Stevehud

I have to honestly say I am truly glad for everyone here. agree or disagree sometimes just knowing there are people willing to talk about things is a great help to me and others. Sometimes people need the disagreement in order to move. Its just nice to not be alone. Ill tell you this, and its very true, The other day I had my weigh in and final pre surg meeting with my surgeon. The medical assistant there ( I had always seen my surgeon at a sister hospital) well the medical assistant she was also overweight. Well she started talking to me and my wife about the procedure and my weight loss so far and she said oh when you come in next I probably will be post surgical myself. So I asked her if she had ever been here, and she said no, and I told her all about this place. I told her because this is not gonna be easy for me as it wasn't with all of you, but to see the help given here, it makes you smile when your nervous about the future and its empowering to know you have people who care. I love you all, and that's not some weird cult or religion thing, just the truth. Even those I may argue with or disagree with I respect the heck out of what you have accomplished and I love that you are here to help others. I like to end my blog posts with, "We can do this." and Thanks to you all, I truly believe it. Even Lipstick lady. ( smirk)

I am going to be a very teenys bit controversial but for a good reason. If Riskygirl hasn't had her surgery yet, I would have to ask if you are really ready for this. I have studied here and everywhere else for years before finally getting the mindset in place to know I can do this. And I know we all want you to succeed and be happy. If you haven't had the surgery yet, you may want to do some soul searching and talk to a professional so you can truly decide if you are going to go all in on this. Now if you have had your surgery, I would still suggest seeing someone , post surgical depression is a real thing, and many many here have gone through it and have listed great advice. But depression is an awful thing and hopefully you can find someone to help you through it. Good luck and I hope you find your way in this. you can do it.

I do not know why people would denigrate people based on the surgery they had. I may or may not like the lap band but I most assuredly would never even bring that up. I know I did mention in one post my particular surgeon doesn't do lap bands anymore and said to me that he spends half his surgery time removing lap bands. But that is not indicative of anything. People who succeed on it have my full support and I truly want them to succeed. People who have problems with it, I feel for them and wish they didn't have problems. What works for me should never translate into hate speech towards another.

obvious spammer reported.

as an ex medic, I can say this, what you are describing is the one of the beginning stages of oxygen deprivation. As you body realizes it needs more oxygen that it is currently getting it pulls blood away from the extremities and the blood flow closest to the skin is greatly decreased. As a result the nerves under the skin activate randomly, which causes that tingling sensation some describe it is itching or crawling depends on the person. If you continue to have this you will cause you body to shut down and you will pass out there is no doubt in my mind on this I was a medic for 11 years. If I were to come upon scene and you had this complaint I would put you on high flow O2 , start an IV for fluids and elevate your feet to get blood flow back to your brain fast. I wont say the s word that rhymes with broke, because that's too alarming. But it can be a very distinct possibility. It sounds a lot like your lungs have not sufficiently grown to accommodate your workout..fervor. Some of my colleagues talk about this with crossfit people. they do "exercises" that are not normally done as exercises except by specific highly trained athletes and as a result they get calls to the crossfit centers all the time. One case I remember discussing was a gentleman who was made to do clean and jerk heavy weights, well when he went to put the weights up over his head he wasn't used to doing so, toppled backwards and the bar with weights landed on his leg crushing it. They have had people passed out in their cars in the parking lot from overexertion, for some reason mostly women seem to suffer from the dehydration more so than the men, not sure why, I think that's more social than physical. Anyway sorry to digress. I would however check with your doctor, and please go a bit easier, it sounds like you are going a bit hard on the workouts. Its great to lose the weight, but you have gone through massive body changes. Be careful.

