kw2walker

Do you remember where and what you were doing when you received the call; the call to confirm your surgery date?
 
I happened to miss my call because I was at work and while in a meeting left my cell phone at my desk. Once I got to my phone I recall listening to my message and once I heard the messages stoppded, hung up and found a private office. At least 3 times I played the message back before calling the office to confirm I received the message.
 
The staff I worked with at Temple University are the best. They worked with me through all of the bumps in the road I encountered. The were encouraging, thoughtful, understanding and most importantly supportative. I can never thank them enough.
 
My big day is July 22, 2013.
 
The first thing I did was to review my food and supply list and go shopping. I have all of the required vitamins, protein drinks, soft foods, etc. for the first three weeks. The second thing I did was call my support team. They were excited and supportive as well that the date had finally been set.
 
I really doubled down on making sure I am chewing my food well, drinking plenty of water and eating small portions. I have been successful in lossing 10 pounds in two weeks being this steadfast. I would love to have more weight off by surgery day. I need to get good before and after pictures.
 
Clothes! I have no plans to run out and purchase new clothes. Well, if anything I am looking forward to smaller underware. But I want to see what the first 3 months of this journery bring. So with that I plan to dust off the sewing machine as well as visiting a few second hand stores in my area. Of my intial weight loss since I began this journery June 1, 2012 I lost 25 pounds. I gained 15 then lost 10. In this process it has been great treading clothes with my sister. She is has been dieting and we exchange notes on what we eat and how we prepare food. So during a recent visit I was given lots of clothes, even some that don't fit.
 
For the clothes that don't fit they are my reward clothes. I can't wait to wear them. I do realize that not everyone likes to wear clothes from second hand shops and that's fine. Do what works for you in getting the new wardrobe for the new you.
 
As of this writing I have not requested off time from work. I have not told my employer, I do however plan to follow the proper procedures to inform them of needed time off and setup the paperwork for short term disablilty and FMLA. I hope I need only 3 weeks off. I feel guilty missing work, but I have the time so this is I how I have planned my days off.
 
I wanted to get back in the groove of visiting this site and hearing and sharing the journerys we all are taking in this process. I signed up a year ago and when I hit my snag I stopped visiting. But I realized I will need support along this journey and what better place to be than here.
 
My other big call I received was June 13, 2013, that call was the pre-op testing. I was surprised that I will be there all day but it is necessary for my journery. I have to meet the surgeon as well that day so its cool I will bring my supplies with me so I don't get hungry.
 
The last call I am waiting for is the one when the hospital calls and tells you what time to arrive. That is the pot of gold! All systems are go then baby!
 
I hope to continue to share as well as read and interact with everyone here. Continued success on your journery.
 
Karen

I'm gonna admit right now that the first two days of my preop liquid diet were AWFUL. I cheated (hummus) and nearly yelled at my boyfriend for cooking his dinner in front of me. I resented the metallic ketone taste in the back of my throat. Finally on the morning of the third day I told myself to suck it up, resigned myself to just enjoying the SMELL of regular food, and plodded through another five protein shakes spaced three hours apart.
 
Then that evening I bought a scale, since my surgery is on Tuesday and I figured I'd want one and not really want to go GET one afterwards.
 
And I stepped on it.
 
And I have somehow lost EIGHT POUNDS since Dr. Kim's office last weighed me.
 
Day four of liquid diet, these goddamn shakes almost taste GOOD.

You get this surgery because you want a better life for yourself and your family. But what happens when your spouse doesn't want a better life for anyone except themself? How much do you take before you just throw in the towel?
 
I had my VSG on Monday 6/6/11. Things were rough, I stayed in the hospital 5 days instead of 1. During my 5 days in the hospital I saw my spouse maybe 45 minutes total. He was too busy swimming at the hotel, shopping at the mall and eating out. He says he was keeping the kids busy. Ok. Getting liquids in is a real pain. But you know what, I am a fighter - so I am finding ways!! I sit here across from the one person that is supposed to be my biggest cheerleader and well, to be honest, he is my biggest critic. It is getting old. Many of my friends have said "once you lose weight, you will leave him". I blew it off as rubbish because I love my husband. But the more he curses at me, the more he yells for no freaking reason, the more he sits around complaing about everyone and everything - the more I have to wonder - how long can you kick an injured dog before she bites the $%*@ out of you!?!??!
 
