Murphy1109

Congrats & Good luck ! I just had mine on the 14th and the biggest pain was the gas. The best advice I can give for gas is move around and walk to loosen the gas and burp! I was in pain till I listened and got up for a walk after that it all fell into place and life was good!

Congrats!!

I know Kaiser has support groups all over. To help you find them goto Yahoo and look for Kaiser bariatric support groups

Thanks Shannon for all the good vibes! It's real nice to have people cheering for you. I got over the omelette but it's all a head game and I'm too close to surgery to risk a foul ya know. Be patient with your sis, she might be scared of change or the surgery itself, try to remember how you felt. You got to want this for yourself and nobody else.Now that I'm done sounding all wise & stuff, give your sister some room to take it all in cause it's A LOT. Way To Go making the smarter choices and if you fall short here or there don't worry just get up, dust yourself off and keep on going. Glad your counseling is going good that's a positive.

I use to be one who thought this was cheating that you don't need it to lose weight. For me, I was wrong. Back in 92'I lost 180 lbs in a year by eating right and walking. Slowly I gained it all back and twenty years later here I am. People at work were great support encouraging me and all then I started losing my weight pre-op and they said "Why do you still need the surgery when you're doing good losing it all on your own." Believe me I was like WTF? at first then I simply told them that this is something I need, it's a tool that will help me control my eating.

Congratulations! Thank you for being honest to everyone and yourself. That's a step forward.

Congrats! Keep it up you look good. Got my surgery tomorrow.

Yay! Got my surgery time! I check in at 11 am and start to prep for the surgery.

I'm almost scared to say what I gotta do...... I have my surgery on the 14th and I have to have liquids for today and tomorrow. Protein shakes for snacks in between meals, broths, light cream soups, sugar free jello or puddingjust nothing solid.

I know right! I'm on the liquid diet today so I can have soups, protein shakes, sugar free jello, protein supplements etc.... It's A LOT easier filing up on the liquids than I thought, imagine that :-). The hard part came this morning when I was cooking a grilled cheese for my fiancée and my son comes out and wants me to make him an omelette. The grilled cheese wasn't an issue but the omelette was a hard one cause I love omelettes and I'm a good cook. Sooo I get out make book and show him that this is all I can eat right now and he understood a lil better. Enough bout me.... Sorry about you and your sister,I wish she'd give the surgery a try because it'll help her be happy, healthy and just enjoy life more. So tell me, and the world, :-) about your appointment. Did things go as planned, new things come up, what? Glad to hear that your Boyfriend understood what you were asking of him. Happy for you making the smart choices at the store, as you know that's what it's all about. Just an FYI, you probably know already, I just made a protein shake from Perfect Zero Carb Isopure 100% whey protein isolate and it tasted ok but I figured out that it I add a squirt or two of Mio it tastes way better. Kinda tastes like I smoothie now WOOHOO lol

It took me from July to February so 7 months and that's because I didn't follow the plan and didn't exercise like I should've. I'm proof that if you do be mindful of the sugar that you take in and the total calories and make smarter choices you will lose the weight. It might be a slow process but this isn't supposed to be a quick fix. So what if you lose weight faster or slower than me or anyone else. I say "Congratulations!" You are losing weight! Everyone's body is different so what works for you might not work as good for me. Don't worry you'll do fine and learn more about yourself on your weight loss journey.:-)

From all that I've seen or heard about Kaiser it is. There are cases that are the exception to the rule but it's the surgeons call. Don't worry about a thing, if you follow the diet plan in the book and stay at or near 1200 calories a day and exercise the weight will seem to melt off of you. Some days more than others but you will have times when you don't lose and days you gain but it is all normal. The main reason, I feel, they do it is because you are changing your bad habits for good ones and it takes repetition and time to retrain yourself to change your ways. This procedure is nothing but a tool that counts for 25% of the problem the remaining 75% is in your hands to succeed or fail. I was nervous or too prideful about going to support groups or just talking about my issues but then I went to one then two then on here and watching YouTube and it's helped sooo much I can't put it into words. It is such a relief to know i'm not the only one, I'm not a screw up or a freak of nature. I'm a person with a disease that can be managed or cured with help from my Dr and other people in the same boat. Sorry... Just trying to encourage you not meaning to sound like I'm preaching lol. I have my surgery this Thursday so I'm a lil nervous, really excited but if you want to know anything at all just ask. :-)

