Leaderboard

That's awesome news! I too have been dealing with something sort of similar, so I totally understand. Back in november, I noticed a mass in my neck. We did some biopsies, but they were inconclusive. I'm sitting here right now after just getting home from having the mass surgically removed. I unfortunately won't know for sure if the tumor was malignant or not until sometime next week. It's really tough dealing with all the emotions, but probably hardest for me has just been the thought that I worked so hard and went through so much (e.g. WLS), to try to get healthy, only to discover it may all have been for nothing. Could really use all your thoughts and prayers as I fight through this and hopefully fully recover.

I have had depression and anxiety all of my life and was diagnosed about 5 years ago. My psychiatrist was great in prepping me before surgery and I got switched to a Non-Extended Release on my meds. It was a very easy switch. The medicine isn't coated and was hard for me to swallow (and still is some days) - so I learned to take with a swig of protein shake or no sugar applesauce or the like. My mental health did have some changes post surgery - as in 3 months after. Mind you that the hormonal shift was pretty emotional - and no matter how much I knew that, I didn't understand fully until after it happened. I go to therapy (and upped how often I see my therapist) when I needed to and if I had an issue - and did when I started having more anxiety - I called my psychiatrist.

Hey! I just scheduled my surgery date and I got to schedule it the day I was hoping! February 21st. Anyone else have a February surgery date?? Maybe we can help each other!

WLS is like gears on a bicycle. The process of weight loss is climbing a mountain with a regular bike, the Andes, Alps, or Rockies kind of mountain. A regular bike/body could get up there with a lot of walking and conditioning, consistency. WLS is the new fangled gears on the bike that lets you stay on the ride better. The bike still zig zags, traverses and takes switchbacks to reach the top. It still takes a heap of work. WLS is a body like a mountain bike, tackling a mountain, instead of a beach bike trying to climb a mountain. Now how to make that seat comfortable?

I tried the Fairlife milk based on comments on here. I also like the OWYN vegetarian shakes. I tried the shakes warm and it was much easier to get down. I also like low sodium chicken bone broth. College has 10grams of protein per cup if you can find it.

I have no issues whatsoever taking pills. I'm 4 months in now and I can take a big pile at a time just fine. Hopefully it will be the same for you.

I've heard mixed reviews about vitamin patches - they seem to work for some people, but not for others. I never tried them because I figured I'd be one of the latter. I HAVE thought about getting some to take on trips, though, since they'd be a lot more convenient - and if they ended up not working for me, a few days without vitamins wouldn't be the end of the world.

I also hate the word "obese". High cringe factor for whatever reason.

Thanks@Crisscat! I was the opposite. I was so quiet and spacey on my surgery day. All went well and I'm home now recovering.

I'm 6 months post op this week. Surgery day, I weighed 310 and this week I was 245 - so minus 65lbs in 6th months and it feels surreal! I'm also down 87lbs from my heighest weight last May (trying to push for an even 90 by the time my "Get serious about weight loss" anniversary rolls around). What an accomplishment in and of itself! But as many of y'all know, a lot of this goes beyond the scale, so I'm about to talk about labwork and measurements! Labwork/Blood Health I ran comprehensive pre-op, simple 3 month, and comprehensive 6 month labs. Here are those results! Pre-Op Vitamin D was a dismal 15. I've taken a daily 5,000 supplement since starting vitamins and I'm now close to 70. Normal Range. A1C went from 6.1% pre-op to 5.4% six months out. Normal Range. Pre-diabetes off the table. Fasting Glucose went from 121 pre-op to 103 at 3 months to 80. Normal Range Cholesterol (total) went from 265 to 226 to 221. From high to borderline, but vastly improved. LDL from 195 to 166 to 153. From high to borderline high. All other labs were normal range prior to and post op. Added blood health bonus: Taken off my Blood Pressure Medication completely. Measurements (in inches) Waist from 50 to 39.5 Right Thigh from 36.25 to 28.75 Left Thigh from 36.5 to 26.75 Hips from 69 to 52.5 Right Bicep from 18.5 to 14.5 Left Bicep from 18.25 to 14.25 Chest from 49.5 to 40 Neck from 15.25 to 13.5 Roughly a size 3x/4x, 22-26W to a about a 1x/2x, 14-16W Moving Forward I'm looking forward to what the future holds. I'm so happy with my progress so far! We often get hung up on the scale, but there is SO much more at play here. Be sure to track all your progress!