SugarFreeMe

Your first point means that you have evidence that you've tried to loose weight on your own within the last year. Have you gone to weight watchers, tried prescription meds thru your general practitioner and the like. The second point means that you will need to participate in a monitored program (most likely thru your surgeons office) for a 3 month period. This is typically done to show that your are fully committed and can stay focused on doing the right thing for yourself. It also helps you loose prior to surgery which makes recovery and the actual surgery easier. They are typical requirements for the majority of insurance companies. Your surgeons office will be very familiar with the requirements.

I'm just over 6 months out, down from 217 to 142, that's a total of 75 lbs. I started out great, then also slowed down until I learned that my body needed nutrition. I was so afraid to eat anything, I was literally eating nothing and my body was none to pleased about it. Once I figured out how to eat a balanced meal that was focused on Protein I did much better. Not getting your protein is going to force your body into a "starvation" type of state. You need to figure out how to get it in, it's takes time and a lot of work, but the result will be two fold. You'll start dropping the weight at a good rate and your body will reward you by feeling so much better once it gets what it needs to function correctly. You need to make nice with food, don't be afraid of it - respect it. For the record, I try to get in around 1000 to 1200 calories a day, that's my "magic" number to keep by body happy and functioning smoothly. Good luck

That's a hard question to answer. I guess I'd ask myself if I've lost before, was I able to keep it off? What are you doing differently now that's making the weight loss work? Is it something you can sustain? Are you co-morbids getting better? I also had High blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol. The night before surgery I took my last cholesterol pill along with my last dose of diabetes meds. At 5 months I took my last HBP pill. I'd do it all over again, regardless of age.

I also have a thyroid nodule. I've had it for 3 years now, they did a biopsy in the beginning which showed it wasn't malignant. Now I go yearly to have comparison scans done. Nothing has changed at all, it was never a problem when considering surgery. Don't stress about it. Even if it were malignant, thyroid cancer is extremely treatable.

Your Fluid intake is probably only 1/2 what it should be. You should be getting at least 64 ounces, more like 80+. Are you using a tracking program that lets you know how much your burning compared to your calorie intake. If you use fitnesspal.com it can help you to see what works for you and what doesn't. I found that I do better with a more rounded diet leaning heavily on Proteins. When I reintroduced veggies (salads), I noticed that my stalls broke. You need to always be totally honest with yourself, without that your "tool" won't work.

Gas-x will only help minimally. The gas pressure your feeling in inside of your body, not fully contained in your digestive tract where the gas-x will do anything. When they fill you with air, it's in your body, not your intestines or stomach so the best thing you can do for yourself is walk as much as possible, try to stay upright as much as possible and if you get pain in your shoulders from the gas rising, use heating pads to help with that. Keep hydrated as best you can. Sip, walk, rest - repeat.

I agree with auntjanny, Cobra may cost you a bit, but when you find another position you may not have the option again to even have the procedure. Don't give up yet, find a way.

The more honest you are with yourself, the better your success will be. You're starting out in the right direction by researching and asking questions BEFORE you make a final decision although I've heard of people changing their minds a mere week or two prior to surgery.

No offense at all. Some people think that WLS is a choice (elective like a face lift) when in fact it's a life decision as in "if I want to live, I better do this". Best wishes for a successful surgery. I wouldn't change anything I did, so offending me about any of this is impossible.

If your tummy didn't mind them, it's not a bad thing but................5 seems like a lot at 2 1/2 weeks. I couldn't eat more then 1/2 cup of anything at that stage. Also, a little further out your going to want to watch your calorie intake and both Peanut Butter and crackers are heavy in calorie count. Peanut butter is a great Protein, crackers are loaded with carbs and that's something I try to stay away from. Just my opinion............... Good luck

I use Stevia or Truvia in my coffee. They are both (mostly) all natural, derived from leaves. If you go to a health food store they have them in flavors (french vanilla, english toffee, strawberry, chocolate and bunches of others). I don't like splenda, it leaves a nasty taste and I try to stay away from sweet-n-low and the blue stuff.

At 6 days your stomach is still swollen from surgery and probably doesn't want anything in it. I had to stick with warm things to eat or drink. Cold was a big no-no for my tummy. I drank a lot of warm tea (with unflavored Protein in it) as well as blended cream of chicken Soup and other mushy foods. Yogurt took a while (couple of weeks) because of the coldness. I did get SF Jello down, but I let it sit on the counter for 1/2 an hour before I ate it. Again, your still swollen and things are still healing. You'll get there a little at a time. Have you gone for your 1 week check-up??? If not, mention it to your surgeon to be sure, but I'm guessing its just a time thing.

I also had the hernia, it didn't stop the surgery at all. I didn't have the endoscopy, but I think some surgeons require them to that they know exactly what their facing when they start. My surgeon found mine when he went in, all he did was repair it. It didn't cause any additional time in the hospital, insurance covered it and all is good. Don't sweat it, I actually think it's something very common to overweight people.

