deedee

I hope everyone had a good week! This morning I weighed 152. It's only 1 pound down from last Monday, but I'll take it!

Welcome back!!!

I'm so happy for your progress so far! If I remember correctly you were sleeved at the beginning of December, so I'd say you are pretty speedy, but my weight loss did go faster when I started to move more. Good luck!

I'm so sorry to read of your experience. I'm glad you posted this because it reminds me I still have a lot to learn about this tool.

I was also told to stop 30 minutes before and can resume 30 minutes after. This is what I did consistently the first 3 months. I then read where others drank right up until meal time and decided to try it. It's true, if I'm having a good restriction day, it does seem to limit how much I can eat at that meal, but since I don't follow their rule of only 3 meals per day, I can eat the rest of the meal later (for a snack). BUT I do continue to follow the no drinking until at least 30 minutes after I've finished and never drinking while eating.

My memory isn't the best, but here's what I think... How long were you in surgery? between 1-2 hours Did you have a private room post op? Yes How many days did you stay? one night, two days (surgery in the morning) At the worst point, how would you rate your pain? (o-10 with 0 being the least amt of pain) 5/6 after gulping the leak test stuff-that really set me back, I puked for the only time; most of the time 2-4 What kind of pain killers did they use? Did they work? Was on IV pain meds, plus they had inserted a pain ball (morphine I think) catheter What did you do to pass the time? (I don't like to sit for long and I will walk the hospital all day long if they let me) I walked A LOT, napped, sucked on ice cubes, visited with people, called people What did you take for entertainment? Anything? I brought my Kindle ebook reader, didn't have the energy or desire to read, turned the tv on sometimes, but didn't really watch anything, mostly dozed or walked and chatted with people (my room was right outside one of the nurses station) I am trying to find out if my hospital has DVD players in our rooms. I would love to catch up on some movies and books! You could always bring a laptop or portable dvd player How did you pack and what would you leave at home if you were to do it over again? I brought slippers (yes!), a brush (yes!), toothbrush & paste (no, I used their sponge type brush), Kindle (no), comfy loose fitting dress and underwear/bra to wear home (yes!), chapstick (yes!), lotion (yes!)

I'm so glad things are going well. You're doing terrific!

I hope it all works out for you.

I'm happy for you that it went well, congratulations!

Yay! You are 10 days away...it will be here before you know it.

I'm so sorry. But it is healing and from your other post, you are losing, so good job!

I'm so happy for you that you are back into your exercise routine...good job!

I had to have an EKG, upper gi series, full blood work, psych eval, and sleep study. It seemed like a lot to get done at the time. It wouldn't hurt to ask your surgeon if you'd like some other things done...he might order them as well. For me I felt good about those requirements and being self-pay, I wasn't going to push it unless I really felt something was missing.

You are one beautiful lady Shanda! Congratulations on all your weight loss success AND life successes!!!

I'm so happy for you!!!!

Congratulations on your date! Not a whole lot of advice here except to find things that keep you motivated. I found looking at before/after weight loss pictures really helped me stay on track (it didn't matter if they were sleeved people, rny, lapband, ds, or just plain dieters), but I didn't have to do liquid, I did low carb. Also know that the pre-op diet is the hardest part of most people's journey, so when it's over, it should be pretty smooth sailing. Good luck! And come on here to get all the support you need.

My rambling thoughts... As I reflect over 2009, I realize that the year was sort of an emotional roller-coaster for me, but also how many wonderful things occurred in my life. The beginning of the year started with anxiousness regarding having my fibroids surgically removed (hoped to keep my uterus), then sadness about the idea I wasn't as healthy as I'd like to be to get pregnant (too fat, not ovulating), next came excitement while learning about and preparing for weight loss surgery, trepidation while my wls date neared, elation with the results of a complication-free surgery and rapid weight loss, fear about entering a new decade (turned 30), frustration and happiness as I begun to learn my new stomach, and finally contentment and peace as I started to feel like the "real" me/ a normal person for the first time ever. I'm now entering this 2010 year with a real sense of peace in my life. It's hard for me to describe...I'm happy. I think I will always be the type of person that has to have something to strive for, make myself better, but I'm starting to discover that just because there is always something to work towards, it's okay to just enjoy the moment too. My plans and goals for the year (so far, because they are always changing/evolving depending on what life throws out) include... tryout to become a Jazzercise instructor (if I make it, GREAT, but just making it to that step is huge for me) decluttering my life (there is a lot to this one) reaching my goal weight (whatever that might be...right now I'm 155 lbs, 7 pounds away from a "healthy" bmi, but who knows where I'm supposed to end up...maybe here?) enjoying as much of this year as possible without letting things drag me down (keep positive) I think that's all for now, I'm really excited for 2010, and thankful that I've been so blessed in all my previous years.

Congratulations, you are well on your way now!

The first 6 weeks I tracked my food intake (off and on) on dailyplate, but it was more to keep track of my Protein. My nutritionist never gave me a calorie guideline, but did tell me an estimated size of my meals (cups, oz, etc.). The first month I was usually between 300-600 calories per day, my surgeon explained how he used a 32 bougie (sp?) and then also oversewed the staple line, so I think I was pretty swollen. Now at 5 months out I'm guessing I get in between 600-900 calories per day. It's working for me and I don't ever feel deprived.

I can drink that in about 15-20 minutes--cold, room temperature doesn't seem to bother me, like MrNick said, if I swish it around. When I'm in the middle of exercising sometimes I can drink quite a bit really fast and it goes down smoothly and other times I have to take just a couple of tiny sips.

I'm sorry your are going through this, but glad you are on the mend somewhat.

I think you may want to talk with your gyn since it sounds like it started happening before surgery. My fibroids were said to be the cause of my extra long/weird periods before they were removed.

Yay Carolyn!!! Those numbers are terrific!

I never got a card, but do eat out quite a bit. I have gotten REALLY used to eating leftovers, my husband likes his own meal so we typically don't share. But I do wind up throwing quite a bit out (I won't eat them more than two days old) so we might have to rethink our sharing policy.