MamaRhea

Ok so I have hit a little bit of a speed bump. Up until this point I had been steadily losing at least a pound every day, sometimes two. However, this mornings weigh in was essentially the same as yesterdays. In fact, it was a couple ounces higher. I haven't done anything different, except I got in MORE walking yesterday than usual lol. It bummed me out pretty good until I read that a lot of people have a stall right around this point (I will be 2 weeks post op tomorrow). So, I am just going to have to wait it out and keep doing what I am doing. I have to remind myself that in the span of a month, I have lost about 10% of my total body weight. My body is freaking out and I need to give it time to adjust to the new regime. This isn't the end of the world. It's just the process. Deep breaths. Just gotta stay focused and the stall will break before I know it. Right?

I took my first steps towards gastric sleeve in February of this year, 2016. The process was a bit of a nightmare, and I was denied by my insurance the first time around. Once I did finally get my approval, it was so late in the year that I just knew that my surgery wouldn't be until January at the earliest. Which was very depressing because that would mean that my insurance out-of-pocket maximum would start over, and that would cost us thousands extra. But my surgeon Dr. Shadle gave up his holiday vacation time to ensure that myself and many other patients got their surgeries before the end of the year. I cannot say enough good things about my surgeon. If any of you are in the Sacramento area, see if your insurance will work with Dr. Shadle. You won't be sorry you did. I started my 2 week liquid diet on 12/14. It was pretty tough, but I knew what was at stake so I pushed through. Dr. Shadle even gave me permission to eat Proteins and vegetables for the Christmas holiday. That was great, but my body pretty much rejected it because I hasn't eaten in so long. The night before the surgery I was so nervous and scared I could barely sleep. The next morning I paced around the house and sliced fruit for dehydration to keep my hands and mind occupied until it was time to go to the hospital. The check in went smoothly and quickly, and before I knew it I was being wheeled back to the OR. The next thing I remember was waking up after the surgery. I was in sheer agony. Crying from the pain and desperately dry heaving. It took several hours for my pain to come down to a manageable level. Part of the pain was from the incisions themselves, and part of it was from the gas. The gas itself feels like a tight band around your chest, and it eventually settled in my shoulder. The gas pain has mostly subsided at this point. Another aspect that I was not at all prepared for was how dry my mouth was. For the first 36 hours or so my mouth felt like sawdust, no matter if I just sipped Water or took an ice chip the moment before. This did eventually alleviate itself, thankfully. One of the things they really monitored in the hospital was my liquid output (pee). Strangely enough, no matter how badly I felt like I had to go, it would only come out in a tiny trickle due to the fact that my insides were still asleep. I was given a few doses of milk of magnesia to try to wake my bowels up, but to no avail. I also spent a good amount of time walking while I was in the hospital. It felt so good to get up and stretch out my torso. I was released from the hospital yesterday morning. There was a bit of a kerfuffle with my prescriptions. I had thought that I couldn't pick them up until after the surgery, but they had apparently been sent over weeks beforehand, and to a different pharmacy than I thought. So by the time I got my pain meds, my pain was out of control again. I have oral dilauded for pain to take every 4 hours, but it wasn't taking the edge off. I was told I could take it every 2 hours until it was under control, but even then the pain wasn't receding. I finally sent my husband to the store to get some extra strength liquid Tylenol, and some milk of magnesia. I've found that taking 1 dilauded every 4 hours, and 30ml of Tylenol every 6 hours is the winning combination for me. The pain is still there but it is very manageable and I can move around without too much trouble. I have also found that putting a heat pad on my belly is very effective for helping me manage my pain. I took a dose of milk of magnesia last night and finally had a bowel movement this morning! Tmi warning* it was completely liquid and did not cause any pain or discomfort at all. I was technically supposed to start the "full liquids" stage of the post op diet yesterday, but I was too scared to try with all the pain I was in already. I just stuck with water, and a few sips of a pomegranate flavored bariatric Protein drink (clear). This morning (12/30) I was actually feeling pretty good, so I tried about 1/4 cup or so of cream of chicken Soup. Took me about 30 minutes to get it down, and I have about 15 more minutes before I can start sipping liquids again to take my pills. It went down very well. There was one sip that I took a little too quickly that caused a little pain, but other than that there was no issue. In addition to the dilauded and Tylenol, I also have zofran (nausea), colace (stool softener), pantropazole (anti-acid/reflux), and Vitamin D (because I'm deficient). This is on top of the daily vitamin regimen that we are required to do. If you are reading this and don't already have one, I HIGHLY recommend getting a pill organizer. I have a 7 day, morn/noon/eve/bed organizer. It's a little bulky, but it is so very helpful. I started my pre-op diet at 343 pounds. The morning of my surgery I was 326, and I am currently at about 325. I expect this will continue to go down as my swelling recedes. I will be posting to this blog as often as I can, mostly for my own records so I can look back and see my progress. Of course any comments, input, or tips are most welcome Sent from my SM-N910V using the BariatricPal App

