kwikwits

Yesterday while looking in the mirror I began to see what appeared to be a "neck waddle" that little bit of loose wrinkled skin that dangles below the chin along the throat. I freaked. Grabbed the most moisturizing cream I could find and starting massaging in an upward direction. I have been blessed with excellent aging genes. Both of my parents, who died in their 80s, didn't look their ages. My Dad and I were much to fair skinned to go near the sun. As a result, my mother, who had a ruddier complex avoided the sun too. Compared to her not that muc older sisters who had beach cabanas every summer....you could hide my mother in her sisters' wrinkles! I also favor my Dad in that I have a baby face -- not just because it is a full fat face -- even thinner it is still a round baby face that tends to shave about 7 - 10 years off. Plus I don't have any wrinkles -- where I age is just the deepening nasal/labial lines (parentheses) around the mouth. I attribute my youthful appearance to never have had children. Of course that wasn't the reason why I didn't have children but when I compare my facial signs of aging to those of friends my same age with kids -- my face has very few if no lines. I am 56 years old and most people insist on seeing my driver's license to prove it. I also know that my skin isn't all that elastic at this age so I too fear my face with deflate like a stretched out balloon. I guess if it really bothers me (I'm talking sagging eye lids, and a neck waddle) I will find a competent plastic surgeon to subtlely fix those areas. I have been walking around in a great big fat body that for the most part renders me invisible. Sadly for woman after 50, we become even more invisible whether fat or slim. No one is going to give a rats ass about my aging face. Of course I'm doing all of this for me -- so if I don't like what I see I can try and fix it.

KB, I was on morphine via IV on demand. After the second day, Thursday, my pain was much less and really didn't need the morphine. They also give you anti-nausea medication via IV there are three anti-nausea drugs. The most effective anti-nausea drug is compazine and they administer that by injection. After surgery while you are in the hospital they will also administer an injection of heprin to prevent blood clots. While you are at NYU they will give you Clear Liquids - they kept bringing me sugar sweetened Jello rather than diet. You get broth, tea, juice that I diluted with Water. Now that I'm 12 days post surgery I can say this -- three weeks on thin liquids after two weeks on mostly thin liquids is driving me crazy. I don't get mushy foods until June 22nd. By then I may need a straight jacket. Tonight I stopped a Japanese restaurant in my neighborhood and picked up some miso soup and a spicy miso soup because I needed some taste other than SWEET. I am not sure why NYU has sleevers on thin liquids for so long. Dr. Fielding said it is just to make sure the sleeve staples are holding and that your stomach is very healed when you start introducing more solid food into that tender tiny tummy. They sent me home with 3 different anti-nausea medications. I picked the one I felt worked the best with the least amout of side effects. My nausea comes and goes but it is never very bad. You will also take a PPI=proton pump inhibitors which just is fancy talk for drugs that reduce the amount of stomach acid you produce. For someone who had most of her stomach removed less than two weeks ago I feel fantastic! I suggest going to Tiffykins pages and check out all her information links. She has a great list of questions to ask your surgeon and you and always add others. Tiff is two years into her sleeve and has lost 145 pounds. Tiff is pregnant sleeve and all. I find her to be one of most knowledgeable members of VST. I think you are making the right decision about procedure and hospital. Dr. Ren is a world class bariatric surgeon you will be in great hands. Best wishes.... EJ

New York City sleever in da house! Park Slope Brooklyn in da house! Just passed one week surgiverary and feeling good. Tired of sweet tasting shakes though. Looking for something tasting savory like a sausages and peppers flavored Protein shake! My food porn collection now includes a soft cooked egg, ricotta cheese, tofu, Greek yogurt... Had a little "adventure" last night into today....took an ambien before bed (hadn't used them in 5 years) 'cause post surgery has me just a wee bit manic. Never had an ambien induced black-out ever -- so inside of going to sleep I got up and did who know's what but landed face down on the floor with a serious gash in my forehand that took 15, fifteen, stitches to close. Better yet I failed to recognize I was bleeding profusely and bled everywhere. I thought the pools of blood on the floor were Protein Shakes I had spilled. A word to everyone who uses prescription medications involving the central nervous system to be careful. Right after surgery, only drinking fluids, medication is going have that "synergistic" effect as with alcohol. You are going to feel high/drunk whichever more intensely and for a longer period of time.

