Leaderboard

So before I climb onto my soapbox let me start by saying this is in no way directed at anyone in particular. It seems lately there has been an onslaught of folks either pissed off or discouraged and some even wish they didn't have the surgery because of lack of scale movement. I cannot recall how many posts I've read over the course of the week from someone 5 days to 20 days post op who are just downright frazzled over the fact that the scale has not moved. Again, this is not directed at anyone in particular and as I think back when I was first banded I kind of had that moment of frustration where the scale didn't move and I questioned whether or not I chose the right surgery. I was in the same place a lot of you might be now. I did a lot of research on this surgery for about year before finally going through with it. Out of all things I wish I was more prepared for was the actual weight loss. See I had this assumption that because I had the surgery I was going to begin pulling big numbers immediately. Because I had surgery I was going to see large drop in weight very fast. It never happened...and 11 months post op I can tell you it never has happened...or maybe it has. You see I am obsessed with the scale and have been since my preop days. So I will step on the scale far to often to be able to see big numbers. I finally made peace that this is the way its going to be and I am OK with that now. Everyone loses weight differently and what may work for me may not work for you. Our bodies are so different. So comparing yourself to someone else is not very realistic. If you are due to have surgery or just had surgery I suggest you do yourself a favor and avoid the scale. You will only torture yourself with it. First month post op is all about healing. Even though this may have been the easiest surgery you ever had there was still a substantial amount of trauma to your stomach and digestive system and it needs time to heal and for the swelling to reduce. Swelling alone with play havoc with scale enough to drive someone bonkers. Just do yourself a favor and leave it be. As for the pre and post op "diets" your Doctor prescribed. I really don't believe he provided those guidelines as a sense of torture. Liquids and mushies is all about letting your stomach heal for a few weeks before trying to eat solids. Remember you have a new version of your stomach now and it has to be treated like a newborns. Milk, baby food and then on to solids. I wish you all well and much success. Try not to be hard on yourself and do keep your expectations in check. Remember Rome was not built in a day. Band one day and skinny the next is for dreams only. It takes hard work and determination. Like my friend Carolinagirl always says, You have "want power" and you just have to used it. Being 488lbs I had a tough time deciding if the band was the right me. I was so worried because I had so much weight to lose. I spoke with my Surgeon and said he thought I would do well with the band but he was more than willing to do gastric if that's what I wanted. He was right about the band. I am not at goal yet but it is very reachable now and all doubt is out the window. Work with your band and become one with it and possibly good things will come. Cheers!!

I can't believe I am so close to 2 years post op. It has flown by. I have been on vacation for the last week and yesterdays weigh in was mid day when I got home. This morning I was 108.2. This surgery is the best thing I have ever done for myself. despite the trouble I had in the beginning. SW 242 Height 4'11'' 6 month Pre-op loss (-28.6) Surgery date 8/8/11 213.4 1 month - 194.2 (- 19.2) 2 months - 180 (- 14.2) 3 months - 170.2 (- 9.8) 4 months - 164.4 (- 5.8) 5 months - 167.2 (+ 2.8) 6 months - 162.4 (-4.8) 7 months - 155.4 (-7) 8 months - 149.6 (-5.8) 9 months - 143.4 (-6.2) 10 months - 139 (-4.4) 11 months - 132.6 (-6.4) 12 months - 126.8 (-5.8) 13 months - 121.4 (-5.4) Made goal! Normal BMI! 14 months - 118 (-3.4) 15 months - 116.2 (-1.8) 16 months - 114.8 (-1.4) 17 months - 112.6 (-2.2) 18 months - 114.6 (+2) 19 months - 109 (-5.6)

