KelseyBennett_vsg

We love you, Ann! I know I'm just a newbie, but your posts have always been so insightful and helpful, you seem to be someone who really has their head on straight. I look forward to hearing much, much more from you! Sent from my LG-H901 using the BariatricPal App

We love you, Ann! I know I'm just a newbie, but your posts have always been so insightful and helpful, you seem to be someone who really has their head on straight. I look forward to hearing much, much more from you! Sent from my LG-H901 using the BariatricPal App

We love you, Ann! I know I'm just a newbie, but your posts have always been so insightful and helpful, you seem to be someone who really has their head on straight. I look forward to hearing much, much more from you! Sent from my LG-H901 using the BariatricPal App

We love you, Ann! I know I'm just a newbie, but your posts have always been so insightful and helpful, you seem to be someone who really has their head on straight. I look forward to hearing much, much more from you! Sent from my LG-H901 using the BariatricPal App

Thank you. I have definitely been to yo yoing . I know my doctor wants to see it, but hopefully it doesn't make a huge difference in whether or not he decides to do the surgery or not. And hopefully insurance doesn't debt me either because of it. I have 15 days still to lose some weight, so it can be done I guess. Just not for sure how much they expect to see lost either.

It really depends on your insurance. They all have slightly different requirements. You could call them and ask.

Adipex is an amphetamine. It's a lot like Adderall. So, basically, it's like medical meth. I'm glad you stopped taking it. The long-term affects are probably not good for your heart.
That's great that your doctor wrote you an approval note! I'm almost certain your insurance will approve you because of the note. I think this surgery will make you so much healthier! I'm 25, too! And LOL! You sound just like me. I'd rather be healthy and thin than ever want food. I've realized how much I'm missing out on in life by being overweight. Being this big is the number 1 reason I'm not completely happy.

Oh god... Yeah, that's scary, especially since your dad has that condition. I'm glad you did the smart thing!
I'm so sorry that you had to go through all of this; the denial letter and wanting to give up. I dreaded that feeling, but I'm so lucky that my insurance approved me, especially so quickly. I hope they approve you. I will seriously be pissed if they don't, lol! Please let me know what they say!
Oh, I'm not unhappy either. But I'm not as happy as I want to be. I'm on Lexapro, so it helps me a lot with my OCD. I used to be severely depressed when I was thin. Then when I started taking Lexapro, I got so much better; almost as if I were never sad to begin with. Our self-esteem will definitely improve once we lose weight!

Yeah, Adipex is nasty stuff. It's just legal speed. When I found out now bad it was for my heart I almost immediately stopped taking it. I was taking a double dose every day, by drs orders, and with my dad having congenital heart failure, it wasn't something I felt that I could risk.
I am really hoping that I get approved. They initial denial in November almost made me give up, but in the end I just doubled down and decided that I had to get healthy. Also that sooner was better than later, seeing as at 26 we lose our parents insurance and being a student I didn't know if I was going to be able to have surgery any time soon if I put it off lol.
I wouldn't say that I'm inherently unhappy, I'm too medicated for that XD I take a few different meds for a pre-existing mood disorder, but I am hoping that will improve as some of the weight comes off. I know my self esteem will go up, so that should help ????
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Oh yes, my Dr is phenomenal. Ferrin Bayles is his name. I actually had to switch pcp's when I started this journey bc mine that I had been seeing for years just kept pushing Adipex at me. I lost 100lbs on that stuff, and gained back 120lbs when I stopped taking it. Terrible stuff.
But yes, my Dr wrote a note in my study paperwork that he thought that I was an excellent candidate for surgery and that it would likely save my life. I'm certainly not giving up, I'm only 25, but I know that if I don't get this now that I won't be around at 40 to enjoy kids and grandkids one day. I want to be healthy more than I want any food ever. If they could remove all of my stomach, I'd tell them to! Lol!
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@ Buy some Pickle Juice popsicles! They're great for hydration! Im not sure when they're allowed. I am hoping I still like pickles post-op.

I'm in the same boat! I yo-yo'd 3 lbs back and forth and am just playing the waiting game. My Dr kept telling me that insurance just does it as a formality to see if you really want surgery or if you will give up. Every insurance policy is different though, so I can't be of much more help, just my 2 cents. Some people have been denied for not losing enough per their policy, but it just really depends. Hopefully all of my stuff will be sent off to insurance this coming week, so I'll be sure to let you know how mine turns out!
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Speaking of pickles, any ideas on how soon post-op we can eat them? Pickles have been my favorite food all my life and I am pretty sure I would die without them. I've never really binged on them, but I would like to try them post-op just to see if I still have the taste for them.
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Kind of the same. I just finished my weight loss study and decided to do some more serious research on insurance approval stories. Mostly it gives me stress. I have a great support system in my family and husband, but it's so nice to read things from people who have already had surgery, and provide support to folks who are just starting. I honestly wish that I had found this forum 6 months ago so maybe I would have done better in my study. I kind of botched it, went up and down 3 lbs over and over again, followed my docs instructions but the weight just wouldn't come off. I'm super nervous my insurance is going to deny me again.
Anyway, I'm very glad that I DID find this site, it's been very therapeutic knowing I'm not the only person who has gone through this, and that some people actually have more trouble than I have ????
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I'm not sure why you keep saying goodbye and are upset when I make posts about members behaving properly. Your presence on here is appreciated. My post wasn't targeted at you. Not sure why you'd think they were.

