Hey again. I am about 3 weeks out from my first plastic surgery, and overall I am doing very good the doc says...lol. They took off 9 lbs of stomach (abdominoplasty I think they called it)...I am at 250 at last weigh in, and I am getting wayy excited looking at the outlet malls for my new clothes! I had four drains, and now I am down to one drain, which is being very stubborn! lol...

Pain wise it was way better than the gastric bypass for me, but I have to say I think this surgery has been more labor intensive, not to mention the binder is a PAIN! ha ha ha...

The next one is arms and chest, so I am glad to be done with the stomach! The last one will be the inner thighs, so we will see what happens! I will be having the arm one at the end of feb so wish me luck!!!!

Lastly, I want to say good luck and my prayers are with all of you on your own weight loss journey!

I had part one of my pre op today and I have lost 20 lbs since Dec 26. Wow! I am feeling encouraged and I believe I can make it. I started the high protein low carb diet on Jan 16 th. thats hen I started feeling the weight loss.....

Mood::blowkiss:

Good morning all, I'm officially 2 weeks preop and start my diet today. Pls pray with me during this journey. I'm excited and nervous. Not about the actual procedure but about how much weight I will loose.

I'm ready!!!!

FIRST OF ALL SORRY OF MY SPELLING I HAVE A VERY BAD SPELLING PROBLEM, I HAVE MY SURGERY IN 2008 I BEEN THRU A LOT LATELY MY DAUGHTER WENT ON BRAIN SURGERY 4 MONTHS AGO AND I HAVE BEEN VERY WORRIED AND SICK ABOUT HER SHE IS OK THATS WHAT MY FAMILY BEEN TELLING ME BUT SHE WAS RUSH TO THE EMERGENCY A WEEK AGO DOCTOR DONE ALL THE TEST NOTHING WAS FOUND THEY THINK THE NERV THAT WAS DAMAGE DURING HER SURGERY WAS ACTING UP OR SOMETHING AND SHE WILL BE OK THANKS GOD SHE IS HOME FROM THE HOSPITAL NOW BUT ALL THIS IT CAUSE ME TO GAIN SOME WEIGHT I WENT TO THE GROUP CLASS COUPLE OF DAYS AGO I HAVE GAIN 10 POUNDS I AM HAVING HARD TIME CONTROLING MY BAD HABIT RIGHT NOW I WANTED TO RESET MY POUCH BUT I DONT HAVE ANY CLUE HOW TO DO IT, I STILL DRINK MY PROTEIN EVERYMORNING BUT I CANT STOP SNACKING WHY IS IT SO HARD ONCE YOU BROKE THE RULE ITS HARD TO GET BACK TO IT, PLEASE HELP I COULD USE ALL THE SUPPORT THAT I CAN GET

Today is a huge day! Not only am I two days away from my one year anniversary, but also because it is the end of my "fit" list, meaning the list of things that I can't fit into!!!! Today it was theater seats and waiting room seats. Recently it was car seats! So, this is the end of the list.... R.I.P. "fit" list!!!!!!

In other news, I am now at 270 lbs, which is down 11lbs from the last time. All my yearly labs are good, and I had my appointment with the plastic surgeon, and everything is a go for Jan 4th!!!!

It is an exciting time for sure, and I will keep you all updated as we go along!

It has now been 35 days since my surgery and I am still struggling to eat and drink anything. Evenings seem easier to eat and keep food down but drinking is such a chore. I carry around my drink wherever I go and take sips when I can but it causes a mucous in my mouth when I do drink. I go back to the doc on the 19th to possibly get my feeding/J tube out or at least pinched off, a little nervous about that but I don't use it anyway (don't want to depend on using it to get my nutrition.) Went out to eat with the family last night (first time) and did keep some mashed potatoes down yay! :D

I have finally reached the point of questioning whether I made the right decision to have the gastric bypass.
Unable to keep anything down, can't drink, still having to use my feeding tube to keep me hydrated and honestly don't care about eating.
Good thing is I have lost 31lbs bad thing is I have stopping losing within the last week.
Everyone told me I would question myself and I thought nah I am going to be able to handle this. Laughing....I am no different then anyone else:)

I had my surgery on November 9, 2011. I have had a terrible time keeping anything down including fluids. Ended up very constipated and am now taking milk of magnesia in my feeding tube every day. From the date of my surgery until a week ago I had lost 31lbs now it's just up and down. Not sure what to do. I think it's a plateau but not sure.