You look amazing!!! Congrats!!

So I thought I would take the time to lay out exactly what foods I am eating, both for myself to look back on, and for any others on here looking for food ideas. You will notice that many of these do in fact have some dairy in them. I have replaced dairy as much as possible, but eliminating it entirely would make a huge impact on what is available to me, and I can't fight two battles at once. Cheeses don't give me nearly so much trouble as regular milk itself does, so I have switched to Lactaid, which I have found to be extremely pleasant. I think I actually like it better than I liked milk (which is really saying something). I have been limiting myself to portions of no greater than a 1/2 cup at a time. I eat anywhere from 4-6 of these mini meals per day, and have been losing just a little more than a pound per day on average (current weight 313 even!). I do drink about 8oz of Lactaid (slowly) once or twice a day for Protein, along with as much Water as I can get down in a day. I do separate my drinking from my meals, and wont take any sips until at least 30 minutes has passed from my last bite. I find that I am never really hungry, and the foods I am eating are delicious so I never feel deprived. Here is the list of foods. Each item on this list makes enough for several mini meals. I don't blend any of these unless specified. I just chew very very thoroughly. 1: 2 Tablespoons of pesto mixed into 1 can (drained) of white Beans, topped with a table spoon of parmesan and mixed. 2: 1 banana mashed with a few tablespoons of Peanut Butter with a little Lactaid. (this makes a lovely frozen treat) 3: Canned Campbells split pea Soup with ham and bacon. Lots of protein and totally delicious. 4: Various other canned Soups involvings peas or beans with tiny bits of soft meat 5: 1 egg blended up with 1 chicken sage sausage and 1 tablespoon of herbed goat cheese with a splash of Lactaid. Cooked up in a pan just like scrambled eggs (DELICIOUS). This one makes almost exactly a 1/2 cup of food, depending on the size of the egg. 6: Refried beans with melted mozzarella. 7: Ricotta Bake (OMG the whole family loves this one). Going to add some ground turkey the next time I make it. 8: Cheesy Cauliflower Casserole. Both this and the Ricotta Bake are from www.theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com If you haven't already checked it out it would be well worth your while. 9: Canned chicken or tuna, mixed up with whatever I fancy at the moment. Various herbs from my garden, (chives, sage, oregano, etc), tarter sauce, a tasty spicy sandwich spread, fresh parmesan, etc etc. The sky is the limit for this one. 10: Prosciutto (very high quality, no fillers or nasty stuff), blended up with herbed goat cheese. Those are what I have experimented with so far! Please feel free to comment any tips, pointers, or recipes of your own

1 week update! I am now down to 317.6! That's 25.4 pounds gone that I will never see again. I think I'm a little further ahead on my diet than most at one week. I've found that I am able to tolerate soft food like eggs or tuna very well. I do plan on sticking with these soft foods for several weeks. I have found several ways to prepare foods that are delicious, satisfying, and totally on point with the diet. I'm a bit of a gourmet, so this is crucial for my success. A lot of people report marital problems after the sleeve, but my marriage has improved dramatically in every measurable way. It's almost miraculous. We haven't been this happy in years. The change in my psyche has been huge too. I'm actually happy. Genuinely happy. And hopeful for my future. For so many years I thought my best days were behind me, and now I know that isn't true anymore, and it's overwhelming. The changes in my body are also overwhelming. I find that I am constantly touching my belly, my arms, my legs, just to stay acquainted with my body. I feel like a different person already, and the transformation has hardly begun! My biggest struggle right now is Fluid and Protein intake. I know I'm not getting enough of either. I have some Bariatric Choice pomegranate flavored protein juice mix that I put in my Water to kill 2 birds with one stone, so that helps. I've been diligently taking my Vitamins too. The only ones that give me trouble are the antibiotics. They definitely cause some pain, but I only have 2 more days to take them thankfully. Thank you all for taking my journey with me! As always, tips, advice, and comments are welcome Sent from my SM-N910V using the BariatricPal App