You're asking a loaded question, I'll say that right off the bat. Every person on here is highly passionate about their surgery of choice and most tend to try to tarnish the other options without knowing all the facts. That being said, I was also thinking that sleeve was a good choice but after my consultation with the surgeon I ended up choosing RNY because...... I too had a sugar addiction along with a tendency to get reflux. With RNY you get sick if you eat sugar and reflux is exacerbated by the sleeve. I've done wonderfully with my surgery and would recommend it for anyone soley based on my experience. Are the other surgery good option, absolutely they are. It's really a choice that should be made between you, your surgeon and your nutritionist based on your current health and your goals for weight loss. I can tell you this. My type 2 diabetes is gone as well as my high cholesterol as well as my high blood pressure. I haven't had a problem with reflux since surgery as well. If you have specific questions please feel free to send a message. I'll do my best to answer you honestly.

Hi Maribeth. Welcome to the site. You'll find a lot of great information here and tons of support. My first comment is that this isn't elective for 95% of the people here, it's a health issue and is typically something that is covered by insurance. Elective surgeries are not covered by insurance and not many people can afford the expense of this procedure on their own. Because I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes my insurance covered my surgery. I had a slight complication whereby my intestines and bowels didn't take to kindly to the anesthesia and they choose to sleep longer then they should have. It only caused an additional 1 1/2 days in the hospital, but it was scary at first. Would I do it again......IN A HEARTBEAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The night before surgery I took my last med for the diabetes and cholesterol. At 4 months I took my last blood pressure pill. I've gone from Morbidly obese to obese to overweight in under 5 months. I've dropped from 217 lbs to 149 lbs since my surgery in mid-March. I have more energy then I've had in years and I'm living life again.

I added unflavored whey Protein to my morning tea and almost anything else I was able to consume that wasn't a shake. You can try muscle mile shakes, not at all filmy. It's all experimental from here on out. Once you pass the mushy stage things will get better. My surgeon was more worried about fluids in general then protein for the first month. Stay hydrated and don't sweat the protein at this point.

You need to fight thru it. This is your first real test of your full commitment to your future. You will have head hunger after surgery, the best thing to do now and then is to keep busy. When your "hungry", drink Water and distract yourself. The more you focus on food the worse it's going to get. Don't give in. If you truly want this, you need to prove it to yourself.

I'd stick with your schedule and use fmla. As for the surgery being elective, if your insurance company is covering it, it's not elective which your boss may not be aware of. It's a matter of your health, not a convenience (for you or your employer). Also, I'd worry that if you push it off until December, you'll be asked to push it off again until after the first of the year and so on and so on. Too much time between all your pre-op testing and the actual surgery could cause scheduling issues and the need to re-do somehting. Additionally, I wouldn't want to be dealing with recovery during the holidays either. If you do the surgery in October, you'll be much more prepared by the holidays to handle the food issues that "WILL" come up. Better to be used to what you can and can't handle. Stick to your plan if at all possible.

Welcome and good for you. Making the decision to have surgery, no matter which you choose is monumental. As long as you're 100% committed and have the right attitude you'll do great. My seminar was in late Nov 2013, first appt with the surgeon was Jan 21st, 2014 and my surgery was March 17th 2014. A total of 4 months start to finish. I've never once questioned my decision, it is by far the best thing I've ever done for myself. Best wishes for a quick and uncomplicated procedure for you.

I understand totally, but.....I've seen pics of someone saying they now wear a 16 and CLEARLY they shouldn't be wearing a 16, probably more like an 18 or even a 20. My surgeon even told me to buy pants really tight because soon I'd fit into them, but I can't do that. I need my clothes to fit. I don't do muffin top and don't find it attractive. So....wear what fits and is comfortable and don't worry.

What about cream Soups, chili, refried Beans with cheese and sour cream. Also try canned chicken salad? I'm 4+ months our and still have a hard time with eggs, ground beef and other meats. Keep trying, you'll get there.

You can freeze the yogurts. If you check out theworldaccordingtoeggface.com, she has some wonderful recipes for greek yogurts. She buys the plain or vanilla and adds her own ingredients. Check it out. http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/

Here's a link to see the 3 different fitbits that are available. https://www.fitbit.com/product

Fitbit is a pedometer that you wear on your wrist. It syncs with my phone and computer so I can review everything there and also sends me a weekly report. It costs about $ 100.00 but it's so worth it. You can tell it when your going to bed, it tracks the hours you sleep and even tells you how many times you were restless during the night. Its amazing because when I feel tired during the day, I can check and sure enough I either didn't get enough sleep or I was restless 8 - 10 times during the night. (note, they have different types of fitbits, some less expensive then the one I have)

It scares be to hear you say you don't know what to eat. There are many websites (and your nut) that can help you figure out foods that are good for you and things you need to stay away from. Many foods that you think are good for you really aren't. Too many carbs can sideline you and they stay with you for days which can really sabotage you and you won't even know it. Not enough Protein can lead you to want to eat more often. I've noticed that I need to also try to balance meals. Do you keep a journal of your food intake? It was really helpful to me, I still keep track using my Fitbit. It helps me track exercise, food intake, calories burned and bunches of other things. It keeps me honest and helps me to see when I'm doing good and when I'm doing bad. If I notice a stall, I can go back and see what I've been doing and usually without fail I'll see a pattern of eating too little, not moving enough or lack of sleep. It's very important to journal and/or track. (Also, if you don't eat enough calories your body will quit burning them and you'll stop loosing).