Hey there all! I hope your Thanksgiving week is going well, and that you are finding things to be thankful for besides food! I am happy to report that I lost another 24 lbs since last month, so I am now down to 281!!!!! I have not weighed that since I was 19! I have 41 lbs left to my goal, and have six weeks until my first skin surgery. I am excited, nervous, and most of all very hopeful and optimistic as my weight loss journey continues towards the summit!!!!

8th day post surgery.
Doing well ,getting up and around easier. More mobile than before and walking more.
Still on liquid diet til next week's 2 week check-up with surgeon.Then start phase 2 of diet.... knowing Thanksgiving will be HARD. But knowing it will all be worth it in the end. I begin working again Nov 21. so that's good( hard not getting paid while being off) trying to get debts paid off in 3 yrs. ANyways just wanted to jot down my thoughts because sometimes I do forget them lol. Ya'll have a good day.

Peace,Love ,HOPE

It's been about a month since my last blog. I'm slowly starting to feel a tad better. Ended up going on a low dose of Prozac. At least I don't feel like my heart is jumping out of my chest 3/4 of the time now, or the need to burst into tears several times a day.

Got a massage. Good for me. I think I need to start incorporating that into my routine somewhere on a semi-routine basis. I was pain free and stress free for several days.

Work still going good. I'm a tad nervous to see what my "real" pay will be. It is based on productivity with insurance payments. Will be interesting to see if I do as well as I hope. First "real" check in December. So far I've received "draws" or regular checks based on what salary should be for three months. Again, a bit of a nail biter until our family sees the results.

I'm down to 151 as of yesterday, but for the past few weeks I've done this bouncing. I will be one weight one day, bounce up a couple of pounds, then down, maybe up and then down at a certain wt for a few days. Then it'll drop again.

Family says I'm too thin and don't need to loose anymore. People that see me and don't know me think I've always been thin...HA!

I'm only down about 9 lbs in 2 months, but I've dropped 2 sizes. I can comfortably wear 8 long pants. I have some 12s in my closet, but they're too loose. I'm afraid to get rid of them because of the bounce-back weight we hear about.

Per the dietician, to slow down weight loss, I've added back some fats and carbs. They make me feel bad though and I do limit them. Mainly is the hot flash that I get. I don't get the GI distress (dumping) but will be much like a hot flash from hormones.

Well...that is the latest. Not ready for the holidays. I have figured out that I can do well around food. I can still cook good meals and season things just like before surgery. I still love to cook for my family. Just seems like there are not enough hours in the day for getting all the things done.

Thank God I've not got the energy~! Oh, and I've lost what my youngest one weighs! Over the weekend we were goofing around. I carried her around on my back. I am not quite 40 lbs heavier than her now. I cannot believe that I had been carrying the equivilent of her around on me! My gosh...no wonder I was tired and exhausted feeling all the time!

Hello again! Wow it has been another month already! I can't believe how fast time is flying by, six ounces at a time ha ha ha.... I lost 30 lbs last month, which brings me to 305, with 65lbs left to get to my goal. I am happy with the progress that has been going on, and frankly shocked that the weight keeps dropping off. Now, I am eating the way the clinic told me too, and trying to exercise all I can, but it is still amazing how this train just keeps on rolling. I am the first to admit that I have been unbelievably blessed, and that it seems like all the stars are aligning for me to do this, and it has been a ton of hard work and continued effort too. It is just nice to be successful!

Let's see....about this time last year I found out I was diabetic and hit an all time high of 264. I was living in one house with three kids and my husband 4 1/2 hours away at the main house. I was working two jobs, tired all the time, finishing up my doctoral project, and TIRED ALL THE TIME.

Fast forward in the year's time and I feel like a failure as a parent as my youngest moved home to be with daddy (Halloween), graduate with my doctor of nursing practice, take a family trip to New Orleans, and come back home for Christmas and to do the pre-op prep for surgery.

I have the surgery, feel miserable, and then go back to work. During all of this, plan on leaving the job so I can get closer to home with my hubby. Make the move, feeling much better physically, and then have to worry about the two oldest staying back to finish school year (thanks to help of my brother and niece who stay with them during the week).

Near June have made plans to leave the job I just started in April, have the kids under the same roof, get my gall bladder out.

Job just started, upon giving of notice, wants to let me start my new job early (make of it what you will), so I had my GB out early and then the month of complications follow.

New job finally started and much happier and less stressed. They do not know of me as being overweight. Nice change. Doing good with it. Make goal weight.

Then my step daughter killed in car accident. This has been an emotional rollercoaster to say the least.

So, in the past year, I feel like I've been through the mill. I'm ready for life to settle down some now! I continue to hope that I have good results with my gastric bypass and keep the weight off. So far so good.

