GA peach

So today is my one year surgiversary!! When I began this journey in the spring of 2012 I weighed 240 lbs and felt disgusted by myself. I can honestly say this surgery is the best thing I have ever done for myself. I am current at 150 lbs. my goal is to get to 140...

I know I wish he would of looked into my file sooner..In the beginning I wanted the bypass and he suggested the sleeve, he must not of realized how bad my hernia was. 1/3 of my stomach was up in my esophagus causing me severe pain..Now I have to research the complete bypass and check out the forums for gastric bypass stories! ugh

The band is gone!!! Had the removal Wed & feeling pretty groovy today. Now Ono the battle with the insurance company to approve the next step. They have already told me the next step would be denied because I get one lifetime treatment & removing the band they consider a bariatric treatment. Good thing my work is self insured then my patient advocate can take it to the board & fight for them to over ride the insurance carrier who does all our payments. One step at a time. I'm still a bit afraid to eat because its been the norm to not be able to eat until a certain time etc... I hope everyone is doing well

I have been/am in your exact shoes. My band was taken out 7 months ago and I decided to start jumping through all the hoops to have revision to the sleeve. 4 dietician appts, 2 psych appts, upper GI, endoscopy etc. After an initial ins denial I got the approval letter a week ago. Now here I sit 5lbs over my starting lap band weight and fully realize I can't go it alone, but yet so fearful of the "unknown" with the sleeve and what issues may arise from that. I found out yesterday that we've met our out of pocket max with our insurance therefore the sleeve will be covered at not a penny out of pocket and that's what finally tipped me over to be on the sleeves side. Waiting for surgery date, but all fears are still there. I think we all know in the back of our mind what the answer is. Good Luck

A lapband isn't the answer. Just take a look in the "band to sleeve" forum here. The band is a world of problems that will only make things harder. You need to do what you and your surgeon decide is best, but please be aware of the multitude of complications that come with the band alone. I can't imagine those get any better when banding a sleeve. :-/

When to 6 month follow up and I'm down 106 pounds starting weight was 299 surgery weight 291 current weight is 193 goal weight was 185 but I'm thinking 170 height was 5'7/12 now 5'8maybe because I'm standing taller ..any way my blood pressure read 110 over 80 unbelievable it felt great everything was great he wanted me to make sure I'm taking B12 twice a week he said that's very important .. I just want to say thanks for all the support and I be glad to help any one who has Q I'm till learning but ill be glad to help .. And if u thinking about this journey it will be the best one you've been on ...

I have bc/bs of Minnesota and after an initial denial letter wanting more dietician visits, more psych visits and 2 yr history of high bmi, my surgeon and I submitted an appeal letter each and it took the full month but received the approval letter today. They deemed a revision surgery as "medically necessary". I'm over the moon excited! There is hope people!

Here's my latest before and after I wanted to share with you all

105 pound loss 7 months

They really can't tell until they look inside. File an appeal with your medical group. Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

July 5 was my one year surgiversary. I am thrilled with my results. 117 pounds down and only 25 to goal!!

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Hi Everybody!
Can I say that the Sleeve rocks! It is the very best thing that I have done for myself! I am a Revision... Lapband to Sleeve this past September. Wish I had done it soooo much sooner! I am so happy with my journey so far!
Thanks,
Dottie

If you continue vomitng, your band is likely to eventually slip (as mine did). Then you'll have a medical reason! Just sayin...

I say keep showing up to the doctors office, urgent care, and ER for the vomiting and choking. Magnify your complaints don't minimize them. Trust me they will recognize its cheaper to take the damm thing out. Also file an appeal with your insurance company and a medical grievance as well with the medical group you belong too.

Good Morning Everyone.. I wanted to share a post with you. I have two Facebook accounts, of course 1 for my WLS and my everybody account!! I posted this on my Everybody account last night.. Yesterday I turned a year older!!! This is a new year, new, plans, new goals, and I’m living in the new me. I have come FULL CIRCLE and I am Free!!! This post is long but Have a Wonderful Hump Day!!!!

Hi Every...one!!!! So again I will say a lot of folks wont see or read this and I'm ok with that.. I wanted to let you all know that earlier this year I made a very profound statement on my Facebook page about myself, here is another one.. 1 year ago Yesterday 7/16/13. I made a decision that would change my life forever.. A lot of you know that I had been sick for a long time, it had gotten to a point that I thought Slick would find me dead lying next to him. My sickness had gotten that bad. Although I had a few people that would check on me and Slick during that time, the support needed was not there by many.. Anyway, during March of last year when I was finally diagnosed with my illness, I also decided to have weight loss surgery. I started telling people that I thought would be in my corner and stand by my side but instead was slapped in the face person after person when I would tell them even family members. I had phones hung up in my face, people stopped calling, others would say why when you can lose the weight on your own.. If you had seen me and or if you knew that I was very sick you would have know that it was out of my own hands to do it alone. You would also know that for years I had been trying very hard to lose the weight on my own. I had been on bed rest for months!!!! I was very offended by all of the negative responses that I was receiving from friends and family that I completely shut down. I stopped telling people.. I told less than 6 people... Folks was more concerned about me not losing weight on my own than they were that I could barely move, breath, or take care of myself and was near deaf. It was Just me and Slick!!! On 7/16/13... I had weight loss surgery!! I also lost a lot of friends and family along the way.. I slowly started posting pics here and there and when someone would ask me how did you loss or how are you losing weight, I would say, "high Protein, low carb, no sodas, no sweets, no alcohol, etc..." these were and are still all true but I left out the weight loss surgery part... I am at a place in my life now that as I said in my previous profound post, you can either be on my bus or not.. But I didn't do this for Vanity reasons, If you really knew me, you would know I did it to live.. I have a 2 year old Granddaughter that I could not play with, a family that I could not hang out with.. a husband that I could not take care of.. I Can do all those things now and so much More... I'm living NOW!!! I am Very Happy, I have lots of Energy!! I'm Stronger than before!!! I'm 122lbs lighter!!! I work out 5-7 days a week, I have done several 5k's and I'm running when I was told that I would NEVER run again. I have told quite a few people since and I felt that it was time for me to let you all know.. I did this for me and my Family no one else.. It was time to put me 1st.. For years I have taken care of others and I was the one dying.. I'm loving and living life at the age of 40!!! and Next April I will be running my 1st Half Marathon!!! I am ALIVE!!! and I LOVE ME!!