I am so close. Right there on the verge of just saying, you know what, pack you %$ and leave. If we didn't have kids maybe it would be easier. The surgery seems to have added stress to this situation 10 fold. He asked me what time my appointment tomorrow is and I said I don't know but the slip is on the fridge. He then progressed to curse me out for not remembering and told me that I should drive my @)#($&% self to the appointment - which I am not supposed to do - because he has a "hot date". yeah the whole "hot date" thing came out of left field. I don't know what his issue is. But seriously, I am so over it. I am here trying to heal, trying to take care of my kids and he acts like the 3rd child.
 
He has not mentioned the 24 lbs I have lost already. He has not made any mention of any changes - and I can see it in my face. I mentioned how much I lost and he just blew me off. He continues to eat junk food right in front of me. Ok so what.... I am ok. I have been sucking it up. I will grab a SF pop or leave the room. I shouldn't put my families eating habits on hold because of me. I did say one night that I was so hungry and he looked at me said, "Too f)(**&^ bad, that was your decisions to have the surgery." OK WOW... blow me away. I knew he wasn't totally on board but he knew I had a mass inside my stomach that needed removal anyway. So the surgery was going to be bariatric or to remove the cancer mass. So why not both? Either way I would be losing weight because I wouldn't be able to eat normally for while.
 
Why write this? Well I have no where else to vent I suppose. This is my blog and I am not one on not saying what is going on. Maybe I will look back on this entry and think I over reacted or maybe I will be divorced and wonder why I didn't leave earlier. Maybe I will shake my head because the same thing will be happening and I will have done nothing. No big shocker there either. Hopefully, I will look back and see that he was having issues and didn't know how to communicate very well - or at all.
 
One good thing.. my VSG is totally preventing me from falling into a pile of alfredo pasta or pint of ice cream. Now I have to deal head on with my issues. If you think VSG will make your marriage better, think again. You will have to learn to deal with the issues in a new way, preferably with communication. I suppose this is one of many reasons post ops go into a deep depression. Who wants to bother your friends or family with this BS? Not me. So learn to process it and keep moving on.
 
Will I go to my appointment alone tomorrow? If I do, damn sure there will be hell to pay. If not, good for him. He is safe for one more day from the dog bite.
 
Cheers/

Do you remember where and what you were doing when you received the call; the call to confirm your surgery date?
 
I happened to miss my call because I was at work and while in a meeting left my cell phone at my desk. Once I got to my phone I recall listening to my message and once I heard the messages stoppded, hung up and found a private office. At least 3 times I played the message back before calling the office to confirm I received the message.
 
The staff I worked with at Temple University are the best. They worked with me through all of the bumps in the road I encountered. The were encouraging, thoughtful, understanding and most importantly supportative. I can never thank them enough.
 
My big day is July 22, 2013.
 
The first thing I did was to review my food and supply list and go shopping. I have all of the required vitamins, protein drinks, soft foods, etc. for the first three weeks. The second thing I did was call my support team. They were excited and supportive as well that the date had finally been set.
 
I really doubled down on making sure I am chewing my food well, drinking plenty of water and eating small portions. I have been successful in lossing 10 pounds in two weeks being this steadfast. I would love to have more weight off by surgery day. I need to get good before and after pictures.
 
Clothes! I have no plans to run out and purchase new clothes. Well, if anything I am looking forward to smaller underware. But I want to see what the first 3 months of this journery bring. So with that I plan to dust off the sewing machine as well as visiting a few second hand stores in my area. Of my intial weight loss since I began this journery June 1, 2012 I lost 25 pounds. I gained 15 then lost 10. In this process it has been great treading clothes with my sister. She is has been dieting and we exchange notes on what we eat and how we prepare food. So during a recent visit I was given lots of clothes, even some that don't fit.
 
For the clothes that don't fit they are my reward clothes. I can't wait to wear them. I do realize that not everyone likes to wear clothes from second hand shops and that's fine. Do what works for you in getting the new wardrobe for the new you.
 
