Healthygal

I have a high risk of blood clot issues from elevated PAI-1. I had thought maybe the best route for helping me with my weight issues would be lap band due to less cutting and bleeding, until I read that almost 50% have issues that require removal of the band. I currently weigh 278 and am 5'5" and have been fat all my life. I'd have to self pay for the operation because my insurance will only pay for 3,000 total. I've read that people are having IVC filters implanted before surgery. I'd like to hear from some people who have experiences with this and the gastric sleeve. How did things go? Thanks very much, Cara

Maybe this was a bit impulsive, but an ad for Zulily came across my screen today, and I decided to take a look. BEAUTIFUL stuff. Okay, but NONE in my size (such has been the story of my life...you understand, I know). I thought, well, you are going to have this surgery sometime in October, why not pick out a couple of things that you absolutely salivate over and use them as an incentive? Now, in the past when I have done this, it was a waste of time. I got down by 20 pounds or something and the whole thing would be done, I'd get the weight back plus some, and the outfit would be given as a gift to someone thinner. NOT ANYMORE. I know that this is a tool, and I am learning the keys to making it work while I save my money for the surgery...but with this tool I am going to make being healthy and thin my reality for the first time! So if I start to wonder why I am doing this, or if I should cancel, or get scared and think it's not so bad just staying the way I have been my whole life, I'm going to pull out my outfits and imagine myself fitting into them, for real. One thing, though. I couldn't make myself order anything less than a medium. I can't imagine being smaller than that, and besides, I wanted to be conservative. If I get to a small (unimaginable, and not really all that necessary for my happiness), I can always take the clothes in a bit on my sewing machine.

I just read on the CDC website for Medical Tourism that they do not recommend abdominal surgery patients travel on a plane until they are ten days out. I'm from Indiana and will be traveling on a plane much sooner than that to get home! My blood likes to clot, so it makes me worry. I've let my intended doctor know about my blood clotting issues...I wonder if I will be sent home with heparin or something? I had to anticoagulate while pregnant because of my issues. Generally I am not on any blood thinning drugs...but I'm trying to take care of my fears, you know how it is! Cara

Wow, that's really medically unethical. Next time tell the nurse she's fired and let them assign you to someone else with a brain. I am speaking as a registered nurse. K+ is typically run at the rate the patient can tolerate. It's nasty.

That's why I haven't told anyone. Most people-including me at one time-proceed under a lot of false notions and information. Most people are stupid, as well...so that's a bad combo. Educating them on something they personally see no reason to do will just blow over their eyebrows and wave their hair around as it zooms over their heads. Don't bother. Smile, and tell them things will work out just fine.

I've been doing the customary digging around for info. I really felt a rapport with Dr. Illan based on what I was reading from others who've seen him, so I'm thinking of going with him. But why is it I can find so much information on the web about many of the other Mexican docs, but can't about Dr. Illan? He definitely doesn't market himself like others. I can't find anything listed about complication rates at all. Where are you all going to find out about your doctor choices? Cara

Moms are just scared for us, that's all. It's in the job description to freak out over anything that might hurt their baby...even if their baby is 45, like me! Therefore, I am not telling my mother. I know what she'll do, and I don't need that kind of misery. I am capable of looking at the pros and cons and deciding for myself. My husband knows, and agrees that it's something I probably need to do at this point, but it scares him, too. Of course it's scary...I know that. I will probably never tell my mother...ever. Or anyone at work, because it's none of their business. If anyone asks me what I'm doing (and I'm sure they will) I will just say I am doing good things for my health now, eating well, working out, and made some positive changes in things to help my success. None of that will be a lie...they just don't need to know everything. Hugs to moms...I am one myself and would be scared for my kids...but in the end we are all responsible for making ourselves happy. Sometimes that means shutting out negativity and criticism, even from mom.

My own date isn't firmed up and will be in Oct sometime, but I already do what you are describing. Some days I am totally ready and elated, some days I think I must be out of my mind and think of how scary this is. I mean, I'm a nurse...I know the possibilities. I also know they are rare, and if I stay the way I am and have always been, I WILL get diabetes, run a higher risk of heart disease and renal failure, and never feel like accomplishing any of my goals. I am TIRED of feeling TIRED, having hurting feet, ankles and muscles from doing NOTHING....I don't want to spend the second half of my life like this, and I bet you don't either. Focus on how great it will be when it's over. I'm there with ya with a big hug 'cause I know how hard this is!! But it is going to be SO WORTH IT!