Yessssss!!!! Called Cigna @ lunch and got an approval code!!!! Sooo excited, waiting on scheduling to call me!! God is good all the time!!!!!!

I will never, under any circumstances, walk around complaining about losing 10 pounds in 1 day lol NEVER

When I posted this question and said my paperwork wasn't even submitted yet I was a bit annoyed. I was told by my insurance they didn't have any request on file. So, yesterday (7/11) I emailed my patient advocate and asked for an update. No response. Today (7/12) they called to inform me the band removal to sleeve conversion was approved! I was not expecting that but I am so excited. All my pre-op tests are scheduled for next week. Wow.

Well fellow sleevers I did it! Sleeved on the 8th. Observed til the 9th and discharged home on the which was a cautionary measure. Dr Clark is awesome. I left preop about 9:30 am and awakened in recovery 11am. Received dilaudid in recovery Of course I had gas pain,but no where near when I had the band put in. I hadn't been n my room 30 minutes before radiology took me down for barium swallow. Results were good. Back to the room where I began the dry heaves and up chucking gas bubbles. I had terrible nausea even though I was given Zofran, Pepcid and nystatin preop. Needless to say until he nausea wore off , it was difficult. I continued to take iv pepcid and zofran post op. I was discharged the next morning still nauseated but home. I slept a lot on the 9th to allow my body to heal. Today I finally felt I could drink Water and I have had almost two cups so far today. Oh yeah and passing gas thru the other end, which is good thing. I'm on my way now, looking forward to a healthier me.

I had the lapband procedure done May 2012. Since then I have only lost 20 pounds! I started off at 268.9 and dropped to 248.9. I was able to maintain this weightloss for a year. I did not have many complications with the band the first 4-5 months. One day I was awakened by acid reflux coming through my nose and it was down hill from there! The reflux continued along with heartburn and pain. After several fills to try and correct the problem nothing was successful. A friend of mine had the sleeve procedure a month after me her weight continued to fall of with no complaints! I then decided to see my surgeon about a revision. Everything was submitted to my insurance and the removal and revision was approved. I have been on a 2 week liquid diet it has been pure hell, but I know in the long run it will all be worth it! Today as I go in to surgery I weigh 237.8! My goal weight is between 150-160! I look forward to reaching that!

starting weight
3 months out
5 months out
last week @ 5'6 154 lbs. size 6
Me loving my sleeve
!! leaving the gym feeling good!!

Wow, tempus fugit! A year ago today, I went into surgery weighing 284 lbs. Today, I weigh 195 lbs for total of 89 Lbs lost...SO FAR. My original goal was 140 pounds. While I am still headed in that direction, well see what the future brings. Wile I am very happy with my weightloss to date, I thought I would be further along. Oh, I'm not ungrateful, just anxious. I know that I have made some food choices that I shouldn't have, but I try to shake it off, and stay on task. Some days are better than others. I'm still forcing myself to drink lots of Water. I can say I have gotten much better!
Along with the weightloss, I have gone from wearing a size 24 to a size 14. One day I just stared at a dress in my closet, amazed that it was really mine...in that size! I actually tried on a dress in a size 12, and it fit. Wow. A few other victories....
I CAN NOW:
-shop off the rack, on the main level, not downstairs...behind housewares
-cross my legs without cutting off my circulation
-share a seat on my commuter train without fear of spilling over the center
-run up stairs without gasping for air
-Go shopping with a friend
-tuck my shirt in
-wrap a bath towel around my body
-WEAR LILLY PULITZER....HOORAY!
-sit on furniture without fear of crashing to the floor
***drumroll, please*** I WEIGH LESS THAN MY HUSBAND!!!!!!!!!!
here are a few photos to show my progress thus far. I can't wait to come back in a few months to share my goal photos.
Thank you
Darlene

So proud to be a success story!!!
http://bit.ly/17PCDjo

I'm 5 months out from surgery and I've lost 94 pounds. I have 55 pounds left to lose to reach my goal of 125. I'm 5 ft tall. I'm so excited about the weight I've lost so far and feel a million times better.
I hesitate to post this because the before pic is me in my underwear but It's the only pic I have that really shows the difference. I hope it doesn't offend anyone.
My family is getting ready to go on a beach trip and I bought a swim suit. I got a halter bikini top and swim shorts. I tried to find a pic of me last year at the beach but I couldn't find any that showed me from the shoulders down...but I found this underwear pic from the night before surgery.
I've lost a total of 64 inches so far! I've lost 13.5 inches from my hips and 10 inches from each thigh!! I'm amazed at the process and I'm loving this journey!
Please, if underwear offends you, do not click on the pic. :-)