hope4momof4

Good for you! I’m sure you don’t need recognition on your accomplishment to feel successful but I’m sure that felt good! 😎 It’s nice to see that people are finally taking notice. How much weight have you lost?

So glad to hear that your surgery went well. Now you can begin your new life. I suppose our moms are so overbearing because it’s the only way they know how to show they love us. I think your mom being there in the hospital is proof of how much she cares. And yes she will ease up on you the more you prove to her how you can get your weight and your life under control. I guess our moms mean well but they have a really strange and annoying way of showing it. Anyway, keep us posted on your progress. I’m rooting for you babe!

Isn’t it strange that we are grown adults, you’re 45 and I’m just about the same age 43, but we still feel like children when it comes to our parents? I have the same issue with my mom and like you I don’t want to hear the negativity. I think it’s wonderful that you have your surgery date. Which surgery or procedure are you having? You are a lot braver than me. I’ve only made a few phone calls but I haven’t even gone in for a consultation. My mom would never support me in this although she’d never hesitate to tell me that I look fat or very big. Mind you she is very obese herself and suffers from numerous health issues because of her weight. She doesn’t realize that I want to do this so I don’t end up like her, negative and bitter all the time.
Congratulations on having a date set. I admire and applaud you. 👏🏻👏🏻

Absolutely, you got a deal. I will need your support and happy to help you. I believe helping others is a great way to stay accountable. This has been a long struggle for me and I know the surgery alone will not "fix" my relationship with food. I need accountability!

Well thanks so much 1badassbiggurl as I thought I was the only one out there who was trying to keep this from my family. There are so many in this forum who have a lot of support and although I am very happy for them, I can’t help but feel like their experiences are going to differ so much from mine if I go forward with this. I’m not saying they’ll have it easy at all but it helps to have someone in your corner. Yes just like you I also have very strongewilled and opinionated people in my family who would never understand how much of a struggle it is everyday. Their solution would be: work harder to lose the weight or live like that for the rest of your life. Sadly, if I could do either then I wouldn’t be on this forum, right? I do agree I need to tell someone to help me through this time but I can’t bring myself to do it. I’m leaning towards perhaps a close friend but I’m still in the process of thinking about having it done. I haven’t scheduled anything yet. I like your idea of the letters which another member on the forum, eden30, suggested would be the best way to tell my husband. She suggests that writing out your feelings is better because when you write you usually write from a place of love not anger. I also think it is easier to express how you really feel on paper. I find it intimidating when you are face to face. Either way I must find a way to do this and I am so lucky that I found this forum because your kindness and encouragement keep me believing that I can do this. Thanks for the support and great suggestions. I hope eden30 is also reading this because she is another source of encouragement for me. Please let us know how your procedure goes in two weeks 1badassbiggurl. Keep us posted on how your family reacts also. Eden30, how is your progress? I hope you are continuing to lose and keeping up your energy. Thanks again all!

Tex that’s great! I, like Bubbles have a huge fear of how I will control my eating after the procedure. I think we can all agree that we are emotional eaters and that has contributed to our weight problems over the years. I hope like you Tex that this procedure will help me with this as it is really my major problem. I can get through most of the day or even days on end eating healthy but as soon as a stressful situation comes up I start grabbing unhealthy foods. I actually crave them even if they are not available to me at that moment. It makes me hopeful that you feel your desire for food has decreased and that you are finding the liquid diet doable after your procedure. I hope you continue to progress. 💝💝

Totally agree. You are definitely not alone. I have even tried the other prescription weight loss meds— Qysmia, belviq, metformin, and even Saxenda for a brief time (way too expensive) and all of these did nothing for me long term. Some didn’t even work initially. I only stayed on phentermine because quite honestly it was the easiest and cheapest to get. And just like you Bubbles, I was terrified of what would happen if I stopped taking it. I had the same experience, I tried to wean myself off of it but the pounds would creep back on so I went back to taking it. I’m on the highest dose possible and that isn’t working anymore. It hasn’t been working for the longest but what other option did we have? I hope we can succeed with this procedure. Let’s make ourselves a promise that after we have this procedure we will continue to post about everything even after a year or two. Our victories and our defeats. We won’t be judgemental because we’ve both been through the same experience but posting will help us stay accountable and possibly get help when we feel we are falling off track. I can guarantee that this is nothing that you can post here that I haven’t done, tried to do, or seriously thought about doing. Deal?

