Veggestyle

Melissa--Thank you! I am doing pretty good. It is still hard to believe that I am actually here, I am in "band land." It does feel good though, I have worked so hard to get here! Truly, I am feeling quite well except for the feeling of being in a foggy haze which i have attributed to pain meds. and just my body going through some big changes! Thank you for asking, I hope that all is well with you that you had a great Thanksgiving!

oooops!!! post-op...reall wouldnt have to face this all again!

That would be wonderful! Actually I just went to Starbucks today and asked for them to make me a drink that ws low in sugar, calories, carbs and moderate in fat, and they had no problem whipping me up some type of latte which was delicious! It was like a low sugar vanilla breve latte...any other suggestions on what to have from there as a bander? I would love to meet up now that I am finally pre-op and I am oh so excited!

Pat---Sorry to hear about your missing Christmas tree. I can relate in a way, I used to work at one of those upscale gardening/holiday centers for eight years. Yeah, so ladies if you have any gardening questions I can probably try and help, it is one of my hidden talents. I loved working there, we were like a small family and I have so many great...and a few not so great memories from there. NJChick---The cobwebs are still really bothering me. I havent taken any pain meds for about a day and a half now. I feel like I am in a daze, a hazey daze were my vision feels blurry but in actuallity it really isnt, I feel like I am in a fog, but it is not too bad were I cant functoin, feel happy, etc, it is more so nagging. I am planning on going to work on Monday and I just really hopes it passes by then. I am pretty sure that I am getting enough sleep about eight hours. I thought that maybe I wasnt getting enough water and I have been so good about keeping hydrated today and I still feel that way. Overall, I feel pretty good though, besides that terrible nagging fog...:tired ReneBean--Are you joking about being "thin" enough for the lapband? Since I came in a bit later on this board on am not sure what your journey is...I am curious and hope all well goes for you! My incisions are feeling much better recently and are no longer bleeding. My port incision is still quite a pain which I know I should not be surprised by. It feels so dry and feels like it is stretching when I get up from a sitting position. I hope that'll change when I go in for my first post-op appt. on Tues and maybe he'll take the bandage off! Well Ladies, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Take care!

TropicalJill--What a selfess, wonderful, lovely thing to do for others and helps you out too! How did that experience go for you? Bless you!

Hello Everyone Randi--I am freaked out, but thankful by the info. that you shared with me about the pain meds. I am totally sure that my surgeon (who seems to be very knowledgable and trustworthy) said that it was ok for me to take ibuprofen. He even had me taking an aspirin a day for a few days to help prevent blood clots. I usually have to take about two exedrins a day for unrelated pain (TMJ) is that projected to be a problem too? And what is the problem again...the meds stay in the pouch and could cause erosion? (which is something I am totally worried about in the first place...please provide more info. on this if possible, even an article or possible..?) Thank you! Otherwise---I have been doing ok. Surprisingly I have not had any trouble with gas pains, I suppose I should consider myself lucky there. I have had gas, but no pain from it. What has been a real pain...ha ha...has been my port incision that just kills me! It has been very very painful, but getting better day by day. My new issue is feeling very "out of it" disorientated, almost like in a haze...:rolleyes can anyone relate to this? It is starting to freak me out, like it is not going to go away. Maybe I can attribute this to the pain meds (which I have not taken since yesterday morning) and maybe just my body being in shock from all of this? Thanks for any advice!

Well today is Thanksgving, and it will be a very different thanksgiving for me since I wont be able to eat anything.

Well today is Thanksgving, and it will be a very different thanksgiving for me since I wont be able to eat anything.

Hello Everyone! I hope that you all have a wonderful thanksgiving. Mine will be interesting since I will be forced to focus on other aspects of the holiday other than food, especially since I am on liquids for quit a bit. But that is ok, I am looking forward to the challenge. I am looking forward to the Grey's Anatomy special tonight, oh and of coarse spending time with my family! I am feeling better, I did wind up going to the doctor about my pain and the odd looking incision. He was very kind to meet with me and explain that everything looks normal and seems to be going quite well. He suggested for me to take Ibuprofen with the pain meds. for a better impact and that has helped a lot. I am still feeling rather out of it, like I have cobwebs in my head, everything seems a bit fuzzy...and I am having quit a bit of trouble from getting up from a laying down position, but besides that I am doing pretty well! I hope that you all have a fabulous day! I am thankful for you all!!

