Queen of Crop

Thanks Amanda for going the extra mile! And everyone else for a great thread....as I've said, I have sneaked an Excedrin in here and there over the last few months; the only thing I have found to get rid of a head ache; only one, when I used to take two. I think like anything; if you don't abuse it, and you are healed, it would be OK. I'm going to see a ND (naturopathic doctor) that I have seen before now that I am back in Hawaii and ask her. She's really fantastic and I know she will be just blown away at how different I am. I tried working with her to lose weight and although she got all my blood work in good order, alas, as we all know, the weight was a whole other story. Still, I trust her opinion and she always spends an hour with me; I think she'll have some good info here too. I love this forum....and I love my sleeve! I'll write about it on my blog in the next couple of weeks after I see her. www.queenofcrop.com Blogging a Year in LIfe of a Sleever each Sunday

Finally! Hey, maybe it's only one pound, but at last I weigh less than my husband.....(who is tall and slender). Plus I had three other big NSV's this past week!!!!! Posted those and some photos on my Sunday blog. www.queenofcrop.com Wishing everyone a great Sunday.... www.queenofcrop.com A Year in Life of WLS

Wow, that's news that we can take aspirin......I have sneaked a few in here and there over the last 4 months when I have had a terrible headache and the Tylenol has done nothing. I was told we could never take aspirin (or my drub of choice...Excedrin) again....is there a doctor in the house to settle this one? www.queenofcrop.com

WOW! 10 lbs lighter! Well done! I was making my husband weigh every day, just waiting for that moment.....lol. I've been really surprised how many of us were heavier than our husbands.......been a popular post that's for sure....who knew? Now if I could just grow a little taller...... www.queenofcrop.com

Thanks for the update.....I think I asked you this once before, or someone else is having it done there too! Anyway, good for you and keep us posted! www.queenofcrop.com

Finally! Hey, maybe it's only one pound, but at last I weigh less than my husband.....(who is tall and slender). Plus I had three other big NSV's this past week!!!!! Posted those and some photos on my Sunday blog. www.queenofcrop.com Wishing everyone a great Sunday.....hey, isn't tonight Daylight Savings Time? I'm in Hawaii so we don't change anything, but for those who do.......I think you lose an hour.... www.queenofcrop.com A Year in Life of WLS

Hi Cathy! So sorry your insurance won't cover this.....but good for you for just paying it; I did, and believe me, after reading so many posts about all the red tape and frustration with the insurance, I was happy to pay! Where are you going for your surgery if I may ask? I had mine done at Krankenhaus Sachsenhausen in Frankfurt and was very happy with the care I recieved. www.queenofcrop.com A Year in Life of WLS

Good morning all: This is for Dyesee: I think many of us felt at some point we should / could do this without surgery and in fact, if you read the posts (I wasn't one of them) many people have lost lots of weight in the traditional way; only to gain it back again. Having the sleeve is not a cop out! It's just a more effective tool at getting the weight off and keeping it off (with work) so you can be healthier. As for the exhaustion; every one is different of course. But if you keep up your B12 injections (I screwed up on that one) that will help. I started getting my full energy back at about 3 months; but I know many people who not only have gone back to work, but they have little kids at home! If you can take some medical leave off; then you should do it for your long term health; if not, maybe you could go back half time or work at home. But you will see once you start feeling better YOU become more important than other things; like work. I speak from experience as I know for a fact, that work was always the priority for me; and an excuse of why I couldn't exercise, or why I gained so much weight because I was so stressed or always working...... You'll get through this just fine and although it isn't a breeze in the beginning; it gets better every day and it sure beats feeling deprived on a diet. Just so you know, at the moment, I'm losing 1 lb a week on 1000 calories a day....which I'm just fine with since I'm on the home stretch....but could I do 1000 calories a day easily without the sleeve? NO! I don't feel deprived at all and I am eating what I want and it's easy to make healthy choices. Keep us posted and it's normal to feel anxious....this is a big decision, but as you can see from reading the posts; there are few regrets. www.queenofcrop.com A Year in Life of WLS

Thanks for the nice comments.....and yes, Europe is a different animal as you know; which is why we're headed back in the fall.... For my blog, just click on SUBSCRIBE either on the top purple bar next to ABOUT ME or on the side bar and simply enter your email. Each Sunday you will get an email when I do a post. For the forum, if you want to respond directly to someone (like I am here to you) click on QUOTE instead of MULTIQUOTE. That's it! s

Hey ladies.....100 miles for this is cake! I traveled from Holland to Germany to have this done, and after the surgery (they kept me 8 days which was nice) I walked to the train station to catch a train home back to Amsterdam....after 4 weeks recuperating in Amsterdam, I then traveled for the next 3 months.....just now I am back in Hawaii.....I'm not recommending this plan by the way, I'm just saying it's all logistics to get healthy! Good luck to both of you! Sunday blog. www.queenofcrop.com A Year in Life of WLS

Hi Sandy!!! Welcome to a very exciting new journey you are on! I am also 58 and was sleeved just 3 days after my birthday last October.....good for us 50 somethings! The only downside to this so far for me is that I was very tired months after my surgery (could be my age, or it could be that I wasn't home when I had it done, but if you can believe it, I was on a year long trip!....not ideal for major surgery, but I made it work). Please take a look at my weekly blog; I think it will be encouraging to you since we are the same age (as a blog of another was to me). Good luck on the sleeve negotiation; I think it's a very wise decision and I hope your insurance recognizes that. Keep us posted and keep reading the forum; it is very supportive! www.queenofcrop.com A Year in Life of WLS

Woohooo!!!!! That's fantastic.....wow, a size 6! I can't even imagine.....I am now in size 12 and I feel positively small at that.....I know what you mean about your mind catching up with your body; I still sometimes dish up more than I could possible eat and then wonder what I was thinking! Congratulations! www.queenofcrop.com A Year in Life of WLS

