Paul11011

I went with Grand Health Partners. They are based in Grand Rapids but I know they do work out of other hospitals. I'm not sure if they have made any affiliations with Lansing as of yet. My surgeon was Dr. Baker, one of the founders of the organization. All four of their surgeons are top notch and on the leading edge of WLS surgery innovations. I know of patients they have worked with in DeWitt, Ann Arbor, and Mason. If you're interested their website is www.grandhealthpartners.com

In my opinion, ones relationship with food must change in order to be successful long term. The surgery and the restricted diet will provide a weight loss while you're in the "honeymoon" phase (approximately 12-18 months) but then it is going to be up to you to use the surgical tool along with your learned new habits and relationship with food that you'll need for the rest of your life. Emotional eating and breaking that pattern is one of the toughest parts of this process. You will go through periods where you morn the loss of food. It is not hard to understand that when we look at the ways many of us used food in the past. It was our friend and comfort. It made us happy and was an immediate gratification. That instant gratification will be gone with the vast restriction seen with the new sleeve...for a little while. Eventually you will be able to eat more and maybe even enough, especially of the wrong foods, to comfort your emotions again. Work as hard as you can and utilize all the tools at your disposal to break that pattern of emotional eating during the honey moon period. Again, long term success is what we're all really striving for and that will only come with the necessary behavior modifications.

Howdy neighbor...(maybe)....at least we're both in MI anyway. Insurance coverage can very from policy to policy. If the surgeon that you are working with can provide all the information and documentation that the insurance company requires then you're primary care doctor would not have to be involved at all. I would recommend talking to them about it and letting them know you are pursuing WLS. They will need to know as it relates to your follow up healthcare with them but they may not have to be any part of getting approval. Good luck! Depending on where you're located and if you're looking for a great surgical center let me know and I would be happy to give a recommendation.

I started my journey on Nov 23, 2010 at 492lbs. On the day of surgery Jan 10, 2011 I weighed 456lbs. One year post op (Jan. 10, 2012) I was 200. Today 2 years post op. I set here at 190. I had gotten to a low weight of 177 around September 2012. I was still 4lbs away from "ïdeal" weight putting me under a BMI of 25, but my body fat was under 9% and I felt like crap. For once in my life I made a conscientious decision to be heavier. That concept is still surreal to me even as I type this. I found that I felt the best and looked the best in a range between 185 and 195. I am using a target of 190 as my new life goal. It took a long time for me to get comfortable with the reality that I was still over 25 BMI and would likely always be. Now is where I get to make myself feel better and preface that this is all weight before any removal of loose skin so in all reality my "real" body does weight less. My best guess based on others I have seen that have had removal is that I have at least 25lbs of skin that could go. Will I ever be able to get the skin removed so that I can actually see what my "real"body looks like? Who knows, I doubt it. And yes there is a bunch of extra skin. I like to make jokes about it, after-all who doesn't want a butt that looks like a Shar-Pei? The reality though is that it sucks. I have bags and folds that are a constant reminder of the size this container used to be. I can dress it well but in my birthday suit it is not a pleasant sight. Uhhhhggggg! Is the extra skin burdensome enough to regret the decision to have surgery, nope, never. The surgery is still the best decision I have ever made.

Just curious, what exactly are you going to enter into the Google box?

Ever notice how you can almost always tell the newbie and veteran patients apart based on their profile picture? It's not the size of the person in the picture that is the give away. It's that newbies (I know I did this) will have only a face shot while the vets have become a little more comfortable and show their whole body. Now far be it from me to say that we have achieved complete comfort with the way we look, but I think the ability for us to at least let others see a better overall of what we look like is a move in the right direction. So if you haven't done it yet, back that camera up and show us what the new you looks like.

I think getting comfortable with our new bodies and being able to have confidence in our appearance is going to be an ongoing battle for most of us, I know it will be for me. I certainly don't mean to imply that we went through this process because of vanity but we need to learn to be comfortable in our own skin, even if there is more of it sagging around us . I don't think I will ever be as comfortable with my appearance as is a person who is my same weight without having been obese previously. I know I am still not accustomed to seeing what I see when I look in the mirror. I almost expect to see the nearly 500 lbs me in my reflection. Learning to feel ok with ourselves physically is an important part of our transition process. I know I spent the majority of my life ashamed of how I looked and I don't want to feel that way anymore. Taking some risks and putting myself out there for others to see, I think, is a way to move past the feeling of shame. Developing a good body image is important. laura-ven......my nude pictures are in a different thread. It's titled, "Nasty images you will never be able to get out of your head".

