Leaderboard

A terrible, terrible thing happened today in our apartment building. A fire broke out - no one knows how yet - in the apartment of an elderly couple. We were all evacuated, even though it was in a different wing of the building (3 different elevator banks & we're adjacent) in part b/c we have a child & in part b/c this is NYC and fires move fast b/c the buildings are so close & often without firewalls. The guys who work in our building are truly amazing & they were able to get out the wife, but the man - an elderly, sick man who was weak & needed a lot of help to move around plus a walker - was too heavy for three of the building staff to pick up and move. It was incredibly smoky & hot & eventually they just had to retreat from the apartment & leave that poor man there by himself, obviously desperately hoping the firefighters would get there in time. They didn't. One of our maintenance guys - who is both very tough & very kind literally had his face blackened with soot & was in tears because he couldn't lift the man up & out of the bed. The poor man tried to lift himself & couldn't. My father who was a strong athlete, was also very, very weak at the end of his life so I know how impossible it must have been for that elderly man to move himself - but three maintenance guys couldn't move him either because he was too heavy. My wife knew him - they were on our co-op board together & I didn't even know him by sight. She says that we have to recognize that we have no control over how our lives will end, we can do our best but in the end it is not always up to us. In the Jewish tradition every year on Yom Kippur, our holiest day and the time when we repent & promise to try harder to do better in the upcoming year, the Bible reminds us that some will die in the upcoming year, some peacefully ad some "in fire" and that we don't know what will happen to us, it is in G-d's hands, not ours. We can only control trying to be the best possible person that each of us can be, but I feel so personally helpless today. And of course, I am thinking that everyone keeps saying that the man who perished in the fire was at least 300 pounds - close to my weight - which was why they couldn't move him when they most needed and wanted to do so. I keep thinking about everyone's feelings of helplessness & despair here, and how so many people tried to change the outcome and couldn't. This has just been so heart-breaking & upsetting and I have just felt so sad & awful about this all day. I am praying that he was unconscious from the smoke quickly, so that he didn't have a long time to know what was happening to him and obviously so that he didn't die in terrible pain. We will do whatever we can for his poor wife and for the workers in our building who are clearly traumatized by this. But that doesn't really change any of it, does it? It's the first time I've really experienced first-hand how one's weight can literally be the difference between life & death, and how it can deeply affect others around you as well. Thanks for a space where I can just write some of the sadness down. May the memory of Leon Gold be for a blessing.

My surgery is June 5 I'm excited nervous etc I'm a mother of 4 ages 17,16,13,6 i struggle with knee swelling all the time I need this surgery I'm afraid but I know I need this change I'm only 35 I want to live tired of being un healthy tired of knees hurting I have support but they don't understand

Mine is 81, I'm 56, right next to me and my husband, lol, nothing would have kept her away.

I'm not sure if you look on real self but a lot of those ladies talk about the swelling and bloat. Did you get lymphatic massage post-op? If not it isn't too late to start.

I like the caramel premier protein shakes those are good! I thought you are not supposed to drink with a straw? Im just going to sleep until Tuesday to avoid being hungry and not think about food lol Sent from my SM-N900V using BariatricPal mobile app

I was required to stay on the diet for 14 days. The first few days were rough but manageable. It's harder on the weekends for me, and I have slipped a few times. I'm mainly required to drink two protein shakes and have unlimited veggies and one small dinner daily. Im down 10 lbs though.

Hey my date is May 9th Heeeyyyy! My date is May 9th also! Best of luck to you!

Congratulations to you too! How exciting. Let me know how it goes. Sent from my SM-N900V using BariatricPal mobile app

I had surgery to avoid blood pressure meds. My pressure was just at the point they gave me meds, it was on the low end of high. Now my blood pressure is on the very low end of normal. Different problems, but hey no pills!

The surgeon applies to be a member of the AMBS. I think it misleads people into thinking some board or committee elected the member on their merits. i think the comments made by the patients of Dr. Illan speak better than a member of the AMBS.