Matt Z

Something to notice as well, and it's an important "side effect", notice how fat my kids were as well in 2010. And how they also got thinner and healthier as I did. Because of my eating habit changes, the rest of the family's habits changed along side mine and the benefits are clearly visible.

There are quite a few options. There are lots of at home body fat measuring devices. Some are hand held, some are built into scales. You can get a body fat measuring device on amazon or lots of other places. Personally, I have a FitBit Aria scale that tracks body fat % as well as weight.

I'm curious why you are going in expecting to be denied? At 5 foot 1 and 220 lbs, you have BMI of 41.6, I don't know of any insurance that won't approve revision with a BMI that high. (they might have other hoops to jump though, but you aren't a low BMI, so the BMI itself wouldn't be reason for denial).

I wanted to post this ongoing photo grouping that I've been working on with my sons. It started as a great way to show their aging, but it's also showcasing my weight loss. 2010, pre-band. I was around 370 in this photo. 2014, post-band. I was around 310 in this photo. 2018, post-bypass. I was 237 in this photo. Just wanted to show everyone that, even just 4 years can change things so drastically, 8 years is even more amazing. Looking forward to going back and taking another update in 4 years, I can't wait to see what 12 years of changes looks like. So when you are just a handful of days out of surgery and are feeling like nothing is changing. Or when you are stalled out for a week and are super frustrated. Please remember, this is a long term adjustment. Some folks are lucky and do see really fast results, but that doesn't mean anyone that doesn't see fast results is a failure. Just keep looking at the horizon and taking 1 more step forward. Soon enough, you'll be where you want to be.

Congrats! Most certainly take the time to heal up first! Then you can go full Super Hero! I had my band removed and was revised to Bypass in March, best WLS choice I've made!

Stop. Just. Stop. Focus on healing before you worry about hitting the goal amounts of protein and water. Just do your best and that's it. If you are going to lose hair, you are going to lose hair. There is nothing that will stop it. There are people taking all sorts of stuff 5 months before surgery and they are still losing hair. Me, I only took biotin, and I haven't lost any hair yet. Your biggest and most important goal right now. Is healing.

For what? If you are talking about the procedure, they will give you meds in an IV, what they give you, is going to be up to the doctor and what's generally acceptable/required for the procedure. But, if you are looking to get WLS, then you should be ready for the fact that you will be getting "prescription pain meds" through an IV during the surgery as well.

You should be just fine going from 1 appt to another in the same hospital. They just don't want you driving... or making important choices until everything has had a chance to wear off 100%.

Sleevers generally don't get dumping since there was no adjustments to your intestinal tract. Diarrhea post op is pretty common. You'll see and hear the "never trust a fart" phrase a lot.

I only had like 10 pills, so I only took them when I absolutely needed to, which, really was only when I had issues sleeping.

I'd honestly wait it out.... wouldn't want to risk looking like the old ladies that get their hair dyed and it looks like a big cloud of color rather than hair. Plus all the different colored hair that's all going to grow at the same time...

For me... I was awake before the bed made it back to recovery. Left like 30 mins later. Just don't opt for the "awake" version of the procedure, all sorts of horror stories from folks that had the procedure done while they were awake / semi awake...

I started before, but make sure you tell your surgeon, because they more than likely will have you stop certain vitamins prior to surgery for like 2 weeks to prevent any issues while in surgery.

Yeah, itching sucks. The old tattoo trick of slapping it helps. Allergy meds can help as well.

Congrats and good luck! I had my band removed back in March and revised to the Bypass... Best damn thing I've done for myself in a very long time!

Just remember that ***ALL*** Fruits and Vegetables have carbs in them. As everyone has said, if your BMR is low and you are eating more than you are burning a day, or even if you are close to eating what you burn in a day, that'll keep you stagnant. More than likely not, but do you have any extra skin that hasn't retracted? I know some folks can have quite heavy amounts of weight just in excess skin.

Seriously check out the Cheddar Moon Cheese. They taste EXACTLY like Cheez Its and are just cheese, no extra junk!

The risks of WLS are much MUCH lower then the risks of being overweight and unhealthy. This decision is for you. But this decision will impact everyone around you. My wife wasn't "for" me getting the bypass. She was scared of all the things everyone is scared of. But now, she's dropped a bunch of weight as well, she goes to the gym with me. All of us are eating better. It's just as much for everyone around you, as it is for yourself. Don't worry about the "guilt"... it's better than the alternatives.

Some insurances cover plastics, but most of those that do only cover the panniculus area, and usually only after there are issues with the skin and you've been at a stable weight for a while. That is going to need to be addressed by your insurance company, ask them what they cover and what the requirements are. A *LOT* of folks chose to have plastics done in Mexico since the price is much cheaper than in the states.

It might change your potential surgery depending on how bad, but they'll let you know. I was diagnosed with Grade 4 Esophagitis when I had my upper endo when they were checking to make sure the Lap Band didn't erode, since this was above the band and would be resolved with the bypass, it wasn't an issue for my situation.

I'd chalk it up to surgical pains still, being only 8 days out of surgery and all, I had some odd pains here and there that took a few weeks to clear up. Dealing with pectoral/clavicle connection area pain right as well as some back pain where the lat and trap overlap. You are going to have some pains from surgery, then some pains from the weight loss as the visceral fat starts to reduce and things get a bit sloppy / loose around the connective tissues and muscles, at least until you can work them out and tighten them back up. if it's persistent and doesn't come and go with eating/drinking, I wouldn't worry too much about it right now.

Do you bring up all the hundreds of thousands of automobile accidents that results in death whenever anyone gets into a car? No? Then your logic that bringing up a totally unrelated, extremely rare issue that just happened to occur to your aunt doesn't have anything to do with your wife's current situation, like, at all. Here's what I'm reading you saying: "My wife is happy and feels healthy. Her doctors confirm that she's healthy. But I don't care about that because I don't like the way she looks, and thus nothing anyone says is going to make me understand that I'm wrong" You came here looking for information, you've been provided with it, by folks that are right in the middle of dealing with it, but it's clear that the truth isn't what you were looking for.

Just take your time, take super small bits and chew the crap out of them! I don't like eggs or cottage cheese either, never eat them, not even post op.

Congrats!

Try different temp or flavored items. You are still healing, and the revision from band to sleeve is a tough one because of the added scar tissue from the band going right through the stapleline for the sleeve. In fact, my surgeon refuses to do band to sleeve revisions because of the added issues and complications caused because of the scars the band leaves. It does get better.