I thought the fact that I was working in kg might have given away that I live in Australia too- forgot that lots of other places work in metric too. I live in North Queensland and was fortunate enough to have private health insurance pay a fair part of the cost. Still around $5,000 out of pocket though. I wish you all the success in the world with your surgery and if I can lend a supportive ear or offer any advice at any time just let me know. Cheers Leisa

Hi Leisa, I am sorry I have not been able to respond to your letter earlier. I live in Australia, and our Federal government will only fund the By Pass operation, it is regarded as a cure rather than cosmetic. I wanted to have a sleeve inserted, our Medi. care would not pay for it. However I would go to any extend to cure this D... Diabetes, and not to mention sleep apnoea, and high blood pressure. Alas I love my food too much, and have spend the best part of my life being in and out diets.(Have tried them all) Sure I can lose weight, but I would put it back on faster than, I would lose it. I am so glad, and looking forward to have this operation as I am really getting too depressed at time, and hate my self being so fat. Thanks a lot for your support, you look terrific with out all this weight on. Good luck and thanks again. Capco.

Hi Debbie. I've had my sleeve for just over 6 months now and have lost 54.8kg and it hasn't been that hard and I'm still losing. I have tried a few different protein drinks and things and have found that Coles is one of the best places to get protein supplements. I like the Musashi popper style drinks in strawberry or chocolate- haven't tried any of the Musashi powders. They also have protein chips in 3 different flavours which are good. My pre-op diet was 3 protein supplements/day (either soup or shake), 2 pieces of fruit and 2 cups of vegetables/day. Also had to have 3 protein shakes or soups/day + other liquids in the post-op phase. I used the Tony Ferguson products as I found they had the greatest range of flavours. Lost quite a bit of weight on my 2 week pre-op diet. My favourite protein powder is a chocolate on that is made by Nutra-life. It is also low carb which is good. Try googling Nutra-life carb lite. There are suppliers in Australia. I buy mine at the local health food shop. You could also try googling low carb zone as they have some high protein, low carb supplements. Let me know if you want any more info. I mainly tend to hang out on the main board but check my PM's fairly regularly. Cheers Leisa

Hi Debbie here, was hoping that yo may be able to answer my query: Have been looking at various sites that do shakes, powders, bars etc. But they are all in america....is there some where in Australia that we can get all these things? sure would be great....makes thinking about what to eat, protein wise much easier as some of the protein bars etc over here are more for body builders not designed for weight loss! Debbie

Hi Debbie, Thanks! I will take all the luck I can get! And good luck for your op too! I should be coming out of hospital around the time you go in if it all goes well. Your right its very exciting. A scary kind of exciting but still exciting I'm over in WA and am going to SCGH in Perth for the op. Pam