Ladies and gentlemen it is official! I am now lactose intolerant. Which is unfortunate, because I am a lover of all things dairy. But even just the tiniest bit of blended up cottage cheese is enough to give me almost instant diarrhea and painful gas/bloating. I was shocked at how fast it happened. So, I'll be sticking with my non dairy options for a while. But eventually I'll need to find some substitutions. Anybody have any suggestions? Has anyone else become lactose intolerant after their sleeve? Sent from my SM-N910V using the BariatricPal App

So this morning I woke up at around 1:30am in such agony that I was having difficulty breathing or speaking. One of my incisions was red, swollen, hot to the touch, and extremely painful. I also had a significant amount of pain deeper underneath the incision. I called the hospital to speak with the on call doctor, who just happened to be my surgeon. My surgeon assured me that it was highly unlikely to be infected, but that I could go to the ER if I needed help managing my pain. I really hate the ER, so I wasn't going to go just for pain management. But I was unconvinced that there was no infection. So I took pictures and sent them to my mother and my mother in law, both of whom are RNs. Both immediately confirmed my suspicions that I did indeed have an infection. My husband helped me to the car because I couldn't walk on my own. We waited in that waiting room for over 3 hours, during which time all of my pain meds wore off. About halfway through that 3 hours I was sobbing in pain, while I watched patient after patient get taken back before me, even ones who were obviously not that sick and/or got there long after I did. I finally had enough and hobbled over to the desk to ask how long the wait was. The nurse was initially extremely rude and essentially told me to suck it up and wait. In response I demanded to know why stomach virus patients were being given precedence over a God d@mned surgical infection. I then reminded her that I had been waiting for over 3 hours, far longer than any other person in that waiting room, because she literally keeps taking back anyone and everyone except me. That took her aback a bit, and magically I had a room, a bed, and an IV within the next 5 minutes. I wound up having to do a CT scan, which involved drinking way more contrast that my sleeve could comfortably tolerate, so that they could rule out a leak or abscess to explain why I was in such intense excruciating pain. This next part is humiliating and may be tmi, fair warning. They asked me for a urine sample. By this point I was pretty dehydrated having been separated from a source of fluids for so long (this was right before the IV). I didn't think I'd have much to give them, but I said I would try. I got to the bathroom, locked the door, and sat down .... and immediately passed the most gas I have ever done in my life. It was shocking, and it lasted a good 20 seconds, I do NOT exaggerate. I could actually feel my intestines deflating and the difference in how my stomach looked after was very noticeable. Now, as you may have guessed already, that was the true source of most of my pain. I was too embarrassed to admit that to the doctor though. And one of my incisions really was infected, so that did also contribute to the pain. I include this in my story here because as embarrassing as it is, any newly sleeved person reading this, if they are having overwhelming deep pain that comes in waves, they now know that they can try passing gas and it may help. Learn from my embarrassment. I am now back at home with my antibiotics, my fluids, and a 1/3 cup of blended cream of mushroom soup. My pain is back under control, and I'm a happy camper. Sent from my SM-N910V using the BariatricPal App

Throughout the course of this day, I was able to eat about 2/3rds of a can of cream of chicken soup, and I've gotten in about 40oz of Fluid (not counting the soup). I am going to really try to drink another 20oz of fluids before I go to bed tonight. I did try a tiny nibble of meatloaf a few minutes ago (about the size of a pencil eraser). It definitely caused some pain, so I won't be experimenting with that again any time soon. I'm perfectly happy with my soup. I do have some low fat cottage cheese that I'm going to blend up with some milk tomorrow for Breakfast. The pain has been so manageable today. I was up and moving around for most of the day. I even had my husband drive me to the store so I could do some grocery shopping! My incisions are looking pretty good. I don't think they are going to scar too badly at all. There are 5 in total, one of which is in my belly button, so that one hardly counts. This is the first time in years that I have had any true hope that I would be able to get down to a healthy weight. It's like I have a whole new lease on life. A chance to start over. I could not be happier with my decision. Sent from my SM-N910V using the BariatricPal App

