Sleeve tattoo

U look marvelous!

U are nit alone. I am 4 1/2 months out. I just started eating a lil something every two hours. I get full after about 4 bites then im hungry in 2 hrs. Im still not gettn in enuff calories nor Vitamins. Right as im typin this im at the infusion clinic with an IV in my arm to get vitamins in me. This really bites!

Very very nice look on you. I hipe u bought it

Well hello there! Congrats on ur wonderful news. BTW, u look simply fabulous darling n im sorry that ur friend dont see that. Not to mention it was e hella journey to get where u are. So imma go with the ”kick.rocks” response too. Best wishes to you n ur fam n baby to be ;0)

U are not alone. Ive been taking hand md downs to avoid wasting money right now. Its been 4 months and im still losing. Now im smaller than the folks that gave me their old clothes WOWZERS!

Great before n after pic.

Here ya go.

Im doing well. I got sleeved on 4/8/13. I havent taken any pics yet because I still havent embraced my new shrinking body. Ill post some before n after soon. Keep up the good work and looks

I am officially 13 months out, and the scale will NOT budge. Actually it did last week. It went up a pound!!!! I just about had a heart attack lol!!
Toady I decided to remind myself what this journey is all about. I needed a reminder of what I have accomplished thus far. I need to keep a positive outlook, I need to stay focus and stay away from the scale

OMG!!! I cant believe its been over a yr. I remember when I first joined thix group were having ur last meal and had surgery shortly
after. I haven`t been on that much to see your progress. All im gonna say isYOU GO GIRL!! U look simply marvelous!

Well, this post may be a little late but I will say my piece and maybe it will help someone else down the road. Doing a last hurrah the day before you start the 14 day shake thing is usually not the best thing to do. A few days before is good, but the day before, your best bet would be stick with Protein.
Carbohydrates make you want more carbohydrates. Those that carb overload the day before starting the pre-op shake by reading here for the past year seem to have the hardest time with the pre-op shake.
I spent six months prior to the surgery doing the high Protein, low carb and of course I had some days that I did have extra carbs, but I read someone very wise here state, if you decide the day before surgery to do the big carb thing, like pizza, pretzels, popcorn, potatoes, rice, it will be harder to do the 14 days without cheating. All you are doing is stretching your stomach more, the more carbs you eat the more you will want.
Also, letting go of the caffeine and the carbonation before you start this phase is also a good thing because having to quit all of it at once is really hard.
Remember the first 3 days are the hardest, if you are on three shakes a day with only sugar-free Popsicles or sugar-free Jello allowed remember all that liquid in has to come out. Drink plenty of Water because many people end up with a little headache and usually day 3 is when you start feeling better.
You will be spending more time in the restroom most likely and remember never to trust a fart especially at night.
More than anything keep busy. Start cleaning out your closet, keep moving and keep busy. If you get really super hungry, brush your teeth. The 3 shakes a day made my mouth feel really icky and I spent a lot of time brushing my teeth. I found a decaff tea that didn't bug me and that was Bigelow Peppermint Tea. It has a nice taste, tastes good warm or cold, it's something I even brought with me to the hospital.
Best of luck to you. Whatever you have remember it's not really a food funeral it's the start of your new life.

WOW!! There is sooooo much to this whole process. Anyone who says that this surgery is taking the easy way out wieght loss should be slapped AND HARD TOO. It takes a lot of work to have to deal with the medical insurance and the medical staff. This is all before we deal with the surgery itself. I'm glad HeyHer asked the question because I found out some good info from the answers.

I cleaned house of all that years ago....I only have a few, really close friends and those are the ones who would do anything for you, drop what they are doing to help at a moments notice. Life is too short for toxic people!

Emotional Vampires & Toxic People... I'm doing an inventory of all my relationships, family, friends, etc. who have been instrumental in giving me bad advice, not being encouraging, or just breaking my heart, and hurting my feelings. How many people are really my friends because they like having a fat friend as a wingman? My family who tells me that WLS is a cop out? The exbf who said he's just not that attracted to "big girls". It's time to clean house, and dump the negative and replace it with the positive. Who are your emotional vampires and what are you doing to change it?

The first picture is the start of my pre-op diet, May 24th. Because of intubation problems, my surgery was delayed four weeks so I had a 6-week pre-op period. My surgery was July 9th and the second picture is from yesterday, September 9th. More to come in two months!!!

One of the guys that works at the Y asked me about my weightloss the other day, and asked me if I did it the "old fashioned way." I said YUP. Eat less and exercise more. Just like you people have been telling me for years. HAHAHAHAHA A lie of omission?? Maybe. His business? NO!! He's on a need to know basis.......and guess what......

