Bridget312001

to catered1, I definitely have loose skin around my stomach that would look much better with surgery, but Im waiting for my weight to stay the same for at least 4-5 months before I look into it. will I do it? im not sure, it depends if I can get insurance to medically cover it or if I have to go the self pay route. either way, I haven't given it much thought yet. take care.

There are ways to have at least part of the costs covered by your insurance if you decide to get a Tummy Tuck. Brilliant share though..you are an inspiration!

After 11 months of trying different Protein Shakes I have settled on Muscle Milk Light. I get it from costco. Its a bit expensive, but is easy to get down and doesn't have that nauseating Protein after taste.

I think we must be neighbors SnohoGal..Im in Everett! :-)

Now that you have lost the weight the real challenge will be to get you brain in the same place as your body..But..i must say you are doing very well.. good share! :-)

You should be very very proud of yourself. WELL DONE you look fresh and alive and its fantastic!

You and I are similar in body type..I am 5'0" and wear a six as well. Its really nice to get a perspective on how it looks on someone else because when I look in the mirror all I see are flaws.

Between hitting the magical age of 40 and having a VSG things have been hard to say the least.

Joking aside, I found if I keep up my Fluid intake and take Acai Cleanse pills on a regular basis I go probably once every two days. My nut wants me to eat 100g Protein a day (yes, i said 100g) which just makes the issue worse. Milk of Magnesia helps if the log jam becomes too crazy.

Remember,at this point in the game you have less in, so there will be less out. Don't stress. You are going to be fine.

80lbs lost as of today. The last three months or so of weight loss have been very, very slow going. Nine pounds to go now. I can do this.

you will loose more weight. Keep doing what you are doing. Your body has gone through a LOT over the last few months. Be kind to yourself, keep up the momentum, weight loss will happen.

I plan on having a Tummy Tuck and upper arm lift with Dr. Harris in the new year. This was a careful choice, I did shop around the area and had consults with other doctors, but I trust Puget Sound Surgical Center and from what I have seen of Dr. Harris's work he is a damn good surgeon. His office was the only one willing to work with my insurance company too. The other two surgeons I met with were no help.

Get off the scale, your obsessing. *NEWS FLASH* Water and food intake will make you heavier. Now go hit the gym and stop whining.

I look in the mirror and only see a fat person staring back at me. Fed up and pissed off with it all.

I want to try on pretty lingerie in Victoria's Secret and not be ashamed to look in the mirror.

4/29 SW: 266, CW: 211, so down 55 pounds after five months.

I wouldn't mind being a slow loser if it was steady, even half a pound a week, but instead I lose in a stairstep pattern, so nothing for two or three weeks, then a couple pounds, then nothing for some more weeks, then five pounds, etc.

The way you are loosing is totally normal and expected. Even before I lost one pound my NUT told me that loosing weight looks like stair stepping down a chart. Please dont loose faith in this! I think you may actually not be eating enough for the amount of exercise you do. It may sound counterintuitive, but try eating around 1000 calories a day and work out for 30 mins 4-5 times a week. You know you are burning calories when you cannot hold a conversation when you are exercising. Good luck, and hang in there!

I cut my hair back to just above my shoulders and had lots of layers added. The hair that didn't fall out became super dry and brittle, so a good majority of it off helped keep it somewhat healthy looking. At almost seven months out my Hair loss is slowing down and I am sprouting new hair, so I can attest it will come back! :-)

Fantastic job, very well done!

I was told to expect this by my doc after surgery due to the amount of estrogen released from weight loss. In your situation you have other outside factors going on, so its not surprising that you had a melt down. Congrats on not turning to food!

Thank you for your great post!

HW: 214

SW:201

CW:149

Still pushing on toward my goal. Loosing five pounds or less a month really blows, but at this point I have come way to far to quit now.

Brilliant Stuff, well done!

That seems like a crazy amount to charge the insurance company. Did you ask the insurance companies why they paid so much?

Curious to know what the doctors office said when you told them you won't be paying the $2500...

I have two insurances, one through my employer and a second through my husband. Between both of them they paid the full amount.

I received a statement from my doc's office last week and was completely unprepared for what I saw. My insurance was billed for a VSG and Haetal Hernia repair to the tune of $120,000! Holy ****! When I had asked how much the procedure was going to cost previous to the surgery I was told it would be around $25,000 in total and "not to worry" insurance would pick up the tab. When I contacted the billing department I asked how they could justify this sort of charge the associate said that this was a major surgery and the charge was normal. She also went on to say that just because $120,000 was charged it didn't mean my insurance would pay that amount. I replied that according to the statement the insurance paid the whole amount!!!!

Don't get me wrong. I had an awesome experience from beginning to end with my surgeon and his office staff, but was it all worth that much money? I think not. No wonder our insurance premiums are so much. To add insult to injury the docs office also said I had a balance of $2500 to pay out of pocket (after I was told there would be no out of pocket expense). I flat out told them to pack sand. No way am I paying a damn penny. They have had enough.

I appreciate that I am very lucky to have my insurance pay for this procedure. I just cannot believe the gaul of my doctors office to charge SO much! I wasn't even at the facility for 24 hours!

To give some perspective my boss had a tumor in his stomach and had the equivalent of a VSG with a FIVE DAY hospital stay. His bill in total came to $60,000. Can you see why I'm upset?

I am in the same boat Lotti and had to cut my hair due to all the Hair loss too. The positive to this is that my hair feels a lot better and the shorter hairs are less noticeable when they fall out. Can you see/feel any new growth coming in yet?

Weight before surgery - 214 lbs, current weight 156lbs and feeling fantastic.

I still get cold at 12 weeks out, especially at night. Not as bad as it was just after surgery. I believe its due to multiple factors such as anesthesia (initially), then metabolism as your body tries to regulate itself.

On the day you know you are having an ice cream social bring in some sugar free fudge pops. At 45 calories a serving you can have one and still feel like you are partaking in the festivities.