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I was bad with my dinner last night. But I loved every bit of it. Today is another day and I will be better. I did not over eat, I just ate the wrong things. I had 3 coconut shrimp, great bread dunked in oil and cheese pizza. The local restaurant has a great football special when the N.E. Patriots play. Yes they won!!! On one of my other WLS groups one person spoke of her friend and by pass. The woman had by pass about 10 years ago and was doing great for a while. She is now in the hospital for revision. She stretched out her pouch and when the doctor went to sew her insides it was like cotton candy, her words not mine. The woman is on ice chips for a few days and in the hospital for at least 10 days. If that doesn't scare the S**T out of you, nothing will. ​I never was a drinker. In fact the last frozen Girl Scout cookie I had I broke out into hives and never had a drink since. That was over 15 years ago. So drinking was never anything I was going to miss with my journey. I never liked fast foods and yet I was and am obese. Fast food was always a comfort food but not for me. Give me bread and more bread, ice cream. I now have bread in restaurants and maybe once or twice a month in my own house. I think we all went into this new journey to get healthy, be thinner and move our bodies that were just sitting around. No one forced us but we need to be smarter with choices. Like CG always says, Listen to your doctor!! Listen to your dietitian and finally listen to your body. Have a great week. October is tomorrow and before you know it Halloween. I only buy candy I hate and I hate more candies than I like. I never had a problem with buying candy. Yes, I hate Snickers!! Arlene

I didn't believe the dr. and nurses when they said I might not see the scale numbers falling at some point, but my clothes will tell me I'm still losing. Well it's happening. I'm not losing the lbs like I was, but I'm down in size. I've lost 77 lbs so far and in a size 12, from a 24! I'm shopping in 'regular' sized stores for the first time in 15+ years. It's a sense of freedom that I am relishing. I'm running 3.9 miles 5 days a week, but I know I need to start weight training, squats, abs, etc. Running is an escape for me, mindless, I listen to my audio-book and enjoy the beautiful weather. But as they say - "winter is coming!" So I'll need to make a plan for my exercise routine soon. After my birthday week-end of splurging a bit and rediscovering my taste for SUGAR, I'm noticing that I'm 'craving' sugar again. So I think I'm going to go cold turkey off of anything sweet to lose my taste for it again. I know myself well enough to understand that a little turns into too much all too quickly. Feeling excited about see family at Thanksgiving who haven't seen me since before the surgery.

I had planned on documenting my gastric sleeve surgery experience in the order it occurred, but I forgot about the psych evaluation. Once again luck was on my side as I knew what to expect before arriving. I had a chance to talk with a post-op gastric sleeve patient during my 1st appointment with my doctor. The test itself was about 451 questions. Really though, you could say it was about 150 questions asked 3 different ways. My best guess is it is done in that format to measure how consistent and true you are answering. I guess that they believe that if you are trying to manipulate the test for whatever reason, by asking the same question 3 different ways mixed in with 450 questions, you won't be able to remember how you answered previously and your true feelings will be revealed. I can't remember the exact answer selections, but I think there were 6 choices - ranging from Always True to Never True. So they might ask, "Have you consistently missed work because of drinking?" and you choose among the 6 answers as to how true the question applies to your situation. 50 or so questions later, it is asked again differently, "I never drink so much alcohol that I have called in sick at work." And they mix in questions about how alcohol has played a part in your family and social life. Your feelings about stealing, is it better to be a child or an adult, how you behave in social situations, how you bad/good feel most people behave, which is the better part of life - being a child or being an adult. I think you get the general idea. The psych interview was pretty brief - about 15 minutes. The questions mainly center around my eating habits and what I knew about diet and nutrition. That I realized that surgery was only a tool and not the solution. That I needed to exercise before and after surgery. And what I thought my ideal body weight should be. I told him that I didn't want to fixate on a specific number and just wanted to look "normal", whatever that weight turned out to be. I had been following a guy on youtube who started out at my weight 350 and was down to 235 and I thought I'd be very happy to look like him. I haven't been down below 270 since 1997! My doctor later told me that my ideal weight is 200 and seem to take it in stride that I'd have no problem getting to that weight. So we'll see. My plan is to set small goals and not get too hung up on reaching a specific weight. Expenses so far: My copay for the doctor has been about $2000 so far ($500 office visits, nutritionist counseling / $1500 surgery cost) My hospital costs so far, $3000 ($1000 blood, ultra sound, chest xrays and EDG / $2000 surgery cost) I had a bit of a panic yesterday. The hospital called to confirm my surgery date and collect payment. They told me the surgery cost was $19,000 and in my mind I'm thinking "NINETEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!" I wasn't expecting to have to pay out of pocket that much! And then they said,"Your copay is $2000." Fortunately, I hadn't completely stroked out after hearing the first part and was able to get my heart out of my mouth after I realized I wasn't responsible for the full 19k. :-) I fumbled my Discover card out and gave them the digits. Still to be paid (and as far as I know, the last): Pre-op blood typing/urine testing (must be done within 72 hours of surgery) - I'm scheduled to be tested on 12/26 / surgery 12/27 / expected to return home 12/28.

OMG! What did I do! That was the first thing I asked my self day 2 post op! By day 3 I was telling myself this was a big mistake! This is not what I signed up for! What happened to the 3 day recovery and back to normal in a week! What happened to this is the least evasive! 1 out of ten have a problem...hmmm I should have known I would be that 1 in ten that would have a problem! Post op I was on my 5th day not able to take in any liquids without throwing up! OK this is not normal!!!! Let me call my doctor...hhmm OK sip slowly???? I was furios is this women seriously telling me sip slowly! 4 months of appointments and classes and test and research I know to sip SLOWLY!!! Ok forget this off to the ER need to let them know how thirsty I am! Finally someone listening to me so I'm dehydrated weak my lips are so sore and dry and chapped and I'M SO THIRSTY!!! Please just help me drink again!! So they drain the band and give my fluids...awe ice chips they taste as good as a super supreme pizza! I'm now addicted to ice chips and cranberry grape juice ! Nothing has quenched my thirst more than the taste of cran-grape juice!

