Big Damo

yep the gas pain sucks bigtime....well did for me anyway !! and I'm lucky coz i just had to have another port put in last Tuesday and still copping a flogging from the gas. walking I feel is about the best way of getting rid of it good luck...youll feel great real soon

hi i used APRA to fund my OP yes its a pain in the a55 & a lengthy wait for approval & yes everything has to fit within their guidelines of acceptance but 3 mths out of surgery i have to say that it wasnt that bad. At the time though i was pulling my hair out. seemed very strange that it had to be worded exactly to how they wanted it or NO GO !!! my GP said to me when he was typing out his letter for the 3rd time that it would surely be easier if they wanted exact wording that they ( APRA ) provided a form in which was filled out according the what info they wanted. each time APRA wanted more info or letter re written that you were put on the end of the LOOOOONG que again. do it, its definately worth it. just ask the correct questions from the start as to what they require. go for it , youll be fine. good luck with it cheers Damo

yeeeeeeeeeee haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa !!!!!!!!!!!! well after much stuffin around I have been given the go-ahead from APRA to secure the funds from my super fund to pay for my surgery there has been a few dramas along the way, but in all its now finally approved. Just got to get my letter from them & send it away to the super fund to release funds. due to the few dramas I will miss my first scheduled surgery date but i have been very lucky enough to get a date 2 weeks later. so now my new surgery date is 13th November. i went to Mackay yesterday to start with the dietician and i actually decided to start the Optifast 4 weeks out from surgery so today is day 1 on the optifast diet and feel quite good about it. My dietician said that her record weight loss pre op by one of her patients is 10.6 kg, so she has set the challenge. anyway, awayyyyyyyyyy we go. will keep you posted as to how im progressing thanks to all for the support to date cheers Big Damo :thumbup::thumbup::biggrin::thumbup::wink2::thumbup::eek::thumbup::cool2::thumbup::tt2::thumbup::thumbup:

hello everyone hope everyone ise doing well i went to the Dietician for another appointment today...3 weeks since last visit and was very supprised that id lost exactly 5.0kg since last visit. total of 37.6kg lost now and feeling quite good. hope anyone caught up near the fires is safe and that you all stay safe

good luck to the both of you you both seem to have done very well pre op so all the best for your op see you on the best side cheers Damo

hello Dr John Copp check him out on google he has been absoloutely brilliant his practice, team & effort in getting you through the op has been awesome cheers Damo

hey gang long time no speak :thumbup: well today was my first visit post op to the surgeon he is very happy with how everything is going after all the initial dramas i encountered jumped on the scales and now am 31.90 kg less than starting weight which is awesome in 3 mths ( so he says ? ) he had a feel around where ive been saying that my port has been sticking out ( like a pointy corner of a match box pushing hard against the inside of ya skin ) he says that its actually the tube that is between the port & band & that it has just formed bit of a loop and that its NOT the port at all. he says that its fine and when i loose another 20kg he will look at fixing it up. so all good hope everyone is well and merry christmas & happy new year & stuff cheers Damo

yep the shoulder pain sucks walk it out thats really the only way imo yep fill will be on Friday bit concerned as my port is sticking out in a funny way so i guess ill find out on friday hope all is well as ive had enough dramas so far cheers Damo

well an update is due i guess had my 1st post op dietician appointment today went well....have a total loss of 27.6kg since starting the pre op diet. :wink2: with all the trouble i had just after surgery, i feel that im now back on track and will be booking in my 1st fill on Monday for as soon as they can fit me in :crying: looking forward to the next phase and more loss hope everyone is doing well cheers Damo

congrats mate, all the best. youll do fine see you on the other side :wink2::thumbup::crying:

thanks thinkingslim70 yeah it's been a bit up & down but feeling much better now cheers Damo

hello Sunwyse well to answer your question....basically its all i could ( sorta ) keep down. Dr Copp said it was due to the heap of swelling i was getting which made me very very tight. so ive done the Water bit now im drinking lots of stuff. Now able to hold down full strength Kicstart which is nice. after talking to Benita today shes happy for me to get onto thicker stuff like Soups etc & that she is getting the dietician to see me earlier than my scheduled appointment so we can re adjust my plan so feeling heaps better now and things seem to be progressing nicely how is things with you ? cheers Damo

hey Lisa i was put on Kicstart which is like Optifast i guess. I dont like the taste either but i was told to add Diet Flavoured Topping to change the taste. This helped immensly as I too doubt i wouldve done real well having to drink something which tastes YUK hope this helps a little , but stick with it youll be suprised at how effective they are cheers

