Verny Girl

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I'm a couple days early but I'm quickly approaching my 2 week mark.  So far so good!  My main little incision hurts sometimes in the morning when I jump out of bed but besides that I have no pain or discomfort.  It hard to remember not to pick up anything over 10 lbs.  I have a tad bit of GERD popping up but I'm taking pepsid complete to help with that. I'm seriously never hungry although my husband is cooking dinner right now and it smells sooooo good.  My head could eat all day but thankfully my new tool won't let it!  ;)  

I'm learning that the hardest part of my journey will be dealing with my head.  It tells me to go eat constantly but I've followed my post-op diet as ordered.  Sometimes the head gets close to winning but I'm proud that I've stuck to my liquids regardless of how well they go down and how much I start trying to talk myself into just having a bite of this or that because it's soft.   Yesterday I had to make yummy croissants filled with chicken, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and topped with garlic parm bread crumbs for a Mom's night in with my friends.  I put I small spoonful in my mouth and chewed chewed chewed...and then spit it out.  I realize it's not the healthiest thing to do mentally but I ALMOST swallowed...so in my eyes I see that as a win.  MNI was actually easier than I expected.  I took a protein shake and sipped on that all night, stayed out of the kitchen, and politely turned down drinks from our in house bartender.  We had a DELICIOUS looking spread...spinach and artichoke dips, fresh fruit, little sandwiches, chocolate covered strawberries and Oreo's, and lots of other stuff.  I physically wasn't hungry but it was tempting.  The old me would've been ALL over that...a few times!  haha  Most of my mommy friends don't know I had the surgery either so they kept telling me I could cheat this one time, etc, etc.  That was annoying because I CANT!  haha  

I'm definitely ready to move on to my soft diet.  I'm ready to eat.  I take pretty normal drinks at this point too which is a nice change from sipping away at that little 30ml med cup.  My diet changed on June 11th!  Wahoo!  I'm a little nervous but I know if I chew chew chew, I'll be okay.  

Oh, and I've also stalled for a few days already.  I'm stuck at 262.8-263.0.  I'm been mindful to get lots of water in and my protein so I'm sure it'll fall off soon!  -22.2lbs!  

Howdy Ya'll!  
I was officially sleeved May 20, 2013 at about 11 in the morning.  

I had my preop appointment on the 15th.  I had only lost 2 lbs since my very first visit so he got on me a little for that by saying "Are you going to lose any more weight?".  lol.  He is very forward and straight faced so I took that as my warning. He scares me.  I filled my Vitamin k prescription for clotting (I had to take that for 5 days before surgery), my one $80 anti-nausea pill, Zofran, to take the morning of surgery and also got my multivitamins and such for post op.  

I went in the prior Friday for pre op testing and the pre-register.  I had blood work taken, V/S's and an EKG.  I weighed in at 278 lbs.  So on my pre op diet from May 8th - Surgery I lost 7lbs.  Not great but I did have one cheat meal right before starting full liquids on the 12th for Mothers Day.  Although for a 10 day diet losing 7lbs I guess isn't too horrible.

The day before surgery I was required to drink the lovely Magnesium Citrate.  I thought it wasn't that bad.  I totally lost count of how many bathroom trips I had to take though.  My anus was on FIRE and I started holding it as long as I could before I went.  I was almost in tears.  It was god awful.  Never again!  

I had to be at the hospital 8am and surgery was scheduled for 10am.  Unfortunately, when I got there and showed the nurse admitting me my lovely rash I had developed it delayed my surgery.  Her and Dr. Davidson thought it was possibly shingles which would have canceled my surgery.  The dermatologist had to come in to look at it and immediately cleared me...THANK GOD!  I had already told Dr. D that there was no way I was drinking another bottle of the Mag Citrate.  Before being cleared I also was planning what I was going to be eating at ihop for a huge breakfast fiest!  hahaha  #fatbrain!  

