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So I got my answer! It was submitted on April 8th (a Wednesday) and received a call from my surgeon's office yesterday, April 13th (a Monday) that I was approved for the panniculectomy AND abdominoplasty. So the wait time from submission to approval was only 4 days if you count the day of submission. The surgeon said usually they just approve the panni (which is just the removal of the excess skin that overhangs the pubis after significant weight loss, but that not many approve the abdominoplasty, which is your typical tummy tuck. He will remove the excess skin, but also tighten everything up, fix the sides up a bit, and basically build me a new belly button. It is horizontal, so hip-to-hip, and the recovery is said to be pretty rough. So the reason I'm only 1/2 approved and 1/2 excited is that my brachioplasty or arm lift was not approved, even though I have the medical documentation of the same issues occurring with the skin on my arms. So, they will send me a denial letter and it will have the appeal process. I will definitely appeal. My date for my tummy tuck right now is May 8, but I may push it forward to the beginning of June for a variety of reasons including that I might hear back on my appeal by then & I would much rather have both done at the same time. Sigh. I know I should be thrilled that I was approved for the panni and tummy tuck, but I can't deny that I'm a little bummed about the arm lift.

Today's weigh in was 129.8. Goal for the challenge: 125 & maintaining. :-)

Well they may not...lol. I guess we will see. I've met all the "criteria" so I'm hopeful :-)

So I saw the plastic surgeon this week about having a tummy tuck & excess under arm skin removed. I have been waiting until 18 months post op, because that's what my insurance requires. I gave him all my medical documentation, and a copy of my insurance rider just to be sure :-). He took some pics, wrote my report & sent it for approval. I'm SO nervous & I seriously hate waiting! I feel like I did waiting for approval for my sleeve. They said I should know by next week. And that if they deny I can appeal :-) Hopefully I can post again next week saying I got approval for both :-)

I take anxiety meds "as needed". It helps a great deal with my eating disorder & keeping the obsessive thoughts at bay. I have klonopin 1 mg and the script is 1-2/day as needed. Some days I take 1, some days I take 1/2 , some days I take 2 & some days I take none. It really just depends on how I'm feeling. If you have any proclivity to addiction, you may want to try something else. For me, it works, but I make a point to not take it regularly bc I don't want to become dependent.

I'm in! My goal will be my final goal of 125.... Then to maintain! :-)

Ugh...I missed the final weigh in. Oh well . It was 130. Thanks for doing this!

131.4 just a little loss

Weighing in for this week. I am 131.6 as of this morning, which means I passed my goal. I'm not going to make a new goal at this point, just see where I end up and go from there for the next challenge.

Awww....jeez... I forgot to post this week. My weigh-in for this week is 133.6

Congrats on your success this far! My situation is a little different because there was only 1 close friend at work who knew I had surgery (others have figured it out since then I think) and there was this one woman who just would not leave me alone. She was obsessed with my weight loss. "What are you doing?" "What are you eating" "When will you stop" etc etc etc. She made a comment to me at least once daily. It made me really uncomfortable, but now 18 months out, no one really mentions it anymore. They've adjusted to the "New me" and your co-workers will too. But expect lots of compliments in that first year of active weight loss! Even today someone came back to work who I had resigned a couple weeks ago for visit and we hugged and she said "Oh, you're as thin as a rail!!" That's definitely not something I'm used to hearing! Also weird is new people who have started or I've met at my work, church, kids' school since I lost 140+ pounds. It's so weird to me that they never knew me as overweight. Sometimes it will come up and I will show them a before and after picture and they are floored. It's kind of cool the first time someone says "I never would have known you were overweight". Good luck to you on the rest of your journey!

During the first 9 months or so after surgery I stuck to the program to a "t". I did not waiver even one time. I saw an incredible loss during that time. I lost the majority of my 140 pounds during the first year. Since then I would say in "maintenance" I stick to the program still 95% of the time. I enter all my meals and weight in Myfitnesspal and try the very best I can to stick to 80g Protein, less than 40g carbs, and 100 oz of Water. When I do this I can still even lose a little more, though as the numbers get lower the losing gets slower. I am determined not to be one of those people who get to a certain point and realize they physically "CAN" eat all the things they used to and go back to it and gain the weight back. It's just not an option for me.

The last month or so leading up to my surgery and then probably the 1st month after I was a complete emotional wreck. I remember having a complete just crying, sobbing breakdown the one night in my bedroom thinking "food is how I've dealt with stress, and hurt, and everything else....how am I supposed to live without that coping skill." And grieving that "comfort" lasted for me even after surgery. I will tell you that it is an emotional process and it's best that you're aware of that now rather than later. I think beyond any of the physical, the emotional parts of the surgery adn the weight loss have been much more intense to deal with. But yes, join these forums for support, start a blog to document your journey. I'm so glad I did! I've been so amazed at how far I've come. Good luck to you!

