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This morning I had my first follow up appointment in 6 months. I had been struggling the last week or so deciding on whether or not to get a fill. I got some good advice and some suggestions and after talking with the PA today we decided there is no need for one right now. I am eating 3 meals a day with no snacking or cravings. I am going anywhere from 3 to 5 hours without getting hungry and I have found for me I tend to get hungry sooner after having the shake but with real actual food I can go 5 or 6 hours. At the end of the day I do believe I was factoring my fill needs on 1. Getting hungry at times sooner than what I was months ago. 2. Scale is not where I wanted it to be. So....# 1 is OK as I have narrowed it down to why I get hungry sooner and I can adjust. #2 is definitely not a good reason for a fill. Getting a fill certainly has nothing to do with the scale and getting a fill will not help the scale move any faster. Thank you to Missy for reaffirming that for me. I mean I knew in the back of my mind it was not a valid reason for fill but hearing it from someone else just made more sense. I also found this morning that my last fill was not in April it was actually back in January when I got .5cc. I had it written down in a notebook but hadn't actually looked it in a while. Lastly, my PA is going to work on getting insurance approval for a new sleep study. 240lbs later it is obvious an adjustment is need on my CPAP. Other then that I am living the dream and enjoying life. Happy 5th Anniversary to my beautiful wife Kelli (Kelli1016). If you read this then I wish you a happy Friday and I hope you're doing well and rocking your band or preop diet!!

So things have been going pretty well. I am getting one or two 30 min walks in every day and sticking to the diet. I was down to 229 lbs. this morning, the first time I have been under 230 for months. I was feeling very positive. I headed for Walmart for a few groceries. As I was entering the store, sitting on a bench in the entry area was a 30 something woman who appeared to be having trouble breathing. She was extremely obese, likely over 450 lbs (I can reasonable make that guess because I had an aunt who weighed that much and was about the same size). As a nurse, I was concerned for her and I asked her if she was ok. Through her difficult breaths, she indicated she would be ok and she said "I'm waiting for an electric cart. I just walked in from my car." I was stunned and felt a fear I hadn't experienced before....I could be experiencing those same symptoms if I don't take care of myself. Funny how I don't think I was ever afraid of being overweight before. It didn't interfere much with the things I do, but did I only do the things I was able to do, not everything I could do? That is a thought I am going to give much attention to as I go through this journey.

I think all of us have that fear.. I saw a lady today @ Walmart with huge legs and she was barely able to walk to the electric cart.. she looked to be younger than me but Lord help her she was so sad looking.. I know I was headed for the electric cart myself ..could hardly make it through the store without leaning on the grocery cart... I thank God everyday that I decided to take charge of my health and got my band before it was too late... it's moments like these that make you say there by the Grace of God go I...

Come closer, I want to tell you something. It's kinda cool...but I don't want to jinx it either. I've lost almost 30lbs since my pre-op appt. on September 4. That's way cool...and very exciting! I don't want to tell just anybody, so it's just between you and me right now, OK? Thanks

Can I eat (insert food here) after Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy WLS surgery? The answer is... most likely. It's really going to depend on the person and how you have healed. I have not found any food that I could not eat, once I was back on full foods post-op. Surprisingly, the processed foods/snack foods/fast food was the easiest to digest. It was the healthy foods - boneless skinless chicken breasts, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, pineapple, apples and grapes that gave me trouble up until about the 6 month mark. At 9 months post-op, I can eat anything I want with only the occasional stomach growl. The best NSV post-op is that I have not wanted all those processed/fast foods that I craved pre-surgery. I can honestly say that I don't even think about going out for pizza or hamburgers any more. So if you're worried about not being able to eat your favorite foods post-op, you may come to realize that post-op you don't WANT to eat them ever again. :-)

I wish I wouldn't have told so many. It's like I cheated or something. Sorry, having someone remove part of my stomach on purpose sure feels the opposite of cheating.