M2G

Welcome! This site and the wonderful members here, have been my biggest support group!!! Look forward to reading more about you.

I am thankful that I have a chance at a "do-over" (hubby's words). Being larger for most of my life and being obese for most of my adult life hasn't not always been easy. Even though I am only about 3 weeks out, I am continually thankful that my body has acted wonderfully before, during, and after surgery. In fact, I'm amazed at how 'normal' I feel, almost as if surgery was months ago instead of mere weeks ago. For the first time in my whole entire dieting history, I finally feel like I'm losing without the fear of regain. (I know ask me again when I'm at goal, I do not think it will be a walk in the park but rather a continuous monitoring of my habits and lifestyle.) As I say goodbye to each pound it is staring to sink in that this could be forever. Each and every day I'm thankful for this forum and the supportive people who have gone before me, and those who will go after me, that encourage me, lift me up, and understand exactly what I'm going through, even though they are perfect strangers. I've gotten more support here than I have from any real-life friends, or family, simply because you guys get it. Great post Julie!

My husband is hopefully having his VSG right before Christmas, but for us it is insurance-related. If he doesn't get approved and scheduled and we roll into 2011, then it will be an additional $5K out of our pocket. We would still do it, it would just cost us more money. (We are on a high-deductible plan.) If it was me I would do it sooner, rather than wait, but if you are worried about missing all your holiday favorites, or being at parties and eating nothing while everyone else is eating, then maybe you should wait. I would focus on the fact that NEXT Christmas, you will be wearing much smaller clothes and have a dainty little plate of food to nosh on while everyone else is out gaining 10lbs.

SN..............Starting Wt........Current.......Goal.......Lbs to Goal LilMissDiva........247..................247..............226................21 Mini-Me...........203...................133..............125................8 Chilo1.............216...................169..............154................15 Kgremmy........225...................221..............199...............22 (being sleeved 12/14/10) Juliarh............303.6.................247..............225...............22 . Sleeve 4 me ...204...................177..............164...............13 lbs.-Goal for start of New Year merieri............240..................206...............190...............16 DJackson........246...................246...............220..............26 Dansha...........220..................220...............195..............25;) Stacy160.........258..................174...............148..............16 Lisalu..............210..................137..............130................7 Laylasmojo......242.................200.6..............185..............15.6 Maddie............257.................167................147...............20 Brendasgonnalose...335.............244................229..................15 mp8btpc.........199...................160...............145...............15 Mommy2Girls........275...............256...............240.................16

Have you guys ever heard of Puffcorn? I think that it is a "cheetos" product. Anyway, it looks and tastes like popcorn, but the pieces are really "manufactured" so it's not real popcorn, therefore no hulls, etc. The pieces sort of disolve in your mouth, they are light and airy. 1 serving is like 48 pieces and is 160 calories. (I have one daughter who LOVES puffcorn...lol) I imagine you could eat about 10 pieces and count it as part of your carb intake. Not that I'm recommending you eat it. I am quite sure there are no redeeming qualities and that this would surely qualify as junk-food. But maybe ask your NUT about it, if it could help with your craving for popcorn. I agree popcorn is a slippery slope. JUST think about how big those tubs are at the movie theater...how everyone can just easily chow down on that much popcorn!!!

I do that too! But truth be told, I've always been more of a water drinker the later in the day it gets, and I don't know why. You would think that after sleeping all night with having NO liquid that your body would be ready for water first thing in the am. But I find as the day wears on I drink more, more, more. Starting probably about 2pm....and right up until bed. The funny thing is my girls are the same way, downing water before bed...just like me!

WOW! I agree that you were cute before, but now you are stunning! And the your girls are pretty darn cute too! I can't believe that is ONLY 3 months...WOW!!!! ---love your taste in jewlery too!---

1. Day 5 (I could have driven sooner but there was no need, my mom was here chauffering my girls to school and back ) 2. Side sleeping on day 2 (as soon as I was outta that miserable hospital bed) Tummy sleeping (day 10) 3. Not supposed to swim or have a bath until 3 weeks out (I'm a few days away from that) 4. Day 12 5. Day 2 (easily!)

I agree that what you are experiencing is most likely normal. I also thought about the alternatives. The yo-yo dieting is just as unhealthy as staying morbidly obese (in my case that is I qualified as) and while I also had no co-morbidities, I definitely felt like it was a matter of time before I developed some. I'm great at losing weight, it was the keeping it off that never seemed to work for me. I guess the way I looked at it was the benefits of HAVING surgery, outweighed the risks and possible "what ifs" in the future. I'm so thankful everyday that I was given a tool to help me get to a healthy weight and stay there. Having said all that, it truly comes down to your own soul-searching and the only one who can answer the question as to whether or not you are ready to make this change in your life, is you.

