red_delicious

I am extremely carb-sensitive. I have had PCOS for 25 years, and full-blown type 2 diabetes for 10 years. In MY world, there is no difference between a "good" carb and a "bad" carb. All carbs cause me to gain weight and spike my blood sugar. I eat an extremely low-carb diet, with my PCP's blessing. My endocrinologist loves my diabetes numbers when I am eating "vlc" (very low carb). I have successfully lost HUNDREDS of pounds over my lifetime by eliminating carbs. Weakness has caused me to allow carbs back into my life every single time and that leads to weight gain. There were other issues at play prior to my getting sleeved, including the shape of my pre-surgery stomach . . . my surgeon said that he was pretty surprised when he got in there and saw what it looked like . . . that made it so easy for me to gain weight . . . and the sleeve has done exactly what I wanted it to do. I am down 43.5 pounds in 7 weeks. But no matter what my sleeve makes possible, I will ALWAYS have to be aware of my carb intake. That is something I accepted a long time ago. However, I know that there are plenty of people who can eat carbs and lose weight quite well. I used to be jealous of people who could eat carbs and still lose weight, but I got over it! Every one of us is different, with different tolerances for different things. No one can say, "you HAVE to eat carbs to live," anymore than anyone can say, "you can't lose weight while you are still eating carbs." I KNOW my body . . . and I KNOW that I can't eat carbs. That being said . . . I still LIKE carbs! And I love apples. This time of year has always been hard for me because it's freaking apple season! I allow myself an occasional piece of apple. It's definitely easier to only eat a "little piece of apple" with my sleeve!

This literally had me LOL!!! . . .

I'm in St. Louis, too!

I took Chinese Kenpo lessons years ago! I really enjoyed it . . . and I have considered taking it up again. Your post reminded me of how much I liked it! I'm glad you're enjoying it . . . you'll be fit AND able to kick a$$ like a pro!

I do not have reactive hypoglycemia . . . I am a full-blown diabetic . . . and for that reason alone, I should not have tried drinking chocolate milk (I had a serious moment of weakness!). My blood sugar was high for a couple of hours after that episode . . . But it's interesting that what some people mistake for dumping does have another possible cause.

I am pretty sure I had dumping last week when I, too, drank chocolate milk. I know I drank too much, too fast . . . and I certainly did pay for it! Nausea, dizziness, sweating . . . I was rolling around on the bathroom floor . . . not something I am ever going to do again.

I was after my husband three days after surgery! My surgeon told me that my only restriction was that I couldn't lift anything heavier than 25 lbs . . . so . . . I just didn't try to pick him up!

I take 1000mg of Metformin twice a day for PCOS . . . and they are scored in the middle. I just break it in half and take it in two swallows. Mine is not extended-release, so it's okay to break them in half. I must admit that taking my Metformin is pretty much the most difficult thing I swallow all day . . . I am 3 weeks out from my surgery.

Nice to meet you, Charity! I am in Missouri, too . . . and I just got sleeved yesterday! I hope that your experience with the sleeve is better than your experience with the LapBand was. I considered the band . . . but after reading so many forums, I was amazed by how many problems people seemed to have with them. I think I made the right choice in getting sleeved. It stinks that your boyfriend won't be able to go with you. Is there anyone else (mom, sister, best friend) who could go with you? I can't imagine going through this by myself! Good luck to you . . . and welcome to this board! Shanna

I feel pretty good . . . a little burpy . . . not in a tremendous amount of pain. My nurses barely checked on my all day . . . so I pretty much slept all day. I didn't really start sipping Protein Water until a couple of hours ago. I got up and did a couple of laps around the hospital floor I am on, and it didn't really hurt. Just a bit of pressure in my abdomen. I did have a moment of real panic earlier, wondering what the heck I did to my body . . . I was in a LOT of pain and experiencing MUCH nausea earlier . . . but I am much better now. I think I might be rambling a bit, LOL . . . so I apologize if I am. I really want to go home tomorrow, so I'm hoping they let me. I miss my kids! At this point, I am pretty happy with my decision to go through with this . . . My doctor said something sort of strange to my husband after the surgery was done. He said that my stomach was unusually "long" and took a lot more staples than he expected. I wonder if my "long" stomach had anything to do with why I have never experienced real "fullness" whenever I eat? I might ask him tomorrow . . . Anyway . . . I don't post on here very often, but I do lurk. So I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their constant input. I have learned a lot just reading everyone else's stories! Shanna

Oooohhhh . . . please add me to August 25th!!!