So anyway, Today I had my big meeting with my surgeon and the nurse practitioner. Well because I have some issues with the company I work for, we are in a time constraint. My surgeon knows this and is working with me to move fast. So his team that deals with the insurance, (great people by the way) asked me to see if I could get the office notes from my primary care physician (pcp) for the past two years and a letter saying there was no reason he could think of medically why I shouldn't be a good candidate for bariatric surgery. Well ive had my PCP for nigh on 20 years. I knew I would have no problems. So I drove to the doctors office and sure they gave me the office notes but then there was a problem. My pcp who had been a friend even for years refused to write the letter. Not for any medical reason, but because his practice is affiliated with a different hospital than the one im having my surgery in. The hospital he is affiliated with couldn't get me in to their program for 9 months at a minimum and I would have to have ll my tests done in boston, a good distance from my home, and expensive to park etc. Also the surgeon I chose has done over 100 sleeves, and theirs has not. So I talked with my team and they basically said we will go without his letter and we should be ok. I ask , have any of you dealt with affiliation issues and your PCP?

im actually sorry that I ever posted so many people have taken my words out of context and used them against me. All I was trying to say. was that the definition of a lie is not telling the truth or misleading someone with incomplete information. I never called anyone a liar or inferred it. I also have said that there are people who have posted on these boards that they are not telling people because they fear people thinking they didn't do it themselves. Which I personally wont do. Nor do I believe in it. This has no bearing on what others do. I also said that I wish ( you know I wish it means in a perfect world, or with magic or miracles or harry potters wand whatever!) that people would take the time to educate people on what is required of you both pre and post op in this surgery. I say that because I am trying to erase the stigma attached to WLS by men on men who have it. Because many men refuse to have the surgery and die horribly of the comorbidities associated with being obese. Did you know we now have two new terms for people who are do obese that the words morbid obesity no longer apply? We now have Super-Obese and Mega-Obese. I personally, not you or anyone who doesn't, feel that keeping quiet and letting people keep their antiquated ignorant notions, is the antithesis to providing a solution to this problem, and contributes immeasurably to the ostracizing of those who require it among those who do not know better. I also wish my refrigerator would turn to gold, and that I owned a mustang. I wish is not an indictment of anyone. I have shared my journey with hundred via my blog and social media. no one who knows me doesn't know about it. But that's me. stop blaming me for not being you. By the way I had my pre op weigh in today and surpassed my goal by six pounds. all my pre-cert paperwork has now been filed, as soon as its back I get my date, estimated to be the third week of December. People will read about that tonight on my next blog post.

very cold. not even close

this forum is a haven lol i would not know how people get through the surgeries etc without this place. and the people here.

and i have to confess i read your post wrong. lap band is different. i for some reason assumed you were having a sleeve or bypass, lap band doesn't have issues with absorption of liquids per se. so skip that part of what i said earlier.

im a sleeve patient and interesting fact my surgeon also stopped doing bans, he said half of his week is spent removing bands. he doesnt beleive in their efficacy and the side effects dont justify the benefits. Not that im impugning anyone. just saying what he said. I have a feeling the lap band is going to go the way of the dodo within a few years tops.

dont get me wrong im not saying you wont be covered Im praying you will. Ok here's from the mouth of one who knows. "most pre-certifications are just qualifiers to see if you even qualify for coverage". That I can attest to as it is with me, i'm covered but now i have to be truly certified. Anyway, when the nurses who do the pre-certification get your report they will question the psych eval and then everything else opens up. So your first approval is proof of coverage, but the final pre-cert is the go ahead for payment, they are drastically different.

Thank you for sharing. I know I speak for man when I say we know you can do this. You've come this far, it wont be easy but youll do it. There are great people here who will help in anyway they can. Be strong.

thank you for being an inspiration.

Lipstick lady- I refuse to play your game.

So I have been selling off some toys from my collection . action figures still in their packaging, star wars figures mostly. So a lady finds me on facebook and she buys a few items, I meet her and she starts telling me about how she lost 40 pounds through her life and wellness coach and that she would like me to meet him and etc etc. I cordially decline and say Im set with myself for the surgery and yada yada. So this morning I get a message from her on face book, "Hi its me the woman who bought some items from you yesterday. I would really like to set up a meeting with you and my wellness coach, it wouldn't take long and I know he could get you the same result without the surgery. (Well Im glad SHE knows he can) so again im nice, I say no thank you im ok with what im doing etc. an hour ago I get another message. "hi again its me, my wellness coach asked me to contact you again he says its important that he talk with you , he feels the surgery is a mistake. " OH HE FEELS??? Well I would like to simply have been rude but I wasn't. I wanted to scream at this lady and call her a few choice names. It just boggles the mind that people think we are doing this needlessly. Im not trying to drop a few pounds for a wedding. I'm telling you nothing is worse to a bariatric patient than some idiot who lose a few pounds and believes that makes them the god of weight loss. They need to be slapped a few times. How many of you deal with or have dealt with this?

