cindym44

My husband is the only person who knows. My children don't know, my parents don't know, my siblings don't know and the people I work with don't know. I was only off work a week, so I used vacation time. People comment all the time telling me how good I look and my response is...Thank you, I struggle with what I put in my mouth every day. Which is the truth. If I didn't have the puncture marks on my mid section, I could wear a bikini for the first time in my life. But, because I am afraid that the puncture marks will lead to more questions, I am going to stick with a one-piece.

Don't do it! Forget the food funerals...Eating anything you want now will only increase the fat in your liver and that will show up in your pre-op blood work. My surgeon told me that if she could not lift my liver out of the way for surgery, she would cancel surgery. It isn't worth the chance....

Oh how I would love to be able to sing!! I sure hope this comes true for me...right now, I can't carry a tune in a hand basket!

Hi everyone -

I LOVE my new body and would like to lose about 25 more pounds, but if I don't...that's ok. That's ok because I haven't been this size in over 12 years. I am pretty happy with the way I look and I pretty much eat what I want, but I follow the strict rule of Protein first. If I still want more to eat, I will eat veggies next and then maybe a bite of carbs. I can't tell you the last time I had a sub or even a sandwich...I already know I can't eat it, so why bother buying it.

My question is this...when will I know when my body is "done" losing weight? I am 4 months out and also wonder how many months will I go until I am "done" losing weight? How did you know?

Thanks all!

I was able to document a consecutive 6 months of Weight Watchers and it was accepted. I did not have to have to attend supervised weight loss classes. My doctor's office submitted to my insurance company and I was approved in 1 day. From consultation with my surgeon to surgery date took me about 10 weeks.

I am a happy girl....Life is Onederful! I finally broke the 200 mark and for the first time in 10 years, I am in the Ones....

I am beyond thrilled....

Merry Christmas everyone!

I have BCBS in Maryland and I got my approval in 1 day!!

Make sure your surgeon's office knows what they are doing to submit because I was told by my surgeon that if you get denied the first time, it can be very difficult to overturn.

I had my sleeve on September 14th and had my first drink about 4 weeks later. I also enjoy an occasional cocktail, and know all about the empty calories so I switched from my regular rum and coke to vodka and diet cranberry juice - which has become my new drink of choice. I still enjoy a cocktail or 2 about once every 10 days or so.

My surgeon had told me that I had to be careful with alcohol because l would be feeling the effects sooner that I expected. I didn't experience that but think it was because I sipped the 2 drinks over a period of 3 hours.

On the benefit side, the alcohol helped my bowels move as I am constantly constipated from all the Protein I am taking in.

Yes, the 2 week pre-op is to shrink your liver, but if you have a fatty liver already and then do the food funerals, your liver becomes even bigger and fattier. I lost 11 lbs during my 2 week pre-op but the blood work taken right before the operation still showed a fatty liver.

Don't do the food funerals! I did and was worried I wasn't going to be able to have my operation because of my fatty liver.

I was approved in 1 day. My insurance is BCBS Carefirst.

For anyone thinking that this surgery will magically make the scale go lower, without any work from you, you are WRONG.

This surgery is a tool. Period. You will have to be on a diet for the rest of your lives. You will have to commit to this change and embrace it, or the surgery will be a failure.

You are allowed to make bad food choices, BUT if you are making bad food choices most of the time, you will fail.

If you are dining out, start thinking about low fat and low calorie appetizers as your main course - not the usual 14 oz. steak dinner with 2 sides and dessert. You will miss eating these dinners, but those days are gone. If you eat like you did before the surgery, again, you will fail.

Exercise. You need to exercise. Take the steps instead of the elevator. Park your car in the parking spot far away from your office front door. Go to the mall and window shop for those clothes you will buy after you lose the weight. Walk, Walk, Walk.

Be prepared to give up some things you really like. No more carbonated beverages. A glass of wine is a rare occurrence. bread, Pasta, and other unhealthy carbs will be gone until you reach your goal. And after you reach your goal, you must still be committed to working to keep the weight off. It will be a daily struggle - all day, every day.

All this said, the surgery does work - with your commitment and hard work. You, and only you, will be the deciding factor. If you are lucky enough to be approved for this surgery, use it a chance to start over. It's hard work, but you can do it - if you really want to.

Although my insurance required a 6 month history of a supervised diet, they accepted my weight watchers booklet showing my weekly meetings and my weigh ins. From consultation to surgery took me just over 2 months. I was a happy girl.

I was sleeved 6 weeks ago and have been through some ups and downs. I too, was frusterated because I could hardly eat anything. I survived on Soups and soft foods for weeks, plus Protein shakes. I lost weight and was happy. Then I got tired of the soups and soft foods, but still kept going. Then I stalled and was constipated for days. Frusterated again. All of sudden I was vomiting the foamies when I ate...another disappointment, but I kept going.

I went out with friends last night and realized for the first time ever, I would never be able to eat a full meal again. Never. But that is ok with me, but I find myself making excuses for why I am not eating like I used to because I kept my surgery a secret.