AUGUST!!! 1 BigSexxy, MamaMcKinzie, heygirlfriendB, chelle622, rubyspring, newdaycomn 2 brookb, MissBliss, Gaylebco, Heatherr, Lynn225, TipsyNoodle 3 zetagirl210 4 Julie76, chelle622, skyblew, angel1 5 trizzy35, happyevraftr, BigManIndia 6 7 8 SunnyinSD, Ladybug86, MeMeMEEE, Kayla, Toyia, Casuzarry, Forensikchic 9 Wondering1, nurselisa22, LindaS, red dress girl, Shell77 10 Indymom, Happylife, Houston_Rich, Tarada9 11 Jimmy James, missjanab, PhatGurl80, hereigoagain 12 Ms.girl, sdorr 13 14 15 Treequeen,WyomingMountainGal, BroadwayBaby 16 Miss Hope, E.K., birdlady, ScentsyLady (Sonia), smiley2604,BigJoe102 17 ~winecountrygirl~, 18 19 Beach Baby, Shakin-n-Atlanta 20 buzydebb 21 22 JELLYBEANS, pamblan, blkhulagirl, mimimermaid, nurseteela, caycaye, Michelle Peruski, Slimming Sara 23 RachelinTX, LR6909 24 KristeyK, KristinaRN, Intime, Kami, laladotdot, 25 Jenny A., renogirl, red_delicious 26 27 28 29 eyemallrt 30 Lisha, CT Fats, Tallnlovely, beautyjunkie824, Lissa in FL 31

I am getting sleeved on Thursday, August 25, by Dr. Morales at St. Clare Hospital in St. Louis! NOW I feel anxious! LOL!

Thanks for the encouragement, y'all! I haven't posted much in here because I was obsessing about the stinkin' insurance approval . . . but it came through and they gave me a date! I look forward to joining you all on the losers' bench!

This is pretty much what you will find if you go to my "About me" page. It's there in case anyone wants to re-read this ever again . . . but I figured it was as good a way to introduce myself here as any! I am inspired by the successes of the people on this board, and I have certainly learned a LOT from reading on here! I am a thoroughly blessed wife to my husband of 19 years . . . and mother to the most amazing three children on the planet! We have a son, 19 years old, a daughter, 16 and a half years old, and another daughter who just turned 14 months old! Thanks to PCOS, we had a REALLY LONG gap between those last two children . . . But God knew what he was doing because having a sweet little baby in the house has certainly been an enormously positive change to an already awesome family! We are all crazy about her . . . even though her presence certainly changed the dynamics of this family! I am not sleeved yet, and I don't have a surgery date yet either. I have not met with the surgeon, but I know it will be one of two at DePaul Hospital in St. Louis, MO . . . I begin a 12-week "medically supervised" diet next week . . . a month into that, I get to meet with the surgeon. I am a registered nurse by education and have done EXTENSIVE research on the available procedures, and I know that the sleeve is the right one for me. I wish I had done this a long time ago, but my husband's insurance has only been covering weight loss surgery for a couple of years . . . so it wasn't an option for me before. I have type 2 diabetes, PCOS, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia. I'm sure I'm really not very different from anyone else here . . . although I HAVE already raised a couple of kids and I just started over! My older kids have said they don't know if they want a "skinny mom," because "fat mom" is the only mom they have ever known. They love me the way I am and have never been embarrassed to introduce me to their friends . . . have never been ashamed to say I am their mom. They think it's weird that their baby sister is going to be the only one of them to grow up with a thinner mom . . . lol. They are saying that none of her childhood experiences of mom and dad are going to be like theirs were . . . especially this. They support my decision to do this . . . but they really don't understand all of the factors that went in this decision. I do not have any raging body issues. My husband (who is thin) absolutely loves me. He finds me attractive at any size and can't keep his hands off of me! I know I'm heavy, but I still clean up ok! I'm not really having surgery because of a burning desire to be thin necessarily. I want to control my diabetes. I want to live long enough to see my baby grow up . . . and at my current weight (285), and with all of the problems I have controlling my blood sugar, I just don't see that happening without a massive surgical intervention. That's not to say that I'm not looking forward to some of the benefits of being thinner! I can't wait to buy a pair of pants that I DIDN'T have to go to Lane Bryant for! I might even start wearing make-up again! Who knows! All I know is that I am committed to this change, as well as all of the lifestyle adjustments that it entails. I need this tool . . . this mechanical advantage, if you will, to help me. I have been unsuccessful on my own, and I have been fat, getting fatter and fatter for almost 20 years. Enough is enough. Thank you for reading my ramblings! Shanna

I got a call from the surgeon's office today to schedule my consultation! I'm scheduled to meet with Dr. Morales in St. Louis on May 26!!! All of the other requirements have been met . . . and I am currently on a 3 month medically supervised diet . . . so . . . hopefully by the end of summer, I will have my sleeve!

