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I'm just a few days out from surgery. Felt better on liquid diet after day 3. Today is 8th day on liquids & I'm down almost 10#s! I found out I was approved at last minute, so started diet last Sat & no cheating! Gotta make sure liver is shrunk! Revision from band to sleeve & feeling a bit nervous!

I received a fill in July of this year. I had not received one since November of 2007. (That's when I thought I was a know it all and could do it myself. I was losing weight and didn't need support - of any kind) Boy I was I wrong. I had dropped 30 pounds in 2007 since my surgery in July of 2006, but when I decided to get my a$$ together I was 10 heavier. In April of 2009 you could say I was reborn. I decided that I did need help—OF ANY KIND! I started searching the web, keeping a food journal, joined a support group and went to see my doctor (for the first time since 11/07). I rec’d a fill in July, the doc and I thought there was only 7cc in but we soon found out I had 8cc. He added only .5cc but it was enough. It took a good 2 weeks before I could really feel the restrictions. I’ve always been tight in the morning but now it’s a bit more. I drink before I eat to help loosen things up. I can only eat half of what I used to in the morning and I’m hungry w/in an hour. This is new; Yesterday I became concerned while trying to eat my lunch: [/b]:%20void(0);"]Mission Tortillas - Yellow Corn Tortillas - Super Size (Approx 6.5"), 1 tortilla [/b]:%20void(0);"]Cheese - Cheddar, 0.5 oz [/b]:%20void(0);"]Lettuce - Iceberg (includes crisphead types), raw, 0.5 leaf outer [/b]:%20void(0);"]Sun Vista - Black Beans -- No Salt Added, 0.025 cup [/b]:%20void(0);"]Taco Bell - Taco Sauce - Medium, 1 tbsp I started having heart palpitations after having 3 bits. I put my hand on my chest and could feel it move. It didn’t last long but boy is was scary. I waited a few minutes and it stopped and I was able to finish my taco. I had another taco for dinner and didn’t have any problems. I get stuck more often now I’ve noticed too. I need to remember to chew, chew, chew.

I was banded on Monday (7-2-07) and still in pain. Not so much the incision sites, my back hurts and so does my chest. I've had NV episodes for the past three days and that mostly comes when I've been out and about too long and haven't taken along enough slim fast or Water. Tomorrow, I am doing nothing but loping the recliner! Perhaps the pain will subside... I probably didn't need to go to the Harley dealership today DollyRose --> 10 pounds lighter today!

Well after I posted this morning I spoke with Dr's office and I"M SCHEDULED!!! 10-25-07 is surgery day. Yippee! I am sooo excited.:whoo:

I didn't have a goal weight and no one set one for me. I told my doctor my main goal was to be healthy and feel good. He was okay w/that. That happened after about three months when I reached a size 16. I could've been 'content' with that but I was still losing so I dared to hope for a 14. Then a 12. Then a 10. The rest has been pretty unbelievable for me. An 8?!!!! And now a 6?!!!!!!! Somebody pinch me, I have to be dreaming!! I've spent the last few months walking around in a constant state of happy disbelief, constantly looking into mirrors to see if it's real. :-)

That makes no sense at all. Not sure how you could sustain yourself on that. I would call the dietician back, and ask if they misunderstood what your needs were for now. My insurance doesn't require a medically supervised diet, but when I spoke to my dietician, she gave me guidlines for an 1800 calorie diet until I get to 10 days before surgery. That's when I would start the liquid diet. She also said that's what she would also give me if I were to do a 3 - 6 month supervised diet.

Thanks guys I definitely have several NSV's... Joined soccer again after not playing for 5 years due to my weight. I fit into the dress I wore to Grade 8 graduation (when I was fairly thin) I have done a 5k walk, when I couldn't even walk around the corner without having my feet kill me. This is a weird one, but I had trouble finding comfortable shoes, I was a size 8 and sometimes had to go to 9 or 10 for the width. No I am a size 7 and shoes fit amazing! I took anxiety medications before and could not ride public transit alone. Now I am medication free and have no problem taking a bus or a train. But by far the biggest NSV I have had is being able to walk down the street and hold my head high, not worry what people think about me, and not being paranoid that everyone laughing is laughing at me. As I have shed the weight, I fell in love with myself again (let me be clear it wasn't only because the weight loss, it was because my mentality changed as well). It is the best feeling in the world to build yourself back up to feeling like you have worth. Every time I worked out, I would tell myself it is because I am worth it, and that is how I gained some confidence. I do still have moments where I am insecure, that will always be there, but the difference is astonishing. As for extra skin - Yes, I do have extra skin on the boobs, stomach, butt and arms. But it isn't that bad, I will probably need surgery purely for cosmetic reasons, but not bothering until after I have kids. It isn't enough skin to cause any discomfort or hygiene issues.