I have a semi unique perspective. My older sister who is an RN worked for years doing pre-approvals for surgeries like this including WLS. I asked her about your situation and she basically told me the surgeon actually has very little say in the insurance approval process, some companies would indeed deny you out of hand and then make you file an appeal so that they can get more information. Others may ask for more information or medical records regarding your treatment, and they may have to have a treatment plan in place that shows how the surgeon and follow up team will deal with your issues. You are lucky in that a lot of surgeons wouldn't even touch you, also there is the fact that meds, do not absorb as easily or for the same amount of time after a sleeve or bypass. So you medication wont work the same. She also said that for example the last insurance company she worked for I cant mention the name but its a huge one, wont ever certify the surgery without you being off the methadone. So its still very up in the air and up to the insurance company. I hope that helps a little.

I have to clarify. haddockseye, I never said women hide the surgey my exact words were, People are hiding the surgery because they do not want people to think they did not have to work at weight loss and it was all the surgeries doing. SO they want people to think they did it all by themselves with no help. I most assuredly do not mean all people. but even people on these boards have said straight out ( not in this thread) that they will hide the surgery because they do not want people thinking they took a shortcut or cheated in some way. Now I don't really like that, but im not out to stop anyone from saying anything. The reason I was upset, is when I said that if we as a group of people take the time to educate people, so if they say : oh you had surgery:, we can say yes here is what I had to do , here is what I gave up, here is what I went through and go through forever. then maybe those people will see that it isn't a cop out or cheat, and the next series of people who get this surgery wont be faced with those stares and remarks. Now yes I have not had my surgery yet, I get my final go ahead this Thursday. ( I'm anxious and nervous as heck) but when I have told my friends and my co workers and actually hundreds of strangers on my blog about this whole process, I get the same response, "really you have to do that and that and you have to go through that " etc. I tell them about what people on here go through, and as a result I have converted skeptics into helpers. Yes I'm lucky in that respect. But im not alone in this boat and anyone who wants to help me row, is welcome to enjoy the trip. And if I can help someone with their rowing, im more than happy to.

you and us are only human, you took the step of asking for help. that's a great thing. know this, I have faith in you and so do people her, even if some don't show it well. But if they didn't care they wouldn't bother. SO We know you can do this, and your next day is the first day you have a chance to help yourself. You can and will do this and make it happen.

Hello I do video taste tests on my blog, and as a result companies have sent me several samples. they are www.abouttime.com - they make a product called fill shake and go, Protein shakes. I sent them an email telling them why I wanted them and bingo.. and the Syntrax people sent me a full sampler of 15 flavors. http://www.si03.com/ they also have a special where for 15.99 you get all fifteen flavor packs sent to you in case you wont want to send an email to ask for the samples free. I sent mine to marketing on this site.

my local Vitamin shoppe actually had samples of the twinlab bariatric essentials products, and they were on my surgeons list so I went with the bariatric essentials, b12 dots, calcium citrate wafers and the twinlab bariatric essentials chewable bariatric multi Vitamins. What's weird is the bariatric essentials chocolate powder is one of the best tasting powders ive had and trust me ive tried A LOT , I do video taste tests on my blog and ive done many. right now im testing the syntrax nectars flavors right now, so many I have to test.

you are awesome! and an absolute role model. thank you!

I apologize to Elode for wasting your time. To cynthiarm, please show anything abusive I have said. I am appalled that you dare to insult me , so, down to my level? I think you should be reported for reporting someone needlessly. I tried to explain how I was hoping we as a group of bariatric patients could educate people about what this surgery entails, how much work people have to put in etc. So that the next group of patients wont face the stigma currently attached to WLS. for that I was attacked and people even questioned if I was really a bariatric patient, and now to have someone not even involved in the discussion report me. its repulsive. Ill stick to helping people with my blog and my book, and my taste test videos and Ill leave this forum. ok Cynthia, evidently that makes you feel better. Ill stay on the mens forums, where unlike you, people care about others and like to help, not hide. Enjoy. p.s. if I do get kicked off, and I don't think so, I will still be successful at my surgery and journey, and some people will help, even if you, wont.

or this

or this one?