Yikes, good point.  I drink all my shakes with a straw so that would have been natural for me to reach for one...Thank you!

 Thank you so much for the information!  I was not aware to stay away from protein shakes at first, so I am very glad i asked.  My surgeon does not realize that I do not have the appointment, and frankly I don't want to tell them.  The surgery is timed so it falls precisely on my school break, so I don't have to miss school.  I am not shy about asking questions in the hospital, but I do want to stock up before thee surgery.  

What is a "clear protein bullet"??  

 Hang in there!  I have not had surgery yet (soon), but from what I read on here the first two weeks are difficult, but it gets better and is very worth it!  Try posting your questions on this board, others may be able to help!  

 Congrats!  

I just found out that I am the 19th.  What the heck is a Foltz?  I do not have my appointmet to educate me on how to eat after surgery and now I am wondering what I don't know?  Keep in touch and we can spur each other along!

 Wow, I don't even know you but I am REALLY HAPPY FOR YOU!  That truly is remarkable and I can imagine you must be feeling pretty darn good!  I would be thrilled if I lost half of that in 3 months!  I should know my date by tomorrow and it looks like a probable 21st date- yea!

 Holy crap that seems cheap!  I was told that if you are a cash payer then expect $15,000 total, if billed to insurance double that amount.  They did have a wonderful package for $99 that covered the prerequsite dietician and physical therapist appointments, gym time if desired, everything but doctor's appointments in the phase leading up to approval.  Saved me a bundle not having to pay copays for every visit.  

 I think my husband would be very pleased if I transferred my food addiction to sex.  ;)

 Perhaps after the fact I can address it on a case by case basis.  This way the boss will not think it is cancer, but it will be quite a bit after the surgery so it is plain that I am ok from it... not a bad idea :)

 Thought about that too... the youngest is in middle school.  I don't want to lie to them at all, but the youngest will worry incessently about it.  I was thinking of just saying I fell down some stairs, because I would totally do that.  I may tell my older two- they have a better understanding of it and can handle it.  Not sure what I will do yet, but probably will wait until after the surgery and play it by ear. 

 I can see this exact scenario happening in my family.  The husband is going to struggle with not talking about it.  He would then just say that they "guessed" and it wasn't him.  I will have to stop writng this to go threaten him, lol!

 Oh, duh.  And I think it is very cool that you felt like you can share!  I would much rather tell my kids that I am missing a week of school before Xmas because of a vacation, that would be so much easier...!  :And I so can't sing, but that is a very cool thing you did for your student's family.

 I am not sure my prinicpal would keep it quiet.  When I first had to go to him about the cancer I had to tell him I needed to go out on a short medical leave for surgery, but I didntt know when.  I asked the boss not to tell the superintended (he asked for permission) because I just didn't know enough and wanted to wait until I had a little more concrete information.  I am on a committee with all of the adminstrators, superintended included, and at the next meeting they approached me about it.  The principal didn't know because he ran late that day, but I was PISSED!  Loss of trust to say the least.

On a separate note, because a second opinion said it could be terminal if it got into the eye socket I had to have the surgery done during the school year.  I had a group of students for two years, and one student just had his father pass away from cancer.  It was a real quandary for me- tell the truth to the kids because I would be gone and when I returned I would be bandaged/scarred on the face or make something up.  In the end I decided to contact the mom, explain the situation, and then tell the kids.  If this group of students sees me lose a ton of weight (and they will see me, they constantly come back to visit) they may think that it is also the cancer- especially the one student as his father slowly lost a huge amount of weight.  Ugh, being a teacher can be very complicated!