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When I had the surgery, I was 41, 6'1", HW of 505, CW 490, surgery day weight of 460. I had sleep apnea, prehypertension and a BMI of ~60. I also had to take blood thinning injections post-surgery. I also had bypass surgery (which has a higher risk of complications). So you and I are/were in roughly the same ballpark. I came through the surgery fine. Definitely sore. But it drastically improved my life and I would make the same decision in a heartbeat. Heck, I was able to look down today and see my toes, instead of them being covered by stomach. I've gotten to experience stepping on a scale and having the first number be a 2. I am approaching the nine-month mark and I weigh 295 and wear 2xl/3xl shirts (I'm like a 2.5xl at this point, I was a solid 6xl pre-surgery). Do you have risk factors? Yeah. But here is what I noticed from that list: you don't have a major condition that will obviously cause complications (like some disease that makes it difficult for your blood to clot or something like that). Do you have a higher potential for complications than someone who only weighed 400 pounds? Yeah. But its a generalized risk, not a specific risk. My recommendation, if you are still interested in the surgery, is to determine right now that you are going to follow your surgeon's post-surgery advice to the letter. If you need 28 days of injections, decide right now that you will do all 28 days. Whatever meds or vitamins he tells you take, take them. Commit right now, "I am not going to disobey my surgeon in a way that increases my risks." You cannot eliminate the risks entirely and if I am being honest, those risks will come to mind when you are being wheeled around on the gurney. You have no guarantees about what the other side of the surgery will look like and feel like. And you will wake up from the surgery in pain. But if you decide that you will do everything you can control to minimize the risks, I think you will be happy with a decision to have the surgery.

Who would laugh? I can't imagine anyone here laughing at goal weight struggles, because most of us have either been there or will be there at some point. I asked my Dietician about goal weight and she told me that no one in their practice cares about goal weights, as in no one there expects every patient to hit "healthy bmi" she said the only purpose bmi serves is for insurance purposes (in their practice). I asked about a goal weight because during the entire process no one has given me a goal weight to reach. She told me my goal weight will be where I am happiest at. So I thought that was good advice. Each patient has different struggles with what caused their obesity, and obesity and weight loss isn't always cut and dried. so it's nice to be involved with a practive that treats us as individuals. So if you are happy with your weight, that's most imporatant. Also, as lizonaplane said, you may want to give medical weight loss some thought if you do want to try to lose more. It's geared mostly towards people that are slightly overweight. It might be the tool that you need to lose a little more weight. I know glp 1 agonists help with appetite suppression and have few side effects, and they might work with your current meds (no interatctions). And topiramate/topamax helps with carb cravings. Best wishes! 🤗

If I were you I would continually remind myself that WLS is a relatively very safe procedure that you get to go into as a planned procedure. Think of all the possible risks and complications that will come with all the procedures and surgeries you will most likely need and have no choice but to do if you do nothing about your weight.

So guys. HOW did I lose 5 pounds in 1 day??? I mean, I was expecting to be a little heavier because of all the fluids from the IV for 2 days, but instead, I'm actually down 5 pounds??? I'm not knocking it, of course, but it caught me off guard lol I'll be weighing myself once a week. I refuse to do daily weigh ins and get upset when it fluctuates a pound or so either way. I've been struggling with gas pain, and thanks to the great suggestions, my husband went out and got me a heating pad and it's starting to help. Also having pain from the incisions, but I was already expecting that. And the PAIN from taking my pills was the worst of all. BUT, I started taking them with warm broth and it's been a game changer. Still takes me almost an hour to take them since I get full really fast, but at least it's pain free taking them now.

I got pics of not only the inside but also of my stomach when it was removed. It was so cool!! My husband was so grossed out LOL And they say men are the tougher sex...

Did anyone pre-med prior to surgery (like the day of)? I have anxiety, which was exacerbated pre-surgery. I asked if I could take something prior to going to the hospital, but the doctor said I needed to be able to sign an informed consent. I didn't say I was going to take a horse tranquilizer! I was talking about taking a prescribed med from my doctor that doesn't interfere with my cognitive ability.

