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I was 3 months out a few days ago, had my 3 month checkup on Monday. These 3 months have been awesome and exhausting. I have never in my life put taking care of myself first like I have since surgery. My family has been very supportive and I'm forming new habits that will serve me well after the weight loss phase.

I have lost 103 pounds since beginning my pre-op diet, 50 pounds since surgery. WOOHOO! I need to go find myself a century club card image. I feel so much better and more comfortable then I used to. I am loosing a lot of hair, it began even before surgery. My primary care doc feels it was because of my pre-op diet. The hair loss seems to be slowing down now, hopefully it's not just wishful thinking. I'm not seeing any regrowth yet.

I am very happy with my weight loss, I always get at least 70g of protein per day and keep my total calories between 500-600. I keep my carbs under 40g each day. My surgeons office only gave me guidlines on how much protein to get everyday. Thank you to all of you who are outspoken about your plans, you've helped me shape mine. I still have another 50 pounds to drop to get to my goal weight.

I don't post often because I use my phone to read OH and it's a pain to type more then a few words on. I am here everyday reading and learning. When I feel I may have something to add that hasn't already been said I try to remember to log on and post from a PC.

For those of you who are still making your decisions, I would do this again in a hearbeat. I finally have the control over food that I have always wished for.

So, today I have been sleeved for two weeks. I have lost 16 pounds, 26 if you count the 10 pounds of water from the IV (I don't). I feel pretty much normal except I do get tired after walking around my neighborhood, or going to the store. I am getting bored staying home from work, I will be glad to have my energy back. I'm sure that's normal, it's just taking a little getting used to for me. I am still on a full liquid diet with a few mushies allowed. I'm so over cottage and ricotta cheese, I can't eat eggs (never have been able to stomach them) so that's not an option for me and all other approved foods at this phase are just all carbs like mashed potatoes and cream of wheat and I don't want those to become a habit. I am still having 2 protein shakes every day to get my protein in. I have been adding coconut extract to my chocolate shakes and banana extract to my vanilla shakes and now I love them. I am looking forward to being able to eat something else, I have two more weeks on this phase of my diet. If anyone has any ideas for soft protein foods I'd love to hear them. I am getting in all of my fluids and protein and stopped needing painkillers at the beginning of this week so things are going pretty well.

Well, I'm home from the hospital. What a crazy couple of days.

Right after I left home yesterday a nurse from the hospital called me to see if I could arrive any earlier then my scheduled time because the surgeon was running ahead of schedule. That was awesome because as soon as I got there they quickly got me ready for the OR and away we went. It happened so fast, I didn't have time to get too nervous. I remember only a flash of going into the OR and moving over to the table, then nothing until the recovery room. In the recovery room I remember hearing the nurse next to my bed giving report to my nurse on the floor over the phone. I must have been awake and talking because she kept telling the other nurse that I was very very nice. I wonder what I was saying to make her stress that so much? The next thing I remember was two young men pushing my bed to my room on the floor. I kept my eyes closed most of the time, but when I would open them they were both smiling. I really wish I could remember what I was saying, I was really pretty out of it.

When I did really wake up, I felt awful. The nausea was unbelievable! There wasn't much actual pain, just soreness. In the recovery room I was getting morphine though my IV, I also have an On Q pain pump, it is a ball of lidocaine that has small catheters going to my incisions so those areas are numb. There is only enough lidocaine in it to last until tomorrow so we'll see if I'm feeling so hot then. The nurse gave me some meds for the nausea that didn't even touch it and I know I got crabby with her because when I asked her if there was anything else that could be done she said that there was but she would have to call the doctor for that. I said get on it, call him up, I don't care of he's back in the OR, call the circulating nurse and ask her to ask him but do it now! I felt kind of bad about that but I had never been so miserable in my life as I was from that nausea! She called him and got orders for another med and to give me the original med more frequently until it resolved, which took about 7 hours from the time the surgery was over. When it was gone it was like someone flipped a switch and I was in much better shape. I was able to go to the restroom and walk the halls no problem. I sipped some water and some chicken broth, they both stayed down and felt fine. In the evening I went from getting the morphine to lortab (liquid vicodin) I felt a lot better after that because I didn't have to fight the medicine to think clearly. The night passed uneventfully and this morning the surgeon came in and gave me some vitamins through the IV and let me go home after that. I was feeling well enough to stop at the grocery store on the way home to get my prescription filled and while I was waiting I walked the aisles. I do think the walking helps you feel a lot better. I weighed myself when I got home to see if all of the IV fluids made a difference and I gained 10 pounds in 1 day! I know it's water and it will be gone soon but for it to be that much was a surprise.

I am still taking the painkillers and it's pretty late so please forgive me for rambling. I read so many others accounts of their surgical experiences with great interest as a pre-op so I hope this helps someone out there.

So many things have happened in the last few days I feel like my head is spinning!

I found out on Monday that my insurance company has approved me for surgery. Yesterday, I found out my surgery date is 3/16. Today I went to a class at my surgeons office and did my pre-op testing. Somewhere in the middle of all of this I crossed the 50 lbs lost mark and found out today that I have lost 53 lbs since the end of September! I finished my official 3 month pre-op diet in December, but have stayed on it because I figure any pounds lost now are pounds I don't have to lose after surgery.

I have waited for this for years and now that it's here, I feel like it's all moving so fast. I have read so much about approval troubles and long wait times that I was ready for the process to take months. My packet was just submitted to insurance on 2/27! I am very happy about the way things are going, this week has just been like a runaway train!

I am so excited! Make room on the losers bench for me!!

I finally graduated from my radiography program. YAY ME! I also took the boards and passed with a nice, high score. I am very happy, but it's kind of a let down because now I have the lovely job search going on. I can't wait to get working, I'm not a person who can be happy without work outside the home. I had to cancel my consultation with the surgeon last month because of the traveling. I will reschedule as soon as I am working and can finance the trip without help, not because my husband won't help, but because there are things he would end up doing without and I'd rather not have this be too hard on my family if I can avoid it. It will come, hopefully sooner rather then later.

I have added one pic to use as a before picture, I doubt there will be any more because I can't stand to be in front of the camera. I just wanted to put one up for the sake of documentation. I hope I can start posting after pics soon.