Sending message! Sent from my SM-N910V using the BariatricPal App

Lovely! How is your recovery going? I'm sorry to hear about your complication, that sounds very painful. Do you have any tips or advice? And yes I would love to connect! It is always good to have a support system of people who truly know what you are going through. Sent from my SM-N910V using the BariatricPal App

Here we go! After 11 months of jumping through hoops with my insurance company, I am finally approved for a surgery date of 12/28! Today is the first day of the liquid diet. I'm doing plenty of Water, the 4 daily Protein shakes, sugar free Jello, and sugar free Popsicles, and broth. I must admit that I'm already feeling strange. It's been about 20 hours since I last ate, and the headaches/shakiness/weakness is beginning to set in. In told that the first couple days are the worst, so I'm hanging in there! Anyone else in their pre-op diet too? Sent from my SM-N910V using the BariatricPal App

The first several days were rough! But you'll get through it! Sent from my SM-N910V using the BariatricPal App

Starting day 4 and I'm down a total of 10 pounds! This has gotten much much easier. The cravings aren't as strong, the hunger isn't as bad, and I feel loads better. I am now totally confident that I can survive these 2 weeks Sent from my SM-N910V using the BariatricPal App

Okay! Starting day 2. I'm down two and a half pounds and I'm still going strong. I am starting to get cold symptoms though, and I'm not sure if this is a side effect of the liquid diet or if I'm actually getting sick. It's pretty miserable either way. Pounding headache, sore throat, weak and shaky etcetera etcetera. This is going to sound crazy but I literally had dreams about cheeseburgers last night. This is going to take a lot of willpower, but I just keep telling myself that it will be all worth it a year or so from now when I'm at my goal weight. Is it bad that I'm already sick of the Protein shakes? LOL Sent from my SM-N910V using the BariatricPal App

I'm on the 28th! Sleeve sisters! Lol Sent from my SM-N910V using the BariatricPal App

I would really love to know who all is going to be doing this is the same time as me. I figure we can all kind of support and encourage each other in our journeys Now, tell me who you are! Let's get to know each other Sent from my SM-N910V using the BariatricPal App

I have read a few comments here that reference not being able to drink carbonated drinks. Why is that? Not going to lie, carbonated drinks are one of me favorite things lol Sent from my SM-N910V using the BariatricPal App

Hello WLS family! I am in the beginning stages of the pre-op process. I just had my initial consult with my surgeon on 4/9 and I have my first appointment with the nutritionist this afternoon. My insurance only requires 3 months of supervision by a nutritionist prior to surgery, so I will be looking at an operation sometime in July or August. I came here so that I can surround myself with people who have been where I am, or still are. I have received mixed reactions from my friends and family about my decision to do WLS, ranging from full support, to something close to anger or embarrassment. I have been reading through the posts here and I can see that this is certainly an exceptional group of people. I have already learned so much. I would really love to hear all of your individual stories. What made you decide that the Sleeve was for you? What were your fears and struggles, and how did you overcome them? What are you still struggling with? What was your journey to surgery like? The first few days post-op? How much weight have you lost? What are your favorite post-op foods and exercises? How did your families react to your decision? I would really love to see your responses if you have a moment. I sincerely look forward to getting to know all of you. Also, I am located up in Nor Cal near Roseville if any of you want to get together for a walk or something

No problem I can't imagine how hard it must be to have cravings for soda like that. Soda commercials are everywhere! On endcaps at every grocery check out. It must be very hard for you to avoid, so I can understand your impulse to try to dissuade me from what you deemed to be a dangerous path, and I appreciate the thought As for the general issue of straws and carbonated drinks (not soda! ), from everything I have read it really seems like a matter of personal tolerance. If it hurts, don't do it. If it doesn't hurt, why not? As for gas stretching the sleeve, there is just no way enough pressure could build up to stretch the tissue without escaping as a burp. I don't imagine this surgery will render us incapable of burping lol.

