cryss

I had my surgical consult with Dr. Michaelson today. I really enjoyed the visit, and got a lot more info about the Sleeve and how much the procedure has advanced. My surgery date is set for July 9th. The Endoscopy is scheduled for June 12th. Any doubts were relieved after having met with Dr. Michaelson, and I was pleased to hear how quickly I should be back on my feet. Excited!

I had the same worries. Fortunately, the body is smart enough to find its energy equilibrium and efficient to figure out how to maximize energy from the new paradigm. It works itself out.

I am 8 days post op and just couldn't be a happier camper! This was a LOT easier than I could have imagined. Day one was tough, as was the first few days. No problems with nausea and I stuck to the book. I am using shot glasses as my cups/bowls, and I bought some cool baby spoons/forks to use from here on out. Ive been dropping weight like gangbusters. Prob 3-4 pounds a day at least. I am at the lowest weight in prob 15 years as of today. My job keeps me pretty active (working at Microsoft in the labs, so some lifting and kicking servers into submission and I was able to go back after 8 days. As such, one can expect to get a good portion of their strength back in fairly short order. Naturally, I am going to take it a tad easy for a couple of weeks, but my fears of being laid up for a long duration were unwarranted. I encourage everyone considering the sleeve to jump in with both feet and never look back. I have taken my life back, and am loving every single monument of it.

Under the influence... geeze. And yet another reason I get squeamish when people say "my doctor said I could drink"...yeah, prob because he is an alcoholic him/herself.

Challenge yourself to learn to cook a new, healthy meal suitable for the new you! For my wife and I, we are picking something new from a barbaric cookbook and attempting to find mastery and creativity to make it our own.

While this appears to have been resolved with some very helpful dialog, one of the biggest problems with a venue such as this is when people make assertions for another. Please do not take others words for it when they say you are not ready. And shame on folks for saying such things to someone whose shoes you do not walk in. Whether or not one is ready is between you and your medical professional (surgeon, and the one performing the psych eval). As adults, we should know that life comes with anxiety. Yet, anxiety rarely means we should turn about face. Please, refrain from offering such advice, and encourage folks to have the proper discussions with their medical professionals.

Yes, I have indeed saved a ton of grocery money. I don't have a family to feed so over these last 4 weeks, it's easily over $200. Nice perk! We were just talking about this at home last night... now we will not feel as ripped off by buying quality, organic ingredients as we will still be ahead of the game on the cost side. The benefit is the best food/fuel in our bodies!

As my surgery day gets closer, this is the kind of thing I really needed to hear. Thank you! Best wishes on your journey!

Hang in there! Breath in as you acknowledge the fear.... then breath out with the knowledge that this will pass and you, along with thousands before, are on your way to a transformed new life; honor this tool, and handle it with reverence, and it will serve you greatly!

When I finally made the decision to make the big leap on this journey, I knew my choices had ramifications that rippled like Water from pebbles tossed into a pond, reaching far into every aspect of my life from my relationship with food, to my relationship with people, with society, with vocational pursuits, with finances, and everything few and far between. Personal Reinvention requires not a full, working understanding of such things before engaging the processes, but it does require a willingness to both trust the process and a determination to never look back. Having had to come up with the cash to engage this process, I had a tangible connection to the power and flow of the process river. We feel its current from economic to physical and socio-psychological flows, to the flocculation of fears and happiness/ excitement that flake off like dust from the trail; neither fully embraced due to the shifting road ahead as the surgery date nears, yet all felt like the current of a strong river capable of carrying me down to new lands. I'll have time to dial in my emotions downstream, but for now I just let them come up, become acknowledged, and then release them. As I sop up as much information as I can from books and blogs, I see a wide range of stories that are for the most part positive, but I do see a disheartening amount of stories from individuals who are making things a lot tougher on themselves in the long run by allowing social pressure to dictate how they both walk, and embrace, this new flow. A few days ago, the day before my Endoscopy, I spoke to my doctor (who will be performing my sleeve in just a few weeks) about my frustrations and fears. I mentioned how interesting it was to me that so many who undergo WLS are willing to keep the doors creaked open to old doorways, when they should rightfully be welded shut. My doctor told me of a study regarding WLS patients who “plateau” or even gain significant weight over the years. The one common denominator? They were willing to have one or more of those things we are instructed not to. “I only have one beer, on occasion”. “I only have a diet pop once in a while”. “I only have a cupcake on a birthday”. This was the single most common denominator in 100% of the cases in the study. Are these things evil and a hard core “no no”? It depends on who you ask. Just like there are physicians who smoke cigarettes, it doesn’t mean that if the rare medical professional says you can have booze on occasion, that is ok or healthy to do so. I am sure there are a few who do get away with it, much like how George Burns lived longer than most with smoking as a part of his life/persona. Then again, he WAS God We are making a major modification here with WLS. The physical modifications are only a small part of it. The rest are psychological/ behavioral. Cutting meat from our bodies are only part of it, and only a tool that can be as successful as the one using it. The tool is in your hands. Why not find a way to perfect its use via a path of Mastery? I ask myself that question with every post of “when can I drink alcohol again?” We need to decide (or RE-decide) if we are writing a new chapter in our lives, or write a whole new book. Pick up your proverbial pens, and write the book of your lifetime, one that will be read and quoted in your golden years. Will that tell the tale of a success, or a failure? Will the protagonist be seen as someone who cut corners or kept doors creaked open so that they could feel the familiar companionship of their past failures? Or will it be a story of someone who has truly ascended into a new, re-branded, reinvented being?

