Caltania

Office jobs are notoriously awful in terms of being sedentary... 😝 The Fitbit reminders will really help you with that I think too. They're a good chance to refill your water, get a shake, take a walk around the building or block, etc. And dogs will be a huge help too! My cats on the other hand... they're exceptionally de-motivational. They get angry with me whenever I do so much as shift positions, ha ha!

Yesterday my nutritionist and health psychologist approved me to move forward with surgery, so I got assigned a tentative surgery date of June 11th. I'm so excited!! I'm really fortunate that my insurance apparently does not tend to deny people who go through this particular program, but I'm still a bit anxious about that nonetheless. Liquid diet will be starting for me the day after Memorial Day... I feel ready for it, and have no plans to do much "last suppering", as it were. I'm so ready for this!

Based on my own personal experience, it sounds like your doc is spot on. If you're getting up and moving right after surgery, even if you really don't want to, it will help! I had an abdominal surgery two years ago (not WLS-related, and also emergency, so I was completely unprepared), and they had me up and moving several hours after surgery, despite lots of protests from me... but I'm so grateful they did, especially after I learned about the risks of clots. But when I woke up from surgery, they also had these cuffs around my legs that would help circulate blood for me while I was immobile (almost like blood pressure cuffs), so maybe your facility will have those as well. I think the Fitbit will help too - it provides a good motivation to get up and move! And I too need reminders to move, you're not alone there...

Could it be a hydration issue? My body tends to hang on to some excess water weight on days that I have not been drinking enough water... Also, one thing my program has reiterated over and over again (even making us repeat it out loud!) is that plateaus will happen, and that if you just keep doing what you're supposed to be doing, the weight will come off. If you find yourself stuck in a major plateau, then maybe bring some food logs into your nutritionist? Thankfully you have a group of people in this post who are in the same boat as you - we're all in this together!

Oh wow, yeah, I'd imagine that would be really difficult!! But you're so close to surgery now, you've totally got this! And know there's lots of support around these parts if you need it 😊

My program requires a 2 week liquid diet before the surgery. The reasons are to shrink the liver a bit before surgery, to get you into ketosis before the surgery, and to get you in the right mindset heading in to surgery. I don't have a strict number of shakes to have each day, just between 4-6 as I'd like. I've been preparing myself by having 1-2 shakes a day so far, so it won't seem so jarring to switch to the liquid diet. I still think I'll be a bit cranky though 😜

I'm going to allow myself one small splurge before the surgery, and it's probably going to be the Brazilian grill, since I know it will be a while before most meats are OK without being pureed 😜 It's also partly a buffet, which might be pretty pointless for me after surgery, since I won't "get my money's worth" 😄

Riley, that's such wonderful news, congratulations!! *happy dances for you*

Riley, that's such wonderful news, congratulations!! *happy dances for you*

Depending on where and when it is, I might actually be willing to make the drive down from Madison for it, since it's only a couple of hours out. I might also drag my husband along, since he'll be fairly close to this cohort, just a couple of months behind 😊

Right?? The more the merrier! I love other geeks, whether our geekdoms line up or not. It's just fun to be around people who appreciate when you can geek out about your passions 😃

Hi everyone! *waves* First day on the forums, so I thought it would be good to introduce myself. I'm a 36 y/o geeky gal living in Wisconsin with my husband and cats. My husband is also having WLS in a few months, so I am lucky to have some built in support, but still would love to build my support network up a bit more! I'm a bit of an introvert, and for fun you can usually find me reading a book, playing board games with friends, or getting lost in a video game. So, my story... I've been obese for as much of my life as I can remember. I've also dieted for as much of my life as I can remember. I've tried pretty much every diet and other strategy that I could think of, and did manage to lose weight now and again, but it always came back. After years of monitoring, last year, I noticed that my insurance was finally willing to cover 1 surgery over the course of my lifetime. I started the ball rolling in November, and am hoping to have my surgery in early June, likely gastric bypass. I've been a part of the UW Health program, which has been amazing - they have been working hard to make sure I am prepared, which is particularly important to me, since I have had a few friends who have not had long-term success with WLS. I am absolutely determined to make this work, and hope that the tool gives me a sort of second chance to actually be a healthy person... especially since I'm hoping to have a kid in the next three years or so 🙂 So far I'm down about 20 lbs and am still pre-op, so I have high hopes for my post-op success! If you've gotten this far, thanks for reading all of this! You rock! I look forward to getting to know some new folks.