Thank you!!!

Thank you!!!

Thank you!!!

Sorry that sounds miserable. I had glue on everything except my drain tube hole. That is so far my last incision to heal. But I did have nasty adhesive on my wrist from the IV and really stubborn adhesive on the clip that held my drain in place. I tried nail polish (since they weren't incisions) and it did not work. I just rubbed the heck out of them until they wore off. Baby oil sounds better than what I did. I hate to say it, but it does sort of sound as if you are having an allergic reaction to the tape. I think I would call the nurse...and maybe take some benadryl?

WOW! Great job! Even though the pics are so tiny, you look incredible! Thanks for sharing!

Thank you Diva! You are right, I totally forgot that my NUT mentioned with the low carb stuff that I could add some diluted apple juice to my Protein shakes (which I do if I'm making them but yesterday I had a RTD shake out of the box). I will try the gatorade, that is a great idea. Yes, I'm taking all my Vitamins, except for Calcium, I was told to wait until 6 weeks to start taking that. I ended up taking a 1.5 hour nap and felt better. I did manage to shower and get myself to the grocery store, even though it was at 4pm.

Julie, you are doing awesome! And you're such an inspiration to me...Thank you!

You guys are looking great, and those pants are not going to fit either one of you for long! My hubby is doing this too, he is 2 months behind me in the hoop jumping through our insurance, and my dr. was so funny, as I was being wheeled into the the OR he was like the women should ALWAYS go first, because the men lose so much faster, it's good for the women to get a jump start. I love seeing husband/wife teams do this together, it really makes for a radical family change!

What an amazing difference! Congratulations, you look wonderful!

Totally agree that even if someone has the "same" insurance carrier as you, their plan could be totally different. I had UHC and they cover the sleeve. However, my plan was a high-deductible plan. The basic plan says for our family we pay $5,000 out of pocket (from an HSA) and then UHC will cover 90% and we pay 10% of every bill after we hit our deductible. So yeah, covered didn't equal free. But it was a LOT less expensive than self-pay. Plus my husband is having the same surgery in Dec. so it made sense to do it after we hit our deductible. Definitely, call your insurance and get everything spelled out for you...that way no surprises!

You are right about policies changing from year to year and what is covered and what isn't. When I expressed gratitude towards the UHC nurse that they cover the sleeve, she extended some of that gratitude back to my husband's employer (that is where our insurance comes from) because they CHOOSE that policy that covers the sleeve. Good luck, I hope you get your answer soon!

My surgery was 10-22 and I didn't have to do a pre-op diet, just clears 48 prior, so starting from the 20th, I'm down 18lbs. I *think* I just broke a 10 day stall. The minute I started mushies, I stopped losing. Argh! But today it finally moved down a lb, but I won't trust it until I see it a few days in a row. I have a 3 week follow-up appt. this week where I will move to the next phase of the bariatric diet, which will be all types of food, ground to mush. I'm excited to try beyond cottage cheese, refried Beans, yougurt and egg beaters. Going to break out my WLS cookbook and start having some fun!

Is it just me, or has greek yogurt just exploded in popularity? Honestly I had never given it a second look until May of this year, when I had my first NUT visit and she mentioned it for post op. Now I see even the store brands have their own version of the higher priced yogurt at a cheaper price. Unfortunately, I happen to do most of my grocery shopping at a super-busy grocery store and they frequently run low on ALL brands of greek yogurt....ugh!

My notes said to take "colace" 2 days before, but um, I'm super-regular (TMI I know) so I opted out. I had no problems whatsoever during surgery or after. My NUT recommended taking Benefiber powder but honestly I guess I will wait until it is a problem before I start messing with whats working. I think it tends to be a problem after you start doing the high protein/low carb thing...we'll see though.

http://caloriecount.about.com Is what I use. It's free and right now it helps me keeping track of Protein as I'm still eating mushies, so my food is very limited. You can tag items that you use frequently for easier access. It also has a recipe analyzer, you can put in the ingredients/quantities of a recipe and it will calculate the nutrition.

EXACTLY!!! LOL. Not to mention that I had planned my surgery to be in the middle of my cycle specifically so I wouldn't have to deal with it while also recovering. I guess sometimes the best laid plans....