Yes, I'd love some info on how to find out more about Dr. Illan @zmdh39. That would be super! @@StawberryBlond , I have requested to join the FB group but haven't been approved yet. Since the coordinator is the one who invited me, I guess that's just something he hadn't gotten around to yet. Everything I hear about Dr. Illan has been wonderful...I just want to know all I can so hopefully I will not flip out when I finally get there, or cancel it, or something crummy like that.

That's ridiculous! I'm a nurse, too, and I say you're NOT too old. For one thing, I'm going to have it and I'm also 45! HEHEHE. Remember, there are occasionally rotten people in every profession, and that includes nursing. Personally, I'd report the nurse to the doctor and then go somewhere else for my surgery where I was supported! It'll be okay....

I'm still working on getting mentally ready for being a sleever, and even still deciding if it is absolutely for me. I believe it is, and I am excited about it, but I want to walk into things with eyes wide open, you know. Lately the psych eval has worried me some. I know that I do have emotional eating issues. Mostly what has always gotten to me was feeling hungry and feeling deprived. Those are two different things. I am hoping the sleeve cuts down on the hunger issues as I learn better portion control, but there are still many emotional eating issues I have to deal with. Such as, one time when I was at work and I felt really ticked off at a fellow nurse for cutting me up and making me feel stupid, I stopped at the gas station and picked up a bunch of doughnuts and ate a LOT of them on the way home, all the while thinking, "I deserve these, I had such a terrible night!" Yes, I had a tiny voice inside saying, "Uh, no, you deserve NOT to have them because they are bad for you." but I shut that voice up really fast because I wanted that carb and sugar overload to make me feel better. THAT is something that has to be dealt with and stopped. But if I am in the psych eval and tell about a situation like this, will they say I am not ready for the sleeve? I'm ready to deal with the issues and overcome them so the sleeve can work, but it's true that I have always been an overeater for many reasons. I eat when I am happy and at a family get-together, and I eat when I am frustrated, sometimes when I am bored and there is a lot of good food in the house (good meaning JUNKY). There are several eating problems I have to get at the root of and stop. I just don't want my psych eval to mess things up. I haven't even gotten approval from my insurance yet, but I've been starting to make tiny changes in what I eat. I'm drinking more Water, walking away from the candy corn and getting Peanut Butter on apple slices instead. Just small changes, like trying to eat smaller portions NOW. Though I confess at times I start eating a lot of chocolate because I find myself thinking, "I won't be able to eat this after I get my sleeve...not this much anyway." That bothers me! What is it about QUANTITY that makes such a difference? I have spent a lifetime eating until I feel sick and I don't want this anymore, but it truly has been a lifetime habit and it's hard to get my body to understand that it's not normal to eat until you feel like you're going to barf, and certainly NOT what I want to be doing when I get sleeved! I feel confident that I can overcome these addictions, and I will be working with a nutritionist and whatever else I have to do to learn to live better. I am willing to get the trigger foods out of the house and learn new ways of cooking. Absolutely! I know I will probably eat some goodies now and then, but I don't want them running my life anymore, and I don't want eating to be about large quantities anymore. Will saying it that way be enough for a psychologist to understand that I'm ready for this change? Thanks!

I was told this morning by the weight loss clinic that my glorious version of the UMR insurance will only pay a lifetime max of 3,000 bucks on a bariatric surgery. That's AFTER a 500 dollar deductible, and AFTER a 6 month doctor supervised diet prereq. If I just go selfpay it will be 16,000 dollars. Considering I will have to borrow large amounts of money to get my nurse practitioners education in another year or so, trying to come up with 16,000 dollars for this surgery is a no-go. I'm quite sure we will have to get a new car at some point in the next couple of years, too. There is just no way to make this happen. We have three daughters to pay for, my own education, and a mortgage. Once again, somehow the insurance actuaries have decided that allowing people to continue being obese is cheaper for them than paying for this surgery...or at least paying MORE on this surgery than that! But then again, "I" am the one who is allowing myself to remain obese, for whatever reasons there are...I am the one who puts the food in my mouth. No, out-of-country travel is not an option. If I was not looking at trying to come up with tens of thousands of dollars for my future as a nurse practitioner, it would be a MAYBE. But as it is...it's a no way. So there we are. I appreciate the support you have all give me on here. I guess I'm on my own. Maybe this is the kick in the ass I needed to realize that either I want to be healthy or I don't, restriction or no restriction. I may never be my "ideal" weight, but I can be thinner than I am now, and healthier than I am now. I'll just have to do the best I can. Love to all of you, and a happier and healthier life than you've ever dreamed. Cara

I'm glad that it IS permanent and there is no escape cord to pull. I did South Beach twice or maybe it was three times, and WW a couple of times...when I got sick and tired of being deprived and having to count everything and weigh everything, and I got bored with it then I went back to what I had always known. I know that the first time I want to just give up and realize that I can't I will probably be surprised and some emotions will come to the surface, but then I will be glad that I have the tools to stick with my convictions. I'm glad my insurance requires a 6 month diet period, because that will give me so much time to really get prepared mentally. I can't imagine just sending in papers and doing this kind of things a few weeks later! I have spent 44 years using food for a lot of wrong reasons. It is going to take time to unlearn that and really absorb that the future for me is going to be different than it has been in the past.

