Introduction from an Illinois Pre-Op

Hello all. I am one of your "newbies." My surgery date is scheduled for November 30th at DePaul Health Center in St. Louis, Missouri. My surgeon is Dr. Roger DeLaTorre. I am nervous about it... but I'm also excited. I thought I'd do a little intro e-mail. I am 36 though I prefer to state that as "30 with 6 years of experience." My husband (a cop) and I have two smart and gorgeous daughters, age 9 and 11. (The 11-year- old is actually 11 going on 16 or 18 or 20, depending on the day...) My husband and I were essentially high school sweethearts and will be celebrating our 15th anniversary in March. We live in Fairview Heights, Illinois which is about 20 minutes from St. Louis on the Illinois side of the river. I've always been a big vitamin person and have started a protein shake in the a.m. so I can try all the samples I ordered from vitalady.com, bariatriceating.com and unjury.com. (Yesterday my goofy dog actually ate two of the vitalady samples I was looking forward to trying so I'll be ordering more of those.) Right now I'm on a mission to figure out which of my prescription medications can be crushed up and added to my morning shake vs. still having to take the pills, as I think that will be a problem for the first several weeks or possibly months. In truth, other than "making it through the surgery" my biggest worry is that I also have psoriatic arthritis (sort of like rhematoid arthritis but not as severe.) I'll be able to stay on my injectable medication (Enbrel) but because we can no longer take anti- inflammatories (NSAIDS), I'm worried that tylenol won't do the trick in terms of pain management. That said, I also know losing weight will put a lot less stress on my joints, so maybe it won't be an issue. My pain is definitely controlled right now, and I only take 1 a day versus the 3 a day my prescription is for, so it might work out just fine. Oh... I also should tell you that I am a fundraiser for Special Olympics Illinois, which I thoroughly enjoy. I'll be taking about 3 weeks off and will return to my job for four days and then be off again because we have a Christmas Break of about a week and 1/2. So ... there's the scoop on me. It's nice to be on this list...

Welcome to the boards! It is nice to meet you and learn about you and your family. It was this time last year that I started investigating having GBS. Things went well for me and I got approved in 1 week. After all the tests were done, I got scheduled for January. Now here I am 10 months out and 120 lbs gone. People who I haven't seen in a while don't recognize me. I saw my state representative the other day and he agreed to talk to my girls club this week at school. It was funny because he didn't recognize me until I told him who I was. This happens often. But I am still the same ole me except my health is better and I have soooooo much more energy. I will keep you in thought and prayer as you begin your journey.

Welcome to the board, Terri. I'm not to far from you. I am in Swansea. The hardest part of GBS is adjusting your eating habits once you are on solid food again. Some of your favorite foods you may not even like anymore and what you didn't like may become your new favorites. Portion control is also very important. I am 9 months out and down 115lbs and have a hard time with this. Good luck and keep us posted. Michelle ps sorry didn't mean to lecture lol

You're right, Swansea isn't far. I live in Fairview Heights but my husband is a police officer in O'Fallon. Congrats on the 115 pounds! That's a major accomplishment. I hope to be joining your success train after the 30th.