lauri407

You can do this. It's not going to be easy, especially the first week. You are in a few days now so I know you are getting ready to hit the hardest part of this. On day two, I was dying for food, or at least I thought I was. The evil pizza Hut commericials came on and I thought I could smell and taste the pizza on the screen. That pizza would have tasted good for all of five minutes had I really had it in front of me, but it's not worth the chance to become the person is screaming to come alive while I lose this weight. You can do this. Be sure you have some Tylenol in advance to help with withdrawls from caffeine, carbs, and sugar. I went through one day of it and cried myself to sleep the headache was so bad. The next day my husband went to the store and got some and he was a lifesaver for doing that. Be sure to prepare yourself and set yourself up for success. This is great advice from SkinnyGirl. My jaws actually hurt from not being able to chew/crunch, etc. I didn't even think about crunching on ice. Get some of those Mios, Kool Aid, Icee flavor squirt bottles to change up your Water. I wish you the best of luck and remember to keep at it. This is a true test of ourselves and our will power. At my last appt. with my surgeon, he told me that when we get those pangs of hunger where it feels like we would be close to bartering to have a piece of food we aren't supposed to on our plan, that was our shrinking liver (and head) trying to trick us into thinking we need it. You are in control and can make the right decisions. Good luck!

Glad to hear that your original doctor could work something out, Dignity! I know you wanted the surgery earlier, but it will be here soon enough for you! I did end up switching surgeons after the dates/times were much further out than I wanted. I still ended up having a surgery date about a month later than what I wanted, but I feel that in some ways it helped and let me get my head wrapped around some things. That being said, it still was a huge reality check during the two week pre-op diet. I have more one week left of it to go. Use this time to get yourself and other support people around you ready to go. Good luck!

I know that I'm in the mist of withdrawls from caffeine, sugar, and carbs... along with that comes headaches. What can I take for these headaches? Am I supposed to take tylenol? I didn't know what pain relievers I was supposed to use if I had headaches or what not post-op but I could really use something right now. Hoping the headache stops. It's been with me all day and I want to cry.

Thanks so much for the replies. I will go to the store and get some tylenol. I think it's the withdrawals more than the lack of water. I'll pay more attention to my hydration though. My saving grace tonight is that it's close to bedtime. Today was my day four pre op.

Thanks so much for suggestions! Am looking them up on Amazon now. :-)

I've been much more of a lurker here and am now that today is my day one pre-op (surgery 1/15/14), I'm sure I'm going to need to be here much more often and regularly. Now for my question. For the past ~10 years, I've fluctuated around the 250lb. mark. Having become more sedentary the past few years, I'm now in the 315 range. I wish I wouldn't have gained those 60+ pounds but it is what it is and now I'm holding myself accountable and will soon have a tool to help me. In some ways, I feel the same exact way now that I'm over 300lbs. as I did when I was 250lbs. (at least I think I do). I'm scared that I won't feel successful after a 50lb. loss. I'm hoping to hear from others about what does 50lbs. lost feel like. Maybe I need to think about my loss in weight in how I feel or what I can do physically that I couldn't do before instead of looking at a number. Did 50lbs lost make a huge difference for you?

Thanks for the replies, keep them coming. It's great to hear that the number is going down, but it's the physical changes that are occurring that are making it feel "real". I think I will and have already thought about the fact that the emotional side of this will be a much slower change. I have so much to lose, in numbers, but there is so much I will gain from the loss. Thanks! I'm excited and nervous on my first day. The anticipation of waiting and prepping my body for two weeks will be an ordeal for me, I'm sure. I've read a lot of the stories and truths to these two weeks and I'm dreading the first week the most. Even getting up to this point was filled with anticipation. I talked through my "last supper" although I didn't actually have one. I kept coming up with food or drinks that I would miss or "needed" to have right then before the pre-op diet started, but I kept thinking to myself that it was food. It's not a memory or experience that I would relish or think about five years from now. I won that tiny battle, and I know I have many more to come. I love sweet iced tea and hot tea, so I need to get my hands on some decaffeinated tea. Do you have any suggestions for a sweetener that tastes natural and is safe?

I'm just on day one of my pre-op, so I can't tell you how much you or I will lose, although I'm doing the two shakes and then a small protein/veg at dinner. I was told that I could have hot tea as long as it was decaffeinated and using an alternative to sugar that was "approved". Good luck!

My surgery has been scheduled for 1/15/2014 at Henrico Doctors - Parham in Richmond, Va. I saw that madamsoul was also scheduled that day as well. Excited and nervous!

I don't post on here often but I have read your posts about your WLS adventure and am sending well wishes your way. I appreciate how optimistic you are despite all the hurdles you've experienced and are experiencing. Thanks for keeping us updated and I hope you are on the mend very soon.