I don't know much about you or your surgeon or hospital so it is hard to predict. My first day post operative was kind of rough. My surgery was supposed to happen at 11 AM but I was bumped because of emergency surgery because my surgery was ELECTIVE. When I say I was bumped I mean the major city hospital where my surgeon had reserved an operating room for two hours for my surgery was told an emergency surgery had to use that operating room at that time. I hadn't drank anything since before midnight on Tuesday. I took my medications with two sips of Water as I was instructed. The nurse wasn't sure how delayed my surgery would be. I was very thirsty. They gave me mouth wash to help my cotton mouth. I couldn't swallow it. I couldn't have water. I didn't go into surgery until 3 PM on Wednesday. I hadn't drank a substantial amount of water in 15 hours. When I came out of surgery I felt like crap from anesthesia etc. I was given morphine and 3 anti nausea medicines by IV on demand. I wasn't allowed to have water or ice chips until after I had an esophagram the following morning. The nurses sponged my lips but told me not to drink the water...I sucked on the sponge as much as I could (it was that little green sponge at the end of a stick -- I called it the wet Swiffer and it didn't hold much water). The next morning I was taken for my esophagram. I was given a disgusting tasting liquid to drink. That was the first liquid I drank in over 27 hours. I couldn't have ice chips or water until my surgeon saw the results of my test and then gave a written order to the nurse in my "step down room" 4 patients to 2 nurses. Oh, I also came out of surgery with an NG tube. For those who don't know what that is it is a nasal gastric tube that runs from your stomach through your nose. It is now the number 2 device on my list of devices I absolutely hate having anything to do with. I also had a Foley catheter because 12 hours after surgery the nurses noticed I was very dehydrated and not peeing. So they inserted a catheter inside my bladder to remove the few drops of urine that was in there. My first day post op was spent in a morphine haze begging my friends, family and anyone who would listen to me to let me have some water or ice chips before I died of dehydration. I was no where near dying but that is how it felt. Finally at 8:30 PM Thursday night approximately 29 hours after my surgery had started I was permitted to have ice chips and water. All the tubes and catheters were removed and I was moved to a regular hospital room. It was reported to me I spent the day nodding in an out of sleep asking for someone to swiffer my lips! MY SECOND DAY POST OP WAS A G-D DAMN PARTY COMPARED TO THAT!

