ribearty

You have done an amazing job. You look gorgeous in your photo. When I saw your picture, it wasn't how I had pictured you in my mind. I thought you would have had short hair, but not sure why. Keep up the good work.

I am very fortunate to have a great support system with my family. When I first got home my husband would ask me, "Do you mind if I eat this?" My answer to him was, "Just because I had weight loss surgery, doesn't mean you can't eat things." My biggest problem is I have been averaging a 50 to 60 hour work week for most of this year. I returned to work full time on 11/11 and have yet put in a 40 hour work week. This makes it difficult to exercise. I have had to plan and take food with me. In the past I would get in the office around 8 a.m. and sometimes not leave until 10 p.m. or later. I didn't know when I left that morning that I would be there. Prior to surgery, I would buy something from the vending machine. I knew that this would be an obstacle for me after surgery, and knew that the long hours would still be happening so I made sure to plan for it. Life gets in the way of lot of things. You have to make the best of it or learn from previous times so you make a better choice the next time. Laura, you have done a fantastic job this past year and I know you will continue into year two. I know for me I will have to plan for awhile until these good habits become automatic. Even with that I will need to examine and make sure that I stay on the path with the best decisions. Since I am a revision patient, I look at this as a second opportunity and want to make the most of it. I believe that by not following the rules and thinking I knew more about what I could eat contributed to my situation. It is time to put the pride away and listen to someone else who has helped others be successful with their weight loss surgery.

Congrats on getting your date. I remember the feeling I got when I found out I had been approved by the insurance company and again when my doctor's office called to schedule a date. If you can't find the diet on their website, call your doctor's office and ask them for the url . I would ask them to send an email with to avoid any guessing on how things are spelled. You can't help it if they called you today and that is not the full two weeks. Try to follow the pre- and post-op diet to the letter to mitigate chances of complications. Good luck with your upcoming surgery.

I did not drink for a few months after my first weight loss surgery, and when I did, the amount it took to get light headed was a very small amount. I had revision surgery on 10/25/13 and my doctor does not recommend you drink alcohol until six months out. I know when I have my next drink it will not take much to feel it especially with the sleeve since you have so little stomach area to absorb the alcohol. When you do partake, do it in moderation. It sounds like you have a good plan in place to not over do it.

I had a catheter for the first day. I was a band to sleeve revision. I had no problems after it was removed. A friend of mine had the same doctor, was a first time wls patient and she did not have a catheter. Ask your doctor if he uses them on patients during surgery. If he does use one, you will most likely be out when it is placed. Sometimes they remove it before you wake up also. Good luck on your upcoming surgery.

If you heat up the Premier, do you have to worry about it getting too hot and curdling?

I walked 3.5 miles today and did my ab crunches in Gamegirl's ab crunch challenge.

I am a band to sleeve revision also. I had my band removed and the sleeve performed on 10/25/13. My doctor uses a 32 French. There isn't that much difference between the two sizes. Did you ask the doctors why they use the size they use? One french is equal to 1/3 mm. A 32 french is 10.7 mm or 0.419 inches. Some people have longer stomachs than others. Here is a you tube from Dr. Alvarez where he explains about the bougie. Good luck to both of you with your upcoming surgery.

I have found my ability to focus is impaire and I am only 6 weeks out. I take vyvanse for ADD, and it does not seem as effective as it had been prior to surgery.

I am caught up. I got my grandchildren ages 4 and 2 to do some with me. They soon lost interest but it was cute to see them crunching along.

Newat52 I ordered some cuddl duds based on your recommendation.

I tended to be cold often prior to my surgery. It seems the only time I was hot was when a hot flash occurred or if I was outside riding my bike when it was warm. I am now six weeks post-op and cold all the time. At home I have two blankets on me and at work normally have a heater on under my desk. Susan, your post above doesn't give me hope that this will go away.

I had also heard that what they make you drink for your leak test tasted terrible. I did not have barium but it was a clear yellow liquid. I had myself prepared for so much pain and yucky tasting stuff and it was not bad. I think what I imagined was much worse that what actually happened. I was pleasantly surprised. Good luck to you and Quenny.

I think that you will see that the number of people who have problems is very small compared to the number of successes. One thing you can do to help prevent having to come back after your initial surgery is to follow your doctor and nutritionist's advice on pre and post-op diets. Don't have foods sooner than they recommend. Follow their program. They have helped several patients and know what is best for you.

Ree, When you are in the hospital on surgery day, you will have so many people asking you what surgery you are having. You will be asked your and birthday a lot also. They have your chart which states the surgery and they are making sure that your answers match what they have. The doctor and hospital also know what surgery the insurance company has approved. They will make sure you have the correct surgery. Your doctor's nutritionist probably sees a lot of patients and it is hard to remember each patient's surgery. I don't know if she has your chart with her when you are meeting. I wouldn't worry about them not performing the correct surgery on you. Good luck to you when you have your surgery.

Sabredy12 and Quenny, First congratulations to you both on your upcoming surgery. I too thought something would happen to me. I told my surgeon the first time I met him that if anything weird was going to happen I would be the patient. I also knew that if I didn't have the surgery that the ultimate end would be death because of being overweight but before that happened I could have a lot of other thing happen like stroke, poor quality of life. I also knew that my surgeon was very qualified and helped develop some of the procedures that are used today in laparoscopic surgery. I had faith in his skills. With any type of surgery there are risks. I was nervous going into the operating room because I had never had this surgery and was worried about pain afterwards. It turns out I was worried for nothing. I had no pain from CO2 used during surgery, I had some pain which was totally controlled by my pain medication. I had surgery on a Friday and stopped pain med by Monday. I was a band to sleeve revision in one procedure. I had so much energy the next week went walking every day and even saw other doctors with whom I had previously scheduled appointments. They were all amazed at how well I was up and moving around. Do what your doctor asks of you before surgery to help increase your chances of no complications, and follow their post-op diet instructions also. Don't try to rush foods before they say you can have them. Good luck and hope to hear your stories after surgery.

Hello Zoumommy. I live near St. Louis, Mo. I would be interested in being your buddy. If you are interested, please send me a private message. Thank you. Rita

What instructions do you have from your doctor's office or nutritionist? I am 6 weeks out today. I can now have frozen vegetables steamed. Might want to just eat the top and not the stalk portion until later and chew very well.

Sometimes depending on your policy coverage and state you have something called med pay which pays for bills related to injuries as a result of a car accident. It does not cause your premiums to increase. It is worth checking out on your auto insurance card or your agent.

Fiddleman, you can bail on this topic. When Gamegirl started this one she said it was "easy" and I think your exercise skills are way past easy.

I sure do. In the project management world when this happens, we call it reality because it looks so good written down on paper.

I looked up my hooker name. Until this post I hadn't heard of this. I found I have a "new name" Raquelle Glitzfire.