My highest weight was 356. When i first met with my surgeon and we talked about possibility of WLS i was 321. When i started liquid diet i was 297 & the morning of surgery i was 280. I’m currently 270 [emoji854]

Absolutely my dear. That’s what we are here for. Great to hear from you. Please let us know how you’re doing with your weight loss. You don’t have to tell us your starting weight or anything if that’s too personal. We’re here to cheer you on girl every step of the way. 😍😍

Sure! As of this morning I’m down 16lbs from my first consult visit when I was 159. This morning I was 143.. . I should have but I didn’t weigh myself morning of the procedure. I would guess from then it’s been 12 or 13lbs since then Nov 8.

Hi AmyAlexis, thanks for the encouragement.
Did insurance cover your nutisionist visit? Did you have to wait until after your nutisionist consultation to schedule your procedure?
How is your restriction feeling? Are you hungry for more food?
I picked up some of the Vitamin Water Zero... Yum! Thanks for the suggestion. Trying to get used to post procedure diet now. Are you taking a probiotic and/or Fiber supplement? If so, is there one you recommend? I’ve been reading a lot about how lean people have different gut flora then overweight people. Considering that, I wonder what probiotic would be best for an overweight person’? So many to choose from... I want my new belly to be as healthy as possible.
Thanks again

Hi Bubbles!
Yes insurance covered my visit - I have a $50/copay but it took forever to get them on the phone so I waited at least an hour or more before I saw her.
The restriction is going well- I'm pretty good about keeping my intake to 4oz or less at a time- except for the shakes which I do tend to drink more without having any issues- I do feel full with those. My calories per day have been ranging fro 700-850 and I am trying to add some fats now to get that up to at least 1000/day per nutritionist.
I'm taking a multi chewable- and Calcium chewable. I take Centrum Silver adult 50+ which aren't bad - kinda taste like sweetarts.
The calcium I bought a big bottle of caltrate chewables but they are awful- tart/chalky - so after checking with nutritionist , she said I can get the chocolate chewy ones- so ordering those.
No Probiotics or Fiber supplement. I have been pretty stopped up lately but after a couple of days of Miralax that seems to be getting better (and it really is tasteless so mixes with Vitamin Water well).

We have so many parallels.. thank you universe for bringing us together via this forum. Wow, it feels so good not to be alone on such a frightening journey. Everytime I come off the phen I blow up. So hard to get off. My heart is definitely not like it used to be . I can feel the negative effects yet being morbidly obese seems like a greatly risk factor. I explained to the doctor that everyday off of it, I’m white knuckling it. Hanging my a thread to not eat my arm. My hunger is insatiable. It has messed me up big time. Praying this procedure will do the trick and save my heart from any more damage.

Let me just say Bubbles that I so completely identify with you. I’ve been on phentermine for 10 years!! It stopped working for me a long, long time ago but I’m so scared of what will happen if I stop taking it. God if I added up all the $ I’ve spent on diets, diet plans, diet pills, diet supplements, and diet foods, I could have paid for this procedure 3 times over. 😡 well let’s hope this will be our final solution. 🤞🏻🤞🏻

Mel, thanks for all your info and continued support. Totally agree about the value of sharing our experiences, definitely a new procedure, I found no one near by to share these with. I think the uncertainty from ESG being new increased the feeling of isolation. In my research phase and after my initial consultation in July this forum was a big part of how I gathered the information and positive experiences to make my decision to proceed with ESG.
I'm so pleased that I followed through and have completed the procedure, now the behavior choices to sustain my weight loss are being supported by my much lower desire for food (both quantity and frequency). I asked my Dr. about this and he said it was a combination of hormone changes (smaller stomach volume) and a much quicker response from our nerve cells in the smaller stomach to indicate satiety (fullness). Pretty interesting to me even if I don't totally understand it.
I'm doing great, had my one week follow-up appointment yesterday and all was well. I'm still on liquid diet for the next week and then I shift to puree. Gas pains are gone and no complications following the procedure. Starting to see signs of weight loss, off to a good start in that regard. Really having no issue with following the new diet regime to the letter, I am in such a different (better!) place mentally. Next appointment in early Jan (6 weeks).
Hope you continue to do well, great to see your weight loss progress!!
Keep in touch, Tex

Bubbles, sorry to hear of the office visit, hang in there! I went through a similar process with my doctor where I had to get blood results before I could see the dietician and then only after the dietician visit could I get a date for my procedure. I started this with my initial consult in July and eventually ended in November with the procedure. Trust me it was worth the wait!
I like where you are headed with the focus on behavior aspects, I tried this made some progress but struggled as well, gaining 10 lbs from my dietician visit to ESG procedure (about 6 weeks).
I can tell you I'm still not feeling hungry following my procedure and I find it much easier not to graze after work and before dinner (this, late night deserts and "liquid" calories in the evening vices pre ESG). It was some type of emotional eating not really based on "hunger" or need of food. I just don't have any interest in restarting this now, so keep the faith and keep working towards your ESG!
Let's keep chatting you will do great!

