HELLO ITS ME CAMI

I won't lie to anyone it is hard work trying to live with out food as my crutch and sometimes (even with the surgery) I fall short of my ideal behavior when it comes to food. There are people who have told me that I've taken the easy way out. I disagree with them but I don't waste my breath arguing with them anymore. Even with the surgery I still have to closely monitor what I eat and be more active. The surgery has given me the help I need to lose weight but it doesn't mean that I woke up from the surgery cured of my old bad food habits. But I manage my eating much better. I'm encouraged that I'm moving closer to where I want to be. Good things that have happened to me since my surgery:
I can walk to my car without having to stop and take a breath
I'm not in constant pain because of my knees
I have given away over 10 bags of clothes that are way too big for me--I'm down 4 sizes so far
People sit next to me on the train (I used to feel so guilty taking up two seats when the train was crowded)
I cooked dinner at thanksgiving and it didn't wear me out --being on my feet for a few hours easy peasy
I look in the mirror and I recognize myself!
I do have a figure(my waist line is returning)
my bath sheets wrap around me there's no big gap!
there is really cute lingerie in my size
Oh my doctors have taken me off a couple of my meds
I realize I can only eat so much so I visually measure out a cup of food and that's my meal

There's a lot of little things but mainly I'm just thankful that I was able to do this surgery. I'm grateful that my insurance covered it and I'm grateful that I chose the right program. I feel really blessed by the whole experience problems and all.

Attached is a picture from yesterday 11/25/12 after an 8 pound loss (33 total).
 
Today I am 1 week post op and feeling blah. I want to eat things today... I'm not sure if this is because I'm starting my "time of the month" or if I'm just getting sick of stage 2 food. I'm still trying to figure out the hungry/full feeling. I'm having a hard time getting all my liquids down. I think I'm not being strict enough on myself... which is not like me. I don't know what is going on with me. I kind of forgot that I was supposed to be drinking protein shakes and stuff because I didn't feel "safe" enough to drink anything with any substance to it.
 
I weighed myself on my weekly weigh in on the WiiFit. It said I've lost 9.8 pounds since last week (before surgery obviously) I'm happy with this, but I guess discouraged that only 5 people have said anything about my weightloss or even that I am looking good.
 
I am gassy too. Burping feels weird because it's not like a burp; it's like air just kind of bubbles its way up and it hurts. When I yawn I can tell that I suck down a lot of air because it hurts like crazy in my chest area. Sneezing hurts my incisions still even though I continue to hold my stomach/incisions when I do sneeze.
 
I was prescribed a laxative, but I have not had any trouble with constipation at all. I'm sure this is because of the liquid diet though. When I use the bathroom, it is watery and embarrassingly enough a lot of gas is released at that time. I HATE it. I'm hoping that doesn't last forever. I suppose it is something I will have to get used to if it is though...
 
I am unable to pick up my children (ages 20 months and 3.5) so my parents have been helping me while my husband is at work. It is a lot to ask them, and I know that they are happy to help, but it is really hard for me to be so reliant on someone else taking care of my kids. I feel like such a burden to everyone. I'm slowly starting to be able to do more though.
 
As of right now, I am mostly wishing I didn't have the procedure done. I had a rough day with a lot of negatives in it so I'm feeling pretty negative... I had to try on 5 different shirts this morning because I haven't changed sizes at all and wanted to wear something a little different today. I thought some of my "tight-ish" shirts would fit nicely after 33 pounds lost, but nope. Discouraging... My "fat," loose shirts are definitely too big now, but that's about the only change I've seen.
 
My 2 week post-op appointment has been changed from December 5th to December 10th. I had it changed so I woudn't have to make a special trip (2 hours) just for the appointment. I needed to go on the 10th for a mandatory work meeting anyways so that works better for me. More time to shed the pounds... and be on Stage 2 foods... I will survive!

My surgery is now set for 12/11, and I'm so very excited. On Tuesday of next week I will start the liquid diet, and then I'll be counting the days until surgery.
 
Last night I decided to start organizing my closet. I'm a bargain shopper, so few of my clothes are terribly expensive, but I have a lot of clothes. As many of you can probably imagine, I also have many different sizes of clothes. Right now, I'm comfortable in a 20 and sometimes an 18. It's been many years since I've been less than a 16, though. Still, I'm not good at getting rid of my favorite clothes. I still have the size XL dress I wore to my college graduation in 1999. I found that last night as I sorted through my "I Have a Dream" section of my closet. My son graduates from high school this spring; wouldn't it be wonderful if I wore that dress to his graduation?
 