I definitely mourned the loss of food while I was pre-surgery. I had all of my favorite things....several times. I felt like I would "never be able to eat ______ ever, ever again." I think that is a pretty normal thing to go through. I don't think that it indicates that you will be any less successful. I had a terrible time sticking to my pre-op diet, and have been incredibly successful after surgery (in my humble opinion anyway). So do the best that you can!

134.4 :-)

I use myfitnesspal religiously. lol. It keeps me on track. I worry more about Protein, carbs, and Water than calories. I typically find that if I get all of my protein in (60-80g) and keep my carbs below 40 that the calories fall right in line.

You are right. Pre-op was TOUGH. Hang in there though, it is so worth it in the end!!! The first few weeks after surgery are hard too, emotionally if not physically, so prepare yourself for that. But once you get through that you'll return to a new normal and it will all be worth it!

I was trying to decide which forum would be best to post this in, and I thought here since there are a larger number of people who may be at this point in their journey. The "insurance & financing" board seems more about the weight loss surgery itself. Anyway...... I have a consultation coming up in March with a plastic surgeon to have a panniculectomy and brachioplasty done. I think I have met all of my insurance's requirements to have it covered. I will be past 18 months post op, I have documented 6 months of skin problems & attempted treatments (they only require 3 months) and the pannus hangs low enough for their standards. So I "think" I have a good chance of getting at least one of them covered. Does anyone have any suggestions about anything I'm forgetting? Things I should ask the surgeon, things to tell the surgeon? Anything at all that would make my visit more effective? I specifically chose a plastic surgeon who is willing to submit to insurance and appeal, because a lot of them (around here anyway) don't want to bother with that. So, any suggestions??

So I had the most awesome experiences over the past week. First of all I passed my goal by one pound.... But on a side note, now I feel compelled to lower my goal by 5 more pounds....do you all struggle with that at all? Like knowing when to stop? But in any case, that was exciting. Then I took my 17 year old shopping for a swimming suit. While while we were there she wanted me to try one on too. Swimming suit shopping in the past has always been an experience that took hours and left me either in tears or feeling extremely depressed. I have always had a skirted swimming suit for at least 15 years. So I was like, what the heck....why not. So I tried on a high-waisted bikini and my daughter said I looked awesome in it. She talked me into buying it! Thank god high-waisted binkinis are "in" this season because it pulls in my little extra skin, but maybe after my skin removal surgery I'll go for a regular bottom one too! :-) Now maybe if i get brave I'll post my bikini pic, but right now I'm not feeling that brave!! Then, my husband and I are planning a vow renewal in Punta Cana, so I went "wedding dress" shopping. It was AMAZING to be able to pull anything off of the rack and have it be too big and have them clipping it in the back to stay on. It seriously is just a whole new world of experiences. On a side note, when I was in therapy this week (I STILL go to therapy weekly to deal with my disordered eating, which I highly recommend) she said that in her experience, if WLS patients have met their goal and maintained for a length of time by the time they reach 18 months post op (which is where I am) she has never seen anyone at that point gain their weight back. now they may rebound a few pounds, but in her experience, most cases of gaining most or all of the weight back happens within the first 18 months. So I was very encouraged by that to think that perhaps.....just perhaps.....this is a forever thing! :-)

Starting weight: 137.2 Goal weight: 132.0

Looks like we have the same stats too...how funny. I'm starting at 136 and goal is 130. Good luck!!

Looking at your stats, we are identical for this challenge. This morning I was 136 and I was just contemplating making my goal 130. As the numbers get smaller it gets harder and harder! Good luck!

I have to say, once I hit my 1st goal weight I started to let myself slip in the "rules" area a little bit. I bounced back and forth between 140-145 for the longest time - like months and months. Well I revised my goal to 135 and I really want to get there. So I've started really tightening up on myself. Getting back to the basics, and I've lost 6.6 pounds in the past week and a half. So if you do what you know works, it will work. If you let yourself slip here and there you may not gain a ton, but you won't lose either. At least that was my experience. So the "rules" that I stick to now: no more than 40g of carbs at least 65 g of Protein at least 80 oz of Water planned Snacks (not grazing) cut out the sugar altogether...cold turkey (and after the first week or so, my cravings really lessened) Nothing after 8pm I also try to get in a Protein Drink every day, whether it be a shake or protein hot chocolate because it gives me a lot of protein and few carbs.

I'm in! I hope I remember to come back on the 23rd and post my goals!

My final weigh-in is 136.4. I didn't reach goal, but I'm so very glad the scale is moving in the right direction again!