Thank you!! I definitely feel lucky to have him doing this alongside me, even if I am the guinea pig of the two of us 😄 I hope your journey is also going well!

You have excellent taste! 😉 I used to be a HUGE Star Wars fan, but that faded for me somewhat when Disney scrapped the whole Expanded Universe of books 😝 I still have so much Star Trek to catch up on - I never watched it growing up, so I've tried to make up for lost time!

Oh wow, congrats on getting a date, that's good news! It's not that far off now, and soon you'll have the tool you need to help you achieve your goals. You've got this, I'm cheering for you! 😃

Hey! I will be travelling to an obesity specialist hospital in Turkey! It’s thousands of pounds cheaper to get it done there and I trust the surgeon I have chosen! Bariatric surgery in Western Europe is so expensive! And the NHS wouldn’t support me because I didn’t have enough health issues. The fact that you trust the surgeon is so key! I'm really glad you were able to find a good place to have it done at an affordable rate. I'm really lucky that my insurance here in the US covers it, even if I have to constantly push back against them 😝 And as far as this being your first surgery... while no one ever really wants to have surgery (I think??), I think it will help that this is something you chose as a step to help yourself become healthier. Plus you have some time to prepare yourself for the idea of it! I was terrified the first time I had surgery (two years ago... and an emergency surgery at that ☹️), but things wound up going extremely smoothly. Just remember you're in good hands and have a team taking very good care of you!

Woohoo, geeks unite!! (Especially ones that like Harry Potter 😉)

Welcome Deanna! *waves* I can actually relate to your sentiments here, though for different reasons... my weight is the primary thing keeping me back from having a child, though due to a combination of fertility and miscarriage issues. And I like being curvy and will miss my current curves, but I'm determined to get healthier! I'm cheering you on! 😎 Where are you planning to go to have the Sleeve surgery done?

Thank you so much, GreenTealeal, Viking 0424, GradyCat, and KCgirl061! You guys are already making me feel good about my decision to join these boards 😁 I'm really looking forward to continuing with this journey!

I try! Though sometimes I go a bit overboard with extra words. I try to keep it in check 😊 I'm almost certainly having bypass. My doc at first tried to steer me to the sleeve, but since I only get one surgery covered in the course of my lifetime, I'd rather go for this one. I'm totally nervous, and excited, and terrified, and generally feeling ALL OF THE FEELS, lol! I think about all this stuff pretty much all the time right now... mostly I just wish it was already here! My first appt was in November, which is approximately 1 eternity ago 😉

Those are all lovely categories though! I started to get into anime a while back, but sort of fell away from it... I do still enjoy it now and again though! And while I don't define myself as a metalhead, I spent a few years dating a guitarist in a melodic death metal band, so I know my way around the genre a bit, lol! I'm still a fan of bands like Nightwish and Lacuna Coil, though it's been several years since I've found much new stuff to add to my collection. Lots of video game soundtracks on my end, interspersed with some truly random things 😄

I saw your kitties names earlier in the post - I highly approve!! We currently have one kitty of our own, plus two we are fostering for a friend (that we have fostered for the last several years 😋). Our little home is a wonderful, cat-filled place! And hooray for geeks! What sorts of geekery do you indulge in? I see reading on your profile - yay books! 🧐

Hi everyone! I'm expecting to be a part of this cohort, or at least very very close! I have my next follow up appointments on May 9th, and that's when I expect to get my surgery date. I've been told it shouldn't be difficult getting an early or mid-June date. Then I need insurance approval... I don't expect that to pose a problem, but I'm still only cautiously optimistic at this point. So a bit about me... I'm a 36 y/o geeky gal from Wisconsin, living with my husband (who is also having WLS later this year) and currently 3 kitties. I've been carrying around about twice as much weight as I should be for just about my whole life, and I'm ready to be done with it. I want to finally get the chance to know what it means to be a healthy person, to not be in pain all the time, and hopefully, in a few years, to have a kid 🙂 Looking forward to getting to know some of you lovelies!