My two cents...meggie is right...your sleeve isn't a magic pill that makes you skinny. You and your sleeve are a team working together to learn new eating strategies that will not just get you to lose weight but insure that you keep off the weight you lose. Please I am not chastising or blaming. I am a compulsive, emotional eater who may even be a food addict I am not sure. I was sleeved a week ago. What I suspect you are doing is TESTING YOUR SLEEVE to see if it is going to protect you from your self sabotaging. It won't. It may make you vomit and make you feel ill but you are ultimately deciding what goes into your mouth not your sleeve. Yes, if the medical profession could only fix our crazy self defeating brains! My poor stomach was sacrificed for the sins of my brain. My brain desires food. I want prosciutto, fresh mozzarella on a crusty bread with balsamic vinegar and roasted red peppers. I am not physically hungry. The idea of this sandwich plopped into my head yesterday. I wasn't hungry. I am sleeved for one week. I have been on thin liquids for 3 weeks. Two before surgery and one since surgery. I know in a few weeks I could have a taste, bite of such a sandwich. It would not be a good decision for me to have a bite now. I even believe I would be able to eat a taste of this sandwich now and not die -- maybe not even get so sick. Ah, my first of many food behavior dilemmas. Yesterday I asked three different friends to order or make this sandwich -- not for me to eat but for me to eat it vicariously while they ate it! They didn't even have to eat the sandwich in my presence just eat it and tell me about it. I call this 'FOOD PORN". My sleeve cannot prevent me or keep me from eating prosciutto, mozzarella etc. At best it can restrict how much of I eat or how I feel afterwards if am able to eat the whole sandwich. Does this mean my sleeve isn't working? Of course not. It means my desire for food has nothing to do with physical hunger and it never has. I love food. I use it for many things. It is my oldest and most reliable coping mechanism for so many feelings, and eating when I am not the slightest bit hungry is a habit I have had for nearly 56 years. My sleeve isn't capable of stopping these behaviors I have about food and eating. I am going to have to learn new ways of coping that don't include eating as a recreational activity. Will I be able to do this 100%? Of course not. But if I learn not to eat for recreation 40% of the time -- I will be accomplishing a lot. I worried so much about whether any WLS would work for me. So what a surgery is going to make me feel less hungry -- I never ate from only hunger! I eat because it is sunny, or it is raining. I eat because it feels good. Food is my drug. When I went to meet my surgeon the first time I asked him "if you only do this surgery on patients who eat because they are hungry I should leave right now"...I said the same thing to the shrink who had to evaluate me before I could have this surgery or before my insurance would pay for it. The shrink was more insightful than I expected him to be -- he said to me -- "WLS is the only tool the medical profession has now to help the morbidly obese. It isn't a CURE for obesity or for compulsive emotional recreational eating. But it is the best tool with have right now. Then he said to me "be realistic, what are the chances you are going to lose a significant about of weight and keep at least a majority of it off if you don't have WLS?" I am 56 years old. I have always been overweight and with each and every failed diet I went on starting at age 9 years old I have lost weight only to regain it with interest. I was a chubby kid who dieted herself to an obese (my starting BMI was 54. something). I chose to do this before the co-morbidities I didn't think I would develop made me very ill and possibly immobile. If I am successful in reaching my goal or even less than my goal I will still be obese only less so. My parents lived to be in their 80s. I would like to live at least as long as they did. I would also like to be able to do the things I enjoy with the people I love. I don't want to be house bound or need a walker, scooter or a pony & a cart to get around and that is where I was headed. The sleeve is one tool in my new arsenal. I started seeing a therapist when I made the decision to have WLS. I am going to have to work on making better food and eating choices. I discuss my fears of failing at yet another weight loss attempt with my therapist. Only this time I paid money for someone to remove 85% of my stomach -- this failure would be a BIG failure. I will need to exercise because maintaining a significant weight loss increases if I do cardio at least 30 minutes no less than 5x a week. I am a COUCH POTATO. I will spend $ on a trainer if necessary to drag my lard ass outside to do some cardio. Do I have the money for a trainer -- not really -- but I have pissed away lots of money on getting this fat without blinking an eye. Spending money to save my life isn't an extravagance it is a necessity. I am just like you. My sleeve can only do so much. It can remind me that I can NOT EAT EVERYTHING I WANT ALL AT ONCE AND NEVER STOP. But it can't stop me from chugging down real milk shakes, malteds, coca cola, pepsi, real non-diet ginger ale, ice cream, etc. If I chose for my sleeve to fail that is what will happen. It won't be my sleeves fault...first because it is just a mutilated stomach now shaped like a skinny banana and second because I am still driving this bus -- not my sleeve. I make all the decisions and all it can do is follow my lead. Your sleeve can work if you work with it and show it how to work with you. Not every single time you eat but try for 30% of the time, build to 40% of the time, and see how you feel. I am an old fat hippie who believes in harm reduction. If you change the way you eat for just tomorrow -- you have accomplished something. If every time you eat you make a better choice 4 out of 10 times you have accomplished something. Take baby steps. Travel only as fast as the slowest part of you can go.

