nancyell18

I also have a few people close to me who don't understand what or why I'm doing this. I'm on day 11 of my pre-op diet ( My Dr's is Protein Shakes and non-starchy veggies only) I've lost 10 lbs so far. One relative says, "Why don't you just keep doing what you're doing?" I just laugh.

I was sleeved on the 13th. I just started feeling like myself yesterday. Today I got more fluids and Proteins in than yesterday. It does get better every day.

I was sleeved on the 13th. I just started feeling like myself yesterday. Today I got more fluids and Proteins in than yesterday. It does get better every day.

I also have a few people close to me who don't understand what or why I'm doing this. I'm on day 11 of my pre-op diet ( My Dr's is Protein Shakes and non-starchy veggies only) I've lost 10 lbs so far. One relative says, "Why don't you just keep doing what you're doing?" I just laugh.

Read the subject "Do lightweights lose slower?" I think that might be part of your problem also. You are reading about all of the great weight losses from heavier people that have a lot more to lose. You don't have that much to lose and I think that what you have done so far is fantastic. Keep it up, if you follow directions, it will work for you.

Read the subject "Do lightweights lose slower?" I think that might be part of your problem also. You are reading about all of the great weight losses from heavier people that have a lot more to lose. You don't have that much to lose and I think that what you have done so far is fantastic. Keep it up, if you follow directions, it will work for you.

I too have had many people tell me that I'm not that big. I am 250 lbs, 5'3" and have a BMI of 45. I carry my weight well. I think that I was the smallest person in my informational seminar. People don't realize that I've been fighting my weight all of my life. Diets, WW, Fen fen, hypnosis, ally, exercise classes. I started researching WLS about 10 years ago and had originally thought that I wanted the band. When I finally decided this year to do it, I changed my mind and decided to go with VSG. I have the complete support of all of the medical people that I have dealt with. I am presently waiting for insurance approval! I Hope to be done by end of August. I'm so excited !

1 scoop of Unjury unflavored Protein Powder, 8 oz unsweetened vanilla Almond milk, 1 oz DaVinci sugar free caramel Syrup, few drops of coffee extract. Blend on high adding ice cubes 1 at a time to thicken. OMG, I could drink this everyday for the rest of my life. 120 calories, 1 carb, 2.5 grams of fat, no sugar, 1 gm Fiber, and 21 gm. Protein. YUM

I too have had many people tell me that I'm not that big. I am 250 lbs, 5'3" and have a BMI of 45. I carry my weight well. I think that I was the smallest person in my informational seminar. People don't realize that I've been fighting my weight all of my life. Diets, WW, Fen fen, hypnosis, ally, exercise classes. I started researching WLS about 10 years ago and had originally thought that I wanted the band. When I finally decided this year to do it, I changed my mind and decided to go with VSG. I have the complete support of all of the medical people that I have dealt with. I am presently waiting for insurance approval! I Hope to be done by end of August. I'm so excited !

I have spent a lifetime avoiding anything to do with chicken Soup, like the plague. The very idea of chicken soup in any form was revolting to me. I am in my post surgery liquids phase. I am to not have anything that doesn't easily run through a wire strainer. That thought alone is somewhat gross to me. Today i gave in and decided to bite the bullet and try a cream of soup. I chose Campbells Cream of Chicken with Herbs. I thinned it way down with skim milk and warmed it. OMG its absolutely delicious! How is it possible that a persons taste buds can change so drastically? I mean seriously, to go from utter disgust to love! Bizarre. I will take it happily. Now instead of dreading i look forward to discovering new things i will enjoy while smiling because I honestly don't miss anything i can't have. Yay sleeve!!!'

I too have had many people tell me that I'm not that big. I am 250 lbs, 5'3" and have a BMI of 45. I carry my weight well. I think that I was the smallest person in my informational seminar. People don't realize that I've been fighting my weight all of my life. Diets, WW, Fen fen, hypnosis, ally, exercise classes. I started researching WLS about 10 years ago and had originally thought that I wanted the band. When I finally decided this year to do it, I changed my mind and decided to go with VSG. I have the complete support of all of the medical people that I have dealt with. I am presently waiting for insurance approval! I Hope to be done by end of August. I'm so excited !

One month post-op today and down 28 lbs yay !!!
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It amazes me how many healthcare workers will tell people "you don't look big enough for that surgery". When we started doing bariatric surgery at our facility, the bariatric surgeon gave all the nurses in the OR/Recovery Room an
informational session about bariatric surgery. The first rule he said is NEVER say that to a patient! He said that they did a lot of work to get to the day of surgery and patients find it very insulting. How true!!!