I do pretty much the same thing. Eat a boiled egg for breakfast, then take Protein shake in juice on way to work and feel hungry by 10:30. I take a break at 11 and eat pureed chicken or fish. But the difference compared to pre-op is that 2 ounces and I am full.

What I'm reading here is very different from my instructions. I was instructed not to drink ANYTHING 10 minutes before I ate, while I ate, and 1 hour afterward. I was warned that drinking while eating will flush the food into the small intestine too quickly and result in excess hunger too quickly. I've followed these instructions religiously and have experienced very little hunger between meals. I can get very hungry prior to meals, but then I eat 2.5 oz of pureed food and I'm perfectly fine for hours. Has anyone else been instructed NOT to eat and drink at the same time???

There are is one in Grosse Pointe Park that is nice specifically for woman 10 - up. They always have nice stuff. We have a lot on the east side. Let me know what you are specifically looking for and I will put together a list. There are also some really nice ones in St Clair Shores and up in Clinton Twp.

I'm 10 months since my surgery and I'm pretty sure my Doc said No mowing the lawn, emptying the garbage, washing the car, doing dishes or laundry or any physical anything for at least a year........maybe two.....yeah...that's the ticket....two years.....

Hey lessofme and Sharon P--hope you are both doing well with your surgery and your decisions. I'm having Dr. Hansen do my surgery on March 19. Right now I'm feeling a little apprehensive about it all--will it work? can I eat following the rules for the rest of my life? (I'm sure those two questions are related!). What if I have complications? Spending money out of pocket for the surgery is one thing, but thinking of doubling or tripling that amount because of complications is very scary. Lessofme, have you survived the long period of liquids and pureed/strained foods without too much problem? Have you lost weight yet? You'll have your fill the day I have my surgery! I'm so full of emotions: excited, nervous, anxious, hopeful... But, what else is new??? Good luck to you both! Karen (in Provo)

Hi Ceci, so good to have you over here! I'm Lisa, I have a tentative surgery date of 10/11. I'm super excited!

Lol! I was too but I was hungry and eager to get back to somewhat normal. Keep in mind that I eat very very small amounts. I get a variety but I also make sure that any food that I eat is shredded or minced and I chew chew chew!!!! So while its not pureed it is soft by the time it goes down. I have lost 19 pounds and feel good. Just wish I could hold more so that im not hungry so often but as I heal that will come. Im not rushing that! When Im full....Im full! :-)

