moonglitter

We just received a response from Rasha Pecoraro on our on our Facebook page. She's a former contestant on The Biggest Loser and former patient of Dr. Huizenga
"As a former contestant on The Biggest Loser and former patient of Dr. Huizenga, I applaud you for your beautifully written letter. I lost 70 pounds in my 5 months on the show, and gained back all of it and then some post Biggest Loser. As much as I love Dr. H, and my time on the show, I was never given the tools to make a permanent healthy lifestyle change. I did extensive research on weight loss surgery, and I mentally, emotionally, and physically prepared for it. Since having Gastric Sleeve Surgery at Oregon Weight Loss Surgery in April 2013, I have lost (and kept off) 135 pounds, and I am the healthiest and happiest I have ever been! - and I have NEVER worked harder. Gastric Sleeve Surgery has been the best tool to use to fuel my healthy lifestyle. This time I did it on my terms, and my rules. I will not bad mouth Dr. H, as I believe his heart is in the right place, but I will say that he believes in what he says. I, on the other hand, believe in all of the work I've put in to get to this amazing place in my life, Bariatric surgery included. Many former contestants on The Biggest Loser have turned to bariatric surgery, but I am one of the few who is open about it. I believe in telling your truth, whatever that may be.
Thank you for telling your truth.
Be Brave. Be Authentic. Be You.
Aloha, Rasha"

Good time for me to read this as researching bariatric Vitamins is on my to do list. Thanks for the info Alex

IT is extremely unfortunate there are doctors like this in Mexico (but I am sure they are everywhere) who are tarnishing the reputation of ALL foreign doctors. Mexico has earned their spot on the map for Medical Tourism and have their industry drug through the mud because of one selfish surgeon is unacceptable.

Hi I am almost to one year post op. I am turning 63 in 19 days. To date I have lost 125 pounds half of what I weighed the day after surgery. It can be done after 60. Folow the rules and succeed. Go for it.

I am 62 and have 105 pounds to lose; I've lost 17 in the month leading up to my surgery which is in 2 days. I am hoping that weight loss will add a few years to my life so that I can be there for the graduations and weddings of those whom I love the most. It's too late for me to look like Sophia Loren (!) but not too late to try to be a healthier person. With any luck at all, I have two more decades, and I want those to be as active and healthy as possible.

Hi I am 62 and have lost 103 pounds since Aug 21,2013. I keep a diary of food and I do not eat many carbs. My stalls have been few but I walk almost every day for about a half an hour. The sleeve has not made my life better but it has made me better.

I turned 60 in January...sleeved in February. I decided I didn't want to grow any older being obese. I needed to lose about 110-120 pounds. I'm down 60 lbs pre and post op but have a long way too go and hit my first real stall. Can't seem to get the scale to move.
Also, have had some increased stressors in the last month and I've made a few poor choices...eating some bad carbs. I start my days great..but by late afternoon, I want to start grazing...an old bad habit. I need to focus...FOCUS!!! Lol

i can say this , my sister recently was forced to retire from one of the very very arge ins companies due to her MS. She was a nurse case manager. She has given this advice to me and we talk about it a lot. in order to get coverage you have to show the skin, either A. causes infections and rashes that are chronic ( usually 6 months of documentation) or for the panniculectomy if the skin interferes with sexual congress i.e. if it hangs down and hits your wee wee or hoo ha, in either of these cases it has to be covered as medically necessary otherwise its just cosmetic. I know from talking with my insurance they wil cover the panny if its touching my dingle dangle ( im in a weird mood , sue me) or if it becomes a source of chronic care 9 rashes, infections etc.

Interesting. I recall facing similar obstacles when I coordinated a cleft lip & palette program. The insurance companies would routinely refuse coverage for rhinoplasty saying it was "cosmetic." I would then have to get the physician to write a more detailed note explaining why the procedure was medically necessary. I feel this same way about skin removal. Especially when it's a matter of skin folds and sagging skin that could harbor infections and rashes. I'd also argue the psycho-social aspect of sagging skin, but I understand that insurance companies aren't really that invested in that sort of reasoning. I am not there yet. I hope I won't have so much sagging skin that I need to consider skin removal surgery. I do know that both my primary and my orthopedic doctors have recommend documenting any issues I have with excess skin and should the need arise they will write letters in my behalf.

I was leeved on June 8 in Tijuana throug ALM (A Lighter Me). They are offering plastic surgery and based on my my experience with them I have no reservations about using them again! I am 62 and a retail store owner. I love my work. When I get to the right place I will get them done as I want to keep working until I am 70 or so.

