I can't wait to be me again!!!! - Tracy, CA

Hello fellow sleevers and soon to be sleevers :-)
Here's my story so I've been slim most of my life until I got the depo shot in the late 90s. Let me tell you I gained around 40lbs between Apr and Dec of that year (1997) and about 10lbs each year since. I was trying everything to get the weight off but looking back I did everything wrong. I've never had a large appetite but what I've discovered in the past couple years is what I'm eating I don't burn off. But now at 300lbs everything hurts when it comes to moving! My lower back started giving me problems last year and the sciatic issues was worse than childbirth. My knees and ankles hurt after 15 min of walking it's so awful to feel this way but it is what it is right? I'm 5'7 and 39 (I will be 40 next May) so I don't plan on being like this at 40...life will begin for me at 40.

I finally met my deductible in June so I made the choice to have WLS originally it was gastric bypass but after talking to a friend from high school who recently had the gastric sleeve done so I switched! I have to add I have a 2yr old and no family nearby but I do have a few friends for support. I have attended the 2hr seminar that is required by my Dr and I've had my consultation which started off totally on the wrong foot and put me in a terrible mood for the rest of the day. As soon as the PA came in the first thing she says is let's discuss your over eating! Ha ha I won't go into details how that conversation continued after but let's just say she changed her tune! Next I had my psych eval that went well surprisingly except he's holding my psych eval until my $25 co-pay is received. This I found out just last week...what a butt he is...especially since he couldn't process the payment over the phone and I had to mail it to him. I was only irritated because I was waiting for him to submit the claim and I could make the payment online through my insurance website and they would mail him a check...I know I'm being silly. But the fact that he held my psych eval for such a small amount (it's not like I wasn't going to pay just hadn't had a chance to get a money order) is ridiculous and holding up the pre-authorization from my insurance company. I requested my medical records in Sept the last of them came through last week with my urging of course. Now I'm waiting on a call to schedule a pre-surgery class which should be Monday.

So I called the Dr's office today to see if they have finally received all my medical records for the past 60 mths and YES they received them all! So it was submitted last week she didn't know the date but told me to call my insurance in a week to make sure they received the request. So because I've had so many issues with obtaining the medical records I decided to call today. I was told that I could submit for the pre-authorization and they would contact the Dr's office for the medical records and psych eval if I had the Diag code and procedure code. Of course I don't have that but at least I have movement towards hopefully a surgery date!

I was approved today and my surgery date is set for 12/10/13! I haven't been this excited about something in years!

Hello,
Somehow my posts have become a forum lol maybe I'm posting incorrectly I'm not sure but I'm starting my pre-op diet today! This means I'm closer to my goal of becoming healthy on 12/10/13....wish me luck!

So in a week I will be having my surgery and everyone on my team asked if I was nervous. The funny thing is I don't seem to have any emotions so I just told them no. I have lost 8lbs so far and oddly I already feel energetic when I walk. If I sit at my desk too long I become lethargic. My body is already making the change and my mind is trying to catch up lol

I will post another update this weekend.

I'm almost close to tears as the day is finally here that I'm going to have my surgery and get healthy. Today was a little rough with the all liquid diet but I made it it's 9PM and I need to take my shower and use the body wipes they gave me...when I wake it will be time to take the drive to the hospital! My surgery is scheduled for 9:30AM so I need to be there at 7AM....wish me luck!!

So my first day home was Thursday and I had zero energy was extremely fatigued but down 10lbs from SW of 293! I mainly rested a walked a little just to make sure I would have any blood clots! I also have this breathing device they give you to prevent post op pneumonia your lungs are a bit tender after surgery but I'm sure its from the tube!

The next day Friday 13th. I started to feel this painful turn twists feeling I had never read or heard about it but I believe its a muscle spasm in your stomach I took a sip of Lortab to get past that pain. Later I felt it when I sipped my room temperature water. I hated this feeling.I also felt like I was starving which I thought was impossible since the hormone ghrelin was removed! I also would feel hot and cold at the same time. This reminded me of when I was pregnant so I figured my body must be trying to adjust itself from one of its hormones being removed. I got a little more walking done.