Hello Everyone! I hope that you all have a wonderful thanksgiving. Mine will be interesting since I will be forced to focus on other aspects of the holiday other than food, especially since I am on liquids for quit a bit. But that is ok, I am looking forward to the challenge. I am looking forward to the Grey's Anatomy special tonight, oh and of coarse spending time with my family! I am feeling better, I did wind up going to the doctor about my pain and the odd looking incision. He was very kind to meet with me and explain that everything looks normal and seems to be going quite well. He suggested for me to take Ibuprofen with the pain meds. for a better impact and that has helped a lot. I am still feeling rather out of it, like I have cobwebs in my head, everything seems a bit fuzzy...and I am having quit a bit of trouble from getting up from a laying down position, but besides that I am doing pretty well! I hope that you all have a fabulous day! I am thankful for you all!!:biggrin1:

Right now it is 4:30 am and I am just starting to get sleepy after being up for awhile. I woke a bit before three and had trouble relaxing and sleeping. I need to be at the hopsital at 6am and my surgery is scheduled for 7:30am. I really want to just get in, get through it, so I can start healing and getting on to a new life. All of this anticpation for the surgery has been so difficult. I have been working so hard for this and I am determined to succeed at this, but of coarse I have my doubts, mostly about the surgery, I really have faith in myself that i can use this tool well. At least, I truly, truly hope so. Well my mouth is extremely dry from the nausea preventing patch I have on, and I am starting to get pretty tired, going to try to catch a bit of sleep before leaving. See you all on the other side...bye bye

Thank you for thinking of me. I am back, feeling very sore, but not too gassy, I have had no trouble burping. But I made it, I am proud, now I just cant wait to feel a bit better! I hope all is well with you!

Hello Diane...I am back from surgery...did you not get my PM? I PM'd you last week sometime about our starbuck's meeting. I hope you arent upset...I am glad to hear that you all had a good time at RAM. I think it is a great idea for someone new to be a hostess, plan the time, place and such. I really want to make it next time. well this message is going to be short, b/c i am starting to get really sore. I hope all is well.

Hello Everyone--Well here I am after surgery not even 24 hrs. later. Everything went very smoothly. I was at the hospital from 6am until 3pm and I was so so worried about everything, but all went really well. Everyone at the hospital was super nice and concerned. The nutritionist and bariatric cooridinator stopped by and visited me in the recovery room. The cooridinator brought me a bag full of goodies, including a card that requests restaurnats to let me order off of the kids menu. I even got a sippy cup too! My surgeon also came to talk with before the surgery which I thought was very nice of him. Everyone made sure that I was totally comfortable and then they wheeled me away to the OR. Surprise, surprise, one of the surgical nurses is one of my classmates at the massage therapy school I am attending! Small world, well actually it really is out were I live here in the country. Right now my stomach is very very swollen, and it is almost unbearable to lie down and then lie back up. When my pain meds. start to wear off I feel miserable, but then I just take them again and I am O.K. My only concern right now is that one of my incisions appers to still be bleeding, not really bad, but in the middle of the night when I had to get up to go the bathroom, the movement made the incision to start to bleed. My BF called the doctor last night who was on call and he said that it is not terribly uncommon, but I think I should still call my surgeon again today...? I am going to be going now, I am getting really tired and sore. I hope you are all well.

Hello Everyone--Well here I am after surgery not even 24 hrs. later. Everything went very smoothly. I was at the hospital from 6am until 3pm and I was so so worried about everything, but all went really well. Everyone at the hospital was super nice and concerned. The nutritionist and bariatric cooridinator stopped by and visited me in the recovery room. The cooridinator brought me a bag full of goodies, including a card that requests restaurnats to let me order off of the kids menu. I even got a sippy cup too! My surgeon also came to talk with before the surgery which I thought was very nice of him. Everyone made sure that I was totally comfortable and then they wheeled me away to the OR. Surprise, surprise, one of the surgical nurses is one of my classmates at the massage therapy school I am attending! Small world, well actually it really is out were I live here in the country. Right now my stomach is very very swollen, and it is almost unbearable to lie down and then lie back up. When my pain meds. start to wear off I feel miserable, but then I just take them again and I am O.K. My only concern right now is that one of my incisions appers to still be bleeding, not really bad, but in the middle of the night when I had to get up to go the bathroom, the movement made the incision to start to bleed. My BF called the doctor last night who was on call and he said that it is not terribly uncommon, but I think I should still call my surgeon again today...? I am going to be going now, I am getting really tired and sore. I hope you are all well.

