funinthesun00

Does anyone know anything about these? Would they be good post surgery? They taste really good. I have read not to take Iron with caffeine or dairy because it won't absorb as well. They get great reviews both on amazon and vitacost. I did a search on this site for them, but I didn't find any results. http://www.vitacost.com/natures-plus-chewable-iron-with-vitamin-c-and-herbs

My surgery is scheduled for 1/18. One of the things that really helped me was watching propel talk about their experiences on YouTube. Just do a search for vertical sleeve and ou should get a ton of results. It's so amazing o watch someone's first video and then their most recent. The transformation is amazing. One good one is verticalsleevereviews. Endobariatric is dr. Alvarez's channel and there are a ton of testimonials and before and afters. You can do this!

I thought this was an interesting article. I hope the link works. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/health/biological-changes-thwart-weight-loss-efforts-study-finds.html?_r=1&

This reaffirms my decision to get the sleeve and helps to explain why have always yo yo'd.

Yes, the surgery is tax deductible.

I just read your story. I will be going next week. Nsurgery is on the 18th. I have a question for you. How many others were having surgery that day and how was it decided who was going first?

I love hearing updates from people after their surgeries. Good luck to all of today's sleevers and keep us posted! I will do the same after my surgery on the 18th!

I am 5'2" and 182 right now. That puts me at a 33 bmi. I have recently lost 24 lbs, which was a real struggle for me to lose. So, at my highest weight my bmi was over 37.5 which is severely obese. I have struggled with my weight for over 20 years. I have been able to lose, but never to my "goal" weight and I have NEVER been able to maintain that weight for even 3 months. When I regain the weight, an extra 5-10 lbs seems to come along with the old weight. Even though I have really made serious efforts, my weight has averaged in the 190s over the past 5 years. Again, for my height, this is obese/severly obese. Also, I am a very actice person and I do really watch what I eat, which makes me feel like this battle is a losing one for me without the surgery. Also, I am getting older and I have noticed that it is harder to lose the older I get. Additionally, my family history isn't good. My dad passed away at the age of 69 and he yo yo dieted his adult life as well. I want to be around for my kids and grandkids. 60 lbs. is a ton of weight for us shorties. Those are just some of the reasons that I am having this surgery. I wish people would focus on bmi and not weight. One more thing. This was a big one for me. I did a lot of research not just on this surgery, but on obesity in general. I wanted to make sure that I was doing everything possible to get healthy on my own. One of the things that I found so discouraging (that I also knew to be true from my own many experiences) is that 95% of people who lose weight regain within 2 years. After 5 years that number goes up to 98%. I would like to ask all of the people who it bothers that "low bmi" people have this surgery, to ask themselves if they want to stop their weight loss journey when they hit a 33 bmi. My guess is that 99% of people will want to lose more weight and wouldn't be happy if that is all the weight they lost. I hope helps you understand my choice.

I told my husband, my mom, and my best friend. My siblings do not know and no other family members. I haven't had surgery yet, so I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with recovery. We will see.

I have problems with that script font too.

Good luck to all of you getting sleeved tomorrow and later this week. Please keep us posted on your progress!! Here's to a great start to 2013!!

The side view is the one that got to me the worst too. I was under the impression that my boobs were bigger than my stomach. After looking at that awful picture, I now know that is not the case. :-( You are right. These pics are very motivating. Still I am in disbelief that the lady the pic is me. Ugh.

I just took my before pics too. The really depressing thing is these pics are actually after losing 24 lbs. I don't have any full body pics of me at my highes. I don't know about everyone else, but those pictures are so hard to look at. What is it about a picture that you can't see in a mirror? It is crazy. I apologized to my husband for getting so big and asked him why he didn't tell me. He couldn't believe I asked that. Of course, he thought the situation was obvious and joked that he'd have probably gotten a slap across the face if he brought it up (which may not have been too far off). Lol. Anyway, I honestly did not see myself as big as I was/am. Again, those before pics are sure hard to look at.

I feel like at this point VSG isn't brand new anymore. I think they started doing them (although not very regularly) about 8 years ago now. As far as I can tell, there is nothing that comes up down the road that worries me. It seems that regain is a possibility in every surgery and something we will all have to watch. If they did come up with something better, would you want to be one of the first to have it done? I sure wouldn't. Also, after they came out with that one, an even better one could come along. You could be waiting forever. I was considering the lapband 5-6 years ago because my comfort level wasn't there. My comfort level is there for VSG. If it isn't with you, though, maybe you should wait? For me, this is the surgery that makes the most sense and seems to have the fewest issues. I am going for it!

You look fantastic. How tall are you? We have similar body types I think.

First of all, you look fantastic! I love the boots. I'm so sorry that you are having some family issues. I think the mother/daughter relationship is incredibly complex and difficult. I hope it improves for you. Thanks for the update!

My date is 1/18 too! Who's your surgeon? Mine is dr. Alvarez in MX.

I'm the 18th. Lol. There are 1/17 sleevers on here. There are a couple of January threads. I would look there. Anyone else on the 18th?

I was the same way. 4-5 cans a day, easy. Several months ago, I decided to allow myself only 1 a day. Every day I had one and by the 3rd week of doing that, it wasn't a big deal anymore. After about 1.5 months, I gave it up completely. If I were you, with surgery coming up so quickly. I would wean myself to one a day for the next 2-3 days, then cut it out completely.

Actually, on your #1, I read that that statistic is after 2 years. After 5 years it's 98%. Not great odds.

This thread has really been helpful to me. I love the monthly breakdowns of weight loss. So helpful! Thanks!

I'm still pre-sleeve, but I have some of this "one drop" stuff and it totally works. Just put one drop in the toilet before you go and it almost eliminates the smell completely. Best. Thing. Ever. http://www.amazon.com/Kobayashi-10068105-One-Drop-Powerful-Deodorizer/dp/B000XCKMAI

I have also heard that there can be a 5-10 lb regain once you get to goal, so you might want to give yourself a little wiggle room.