Congratulations Barbara!! My date is also set for November 28th! Like you, I have also not told my parents, my brother, or even my kids. I don't want them to try and talk me out of it and tell me why I shouldn't have it, or tell me bad things about it to try and scare me out of having the surgery. The only people that know are my husband, my boss and the people on this message board. I am nervous as well, not so much about the surgery itself but about the recovery period afterwards. I'm trying to stay really positive though. I know I'll eventually have to tell my family but the longer I wait, the more positive I can stay. Good luck to you! I wish you a safe surgery and a speedy and happy recovery!! Best Wishes and Happy Thoughts!! Tammy

Tammy: Congrats on your date! Yes, I also get very nervous at times and wonder if I'm doing the right thing. Those thoughts don't last very long though because I KNOW this is the right thing for me. Mostly, I'm excited. I also read about the complications and also the memorial postings - it's scary. But when I read those profiles I try to learn something from them and figure out what went wrong and how I could avoid the same situation. For instance, my sister's MIL had RNY and had extreme complications and almost died .... but the reason she had most of her complications were because of her non-compliance. Her surgeon told her to stop smoking - she *said* she did, but didn't. Her surgeon told her to cut out caffine - she *said* she did, but didn't. Those two factors effected her healing process and nearly cost her her life. So I plan to follow my surgeon's instructions to the T - without exception and without trying to pull the wool over his eyes. I'll follow my yucky liquid diet for the full 15 days like I was told so my risk of liver complications is reduced. I'll do my breathing exercises faithfully to help build my lung strength so I'll have an easier recovery process after anesthesia. I'll ramp up my exercise program and work just a little bit harder so I can strengthen my heart muscles to help make my surgeon a bit smoother. All those things the doctor tells us to do are there for a reason... and by doing them it certainly reduces my level of nervousness. Ok, now I'm rambling.... Pam

Congratulations Barbara! Use the energy that the nervousness is using up and figure out how to turn it around for a positive effect ..... I'm ramping up my exercise program to work off my nervous energy and spending as much time as I can researching post-op life and what to expect when I get home. The 28th will be here before you know it! Pam

Hi Cathy! My surgery is also Nov. 7th!! Even though my surgeon doesn't require any sort of pre-op diet I've decided to start today w/ 2 meals of protein shakes and 1 meal of good veggies and a protein. It looks like my calorie intake will be 1200 or less for the day...so far so good. I am getting a bit hungry now and have a slight headache (I'm sure it's sugar withdrawl!) I may have to go grab a yogurt or something to tie me over until I make my dinner. (Grilled chicken breast with steamed brocolli and cauliflower...yum!) I'm using "sparkpeople.com" to keep track of every bite (or drop) that goes into my mouth. I'd love to drop at 10 lbs before surgery. Good luck to you! Heather

thats an awesome day! congrats on it being yours to!