I have had the same thoughts and many people tell me the same thing. My BMI is 38. I have considered WLS for a very long time, dieted since I was a teen and now I am 56 years old. I feel like all of my adult life has been controlled in one way or another by my weight. So many challenges. Trying to find the right clothes to hide my fat, fitting into seats, always feeling self conscious, and lets not even talk about dating and men. I now have developed joint problems which doesn't allow me do enjoy my grandchildren, diabetes and sleep apnea. What I am saying is, I don't know your age but weight issues WILL CATCH UP WITH you. Do something now while you have a chance. In my mind, that little voice saying "you're not that big, you can do it on your own, etc" is fear, denial or avoidance of the issue. At least is was for me. I am scheduled for surgery on August 15th. I wish I had had the chance to do this at a younger age.

I borderlined between 35 and 40 BMI for years. I talked to my primary doctor on several different occasions that I wanted the WLS. She told me I did not qualify and for me not to gain back weigh I had recently lost to qualify. Finally, the beginning of this year she stated that Kaiser lower the BMI to 35 with medical conditions. I have had diabetes for over 13 years, then came the high cholesterol, GERD , fatty liver, arthritis and Asthma. My BMI is just below 35 now, because of the pre-op weight loss, which I am struggling to either maintain or lose more! The Nurse even said that I seemed too small and how did I qualify, then should look in my files and stated oh because of the Diabetes. However, I have been larger and struggle to keep those pounds off, but still have all the above medical conditions. My mother is severely overweight and she has many medical problems. She has lost a lot of weight, but the damage to her heart has been done. I do not want to continue following in her footsteps. My father had diabetes and died at age 50 of heart problems. I want to give myself a better quality of life.

People keep saying to me that they never thought of me as "big." Is that a compliment? I always felt like the fattest person in the room. Even my surgeon commented that I would do very well BECAUSE as one of his smallest patients, I wasn't in that bad of shape yet.
I started dieting in high school, and after 40 years of dieting all I had to show for it was an added 80 lbs, oh and runamok diabetes, high blood press, and heart disease. My BMI was 39, but lucky (?) to have co- morbidities, so insurance approved right away.
Now, 40 lbs are gone and my life is completely different. No more diabetes, HBP, and chest pains. I can walk 3 miles without effort. I no longer crave foods, or even feel hunger. I have tons of energy. And my forgetfulness seems to be reduced. I thought it was just age-related. but maybe it was lack of good sleep because of my evening grazing tendencies.
Another 40 to go! Now if I could just figure out how I am going to replace my wardrobe!

I am a BMI of 40. On my chart it says morbidly obese. I have about 90 lbs. to lose. I did lose 37 lbs. on my six month supervised for insurance. That leaves me with the 90. As I was going through the various tests, they kept saying I was small. If you are listed as morbidly obese, you are definitely NOT small. I am 5'2" and weigh 220. Surgery is Monday, July 22. I can't wait!
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I was just sleeved on Monday, also with no co-morbidities but at a high BMI (57) after a literal lifetime of dieting and exercise (first diet started at 6 mos old when my mother was ordered to stop breastfeeding as I was gaining too much weight; my first WWers meeting was when I was 5 years old). I'd just like to make two points:
1) "Society" is in love with hypocrisy: according to the "general view", we're all supposed to be thin. If we aren't naturally thin, and we diet and exercise, we're often made fun of at the checkout line of the grocery store for being fatties buying healthy food and at the gym for being fatties on treadmills, bikes, etc. When those same diets don't work long term, we're derided as failures. However, if we try to accept our weight and live as healthfully as possible, we're chastized for being fat, lazy slobs. Then, after years of this nonsensical Catch-22, some of us seek out a surgical intervention, and are rebuffed yet again for not having done Step 1 adequately, and accused of not having enough willpower. Call me crazy, but I think that "society" can shove it.
2) So who isn't subjected to the above scenario? People who are naturally thin (whether they eat healthfully or exercise or not) and people who maybe had a little weight to lose at one point, and were fortunate enough to have metabolisms that toed the party line and got them down to where they wanted to be with small diet changes and exercise. Once in awhile, you have the "unicorns" (as I call them) who do it all with diet and exercise and lose substantial amounts of weight (in my book, >40-50 lbs) and keep it off. You know what? Those people are literally less than 3-4% (depending on which research you're reading) of the number of people who lose weight. And they're generally only accepted by the former groups if they constantly proclaim how they're a changed person and finally saw the light, etc. etc. (i.e. divesting themselves of who they were before).
Thus, for whatever it's worth, after a lifetime of observation, I've arrived at the following conclusion: Do what YOU think is right for you, and to hell with everyone else's opinions, suggestions, comments, etc. no matter how well-intentioned (or not) they may be. Only you know what your journey has been, and only you can decide what your journey will be. Surgery has risks, possible complications, is kinda scary, and will be a lot of work, and that's just the first part. It all comes down to really weighing the pros and cons in your situation and making the decision that you feel is right.
Good luck and be well!

