makemyownluck

We are all courageous here Being courageous means being afraid and doing it anyway. Keep moving forward...one step at a time...and next thing you know you will be done and smiling in the mirror at the skinny you!

I'm pre op and very depressed and stressed - the way I look at it, I CAN'T FEEL ANY WORSE THAN I ALREADY DO! Anything would be an improvement at this point. And, I gotta say, this whole insurance process isn't helping!! I think getting over the insurance woes, the pre-op testing, the night-before-surgery-jitters - I'll be so exhausted that getting the dang operation over with will bring on a flood of relief and it will only get better from there!
You have to have a positive attitude. You WILL get through this. You WILL feel better. You WILL succeed. You WILL be happy.
"Trying" to be or do anything already implies failure. You have to have the will to see the bigger picture, to keep your eye on the prize, and KNOW IT WILL GET BETTER.
I woulda thought an old hippie lady would know that a positive attitude gets you through anything. Stay strong! You've survived this long as a heavy person - that speaks volumes for your capacity to adapt already! Life isn't easy being heavy. But every movement you make will be easier when you lose weight. Just eliminating the depressing effects of pain, pain you may not even recognize because you've had it so long, will change your overall mood.
I know I'll probably have body issues for my whole life. Things I'll want to change or whatever - like most women have. I'm okay with that. I'm not okay with being the biggest person I know. I'm not okay with struggling up my FOUR porch stairs. I'm not okay with cracking ankles and knees at age 32 because my poor legs were not made to sustain this weight. My body is a mess, I don't expect that to change completely by losing weight (if anything, things could get reallll ugly!). But being accepted by society is so important to me. I bully myself harder than anyone, but I'm so fragile to society because I've been ridiculed too many times. I recognize how I'm treated differently, and I know I'm a smart person! I know I have valid, thoughtful opinions. I know I'm a great, funny, talented person - but being severely overweight, no one sees that!
Wow. This reply got really long. Sorry bout that. I need a therapist stat! LOL

I've heard that after you reach goal, wait a good 2 years before you decide to do anything like plastic surgery (which it does not sound like you want) because of the amazing restorative properties of the body. Everything may not go back to "normal" but sounds like a lot of improvement can take place in that first couple years. Then evaluate the need to slice and dice. I am also hoping my batwings and bag of wet laundry in the front can be improved by "non cutting" methods

So if she says they work...then they do? I'm asking if you understand what anecdotal evidence is? If I do "A" and "B" happens, then "A" didn't necessarily cause "B". My mom drank milk....then got cancer. 99.9% of cancer patients drank milk. This doesn't mean that milk caused cancer.
There is already plenty of evidence that these kinds of things have no measurable effect. If she's selling them then I have a right to ask what evidence is there that they work other than she put them on and her saggy skin improved. It's well known that if you lose weight too fast your skin may not withdraw as fast and you will have lose looking skin. In some individuals, the skin will tighten on its own afterward. So my question is how does anyone know that the individuals who have used this product wouldn't have also had the same effect without it?

I love muscle milk, french vanilla rtd is great and i can add things for flavor. I like chai powder (found a sugar free mix at world market) or i also do coffee extract for a cappucino flavor. Ive also added sugar free raspberry Syrup. World market has a huge selection of sugar free turano syrups.
Also, muscle milk has a banana cream flavor that is very banana-y. Banana isnt my favorite bit i like it enough to have once in a while. They also make Peanut Butter extract if you really like that flavor combo. A couple drops of extract goes far and adds 0 calories or carbs!

I too have a desk job and I planned on taking 1 week and ended up needing 2. I was not in pain the 2nd week, but I was excruciatingly weak. I don't mean tired either. I mean weak. To pull the covers over my body was an effort. I lost a lot of blood in the surgery. That combined with not getting all my liquids in I was suffering with extremely low blood pressure 56/40. I went back the 3rd week full time and I should have worked half days. I was wiped out by the time I got home every day and I didn't get much done.
My advice would be to tell your boss 2 weeks so they expect you to be gone and if your doctor releases you before that you can go back. It's always easier to ask for the time up front rather than after the fact when everyone is expecting you back at work.
Good luck!
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I'm still pre-surgery, but I'm choosing VSG over the Gastric Bypass. GB concerns me because of the malabsorption of vitamins/nutrients. While there are definitely ways to manage it and be healthy, I'd still be afraid of becoming chronically deficient or anemic despite those efforts. Also, I learned that there is a lifetime possiblity of having obstructions or twisting of the small intestine because of the rerouting. (While it's not a super high probability, it's still there.) One more thing I didn't like was that if doctors ever need to do scans or ultrasounds, it is harder for them to actually 'see' what's going on in your GI tract because of the rerouting and the new criss-crossed shape of the intestines. As you can begin to tell - I'm a bit of a worrier! hehe. But to me, the sleeve is a happy medium between the Band & GB, so I'm going to go with it. Either way, you gotta figure that some surgery is better than no surgery, right? Good luck with whatever path you choose!

lookin good!! love them bamboo earrings, girl!

