katesuccess

Hey there - I've been griping a lot about how long this was taking with my HMO, and even complained and then complained again when I didn't hear back. Also had a good advocate in the WLS clinic coordinator - and all told, but I got my psych eval moved from a psychologist to a social worker (more available) and that bumped me up nearly a month, then my pre-op scheduled for four weeks later - when I'd been told it would be 2-3 months, and expected a surgery date 2-3 months after that. Well, knock me over with a feather - but the surgeon himself called me today and apologized for all the run around I'd had AND said since he was seeing me April 24 that he could do my surgery on an opening April 29th! I about fell over!! My poor husband thought he'd have 3-6 months yet to get adjusted to the idea (we know how men tend to dislike change, right?!) and he was in shock. In fact as he's recovering from the news he says, 'Now you have to decide if you really want to do this I guess." Hello? H*LL YES I WANT TO DO THIS!! Have I talked about anything else other than work, kids and surgery since November? I think not. He's more or less recovered from the upset and is fully and totally supportive and all, but the shock was a stunner. Me too. Shocked, but thrilled! Kate

I saw those flavored broths in a magazine, but have not found them yet in a grocery store--glad they are on the shelf now, I'll take a look. i'm jealous of you losing weight in preop so well! I have been doing preop two but only one pounds lost it four days. Damn. But this is my busiest work time, so I am not getting much exercise either. Next week I will be able to walk more and hope to lose. I have to lose 7 to 11 pounds according to the doctor's handout booklet, and I thought on the pre-op diet I would lose faster, not so yet. The only good thing I can say is that it has not been as hard as I thought it would be to stay on it.

There seem to be some different color notatons, but I ordered the one called "Gold" and it looked good. Hope the 'tropical' flavor isn't too coconut-tasting! Do you just add it to water? Or drink it straight? I'm using a chewable vitamin now, and like it fine (Trader Joe's I think) but wanted a liquid one for post op so i'm not tempted to blow it off. Thanks again.

Be SURE to tell the coordinator Julie that! She was great in helping me find a way to press forward because I too have work that's vital in fall and follows the school year schedule. Just talk to her in person afterwards, and be prepared to send her a note about your concerns and time frame. Beeteroo - we're same day gals! And then Miss Mojo (love that name!) is the enxt - we're on a roll here. I can't wait. I've been easing into the prediet, but today started being strict with it. Not bad yet, and I think easing into it helped. Here we go!

Thank you SO much! I just ordered some. It's only 41.59 at Vitacost.com right now.

You guys will do great, congratulations on it being just around the corner now! Somebody at my support group said the same thing the other day, and all the veterans chimed in that they had felt that way for a few days before surgery to. Several of them said they are.had given them some anti-anxiety meds to take the night before and the morning and they really helped. Even though it is too late for that, just knowing so many people have that pre-op anxiety, tells me that it is not unexpected or Dyer, and hopefully not to worry too much. Maybe look at the before and after photos section of the website for inspiration? Hang in there, and I'll bet it will go fine.

I am still pre-op, and much restricted, but Easter dinner at my sisters is kind of the same problem for me. I am allowed one lean cuisine meal plus one cup of vegetable, and so I have to make dinner equivalent to that. Of course you are never invited to bring the thing that would be most helpful, right?! I think in addition to the flowers you could still bring a small veggie plate or small item to share that you know is safe for you to eat, and just say it was a recipe you wanted to try, or something that sounded good to you-- even a little white lie that you "had an upset stomach and are trying to baby it" doesn't sound like it would be a bad idea to quash the drama of people commenting or noticing your food intake if you do not want to tell them all. My gathering will be family and some extended family, and only about half of them know about the upcoming surgery. There is one family member who is bigger than I am, and another about my size, and we have all endured some difficult comments, so I do not want my surgery to become a topic of discussion that will make anybody else feel bad, or make my weight feel like the center of discussion--this one is my business, and up to me who and how much I tell! That said, it is also up to me to eat what is appropriate for me to eat, and so if that means I have to bring something other than what I was asked to bring, I sure will! Good luck at yours!!

What a great idea! Also I have seen sponson begin to advertise three flavor infused broths, but I have not seen them on the shelf yet. Or is a southwest broth, a Thai chicken broth, and a Chinese hot and sour broth. Maybe go to a bigger newer grocery store and see if they have any of those too. Good luck, and hang in there.