To save space, I always put my out of season clothes in a couple of rubbermaid tubs in the corner of my closet. Last night, my ritual had a strange element to it. Will I need those clothes in 6 months? I hope not! But I still couldn't find the nerve to give them away. So I compromised: I put some of the clothes that are big (or roomy) on me now in a pile for Goodwill, and then neatly folded the rest and put them in the tub. But before I closed it up, I took a moment to write myself a note.
 
Exactly what I wrote is kind of personal, but I was very aware of the fact that I will probably be very different-- at least in size, but I imagine in other ways as well-- when I open that tub this spring.
 
I'm glad I'm doing all of this, and documenting it. I've actually started loading video blogs into Youtube, but they are pretty amateur, so don't expect to be dazzled. Still, if you're interested, go to youtube and check out: NewAndImprovedJennie.

Today is sleeve day. Hopefully the first day of the rest of my life. Woke up last night sweating in a panic attack. It was terrible and I had thoughts of backing out. I mean, who in their right mind would voluntarily have 85% of their stomach removed?! But once I get past that thought I remember how good I'll feel and how much better my health will be. Today I feel good, upbeat, nervous, and excited but still have a sort of surreal feeling like I'm dreaming this is going to happen.
 
I've prepared as much I could have prepared; read all of the info on the web, talked with people who actually have the sleeve, and used the information from this website. I took the "before" pictures and body measurements last night. Now all that's left is to have it done.
 
I'll write some more blog entries as soon as i can after the surgery because I know I have a lot question going in and hopefully I can help someone else by sharing my experience.
 
I'll see you all on the other side!
 
Joe

I am so happy to see the numbers on my scale go down , I was sleeved on Nov 13 ,2012 . My starting weight was 237 , after the 14 days pre op liquid diet and day on my surgery 222 lbs , Today I am 210lbs. I am thankful that everything has gone well so far no gas pains , vomiting or dumping . The incisions are less sore.
 
I did my week of only clear liquids and yesterday started to transiton into full liquids , I was worried how my stomach would react to the slim fast protein shakes ,since some people have stated that they are to thick , but I did okay , also added a cream of celery soup but I used the lactose free milk , only because I didnt want to have a neggative reaction so I played it safe. I really enjoyed having the sugar free fudge bars, I don't really feel hungry but sometimes the smell of food makes me feel like I want to eat and I wish that I could ( I have to wait at least 2 more weeks to have solids ) maybe sometime next week I can move into puree foods ,although I feel that my stomach can handle it now , I dont want to do anything that could interfear in the healing process of my stomach.
 
I am very eager and excited to see what happens to my body in the next few months , wondering if I will continue to lose once I start on puree and solid foods . My clothes are starting to get loose , I wish I could go get a new smaller size pair of jeans but I dont want to put any preasure on the incisions on my belly.
 
Thank you for reading my journey , I wish everybody all the best .

Hello everyone,
 
Well, I DID IT! I was sleeved yesterday (11/16) at noon. I still can't believe it's over already. We arrived at the hospital at 10 a.m., where they checked me and took me back to pre-op area. The nurse there....Kathy, was GREAT. She was very attentive, talkative and interactive. While she was asking me all the health history questions, she asked me how I got to the point where I knew the 'sleeve' was what i wanted to do. I told her that between meeting with my PCP where he recommended it, attending the seminar held by the surgeon and his Nurse Practitioner, I decided it was the one of the 3 that had the best results without being the most extreme. (Yes, I know, taking 85% of my stomach is extreme, but...)
 
Once pre-op was completed, and it took a specialist to get the IV started in my upper left arm, the surgery nurse came in and took me down to the operating room. There they inflated a new matress they have that when inflated, makes it so those who are moving your from your bed to the surgery table don't have to strain quite as much and it's much easier on their backs. After I was situated, the anesthesiologist started placing the monitoring pads on my upper chest. Then he said he wanted to put this mask on me to give me more oxygen and help calm me down a little. (I didn't think I was having problems stayin calm....but what ever). That is essentially all I remember. I don't remember waking up in recovery, and I don't remember being moved from recovery to my room. All I remember was that my hubby, sister, sis-in-law and mom-in-law were in the room chit chatting until I woke up. Then the nurse explained what everything was, and handed me the morphine drip button. I tried very hard to not use it any more often than necessary. Overnight, the nurses would come it to check my vitals, give me a shot for this, add another bag of something to the IV, ask how I was etc. I have to admit, I don't think I slept for more than 2 hrs at a stretch. At about 5 a.m., the tech came in and asked if I wanted to move to the chair. I did, of course, as I had been lying down since 11 a.m. the day before. My mouth was a dry mess, and all they offered were lemon flavored mouth swabs (YUCK). I would use that to get the most of the try out, and then I would dip it into a cup of water and rinse a little more that way, making sure I did not swallow.
 
