wickedme

Thank you for the post,, you are an inspiration. I go for my last social worker visit, then meet the surgeon. I am hoping to be banded in Nov, but I guess that all depends on how busy the surgeon is. I really want to start out the new year with some hope. I am more then ready and each day seems an eternity.. I have to lose 5-8 more lbs before my surgery so I am hoping I will be as successful as you during the liquid diet.. I did one for 3 days when I had diverticulitis and lost 6 lbs so I'm sure it will be fine. Congrats and I hope you continue to feel marvelous.. keep us posted

This is a question that has recently come to mind.. My kids are 8 and 11 and have never seen me thin. They don't recognize me in pictures before kids at all, and just before I started this journey they had made little comments about my weight. My kids are very intuned to my feeling and emotions, and I to theirs.. They often surprise me with things they say and questions they ask. They know when I need a hug as much as I know when they need one so I am a little concerned as to how they will deal with this.. The last time I was in the hospital I had broken my leg and when I came home our lives were put on hold for 6 months. I couldn't go anywhere with them that I had to walk very far, not even shopping. It was a horrible time for them and me so I hope I can reassure them that this won't be the same thing. They have heard me mention the LapBAnd but I haven't sat them down yet.. any suggestions of what to say or not to say??

Its standard for this office to require 2 visits.. The first one is to check in,, fill out paperwork and do some worksheets,, you either pass and go to the nutrionist, or you do what I did and see a Cognitive Behavioral Therapist.. I saw one for anxiety. I can't take very many meds that don't make me feel worse so I needed some extra skills on dealing with stress. It was great for me and didn't hinder my progress any. The second visit is a check in before meeting the surgeon to see where you at and if you are still ready, or to make sure nothing major has happened over the past two months. I'm so excited about going because they should be able totell me howmuch longer I will have to wait.. I have already been approved through insurance and met all their criteria so these are the last steps.. Motivation is the key, and its a daily battle of wills for me too.. I love to be outside but my job keeps me at a desk all day,, I have a bike here, but everytime I get started someone comes in.. (my office is at my dads house). I am going to start closing for a lunch break so I can sneak out for 30 minutes everyday, my dad never had to do that but I need the break..

JJ,, your post was impressive and interesting. I applaud you on how strong you have been through all of this, it is quite amazing. I have diverticulosis and feared I would someday have to go through the same thing, but hopefully by getting the lap band I will avoid it. I have my worst spells when my reflux is at its worse, it seems to bring on the diverticulitis infections. I will be having the hiatal hernia repaired with the lap band and hope to never have to deal with that pain again. How are you doing now?? Have you healed some more? Hope all is well

I hope you surgery went well?? Do everything the doctor tells you,, don't lift anything more then a gallon of milk for a month, keep walking and keep hydrated.. I have been free from uterus since Mar 06 and never regretted a minute of it even after the weight gain..

Judy,, the part about losing the weight in your stomach first and being able to move more makes total sense... My friend was just telling me that she had "exercise"type pains for quite awhile in the first few months because she could move so much easier,,, Scar tissue sucks!! I have had it removed from a ceserean incision because we were building a house a I got physical wayyy too soon..When I had a hysterectomy I waited as long as they told me then started slowly getting back into things and never had any problems. Hope you are feeling better shy!! Take care of yourself..

I am right where you are,, my last appt with social worker is oct 28th,, then I will have my meeting with the surgeon shortly after. I am stuggling with the chewing,, I forget really easily so its a good thing I have at least another month to practice. Winter is coming so I am also trying to figure out how I will be able to excercise without getting bored. I have a full work and family schedule right now with only evenings to excercise,, then I can't fall asleep until midnight or later so that isn't working for me.. I am going to try to motivate my DH to fix me a space in the basement with a treadmill and TV and see if that works better.. Lots going on in my head at this point, how bout you?? I have told about everyone I plan to and dealt with that, and got my emotional eating and stress under control,, now its the real waiting.

Okay, so I am scheduled on the 28th to have my final psych eval. After that they should make my appt with the surgeon and I should have some idea of when they will do my surgery. I am hoping for before Thanksgiving so I can have an excuse to go somewhere else for Thanksgiving. It will be very difficult to be so close to the holidays and having everyone constantly eyeing me and what I'm eating, but I want to be on my way to a new me before the new year starts. I want this years resolution to be about something fun and not about my health or losing weight.. that will already be in the works. I haven't been great about my eating habits lately but haven't gone too crazy. The back pain I was having is gone so I need to get back to excercising. I definately want to go to the pool this week, wish I could go in the early morning but have to get the kids ready for school. Married life had been difficult and I don't know what to do about it. I'm not totally blameless, and not feeling great about my appearance at the moment isn't helping. I'm feeling a little lonely I guess. I don't know what it is that I need right now, but hope to figure it out. I think we may need to talk with someone and get some direction. Our money issues are getting a little better, but with Christmas coming we really need to stay focused and not stray on the goal. The kids have only mentioned a couple of things that they want and I think they deserve them. I am trying not to get too excited about anything right now and just take everything one day at a time. A part of me still wishes my health didn't come to this, but with my leg issues and joint pain, and lack of 5 hours free time a day for the gym there just is no other way, and I want to live!!