Welcome! It is never too late to change your life in a positive way like getting sleeved! I am 20 years older than you and was sleeved ONE WEEK AGO! If I did this 20 years ago I wouldn't have gotten VSG and that is the absolutely right WLS procedure for me. Maybe that is why I didn't do this 20 years ago. I never liked the idea of gastric bypass surgery. I don't need or want my intestines rerouted. My food leaves my body fast enough and I sort of thought that intestinal adaptation issue was going to be discovered. Our bodies are pretty, pretty clever at finding ways to grab calories if they are feeling deprived. So if I had surgery 20 years ago I'd be trying to get a revision without an intact pylorus! I am happy I decided to do this just as co-morbidities were looming large but before they destroyed my health! You are young and vital...this is a great time to rock your sleeve! Plus VST is the absolutely BEST PLACE for information, advice, pep talks, support, encouragement, recipes, you name it the folks on this site will try and help you out or just listen sympathetically. Good luck and let us know if we can be of assistance!!!

Greeting Jewels of June!! I am nearly a week post op and feeling very good. There is lots of room on this loser's bench (now that I am here it isn't really a bench more like a comfy set of chaise lounges) for all my fellow Jewels. Day Dreamer hope you well, Valentina my new BFF can't wait to hear from you again, newbty, mnbsleeve, slimsinger, Always singng, Neanie, I hope you are doing great and ready to rock your sleeve along with me! By the way there isn't anything wrong with men being jewels! Diamonds are strong and tough! So are emeralds, topaz, onyx, jade, lapis, tiger eye, rubies, etc! I love male June Jewels they are strong, sensitive and not afraid to feel! So all you male Jewels of June here is a shout out from kwikwits....hope those who have had surgery like my surgery twin bert are all doing well! Every one who is counting the days until surgery you will arrive at your surgery and rock that sleeve because that's way June Jewels roll!

Hi KB! Sorry this is such a long post but a) I am an attorney and don't know how to be "short winded! I have so much to say since its my 1 week surgiversary! I was beginning to think I was the only one who was getting sleeved at NYU! I am 6 days post surgery and feeling very good. I was sleeved by Dr. Ren's charming Aussie husband, Dr. George Fielding. NYU Medical Center is an excellent hospital. They have the best statistics for surgery of any type (low rates of complications, infections, survival rates are good) and I wasn't disappointed at all last Wednesday. I received top notch care from everyone -- doctors, nurses, aids, even the gentlemen who wheeled me to that crazy esophagram (a test where the morning after surgery you have to swallow some vile liquid while standing against machine that shows the vile liquid travelling down your esophagus to make sure you aren't leaking) after you pass that test, the results are sent to your surgeon and after 10 or more hours (sort of kidding) your doctor will sign an order that will get to a nurse and you will finally be permitted to have ice chips and drink Water, broth and other clear liquids!) But the gentleman who wheeled me there lying down not in a chair you aren't ready for a chair the morning after surgery, was a very nice, friendly and calming man. Which makes me think the employees at NYU Medical Center happy and treated well by their employer and they just pay it forward! At 6 days out I am drinking my 64oz of fluids which includes my Protein shakes without a lot of difficulty. I was only on clear liquid at the hospital. I started adding the protein shakes and protein Soups very slowly. I haven't hit my 70 gram numbers but I am getting there. I am drinking higher protein products so that two shakes get me to 40 grams before the afternoon. I don't have much of an appetite and find it hard to drink five shakes daily at this stage. I also still have gas from surgery so I feel bloated and the shakes are filled with air -- when I feel like that I have the soups. I also have the soups because the sweet taste is driving me insane! NYU Langone surgical weight loss program is stricter than lots of other hospital weight loss programs. At Langone they want you to do 3 weeks of thin liquids followed by 3 weeks of purees. Combined with the two weeks of pre-surgery liquid diet I won't have solid food for 8 weeks! It hasn't been too bad so far but tomorrow will be 3 weeks on liquids. sugar free ice pops, and sugar free Jello are the closest to solid food I've had...oh, my calicium citrate chew is solid and so are my gummy Vitamins. Dr. Christine Ren-Fielding is an excellent bariatric surgeon. I chose Dr. George Fielding to be my surgeon because he has performed nearly 6,000 weight loss surgeries and because he himself was very fat and has a lap band! He started out as a thoracic surgeon in Australia. He is a very tall man who was large -- a fat, large kid, who grew up to be a fat, large man. He started performing bariatric surgery in Australia and after performing over 600 operations himself he decided it was time for him to deal with his increasing obesity. By then he weighed 290 pounds so he had a colleague perform lap band surgery on his belly! It has been more than 10 years and he hasn't regained weight. When I went for my initial surgical consult with Dr. Fielding I wanted the lap band. He told me that his lap band works because he keeps it very tight and eats very slowly. Dr. Fielding also told me his relationship with food has changed -- he enjoys eating when he does eat (mostly a Protein shake for Breakfast, maybe Soup or a salad for lunch and then a reasonable dinner meal but a very small portion) but he sometimes forgets to eat, isn't interested in eating. Plus food is no longer orgasmic for him. For me having a surgeon who understood obesity from the patient's point of view was very important to me. Dr. Fielding understands the struggles and doesn't sugar coat the realities of WLS as a tool to maintain a healthy weight. It was Dr. Fielding who told me more about VSG and then asked if I wanted to do some research before making a decision on which surgery to have. And here I am about to Celebrate my 1 week surgiversary! No regrets whatsoever! I feel good and I see Dr. Fielding on Thursday to get this damn drain removed. Do you live in New York City? I live in Brooklyn. It is a bit of a drag getting to NYUMC because it is so far east but it is well worth it! If there is anything I can do to assist you with you decision or if you have questions please feel free to ask me. Welcome to VST, KB and thanks for friending me! EJ

