rebecca_dsu

I already have really thin hair (pre surgery), so I'm being diligent to take my biotin, multivitamins and vitamin e every day before surgery, as well as getting in atleast 80 to 100 grams of protein per day. I don't know if it will help or not, but it sure won't hurt to try

I just got my box of samples in yesterday of some different nectar flavors... I'm sippin on the Caribbean Cooler right now (just mixed with Water and some ice), and it is fantastic. It's the first one I've tried so far I really hope my tiny tummy agrees post surgery Thanks for the heads up on this one and the BJ's site. I think I'll just order several more sample packets as I don't want to buy a tub of something and be stuck with just that one flavor. Thanks!

Can you give us the amount amount he charges? I'm already set with Dr. Aceves in Mexico, but if his prices are competitive with Mexico, I'll be sure to share that with anyone who sees my success down the road and wants self pay in the US EDIT: Never mind, I saw it on the website $12,500. Did you find that to be true? Did you have any additional costs other than the $12,500? Thanks!

You have made a fantastic change in your life and you look beautiful! Great job on taking the risk and reaping the reward. Thanks for sharing! Your story is inspiration for us who are just beginning the sleeve journey

Several people have mentioned in the forums of having hiatal hernias fixed during their sleeve operation. I don't think you have to worry about them making you have 2 surgeries You can also use the "search" function (on the menu bar where it says forums, community, photos, etc...) and search the forums for other threads where people have mentioned this. Good luck!

It's great to take some before shots, but you are going to wish you had some better before pictures instead of just in the mirror, uncropped, unrotated ones that don't really give you the best idea of "before". Have you seen some of the fantastic ones people post full body side by side images of before and after? These shots just aren't going to give you justice when you get to goal and get ready to do your side by side images. Get that husband of yours to take some full body shots from all angles and some face shots from the front and side, or a good friend Good luck on your sleeve journey!!!!

I think it's just wrong... but I'm not a mom.

It has been a ruff couple of weeks. I'm taking this food funeral thing a bit too far, and I've felt like crap and been depressed because of it. I know that the way I feel is because I'm eating the wrong things, not exercising like normal, and the scale is going up. I'm not sure if others out there are sugar addicts as well (meaning one of something is never enough, and you feel like a junkie when you haven't had sugar...but as soon as you do you are "all good" and can think straight again)....but I am so ready for this surgery. I'm ready for the pain and misery with having to deal with my food addiction in the weeks that follow, and that will be my "come clean" time. When I make it past about 7 days sugar free, I feel "normal" again...happy. But these days I can't seem to make it a day. (And I've been in counseling for 5 months now with no avail.....) Being that weak and lacking in self control feel so humiliating...but it's truth. I had planned to lose 10 lbs before going to Hawaii in a few weeks, but I feel so powerless right now, that I don't know if I can. I need to get back to "clean eating" even if just for the next two weeks to detox my digestive system (and brain). So starting tomorrow I'm going to. I hate the way sugar makes me feel. I seriously need this "intervention"....come on June 7th!!!

Whoohoo!! Another Onederlander!!! You guys are killin' it (this is the second post of onderland I've seen today) Great job!!

Yeehaw!!! Congrats!!! That is super exciting. Wait a minute...I thought NSV meant Non scale Victory...this is totally a scale victory! Haha!!!

So sorry you feel this way. But really...no 20 year old should be 230lbs either. Is there nothing you can do now that you couldn't do when you were heavier? Do you not feel better? Are you not able to move better or feel lighter? And if you wore a bikini at 230, I'm certain you were one of those gals who folks looked at and said "naw she didn't...someone tell her she doesn't look good in that". Sorry, I've never seen someone over 200lbs look "good" in a bikini. What you are talking about is vanity.... it's not about your health. Plastic surgery can take care of the lose skin. I just find it hard to believe you'd rather be fat, than be healthy and not be able to wear a bikini Here's the deal..every bad decision has consequences. The consequence of being obese is the fact you have more skin...and once you lose the weight, you have loose skin. It's just a "fact jack". So stop wishing you were fat again, and find you a nice slimming/sexy one piece. Ain't a dang thing wrong with a one piece. Or...find you a good plastic surgeon Chin up! It's not that bad...

Wow, that was brazen of your doc. But look at it this way (as I am): You have the ability to change the direction of your family. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree"...and what kind of tree are you? What is your child going to be like. Right now, you get to decide. Will you be the mom who enourages her kid to play video games because you can't get out and run and play with them? Will you be the mom who drives by McDonald's for a happy meal, or gives your kid liquid sugar (aka Capri Sun, Cokes, Gatorade) which makes them suffer in school or develop conditions like ADHD? Change your life now, get on a path of healthy eating now and movement now and change the kind of tree you are, so that baby you want is the shiniest, healthiest apple possible, and never has to go through what we are because they grew up with the best healthy roll model. A mom who ran around with them at the park, or road a bike beside them, or took them on hiking adventures at the local state park. A mom who introduced them to whole foods early in life so that they learned to love fruits and veggies instead of little debbie cakes and cokes. You are doing a great thing for you, your current family, and that future baby. Good luck to you!!

Are you drinking the isopure ready to drink, drinks...or the big tubs of isopure powder and mixing yourself with water and the crystal light?