I was rolled down to holding at around 10:40.  Where Ben and I patiently waited for me to be taken back.  The anesthesiologist came and started my crappy IV (that bothered the crap out of me my whole hospital stay).  Soon enough he gave me something that would "relax" me.  I poorly remember saying bye to my husband and being rolled to the OR.  It was FREEZING in there.  I scooted over to the operating table and then they had me lay my arms out on the arm board things.  Some angel of a person put a very warm blanket on me.  I very vaguely remember the anethesiologist say I should start feeling very sleepy soon...I looked up at the big OR lights and about 5 seconds later I was screaming "it hurts" in recovery!  I was rubbing my legs up and down and pushing down on my stomach saying it hurts...eyes closed.  I hear some lady saying no, no...don't do that.  She rambled something about everything went well and the surgeon also fixed a hernia. The surgery took about 2 hours.  I kept saying it hurts and then another 5 seconds later I woke up in my hospital room with wet rags on my head.  My husband was there.  I was extremely nauseous and had a bucket wedged under my fat double chin in case I vomited.  I think my husband kept talking to me and tried to show me a picture of my daughter and then the picture of my stomach and I was back to sleep.  I didn't even remember what the pictures were until I saw them again the next day.   I slept A LOT the rest of the day.  I was in pain and nauseated. My pain level was at about a 7/10 most of my hospital stay.  I was very uncomfortable.  I thought it was going to be some gas pain and some slight fatigue and that would be it.  I was in for a rude awakening and I wasn't happy about it.   I got up out of bed at about 5 to pee.  Then at about 7 I got up to pee and walk.  I did really well with that and then just made sure I got up every 2 hours to walk the rest of my hospital stay.  

The next day, they finally came and got me for my swallow test at like 10 or 11.  That was interesting and I had just got pain meds which made me drowsy.   I was on this big machine that tilted back and forward.  The crap they make you drink wasn't too bad...or I was just THAT thirsty.  My mouth was sooooo dry after surgery.  All I was allowed to do was use these amazing oral swabs that freaking saved my sanity.  I passed the swallow test though and was able to start sipping..and sipping...and sipping.  

I was discharged on Wednesday afternoon.  I was still in so much pain.  I was really surprised about the pain.  It was horrible when trying to move up in bed, turn into sitting position, sitting on the pot, standing up....pain pain pain all the freaking time.  lol  It wasn't even gas pain...walking didn't help.  It was internal pain which I wasn't expecting.  Gas-x strips helped me NONE.  Maybe I'm just a big baby.  

I also forgot to add that I wasn't urinating hardly at all on Monday so Davidson was calling driving the nurses nuts about my I&O's.  haha  The nurses said he's one of the best doctors about actually calling and checking on his patients.  Overnight I started peeing much more though and finally got my urine up to a normal amount.  You should have an output of 30ml an hour on average.  

It wasn't until 4 or 5 days post op that I've felt the way I thought I would.  I didn't have much pain sitting up or repositioning.   Last night I actually sleep on my tummy halfway comfortable which was amazing.  Today I woke up even less sore which is great because it was my husbands first day back to work and I had my 2 year old to take care of.  Today has been pretty good and the first day I've been able to go with out pain meds.  I think starting day 5 I stopped taking my pain meds more than once a day.  I admit...I probably don't have to take it at all anymore but I'm totally still taking it at night.  lol  So, really, recovery has been pretty quick.  A week?  I could have easily went back to work today even after being in so much pain and unable to do alot the first few days.  I think my expectations were just unrealistic.  

Overall the staff at Presby Dallas were wonderful!  I had 2 really amazing nurses and 1 avgerage ones.  But I seriously loved the 2 women that took care of me!  They were very attentive and understanding...they took such great care of me...and I'm picky about who I like.  The bariatric coordinator also came in quite a few times to check on me which was nice.  Nothing but good things!  

