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I had two major fears: 1. I would have some sort of serious complication. For some reason, people delight in telling you horror stories once they know you are having bariatric surgery and all that gave me anxiety. 2. I was afraid it wouldn't work. I don't know why, I just wasn't confident that the surgery would be effective for me. As it turned out, both fears were unnecessary. I had no major issues with surgery and I'm happy with my results so far. 🙂 And now I get to be a counter-example for all those horror stories, LOL.

You aren't alone. I'm so used to how I look now, I'm worried I won't like what I see. Especially with loose skin and possible hair loss. But, at the end of the day, my desire to add years to my life outweighs my concern in that way. It's not shallow imo. How we look changes the way a lot of the world reacts to us, which feeds our own insecurities or appreciations. I'm actually nervous about how people may treat me differently. I've heard sometimes there can be jealousy, or previous friendships fall apart because you are no longer their "fat friend". Which, I guess in hindsight, is better to know then to not know. I'm sure I'll still be the same dorky me, but lighter. Hopefully most of my friends and family will be supportive. I'm excited for you and your journey. I'm right there with you.

Hello everyone¡ my surgery was on sep 2, 2020 and i’ve been hungry all the time eating constantly so today I ate like almost 800 cal. I don’t know I feel like so sad about it because I sees other people like eating less and I don’t know it’s frustrating plus, Im in moving process and that’s a stress me out and this weather is cold and I don’t know and it’s making me more hungry with these cold weather. I wanna know if there a number of people to like it’s struggling with this diet thing. Oh now I’m chilling like less than before and that’s the other thing that I’m frustrated about it.

Nothing wrong with caring about your appearance, nor wanting to feel comfortable with what you see in the mirror. We all know that its not helpful to worry about something that may or not happen in the future, but we do it anyway. Maybe the goal is not to stop worrying, but to deal with the worry a little bit better. There are a myriad of things you can do, and something in there is bound to ease the anxiety (even if just a little)...just need to find it. Since you didn't ask, I won't list them out, but Google is your friend. To the question you did ask: My greatest fear was dying on the table. When I woke up from surgery my first thought was "Yes! I'm alive!" My current greatest fear is still also dying. After over 15+ years of being MO, I am so grateful to be in a body that allows me to enjoy so many aspects of life that I want lots and lots and lots of more years to do it.

Let's see: 1. Like you, I had to attend a seminar 2. There was a list of tests I had to undergo - EKG, Endoscopy, Colonoscopy, check X-ray, blood work and a bunch of other stuff 3. My insurance had a 6 month "weight loss counseling" requirement, so I had appointments once a month for that. 4. After the 6 months, I had an all day appointment where I met with the surgeon, a psychologist, a nutritionist, a nurse practitioner, insurance specialists and some other folks I can't remember 5. My surgeon's office requested pre-auth from my insurance and got it 6. We scheduled my surgery and it took place on 3/26/2019. That's about how it went, as I remember. Hope that helps!

I had to attend a virtual seminar, and then I had an appointment with the bariatric surgeon. When I went to that appointment, I also met with the patient navigator, who gave me a checklist of everything I had to complete prior to surgery. This was dictated partly by my surgeon and partly by my insurance, and it varies from one patient to the next (they had a long list of requirements and marked off the ones I needed to complete). The items I had to complete included: Three months of medically supervised weight loss with my PCP (one appointment per month for three months) Preliminary bloodwork (they let me do that with my PCP) My preliminary bloodwork showed thyroid issues, so I also had to go to an endocrinologist and get an ultrasound of my thyroid Upper GI (barium swallow test) Nutrition consultation with the bariatric nutritionist at my surgeon's practice (this is usually done in person, but I did it over the phone due to COVID) Psychological evaluation (one appointment in person, which included some tests and an interview, and a follow-up appointment by videoconference due to COVID) Group nutrition class (virtual class due to COVID) Group consent class (virtual class due to COVID) Pre-surgery appointment with the surgeon a week before surgery COVID test Pre-surgery testing (EKG and bloodwork), which is normally done prior to surgery day, but due to COVID, it was done on surgery day

i finally hit the 50lb lost after surgery goal! i'm down 52 now, and i had my 3 mo follow up w/my doctor. she said that the second half of the year is harder to lose weight than the first.. she only expects me to lose 100(ish) my first year. i plan to blow her away and to do more than that. i travelled out of state and had to quarantine until my negative rona test (just got the results today - negative!) to go back to the gym. I've really missed it and have enjoyed going back. i notice a lot more strength than when i last went.. each time im getting stronger and lifting more weight than before.

Hi Everyone! I am new to this. I just started my journey for surgery. Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

Welcome to the forums. Do your research, understand your surgery choice, understand the pros and cons, and understand completely the plan involved. Good luck. Tek

I'm finally starting to see visible results, now that I've lost 115 pounds. I lost about 70 pounds before surgery and nobody noticed. I was also wearing the same size pants (26/28) for the first 90 pounds of weight loss until they were so loose that I couldn't wear them anymore. I bought some size 22 pants and shrank out of them in about a month. I just bought some size 18 pants and received them yesterday. When I took them out of the package, I thought, "These are definitely too small, but that's ok -- I'll shrink into them." I tried them on anyway, and to my surprise, they actually fit. Sadly, I've already missed the window on most of the clothes I never wore because they were too small; they're almost all too big now (but I feel like there's more leeway in wearing tops that are too big). Not a single person at work said anything through the first 110 pounds of weight loss. I guess I started out so big that even after losing over 100 pounds, I was still just about the biggest person around. I haven't told anyone I got WLS and I don't discuss diet and weight at work, so nobody really knew I was trying to lose weight. But this week, I got three compliments in two days. The first was pretty subtle; she whispered to me that I look really good and she needs to know what I'm doing. The second was, uh, not subtle. He asked loudly in front of a bunch of people if I lost weight, and I mumbled, "Yeah, a little," and then he said, "Oh, you definitely lost weight!" The third just told me I look good, but it was pretty obvious what she meant. It's all kind of awkward because implicit in their compliments is the fact that I used to look terrible and they definitely noticed. I think more highly of people who don't say anything either way because I'd prefer not to have my body up for discussion in the workplace, but I have to admit it's good to know that there is a noticeable difference.