hello all well things are much better fluids are up to about 3 ltr per day and feeling much more hydrated for it too. lol still on fluids for a few more days and then gonna start on sloppy foods ( which i am looking forward to after drinking Water for last 8 days now allowed some watered down custard & pumpkin Soup which is awesome so ill keep ya posted once im getting onto the sloppy bits and let ya know the progress thanks to everyone who has supported me with kind words of support i hope everyone is doing really well. Sunwyse..............ya definately right about Dr Copp & Benita .. what legends, they have been so good in " after sales support " with regards to my difficulty since being home. cheers Damo

hey guys doing much better now swelling must be subsideing as im taking about 2.4 ltrs of Water between 7am & 10pm today was heaps better 2.0 ltr water & 500ml of 1/2 strength Optifast which was great shoulder pain flogged me but thats all but gone checked in with my local GP and he was shocked hown much ive lost ......he weighed me & now a total loss to date at 26.2kg ...happy with that im sure it will slow down once i go back onto anything but water lolol thanks for the good vibes & support cheers Damo

well i just spoke with Dr Copp ( what a great man ) he is concerned that i am not able to stay hydrated enough through being able to take in enough fluids on my own. SO... he may be putting me hospital here locally so that he can put me on an IV drip & a suction tube down my nose to help clear frothy fluids out so it helps the band site settle over 2 days without having to spit up the frothy stuff which would just agrevate the situation on a good note seems my gas pain has cleared which is nice . well im looking forward to experiencing the nice side of all this so with Dr Copp's confidence in what may be wrong im sure ill get there in a few days cheers for everyones support and responses cheers Damo

well i ended up in hospital last night at 130am was quite dehydrated and feeling quite crappy they stuck an IV in and gave me 1 ltr of fluids and sent me home. Felt much better still gas pains from hell cant shift them - considering ive walked holes in the carpet at the hospital & doing what i am supposed to but it really blo ody hurts. just cant get comfy at all. If it wasnt for the gas pain id be relatively pain free. still a little worried about the clear fluids not staying down ( see above post ) but im sure its just the swelling which will subside. drink cold fluids is what the dr said but that just makes the gas pains kill. oh well time will tell when i was at the Hospital i asked the nurse who i know quite well if i could jump on the scales . she walked me around there and i have now lost a total of 20.1kg Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee cheers Damo

hey guys home & feel real bad lots of gas pain and cant seem to keep clear liquids down. keep burping up the liquids as frothy thick flemy fluid Dr Copp come and made sure band was fully empty as he said sometimes there is a mL in there and that felt better for a bit but he also said that the swelling could be making it tight too which aint allowing fluid to flow freer than they are well he cant be too concerned because he let me go home today but WTF is going on with me ? feel like utter crap cheers Damo

well well i went to Greenslopes Hospital today to see Dr Copp before the op tomorrow.........he is stoked at my progress. 4 weeks on Optislop and a total loss pre op of 16.3 kg and BMI is down to 45.5 from a start of 52 feeling pretty damn happy with it so far see yas when i get back home on Saturday cheers Smaller Damo

thanks Sunwyse flying out in 3 hrs see yas on the flip side xxxx cheers Damo

hello all thanks guys really sinking in now that its gonna happen and really looking forward to it thanks for all the well wishes & ill see yas on the other side cheers Damo :thumbup::scared2:

yeah 5 days to go and cant wait. getting a little nervous but im going down to Brissy by myself as my partner and kids will stay here to run the business, so i guess thats playing on my mind but i know everything will be ok just would be better with a little support from the family. funnily enough they feel the same just in opposite lol well ill post again when i return, flying out tuesday for appointments on wednesday and op on thursday then back on Saturday so ill post when i get back thanks to all for thier kind words and support cheers ( soon to be smaller ) Big Damo lol

hey hey well my looooonnngggg association with both APRA & Superfund has ended as I Paid out all of the $16260.00 for my op thats scheduled for 13th of this month was a great feeling to pay for it all today as i know its getting real close anyway ill keep ya posted as i go along cheers

heyyyyyyyyyyyyyy WELL WELL i had my second dietician appointment today, which is 2 weeks into the Optislop stage with another 2 before i get done. I chose to do the 2 extra weeks after having to put surgery back the extra 2 weeks. well i jumped on the scales and found that after the 2 weeks i have lost a whopping 10.2 kg. the dietician was stoked. so after the next 2 weeks she is suggesting that ill loose another 5kg making it a total of 15.0kg. which i guess is a bonus befor surgery anyway I promised to let you know so there we have it im as happy as a Pig In Poo cheers Damo

hello great to hear from you yeah im doing ok, have picked a few times but mainly on peanuts. It is very hard to do it 100% yeah ive noticed some big changes too I got appoint,ment at Dietician on Tuesday so Ill let ya know the loss so far. then ive got 2 weeks further to do before surgery on the 13th Nov how have you been generally ? 4 Days to go ?? YIPPEEEEE All the very best to you !!!!!!! talk soon cheers Damo