Thanks! Yeah I'm impatient, I want to know the 5 W's. Who, what, when, where, why and sometimes how lol. I forgot to tell you to get the app. My Fitness Pal, I love that app for recording my intake and exercise. It tell you how many calories you take in, burn off, and you can use a scanner for bar codes on food you buy to log it in. All you have to do is the basic setup and it's kinda like having a dietitian/nutrition in your pocket. My ex had the RnY back in Nov 07 and she's lost a lot of weight but she didn't have such a good time with it. When she got home I was supportive to a point, I know Bad Husband!, but that was when she was just barking orders out at me and the kids and putting us on her diet so she could deal with her new dietary life. Point is, be careful with dealing with your boyfriend on his eating habits. Don't yell at him just calmly tell or ask him for his help by not bringing home that pack of donuts or gallon of ice cream. Find a happy medium that both of you can live with and with his help and your determination the next thing you know your dessert will come to the table you'll have a nibble or two and give the rest to him. Win win situation if you ask me lol. My fiancée is Very good about things like that, she's always concerned about my wellbeing and others before herself. Oh yeah! Think about this, you will be able to get full on a Happy Meal after the surgery plus toy lol.... Bonus! .... I personally think that food chains should have a healthier, smaller portion sized menu for WLS people.

Ahh, sooo you're a sweets kinda gal huh lol. I just had a Krispy Kreme fix bout 3 weeks ago! That might come back and haunt us in the future with the dumping syndrome you can get after surgery. I think you'll do fine. That weather sounds like ours here, sometimes it's cold and frosty the next day I'm wearing shorts lol. I was born and raised in NC so I'm use to the seasons but it still gets me that out here you can go from 28° 1 day to 65-70 the next. You know, I'm still concerned about the eating after surgery difference of your plan and mine but whatever works best for you ya know. Well I'm going to start weening myself off solid foods today prepping for my 2 day liquid diet. WooHoo Funny thing is I know what day the surgery is on but they haven't given me a time to be there. lol They told me that sense I'm sliding into an opening they'd have to wait for the surgeons to see where I fit in to schedule it a couple days beforehand. Wait, that didn't come out right! Opps... Anyway I'm just gonna shut up and drag myself to the corner lol. Have a nice day!:-)

Hope you're not too snowed in there. I'm in N Ca so the weather I'd as little milder here. Don't push yourself to hard to fast on the stairs Do you smoke? Don't worry, I won't get all self-righteous on you I use to smoke, just asking. I think it's strange that your dietitian is telling you to eat more than 3 times a day but if it works for you then go with it! Everyone is different in what works for their body. UHC is a pretty good Ins. Co, of course it all depends on your plan. You know what works for me is the plan Kaiser has. It's a diet plan where I eat 1200 calories (give our take) and have 3 meals and get in 64 oz. of fluid in a day. They aren't hounding me or having me check in our anything like that. I'm free to make mistakes, learn and see what works best for me. Right now I'm losing weight without having to exercise everyday.

You bet I'll keep you posted! You're almost there yourself so keep at it! Just curious how many calories are you taking in a day? I'm taking in anywhere from 900-1500 calories and it took a little getting use to but it's like second nature now. The part that I'm having trouble with is walking everyday like I'd like to, sometimes after work I'm just not in the mood to walk our it's to late to do anything. I've been lucky with this program and have done better than I thought. I've heard horror stories about getting approval and different things you must do at Kaiser. At Kaiser, what I've heard and know is that there are different standards in the programs depending on which Kaiser / Doctor it is.

