Sweetaaaah

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I have nothing bad to say lol. I at least wanted to post my progress, its easy to get content and forget there are many people out there in the back ground seeking information about my experience...I SEE YOU lol. This is still the best decision I have ever made in my life!!!!!! ( I type this as I nibble on a very yummy protien bar...no really its goooood lol). 've totally changed the way I eat with the assistance of my sleeve and in turn t contros the amount that I eat. I weigh almost everyday. I question that sometimes because I feel like of obsessive but from my support group leader I have learned that its normal and that I should hold myself responcible for my weight and I do. If I am not happy with that number I do protien drinks all day and no food- especially if I can see that I am able to eat more than usual because I try to stay concious of stretching my pouch because for now I want it to remain the same. Its easier to do this now because I dont ever feel like I am starving myself.

I am 4 months post op and 62lbs down. I noticed that right before my cycle I stall then as soon as it comes on i drop at least 5lbs in that week. Ive earned that during that stall I increase my weight lifting routine to build more muscle in preparation for that weight drop...so far t has worked...i am pretty toned and it looks like loose skin will be extrememly minimal.


Okay so I still dont like protien shakes so I use the Pure brand unflavored protien. I desolve half a scoop ( 20g protien) in a large bottle of water (shake, shake, shake and its best to let it sit for about an hour and really desolve before drinking), then I just add my favorite Crystal light flavor...right now I am lovng the Rasberry, Pomegranet lemonade, and the strawberry banana....all are yummy. I find this really easy to drink, actually its like Koolaid to me and I sometimes feel guilty for enjoying it so much lol. Right now I am eating a 15g protien bar I purchased from bariatricfoodproducts.com called Crispy Berry Yogurt Bar....sooooooooooo good lol. I love peanut butter, its a great and very filling snack and I have found that t keeps me 'regular', if you know what i mean lol...sometimes i get backed up but the more peanut butter i eat the less of a problem i have with that lol.

I am dating again *sigh* ...redatng my an on and off love of 5 years *sigh*. I have no clue what  am doing...just rolling with it. Men react to me instantly..t used to be that  after talking and getting to know me a little they would open up to me but now they stop i their tracks to get my attention...funny right. My ex who I am dating just stares at me and says "I am so roud of you, you look great"...I admit it does feel good coming from his lips :)

I know its been awhile and I am almost 2 months post- op. Its been a roller-coster but I still have no regrets. The heartburn is gone now that I take my Nexium :) - THANK GOD FOR THAT STUFF! And I am now able to eat regular foods (Ill include a list of some the foods I am eating below). I went through about a 3 1/2 week stall...at first  was optimistic and knew that the weightloss would start again but day after day id step on the scale and have lost one pound then the next day Id have gained that pound back...that was hard to cop with so early. I was beating myself up thinking that I have went through all that ( surgery) only to lose 32lbs! I felt like it was all a waste. Then  decided to start keeping a food diary of everything I was eating and boy did that change my life! I began to change this and that and take my time goign through the grocery isles lookng at nutrition lables. It has been eye opening...I am now in control of what goes in my mouth!..not my mind or my cravings. I know its not much room in there so I live by the 'protien first motto'...it works for me. I bring my food-snacks and lunch- to work, I workout 5 days a week at least sometimes more,  watch my carb intake. I am not totally low carb..i allow some carbs but not often, my desire and ability to fit them in my stomach are very small. I am at 41lbs weght loss as of today. Life is good!!!!