nraeh So glad you are recovering nicely and had an easy surgery! I got sleeved on Wednesday, June 1st as well! Just got out of the hospital Saturday afternoon (TODAY) and I am feeling pretty good too. Haven't tried a shake yet. Still just doing Clear liquids -- I had two sugar free jell-os tonight along with chicken broth, Vitamin Water zero and an sugar free ice pop! But after only being out of the hospital for 10 hours -- I pooped (sorry for the TMI but I am so proud & excited!). So my digestive system is working a - okay. My surgery went fine but it was delayed getting into the operating room. There were several emergency surgeries that bumped my ELECTIVE procedure. So instead of starting at 11 am they didn't start until 3PM so I was dehydrated going into the surgery. Of course they wouldn't let me even have ice chips until after the esophogram (swallow test) and in a major NYC hospital between the time you take the test, your surgeon gets the results and then actually gives a written order to start the patient on liquids takes way more time than a dehydrated gal wants it to take!!! All that aside every day I feel better. My new tiny tummy is still a bit sensitive. When I ingest anything even water I feel lots of contractions that aren't terrible but I would like them to go away. I need to keep taking the anti-nausea drugs and the PPI. I may try diluting a shake with water tomorrow and see if I can get in some Protein. There is always Isopure -- I broke down and bought three bottles (GRAPE/APPLE-MELON/BLUE RASPBERRY). Like you nraeh -- I am glad to be sleeved and looking forward to starting my journey! EJ

My surgery is tomorrow or today....since its 11:55pm here! I better try to get some sleep. I have to be at the hospital at 10:30am. I'm taking a deep breath and wishing all my sister Jewels of June who are having surgery tomorrow a complication free surgery and a relatively pain free recovery!!! Good luck nraeh, prariedawn and soon to be skinny!!! We are the first Jewels of June to move to the loser's bench!!! I will let everyone know how it goes as soon as I am able!

meggie, I loved your ode to a soft scrambled egg! My mouth was watering! I bet your dog is going to enjoy your new tiny thumby! I'm sure he was rhaspsodizing to his doggie pals about that soft scrambled egg & all its eggie goodness! After all the liquids I'm sure mushy foods will taste like ambrosia! Tomorrow is my surgery and at least on my two pre-surgery diet I was allowed to eat carrots, broccoli, cucumbers, cabbage so there was stuff to chew on. After surgery my surgeon has me on thin liquids for the first 3 weeks after surgery and then mushies for the next 3 weeks. I have another 3 weeks before I even get the yummy goodness of a soft cooked egg!! I can't believe I'm looking forward to eating runny Cream of Wheat! Iam so tired of sweet tasting shakes. Yes, I've had some broth and the unjury chicken Soup flavor. I bet a bacon, lettuce & tomato flavored shake would be a big seller! Hope there is a spot for me on that loser's bench 'cause I will be there tomorrow for sure!