In the end, I still think it is worth it...but there are definitely some adjustments along the way. I don't think the adjustments will ever go away....

I had my 6 week check up today and am only down 17lbs from day of surgery. I am having a hard time getting all my Protein in and I am not eating much. I am just not hungry. My doctor told me to kick it up a notch with the Protein and I would notice more weight dropping off. So that is my new goal...more protein...every day, plus I need to eat every 2 hours. Hoping this makes a difference for me.

Mine was about $28,000 and insurance paid every cent.

Yes, I had my surgery at Hopkins Bayview. I was very satisfied. My doctor was Dr. Adrales and I was very happy. The consultation was very detailed and everything was explained. Depending on your insurance requirements, there will be hoops to jump through but it is worth it. I am just 3 weeks out and have lost 25 lbs from my starting weight.

I was admitted on a Wednesday and discharged on Thursday. My only complaint was that I was ready to go back to work the following Tuesday, but my doctor wouldn't release me. I was fine...with no pain, but I had to weight for my 2 week check up to be released.

My primary care doctor actually told me that Johns Hopkins was the first to perform this surgery - you will be in good hands.

My first step was to contact my insurance company and ask if the surgery was covered. They gave me with reading material saying what the requirements were and I read that from front to back, asking questions along the way. Then I called a local hospital and made an appointment for a consolation with a surgeon. This takes time, you won't get the consult appointment for a few weeks.

After the consult, I was given a list of things I needed to do in order to submit to my insurance company. I had to make nutritional appointments, I had to have 6 months of a structured diet, I had to make a psych appointment, I had to go to a support group meeting, and I had to be cleared by my cardiologist. I started to work on these requirements immediately and found that the best appointments I could get for the nutritional and the psych was 2 months away. But I was lucky - my insurance would accept my attempt with weight watchers as my structured diet for 6 months.

You will also need to see your primary care doctor for blood work. My cardiologist also wanted a stress test. I felt like I was jumping through hoops, but it was so worth it. Surgery date finally came.

I am just 2 weeks pre-op and wish I would have done things a little differently. First, I had a few food funerals. Not a good idea, because all this did was increase the fat in my liver. Then I had to follow the pre-op diet, which was supposed to shrink the liver. I followed the diet faithfully, but my liver was still fatty. I was lucky my surgeon continued on with the surgery,but some surgeons will not.

Don't do the food funerals and don't cheat on your pre-op diet. Good Luck with your surgery. The reward is just around the corner!

I had nuclear testing for my stress test, because of the high blood pressure meds I take. My cardiologist said that the meds slow my heart rate down and the regular stress test wouldn't be accurate. I can tell you that the nuclear test was a walk in the park. You will be given medication by IV to speed up your heart while you slowly walk on the treadmill. You are moniitored during this process and barely even feel a thing. The only side effect is a tremendous headache after the test, but you will be given another injection to combat the headache. Don't be worried - you will do fine.

Every insurance company is different, but my primary care dr told me that he knew of a case where a person lost 40 lbs on their preop diet and their insurance denied that claim because they said they could do it on their own. I agree, I wouldn't take the chance...

It's not the insurance company, it's whether the company you work for opts to include bariatric surgery in it;s group policy. If your company does not, I don't know how your surgery would be covered, especially now. I certainly would turn this over to the surgeon's administrative staff though...they should have known this before they operated on you.

My surgeon's office told me that I could not lose any weight before I got approved as I was just over 35 with comorbids. Once I got approved, I could lose all the weight I wanted. I am 1 week post op and wouldn't even qualify right now for this surgery if I started here. They will want you to lose weight on your pre-op diet, but that is after you are approved.

My surgeon told me that everyone has a weight comfort level built in their body. Some people have a higher weight comfort than others. That is why some people can eat anything and not gain an ounce. This is why diets do not work - your body fights to gain back any lost weight. I would lose 30 lbs. and gain back 40

My surgeon also said that the sleeve surgery will reset this comfort level to a lower level. Also, when the sleeve is performed, the part of your stomach that tells you to feed it, is gone. If you take in fewer calories, and exercise more, chances are you will lose weight.

My plan was to not tell my husband until I had jumped through all the hoops and was approved. I had already contacted my insurance company and found out all their requirements and printed them out. I then made the consult appointment, went to that, and from there I made the nutrional appointments, the psych evaluation appointment and started my nutrion monthly classes. I still hadn't told my husband.

Finally, he asked, why I was logging my food and what did I mean that I had signed up for nutrition classes? This is when I told him. He realized I was committed to this, that I hadn't asked for his approval or permission, and this is something that I really wanted. He supported me, but did remind me, rather nicely, after the surgery, when I was in pain, that this is something that I wanted. I shook my head and said I still do.

I am on 4 days post op and feel like a million bucks. The first 2 days were the worst for sure. I had the sleeve operation on the 14th and was discharged on the 15th. By the 18th, (today), I was driving and shopping.

Let your husband how bad you want this....he will support you.