*susan*

Hi there and welcome. Is your husband getting banded as well? You might want to check our our insurance and financing forums, as well as the local Indiana forums as well.

The liquid diet is tough, but you have to keep your eye and mind focused on the prize. Plus, this is only a short time period out of your life and so worth it. You can do this!!

Morning SNT, and to all you other late risers, lol. Fanny, I cannot allow chocolate to be anywhere within my reach or I will eat it all. Can you ask someone else to store it for you until the next meeting? Michelle, great job on the hike. I bet if felt fantastic.

Penny, we are all glad to help you out and answer any questions you have. This is a life changing decision, and a very exciting time. Thank you so much for sharing with us and allowing us to get to know you as you go through this wonderful journey.

Thanks Judy! It is fun to see the scale moving and even more fun when others notice.

I am so excited, I just had to share it here with everyone. I work for a non-profit and we have several different volunteer committees that help us with our major event fundraisers. Well, I hadn't seen the chair of our golf committee since March, which was when that event was held. He came by our office today for something and stopped in my office to say hello. He has this huge smile on his face and says "stand up girl." I was a bit confused, but stood up. He said he was amazed at how good I look and couldn't believe how much weight I have lost since he last saw me. He said I really look great. That absolutely made my day. I don't hear it much from the people I see every day, because they don't notice the change as much. So it was good seeing someone I hadn't seen since before my surgery and hearing that there really is a big difference in the way I look. I am going to be walking on air for the rest of the day! :001_rolleyes:

I was wondering the same thing.

It is a great feeling, thanks! I ran around work the rest of the day with a silly grin on my face. When I got home from work tonight, Lee and Danielle wanted to know what the heck got into me because I was in such a good mood and just being really silly with them.

Penny, usually, you arrive at the airport in San Diego on the day before surgery. Then, Dr. Aceves' driver picks you up and takes you to the hospital where you have all of your pre-op work done. Once that is complete, he takes you to the hotel for the night. They pick you up early the next morning, which is the day of your surgery. You spend three days in the hospital and then the driver takes you back to the airport and you can immediately depart for home from there. I am not sure about the passport, when I went in April, they were still accepting a birth certificate.

Hi Steve, we are so glad you found us and joined. The sleeve is a wonderful tool for weight loss. You will find tons of great support and advice here. Like Bearded, I am familiar with Michigan as well. I was born in Grand Rapids and lived in Sparta until I was 14, then we moved to Florida. Most of my relatives are still in Michigan though.

Mac, you give me, and I am sure several others, hope!! Quieter tummies are in our future!

In the mini gastric bypass, it is both a restrictive and malabsorptive procedure. My understanding is the stomach is cut so you have an upper and lower stomach. You get malabsorption because the intestinal tract is looped up and attached to the upper stomach. With the sleeve, they just reduce the size of your stomach. There is no malabsorption involved.

Kauser, I agree with you 100%. It was so comforting having my hubby with me and knowing he was there to take care of me.

Hi Penny, If your BMI is more than 40, he requires you to follow a low fat diet with a minimum of thirty grams of Protein a day for one week prior to your surgery date. Once you are there and have had all of your pre-op work done, you are then allowed a final meal the night before your surgery consisting of anything your heart desires. I have never smoked, but know of several people who do and understand how difficult it is to quit. I wish you luck with it, you are doing good just by cutting back. I know you can do this. You can do like many of us have done, and transfer your addiction to VST instead! :lol0:

Catherine, that is fabulous! Congratulations, I love reading success stories.

We have been having problems with chat. Our systems people are aware of it.

I do the viactive chewables. They start off tasting like chocolate, but do leave a kind of funky aftertaste.

Glad to hear Bob is doing well. He sounds like the typical, stubborn man when it comes to driving, lol. Lee is the same way.

That is the biggest problem I have. Once I get home, I really like to stay home for the evening. But, because hubby likes to work out with Danielle and I, we have to wait for him. I get off work at 4:30 and he usually doesn't get home until 6:00. When he comes home he is starving so we eat dinner first and then go to the gym. Sometimes it is a real struggle for me to convince myself to go at 8:00. I would love to be able to just go on my way home from work.

That is a good thing here! OMG, that is hysterical! Fanny, I hope you have better luck with the next buyer. Selling a house can be such a pain. I will keep my fingers crossed for you. I can't believe we haven't heard from Plain with all this nekkid bonfire dancing going on! Morning Everyone! Life is good here. We are settled in the new place, hubby and I are doing fabulous, kids are good, dogs are good and work is getting into my busy time.

Hi Scott, we are glad you decided to join and start posting. Have you checked out the local forums for your area? You will probably find a lot of information on doctors near you there.

Hi Stacey, welcome to our forums! Congratulations on getting banded and starting your journey to a healthier you. We look forward to getting to know you better.

Hi and welcome to our forums! We are glad to have you join us. I am not sure what the churning and gurgling is, but I can tell you since getting my sleeve, I do have that feeling from time to time. I know it is not hunger though, at least not for me. I remember another poster commenting that her stomach does this a lot and laughing about how she is no longer able to just sneak up on anyone because her tummy noise always gives her away.

Ron, for about the first four weeks I was only able to take my meds by crushing them. But, now I also have no problems whatsoever taking them all whole.

Hi Manatee, welcome to the boards! I am not very long-term, as I just revised from the band to the sleeve in April. I was having a ton of problems with my band and even my surgeon agreed that it was time to change. I can tell you there is a world of difference between the two. I no longer have to worry about fills and getting to the elusive "sweet spot." When I had my band, it literally occupied my mind 24/7. If I had a lunch meeting, do I dare try and eat at the meeting and risk embarrassing myself with the inevitable pb, or do I wait and take my food back to my office to eat after the meeting. Same thing with dining out. It was no longer about enjoying dining out with family and friends, it was worrying about whether I was going to be able to keep my food down or not, what is safe for me to try and eat, etc. Now, I just enjoy life. Dining out is about enjoying being with friends, family and coworkers. I just have a smaller tummy and cannot eat as much food as everyone else. No more pb's, no more getting stuck, no more fills, nothing. It has made a huge difference in the quality of my life.