Leaderboard

Hi all..New to this site. Let me introduce myself. My name is Elizabeth and I am 48 years old. Been married for 30 years (in April) I am a night L&D nurse. Have struggled with my weight all my life..I know just like most of us have LOL! Today is the beginning of week 2 post op for me. I have my sleeve placed on 8/29/12. I was in the hospital for 2 very long nights. It started of as a early day getting to the hospital at 0530, surgery start time was 0730. Met with my surgeon and my anesthesia guys that I was fortunate to pick ( I am a nurse at the hospital). So I know I was in good hands. Being a nurse does have it advantages but in my case I was really nervouse because I know just a little to much about what goes on LOL. Anyway, I was given Versed before going to the OR..It is a med used to relax you, which I needed. Only remember being in the OR for maybe 3 minutes and the rest is a blank... Woke up in recovery with only a quick second of feeling nauseous and that was it. I was in recovery for about 5 hours while they tried to get the previous patient out of my room hehe Why would anyone like to stay longer than they have too? Moved to my room and did really well. My doctor does not believe in his patients being in pain and gave me meds round the clock and then extra was available if needed. After day one I had to do a swallow study and I passed thank heavens..My mouth was as dry as a desert. Started off with 1 oz of water for 4 hours, then 2 oz for 4 hours then I could drink as much as I could tolerate...I have to say that first sip of water was the best water I have ever tasted.. Been doing really well the first week. Kind of tired from no rest at the hospital ; / Still sore but getting better by the day. Have had no problems with nausea or vomiting. I do have to say that yesterday I had a weird experience. I took my dog to training for the first time since surgery. I was there for maybe 10 minutes and all of a sudden I got the worst stomach pain, broke into a cold sweat and had to leave. I didnlt know if I was going to be sick or worse...the other end...TMI? Barely made it home and since I have been kind of queazy. had some SF pudding last night and I tolerated it well..This AM I am feeling the same, just kind of queazy, crampy like... I am so looking forward to eating a soft diet, I go back to work next Wed night. I want to start eating a little before going back to work to make sure I tolerate it OK.. Looking forward to getting to know everyone and sharing their VGS journey with them... Much love, Elizabeth

Today I'm 7 days from my one year anniversary of being a Loser and I'm still learning my body. Just this past weekend: I've come to terms with myself that my eating habits have changed. I get angry because I want to eat more but I can't because my sleeve is full after 3 or 4 bites and by the time my stomach has settled, I don't want it anymore. I need to learn to cook in smaller portions. When we order take out, we can share one dish or I should order something others will eat because I never eat more than a handful. I shy away from dining with others because I'm done before everyone else so I sit there looking at a full plate of food waiting for the everyone else to finish. Also, something that never use to happen, now, I KNOW, I'm leaving with a doggy bag! Thing I use to love to have I don't anymore, things I want to have I can't. I no longer love chicken. I can eat a few bites and then call it a day. When I see pasta's, mac and cheese, lasagna, spaghetti, I'd love to have it! BUT I no longer can tolerate pasta. STILL love, love, love ice cream/frozen yogart, cookies, cakes and salads...BUT the sweet stuff ....and something about lettuce is like a laxative to me. Once eaten it only takes 3 minutes to hit my sleeve and send me running. (Literally!!) I've come to terms with myself that I must take vitamins daily. When I miss them for more than 3 days, I'm runned down and useless. I don't sleep well and I have no energy to do anything. I've come to terms that my weightloss will be slow and NOT always steady, that now, I need to work out more to get faster weight loss results and to tighten up and build muscle. I've come to terms that with my loss, I will have some saggiing skin and I will need to make a decision in the future if another surgery is something I want to do. AND, today I've learn to listen to what my body is saying...and go with it. I can't stay with old habits good or bad, if my body says go left, then left is where I'm heading. This is an exciting and frustrating time but I'm sure some day soon, I will master me once again.

O,I have lost 89 pounds and still have 44 to go.Stuck at 208. xxo

When I was 19, I was interested in this guy, who flatly told me I wasn't his type due to my size. I was so pissed by another rejection, that I started walking the next morning. Six months later, I was working out twice a day, lost 55 - 60 pounds and was a size 6, then I got arrogant. It started innocently, I had a slight knee injury. I was squatting 150 lbs and was not paying attention to form and I pulled something, but I wasn't worried because I would never be "fat" again, so I took time off from the gym. Couple months later I was a size 10, but that was okay, I was too skinny anyway and I will take it off, when I got back to the gym. However, I was never that committed as before and the weight just kept creeping on. What I remember about that time is my belief that I could continue with my eating habits because I was skinny. I really believed I did not have a food problem. I had become an exercise freak and I was so caught up in the attention I was receiving that I didn't see the cliff until I had already fallen. 13 years of imbedded bad habits and I'm trying to look at every loophole, for the fear of re-gain is so strong. I know that this time around with the lap band and a therapist (yep, I found one) and my eyes wide open the result will be different, but that fear is so strong, it's suffocating. I read somewhere that we cling to things because it gives us some type of payout. I honestly do not know the reason behind my food addiction but hopefully with time it will become clear because I refuse to continue to live my life this way. I'm no coward, I plan to face my demons but tonight the fear of failure is thick in me. For today, I finalized my financing, the surgery date is set but not finalized so it's like my mind is freaking out... I went to the grocery and had an instant craving for pork rinds! I NEVER ate the thing but today I felt like trying them, so I left the grocery so fast, still had some cup cake but yep, can't wait to see the therapist, this MADDNESS has to stop.

Hi slojo, sorry that I didn't answer sooner. Yes I am going to have Dr. Almanza do the surgery this Firday Sept 7. I have question do they have a safe place for your belongings? I am going by myself