kalicat

smsgrl2009, no, its definitely not all rainbows and unicorns. Like everything important in life, this takes work. There were plenty of times during my 6 month program that I hated the wait my insurance was requiring, but I don't regret jumping through those hoops one iota. It gave me the time to "break up with food" as my Therapist likes to call it.
food just doesn't hold the same meaning to me as it used to. I was all about comfort food. And how. I used to joke that I never met a bread I didn't like, and I'm utterly powerless against the siren song of Pasta. The Protein Shakes? I honestly like them. Its a quick and easy way to get 1/3rd of my daily requirement. The Vitamins? I'd rather take a Vitamin than insulin shots or pills for high blood pressure!
Years ago, back when I was trying every diet under the sun, I read in Dr. Sears book that you have to look at food like medication. Your body needs a specific amount to function; no more, no less. Back then when I read that, it made perfect sense to me, but it wasn't something I could really fully grok. But I do now. I don't view food as comfort/love like I used to. Its like gas for my car - something I need to keep the machine running.
Post-op I've had a few social situation already, and honestly it does not bother me to see other people eating and enjoying their food. I went out for Chinese with a friend a few days ago, and I wasn't bothered by the fact that she had a huge plate of stuff that I'd normally gobble up while I had my tiny cup of egg drop Soup. I barely finished half of that soup and I was more focused on the fact that I was out of my house and spending time with a good friend.
For me, its all about perspective: how you view things. If you focus on all the things you DONT have, of course you're going to unhappy. But if you look at the positive things you have going on, those petty little things that you no longer have are meaningless.

smsgrl2009, no, its definitely not all rainbows and unicorns. Like everything important in life, this takes work. There were plenty of times during my 6 month program that I hated the wait my insurance was requiring, but I don't regret jumping through those hoops one iota. It gave me the time to "break up with food" as my Therapist likes to call it.
food just doesn't hold the same meaning to me as it used to. I was all about comfort food. And how. I used to joke that I never met a bread I didn't like, and I'm utterly powerless against the siren song of Pasta. The Protein Shakes? I honestly like them. Its a quick and easy way to get 1/3rd of my daily requirement. The Vitamins? I'd rather take a Vitamin than insulin shots or pills for high blood pressure!
Years ago, back when I was trying every diet under the sun, I read in Dr. Sears book that you have to look at food like medication. Your body needs a specific amount to function; no more, no less. Back then when I read that, it made perfect sense to me, but it wasn't something I could really fully grok. But I do now. I don't view food as comfort/love like I used to. Its like gas for my car - something I need to keep the machine running.
Post-op I've had a few social situation already, and honestly it does not bother me to see other people eating and enjoying their food. I went out for Chinese with a friend a few days ago, and I wasn't bothered by the fact that she had a huge plate of stuff that I'd normally gobble up while I had my tiny cup of egg drop Soup. I barely finished half of that soup and I was more focused on the fact that I was out of my house and spending time with a good friend.
For me, its all about perspective: how you view things. If you focus on all the things you DONT have, of course you're going to unhappy. But if you look at the positive things you have going on, those petty little things that you no longer have are meaningless.

I'm struggling with that decision myself. I do not own a scale. I know myself well enough to know that I would constantly get on it, and constantly beat myself up for the number. I have enough stress in my life, I don't need to add to it. The way I look at it, when I go see my Dr, every time its like a happy surprise!
I may change my mind on that now that I am post-op. But I'm still worried about obsessing too much about the number, even if it is lower than it used to be.

People need to realize that this is a public forum with thousands of people with thousands of opinions. No need to get butt hurt about something that a stranger says to you on the Internet. Just saying
*****And I feel the need to add that this is not directed to anyone in particular and can pertain to most threads on here that creates some sort of drama*****

smsgrl2009, no, its definitely not all rainbows and unicorns. Like everything important in life, this takes work. There were plenty of times during my 6 month program that I hated the wait my insurance was requiring, but I don't regret jumping through those hoops one iota. It gave me the time to "break up with food" as my Therapist likes to call it.
food just doesn't hold the same meaning to me as it used to. I was all about comfort food. And how. I used to joke that I never met a bread I didn't like, and I'm utterly powerless against the siren song of Pasta. The Protein Shakes? I honestly like them. Its a quick and easy way to get 1/3rd of my daily requirement. The Vitamins? I'd rather take a Vitamin than insulin shots or pills for high blood pressure!
Years ago, back when I was trying every diet under the sun, I read in Dr. Sears book that you have to look at food like medication. Your body needs a specific amount to function; no more, no less. Back then when I read that, it made perfect sense to me, but it wasn't something I could really fully grok. But I do now. I don't view food as comfort/love like I used to. Its like gas for my car - something I need to keep the machine running.
Post-op I've had a few social situation already, and honestly it does not bother me to see other people eating and enjoying their food. I went out for Chinese with a friend a few days ago, and I wasn't bothered by the fact that she had a huge plate of stuff that I'd normally gobble up while I had my tiny cup of egg drop Soup. I barely finished half of that soup and I was more focused on the fact that I was out of my house and spending time with a good friend.
For me, its all about perspective: how you view things. If you focus on all the things you DONT have, of course you're going to unhappy. But if you look at the positive things you have going on, those petty little things that you no longer have are meaningless.