As of this writing I have not requested off time from work. I have not told my employer, I do however plan to follow the proper procedures to inform them of needed time off and setup the paperwork for short term disablilty and FMLA. I hope I need only 3 weeks off. I feel guilty missing work, but I have the time so this is I how I have planned my days off.
 
I wanted to get back in the groove of visiting this site and hearing and sharing the journerys we all are taking in this process. I signed up a year ago and when I hit my snag I stopped visiting. But I realized I will need support along this journey and what better place to be than here.
 
My other big call I received was June 13, 2013, that call was the pre-op testing. I was surprised that I will be there all day but it is necessary for my journery. I have to meet the surgeon as well that day so its cool I will bring my supplies with me so I don't get hungry.
 
The last call I am waiting for is the one when the hospital calls and tells you what time to arrive. That is the pot of gold! All systems are go then baby!
 
I hope to continue to share as well as read and interact with everyone here. Continued success on your journery.
 
Karen

Yep need to start documenting this before I forget everything. Not to say I won't have the visual reminders to help me remember where I started (pictures, clothes, bum imprint on the couch) but it is the other things that fade with time that do not have a physical reminder. The worry about the what ifs and can I , the concern about what will happen and what won't happen.
 
Right now my biggest concern is not the surgery. Considering, in 6 weeks they are removing a significant portion of my stomach you would think that is the worry. But nope I have blown right through that like an out of control 3 year old in the toy department at Christmas. I have even moved beyond the thought of recovery pain and the "possible" side effects it will bring. Nope I am already into....what if it doesn't work - which of course turns into it doesn't look like its working in after surgery thought (always wanted to be ahead of the class even in grade school...skipped right past glue eating to advanced macaroni art).
 
Yep that is where I am at. I see pictures, read forums and absorb before and after pictures like a teenage boy absorbs girlie mags....but still I have that voice (to be named later) in my head saying what if it doesn't work. What if you go through all of this just to lose it and then gain? That doesn't mean I don't want to do it. I'm funny that way I still want to try it however unlike the tattoo I "tried" this can not be covered with clothes. Once people know they will start to judge and comment (you haven't lost much, was it REALLY worth it, or my favorite you looked better before).
 
Nope this change will be out there for all to see, judge and comment about...which brings me to my issue...what if it doesn't work.....my head says it will but my inner skinny person who is really shy questions me.
 
Maybe I should be worrying about excess skin and whether because of it my "hidden" tattoo will be even harder to find in its wrinkles .....

Week 1 on my high protein low carb eating plan and exercising 6 days a week. I had been having really bad issues with being extremely hungry at night so I told myself this past week i was going to work on kicking that to the curb. I ate dinner a little later one night that worked, I took a 1/2 protein shot one night and that worked and then I cleaned a few nights and kept myself busy by doing my nails and that also worked. All week I didn't snack or eat crazy stuff after the girls went down. So problem being worked on and I think solved. Thank you to all who responded to my post on the forum your suggestions and comments helped ALOT.
Now also my weekends are horrible my husband is home wants to go out to eat all weekend and weekends sabotage my hardwork from the week so this weekend If we went out I really thought hard about what I was ordering and tried to order healthy all the time. We ate out 3 x's first time was Wendy's so I got a grilled chicken wrap and side salad, 2nd was Chili's and I got a low calorie meal and replaced my rice with brocolli so I had chicken , black beans and Broccoli, the 3rd time was the hardest - Popeyes- I took the skin off the chicken and heated up my left over black beans from the previous night. I did have a biscuit but I made sure to work out after dinner so I could burn some calories. All in all it was the BEST weekend I have had so far!!!! I even made cinnamon buns for my girls on Saturday morning and didn't have any. I figure I am going to have to cook stuff I can't have and what a better time to start working on controlling myself from eating it but now.
So all my hardwork paid off and I was down 5.2 lbs this morning. I was so excited to see it working and I also feel great, more energized and alive. I can always start doing the healthy things but some where down the line i always fall off and gain it all back. This time knowing my Sleeve is just around the corner 42 days to be exact to stop that from happening has me smiling , I can see myself healthy again!!! Can't wait.