I'm not post op...but my doc gave me the following info regarding what "clear liquids" are. Fruit smoothies would not be an option because they are fruit...and most folks add yogurt to those. If you were to add fruit to something...that would be in the "puree" stage. Here's what's in my post op instructions: ABSOLUTELY no solid food!!! Clear Liquids consist of: sugar-free Jell-O, sugar-free Crystal Light, Propel Water, Protein Water by Kellogg’s, sugar-free popsicles, clear chicken, beef or vegetable broth, water, decaf tea, unsweetened apple grape or cranberry juice. ** A high quality protein supplement such as Isopure or unjury (made of whey Isolate protein) should be used in order to obtain approximately 70 grams of protein per day.

I'll be down in Mexicali! Good luck to you!

Ah man, I am so worried about this. I am such a drinker/chugger with meals. I can't imagine eating without drinking. I guess I really should start practicing soon...

Fantastic!! You are kind of having the same effect I did when I first started losing weight... the illusion of bigger chest because your tummy is shrinking! Fantastic!! great job!!

Molly where are you having your surgery done? (I'm June 7th too!)

Princesstia you are looking beautiful with your lighter body!! Great job girl!!

No, I haven't yet. I'm scheduled for June 7th! I hope you'll stick around!

Your BMI is actually a little less than 41... (I am around your stats and thought that 44 seemed high so I recalculated it using the stats you gave on height/weight) I'm the same as you.... exercise isn't my issue...what I eat and the amount is. Good luck with those appointments and hopefully you'll let us know when you finally get through all the insurance rig em roll and get your surgery date!!

Dude...you look like you gave birth to that baby... Where did your stomach go?? Ha!!! Congrats! You are lookin' tight! Great job on not just losing the weight, but for strength training. Awesome!!

Hi there! I'm Self Pay also...going to Mexico, but to Dr. Aceves. I'm pretty sure the process is pretty much the same with any of the doctors down there. So here's my answers: Contact, timeline, etc..... Email. (I haven't had to call the patient coordinator at all. Usually I get a response to my emails within a few hours...sometimes minutes.) No approval process like insurance. There is a form you'll need to fill out with basics like height, weight, age, comorbities, BMI, current medications etc, and then the doc will approve you. I'm sure there are some reasons for denial...but I don't think there are many if you are mostly healthy except for general comorbities (high blood pressure, sleep apnea, high cholesterol, etc). I had my actual date scheduled within a week of initial contact. They could have scheduled me as close as 4 weeks out, but I chose to wait until June 7th for scheduling reasons. (trip to hawaii coming up in 3 weeks and my husbands school schedule had to be worked around). And absolutely by your birthday. I would think if you got your paperwork in next week, and your deposit, you'd probably be able to get a June date.

So this is my first blog entry on VST... I have a couple blogger blogs, but I'm not ready to share with blogland, and my family who reads those blogs, the fact that I'm getting ready to have WLS in 7 weeks. So, for now, I'll just blog here, with you guys A little bit about me. I grew up overweight...and not just a little. My weight began to climb when I was in first grade and by 5th grade I was 165. By the time I graduated from high school I was at 275, and by the time I turned 25 I was 320ish. I am originally from Mississippi (the most obese state in the nation), though I now live in Tennessee. I love food, especially sugar, and over the past year I've had trouble with binge behavior. When I turned 25, I hit my all time "pit of despair" moment. I was broke, having to move back in with my parents after being out on my own post college for only a year, and I was at my heighest weight. I decided to finally get my finances back in order, and to finally drop some weight. I had been on a ton of diets, but just like a yo-yoer I'd lose 20, gain back 25...but something "clicked" this time. I started cutting back and trying to make better food choices, and started exercising. I went from 320 to 245 in 2 years (2006 - 2008). I then met a boy, got engaged, moved to another state and got married, and here I am just having had my 3 year anniversary. Since 2008 I have yo-yoed again from a high of 255 to a low of 215 and I've been up and down and all around in between those numbers for the past 5 years...and it is BEYOND frustraiting and heartbreaking. I feel defeated. Every day I think about food...about wanting it, about wanting to lose the weight, about feeling guilty when I eat something I shouldn't, about needing to go the gym, about it all...and I'm "exhausted" of the merry go round. I agreed to move to TN because after losing some of my initial weight, I found out how much I love the outdoors, and being next to the Smoky Mtns, I have plenty to do. I love hiking, biking and kayaking, and sometimes, even running the local greenways. But I have a mental and physical battle against my own body, and the weight that holds me down. However, no matter how hard I try, I always end up turning to food, and with my big ole stomach, I can eat tons of it. On Easter weekend this year, after haven eaten about 6 reese's pb eggs & 2 cadbury eggs, and a ton of jelly beans...we were driving home from my parents when I got upset my husband wouldn't stop at a DQ for a blizzard. "You want ice cream after eating all of that...?!" I just felt horrible, and he was right. Why did I crave soooo much and have room for sooo much? From out of nowhere (well I believe it was the holy spirit...) the thought of weight loss surgery came to mind (all these years battling this and I never once thought of WLS as an option). Within a week I had secured the funds, the doctor, the airline tickets, and a surgery date. Now it's just a waiting game. I'll blog later about what I've done to try to lose the rest of this weight... but I do know I'm a food addict...well a sugar addict (I won't binge on broccoli and fish...) And I am fearful of finally having to face my relationship with food head on and break up with it. The past few weeks I have neglected the gym and I have had wayyy too many McD's chocolate chip cookies. My brain is freakin' out over what I'm about to do to my body, and I'm having a hard time just getting back into a place of maintaining my weight before I start the preop diet in a few weeks. But I am so ready...I've been ready... June 7th, it's on. Wish me luck! Before - 320lbs (2005) This Easter - 245ish (2013)

I am in East TN (Maryville). My mom lives down in Mobile... so howdy neighbor! Ha!! Good luck to you. I can't wait to hear about your journey as well