I think sometimes this surgery makes us think harder, think more deeply about things we might have not wanted to think about when we were heavy. At least that's how it is for me. I find myself wanting to opposite outcomes when I see people I haven't seen for a long time; I want them to notice that I look better and I want the compliments, but the other part of me doesn't want any attention focused on me because I'm embarrassed that I had let myself go so much that the weight loss emphasizes that I was a mess before. Plus, I just never want people to talk about my body parts; yet if they don't say anything, I feel a bit let down......so I think it's just a heightened awareness of our new selves and our old selves and relating to old friends in a new way....... One question I had was, how do you think the get together would have been different if you had not lost weight? Isn't nice to have a forum to explore these interesting things? www.queenofcrop.com One year in the life after WLS

YEAH!!!! A whole new world awaits you! Most of us feel very fortunate to have found a solution to this overwhelming problem. For me, I was never even able to lose the weight so who knows if I could have kept it off!!! But today I am in a size 12 and still 21 lbs from my goal weight; but I feel great. If you are new, take a look at my weekly blog if you are interested and you'll have an idea of what to expect. www.queenofcrop.com Keep us posted! www.queenofcrop.com

I wish you all the best; please keep us posted on your progress! www.queenofcrop.com

Hi there.....I was sleeved in Germany last October (while traveling!). I was also self-pay. I spent 8 days in the hospital (at Krankenhaus Sachsenhausen ). They treated me very very well; I was very happy with them and my surgeon, Dr. Weiner. After the surgery, I went back to Amsterdam for a month to rest and recuperate. I then went back to Germany for my 4 week check up and then, if you can believe this, started traveling throughout Europe for the next 6 weeks, then the US for 6 weeks after that. I did have to find a couple of clinics because I got a bladder infection; but other than that, I didn't have any problems other than just normal healing. Eating out all the time was interesting.....I just got back to Hawaii this week and had all my blood work done by my regular doctor. I have chronicled my entire journey on my weekly blog; it might be helpful for you to read that. It's at http://www.queenofcrop.com Where are you having your surgery done?

Yikes, reading this makes me SO sad. I was self pay, so I made the decision on Oct 5th, I was on the surgical table on Oct 25th, at 204 lbs and a 35 BMI; with a 48 hour pre-op diet. (This was in Germany). But they recognized that I had been overweight all my life; had hip and knee joint problems and now I am so much healthier (down 62 lbs). I wish you all luck with the red tape; I wish insurance companies would see that in the long term, they would be better off approving these surgeries. BTW, I am now 4 months post op; and I write a weekly (Sunday) blog. It might be helpful to some of you to know what to expect. Just click on the link below and if you subscribe, I'll be sure you get each update. http://www.queenofcrop.com

You are going to be SO surprised in a few months!!!! A wonderful new life is just waiting for you out there; and it will have food and wine in it; just smaller amounts, but guess what? You won't WANT any more than a small amount! It takes a little time but I am 4 months out and I am giving or going to dinner parties all the time and no one notices anymore; they mostly compliment me on how good I look these days.....it's a very freeing feeling and you will be right there too!!!!! Thanks for the good honest post and we'll look forward to hearing how your life has changed after the surgery. www.queenofcrop.com

For those of you who are in the pre-planning stages of WLS, and want to know on a week to week basis what to expect, then you might want to read my blog which I update every Sunday. I am currently on Week 21 and will update it each Sunday. The blog is www.queenofcrop.com If you go there, you might want to read the About Me page first http://www.queenofcrop.com/about/ The start with Week 1. I had this surgery because of a blog I read; so I'm hoping it will encourage others. If you Subscribe, you get a notification each week when I update it. Good luck to all of you; it's been an amazing journey for me and I hope it will be the same for you! Queen of Crop http://www.queenofcrop.com/

Just took a flight from Seattle to Honolulu on Thursday....as I was going down the aisle back to my seat, I asked two people who were talking if I could get by.....one said "good thing you're skinny so you can get by us!" I had to laugh.....I've never been called skinny, and even though I'm still 25 lbs from goal, it sure felt nice to hear that! www.queenofcrop.com

Aloha all.... Just posted Week 21 on my weekly blog www.queenofcrop.com We just got back to Hawaii after traveling for a year (and being sleeved!). We went out to a favorite haunt to listen to some good music and I boldly ordered a margarita.......and realized that yes you can gain your weight back if you do stuff like this! That story and more on my Sunday blog.....(including a wonderful submission by a reader about how the surgery can affect your relationship). If you want to follow along, we just put in a place where you can leave your email and allegedly you will get an automatic notice each week when I post (still working out the kinks...). And even though this seems like shameless promotion, I genuinely only tell people about my blog all the time because someone elses blog is the reason I am here and so much happier with my life! www.queenofcrop.com

Aloha all.... Just posted Week 21 on my weekly blog www.queenofcrop.com We just got back to Hawaii after traveling for a year (and being sleeved!). We went out to a favorite haunt to listen to some good music and I boldly ordered a margarita.......and realized that yes you can gain your weight back if you do stuff like this! That story and more on my Sunday blog.....(including a wonderful submission by a reader about how the surgery can affect your relationship). If you want to follow along, we just put in a place where you can leave your email and allegedly you will get an automatic notice each week when I post (still working out the kinks...). And even though this seems like shameless promotion, I genuinely only tell people about my blog all the time because someone elses blog is the reason I am here and so much happier with my life! www.queenofcrop.com

Thanks!!!! I feel so stupid because I know I asked that once before and I've been on this forum for so long.....I'll remember now!

.but darn it, I can't think of it....what does NSV stand for? I know what it means, just can't think of the words!!!!