Getting Started!!

Hey forum! This is my first post, so please bear with me as I get used to stuff. A little about me: I'm 36 years old and am beginning the process to have the gastric sleeve surgery. My insurance requires three months of the medically supervised diet program and I'm one month into it. So far I've lost close to 10 pounds. I haven't been as good on the exercise portion of it, but I'm following the food part very well. The dietician has me on a high protein low carb diet. So far I'm down roughly 10 pounds, give or take. If I exercised like I should, I'd be down more than that. We're hoping for a November surgery (right before the holiday season...yay?). This morning I weighed in at 336 pounds with a BMI of almost 55. I've been overweight for as long as I can remember...obesity runs in my mother's side of the family and diabetes runs in my father's side. Thankfully I am not diabetic, though I am insulin resistant. I'm nervous and excited at the same time to start this journey. For personal reasons I have not told my family as they are not the supportive types. I might tell them right before the surgery, or I might not. That's something I'll have to decide as the time gets closer. A few trusted friends are my support group right now. :-) I look forward to hearing other peoples' stories and sharing my own!!

Welcome! I know you must be so excited! The next 2 months will probably blow by! You have a lot of prepping to do so it will keep you busy. I did not tell my family or coworkers either. A few years ago I mentioned that I had looked into the surgery and got some really nasty unsupportive feedback. If they find out now, fine, but I didn't have to listen to it pre-op. My surgery was a breeze. I am still a newbie so I am still learning. Good luck and keep us posted!

Congratulations on your journey! You will find a lot of supportive, considerate, helpful people here on this website. It is a very good tool and you will likely make alot of friends to grow your own circle of support on here throughout your journey. They've been great to me so far and i've been here since May or June. :) Good Luck and look forward to seeing more posts!! 

Thanks! I'm looking forward to it, but I'm nervous, too. I was organizing my garage a few days ago and came across a tote full of old jeans. I'm looking forward to being able to fit into them again! Right now I'm a size 28 or 26, depending on the brand. One question I have has to do with returning to work. My surgeon said it's usually about two weeks and you can return to work with some limitations. However, I told him I work in a maximum security prison, so he suggested maybe 4-6 weeks might be more realistic for me. How soon did other people with vigorous (if not dangerous) jobs return to work?

Welcome.Your journey is sounding similar to mine. I expect to be having surgery around the holidays as well. Doctor said he was estimating 2 1/2 months from yesterday's appointment. I am 33 years old and my BMI is 58, higher than you but I am not even 5'2". My BMI was higher but I have lost 32 lbs so far on a high protein low carb diet. I have been lurking around here for a few months and have read as many posts as I can as there isn't much, if anything these folks can't answer for you. They are an awesome group and have tons of advice. I would definitely recommend that if you can think of any questions to ask away or do a search on here..you're bound to find an answer. I look forward to updates since we are on a similar timeline. Wishing you the best!

Welcome!!!! You've come to the right place for support. As far as telling people............my advice is to tell as few people as possible....everyone, and I MEAN EVERYONE will have an opinion and most people don't have a clue as to what they are talking about....they just want to voice their thoughts....and many times some of them are pretty mean-spirited.

A few of my friends know.....that's it.....not even my kids know........my brother knows.......and a dear friend who I met here on OH 10 years ago when both of us were getting lap-bands - she lives about 3 miles from me and oddly enough we both decided to revise to the sleeve within weeks of each other without the other knowing anything about our decisions. It seems that great minds think alike!

Anyhow, congrats on the 10 pound loss so far.....good job. Talk to your doctor for recommendations about how long to stay out of work......my feeling is that 2 weeks definitely won't be enough based on what you say about the kind of work you do.

As to when you return to work and people ask you about how your eating habits have changed, just tell them that you are working closely with a nutritionist, following a high protein / lo carb program and it's working so well you've decided to make it your new lifestyle in order to get healthy. It won't be a lie and hopefully people will respect your wishes and plans.

Before you know it, November will be here and you'll be saying to yourself.....holy smokes.....the time flew!

Best of luck in your journey.....come back to this safe place often and ask any and all questions...there are no silly questions, only silly answers, so keep in mind that we've all been there and done that.

Welome! I'm new here as well, 36 years old, and just started the process of meeting with doctors. I have my first meeting with the dietician in 11 days. Like you, obesity runs in my family. I was recently diagnosed as diabetic so I'm especially looking forward to getting things under way with the process. Best of luck to you in your journey!

Absolutely! Looks we're kind of neck and neck here. :-) I'm insulin resistant, but diabetes is nearly guaranteed at some point in my life. Everybody on my mom's side is obese, and most everybody on my dad's side is diabetic, so me and my siblings are kind of screwed...lol. Are you getting the sleeve? I've had two dietician appointments, one physical activities coordinator appointment, and two psych appointments so far. I've already done one of the required support group visits, but I definitely plan on doing more! Wednesday next week I have my last psych appointment to get the results of the testing and from our conversation. I also have a pulmonary appointment that same day. Labs have been done. So really all that's left is this diet thing, a couple meetings with the dietician to monitor my progress, then after my insurance approves it, I'll be on my way to a new life! (We're shooting for an early November surgery date) I look forward to hearing about your progress!