Hey there Denise. The good thing is that tomorrow is another day. You're not alone, and as long as you're aware and you're trying, it will happen. I've been doing very well, but tonight the family gathered for pizza at my dad's house. I had 1 slice and a couple of shrimp. Then they brought out the Oreo dessert pizza, and yes I had two pieces! Well, I'm disappointed in myself, but this is not about perfection. It's about hope and determination. So, tomorrow I'm going to do the Day 1 again to help me get back on track. So, even though I messed up, I get another chance. There's no time limit to me reaching my goal weight. As long as I'm not gaining lots of weight; as long as I'm not giving up, I'm doing fine. I'm not a big fan of cooking, so for the soup on the diet, I made FF Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup and instead of mixing it with a can of water, I used a can of FF Carb Countdown. Really bumped up the protein and boy, that sure tasted good!! Hang in there Denise. You're not alone - we can do this together! Hugs, Nancy

Morning everyone We're back from church. I'm tired today, but managed to make it to church. I intend to rest this afternoon and call my docs office in the AM to prod them along in getting that infusion lined up and scheduled. I'd really like to get that done Tuesday or Thursday this week, at the latest. Other than that, I'm doing okay. My lack of energy was showing in my house, so my hubby and the kids cleaned yesterday. I managed to get all the bed sheets changed and rotated through some laundry. We're going to finish up the laundry today. Other than that, a roast is going in the crockpot for supper - and I intend to go up and REST for the rest of the afternoon. What's everyone else doing today?

I did horrible on Day 1 of the pouch test. I fell completely off the wagon. I binged like nobody's business. You name it... I had it... Mentally, I think I just want to fail. I know I've got to get it in gear. I need to be better pepared. I tried doing just protein drinks and crystal light and the head hunger got the best of me. I will try again. I need to get better prepared though with the soups etc. Thanks for listening to me whine. I've lost a battle, but not the war. Love you guys! ME

Here's my basic labs from early October 2007: WBC 4.3 low RBC 4.6 hemoglobin 13.2 hematocrit 39.0 iron, total 98 TIBC 592.0 high % iron saturation 17 low ferritin 9 B12 - 789 Your levels are really, really low on the iron. Your B12 is definitely too low. For us, ideally, we should strive for B12 levels of 1000 or greater, which is ABOVE lab range normals. We don't absorb any B12 from food at all, and it can deplete extremely quickly what we do take in from sublinguals or injections. My B12 of 789 is down from over 900 six months ago; so I'm switching to 2 shots per month. It's difficult for us as post-ops to go by lab range normals on many things, because we're not longer "normal". Also, we need to go by how we feel. Then we have to take into consideration the often very wide "normal" range for the labs. I know for my lab - a normal ferritin range is 3 - 105. That's a huge range!! Yet most hematologists say normal is 50-60, with optimal at 80 and they will infuse anything below 50. So my level of 9 is awful and yours at what, 3? is even worse, yet still considered within lab range "normal". BUT, our TIBC shows that something is going on - even in my case where my other iron counts are normal (hemoglobin and hematocrit). So it's best to stay on top of it before it gets too bad, to keep yourself feeling your best. I have no clue what they're going to use on me yet for the infusion. They haven't gotten the orders written and let me know it's ready for me to call the outpatient department to get it all scheduled yet. I'm hoping I can get this all done this next week. I also had the intermittent internal hernia about 1 year post-op. A very painful thing, and had surgery to repair that. Glad I did. Another very common thing with us post-ops, something to do with how the surgery is done and some loop created where intestines can slip through, or something like that. I'll let you know when I get more info on my infusion. Let us know about your hernia surgery.

WooHoo, Denise, Way to Go!!! Hey, if I can do it, you can do it!! Yesterday was Day 5 for me, and this morning when I weighed, I had lost 9.4 lbs!!!! Check out http://www.livingafterwls.com/forum/index.php?act=idx . There's lots of info on the 5DPT and a nice community all together - lots of support. Hey if you need any support at all send me an email!! I'll be checking in tomorrow to see how you did with Day 1. Hugs, Nancy