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I am a registered nurse with background in ICU, home health and now oncology in Oklahoma City. As you can tell by my username, I am ?nurse_ally?s mom.? What a fortunate person I am. :biggrin0: I have fought the weight battle my whole life, literally. I cannot remember a time when weight and food did not control my life. My lowest weight as an adult was 128 (I was underweight for 2 days!!!!) and my highest was 303 (sometime within the last year and a half). I have a cousin who had RNY several years ago, and he is still overweight...I don't know why because we have never really discussed it. Being a nurse I have taken care of several patients with complications from RNY and banding, and I knew that would never be a option for me. I am miserable and just supposed that is the way the rest of my life would be with hypertension, knee pain, diabetes (newly diagnosed), c-pap, etc, etc, etc. And Allison was heading that same direction. Here we go...I guess Allison must have been researching this for some time, but one day she told me she was getting sleeved. I had already heard of this from a coworker who was thrilled with the results, but that is as far as it went. I questioned her about the procedure, talked about the expense and that is when she told me she was going to Mexico to have it done. My response...HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?!?!?!?!?!?!!!!! We spent many hours discussing her research and I went through the process with her of deciding which surgeon, location and so forth. With the feeling that she had done her research well, I jumped on board for her to go ahead. She was sleeved by Dr. Aceves on 7-1-10, is back home and doing well at this point, and I am scheduled to be sleeved by Dr. Aceves on 8-12-10. So there you go!!! For her my thoughts are that I don't want her to live the life I have lived if there is any possible way to avoid it. My weight has controlled everything I have ever done, and I have missed out on a lot of fun times because I was too big to participate or just flat didn't feel like it. She is a remarkable young woman with the responsibility of two awesome children, and she needs to be released from Fat Prison. For me my thoughts are if there is even a chance that I may get rid of the extra person I have been carrying around on my back for the last 20 years, I'm there!!! That's my story in a nutshell. I could go on and on, but those of us in this boat don't need all the details...you have already lived it. Thanks for starting this thread, Kathy. It is good to have others who relate to us in more ways that just getting sleeved. My parting thought for now?LET'S GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD!! :thumbup: Kathe

Hello fellow nurses, My name is Rebecca and I'm currently an Lpn working in geriatrics in Massachusetts. I'm having my VSG in Mexico on 08/09/10 and I'm getting really excited to make changes in my life.

I was banded on June 1st, have lost 30 lbs since the process began. On average, I walk about 10 -15 miles a week. I've become obsessed with walking. But I feel like a serious failure because I'll get down in the dumps (aka something goes "disastrously" wrong) and eat EVERYTHING in sight, I do it consciously too - which is probably the worst parts of it. It's just like the "old times". :- Any suggestions on how I can avoid this?? Tips, tricks, ANYTHING? Thanks for any advice!