My BMI was 36-37. I'm 5'10" and weighed 252. Diagnosed with sleep apnea. My insurance covered it so that's my proof that I was big enough!! Surgery was 4/12 and today I am down to 202.8. I only told immediate family. No friends, no co-workers. Tired of the negativity from them!

I was under 40 on surgery day. I was told by the ultrasound tech and several nurses I didn't seem large enough to go, through the surgery. I knew they were wrong. I have lived in my own blubbery world all of my life. The undertones of the comment is
"you could do this on your own" but I know I can't. I could lose a few but I can not keep it off. They were welcome to their opinion but it held no weight with me. I will take the opinion of the surgeons and the insurance companies over all of them.

I was at a 40 BMI going into surgery. My surgeon's office said that, relatively speaking, I was one of their smallest patients. However, they still felt it was a good idea and I was a great fit. My PCP totally agreed that it was a great option. I told myself for years that I was too small for surgery. I thought you had to be 500 pounds and on your death bed to make WLS worth the risk. However, after much research, and many more attempts to lose - and keep off - the weight, I finally realized that 40 BMI (along with my sleep apnea and high blood pressure) was NOT healthy, and I was not able to lose the weight on my own. I realized that the surgery was less risky than my remaining at 40 BMI. Best decision ever. Wish I would have done it sooner.

I self-paid in Mexico. The actual day of the surgery, my BMI was 29.75. It was 32 when I decided to do the surgery, after 6 months of painstakingly chasing the same 10 lbs up and down. (I guess my highest BMI ever was 37.)
The cardiologist who cleared me for surgery told me I "wasn't that big" -- 45 minutes before I went to the OR! Not a helpful time to be planting doubt.
You have to decide for you if it's worth it. There are risks to any surgery, and it is a hard adjustment to make...every once in a while, I suddenly realize how permanently and profoundly I have changed my eating habits. It's great on a Tuesday when you're losing weight hanging out by yourself drinking Protein shakes, but I'm guessing Christmas dinner is going to suck, or my birthday when I really truly do not have room left for a piece of cake, and everyone around me is trying to force me to eat it, because they think I'm just being coy, instead of actually being afraid of vomiting.
But, on the other hand, I watch people struggle every day with both the big and little repercussions of being obese: heart disease, cancers, leg cellulitis and edema, not being able to fit in a booth at a restaurant, not being able to enjoy a day out with your family because you know you walk so slow that it will hold them back. I could see exactly where my weight gain journey was going, and I decided to head it off at the pass.
And, as a doc said to me, you so often see people wait till they're old and super-obese before they get surgery, and then the damage is done, and they don't get the full enjoyment of being skinny, because theirs knees and feet etc. are permanently damaged. (Please don't flame me for this...it may be the particularly Canadian viewpoint, where you have to be SO obese to qualify for surgery...and then you have to wait 6 more years to get in the OR. And in the meantime, socialized medicine lets the rest of you go to pot too.)
And, just a note, a radiology tech could lose their job and their license for expressing such a medical opinion to you. Totally inappropriate.

My highest BMI was 60 and I'm ALMOST down to a 40 BMI... Personally YES I would definitely get this done at a 40 BMI,... Even when my BMI was 40 in the past I was still yo-yo'ing up and down and eventually went all the way up to 360! Also, everyone has a different tolerance for their weight. At my current weight I can work on my feet all day, do an hour Zumba class and then 30 minutes on the elliptical... but for others they can't make it a few blocks.. and still others can climb mountains at 400 pounds. The point is.. when you reach the point where your weight feels like too large of a burden and you recognize that you need a little extra help to lose it, then it's time to consider WLS.. It doesn't matter if that is at 80pounds over weight or 300 pounds overweight!

I started right around 40 too. I simply couldn't get under 200 lbs after years of trying, including Weight Watchers in person, Weight Watchers online, hypnotherapy, cognitive behavior therapy, 3x per week with a personal trainer, and a brief stint with Alli pills. This surgery was my "hail mary" to regain my health.
Lots of people told me I was too small. I told them "My doctor and I have decided this is the best option for my health."
This surgery forces you to change the way you eat for a while. It carries very real risks. It can be expensive. Only you can decide if it is the right option for you.
Lynda

I started at a 40 BMI. On my admitting paperwork to the hospital for surgery it said 40 BMI "morbidly obese" enough said