Leaderboard

I feel kind of weird asking this here because I don’t want to imply that this forum is bad for everyone, but... where do you all get support online besides this forum? Honestly, I’m starting to feel like this is a very unsafe place to get support but I’m not sure of where else to go. I’m deaf, so the support group at my surgery center isn’t accessible for me communication-wise. I really need spaces online, especially once I get to my November surgery date. I haven’t posted much, but I’ve been lurking for a while and have experienced a lot of anxiety over the way that other people are getting shamed on these forums. In the few months I’ve been lurking on these forums I’ve seen other members being shamed for all kinds of things: having second thoughts about surgery, eating something too soon after surgery, eating something that isn’t the ideal food, regaining weight, and making different kinds of mistakes. That’s not the kind of environment I need to be in. I’m hard enough on myself when I don’t do something perfectly in any area of life. Once I have my surgery I think I’ll be crushed if I come here seeking support and am shamed and treated like I’m subhuman for not doing things perfectly. Some of the things that are said here by other members would seriously derail me if those things were said to me. But I’ve not had much success with finding other internet spaces that are as active as this one. Where do you all go besides here when you need support? Preferably, I’m looking for places where shaming other people isn’t tolerated.

I am currently in therapy. I continued with my therapist who completed my psych evaluation. And the plus with this counselor is that he is a certified bariatric counselor. He is able to address my current weight loss journey that my previous counselor sorta did not have a clue. I am a stress eater, so we mainly talk about life issues that stress me. And this strategy helps because I feel like I can decompress every week.

Hey hey! Ull be glad to know we have similar starting stats! I am 31 years old, had a BMI of 40.67 and was a size 18-20. I was 252lbs at my highest (10 days prior to vertical gastric sleeve surgery) and I was 242lbs on 7.27.20 (day of surgery). I am 5ft 6. I am 2 months post op now. Already i am down to 206lbs. I have lost 45lbs in total and 35 in two months since surgery.my bmi is 33.25 at the moment. I no longer have hip and back pain, my face is back to looking like "myself" again, I wake up happy every single day now and don't feel like I need to to hide away inside the house because of shame. I wear a size 16 at the moment. I have always had a big butt. Washing and wiping my own butt before surgery had started getting difficult which was one of my main wake up calls. I no longer have any issues with this at all only two months out! I could go on and on. There are sooooo many pros to having wls of any kind! My husband was skeptical that wls was necessary and wanted me to diet and work out with him for another year before we considered "something so drastic"..he now agrees this is exactly what I needed and is glad we didn't wait another year of me feeling the way I did about myself. As far as recovery, it was very easy for me. Sharp pain from incision sutures for abt a week, maybe 1.5 weeks. Within 2 weeks I had no pain. Can eat very little (have to remind myself to eat bc im not hungry and it seems kind of tedious to eat now bc its only like 4-5 bites of something) and i have no desire to eat sweets or junk anymore. That is huge for me bc I would easily and regularly consume cookies, brownies, candy bars, chips and crackers by the box/package by myself in just a few days. I craved snacks all day everyday. The only "con" i am experiencing is that i loved water before surgery and chugged it all day everyday. Now it's another thing i have to remind myself to do and it feels so tedious because i can only sip water now, not chug. Oh oops i forgot.. vitamins and meds are another "con" for me because I was not any meds prior to sleeve surgery and didnt take vitamins. Now i take like 3 meds and vitamins daily. My stomach is so small it feels as tho I've eaten after just taking my meds. I used to be able to throw back 3 Tylenols and swallow at once but now i take each pill one at a time because i feel like im gonna choke on the smallest pill size. I think this is just a fear tho..like a mental thing..and not actually a legit concern or something that is experienced by others lol. Anyways, i hope i covered enough for u. If u have any other questions, feel free to ask. Im an open book and wish i had found this app when i was preop. I did find TONS of videos on YouTube that convinced me sleeve surgery was just as good of an option as bypass for me tho! The videos I watched showed sleevers years out remaining successful and losing over 100lbs. The videos showed me ppl experiencing restriction and maintaining their goal weight years out which proved to me that bypass wasn't necessary for me to reach my 100lb weight loss goal and maintain it. This was encouraging for me because i was self pay and sleeve is cheaper. I would not let money be a determining factor tho. I was kind of forced into sleeve anyways because I am a smoker..still trying to quit at this point. OHHH BTW My mother had bypass 13 years ago and has remained at her goal wait this far out. This made me believe bypass had a higher success rate because she gets dumping, forcing her to not eat certain things or too much. Many surgeons disagree abt whether sleeve patients get dumping. I can eat whatever i want post op without getting sick but obviously can only eat a small portion. Many surgeons and patients argue about whether this restriction is lifted a few years out but there are ppl on here who will tell you they still have restriction with sleeve years out so it's hard to know what each of our bodies will experience. Do your research, watch youtube vids, listen to what people have to say, but most importantly choose a good bariatric team and trust your surgeon! Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

I have an in person support group but its doing telehealth right now. I think the meeting its through microsoft you can probably find one similar and turn on closed caption through microsoft somehow. This support group is for my surgeons patients. Maybe your surgeon has something similar?

You've apparently done reading on this subject so I doubt there is much I can contribute on "damaging metabolism" and "set point" theory. With or without WLS we need a minimum number of calories to support a healthy body. 800-1000, or even 1200 calories as a daily norm seems low, except the most extraordinarily sedentary life styles. Health.gov puts average healthy calorie intake generally [age/lifestyle breakdown at site] for women (5'4", 124lbs) to be 1600-2400 calories and for men (5'10", 154lbs) 2000-3000 calories. An RNY or DS patient, who absorbs fewer calories than we eat would need some amount higher than the averages above. Of course, the calories not absorbed would at best be a WAG (Wild Arse Guess). Now, honestly the Health.gov calorie requirements seem high to me, but who am I to argue with Health.gov. Good luck Tek

I really appreciate all your responses, thank you! I want to take advantage of this time to set some new habits and lose as much weight as possible before surgery. I’ll keep up my dieting and try to get as low as I can so I have less to lose after surgery.

My insurance went by first (highest) weight also. I qualified by 1 or 2 pounds. I was encouraged to lose weight before surgery and lost 23 pounds (4 months) by my surgery date. It makes sense, you adapt your eating habits and get mentally prepared. I have read some insurance plans require you are above the magic BMI number. I’d check to be sure.

🙋🏻‍♀️ October 14, 2020

If you eat meats/seafood then that will def fit the bill. Grilled/baked/air-fried....

I'm so sorry I'm hoping they did check you for a leak? I'm not sure how far out you are but a friend of mine had vaginal bleeding and pain and she had a hysterectomy years ago...turns out her pain and bleeding was a leak. My thoughts are with you! Please keep trying to find answers!