emily_0192010

Nope, but congrats and good luck!!

I'm so sorry to hear this Ask your insurance coordinator or however submitted your stuff for approval about appealing. Do you have any weight history from before that year? It would be worth it to try to include that... logically there is no way your weight dropped THAT much in a year you know? FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT for it! Hopefully something will change. (((hugs))) Good luck!

Good morning to you too!!! It sounds like you are doing an excellent job!! I'm happy to hear that your hospital stay went so well! You sound like when it comes to goal weight... I have a general idea but with the final number I'm just playing it by ear. Keep up the great job! You will be at goal before you know it

Oh yes!! It is actually extremely normal... you hit the "three week stall". It sucks, but it happens. I believe it is just your body's way of dealing with the all the changes. You will break out of it! In the meantime, focus on your water, protein and vitamins and don't worry about the scale (well, try not to!)

I am so proud of you and so thankful to be able to call you a friend!!! You have done an AMAZING job!! From day 1 you planned to rock it and you did!!! Congrats!! You deserve everything and more!

Oh! Another thing you could do is go to an information session if you haven't already had one. Almost all surgeon's office's offer one. That would be a GREAT place to pick their brains (as it should be free!). At my info session the insurance coordinator was there along with the surgeon specifically so she could answer insurance questions. If you are in Jax, Fl (or near) I could give you more specific info on the info sessions... a good place to look them up is thru the hospital's website or the surgeon's office.

I'm not sure how your insurance works, but for mine I had my first appointment in may and and my surgery was in october... and that was with only 3 months of the "physcian supervised weight loss" . If you can start that NOW, then you're 6 months would be done in November. Most surgeon's submit for approval AFTER this is completed, so December might be pushing it. However, it is worth a shot. Have you talked to your surgeon yet? His/Her insurance coordinator would be a GREAT source of information, because she could look at your insurance policy directly and give you more accurate info. Congrats and good luck! I had my surgery at 20 years old, I'm now 21. Best thing I EVER did!

I'm sooo happy for you!! That is amazing! And so awesome of your scheduler to remember that! Having him around, even for the first few days is going to be a tremendous amount of support for you!

I agree with massindex, kinda need some more information. If you are very new to the sleeve you should be eating very, very slowly. I would guesstimate that I ate an ounce every 10 mins, maybe, depending on what it was. If everything is coming up on a regular basis than I would definitely try slowing down... and in the meantime call your doctor to make sure nothing is wrong.

Oh sorry, I didn't mean all the way to Jax. I was thinking if you ever visited Sanderson or Macclenny. If you could hold on to them for a little while that would be great! It will be a bit of a road trip so I'll just have to figure it out gas-money wise. If it doesn't work out i'll let you know soon for sure! Thanks!

Hmmm... I am in Jax. I would love to take this off your hands. I'm just trying to figure out if I have the gas money though. Any chance you'll be somewhat closer to Jax in the near future, where we could meet up?

Hey everyone Today it really hit me just how thankful I am for my sleeve. Recently I was in a very high-stress situation. During the time my weight loss was... sketchy. I did lose, but I would plateau for about 3 weeks and then I would drop, but only a pound or two. I didn't realize at the time that it was the stress. I thought I was doing something wrong or that maybe my body was shifting into maintenance or it was just being stubborn. During this time I also wasn't sleeping well. A couple weeks ago I moved back home and the change is... incredible. I've lost 7 lbs, I'm sleeping soundly every night (with the only exception being the frequent gut checks my 6 year old sister throws at me while she sleeps, she has so far refused to sleep anywhere else... and i really don't want to kick her out either). I think my sleeve has relaxed as well. I'm able to eat more, but in a good way. Instead of having to stretch my meals over an hour just to get in my mins, I can now eat my portion (2-3 oz protein) within 15-20 mins. I never realized how much constriction I was getting just from being stressed, and it wasn't good! Today when I weighed in it struck me just how strongly the stress had impacted my body. It made me think "what would have happened before sleevie?" and I realized that I would have gained a lot of weight. Easily. Without realizing it. So even though I didn't lose like I had expected to during that time period, I am so, so, so, so freakin thankful that I had my surgery and that I have my sleevie with me every day. I am much happier and healthier with it than I ever was without it!

Congratulations!!! This is a *huge* milestone for all of us! Keep rockin that sleeve!