On to Saturday the 14th. Hello STARVING again! This time I ate sugar free jello pudding and felt a lot better and I'm convince my new stomach did too. I didn't feel that twist muscle spasm after that either! I also went to the movies to see best man holiday I took a bottle water and crystal lite with me and sipped throughout the movies. That worked as far as fresh air for a bit but I soon realized it was too soon when I walked back to my truck! I got home and went straight to bed. I needed to walk and that's what I got!

Well today I'm finally starting to feel better! I have moved on to purees and that is the best thing ever! I am having issues with feeling like I'm starving. No it's not in my head I know the difference...I'm full and starving. This started on Friday but it's getting better I know this is something else that will pass. I'm not as fatigued either and tomorrow I start my multi-vitamins I'm sure that will help!

I'm still dealing with full but starving this really needs to pass! I did some last minute Xmas shopping so I got in some walking there. I'm finding it hard to want food it seems I'm more focused on food now and when to eat than before I started this journey. It's still early I know I'm 276lbs not much of a weightloss like last week but still a total of 24lbs gone since my pre-op diet on 11/26.

Hey I am 3 weeks about and still down only 24lbs including the 2wk pre-op. I have started walking more since I really want to meet my goal in May for my 40th birthday cruise! I'm still at 277 and I was hoping to be at least 270 by Jan 10th I think I'll be able to make that goal. My next goal will be to be 260 by Feb 10th that's a total of 17lbs in a month and 8 days!

So today marks 4 wks since my surgery I'm still dealing with fatigue but the good news is I'm down 27 lbs so I'm 3 lbs away from 270 I thought I would make my goal by 1/10 but it doesn't look that way but it's ok I'll add it to the next goal :-)

I went back to work yesterday and every said they could see a difference in my face and body...my size 24 pants are a little loose but I still can't fit my 22W pants that are in the closet yet. I can now go and move without fearing that I will starve. I carry string cheese and water to be sure I don't get light headed. The hunger is not as bad as it was but it's still there just a little. Totally bearable now which I'm happy!

So its been a while since I've posted. It takes real concentration especially without support. My commute is an hr each way and I'm a single mom to the most active lil dude in N Cali lol but I still feel hungry and I'm slightly bitter that I do because I dont like the feeling. My follow up visit left a very bitter taste in my mouth but I've come to realize that is the PAs attitude. I'm not a fan bit enough about her I'm down 42lbs and I don't walk lile I should but I so move around at work so I think there is some balance. I managed to catcha bug over the weekend which totally made me think I would be sick forever but to my surprise I was gone after 2 days! Prior to surgery I was always sickly with colds that woild take 2 wks to a mth to go away! So another plus to the surgery in my opinion.

I haven't lost much this month but I know it's because I haven't been walking like I'm supposed to walk! I am down to 255lbs which is a total of 45lbs weight loss. I should have a 50lbs loss by now so I'm behind 5 lbs. The hardest part is will power because you can eat anything without issue. I'm still drinking water no soda, beer or coffee yet and I eat a lot of baked fish and chicken. I'm totally burnt on eating the fish so I've had to try different foods. I will give another update when I lost at least 10lbs!

I'm about 12 lbs over the weight I would expect to be 3mths out but that's not too bad as long as I'm under 200lbs by July! So I'm still hungry every 2hrs but its not as bad as it was before. I've totally adjusted to the not drinking while eating even though I don't like it lol. I also can fit into size 20W and some 1x tops which is kind of cool. I'm getting more and more people at work asking if I've lost weight because they really don't know how to ask with the loss is so noticeable. I just laugh and tell them yes I'm down 50lbs since Dec! This of course opens the door to how? I'm a very open person so I tell them "Gastric Sleeve" no one has really heard of it and some have wanted to know more information for a family member or maybe even themselves. This has been an interesting journey so far and if I would walk more I would lost more weight. I'm not really stressing over it I just know that I would go down more. Baked fish and chicken some berries, water and many turkey products seem to be my diet now. It's not a far stretch from pre-surgery just in smaller portions.