vogue

yesssssss!!!! I definitely have had improvement.... not a single incident since the first 25 lb loss....

I had it...turns out it was a reaction to the blood thinner ( Lovenox) they gave in the hospital... took a couple of weeks for mine to go away.... I actually went to my allergist and he said it was too soon aftyer surgery to take prednisone but OK'd liquid benadryl

I usually weight first thing in the morning... or now that Im on night shift, I weigh just before I shower when I get up at about 10pm... tonight I FINALLY made it to ONEderland.... just in time for February 1.... 199.7 so now I can put my scale away until March 1 and concentrate on other things

so its basic knowledge that 600-800 calories a day is NOT enough to sustain basic functions when you are exerting that much energy... I started StrongLifts a couple of weeks ago... Im NOT increasing weights after every workout as instructed though, only increasing once a week....so for now Im OK and should be OK for a few weeks... HOWEVER, by the end of February I dont know what Im going to do... Im obviously going to need more than 800 calories a day to be able to fuel my everyday life plus workouts HOWEVER at this point I still have 70 pounds to lose... my ultimate goal is do to 2 triathlons in late Spring... I dont get into all of that TDEE, BMR stuff.... but I am concerned that my weightloss ( my paramount concern) will me hampered by my secondary yet equally important concern of building muscle mass & strength Advice??

way to go... and you can go back to windowshop ( and stalk sales) for your decreasing body

I had surgery at Johns Hopkins and they do NOT order these tests post-op/before discharge as a standard practice. IF you show symptoms then you get it....

my surgeon was against it until Month 3 because it is raw and hardest for our tummies to digest....

I never had a lot... and they were the first to go....I cant afford to lose much more, if any I wear a medium shirt now.... pear shape, the belly, thigh and hip weight is what is sticking to me

If I didnt hear any negative comments about the surgery, I may have not had it... would've considered it fool's gold... it cant be all THAT... I needed to go in with my eyes & mind WIDE open... not just "read" textbook stuff relating to complications...but to hear down & gritty detailed from the horse's mouth stuff.... anything else is disingenuous and for a person like me, its a slippery slope...

Aug 30 to Jan 30... Im down over 70 pounds... weighing 200.5 as of tonight, missing my Onderland Goal by a Month and a 6/10 os a pound... no biggie, Im focused and changing the game plan..... For the Month of February Im "experimenting"... doing some HEAVY exercising as well as upping my calories ( AND CARBS!) to fuel by body for said exercise... my goal is now going to be 1000 to 1200 a day.... still lower than recommended for the amount of exercise Im to be doing but we shall see how it works... I still have 70 pounds to go to my ultimate goal so some shaking up in in order... Im also saying goodbye to the scale for the entire Month... Im putting it in the trunk of my car until March 1st... well after tomorrow I will... Im going take one last weight measure ) and maybe see that 199 on the scale) ... then measure my body ( neck, full bust, under bust, waist, hips, thighs and calf) then not do it again until March 1st... so I will likely be spending a LOT LESS time around OH, VST and TT messageboards.... the temptation to check progress is greater when Im reading stories of everyone's journies... the hope is to be down 10-15 pounds per month til July 1....

Im looking to get a TT around August ( gotta build back FMLA hours since I stayed out a LONG time after VSG surgery) .... so Im thinking Im a lil late on starting to build a file that will encourage Aetna to pay for it.... So far Im down 70 pounds ( not quite 5 months post-op) with another 70 to go....Im thinking about getting TT at about 160 pounds which is about 45 pounds away....that will make me about 115 lbs down.... So my major questions are, What "ailments" do I need to be suffering from to get insurance approval or partial approval? rashes, etc... Do I need to see dermatologist?? PCP... will my own pics of these rashes suffice?? How much of a history of rashes and any other ailments do I need? Is it possible to get insurance to pay for ventral hernia repair ( I was told I had hernia years ago) , panni and then I pay for the rest? http://www.aetna.com/cpb/medical/data/1_99/0031.html The following procedures are considered medically necessary when criteria are met. The requesting physicians may be required to submit documentation, including photographs, letters documenting medical necessity, chart records, etc. Panniculectomy: Considered medically necessary when criteria are met, as set forth in CPB 0211 - Abdominoplasty, Suction Lipectomy, and Ventral Hernia Repair. Ventral hernia repair: Considered medically necessary when criteria are met, as set forth in CPB 0211 - Abdominoplasty, Suction Lipectomy, and Ventral Hernia Repair. http://www.aetna.com/cpb/medical/data/200_299/0211.html Aetna considers panniculectomy/apronectomy medically necessary according to the following criteria: Panniculus hangs below the level of the pubis; and The medical records document that the panniculus causes chronic intertrigo (dermatitis occurring on opposed surfaces of the skin, skin irritation, infection or chafing) that consistently recurs over 3 months while receiving appropriate medical therapy (e.g., oral or topical prescription medication), or remains refractory to appropriate medical therapy over a period of 3 months. Aetna considers panniculectomy/apronectomy cosmetic when these criteria are not met. Aetna considers panniculectomy/apronectomy experimental and investigational for minimizing the risk of hernia formation or recurrence. There is inadequate evidence that pannus contributes to hernia formation. The primary cause of hernia formation is an abdominal wall defect or weakness, not a pulling effect from a large or redundant pannus. [*] Aetna considers repair of a true incisional or ventral hernia medically necessary. [*]Aetna considers repair of a diastasis recti, defined as a thinning out of the anterior abdominal wall fascia, not medically necessary because, according to the clinical literature, it does not represent a "true" hernia and is of no clinical significance. [*] Aetna considers abdominoplasty, suction lipectomy, or lipoabdominoplasty cosmetic. Background In order to distinguish a ventral hernia repair from a purely cosmetic abdominoplasty, Aetna requires documentation of the size of the hernia, whether the ventral hernia is reducible, whether the hernia is accompanied by pain or other symptoms, the extent of diastasis (separation) of rectus abdominus muscles, whether there is a defect (as opposed to mere thinning) of the abdominal fascia, and office notes indicating the presence and size of the fascial defect. Abdominoplasty, known more commonly as a "tummy tuck," is a surgical procedure to remove excess skin and fat from the middle and lower abdomen and to tighten the muscles of the abdominal wall. The procedure can improve cosmesis by reducing the protrusion of the abdomen. However, abdominoplasty is considered by Aetna to be cosmetic because it is not associated with functional improvements.