At about 7:30 a.m., Sydney (the tech) came in and announced we were heading down to x-ray where they could do a leak test. While I as standing there, they handed me this tall milk white container with the barium in it. As I stood there the x-ray tech asked me to take a couple big drinks (which kind of scared me with the sleeve!) so he could see it running through my esophagus and to my stomach to witness if there were any leaks. After 4 different views, he was done (it took all of about 10 min) I was sent back to my room to wait for the Dr. with the results.
 
A couple hours later, the doctor showed up and said he was pleased with how surgery went, and that the leak test showed no issues. He would come back after noon and see how things are going and likely send me home.
 
After he left, the lead nurse (Deanna) removed the catheter....(damned glad I don't have to do THAT very often) the nurses and my sister helped me shower and change into my street clothes (all but my t-shirt since I was still connected to the IV). Once they got the orders to remove me from the IV, I was able to put on my t-shirts.
 
Dr. came in about 1:15 or so and asked if I wanted to go home. So, I asked him if he wanted to send me home. He said definitely. Everything is going well, and he wrote orders for the nurses and then wrote a prescription for vicoden for me. Deanna came back in with the final papers for me to sign, and then I got to leave (via wheelchair to my hubby waiting in the car at the door). We then took a trip to the closest pharmacy to get my prescription filled....they didn't have the dosage he was asing for...so we tried another...same issue. Then we tried a 3rd, and by then we realized the dr had added his cell number to the bottom of the prescription, so the pharmacist called to discuss the dosage and find out if it could be modified. He said yes, so we got the medicine and headed home.
 
I have now declared where I will be the next couple of days while I recover (recliner in the front room).
 
This first day hasn't been all that aweful, but it hasn't been a cake walk either. I have quite a bit of discomfort where the air bubble is sitting on my diaphram, and from the 1 - 1 1/2" incision at the top of my bellybutton to remove the stomach through. Other than that, the pain is rather minimal.
 
I hope all that have an upcoming surgery date, will go ahead and do it. By reading all the posts on here, I know that day 2 will be better than today, and day 3 better than that and so on. I can't wait for the New Year and the new me!!

Hi, I had my sleeve surgery on August 6th, 2012. I actually tried to get the lap band back in 2006 but due to insurance regulations and morbidity-lacking qualifications, I was unsuccessful back in 2006. Jump forward a couple of years to 2012 and I finally had the right insurance and actually had some morbidities that helped me get the desired surgery. I kinda felt alone having to do this surgery because none of my family members have had some type of weight loss surgery, or had any friends that has gone thru this type of surgery. My husband was not very supportive in my decision and basically said "why ask my opinion when your mind is set already". Pretty much it was a true statement. All of my friends, coworkers, and mom stated that I didnt need the surgery, "your beautiful just the way you are". I appreciated all the kind words and concerns BUT none of them could even start to comprend what I see every day. Im not talking about being on a scale, Im talking about seeing myself in the mirror every day. Before finding this site, I started blogging my thoughts, my journey on www.blogger.com (Rhelm of Droopy). I hope you take the time to check it out, you will see my pre-surgery picture and my monthly pictures that I try to update on the 6th of every month give or take a few days.
 
Lets make my first blog entry short, my consultation weight was 235. My two-week liquid diet before surgery weight was 210. My two-week follow up weight was 191. My two month post-surgery weight was 189 and just this past Tuesday, November 13th, I weighed in at 176. So give or take, Im losing 10 pounds a month, Im going to be honest, wish it was more but Im happy nontheless. Clothes are starting to be baggy, I've gone thru alot of clothes and have given some to the salvation army. My face is alot thinner and thou my double chin still is visibily seen, its not as much as before. In my blogs I mention how a chubby girl notices weird things. I noticed that my inner thighs got thinner. By this I mean, when I walked my thighs would rub sometimes even chaffe from the friction. I guess you have to be chubby to understand this feeling but now I have notices that they dont rub as much as before. There are so many things that a chubby girl notices that a slimmer individual would take for granted. Yes, I have lost some pounds, BUT I'm looking for particular things in my weight loss and they may seem weird but it's something I personally want to see. Im not saying that everyone is the same, Im saying these are things I want to see personally in my "transformation". They are, naturally the weight loss, duh who doesnt! I want to see my collar bone popping out, I want to see the bone on the top of my shoulder's popping out, I want to see my torso start slendering rather than see my love handles sticking out or as I call them "my arm rest" defining my pants. I hope this makes sense because honestly in my head it does lol.
 
