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Congratulations! It sounds like you've already had a long road! I"m sure that you will do great and being nervous is absolutely normal! It's a pretty life-changing thing you're doing, but SO worth it!

Congratulations on getting your surgery date finalized! Very exciting! Your surgeon should give you his/her specific recommendations for vit's, but mine recommended chewable, no pills you have to swallow whole and no gummies. And you are right, the support is so helpful. Good luck to you.

Congrats! Very exciting!! Be sure to stock up on everything you will need ahead of time. Find a Protein drink that you "like" before hand so you're not struggling then. Be sure to have lots of sugar-free Jello and popsicles on hand for when that initial "head hunger" strikes. Good luck on your journey!

Yes, for sure. I'm pretty sure that's relatively normal. I mean, you're not getting anything but liquids that you are taking in so I guess it makes sense that solids are not coming out.

1. 3 days seems excessively soon to me. I have a desk job, very sedentary, and I went back at 2 weeks post op, but that was WAY early. I should have taken a full month off. 2. I wouldn't think so. I had to have liquid versions of meds for a while, but that is a question for your surgeon. If it is a small pill it might be ok. 3 & 4. I guess some things might work a bit for loose skin, but in the end, it is what it is....skin. In the end lotions, potions, Water and working out will work to some extent, but it all depends on your skin elasticity, age, etc. I ended up having a TT and it was the best thing ever!!! 5. Again, a question for your surgeon. I would think you should be able to start working out maybe 6 weeks or so after, but everyone's surgeon recommends something different. Good luck

Welcome and good luck on your journey! I also started out thinking for sure that I wanted the bypass. However, about 4 months into the pre-op process I realized that all of my reservations were related to the re-routing of the intestines that goes on with the bypass and not any other part of it. So, I talked to my surgeon and we agreed that I would do the sleeve instead. I felt a huge relief because I knew it was the right decision. It just somehow felt less invasive if that makes sense. I have not one single time regretted my choice. I was thinking the bypass originally because I read that you could lose more weight with it. But, I just realized that at a certain point, I had to just work hard to make up that final 10 pounds that maybe I would have lost easier with the bypass. In the end I've lost 140+ pounds so far and have been maintaining for about a year and a half. So, no regrets~! The one thing I wish I would have done pre-op that I didn't was start working on the emotional side of things. I didn't get to be 280 pounds and in need of WLS by just liking the taste of food. I had underlying emotional eating issues that had to be dealt with. I didn't really start dealing with this until about 9 months post op, and I so wish I would have started sooner. If you have some free time I highly recommend "When Food is Love" by Geneen Roth. I would have loved for someone to have shared that resource with me pre-op because it's made such a difference in my life.

Once your insurance approves it's basically up to the surgeon's schedule. I'm guessing everyone does this differently. My surgical coordinator tentatively scheduled my surgery when they submitted everything to insurance. They were scheduling about 4 weeks out. That way, if insurance denied, we would just cancel it while I appealed. Thankfully it was approved and I didn't have to reschedule. Good luck to you.

I was exactly the same. My surgeon didn't want me to gain weight, but I couldn't really lose too much either because then my BMI would be too low for insurance. It ended up taking my 8 months instead of 6 to get through the requirements, but it was worth the wait. Good luck!

I can't think of any questions other than what was already mentioned. But I totally second the how long to wait after surgery to drink. That was awful! Oh one thing.....If you haven't already put it on your list, take an iPod/iPhone and ear buds. I was supposed to have a single room, but ended up in a double and the women beside me was SO loud all night. I never would have slept at all without my earbuds & music playing. Good luck! What an awesome way to start the new year!

I started therapy with a therapist who specializes in eating disorders around 8 months post op. I'm now over 2 years post op and I go every week. It has made all the difference for me in being successful on this journey. I cannot recommend it highly enough. :-)

Love this post! What a great question. For me success has become less about a number and more about freedom. Freedom from the constant obsession with food....what I'm eating, what I'm not eating, what I shouldn't be eating, what I should be eating but I'm not eating. You get the point. Still working on this one.

That's a great time! Congrats! I've run several races since then, including a half marathon, but I will never forget the feeling of complete accomplishment that I felt after completing that first 5K. There is just nothing like it! couch to 5k is great. I don't think you'll be disappointed!

Definitely follow your instincts. I changed surgeons about 1/2 way into my pre-op program....maybe 4 months in. I didn't like the way they did things. They didn't let you meet the surgeon until right at the end after you had met all of the requirements and I wasn't comfortable with that. As soon as I switched surgeons, everything was speedy and flawless. I was so glad I did it. It's too big of a deal to be uncomfortable with the program. Even if it is "just" the surgical coordinator, she/he is likely the one you will deal with more post-op with questions you call in with, etc. You don't want to get attitude every time you need some assistance.