Okay, so I am scheduled on the 28th to have my final psych eval. After that they should make my appt with the surgeon and I should have some idea of when they will do my surgery. I am hoping for before Thanksgiving so I can have an excuse to go somewhere else for Thanksgiving. It will be very difficult to be so close to the holidays and having everyone constantly eyeing me and what I'm eating, but I want to be on my way to a new me before the new year starts. I want this years resolution to be about something fun and not about my health or losing weight.. that will already be in the works. I haven't been great about my eating habits lately but haven't gone too crazy. The back pain I was having is gone so I need to get back to excercising. I definately want to go to the pool this week, wish I could go in the early morning but have to get the kids ready for school. Married life had been difficult and I don't know what to do about it. I'm not totally blameless, and not feeling great about my appearance at the moment isn't helping. I'm feeling a little lonely I guess. I don't know what it is that I need right now, but hope to figure it out. I think we may need to talk with someone and get some direction. Our money issues are getting a little better, but with Christmas coming we really need to stay focused and not stray on the goal. The kids have only mentioned a couple of things that they want and I think they deserve them. I am trying not to get too excited about anything right now and just take everything one day at a time. A part of me still wishes my health didn't come to this, but with my leg issues and joint pain, and lack of 5 hours free time a day for the gym there just is no other way, and I want to live!!

I was wondering if it would help to cut food up as much as possible before even putting it in you mouth would help with the chewing. I am working on the whole chewing concept and am hoping I will eventually get used to it and it will become habit..

mindwing,, I started out trying to mimic the band diet, lost a couple of pounds then nothing. After seeing the nutritionist she had me raise my calories to 1500 or as close without going over and I lost 12,, I'm flluctuating right now, but have lost inches off my waist. Like everything else I have tried I could not maintain this without some outside help like the band, its just to hard and you constantly have to think about it. I have to lose 15 lbs or more before my surgery so I will do my best to keep up with it. Lots of fluids and sugar free Protein shakes, or cottage cheese as a snack helps me from being hungry, actually anything high in protein helps. As far as food goes, I have had one cheeseburger in 3-4 months and haven't missed it. I am making turkey meatloaf and no one knew the difference. I love to cook so have made it a challenge to find the recipes with the highest protein and lowest fat.. Other then that I'm just eating less of what I normally eat..One thing I have found out is too much salad does not digest and I bloat up and feel awful. For some reason my digestive tract does not like it. Hope everyone is well,, my next appt will be with the surgeon I hope!!

Okay,, so I know this has been talked about repeatedly but I need to share with people who truly know where I am coming from.... The past two weeks my 7 siblings have been visiting from elsewhere at my dads who lives next to me.. We haven't all been together since "02" and were long overdue. We had a great time going to the fair, doing some work on my dads house, visiting and eating. I went out of my way to make food that was health friendly because we have a variety of eating issues amongst us,, vegetarian, chrons, heart disease, morbid obesity you name it one of us has had it. I am the official cook and love it, but wish I was good at anything but after seeing the family photos that were taken. I was mortified and it really has been devastating to me. I wish I could crop me out of all of them... The worst thing is there ended up being an open discussion about my pending Lap Band Surgery. I have talked with everyone about it except one sister because she worries and I don't want her to until I have a date... Most of them have been supportive, but totally uneducated and have no idea what its all about. One SIL had gone to a seminar and just can't imagine only eating a cup or less of food per meal for the rest of her life. Shes in her late 60's and is comfortable with herself. I on the other hand have two young children and a lot of years to look forward to,, if I get healthy!! I am working at losing right now and am struggling daily to stay on track. The nutrionist would like me to eat 1500 cals a day until 2 weeks before surgery, and I am sticking pretty close to that but it isn't easy. I am currently having some back issues and excercise is out of the question for at least the next few days. So,, after seeing these pictures with me looking soooo horrid I doubt anyone is going to question why I want to have lap band, and if they do I will email them to them. I don't even want to imagine what my husband is going to say, I hope he doesn't see them. With any luck I should have my surgery in November, hopefully before Thanksgiving so I don't have to cook,, we can do something else!! It seems the closer I get to surgery the more desperate I am to have it. I have certainly been in denial for a long time about myself and owning up is killing my spirit. I just keep telling myself that during this time of self realization I am gaining the strength and willpower I will need to succeed and lose all my weight.. I will not sit for another photo until the day before my surgery!!!

