Well, after the surgery, I won't have an option on what to eat/drink, because physically, I won't be able to intake anything else.

My surgeon does do this differently than my sister's did. She ate regularly up to the day before the surgery. Mine determines the length of the pre-surgery diet on the patient's BMI--since mine is so high, I have to do it for 7 weeks.

Oh, Burrell, sorry to hear about the difficult night!

How interesting, Kathy! Are you doing the full snip-type surgery, or getting a band, or what? One of my friends has the band, and gets it refilled/tightened occasionally. She knows she needs to when she is able to eat certain things, or amounts, and not feel ill!

Thanks Kathy. Mostly I just feel like I blew it.

But mmmm, now I've had my sushi. Life is looking up.

Full snip. I weigh too much for the band to be really effective. My sister was a lot less overweight than me when she had her bypass (around 280 at 5'8"), and got down to 150 within 13 months for her wedding. In the three years since, she's put on about 35-40 pounds, but she's back on a post-op diet (which they recommend if a bypass patient finds him/herself putting weight on), and wants to get down to 160-165.

I'll be happy if I could get down to 175 eventually myself. Right now I'm at 500 pounds, but by the time of my surgery, will probably be down to 460 or so. Due to the fact that weight comes off a lot quicker when you're heavier and starting out a change in eating style, I'll probably be down to 300 by the end of 2011. I figure I'll be down to my goal weight by middle of 2013 or so.

Kathy, I am so happy for you. It's so much fun to see you progress with this.

I'm not really looking forward to my last two procedures, especially the upper endoscopy. Something going down my esophogus and checking me out? Blech. At least they'll be giving me something to make me loopy--Dad's going to give me a ride home afterwards. I'll have my gall bladder ultrasound right before the endoscopy, so both things will be taken care of the same day.

ETA: 300 pounds will be where I was when I graduated from college. I was wearing a size 24 then, and looking back, I realize I looked pretty damn good even then! The last time I was below 200 pounds was the summer between 6th and 7th grade, when I was on Weight Watchers for the first time and going to basketball camp--lost 25 pounds that summer.

Do people in your family generally struggle with weight?

I am glad your dad will be able to chauffeur you when it's needed!

Kathy, I'm admiring the hell out of the way you've taken charge of this, with the wrangling and the herding of cats and ducks in rows. In my brain I'm seeing you as Rosie the Riveter.

You guys, I have whacked the hell out of my forearm on a door handle connected to a super heavy door. I recommend not doing this at all, much less to the forearm connected to your dominant hand, and even less so to the muscle groups that control wrist movement and grip. In conclusion: OW.

I should go to bed. Instead, I am looking at hair styles because I'm in desperate need of a salon visit.

Oh, ouch, shrift! I once whacked my hand on the corner of a heating unit, and managed to nail a nerve center that numbed three fingers completely. Lasted a few hours, and really freaked me out.

Thanks for everyone's support and compliments! I'll be keeping everyone up to date with where I'm at, because I don't think I'll be able to shut up about it.

Oh, and I desperately need a haircut, too.