Getting rid of my clothes gave me anxiety. I kept telling myself "no save that or save this, what if you dont loose your weight, you wont have any clothes". I swear my mind is my own worse enemy. I did however get rid of alot of clothes and kept telling myself "you will loose weight". I was an 18/20 and currently Im a snug 14. My tops that I normally would buy in a XL or 1X are falling off my shoulders. My pants that are 16 or 14/16 are real bagging in the crotch area but I refuse to buy any clothes for the simple reason that Im going to try to reach my goal weight and to be buying clothes every time I go down a size is just really crazy. I dont know about you but I know I surely dont have money growing on my tree in the back yard. So yes, Im wearing baggy crotchy pants, and the shirts/blouses I have are in the 14/16 range in size. I actually went to the store yesterday and just window shopped. Funny how I would like a blouse and automatically would look for a 1X or an X-Large when clearly I could possibly may fit in a Large now. My mind is so used to being a certain way that even thou I see my full figure transformation I refuse to see my Skinny figure transformation. My mind is my worse enemy! Im not going to lie, I am my own worse critic, I still see the chubby me every day in that mirror. You would think that im on a scale daily to see my progress BUT im not. I have fear of gaining and a bigger fear of not losing. Make sense? Im not saying that this will happen to you, Im telling you that this is what Im dealing and going thru on a daily basis.
 
Im glad I found this sight, I hope that I can read some of the blogs and in some way compare notes, take pointers on how someone is dealing with particular things, find some sort of comfort knowing that Im not the only one that may feel this way or that way and most importantly, find moral support that we may have in common.

So basically I had some weird throat infection the entire pre-op diet week, which I only had to actually do for 1 week. So eating nothing but full liquids was fine because I didn't feel that great anyway and slept A LOT. The hardest day, believe it or not, was the clear liquid day the day before surgery. I did okay though once I got some SF jello. It's hard finding ones that are not a deep red. I did find some pink and orange ones, though!
 
So I didn't actually feel too horribly nervous until that morning. I wasn't due until 12:30 and the hospital is about 45 minutes away. Around 10:30 AM on Wednesday (June 27) they called to ask if I wanted to come in early because they had a cancellation. I said sure but it will only be like maybe 15 minutes earlier because I live 45 minutes away. So we ended up leaving about 11:15 because I had to wait on my mom to shower. I had already done all that and my bag was packed so I was ready! We got to the hospital about 12:15 or something. We had a hard time finding where we were suppose to go but we got it. Yay!
 
Luckily we had gotten a parking spot that was in the first row from the door so that was nice. I grabbed my bag and my turtle pillow pet and walked in, taking my piercings out and shaking all to hell trying not to fling the pieces around and get them in the baggy I brought for them. I got to the desk and they had me to go an admission desk to sign some papers and get my wrist band and some folder with stuff in it that I still haven't actually looked at. I don't know what is in it, lol. Just some papers.
 
Anyway so they asked us to wait in the waiting room. We did not even get our butts in a chair and they had called me in, they told my mom to wait outside because they were just going to run some tests real quick that they routinely do. So they brought me in and it looked like the same pre-op area where I was with my sister at a different hospital for a pregnancy complication. Not to sound as morbid as it may but it was strangely comforting to feel like I was in a place I had seen before. I was given a cup and asked to use the bathroom and pee in the cup for a pregnancy test. They do this routinely I guess, it's mandatory. Boy was I ever exploding cuz I filled that whole entire freakin' cup! Sorry for TMI there lol.
 
So I go back to my waiting area and asked where to put it and the nurse says to put it on a little table at the end of what was to be my bed that another nurse was writing in my chart at. So I set it there and said MERRY CHRISTMAS! And giggled nervously. She laughed at me, too. So then I was given my robe and socks and a bag to put my clothes in and told to change and they pulled the curtain. Oh man was I shaking so bad! I got it all there and put it on the chair next to the bed and sat down, she undid the curtain and I got situated on the bed and they put a warm blanket on me. Then they had a nurse come put an IV in me and it took her forever. I have tiny veins. They put a 20 in me and said it'll be good until I'm under and they'll switch it to a 18 or whatever. They drew 2 vials of blood and then whatever. Stuck some little sticker node things on me and asked me questions like who I am and what surgery I'm having. Then the anesthesiologist asked some questions too like if I have diabetes and etc I said not that I know of. It's true, I didnt know lol. They did get a CBC and whatever else with that blood they took and I never heard much back so I guess I'm ok.
 
So then they hooked up an IV and then came the Versed. That's the happy medicine they gave me so I can relax. At some point during the questioning they got my mom for me and she was sitting with me. But once they put the IV in they made her hug me and go back to the waiting room. This was around 1:30 by this time. And then the praying hit as tears started rolling down my face when she left the room and I started praying, HARD!! But the Versed hit and I felt okay. They rolled me to the OR and I remember looking at all the gadgets in the room thinking Hey! This is just like on TV and in videos of sleeve related things I had seen before. That was comforting, too. But I was doped up on Versed so that's probably it, too. They aligned the operating bed up to my bed and locked them all in place, then had me help myself from the bed to the operating bed. I was not scared at this point but they were laying my arms out on the little arm tables and had an oxygen mask laying lightly on my face. I was okay with that! That were touching me a lot and it felt comforting. Then they said they would be making me sleepy and I was out.
 