Happy Halloween from BariatricPal!#subject#> body,div,dl,dt,dd,ul,ol,li,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6,pre,form,fieldset,input,textarea,p,blockquote,th,td { margin:0; padding:0; } table { border-collapse:collapse; border-spacing:0; } fieldset,img { border:0; } address,caption,cite,code,dfn,th,var { font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; } caption,th { text-align:left; } h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { font-size:100%; font-weight:normal; } q:before,q:after { content:''; } abbr,acronym { border:0; } address{ display: inline; } html, body { background-color: #d8dde8; color: #5a5a5a; } body { font: normal 13px helvetica, arial, sans-serif; position: relative; } h3, strong { font-weight: bold; } em { font-style: italic; } img, .input_check, .input_radio { vertical-align: middle; } legend { display: none; } table { width: 100%; } td { padding: 3px; } a { color: #225985; text-decoration: none; } a:hover { color: #328586; } div.outer { margin: 0 auto; padding: 14px; } table.wrap { max-width: 800px; margin: 0 auto; } td.logo { background-color: #0f3854; padding: 8px; } td.content { background-color: #fff; font-size: 14px !important; color: black !important; line-height: 150% !important; padding: 8px; } ul { margin-left: 25px; } Hey BariatricPal Members! Happy Halloween! It’s a fun time and the beginning of the holiday season. We’re celebrating a lot here at BariatricPal, and we’re super excited to share it with you! Here’s what’s in this newsletter. The BariatricPal Store: Grand Opening! Your Ready for the Holidays? Thanks for your support and for making it possible for BariatricPal continue to grow. There’s no way we could do it without you. Sincerely, Alex Brecher Founder, BariatricPal Grand Opening of The BariatricPal Store! We are so excited to announce the grand opening of The BariatricPal Store! We know, The BariatricPal Store doesn’t fit into a Halloween newsletter because it’s anything but spooky, but we just can’t stop talking about it! That’s why we’re offering 10% off all orders with coupon code SPOOKY10 just for you! Your Source for Bariatric Protein, Meals, Snacks, and supplements Weight loss surgery changes everything, especially your diet. You need to get enough protein without too many calories; eat a nutritious diet while keeping portions in check; and get your Vitamins and minerals without fail. It can be overwhelming and time-consuming…unless you have help. The BariatricPal Store can give you the help you need. We have the protein supplements, meals, snacks, and vitamins to help you lose weight and get healthy. Protein bars, shakes, and powders. Low-calorie, high-protein snacks, Entrees and breakfasts. Bariatric vitamins and Fiber supplements. Make Weight Loss Shopping Easy We know you need the top products, and they need to be healthy, nutritionist-approved, and convenient. We have all that! We also have: Tons of BariatricPal brand products. Product packages so you can pick up a bundle at once for a discounted price. meal plans for the pre-op and post-op diets, plus maintenance and back-on-track diets, so you can easily pick up the foods you need to stay on track. Sampler packs of different items so you can try different varieties to see which you like best. Other Reasons to Shop The BariatricPal Store We truly believe we’re number one. Here are just a few more reasons why. Subscribe and Save options on every product so you can get automatic re-delivery, 5% discounts, and free shipping on each order. Lowest prices – guaranteed. Free shipping on orders over $69. Save money with sales and discounts plus our Refer-A-Friend program. For help, you can look at the FAQs, give us a call at 855 WLS-BPAL (855 957-725), or use our live chat with a customer service specialist during business hours. Visit store.bariatricpal.com often to see current specials, and check out our blog for updates on promotions and new products. We can’t wait to take this next step in helping you reach your weight loss and health goals! Your Healthy Halloween Plan Halloween is about costumes, haunted houses, and scares. Unfortunately, some of the “scares” are the ones that show up on the scale if you eat too many Halloween treats, or the “scares” that come from feeling sick from too much sugar. You don’t have to experience the bad scares this Halloween, though. The trick? Plan ahead! Here are a few things to think about as Halloween approaches. Trick-Or-Treating Almost everyone is affected by trick-or-treating. If you have kids, you’ll probably find one or several big bags of Halloween candy showing up at your home when they come back from trick-or-treating. Your best defense here is to have a healthy dinner before taking them out. Then, focus on anything other than candy – you might fix your children’s costumes, be the flashlight holder, or designate yourself as the neighborhood crossing guard to keep kids safe. If you don’t have children, you may be the one handing out candy to the neighborhood children, which probably means buying a bunch of candy to give out. If that’s the case, you’re best off choosing candy that you don’t like that much, so you’re less tempted to eat it. Again, have a healthy dinner, and focus on other things besides candy for the evening. You might work on answering the door in a scary way, or taking photos of the cute costumes you see to share with the kids’ parents tomorrow. The Aftermath No matter what happens on your weight loss surgery journey, there’s always tomorrow. After Halloween, “tomorrow” is November 1. Take inventory. See what’s in your home that shouldn’t be there. Get rid of the extra candy. If you must keep some candy in your house because of your kids, make sure it’s not tempting you. You can always ask them to hide it away in their rooms. You can also make a game out of it: have them label each piece so they and you will both know if you “steal” some. Go for a walk. There’s nothing like a walk to clear your head and get you ready to go back to healthy eating patterns. Halloween’s scary, but it shouldn’t be scary because of the weight gain. It should be scary because of the fun things you get to do. With a little planning, that’s exactly how your Halloween can be. Healthy Halloween Tips Did you know there are tons of fun things you can do to get into the Halloween spirit without touching a piece of candy? Here are a few ideas! Go for a Walk It’s true…walking is really quite a good answer to most questions. How to burn off a few extra calories before Halloween? Go for a walk. How to enjoy the Halloween decorations in your neighborhood? Go for a walk. How to let your kids show off their Halloween costumes to all the neighbors? Go for a walk. Get the point? Get moving! Volunteer That’s right. You may think that volunteering is just asking for trouble, since you may be faced with a lot of candy. In truth, it’s a chance to be surrounded by the Halloween spirit while being so busy you don’t have time to grab a treat. Volunteering at a local school, homeless shelter, or retirement home can be the perfect way to immerse yourself in Halloween. Help decorate for a party, serve treats, clean up afterwards, or help make costumes. You’ll be appreciated, and you’ll get to be a part of the holiday in a way that’s healthy for your body and soul. Make Healthy Treats It’s true…treats make Halloween so much better. But you can do better than chocolate, candy corn, and decorated Cookies and cupcakes. Here are a few ideas. Greek yogurt popsicles: Use a little sweetener and keep them white for ghosts, or add some pumpkin and cinnamon and shape them into pumpkin shapes. Then you can decorate them like jack-o-lanterns! Jack-o-lantern orange protein cups: hollow out oranges to leave the peel mostly intact. You can “carve” a face in the peel shell to make it look like a jack-o-lantern, and fill it with cottage cheese or fruit. Greek yogurt “eyes:” freeze circular spoonfuls of Greek yogurt with blueberries for eyes. A happy, safe, and healthy Halloween however you choose to Celebrate it. Don’t forget to come talk about yours on the boards at BariatricPal! See you there!