Glad to hear about the changes Alex. It "pops up" on my screen and appears in the messages. I just checked my email account and I get a notification in the email every time as well. Thanks for addressing this.

I get the message below every time I sign in. I do not want to stay signed in, so I must see this message every time I do get on. It's really annoying....how can I make it stop? Thanks Thank you for joining VerticalSleeveTalk.com! As founder of VerticalSleeveTalk.com, I am privileged to have the opportunity to welcome you into our community. We are a warm and supportive group of people who, like you, have had Gastric Sleeve surgery or are considering the procedure. We hope that you find VerticalSleeveTalk.com to be a valuable and indispensible resource throughout your own journey toward a healthy lifestyle. This PM contains valuable information to help you learn the ropes around VerticalSleeveTalk.com, so please read through it. Introduce Yourself! As one of your first activities in our community, we encourage you to first introduce yourself on the message boards by sharing information about your Gastric Sleeve Surgery here. We suggest reading through a few recent posts and then creating a new topic about yourself. Please tell us about your own Gastric Sleeve Surgery journey. Have you had the surgery yet, or are you considering it? Who is or was your surgeon? How much did you lose after surgery? We’d love to get to know anything about you that you want to share because we want to get to know you better. Paul11011, here are a few more helpful links to get you started. Get caught up in the forums! Click here or on the “View New Content” link toward the top of the VerticalSleeveTalk.com page. You can always read through the latest and hottest topics, and hopefully contribute your own thoughts to these and new discussions! Please be descriptive: When posting, please make sure that your post’s title is appropriate and descriptive to the topic to avoid confusion or panic. Some examples of bad titles are “Help Me!,” “I’m Stuck,” or “I’ve got a Problem.” These titles can cause alarm and they do not tell members whether the post is likely to be relevant to them. A better title might be, “I’m having trouble figuring out what to pack for lunch each day.” If you are planning a visit with your Gastric Sleeve surgeon, please consider leaving one (or many) fliers with your surgeon and clinic staff members. Our fliers are already designed and ready for you to print. Need some help on the go? Access VerticalSleeveTalk.com from anywhere with our freeMobile App for Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod as well as Android phones and devices, including Amazon Kindle. These are a few links to help you manage your account. Member Profile: We’d like encourage you to fill out your VerticalSleeveTalk.com member profile. This helps our other members get to know you better. Manage all your VerticalSleeveTalk.com settings here. Search, Rate and research Gastric Sleeve surgeons here. Get started by uploading photos to your new personal photo gallery. You can create unlimited albums here . You can view other member Before and After Gastric Sleeve Surgery photo albums here. Get Blogging about your Gastric Sleeve Surgery journey! Start your own blog here. View our members current Gastric Sleeve blogs here. We offer live Video & Audio support Chat rooms! Members can generally be found in our chat rooms at all hours of the day. Click here to start chatting. We've recently launched the VerticalSleeveTalk.com Social and Support Groups, where you can start your own online Social or Support Group or join on one of our member created groups. Visit VerticalSleeveTalk.com Help Topics to assist you with using our forum here. We know it seems a little overwhelming, but don’t worry. Just log on and introduce yourself. Save this PM for future reference, and get involved in our community. You’ll be a pro in no time, and we hope to be able to help you throughout your weight loss journey. We are pleased to have you with us! Paul11011, we truly value your feedback. Please always feel free to let us know if you have ANY suggestions or comments. We really love hearing positive and negative feedback from our members, and any ideas for improving our community. And finally, we are a self-supporting community that provides free membership to everyone. To pay the costs of running the community and our rapid growth, we rely heavily on our sponsors. Please support our community by visiting any ads that pique your interest. Again, welcome to the community, and I look forward to getting to know you! Best Regards, Alex Brecher, Founder of VerticalSleeveTalk.com Alex Brecher,

So, I'm having a tough time getting in all of my protein and water. Nothing taste like it used to and I wonder how long this constipation is going to last. LOL, ROL, LMAO...........so glad there is now a forum for vets, great idea!