I remember when I first woke up they said I'm waking up and asked me how I feel. I said owww pain. It hurts. They said they are giving me pain medication RIGHT NOW. And it felt better right then. They had given me Dilaudid when I needed the rougher med but they used Toradol for inflammation and pain in the meantime and Fenergan for nausea or whatever it's called. They gave me something else right before surgery too for like acid or whatever but I forget what it was.
 
So I was in and out a lot. Dilaudid pretty much makes me pass out. I had gotten a swab sometime in the later evening and I think a droplet had gone down my throat and I got nauseated and started dry heaving. This lasted only a brief period because the nurse took an alcohol prep pad and waved it in front of my nose telling me to breathe deep and I did. The aroma strangely made me calm down from heaving. I didn't have true on nausea at all. Just onset of heaving. I had another 2 or 3 bouts of that that night as they gave me Dilaudid but they started giving the Fenergan with it and I was fine after that. At home I dry heaved only 2 times from pain medication and that's been it. I stopped taking that nasty garbage.
 
So at home I just staked out on the couch as best I could. Tried sipping my liquids and pacing the house or taking my dog on mini walks. It felt good to walk! I'm now 4 days out and I feel almost just fine except for 3 things. One I feel as if maybe I am getting a cold, I have that pre-cold groggy feeling. And the other 2 are pains. One is in my shoulder from gas pain, and the other is that odd diaphragm area spasming that is horrid but luckily only lasts a couple of seconds.
 
I had trouble getting my liquids in but I'm doing okay. I feel okay and energetic during the day. I sip a little protein, a little soup, or vitamin water zero or sobe life water or just plain water. I got some pain cramping when I had colder liquids at first but it seems to do ok now. I also really like SF chocolate pudding. Im going to try a fudgsicle later tonight.
 
As far as food goes. I get weird cravings for things. I know it's in my head and I have to control that. But sometimes I'm just confused at my body because my stomach grumbles all the time, but it gets really loud at random times and it doesn't hurt but it pangs like that familiar feeling pre-op when I would be so hungry that my stomach would growl and pang like that. So I'm not sure if I'm hungry or what. But it's really annoying and eating a little pudding or soup does alleviate it a little. Although the noises don't stop for long at all. I also wanted to add in here that I do get a bit grossed out by some foods now that I woulda just been like "ehh" about before and not really gotten that weird gag feeling when something smells or tastes gross. I can't even eat broth of any kind and some of these "cream of" soups do the same thing. I have no idea why! I do like those soups normally so not sure what the deal is now but I'm dealing with trying out other things. I realized I can get a soup that has things in it but blend and strain it afterwards and it does actually hold the tastes of everything that was in that soup. I had a tomato and rice by Campbell's and blended and strained it out and it tasted like it. I have a bacon and bean soup that's also 98% fat free that I found and i'll do the same thing with that. It sounds good, something different. I don't have to resort to only 1 kind of soup! Just strain strain strain! Another thing I did was today my parents had something for dinner in a skillet that had green beans, onions and chicken breast chunks. It had a lot of juice that tasted really delicious that I strained out and sipped on. It was really good!
 
Other than that, I feel great. I feel super apprehensive about the type of sips I take and how much soup or pudding or whatever I should eat. I don't know what my limit is and I definitely don't want to PUSH it. I never truly feel hungry to begin with so I'm not sure when I'm FULL if that makes sense. I haven't felt much tightness yet from eating those things but I think I read a few places that people don't always feel that tightness too much until mushy phase. So I'm not too worried about it. I'm just worried about what will happen if I do push it on accident.
 
The only other uncomfortable thing has been a couple bouts of hiccups. Those HURT! Oh my gosh do those hurt.
 
The pain was horrid and I had a few moments in my head that I would probably not go through this again had I known how it would feel but it didn't last that long for me so I think that maybe I do not truly think that at all. If I use this tool wisely and utilize it well to lose weight like I need to then I will be fully satisfied. I just hope that I can stay on track. I know I will.

