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Excellent news. Good luck, man.

Grilling was a hobby for the past few years. Seldom do it these days. The gym will be a new hobby very soon. I'm getting back into shooting sports now.

I enjoy shooting sports. Lately I've been more into various handguns. Nothing real elaborate, a few Glocks, Colts and a Les Baer.

I'll bet you are having doubts. Getting so close to your date and in the hospital....just not for the planned reasons......and not for anything that you've directed or were in control off. This is not at all what you were gearing up for....not what you were wanting. You are most likely exhausted and unable to get any semblance of rest. Hard to think clearly under circumstances like this. I see that you are working mighty hard on your weight loss...79 lbs already. I hope that you can heal up.....get well.....get rested and then be able to put everything into perspective and move forward in the direction that you want to go.

Excellent information. Thank you.

Thank you very much. That means a lot. I'm getting closer to being ready in my head, too. This train is certainly pulling the last leg of the uphill run......and about to gain serious momentum once it passes over the peak.

I've been hunting around somewhat in my search for a comfortable recliner. Not much luck and felt like I had plenty of time. Well.....the plenty of time thing ran out last week. I opted to take the self-funded route with this bypass and my timeline shortened considerably. A buddy at work is a big guy and told me about the recliner he bought in December. He said the model name of the chair is "The Beast". It's made for big & tall folks. I went and sat in one and realized the character from my son's favorite movies....Harry Potter's buddy, Haggrad, would be comfortable in this chair. My wife wasn't too thrilled about the look of it, but she agreed that it'd be nice to have. It is the easiest chair I've ever stood up from. I should have no problem sleeping in this bad boy the first few nights. Wished I'd had it after the first two hernia surgeries. I'm very pleased so far. Exactly. I've been doing the "log roll" method of getting out of bad since April. My PT angel showed it to me on our first session when I was going for my back. Trouble is that I sleep on the left side of the bed and wouldn't have much fun rolling onto that side, either.

Thank you. I feel really peaceful about the road ahead. Started using a Fitbit One yesterday. 4,489 steps. Way off the 10K daily goal, but nowhere to go but up. Stayed under 1,000 calories consumed during a hectic workday. Keep the oil changed and let 'em roll is what I"m hoping will work on our Nissans.

Unsure, too. My employer is moving from UHC to BCBS-SC in Jan. It'll be a couple weeks before I know a thing.

Honestly.......no. Arthritis, stenosis, plantar raciatus, ridiculously high blood pressure and back pain are what steered me to this decision more than anything.

Cool. Still kicking this around as I know the hernia repair is going to be the most unpleasant part of it. I went to the Lazyboy store last week. Didn't find anything comfortable. I'm going to try another store Monday morning.

I believe she made it through her two week period......one way or another. I do like your advice, though. Protien shakes it is for me......from this point in.

Thanks everyone. It's been frustrating....and the misinformation on the part of the folks I was dealing with at UHC really got me steamed up. Things worked out....as they often do when we just put it in God's hands and ask for help......and listen carefully as our prayers are answered. All I can say is that I sense of peace and relief has come and I feel like an entirely new person these last few days. Now it's crunch time. I've got to work as hard as I can and gather the discipline to do what I've been advised by my surgeon to do......begin the modified liquid diet now.....and hump it hard to lose 50 lbs before surgery. I know I can do it and I know every ounce of weight off and every mile walked between now and then will better ensure a good result with surgery. Time to choke down a Protein shake an grab a shower and get to my job. Working this weekend (great place to walk a few miles each day, too). It's been too early to tell at the moment. We'll have our open enrollment in a few weeks. I guess I'll be able to see then. Even if it becomes a covered event, I'm expecting the 6 month pre-op supervised diet to be in place. I may or may not get credit for the appointments already made....not sure. It would certainly push the surgery back to some time in 2016.....a minimum of 3-4 months after the surgery date I'm already set for. I was certainly tempted to hold off a bit and wait and see......but looking at how the surgeon's schedule meshed with my work schedule there was an ideal date available next month. I thought about it.....went outside and prayed about it......and the logic of proceeding now....right now.....just lined up like a path outa the dark woods. I can say that with absolute certainty that I have no regrets about pulling the trigger now and going for it. The 2007 Nissan truck will just have to keep on chugging away for a few more years. It'll get some relief as the load behind the driver's seat will be reduced real soon.

AWESOME !!!!!!!!!! Lady.....you just made my day. Outstanding results. Thank you for posting your story here. This is a huge motivator for me to stay strict and follow what my bariatric surgeon and team is instructing me to do. Thank you !!!!!!!

