MIMISAN

I think the show called SKIN TIGHT is enlightening in a way because of the few shows I have seen none of the people they showcase could be considered a 10. They are highly improved by removing hanging skin and they can get arm fat removed etc. All that is wonderful, but if you have been very fat or heavy for a very long time you will probably never be what you want to be when you visualize it yourself. Just plan on being happier and able to move without the restriction.

This is exactly why I didn't do some kind of weight loss surgery 5 years ago because I felt like I would rather look like a younger fat gal than a thin wrinkle. I had 2 of my doctors ask if I had considered it and I always said no. Then one day it suddenly hit me that my health was making me a burden on my husband and I felt like such a stone around his neck. He never made me feel that way it just hit me one day that I might have to ask him to wash my keester! Now I am 62 and I called him and asked him what he would think of me having the surgery. He said if that's what I wanted to go ahead but it was my call and that he loved me either way. I asked what he was going to think when I looked like an ugly Sherpai dog and he said it was not a problem for him no matter what. I called and started this ball rolling. I finally decided that aching feet, knees and joints were worse than wrinkles. I know that I am not going to like the wrinkles but unless I can talk insurance in to paying for surgery I will probably have to learn to love them. I will also find it hard to spend big dollars fixing something I can live with when I am 65 or over. Sometimes I am to practical
However, I have been known to change my mind, so if my butt keeps catching up with me and knocking me down, I may reconsider.

I watched the show as well and it made me very sad and fearful. I'm only 4 months out from my gastric bypass surgery and am down 55 lbs. Need to lose about 40 lbs more but I'm afraid of what I will look like. I would be happy if I could just be a healthy size 12-14 and never got to "goal weight" and have my skin still look relatively normal.
I'm 57 so there's not a lot of elasticity left in my skin. I don't want nor likely can afford this skin removal process. It seems to be a very painful process, there's high risk involved, and you are left with hideous scars. Now my concern is that I won't stop losing when I want to and will get thinner than I would like. I DON'T want to look like my skin has melted or go through this procedure. Is there a way to stop losing weight when you are happy where you are?

It's been over 12 months since & im at goal actually trying to maintain or keep from losing anymore. I eat what I want in super moderation & my "cheat thing" is frozen coke. So yummy & zero carbonation only frozen coke satisfaction.

BTW, here are some definitions of cheating....
"Cheating is the getting of a reward for ability by dishonest means or finding an easy way out of an unpleasant situation. It is generally used for the breaking of rules to gain unfair advantage in a competitive situation.".
: to break a rule or law usually to gain an advantage at something
: to take something from (someone) by lying or breaking a rule
: to prevent (someone) from having something that he or she deserves or was expecting to get
So although you may be "breaking the rules" by eating off plan, you certainly aren't gaining an unfair advantage or getting a reward for it!

Im going to go with preparation. To often I am seeing so many people not getting the pre surgical preparation work done. They do not know what they are in for. It seems that either there are many unscrupulous practices out there, or its just that people are not reading up on the surgery and what to expect. So many of these surgeons do so many surgeries they don't have the time to educate the potential patients as to what is really involved.
We see lots of people taking advice from non-qualified people. Or they ask very simple questions about topics that should be part of the basic prep work done by a surgeons practice prior to and immediately following surgery. As a result people are not mentally prepared to make this journey count and to use this tool to make those lifestyle changes so that when the "honeymoon" period is over they can still go forth with their new knowledge and their new attitude and lifestyle, and make the most of it.
Now i wholeheartedly agree also with the support reason. I find more and more people here and in other forums etc, that hide their WLS from everyone, because they either fear failure, or they fear some type of stigma. WHen you hide the WLS, you cannot expect support when people don't even know you need support. I am a big proponent of the open and often, method. I have a blog, and I share my WLS story with everyone and anyone. I am proud to be on this journey and proud enough to make myself succeed. The daily or the like, affirmations i get from friends , family and coworkers are truly a way to recharge, when i'm feeling down or feeling that this is too tough. I think people focus on part of the journey , like exercise, and they dont try to educate themselves in things like nutrition and how to cook in smaller portions or t with healthier ingredients. I also see people who think that they just have to summer for a few months then when they hit their goal, and go into maintenance mode, they can just go back to eating whatever they want. Attitude is so important here. Honestly, If i didn't have a breakthrough in my meeting with a counselor, I might not have made it this far either.
Once I did have the counseling, they made sure I understood , why I had failed before, and why i got fat. Yes i use the term fat, I wont hide from who I was, or what I was. I feel it is important not to live in a delusion about where we are/were and where we want to be.

Well I dont know what affect it will have on you after the surgery. I know for me I have not smoked since the surgery for fear that it will make me want to eat more. I say try it and see how it makes you feel. If you find that you have eaten half the frig then dont do it again. LOL Otherwise enjoy yourself.

Ewwww....a little defensive? Why did you post if you can't accept that other people have a different view than you do? Pot is a drug plain and simple. And if you need it to relax....well, what do you think an addition is?

For pain, maybe, but for pleasure? You're going to free yourself of who knows how many pounds and you want an artificial high? You're going to have enough troubles dealing with head-hunger, might want to stay far away from it, and have yourself a "real" high when you're free from obesity!

Hummm....using pot once a week sounds kind of frequent to me. But then I never smoke pot....why would you want to have surgery to help with an eating addiction and then continue another addiction that is going to make you want to eat?

I'm sorry to hear how this is stressing you out. I worked for a health insurance company for many years and, yes, they can rescind payment. HOWEVER authorization is often done using ICD-9 codes so if the procedure authorized was the one submitted for payment, I don't know why they're acting crazy. It's going to be a fight but the doctor and the facility will be there with you every step. They won't let this go down easily because when we rescinded payment, we took it out of future checks! Ugly!!! Don't let it stress you out!!! We (the insurance company) made many, many, many, many mistakes in my time there. I spent most of my time with claims appeals of things we did that were just stupid. And it often took us a while to realize it was stupid. Loved the people there but hated the process. Hang tough and enjoy life with your sleeve.