I'm totally over being on a liquid diet.  I'm pretty much on full liquids.  At first drinking was very hard.  I could tell my stomach was sooo swollen.  If I took too big of a tiny sip it would be pretty uncomfortable and usually would result in me burping or reallllly needing to.  I think at about 4-5 days it began much easier.  The last couple days Ive been taking pretty normal drinks...not gulps!...but more like a larger sip.  It was really starting to get to me so I'm glad it got better.  Tomorrow, day 8, I get to add in broccoli/cheese, creamy soups.  Still no chunks.  Ugh!  I don't start soft/mushy foods until 22 days post op.  

I definitely had some buyers remorse after surgery.  I just had such unrealistic expectations about recovery...I guess from reading other peoples experiences and people saying it wasn't so bad.  However, everyone is different.  I told my husband I would much rather push a baby out my hoo-ha.  That wasn't this bad!  haha  Although, NOW, I could probably look back and say it really wasnt THAT bad.  lol  I'm really wanting to eat now so that has been a hard struggle.  I haven't physically been hungry until today though so I know it's all mostly head hunger.  I can drink about 1/3 or 1/4 of my 11oz protein shake though and be full.  I would also like to clarify that I've been drinking water much easier as far as taking bigger sips but with thicker stuff like my protein shake I still have to take pretty small sips and it's obviously more filling than water.  The water seriously is in and out of my stomach.  Or I take a really big mouth full on accident and have to swallow it a little at a time.  lol  

I think that about sums up my experience.  I go in tomorrow for a 1 week post op check up and to get my staples out.  I ended up with 6 incisions.  2 have 1 staple each in them.   Oh, and I'm down to 264.0 as of this morning.  I did stall for a couple of days.  Like Wednesday and Thursday I stayed at the exact same weight but then dropped Friday.  Yesterday and this morning I stayed at exactly 264.0.  So Hopefully I'll be down a couple more tomorrow before my appointment.  Hopefully I've dropped enough to make Davidson happy but I'm pretty happy with my 21lbs.  

Anyways, that's all folks!  Here's to the rest of my life with my itty bitty tummy!  ;)
 

I'm so excited to announce that I was approved for surgery and it's been scheduled for May 20, 2013 at 9:30 in the morning!  I'm excited and nervous all at the same time.  Butterfly city is in my stomach right now.  haha  

I finished up all of my nutritionist appointments (total of 4) in March.  Luckily I never had to get anything but a psych evaluation done so that helped things a bit.  Overall, my nutrition classes were a joke.  I went through a dietician that my surgeons office recommended @  Forest Park Medical Center in Dallas.   It was $25 dollars a visit.  Paying, weighing everyone in, and scheduling our next visits usually took up the first 20-25 minutes.  Then we would fly through some handouts in 10 minutes or so and be out of there.  I would've liked the full hour and more of an effort to be exciting or interested by the dietician but I've done a lot of research on my own so it's not a big deal.  I just hope those that haven't put in effort at home know what they are doing.  I ended up only losing 2 lbs.  Honestly, I didn't put in much effort to work out and counting calories but she told me they didn't really want or expect me to do that.  I did try to work on small things like not drinking while eating, eating more high protein and high carb, chewing my food to mush, and eliminating some bad things and other habits.  I had big plans and expectations for my 4 months of nutrition classes but I'm just happy I didn't gain.  

My surgeon, Dr. James Davidson, at BSC Dallas seems to be amazing.  I have not seen one bad review about him.  He's old but he's a pro!  I'm VERY comfortable with him doing my surgery.  However, his office staff, are not as professional or attentive as they should be.  Oddly enough, I found out 3 weeks ago, from my insurance case manager that I was approved.  I NEVER heard from the doctors office. I thought I would be hounding insurance and not the other way around.  I called several times and couldn't get ahold of the lady that schedules the surgeries and pre-op appointment.  It's been such a hassle.  Last week I almost just called and asked what I needed to do to transfer my files to another surgeon.  Luckily for her on my last attempt to call before I started pitching a fit the lady answered.  SO frustrating.  I'm really surprised there haven't been any bad reviews because of this.  They aren't very nice either...very rushed and frazzled.  The receptionist hung up on me 3 times at one point.  I guess she thought I was done talking and when I went to ask my next question she had already hung up.  3 times....really?!?!  Then she was rude to me like I was the one hanging up on her.  Ugh!  