I have not even gotten my date for this to happen for me, but I do think it's a mistake to get so wrapped up in the situation that you have to white knuckle your life away. I didn't decide to do this so I could give up every food I ever loved that wasn't the absolute best nutritional choice for me. I am choosing it because it will help me get better control. I will learn about great nutrition, but I have no illusions about me suddenly becoming perfect in my eating. I won't be. I don't even think I want to be. But I will do better and feel better and the weight will come off as it comes off. I will have a control tool, that's all...and I will learn as I go. I want to walk into this with realism.

I know where you are coming from. I had to have an implantable defibrillator placed 12 years ago due to a heart condition. I KNEW I have to have that thing put in, to protect my health...and yet I threw up all the way to the hospital out of fear. Surgery is just scary. This will be a surgery that I CHOSE to go into , and that is even scarier! Right now it doesn't seem REAL, as I'm submitting paperwork and getting things lined up. When they tell me when I'm supposed to come to the hospital, I fully expect that I will be terrified and throw up all the way there. I also know this...I am tired of being fat. I have ALWAYS been fat. As I age, now 44, my body hurts and aches. I feel awful and I look awful. I'm prediabetic, and I had a heart issue that I've healed from but I'm asking an awful lot of that same heart trying to lug around too much. There is rheumatoid arthritis in my family, and I'm doing my body no favors carrying this much weight. The future only holds more pain, more mobility problems, more sadness over how I look and feel, and probably a shorter life span. I'm going to hold those thoughts in my head even as I throw up all the way to the hospital. Hang tough! Cara

Okay, this has been on my mind big time lately, as I'm sure it was on many others pre-op. I've been trying to decide if I want to do this. I've been fat ALL my life, always. I never knew anything else except for a brief period of time in high school when I was biking all the time and hardly ate anything. Otherwise, yeah, I was the fat gal everywhere I went. My weight is currently 250 and I'm 44 years old. Sooo, tired of it. When I read about people on here really struggling with keeping weight off a couple of years out and more, I keep wondering, what was the point, then? If you have to watch your food like a hawk, get on the scale a great deal, fuss and worry about weight gain...why not just do all those same things with all of your stomach intact? If you're willing to do it now that you've had the surgery, why don't we just do all those things NOW and keep our stomachs? So what I'm not hearing in the posts is WHY having had the sleeve done was beneficial for you. Do you feel you are living the same way afterwards as you did before it? Does it help you keep your weight in line, even years later? People keep calling it a "tool", how is it assisting you later on when the weight gain becomes a worry? Before I do something this drastic, I would want to know that even when weight gain became an issue a few years out, the sleeve was still helping me in some way while I exercised and ate right. If you start to gain some weight, is it easier to get back off because of the sleeve? Because if all I'm looking at is this dramatic weight loss for the first couple of years and then I'm back to white-knuckling my existence with food, then what were the expense, pain, and possible risks for? I hope this makes sense. I'm tired of being tired, being the fat lady in the group, losing and regaining, and watching my weight issues get worse over time. I don't want to waddle my way through the rest of my life. I want to feel good and look good and avoid diabetes and other issues. I'm a nurse and know what I'm looking at if I stay at this weight. Sigh! Thanks! Cara

I LOVE that....walking into your healing. I'm going to think of that when my surgery day comes! Cara

Yes, I'd much rather work to keep at my goal weight than work my ass off to try to get 100 pounds off when I never get there and I end up with more to lose when I'm done! This is like a redo. I think most people who keep slim and fit DO have to work to keep it there. Most slim people seem to be doing some sort of exercise and certainly they avoid some kinds of foods. So it's no different, I would suppose. That kind of struggling I can deal with. It's really weird...all during high school I was over 200 pound. The lowest I ever got myself to go with extreme dieting and loads of biking was 165. I wonder if that's basically where I'll have to stop with the sleeve, too? Guess we'll see.

