Lissa

Glad to see that you're all losing and doing well! Isn't it great to watch the scale go down, down, down?! PatKaye, The liquid stage is the toughest. You WILL be able to get all of your Protein in sooner than you think. Right now your sleeve is swollen and won't let you do much dense food, but the restriction will ease up as you heal. Liquids do go down so much easier than solids will. Just stick with your doctor's instructions so that you heal well and, in a few weeks, you'll barely remember how hard it was to get protein in daily. Good luck to you all!

Keeping Lilu and Krissy in my thoughts today! Good luck, ladies!!!

Amazing and wonderful!!! I'm happy dancing right along with you!! It burns calories, too!!!

Joyous, Everyone has some worries just before surgery. It's perfectly normal. Hopefully you have researched your surgeon and hospital and you feel comfortable with them. Once that's done, then you just have to put the rest in God's hands and pray. As far as what it's like, you will probably have to show up fairly early in the day for prep. Most of us end up with compression stockings and inflating pillows for our legs to prevent clots, an IV is started and we have to wear a hospital gown. Once you're prepped, they wheel you into the OR and you're placed on the operating table, then given a breathable anesthetic. Count backwards for a second and then you're waking up in recovery. So, basically, you go to sleep and the next thing you know you're waking up and it's all over. IMO, it's more nerve-wracking for the family because they get to sit in a waiting room and not know what is going on until hospital staff comes to tell them you're okay. So, you get the "easy" part of this one! Don't let the nerves get to you. It will be over soon and you'll be on the loser's bench with me!

Your sleeve is numb right now, so you probably won't feel full for awhile. My full signal right after surgery was pain in my shoulder and it took me several days to realize that was my signal. While on liquids only, don't really expect to feel full because liquids go through your sleeve faster than solids will. Trust me, you will feel full once you start on solids...and probably much faster than you expect! I could barely eat half a scrambled egg early post op. Even now, at 7 months plus, I can barely manage an egg and two sausage patties...and that's if I'm pushing it. It will happen. Trust your sleeve to keep you in line!

I still don't do heavy weights, but I was cleared for light weights and more intense cardio at 6 weeks by my surgeon. I do high reps and low weights for my arms, abdominal exercises for my core, and lots of time on the exercise bike for my cardio. Be very careful that you are doing core work with proper form so that you don't injure your back and wait until your doctor approves you before stepping things up. The last thing you want in the early stages is an injury!

Having a good support group is essential, IMO. I've kept attending my surgeon's group even though I didn't care for the moderator because the other members were so great. Now it seems that the moderator has changed and I'm loving the new gal, so I'm even more motivated to attend the meetings!

LOVE IT! The mental image of someone else who is as uncoordinated as me is priceless!! I always feel like a moron when I try to follow a video, at least the first few times. For the most part, I stick to exercise that doesn't require me to keep up or imitate someone else...and you've just explained WHY! Good luck on getting back on the wii. In no time you'll be doing it perfect!

What an amazing post and an amazing journey so far! The fact that you have embraced the food changes so well is amazing! Your happiness shines out of both your picture and your post. Congrats and you'll be at goal very soon!!!

I'm not going to try to talk you out of surgery. I do, however, sympathize with where you're at right now. I remember being scared to death and "knowing" I wouldn't wake up from surgery. Obviously, I did and, despite being here every day, plus attending support group meetings and talking to tons of sleeve patients in other forums, I've only heard of one person who didn't survive surgery. For that matter, I've only talked to 3 people out of hundreds who regretted having the surgery. This surgery is life-changing and life-saving for so many people. Right now your head is telling you all kinds of horror stories and asking you things like "Why can't I just diet and exercise?" The truth is that most of those horror stories never come true and that most people who lose weight by dieting gain the weight back anyway. I believe it's less than 5% of successful dieters who keep the weight off for more than 5 years. The sleeve isn't magic, but it's an amazing tool to help us with losing the weight and maintaining the loss afterwards. What you're feeling is normal. I think every one of us has had similar thoughts pre-op. It's part of the process, but it's just our mind trying to cope with all the changes we know are coming. However, those changes are amazing and wonderful! Good luck! I can't wait until you're on the loser's bench with us.

You look wonderful!! Great job and an amazing transformation!! I noticed one really important thing, though... In both pictures, the person with you adores you!!!