That's awesome! Good for you. I started a blog when I began my journey (about 9 months pre-op) and I still keep up with it now (27 months post op). I get messages all the time that it has helped complete strangers with their struggles and that means the world to me. It also keeps me honest. Everytime I want to give up or go off track I think about everyone who reads my blog and I feel a sense of responsibility to them. it's also great for me to go to it and look back over my journey. Some day in the future when I feel more like my journey is "complete" I'd love to make it into a book. Anyway, just wanted to say I think you will be really glad you did this a couple of years down the line when you can look back on it :-)

You are going to be a success!!! Congrats on your approval and getting a date set. My starting weight was very close to yours at 278.4. I too have always been so obsessed with weight going from restricting to binging and back again. It sounds like you are definitely off to a good start. If I might make a recommendation, I would definitely suggested reading "When food is Love" by Geneen Roth. My therapist recommended this to me when I was 10 months post-op and I SO wish I would have read it before surgery so that I could have started working on the underlying stuff ahead of time. I try to pass it on as much as I can now because it has been such a life-changer for me. :-) Good luck to you on this journey!

It's absolutely possible to lose beyond your first year. Your body might just be getting "used to" what your doing. Or you may have let some old habits slip back in. May need to "mix up" your food and work out routine. Or get back to basics of Water, Protein, exercise, very low carb. Your body doesn't have a concept of months, so there is nothing magical that happens at 1 year. In theory, it just because harder to lose as the numbers get smaller and as your body becomes accustomed to the new "normal."

Awesome! Congrats!

That's awesome! Congrats on your success so far!

That is awesome! Congrats on your success! I was sleeved in Sept. 2013, so a bit before you, but close. I've reached and maintained my goal since about 10 months post op. I agree with you, it has been the best 2 years of my life. Not only because of the weight loss, but because of the emotional work I've done on myself to get at the underlying issues which lead me to "eat myself" to 280 pounds. Here was my before/after pic from a bit before 2 years post op. There are plenty more in my profile and on my blog (linked in signature)

From my experience, around 8-9 months post op was the exact time for me that the "honeymoon" phase kind of wore off. I was getting sick of eating the same foods (I stuck to the plan religiously), I have extremely rapid weight loss from sticking to the plan so closely and I was nearing goal so the novelty of that was wearing off, and my disordered eating voice was starting back up in my head. So, I completely understand. This is also the time I started going to weekly therapy to deal with the issues underlying my eating issues because it scared the crap out of me that I was starting to slip. I can happily say that since then I've lost a bit more weight and maintained for the last year and a half since then. You will be fine. Just make sure you get it in check now and do whatever you have to do to get back in the mindset you need to be in . I think that doing something similar to the 5-day pouch test can do wonders for breaking any sugar/carb habits you've re-developed, or just reinforce the importance of getting back to the basics (Water, Protein, etc). It also helps to return any level of restriction you might feel lke you're "losing" and to break the sugar/carb craving cycle. Good luck!!

It's all relative I suppose. My first goal was 150 and I hit that way more quickly than I expected. So then I pushed my goal to 140. Again, hit that easily, so I decided to make my goal 125. Getting there has been more of a struggle. I've been trying for the past year to stay below 130, so I guess the answer to your question would be that it's taken me about a year, but with that being said, I already passed my first two goals, so I don't know if that really "counts" for what you're asking :-)

138 for me this week. Stupid time of the month......

Congratulations on starting your journey! Good luck to you!

Yes!!! I've struggled with disordered eating (from restricting to binging and back again) all of my teen adult life. For me to think that a surgery that literally "only" limits the amount of food that can be held in my stomach would "cure" or fix my disordered eating would be ridiculous. I have been seeing a therapist that specializes in eating disorders for almost 2 years now every single week. I was a rock star the first several months. The rapid weight loss was exciting and I had no problem sticking to the plan. However, somewhere around 9 months post op or so I noticed that my old obsessive thoughts about food were returning. It scared the crap out of me and it was at that point that I sought out therapy. I know that going back to how I was was not an option for me and so I knew that I had to deal with what lies beneath the eating habits if I wanted this to be a life-long change. I know for a fact I would not have been this successful long term without the help of my therapist. I also read Geneen Roth's "When Food is Love" and "Women, Food, and God" which were literally life-changing for me. I go back and re-read them with journal in hand every now and then because there is just so much good stuff in there to digest. So....yes, I have gone to a therapist for my eating issues and yes, I have found it invaluable in my journey!

I think the only disappointing thing to me about my journey has been that surgery didn't take away the inner struggle I've always had with food. It limits the amount of food we can eat. That is it. It is not magical, sadly. But, since it is a great tool, there are things we can do to maximize it's effectiveness like eating more Protein and fewer carbs (as others have said, Proteins make you feel fuller, carbs make you crave more carbs), drinking Water when you think you are hungry because you may actually be thirsty, cutting out between-meal snacking, etc. But for me, I also had to do some "me" work to figure out why I was always running to food....I've been working with a therapist since about 10 months post op to deal with disordered eating. It has been so incredibly valuable to me and without it I probably wouldn't have been as successful. Good luck to you!