Not all carbonated drinks are unhealthy and make you fat. There's sparkling Water for example. I believe the assumption (no research has been done to prove it) is that carbonation could stretch the sleeve. It also often causes significant pain and discomfort. I would not drink carbonated drinks just in case of the possibility of stretching your pouch. I think that the OP was not referring to carbonated waters (they can correct me if I am wrong). My point was that VSG is not a solution, it is a tool and without significant life style changes it will become ineffective over time. The vast majority of us did not get to this point in our lives drinking carbonated waters. I am pretty sure that a lot of us here were addicited to the main stream carbonated drinks such as Coke and their diet or zero offerings. Those products were created to be addicitive are a big part of our obesity cycle. I don't want to fall back in to that trap so I am good with removing them from my life which is really hard but if the idea that it would hurt and that my NUT says they are verbotten, well that just helps. I am sure carbonated water could be fine and I am sure there are people who have 1 12oz Coke Zero a month and are fine. But I am going to guess that the folks that can have 1 Coke Zero a month are in the minority here. (It would be interesting to see just how many of us were or are addicted to those drinks and what quantities we consumed pre SVG. I was easily 1 gallon -2 gallons a day of Coke Zero!) Hi London! I'm the OP, and I'm about to correct you As a matter of fact, my question was not referencing soda's specifically. I have never been one to drink my calories. I didn't get fat from soda. I got fat from eating salty/savory things like fast food and popcorn. Sugar is not my wheelhouse. While I of course have had the occasional diet soda in my life, I am by no means addicted to them. I don't even really like them that much. I have a "sodastream" machine at home that I use to carbonate water. I then add something like Crystal Lite or on occasion a little bit of fruit juice to flavor it. That is was I was referring to when I mentioned that it would be hard to get used to not being able to have fizzie drinks. "Rather than ask why you can't do something the better question is given the decision to have A VGS why would you want to have carbonated drinks?" - to quote you specifically from an earlier post. I must admit that I do not appreciate this way of thinking, nor the implication behind it. In my opinion, we are having a major surgery, with major life-changes built in. It is of the UTMOST importance that we understand each of these changes and why they are necessary. Not knowing the consequence only makes you that much more likely to break the rule. And asking questions is the only way to get answers. I'm not sorry I asked, and I wasn't wrong to ask. And asking a question does not make me less committed to my surgery or to the lifestyle changes that are needed. I am sure you had good intentions, but really hope you know judgmental your post came across. I do hope that we can be friends.

