justplaintired

KeeKee99: My surgeon doesn't make his patients do liquid diet until one or two weeks before depending on your bmi. I'm nervous about that, too. Although, when I tried a shake it WAS very filling because of the high Protein. Filling but not fulfilling...that is what I am going to have to get over. All that emotional eating garbage that got me into this mess! P

Today I swapped out the nose mask for nasal pillows. LOL IDK why I find the term nasal pillows so darned funny. I think it will help me sleep better now. I don't feel like Darth Vader as my face is less covered. Thank GOD because I haven't slept normally in about a week. No insurance news yet. I am not even 100% sure that my paperwork was submitted today so I'm not nervous...YET. There is a possibility of being banded sooner than my 2/11/1 scheduled date but I'm not counting on it. The sooner the better as I am going on a cruise at the end of March and I'd like to be farther along on my journey. Well, my schnoz pillows are calling me...that's all for tonight. Luke, I am your father...

Hi, Would you mind telling me how you collected free samples? I've only gotten one so far from the NUT. The sample was unjury vanilla and I liked it well enough. I suspect I should try a bunch of different ones for only one flavor will certainly get boring. TIA

Lellow, You are one of my inspirations! You look fantastic. Do you have a blog? How long did it take for you to lose your weight? Thx

Hi, I am not banded yet but I am going to give you my philosophy on the negative posts you may be reading... I think about people who leave feedback anywhere. For example, if you go on Trip Advisor and research a resort, you will find negative comments and they will make you nervous. I personally feel that it is human nature to post if something goes WRONG more than to take the time to post if all goes well. If you are and unhappy customer at a store, are you more inclined to make a complaint or write a letter...think of how many stores you are happy wtih but have you ever taken the time to write a letter of satisfaction? If you are like most people, you have not. That being said, I think that many people want to warn people if things go wrong so there isn't anything bad about posting about the negatives. We all know that this surgery isn't 100% successful all the time. NOTHING IS! So my advice is for you to make sure that you read the success stories with the negative posts. There are lots out there. I would recommend going on youtube and checking out bandedwendy. There are other great ones out there, too. You can see wendy's story all the way back to pre-op. She doesn't sugarcoat anything at all so you will get the good, the bad and the ugly from her. I wish you the best of luck and if we think of the band as a tool, and know we will have to do work on our own, we will be successful, too!

So far I just started blogging this week. I don't even know my blog address except that it is here and I named it my user name...justplaintired. I feel that blogging will keep me honest and I also like being inspired by others. I've never blogged b4 so it isn't anything fancy. :-)

Yep, that's the truth. I haven't ever blogged anywhere else. In fact, I don't even have a facebook page! I just don't feel the need for it. Anyway, I am anxious to keep this blog because I am hoping it will keep me motivated and perhaps increase my chances of success. In addition, I am specifically looking to connect with other banders on this journey. There is nobody IRL that I can discuss this with. My family is all thin...in fact, I wasn't always heavy myself! I am presently a the proud owner of a 35.9 BMI with a number of comorbidities. At this point, looking better will be a bonus when I lose the weight. My main concern is to get rid of my sleep apnea, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high triglycerides and potentionally high glucose. I also want energy badly! I have an active, athletic family and I cannot keep up with them! I'm 46 years old and I sure hope that I don't hit 47 without the bulk of this weight off! Crossing my fingers for approval for surgery within the next month. Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment.

Wow, that is some accomplishment! It is people like you who make me feel excited and motivated to begin this journey. It is a life changing and life saving event! Good for you that you did this while your son is still so little. Mine are 11.5 and 13 and I have to get healthy so I can do more physical things with them while they are still willing to hang with their ol' mom! LOL

Thanks so much for your response! I'm really looking forward to getting even half of the energy that my physically fit husband has! LOL I figure I better do this now while I am still relatively young. It seems that everyone who gets banded says they wished they did it sooner. I know this is the right time for me. I can't wait to drop 50plus! When were you banded?

Hi Camille, Thanks for your response. I always thought I was healthy and then all of a sudden everytime I am checked out they find something wrong with me! Sheesh! I do notice though that lately I feel winded more than I ever did. I am one of those that carry most of my weight on my torso... I guess I'm an apple? LOL I always think that is such a strain on the heart. I hope this year brings us luck with the band! :-)

Well, today I had my follow up with the GI and he has cleared me for surgery. This is a list of all specialists I have seen and been cleared by: PCP-letter of support Psychologist-cleared Cardiologist-EKG/ECHO/STRESS TEST-Cleared Pulmonolgist: Sleep Study showed Severe Apnea, CPAP-Cleared Gastro(GI)-Endoscopy showed small uclers, gastritis, esophaghitis. Meds for 2wks.-Cleared Now it is a waiting game. I sure hope I didn't go through all of that for nothing...being declined by insurance would be awful! I switched to this pricey insurance plan because they do support bariatric surgery. If it doesn't get approved, I will then assume it wasn't meant to be and the reason for this journey was that I needed to find out that I have the apnea and the GI problems. If these things didn't get discovered, I'd have a lot more medical problems than I presently do!

I did a reduction 16 yrs ago and I was at normal weight at the time. Unfortunately, it made breastfeeding really difficult years later so it is good that you are waiting until after you have kids. I got heavy about 12 yrs ago and let me tell you, my boobs grew back! I still think they are smaller than they would've been if I never got the operation and then got heavy but they certainly got bigger as I got bigger. I wish you well.

