Coming out of Lurkedom.

Hi! I've been lurking on this board for the last couple of months and just feel like it's time to chime in. Everyone here has been such a great inspiration to me and today I check in and see that someone has made it into Onederland and another one has lost 100 pounds! I'm so proud of them and can't wait to join them both! I was lurking around the SC board at first but once I found out we could search by surgery date I felt like I had found my place. It's nice to check in with people who are going through the same things I am. My surgery was August 17th. I had a few problems with the surgery itself but since then it's been great. Well, there was nothing great about the liquid diet, but I've been healthy. I've lost 58 pounds. I lost pretty steadily for awhile at 5 pounds a week but the last two weeks I have stalled. Ugh. But this is normally the point where I would give up on a diet and start gaining it all back and that's not an option now! I don't think I've ever dumped but can someone tell me what the heck the foamies are? I will say that I now love going out with friends and colleagues and being the one at the table who eats the least! I used to be the one who ate the rolls with butter then scraped my plate clean and then mourned when no one wanted to order dessert! Now I have four bites of salmon and I'm done. And I LOVE it. Paige

WELCOME Paige, Sounds like your doing great. My surgery was Aug, 20th, and I've lost about 48lb since the surgery, but a total of 58lb. I had my stall early on for a couple of weeks. As for the foamies, their nasty, I get them from time to time, It's like when I want to burp, and cant. Usaly its because I'm full, dident chew enough, but mostly I belive it's because what I'm eatting is to dry, like chicken or beef. I dont get it as bad as in the beginning, where I had to put my fingers down my throte, trying to get it all out.. enough of that, If you havent had it, thats great, I havent had any dummping, so I glad for that.. I thank God every day for letting me be able to have the surgery, and the weight lost.. What a blessing to be able to do the little things again, like tieing my shoes. You take care and hope to see you on the form.. Edna in Bullhead city

Hi Paige! Welcome to the most awesome loser's club!! I'm glad you decided to come out of lurkdom. It's always so great to read what others are doing in their journey and how it's going for them. I'm so excited each time I see another new name added to the winning loser's list here!! I believe this journey has been such a blessing! I've learned soooooo much about health since I started the process pre-op back In April. It's just wonderful (onederful! LOL) to see people taking their lives back and actually know the feelings that they're going through and experiencing. I know that the journey as a whole is sooooo worth it, even with some of the struggles that can go along with it. You asked what the foamies are. It happens for different reasons for different people. I had SERIOUS problems with the foamies from the end of week 2 (post-op****il the end of week 9 because of a restricted esophagus. I had to have it dilated twice. The opening where the restriction was was only the size of a pencil eraser. Needless to say, I had serious trouble getting food to go down. And sometimes I even had trouble getting water down. After the second dilation the opening was almost the size of a dime. The second dilation was on October 9th. I would get the foamies when I'd eat something and it would just sit there at that opening and not go down. I'd feel like I needed to burp but I couldn't burp without my food coming back out. It's rather a foamy consistency, hence the name "foamies." Boy, am I sure glad THAT'S behind me! I stalled for two weeks twice now. The first time I stalled at 197 and bounced back and forth between 197 and 199. I just rode it out and didn't let myself get discouraged. Everyone's body needs a break from losing weight during the process. I was told to expect a few stalls along the way and not to let it discourage me. I recently had another two week stall where I bounced between 184 and 186. I'm now losing again and I'm feeling better than I have in years!! Ohhhhhh to enjoy such simple things!! Like tying my shoes, like being able to zip my coat up, walking distances without feeling like I'm gonna die, feeling full after eating about 1/2 cup of food....the list goes on and on. It's soooo exciting!! But the VERY best part is looking in the mirror and not wanting to cry anymore! And having my husband tell me how great I'm looking. I can't put into words the feeling of pulling on a pair of pants you never thought you'd ever wear again! WOOOOHOOOOOOO!!! We are the best winning losers ever!! Welcome, Paige!! Keep up the fantastic work!! God bless you all!! Brenda

Welcome Paige! Great progress! I don't have much to add to the other posts, but just wanted to welcome you. This is a great board.