Dub

I wish you the very best. I think you are doing the wise and healthy thing in taking this step to help you sort this out and get the perspective that you need. You've been through a great battle and by most accounts you've done great....come so far. Prayers that your actions will lead to being able to see your incredible progress and enjoy life. You've earned it and should be able to be completely enjoying things at this point....not tormenting yourself. There is a lot of value to being able to look at yourself, pat yourself on the back and know you earned it.

Dude.......you have done GREAT !!!! Very inspiring.

There were some really cool folks in the various group classes I took leading up to the surgery, however, there were two in particular that I wanted permission to choke-slam them after tossing them into the turnbuckles...WWE style.....and then a few smacks with folding chairs. In both cases they wanted to quiz fellow members on why they made certain decisions, why this, why that. It was maddening. We are all sitting there internalizing the material presented, getting our bearings....and these two idiots are all in your space....quizzing you......judging you. I think the upshot of it all was these two were lost as hell....but instead of using the classroom time to sort it out like the rest of us.....they went on attack mode. The presenters were pros, however, and quickly regained control of the class and neutralized the fools. It became evident to me that there is one in every class and the presenters see it ALL the time and have strategies to negate the bullcrap. This calmed me down.....but for a minute I wanted to climb up on the top ring rope and go all Nacho Libre on them. Your reasons for having surgery are between you, your surgeon and God. Everyone else is a matter of how much you want to let them in. Smack a fool that tries to pry.

Happy Birthday !!!!! Celebrate it with conviction.

Drama, in general, is a bad idea. food funerals are simply uneeded drama. The sleeve will allow the future tolerance of anything you ate before.....just skip it while in the weight loss phase. Add it back under controlled situations once the day comes to do so during maintenance phase.

Walking around the house every two hours. Near constant sipping of Water. Watching a LOT of television.....getting caught up on the shows and movies I wanted to see.

At this point I can say that food just isn't enough of a priority to be considering it in party planning There are other things that matter more.

Leg lifts. Alternating leg lifts.

I ultimately told UHC to go f@*& themselves and wound up self funding. They can kiss my large arse and the sting of the cost is subsiding with every pound I lose. My experience, though, came from me following up on a number of health issues over the last year. Each surgeon/doctor I met with coached me to have bariatric surgery. I took their referrals and went straight into THE bariatric program. Seemed a logical progression. The problem is that THE program, while affiliated with the area's most prestigious hospital (out of 6 hospitals) wasn't yet certified as a "center of excellence" (bariatric certificate). They had a great staff, very supportive....and each were former bariatric patients, too.......excellent surgeon...etc, etc. They told me that it'd be no problem to continue and they'd had UHC patients go through all the time. 1/2 way through the deal UHC....who'd been supportive....all the sudden balks over the lacking "center of excellence" bullcrap. I involved the HR department of my employer......and found out that we were actually dropping UHC and moving over to BCBS. The games continued. Our policy with UHC would have only covered me at 50% anyway.....and UHC was delaying. It was looking as if the surgery would be delayed to 2016....by then I'd be under new insurance and no telling how long I'd wait then. Good news was for me, that when I did contact the center of excellence program they were fast in getting me started. They also had been at this for a while longer and had special self-funding insurance safeguards....you self fund and part of your money purchases a policy that covers ANY complication that comes from your bariatric surgery for out to 8 months. This was very appealing to me and I jumped all over it. I'd already met most of my pre-op requirements for the surgeon and my patient advocate at the new center was extremely fast, aggressive and organized. She and I stayed in contact and had everything wrapped up swiftly. The end result was that I had my surgery on October 13, 2015.......when it was looking like at best it would be late December or beyond. By self funding I was able to anchor down the timeframe and it actually cost me less than it would've to use my insurance. Wild ride. The upshot of my story is this.....when working with UHC, or any of them for that matter.......stay in step with them upfront and avoid any bs later on. Involve your HR department at work if/when you are able to. It's amazing how much they can help. Best wishes.

You just summed it up well for me, too.

I'm very sorry that you had the complications but am glad that you are stable and recovering well now. I know it's been a crazy scenario and hoping that things calm down and the loss is steady.

If you can prove to them that you've done Weightwatchers already.....you may get credit for that so long as it was recent enough and be able to speed this up a great deal.