I'm anxious to try the Protein drinks. I've sampled unjury vanilla that the NUT gave to me and I liked it. I'd like to try some more so I can see what one I like the most. I remember reading that you can get free samples somehow from other sources. Any suggestions? TIA

I'm curious to see some of the successful banders response to this. I am in the same stage as you are and sometimes I worry, too. Especially when I read the vsg boards on OH. This is how I hope the band will help me... I am able to lose weight. I have done it before but of course, gained it all back and then some. I am thinking that that the band will be a tool to help me keep my portions in check. I am a HUGE portion eater so if the band does what I hope it will, I will not be able to eat like an elephant. In addition, I believe that several of my binge trigger foods will not be an option any longer for me (beer, breads, nachos, etc.) I know that I could start eating like the banders right now and lose weight. However, I would eventually be tired of feeling like I'm starving and I'd start the binge cycle again. So, like you, I hope that the band will be the tool to helping me KEEP the weight off and control my ability to eat 4 servings of food at one sitting.

Thank you for my laugh of the day! LOL "Can't wait to lose that elephant..." bahahahaha!

After reading your post and others, I feel so mad! How can someone begrudge someone else their health? Let's face it, even if you don't have comorbidities now, being obese will eventually give you them! As we age, we can no longer handled the extra weight. Everyday that we are obese we are putting strain on our bodies. WTH!? For those friends/family/whatever that do not support you in your Quest for a healthy life, forget them! This is hard enough to do that none of us need those people in our lives bringing us down. Your ticker looks like you are doing a great job and you don't need your friend or anyone else to tell you that! That being said...CONGRATULATIONS and WTG from me!

I think it is normal to be stressed out and emotional. Most of us are emotional eaters and you could be mourning the imminent death of our crutch. It is a love/hate relationship that we have with food and we know that life is going to be different. That being said, as long as you can remember that you are going to be healthy and normal weight during this journey, you can get over the depression. I would go on this site or on youtube and look at some success stories. I like watching bandedwendy a lot. She is an inspiration. You can go back and look at her old pre-op videos and see where she was then and now. Hugs!

I'm sure we can all relate to your post. Thanks for sharing your feelings. In doing so, you have made many people feel supported and understood. I was not heavy my whole life. I became heavy after having my kids. At this point, I get upset because it isn't a vanity issue (although I know I will look better when I lose) it is a a matter of health. I have high bp, severe sleep apnea, high cholesterol, borderline diabetes and I have stomach issues that were discovered during my GI tests. I don't want to feel lousy anymore. I have a very active husband and I cannot keep up with him even if I tried. I feel like I have spent the last 13 years feeling terrible. I am exhausted all of the time...hence my name. I think the other posters were right in that we are all going to cry or feel like crying throughout this process. I know I feel so upset each time another medical problem is discovered. I cry because WHY do I need to get surgery to do this. Why can't I have will power?! I'm looking forward to those tears of joy when I will have control over my life and my eating. I am hoping to have tears of joy when I no longer need this god-awful cpap machine. too.

Pulmonologist's office called to tell me that I sleep study results came back and I have "severe sleep apnea." I am going to see Resp. Therapist tomorrow to begin using CPAP. Pulmonologist is expected to clear me on Friday when he discusses full report with me. Question: Do you wear your CPAP during the surgery? Thx

Hi All, I have a tentative date of 2/11/11 for the band. I have been getting all of my pre-admission tests done and today wa I had an endoscopy as my final test. Well, when I woke up they told me that I have gastritis, esophagitis and inflamation in duodenum. Also, they said I have pre ulcers? The doc wrote a script for an acid blocker that I am to take daily for two weeks then I will go back and see him. I asked if these conditions would be a problem for surgery and he said, "no, but if there is a bacteria when the tests come back..." Is he talking about H pylori? If so, why would that be a deal breaker? Can't they just treat it? I guess this explains my inability to eat a lot of foods without pain...also, that I am taking pepcid and zantac all the time. I assumed that my stomach was just messed up because I am overweight, getting older and perhaps because I don't have a gall bladder. Oh boy... Does anyone know anything about this? Thanks so much!

Thanks to everyone who replied. I was also told by my doc that it should heal with the two week cycle of prilosec and should not hold up surgery. However, he did say that if the h pylori bacteria showed up in the biopsies that he took, it could cause a delay. I haven't heard anything new but we had Christmas and the blizzard in there. I am defnitely feeling much better since I started the prilosec. If I had only known, that I had a stomach problem and that it could be. helped with this drug sooner. Well, that's my fault for not ever getting checked for it. I just asumed itw as something I had to live with, etc. He wants to see me when the 2wks is up. When the nurse called me post endoscopy and I had a chance to ask questions she said that I should be fine. That I had a small ulcer and that would be helped with the prilosec and a more bland diet over the next couple of weeks. I also did a sleep study last week and I'm hoping that can't hold anything up. I know I have hypopnea and rls from a sleep study they did on me 3 yrs ago. I hope that they will just slap a cpap on me and clear me. I'll let you know what I find out but I think by the time I find anything out you will be post band! :-)

You look fantastic! Do you have any more current pix? I am curious because we are similar in size. I am tentatively scheduled for surgery in January. You make me very excited!