Felicia

I have had one put in without being under and it wasn't so bad. It hurt but nothing unbearable. I have notices after one gets taken out tho that it may burn to pee a couple times afterward. It doesn't hurt to have it removed either, just uncomfortable.

I am so happy for you!! It sounds like you are doing great. It actually gives me some hope that I will do well after my surgery too. Every doctor is different and if your doc thinks you are eating fine then that's what matters. He obviously thinks you can handle it and will know when to stop and also not to push yourself and your new little tummy too far. Good Luck it sounds like you are doing amazing!

The pre-op stuff is hard, no doubt about it. From what I have read and researched I have found out that the harder you work before your surgery the more successful you will be after surgery. Try and find out what your stressors are. Like do you eat when you are bored, sad, happy, with friends and family, etc. I do all of those so now I am slowly trying to work on each one. I'm still stuck on eating just to eat when I am bored. I have a very bad habit of giving into "head hunger" too. You will be fine though, if you push hard and keep looking towards your goal you won't fail. Remember that even if you hit small bumps in the road, those are not failures. I love food too, and the pre-op liquid preotein diet has been hard on me, but not impossible. I have had some set backs but I have found out so much about myself and why I eat what I eat when I eat it. The food funeral can get out of hand quickly. You need to get a handle on them as soon as you can because you don't want to gain any substantial weight while on the diet. I have read that some insurance companies/surgeons will postpone your surgery if you gain weight. Like Lissa said you will be able to eat again, just in smaller amounts. You may find that your tastes change after the surgery and you may not tolerate things you used to love. Good luck, you will do great just stay determined.

So adorable! Congrats to you and your family! You all look very happy and healthy.

I am 26 and my nutritionist told me even for my age I am totally at a better advantage. We are young, we can lose weight faster, and our skin has way more elasticity. Since we are younger we can also exercise harder, usually younger people have less injuries and problems too. I am almost 5'8 and 240 pounds give or take a few, I would like to see myself at 145. I think I am a bigger boned person but since I have never been thin I'm not sure about that. I would say your goal seems realistic. Usually I have heard we will have the biggest loss in the 6-9 months after our surgery. This depends a whole lot on how much Fluid you are taking in, and how well you follow the post-op diet. I persinally will be following everything exactly and I plan on keeping my carbs super low. I want to get as thin as I can in the shortest amount of time, then I figure I can spend the rest of the year toning up and focusing on my problem areas. The only disadvantage about our age I think would be that we our younger so we like to go out more. That will make it more difficult to follow the rules, but not impossible. I think it will be more of an emotional toll on us but other than that I think we have the upper hand. Good Luck! Don't be too scared I think you are going to do great. Just think you are 18 and getting this done you will have so many more "skinny" years ahead. Some people don't end up getting this until they are like in their 60's. There is nothing wrong with that but I'm sure they might say that they wished they had done it sooner. Keep us posted!

Just remember these surgeons have seen it all, you on your period is nothing new. During my eye surgery the hospital was actually happy I had my period because then they knew for sure I wasn't pregnant. LOL. They usually will not let you wear a tampon because if something happens while you are under I guess they don't wanna mess with having to take it out or anything. I think that is weird but every surgeon prefers you do things their way.

You look awesome. I can't wait to get skinny and then be the cute preggo girl like you. When I had my daughter 2.5 years ago I was just huge. You look very happy and totally cute congratulations.

I have had moments where I think "this is surgery" or "this is a permanent life change". Those scare the poopies outta me because I usually lose weight really well, like 15 pounds a month for 3-4 months, then I self sabotage and gain the weight back within like 1.5 months. So even though I am scared sometimes I feel like "fat me" is just trying to talk "skinny me" out of doing this. There are horror stories everywhere for every different sugery. I just recently had corrective eye surgery ( I have a lazy eye) and boy oh boy I should have just stayed off the internet. I scared myself silly with all the horror stories. But what I have found out is that for every one horror story about weight loss surgery there are at least a dozen or more successful stories. Try to stay positive, if you really want this surgery than totally do it. If one horror story is gonna change your mind though you may not be ready to take the plunge so to speak. Most everyone on here will say that you won't regret your decision to have WLS, almost everyone says it's the best thing they could have done for themselves. Only you can decide what's right for you though. Good Luck and keep us posted!

That shouldn't be an issue, I have had many surgeries during my period. They make you wear a HUGE pad and meshy undies. Every doc is different tho, but I don't think it will be a problem. Maybe just a little weird for you is all.

I just noticed this post today but I wanted to wish you halloween sleevers good luck.