I'm not 60, but I am 52, and I know how I felt about plastics at my age: it didn't matter. If you are in good health and cleared for surgery, I don't think I'd let that influence my decision much. I wouldn't be too sure about the insurance without checking. Mine paid for the abdominoplasty (or at least the panniculectomy, I'm not totally sure). If not, only you can decide about the cost/benefit.
For me, it was worth pain and cost. I had a LOT of plastic surgeries in the past 6 months, and I can say the abdominoplasty was by far the most painful, and 6 months later my muscles are still a little sore some days. I am still swollen, and very numb around the incision. And that surgery made a huge impact in the way I look, in and out of clothes. I'm thrilled with my results, and I'm happy that I did it. I would do it again, even knowing all of that. But I know what you mean - we really do have to consider cost and pain, compared to the outcome. I probably could stand to do a few more things, but for those reasons, not sure if I will. I think it's too soon to make that decision, for me, at least.

I need a reality check from others in their 60's. At age 61, I have lost 123 pounds and am now at a healthy weight. Now I really want a panniculectomy & abdominoplasty. I have so much loose skin that it interferes with mobility and looks so horrible to me that it's almost spoiling my enjoyment of my new, healthier body.
I have two problems with going forward with the plastic surgery. Firstly, my insurance will almost certainly refuse to pay for the panniculectomy since I no longer have the infections under my loose skin that would have qualified as a medical necessity. I am having a hard time justifying spending so much money on myself when I am so close to retirement age.
My second serious reservation is that I have already had a breast reduction. It was a five-hour operation and the recovery was more uncomfortable than I expected. I am still having issues and sensations more than two months out. I'm afraid that the Tummy Tuck will be just as bad. I can't take off more than a few weeks from work, and when I'm fatigued and sore, my work suffers.
So what do you all think? Am I crazy to do something so expensive and uncomfortable at my age?

I'm with mostly everyone else. No, I don't miss food because I seem to be able to have mostly what I want in moderation and do pretty strictly limit all the white foods...bread, Pasta, potatoes, etc. And I have found great choices on many restaurants 'light' menus. I don't miss foods, but I must admit I miss being able to eat a lot of favorite foods at a meal sometimes. Like, I love good beef steak sometimes and miss being able to eat more or it, but in the big picture it's a small sacrifice for feeling, looking and being soooo much better and healthier!

I'm almost 4 months out from my surgery. The thing I have realized lately, is that all the high calorie, empty carb junk I ate, for emotional reasons, was what got me too almost 300 pounds. I'm still in the process of retraining my thinking about food. Because I grew up in the fifties, and my mom made mostly meat and potatoes. I have spent most of my life eating potatoes and lots of bread. I thought I couldn't live without bread. But I'm finding I just don't want to have the extra carbs. I might still have a piece of toast once in a while, or a very small portion of potato or rice, but I just don't have enough room to have that and get all my Protein in vegetables in. As for eating out, I do that now occasionally. I think when I look around at my friends, I see that all our gatherings, ALL of our gatherings, revolve around food, and what someone is bringing to eat. It's the same for holidays, just like yesterday the 4th of July. I guess what I'm trying to say, is that it is a big transition. Since we are in our sixties, some of us have had a lifetime of poor eating habits. Mostly the foods I do miss, are the comfort foods. But I'm hoping to find some new comfort foods along the way. I only eat 3 meals a day, no Snacks in between. I hope I can continue to learn a healthier lifestyle. Sorry this post is so long :-)

I find I really don't want to eat out as much. Now it seems like such a waste of money when I see how cheap I eat at home.
I have always loved to go out to eat and it's so strange to feel this way. I went and picked up some food to go at a japanese restaurant the other day and felt the same way. So expensive for the amount I can eat. Even if it is split up in more meals.

As far as eating I haven't had any problems, I can still enjoy all the foods and flavors as I did before surgery, just not nearly as much. But I will warn you, you will need to re-learn how to eat out, and I have found this part of the process frustrating. So what was your normal dinner out? For me, a glass of wine, then some bread, then a salad, then the main course, sometimes dessert. My first time out a few months after surgery, I had a glass of wine, skipped the bread, ate a small salad, then got about two or three forkfulls of food in my mouth before I began to feel very uncomfortable. That was way too much food and eaten way too quickly, and the sleeve let me know it. I have since learned, I still enjoy a glass of wine, I skip over appetizers and salads and get a small plate of something I want, heavy on the Protein, then take my time with it, when the sleeve says, "that's enough", I obey and put the rest in a doggie bag. You will find though, this is a minor inconveinience compared to dealing with weight related issues. Good luck!

I'm not living on a diet of Protein Shakes and tears . . . I eat pretty normally, just a low carb, low calorie, mindfully chosen version of normal. I can find something sleeve-friendly at any restaurant. Post a link to a really good restaurant you ate at recently and I'll show you the menu items I consider good choices. You may be making different choices with your meals but there is no reason not to eat and enjoy good food.< /p>