Wow, you look like a teenager! Excellent!

Congratulations! So many accomplishments in such a short time period! Of course the 50 pound weight loss is fantastic! Your attitude and confidence are inspiring me! Excellent job! "Onward and downward"!

Thanks Brian, I'm headed for surgery tomorrow too. I know I'm an emotional eater and I have my work cut out for me. Even during this two week liquid pre-surgery diet I saw how I use food to feed my feelings more than feeding any physical hunger. I have enlisted the support of a therapist to help me adjust to a life without emotional and recreational eating. That has always been my issue when it came to maintaining a significant weight loss for longer than 18 months. I learned that losing weight is just that - losing weight. Yes, I feel physically better, have more energy, stamina and hurt less. But I used to think that being fat was the cause of all of my emotional pain - you know "change your shape and change your life". It was a rude awakening that even weighing 30, 50, or 75 lbs less didn't mean I wouldn't get depressed about things, or feel angry or get frustrated and disappointed at the ups and downs of life. Of course the only tool in my arsenal of self comfort was food and eating. I hadn't developed any other strategies for how to deal with my negative (& positive) feelings or what else to do when I'm bored or restless instead of eating. I am working very hard now to learn other means of coping with my feelings. I know they won't feel as good or familiar as food and eating do -- but I know that, accept it and hope to have a bigger arsenal of self soothing behaviors so I can try out a few new ways of dealing with feelings and stress. I don't expect to be perfect. I am sure I will have slip ups along the way. My promise to myself is to work very hard, ask for help when I need help, and not let one slip up lead to throwing in the towel. I can't think of anything more drastic than physically altering my body so I can't eat so much to help me change my relationship with food and eating. Yes, my sleeve is only a tool; I still have to decide what goes into my mouth and when it goes into my mouth. I am the one who decides if I learn to channel some of my anxiety and stress into being more physically active (I know it makes me feel better mentally and physically yet I just don't do it) because it exercise is a good thing to have in my arsenal of behaviors to cope with emotions and help me maintain my weight loss. I will struggle, I will have set backs, I will be the same flawed human being I've always been, but I will not give up, I've have finally realized that I am (and the longevity and quality of my life are) too important.

Joy, You have my wishes and prays for an easy surgery and a pain free (tolerable?) and a speedy recovery. My surgery is on June 1st so make room for my soon to be not so big tush on that loser's bench bench. Breathe deeply, exhale slowly and say "I am doing this to save my own life." That has been my mantra when I begin to doubt my decision and worry about the outcome. I'm sending lots of very good vibes your way. Please let us know how you are doing. EJ

LilMissD, All I can say is "Wow, what an amazing transformation!" Just the inspiration I need because I'm getting sleeved on Weds.! I will be sure to save a pair of pants (26WP -- I'm barely 5'1") for moments when I forget where I've been and where I'm going! To be able to say (or type the words) "150 pounds gone forever" -- you achieved that!!! What an accomplishment! Thank you to all the "veterans" for being honest and encouraging! I couldn't do this without all of you!

Renee, As a newbie about to have surgery on Wednesday, June 1st, I truly appreciate your honesty and candor about your experience. More importantly, I am so happy that you are feeling better and improving daily. I am worried about immediate post op because I've never had surgery before so I have no idea how I will react when coming out of general anesthesia. Plus I don't know how I will react to post surgery pain. Yes, I am scared but having this surgery will save my life -- so I'm going remember how brave you are and how you handled a very, very rough experience -- and came out on the other side. Please keep us posted about how you are doing! I hope & pray as each day passes you are feeling better and better. EJ

Hi Bert, I love to eat too. I will still be able to eat after my June 1st surgery, just not in endless quantities like I do now (well, not now because I'm on the pre-op liquid diet). My surgeon suggested the sleeve to me because I was worried about feeling hungry all the time -- but he explained how the reduction of gherlin reduces feelings of hunger. Good luck to you...only 3 more days.