I have Kaiser Ins. so I had to go by their guidelines (attend an options and orientation class and a nutrition class) before I saw a surgeon. Those classes took the longest to set up with my work schedule and the class schedule. They gave me a notebook that outlined Everything that I needed to know, diet, exercise, different eating habits etc... I saw my surgeon in July, we talked and he said let I needed to lose down to 355 lbs. He recommend the sleeve and that's what I wanted. I went home and started to form a routine of eating and exercise that fit me and I weighed in about every 2 weeks. Slowly it all fell into place and I was losing weight steadily, some times faster than others. The diet I was following didn't seem like a diet. I was eating 4 oz. of protein, fruit, veggie and a bread most every meal.Some weeks I walked more than others. I had good support from family and friends at work. My struggles have been snacking when I know I'm not hungry but just needed a lil something. Simple ways I worked that out was to do some exercise, work, hobbies, read, walk, drink water do anything to get your mind off food! Sometimes I would snack on fruits or Rice Krispy treats but I'd give up something else later. It all came down to changing bad habits for the good ones. Right now I'm just a little nervous for the fact that it just got REAL and I don't want to screw it up and have it all be for nothing. I want the sleeve for a tool, something that helps me control my eating and I'm way more comfortable with the vertical sleeve. I have to be on a clear liquid diet for 2 days before my surgery. I hope that helps.

Hi Shannon, thanks for the link. I'm Murphy and pretty new to all the WLS stuff but I've got a surgery date set for Feb 14th. If you don't mind comparing stories and all that I don't mind either. I'm really not that nervous about this much just curious to see what's in store for me ahead you know.

I'd like to follow your vlog but when I click the link it says that it isn't public

Califmomto4.... Congrats on taking the first step to living a new life! I'm in the S Sac program and I Love it! The people/Dr's are very nice, helpful and concerned about your health. I'm scheduled for surgery on Feb 14th with Dr Grinberg. Let me see of I can help you with your questions. 1) You get weighed everytime you see them and they took my weight from my heaviest when I first went to see my PCP about the program. 2) They (Kaiser) generally want you to lose 10% of your weight to get you use to your new way of eating habits. I lost 10 lbs before I saw Dr Grinberg and he went from my heaviest weight. 3) They give you a notebook full of everything you will need to know like diet, exercise and what to expect. 4) You see the psychologist when you get within 5 lbs of your goal weight. 5) The timeline depends on you, how fast you lose the weight and adjust to the changes that you're making.

I think you'll see Dr Ramezani, but do not worry about a thing! Dr Ramezani was totally cool to talk with, you'll be comfortable talking to him. When I saw him we talked about things going on in my life if I was ready for the surgery, if I had support from family, friends etc... I told him the hard parts of the journey I was having some problems with and he recommended a book to read and to maybe attend"Mindful Eating" classes there that he teaches. Attend support groups and do what you're doing now by talking and asking questions from groups/people online. He'll recommend that also. Just be honest with him tell him if you're having problems and they will help you out.

Congrats on the internship and the weight loss! You look Awesome and you can tell by the pics that you feel better and more confident about everything. It's nice to hear the good, happy stories on here, keep up the good work!

Congratulations Katie! I'm a newbie also and I just got my surgery date Friday for Feb 14th. You will be sooo excited, I was excited and then I was like Wow...this Just got real. lol I'm still excited about it none the less. So Congratulations! Keep pushing on.

stellajames... I'm in the program at S Sac also and Dr Grinberg is my Doctor too! lol he's kinda like Doogie Houser. I reached my goal weight this week and I'm set for surgery on Feb 14th WOOHOO! My experience with Kaiser south Sac and everyone in between has been outstanding!

Congrats all! I just got my date today also, the big day is will be February 14th. It's all starting to be real now.