Hi Ginger,
Please do not get down, I exactly how you feel as I spent the last year arguing with my insurance company. Be determined and most importantly know that you surgeon will help you in any way possible. I have a top bariatric surgeon from Boston Mass. and even with her help it took this long. Here is a lsit of all I have been through so you can see how horible these companies can get:
had lapband out 4/2011 because it infected and almost killed me
9/2011- Surgeon submitte for revision and we were denied because they wanted updated info.
12/2011-was denied because BMI was not high enough and I was not sick enough(truely this is the honest truth)
2/2012-denied again still not heavy enough(gain40 lbs. at this point)
4/2012-BMI finally right, new medical info. submitted was denied again..why the company never updated any info that ahd been sent. Denial based on info. fro, 9/2011
5/2012-had outside appeal and talked with lawyer
7/2012-re-submitted thing outside appeal wanted was denied again(this time because they again did not us new information and BC/BS even had infor. that was not mine in this denial
8/2012-Surgeon had enough called BC?BS and informed them their info. was not anywhere near correct...after this coversation..surgery was approved and done last Tuesday.

This no doubt the worst part but be strong and you will make it. Most importantly keep ALL information from the insurance company and the info. sent to them. By proving they were not being honest and doing their job they could no longer deny because I had all the info. to prove I meant all credentials they required. The icing on this cake is BC/BS refused to return the hospitals calls for approvals I had to fax them down today.
As you can see this last year was hell but like me you will come out on the other side, just do not quit. Determination ticks of the insurance companies and really will pay off. Hope this helps.

WOW!! There is sooooo much to this whole process. Anyone who says that this surgery is taking the easy way out wieght loss should be slapped AND HARD TOO. It takes a lot of work to have to deal with the medical insurance and the medical staff. This is all before we deal with the surgery itself. I'm glad HeyHer asked the question because I found out some good info from the answers.

Hey everyone, my surgery date is Sept 12th. I'm super excited!!!

In my other post I was dreading talking to my PCP about weight loss surgery and actually worked myself up for nothing! He referred me to my supervised diet which is an 18 week program then I have 2 phsyc eval then I get the final referral to the surgeon. All I am hoping now is that I dont have to do a 6 month diet for my insurance company. The 18 week program is just for my medical group. hmm hope not!! Excited to start this journey and hoping next year will be a great new chapter (if everything goes well)

I echo what franfaith said. All I could think about was food when I was still on liquids. Once you start eating softs and solids, it will go away. Are you to pureed stage yet? I found just getting new tastes into my mouth helped a lot. If you are not, then try a new Soup, something savory like vegatable soup, cream of Tomato or clam chowder (strained). Hang in there...it will pass. Just DON'T give in and eat pizza or steak yet! It's too early, but I am sure you know this!

You can call the hospital & ask for an "estimate". They can't give you an exact price of what it is going to cost. The reason is each patient is unique--you may have complications (heaven-forbid) & it costs more.
The best advice I can give you is to take a notepad & write down EVERYTHING they give you when you are awake. After discharge ask for an itemized bill. Compare your notes to theirs, for example, if they say they put an abdominal binder on you, but you brought yours from home, you can dispute it.

You owe it to your surgeon to tell them how their staff has handled or mishandled your file. Remember, this is how the MD gets paid & in turn, pays THEIR salaries. If they are sitting on files or don't understand your benefits, they are costing HIM money!
Now for the other disclaimer: it is the policy-holder's responsibility to know what benefits your policy allows. Become the subject matter expert before you go down this road. I printed the policy (you can ask customer service to mail or email you it) and handed it to the staff. I met ALL the requirements before I saw the surgeon & knew that my carrier had up to 30 days to make a pre-determination (same as most carriers). I was approved in 2 days & scheduled for surgery 2 weeks later.

1) My coordinators job was to lose every other piece of document that I provided.
2) To forget to schedule important doctor appointments.
3) To not return calls for 4-5 days if he even does.
4) To never send my package to the insurance company, so I had to get em on the ball again.
5) To call me when insurance approved me acting like he did me a favor expecting me to be gracious.
6) Basically I was on the fast track of 3 month wait that turned into 7 months because of him.

I don't know that I dislike other fat people - but I sure as heck compare myself to them in my head. I think I have a hard time understanding how I look like to other people so I wonder to myself "Do I look that big too?" or something like that. I think I'm more likely to feel embarrassed for them, mostly because of my own embarrassment about my weight. But I have some fat friends too.
I could see where this would be common though, probably exactly what you were saying, disliking them because you dislike yourself.