Hi Ladybug, My advice to you would be to try to get up and walk around as soon as you can after surgery. It really seemed to help me. Best wishes to you on your surgery. I will be thinking of you on 10/8. I am excited to find others who will be banded around the same time as me so we can track our progress together. How is your pre-op diet going? Christine

Nope. All this has cost me is maybe is a total of $150 dollars in co-pays from the supervised diets, the wiegh-ins, and the EKG's ( I had two). Since I actually went in and out of surgery, technically I don't have co-pays anymore either and I pay nothing for hospitalizations or surgery. Heck, I just had my gall bladder taken out and it cost me nothing. I think I spent $10 dollars over for my vicodin because I didn't have my medical card with me.

Wow, when I said on Friday that it's a day by day thing, it truly is! So, lunch didn't go as well as I had hoped. I had a 10 ounce lunch, still hungry. Had a cheese stick--still hungry. Had a few mini wheats before forcing myself to STOP. I mean I was so hungry I couldn't stop! Now I know 13-14 ounces is WAY outrageous for any bandster meal, but how could my doc see restriction if I am still capable of eating this way? True, this is the first day I am like this and it could very well be that I need to just throw a snack in between my Breakfast and lunch to keep the hunger at bay (trying to do breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack), but can someone tell me how I can go from being so tight in the morning that I can't even eat breakfast until 11:30 and I just hoovered all of a 13-14 oz lunch??? Yes, all healthy food, but the quantity of it scares me as I am sooo paranoid about stretching my pouch. Could I need another fill already? It will only be 2 weeks on Thursday!

Today is day 97 after Gastric Sleeve surgery and I am down 80 pounds since I went under the knife. I fee; good, but not great. Still haven't gotten back my energy. To be fair, I spent a month on antibiotics for a post-op infection. This week I plan to start an exercise regimen that hopefully help with boosting my energy. My iron is a bit low and my B-12 is off the charts high. Vitamin D also low. I began using the MD patch for my vitamins a month ago and I believe it's working well. My blood tests were done only after 10 days on the patch. That's my story and I'm happy to stick to it.

You know....healthcare staff really p*ss me off. Its like they dont realize that they are providing a service, and you are a PAYING CUSTOMER (without you they wouldnt be getting paid by the ins. company!). I am glad that you made the reference to the waitress, because really, its not all that different. They think that they can talk down to people, demean them, be rude, and we will just keep coming back and giving them our money. I actually left a doctor because his office staff was so rude to me, so I decided to take my "business" elsewhere. Another time, I had to get off work early to drive to see a doctor that was an hour away from my home. When I got out of work, my car had a dead battery. So I had to hurry up and find someone to help me jump my car. I got a late start, so in an attempt to be courteous I called them and let them know that I might be 15 minutes late. (Mind you I have been seeing this doctor for 7 years, and my mom has been going there for 20 years and neither of us had EVER been late to an appointment before). They said that if I was 10 minutes late, then I would have to reschedule my appointment! I said "If I have to reschedule my appointment, it will be with a different doctor." So I rushed to get in on time, and I made it approximately 8 minutes late. I was standing at the check-in counter and I heard a woman in the back saying "Abby called and said that she was going to be late, and when I told her if she was 10 minutes late then she would have to reschedule, she said then it would be with a different doctor." And another lady said "oh my god, what a bitch." They didnt know that I was standing there. I said "Don't worry, I made it here just in time!" and gave her a little smile. They were both shocked that I heard them. If I didnt love my doctor then I would definitely have changed doctors right then and there.

