Bandme1

This sure isn't a lively forum over here in the July 2011 board! Let's get this party poppin'! We are about to have surgery, people! Awesome, exciting, life-changing surgery! Wooooo wooooooo!!!!! Actually, there have been a few posts over here and I guess there isn't too terribly much to talk about that hasn't already been covered on the other topics, but just thought I'd say hi and good luck to all my July people! Mine is on the 18th and it's just starting to sink in that is 3 weeks away! Wow! When is your surgery? And how do you feel about it? Excited? Nervous? Hesitant?

Decided to copy the June sleevers! Someone mentioned that we should have a master list of everyone who was sleeved in July just like the June sleevers. I will gladly take this on Please let me know if you need to be added to the list, removed from the list, or if your date is wrong. I will update as often as possible. I just gathered dates from posts in the July forum This should make it easier to follow up with each other, compare progress, complain together, Celebrate together... all that good stuff For some reason, it would not let me update the original post to add any more people? It's very strange, so here is an updated list of all our July Firecrackers. Wooooohooooo!!! Please let me know if I need to add anyone or change any dates. JULY FIRECRACKERS July 1 Kath-A-Leena Simply_KiZmet ismini9 July 4 Heather H July 5 Wendy1974 July 6 SmallerSoon samanthafecher Qpdsful July 7 DawnOfANewMe biggriz TheButterfly145 July 8 ashleyc Hansi July 11 ccbcdeke amybaby33 Texasmom65 Bitties JayMiss Marilynn Jacsmom161 melissa77 July 12 Nancy Rivers debgwoody Tara B kamay1234 aminahthediva73 Leslie jencomenz jflow75 mythreechildren2001 Bryn Dawson readytolive July 13 skinnyb2012 Ka-trina dreamscancometrue Rachel140 July 14 sweetdreams my_year2011 July 15 Silverlining July 18 MLD valentine InProgress Jensharley Tripletsmomma Tee23 July 19 readyforachange38 Hanir happygirl2011 Mercyanew July 20 2ahealthierme singand_dance LeahG jennifer6791 PollyPoo Dee Dee July 21 Bemabound CaliforniaJenn July 25 sleeve me plz humpty dumpty bxmama2011 msmomof3 artmama July 26 Tipsynoodle sugarmamma7 Papa Jack Mommyto2 Redheadedone Janese58 DrMommy July 27 boots1 Ruby Sheila aslimmerme firephotographer July 28 Khy July 29 peppercma daviso AutumnBlueCarmen phardin carolina girl xplorurself July 30 cutie pie

So, as you can see by my signature, I have been taking the fast track through the Kaiser system! I attended my orientation on May 24 and here I am not even a month later, 14 pounds down, psych consult behind me and awaiting my case manager appointment tomorrow where I will get my surgery date. I have asked them if there is any way I can get in for surgery in July since I work full time and go to school. I would really like to have some time to heal before the school semester starts up in August. So if I get my surgery in July, my whole process through Kaiser will have been 2 months. Not too shabby at all! I guess it's all about how much you want it, how motivated you are, and how persistent you are. So now I'm getting to the phase where I'm getting a little nervous about the surgery itself. I feel like I've read every post on this forum. lol. I know it's not going to be too terrible, I still can't help but be nervous. What's funny is I'm probably most nervous about the heparin shot. That thing looks awful! lol. You'd think I'd be nervous about having my stomach sliced and diced. No no. Just the shot beforehand. lol!! Anyways, I'm so ready for this and I'm glad that the process is going so fast. I still feel like it's taking forever even though I know I am going through the system way faster than most. I'm just impatient I guess. Like I said, I have my case manager appointment tomorrow where I get my surgery date!! Tomorrow can't come soon enough!!