Your both fabulous and thank you for the encouragement... When I had a hysterectomy at 36 I went through the same crap with everyones opinions, when it was about my health.. I do have vain reasons for wanting to be thin, but the surgeon doesn't care about those, he cares about my health and has made me care about it. All my doctors are all for it. I am taking Crestor and have gotten my cholesterol down to 110 from 329.. Thats great, but the side effects of the Crestor are still weighing in, one of them being bone issues. Mine is hereditary, but even if I could lower the dose it would still be a plus. I am feeling really limited about my life right now, and have even started to be treated differently because of my weight. I hate the blank looks I get because old friends are embarrassed for me.. I would like to go to the PCP and not have to discuss my weight too, and maybey she would do something about these stupid skin tags lol....

One thing I have learned from sitting in on support group meetings,, (not banded yet) is as soon as you feel frustrated and alone,, start giving up and letting yourself think you have failed... call your surgeons office and ask for help. I chose the bariatric center I did because they will not give up on me or let me fail. As long as I make the call and tell them I am in trouble they will help me.. I know what your going through as far as feeling lost. I have been exercising and eating better for more then a year and have only managed to keep off a few pounds, but I don't want to live in this shell of existance any longer. Call someone ASAP, don't put it off another day. You are worth the effort, and missing your appointments will only make it worse. Be honest with yourself and your doctor and you will succeed!! Prayers to you for a new start

I started seeing a new nutritionist in May and she has really been wonderful and supportive. She makes sure we schedule extra time to discuss things, all about health and food, beyond the regular appointment stuff. She has helped me figure out that I eat due to stress, which I have a lot of. She has also encouraged me to eat what I enjoy by making it a little healthier. One of the things she had me try this week, was staying away from senconds.. when something is really good its very hard for me to stop,, I love food and always have.. If life is tough I can't stop myself, until now.. She said to eat my correct portion size and then tell myself that if I really want it, then I can have more,, just later, at least one hour. She even went so far as to tell me to put the "more" in a container in the fridge.. It really had a strange effect on me. I knew it was there with my name on it, and I never went back for it.. I will have it for lunch today, it was potatoe salad, on a bed of lettuce.. I did the same thing with a whole wheat Pasta chop suey (made with ground turkey and fat free cottage cheese) The other advice was to buy a smaller plate just for myself, I put it on top of my regular dinner plate for the psychological effect. I will see how it works in two weeks at my next appt. It was great advice so I wanted to share. I would love to hear any other words of wisdom from your dietician or nutritionist.

why the surgeries if you don't mind asking?? I went to a support group this week, got a few more questions answered, met some more of the staff.. They really are a great group of people. I won't meet with Dr. Cobean for quite awhile, I was going to ask if it would hold me back by changing to Dr. Wolfe, but I guess alll that matters is that he is a great surgeon, and the rest of the staff takes over as soon as surgery is over.. I was stunned to learn that most go home the same day, it takes awhile for the anestesia to wear off so I hope they keep me a day.. I would like a few hours to regroup without the influx of people around..

Right there with you ladies.. I do not want to go through the starvation process over night. I started cutting way back in June to 1500 cal a day. I was excercising 4 times a week and it wasn't doing anything. I tried to cut more cals, but that wasn't working either so I started doing at least 30 minutes a day. On weekends I get in a few hours of heavy cleaning, exercise with the kids doing something fun, and have also been remodeling my dads house with my husband,,, lots of calories burned sanding, sawing etc... I have at least 2 days a week where my calories go over 1500, but the other 5 I am at 1100 to 1300.. high Protein low carb.. since the big change I have lost 12 lbs, and have kept it off for a week so far.. I have found that my body doesn't process any weight loss for 3 to 4 days at a time, then I will see the scale move. I am going to put it on the calender and see if there is pattern. One of my biggest issue is getting in enough Fiber with the protein.. I had 4 days of a diverticulitis infection because of not enough fiber. I should be hearing about when my appt. for the nutrionist will be by the end of the week so will ask for advice.. I did find that all bran puts out an icetea and lemonade flavored 10g fiber powder to put in Water,, It tastes great and can be found with the fiber supplements..giving it to my 86 yr old dad to... hehehe

Interesting post, hope there are more comments. I too am going to be an early work return.. I am self employed, and can't leave the office for too long without causing problems with my contracted work. I have a friend who can help out with the phones a few hours a day so I am going to make sure I can afford to pay her for at least a week. I have one advantage in that my office is at my dads home so I can go lay on the couch for a bit when needed, he is elderly and also has a lift chair,, hehehe that should come in handy too!!