Snacks:
banana and peanut butter
turkey pepperoni (13 slices is 9g of protien)
Chedder Cheese (i like Calbot Extra sharp)
Soy cakes ( similar to rice cakes and come in various flavors and not nearly as many carbs as the rice ones and 6g protien)
viena sausage ( I have yet to eat a whole can but its 6g protein)
crackers ( Brenton Reduced Fat and Sodium Crackers 7 crackers are 4g of protien)
boiled egg ( usually for breakfast followed or proceded by a protein juice)
potted meat ( I cant stand the stuff but if you can there s 11g of protien)
beef jerky ( the sticks have great flavor -to me lol- and a good source of protein)

Lunch:
Whatever leftover  meat i fixed the night before ( I am LOVING seafood.  I lost my taste for beef and pork...go figure)
Thickly sliced turkey breast from the meat and cheese deli in the grocery store (ill take some sliced cheese and a peice of veggie-usually spinach, but i have used tomato and celery- and roll it and stick a toth pick in the middle to hold it in place til im ready to eat it. Great lunch with no bread..its kinda like a mini salad. Turkey breast itself is 13g protien for 2 oz and cheese is 5g protien)
Albacore Tuna ( i eat straight out the package, just add a lil salt, pepper and lemon juice. I eat this on the days im dont feel like eating much cause it has 21g of protien a pack)

Guilty pleasures:
Fruit ( watermelon, pineapple, grapes, etc....love them but they are a treat for me so I allow myself a few bites every couple of days or so)
icecream ( i love it now...didnt care for it pre surgery. Icecream is sneaky and is considered a high calori slider food that will pack the pounds on BUT keep a pint in my frig *smile* anyway. I found a Great Value-Walmart Frozen Low Fat Yogurt that is low in calories and carbs that I loveeeeeeeeeeeee. Again this is a luxury food and I allow myself to have 2-3 table spoons less than once a week. I still have a almost full pint that Ive been nursing for over a month *smile*)

Things I still wont touch:

bread
rice
grits
steak
ground beef
pasta
sugar
soda
pork

I am sleeved! This is post-op day 7 and i feel great! I am getting my protien down but it is a fight because I don't want it! Not a big fan of food anymore but I am dying for a salad for some reason lol...these liquids are gettng on my nerves.TMI>> I poop everyday almost ( which for some reason I was concerned about pre-op. I thought i wouldnt poop for weeks lol).  I am down 14lbs post op as of today!!!! I was taken off my diabeties meds the 3rd day after surgery!!!!! Its just been such a worthwhile journey for me. I thank GOD for everything! I have lots of schoolwork to catch-up on so I wont be wordy today. Ill post again soon. Thanks OH FAM!

I had my pre-op appointment at the hospital. They did an untra sound and a Upper G tract ( guess I said that right). THe ultra sound was cool but that GI thingy ewwwh. They had me drnk this chalky white gross tasting stuff that I could barely hold down...I guess after 6 attempts to make me drink more and my visually apparent nearness to throwng up all over that nice clean room and expensive equipment they finally said I didnt have to drink anymore lol <----just thinking about it.  I kInow this is TMI but one can never get over the shock of white poop...its been white all day lol. Other than that its been a good day.I am stll so exited for my surgery...let the count down begin!

When I first started this journey I initially was leaning strongly towads Lap-Band. After attending the Seminar I began to weigh the pro's and con's of lap-band and Vsg. I personally never considered RNY even though most of the people that I know that have had WLS had RNY. I dont like the idea of stuff being moved around lol...sounds crazy to think so simplistic but thats just me. I wanted to get lap-band because ti was less invasive. I meet with my surgeon who suggested that I research the hormone Gherlin and the VSG vs Lapband. I did and I easily began to see the benefits of VSG. I wanted to be a life-long success at this and having one less of a thing ...ie hunger/gherlin... to deal with made it even more appealing. SO hear I am having VSG July 19th. I am so excited for my surgery.

I  got my surgery date!


Im soooooooooo happy that i have a date! I decided to go ahead and let the rest of my family know. My brothers were supportive, my sister was too but my sister that I just found out about 2 months ago wasn't very supportive. She hinted that I should just walk and eat right to lose the weight, granted she is almost 40 and also overweight and is on incelin for diabetes. She started to tell me stories of how much she hate Metformin and felt better since she starting injecting inselin.....LIKE THATS WHAT I WANT. She had a breast reduction and suggested that I have one too. She told me so much BS I just started tuning her out. I have decided to DO something about my weight issue yet she looking down on me for doing something about it. I don't know how to take her critisism...is it true concern or jealousy of me acting and making a change. I havent known her long enough to know or care honestly. I am soooooo happy.