I am ashamed to say I must have had like 10 last suppers. For about 2 weeks before banding I went and ate a huge plate at like every one of my favorite resturants.

As someone who had my sleeve done last summer, June 10, I would actually tell you to wait. While I usually believe you should just do it because you will be sad you waited, traveling was a HUGE PAIN last summer for me! I traveled at 4 weeks out and 8 weeks out and was miserable both times (nauseous and dehydrated, plus it was hard to find things to eat). It's not like you are waiting because you want to be able to eat more, I just think those first few weeks are tough enough without throwing in traveling. I have lost about 120 pounds since last June- the weight will come off and then you can get to traveling and living life to the fullest next summer! I leave for Cancun in a week and am so excited!

LOL! I am small. I can see it in pics with my family. My granddaughter is 10 and she will be taller than me in another year probably. I was banded in January of 2013...so it took about 21 months. My PCP wanted me to hit the 150 mark so I made that my goal and I met it back in March. So for these last seven months, I've just continued doing what I've been doing and know that once my body has given up all the fat it has, I'll stop losing weight. At this point, it's pretty stable and I can't imagine it getting much lower than where it is now.

Wow!! I haven't been able to wear a 10 since I WAS 10. Way to Go!!!

I am not on ANY Protien right now... just Clear liquids, Apple juice, SF Popsicles, SF/FF Jello, crystal light... but this afternoon I heard back from teh clinic and she said to drink somePedialyte... as I have had a nasty headache yest and today... This seems to be doing the trick as I am feeling better as I write this... I can make it until Sunday at noon.... down 10 lbs.

My Dr. was banded about 10 years ago & he was one of the trial people. He said his band has no fill now & he is doing really well.

Hi Sweetpea...I understand what you are saying about being truly hungry late at night because it happens to me often, too. I usually eat dinner around 6:00 and by 10:00 my stomach is really rumbling. What do I do about it? Nothing! I just ignore it! I just say no, it's ok to be hungry and anyway it's bedtime, not mealtime, so I am not going to eat. Then in the morning after going to bed hungry I find I am hungry for my breakfast instead of just eating it because it is 'breakfast time.'

Completely normal. You don't feel restriction when on liquids. I was sure the surgeon made a mistake and only took out like half my stomach. I was able to drink a lot starting around day 4. I could finish a Protein shake in like 10 minutes with no trouble. But a guy that had surgery the same day by the same surgeon as me had all sorts of trouble getting his liquids and at one of our support groups told me that I had just drank more than he could all day (I drank a 24 oz Water in an hour). As soon as I started eating all bets were off. I got all sorts of restriction now.

I have united healthcare (in Arizona) and used my insurance. visits were all covered with regular co pay. Documented diet for 6 months during which had to lose 10% of body weight, 1200 calorie diet, and see nutritionist once per month. Also had to see a psychologist once, get an ekg, Surgery was covered as an elective procedure 80/20. I had to pay about $2500 total. I hope that helps. 😃

Please let me know how the appnt goes I am in a similar position and I am actually embarrassed to call my Dr. for an appnt considering I haven't seen him in 10 months.

Nothing new here---posting tonight to keep the link and subscribe---but for now I am heading off to bed. See the Dr. tomorrow at 19---will post when I get back. Thanks so much for all the kind words and support---y'all are the best! Kat

I've thought about that too, but ultimately have decided that I just need to wait and see. I'm pretty comfortably in 14s but still have some 16s. Even in college, I wavered between 10s and 14s. I just wonder if spending the money now makes sense. I haven't seen even a version of that body in so long...

well, I've lost 20 pouns so far, and haven't dropped a size. Probably in another 10 pounds I'll have lost a size.