You know, it was so simple! I was worried for NOTHING! Pretty quick too, and I was out and on roving patrol. My throat was sore and my uvula the size of a vw bug afterward, but I am ready to rock and roll on the 9th. I start my pre-op diet a week from today.

Consider the conversations on this board alone... How many are willing to allow even small amounts of alcohol or other seemingly harmless behaviors back into their lives after such a life transformational event. The highest rates of recidivism includes individuals who admit to soda pop intake. Those willing to write a new book, rather than just a new chapter, are the ones who will succeed. There are of course numerous nuances and factors

Fantastic!

Bariatric Advantage makes a wonderful coffee, chocolate, and caramel flavored chewie that is pretty good. Unless, of course, that is the kind you are having issues with.

Rock on! \m/

I sure will!

Thank you for the assurance. That does put my anxiety at bay!

July 9 here... I think I am more worried about the Endoscopy next week than the VGS

Anything from a fast food joint is pure garbage. Old habbits need to be left behind on this Journey. Hope you get to feeling better!

In the end, after all these heartfelt responses, who carries this burden is totally up to you. I think of the Cherokee story of feeding the right wolf, as well as the stories from the far east about who carried the woman over the river... In the end, it doesnt matter who was injusticed, who was a bad friend, who is the person who has some life lessons to walk through before finding their power... at the end of the day, you can choose to carry the hurt, or to acknowledge the hurt and move on. Shedding the emotinoal baggage is must like shedding the pounds. We are happier and healther if we do not carry extra baggage. Bless you on your journey as you continue to walk within your Power and find your life balance. Hopefully your friend (they were your friend at one time, so I refer to the time things were good) will make the right choices when the universe places learning opportunities in their path. But that is not on you, nor is it your lesson to learn at this time. What matters is what you see in the physical and proverbial mirrors of your sanctuary. What matters is that you smile with what you see, with gratitude and grace.

My suggestion is not to label your friend as horrible, evil, etc... compassion can remove the hurt and feelings of betrayal. There are a lot of people in the world who bite and lash out due to their own fears. I think of alcoholics and other addicts that lash out, but that is because it is an internal process they haven't yet to come to understand/learn about themselves. Your friend may be one of those people who have some internal issues that they do not understand just yet. Like the aforementioned groups, they can alienate themselves and others in the process of meeting their own fears. Just suggesting that compassion and letting go might be something to consider as you move forward.

Really sorry to hear that she choose to loose a good friend. This isn't on you...its on her. However, it doesn't negate the fact that you lost a friend, and that has got to hurt. I know what that feels like.... Hang in there, and know that as we reinvent ourselves, however it may manifest (WLS is but one way people reinvent themselves... for others it may be addictions, or unhealthy relationships, or job related), the process can hurt and, yet does come with the opportunity to navigate and work through the grief. You will be a better person, and there will be plenty of new people that will become a part of your sacred circle...who are worthy. All the best!

woot! awesome!

Thanks guys! All the best to you!

So close, yet so far...