JanaKay

Thanks girls. I have to go back to the surgeon on the 23rd of June for my second visit. i am hoping to have lost 20 pounds by then. I hear you about getting a second opinion. unforturnately he is the only game in my half of the state that takes my insurance. so I am pretty much stuck with him. i have been on my "Protein shake-no meals" diet for 5 days now but omg its hard! i want some pizza so bad. lol in fact, i'd be happy with a lot of things if i could eat them without knowing i would be cheatying or knowing it will soooo mess up my weightloss for the entire week. i am trying so hard not to cheat.! Anyway. i'll know more of where i'll stand on the 23rd. i hope he doesnt discourage me so much i give up on it. JanaKay

Oh you guys are lucky! Only 30ish pounds to lose pre-op? I started losing after my introduction seminar at a local hospital in March and have lost about 35 pounds so far. Yesterday my first surgeon visit went rather poorly I thought. He wants me to lose ANOTHER 70 pounds beore he'll even talk surgery date!! He told me that my "surgery will not happen this summer". ARGHHH! 70 LBS? Why so much when y'all seem to require so much less? My current weight is 401.8. Not as much as a few patients i have read about. One was even 500 lbs!. I wonder how much she had to lose? Jana Kay

i am still in what i think of as beginning stages of my preop. I have no idea of when my surgery will be, but he did say "not this summer". I am required to lose 70 lbs first and control my diabetes. I don't know if you were in a similar situation or not. I, too, don't have family that will be there for me either when the time comes. I highly doubt it, therefore I am preparing my mindset for going this alone. I am content with that idea. I do understand from your post that last minutes nerves will set in, fears, and doubts. I hope to be able to handle these by having it set in mind what will happen and how it will go post-op. Kind of a coping mechanism. Put in your mind too that you will look to this site and others like it for continuing support. I will. As far as foods that we will be missing over our lifetime, i have two views on it. 1. in my required support group meeting, they said that once we are eating again after having lost our weight and are maintaining, that we will be able to eat some of the things we like in very small amounts. more like a "taste" from what i have been doing during my life. LOL. 2. i also know from previous diets i have been on that by that time I will be so used to avoiding such "bad" foods that I wont have a problem with turning down certain things. I think this is a matter of faith. they keep saying that this is a LIFE CHANGE and NOT a temporary measure. so avoiding bad foods and old habits is just something I (we) will have to do. I wish you good luck and hope that my amatuerish support helps at least a little. I will watch for you here with eager anticipation for your follow-up posts. Hang in there and be strong for yourself. HUGS. Jana Kay

i am experiencing hoops also. i have much of the testing done and have lost 35 lbs. I currently weigh 401.8 lbs. Met with my surgeon yesterday for the first visit.. He said i am EXTREMELY HIGH RISK and made it sound like i will die if i have this surgery. i felt really terrible. I have 250lbs to lose AT LEAST. I need a new hip and cannot have that done unless i lose the weight. The surgeon put me on a 3 shake-a-day diet with orders to lose 70 lbs and get my diabetes totally down to normal. i got so discouraged by his voice-of-doom approach. Fortunately, my diabetic nurse called the very next morning for our quarterly consult and explained a lot of info about the gastric sleeve to me and said that when i lose the 70 and control the diabetes, i will no longer be the high risk that i am now. So I am thankfully positive thinking again, and feel i can do this. Yesterday was my first day of my "new" lifestyle and i didn't cheat. I have not ever been on such a restrictive diet before. but I feel like i'll make it and as part of my plan, i want support mechanisms in place. My family is not really here for me as far as support is concerned. So, here I am. I hope to give inspiration as well as receive abundant inspriation and motivation back. I hope we all do great.