2goldengirl

I don't know what state you're in (I'm in CA), but I've seen many, many folks approved who are on antidepressants, though not on MAO inhibitors, just the more common SSRI's. Less of them are on drugs for anxiety. What the psych eval is looking for in a case like that is that you're mentally healthy enough while on your meds to handle the postop routine and the life changes that are the result of surgery. Properly, they will also recommend that you start behavior therapy if you aren't already established with a therapist so that you have help negotiating your pre and postop courses. Your surgeon will determine whether your meds may be an issue postop. Depending on the procedure (more commonly with GBP than with VSG), some meds may need to be adjusted for proper absorption. I hope this helps!

It's not uncommon. For the folks I've followed, maybe 25% of the band to sleeve or GBP revisions had to be done in two steps. Remember that your surgeon made the decision to give you the best possible outcome. I'm so sorry you're disappointed!

Congratulations! I hope you feel as wonderful as you look!

Your mom is right You've paid your COBRA up front, which helps. Sometimes there can be a blip on the radar when your group plan changes to COBRA - there is an end date for the group policy and a start date for the COBRA policy. Your ID number shouldn't change, just your group number. Your surgeon's office knows what you're doing so they won't get fazed over any blips in eligibility. The hospital may do an eligibility check when you check in day of surgery, so make sure you have the new card with the new group number on it & you should be fine. There is a 90-day "global period" following surgery so postop visits during that timeframe by the globl fee your surgeon gets. You may want to have their office check with Cigna about that just to be sure. And if you itemize deductions, your tax person may advise you to deduct the cost of your COBRA payments. Good luck, and I hope this helps!

That you're making the time to meet your goals while raising kids and working more than full time is awesome. I'm so glad you're happy with the results, and I hope you are feeling very proud of your accomplishments!

Dude, that is a TON of exercise for a body recovering from surgery. I'm preop, so I have no personal experience with the 3-week stall, but postop recovery is something I get paid to help people through. Quite honestly, I'd back off on the exercise and see whether your NUT recommends upping your intake based on the amount of exercise you're doing. Your body is no doubt VERY confused on a cellular level. You're trying to build new cells to heal and breaking them down with so much exercise. In another three weeks or so, you may be ready to take on this much, but I really, really urge you to slow down. Your body's primary job right now is to heal from surgery, not get up the next hill. I realize it's kinda counterintuitive, but it's true. Yeah, you only had a few bandaids on the outside, but there's a whole lot of work going on inside. For now, stop focusing on your heart rate and how long you stay there. Try backing off both on mileage and how fast you're walking by about 20-25%. Not forever, just for a couple-three weeks. Then gradually build up again. Let your body catch up to your motivation, OK? Good luck!

You are less than two weeks out from major abdominal surgery. Your body is working overtime to heal. Fatigue is completely normal, especially if you are trying to do too much. Don't let the teeny incisions fool you, you're hard at work from the inside out. It's also normal to have a day when you feel better, you do more than usual, and you're wiped out for a day or two afterward. Hang in there!

Thank you for acknowledging the importance of our choices, day in, day out. Nobody is perfect at this game, if we were we wouldn't be on a board like this. And I can't believe that surgery is some kind of magic fairy dust that makes our journey perfect when we hadn't been before. I'm working on paying attention to the importance of choices while I'm pre-op, so this post was both timely and helpful. Go get 'em!

The BMI is, to put it mildly, flawed. It ignores gender, bone structure, and lean/fat ratios. For you, I'd dump the BMI entirely and go with lean/fat ratio. And don't let ANYONE else mess with your head. If, for example, you have 100 lbs of lean mass, then add on a reasonable fat ratio, which for women is somewhere between 20 and 25%. Ballet, gymnastics, and figure skating are loaded with women with eating disorders, as I'm sure you're aware. It can be enormously hard to turn off those messages you got from childhood. Keep working on it. I really believe you and your body will know when you're done losing and ready to make the transition to maintenance.

Just be careful, peppermint extract is really potent. You use a lot less than you would with, for instance, vanilla. Back when she was in HS, my SD made a chocolate cake and she decided she'd use mint instead of vanilla in the frosting. She learned the hard way that too much mint made it taste like toothpaste

@@Mom26, I think you will love your FitBit. I love mine. Do you have an body fat monitor scale? That might meet your needs better than one that measures pounds only. For now, I need to weigh daily because it's too easy for me to tell myself stories about what I have or haven't eaten, and the scale is one of my reality checks. It's trends I pay attention to, once I'm postop I may well ask my husband to hide it somewhere for the first three months or so.