So Kaiser requires a pre-op diet and at first I was pretty nervous about it, thinking to myself, "Dang, I don't know if I'll be able to eat such small amounts!!" but you know what? This has really not been nearly as difficult as I originally anticipated. I pre-measure out my meals ahead of time so that they are handy and convenient. If they aren't convenient, I will just grab whatever delicious, carb-filled treat is near me when I get hungry. I have been on this diet for 2 weeks now and I am down 7 pounds. Not too shabby, especially compared to how little I have lost on diets in the past. Honestly, it is very easy to stick with once you get the portions down right. And it is good practice to be measuring everything I put in my mouth. It has really opened my eyes to just how much I was eating before. I went ahead and attached the meal plan and I also attached a little file that I made myself called the "weekly diet". I wanted to be able to write out my meals ahead of time so that I could get them prepared and put in baggies to take to work. Like I said, so far so good. If anyone else is going through Kaiser and is on this diet, let me know! I have a few recipes that I have come up with that use the foods that are allowed and I would love a recipe buddy Anyone else just looking to lose some pre-op weight, feel free to give this a try. It's a very do-able diet. Actually, it is suitable for post-op as well. Anyways, just thought I would share with everyone! meal.plan.pdf weekly.diet.pdf

I would like to start my story from the beginning. I have PCOS and my husband and I had been trying to get pregnant for over 3 and a half years. My mom had RnY about 7 years ago and lost over 120 pounds and has kept it off for 7 years. She casually mentioned WLS to me over lunch one day and it got my little brain wheels spinning. Weight loss surgery… did I really want to do something THAT drastic? I decided against it and decided that I would have to do this on my own. I dieted, I exercised, I would lose a few pounds here and there, then I would fall off the wagon and get right back to my same ol’ fatty self. Each time, my self esteem took a *major* blow. At the time, in my mind, I was not only fat and unhappy, I was such a loser that I couldn’t even lose the weight. It seemed like I was stuck in this terrible vicious cycle. I didn’t want to go to the gym and work out because the gym was full of already fit people just getting more fit and I didn’t even know where to start when it comes to working out. Some of my friends recommended yoga but I was far too self-conscious to go wear some tight pants and roll around on the floor like a beached whale in front of a bunch of skinny hippies. I finally got to the point where I was so tired of the infertility, I was so tired of constantly feeling down on myself and feeling like I was somehow not as good as everyone else. I took the plunge and made the decision to get WLS. At first I was dead set on the Lap Band. I wouldn’t even read anything about the sleeve or RnY. I wanted as little intervention as possible. I just wanted something to help kick start the weight loss and then I could take it from there. I wanted to “cheat” as little as possible. (Yes, in my mind then, WLS was “cheating”) I stumbled across a post on the LapBand forums that was talking about the sleeve so I decided to find out what these shenanigans were all about. Then I kept finding more and more posts about people that were switching from the band to the sleeve. After spending hours and hours reading up on the sleeve, I decided that was the way I wanted to go. No weird port sticking out of my side like a weird alien, no frequent doctor appointments to get Fluid put in and out of it, none of that. I could have the surgery, recover, then move on with my life! I spent all my time researching the sleeve, reading up on it and looking at before and after pictures. I would get so jealous looking at the before and after pictures and imagining how I would look 120 pounds lighter… But it still didn’t seem real to me. I kept thinking “Yeah, that worked great for those people, but I don’t know if I’m ever destined to be skinny”. I made it through the process fairly quickly and I had a surgery date set within 6 months of my initial PCP referral. To be perfectly honest, I was scared out of my mind. I acted very confident on the outside because any sign of hesitation and they would have canceled or at the very least postponed my surgery. I had to act like I was totally ready for this. I had all the information, I had done all the research, I knew what I was in for. But I was scared $#!*less!! I lost just over 23 pounds pre-op on the Kaiser pre-op diet and I was READY… well… my body was ready. My mind was not. I was so scared and I just kept thinking “What in God’s name am I about to do to myself??” I watched YouTube videos of people’s recovery in the hospital and it didn’t help things. I was excited to make the life change but I think I was just so scared of having YET ANOTHER failure. What if this didn’t work? How would I even be able to live with myself if weight loss surgery didn’t work… I had my surgery and I think because I had the recovery process so hyped up in my mind, it was a breeze compared to what I was expecting. Yeah, I was sore and it hurt to even get up off the couch. But I’m a pretty big pansy and I didn’t even cry once. Lol. If that says anything. The first few weeks I stuck to my liquids and mushies and all that good stuff. So now on to the meat and potatoes of this post. Not a single day has gone by that I think to myself “I wish I hadn’t had this surgery.” It was by far the best thing I have ever done for myself. I’m 7 months out and have lost almost 70 pounds and that is with hardly any exercise. I started working out the last 2 weeks and the weight is just flying off even faster. I am starting yoga and pilates classes next week. Yes, me! Doing yoga… and I don’t even look like a beached whale! In fact, I even went out and bought myself some new yoga pants… from the clearance rack! Not from the Plus Size section. I have been doing the Paleo diet for the last month to help with my PCOS, and I highly recommend it to everyone. I have so much energy. I got some bloodwork done last week and all my lab results came back amazing. Cholesterol is perfect, blood pressure is perfect. Perfect perfect perfect. My hormones are starting to level out and get more normal. I am actually going to start running in the evenings with my husband. RUNNING! I have never, ever, EVER been a runner. I would get tired just watching other people run. Now, my husband and I can go run together. I feel like a completely different person and I am only halfway to my weight loss goal! My husband said to me the other day “You’re only halfway!? There’s gonna be nothing left of you, you’re already so tiny!” That made my day to hear that. So I guess the point of this novel that I’ve written is to those of you that are perusing the forums and trying to make a decision. I was there a year ago and I wanted so desperately to be on the other side and have my own success story. For me personally, it was the best thing I ever did for myself. You have to REALLY want it and you have to be willing to make the commitment, but if you put your mind to it and take the plunge and really take care of that new tiny little tummy, it CAN be you. Be your own success story. You are worth it.