I do have days when I look in the mirror and still think I look the same. I am still not as small as I would like to be but I think I see a larger person in the reflection than I should. It’s called body dysmorphia. Some people say to take a picture of yourself and put it next to a picture of yourself pre surgery and that is supposed to help. I am fine with chicken post op. I don’t like it as much but it doesn’t make me sick or anything. I never liked pork. With crystal light I used to like fruit punch as it is but post surgery it’s too sweet so I mix it with watermelon which is not as sweet and I like it that way. I just mix up a gallon which uses two packets. No I did not have my liver punctured. That is the first I have heard of that but I bet that is why we have to do the liver shrink diet to try and help reduce that happening. I’m sorry you have gone through so much. It sounds like you should soon be in the uphill swing of things though. I have heard of people liking things post surgery that they didn’t like pre op so maybe you will like other proteins that you didn’t like if you try them?? I know that I like fish a lot more than I did pre op but I did like it some before.

Thank you everyone so much for the feedback so far. So may things I hadn't thought about. @Dave In Houstonthanks for the info. My hospital has a surgeon on call 24/7 so they said I could call anytime if anything didn't feel right. Would definitely take advantage of that.

Ok, breathe. It’s ok. It’s only been four days since a pretty major surgery. You’ve had 80+/-% of your tummy removed. There are lots of staples & sutures holding your tummy together. You have been inflated with gas & had your insides pushed, prodded & pulled. You’re supposed to be in pain. Give yourself time to heal. The gas pain, surgical pain & muscular pain will reduce. Some people find improvement after 3 or 4 days while others a week. We’re all different. Even our ability to tolerate pain is different & that’s ok too. Contact your employer & see if you can negotiate a delay to your return to work or maybe a staged part time return if you think you will need it. Again we’re all different & you may need longer to recover. A friend was back after a week no problem Another needed three weeks. Me, I needed four weeks & still only returned to work part time. (My blood pressure was very low & my energy levels were zip.) You’d know if you had a leak. They’re pretty rare these days. Symptoms to look for include: Dizziness Fever Shortness of breath or fast breathing - more than 18 breaths a minute Fast heart rate - higher than 120 beats per minute Worsening abdominal pain Chest pain shoulder pain (not from the gas escaping) A general feeling of illness and anxiety Be kind to yourself & your body. You’ve been through a lot.

I'm 6 months post op this week. Surgery day, I weighed 310 and this week I was 245 - so minus 65lbs in 6th months and it feels surreal! I'm also down 87lbs from my heighest weight last May (trying to push for an even 90 by the time my "Get serious about weight loss" anniversary rolls around). What an accomplishment in and of itself! But as many of y'all know, a lot of this goes beyond the scale, so I'm about to talk about labwork and measurements! Labwork/Blood Health I ran comprehensive pre-op, simple 3 month, and comprehensive 6 month labs. Here are those results! Pre-Op Vitamin D was a dismal 15. I've taken a daily 5,000 supplement since starting vitamins and I'm now close to 70. Normal Range. A1C went from 6.1% pre-op to 5.4% six months out. Normal Range. Pre-diabetes off the table. Fasting Glucose went from 121 pre-op to 103 at 3 months to 80. Normal Range Cholesterol (total) went from 265 to 226 to 221. From high to borderline, but vastly improved. LDL from 195 to 166 to 153. From high to borderline high. All other labs were normal range prior to and post op. Added blood health bonus: Taken off my Blood Pressure Medication completely. Measurements (in inches) Waist from 50 to 39.5 Right Thigh from 36.25 to 28.75 Left Thigh from 36.5 to 26.75 Hips from 69 to 52.5 Right Bicep from 18.5 to 14.5 Left Bicep from 18.25 to 14.25 Chest from 49.5 to 40 Neck from 15.25 to 13.5 Roughly a size 3x/4x, 22-26W to a about a 1x/2x, 14-16W Moving Forward I'm looking forward to what the future holds. I'm so happy with my progress so far! We often get hung up on the scale, but there is SO much more at play here. Be sure to track all your progress!