Thanks...I figured as much, just needed to see it from someone else's keystrokes... Im definitely committed... I am also cross-training..... I just have to figure out how to fuel my ody enough with 85% of my stomach missing as well as lack of appetite... I suppose I will be doubling or tripling up on my Protein drinks....

I told no one except my husband...

wow Lara, your before pics look a lot like mine... I still have 50 pounds I want to lose before having TT but yougive me hope.... CONGRATS!!

Congrats!!! cant wait to see ya on the loser's bench

its hard in the beginning to get in fluids and quite easy to get dehydrated... hope you feel better soon...

I had a New Year's Eve Goal of 199 lbs...didnt happen... January 31st goal of 190.... not going to happen Im not discouraged at the weight not loss just frustrated with the scales and the things getting in my way.... Last week I had a migraine from hell for 3 days then mentrual cramps... Didnt go over in calories but made a couple of bad food choices.... I still managed to get most of my exercise in... This week I have a bad cold & bronchitis... Im mostly on liquid diet because thats all I can handle... not going over on calories but havent exercised since last week... Today is the first day I feel like I can hold my head off the pillow without crying... and thus the scale has NOT been my friend Jan 1: 210.4 Jan 7: 209.3 Jan 14: 204.9 Jan 21: 202.2 today 201.8 it should NOT take a month to lose 10 lbs.... Overall Im happy... Im down over 70 pounds from my HW 6 months ago.... I am solidly in a size 14 which I havent worn in 13 years..... but frustrated none the less.... I have decided that From February 1 to March 1, I will NOT look at the scale AT ALL.... I will record my weight as well as my neck, bust, waist, hip, thigh, and calf measurements on Feb 1... then not again until March 1....

you a re right... I think I will relax a LOT more once I am in Onderland... Ive been so close to it for so long...its like standing on the outside of the fence watching all of the kids play and have fun and Im not allowed to do the same.... 2 more pounds and I can relax!!

aerobically, I was never on any restriction... doctor wanted me up & walking within hours of coming out of recovery room... from then I was supposed to walk as much as possible and upon discharge would walk/run as much as my body could take... the only restriction I had was no lifting anything over 5 pounds for 4 weeks post-op... and nothing using ab muscles ( no situps, etc)

I was sleeved Aug 30.... Down 71-ish pounds... HW:272 SW: 261 today, Jan 21: 202.2 hoping to get to 190 in next 10 days.... I have a terrible head cold so on mostly liquid diet so that may help....

Im sitting at my desk with a heater pointed at my face... I never warm up.. didnt have this issue before surgery...

so here I am today, 4.5 months post-op and down 70-ish pounds.... got 70 more pounds to go to my goal of 130 lbs.... and hopefully 6 or 7 months until I get a Tummy Tuck....

copied from here: http://www.realself.com/review/baltimore-md-sleeve-gastrectomy-vsgabout-time#comment-474464 I haven't been fat my whole life. I went through 3 pregnancies and managed to look great in a bikini weeks later.... And then I became pregnant again...High risk pregnancy..In the hospital more than 6 months on constant steroids and bedrest ( and encouraged to eat ANYTHING & EVERYTHING as I was having trouble keeping food down). I didnt gain a considerable amount of weight but I became lazy. Within a month of delivery I was in a size 14, the biggest I had ever been but still far from obese. While I was home on maternity leave, the lazy & bad eating habits that was a breeze to deal with in my 20's became my biggest fear. Before returning to work in 6 months, I was up to a size 18 and pregnant AGAIN.... Again on bedrest with the steroids, I didnt gain much weight but I was still that size 18 post-partum.... I have never been able to get that weight off again. I am stuffing myself into a size 20, I need to be in a size 22. I come from a family of obese woman. My mother, also didnt get huge until well into adult hood, but is currently about 375 lbs. My grandmother died of obesity related illness....Most of her adult life she was over 500 lbs. While my grandmother was sick, I promised her I would never get fat. I was nearly 30 when she died and I wasnt fat, so I assumed I had it made... I would get fat like she and my mother...but here I am... I have no co-morbidities (but neither did my grandmother for most of her life, then one day BAM!) I am getting this surgery before it is too late. My "baby" is now 11 years old. If I was going to lose it I would've by now. ~~~~~~ My Doctor: Michael Schweitzer I originally wanted this surgery about 7 year ago when it wasnt very popular in the USA. I could not save up the money to have it done in Mexico so I began researching doctors in the USA who performed it. Dr Schweitzer was one of the very few at the time. He is considered one of the best and has one of the best success rates and lowest rates of complications.

if you have a Wegmans, they sell it in bulk... but most larger grocery stores also sell it...also at places like Whole Foods and Trader Joes....

havent noticed because Im too scared to try... I still have problems holding down denser Proteins like chicken or turkey.... so Im surely not going to try to see if I can now eat 6 ounes instead of 4.. Im sick of making out with my toilet bowl