What kept you going in the months before your surgery?

Yes, I suppose this is a bit of a whine, but that fact doesn't make it less real. Here I am really, really low energy, low motivation, low everything; I'm a snail climbing Mt. Everest.  I'm doing the 6-month required diet (one month out) and failing miserably as I have not changed my eating habits whatsoever, but if I could change my eating habits, I wouldn't be here on OH in the first place.  I'm allowing this diet to make me feel like more of a failure and so I sense myself disappearing and not caring because of the horrendous guilt I've placed on my shoulders.  Yuck.  Anyway, I'm in major need of inspiration and words of wisdom in this "walk to surgery".  I have probably 6-8 months before surgery will be a realization for me, how do I get through it? What did you do?

I did my 6 month diet, then found out my hospital wasn't a COE. They said they'd have it "soon". A year later, total year and half, the surgeon moved. I then switched to Dr Inman in Carmel, IN. I started the process a few weeks later. My psych eval was "flagged". It took another 3 months to get a date, then from that day it was another 3 months till the actual date. I was just shy of 2 years waiting.

I found a wonderful therapist! I made many many WLS friends. I came here EVERY day and read every success story out there. Bookmarked lots of threads! Ask questions. In those 2 years I learned every day! I still do. I had my moments. Felt hopeless. I'd pick myself up and say. It's gonna happen cause I'm gonna do whatever I gotta do to MAKE it happen. And I DID! Here I am 10.5 months post op down 120lbs. Life is great and I am so glad I jumped through all the hoops. Everything happens the way it's suppose to. You will get your big day. It'll be here before you know. Just    Keep your eye on the PRIZE!!!!!

  Ruby

Aww, Ruby.  You made it! It probably feels like a blur to you now even though you had that huge wait.  Time IS a blur and some days I can remind myself more easily of that than others.  Today, it seems like eons and eons before I'll even be able to cross my legs like a normal person or doing anything normal for that matter! Patience is out the window!

I'm in the same boat exactly. One month into my 6 months of stupid pre-op dieting. SO frustrating at times but then I tell myself that 6 months will be gone before you know it. I'm figuring my last diet appointment will be just before Christmas and then I'll have all my pre-op stuff so it's not so bad. Think about it - Halloween is less than 90 days away and Thanksgiving is only a few weeks after that. Then you get into the holiday season and before you know it - January! We'll get there. Hang in - you'll make it!

I hear ya on the weight loss. I've actually gained 5lbs since I started this "diet". Such a joke. I have a band in, what point is the diet? If a diet worked, number one I wouldn't have had to get a band and number two I wouldn't be thinking about the DS! So dumb...

Who is your insurer? I have Aetna.

Again please let me say that the DS absolutely requires dietary changes.  Some people have more significant changes than others depending on what food intolerances they develop.  But the DS is NOT a free ride to eat whatever you want.

Read the Bites and Vites thread to see what successful DSers are eating.  You may find that enlightening.

~Becky

Oh, God, I've actually gained weight too! I'm going to be the size of a semi truck by January if I don't get a major grip on this.  I need parting clouds and protein shakes falling from the sky!  I have UHC as my insurer.

Becky,

The only thing that stands between me and a DS, if I let it, is the Carb Monster.  It still rages on and I feel like a slave to it.  I must stop this somehow.  I'm not going into the DS thinking it's a cure-all for this and it won't work anyway if I try and pull this crap with a DS.  Oh, speaking of crap, if I ate this way with a DS anatomy, I could literally kiss my ass good bye! Talk about peelin' the walls.

Becky-
I feel I must say that absolutely I do not think the DS is a free ride to eat whatever I want and I never said as much.  For me carbs are a struggle and have been a struggle my whole life, so I don't expect like a light switch to turn them off.  Having said that, I will not further jeopardize my health, or my gut anatomy, by undergoing a surgery if I don't have control of this carb thing.  I realize a surgery will not change my behavior, that's up to me.

I understand how you feel. I just started month 3 of my diet. I have also gained weight since I started. I have to attend weekly WW meetings, so you can imagine the look on the lady's face when I came in one week and gained 4 lbs! It's slowly creeping off, less than 1/2 lb a week, but I'm still up from where I started. I'm the worst dieter out there! I give up on a diet before lunch lol.

I really think the 1st month was the worst though. Now I feel like I have more going on. I have seminars, PCP visits, etc and that makes the time pass faster. I have also been using this time to read the posts on here every day. While I don't agree with the 6 month diet, I think it is a good thing that you can't just dive into it. I've learned so much here that I actually changed the surgery and the surgeon I orginally thought I wanted. It really does get better, and I know every day is 1 day closer.

I changed my diet.  My surgeon required weight loss and I knew he was serious and I wasn't about to risk getting sent home with no surgery.  So I went on the DS "diet" and I did lose weight pre-op.

I also spent a ton of time reading this forum.  I think at one point I had read the entire thing lol.

I also stayed busy getting a zillion pre-op tests scheduled and done, some of which I had to drive 3.5 hours one-way to.

So the time for me went by fairly fast.  But at the time it did seem like it was going to take forever.

My advice is to get yourself on a lowcarb diet because that is what you are going to have to live with after the DS if you want to succeed. 

And to read this forum thread by thread.

~Becky