Right now it is 4:30 am and I am just starting to get sleepy after being up for awhile. I woke a bit before three and had trouble relaxing and sleeping. I need to be at the hopsital at 6am and my surgery is scheduled for 7:30am. I really want to just get in, get through it, so I can start healing and getting on to a new life. All of this anticpation for the surgery has been so difficult. I have been working so hard for this and I am determined to succeed at this, but of coarse I have my doubts, mostly about the surgery, I really have faith in myself that i can use this tool well. At least, I truly, truly hope so. Well my mouth is extremely dry from the nausea preventing patch I have on, and I am starting to get pretty tired, going to try to catch a bit of sleep before leaving. See you all on the other side...bye bye

Well, after everything I have been through, working up to, sacrificing and so on, my big day is finally very very near--tomorrow! I need to be at the hospital at 6am, and my surgery is at 7:30am. Alright, so I am totally freaked...:nervous There are so many if, but, should, would questions and thoughts running through my head regarding the surgery, having a foreign object in my belly, but of coarse there are no certain answers to any of the questions. The only certainanty that I feel is that if I do not go through this, I will be obese, moribdly obese the rest of my life, I will wind up with arthritic knees, and hips (which believe it or not at the young age of 23 is already starting to take affect), I may get diabetes, high blood pressure and so on. I want to be healthy, feel better, be much healthier when I become preganant, and I DO NOT want to wear a plus sized wedding dress. :phanvan Today I taking the time to clean the house up, check last minute details, making sure everything is in order as much as possible before the big day. Well, I hope to post how I feel and how everything went as soon as possible. To everyone that may read this, wish me luck and thank you all!:hug:

So...today was my first day of the liquid diet and the day is almost over, thank goodness! :faint: It was difficult. I am glad that I have been preparing myself b/c it would have been so much more unmanagable if I hadnt. Here is what I had today. Breakfast: 1 Target "slimfast" shake Lunch: 1 Yoplait Yogart Smoothie Dinner: 1 can of cheese soup *I cheated a bit here with the fat content of the soup I also had about 20 oz. of water all together, which I need to hydrate more than this! Today I went to GNC and purchased protein shake powder. GNC was having a special on their brand of products were it was buy one get one 50% off. So I got two very large tubs of protein powder for under $50! I am going to try and make one tonight...we'll see how it goes.

APinkSaprano--Tomorrow is my big day too! My surgery is at 7:30am and luckily I only have to travel about 5 minutes. I hope that everything goes well for you, keep us updated! Karen and Angela--Thank you for the compliments, we should all start posting pix of ourselves so we can get to put a face to all of the wonderful words everyone types! Angela--That is so awesome how you kept your MS at bay with holistic remedies, maybe I need to get your advice on how to help out my daily headaches with holistic remedies!

Well, after everything I have been through, working up to, sacrificing and so on, my big day is finally very very near--tomorrow! I need to be at the hospital at 6am, and my surgery is at 7:30am. Alright, so I am totally freaked...:nervous There are so many if, but, should, would questions and thoughts running through my head regarding the surgery, having a foreign object in my belly, but of coarse there are no certain answers to any of the questions. The only certainanty that I feel is that if I do not go through this, I will be obese, moribdly obese the rest of my life, I will wind up with arthritic knees, and hips (which believe it or not at the young age of 23 is already starting to take affect), I may get diabetes, high blood pressure and so on. I want to be healthy, feel better, be much healthier when I become preganant, and I DO NOT want to wear a plus sized wedding dress. :phanvan Today I taking the time to clean the house up, check last minute details, making sure everything is in order as much as possible before the big day. Well, I hope to post how I feel and how everything went as soon as possible. To everyone that may read this, wish me luck and thank you all!:hug:

Everyone---thank you so much for sharing your experiences and be so supportive. You all have helped me out so much and I truly appreciate it! :love: Kat---I appreciate your "words of wisdom" added with some humor! It is always wonderful to laugh during difficult times. :bounce:

Here is a fairly recent picture of myself that was taken around late September! So I guess this could be a good "before" picture. I have taken even more recent pix, that are a whole lot less flattering...I just thought I would share!

Here is a very recent picture of me from around late September when I am at my heighest weight- around 280. Yet, even at this high weight, this picture was taken at the Torrid Model search. I thought, hell, why not! I didnt make it, but it was a great experience! You should check out their website www.torrid.com

Congratulations on passing up McDonalds! That must have been hard, you should be proud of yourself!!!

Only two days to go...I woke up rather early this Sat. morning and have had trouble relaxing. I am starting to feel really nervous. Thoughts are running through my mind such as: what if this is a mistake? Maybe being overweight isnt soooo bad...(um..no) what if something goes terribly wrong? what if i cant handle the emotional changes as well as the physical? I am sure that this is "normal?" I am just doubting my decision for some reason---i dont have a lot of support with my family...any advice...words of wisdom?