My pre-op appointment is scheduled for 5/15/13 and my surgery is scheduled for 5/20/13.  I didn't realize that it's only 5 days apart though so when I called back to ask about the 2 week liquid pre-op diet she, of course, didn't answer or call back.  SO, before I get screwed because that lady is an idiot, I'm just going to start a liquid diet on my own.  I don't know how true it is that the pre-op diet shrinks the liver but I want my surgery to go well and I want to do everything I possibly can to eliminate any potential complications.  

Here's to a new me!  Cheers!  :)

 

Howdy ya'll!  So I went to my second nutritionist appointment on Monday.  At visit #1 I was 279 and told insurance likes to see you either stay the same or lose...DO NOT GAIN.  Well, I hopped on the scale feeling confident that I didn't gain (thanks to the flu and pneumonia!) and 280 popped up.  My heart sank.  Well the lovely nutritionist jotted down 278 and said, "Well, minus 2 for clothes".  lol  I'm so very thankful but so disappointed in myself.  Our meeting only lasted about 15 mins as we very quickly went through our handout.  This weeks lessen was limit carbs and sugars.  

I have been very conscious of all the carbs and sugar in stuff the past couple weeks.  I even tracked on MFP a few days and low carb is so much harder than it sounds.  I love all things protein but alot of stuff with a good amount of protein has double the carbs which is frustrating.  So I'm just going to work harder over the next few weeks and get serious.  I'm a bottomless pit though lately which isn't helping me out any but whether I want to eat everything in sight or not I just need to be strong and have some control.  I'm actually just so ready for the pre-op liquid diet.  I need someone to tell me what to eat and when.  However I know that I'm not going to have a strict diet and monitoring the rest of my life so I just need to work this out.  Mainly, I'm just scared that I'm going to fail at this but I'm trying to stay positive!  I can do it and I will!  

Oh, and I got results back yesterday that I am pre-diabetic.  My PCP knows about and is supporting my surgery so she said right now she just wants to me to try and control it with diet and exercise.  If I wasn't planning on the surgery we would do meds but she's confident that after surgery my glucose levels will stabilize.  Lets hope so!  

I had an appointment with my PCP today regarding my b/p per my surgeons orders and she's going to run some labs to test me for hypothyroidism.  

She upped my dose of spironolactone (Aldactone) to a more therapeutic dose.  I've been taking this for the past 2 months for my lovely facial hair.  However, at my appointment with the surgeon I was told that losing some weight will also dramatically decrease the hair which makes sense seeing that the hair didn't start until I got around 250.  Hoping this is true but even at 225 I still had it.  We'll see!  The PCP agreed.  She also prescribed a low dose of something else (I forgot to ask and won't know till I pick it up) for my b/p.  Today it was 146/84 so definitely not as bad as last weeks 173/100 but alas, still no bueno!!  

I was very enlightened that she was supportive my WLS.  This is my first time going to her as I've been trying to find a PCP that I like and feel comfortable with.  She said that it would really benefit me at the weight that I am (duh), which was still hovering around 282.  I think I'll continue going to her in the future.  

Oh!  I also made my appointment with the nutritionist for Monday so here's to starting my (hopefully) 3 month supervised diet!  :)  I'll let ya'll know how it goes.  I'm so so so soooooo ready for this!  

Happy Friday!

 

Howdy!  

Friday I attended a WLS seminar with Dr. Davidson at DSC Dallas and then afterwards I had a consult with him one on one.  It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.  

