Dub

October 13th here. Trying to keep moving and not dwell on it. Acquiring all the supplements, protein, New Balance slip-on sneakers and such. Ordered a couple memory foam body pillows. Bought a new recliner two weeks ago. Planning on sleeping in it the first few days. Gonna be sore from a massive abdominal hernia & hiatal hernia he'll be repairing when he does the sleeve. The recliner is made for big & tall guys and is much easier to stand up from. I want to be moving around as much as possible....constantly sipping on water will ensure this. I didn't want to be getting in and out of bed so much like I did with the last two abdominal hernia repairs. They were both open type procedures. Hoping that this time things will go easier due to laparoscopic method.

I'm sorry you are going through this. Are you taking your supplements on schedule? B12, Calcium, Iron, Vitamins and etc ???

October 13th surgery date, here. The pre-op diet hasn't been so bad. Today I rediscovered the many great flavors of Crystal Light. I drank most of a pitcher of grape flavor. Stuff is awesome. I bought at least 5 more flavors to give it some variety.

I was in a program......became frustrated with the shenanigans the insurance company was playing. I wound up switching to another surgeon-program-hospital due to the insurance company's mandating I go through a "center of excellence". Turns out to be a great move. I like everyone in the staff and have responded well to their guidance. I became very, very frustrated with further bullcrap from the insurance company and chose to self-pay 100%. This stepped up my timeline considerably......quite considerably......however the surgeon still wanted me to drop 50 lbs minimum. He was adamant about that. At the current rate, I'll exceed that by a good margin. I agree, though, it does help to have a numerical goal to shoot for.....with incremental goals, too. I helps drive behaviors in a helpful way. Best wishes. You've got this.

I'm sorry that you had to experience this delay......talk about frustration !!! I think you nailed it, though, when you said things happen for a reason. The circumstances that led up to my decision to have wls found me much more prayerful and contemplative. I fully agree that things happen for a reason. I've had some experiences since this that I can only explain as God's hand at work. He does share a sense of humor, too, and it's not been without several really funny events in my life. Not saying at all that there is ANYTHING humorous about your experience in the O.R. You are much safer today for your surgeon's decision to back out and wait a bit. It's going to happen when it should and you will look back on this next year and simply shake your head and smile by knowing there are decisions being made on higher levels that guide us. Wishing you the best in the time ahead. It's going to happen for you. Trust and believe.

My surgeon puts everyone on a two-week liquid diet pre-op. Permissable items are certain low-carb Protein powders, sugar free Jello, sugar free popsicles (low-to-no calorie version) and some clear broth (which I've yet to try).

Hunger? What's that? Oh, you mean that gnawing beast in my stomach that is demanding that I scarf down some of the temping snack food that's in our kitchen (not mine, but rest of family's......grrrrrrr). Yup. I've been hungry this week. I simply try to drown that gnawing beast with Water, coffee, diet tea and etc. Drown that monster. My surgeon told me 3 servings of Protein shakes per day. My nutritionist said that I could actually have 5, plus other calorie-free stuff. First two days I followed the 3-per day. Yesterday I had 4. I also have several flavors of Protein powder & pre-mixed Protein Shakes on hand: chocolate, banana, vanilla, mocha and orange cream. Variety is killer. I also freaking love the flavor of my Flintstone's Chewable Vitamins. I keep a bottle on the counter and look forward to my 2-3 a day. I know that sounds crazy.....but damn they are good. I'll run this thing out until surgery and am really not concerned about being hungry after that. I'm hoping the surgery will knock down the hunger, plus the Bariatric Advantage chewable vitamins, Iron, Calcium citrate and B12 supplements all taste outstanding. It's like being able to eat candy all day. No kidding. We tried the various samples in one of the nutritionist workshops and I bought several varieties. For now, though......just drown that hunger and profit from the extra cardio that will occur from frequent trips to the bathroom. Don't laugh....my Fitbit counter has gone into overdrive just from my pee breaks alone.

Honestly....the weight is going to come off. All you have to do is try. Follow the surgeon's instructions and it will come off in tremendous amounts. I'm two weeks out from surgery and just riding the rollercoaster. I lost along the way, but nothing at the rate I've lost this week on the pre-op liquid diet. Lawdy mamma !!!! It is literally falling off right now. I am super enthused. Weight is falling off and the surgery is still ahead. Your surgeon and his/her staff have it mapped out for you. This is what they've been trained to do. It's what they do for a living. They are professionals in the world of weight loss and weight loss surgery. Trust and believe in what they advise you to do and simply DO IT.

Very well stated @@*Lexie* Tired of watching life roll by......ready to actively live it !!!!