Did anything change in your diet at the same time ? New food types introduced? I think a lot of us are losing during pre & post op weeks at a great rate due to being in calorie deficit as well as in a state of ketosis. Then we go and add pureed stuff that maybe takes us out of ketosis.....depending what it is we add to the diet. Our bodies fuel type changes....things occur.

I'm 15 days past surgery and can drink Water just fine. I've always been a huge water drinker and would gulp it down in no time. I can now drink a 30oz cup of water in ten minutes if I keep at it. That's plenty fast for me. I'm not trying to do anything that would put undue pressure on my new sleeve. Thirst of any type quit being an issue a couple days out from surgery. Gulping and guzzling, however, aren't part of the new way of doing things....at least for me, though. It's not been a problem whatsoever, though. Best wishes.

The Bariatric Advantage Chewy Bites are very tasty in my opinion.

Dice or grind it to a "rice" size or even finer.....add some Water and into the microwave. Good, good stuff. I plan on buying one the vegetable spiralizers as soon as I can figure out which one to get. Microwave steamed with some stewed tomatoes over them for sauce and some Italian seasoning and it's sounding like a meal. I'm sure I'll discover many new ways to cook eggs, too.

Well......I'm early into this but some of the NSV's are starting. *Having to use the clothes drier for all my clothes. *Going to a new set of holes on my belt every few days. *Knee pain improving greatly.

There are certain aspects about some fruits that do elevate them above the status of "sugary death". I will continue enjoying blueberries, for instance...certainly in small quantities. Fruit will pretty much be the only source of any type of sugar in my future maintenance diet. For now, though....I'm trying to burn off fat during the weight loss phase. If fruit is on hold for a while, then that's okay. I'm going after this weight loss aggressively and going to have some strict parameters to stay within for ongoing life. One of the things that appeals to me about a good strategy for maintenance diet is the theme of ALL THINGS IN MODERATION. Balance.

You are doing great !!!!! I can't stress enough the point that you are in the hardest part now.......and doing great. Today is Day 14. 23 pounds down since surgery and 79 pounds since I began the process in June. I'm doing great. I really feel good. There is really no more pain from the hernia repair and there never was any pain from the sleeve (not a bit). The wounds are healing great. I'm ready (mentally) to move on to regular food, but there is no hunger from my 3-shakes a day current diet. I've got another couple more weeks to go with the liquid diet. Then the pureed stage.....and onto the soft foods and beyond. I'm very, very comfortable with the foods I'll be eating from now on. I love grilling fish, chicken, steak and making chili and stews. Live is gonna be great and flavorful.....and I'm gonna get back into the same size I was in during my junior year of high school. Wearing the same sized Levi jeans. Life is good. I'm just doing some basic walking and stair use. Energy level is getting better....but it doesn't take much right now to wear me out. I'm used to dealing with long term knee pain and a back injury that was incurred in April. Today, as I type this....it is almost overwhelming how much better my body feels. I've not had any type of pain med in a few days, yet I'm not in pain. It is truly amazing. I am cleared to have coffee and it is has been wonderful. The Protein shakes all still taste great post-op....just as they did pre-op. Pre-op I was using a really thick mix as that seemed to sustain me longer.....I thinned them down post-op. I highly recommend the Pure Protein brand of pre-mixed Protein Shakes. The chocolate flavor was great and they are made really thick and hearty. They can be found at Walmart and Walmart's Neighborhood Market stores.

You are going through the hardest part now......grind it out and then it gets way easier once you've had surgery. Get a variety of Protein powder and pre-mixed Protein shakes. Having options is a good thing and will help you get through that boring part. Just grind out the days ahead.....stick to the plan and you'll be ready for surgery, recovery and the rest of your new life.

Absolutely gorgeous animal. I've always been a fan of the breed, but have always had smaller dogs. I'm hoping that may change as my new energy level will have me wanting to walk a dog every day.

In training now to become a lean sex olympian. Gonna throw my back out.

There are also all kinds of nuts available in 100 calorie packages. I'll have some of the in my desk drawer at work along with Quest bars. @@Djmohr measured amounts make a lot more sense because it sure is more cost efficient than the 100 calorie packs I'll buy for convenience. Maybe I'll buy them in larger quantities and spend a few minutes measuring them out into small ziplock baggies. Save$$$$$

Is there anything in particular that you are scared of ? Or is it just general fear ?

Did you have these problems prior to surgery ?