chylamarie

I just decided to start this journey as well. I finally have insurance and just got a doctor but haven't met him yet. I have an appointment tomorrow to meet him and discuss some issues I've been having. I'm also going to bring up WLS and see what he thinks. Hopefully I can get the ball rolling after that...

okay, update!
Very excited. I went to my appointment today and finally got up the nerve
to tell my doctor i've started the steps toward WLS.
This whole time I thought he'd laugh in my face and I've been having serious
anxiety issues related to this, but I got over it and just dove in.
I was so happy when he immediately looked at my little folder the
WLS seminar gave me, and started planning my appointments for everything
I need done. In fact, he took a blood sample and had the EKG done right then and there!

All I can do is sigh in relief. Now all I need is to attend all these crazy courses and do
two or three other things, and I'm well on my way!

Finding sassy,
We are not perfect. Mistakes happen to everyone. Just remember and move on. Learning from them is all we can do. Stopping them in the future is what's most important.

Some days I feel like I didn't have surgery 8 weeks ago. I'll eat like the rest of my family, usually fast and laughing and then the pain hits me. I end up vomiting and really hating myself. We all do crazy things. We are only human. As long as you learn from it then it is not a mistake. Keep your head up and keep smiling! Hugs

Here's the deal. Did you mess up? Yep - BIG TIME!!! However, what you do about it is what really matters. We've all done it, thinking we're "different" that it "won't happen to me", but it does. Learn from it and move forward. Beating yourself up doesn't change what happened.

I Messed Up. I felt crappy this morning and decided NOT to go to work. I did take my girlfriend to work and while driving I became hungry. I had a craving for hashbrowns, Del Taco hashbrowns. I went thru the drive thru and picked them up. Huge mistake, giant mistake. I ate three on the drive home and then it hit, that nauseous feeling. I barely made it off the freeway before I tossed my Cookies.
What in god's name possessed me to buy them, was it force of habit or sheer stupidity, maybe even both? I should never have bought them in the first place. I keep getting these cravings for something in particular and then kick myself in the but when I get sick shortly afterwards. I knew better, yet I did it anyway.

Well it's 5.30am..Ive been up most night. At 6am I have to take remaining tablets that I also took the night before at 6pm. Then I leave for the hospital. At 7am I will book in and fuss will be made to prep me for my Bypass Surgery. Im first on the list...Im as calm as I can be..not wirth getting stressed..Ive waited so ling for this like we all have. Now it will be my turn to give advice if asked...this site has learnt me so much...hints and preps that I couldnt get off friends thats never been in my shoes. I cant wait in weeks to come to show you all my "after pics' . All I ask is for thoughts of healing...prayers to the surgeon to guide his wonderful hands.......bye for now. Oh im so excited. X

Thanks for video update ???? I noticed when I went to my seminar, that it was all the same info as well. So it sounds like any other class type stuff will be the same!!! I guess it's nice to have it be reinforced in my mind... I sure hope the journey for us both continues smoothly ???????? have a good one ????

Hi I'm 26 and my surgery is slated for March 2015. My family doctor had suggested looking in to RNY at an appointment last year and to be honest, I was almost offended and taken aback. Afterwards I had thought about it for a few weeks and had a reality check with myself. It also helped that I ran into a coworker who had lost 70 lbs and it was because of surgery. At that point I decided to attend the info session for my program and setting up appointments. I'm just really hoping that this will be the tool I need to lose the weight I need to. I've tried multiple diets in the past, only ever losing 10-25 lbs each time and only ever putting it back on, plus some. I'm so afraid I'm not going to lose and will fail at this.

Wow, just I read this I remember a conversation with my doctor about 15 years ago where she suggested RNY and wanted to know why I wouldn't consider it. I was offended at the time and completely put it out of my head until this moment.
Oh, how much I wish I had taken her suggestion to heart. I'm 43 now and would love to have those years back.

I'm 18 almost 19, I was not the youngest patient at my surgeon's office ,either. Initially, I was embarrassed and felt like a failure for having to resort to surgery at such a young age but I looked at my options, surgery or an early death.
My entire family is large and several have had bypass surgery with varying results. So, the surgery wasn't completely foreign to me. I used to be one of those people that said surgery was the easy way out and I was gonna do it on my own.
Then, my mother,42, passed away when I was 15 due to complication from morbid obesity and that motivated me to lose almost 100lbs on my own,in a very unhealthy manner, but I gained it all back within a year. I've been dieting from the age of 9 and it hasn't worked. I'd lose 20-30lbs and then gain 40-50lbs.So i started researching gastric bypass and spent a year contemplating it before I even had my consultation.
Then another life changing thing happened for me, I hit 18 and 282lbs in the same month. At that point, It hit me I was almost 300lbs and steadily gaining regardless of what crash diets I did. It finally accepted that I needed help and had to make a major life change.
Now, for the first time in my life I'm steadily losing weight and truly feel I can maintain this lifestyle for the rest of my life. I started a new lifestyle not a diet and I accept that I needed surgery to do that. I'm very happy I made the change now instead of waiting until my 30s and losing more of my life to obesity.
Also, I feel like in 10-15. years WLS in the late teens and early twenties will sadly, no longer be an oddity. People in america are becoming morbidly obese at younger and younger ages.High calorie food and a very sedentary lifestyle is becoming extremely prevalent in our culture.
That's another reason I'm glad I made this decision because i'll be able to guide my future children to a healthy lifestyle and teach them from my mistakes.