Okayyyyyy soooooooo Im approved ( lets out an inner welp of happyiness and inwardly does the jig ) but my surgeon is from what i heard "no longer practicing" :-(
I really liked my surgeon and yesterday when I found out he no longer worked for Piedmont I was sad and felt like all my hard work and time over the last 4 months was wasted. Then when I found out I was approved this morning I was right back to feeling over the moon. The doctors office has given me the option to stay with them and have the surgery done through one of the other surgeons named Dr. Kevin Mcgill( who i meet at the Bariatric Seminar). I want this sooo bad that at this point I am willing to just change surgeons instead of taking the time to find another one and start over. Dr. McGill from what I rememebr is also very kind and seemingly had a great bedside manner so I scheduled an appointment to meet with him this Friday to talk and he will review my file and setup a surgery date.

Im still all smiles though....I GOT APPROVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Found out my surgeon no longer works at the office Ive been visiting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! Why did this have to happen dayyyyyyyyys from me hearing wether I am approved by my insurance or not. So now I have to find a new surgeon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SERIOUSLY? REALLY? Is this happening to me, lolol. Laughing to keep from crying and screaming cause inside Im dying!!!!!!! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Okay so the last few weeks have been slow going. In my last post i was excited becasue I thought that the process of insurance approval had started...well it hadn't. I waited a week and decided to give the surgons office a call to follow-up on if they had heard anything only to find out that my info had not been sent out because they needed a letter from my current PCP ( not the PCP that i hunted down and drove 3 hours into the woods of Alabama to find and get my weights from years and years ago). The surgons office was very, very kind and advised me that they did fax a letter to my current PCP asking for the letter and even gave them a example of what the letter should  look like but they had yet to respond. So I called my PCP's office and they acted like they had no idea what was going on and had never recieved anything. So after 30 Mintutes of calling back and forth between the offices I decided that I would go to the Peidmont Hospital campus ( both my surgon and PCP are there) and take care of this myself. I called my PCP and scheduled a Pre-Op Evaluation ( which I later discoved was what they needed all along after all), I work a rotation of 4 days on and 4 days off so it took a few minutes for the staff and I to chose a date but we finally settled on June 2. My PCP is a good doctor and he was more than supportive. SO he typed up my letter right there on the spot and had the nurse fax it over right then. He did take blood and expressed his concern over my high blood pressure. We are both hopeing that at my next appointment wiith him ( 3 month post op) that high blood pressure, diabetes and sleep apnea will no longer be an issue.

So after I left my PCP and got a copy of the letter that the nurse had faxed I leasurly walked across the street to the 95 building. I asked the lady at the front desk of my surgons office if they had recieved a fax from a Dr. Haq and she looked and said "no". I had to inwardly pat myself on the back for getting that copy :-) I whipped it out and said "w
Well heres a copy of the Clearance letter from my PCP please make a copy and let the doctor know that this is the last thing he needed for my file to be sent off". 

I dint hear anything so the next week I called to be sure it was sent off and it wasnt. Gues I was forgotten so I am glad I called. They told me that they would get on it right away and get everything signed and sent. I called my insurance company today and YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! They have my request for approval on file and it is pending. The lady was really nice and told me that it is currently under review ( she explained that for bariatric surgery they have a medical professional review the file). She encouraged me to call back and check the status in a few more days. YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! I am one step closer to my prayers being answered.

I have fullfilled all my appointments and spent 2 months hunting down my former PCP  for my heights and weights ( thank GOD for the internet!) and I am ready to have my doctor submit my file for insurance approval! I am sooooooooo happy. I have been up and down over the last 3months...there were times that i never thought i would get to this point but I made it. Now its in God's hands and I have faith that God will guide the hearts and minds of those people at UHC to approve me! Words cant express how happy I am right now!