OK, so un-lucky me, I had to be one of the "UN-lucky" ones that had a very hard time with nausea either from the Anastasia, or the fact that my doctor had to also repair two hernia's while he did my sleeve! I had a higher up one and a belly button one too. I didn't feel to bad the day of my surgery, and thought, "Oh well, this isn't so bad"! Unfortunately the next day I was not doing so swell! I woke up feeling like I'd been hit by a Mack truck, and so nauseated I just wanted to "leave my body", and go somewhere, anywhere else, but in my body right now feeling like I did. They gave me drugs to help with nausea, but it didn't help really at all. I hadn't pre-pared myself for feeling this badly! My poor husband felt so bad for me, and I could tell he wanted to help me, but there was nothing he could do for me! I thought I'd only be in for a couple days, but ended up in there from Tuesday morning until Friday morning! I got to say, I was thinking, "What did I do to myself"? That is until I got home, and felt a little better on Friday, a little more better on Saturday, and little more better on Sunday, and then woke up Monday morning feeling like a NEW women!! The nausea was completely GONE!!! Things actually smelled good again, my drinks actually tasted good again too. My wonderful nurse's in the hospital kept telling me that I would turn the corner one of these days, and start feeling better, and they were right! I went in for my post op check up, and I lost 5 pounds since day of my surgery, but I'm still swelled up, and have fluids from my hospital stay. Would I still do it if I knew then what I know now? Yes, yes I would! It will get better! I promise!

Hello all, on Thursday November 15, 2012 I will be officially sleeved!! It has been a long time coming and it is finally here. I feel like I am about to open up a new chapter in my life. I can't wait to feel comfortable doing the things I've always wanted to do like wearing a cute little mini dress of going to the beach in a BIKINI. That would be amazing or how about even doing the everyday things like riding in those tight seats on the airplane and amusement park rides. I can't wait for my clothes to start loosing up on me because right now they are kind of tight, lol. I can't wait to finally wear shorts without feeling mortified that my thighs look all jiggly and gross. Most of all, I just can't wait to finally feel comfortable with myself and the skin that I'm in. I'm in college right now and finishing my last semester, so I will be missing a few days of school. I hope my recovery time won't be too long because my plan is to go back to class on Monday. Any advice for me? My soon to be fellow sleevers. What to expect? Will the pain be bad? How long do I have to wait before doing physical activity, like playing basketball? Wish me luck all!!!

Happpy Birrrthhddaayyyy to meeeee! The greatest present I could have ever given myself? VSG. Period. End of story. I paid out of pocket and went broke for this surgery, and my only regret is that I didn't do this sooner. I've never in my life experienced this kind of weight loss success, the little bit I did came from extreme dieting, deprevation, and I dare say an eating disorder. Nothing ever lasted. I might get excited at a few Weight Watchers meetings than, bam, it would come right back on with in a month or a couple of weeks. I use to be relieved to lose just a few pounds over the course of a month, today I'm now down over -40 lbs since surgery 12 weeks ago. This week I lost an addition -2lbs and yesterday I celebrated my 29th birthday. Normally this event has me plotting out my food plan of attack 2 weeks in advance. I would eat anything and everything and use my birthday as an excuse to binge. This year I did not, and could not. Old habits are hard to break, I even picked up a couple of my favorite go to items, and low and behold my sleeve wasn't having any of it. I felt foolish for even trying.
 
I found a dress (a business bodycon style dress) in my closet that I bought over 2 years ago online. I was overweight but I figured if I lost 20 lbs it might fit and I was in love with the style. When it arrived in the mail I was so deeepresssseeeeddd to learn that even if I lost 20 lbs that dress was NOT going to fit. I felt bad and humiliated as usual, but instead of returning it as I should have, I hung it up, tags still attached and moved it to the back of my closet... because maybe, just maybe one day something magical might happen. Last week I rediscovered it and almost gasped. Could it be?? The dress?! But have I lost enough???? Well, I put it on and bam... it fit. Like a glove. It only took -40lbs! But it fits!
 
I wore it for the first time yesterday on my birthday, then wore it watch Maya Angelou lecture on women in leadership, then proceeded to a dinner date. It wasn't a huge blow out birthday, but it was GREAT. And I felt GREAT. And I felt beautiful. I haven't been able to say that in a long time. I felt beautiful. Today I took the day off from work, and spent have the day at a spa getting a massage and facial, and the other half of the day completely gutting my closet. I literally cleared out HALF of my clothes that are too big for me. My room is a disaster, but I knew that these items had to go. I finished up with a late lunch with my exboyfriend who has been randomly appearing a lot more lately (giggles). Tonight is my birthday party with friends, followed by a going away party for another friend tomorrow night. I'm about to see a whole lot of people I haven't seen in a while and I know there will be LOTS to be said!
 
Birthdays use to be about food, and celebrating with food. This birthday was about celebrating me, and I went a totally different direction. I definitly see more birthdays with Spa Day's involved including a new special birthday outfit. Here's to new beginnings, new bodies, and new traditions. Cheers!
 