I also find out that my sister in law had one but she was never told about sublingual B12 or thiamine. She looked so dull and listless when I saw her. She's taken off 76 lbs in about 5 months, which is great, but I still cannot believe that nobody told her about the B vitamin thing.

So....she now has some of the B vitamins and told what to do with them. I hope she gets feeling better.

They say death happens in 3's. Here is hoping. First the neighbor, then step-daughter, and now an uncle....I'm ready for that part to be done.

Until later.....

I've never actually blogged before or read anyone else's blog, hopefully that won't show here. My journey began with an idea to check out WLS. i went to a informational seminar and signed up for my required 6 month nutrition appointments with a nutritionist. i met with my nutritionist the first time and she was very nice and easy to talk too. As the next 6 months progressed i found out a lot about my eating habits and what to watch for. I knew that i have always had a eating disorder or problem with food but putting the emotional with the logical and with the actions, never happened till now. I learned and felt that food soothes me in a way that no one else or nothing else can sooth me. I learned about how much i like food and how much food means "fun" to me. i love to dine out or eat someone else's home cooked food. I like a little of this and a little of that. i learned to recognize when my body don't like certain foods and how it retaliates. These learnings have been exciting and amazing. I love it when the light bulb comes on. We spoke of ideas about chewing my food better, and eating smaller portion sizes and recognizing when your full. i also learned to take small bites and really taste my food and savor the flavor to see if i really do like it. That was an interesting experiment. i love egg mc muffins. So i was out early one morning and i went and bought one. i thought i'd try to take a small bite and really savor the flavor. To really get a good taste of the egg, ham, cheese and bun. Well, guess what? My favorite fast food breakfast food for the past 15 yrs or so was gross. I couldn't believe it, so i took another small bite and it was the same:o all i tasted was grease. The after taste was not what i remembered at all it was a old grease flavor. Now this was a good thing really because i won't miss those now after surgery. But, what a shock for me. I tried other experiments like eating one of my kids french fries. The fries look good and fresh. So i take one and chew slowly and savor it but all i get is grease. It's the after taste that can get ya. I think it's amazing all the food myself and most Americans eat and really probably don't even like the stuff but, it's there and we eat. My visits with the nutritionist were invaluable.I would never do those required visits any other way. I guess there's a lot of other options with educating yourself about the surgery than that. person to person with a nutritionist who deals with a Bariatric team is the only way for me.

To help me prepare more for the surgery I read "Idiots guide to weight loss surgery". It was great and very simple to understand. It talked about the procedure itself. This book explained about vitamins and diet. It's a very good book. During my whole six months i felt very excited about this. This surgery was my whole life, i dreamt about it, thought about it, learned about it, prepared (tools only a few though) for it, and last but not least, prayed about it. My diabetes was out of control due to back injury. No matter what I did I couldn't get my numbers down below 200. I missed the girlish figure i had "back then" and i knew this was for me. I'm usually very wimpy when it comes to procedures at the doctor but i was ready for this. I was never nervous or scared. i knew i'd miss some of my food but i knew this was the right thing for me to do. i could not deny it. At my last nutrition visit i was excited because she said it'd be about 2-6 wks for approval :eek: . Well 2 wks was here and they called :) . Within another 2 wks my surgery date was set with doctor appt. to help me get ready for it.:high5:

I was immediately put on a 2 wk special diet of protein drink for breakfast and lunch and very small regular dinner. It was very hard, i was so hungry. Two days before surgery i said goodbye to some of my favorites because the next day was liquids only(tues) then Wed. is surgery day. As i was prepared for the surgery, early in the morning I was a little nervous. I felt more nervous for the IV's than the surgery. I guess maybe that's because i've didn't know exactly how i would feel coming out of surgery. I had gastric bypass on Sept 7, 2011. More to come.

Wow another month has flown by! I lost 23 lbs last month so I am now at 335, which means that I have 95 lbs left to my goal!!! I am definitely nervous, but in a good way. I am working closely with my plastic surgeon to form a battle plan with regards to the skin removal surgeries, which is another blog in and of itself! lol.... There will be a total of four body areas spread over three seperate surgeries! ugh...but as most of you know, that skin is driving me nuts! ha ha ha...And it is definately a health thing to have it taken care of as it keeps pulling me forward. The plan is to start in Jan unless I have not "plateaued" by then.

To be very honest for any who have not had the surgery and may be freaking out about this extra part that no one may have told you about, DO IT!!!! Believe me it is so much easier on this side of the surgery, being healthy and alive!