(Cross posted from the forums.) So, my lovely girlfriend took a number of pictures of me standing around in just my boxers, and, yeah... now I remember why 1) I never go shirtless, and 2) I don't like pictures! I believe that, under all the flab, I'm still a basically good looking man. But I have let the fat pile up, in roll after roll, until I'm almost unrecognizable under it. I think I've never really let myself accept just how very fat I've become. I have this bizarre mental image of myself as much more "normal" weight than is reality, but I also live in constant apprehension of someone seeing just how large I am. It's a bizarre mental double-image, and the photos today (which are in my private profile, and are going to stay private until I have some real progress to show!) were... a shock. My weight looks... ungainly, unhealthy, and just unsupportable, long-term. In some ways I think I haven't been fully committed to the surgery until this moment, just now, when I realized "man, if you stay like this, if you don't change something, you are going to die, painfully, and soon." I really understand now why... My back almost always hurts. If it's not my back, it's my shoulder from lying on my side to read or sleep (all that weight on my shoulder causes problems). I almost never sleep well, and fight constantly with apnea. I'm sick so often. I hate exercise so much -- if I walk long distances (or even stand up straight for too long), something is always chafing or rubbing or constricting. It's not surprising... with that much flab to move around, who would be comfortable? I have such a hard time finding clothes that fit. I buy huge, tent-like clothes to try to fit into and "hide" my flab, but let's be real... I'm not fooling anybody. I feel so awkward in social situations -- I'm very body-shy, and it's very difficult for me to avoid the belief that someone is "judging" me for my body. Some years ago, I had LASIK surgery because I was very nearsighted. I had to wear thick, coke bottle glasses (or contacts, but they were killing my eyes). I was very frightened of the surgery, to be honest -- I was worried I would go blind or something. But I got through it; I did my best to follow the surgeon's instructions TO THE LETTER, and when my eyes had fully healed, I had better than 20/20 vision (20/10 in one eye, 20/15 in the other). It wasn't entirely a positive experience; I had to shell out five thousand dollars of my own money (LASIK was still new). It was a little painful and a lot frightening, but I still consider it one of the best choices I've ever made. I still just stare out on this beautiful world, sometimes, and marvel at how nice it is to be able to really SEE without thick lenses or frames chafing my ears or getting smudged or slipping down (and making everything look small, that's one odd effect of glasses that they never mention -- everything looks so SMALL). It was totally worth the money, and I would do it again in a moment. So that's how I'm thinking of the weight loss surgery. I've done the research; on almost every single metric, this surgery will improve my life. It will add years of life expectancy, and (maybe more important), it will likely be QUALITY life, not years spent in sickness and decline. It will restore my mental image of myself as a "normal looking" guy to reality. It will hopefully ease my constant anxiety that something is Dreadfully Wrong with me, health-wise (I'm fortunate that almost all of my anxiety is, for now, ungrounded -- but how long will THAT last?). YES, there will be some initial pain, but apparently not much. YES, I'll have to likely deal with some nausea or "sliming" or whatever, but that's a small price to pay. YES, I'll have to re-learn how to eat, and make good food choices every single day, but to be honest, I should have been doing that anyhow. I'm hoping that, like the LASIK surgery, I'll look back on this in a few years and say "would I do it again? Absolutely, yes. In a heartbeat." Because after looking at myself in all of my non-glory today, I don't like what I see. That much fat just can't be sustained. This kind of life of pain, embarrassment, discomfort, and always waiting for the "other shoe to fall," health-wise, just can't last. I have to do it. I think, now, I may finally WANT to do it.

Go get a chocolate cake, pizza and a 2 liter and have fun. That should fix you up. All those carbs should easily swell you up 5-10# for a few days. I wouldn't wait the six months either if it were that easy. But do be warned, no matter how much you have read here, you are never completely prepared for it when it happens. So if you need some time to get your emotional house in order, do the diet. It took me 9 months and it was still a shock. Sent from my iPad using VST

I know it can be scary. I was afraid the day of surgery. More about other things. It happens so fast. I remember going in and the next thing I was trying to wave my hand around to get the nurse. It was so strange. If I didn't have a pain in my belly I wouldn't have known it happened. For me the pain was strange. It was a sharp feeling near my belly button. It was the port. I was so out of it I couldn't really speak. From the meds. I did however manage to wave my hand around to get the nurse. She asked if I was in pain. I grunted "yes". She gave me pain medication. Don't know what it was, and I didn't care. Right away I felt better. Mind you the pain wasn't that bad. I didn't want any pain. Anyway they gave me plenty of pain killers and I was fine by the time I headed home. In fact I slept the whole ride. Didn't feel a thing. It really isn't so bad. Nothing one can't handle. Atleast for me. It was worth all of the recovery. Once your home in your own bed you feel safe, ad comfortable. Well, the comfort of home atleast. I did take pain meds for 10 days or so. It really wasn't that bad. Everyone is different and has different experiences. For me coming on here and reading other peoples stories helped my nerves. I hope it does the same for you. I wish you the best of luck and a quick recovery.

