Suze's Muses - THANKSGIVING THANK YOU!!!

Coming into the Thanksgiving holiday, I asked Susan to write a post about all the things she is thankful for. I know it sounds a little sappy, but I have posted her response to my holiday challenge and I will be posting one tomorrow as well. Be sure to check out the blog tomorrow as well to see my thoughts on this amazing holiday. Be sure to post comments below about all of the things you are thankful for this holiday season and share the love with the readers of this site to gain encouragement as we all prepare for the holiday season ahead. Thank you all for all of your love and support on this site. 

Suz's Muses - “Another test?? I didn’t study for this one either!!”

Greetings, dear readers- and thanks for checking out my first contribution to Jonathan’s blog!  My topic today isn’t necessarily for women only, but it’s something I see a lot of folks ask about on WLS forums…all those pesky TESTS we have to take before we get taken to the OR.  I’ll begin today (as probably with a number of topics) by saying that though we’re all on this same journey together, how we get there is a very individual experience- everyone’s surgeon is different as are insurance companies.  You may not have to have as extreme of a testing conglomeration as I did, but it’s my hope that if you’re required to have any of the tests done that I did, this post can provide some clarification as to what to really expect when you go.

HAPPY SURGIVERSARY TO ME!!!!!

Words cannot describe what the last year of my life has been like, nor could I have fathomed just how drastically different my life would be. I knew things would be different, but nothing like this. I knew I would be healthy, but not this healthy. One year ago today at the exact time I am typing this, I was being wheeled back into an operating room for a surgery that would change my life forever.

How I Prepared for Surgery Part 3 - My Soul

The final thing I did to prepare myself for surgery was probably one of the most emotional and religious experiences for me. This is a very tough topic to write about so I will do my best to do so with tact and reverence. This part of preparing for surgery made me look deep into my soul and ask some really tough questions. The last thing I needed to do before surgery was prepare my soul. The hardest question I had to ask myself was what if the worst should happen? How would I handle it?

How I Prepared for Surgery Part 2 - My Mind

At the 2012 Heart Mini 5K in Cincinnati, Ohio - This walk nearly killed me, but was a great preparation for surgery.

This is the second post in my series on how I prepared for weight loss surgery. The first post covered how I prepared my body for the surgery and offered a few tips to those who may not be able to follow the same course of action that I took. This post will deal specifically with how I mentally prepared for surgery and all the changes I was going to need to make to be sure I was successful.

How I Prepared For Surgery Part 1 - My Body

Many people over this last year have asked me what I did to prepare for my weight loss surgery. There were many things that I did and not one was more important than another. The biggest thing to keep in mind is that your preparation heading into surgery and especially the liquid diet the week or two prior will be the hardest and  most important thing you do as a part of your journey. You will work hard to prepare your mind, your body, and to some degree your spirit to go though the surgery. Once you do have the surgery the hardest part is over. If you can survive the months before taking the plunge then everything you do after will be a piece of cake in comparison.