Izuri

Lookin good!! =)

Congratulations! Before you know it you're gonna be on the loser's bench =D

I just wanted to chime in and let you know that you're doing fantastic! I know it seems so slow - but 40 pounds is fantastic! I know on normal diets I would struggle to lose 10 pounds a month - I was happy at 5 - You're hitting about 13 per month, and if you did that for a whole year you would be at 156 pounds lost. Even at 10 a month you'd still hit 120 lost. So you're rocking it right now. It's a slow process, but the year is gonna continue whether you lose or not, so at least this way you'll look back and be happy for every pound lost. Every single pound lost is a pound that you do not have stuck to your body anymore. =) Hang in there, you can do it!

Yay!! Sometimes earlier is not necessarily better. Either way you will have adequate time to prepare. Congrats =D

Sounds like fun! But tough. I can't wait til 6 week mark when I can work out. Congrats on the job!!

I struggle with this, but I find it's a little easier if I just do not keep any drink around me while I'm eating. I also asked a questions about tips on this and everyone had really good advice. I've tried making sure I'm drinking quite a bit before a meal, which helps too. There are still times when I am sitting around cursing the 30 minutes I have to wait, but I set the timer on my phone and try and distract myself doing other things. I am hoping in a few months it will be more of a habit and won't continue to frustrate me.

I am so sorry that you are going through this nightmare. My heart really goes out to you and I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. I hope that they find out soon what is going on so that they can actually make some headway on curing it. ((((hugs))))

Woohoo! You are looking great =) What an incredible difference.

I tried to call a lot but they started getting annoyed at me (I can't really blame them!) but it did get my file moved through quicker. If I hadn't called to check up on it quite a bit it would not have gotten done in time to have surgery before my insurance changed. I called whoever was supposed to be handling it at the moment, be that the insurance coordinator, the scheduler, the medical assistant. They kept me pretty up to date on what was going on with my file most of the time.

Sounds like you're doing amazing. We went into surgery at about the same amount =) Have fun backpacking next weekend!! You deserve it!

Mood swings are totally normal. I agree with Piplula - maybe it would help to talk to someone? Many of us have bottled things up for years, especially if we're emotional eaters, and when we can't have food to deal with stress we are stuck finding other ways to deal with it. It's a difficult thing. I know there are many therapists out there that work with bariatric patients, maybe it would be helpful to have at least a couple appointments, just to sort things out.

I am a big fan of adding red pepper to most Soups. I love spicy! I never add anything to cottage cheese - but I'm interested in seeing other responses to this. I had never thought of adding anything to it. I have, however added it to stuff like mashed potatoes, to add some extra Protein. I suppose it could be added to other things (if you put it in the microwave or heat the mixture it doesn't seem like cottage cheese at all)

Yay! I hope you have a swift and easy recovery =)

I have on and off been itchy around my incisions too. Just means we're healing =) Mine are in like a circle around my stomach and I find that if I itch in the middle of them sometimes it will soothe the itching.

It depends on your doctor's office and your general health. My doctor's office only required a psych evaluation out of office. But they did an EKG, blood work, chest x-rays, gallbladder ultrasound, and a general health assessment/questions at my pre-admission testing appointment (It is a bariatric clinic so all of it was done in clinic). It was done over a 3-4 hour period and I knew immediately after if I was ready for surgery. Some doctor's offices do not do this type of testing in office and will require you to go to an outside clinic for some of these. I know some of them are based on history. Since I was sleeping fine, it was deemed I didn't need a sleep apnea test. I found the best thing to do to see what to expect from my clinic was to go to their message boards. Not all doctor's offices have them, but many do, or have an outline on their website with the steps they take. They will also need to know your full medical history, so it might be good to look up dates of old surgeries, have a list of medications ready, etc so that you're prepared to answer their questions if you have had other medical problems in the past. I was anxious before the pre-op testing appointment, but they were very relaxed and after all the tests we had a short nutrition class that told me the basics, which I'd already looked into. Good luck! I'm sure everything will go great =)

Congratulations! It will be here quicker than you imagine =)

Thank you!!! I have been looking for a new scale and just hadn't found one I'd liked. This is perfect.

Don't worry, you're just in a stall. If you search 3 week stall or 4 week stall you will find a number of posts on this subject - You are not alone! You have just hit the dreaded stall that most of us eventually get to. The weight loss WILL continue, you just need to stick to what you're doing and not give up on your body. It's adjusting to this new shocking lifestyle. You threw it a curve ball. It's just trying to make heads or tails of it. However you wanna call it, your body will go back to normal and you'll start losing again. If you're looking for more information on this, there are quite a few threads I was able to find that may be helpful: http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/47671-dreaded-week-3-4-stall-any-tips-to-break-it/page__hl__%2Bweek+%2Bstall http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/48315-stalled-at-3-weeks-and-now-at-6-weeksnormal/page__hl__+week%20+stall#entry443548 http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/47251-scaled-hasnt-moved-in-one-week-three-weeks-post-op/page__hl__+week%20+stall#entry432477 You will get through this!

