Weight Loss Surgery - Starting down the road...

Are you guys sick of hearing about me yet?

So I met with the nurse this morning. She's great, we went over all my history and took my starting photo. Also took a starting photo. (Good thing I was dressed nice for work.) My official starting weight is (UGH!) 350lbs, and more alarming than that, my blood pressure which has always been really good is starting to creep up. NOT happy about that.

I have a TON of appointments scheduled coming up. I need to see my PCP to do the 6 months of documented weight-loss/diet/exercise. I have an appointment with a nutritionist, and also 3 appointments with an approved psychologist. They have bloodwork they want me to have done (vit. D, iron, and something else), and they want me to have a sleep study done. Wowee. My calendar is getting full!

I'm trying to quit pop TODAY. I had one can this morning, but the rest of the day has been crystal lite. (And LOTS of it.) I'm also starting a food journal. And I should probably re-start my blog. My food hasn't been great today, but it's day one, right? Day one of the REST OF MY LIFE!

Oh yeah, also they want me to get down to 324 before surgery. I think I can do that, what do you guys think?

Thanks so much for the love and support you guys have already shown me in the last couple weeks. You guys are amazing. <3<3<3

6 months on a supervised 'diet,' losing 25 pounds - yeah. i think you can do it. and here's a little tip - if, as you get closer to your date, you don't think you're gonna make the weight, there's nothing wrong with doing a liquid diet - like medifast or whatever [check with your doc beforehand, though]. These diets ARE NOT a good idea for long-term weight loss, but that's not the goal here, is it?

gotta tell you, you sound MUCH more hopeful than you did when you first showed up! congratulations!

the sleep study is REALLY important. i lost nearly 100 pounds in three months AFTER they diagnosed me - and corrected - my severe sleep apnea [can you believe it? a pulmonologist had NO IDEA that a woman who weighed more than 500 pounds could have had sleep apnea!! the respiratory therapist diagnosed it!!! ]

Well, I am not sure about apnea. My husband says that he never hears me STOP breathing, but I DO snore, and sometimes he says I start to breath really fast, almost like hyperventilating. And I'm tired during the day a LOT, but I don't have good... what do they call it, "sleep hygiene"? Mostly I'm interested in doing the sleep study just because... I dunno, you see 'em done on TV. I wanna know what's going on when I'm sleeping, and how better to find out? Now if only they could record some of those crazy dreams I have.... XD

No, I think honestly the thing I'm MOST concerned about is gaining the weight back after a year or two down the road. It's the ONE thing that is making me lean towards a RNY rather than a VS, just because it seems a little easier to "eat around" the VS, and I haven't always been the best at keeping my emotional eating in check. But that's what support and therapy are for, right? I still have a long way to go before anything's set in stone, so right now I'll just keep following instructions and roll with it!