New to site

Hello, my name is Carol and I'm new to the site.  I am scheduled to have VSG on July 9, 2008 in Oklahoma by Dr. Gregory Walton.  I will be 58 on June 29.  I am so excited to have a place to discuss these things with women older than "30".  My daughter had VSG on 6/4.  I am in a support group, but many of them are much younger than me.  I had not really considered WLS until recently.  A couple of years back my daughter and I went to a lap band seminar but left before it started because neither of us felt comfortable there.  We are in the Dallas area.  From what I'm since heard from banders, we made a good decision by walking out.  I know lap band is not for me, and due to the fact that I have knee problems (which may leave after weight loss) I could not opt for a surgery that kept me from anti imflamatory meds.  I am having a bit of trouble losing the 16 pounds that I must lost before surgery.  I have lost 9, but the scales have STOPPED moving.  I am self pay and have already planned for time from the office, although they do not know the reason.  I don't want to wait until August and that is what I will have to do if I don't lose the pounds in time.  I will have to go 4 days liquids before surgery but I've heard not all lose weight during that time.  Any advice or help that anybody can offer, I'd be so appreciative. 

Welcome, It is my experience thru the years and I have many banded friends that nsaids can be taken by banders. DS and VSG can take them with a lower risk of getting ulcers. RNY is the NO NO for nsaids.... We have lots of good people on this forums, we do have a few gentlemen, we have some wonderful members in the TX area...... Again Welcome.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ W E L C O M E ~*~*~*~*~~*~* You have just entered the wonderful world of OFF..... a great group of people who are willing to help you along this new and wonderful weight loss journey..... On your way to becoming a new you. Millie

Welcome Carol!  I am pre-surg too (RNY) and I'm sure you'll find like I did that the people on this forum give so much support to us more experienced "newbies".  They answer the same questions from all of us and never make us feel silly for asking.  I agree with you too about being a part of a forum that has people that have experiences in common with us. My daughter is 30 and has friends who have had lapband or wls and they have advice,.,like hit the treadmill,. That works for them but with arthritic knees and a bad back  it doesn't work for me. here we get ideas on things to try that may make our journey easier on the "old" parts.    There is a daily thread by Linda S. "What were eating and what's eating us" that has helped me keep focused on the pre-op weight loss and when I have a stall gives me ideas on things to try like Protein first, or adding more protein and drinking more water and walking more.  Again welcome and join in. Paulette

Hi Carol, Welcome to the over 50 group.  Everyone is so very helpful here.  I'm a bandster, but only because I wanted the VSG and my insurance still doesn't cover that.  So you've got 7 more lbs. to lose.  Before my surgery I was required to do the liquid diet for 2 week and not  4 days.  So why not go on your liquid diet a little early.  I lost 13 lbs. on mine.   I hated every minute of it but you gotta do what you gotta do.  Good Luck,

Hi Carol: Lots of Texans on the forum ... you need to meet up with Janet, she's from Dallas area, you'll love her. This is a great group, in fact, we had a get-together last fall in Dallas ... had a great time. Glad you can join us. I know what you mean about knee pain ... I have bad knees, bad back, but when I had WLS, all that was available to me was RNY, so that's what I had. Now I had knee replacement but still have pain due to patellar tendinitis and the ortho doc has me on a limited trial of Celebrex to see if we can get the inflammation down ... three days and I'm still in pain (and quite frankly, I'm having more pain). This was OK'd by bariatric doc, but with many, many cautious. You are lucky to have something you can still take nsaids with. Take care of those knees, though ... the reason I had WLS was my pain specialist told me if I didn't, I'd be in a wheelchair ... I choose life instead of the wheelchair. Anyway, welcome!

Welcome Carol. Those pre-op pounds can be very stubborn. Do you see a Dietician? Maybe they can give you some input. Before WLS I was going for knee injections so I could walk. It was more of a hobble than a walk. Now the knees feel good most days and I can run, walk and jump on a trampoline. I hope you have as much success with your knees too. Annette

Hi and welcome to the OFF boards. I have to admit that everyone on here is a great person and a warm and loving friend. I have grown to love each and every one them. They are truly my family here.  Don't be afraid to ask questions since that is how we learn. Everyone is willing to answer anything that anyone has to ask. The only stupid question is the one that isn't asked. Does that make sense? I don't think so but maybe I just said it wrong. haha Hope you understand what I am saying since I don't! I had a liquid diet for 2 weeks before surgery. The only difference was that I could include cream of wheat cereal in it. Anything liquid as long as it was sugar free, cream of wheat, sugar free jello and pudding. It wasn't bad~I lived through it. The 2 weeks that I was on it I had a birthday party at one of my favorite Mexican restaurants and a baby shower with 4 tables full of food. I took my crystal light with me and my jello and pudding. No on thought anything about it. I didn't make a big thing about it and no one really noticed. One person did tell me cousin that she thought I was having tests ran. It is not a hard diet really. The cream of wheat helped when I got hungry and saved that for dinner. You could have strainded soups too but no potato or tomato.  I wasn't on the diet for a full 2 weeks since I didn't have 2 weeks from when I saw the doctor to the day of surgery. I was on it for about 10 days and lost 13 pounds. It shrinks the liver and makes surgery much easier. Hope that things work out for you. I will keep you in my prayers. Please feel free to post often and that way we can get to know each other.

Welcome to OFF.  You will find a great group of people here.  I am pre-op (RNY) with 2 more pre-op tests to complete, then I'll find out if I have approval from my insurance company.  Good luck with you pre-op weight loss.  You can do it!  Just keep remembering this is leading to a whole new life!

Welcome to the OFF board, Carol!   Best of luck with your surgery, and never hesitate to write if you have questions or need support on anything.  I'm a lap-bander myself so I probably can't be of much help on other kinds of WLS.   And as far as your office not knowing the reason for your "vacation" , if you choose to keep your surgery to yourself... that is perfectly fine.  It is none of their business if you want to keep it private.   Why are offices such gossip mills? Oh as far as NSAIDs....I myself take Ibuprofen tablets or caplets for menstrual cramps because that's the only thing that works for me, but other than that I do try to stay away from them. mary