M2G

That is odd there is no mention of coffee in your notes! It really isn't the coffee that is bad for your new tummy, it is the caffeine. (And there is lots of back and forth on does the caffeine hurt or doesn't it hurt your tiny tum...I figure the caffeine is probably not all that good for me anyway, and if I can live without then I should!) My NUT had me switch to decaf coffee before surgery so I would NOT be going through the withdrawl headaches while recovering from surgery. But I dropped my decaf coffee all together for about 4 weeks post-surgery. I still drink a bit of decaf every am, but I noticed that I can't ever finish it. I like it, I get a bit of it and then I feel good to go, and the rest goes down the drain.

I did the same thing...probably at about the same time, 9-10 days post-op and tried the Peanut Butter in the shake thing and I don't remember exactly the symptoms but I know I didn't feel good after drinking it. And I used an all-natural peanut butter (trying to be careful about "extra" hidden ingredients) and it was basically peanut butter made from peanuts and nothing else. I can tell you that I didn't try it again and I haven't had peanut butter since.

So someone I know asked me today if I lost weight? This person doesn't know about the surgery. I was in a group of people, and one other friend heard her say it too. I sort of just said "maybe a little"...I didn't want to have a big long conversation about it. Of course this was at a cookie exchange party... So I made a crack about it being hard this time of year to stay focused. (AND THAT IS THE TRUTH!) I am struggling with all the goodies. I need to get them OUT of my house!!! Anyway, I had mixed feelings. It was nice that someone noticed but then I don't want to talk about it. Aargh.

Congrats on getting approved! WOO HOO! Good luck with your sleeve! This group is the best thing I found during this whole process.

I did SF popcisles....it helped momentarily! I understand the feeling!!!

Congrats on quitting...that is awesome! I'm sure that will help during recovery that you are not craving and/or smoking! Oh and welcome!

Congrats on the new sleeve. I haven't had a single moment of regret (not yet anyway!) Glad you are feeling good.

You know what? That sounds like the perfect plan. Go talk to the other surgeon, and if you don't like him, then talk to the other one. I know we talked about this, but I picked my surgeon because he was so experienced, had tons of support systems in place for his patients, etc. And then of course when I switched mid-way through my 6 month wait time, from band to sleeve, I was (at first) horrified to learn that he had only done 14 sleeves before me. But then I realized I did NOT pick him because he was the best sleeve surgeon in town, I picked him because he is the best surgeon in town. You will have a much better feel for things when you talk to the other surgeon(s) and if it goes well, I am thinking that will alleviate some of the fear/nerves stuff too. Ask your wife to come with you, if she is willing! And thanks for the laugh about the GUN SHOW...that seriously made my day! :thumbs_up:

It is sooooo hard waiting! I feel for you. Once you decide you are going to have surgery most of us want it "right now" but the insurance companies have much different plans for us. I was sleeved almost 2 months ago and my husbands file is currently with our insurance. The race is on to have it before the end of the year or it will cost us another $5K out of pocket, but we are prepared that it might not happen in 2010 and go into 2011. But that still won't keep us from being disappointed. Good luck to you, hopefully by this time next year you will be 6-9 months post-op and rocking that sleeve!

I know this is such a hard decision for you. I agree with Christina that everyone has great advice and their own personal reasons for choosing the sleeve. The other thing I would add is that you should find out how long your approval is "good for" (i.e. does it have a 6 month "expiration") and use that as a time frame for your decision making. Getting approval is such a hurdle if you want to move forward with the surgery you don't want that to expire and have to re-do everything. That being said, if you are not ready or not comfortable with your surgeon then maybe waiting is better. There will always be a surgeon ready to perform this surgery, and regardless of insurance coverages, there is always self-pay (but cheaper with insurance.) So if you are hesitant, or having second thoughts, then maybe now just isn't the time for you. Just reading your post, it almost sounds like you have a semi-plan in place...continue working out lose as much as you can and do the sleeve in Feb. 2011 or later. Oh and the fear/nerves. THAT is so normal, but it is also the hardest to deal with. I can totally remember my 9 year-old 3 days before surgery saying "Soooo, you're not sick, but yet you are having surgery?" And I thought to myself, wow, that sure sums it all up. Why would I choose this path? But I knew this was the right decision for me. My biggest ally was all the research that I had done prior to surgery. I did my research and I knew this what ultimately the tool that would not only help me lose weight but keep it off. Keep up the great work on your workouts and losing....each pound you lose gets you closer to that final goal and the workouts are something you will be doing for life...sleeve or not!

One thing I have learned is once you "share" with someone, you cannot control who they tell. Ugh. My almost 10 year old daughter spilled the Beans to her friend who then told her mom. Except the good part was she didn't really say what kind of surgery, so when mom asked about it (she is a good friend of mine, but I didn't feel like sharing the info yet) so I just told her "yes, I had surgery, and I'm feeling MUCH better now, thanks for asking" and the mom didn't press and ask any more questions. She just let it die. Phew. As for the quitter comment, ooooh, that would have burned me up. But whatev...like you said they will all be eating their words a year from now!

