The Candidate

Congrats on your amazing success! What a wonderful story!

As hard as it is to accept when it's happening to you, it is normal. It sounds like you're doing everything right, so you'll just need to be patient and allow your body the time it needs to adjust. Stay away from the scale for awhile. There are things happening in your body that have nothing to do with the numbers right now. Hang in there!

I wouldn't give up until they actually deny you. Submit it anyway. At the very least make sure that you're getting the necessary weight documentation now going forward, until you have the 2 years you need.

Wonderful achievements! It's so nice to hear that after surgery things can not only improve physically, but in many other unexpected ways as well. Congrats!

I'm sure you're flying high with happiness now, and rightly so. Congrats and best wishes!

If my surgery hadn't covered it, ultimately, I would have gone that route myself. I'd reached the point where I'd tried everything else and WLS equaled my last chance for a healthy life. Many people experience Medical Tourism and are very happy with the results. There are also some who weren't happy, but that holds true with every type of surgery in or out of country. It is your decision in the end, of course, but if you want to help alleviate your family's fears, share your research and testimonials from other patients. There are also videos on YouTube and other sites. You can't promise there will be no complications, but you can strengthen your case for having it done. Good luck!

Thank you for the information. Accountability is and will always remain the cornerstone to successful long term maintenance.

Congrats and best wishes!

For myself, I'm actually much more happy that I now "think" about what I should eat or should not eat before I make my final choice for a meal. Before, there were no limits: if I wanted it I ate it. If it wasn't in the house I had it delivered. If it meant getting up and driving to a grocery store at all hours of the day I never thought twice. Before surgery my food choices were unlimited. Now I consider the ultimate ramifications of bad food choices. I ask myself: is it really worth it? And invariably it isn't. I never did this before. I realize (for myself and my life) that going out to eat might be a potential trigger so I limit it to very special occasions. I never truly appreciated before just how much of social get togethers revolve around food. Everything in life boils down to personal choices, and what's right for one isn't always right for another. In my case, I steer away from going out to eat. The same way I no longer add salt or sugar to my food, or eat bread , sweets, and Pasta. It works for me. And WLS is what made it happen. For the record, I never feel like I'm "missing out on something" either. I much prefer my life now to the way it was before.

The first month was the worst for me with constipation. It can be miserable. I started taking a stool softener daily and now I'm so regular it's unreal.

Welcome! You're doing wonderfully. Congrats!

This is the best answer. Do not compare. Weight loss after surgery is as distinctly different as fingerprints. No two are ever alike, and neither is better than the other. You'll only drive yourself crazy. Best wishes!

I've heard of programs that require you to buy their own in house, or preferred name brand products. That's a shame. If it's a must before surgery in order to complete your requirements I guess you'll have to buy it. If they aren't actually demanding you show proof though, like a receipt from that particular company, I'd shop around and make my own decision on which shake to purchase. My program pushed Bariatric Advantage Vitamins, by giving us hand outs with what we needed to buy and direct phone numbers, etc., but we weren't required to go through them. I sampled them and thought they were wildly overpriced and tasted awful. I never bought their brand again. Good luck!

This happens, and probably will keep happening as you continue losing. Your body has to stop periodically to reassess what is going on. Your body is built to stay alive in the harshest of survival scenarios. It answers with knee jerk reactions to the stimulus of rapid weight loss. It doesn't care if you want this to happen, it only knows that all the signals are telling it that it's starving. That's primal built in survival instinct, built up over millenniums. Once it adjusts to the new weight loss and realizes that it's not actually in danger, it'll allow more weight loss to happen. As you continue losing, these all stop periods of readjustment will repeat, sometimes in shorter durations, and sometimes longer. As long as you continue following your doctor's guidelines for diet and exercise, you will start losing again. But it'll never happen in a set or linear fashion, nor will your weight loss numbers identically follow someone else's. Try not weighing yourself so often if the stalls stress you out. Best of luck!

Every day should bring a small amount of improvement, although it might not be readily apparent to you right now. But before you know it you'll begin feeling more like yourself. You're going to be tired for quite awhile though. Follow your post op instructions, get plenty of rest, and you'll be fine. Good luck!

Welcome! There's a lot of variety with this question, but 2 weeks is pretty average. I took 6 because I was able to get the time off, but if pressed, I definitely could have gone back in 2. The major issue at that point was just exhaustion, which is also very common. This is of course barring any unforeseen post op complication. Best wishes on your upcoming surgery!

My RNY was the first surgery I ever had in my entire life. And like you I was very concerned about the residual pain. As it turned out all my worries were for nothing. Sometimes I even thought there must be some mistake, maybe they didn't do the surgery after all, because I felt so good. But the bottom line is all you can really do in preparation is to go in expecting the worst, and hope for the best. I was very lucky and I hope you are too. Good luck!

Ahh.... the 70's. If we can survive disco we can survive anything! ????

I'm not an expert as I didn't have this issue with my own surgery, but I have heard of some people becoming lactose intolerant after surgery. You'll probably need to discuss it with your surgeon or personal physician for guidance.

Best wishes on your surgery day!

Don't give up whatever you do. Keep your focus on the surgery and how it is going to change your life forever. I know it's easier said than done, but you hang in there and stay on their backs night and day. Once they understand that you're not going away, things will start to move. In the classes that we were required to take with my insurance there was one lady who had a similar problem. She fulfilled all requirements that took about a year to finish, and was only waiting for the "approval" call. They waited until then to tell her there was an issue with the insurance premiums (which came through her husband's workplace). She had to watch everyone else in the class get their surgeries in July, while she had to wait until November (2015), to get hers, while the issue was being straightened out. They don't care if you give up, as its one less expense they'll have to cover. Let them know you have no intention of giving up! Best wishes and I hope it's resolved soon! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Hey, I think Sexual Healing can work both ways on this one. An intro and a need. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

We can't change other people, only ourselves. But in my opinion that puts us a step ahead, because at least we're trying. People like your coworker can't even detect their own deficiencies. There's rose colored glasses and then there's intentional blindness. He's the latter. You don't need this person's approval - he didn't factor into your life decisions before surgery, and he definitely won't factor into them after surgery. To quote a very overused Disney cliche: Let it go. Go ahead and shed those tears as they may be the only benefit out of this. Get it out. And then take what he said and move it over into the "pro" column for changing your life for the better by getting the surgery. And if you really want to put him in his place: Walk over to him and say with the biggest smile on your face - Thank you. Then walk away without another word. You are not alone, we've all had to deal with naysayers in our life who seem to think because we're fat, we've got a built in billboard flashing: "Please give me your opinion on how I should live my life." The truth is you owe him nothing. You will have the last word on this, one way or another. Stay strong and true to yourself, first and foremost. You deserve it! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

So happy things are looking up again! Congrats and best wishes for continued good health. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Rid my house of all bad or trigger food/drink items that I might be tempted by as a post op. Bought second hand treadmill, elliptical and bike from Craig's List. Kept a personal video journal starting a year before surgery through meeting my weight goal after surgery. Took before pics and measurements. As far as what I wish I had done, I really can't think of many things as I did a ton of research, except maybe not buy as much in quantity for some things - like Isopure. Some stuff definitely went to waste. But I'd rather be over prepared rather than under prepared. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App