Unfortunately, my surgeon referral (hence scheduling initial consult with the surgeon) got delayed two weeks because my PCP got sick the day I was supposed to see her. And due to other commitments, I can't schedule surgery until January at the earliest anyhow. After doing a lot of reading and research, I've decided what I can and need to work on while I wait is being accountable to myself for my choices - all of them. I've got a history of avoiding weighing myself the morning after I've overeaten, and likewise skipping tracking food choices I'm less than proud of. That won't help me be successful with surgery. What I know is, the folks who are successful in the long run are the ones who stay accountable to themselves, are consistent in their choices, and stick with their plan. I have the time to do some inside work on examining my food choices. My goal is not to lose or gain weight, but to take a long honest look and find the stones in the road ahead. Putting this out there in public is one step in my accountability. My plan is to keep up with the daily weights, using my online tracker (I use Sparkpeople) every day, including the daily notes. Anybody want to join me? Or just keep me accountable?

I'm just about to order a couple more of those. I've had one at my desk at work for my coffee, because a vendor gave us these wonderful mugs that are so big it would get cold before I could finish it. Now I'm getting one for my desk in my home office (I work from home twice a week) and next to my living room chair.

You've gotten a lot of good advice here, the only thing I have to add is to be open and really, really listen to what your surgeon has to say about the pros and cons of each for your particular body and situation. Each of us will, we hope, have only one of these surgeries in our lifetime. Your surgeon has a LOT more experience to draw on. The fact is, both procedures lead to dramatic initial weight loss. How much weight you lose ultimately depends on you and the choices you make post op over the long term. That weight loss and the effect of either procedure on your body can resolve issues with many obesity-related issues, such as sleep apnea, diabetes, high cholesterol, GERD, and joint pain. Whichever procedure you and your surgeon determine is right for you, your long-term success is really up to you and the choices you make, one choice at a time.

Originally, the sleeve was the first stage of a two-stage surgery for individuals with a BMI > 50. Results were so positive that use of the sleeve as a single procedure has made it the choice for many, especially as longer-term results for the lap band have been disappointing. The two procedures not only differ in how they're done, but the way in which they change the way your body handles food afterwards. Postop recommendations also differ for many surgeons. Listen to what your surgeon has to say about each of the procedures for you - he or she will have a reason they prefer one over the other for your particular situation. Good luck!

That's great news! How are you feeling, recovery-wise?

You HAVE got a lot on your plate, and a lot of change to adjust to. And the changes with the loss of your mom and your husband's health are changes that have been thrust upon you, and completely out of your control. If you are not already getting some counseling, I'd really suggest it would be a great investment in your health.

Totally and completely normal. You're changing your life dramatically in a single day. No matter how much preparation you put into it, you're smart enough to know that anticipation is not the same as reality. You're well-prepared and you will be fine. You'll have your bumps in the road, everyone does. Good luck!

Have you tried switching up your exercise routine? Add intervals, lift heavier weights, change the activity you're doing and/or the frequency and intensity. Try a different routine.

Don't worry! Postop is a whole different thing from preop. Promise!

I'm the odd one out here - I don't LIKE Halloween candy. Too icky sweet. Bleah.

If you go to Tanita's website, you can compare different models for their features. Mine is about eight years old, and it stores info for four different users, set for gender and age of each user. As I remember, it was mid-range in price. I did a weight loss program at a clinic once, and they had this awesome Tanita that measured lean mass, fat mass, and total body Water, then gave you a printout. I loved that thing because I had those printouts each week. But those are more than $1000 and won't fit in my bathroom

I've only tried one, but both Huz and I are happy with it. Isopure, which I order from Amazon. We tried a 1-lb bag first.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_11?url=search-alias%3Dhpc&field-keywords=tanita+body+composition+analyzer&sprefix=tanita+body%2Caps%2C196 good ole amazon!

An electrical impedence scale (Tanita makes them) can be purchased for as little as $40. I've had one for years and love it. You get a more accurate measurement of body fat weighing in the middle of the day, but the great thing is that gives you a great feel for trends. For example, I can readily see that if my weight is up (or even the same) dayover day, the BF % tells me whether it's Water, which weighs as lean mass. They have some with more features that will also tell you your total body water percentage.