Guilt ??? Faggida'bout dat noise. The past is gone. The future is your focus now. Work hard in the gym and stick to your surgeon's plan and profit from the results. We don't get merit badges for how many pounds we lost on diet xyz in the past. Push yourself in the right directions and be active in your Quest to get healthy. Leave guilt behind along with the larger cut clothes and old bad habits.

I'm two weeks pre-op and two days into the liquid diet. I've lost 40 lbs so far on preparing for this and I'm guessing another 25-30 will drop by surgery date. The whole objective all along was for me to lose the weight and get some relief on an injured back and bad knees. I didn't want to hijack things with a bunch of foolishness getting to this point. The goal for me was to lose the weight asap......not party until surgery. I went out to eat with my family last weekend and had two of the best salads and slab of salmon I've ever had. I also indulged in a farewell couple slices of pizza. I maintained the calorie goal each day, though. I want out of this fat suit. I really want to go hit the go and rack up some daily treadmill miles but I'm being very cautious. Already have an back that's healing and I don't want anything to occur that may delay my wls. Just being cautious and riding out these next two weeks.

No more "pack of hot dogs" on the neck !!!! Very cool. Have razors.....will entertain Mr. Clean look for a while as the hair growth slows for a while.

I know, right. It's gonna suck.....but it'll roll along. Diet Snapple is my new friend. Gonna stay busy. Thank you !

Yup. I was told the same thing, too. Available everywhere, low cost and taste great.

Looking great and making awesome progress !!!!!!

Thank each of you. It's been a wild ride but it's settling down now. I'm indeed ready to join you guys on the other side........save me a seat on the loser's bench. I'm really pumped up and ready. These next two weeks are going to go pretty quick......I hope.

I briefly dabbled with it years ago......looked like a freaking circus act, though. My big arse balancing on a seat made for a much smaller hombre. There is a nice path to ride less than five miles from the house. Along the path there are several exits where riders peel off onto technical trails. I always stayed on the easy riding flat path. Hopefully by this winter I'll be a much lighter post-op version of myself. A buddy told me that I'll want to sell my very lightly used five year old bike and buy a new "Twenty-niner" Evidently the market is now moving from 26" to 29" . He said it'd make a huge amount of difference.......I don't know. It'll be fun wheeling my current Trek into the shop for them to go over everything and make sure it's ready to ride again.....soon. Any of you ride at all ?

Sounds great !!!! When I bought my current Trek several years back.....the 29'ers were just starting to come out. I also saw some bikes in the store with rear suspensions that looked liked they were tremendously shock absorbing. I'm really intrigued and look forward to the times ahead. I imagine by the time I'm ready to bike shop I'll be camping at the bit for some outdoor cardio as the dreadmills and ellipticals of the gym will be growing old.

This is going to be some fun money to save up for and spend......a new bike. Looking forward to maybe this time next year to be looking into the matter seriously.

Amazing progress. You have done really well !!!!!!

You look great !!!!!! That's gotta feel really good to look back and see the wonderful progress.

I involved my family and sought advice from them. I decided to tell the closer associates at work as they would certainly figure it out anyway.....that I'd gone out for hernia surgery and came back 3-4 weeks later much a great deal lighter.......weight loss continuing at a rate they've never seen anyone loose at...... It seemed silly to conjure up some type of cover story. Heck, that would most likely have even more questions being asked, "Oh, you are on a serious diet.......wow, you've lost 100 lbs and are losing 100 more ???.........wow, what are you eating.....how does it work.......etc......etc.......etc.". Being upfront may just stop all the questions.....or many of them at least. If they tell other folks, then so be it. I'm not doing this for social reasons but for my health. Folks will either understand and support me or they won't. I do know of 3 folks at work who struggle like I do and each has the financial means to do the same thing I did. Maybe they'll be the ones asking the lion's share of questions which I will gladly answer for them. They each could benefit hugely from weight loss.

Well.....I wiped out the balance of my HSA card and spent money that was intended to go towards a new vehicle soon. The new vehicle really appealed to me.....was going to be the answer to all my problems, etc, etc. Funny how my priorities changed immediately after screw up my back in April. My regular doctor and my spine surgeon both said the same thing.....a bariatric surgeon could do more for me than they could and I'd be feeling great soon after the weight loss started. My old truck suits me just find for a few more years as I get smaller and feeling better.

I'm still a couple months away from surgery but thinking about recovering already. One question I had is concerning ways to enhance comfort once returning home from the hospital. Is it advisable to not lay fully flat but slightly elevated on both ends ? I also wondered about simply buying a recliner now since our downstairs chairs are rigid wing backs. It may be easier if I recover a couple days in the recliner vs having to go upstairs to the bedroom.

I think that I'll be holding off until I reach the goal weight, too, @shriner37 When it occurs......I'll be looking into something fun to drive.