So, quick update on my journey. Yesterday I had my chest xray, my upper GI, my bloodwork, and my appointment "0" with my nutritionist. The chest x-ray was pretty standard issue. No surprises and nothing interesting to report. The upper GI wasn't as bad as I feared. The fizzy drink kind of tasted like a really tart 7up. The actual barium itself was like drinking a slightly sweet (almost like pepto bismal) cross between tile grout and toothpaste (texture-wise). Not tasty by any means, but not gag worthy. They had me do barrel rolls like beached whale, so that was fun. *not* Next came the blood work. They drew ... pausing for dramatic effect... THIRTEEN VIALS. Not tiny little vials either. Big honkin' vials. I had been fasting all day (this was around 1pm) so by the time she taped the gauze to my arm I was about ready to pass out. It took me the rest of the day to recover and start feeling normal again. Then I went to see my nutritionist for the first time. She was a super sweet tiny little thing. We clicked immediately and spent most of our appointment laughing. I was really nervous to meet her, but now I am thrilled to get to work with her for the next few months. Then I met with my supervising MD. By that point my GI results had come in. Unfortunately, my upper GI uncovered an anomaly that they think may be an ulcer. This definitely throws a wrench in the spokes. They are having me set up an appointment with a gastro-enterologst. Apparently he usually books 1-2 months out. Once I meet with him, he will schedule me for an endoscopy (another 1-2 months out) to determine if there is in fact an ulcer. If there isn't, my surgery can go on as planned (if it isn't already delayed at that point). If there is an ulcer, I have to have it treated for several months before they will do the surgery. This could potentially push me into the next calendar year, which would mean I would have to pay my OOP max again. I feel like crying. Just a little. Ok, a lot. But, I have plans. I have already ordered some aloe juice and am going to be drinking it like it is going out of style. I don't honestly think I have an ulcer (I have NO symptoms), but on the off chance that I do, this aloe juice should clear it up before the endoscopy. Prilosec anyone? I am also going to ask my doctor for a Urea Breath Test. This will show whether the bacteria H. Pylori is living in my stomach. If there is no H. Pylori, there is no ulcer. Hopefully that would convince him to not make me do the endoscopy and could save me months of waiting (and lots of money too). Fingers crossed that he lets me do that instead. On a less depressing note, I finally have my nutrition binder! It goes over my eating habit goals between now and surgery (slow chewing, more Water, Protein first, etc). It also covers what my pre-op and post-op diets will look like, so that has been fun to look though. I also spent a shameful number of hours last night watching laparoscopic gastric sleeve procedures. It was FASCINATING. Truly. I had no idea that those kind of instruments existed. Very very cool. It was interesting though, after I had watched 4 or 5 operations that were almost completely bloodless with nice clean staple lines, I watched one with a shocking amount of blood and really messy/nasty staples. The surgeon doing the speak over didn't seem to think anything was out of the ordinary though, and he sounded like he thought the surgery went great. He was also being incredibly rough/erratic with the instruments. I imagine that poor girl woke up in a lot more pain than usual. Umm yikes. Based on my admittedly limited knowledge, it almost looked like he had either damaged the spleen somehow (super vascular), or else he didn't properly cauterize a major blood supply line. Either way it made me think. I am going to shoot an email over to my surgeon sometime this week asking if he has ever recorded one of his sleeve procedures. I would really love to see what his work looks like. Because if his is bloody and nasty and he's proud of it .... Adios. I also started following a girl on youtube called Clusie. She had gastric sleeve a few years ago and makes videos about her experience and what life is like after the sleeve. She is amazing and inspiring and incredibly honest an I really recommend checking out her channel if you have some time. On yet another note, I had a serious conversation with my husband the other night that left me feeling ... I don't know. Scared I guess. And ... just hollow. After looking into what the extra skin situation is, I was starting to feel really nervous about how much extra skin I am going to have. I'm young, so some of it will come back, but I would be a fool to expect to be anything less than a disaster on my belly and legs. So, I did the stupid thing and asked a question I didn't really want the answer to. I told him that I will almost certainly have a lot of extra skin. I asked if he thought he would still be able to find me attractive, or if the sight would just disgust him. To go through all this, and lose all this weight, just to be rejected for the skin would be psychologically and emotionally devastating on a level I can't even begin to describe, and I needed to know. Well, his answer stopped me cold. It was long winded, but what it amounted to was that if I have extra skin, and am not exercising as much as he would deem acceptable (still not sure what his expectations are with that) he would no longer find me attractive. On the other hand, he said that if I am exercising "enough" and still have extra skin (duh) that he would pay to get me plastic surgery. So what I hear from that, is no. He will not find me at all attractive with extra skin. Because even if I meet his expectation for exercise, he still is going to want me to go through another surgery. Or possibly several surgeries. I'm still processing this. And I looked at before and after pictures of tummy tucks last night, and YIKES. I mean, they don't have the extra skin any more, but most of them look just as bad, just in a different way. Totally unnatural looking. I don't know that I want to do that to myself. And who knows, maybe as they get further post-op it relaxes and looks more natural and less like a washboard. I hope so. Anyway. That was probably more information than you all needed. But with my parents thinking I am taking the easy way out, and my husband being ... whatever he's being, I don't really have anyone else to talk to.