When I got there I, of course, had to fill out all of the information packets which included anything and everything you could imagine including diets you have attempted with dates and how much you lost if any.  They also wanted to know all about your family history and any medications you're on including dosage.   So be prepared for those things along with all your normal insurance info, personal info, etc.  

I got there pretty early and the office was packed and I was VERY nervous suddenly.  Prior to going and so far in the journey I had been  pretty excited but I was so nervous sitting in the office waiting that my hands got clammy and I started to sweat.  haha  

The nurse called me back finally.  She asked me to stand in the hallway to take my picture, then she measured my waist (47 I think), then weighed me and I freakin weighed in at 282 **gasps for air** which puts me at  a 42.9 BMI, and last but not least she took my BP which was 173/100!!!!!  I admit I was pretty nervous but then again I usually always get nervous at the doctors office and it's never ever been that high!  The nurse was super sweet and we talked about what surgery I wanted.  She was sleeved around 7 months ago and has lost 70lbs.  Turns out a few of the ladies in the office had WLS so that was comforting.  

The nurse then came and took us to the conference room and we got to meet Dr. Davidson.  He quickly went through a slide show.  I don't know if it's because I've done SO much research but I didn't really learn anything.  Although, I felt bad for an older couple that had obviously not done much or any because she wasn't sure at all what she wanted and the doctor went through the slides very quickly.  Most of the slides had a lot of medical talk and not much "english".  If I didn't have a sense of medical terminology and some of the pathophysiology I would've been completely lost and confused.  Hopefully they got more one on one and clarification during their consult though!  

After all that fun we headed back to the office to wait for our consults.  Dr. Davidson is true to the reviews I have read.  He's a very straight faced, to the point, all business type of man.  At first, during the seminar, I wasn't so sure about him...However, he has already grown on me.  He's been around quite a while and obviously knows his stuff.  He asked what brought me there, why I chose him, and then asked me what I knew about the surgery itself.  He was worried about my BP and told me to get with my PCP and hopefully get put on some medication (I have an appt this Friday for that!).  He also listened to a few places on my chest.  He then started recording his assessment via recorder, which is what he'll be sending to my insurance company.  It was VERY blunt and a little harsh but he explained briefly that it was what's needed for insurance and has to be done.  I left there with a reality check of how serious my obesity is and how much it is already affecting my life!!!!  I also had a WHOLE list of questions to ask him but ended up holding off because most of them would be better to ask the nutritionist or later on in the journey.  As he got up, I pulled out my list quickly just to make sure I didn't forget something and he sat back down and took his time to answer a couple silly questions I had.  He didn't rush at all.  I was also informed that I was a great candidate and he would be willing to perform my surgery in the next 10 days but we had to jump hoops for insurance!  It was also brought to my attention how much insurance companies DONT want to approve bariatric surgeries because they look at the now not the overall picture.  He brought up an interesting perspective.  

The next and last step of the day was to meet with the insurance extraordinaire! A VERY nice woman.  She had the bypass a few years ago and showed me her before pics and we chit chatted a while about the whole process.  We agreed to wait to pull all of my insurance information until January 1st but she gave me the nutritionists info and some referrals for my psychiatric evaluation.  I got my referral for BSC Dallas from my insurance so no worries there.  However I'm pretty anxious to find out exactly what I have to do and exactly how long it's going to take.  She said she's pretty sure I'll just have a 3 month pre-op diet to follow with 3 trips to the nutritionist so that would be lovely but I'm still prepared if it happens to be 6 months.  It's crazy to think that I may be having surgery at the earliest, the end of March!!!  I'm SOOOO ready!   I'm planning on going to my first nutritionist appointment next week to get the 3 month thing started.  

Anyways...I really feel comfortable with the surgeon I have chosen.  He could smile a bit more but I would rather have an AMAZING surgeon than some guy that likes to smile.  haha  He has been voted top doctor for the past 20 years and counting.  The staff seems really great too.  I'm just so excited to get this show on the road and start dropping some of the weight that is holding me down.  