Height: 5'9
 
Highest (Surgery) Weight: 216
 
1st Primary Goal Weight: 169
2nd Optimal Goal Weight: 145
 
Sleeve Journey:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 8/17/12- PreOp/Surgery Day w/Pics Posted in Blog
Week 1 (8/24): 204.8 (-11.2)
Week 2 (8/31): 200.6 (-4.2)
Week 3 (9/7): 196.8 (-3.8)
Week 4 (9/14): 193.5 (-3.3)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 9/17/12- 1 Month Anniversary w/Pics Posted in Blog
Week 5 (9/21): 191.6 (-1.9)
Week 6 (9/28): 190.1 (-1.5)
Week 7 (10/5): 187.0 (-3.1)
Week 8 (10/12): 181.9 (-5.1)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 10/17/12- 2 Month Anniversary w/Pics Posted in Blog
Week 9 (10/19): 181.4 (-.5)
Week 10 (10/26): 177.9 (-3.5)
Week 11 (11/02): 176.8 (-1.1)
Week 12 (11/09): 174.7 (-2.1)

I'm sleeved
 

It's Monday, and the good news is that it seems that the sharp, debilitating pain I was having on my left side has dissipated. It is now just a sore area that is tolerable. Prayers work!
The bad news, the local surgeon I was going to try to switch over to will not follow up with me. He apparently is not doing sleeves after all. So I am still debating about following up with my original surgeon for the long run. I still think I will try to find another office-I have just really lost all faith in him and his office staff.
But I am SO GRATEFUL to my Lord for touching my body and giving me relief! I think this is how I was supposed to feel at 2 weeks out. I really can't pinpoint when the pain stopped, but I realized on Sunday morning that getting out of the chair did not elicit that terrible stabbing pain. I kept expecting it to grab me all day, but nothing I did made it come....I pray it stays that way!
Thanks to everyone for the prayers and support, hopefully now I can focus on losing weight and rocking my own lil' sleeve!

Went to get my blood work my physc evaluation and dietian stuff done everything seemed to have gone well now I just gotta do my heart scan on Nov.20..Ive tried to get all the info I can on here about the sleeve and peoples experiances So right now I feel pretty good about my desicion

So glad that's over with, the therapist was so nice. He said all is good, no problem areas, so now I'm scheduled for my final surgeon appt on Nov 14th. Not looking forward to getting cut open but ready to get on with it.

Well, I am doing good today! Maybe because my husband was nice enough to sleep out on the sectional with me last night. It felt like a slumber party!
 
I have my first post op appointment with Dr. Kemmerling Tuesday and it can't come fast enough, maybe he will clear me for puree two days early!
 
I feel like I am healing pretty darn good! My 5 inch long incision doesn't look so scary, it looks ALMOST gone, just a few more days and it will just be a pink mark. The doctor will cut my one stitch and it will feel a lot better, I remember that from last time I had a stitch by my incision.
 
I have only 4 more days and I am onto puree! I will not lie, I cheated a bit today. :ph34r: I was not sure how things would taste so after I made my husband (Golash- Hamburger, noodles, corn, string green beans, milk and cream of mushroom soup) It tasted so freeeekin good. I am SO ready for the puree time to come. I told my husband that I cheated (he ran up north to bait for hunting) and he was really upset at me, and I felt bad but that little cheat gave me some hope that the days will get a bit easier.
 
High hopes for the rest of my and everyone's recovery! (I am having a little "stabbing" pain every once in a while on my right side but it may just be muscle pain
 
I just have to keep taking it one step at a time! That't my anthem song, think it fits well.
 
Stay positive everyone!!!!
Ang

Wow, I feel I have progressed 10 fold overnight! I have had such an amazing day, pain is still bugging me where I took a dose of the "hard" meds from the dr. but all in all, great day.
 
I really want to start the puree diet BAD, I would vow to stay on it for three weeks but I know my tummy inside needs to heal.
 
:/

Had a good week not just in terms of weight loss but more so emotionally. I am just really found myself admiring myself, loving the newfound me this week. I even had to check myself not to be looking in the mirror so much. I bought a dress pre-surgery that I loved but it was also only $8 so that made me love it even more...Well, it was an an "XL" and even still was pretty tight but I put on my spanx and made it work. (I had to walk with my legs squeezed because you could hear the spanx rubbing together. I had the leg kind on). Well, I wore this same dress on Wednesday and oh what a differnece. I wish I would have taken a picture now. But the dress was so much longer, dragging the floor even since it had less to go around. Those spanx that used to hold everything tight were actually too lose and so I put on another pair that I had outgrown...First no swishing as my legs dont overlap as they did...Still touch but no overlap...My stomach look as if it is was not there and the dress just flowed from me...Not snug in the least bit. In fact, I think I had my last wear in it because it will be too big by the time I put it back in the wear cycle.
 