VSGAnn2014 and others got it right when suggesting you talk to Human Resources. I'm dreading this exact situation happening to me after my surgery with one particular coworker who doesn't know/understand what is appropriate and what is not. It has to be hard as you're asking for her to help you in your job by making copies, but honestly, can you avoid her? I'd tell her that I don't want to discuss it anymore. If she brought it up again i'd go to HR.

Hi all. Dr. Bring man will be my surgeon as we'll. I'm self pay and he will stop doing the surgeries when I wanted mine done in mid December. I have to wait while he changes hospitals and will have it done hopefully at the beginning of January. I am in Midlothian as we'll. it's nice to meet others on here.

I'm a self pay and went to my initial surgeon appt, psych evaluation, and nutritional counseling the past few weeks in hopes of having the surgery scheduled for mid December. I was told they would call me with a date the next day and finally after three days I got ahold of the scheduler. My surgeon is switching hospitals and won't do anymore surgeries this year for self pay patients due to not having privileges at the former hospital in case of complications. She told me they would schedule me for early January but couldn't give me a date until sometime in December. Needless to say I'm frustrated and a bit down. I hadn't even wanted to come here to read the forums. I'm back down but still down. I totally had in my head that. I'd be starting the new year with a new me, but now it's up in the air. Maybe it's because I have no real control of this situation. Anyone else go through something similar? Anyone have some positive feedback on having surgery in January? Trying to see the positive in this situation...

I am in the waiting room for my nut appointment. After that I will meet the scheduler to make a date for my surgery!

As mazzers120 said, check out some local bariatric surgeons in your area, and go to a few seminars. They are free and will help you in figuring out insurance and other questions you may have. I went to one seminar and ended up at another practice, but I was able to use all the forms and information from the seminar to get the ball rolling. Good luck!

Definitely not alone. While this is a major reason for me wanting the surgery, getting to a healthy weight where I can enjoy my life and life with others is also a major component. I have PCOS too and have tried clomid once and have been on metformin. I'm hoping the new me will be successful. You're not alone!

Hi MissK, I just switched over from Bautista's group to Dr. Brengman. I have my first appointment in a week (10/28). I'm so glad you had a great experience. Are things still going well for you? I'm hoping to have my surgery mid-December. His patient navigator said that it would be very likely I could schedule as soon as Monday for the surgery since I'm self-pay. Congratulations on your surgery and thank you for sharing your experience thus far! Laura

Congratulations! That's terrific you were scheduled so soon! I'm hoping for a December date at my appt. next week.

Even thought the medical testing was for weight loss surgery, they still covered it as medical? I am hoping some of the pre-op testing would be covered but didn't know how to go about doing this. Did you have to get a referral from your PCP for general surgery testing and the psych evaluation?

Hmmm, I'm self-pay but having the surgery done stateside. My surgeon is still having me go through the psychological and physical evaluations as well as having nutrition counseling before my actual surgery. I figure that this pre-op testing and information is helpful to the surgeon who is trying to capture the best "snapshot" of me and my health. When I was considering surgery in Mexico, the surgeon I was looking at required most of the same tests the day before or sent via email. It can be stressful about thinking about the process of gathering all this medical history or the actual tests that will be given to me before I'm "approved" for self-pay, but it is what it is.

Hi there! I'm in Midlothian and went to the info seminar at St. Mary's Hospital yesterday. I've been considering WLS for awhile, but because I would have to be self-pay, I held off hoping the insurance exclusions would change or who knows what else. I was considering Mexico (Dr. Acevez), but the cost of doing it here along with some other variables made it a better choice. I had every bit of confidence in Acevez, and I feel that whichever surgeon I'm assigned here will be good as well. Our speaker was Dr. Nathan Lee and while he is younger, I was impressed by his credentials, experience, and knowledge. I called to schedule my first appointment today and I'm hoping to have surgery in December if I'm lucky! Laura

Hi Kim, I'm also new to the boards and hope to share my experiences while learning and sharing thoughts with others. You're lucky to have 100% coverage. I have to self-pay but I'm ready to make the financial commitment as we'll. I had thought about doing this for about ten years. I've now gained further weight, but am now able to make the commitment of this surgery. I'm in the process of trying to schedule the pre-op appointments now in hopes of a mid-December surgery date. What state are you from? I'm in Virginia. I hope the approval process goes quickly and smoothly for you!

Thanks for the post and the replies. I'm hoping to hear back from the office today so I can start to get these kind of pre-op appointments scheduled. Excited and nervous a.ll at the same time but ,softly mostly excited I'm ready to take this big step forward to the next chapter of my life.