Been there done that, finally gave in to the fact that I could NOT do it on my own and that I had to have help. I was (not so slowly) killing myself. About 1 3/4 years out and it's by far tge best thing I have ever done for myself Healthwise.< /p>

Good little article, although it mentions more of things tasting BAD after surgery, I noticed my tastes just changes and things tasted a lot better. Someone who had WLS once told me it was just like after they quit smoking years vefore, things just had a LOT more taste.
i HARDLY ever salt anything anymore where I used to just load up everything with it. I used to like spicy food and now I LOVE it. So I wonder if it's not a CAHNGE in taste but a RESTORATION of taste since we are not overloading our pallets with masses of food now.

still pre-op here, but I've been doing Protein shakes to get used to them in preparation for pre- and post-op diet.
I LOVE muscle milk. chocolate and vanilla creme are all I've tried so far, but I really enjoy them. I also have sugar-free spiced chai powder, been mixing that with the vanilla for a nice "chai latte" that I used to always get from Starbux. I've also used coffee extract (found it at Whole Foods) or sugar free raspberry Syrup in the chocolate shakes. The shakes are also good by themselves (IMO), but I like to flavor it up for variety. I haven't tried the raspberry with vanilla creme yet, but I plan to - I also want to get some strawberry syrup or extract as well.
I'd love to hear from anyone who's tried both the muscle milk ready to drink shakes and the powders. I've only been using the ready to drink shakes, but it's SO expensive to do it that way... would like to try the powder but am afraid it won't be as good. Anyone know about this?

I haven't been sleeved yet, but I had laparoscopic gall bladder surgery a couple of years ago and the incisions are fairly similar to what you had for a sleeve. While I was feeling much better and returned to work 6 days after that surgery, I had pain in my lower abs for about 3 months after. I would notice it when I walked anything over like 10-15 minutes, it was a sharp, aching pain. I'd even notice it when walking in the grocery store or anything. It took a while to completely go away... but in the first few months, there were times I had to stop what I was doing (for example, if I was in a store) and find somewhere to sit down, or lean all my weight on. I'm not a doc, so I dont know what it is exactly, but it sounds similar to that, and my surgeon then told me it was normal and to be careful not to push myself when I felt that way, or else risk a hernia.
Go slow, rest often, and if it's really intense, talk to your surgeon. Good luck!

Have you tried the Protein bullets? You can get them an Wal-Greens, CVS, online (only a few at WalMart). Here's a link to some. http://www.walgreens.com/search/results.jsp?N=359447+2000013047&Ntt=protein&y=0&x=0
several different flavors, and you get 40+ grams of Protein in about 3 oz! I'm going to try to find a few of the singles at WalGreens this weekend just to see how they are, and then I'll think about ordering the larger quantities that are only available online. My dietician suggested them so I did a little hunting yesterday.

Thank you for sharing, Makemyownluck. I'm also 32 years old, and I have to say that your story and motivations sound EXACTLY the same as mine. I'm also pre-surgery, and just went through an all-day info seminar at the hospital today. Yesterday I was still unsure whether to move ahead with surgery. A couple of years ago I managed to lose over 160lbs without WLS...so I've been totally playing mind games with myself for a year now, saying "Maybe I can do it again, and maybe I'll keep all of it off this time."...'maybe this'...and 'maybe that'....'but what if this, and that'. But between all the new things I learned about WLS today, and the biological drivers of obesity..., and all the great info and support from this forum - I know in my heart that it's the right choice for me. I don't want to live in a world of "maybe's" and "what if's" anymore...time for me to walk through the fear, and take action! Good luck in whatever path you choose Readyfourchg...and keep asking lots of questions like this one until you know what's right for you!!

I've started the process, but I think I have a long way to go before I'm approved and scheduled for surgery. I'll be using my health insurance, so I have way more hoops to jump through to get on that operating table.
I'm 32 and single, and have been overweight my whole life. In the past 5 or 6 years, my weight has gone far beyond what I thought would be my max. I have over 200 lbs to lose, and my trigger to choose surgery was being diagnosed with high blood pressure. I've kinda kept blinders on about my weight problem because I was otherwise healthy. All my tests would come back normal, my bp was actually low, but now age (I know, only 32, but there's a difference between a 20 year old fat girl and a 32 year old fat girl!!) and my skyrocketing weight is catching up to my health. I don't want to become diabetic. I don't want to have high cholesterol.
Despite the obvious weight issues, I also mentioned I'm single, I'm also childless. I feel like I'm at a crossroads that if I ever want to have a child, I need to do something about my weight. At this weight, I couldn't likely conceive a child or have a healthy pregnancy. Nevermind the fact that I can't catch a decent man these days! Even if I chose adoption, I am in no physical condition to chase after a child.
Even if I never have a child, I do want to have a better quality of life. My weight has caused depression, major self esteem issues, has contributed to my lack of relationships or my own family, and now it's impacting my health in a measurable way. I've simply had ENOUGH and honestly, I'm already kicking myself that I didn't get this process started 10 years ago.
I wish you luck! I'm glad you joined the board, I learned loads from this site and it's helped me make this choice.