If you go to Pinterest.com and search "Paleo", TONS of great recipes will pop up

People who know nothing about Paleo seem to jump right to "It's unhealthy, you only eat raw meat." I've been eating Paleo for the last month (Sleeved in July 2011) and I have not eaten raw meat once... ick! The Paleo lifestyle in a nutshell is meat, veggies, fruit and nuts (portions in that order). No refined sugars, no grains, no legumes and nothing processed. Hardcore Paleo people say no dairy as well. *Note there is no mention about raw meat and nothing unhealthy about it. It's essentially how sleevers should be eating. I feel *fabulous*. I have so much more energy. In fact, I think anyone who has the sleeve or is considering getting the sleeve should eat completely Paleo for at least 30 days so they can see how great they feel. I did 30 days by the book and now I plan on adding back in some dairy. My husband and I eat mostly meat and veggies with some fruit and nuts added in. I love that it's not just some crash diet, it's a lifestyle. It is extremely healthy and I would highly encourage everyone to do some research, look up some recipes and try it for at least 30 days. It goes right along with the guidelines for the sleeve and how we SHOULD be eating post-op. (After recovery of course). If anyone has any questions or wants some great Paleo recipes, let me know.

You may want to ask your doctor about taking the extended release Metformin. From what I understand, VSG patients should never take anything extended release. Just a heads up

I cannot make edits or changes to this post since it's been longer than 30 days. Sorry.

I'm 24 and started at 243. I was sleeved on July 18 and I am down 40 pounds since starting my pre-op diet in May. So far, I am starting to notice that my skin gets like... wrinkly looking almost? I think it's because I'm losing pretty quickly and my skin hasn't had time to tighten up yet. I've read that it takes about a year for your skin to shrink to the point that it's going to stay at. So I'll give it more time. As far as the stretch marks, I don't think you can develop stretch marks from losing weight. Only from gaining because the skin is being stretched to accommodate the extra weight. So, no new stretch marks and I haven't seen an improvement in stretch marks. They are pretty much here to stay whether I'm skinny or fat. Losing weight won't get rid of stretch marks, it will just keep you from getting more. Unfortunately, there is no treatment that completely gets rid of stretch marks although there are creams and gels and laser treatments that can help reduce their appearance. I'm just happy to be on the road to being healthy. I am down 40 pounds and feel fabulous. I haven't regretted my decision to have the surgery. Not for a single second. Not even in the week after surgery. It is the best thing I have ever done for myself and I would do it again tomorrow if I had to. =) I was SO nervous going in to surgery. I was so scared and even though I had done all the research I still just felt so scared like it was going to be really painful. It was nothing like I was expecting. I was back to work in a week and the hardest part was being tired and getting worn out so easily. Overall, best decision ever. =)