Nice to "meet" you! How are you feeling?

Class of '90 here! I'll be 39 next month . . . and I have been fat since I was 19 (right after I had my son!) I'm looking forward to spending the last year of my 30's not being ginormous! Here's looking at 40! I can't wait for my next reunion . . . I have been avoiding them since I graduated! Next up -- 25 year reunion!

Well, MSanti . . . I have heard from others who have been there that the surgery has been effective in helping those with PCOS. I know that it can't make mine any worse . . . and I am confident that it will work. I am confident that it will work for you, too. You seem to know what's going on with your body. I do wish you all the luck in the world on Monday and during the post-op . . . I look forward to hearing from you how it went and how you are feeling. Have a fabulous weekend!

This made me lol!!! Congratulations on your awesome NSV's!!!

Well I am almost 11 years older than you are . . . and I actually put on a BOATLOAD of weight when I had my first child back in 1992. Prior to that, the doctors knew that something was wrong with my hormones . . . but they had no idea what it was. My doctor at the time was a DISCIPLE of low-fat/high-carb diets. He gave me a 40 page handout with specific diet instructions consisting of crap like plain baked potatoes (so good for you! It's low-fat, you know!), pasta with no sauce, rice cakes, tuna salad made with mustard (mayo is evil!) . . . and I completely followed this diet . . . and I just kept getting heavier and heavier. So I reduced my intake of the baked potatoes, plain pasta, rice cakes . . . and exercised myself nearly to death! All the while, I had doctors crabbing at me that I was non-compliant! I felt like the biggest failure!!! By the time I figured out the carb connection (PCOS was not known to be an insulin disorder until not that many years ago) . . . I was already over 325 pounds. I dropped a bunch of weight low carbing . . . and I have been stuck fluctuating between 260 and 285 for years. If I had known about the carb thing before I got fat and ended up with type 2 diabetes . . . I would have stopped eating carbs. No one told me . . . and I was too ignorant at the time to even think that maybe they didn't know what they were talking about. I am still a little pissed about the whole thing! LOL

This drives me crazy!!! It's something that so many women with PCOS, including myself, had to learn on their own. Completely ridiculous!

I'm editing my comment . . . because I was unnecessarily snarky. I'm getting all defensive, and I definitely didn't mean to. I certainly did not mean to offend anyone . . . I should have just said that if someone is in doubt as to whether or not something is "allowed" in their faith tradition, then perhaps a forum full of laypeople with no authority within that tradition isn't the best place to receive that kind of specialized guidance. I know that I am in no way an authority . . . and I would hate for someone to take my advice on matters of church doctrine as in some way definitive. I talked to my bishop. He told me what I need to do. What other people choose to do is really up to them. I just know that the Catholic stance on this is not a matter of my opinion . . . but one might be better served by consulting with their priest or bishop if one is truly seeking spiritual guidance on this. I hope everyone can forgive my snarkiness . . . I was just trying to offer a more orthodox viewpoint for those who might have been interested. No disrespect of anyone else's beliefs were intended. Honest.

I wasn't making a judgement . . . that's not my job. But this IS a thread about how religion plays a role in this . . . and I was simply stating the Catholic viewpoint. I don't think it's confusing at all . . . I just wonder why some people insist on calling themselves Catholic when they state quite plainly that they don't believe in what the Catholic church teaches. Why not just be Episcopalian? They have "easier rules" to follow. Anyway . . . the reason I even chimed in here is because I, too, wondered if this was justification for using artificial birth control . . . and according to our bishop (whom I consulted, and whom, by my following of the Catholic faith, I acknowledge as an authority in matters of Catholic doctrine) said that it is not. Therefore . . . I will not be using artificial contraception. I was responding to the original poster . . . not attempting to call anyone a hypocrite . . . except to say that "I" would feel like a hypocrite if I went against my faith on this. That is all!

Another option is to only receive under the species of wine. Both the host and the cup contain the true presence, body and blood, soul and divinity of the Lord. I am allergic to wheat . . . so I frequently only receive from the cup (teeny, tiny sip).