Izuri

Can I just say that you rock? =) You look amazing, and it has obviously been sooo worth it for your health! Did you have plastic surgery? Just curious because we are about the same starting weight and similar goal weight (Though I'm still about 30 out) and I'm starting to have some loose skin.

It's your body. While of course you love your mom and respect her opinion, you need to do what is best for you. If you think what is best for you is this surgery, and you don't think she will respect that, then I agree completely that you should keep it to yourself. I don't think there is any 'right' or 'wrong' for who to tell and who not to tell. If you have complications you can cross that bridge when you come to it. The complication rate is very low, and i think if you were to have an issue, even if she yells, hopefully she will realize that the thing that really matters is getting you healthy. At that point there will be nothing she can do to change it anyway, so maybe she will just accept it. Either way, it's a personal choice and I have heard people over this board time and again debate telling vs not telling, and it seems like as long as the person having surgery is at peace with their choice to tell or not to tell, things seem to still work out fine.

Yay!!!!! Just think how much your body is thanking you =) That rocks almost even more than weight loss imo. You just decreased your health risks by a ton! Congrats!

Just wanna give you a few words of encouragement - You CAN do the pre-op diet for the rest of the time. You definitely should let your doctor know so for safety if they feel they need to they can extend it (if they have liver concerns, etc). The last couple days before surgery, the liquid diet (I was lucky only had like one day of liquid diet) is difficult for sure, but make sure you at least follow that one to the letter. Anyway, it sounds like you're doing better, and I know you can do it! Make these last few days count =) And I think you'll still do great after surgery, I ate horrible almost up til my surgery and now I'm doing well. Do I struggle with eating right and making the right choices? Sometimes, yeah, but for the most part I eat much healthier than I used to.

You have already gotten a lot of really amazing advice on this, and I just wanna add my 2 cents. First, let me say though, you're super pretty! You look so much like one of my cousins, it's kind of uncanny. =p Whatever you do, don't give up on this. I think one thing that is glaring to me is that your husband doesn't really understand. And frankly, he's never been heavy, how can he really wrap his head around how hard it can be to stay thin, even if we can get there with diets? Have you considered asking him to go to a meeting post-op patients, or maybe having him talk to someone who is a 'veteran' to VSG. I know that if my significant other was considering surgery, I would be scared - even if I knew it was low risk. Maybe confronting some of what's going on or really exposing him to what VSG is about will help. When I was trying to get my parents on board with mine I made a huge list of pros and cons, listed out all the side effects, got as many reviews on my doctor as possible, asked them to come to my appointments ahead of time so that they could meet and talk to him. It made things go much easier. I'm not sure how your doctor is, but mine is a soft spoken guy who seems to put everyone in the room at ease. As far as the note that wls hurts relationships, I know my situation is a bit different because I met my boyfriend pretty early post-op, but as I have lost weight it has actually helped my relationship. I have more confidence, more stamina, and I want to do more because I don't feel nearly as socially anxious. My point is that it can 100% go the other way, not always make things more difficult. I hope that you find a place that gives you some good financing. You deserve this =)

I didn't have quite as much to lose (I started at 325) but I was overwhelmed for sure. Even when I was down quite a bit I felt overwhelmed. Every time the scale stopped I was worried that was it. But I hung in there and ten months out from surgery I am down 125lbs, am down 6 pants sizes, and I feel (and look) like an entirely different person. It's scary and frustrating at times, but sooo worth it. I kept trying to tell myself that the next year would pass whether or not I got the surgery or followed the plan, and that I'd rather be on the track of looking back at how far I've come than wishing I had made the choice. Making a list of reasons I want to be at goal weight helped me. When I was stressed or when the scale didn't move I would pull it out to remind myself. And as you progress write down all your successes, even the smallest NSVs. It will get easier over time, I promise.

