peaceout

@@Mom26 You're welcome. Hopefully they'll be able to work with you! I'm an optometrist, but it's been a few years since I've worked with anyone who had keratoconus (I work in a diabetes clinic in a hospital now, and we don't do anything with contact lenses). How did your cross linking procedure go? I've never known anyone who had it done. Also, from reading about other experiences, it sounds like a lot of hospitals gather your intake information via phone call. So if that's the case, and the nurse questioning you doesn't bring it up, it's definitely something I'd make him/her aware of. Best of luck with the surgery! I wish you a speedy recovery.

It may be difficult to deal with scleral lenses while in the hospital. Is anyone staying at the hospital with you? Otherwise, there are always nurses and aides on duty, so I would ask if one of them could walk the halls with you. You can have them guide you. Especially if you can let them know ahead of time that you have this issue, they should be able to work something out. Do you have keratoconus or something similar? On my hospital intake form there was a section about eye conditions that would render you needing a little extra help, and that was certainly on there.

What great accomplishments. And congrats on the awesome weight loss. Your perma-grin should last a few days at least.

190.0 today! Goal with a week to spare!

@@Miss Mac Brag about it, why don't you?

It was right at 3 months post-op for me. From what I've read on other posts, losing hair during months 3-6 is pretty common. I'm only 4 months out (almost) now, so I'm expecting it to continue for a while yet. Labs are fine and I'm taking Biotin, though I'm not sure it's really helping. The plus side: when it started falling out in mass quantities, I cut it into a short bob, and between the new length and the thinning, styling my hair takes like half the time it used to!

Welcome! I can assure you that most of us felt scared, or at least a bit overwhelmed, at some point during the process. It's totally worth it in the end though. You'll find this site to be a wealth of information and opinions. As a newbie, I actually loved reading the threads where debate was sparked, because it gave me a good list of questions to ask my surgical team where they stood on certain topics.

192.5 today. Thanks Steph!

I've gone from a 10W to a 9.5; regular width for sneakers/comfy shoes, still wide for heels/boots. Small victories!

You might find some people immediately post-op that are regretting their decisions, but after those first weeks, those with regrets seem to be a very small percentage of the population on this forum. I had some reservations about the surgery (hence my joining this site in 2007 and not having surgery until 2015), but from reading a ton of posts, even those with pretty significant complications in the beginning say they would go back and do it all again. And, like you, I had several times where I thought I'd give it one more shot "on my own." Which always resulted in 25-30 pounds of weight loss, followed by a regain + another 5-10 pounds on top of it. There's no shame in admitting you need help with this aspect of your life.

I know everyone has different reasoning, my surgeon said to avoid temperature extremes only because they are harder for the sleeve to tolerate in the early days, and some people get nauseated and/or vomit. If you're not having those problems, I don't think it's going to hurt you to drink hot soup or cold Water. I, too, needed my water to be ice cold if I wanted a chance of keeping it down during weeks 1 and 2.

Congrats! Onederland is a pretty cool place to be Wishing you many more successes on your journey.

Congrats! You've done such an awesome job.

As someone else said, not too many surgeons/hospitals will be able to give you the exact amount ahead of time. If you need extra labs, meds, or fluids, or have a complication during surgery, the amount they bill will be different. If you can't keep fluids down and have to spend an extra night in the hospital, that will be different. But many insurance companies have an out of pocket max and you should be able to find that out beforehand. I don't know anything about your specific insurance, though. My policy just has a concise chart that tells me that for any given calendar year, I won't pay more than ___ dollars.

Congrats! Keep up the great work. P.S. I don't think you're all that slow of a loser 54 lbs/12.5 weeks= 4.3 lbs per week! I'd say you're rocking it.

195 this week. Thanks!

You look fantastic! I love the dress!

It depends on what you want to do with your clothes. If you're going to pitch them or donate to Goodwill or another charity, you might as well get rid of them now (I might keep a couple of things just so you can see your progress); if you're thinking of selling them in a consignment shop, you might want to wait until next spring when there's more of a market for those types of clothes. Good luck to you with your journey! You're going to feel so much better by the time next summer rolls around!

198.0 today. Hello, onederland!

Congrats! What an awesome accomplishment! I'm hoping to get there myself at this weeks' weigh-in. I like your idea for celebrating and I'll probably copy it

Congrats! You look great!

Congrats! You are doing an amazing job! I agree with everyone else- get rid of most of your stuff, but keep one or two things as a reminder. During my last stall I was a little dejected, but I pulled out that pair of "before" jeans and it definitely puts everything in perspective!

200.0 this week, darn it. Was shooting for onederland!

I went to an all-you-can-eat sushi place. It was delicious, but I was pretty miserable afterwards because I ordered quite a few tempura-style rolls for my last hurrah. It made me even more ready to buckle down the next day and get down to business. Even if you don't do something terribly indulgent, enjoy yourself. The next two weeks will be fine, but it'll be nice to have a little date night with your hubby before you turn cranky from all the liquids

I think you look great! Have a wonderful trip.