kbpaulie

I'm nervous, too Frank85! But we're all going to be fine. Everyone with surgeries next week, remember to check in and give an update, if you can!

I hear you, 1Body2Live! Mine is on Monday, and I am only allowed liquids. I miss chewing quite a bit! How are you doing emotionally? Anxious, excited, numb, all of the above?!

Welcome Amberina, and good luck to everyone, wherever you are in the process! I am 12 days away from surgery (July 27th), and working my way through the pre-op diet. My pre-op diet consists of two shakes a day and one high-protein, low calorie meal. I know that is less restrictive than a liquid-only pre-op diet, so I have a ton of empathy for those of you walking that path. I feel fairly hungry a lot of the time, and I waver between feeling confident and missing food fiercely! Like Alicia, I struggle the most when cookng for my family and when seeing and smelling good things that others are eating. It really helps me to check in here and remind myself that others are going through many of these struggles, too. I also like to think of a theory I read about claiming that it only takes 21 days to change a bad habit. Between this pre-op diet and my first week post-op, that might be enough time to cure me of this cursed food addiction that has chased me my whole life. That's my hope, anyway. I wish everyone here the best on this journey!!

I am July 27th, too--that's a lot of us! I'm so excited and nervous. Some days I feel invincible; some days I feel worried about doing everything right after the surgery (it seems like a lot to keep track of, and the stakes are high). But I'm happy I'm doing it. Anyone else on an emotional roller coaster?

Hey Helen, I just sent you a friend request, too! My screen name is Elizabeth. Thanks for starting that group! I hope you're all doing well on this adventure!

Hi July Sleevers, How has it been going for those of you who have gone through the surgery and are in the "post" phase? Do you have any advice for those of us a bit behind you? Today I realized that a bunch of us (Nads64, Kameyan, Shemica, 1Body2Live, Scorpions118, Alicia, RNsleever715, & me) are just about 6 weeks away from our surgery dates. How are you all doing with the difficult job of changing eating habits? I'm struggling a bit but feeling motivated by the 6-week mark. Hey, Motivatedsabby, I'm envious of your online preparation class, which sounds really good. Your measuring cup/container purchases are clever. Good luck on the 14th! Let us know how it goes.

Hi Alicia, and welcome to the July club! I will try to remember all of the appointments I've been to so far: blood work; GI series testing & an appt to hear the results; a sleep specialist (2x) and a sleep study; a cardiologist 2 x (1x for EKG & echo,1x to get results); a psych eval/behavioral therapist appt; nutritionist appts 4x; and an appt with the surgeon; I still have a day of pre-op testing to do, but other than that, I think I'm done. I don't know if these appts are common or uncommon. Perhaps you have already done a bunch of them early on?

Hi shemica! I'm scheduled for July 27 too. Welcome and good luck with the preparation stuff.

Good luck--let us know how everything goes!

Well, tryinagain2day, you can let the rest of us July-ers know what it's like! Good luck to you. Hey there thelakeisgone! How is it going for you in terms of preparation, testing, insurance, etc?

Looks like Tiff221, Michellebenral1, and Bndtoslve, will be able to give the rest of us some pointers, as they will be the brave and lucky first ones to get this thing done! Tiff221, thanks for all of the advice on Protein shakes. I like peantbutter, so I can see myself using the PB2. I've heard that this 2-week liquid phase is very difficult. It sounds like you're managing it okay. Good work! I am still getting used to the whole concept of not using food to soothe myself. It's changing a lifetime of habits. Glad to have the support of this site and others going through the same thing. Good luck, fellow sleevers!

Hi Kameyan, July 27 is my target date, too! We are definitely on the same track.

Hi Sunny! Yeah, I am going to a lot of appts every week, too. How are you feeling about things--scared or pysched?! Or both? I am both right now. It's a long way off, but it's still a lot to think about. Good luck with your next few appts.!

Hi Tammy, I have lupus, too, along with other autoimmune disorders, like Reynauds, Sjogrens, Fibromyalgia, Grave's Disease, etc, and I am 52. I have not have my surgery yet. I am scheduled for July 27, 2015, so I can't give you the answers you are looking for. But I am glad to find someone else in the WLS community in a similar situation. I will let you know how I do with taking my meds (and there are a lot of them!). I chose the sleeve procedure over the bypass specifically so that I could continue to take my lupus meds and hopefully not have problems with absorption (since losing weight won't mean I get to stop taking those). Has your experience been that you are able to absorb your lupus meds successfully? Good luck with your weight loss adventure! kbpaulie

Hi there everyone, I am new here and to this sleeve business! I am tentatively scheduled for late July, and I was wondering if anyone else here is roughly on the same timetable as I am. At this point, I am just getting my nutritional information together for the pre-op diet. i am both excited and scared. I know I can do this, but right now, I seems like a daunting task. I'd love to hear how other pre-op sleevers are doing! Thanks, kbpaulie