So, I went in today for my six month check up with my doc...even though I'm already 7 months plus post-op. He gave me a graph of my BMI and weight loss since my first visit with him. The graph was eye-opening! I think I'm stalled, but his graph shows that I'm losing steadily. After I asked my questions, including for a copy of the video of my surgery, he asked me a few questions. He gave me some samples of different brands of bariatric Vitamins for me to review for him and asked that I let his office know if I like them. I'll do that over the next month. Then he asked me if I'd mind answering a few questions online for him. I thought he was asking me to take some kind of online survey at first, but as he went on I realized that he wants me to answer questions for visitors to his website! WOW! I'm so flattered to be asked and, of course, I am more than willing to do that! From what he said today, I've already exceeded his expectations for my weight loss and fitness level and he mentioned that I'm staring 100 pounds in the eye. He expects that I will be well over 100 pounds lost when I go back at the end of July for my 1 year check up. My anniversary isn't until the end of August, but to accomodate both or our schedules, I have an appt nearly a month early. I've mentioned before that I think my surgeon is the bomb and he proved it to me again today! In just that short appointment, he managed to make me feel wonderful about my progress insteadof the frustration I've been feeling for a few weeks. He also explained a few different things to me about what to expect going forward. That really made me feel better about the next stage of my journey. I was worried that I am out of the "losing" stage and now am into the "have to work really hard at it" stage. I want to be his poster child for the sleeve and he assured me that I already AM a poster child for the sleeve because of the loss I've had so far and how hard I am working at my weight loss. He also told me to expect big losses over the next few months, both because of the sleeve and because of my newly formed exercise habits. I'm feeling pretty awesome tonight, especially for a sleever who went in fully expecting to find out that my results are disappointing. I'm actually pretty far ahead of the curve!

I bought a set of weights ... 3, 5, and 8 pound weights. I use the 8 pounders a couple of times a week and the 5 pounds every other day. For me, it's almost an obsession. If I stop in front of the tv, I grab the weights and do 20-40 reps with whichever set I got. If it feels like it's too easy that day, I'll do another 20plus reps with the heavier weights. I also do some pulldowns at the gym with 30 pounds on the machine, but I'm doing those specifically to strengthen my back muscles. I have an old back injury caused by repetitive typing in the long muscle down the right side of my back, so I do the pull downs because it seems to help stretch that muscle out. You don't need high weights, just do what is comfortable. I literally started with 2 pound weights and found 10 repetitions tough at first. It's working, too. Today I moved things around in my storage unit, then carried out and in boxes without feeling back or arm strain. Some of those boxes weigh 40 to 50 pounds.

Great job!! You look like your own younger sister!! Beautiful!!

I got the same error message that you got. Sorry.

I'm still having problems as we discussed a few days ago. On threads that are short, I can usually see the reply box, although the ads are still stacked on top of it. However, if the thread is longer than 3 replies, I cannot get a reply box and I still have the ads stacked up at the bottom. Yesterday I couldn't reply at all and this morning, it's intermittent again. Help?

Well, I thank you for continuing to interpret my non-computer gibberish into something you could understand and giving me such an easy fix! For anyone who is like me, the broken page icon looks like a ripped sheet of paper and is just right of where you type in a website address at the top of your page. It's between the magnifying glass and the x and is where my refresh button usually sits. I had NO clue what that rippd sheet of paper was until Ken told me.

Thanks everyone! Sorry I couldn't reply before, I was having issues with VST's site. They are all fixed now!

Wow!! Ken, you are the BOMB!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just fixed it with one click of the button!!

You look great! I bet you feel tons better!! Now, if you'd only learn to turn your hat around. Truthfully, it's great to see someone who has made it to goal!!

About 3 days into the liquid diet is when it gets easier. For some reason it takes our minds that long to grasp that we are really doing it! Hang tough! The results will be worth it!

Oh, don't be so hard on yourself! You look lovely to me and you WILL see the results very quickly! I took a picture of myself when I was goofing around one night and sent it to my bestie. She pointed out the changes in my face and neck to me. I had thought that the weight loss wasn't showing, but it really was obvious when you looked at my pre-op and post-op pictures. Calling yourself names isn't productive. Try just patting yourself on the back and being positive, even though it's hard. You WILL get there and it will happen much sooner than you think!

I bought some lovely china saucers at goodwill and have been using them for my meals as well. The small plates work well and I don't even use big plates unless non-WLS folks come to visit.