This is where, as a revision patient, I think I had a small advantage. I remember some of the emotional stuff from 7 years ago. Some is easier now, some not so much. We use food for so much! Celebration, comfort, social times, you name it, food is usually involved. But that's part of WHY this surgery is good and necessary. It's going to "force" you to start treating food as just food instead of an emotional "event".
It's not going to be easy. You might even want to get professional help at some point. I think any WLS sort of MAKES people recognize their emotional dependency on food. Those who accept that and work to fix it are successful with their weight loss. Those who don't are the ones who regain OR substitute some other addiction for food.
It WILL get better when you can start eating small amounts of normal food. Just tell yourself you're recovering from surgery...it's temporary!

smsgrl2009, no, its definitely not all rainbows and unicorns. Like everything important in life, this takes work. There were plenty of times during my 6 month program that I hated the wait my insurance was requiring, but I don't regret jumping through those hoops one iota. It gave me the time to "break up with food" as my Therapist likes to call it.
food just doesn't hold the same meaning to me as it used to. I was all about comfort food. And how. I used to joke that I never met a bread I didn't like, and I'm utterly powerless against the siren song of Pasta. The Protein Shakes? I honestly like them. Its a quick and easy way to get 1/3rd of my daily requirement. The Vitamins? I'd rather take a Vitamin than insulin shots or pills for high blood pressure!
Years ago, back when I was trying every diet under the sun, I read in Dr. Sears book that you have to look at food like medication. Your body needs a specific amount to function; no more, no less. Back then when I read that, it made perfect sense to me, but it wasn't something I could really fully grok. But I do now. I don't view food as comfort/love like I used to. Its like gas for my car - something I need to keep the machine running.
Post-op I've had a few social situation already, and honestly it does not bother me to see other people eating and enjoying their food. I went out for Chinese with a friend a few days ago, and I wasn't bothered by the fact that she had a huge plate of stuff that I'd normally gobble up while I had my tiny cup of egg drop Soup. I barely finished half of that soup and I was more focused on the fact that I was out of my house and spending time with a good friend.
For me, its all about perspective: how you view things. If you focus on all the things you DONT have, of course you're going to unhappy. But if you look at the positive things you have going on, those petty little things that you no longer have are meaningless.

Now that I'm over the hump, I can talk more about the pre-op process. During my 6 month gig, I did lose weight every month. The losses were all pretty minimal, so my total loss pre-op was 26 pounds. I had no problem getting the pre-authorization from my insurance. In fact, I was surprised that the auth was granted so quickly - it got approved just 1 week after submission.
Having worked in health care dealing with insurance for over 20 years, I know that every insurance is different. The best advice I can give to any pre-op patient is to take the time to have conversations with your insurance carrier about this. Find out what they look for in that pre-auth, what typically gets denied and what they want to see in order to grant that authorization. I had this conversation before I had even selected a surgeon and my insurance was very clear to me that they did not care so much about a specific amount of weight loss pre-op so much as they cared to see that I was a compliant patient. This was also stressed to me at the pre-op visits by the staff.
Some insurance DO require a specific amount of weight to be dropped before they will ok the surgery. And some Dr's do as well (mine did not). These are all questions that should be asked early on so that you can best plan your strategy. Dealing with insurance is all about playing the game by their rules. If you satisfy their arbitrary laundry list of criteria, you will be approved.

I have a serious phobia of medical things that I would say borders on PTSD. For realz. I've never, ever had a good experience with doctors and that has only worsened as I've gotten older. In Dec. 2011 I had a hysterectomy and it was a very difficult surgery with some complications that made for a very unpleasant inpatient hospital experience. I was sleeved on May 6th and I can tell you I was terrified right until the Versed was injected into my IV line and I was being wheeled into the OR.
I have a fantastic medical team that I can honestly say I am completely confident in letting them touch me. And that's a huge thing for me to say.
Trust the choice you've made, trust the Dr you've chosen. Ask as many ridiculous questions as you need to satisfy your anxiety. I know I did and I don't regret it one bit. My Dr was made aware on the first appointment that I was a high anxiety patient with a severe case of White Coat Syndrome, he has never once made me feel ashamed about this, nor has he dismissed my fears as frivolous. I cannot begin to say how grateful I am that I chose him.

Until I read this thread, I didn't even know what a bougie is. I honestly don't think I would have considered this as a factor in choosing the type of surgery I had or the surgeon I went with. Ultimately, I believe it doesn't really matter. What matters most are the choices I make with food and how much activity I get. Whether I had a bougie, or what size it is, isn't going to be the ultimate factor in my success or failure.
In talking to other patients, I'm continually fascinated by the different ways Doctors do things. My surgeon does things that others do not, and I've heard other patients talk about things I never experienced with my surgeon. In the end, I think those little differences in treatment are not important. What is important is how you use the tools you've been given. If you fail, its not because your Dr used the wrong size bougie, its because you didn't change your eating habits.

You're awfully defensive and you're being a bit hypocritical.
You are chastising myself and Laura for stating that bougie size has very little, if any, impact on long term weight loss (which I would think would be both informative and encouraging). There are case studies proving this.
You did not chastise NtvTxn for opining that bougie size does impact weight loss success.
But if it makes you feel better, my surgeon didn't use a bougie, he used a thimble. If I recall correctly from another thread Laura-ven's used a garden hose. And yes, I'm being facetious.

Here is the case study regarding bougie size.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/18656834/

I'm going to opine on this.
WLS will not "fix" you. Your (I'm using "your" as a generalization, not specific to any one individual) hang ups with food are still there. You're not cured, you're being treated.
Focusing on bougie size, of which there is very little size difference, rather than your weight loss journey in its entirety can be an indicator that you're expecting the surgery to do all the work. That the most minuscule sized bougie will make all the difference in your success. That ghrelin reduction wil cure your hunger...
The fact of the matter is, we as individuals make all the difference in our success. Period.
The surgery helps us, a LOT but it is not a the cure. It's a powerful treatment.
Don't focus on bougie size or the ghrelin hormone being reduced. Focus on how you can use your Sleeve to the best of your advantage and have optimal results.
The tiniest of tummies will not guarantee you success. We can still set ourselves up for failure by not working hard and making our own success.