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I am Catherine. I am new to this bored, and scared and nervous and happy, and pretty much any emotion you can have all at the same time I have recently started my journey of weight loss surgery. Right now, I am meeting with the dietitian and the mental health professionals and the like. Next month, I will be able to schedule my next appointment with the surgeon. I am currently 451 lbs, and down four pounds since my initial visit. Anyone else starting their journey? Anyone been there and have success. Anyone been there and failed?

Congratulations to you! I hope you continue to feel better physically and emotionally!

As a person with bad knees as well I understand where you are at. Treadmills can be your friend, as they tend to absorb more shock from walking making it easier on your knees. Also ice is your friend when it comes to knee pain after a visit to the gym. Take your time and work your way back into it, your knees will feel better as you take more weight off and use them more.

You're doing fantastic and from the sound of things, eating healthy. Keep up the fantastic work.

Dear Lord - I love those Torani flavors and they ship fast. I use them for so many things. I make an iced coffee frappucino some mornings with cold brew coffee, sugar free chocolate and caramel syrups, a scoop of protein powder and ice. There you have it - 26 grams of protein and about 110 calories. I use them in my shakes, in coffee drinks, everything. Think about coconut milk - I prefer the taste to that of almond or soy and it's 45 calories in a cup. I drink my coffee black for the most part. Good luck finding a combo that works right for your tastebuds!

Were you using a coffee creamer of half and half? I use half and half, 40 calories 3x a day isn't a big deal.

I had BCBS COVA (VA state employees ins) and the required a year of phone calls once a month with a "health coach". Once you completed that they gave you a certificate and you have a year to then get surgery (still no guarantee you're approved). The hospital I had surgery at was a Center of Excellence and they had their own requirements you had to meet as well. I had my surgery a month before my certificate expired. It was a long road for me.

There is no way to completely eliminate pain following a major surgery. It's a huge trauma to the body and the goal of post-surgery pain medication is to help bring pain down to tolerable levels. Additionally, with the current opioid/addiction issues so many areas in the country are grappling with, there has been a move across the board to decrease the amount of narcotics being prescribed for everyone. 21 years ago, prescribers used a very different set of standards to decide what pain meds to give and in what doses.

Do you have a high pain tolerance? If you do then you can probably solider on. If you don't, well it might be harder for you. Pain tolerance seems to be a major factor. I had enough energy at 4 weeks to be fairly normal. you just have to plan so you can relax or sit if you need to. Everyone is different though and this is major surgery. You have no idea what you post-op life is going to be like until it happens and other people can't really tell you.

TWO WEEK UPDATE! Had my two-week visit this week with my surgeon and everything looks great! My starting weight was 263 and I lost about 18 pounds by my surgery date which brought me to 245. I weighed yesterday and was 228 so that's another 17 pounds down which means I have lost about 35 pounds in one month's time! I had some pain and bruising from the surgery the first couple of days back at the house which was mostly gas. I was walking a mile a day on my treadmill....no not at one time...it was off and on all day long going about 1 mile per hour which is really slow. It really helped with my gas pains and now I am full work mode again! My feet no longer ache and my diabetes is starting to go into remission! My numbers are where it was WITH medication! My blood pressure now is in the low 100's/70's and so it's looking great as well! I am most excited about the way that I feel now! No longer sluggish but I have the energy to get things done! Looking forward to seeing my weight fall more and more and the sugar and blood pressure number stabilizing as well.