I have no idea why but since I've decided to start this process ALL I WANT TO DO IS EAT and drink all the Dr. Pepper I can get my hands on!  I've been a little wild with fast food and eating it like I'll soon never be able to even look in the direction of a fast food restaurant again.  Tuesday I went to Subway which isn't so bad.  Wednesday I went to Sonic for lunch and had a huge burger with bacon, fries, and a large sweet tea.  Then I went to Taco Cabana for dinner and got a large nacho which is huge and a soda.  I was p'd off because I forgot to order a burrito too.  lol  Today I went to Panda Express.  These fast food places aren't even my favorite foods yet I've been drawn to them like all fast food joints we're going out of business.  Addiction much?  

I don't even understand why I love fast food so much but I do.  Mostly for the convenience but I guess this is when planning comes into play.  If you're prepared then you're less tempted with just grabbing something quick right?  So I'm putting this to an end.  No more fast food...atleast no more fast food like I've been eating it over the past few days.  I will be able to eat it again.  Saying I'll never eat fast food again is a bit non-realistic but I'm hopeful that I wont be tempted with it much anymore post-op and even if I am at least I wont be able to eat a 2000 calorie value meal! 

I plan on having a last meal...an official food funeral so to speak.  It'll mark the end of me being able to go to my favorite restaurant and stuff my face with a full entre while sucking down my high calorie drink of choice.  Don't forget the appetizer and the dessert!  Did you have a food funeral?  

I'm not sure it's entirely "healthy" but I think it'll help me make the cut off in my head.  I know I'll still be able to eventually eat my favorite foods again...just not as much as I do now but enough to satisfy me.  

Consult is tomorrow and I'm getting more and more excited and slightly nervous.  I'm scared I'm going to say something and the surgeon decide I'm just not ready.  I'm addicted to food...I hope that doesn't disqualify me!  

Hey Ladies and Gents!  I'm so happy to be here and getting more and more excited the more I read and hear everyone else's experiences! I decided to do a blog because after recording my 1st entry to a vlog about 6 times I decided I didn't have the time to sit there and stare at myself for a hour and still not be happy with my video...slight perfectionist here!  lol  To start off I'll just tell you some about me and what brought me here today.  I'm 27 years old, a wife, and a mother to a VERY active toddler, I am 5'7.5 (and so I'm learning that the .5 makes a difference...I always rounded up and said 5'8!! ha), annnnd I just hit my highest weight of 278lbs.  Back in 2009 I hit my highest weight then which was 277 and it was devastating.  After being overweight and obese since I was a kid you would think I would be use to the high numbers and feeling tired all the time but I guess as I got closer to hitting 300 the more the reality of it set in and the less accommodating my body was to the large quantities of fat in my body.  

Like many, I have tried almost EVERY diet out there.  Shakes, starving, working out like a crazy person, fat pills, water pills, the lovely military diet are just some of the few.  I think there was a cookie diet it there too.  haha  I even recently thought about begging my doctor for Adderall!  In 2009 when I topped the scales at 277 I got very depressed.  I found a calorie counter online and decided to do things right.  I ate 1200 calories a day and worked out as much as I could....sometimes several times a day.  My husband and I would go on a 14 mile bike ride, then we he went to work I would go to the gym for a hour, and then sometimes I would come home and do a sculpting/weights video with hand weights and kettle bells.  I would strictly counted my calories and would never put anything extra in my mouth.  It was slightly extreme but I was losing and every couple weeks or so I would give in to something I wanted, go out to eat, get ice cream, etc.  From October 2009 till May 2010 I lost 52lbs....until *drum roll please*...I found out I was pregnant!  Previous to finding out I was pregnant nothing was stopping me...so the surprise was on me!!!  I decided that I would continue counting calories (dr. approved) and exercising as much as I could tolerate.  Unfortunately, at around 4 weeks pregnant (I found out I was preggo VERY early) I started bleeding.  We were actually in New Mexico about to embark on a HUGE hiking trip.  We made some adjustments to our route to accommodate for pregnant me but I started bleeding a day prior to our hike.  Turns out I had a subchorionic hemorrhage and bled through my whole pregnancy.  I also ended up with gestational diabetes, placenta preevia which meant bed rest and then preeclampsia at the end.  This all translates to me gaining about  35lbs which really isn't all that bad.  However I did go back to old eating habits and no exercise...back to my old ways.  I just kept telling myself that after I had the baby I would get right back on track.  