CBtherapist signed off today, I am officially sane enough for therapy, can't believe how much those visits helped me, not only with eating but with dealing with all my stress.. I will work hard to keep practicing what I have learned. I have even lossed weight since going,, weight I haven't been able to lose in many years.. I will get an appointment for the dietician as soon as they get the paperwork,,, its really going to happen!!! I have been trying to imagine myself thin,, it still seems out of reach though. I am also trying to imagine going clothes shopping and wearing something stylish that doesn't have to drape, or cover my belly or butt.. So excited,, can't wait for the next phase of this journey!!:sad:

Congratulations!! I have my final appointment with my psyche next week, and have some angst about going it alone also, but I asked if I could call if something came up and she said yes... Are you nervous?? I know I have gone through different emotions often about the whole process, but the bottom line is losing the weight and being healthier. I will be thinking of you Tuesday,, hope your recovery is quick and uneventful!! Let us know how everything goes.. :shades_smile:

I'm self employed for the very reason you posted,, I wouldn't put up with anything like that from a boss. I, would have left for the appointment regardless. I have been going to couseling for a month now due to stress management and it has helped me so much, I couldn't have done it by myself and even after I have done the required visits I am still thinking of see my therapist every few months. It is so good to have an unbiased opinion, and have someone to talk things out with sensibly without opinions being thrown in,, or being made to feel like my concerns are bogus. My husband is not emotionally adept to handling the things I go through most of the time. Hes a man, and either just doesn't care about much or doesn't care enough about me as a person to think my concerns are valid,, couseling is my life saver. I guess I would make sure I got a verbal response to the email next time so that you are sure your boss got the message. I hope it works out for you. One thing about my surgeon is he will not rush to get the surgery going if you miss any appointments with anyone. I had to pay someone out of my own pocket to answer phones so I can get there, it sucks.. Its a family business and its just not in the budget to hire someone..

I started really watching what I was eating again back in February, and couldn't lose a pound no matter what I ate. I met with the nutritionist and we figured I needed to change things up a bit.. also a suggestion from a post lap bander too..well, it worked.. I was in a rut, eating the same things almost every day, yogurt, Cereal, salad, chicken.. Now I eat low sodium and fat Soup, Protein shakes, cottage cheese, lean deli meats along with the other stuff and dropped 7.5 lbs!!! in 3 weeks.. One of the big things was eating a little something between lunch and dinner.. but.... my biggest accomplishment is getting my stress and worries under control. I don't know how it could make that much difference, but for 3 weeks I have been seeing a therapist and I am so much more in control of my emotions I feel different. Life is far from stress free or perfect, but being able to sleep at night and not think of a hundred things that are going on is so much better. I have one more meeting with the therapist before she signs off for me, and said she would be there if I ever needed to see her again, and that is very important to me. I want to be able to check in should the need arise. I'm not even upset that it has moved things back for me anymore, it has made me feel stronger!

I did the change up this week with food and exercise and managed to lose 5 lbs.!! I am hoping that will stay off now.. I was eating the same thing everyday for breakfast and lunch and it just wasn't working.. I have had to take breakfast to work with me so have been eating "lunch" for breakfast, then a small portion of high protein food for lunch and afternoon snack, I'm not starving at dinner anymore and its easier to resist 2nds!!

So I had my second of 4 required appointments with the psych/cognitive behavioral therapist.. This went much better and I tried to keep our conversations about my eating habits, and not wonder off into the past as much and felt better when I left.. I told her about how I was really put to the test this past week with my stress eating when my father wasn't well.. I had to really hold it together and not freak out so that I could do what needed to be done.. I also had to ask for help from the rest of the family and do some delegating,, and then brace myself for the replies and not let it get to me..I did it!! For the first time probably in my life I was able to let those hurtful comments and snappy guilt ridden comments roll off my back. I was able to put into practice what I have learned from my nutritionist (not the lap band one) and the info the therapist gave me and use it.. It felt so good not to be hurt by stupid words. And because I didn't internalize and dwell on anything I didn't overeat and stuck to my meal plans.. One of my sisters sent me and email thanking me for what I was doing and that she was so glad I was able to get them all motivated to help, I needed that more then anyone can know. My father is much better now too because I kept it together. He is still worried about me having surgery, but will be okay if everyone helps out while I am healing. I didn't even have a panic attack... At first I was a little upset that I had to do more appointments, but now I am glad. I was hoping to wait until october for my surgery anyways so this just gives me more time to get my act together!!