Yay! So fun to see so many August Sleevers! It is going to be great getting to know all of you So, quick update on my journey. Yesterday I had my chest xray, my upper GI, my bloodwork (they took 13 vials!!!!), and my appointment "0" with my nutritionist. Unfortunately, my upper GI uncovered an anomaly that they think may be an ulcer. This definitely throws a wrench in the spokes. They are having me set up an appointment with a gastro-enterologst. Apparently he usually books 1-2 months out. Once I meet with him, he will schedule me for an endoscopy (another 1-2 months out) to determine if there is in fact an ulcer. If there isn't, my surgery can go on as planned (if it isn't already delayed at that point). If there is an ulcer, I have to have it treated for several months before they will do the surgery. This could potentially push me into the next calendar year, which would mean I would have to pay my OOP max again. I feel like crying. Just a little. But, I have plans. I have already ordered some aloe juice and am going to be drinking it like it is going out of style. I don't honestly think I have an ulcer (I have NO symptoms), but on the off chance that I do, this aloe juice should clear it up before the endoscopy. I am also going to ask my doctor for a Urea Breath Test. This will show whether the bacteria H. Pylori is living in my stomach. If there is no H. Pylori, there is no ulcer. Hopefully that would convince him to not make me do the endoscopy and could save me months of waiting (and lots of money too). We shall see. Anyway, rant over. How is everybody doing today?

Phoenix - Woow! Your team really moves fast lol! That is just wonderful. It feels so great to finally know for sure that for once, something we are doing about our weight it going to work. Like, really work. And not just for a few months. Amurillo - Lol! Well, I am having my bloodwork done this Wednesday right after my Upper GI, so either way! And let me just tell you, I am going to be just a smidge heated if I have to face my biggest fear twice (needles) just because they had me do my bloodwork too early! Oh wow! That doesn't sound too bad at all! For some reason when I think "pre-op liquid diet" I imagine Water, watered down broth, ice chips, and maybe just to shake things up put the ice chip IN the water. *insert Emeril's BAM here*

Ohh nooes !! :'( Hang in there! Pull up sleeve before and after pictures to help you keep your eyes on the prize! You are halfway there!!

Mary- Thank you! That is super helpful. I try to cram as many appointments as I can into the same day, that way I only have to take 1 day off work instead of several half-days. Thanks! I think 20lbs won't be too hard. I've lost 40lbs repeatedly over the years, it just keeps coming back. The motivation this time is that once it's gone, it's GONE. This is such a weird feeling! Knowing that by this time next year, I'll be in a totally different place with regards to weight and health. So exciting! Sarah - I totally get that! I am pretty much always day-dreaming about being able to wear a bathing suit next summer! And being able to fit into that goal dress that I have had for the last 8 years. And not being the fattest one in the room for once lol. I'll be able to really get into Yoga once I am no longer too heavy to twist myself into all the positions haha. So so so crazy exciting!! Elle - Thank you! How is your pre-op diet going? Are you doing the all liquids one? Only 10 more days!! Moria - Yay!! It's so nice to find people to go through this with together! Have you already had your consultation? My coordinator told me to do my blood work and upper gi toward the end of my 6 months because they only are valid for about a month for some reason lol. One of my problems is that I eat super fast I should try eating slower too Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App Moria - That is a good idea to try to slow it down. I will try to start doing that today. I don't even remember the last time it took me 30 minutes to eat! Lol Amurillo - That is really interesting about the upper GI only being good for a month. My team is having me do mine this Wednesday, but my surgery won't be until sometime in August. So mine will be way older than a month. I hope they don't make me do a second one before the surgery ... Phoenix - Wow you have already lost 11lbs!! That's awesome congratulations! And 28 more pounds doesn't seem that bad at all! You can do that no problem. Catmom - Congratulations on your success!! That must just feel so amazing. And yes, I am just so incredibly happy to have found this community. You guys are all just so awesome and so willing to help a newbie. I already feel like I have known you all for years Livv - Thank you for taking the time to answer those for me! That definitely clears up some of the confusion and uncertainty I was feeling. It does make me just the slightest bit nervous, as it seems that most people, like you, really can eat just about anything without consequences. Is it crazy that I *almost* hope that I am one of the few that gets dumping syndrome? I feel like that extra consequence would kind of help keep me in line lol Sweet things really aren't my wheelhouse, but SALTY. Oh lord. Especially if it's kind of crunchy. Like popcorn. Or taquitos. The good thing is that I generally really do like my Proteins, meats, eggs etc. So I don't think it will be too difficult to train myself to eat those first. Hopefully then I will be too full of Protein to even want to sneak a bite of cheeseburger. *crosses fingers*