My sleeve buddy posted in our FB support forum, how so many of her milestones are marked by her remembrance of her weight and as I got to thinking about I have several of those moments too...Weight really had taken over my own being...Funny thing is I am still marking milestones but its not marking them with a new look as my weight goes down. I go home to visit my family back in Arkansas and it will be the first any have seen of me since having surgery. I am both nervous and excited about their reaction. I think a lil more nervous then excited. I is my motivation to really work hard and maintain a straight line with diet compliance so that I can see 180lbs by Nov 19th. Pretty lofty goal but I know really think I can make it happen with "Two-A-Day" workouts...I love the Insanity workout which I do in the morning and then in the evening 4 days a week I will get my run on. And speaking of running, I committed myself to a running a half marathon on June 1, 2013. Keeping a goal such as this in front of me keeps me motivated to stay on the grind, particularly during the winter months when it becomes easy to get lazy with a warm blanket and hot chocolate.
 
 
HW 232 & SW 227 (VSG 08/17/12 & 5'8)
LW 196.2
CW 193.6 [Total Weight Loss 38.4]
GW 155

Started back on liver shrinking diet yesterday, thought i would be ok but wasn't, because i have had some wws puddings etc i found i was really hungry yesterday and have a headache due to lack of sugar and carbs.
I had my flu jab yesterday and don't usually have a reaction but feel really yuk today.
Rang up dri yesterday to see if my blood test results were back, and was told by one person they will be back on the 29th but the pre op assessment nurse said it could be weeks.
all the bariatric team are off until 1st nov, but the preop nurse said she will contact me if the results are back before then.
So here i am again shrinking the liver in the hope that i can be fitted in if there is a cancellation if my tests are back and i only need a vit K injection, but if i find i have to wait longer can go off the preop diet, but then the pain will begin again, when i start again.
I read today that God doesn't break a bruised reed, am feeling very bruised, but God knows best.
Mom was supposed to come home today but was told today it will be early next week now, she is going to be so upset, i am too, all this waiting and dissapointment is really testing, don't understand why, but such is life.
I am even more determined to get my operation, if i ever had any doubts, i don't now, i am ready for my sleeve NOWWWWWWWWWWWWW, lol, God give me strength.
Found a great web page yesterday, bariatriccookery.com if any one wants to take a look, it has some great post op recipies.
Keep up the good work friends, it will all be worth it when we get to our healthier small selves, meanwhile i will keep on learning from all of the great people on this forum, xxx

I am so blessed to sit here and write that surgery went well. better than expected outcome, I did not feel any pain or nausea. I didnt even use the lortab i picked up for post op pain. I am a little disappointed that i have i did not drop any weight since pre-surgery. i only weighed myself all week the first seek after surgery and the number did not go below 240. i figured i will wait until my 2 week post op appt to weigh in with doc and ask him why! I know it could be any numbe of reason. but in the back of my head i'm thinking, am i the exception to the rule? i know i'm just freaking out. i can tell my clothes fit me loose and and my face is already smaller. but i can sure take in a lot of fluids. i mean i have no problem getting in 64 ounces of fluid. today i tried my puree soup with 3 saltine crackers. and i feel ok. last week, i took a nibble of a cheeseburger sample at costco. i thought it would be stuck or something, but it didn't. it was mostly the meat and i chewed it well. since then, nothing other than liquids. and walking. i've done it every day so far, tonight i may skip it. i had my first massage post surgery and i feel a little sore. maybe i;ll get up early and have a nice saturday morning walk.
ahhh thanks for listening. ttyl

Well this morning my hubby went with me to my 3 hour appointment with Dr. Gluck, his Nurses, his nutritionist, and about 8 other people who are scheduled to have their surgeries with in a few days of mine. We talked about what we can expect the 2 weeks on the liquid diet, what we can ,and can't eat the next 5 weeks. We talked about the sleeve, and what was going to be done to us during getting sleeved. Signed some permission papers making SURE we understand any and all the possible risks. That part is kind of scary, but I'm counting on my faith in the Lord to see me through! I start my liquid diet this coming Tuesday, and I know it won't be easy, but I'm sure I can do it!
 
On another note, Dr. Gluck was VERY pleased with me on the weight I lost these passed 7 months (40+ pounds!)
He said I'm the perfect person to get the sleeve, because he can tell I'm serious about my weight loss and exercise.
I know the sleeve is a great "TOOL" to help me get down to where I want to be, and make it easier to stay there! I know I can lose weight, because I have done it many times, but never more than 50 pounds at any one time, and it never stayed off! The sleeve will help me to continue to eat less, and eat healthier! I'm ready for 2013 to be a great new year, with a great NEW ME! I'll be able to live my life without limits, instead of a life of just existing . Know what I mean? I can't wait to be able to do more things with my wonderful husband of 35 years, our awesome kids, and our super special grand kids! The sky is the limit! Ready or not world, here I come!