure and he can't help me any longer. (I think I have been watching my 600 pound weight lost show too much) anyway, I haven't lost all that much since my surgery and I wonder if its me or my sleeve. I'm nervous and I gained a pound since yesterday and can't really figure out why.... I wish I could talk to someone about how to control what the mind wants over what the stomach can have. I do not want to stretch my sleeve out and I do not want to gain the weight back....this is a scary journey for me and I pray it will be successful. I'm afraid also because I do my weigh in's naked and they will not let me strip down to nothing when I get to the office. I already plan to weight the lightest clothes I can find in my closet. I will be removing my shoes as well..lol my current weight is 188.8. I was 218 day of surgery so my total weight loss in 3 months is only 29.2. Does that make me a failure? I sure feel like I am. Alot of people lose so much more in this time frame. But not me. One good thing is I didn't lose any hair. so that's great. oh well I shouldn't panic too much and just see what he has to say on friday. fingers and toes crossed me doesn't yell at me and tell me he is done with me.

MariaW

MariaW

 

Meeting my obligations and setting new goals...

Ok, 9 months has passed since my 35th birthday, 6 months has passed since my surgery, and I'm keeping a pretty decent pace on losing weight. I really had hoped I could keep myself motivated enough to lose 200 lbs from birthday to birthday, but that required losing 50 lbs every three months. I am averaging 40 lbs every three months... which isn't bad at all. Yes, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea that I have lost 120 lbs since May 2014...   So, if I continue my average of 40 lbs every three months, I will hit my goal in time for my 1-year anniversary of surgery, which is pretty frickin' cool! Then, I can start talking about getting skin removed... its already really starting to annoy me... I've been trying to build up enough leave time at work that I can have the surgery in time for the winter holidays... then I would need 6 days fewer of leave time.   Another goal I will accomplish in the next three months is that I will graduate with my masters degree. I was going to finish my coursework last fall, however, with the surgery right before the beginning of the fall semester, I decided not to push my luck and postponed my course until this semester.   Now it is time to set new goals and keep looking into the next few years... where do I want to be with my career? What do I want from the next 3 years? Next 5 years? and so on... what is possible now that I've lost a bunch of weight and have the confidence that I never thought was possible before? Time to take a good look at my current life and see what changes I want to make and get the ball rolling. Especially since the family issues that brought me back to this "safe place" are now resolved and I no longer NEED to stick so closely to my family. I mean, had I not returned home to help my family out 2 years ago, I would not have decided to have surgery or to reapply to grad school to finish the last of my coursework.   I have a whole new perspective on my life and the world around me... I want to make the most of this situation.

Trace Lynne

Trace Lynne

 

Day 1116 (3years, 2 weeks, 6 days

So it's been awhile since I have been on this website. I probably shouldn't have stopped blogging my progress. I have gained some weight back. About 15 lbs. not too happy about that. I started this summer. A pound here a pound there. Then October I started packing on the weight. 2.5 in October. 2.5 in November, 5 in December, 2.5 in January, and 2.5 in February. I recognized that the weight was coming on but I kept telling myself that it would come off fast just like before. Well that's not the case. I have been struggling. And I am very frustrated, very disappointed, and a little scared. I lost my confidence for sure. BUT, I made a promise to myself that I was gonna get this turned around and lose the 15 I gained.   One of my issues is not doing any exercise. That can be attributed to my change in work schedule. I have been temporarily assigned to a location 2 hours way so every day is a 13 hour day for me, 2 hour drive, 9 hours working, and 2 hours drive home. There is light at the end of the tunnel. My project ends next week. And I am happy to report that I started working out again 2 days ago and I have an appointment with a pilatites instructor on Saturday.   My second issue is my eating has been inconsistent with the doctors instructions. And it is so easy to get off track. I can eat more now. I have been eating things that are not on the approved list, like bread, rice, and pasta. I haven't been getting enough protein in if at all and I have been waiting too long to eat. Instead of eating three meals and two snacks I've been eating three meals no snacks high carbs high sugar just junk. I also have been eating out a lot. Which is not bad and of itself but the places I've been eating has been fast food and bad fast food like I've been going to Popeyes eating the biscuits and fried chicken, McDonald's small cheeseburger small fries and sweet tea, I've been eating portion sizes that are larger than the three-quarter cup 1 cup restriction. I've been spending longer time eating instead of restricting myself to the 30 minutes so I can eat more in one sitting. And lastly I've been eating when I'm not hungry just bored or for entertainment. I think mainly that's because I'm not drinking enough water so instead of really being hungry I'm really just dehydrated instead of drinking water first I reach for food.   Finally, my husband was also had a surgery has not been the best at the diet either. He eats bags of chips, buy ice cream for the house, buys chocolate and candy for the house, and rather go out to eat.   So I came up with an action plan to try to get myself back on track. Step one was to start exercising which I started this week and tomorrow I have an appointment with a Pilates instructor. Step two, I started tracking my food through my fitness pal again and I bought one of those step trackers. Step 3, blog blog blog.   Anyway, I will let you all know how it is going.

E-girl

E-girl

 

Sleeved on Feb 25th

I did it - I can't believe that I did not chicken out at last minute. I was very nervous with lots of second thoughts. The surgery went well -I had a hiatal hernia that was repaired and the sleeve. This is my second day after surgery. I have had loose diarrhea and nauseous feeling. Not much pain at all but lot of soreness. Having trouble getting in all the fluids but sitting up in chair at home and feeling a little better today. Thanks for all supportive thoughts and prayers. I look forward to better days ahead.

Goatfarmer

Goatfarmer

 

Mexico here I come

Ok so I leave for Spokane tomorrow night and fly out the next day for a Litghter me! A little nervous,a little worried about saying good bye to my old friend "BINGER" but I'm ready to try and looking forward to a lighter me! I'll be back on the 3rd! \

Tear Bear

Tear Bear

 

Day 2

Well day 1 was fun..... So I ended up trying a hot chocolate protein drink and it was really good. The vanilla shakes are from the devil I swear.. I have also tried a chocolate and a mocha protein drink and they are really good. I added bouillon to my broth and it makes it taste even better. I am still loving my jello! I did end up have a couple bites of a steak tip. I was so friggen hungry. But now that I have found the right protein drinks and the right way to eat the little that I can I feel much better. I got this!!

Spicy06

Spicy06

 

My Ticker!

So, today is my 44th birthday and I am so happy to be able to say that I FEEL GREAT at 44. I was updating my "ticker" before this post and had a feeling of excitement when it calculated my weight loss and then told me how much more I have to lose before hitting my goal! I never thought I would see the day when it went below 100 to reach my goal! I am 88lbs from my goal weight! Prior to my surgery I would probably be 88lbs heavier! I am so glad I made the decision and followed through with the surgery! My children hug me now and say ... "Mommy, I can actually touch hands when I hug you!" I never noticed before that they couldn't even get their arms around me! How great are the little things that are brought to my attention! I hope everyone has a terrific Tuesday!   Grateful,   newmetwenty15

newmetwenty15

newmetwenty15

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