I've started the process, but I think I have a long way to go before I'm approved and scheduled for surgery. I'll be using my health insurance, so I have way more hoops to jump through to get on that operating table.
I'm 32 and single, and have been overweight my whole life. In the past 5 or 6 years, my weight has gone far beyond what I thought would be my max. I have over 200 lbs to lose, and my trigger to choose surgery was being diagnosed with high blood pressure. I've kinda kept blinders on about my weight problem because I was otherwise healthy. All my tests would come back normal, my bp was actually low, but now age (I know, only 32, but there's a difference between a 20 year old fat girl and a 32 year old fat girl!!) and my skyrocketing weight is catching up to my health. I don't want to become diabetic. I don't want to have high cholesterol.
Despite the obvious weight issues, I also mentioned I'm single, I'm also childless. I feel like I'm at a crossroads that if I ever want to have a child, I need to do something about my weight. At this weight, I couldn't likely conceive a child or have a healthy pregnancy. Nevermind the fact that I can't catch a decent man these days! Even if I chose adoption, I am in no physical condition to chase after a child.
Even if I never have a child, I do want to have a better quality of life. My weight has caused depression, major self esteem issues, has contributed to my lack of relationships or my own family, and now it's impacting my health in a measurable way. I've simply had ENOUGH and honestly, I'm already kicking myself that I didn't get this process started 10 years ago.
I wish you luck! I'm glad you joined the board, I learned loads from this site and it's helped me make this choice.

I'm APPROVED!!!!!!!!! I am so happy. All it took was 3 days. I wasn't sure if I was going to get it because I did not have a BMI of 40 for 5 years, which my insurance required, but I gave them what I had and more and they approved me! Happy Dance!

How about going to a store that sells higher limit scales... and trying it out in the store. No need to buy. Test it!

So I've lamented on this board before about how my MD office doesn't have a scale that goes high enough to weigh me. That could very well be A BLESSING for me, it turns out. I went to the MD today and told him that I went to the NUT, started the carb counting diet, and that I have a psych eval tomorrow. I asked him what would happen next and was a little sad when he told me that the insurance will want 3 months of supervised diet.
Well, I can wait if needed, but the doctor then said he would talk to the medical group and see if there's a way to skip that part... since his scale only goes as high as 350 and I'm in the 440ish range, there's no way I'm going to lose enough weight in 3 months to be able to get on his scale and show progress. He's hoping that since I've been his patient for 10+ years and my medical record shows other weight loss attempts in the last few years (Phentermine, etc.) that they MIGHT waive the diet part of it. Plus my recent hypertension dx could also scoot things along with getting the referral for surgery approved.
I'm not gonna hold my breath since I know insurance companies very rarely bend the rules. But I'm on an *** and my medical group is very small, he's only one of 5 MDs in the group, so I'm thinking I MIGHT have a shot... with the ***, BCBS will pay for the surgery as long as the medical group approves the referral, so there's a chance my MD could convince the medical group that the referral is warranted. Otherwise, we wait the 3 months... looking at December-January for a surgery date. And while I don't particularly want to be laid up from surgery at Christmastime, I'm not going to put it off. He did say that once you do the requirements, they are pretty quick with a response and you get approved for surgery right away - so even if I have to wait 3 months, it's still good news because once the diet part is done, we can get things rolling pretty quickly.
At least, that's what I'm hoping for!!

That is incredible!! I can't believe you've dropped 100lbs in less than a year, that's so fantastic!! You look great, good luck on continued success.

So I've lamented on this board before about how my MD office doesn't have a scale that goes high enough to weigh me. That could very well be A BLESSING for me, it turns out. I went to the MD today and told him that I went to the NUT, started the carb counting diet, and that I have a psych eval tomorrow. I asked him what would happen next and was a little sad when he told me that the insurance will want 3 months of supervised diet.
Well, I can wait if needed, but the doctor then said he would talk to the medical group and see if there's a way to skip that part... since his scale only goes as high as 350 and I'm in the 440ish range, there's no way I'm going to lose enough weight in 3 months to be able to get on his scale and show progress. He's hoping that since I've been his patient for 10+ years and my medical record shows other weight loss attempts in the last few years (Phentermine, etc.) that they MIGHT waive the diet part of it. Plus my recent hypertension dx could also scoot things along with getting the referral for surgery approved.
I'm not gonna hold my breath since I know insurance companies very rarely bend the rules. But I'm on an *** and my medical group is very small, he's only one of 5 MDs in the group, so I'm thinking I MIGHT have a shot... with the ***, BCBS will pay for the surgery as long as the medical group approves the referral, so there's a chance my MD could convince the medical group that the referral is warranted. Otherwise, we wait the 3 months... looking at December-January for a surgery date. And while I don't particularly want to be laid up from surgery at Christmastime, I'm not going to put it off. He did say that once you do the requirements, they are pretty quick with a response and you get approved for surgery right away - so even if I have to wait 3 months, it's still good news because once the diet part is done, we can get things rolling pretty quickly.
At least, that's what I'm hoping for!!