No, I had no thought at all that there wasn't going to be work involved. What had originally bothered me was that some long-time sleever people's posts spoke of just being absolutely miserable trying to keep their weight from going back up. When I read that, it made me really wonder what the justification was for having such a major surgery in the first place if it still felt like THAT in the long haul. I needed to have it explained to me exactly what was the "tool" doing in that fight, because I wasn't seeing it in some of those posts. There'd be no reason to have such a drastic surgery if 6 years later you felt exactly the same way you did when you started out. People have helped me understand much better in this thread. I'm a nurse, too! Currently working towards my BSN and then NP, so that was even more reason to understand the long-term viability of the sleeve. Glad to have your input.

You look GREAT! And it doesn't look like you have loose skin at all! Congrats!

I went to a wonderful arts show today with my mother. The weather was gorgeous, there were tons of booths full of talented artists with great stuff for sale. We walked and walked up and down the aisles. It was marvelous. Granted we walked for HOURS, and that's not something I typically do, but wow am I feeling it tonight. When I got home I could barely get out of my mom's car I was so sore! The front of my ankle area, my hips and my lower back and screaming at me and have been for hours, even after resting. Yes, I could buy that I'd be sore, but hauling my extra weight around all day is sure reminding me why I want to have this surgery. Every once in awhile I'd catch sight of myself in a window and notice that I looked like someone who was worn out and struggling with a heavy load. I am. 100 pounds of extra "me" is a lot to carry around for 5 or more hours! I mean, wow, imagine that! Pick up a 100 pound weight and carry it around almost continuously for 5 hours!! That's what I did today! Unreal! Though I get nervous about the procedure, I really do know this is what will work for me. I can't even stand the idea of being on another diet. I have no belief that they will work anymore so I gave up long ago. The future holds this weight for me, if not more. No way.

I sent in my paperwork last week and have confirmed they got it all. Now I guess I wait. I'm pretty sure my insurance requires a 6 month diet with a doctor, so I won't be surprised if that's what I'm told. There are a few things I wonder about...if I lose a bunch of weight with the doctor, are they going to say, "See! She can do it all by herself! She doesn't need surgery!!" Yeah, losing weight has always been easy, it's the keeping it off part that's never worked. Also, I have been diagnosed with hypercoagulability, my blood LOVES to clot too much. I had a minor surgery a few years ago and had to anticoagulate with heparin. Also, during my pregnancies I had to take heparin shots twice a day during the whole pregnancy and for four months afterwards, as women can form clots more during pregnancy. I've never had major surgery, and I'm scared of blood clotting issues. Anyone else have that issue, and did your doc just prescribe heparin for a period of time? I get scared, but that's normal-I know. What I keep thinking about is how wonderful it will be to finally have a tool that will assist me in keeping the weight off. I will have hit the "redo" button, and after 44 years of being "the fat girl" and having to contend with the burden of carrying this weight around, the shame of being the bigger person in just about every situation, of not fitting in this seat or that spot...gosh, so many things. And now being prediabetic, PCOS, post-peripartum cardiomyopathy (healed from that), with joint pain every day, back issues, hypertensive meds...the future doesn't look so good and I'm so excited that there is an opportunity to turn that around. I've been through so many diets that I can't even start another one now-I can't bear it. I have no faith in the eating plans because I have had so many times that I believed THIS was it, and I would do well for about 2-3 months, lose weight, have people tell me to keep up the good work, and then get so sick and tired of feeling deprived and miserable all the time. BAM, the weight would come back with it's little chubby buddies. I would try to "just eat in moderation" only to find that it was never enough. I was tired of feeling empty, emotionally and physically. There is so much work ahead to learn how to not emotionally eat, and to lose that need to feel like I'm going to burst after eating and calling that "full". That's not full, that's overeating! But I will do that work because this is my chance! This forum is a blessing and a half...I would go crazy if I couldn't come on here and read other people's experiences and ask questions. Thank you all. Cara

I can't use artificial sweeteners. I can use Stevia, which is natural, but that's it. I keep reading about people using weight loss shakes preop and such, and I wonder if anyone knows of some that don't use art. sweeteners? Maybe I'll just have to make my own? I get TERRIBLE migraines from any art. sweetener on the market. I've tried them all, same story.

Hey, I'm a nurse, too...! I just sent in my paperwork so I'm at stage negative something er other. I read about people doing the preop thing and I wondered what I could use that wouldn't give me headaches.

Hey everyone on here. I'm in southeastern IN, but I'll be going to Cincy for my surgery with Dr. Brad Watkins. I'm nervous, and will probably have to wait for six months to do a doctor approved diet thing, but that's okay. Deep inside I know this is what I need to do, but who wants to think about what's going to be done! Not me, I'm a nurse! I do my level best not to even think about what happens during the procedure as it will just make me crazy going over the details!