I've finally decided to dive in and take this journey head on.
I've literally just begun. I finally have insurance and plan to take advantage of it.
I did not have a doctor, so I hunted one down who was accepting new patients
and I meet him tomorrow. I'm a bit worried considering I've never been tested
for comorbidities or any other health issues, so I am going to speak with him
about testing for diabetes, possible thyroid issues, high blood pressure, etc.
Considering my BMI is already above 40, my insurance wouldn't require any
comorbidities, but it would still be nice to know...

Anyway, It would be great to have some pointers,
or to see some stories of how you guys began your journey and
the steps you took after finally making the decision.

Were you nervous? Did everything work our the way you planned?
How long was the process for you from beginning, to end?

By the way, I'm Chyla, and it's wonderful to meet you.

I completely agree... I just feel like I'm going insane right now.
I've just got to put a foot down and stay strong.

This has been my story my entire life.
The worst thing anyone ever said to me? An ex said
"If you were skinny, you'd be too pretty for me."
Implying that because I'm fat, I'm worthy of him, which makes
me less important than a "skinny" person.
He also said, if I were skinny I would no doubt be a model.
SO many people have told me that, and it just makes me feel horrible.

And ever notice how people are always like
"Oh my gosh, you have such a gorgeous face!"
and they never look at your body. Just your face.
That hurts.

well I went for my initial consultation today and have all my appointments set up through July. I know I should be patient but I really hope it goes by quickly!!!

I started my process in June of 2013 and was banded in November, so about five months. I am impatient by nature and was going nuts with all those hoops to hurdle but in hindsight I realize how good it was for me to have that time to process everything. I got a notebook -- just one of those marble covered composition books kids use -- and took lots of notes, recorded all the appointments I had to do, pre-op and post-op thoughts, plus what I was feeling. Any fears or worries I had plus a big list of all the things I looked forward to once I lost weight. I also got a therapist to go through the process with me -- an objective third-party. We really worked on all the food issues and that was helpful for me. Breaking down behaviors, identifying triggers. It's not like I hadn't done all that before (I'm 53) but this time the self-honesty it took to make the decision to have weight loss surgery made a big difference. No more being a victim of this or that -- this time I was taking responsibility and ready to face myself in a new way. Also prior to surgery I upped my exercising. I didn't want to but I'm really glad I did as that gave me something to step right into after surgery. Good luck and you are in the right place for support. I am very grateful for this forum. If you stumble on any negativity I recommend just moving right along. Best wishes!

Having sleep apnea immediately qualified me for WLS. My insurance is bariatric friendly and I was approved 1 week after my initial consult with the doctor.
I thought it might be the universe trying to tell me something - When I called my ins. company to find out how to qualify for WLS, the lady I was speaking with was 1 year out from VSG surgery. Coincidence, I think NOT!

I'm just trying to think of the end result when one of those hoops we have to jump through causes stress.. The end results are gonna be worth every stressor we deal with right!?

Good for all of you who are having surgery young! Why subject yourself to all sorts of problems over the years before getting the help you need? I waited until I was 39, and I should've done it sooner. I hit 300 lbs by the time I was 20, eventually getting up to 380 lbs by 22.
Being young just means that you'll have even more success with your surgery. Follow the instructions to the letter, stay strong, and you'll do great!

Can't you get the cobra insurance or whatever you call it till next job? And if you don't continue on with that job you can still enroll in insurance on the healthcare.gov site till February 15th I think... And I think your insurance would start in March if you did that.. But obviously check with them ???? good luck with all of it..

Looks like you are well on your way to success ???? good luck on everything ????

I am not required to do any dieting before I can have my surgery. My doctor did tell me that i do have to weigh less that I did at my appnt on Jan 8th. He said even if it is only 1 pound less that is fine. So I am very happy for that! I have my appnts set up now for my nutritionist visits. I have to do 3 visits and I also have my appnts set up for my nutrition support group meetings. I have to do three of those also. (Each of those I have to do 1x a month, and I have to have them done before my next Dr appnt which is March 26th. My sleep study appointment is set too, I have to go for that on the 29th of this month. I am not looking forward to having that done. The only thing I haven't been able to get an appnt set up for is my Psych eval, but I have to have that done before march 26th also.
Hopefully I can get all that done before March 26th, because if I do then we will get my surgery scheduled! I can't wait!

Oh!!! lucky you!
My heart sank to the floor when I first discovered I
Had to do supervised weight loss.
I'm having a lot of stress issues at work, and I'm
honestly not sure how much longer I can last there.
So now, it's a battle whether or not I can stay at my
job long enough for this 3 months to go by and for the
surgery to actually get done (before anything happens and
I lose my insurance).
Since you don't have to worry about the supervised weight loss,
I'm sure you'll be in and out in like a month or two!
I definitely like the people in my class. I get to see and hear
other people's stories, and hopefully have some surgery buddies
when the time finally comes.
On the other hand, all the assignments for my class are pretty
time consuming.

A little update:
I haven't made a video update yet, but I
thought I'd stop in and let you all know a
bit about what's been going on.
So, on Tuesday I attended my 2nd class for the month
for my medically supervised weight loss. I am supposed
to attend 1 class a week, every week, for 3 months.
This would be great and all, except for the fact I have to pay
30-45$ every week in order to go. And I work during that time,
so I have to wrangle those days off somehow. So it's been a bit
stressful. I'm just doing my best and trying to get through these
next 3 months without fail.
Then hopefully I can send in my paperwork for approval from insurance.
<3