Oh thank you for posting that! I thought maybe I was the only one. I am still two weeks away from my surgery, but I have had zero interest in sex for a long time, likely because of how much I dislike how I look. At that said I still participate and love my husband very much--just no eagerness on my part. I am hoping that returns with weight loss! yesterday I put on the nightgown I bought for post surgery recovery time, since all my yoga pants have a snug waistband, I thought a nightgown would work better. apparently it is cuter than I thought, because my husband couldn't stop looking at it and expressed how very much he approved, LOL. I may have to rethink this as a postop night again if that's going to be his reaction!

I loved getting that packet! It made it feel real somehow. When you get the forms for your psych evaluation and fill them out, make a copy in case they get shuffled in the process of getting to the social worker or psychologist. That happened to mine and I filled them out all over again, (which was fine, because by then a couple months had passed and I was feeling better about it all.) How is the Capitol Hill support group? I may go to that sometime since there is that one overly chatty guy in mind, although the one I found it Overlake is good, just really big. I didn't get a date until after the psych eval was completed, just FYI. Also the orientation class was great, and if you have a key support person it's good to take them with you. My husband got all of his questions answered, even some he did not realize he had! None of it was new information to me because of reading these great message boards and having been researching this for so long, but it was REALLY good to meet the nutritionist and dr Landers! I would definitely connect sometime, maybe to take a walk, since doing cardio before hand is supposed to make recovery so much easier. Are you walking now? I managed 3 miles on Sunday, but that was a stretch, and last night after your anniversary dinner we walked to the park with a big stair climb that was the equivalent of eight flights of stairs. I thought I might die, but the view was beautiful!

My surgery is April 29, and I'm doing the pre-op diet too. Three liquid today plus a lean cuisine at night, which feels pretty doable. One thing I figured out right away though was that I had to get all the tempting stuff out of the house, or out of sight anyway. I put my shake stuff in one covered so I don't have to open the other ones and see all the other food, and refrigerator things for me in one section so I'm telling myself it is off-limits to go looking through the rest of it. Good stuff I can cheat with is never "out of mind" but putting it out of sight makes it just a little bit easier! Good luck everyone.

I just did a week of easing into the liquid diet with one regular meal a day and occasionally using a bar instead of a shake. My surgery is about two weeks away and I have to do three shakes a day plus a lean cuisine and a cup of vegetables until the day before surgery when it is all clear liquid. Last night was my 30th anniversary, so we went out to dinner and surprisingly I managed to keep my food in a reasonable parameter! It helped but I did not want to see the scale go back up after already losing a few pounds. I hope I can lose more in the coming two weeks though. Good luck on this to everyone!

Which liquid vitamin do you use Linda? My NUt gave a sample one and it's a big dose each day plus tastes terrible.

Have you been to the pre-class yet? I took my husband with me, and we both felt much better after hearing Landers talk about his background, ideals for the surgery and personal practice about how he does it and what precautions he takes. I think my husband had been sort of skeptical that this was a good idea but supportive - but after meeting him and doing the class he was 110% on board. Do you have a date yet?

Trainers work for you - and if you tell them that's not what you want, they won't. My daughter is a trainer and really looks to find what is most helpful and encouraging to her clients - same with the trainers I've used (both men and women ones). I too don't want to be yelled at or talked down to. Not what i'm paying for at all! I'm not spending much time at the hymn this week, but i've been doing a lot of walking, and took a 5k test walk this afternoon (not a morning hymn rat!) to time myself for measuring progress. Felt great and it's a beautiful day! Hope you're feeling successful and proud and happy with such a great accomplishment of just going and doing! Good job.

We'll just have to be scared AND courageous together, eh?! Helpful to read the way you put it, about the onset of the fear being when you got it scheduled. That's the moment I had a sense of "Gasp!" and now it's fine for the most part. It's sort of the biggest step next to the actual surgery I think.

I just got my date too - and we're the same day! Everyone says it's normal to have second thoughts around now, and a woman in my support group who was scheduled for four days out was saying the exact same thing the other night. I imagine it's a healthy fear survival instinct thing causing us to check and recheck that we've made an informed choice, and even though it feel scary a bit to me, I'm feeling sure and wanting this anyway! Maybe reread some of the reasons you wanted it, and the research that lead you to it? Hope you get to a place of peace with it. I'll hold a good thought for you as you sort through it all. Kate

Hey Melbooks - thank you SO much for this thread and your great updates. I hope i'm as lucky as you with mine! You're on the way now - way to go!! Lynnlee, we have the same surrey date! I'm also 4/29 and just recently got it. Like you say -- it IS so strange to have a date! Thanks all of you.