Well. I have two days till I leave and only 3 days till surgery! Wow, you were all right when you said time would fly by... Except for this last week, which has crawled by and an absurdly slow pace!!! OMG could a day get any longer? This last few days seem to stretch on forever... But I know that I am almost there so I am trying to just stay buys. Busy really helps. So this pre op diet has been a little tough at times. I think by starting my diet so early and working my way into it I have really helped my body not go into the shock of "no food". When I first got my surgery date scheduled last month I started rite away on a low carb diet. I knew I had to loose at least 15lb before surgery and I was not going to play around with my time. I had 4 weeks to go before surgery and i was going to make the best of it. I started the first week by replacing one meal a day with a protein shake. This was easy. I was never really hungry and I eat when I wanted. I just made sure it was all very low carb. The 2nd week I replaced 2 meals a day with protein shakes. Again, not too hard for me. I was a little deprived but I still felt good and I always had dinner to look forward to. By the end of the first two weeks I was already down 12lb. Yay for me! I was very happy with myself. Then to the hard part. 2 weeks of full liquids only... Oh boy By starting off slow I think I really helped myself be acclimated to not eating much. Even though it was hard the first few days (well most days were hard) I don't think it was as hard as it could have been. I had already found a couple shakes I liked, I was able to keep myself busy enough to keep my mind off of things and I was loosing weight. Which we all know is a huge boost of motivation! Yes, I did cheat... But I cheated with things that I knew were not going to mess up my weight loss. During those times that I "JUST HAD TO EAT SOMETHING!" I would choose a pure protein. I had a few ounces of chicken one night. I had a grilled hamburger patty one evening, and last night I had 1/2 a can of tuna. The crazy thing! Even now without surgery those little tiny meals made me feel satisfied. That made me supper happy So now, I have 2 days of liquid left before surgery. I can totally do this! I am a little nervous, but I am so much more excited that I hardly notice the nervous side of me. Maybe I will break down the day before or the morning of surgery, but I really don't think so. Only time will tell. But I know for a fact that this is what God wants for my life. There is no other way things would have fallen into place so effortlessly. Between, the money being there, to the timing of my scheduling and even two of my sisters being able to come with me. Its just amazing... So stay tuned Ill keep you all updated. I know I have many friends who are waiting to see how everything goes and I have promised a detailed account of my time at OCC and the care I receive from Dr Ortiz and his staff. Later

Just a few notes on some of the changes I've noticed in myself over the last 9 weeks post-op. 1. I eat when I'm hungry now, don't really look forward to the "full" feeling or have a "taste" for anything in particular anymore - lovin' it. I use to get these overwhelming cravings for a certain taste (especially Whataburgers), they're gone now. 2. I do enjoy what I eat and sometimes I still catch myself trying to eat just one more bite, but I know I'll be feeling sick if I do. It takes time to learn the new "full" signals. 3. I feel satisfied and I get a small thrill seeing how little I actually eat now. Although sometimes, I catch myself trying to finish that last bite - even though I'm full. I've learned to leave it on the plate. 4. Once my staple line swelling went down, I was able to increase my eating to about 4oz per meal, and did start feeling more "normal" after the 2nd week, but it wasn't until about week 6 that I was back at my old energy levels. 5. I can eat pretty much what I want and walk away without gorging myself. I have always been able to take or leave stuff like cakes and cookies. Rice, pasta and potatoes were (I almost wrote "are") my thing. But I can easily pass up most starches now. Although pasta triggers my hunger cravings and I have to stop myself from overeating and making myself sick. 6. My feelings or attitudes has changed incredibly about food. Don't really care about food anymore. I have no "flavors" I desire. So I eat my own concoction of shredded grilled chicken, re-fried beans, cheese and salsa almost every meal - for the past month. 7. There isn't anything that I "want" to eat anymore. I am so happy with my restriction and I don't miss anything, no food cravings, nothing I miss. And there is no food that I couldn't eat at the 3rd or 4th week. It may cause some stomach upset, but if I eat it slowly, I can eat it if I want. However, I do miss being able to chug 16oz of icy cold Crystal Light. 8. I can still eat spicy foods (curries, peppers, etc). I eat salsa almost daily and I found this sweet/spicy dip made with Greek yogurt that I like - very warm. I find it weird that the thing that bothers my stomach the most is healthy fibrous foods, like grape skins, bananas, apple peels, and pineapple.

The surgery yesterday evening went well, they were able to get the kidney stone out, so that's good. I'm still uncomfortable, and running a fever on and off due to the infection it caused. My blood pressure is kind of all over the place, one reading high- the next might be low- the next normal...so between that and the fever, they're keeping me one more night to make sure they get all the antibiotcs on board that they wanted to. (P.S.- these liquid meds TASTE TERRIBLE! lol) As much of a bummer as it is to have kindey stones, I really took a lot of comfort in knowing, I have no remaining issues from surgery. The pain I thought I was having b/c of it turned out to be kidney stone, so I'm completely healed and doing well with my sleeve itself. I've also found now that the stone is out- and the pain is down, I'm much better at getting my fluids in- still working on the protein angle, but it's hard to fill that order at the hospital- I've been using muscle milk for now- just to get something in. Thanks all for the support and well wishes the other day! Best of luck to the rest of you sleevers!