LOL... its not forever!! And if you already had it then you might not have any problems. Just sometimes chicken sits "hard" in our stomachs because it is Protein dense as well as very low fat. Since you ate it as a salad, i'm sure the extra liquid helped! But when you try it on its own I would suggest slow cooking it in lots of liquids or eating it with some sort of sauce (though not much at all!). My personal favorite is roast pork, especially a dark meat cut. It went down like butter for me, not uncomfortable at all. And yeah, i've "aged" my sleeve. The 6 weeks it was baby sleeve... then during my trial and errors in the solid food it was "toddler sleeve"... lol! Now its just my sleevie... and I am actually going to admit that I do call it that... outloud. I sometimes talk to it LOL. While i'm eating, if I have a lot of restriction one day or something I'll comment out loud to it. Kinda crazy, but I love my sleevie and its helped me so much! Best tool ever!

Hello Welcome to VST!! This has been my crutch for about a year now. I was sleeved in September 2011. The people on here are all so supportive and informative! Congrats on your baby sleeve and good luck with the transition into "normal" food. Don't be surprised if the chicken is difficult to get down, it is one of the hardest things for our sleeves to re-adjust to!

I haven't tracked mine monthly, but it has definitely slowed down!! I would say I lose an average of about 5 a month now. I'm 7 months out. I lost very steadily in the beginning, and then I started stalling out a lot and my weight loss started to "staircase". But, yes. Our weight loss slows down significantly as you move along. And this is a good thing, IMO. It is safer and healthier for your body to lose the weight gradually. It also helps your skin to catch up.

Tomorrow is a new day!! Just move forward. The date countdown is a good idea. My suggestion would be to put some sort of sign or picture or the calendar posted ON your fridge and/or your cupboards or the entrance to your kitchen. Something like "it isn't worth it! Only ____ more days to go!" Sometimes visual reminders help. Again, don't beat yourself up. It is in the past so move on and re-focus. You are doing great and pretty soon you will be joining sleeve-land and will have a solid seat on the loser's bench

Congrats!!! Tomorrow you are going to join the ranks of the Sleevers on the loser's bench... it is a wonderful place to be! Good luck!

LOL... we DEFINITELY talk about it!!! I started to lose my hair around 4 months out. I am not 7 months out and it is definitely starting to grow back in. I have "baby" hair growing in. Even though my hair thinned out quite a bit, it wasn't catastrophic. I don't think any of else are walking around with bald heads. I am also pretty sure that it pretty much effects everyone in some way. But again, it really isn't that bad. Definitely easy to live with and deal with and it seems like it grows back!

GREAT job!!! It feels awesome doesn't it???!!! I love my sleeve!

Hey... I am definitely in the last 30 or so of my journey and my weight loss has slowed down dramatically! I am also averaging 4 lbs a month now... sometimes less! It certainly seems like these last 30 are going to take just as long as the first 115! To not get depressed over it I am trying to just think one day at a time. I focus on my protein and my water and my vitamin and go on with my day. I am just now starting to really exercise so I'll see how that affects my weight loss. I have also stalled a LOT during my journey. The reason my numbers were still high was because I would drop a lot when it broke.

Thank you for sharing! I love reading about these and you definitely did not overshare The NSV's are what make this whole process worth it. More than numbers and even clothing sizes. The NSV's make us shout for joy and plaster smiles on our faces... to read that someone else is experiencing it as well is an awesome feeling! It makes me feel proud, even though I don't know you personally. Good job and keep it up! I am so happy for you!

Awesome!!! I *love* roller coasters and rides and parks and I cannot wait to go again!! I would certainly fit now, just waiting for a carnival to roll thru or money to visit the parks (I live in Florida). So congrats! I can totally understand. It certainly IS the best feeling in the world!

Hello I'm glad to hear you are doing well!! I also had a hiatal hernia repaired during my operation and didn't find out until my follow-up visit! I'm not sure if it made my recovery harder or not. Apparently it is very, very common! I also agree that wearing something tight actually helps in some ways. Once my incisions weren't sore themselves (just general soreness) I wore a spanx-like thing all the time. I still wear it! Immediately after surgery I wore one that was technically a size or two too big, that way it held me in but didn't add pressure. Good luck on not stepping on the scale! It is very tempting at first! Also, be prepared just in case you hit the "three week stall". Totally normal, but it can still hurt to see it. If you do hit it, just remember "Water, Protein, vitamin" and try not to dwell on the number!

Sounds yummy! Recipe?