The Kaiser Richmond program bans Protein shakes. They say that they are just "empty calories" and we should be eating our protein, not drinking it. Then, not even 10 minutes later they are talking about how we shouldn't be counting calories or worried about calories, that we should just be focusing on getting in our fluids and Vitamins. Other Kaiser programs, even the one in Fremont, not too far away, are completely baffled by this reasoning. So am I!! When I explained this to my mom (who had RNY 6 years ago) she kept telling me that maybe I misunderstood them and that there is no way a doctor would be telling me not to have Protein Shakes. With the teensy tinsy amount of food that I'm eating, there is no way I can get 60-80g of protein in a day. When I went for my final nutrition consult before my surgery a month ago, they again stressed how much they do not want us drinking protein shakes of any kind. My protein shakes that I drink (yes, I drink them against doctor's orders. I'm such a rebel.) have 250 calories, 40g of protein and 3g of sugar. I can't think of any other food that has that much protein in such a small amount with so little sugar and calories. Even if they are "empty calories" it's only 250! And that is most of my protein for the day crammed into one little handy dandy 8 oz. portion. Out of all the research that I've done, I have yet to find a single other hospital that condones not drinking protein shakes, much less FORBIDS them. I just think the whole thing is so strange and I'd like to encourage my fellow Kaiser Richmond people to drink the shakes, even though Robin and Liz will swear up and down that shakes are the devil. I drink 1-2 of my shakes per day and I have so much more energy and feel SO much better than I did before when I wasn't drinking them. I feel bad for all the people that are actually listening to these women tell you to deprive your body of much-needed protein. I think it's terrible that they are telling people this and if I hadn't done my research I wouldn't know any better and would be listening to them. Does anyone else have a doctor or nutritionist that has banned protein shakes?

That is so cool!!!! What a great kid. And congrats!

That is awesome! Congrats!

Welcome. This site is such a useful tool for information and also to help keep us all accountable.

You look so great!!

Congrats, you look amazing!

Congrats!! How exciting!

I totally feel you on this one!! I can't wait to be the little petite wife standing next to my husband.

What a great visual of how many inches you've lost. Awesome!

I looooove Powerade Zero The blue is my favorite! Funny story unrelated to the topic posted: We were at a bbq and I knew I wouldn't be able to drink the soda, beer or cocktails that was there so I took a Powerade and poured it over ice in the clear plastic cups everyone else was drinking out of and several people asked "OOooooo.... what are you drinking? That looks good!!" Everyone thought I had a mixed drink. Made me feel like one of the crowd. lol. It's the little things...

Aww, what a sweet husband. I would say keep the compliments flowing and maybe turn trips to the gym into mini-dates... something you can do together as a couple.

Congrats!! How exciting to be halfway there!!

I'm glad you feel that way too. I kinda felt like a sane person sitting in a room of crazy people. lol!! I started to question myself because I just kept thinking "Well... how am I supposed to heal if I don't have any protein in my system?". I asked Lizz about it and she cut me off mid-question and said "NO! PROTEIN! SHAKES! EVER!" lol. Jeeeeez.... okay!! They seem really defensive about it when people ask, they are probably tired of trying to defend their backwards ways. Other than the whole protein thing, I listen to everything they say, but in the back of my head I keep wondering what else they are telling me to do that is backwards and crazy. lol. For my shakes, I actually use 2 Champion Nutrition brand powders and I mix them. I use the “Pro-Score 100” and the “Pure whey Protein Stack” (fyi, Vitalady has samples of both of these on her website so you can try them and see if you like them). They are both chocolate and this mixture is the only shake I’ve found that I like. I actually look forward to my shake every morning =). They are even good with Water and don’t need milk. I tried each one separately and don't like them on their own, but together... they are good. I do the small scoop of each and recently I’ve started adding a small scoop of the Optimum Nutrition brand “Gold Standard Cake Batter” Protein powder to the mix as well. It makes it taste like chocolate cake. It adds a great flavor, extra protein and not much sugar =)

Yup, after the information class you go back to your pcp (I just e-mailed mine instead of going in for an appointment) and he sent the referral through to the bariatrics dept. They said it coudl take 2-3 weeks for the bariatrics dept. to call you. They called me within 6 days.

Also, if you are registered online through kp.org they have a link on there that lists all your benefits and tells you what your co-pay is for everything under the sun I personally only had to pay $15 for 2 of my visits (psych consult and initial surgeon consult) then had to pay $5 for the refill for my pain meds. Best $20 I ever spent