Sharon1964

Yes, but it responds well to a good beating.

Read the labels. "Light" usually (but not always) means fewer calories, "low fat" or "fat free" usually (but not always) means less fat but more sugar. Sugar makes you fat, not fat. <--- broad generalization

You've done great. The only thing I would change is on page two, where you say that there is no requirement for recent participation... Change it to: Not only is there no definition of "recent", there is in fact no requirement for "recent participation"...

I thought the same thing. and this: " If this is what I am to become because I loose all the weight then let me keep it." Sure, stay fat because you think we have bad attitudes. That's SMART!

Wow. Thank you all for your input, experiences, and thoughts. Sometimes what I think is a superficial question (am I being lazy by changing my goal weight?), actually runs much, much deeper. My original goal was to fit into the world. I'm almost there. I fit in airplanes, restaurant booths, chairs with arms, etc. I can even wear some necklaces that used to be too short, due to my fat neck. I'm still shopping in plus-size stores, so there's that still. But even so, I do have far more choices than I used to have. My diabetes has completely resolved, my plantar fasciitis is gone (for now), no more knee and ankle pain. My blood pressure is completely normal. I've always had fabulous cholesterol numbers, so I've never had to worry about that. I have to remind myself every now and then what I've accomplished. 403 to 242 in nine months. That is HUGE. Wow. Thank you all for your input, experiences, and thoughts. Sometimes what I think is a superficial question (am I being lazy by changing my goal weight?), actually runs much, much deeper. My original goal was to fit into the world. I'm almost there. I fit in airplanes, restaurant booths, chairs with arms, etc. I can even wear some necklaces that used to be too short, due to my fat neck. I'm still shopping in plus-size stores, so there's that still. But even so, I do have far more choices than I used to have. My diabetes has completely resolved, my plantar fasciitis is gone (for now), no more knee and ankle pain. My blood pressure is completely normal. I've always had fabulous cholesterol numbers, so I've never had to worry about that. I have to remind myself every now and then what I've accomplished. 403 to 242 in nine months. That is HUGE.

@@VSGAnn2014 Every time I get on the scale, I still expect the first number to be a "3". I have a hard time wrapping my head around where I am right now - I fully expected the surgery to not "work" for me. The thought of changing the goal number feels like "cheating" to me... you know, like when you stepped on a scale (before the digital age) and you leaned one way or the other to try to make the scale show a lower number. Or you turned the little dial to make it start a couple of pounds below zero so the result was a lower number. Okay, taking the plunge and changing the goal number! I really need to not post when I've had coffee... I let you all wayyyy too far into my head, and that can be a scary place!!!

172 would give me a BMI of 27. That means I would have 70 pounds to go. Not sure I can wrap my head around going from 99 pounds to go, to 70 pounds to go, in the space of a few minutes!

I know y'all aren't used to serious posts from me, so I'll give you a minute to get used to the idea.... Okay. Ready? Tomorrow, 5/8/16, will be nine months since my surgery on 8/8/15. I started at 403, and today I weigh 242. At my first appointment with my surgeon, on the printout they gave me when I left, it said "goal weight - 143." So I put that down on my stats here as my goal weight. I'm 5 ft 7 inches tall. That would give me a BMI of 22.4. I'm pretty sure I never discussed it with my surgeon. Does that even seem remotely realistic? If I keep that current goal, it means I have 99 pounds to go. I don't think the last 20 pounds of that will be possible until I have plastics, as there are skin issues (as you know from my hang-me-upside-down post). I want a realistic goal. A goal weight of 160 would give me a BMI of 25. Changing my goal here would mean I have 82 pounds to go to reach goal. I don't want to change my goal just to make myself feel better because I'll be closer to it. But I don't want to keep an unrealistic goal that may be just a typo on the part of my surgeon or his medical assistant. Thoughts?? PS: Yeah, I had coffee this morning. No, I'm not really supposed to. Why did I do it? Why do you ask? Why? Why? Why? Wut??

When you get the denial, let me know if you need help crafting the letter. I've done this (appealing denials for medical care, not necessarily bariatric surgery denials) from the physician's side for a long time, and my success rate is pretty good, but persistence is key.

Feel free to "friend" me. My life is a freakin' riot sometimes!

*speechless*

Okay, we'll go with that.

Yesterday I leave work a little early and head to Macy's for some retail therapy. I try on a blue suede skirt, size 20, on clearance. Fits awesome! I went from a size 32 being too small to a size 20 in 9 months (two more days will be 9 months). I found a blue blouse to go with it and wore them both today with the white, black and blue duster jacket I have on in my profile pic. Anyone, back to the story about Macy's. They had this awesome black skirt with an overlay in black that looked almost like rubber, in a lacy pattern, and clearance price of $19, down from $99. Zipped up AND down the back. They only had it in a size 18, so I tried it on. It was so tight around the knees, that I had to unzip it a little from the bottom (one reason the zipper went both directions). It fit pretty good, a few more pounds down and I can wear it. So I decide to see what happens when I bend over - how much does it ride up? So I turn away from the three-way mirror, bend over, look back at the mirror and am horrified by what I see. Everything is at least two inches south of where I saw it the last time I looked, and my butt has flown the coop - nowhere to be found!!!! Whiskey! Tango! Foxtrot! The sag has seriously set in! So this depresses me, but I still buy the skirt. Then I text one of the dudes I've been seeing and tell him I'm depressed about the view he has when he... yanno... DUZ THANGS TO ME! He said he wasn't depressed about it at all. Dude is 16 years younger than I am (yes, I'm pulling a cougar on this one), and I figure he just doesn't understand my angst. Then he offers to hang me upside down to... DO THANGS... and that way they will be two inches NORTH of where I saw them last. In the meantime, saving my pennies for plastics. Dang.

Read the denial letter to determine how to start your appeal. Then, if it is write a letter, you will want the letter to be no more than one page. Quote the section of the benefit manual that specifies supervised diet, and quote the portion of the denial letter that applies. Your kicker will be, "As you can clearly see from the quoted benefit, there is no requirement as is quoted in the denial letter. Please overturn the improper denial and issue an authorization for the (name of surgery), to be performed by (name of doctor) at (name of hospital)."

Find something to replace drinking with. Knitting, crochet, cross stitch, competitive bubble gum blowing, whatever.

I had one day of liquids pre-op, and started at 403 pounds.

@@LipstickLady You ruined the rant by moving it to rants!

Surely someone should have complained by now pointed out that this is in the general section, and not the rant section.

salad is the exception to my NUT's rule about how much food to eat. I'm at the 1/3-1/4 cup stage (at 9 months). In addition to that portion, I can also have up to half a cup of salad if I want.

Well, then, all of our names are in one place, it will be easy to add us to your "ignore" list. We're helpful like that. Sometimes.

Can someone point us to it? It is not where I've found it on other forums.

I had mine at the same session as my colonoscopy. I was out cold.

Miralax is polyethylene glycol. It works by increasing the amount of Water in the intestines to help move things along. Milk of Magnesia is magnesium hydroxide. It also works by increasing the amount of water in the intestines. Prunes contain sorbitol, which is a natural sugar that loosens the stool. Eating prunes is better than drinking the juice, because it also adds fiber. If you are not allowed the eat the fruit, then drinking the juice is the next best thing. Personally, I always prefer the natural route, if possible.

Prune juice does not have pulp. Since you're uncomfortable, I say go for it. For people who are not experiencing discomfort, don't do it.

AWESOME!