New and Thankful

I just want to say that I'm really thankful for finding this site and this board. I've already made some friends and it means a lot here at the beginning of my journey. I saw my MD today and told him about my decision to pursue weight loss surgery once again. (I chickened out last year.). He was thrilled. He said he will support me all the way. I have started on my 6 months supervised diet and already have my weigh-in appointments scheduled. I'm excited but determined to be patient and prepare myself in the meantime. I did learn more about my recent MRI. Extruded discs mean bulging and not ruptured so it wasn't as bad as I thought. Still, there is considerable pain and he is setting me up for epidural steroid injections to get me some relief. He did say that nothing will fix it as long as I'm carrying this much weight. My 6 months diet will contain 1400 calories daily. It wont be hard because I sort of already started a couple of weeks ago. I lost from 320 down to 308. My MD did say that even if I lose some weight on the diet that I should follow through with the surgery anyway. I can never seem to keep it off.  Anyway, thanks to all you who have responded to my posts and welcomed me or just said hi. I feel really welcome and I hope to get to know more of you soon. Blessings, Karen

Hi, Karen....  just wanted to give you a little HOWDY & WELCOME!  Ouch! Those discs can cause so much pain from what I understand.  Good thing that it is not ruptured, but hopefully they are able to ease that pain.  Many of us know what it is like to carry pain in our bodies because of being overweight.  That's usually the driving factor for a person to go ahead with surgery -- the desire to be healthy and normal once again. Sounds like you have settled in nicely to our little neck of the woods... Look forward to hearing more from you and getting to know you better.  Take care!

Thanks so much for making me feel welcome. Your kindness is much appreciated. I hope to get to know you better too. Blessings, Karen

I too want to welcome you Karen and hope you find that book useful. I am so glad you have a wonderful support system. As we all know here that is very important.

Thanks again for the suggestion. I will try to pick up the book next week. I already spent my "allowance" for this week on a new crock pot. Cant live without that crock pot! I really am fortunate that I've made new friends for support and also that my family (for the most part) and my doctor are behind me 100%. Blessings, Karen

Hello Karen and Welsome to the Tn board !!!! Wow you have already lost a lot and I am sue you will do great after surgery. Wish you all the best !!!

Thanks so much. I do hope I do well with the surgery. Can't help worrying a little though about not losing , or gaining it all back. I guess that comes from years of failure trying to do it on my own. I'm learning though that a lot of people felt this way before their surgery. I appreciate the good wishes. Blessings, Karen

Karen - Welcome to the Board.  You have come to the right place to find support, encouragement, and to just learn more about the journey you are embarking on.  I too have bulging discs - lower back and in my neck - and they are not fun.  Thankfully, I have never had to have the steroid injections.  Usually when I'm having a tough time, I can stop by my chiropractor's office and get an adjustment and I'm good as new.  Hang in there girl, it won't be long and you will be sitting on the loser's bench with the rest of us.  Hope you have a good day!

Thanks for the encouragement. Sorry you also have disc issues. Mine are complicated by something called foraminal stenosis which is pinching a nerve. Not much fun but now that I've decided to have the surgery I can see the end in sight. I appreciate your welcoming me here. Blessings, Karen

Welcome Karen, you have come to the right place for friends,advice, ideas, etc. Post whenever/whatever this is part of your journey and us "loser's" will be here for you to help you however we can. Know you have got to figure out how to get down to meet us for a Lunch Bunch or Dinner Club, we have a blast. I will be in your area around the first week of May, maybe we can have lunch or at least meet up somewhere, it would be nice to meet ya. PM me if you have any ideas. Cheryl