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Well, while I haven't ever been diagnosed with PCOS, I am experiencing infertility. I was pregnant once, for 25 weeks and then my babe experienced fetal demise and passed. We got pregnant naturally but not since 2020. I just had RNY on March 8th and I'm hoping we see a positive test in our future, again. Infertility is frustrating and painful. just hang in there. I had the surgery for fertility reasons, too. Hoping this provides my body room for my eggs to release freely and to safely bear another child. Congrats on taking control of your life and your circumstances. I'll be following you and your story ... maybe we both will get our rainbows! edit: Not sure if you have it or have heard of it, but I use an app called Glow to track my cycles. There is a community section on there (similar to this) where you can search for weight loss surgery, vsg, gastric bypass, etc. and read the stories and experiences of people on there. You can, of course, post as well. It's a little more focused on the PCOS and fertility angle than just general weight loss. Food for thought.

I worked in surgery and the surgeons used to say “Fair, fat, female, forty and fertile” to describe a lot of gallbladder patients. It’s very common even without weight loss surgery.

Hi Juniper, I was in about the same situation. I got my band in 2012 and started having significant reflux last summer. I had my band unfilled which helped the reflux but I packed on 40 pounds. I went to Inova Bariatrics and talked about revision to bypass; they said I had to go through the whole program again, which I did. I did not have the supervised diet part and I continued to gain weight until I went on the 2-week liquid diet just before surgery. I had the band removed and the bypass done March 21. I have Federal Blue Cross and they approved as soon as I met the requirements, including cardiac clearance, primary care physician clearance, etc. I don't quite get where your diet supervisor is coming from; I had comorbidities in addition to the high BMI - reflux was one of them (high bp was the other). I think your doctor is right that the reflux should be enough because reflux is one of the signatures of the band. I wish I had known that in 2012 - I would have done the bypass then instead. If you stay with that practice you might be stuck (pardon the lapband pun) doing as the diet supervisor commands. Different practices have different rules. I like my practice very much but they're in Fair Oaks and Woodbridge, likely a huge trip for you. Remember, even though the pre-op diet is very difficult the reward will be worth it. You can do this!

Yes, I have those an air fryer and non stick pans. I don't add fat to anything unless I am making a huge recipe of something and it calls for a little, even then I try to cut it back, remove it or substitute. I got in touch with my nutritionist yesterday, he said it is there just to make you aware and paying attention. I shared a bunch of my meals and he assured me I am doing perfect and not to stress about it.

Just stopping by to encourage you! It is pretty darn cool you’re seeking to change back to Better habits. I pray you get all the courage, information & will power to get back on track. I’m not even 2 months out so I can’t offer advice on getting back on track after surgery but when I changed my habits prior to surgery it did seem daunting: I took it one day at a time one meal at a time, sometimes one hour at a time lol You got this though

I have not had my surgery yet but its fast approaching, May 3rd. There is only 1 person who knows, my husband. I have older kids and younger kids (2 are still at home). Like others have said in their posts, I do not find it to be anyone's business that I have a sleeve. My kids I have not told because the older ones do not come around enough anyway to visit and Ill probably be on regular food by the time they do lol. My younger 2 children that are still at home (girl 17, boy 11) I have not told because my youngest son would be worried like crazy on surgery day. I do not want to cause any undue stress for him. As for my coworkers, no one knows from there either. I do believe most would be supportive because I had 3 coworkers who had gastric bypass. Two of which is on a fast track of gaining their weight back post surgery 4 yrs. At current I am still working from home and only go to the office 1 week a month. I was just there last week and one coworker said I looked like I have lost weight since she last saw me (Ive lost 17 lbs in the last few months) but I didnt think it was noticeable. Obviously we cannot dodge the looks and questions post surgery because we are losing weight, but at least I dont have to be judged or questioned why I would go down this road ahead of surgery. I kindof view it this way its my health, my decision. Once its done its done. My hubby is from (W Yorkshire) England and he left his family, friends and country because he loves me. He is very supportive of me. He doesnt necessarily agree with the surgical aspect of things but I know he will be there for me and will help me through the mood swings, the pain and he knows if I go down a dark path of thoughts to give me his hand and help me back to where I need to be (I hear some ppl become depressed post op) I have never experienced that but if I do he will be there to help me. He always has been. You will tell ppl in due time as you feel more comfortable (as will I perhaps) and I agree with what blackcatsandbaddecisions said If brought up we dont have to talk about it especially if its from a judgmental person/family member!

I had my surgery at an office almost 2.5 hours from where I live. They did almost all my pre-op insurance requirements via zoom. It was so convenient, took less than 5 minutes out of my day. Definitely ask if that qualifies for the insurance requirements. For the actual surgery I rented a house for 4 nights in the area. My kids are still excited about the vacation (they were 2 and 5 at the time). I stayed the night before, second night in the hospital, then two more nights before I had my post-op and we left town right afterwards. It was no problem at all.

I didn’t tell pretty much anyone, and even now a year and a half later I can count on one hand the number of people I told. I am a very private person though and I have strong a strong philosophical objection to the idea that I “owe” people information on my life. I think social media has given people an over-inflated sense of the importance of their opinions and the need to share them on every occasion - and yes I recognize the irony of me posting this on a social media site like this. 😂. I know people in my life would have had lots of opinions about my own choices, and I don’t care to hear them. Do I think many people assume I had surgery after I lost 175 lbs? Of course. I don’t really care, they can assume whatever they want and when people try to bring it up to me I just don’t engage in the conversation. If sharing about surgery makes you uncomfortable, don’t. If keeping it private makes you uncomfortable, then share. Go to social events and if you want to still keep it private then just find excuses to not take part in food right now. In a few months you’ll be able to eat to an extent that it won’t be immediately obvious.

this is a good video to watch on it (until someone actually answers your question)

I had a 150 pound loss with my Lap Band, but never got to goal. And now I'm contemplating revision to RNY. I did have a tummy tuck 2 years ago. My surgeon was wonderful. She submitted to my insurance for a panniculectomy, but she said what I needed was a fleur de lis tummy tuck. So insurance approved the panniculectomy, but my surgeon did the fleur de lis, hernia repair and diastasis recti repair, and she didn't charge me extra. She is amazing. ❤️ One other note that I will add is I have a friend who was never a bariatric patient, but she had 4 kids and needed a tummy tuck, and her ob/gyn did the tummy tuck. She did not have good results at all and now regrets the decision. I would highly recommend having a plastic surgeon do your surgery. I think it's just a matter of finding the right surgeon in these situations.