I am four months into my six month requirement and this is NOT easy. The protein shakes are fine, the drinking water is fine but, it's the not knowing if I will be approved that is the nerve wrecker. The insurance makes you go through all these humps and loops and in the end it's in their hands. I wish they would give you a pre-approval and surgery date so it's gives you something to look forward at the end of this circus act. The not knowing is the hardest part. All I want for Christmas is the surgery!!! I've been good this year Santa .

I am so close to being in one hundred land... I can feel it. How is everyone? I know I haven't been active on here. But I've been emotionally drain and I just didn't feel like writing bad news on my blog. I am back on track now. Today I met with Dr. Richardson for my follow up appointment from my surgery. I am not going to lie to you guys when I got there I was a little nervous. Why? Because this past weekend I had nothing but fried foods and the week before Mother Nature wasn't really nice to me because she made me eat chocolate! I mean half of a Butterfinger one day and the next day I had the other half. Oye on those days I made sure I burn at least 200 calories! Anyway back to today's visit. When I had to get weighed I just looked away and when my nutritionist didn't say nothing I just thought the worse. So I start giving myself the "prep talk" while walking down to the examination room. Once we got in the he start going over my weight history then he said your current weight is 200.8 pounds. I looked at him and said Say what? He repeated it again. I was shocked and still am. I felt pretty bad because I was being a little selfish yesterday. My bestie Jon was having a bad day and I was playing the "wing women" role and was trying to find him a girl to pick up but I was too busy complaining about my calories intake and how about I was going off my healthy living lifestyle. That I absolutely failed my "wing womanly duties!" Dr. Richardson said my incision looked fine and I will see him again next month so we can pick out my surgery date to get my port back in. My guess will be sometime in December but I will know more next month. And! He said I can do the walk for obesity walk this Saturday and I can start running again but I have to keep my incision covered. So guess what I will be doing tomorrow? Resume working on "Operation I want arms like Michelle Obama!" I probably won't resume running again until next weekend. I text was my Bestie Jon and told hope after all the bitching I was doing last night I lost 2 pounds. He laughed congratulated me. I guess I need to calm down just a little bit because I know my support system would let me know if I need to slow down or need to make better food choices. Not only this is new to me but this is new to my support system. I still have a lot to learn but I think I got this! God is good! Thank you for reading Below is a pic of my coworker Kevin (he is the one on the right) He passed away 2 weeks ago. I wish have took an up to date picture with him instead of using this one. I miss him R.I.P my friend.

I love the old cartoons. Warner Bros. use to have retail stores and I bought everything, clothes, gifts, dog toys and art. Yes I have cartoon art all over the house. About 18-20 years ago I was thinner and purchased a pair of jeans with the Taz, Bugs Bunny and others on them. Today, they FIT!! A super duper NSV for me. I even have the matching 't' shirt. I own a few long sleeved shirts with characters all over them. Like I said. I love the old fashioned cartoons. ​One of my favorite prints is called 'Speechless'. It is a microphone and off to the side are the characters that Mel Blanc did the voices for. It was when he died. That is my all time favorite. Yes I am a 63 year Grammie who is young at heart and I show it off. Do other young at hearts have cartoon people in their life? Have a great weekend. The weather in Boston is great today. I went to the gym in shorts.

Good afternoon. I am watching the Doctor's on tv right now. They just had on a couple that had by pass surgery together. In a little over one year she lost 95 pounds and he lost about 190. The wife said it is a tool. She is right. I hope they keep up the good work. The Doctor's gave them a year's membership to a fancy health club/gym near them. That helps. One of the doctor's said that WLS is not for everyone. He is right. We know that because of the mean bashers. Maybe bashers need to look in the mirror and blame themselves for messing up. (see I can use nice language). Enjoy your day. Arlene

Why, do you get WLS, any type, and then not listen to your doctor or dietitian? Why? When I was given the pre-op diet, I followed it to the 't' because I was afraid. When it came to the post-op diet, I followed it to the 't', also. When I get a fill, I am on 3 days of liquids, 3 days of mushy and then back to my regular foods. I listen to the doctor and his staff. They have been dealing with WLS for many many years. So WHY, get the surgery and just follow your own rules?????? Think before putting the chip, the french fry, McDonald's, Dunkin Donuts in your hand, let alone your mouth. If you have to have one of these, at least wait until your surgery has healed and you can eat regular foods. People who have had the band for a while, I have had mine for almost 14 months, maybe some of us know what we are talking about. I listen to the masters, they have been here longer than me. I try to help and if I don't have an answer, I will say it. So when you are getting wheeled into the operating room, just remember WHY, you are there. To get healthy and live longer. Have a great night. Arlene ps Saturday night I have a wedding and yes I will eat but not over eat and I do not drink when I eat and never alcohol.

One Week ago today I had my sleeve surgery. This past week has been not what I was prepared for or expected. I have felt practically "normal", with no bad effects at all. I was prepared to be laying on the sofa wrapped in quilts and being waited on by my hubby. But reality was from the day I came home. I never needed a nap, never needed waited on and never had a moment of nausea. Thank you God! I weighed myself and one week out I am down 8 pounds for a total of 62 pounds lost! Hope it continues.