Hi guys... As you are starting to see, I really like to find natural ways to help my body. I really don't like all the chemicals and unnatural things people put in and on their body's. Over the past few weeks before surgery I have wanted to start taking care of my skin. Mainly because I am worried about the loose skin thing after I start loosing weight. I am sure I can't escape it all, but I figure if I start now I can at least get a jump start on it. I can make it better than it might have been without the effort. So through my research, I stumbled upon "dry skin brushing" It is said to help with ~ Removes toxins from your body ~Tighten your skin ~Help exfoliate dead skin cells ~Help with aging and half a dozen other benefits... I am adding a link to one of the main articles I found helpful. http://www.pureinsideout.com/detox-skin-brushing.html# I figure if I add this into my daily life of keeping my skin hydrated, taking skin helping vitamins and staying fully hydrated, maybe I can get some of the elasticity back in my skin. Give it a try or at the least look into it. I know I am going to try it. It can't hurt

My husband gave up meat 35 years ago for dieting-no he quit the health kick-but still no meat. Many years ago I made meatballs and turkey balls. He eats the turkey ones. My oldest son's friend ate over and I asked do you want meatballs or turkey balls? Eric, answered, I didn't know turkeys had balls. He was a senior in high school at the time. I love dumb kids.

I'm 3 months out. I'm eating 3 to 4 oz about 4 times a day. I stop when I feel full. How much is everyone else eating? My biggest fear is that my stomach will stretch!

Okay ... 2 weeks in ... And it's been all me. The first week wasn't too bad ... But week two was a little harder. I really paid attention to my food ...and myfitnesspal is a good tool. I am trying to stay around 1500 calories, but noticed I'm not always getting in all my protein, so I need to pay a little more attention to that. On the upside, hula hooping is my quick workout while watching t.v. I do cheat and wear a neoprene waist band for extra sweating lol. I know some may think I should go lower than 1500 calories, but if I get my fitness on, I get to have more calories for the day. Also, I don't want to deprive myself, because if I do, I become a binge queen. Plus for the week... Got my letter to get a fill...and down another lbs !!! Log...fitness...and self love !!!! Who's with me ?

I never thought I would find that question so offensive. I am guilty of asking such a question when I was younger to my own Sister. I do believe people have no malicious intent when they ask such a question but yet it can come off so offensive. My Wife and I have tried for three years to get pregnant with no luck. We both went through extensive testing and seen numerous specialists. It was determined I was the problem. I was not producing viable sperm. I under went Surgery last February to determine if I had a blockage and to see if they could extract viable samples to be used in conjunction with IVF. They got a little and we had it frozen until such a time we could move forward with the IVF. We were warned by both my Doctor and My Wife's that we should be prepared for back up options such as a donor as they had little to work with. My wife and I decided donor was not something we wanted. If we could not have them biologically then maybe we would consider possible adoption down the road. My surgery was in February of 2012 and the IVF cycle was in May. Even though we were told the odds were not favorable but yet possible we had very high hopes and less than 24 hours later after the IVF cycle our world came crashing to a halt as we were notified it didn't work. We both cried for two days and I personally took it harder than I expected I ever would. I guess part of it is because even though I did nothing wrong I felt like I failed us both. Now 8 months later we talk about it less but the memories are fresh. I still blame myself and haven't really moved on. This past weekend we were visiting my Wife's cousin who has 16 month old twins who we simply adore and love to spend time with. My Wife posted the below picture on facebook which lead to a lot of "When are you going to have babies of your own?" Naturally, it is our own fault for posting the picture but I cannot help but be annoyed. One of the people who asked is an Aunt who does not have kids herself due to medical complications. One would think she would've been more tactful. Next time you consider asking someone when they are going to have kids take a moment to consider that there maybe more to the story and that it could be a sensitive subject!! I guess this is my payback for asking my Sister and Brother in law many years ago. I am however a proud Uncle of a 22 and 15 year old!