Okay reading this can I just say how happy I am that my eval did not include one single questionairre. It lasted about 2.5 hours, and the psych took notes on everything. She asked about my family upbringing, siblings, husband, children, parents, etc. She asked the obvious questions about eating disorders, any history of depression, or taking any meds, etc. The only time I got choked up was when I started talking about my feelings about sharing my surgery plan with my two young daugters ages 8 and 9. I never want this for them...of course, but she was very realistic and said no matter what I do, I should just continue to be a healthy role model and they will have their own ups and downs, but basically I cannot prevent them from having their own struggle. :tsk: Overall I would say it was a very good eval and I liked the lady. The only thing I didn't like was her saying that maintaining her weight was easy for her (she did stress that) "calories in and calories burned" ugh...if only it could always be that easy.

Coops is right! I completely agree! I'm just a tad over 6 weeks out and have only lost 28lbs. I cannot remember the last time I've lost almost 30lbs in 6 weeks...oh that's right, NEVER! So I am happy. I simply cannot compare my stats to someone else. Sometimes people lose a lot prior to surgery, so if they lose 30lbs pre-op and then another 30 in the 2 months following surgery, their ticker may say they are already down 60lbs. Which looks like HUGE loss in a short amount of time. Please do NOT get me wrong, their ticker SHOULD read -60lbs because they absolutely own every single pound they have lost and they should absolutely Celebrate those lbs gone. So I'm not saying anything bad about that. But please do NOT compare yourself to someone else. I went to a support group last night and there was someone there who basically had the RNY about a week before my sleeve, and she has lost -65lbs. I was blown away!!! But then she revealed that she had been hospitalized once post-surgery to clear out some Fluid build up in her stomach remnant, and her starting weight was 470lbs. So then it was all very much in perspective for me. She weighed basically 200lbs more than my starting weight, she was basically still recovering from the trauma of being hospitalized twice in the same month and all the sudden it was very clear why comparisons just don't work. Please do not get discouraged and down on yourself. And know that this is a journey. You know the saying ...the pounds did not magically appear overnight (even though sometimes it feels like they did!) and they will not magically disappear overnight. Celebrate your loss and know that when you are using your tool, you will continue to get healthy and lose weight!

Ouchie that looks painful! I hope you are healing nicely. Definitely do give us some after pics when you are all healed. I bet you are looking GREAT!

Agreed!

I do breath mints and brush my teeth often. When I was early out of surgery and doing mostly protein, I had fuzzy teeth all the time too. I hate that feeling. Once I started adding more variety to my food palette the fuzzy teeth and icky mouth feeling diminished a lot.

I just wanted you to know I'm thinking of you and it sounds like you have some really good advice here (love this board!) I also read that book "The End of Overeating" and loved it. It was a slow read at first but picked up about half-way through it is truly astounding what the food/restaurant/beverage industry has done to our food. Glad you are reading it, and good for you for searching out ways to conquer the hunger/carb monster!

Best wishes for an easy surgery and quick recovery!

Congratulations!!! The nerves are normal (mostly), hang in there!

Both DH and I have UHC (I'm sleeved and he is in wait mode) but my Case Manager said they have 15 days to approve/deny. My actual time was 9 days to approve, and I was able to schedule my surgery for the very next week. DH is still in wait mode, we are hoping to have his surgery THIS year...along with millions of others who are in the same boat, probably. Urgh.

Depends on if you are sharing only one meal together or if you will be around each other for several days. If it is one meal, you can always fake a tummy bug, or say that your last meal didn't agree with you (like alluding to food poisoning so you can still hold the little ones without the fear of them "catching" your tummy bug). Or even just say you have the runs and are afraid to put much in there, etc. If it is several days then I'm not sure how you would go about that. I didn't tell 'some' people at our Thanksgiving table (most of my family knew) but I was 5 weeks out and eating mostly regular food, although not much. I filled my plate with more than I could eat, and yes, it got wasted, BUT I noticed that everyone else was digging into their own plate and they could have totally cared less about what was one mine.

I took some of Shelly's Ricotta Bake Cups to a NON - WLS party and they were devoured! http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2010/11/weight-loss-surgery-friendly-party.html

I think no matter what her initial reaction might be (shock, disappointed, sadness, anger) that like Sadie said she will eventually come around. I think that most people reactly negatively towards "optional" surgery. They sort of think, why would you mess up a perfectly good organ inside your body, why can't you diet again and lose weight without surgically altering your body, etc. etc. I mean aren't we all sort of worried about it ourselves? Going under, not being able to lose weight the good old fashioned way, and of couse this is major surgery, it's not a minor little thing. So I don't want to say that her feelings aren't valid. But if this sister truly loves you, she will come around. I have found the very best way to treat the naysayers is to have done my reasearch. I can quote facts, figures, and know exactly what I was getting into with this surgery. I tell people that I did not come about this decision lightly, that I take it very seriously, etc. After all, this is YOUR life and you are doing what you need to do for you. Not only do I think she will come around, I think she will be sold on this surgery after she sees you go through the process (of course the process takes a long time, so you might have to patient with her!)

CONGRATS~!! Totally worth celebrating....woo hoo! My BMI is finally below 40. Just barely, but I'm excited about it.

CONGRATULATIONS! You are almost at goal...that is so exciting! You have done excellent! I keep trying to open your thumbnail bigger and it just spins and spins and won't show it to me. But from what I can tell on your tiny pic, you are looking wonderful! Congrats!!!