I hate that! I have struggled with my weight all my life. I have always had to diet just to stay "obese". If they put me on a supervised diet after all the hoops I have jumped through I will seriously flip out. I had a BMI of 39 and co-morbids when I started this, they better leave me alone. Those dang insurance companies. Can't they leave us alone. What about people who are scamming welfare and food stamps? Isn't that a bigger story. Or people scamming unemplyment and disability? I mean seriously. Sorry I am on a rant now, it just makes me so mad.

That is awesome! I was also a huge Diet Pepsi drinker ( I am still pre-op) and now I find I can go thru a whole day without it. I have also noticed that when I drink diet soda I crave real carb-y foods. No one really knows how hard it is to kick the soda habit unless you are a fellow soda junkie LOL. Good for you, believe me when I say I know it's tough. Also, congrats on your surgery date! sounds like you are doing an awesome job!

Congrats! what an amazing accomplishment.

I did that, after my seminar. My BMI was 35, and not intentionally I ate myself to a BMI of 39. WOWZER! It was liberating. It was only the second time in my life where I could eat what I want and not diet. The other time being when I was pregnant and gained a whopping 80 pounds. Everybody reacts to things differently. I say enjoy it, but not too much. Try to limit yourself to one "treat" a day. You may find once you get approved they will tell you not to gain any weight so you may be cut off and under control at that point. Don't worry though you will be fine. One thing though all the weight you are gaining you will eventually have to lose again. Good Luck and keep us posted about your approval.

I have Illinois Medicaid, I have no idea if they are the same but here is what I had to do. So in order for you to get the surgery almost everything has to be on a "referral" basis. I called medicaid many times, they helped me little to absolutely none with anything. I went to my WLS seminar first to find out if they would take my Illinois medicaid, I got the packet and had to have my primary care doc refer me. Once my doc referred me the weight loss place took over. They referred me to numerous places. I have had blood work, sleep study, stress test, EKG, chest xray, there are more but I can't remember them all right now. Anyway, I felt I had no bad co-morbities either. I have depression, slight arthritis, and a long diet history but nothing huge, or so I thought. After getting my sleep study I found out I had CSA. Central sleep apnea, and also some scans said my arthritis is far worse than I thought. Point is you may have issues you don't know about. If I were you I would either change your doctor or start asking for testing to be done. The truth is you are in the range for surgery, you don't even need to have co-morbids to qualify, so if your doctor isn't going to help you then find a different doctor who will. I have had to change my doctor many times because sadly when you have medicaid most docs don't treat you well, or that is my experience. If you have a weight loss surgeon in mind you may want to try and call their office for help. They may be able to recommend a doc who takes medicaid who would be willing to refer you. Good Luck! Keep pushing forward and you will eventually get the sleeve, it's just gunna take time.

You look amazing, and in only 6 months! Keep up the good work!

That is so awesome.! Congrats!!

good luck both of you!!!!

Being carb sensitive sucks. LOL... So I have the cravings for carbs and then once I eat them I can't stop. THEN I also stall any weight loss for a few days. Its a big bunch of crap. Hopefully as I stick to this low carb diet I can maybe curb any and all of these issues, maybe not tho. Heres to hoping.

You look absolutely amazing!!!! Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful. Congrats on an ultimate NSV.

So they are actually real staples, at least that's what it sounds like. They aren't those dissolving ones.? I know with my C-section I had my stomach stapled but they all dissolved, I assumed it would work the same way but I guess not lol.

The previous list is really good, the one I had a hard time with was RTD. It means ready to drink. Thats the only one I didn't know when I started coming on this site.

We were just discussing this at my group meeting. I am still pre-op, but a lot of people there are post-op. Anyway I was watching a guy drinking Water and in one hour he drank 2 bottles of water, he was definetly gulping them. I don't think anyone can take big drinks right out of the gate, but maybe a couple months in you can drink normal. Some people have to take small sips longer than others, because everyone reacts differently. Overall though I would say after a good 4-5 months you should be able to drink pretty normally.

The liver sits somewhere on top of the stomach and has to be lifted and shifted suring surgery. The smaller the liver is the more out of the way it will be during the surgery. I doubt your liver is huge, especially if the test was fine. Most people have to go thru some type of pre-op diet to shrink the liver. I have been on mine since September 26th lol. I won't be having surgery until November or December, so don't worry you are fine. I get 4 Protein shakes a day and non-caloric liquids. You will be fine. The better you do on the diet, the easier time the surgeon will have with your liver. The diet should be low to no carbs and high protein. It is meant to put your body into ketosis and flush out the toxins. This is what my surgeon told me. Dealing with the pre-op diet is super hard. You have to only do it for a week so I recommend to just to stay busy busy busy. Good Luck.!

Good Luck! You are in my thoughts!