Now how do I get that image outa my head?

Great list! Keep this close to you (literally copy it and carry it with you) and when you're tempted by crap food or don't want to work out, take this list out and remind yourself of why you're on this journey. Just seeing it in print will be a great motivator.

I am happy to hear that your DR. does this as a standard practice. The surgical center where I go has it available but they do not make it a part of the regular protocol. I am a big fan of having as much scientific information as we can in order to make better decisions for our nutrition and exercise needs.

GHP has a surgical support group every Monday from 5-6pm at their building on East Paris. I have been going for nearly 2 years and find it to be very helpful. There are a great group of "regulars" all at various lengths of time post-op. Great discussions and tons of experience in that room every Monday.

It is on ongoing battle to change the way we have been thinking for so many years. Emotional eating is one of the things that got many of us to where we were. Even with the loss of weight the mindset is going to have to be worked on in order to move past those old, bad ways. I am sure I will spend the rest of my life trying to learn how to think like a thin person. Here are a couple more thoughts about comments like, "I tried it and it was fine." and no I'm not picking on anyone for their comments . Just because you CAN do it, does not mean you SHOULD do it. Playing Russian Roulette with 6 chambers in the revolver and only one bullet, you have an 83% chance of being just fine.........would you play?

Gotta chime in with my support of GHP. Dr. Baker patient here. nicden17 I think we were at a couple of the follow up appointments together. Do you ever go to the Monday night surgical support group?

I want to put forth a challenge for anyone that is less than a year out from surgery. Every time you think, "I deserve this (insert food item here), I have lost X lbs" or "I have been good" or whatever your justification is.........STOP and remember this. The first 12 to 18 months are the honeymoon phase where you can likely eat a smaller amount of the same crap that got us to obesity in the first place and still lose some weight. Rather think, this is my time to take advantage of my surgical tool and start making the changes in my head that I'm going to need to be successful long term. You don't deserve (insert same food item here) to satisfy an immediate need, YOU DESERVE to be healthy for the rest of your life. Realizing that food is not a reward will help go along way in getting you there.

Hi JennyBeth. I keep trying to find an eloquent answer for how to handle uninformed people and for over 2 years now I really can't find one so I've concluded to just tell it like it is. If a person wants to find fault with me for taking advantage of a medical procedure that has added immeasurable years and quality to my life so be it. I do wonder if these same ignorant people find fault with cancer patients undergoing chemo, heart patients receiving by-passes or those hoping to get off dialysis via transplants. Be yourself and tell your story, it is who you are. Those that find displeasure will say so and you'll be better off knowing were you stand with them. An ignorant person will never learn a thing unless someone is brave enough to tell them the truth. Best of luck to you.

I don't want to scare you and even with the worst case scenario it is worth it for your health, but hold on tight. The last 2 years for me have been a relationship roller coaster the likes of which I don't think one can be prepared. Any insecurities that where there will be magnified as you become more attractive and get attention that you never have before. In addition to the insecurities, keep in mind that he is coming along for this ride, if he signed up for it or not he will be awash in the WLS life. Add to this the extra layer of difficulty if he happens to be struggling with his weight too. If he is and manages to loose his weight "the old fashioned way", his success will be over shadowed by the rate and degree of success which you are likely to see. Be very aware and always keep communication open, that is about the best you can do. I fully now believe that WLS makes strong relationships stronger and weak relationships more exposed. Best of luck to you.

I was able to get great deals at local thrift stores. I have been amazed at the quality and name brand items that I have found. So much so that now that I'm in consistent sized clothes, it kills me to pay retail, even when it's on sale.

My wife and I decided to take advantage of a child-free weekend and go see the Hangover 2 at our local movie theater. I bought our tickets and we made our way into the theater. We selected our seats, right near the top as close to the center as we could and we sat down. It was then that I noticed something unusual. Something did not quite feel normal. Oh I know what it is, we did not have our hands full of snacks, popcorn, candy, pretzels, and soda. Hmmm, while that was true it was not the certain feeling I was trying to place my finger on. Then it hit me. I was sitting in the seat with the center arm rest down and my arms actually on the rest! What a different feel from the rolls of my belly being pressed against and flowing over top of the arm rests. That was worth the price of admission. Now as for the movie, if you've seen the first one, don't bother. It's the exact same movie.