I don't know what prompted this message. I don't (can't) read all of the messages on this board, because there's just too many. But in what I have read, I haven't seen much that rises to the level of ugliness and disrespect held out here, especially from the "vets". I've seen a few personal clashes between vets spill over, but I would think things like that could be handled in private messages.



I fear that this message has and will continue to cost us some of our most experienced members on this board, ones who have been invaluable to me in my decision and preparing for my surgery. This saddens me, not only because I will miss their posts, but because I believe that the new people in the community will lose out.



My therapist asked me why I get so worked up about My Big Fat Fabulous Life, and the Healthy at Every Size movement's message that extreme obesity can be healthy. The answer is that I get worked up because it's putting wrong information out there, and it can harm people. I was an ER nurse, and provided patient education to a wide cross section of our population, and in my experience only a very small percentage of people are educated and well-read enough to be able to tell what information they are exposed to in media, specifically the internet and social media, is incorrect. Heck, I saw a meme the other day that jokingly advised people to put sugar in their auto gas tanks to keep the gas from freezing. And a few days later, news reports about people actually doing so. So when people on TLC are advocating extreme obesity as a "healthy choice" I get upset because people will believe it.



Likewise, I worry when I see topics broached on this board and advice that can be very harmful to newbies who don't have the experience or knowledge to judge the validity of the advice. Advice like there is absolutely no health concerns with e-cigarettes, or that drinking alcohol shortly after post-op is fine, or that eating solid food while still in the liquids restriction immediately post-op is just fine. I don't have the experience that some others do here, being pre-op, but I am a registered nurse, and I know that some of this information is dangerous. Yet when vets here or medically trained people like myself say - IN VERY MODERATE WAYS - that these are not really great ideas, we get trounced upon, and called bullies. Yet if we don't speak up, there will be people who will believe what they are reading that is just patently wrong.



All I know is that some very straight talk from people who had been through it is what I needed, and what I found here. And some of those very same people are exiting stage left because they're tired of being called out for being "mean" and censured for that same straight talk. Bariatric surgery is a huge and permanent step, and if all we're doing is validating every opinion no matter how dangerous or ill-informed, then I fear for the same newbies that this message is trying to "protect". Instead of assuming people are coming to this board as rational adults capable of processing critical feedback, it seems that we're to assume they are all fragile souls who we can't say anything negative to. I don't find that a flattering or helpful assumption.



Just my spare change, take it or leave it. No offense intended, just my opinion, and all that jazz.

Just wanted to shout out as another Miles patient! I went for the first time in September of last year, found out after getting all of my pre-op done that I also needed 6 month weight loss study, so I just finished that a couple of weeks ago and should get everything sent in to them Monday or Tuesday, then off to insurance! I plan to pester the shit out of Sonny until everything gets submitted! So cool to find so many other folks using AWLS and Dr. Miles!
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I am seriously puzzled on how one may be able to make sure that his/her every word is pleasing to every personality on this board without giving up his/her own personality in its entirety. Even then, words are often misconstrued because the reader is emotional/hangry/wants to hear something else/is from another country where words and phrases have different meaning than the person replying. It's also apparent that some people are ripe and ready to be offended because they don't like the person replying or were told that they should be offended when they weren't beforehand.
Perhaps instead of making a post like this, one that will only create MORE disharmony and dissension (and causing some of our most helpful people to leave), the offensive parties should be addressed directly. Posts like this **IN MY OPINION** are more harmful to the general sense of community because they justify AND INSPIRE unnecessary butt hurt and finger pointing.
Wow. I'm sad. It seems as if there is a trend of posts lately that are telling vets that their time here is done. I hear you loud and clear.
***Of course, this is just MY opinion and just a suggestion, not meant to offend anyone. It's just based on MY experiences as a forum moderator and board owner.***

We love you, Ann! I know I'm just a newbie, but your posts have always been so insightful and helpful, you seem to be someone who really has their head on straight. I look forward to hearing much, much more from you! Sent from my LG-H901 using the BariatricPal App

I went on amusement park rides with my kids Sunday and fit with room to spare!

We love you, Ann! I know I'm just a newbie, but your posts have always been so insightful and helpful, you seem to be someone who really has their head on straight. I look forward to hearing much, much more from you! Sent from my LG-H901 using the BariatricPal App

I was able to buckle the seatbelt without an extender yesterday on my flight to San Diego! Have lost 17 lbs on pre surg diet!
By this evening I will have crossed the line into sleevedom!

We love you, Ann! I know I'm just a newbie, but your posts have always been so insightful and helpful, you seem to be someone who really has their head on straight. I look forward to hearing much, much more from you! Sent from my LG-H901 using the BariatricPal App

I just got the call today that my insurance approved me! I would like to thank Dr. Les Miles and his patient advocate, Bridgette, for all the hard work they did to make this happen. I am so excited!

I had an abnormal ekg, abnormal echo, abnormal stress test, and finally had a cardiac cath to get approved for surgery, My heart was fine just enlarged.