A back injury in April of this year is to thank for getting me focused on permanent weight loss. I am grateful and thank God that this happened. I was humbled and had plenty of time to think of how I needed to get started. It was the first time in my life that I couldn't simply cut carbs & calories and hit the treadmill hardcore for a few months and make improvements. Nope, the old back wasn't allowing that. I tried working on the calories but being limited to sleeping, sitting and hanging out really helped me find my resolve to pursue wls. My family physician, doctor at the hyperbaric wound care facility kept after me about it (treating a leg wound that wouldn't heal on it's own), my back surgeon (who said wls could do more for me than he could) and a persistent younger sister (who had bypass 15 years ago and has lift a get and fun life ever since) all finally made sense. I started in a program that had a great surgeon who came highly recommended. I was about 3 months into it and my insurance started throwing up barrier after barrier. All along it was known that I needed to be at a "center of excellence" which I wasn't. They'd been very understanding upfront and said that all the referrals I had would make it okay.....and that due to the comorbidities would push it through and I'd not even need to complete the full 6 months pre-op plan. Time passed and then the bullcrap started. They started throwing up every penalty flag they could. I even switched over midstream to the center of excellence credited facility they required. They still kept throwing flags. It appeared to be a stall tactic to push my surgery approval back and the date into early 2016. I found out why two weeks ago.....my employer is going to BCBS. It all became clear. No matter what I did would result in a stall tactic. Screw 'em. Done with them. I decided to self-fund this. It's that worth it to me. I'd been saving up for a new car.........oh well. My old vehicle is going to have to keep on chugging away for a few more years than I'd planned. It was an easy decision.....a leaner and healthier body that's allowing the aches and pains to ease off vs sporting a new ride. Easy call. I went to the surgeon's office yesterday and paid for the procedure. Done. I have completed my pysche eval, nutritionist's workshops and counseling, surgeon appointments and etc. I have 4 hour surgeon workshop next week, and EGD and then pre-op. The date of surgery is looking like late next month. The relief that this brought is immeasurable. Huge. Tremendous. I didn't realize how much of a dick I'd been around home and probably at work, too. Ill tempered and cagey. Now, it's like a huge weight has been lifted.....no pun intended. My resolve to do this has never wavered from April to now. I've been through a lot of coaching and education about the wls and feel really good about what is going to happen from this point forward. Hopefully I'll be disguised as a recovering bypass & hernia surgery patient by the time the trick or treat candy shows up. Things have fallen into place and prayers answered. I am so grateful. Gotta head out to work, but wanted to share this. Hang in there folks......a way will be provided for you when you are truly ready.

I have a 70-80 minute round trip commute to work. Over half the distance is on the interstate. It's a fairly boring and uneventful drive until I reach the interstate.....where it seems all the NASCAR wannabees and aggressive tractor trailers show up and make it a tense situation. I"ve found another route that I can take that is almost all back roads with more twists, turns and fun stretches than I could ever hope for. A VW GTI, Miata, Mini Cooper or other would be a heap of fun on this. Another incentive/reward for living life at goal weight.

I agree and will follow that advice, no doubt. I've got my older Trek to use as I get back into once I'm much closer.

Sounds like they'd work well for me. I'll order some.

I'll try them in the future, I'm sure. Can't be that bad with some salsa.

I hit the perimeter of the store and that is about it these days. Much quicker shopping.

My Grandfather died from smoking related cancer. He never inhaled, either. Do what you think is wise, OP. I personally think it's not a pleasure I'll ever endulge in again. I'm dumb but I'm not stupid.

I briefly dabbled with it years ago......looked like a freaking circus act, though. My big arse balancing on a seat made for a much smaller hombre. There is a nice path to ride less than five miles from the house. Along the path there are several exits where riders peel off onto technical trails. I always stayed on the easy riding flat path. Hopefully by this winter I'll be a much lighter post-op version of myself. A buddy told me that I'll want to sell my very lightly used five year old bike and buy a new "Twenty-niner" Evidently the market is now moving from 26" to 29" . He said it'd make a huge amount of difference.......I don't know. It'll be fun wheeling my current Trek into the shop for them to go over everything and make sure it's ready to ride again.....soon. Any of you ride at all ?

Nothing wrong with that at all. I can't see getting rid of my current truck at all. I may very well add another vehicle.....but my old little truck is hanging around. I've been places in that truck during hunts that my buddies couldn't reach.

I was grinning and nodding my head while reading your post. I've been going through very similar experiences lately as I navigate my way to surgery. I'm wanting bypass for the reasons you described, yet faced with a surgeon who seems to have an overall bias for the sleeve.

Doesn't sound like anything sugary was the culprit. Wow. I was just told by my new surgeon today that I'd be on liquids for a month after the surgery. How soon before you were cleared for those types of solid foods ? Very sorry. Hope you are getting some relief.