I have never been a healthy weight as an adult. I am scared about what it is going to be like when I reach there, but I am also incredibly excited. I have felt very out of control of my life for a number of years and this is really a good step forward for me. I was letting my fat control my life. I really relate to Rootman's post, everything is through a 'fat me' filter right now. I'm not sure what else I will think about than food, but I already am starting to see changes. It definitely forces me to confront some issues that I was coping with through food. When I was anxious, I'd eat. When I was bored, I'd eat. I've taken steps to try and fill these holes in my life with things I enjoy. I've started working with stained glass, walking, spending more time with family. I know once school starts back up it will be easier to stay busy. As I continue to lose weight I hope I also continue to find new areas of life that I've never explored that will open up to me. I look forward to vacations that I'll be able to have (I will actually feel like I can ride on a plane!), learning how to climb one of those rock walls, going hiking, riding roller coasters, there are so many possibilities! Many I will spend all my time thinking about those instead! Anyway, I think the attitude in your post is contagious - and I love it! I completely agree and I think you're gonna do amazing =)

I bought more than I actually ended up using, so I'll just post what I used (and what I think would have been useful). Hospital: Gas-X strips Biotene mouth spray (They let me have ice chips so it wasn't a big problem - but I know others swear by it and I tried it a couple of times and it worked ok) Comfy slippers w/grips Loose pants to wear home Tank top Loose underwear Flip flops to wear home Cell phone charger Medications they didn't supply (mood stabilizer) Glasses/Glasses case I brought a ton more. Magazines, my iPod, etc. I was passed out almost all day when I wasn't up walking. I didn't use any of that stuff. I over packed, no doubt about it. First week: sugar free Jello broth (Except vegetable which tastes like old boiled carrots to me) Protein powder - a few varieties but I have almost 100% stuck with Eas whey Protein Powder in vanilla since it mixes well with everything and goes down easy Isopure zero carb (15g protein in 8oz) Creamy Soups (to strain) Sugar free popsicles Silk Skim Milk Fage 0% Yogurt That was most of my diet the first week. Second week I added to the above: (was allowed to move to puree) Cottage cheese Refried Beans - Didn't enjoy these so much, tried adding cheese, still didn't like them Fruit to make smoothies Stuff to make chili - was REALLY good pureed, used ground turkey Boneless skinless chicken breast - made some good pureed chicken salad and probably would have enjoyed tuna too Cream of Wheat - healthy grain I would advise making stuff ahead of time and pureeing and freezing it. I did not feel up to cooking much. I often ate the same stuff over and over. As far as things around the house go I used: Gas-X strips again Vitamins (Multivitamin - Centrum chewables and Vitamin B12 Sublingual) Make sure you have enough pillows - I often need extra to kind of lay under my stomach when I'm sleeping on my side Moved cups down to a lower shelf so I could easily reach them Made sure the dog food containers were light enough that I could move them easily Children's Tylenol liquid Children's Benadryl liquid Those are all that I really used. I had a huge list with more stuff, but a lot of things I didn't use at all.

You deserve to brag!! You are looking incredible and feeling good - Now that's one thing I don't mind someone bragging about. Hard work and well deserved! You should put up some up to date pics. Congratulations on your awesome success =)

It's a very personal decision. No matter what there will always be people who do not agree with whatever decision you make. Some will be gung ho about the surgery and very supportive, others may not want to talk/be around you as much. It happens. What's important is that whatever you choice you make you're making for yourself. It is not their body, not their life, not their choice, and for a lot of them - not their business. Do not let anyone's opinion hold you back from what you deem necessary for your body. You can make other friends/acquaintances, you're stuck with yourself no matter what. I know that before surgery it was really helpful for me to make a list of pros and cons. This really helped me sort out my feelings and where my real concerns were. I found that not only did my pros outweigh my cons, but many of the cons were things that I had an active hand in. For example, I was very scared of pain/recovery. But when I looked over posts and literature I found that patients that are active in their care and follow post-op instructions well are very successful. After surgery I stuck to my breathing exercises, did my best to walk as much as I could, and have been pretty strict on my diet. I think it's been instrumental in decreasing my risk of some post-op complications (Blood clots, pneumonia, excessive gas). I couldn't decrease every con, but there were enough that I was able to see that my pros far outweighed them. I do wish that I had dealt a little bit more with my food issues pre-op. It would have been nice to have someone begin to help me sort out a few things ahead of time. Even though I didn't, I handle most things pretty well. A lot of this process is dealing with the mental readjustment. There is definitely a period (probably quite a few) where you go through food mourning. Right now, I don't enjoy seeing other people eat. It's something that I'm working on, but the differences between portion size really gets to me sometimes. When this happens I try and sort through why it bothers me. Most times I realize that I'm also anxious about something else. Where I would usually use food to fill that gap, I now am having to confront the issue head-on. It's a learning process. I would not trade this surgery for the world. All the ups and downs have taught me so much about myself and I feel better than I did pre-op. My mood is better, my health is better, and I know if I hadn't gotten it that I would be 20+ pounds up instead of 20+ pounds down today.

Things will go great! Good luck =D

I have six incisions, but I also had a hiatal hernia repair, so I assumed that there was probably an additional one related to that.

What a mix of emotions you must be having right now. Congratulations! Sometimes the best things in life are unexpected (I know, cliche but true!). And the surgery for the sleeve will be still here waiting for you if you are ready further on down the road. You are young, and six months of dieting seems like a long time to go through all the process again someday, but you never know what will happen in the future. Besides, in the mean time you will be enjoying and loving your beautiful new baby =) I wish you all the best!