Well, after multiple attempts at getting back on track I just can't do it.  I did have post partum depression for about a year after which didn't help anything.  Mainly though, I think it's because I don't have the time to exercise 3 hours a day with a kid running around, a household to keep in order, and nursing school?!  Last March I got my gym membership again.  I was counting calories (1200) and working out for 45mins or a hour a day and wasn't even losing .5 a lb a week.  I tried lowering my calories, increasing my workouts, increasing my calories, etc and I just couldn't find what combo my body wanted!!!  So frustrating!  I admit I had a hard time being as strict as I was before with counting calories but for the most part I did track everything I put in my mouth.  I've lost and regained the same 10 lbs like 100 times.  I feel defeated.  I have the appetite of a cow and the metabolism of a dying turtle.  I just want to be healthy and be able to chase my daughter and future children.  I'm tired of being big and hating getting dressed to go anywhere.  I'm also experiencing horrible back pain and my knees are slowly going.  In HS I had 2 knee surgeries to repair a torn ligaments and then another to repair my ACL.  When I was at my heaviest in 2009 my knee started acting up...sometimes very hard to even walk on it because it felt a nerve was being pinched.  Same thing is happening now.  It started out just VERY sore at the end of the day and aching while I'm relaxing and now it's doing the pinched nerve thing again when I walk.  UGH.  So I'm just waiting for it to give out on me.  :(   It was magically better when I lost 50 lbs so I know it's my weight.  
 

I started thinking about weight loss surgery one day a few weeks ago after there being a lap band booth set up at a Diabetes walk that my clinical group was volunteering at.  I knew someone before that had gastric bypass and she lost alot of weight...but then she gained it all back.  I also know of a few people with the lap band.  Only one of them has been successful and that has been in the past year.   I really didn't have the best examples showing the success of WLS in the past.  I apologize in advance but I always looked at WLS as "the easy way out"  and pretty much a waste of money and your organs.  That coming from a person that at the time had NO IDEA what WLS actually entailed or what the procedures even were.  Most of my judgment came from being non-educated and just plain judgmental of those I knew that failed (mostly because they thought WLS was going to make them magically thin without much work).  However, after looking into WLS more I know it will be my saving grace!  I have researched everything possible, read all the forums I can find, talked my friend who was successful with Lap Band, and have my consult on Friday!!  At first I was pretty sure I wanted the Lap Band because it is minimally invasive and doesn't include cutting any of my organs.  However, the more I read and the more I thought about it I wasn't really keen on the idea of having this foreign thing in my body and some of the negatives didn't sit well with me.  I started looking much more into the sleeve gastrectomy and it's perfect for me!  After watching a few operations being shown on you tube I quickly got over having my stomach stapled!  I know this is 100% life changing and going to be ALOT of work but I'm so excited and I NEED life changing right now.  Go figure, my biggest fear right now is being judged by others for "taking the easy way out".  *sighs*  Well, the other fear I have if not even getting approved for the surgery but we'll cross that road if it happens.  I'm 100% sure that I will be successful.  I love to work out and be active...I just need a tool to keep me from eating everything in sight!  Hopefully I'll be a lucky one that is never hungry!  

I hope that by keeping this blog I can help someone else gain perspective and learn from my experiences from the very beginning until goal!  I do like to talk but I'll make a conscious effort to not write a book in every post!  ;)  I'm SO excited for the beginning of this journey and hope that I can make some great friends along the way!!!