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It's not Aetna, it's your (or your husband's) employer. They dictate the plan Aetna offers. My Aetna plan covered WLS for a BMI above 35 with comorbidities and above 40 with or without comorbidities. I agree with the others - borrowing the money out of your retirement savings is a worthwhile investment.

OMG what a difference! Congrats on all your hard work and wishing you continued success!

Awesome! Keep up the great work

If you have sleep apnea you will need to use your CPAP machine for at least a month every night prior to surgery. It will help make intubation and extubation a lot easier for the anesthesiologist and thereby making it safer for you. Your surgery will go normally and when you get sent to recovery (PACU) they will most likely hook you up to your own CPAP machine or a hospital machine and an O2 tank if needed. You'll probably wake up with the mask on and it will help you recover from the surgery and anesthesia. That's pretty much it.

Breathing normally while awake doesn't mean you don't have sleep apnea. It's when you are asleep that the breathing gets interrupted. I have sleep apnea, probably had it for years, but never knew or got tested until my surgeon asked me about my sleep habits and daytime fatigue. Getting the sleep study done and the CPAP machine have dramatically improved my life. I hope to be off the machine at about 6 months post-op but in the meantime it has been a life saver. Yet another test would be a pain but it would be good to know if you have it or not because if it's undiagnosed and you haven't been treated it increases the possibility of extubation complications and you'll be stuck in the PACU a lot longer while they try to stabilize your breathing. It's definitely not a lot of fun. It's up to you which is the bigger nuisance.

Wow great work! Wishing you continued success on your WLS journey!

Awesome work! You look amazing!

I am nearly 2months post op as well. I stalled last week and while it was frustrating I tried to think of it like this - my body is still healing from surgery and I put it through another major shock in losing 40 lbs in 2 months. I finally started losing again when I started doing interval cardio. I do 30-40 minutes 5 times a week on the elliptical, 15-20 of those minutes at 80% max heart rate. I also do strength training. I can personally guarantee if you do that the scale will drop again. But please stop weighing yourself so often. Once a week is plenty. I am eating 600-700 calories as my nutritionist advised and will up it to 700-800 in another month. I think at the moment eating less calories is appropriate. We'll have bigger capacity later so enjoy the max restriction while it lasts.

Totally awesome. You're an inspiration!

I was wondering that too. No way does a serving of cottage cheese and fruit = 30 grams of protein unless you add protein powder. OP - are you tracking what you eat on a list every day? How many calories are you getting in? And how many nuts are you eating? There are protein snacks out there with a lot less fat than nuts. Your choice obviously. That being said you're probably stalled. I am experiencing that now at nearly 2 months post op. It's depressing but as long as you eat what you are supposed to and get solid exercise you will break it. Your body is still adjusting. There will be turbulence along the way.

I agree with the others. Starches this early on may not be a good idea and they don't help you reach mandatory protein goals. Switch to pureed proteins and see if it helps. If not go see your doctor.

This is a great topic. My experience has been a little different regarding attention from the opposite sex over the years but I feel the same way! I have been overweight/obese most of my life but I have also lived in other countries where beauty is defined differently than our standard of thin as possible. One would think I'd enjoy being immersed in such cultures but being pursued aggressively even when I was at my largest made me feel gross, not in the slightest desirable. Like a piece of meat rather than a woman. I guess I am just averse to "horn dog" behavior. I have a great appreciation for gentlemen who are in control of their actions and hormones. I'm lucky to be marrying one such gentleman . He won my vote of confidence when I slept over at his house and he didn't try anything lol. As for our society, I have to admit I understand the innate desire to seek out what we find most physically attractive. It's not fair but it's just reality. I felt guilty sometimes because I was the hypocritical fat girl who was never attracted to bigger men. Was that wrong of me? Yes sure. But it's understandable because most people are driven by the "lesser" angels of our nature.

I agree with the above. Walking helps gas pains better than anything. The pain and discomfort will pass!!

How long ago were you sleeved? Some patients need to take PPI's longer than the usual 4 weeks post op. I am still on omeprazole 20mg a day and can't go a day without taking it. I hope the acid subsides soon!

Agree with MIJourney & AntiBand. I am not yet used to the strange looks and second guesses I get from waitstaff when I order an appetizer. But I shrug it off because the prevaling mentality in the food service industry is get what you pay for. I wouldn't take it personally. Be psyched about your success so far!!

Are you on blood pressure or diabetes medication? If so you may need to cut back. Your doctor(s) would be able to give you a new dose.

You pose a great question. How do we go about developing new and healthier habits so that our surgeries and weight loss are successful long term? I used to get a low blood sugar feeling every few hours and would seek out the closest sugary substance I could find. I was incorrigible. This fed into my food addiction and at some points, gave me the excuse to stuff my face. I started counseling a few years ago for food addiction and it really helped me a lot. My social worker taught me cognitive behavioral therapy techniques and mindfulness. I also changed my diet to higher Protein lower carb. Slowly the low blood sugar feeling started to go away and when I looked at sweets I didn't reach out for them subconsciously like I used to. I think both the CBT and the diet change helped me physically and mentally. I did still like to eat sweet things but the pull wasn't so complete as before. Then I started the pre-surgery liquid diet. After 2 weeks I really started to detest sweet tasting things since I was drinking [artificially] sweet Protein shakes all day. To this day I will reach for savory over sweet. The spell has been broken. If it happened for me it can happen for you too! Here's a great book I read when I started therapy. The great thing about CBT and mindfulness is most people can learn to do it themselves: http://www.amazon.com/Mindful-Eating-Rediscovering-Relationship-Food--/dp/1590305310/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375367684&sr=8-1&keywords=food+addiction+mindfulness I wish you best of luck!!

Maybe you should ask that same relative more pertinent details. As others have said the coordinator company is irrelevant. The relevant information would be who the surgeon was and the hospital. Edit: Unless of course the goal of your posts today was to slam your most hated coordinator company yet again.

Awesome! Keep up the great work!

BMI actually does not account for fat-muscle ratio. It is not a great indicator.

Awesome! Keep up the great work

Wow way to go!!

Orange juice has a lot of sugar. Juices usually have added sugar, aside from just the fruit. I wouldn't have if but if its not against your nutrition plan it won't hurt unless you're newly post-op then the acid may wreak havoc on your stomach.

You can eat tofu, hummus, refried beans, eggs, ricotta cheese, etc. Instead of pureeing a meatball try using soy crumbles with some marinara sauce. Sounds good to me!

EXACTLY. At the end of the day surgeons may have the MD degree but they are best at only three things - cutting, sewing, and making money. Many don't have much of a clue when it comes to real medicine.