Thanks for your encouragement hope4momof4. You are absolutely right, after receiving sage advise from you and others, I'm ready to take a long hard look at my eating behavior and make some changes. My goal is to eliminate sugar/flour/grains (my body has an inflammatory response to them), and eat three small meals a day and a light snack like cottage cheese for a evening snack. I have decided to come off the phentermine before my surgery to see if I can adjust behaviorally without it. I will hit the grocery store tomorrow to meal prep. Making lemonade at of lemons!!

Hey Bubbles, thanks for sharing the extra info, really helpful to others. Sounded like a great discussion with your Dr. in the midst of a really stressful day! I was impressed with the candor and quality of feedback you received. I heard a similar message about not "falling back" on doing a future tightening to get the results we want.
I was laughing with you when I read your Starbucks comment, I was seriously there on the caffeine intake and haven't had a coffee since Nov 18th! No headaches or signs of withdrawal, never thought I would say that!
Very positive your history with scar tissue or immune disorder/foods wasn't an issue for an ESG.
Really cool for the forum how transparently your are sharing your experiences! Keep going!

hope4momof4, what a great note by melesg on what to ask during initial consult! Amazing how similar her list was to mine. Weight loss experience, time to lose weight, complication rate and what were they were all the key questions for me in the initial consult.
One thing I covered in addition to ESG was to find out from my doctor how many other bariatric procedures he had done. I asked this as ESG was still quite new here. Apparently there's a similar suturing method (Overstitch) and instrument used in ESG as VSG. My doctor was very familiar with this technique and made me more confident. In the end we agreed ESG was a better fit for me than VSG (less recovery time due to no incision and less invasive technique (not removing part of stomach) was a big factor in my decision for ESG).
I also asked about ESG reversal and my Dr. was quite clear ESG is permanent procedure, in the initial weeks as new tissue builds up around your smaller stomach.
The diet plan they shared with me during the dietician consultation later, covered a lot of post procedure eating questions.
Think you're in a good place to be ready for this one!
Good luck and let us know if there's anything else we can share to help!

Thanks Tex Slim. I’m depending on all of you pioneers—so to speak to help me with this. You have all been my guides thus far so I’m counting on you! Yes please help me prepare the right questions to ask. From what I’ve been told, this particular doctor gives you the one consult where you set your procedure date and then your procedure. You only go back to him one week and then one month after the procedure. This consult will be my one and only chance to ask any questions I have. Butterflies starting to build. 🦋🦋

Sorry about the wait Bubbles. I know exactly how you feel. I’ll have to wait until end of January or beginning of February so I completely understand. I’m avoiding going anywhere and I hate that I feel so self conscious all the time. I do however, believe that the time we’ll have will help us get our minds ready if that makes sense. Our bodies are definitely ready to drop the weight but our minds have to catch up. So in some way this could be a blessing. Hang in there we’ll make it through together. 💝💝

I have mild reflux, I was on meds for 2-3 weeks and then stopped. The ESG didn't have any impact. I am 4.5 month out and lost almost 16% of my body weight (30 lbs)!

Hello ladies and gents! I am scheduled for my consultation December 5th. And hopefully I can get my procedure done around the 1st of January. 39 male 5'9 310lbs. Excited and scared at the same time. I guess my only real fear is not physical getting approved. The two primary reasons are acid reflux and heart palpitations. From everyone's past experiences and consultations, was either of these things a concern with the doctor? I have read nearly every thread on here and what I read was why I chose to move forward with this. If I'm able to have the procedure then I to will document my experience to try and help people the way y'all (from Tx) have helped me.

O geez... I just figured out how to respond with the quote box above...I'm a forum rookie!
It went well, she was really nice and informative. I found the desk staff and nurse who took my vitals to be rude but they were busy, so I will let it slide. I had to wait 2 hours to see her which was painful. I was able to complete my bloodwork today. I meet with the Nutritionist on December 15th. I wish I could get in sooner because I can not schedule a surgery date until the nutritionist gives her the OK. The thought of getting through the holiday's at the rate I'm going scares the heck out of me. I've gained 20 pounds in just the last 2 months. I will take my H Pylori test tomorrow and check that off my list. I've decided to work on eating well and chips some of these lbs off while I journey toward my procedure. Thanks for checking in.