Greeting sister Jewels! FOUR DAYS UNTIL MY SURGERY! June 1st!!! Jewels of June got it going on!!! I finally tied up every loose end at work so I can take a long leave of absence YAY!!!! (Gee, I'm sure a supervisor will call about a case or a client while I am under anesthesia!) One of the important behaviors I MUST learn is taking care of myself while at work. I let myself get too hungry, too dehydrated, too stressed out while I'm at work. I promise to put myself, my health and my healthy eating regime at the top of the list of who gets TLC! I know I'm a nurturer by nature but I forget to nurture myself and instead rely on food for comfort. For me to be successful and use my sleeve to its maximum potential I will establish a eating regime that works for me and practice it so I can return to work confident I will make good eating choices. I paid close attention during this 2 week liquid diet to when my head and mouth hunger were the strongest -- I figured it would be at home when I'm restless, bored etc. No, the only time I regretted that I couldn't have an eggplant parmesan hero at lunch after getting out of a frustrating morning in Court. Each day I would leave the courthouse obsessing about what high fat, high sodium meal I could eat for lunch & each day I would have to remind myself out loud "you can't have that remember the liquid diet". Those moments were tough to accept I couldn't sooth myself or reward myself for putting up with Judges, clients, Court Officers, Police Officers who can be frustrating to deal with as a criminal defense attorney. Eating an eggplant parm hero, and of course a bag of kettle cooked chips (that extra sodium hits the spot) transports me away from feelings of frustration, feelings that everyday I have gird my loins to go into court and fight for my clients against just about everyone. Does this mean if I had become a trainer of dolphins instead of a public defender I wouldn't be obese? I doubt that -- I guess even working with Flipper can be frustrating. But those are some of the feelings that trigger an eating response whether or not I'm physically hungry. I must soothe the beast. My journey involves finding behaviors less self-destructive than compulsive overeating where I can find comfort and peace. Any suggestions Jewels?

Welcome, thinkingabout VSG! With my surgery FOUR DAYS AWAY -- Vertical Sleeve Talk is the best place to get accurate information about VSG before & after! The wonderful people here tell it like it is -- the GOOD (and there is a lot of that!), the BAD (nothing this important should be sugar coated) & the UGLY (like dealing with people who say "oh, you took the easy way out" - because surgically removing 85% of my stomach is the easy way out). The folks here are some of the smartest, kindest and most generous I have ever NEVER ACTUALLY MET! If you need a mentor, or have a question, a concern, an irrational fear -- this is the place to let it all hang out! I keep telling my non-WLS friends that I've become part of a very supportive community! When I'm second guessing myself and my decision to have VSG I come to VST and ask for a pep talk or just a safe place to vent! I know Bette Davis said "old age ain't for sissies" (now at 56 I know how true that is!) but my version is "morbid obesity ain't for sissies" too. If I had $1 for every pound I have lost (first diet at age 9) and then $2 for every pound I regained (the regain is always with "interest") I would wealthy enough to retire NOW!! I have always been a very loud & proud fat women (hey, I owned the word fat because that is what I am & it is a truth not a judgement) but my obesity is interfering with my quality of life and my obesity-caused "co-morbidities" are shortening my life -- for me this isn't about wearing cuter clothes (yes, that will be a good thing) it is about saving my life so I can be here for the people I love. Right now this is the BEST TOOL the medical profession can offer the morbidly obese and VST is the best place to learn about having and living with VSG.

wannabskinee....how are you holding up as our date approaches???? I'm excited and anxious but my confidence increases every time I come to this site!!! We are almost there!!!! Can't stop the Jewels of June!!! <a href="http://www.gastricsleeve.com/weight-loss-ticker/" title="Click here to create your own Weight Loss Ticker"><img src="http://www.gastricsleeve.com/weight-loss-ticker/kwikwits.gif" alt="Weight Loss Ticker"