We are all getting so close!!! :jump:

I cant believe it is almost september. Only one more month til we hit October. What a great month it is going to be. I cant wait. I feel like I am obsessed. I think about it when I wake up, think about it all day, and mostly I think about it while I lie in bed at night. Thinking of all the things I cant wait to do when I am post op and lose a bunch of weight. I think October is a great time to have surgery. I am hoping that by next Spring I am looking and feeling great. I have big plans of getting rollerblades and a bike for mothers day. My son and husband wont be able to keep up with me.....LOL (that will be a change). I promised my son that we will get season passes for Six Flags again next year and that I promise I will go on ALL of the rides with him, yes even Superman . I hope I can keep that promise. I am feeling pretty confident that I will. I am worried about my surgery though. I have heard from others that my surgeon said that he will not do surgery if we gained any weight from our consult - pre-op appt. My consult was in January and my pre-op is Sept 8, so thats 9 whole months, and yes i have gained about 25 lbs. I tried to lose weight, i really did but it is so darn hard. I swam alot this summer. I didnt weight myself til the beginning on August cuz I didnt have a scale that went up that high. I figured I was doing ok with my weight. But when I bought a scale and got on it, I gained about 25 lbs. I have been trying to lose it, at one point I went down 11 lbs, but then I would go up 3 or 4, down 1 up 3 or 4 more. I cant seem to lose any. It is very frustrating. I am sooooo worried that he will not perform the surgery on me because of this. But I am hoping he will take into consideration that it has been 9 mnths. Please pray that I will be able to get this surgery done. I have so many plans and would be just devasted if I had to wait any longer. Ok i have rambled on long enough........ I would love to hear more from you fellow Octoberians.....(lol) We are all soooooo close now. The time has flown by, thank goodness. Good luck everyone, lets get this board rockin!!!! Jen

Hey Jen! I agree that October is a wonderful month! September and October has perfect weather down here in Texas (when there are no tornados!) and Halloween is by far my favorite holiday and that is the first holiday I get to spend on the "other side" WooHoo! And I haven't even thought that by this summer I may be able to ride rides at Six Flags! Oh my gosh! I haven't been there since 1995! Don't fret about your weight loss before surgery. You can do it! Luckily my surgeon understands that all the stress and nerves before "the big day" can make it hard not to gain, because I sure have! Good luck! I'll be thinking about you on the 5th! Nonny

Hi Jen, Many surgeon's want their patients to lose some weight pre-op to reduce fat around the incission sites and fat off the liver. The weight loss also aides in recovery. I think some surgeons also require weight loss or following a diet to ensure that the patient is willing and able to follow the rules post op. My surgeon has all his patients go on a 3-phase pre-op diet. On the first phase we eat a low carb diet that is similar to Atkins or Protein Power where we are to get at least 70 grams of protein, 30 - 50 grams of carb and no more than 25 - 30 grams of fat and replace one meal with a protein shake. He wants us to start phase one right after the initial consultation. The second phase begins 4 weeks before surgery. We are to continue with the low carb diet but replace 2 meals with protein shakes. I will begin this phase on Monday. The 3rd phase begins 2 weeks before surgery and we are on a total liquid diet and taking 4 protein shakes a day. I will admit that while I was getting all my pre-op testing done and until I got my insurance approval I cheated to keep my BMI at 40 or above incase I was denied or had to do a 6 month physician supervised diet. I have lost and gained the same 20 lbs over the years that I didn't want to jeopardize my chance at getting the surgery done this fall. You should give your surgeon's office a call to see if he/she recommends a diet for you or maybe they will just require you to lose a few pounds from your current weight. I hope all goes well for you! Elizabeth