Do you have pain in your calf? Is it warm to the touch? Those ( plus swelling, redness, etc) are all signs of a blood clot in your leg and should be evaluated by a health care professional. Better safe than sorry. Very cute picture by the way =)

Vacuum? I probably waited a couple of weeks. I was pretty sore for a week or two and didn't really feel up to it. Not like anyone was really coming over in that time so I wasn't worried about it. Drive? Their official booklet said 2 weeks. I was told I would be fine as long as I was 100% off the pain meds. Garden? I was out and walking the first couple days, but I don't think I would have been up for bending down and moving like you need to garden for at least 2 weeks. Bath/swim? Day after I was discharged from the facility. Drink coffee? My doctor said no caffeine for six months. I probably tried some about four or five months out. Exercise? Their official stance was like 4-6 weeks I think? I wasn't ready to really work out for maybe 4 weeks. I did walk twice a day for about 30 minutes starting a couple days after surgery though.

1. You are beautiful already =) 2. I had this same dilemma. My boyfriend kept telling me how amazing I will look next year at goal when we go to the comic con that we're looking forward to. He will intermittently mention it when we talk about costumes and whatnot. I brought up how it made me feel and he said something to the effect of "No, no, it's not that you're not beautiful now, you are gorgeous right now. But the thinner you get the better you feel about yourself and the healthier you are. I can already see it in how you hold yourself, and that increase in confidence plus all the great clothes you will be able to wear, you will look and feel amazing!" And when I thought about it like that I realized, he's right. I know he thinks I look great now because he started going out with me when I was heavy, but I know if I think about him losing some weight and strutting his stuff I'd probably be like "Dang, he is looking and feeling great." just like he will about me. Just keep your eye on the prize, every day you're taking one step closer to feeling and looking healthy and happy. It was a compliment, not a disguised insult.

Yay!! What a great feeling =) Keep it up

hair loss is completely normal. I lost tons and only recently has it slowed down. I am 8 months out. That's a known side effect of quick weight loss. Just make sure you're getting in your Vitamins, supplements, Protein, you will start gaining it back eventually. It sounds like you've just got a lot of stress going on. This surgery is not easy, and it's a complete life change. It's hard to realize before surgery that it's going to have such an incredible impact, but in the long run you will adjust and feel better. Hang in there, it's not always an easy journey, but hopefully in the long run you will see more positives than negatives. Some days are harder than others, but eventually you will be able to do many of the things you love again, just in a little more moderation (like eating out with friends).

If you ever figure out what it is, let me know. My nose runs all the time, especially at work. It drives me absolutely batty. I have tried allergy meds and nothing seems to help it.

You look incredible =) Congrats!!

I was SO scared of the anesthesia pre-op. I had never had any kind of surgery and never had been put under. They give you a sedative before they wheel you into the operating room and that sure made me not give a hoot =) Everything went well and I don't regret it a single bit. A ton of people get anesthesia every day and the vast majority have very few issues - I bet yours is gonna go great and you'll get to tell everyone what a relief it was once it's over. Good luck, it will be so worth it.

I didn't wait because my insurance was changing at the end of the month and i would have to go through a whole other approval process that was far more lengthy. I started therapy pretty shortly after my surgery and part of me is glad I didn't wait, part of me thinks I should have waited if it were possible. Either way, following up with counseling is a great idea, no matter if you decide to wait or not. I'm not sure if that helped at all, but either way continuing help is vital imo.

Hang in there! The most important thing is to not give up - it's like Water boiling, the more you look, the more you'll stress yourself when it doesn't fix. The second you stop worrying about it, it will start back up again. Everyone goes through them, and if I could go back and tell myself one thing it would be put the dang scale away. I kept worrying that maybe I was that one person who would only lose a little and it would stop. I wasn't, and you won't be either =) I wouldn't mess with your diet too much. Just wait it out, you will come out the other side soon enough.

I was so stressed out about not being able to drink water fast. But I'm just seconding everyone else - I can now drink much quicker, no more sipping everything!

I know at puree stage I enjoyed chili, making sure I had a good amount of lean ground turkey in it. Add plain greek yogurt to everything - it has a TON of protein and it tastes kinda like sour cream or tasteless when you mix it into things.