Hi, Just wanted to add my voice to the others telling you that you are not alone. My surgery date is 3 days away, March 20, and I am bouncing off the walls. It is so difficult to concentrate on anything, like work, for example (which is what I should be doing now, instead of being on these boards :nervous) . The only things I have found that help are trying to concentrate on positives. I am lucky, there is a bandster support group in my area and I went Thursday night. It is a small group, but 2 of them were banded in Mexcio, as I am going to be, and they were very reassuring. Everyone but me is already banded and the lowest weight loss was 58 pounds! I still have fears, about the surgery, about going to Mexico to have it done, about the $$$$$, that it won't work for me, worried about complications.....but I am forcing myself to think of the positives.....hopefully my type 2 diabetes will go into remission and I can lose a bunch of the meds I am currently taking. And, yes, looking and feeling better and smaller size clothing. Already with the preop diet I have gotten in jeans I wasn't able to button a few weeks ago, and yesterday I tried on another smaller pair of jeans, and although I could not possibly go out in them yet because they were so tight, I actually did get them buttoned and zipped (I couldn't breathe, but I will be able to after another 10 or so pounds:llama: ) . That helped my jitters alot. Somewhere, another person with an upcoming surgery posted about being restless and asking for advice what to do about it.....I never saw any suggestions, but if anyone has any, it would certainly help. Right now, I am obsessed with reading these boards (the positive ones, I try to stay away from the negative ones right now, just before surgery). So, that's my 2 cents. I know it is normal to be nervous just before the surgery, but it isn't much fun. Maybe we could try "holding" our sweaty palms together??? :phanvan P.S. The dancing llama is for our wonderful boy llama, Chip.

AHH! I have been doing so well with my diet! Not overeating, not eating the wrong food, but last weekend, I went up to North Carolina to help my Dad move. As you all know, moving is very stressful and you do not time to stop and think about what you are eating! You just grab something and keep going. So I ended up eating sugar and then I couldn't stop! After you introduce that back into your system its like something in you snaps! Anyway for the last few days I have been eating everything that I can get my hands on! It like I can't get satisfied. So I decided today to stop right now! I fell off the wagon, but im going to get back on! Im not going to set it on fire so that I have to build a whole new wagon! I just needed to put that out there. This is a journey, every once and I while you will have two steps forward and one step back, but you cant let that stop you, because although you take a step back, you have to remember that you are still 10 steps farther than where you started!!:rolleyes2:

I haven't had surgery yet (3/10), but I'm so glad to meet a sleever with RA. I was diagnosed 3 or so years ago, but had symptoms for at least 10 before that. I had my remicade Friday and it remains to be seen how long I will wait to go back after. The rheumatologist said I only have to miss a week or so of methotrexate injections, so that's good. I can't help but think the weight coming off the joints will counteract the delay in getting the infusion on board...I sure hope so!

I am 10 weeks out and have lost 56 pounds total; 39 pounds since 12/26 surgery. It sounds like we are losing at about the same rate. I am trying to just follow the plan, drink my water, eat my protein & exercise. Sooner or later, the weight will come off, just maybe not as quickly as I want it to. Be gentle with yourself; you are doing fine! You have lost the weight of a young child!!! Celebrate the joy of the scale dropping rather than going up!

I agree that you've lost a lot of weight very fast. Faster than me. I don't think I'm fat anymore. But feeling relatively slim is also a new shift in perspective for me. I wear 8s and 10s right now. Not 6s. I think if you're really wearing 6s and feel fat ... that's a little strange. Sixes are very, very small!

I work out in the morning right after a light Breakfast. If I don't do it then, ill find excuses throughout the day. I'm not a morning person either so I set my alarm early enough for me to get up and relax a half hour before I start. I'm a nurse too, but my shifts are usually 9-10 hours and they exhaust me, so I can only imagine how hard it is for y'all to make yourself do it. My feet, legs, and back KILL me and i have to force myself to exercise. Gone are the days I volunteered for double 16 hour shifts lol. Not worth it!

I threw a frigging tantrum to get refilled after cancer treatment my doc kind of wants me 10 kg heavier, right at the TOP of my healthy weight range. It makes me furious, i have the ight to choose my own weight thanks and i will not be contstrained by averages. I think i may have even sworn, lol.

I don't have anywhere near your stats but my goal weight is definitely overweight for the BMI chart, and it is 10 pounds lower than the weight discussed with the surgeon. I am so early in the process that I'm just going to see how it all goes. But I am not (so far) hung up on that dumb chart. :-)