SO my HMO required I go to at least one of their support groups, and I went to two. Actually the first one was so bad I figured it had to be an anomaly so i tried at again. OMG - I cannot believe a trained social worker and a trained RN in the field of WLS couldn't manage any control at all over this one over-the-top guy! He commented and snide-side-remarked after e v e r y s i n g l e c o m m e n t!! When he wasn't being snarky, he was weighing in as if HE were conducting the group session and was the doctor of reference. He spoke over people and generally made me nuts. I tried to stay after the second session to talk to the leader/soc worker about it, and see if i was the only one bugged - but of course Mr. Snarky stayed behind too! As long as there was an audience, he was going to stick around to pontificate. Made me feel bad for him though, and wondered if maybe no one listens to him at home or in the rest of his life. End of rant. When I mentioned it to the other staff social worker (whom I saw for my psych eval) she laughed and said something like 'there's one in every group, and somehow we always know who it's going to be right from the first session!' Yup. Nailed him. Much as I don't want to judge - I also am not going to attend a group that's more frustration than support. So, I'd heard about the hospital next door (not in my plan) who also has a WLS support group and it's open to the public. They meet twice as often as my HMO too, and since I know i may need this as an added tool post-op, I tried them out tonight. WOW - night and day difference! So much more collegial, and sense of warmth and camaraderie, respect and adult turn-taking. Unbelievable. Yes, there was STILL one guy in the group who began preaching as resident-expert part way through, but nothing at all like the other one. The group leader even started us off saying he was going to actively facilitate, and help to move us along is we got too bogged down on a topic or with just one person, since there were so many in the group. I left feeling so much more connected, interested, supported, encouraged, and even welcomed back. Not one person said anything to me after the awful group sessions at my HMO. Twice as many people there, and yet I felt more understood and heard - yet I suspect I said less than at the other group too. People even stuck around afterwards and chatted and talked about visiting each other post-op. Amazing. So if you go to a group that bites, try again. Keep looking!

I'm on day four of three shakes plus one lean frozen entree a day. I had headaches the first two days, but I think that was from caffeine withdrawal and, now that I read this train, probably insufficient hydration too. I'm glad you mentioned that, I'll be more watchful, but it's hard to remember to drink when I am trying to concentrate on not having water at a mealtime. Even though I get a frozen entree (or equivalent) each day or the equivalent, I'm still find it hard to unhook from eating all those other times during the day when I used to. We have a work party at church tomorrow, and it will be hard to be doing heavy labor on so little food-- so I plan to do a good protein shake and take one with me in case I need more fuel.

Thanks for the great analogy with the funnel. That helps visualize why and keep me mindful of the Water thing. I'm still three weeks away from surgery but am trying to start doing meals without beverages, and it's really hard. I"m on day two and starting now to think about drinking before i make dinner, etc. So hard this morning at my Breakfast meeting - to refuse coffee (i'm getting off caffeine) and then to stare at that glass of water and keep checking my watch until 30 minutes had gone by after my eating! I drank it all down then too. I think my doc suggests an hour, but i'm starting small.

That's great BlueSea! I'll be thinking of you and hoping Landers does his usual great work. Nice to know someone else out there is in the same WLClinic! Good luck!!

Yep - brought back bad WW meeting flashbacks for me! LOL. I like the idea of an addiction therapist and a group session where convening is rotated. Nice - I'll start doing some looking around here. And I'm going because I've read those same studies! I want to find a group i'm likely to at least be willing to go back to, even if not always anxious to. It was good hearing people both talk about NSVs, losses, anniversaries AND frustrations and stalls and regains - even complications. All the same as is on this site pretty much, but in person. I can see though that you all are definitely where I'm more apt to turn! Thanks for letting me rant and rave!

I'm right there with you on lacking motivation and drive to get to the gym Biggietosmaller! I know it's supposed to be enough motivation that it'll greatly help me, but if that were enough I wouldn't be like this in the first place. So, I DO know I always hate the first day or two going back, and I hate that feeling of finding out where I have to restart, so I"m going to give myself credit just for going. Even if I do only a half workout - I"m going. Tomorrow. End of story. You go too? I also know it's easier to go now and feel slow and immobile and clumsy than it will be to go later and be all of that AND be sore and feeling weak and tired! Time to go. Tomorrow.

I just found this forum for Washington Sleevers - nice! I'm in the Eastside area and also with Group Health (DylanRae did you ever get yours pushed through?) and finally have a date of April 29th. I just went to a good support group here too - Bellevue Overlake Hospital has one that you can attend even if you aren't doing it through them. It was really helpful and a good group. Kinda big though, so i hope they break it into two soon. CowGirlJane you're totally inspiration! Great pics, and very cute shoes in the recent one too!