phyllser

Today was an exciting day for me because I had my pre-op blood work drawn.... only two tubes... YAY! And I had my pre-op counselling with a dietician. Four weeks since I started my pre-op diet and I'm down 22 lb. A little over two more weeks until my surgery! The dietician said I need to up my calories and my protein intake. I've been averaging about 450 calories a day and she didn't like that. She said 1200, but we agreed tp 1000 and protein at each meal. So when I got home I went across the street and treated my self to a 6" turkey sub from Subway!! I won't do that again, probably, but had to have my "last sandwich"!! And I'd had to fast this morning for the bloodwork, so I was starving!! Tomorrow will be a challenge but I'm up to it! Our son is flying in from San Jose for some Navy medical appointments, so we're having a family picnic, him and our two daughters and their families. I'm planning to have a hamburger with no bun and a spoonful of beans and potato salad. My husband will raise his eyebrows, but he'll have to get over that. I plan to exercise restraint, but will indulge a little. God Bless to all and hope everyone has a fun 4th. The weather up here in the Pacific NW is supposed to be beautiful, as it was today!! :cool:

A week or so ago someone, maybe Breadlady (?) mentioned getting tank tops with built in shelf bra to wear in the early post-op days. That sounded like a good suggestion. I found mine at Wal-Mart under $10!

That's really encouraging... two of you home the same day and doing so well! God is good!! :whoo::clap2::whoo::clap2::whoo::clap2::whoo::clap2::whoo::clap2::whoo::clap2::whoo::clap2:

i'M STiLl HERE, Chimboree!! But its been quiet here. I check for new messages several times a day!! I know... I need to get a life!!

WOO HOO!!! So glad you're doing so well!!

Thanks, Danny, and welcome! This is a great group... very supportive and much encouragement here. Very enlightening, too, to read everyone's diffrerent experiences and how different the doctors' protcols can be as far as pre=op, post-op diets, etc. I have learned a lot in the few weeks since I found this site!

Anna, Pasting the bbCode should work. I had to do it several times before it looked right. Try again. Don't give up. Once its done, its real easy to update. Set up a password and Bookmark the page. Hope this helps.

JULY 20!! My surgery is also 7/20. Hope all your tests go well. I hav to get fasting blood drawn next week. Duh!! That's all I'm doing is fasting. Big deal..... I drink my Protein a little late that day. Dietician appointment coming up soon, too.

Oh yeah, forgot to tell ya'll that my laptop caught on fire! :omg: For no reason. Sooo...I'm gonna have to hook my desktop up so I can have internet access this weekend. Boy oh boy. That's the 2nd thing of mine that has caught on fire for no reason. My car did a few months ago...that was scary cuz I was in it!!! Anyhow...gnite gang. Will talk to you later! wOW!! Chimboree.... you must be HOT!! :omg::omg::omg::omg::omg:

Dini, We are SOOOO glad to hear from you. Our thoughts and prayers have been with you! We can take the bad with the good... that's okay. We need to know. And everyone's experience is different. So sorry about the headaches, your fall, badly timed period, etc.!! Hopefully, things will be looking up from here on! HUGS!!!

Getting concerned about not hearing from Dini. I haven't missed her post, have I?? :mad:

I've been thinking about Weight Loss Surgery for a long time, but could not seriously pursue it until my husband concurred, which was last fall. We attended an informational seminar in Palm Springs CA over the winter and began looking for a surgeon then. We were in CA for the winter, but moving to WA state at the end of April. My medical insurance is Medicare/Tricare for Life, so I had to use a "Center of Excellence". I was able to make an appointment with Dr. Jeffrey Hunter at Virginia Mason Clinic in Federal Way WA. We met with him on May 3, 2007 and he thoroughly discussed the pros and cons of both bypass and lapband surgery. He told me that he would want me to lose 10% of my body weight prior to surgery. I weighed in at 325 that day. I started a 1000-1200 calorie diet the next day. I lost about 2 lb. a week for the first three weeks. Then the weight loss stalled and so did my enthusiasm. In a short time, I had regained the 7 lb. I was supposed to have a second appointment with Dr. Hunter in early June, but his nurse, Stephen called me early that week and told me that I didn't need to come in until I'd lost the weight. So the next day I started on a 350-500 calorie diet. Its been three weeks and I've now lost 20 lb. Last week, after several phone calls to report my weight loss thus far, Stephen called me back with a surgery date of July 20. I will have to go in about 10 days prior to that for pre-op appointments with Dr. Hunter, the dietician and the anesthesia department. :ranger:

I've been thinking about Weight Loss Surgery for a long time, but could not seriously pursue it until my husband concurred, which was last fall. We attended an informational seminar in Palm Springs CA over the winter and began looking for a surgeon then. We were in CA for the winter, but moving to WA state at the end of April. My medical insurance is Medicare/Tricare for Life, so I had to use a "Center of Excellence". I was able to make an appointment with Dr. Jeffrey Hunter at Virginia Mason Clinic in Federal Way WA. We met with him on May 3, 2007 and he thoroughly discussed the pros and cons of both bypass and lapband surgery. He told me that he would want me to lose 10% of my body weight prior to surgery. I weighed in at 325 that day. I started a 1000-1200 calorie diet the next day. I lost about 2 lb. a week for the first three weeks. Then the weight loss stalled and so did my enthusiasm. In a short time, I had regained the 7 lb. I was supposed to have a second appointment with Dr. Hunter in early June, but his nurse, Stephen called me early that week and told me that I didn't need to come in until I'd lost the weight. So the next day I started on a 350-500 calorie diet. Its been three weeks and I've now lost 20 lb. Last week, after several phone calls to report my weight loss thus far, Stephen called me back with a surgery date of July 20. I will have to go in about 10 days prior to that for pre-op appointments with Dr. Hunter, the dietician and the anesthesia department. :ranger:

Congratulations, Trish!! So glad to see you have a surgery date! Our July calendar is certainly filling up. So good to be able to support each other. I see you are in my age group! That's encouraging to me, too, since most are younger than us.

Shopping?? I could go for that addiction!! At the moment, my addictive personality has become addicted to this website. I have my laptop on a tv table next to my recliner in the living room, always on, always checking to see if there are any new posts on the threads I've subscribed to.... about 15 of them!!?? do you think I need help???

Breadlady, We miss you, too, and are glad to get your updates. Congratulations on the 14 lb.!! Anxious to see you update your ticker! Sounds like you are enjoying the sunshine and the lake. Chimboree, your bracelet is beautiful. I ordered one at MedicAlert, but its just stainless steel.. its okay, but not as pretty as yours and its way too big for my wrist, so I'll have to have some links taken out. I may be big, but my feet, ankles, hands and wrists are very small in proportion. I was meant to be a petite person!! I'm sticking pretty close to my under 500 cal. diet, but the scale has not gone down this week at all and its very discouraging. And I've been very hungry this week... not so bad today, though. At least not yet this morning! Its exciting to see all our July dates coming up! :clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2:

Wow! July is filling up!! I printed the calendar a couple of days ago but now so many have been added I to print it again. Thanks for keeping that up to date, Chimboree! Dini, Hope you are feeling better by now! So sorry you had such a negative experience so far. Indiogirl, how are you doing with the smoking? We're cheering for you! 'm struggling with my pre-op diet. I've been very hungry for the past two days and the scale is not moving which makes it even more frustrating I am thinking of trying to switch to Adkins for a few days. I've lost 20 lb. but the dr. wants me to lose 10 more before surgery. I

Wadew1976, Hope you had a better day today. Noticed you are in Everett WA, too. I am being banded 7/20 at Virginia Mason, Seattle,Dr. Jeffrey Hunter.

Congratulations, Jacki!! cOME OVER TO THE jULY Lucky # 7's thread and get your name on the July calendar. :whoo:

Breadlady, I had to giggle at your internet dilemma. My husband and I once drove around Bullhead City AZ, laptop turned on and searching, until we found an open network outside a real estate office. We camped in their parking lot while we got online and downloaded our email and uploaded some photos! so it brought back memories of an RV trip to AZ a couple of years ago! I say, if they leave it open and unprotected, go for it! All of you having trouble uploading photo and configuring your tickers, I wish I could reach in to your computers and help you! I LOVE doing that techy stuff.

Dini, We're all keeping you in our thoughts and prayers. You are just a few hours from surgery now! That's exciting. In 25 more days I have my turn! We'll be waiting to hear how you're doing. I am in my 3rd week of pre-op diet trying to lose 30 lb. A little under 10 lb. to go. I want a little "BREAK" from this 500 cal diet to enjoy a few treats before surgery!

Valzie, You have to paste the bbCode & not the HTML code for this site.

Glad I could help, Mimey. FYI.... one way to email or send a private message to someone on this site is to click on the underlined screen name on their post. If they've entered an email address, that's where you'll be able to make a contact.

That's great!! I knew you could do it!!

Sorry, I can't resist trying to help with the techy stuff!! If I'd been born about 20 years later than I was, I probably would've been working in the computer world instead of nursing! LAINY: My post of last night on this board, 6:40 pm, gives some instructions on setting up the ticker at tickerfactory.com. Get back to me if you are still having trouble. They're fun, aren't they? MARCY: I'm not sure about including photos in your post... don't know if that's possible, but if you go to "Gallery" in the top menu, and then "Upload", you can upload your photos & then just let us know they are there so we can go view them. :ranger: