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That is so awesome! Congratulations!

You're awesome aj!!

Thanks Missy, I am more comfortable with the spoke word, than the written. I have been fat all my life, and the LB is a concept that I refused to even consider, so now that I have one, I need to find a way to use it to look at my life in a new way, Mistress Band is the person who is helping me do that. The humor for me is a reminder to not take myself too seriously, and a hint to others, that they may want to follow suite. BTW, just want you know how inspiring your journey is to me. You and several others on this board give me hope that one day I can succeed as well.

OMG, my surgeon now has everything they need from my PCP which means I will be having my surgery on Tuesday 2/5 at 11am....I'm excited and nervous and a whole big ball of emotion I don't know what to do. I started my journey a year ago and never thought this day would actually come and now my surgery is just a few short days away!!!! I still feel like people judge you when you tell them you are having weight loss surgery, I know I'm only 36 and that I shouldn't have some of the issues I have with my knees and my back. I'm a nurse I should know better RIGHT???? I think the last time I was under 200lbs was 17 years ago right after I had my son. I want to be able to walk up and down my stairs without hearing my knee crunch with every step. I'm still young RIGHT??? I want to be able to go to an amusement park and go on the roller coasters without having to have my boobs crushed in the harness (I have had people do pushups off my chest to close the harness.....) I want to do so many things including going to a normal store and buy cute clothes instead of having to pay through the nose for clothes that don't look like something my grandmother would wear.....I'm so ready for this surgery!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I packed my normal breakfast of a Protein shake and a some steel cut oats, and drank my shake when I got to my desk. a couple of hours later I was hungry again and pulled my oatmeal out. Then Mistress Band spoke, "I'm not eating that stuff, get me some more protein!" So down to the cafeteria for a couple for eggs and hash browns, threw 3/4 of the hash browns away, and Mistress Band is now one happy camper. When I woke up this morning, I was feeling pretty lethargic, I knew I had been doing a lot of physical labor on 1300 calories a day with the constant snow fall here, but I thought I had been allowing for that. My body disagreed, and a real part of my journey is learning to listen to my band and my body. Food for thought.

I would agree with the others that exercise is one key. I work out a minimum of 4x/week: 30 minutes on the treadmill (varying speeds and hill intervals) and 30 minutes of strength training. Another important factor is TAKE ENOUGH PROTEIN. A bare miminum is 65g/day. Take your vitamins and calcium. Very important. Good luck! You will do great!

Simplejaxgirl and wndrfullife.... I'm 11 days post-op. Based on my post-op life so far...here are my thoughts. Am I making the right decisions? Yes, you are doing what's right for you and your future health, which in the long-run is the best decision(s) you can make. Am I loosing enough weight pre-op? Yes....The dr. only wants you to reduce the size of your liver. Losing weight is the best way to do this. It will make the surgery less likely to have issues from possibly knicking your liver. Plus, I was told, that your liver can get so enlarged that it can take 2 people with retractors to hold it back for the surgeon to work. Losing weight makes the liver light and fluffy and easy for one person to simply push out of the way. Will the surgeon say no if I do not loose enough weight? (No # was given) If you are losing ANY weight and following the pre-op diet as prescribed, he will not cance/reschedule on you. What if there are complications? He/She is a trained surgeon. I had NO compications....you will do fine and your hospital staff is specially trained to take good care of you no matter what happens. Will I be able to take care of my son and house after surgery? (I will only have support for maybe a day or two) Yes, you will not have a problem here. The only thing you will not be able to do is lift him up. So have him climb up in the chair/sofa with you to cuddle instead of picking him up. He may have to help out by picking his toys up instead of you, but everything else you will be able to do just fine. Be sure to rest as much as possible and keep sipping your beverages. What will life after surgery be like? It will be WONDERFUL! In 3 - 4 months you be able to play with your son longer and do more things with him that you would be able to if you had not had the surgery. You will be celbrating your future with him and able to participate so much more in his growing up. YOU WILL DO GREAT!! Start telling yourself that. You cannot control the unknown. All you can do is control how you approach it. Be as positive as you can and everything will be fine. I'm sure you think I'm being Pollyanna, and perhaps I am, but all I can do is answer from my vantage point, and so far, I've had an amazing recovery. I had never had surgery before and thought it would be FAR worse than this, and have been SO blessed....I'm sure you will be too. Good luck!!

I can't speek of speedier ways, I was offered medication because of a metabolism issue, btu it didn't help via regulating me, it only amped up my thermostat - speed, basically - so I declined. Exercize - small, varied exercise will help alot, I think - and just dont fret. I have after a long time come to peace with the fact that I am losing slowly, but the sleeve will help me stay on track, and I lose inches even when I dont lose pounds. May I suggest you find things to keep you occupied? Painting, taking a class, or rediscover the things you lost as you gained the weight? I have took up swordsmanship again, and contact juggling, poi and hula hoops - I lose hours and build up a sweat, and the days just roll by...until the day I went into Old Navy to buy a summer slip, and had to get a 12 instead of the 14 I picked out... Namaste.