laceemouse

It's common to develop gallbladder issues after weight loss, hopefully you will be one of the lucky ones!

What you have done should be enough, good luck to you. I am awaiting insurance approval too!

I don't remember, maybe a couple of minutes, but it was a slow jog

My primary care doctor is not on board with me having WLS, she always just tells me to do Weight Watchers. I told my surgeon it was no use talking to her about it and he said she doesn't need to do anything, he wrote a letter to the insurance company saying I needed the surgery himself. I do know other people who have found a new primary care doctor who is more supportive of WLS. If my doctor gives me grief about it after I have had it done I am going to find a new doctor.

I have heard of doctors who will take it out during WLS but most will not. Not everyone develops gallbladder issues after weight loss. Some people even say they are given a medication to try to stop any gallbladder issues from happening after WLS. I am grateful I had my gallbladder out years ago after losing a measly 40 pounds on Weight Watchers

Can I just say I feel EXACTLY the same way? One of the reasons I am so fat is that I am always hungry and when I don't eat I feel shaky and sick and get a headache. I am currently awaiting insurance approval for the sleeve and I am SO happy that my surgeon only requires a 3 day liquid diet per-op. Even with that I know it will be hard for me. And while I do understand that post-op I am not going to feel hungry soon I still, like you, worry about feeling shaky and weak. I told the nurse this and she said my surgeon actually lets patients move on to pureed foods quicker than many do. I am going to follow the rules, I would never risk a leak or something by pushing too quickly, but I do have the same fears as you. And I will tell the surgeon about it and call if I need help after the surgery. I have come close to fainting, I am talking weak and dizzy and the old black tunnel vision, many times just from dieting. My blood sugar is fine and I actually have mild high blood pressure now. But that near fainting is caused by a drop in blood pressure. I can't imagine not feeling that way after not eating for so long. All I can say is talk to your surgeon about it. One thing that makes ME really happy is I don't work outside the home so I don't have to worry about going back to work after surgery. I can move slow and take it easy as long as I need to (I understand walking is important, I don't plan to be a sloth, but at least I won't have to drive and work) Do you have a surgery date?

Welcome and good luck. As for as if your insurance will pay, it doesn't hurt to try!

My insurance requires less testing than most and no long supervised diet or anything. My surgeon only requires 3 days of a liquid diet prior to surgery. Right now I am waiting for insurance approval. MAYBE with self pay you can move to getting a surgery date quickly, but the idea of going back to work that soon after surgery sounds pretty terrible to me. We are all on a liquid diet for a while after surgery, very low calories, most people are tired and have to take it easy for at least a week after surgery, and even then they struggle.

I have had several cardiac tests in the past (strong family history of heart disease) and I too was very worried about the stress test. I was obese and out of shape and I have never been athletic, even when I was normal weight I could never run for more than a few seconds. The stress test was very easy. They are trying to get your heart rate up to a certain level and then see how your heart responds to working at that level. For a fat, out of shape person like myself it didn't take much to get my heart rate up. I would say it was very slow, easy jogging. The guys running the test were awesome, very nice and funny actually. When I got my heart rate up to speed they counted out loud how long I would have to keep jogging, so I knew there was an end in sight! You will be fine.

@@Candygyrl YES, that is exactly what I was going to say, spooning. Works great and doesn't require much effort.

. I can tell you that I was completely on board and committed to every attempt to loose weight before. But I got HUNGRY. How is the sleeve different? I am not inappropriately hungry anymore and loosing the fat so because body fat is hormonally active I will not have all of that influencing my choices. One last thought. If I am not successful I am going to go down fighting. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App Agree 100%. I have tried every diet in the book. I failed every time, the best I ever did was losing 40 pounds on Weight Watchers, but I didn't reach my goal, quit, and gained it all back and more. @@stefanie0804 when you have dieted in the past were you hungry? I wasn't a fat kid but I was always a big eater, I could never miss a meal, and it took way too much to fill me up. I can't wait to have my sleeve, I can't wait to feel satisfied with a small to normal amount of food.

Do you have any health issues related to your weight? For insurance purposes it's usually BMI 30-39 WITH other health problems related to your weight. For BMI 40 and over you don't have to have other health issues. This is just generally speaking, your insurance may pay with your BMI and no other issues, but you need to ask. Good luck!

I am waiting too, my stuff was sent to BCBSTX last Friday. Excited and nervous! Good luck to all of you.

My doctor says you don't have to wait at all after surgery, as long as you feel up to it you can do it. I am pre-surgery so I don't know how I will feel after surgery but I can tell you we won't wait long. There are different ways to do things that require less effort in the beginning (I have had 4 huge babies, I understand starting back slow) hahahaha, same here

This is why I am not telling anyone except for my husband and adult kids. I am not even going to tell my closest friends, maybe after the surgery but not before. I know they would have all kinds of opinions I don't want to hear. For insurance purposes, a BMI of 40 (which is morbid obesity by the way) is usually all that is needed for approval. A BMI between 30 and 39 (classified as obese) is usually approved if the person has other health problems related to their weight. We live in a society that has an over-inflated idea of what constitutes normal weight. I am sure my friends would consider me chubby but they would never call me morbidly obese. Most people think you only use a term like that for people who are too fat to get out of the bed, as someone said like My 600 Pound Life. Another issue that people who have had WLS have is when they start getting close to goal they are called "too skinny". Part of the reason for this is people are used to seeing us heavy, but it also has to do with the fact that no one understand what healthy weight really is. Go look at a healthy weight chart and see how low it is......

Congrats!

I guess I don't understand, what WAS the stomach stapling back in the '80's? Did they just run a line of staples through her stomach and not cut or remove anything? Was this done for weight loss? Did she lose the amount of weight she wanted to lose? Keep it off? Now someone went in and took the staples out? So her stomach is "normal" now? No scarring or leaks or anything? Is she overweight now? My guess is you are going to have to go somewhere with more experienced surgeons, like the nearest teaching hospital perhaps? Does she have insurance or is this a case of Medicare/Medicaid not wanting to pay?

I am also really surprised at how much people care about drinking alcohol. My husband doesn't drink at all (he comes from a family of alcoholics, getting drunk never seemed "fun" to him) and I only have a drink once in a blue moon now. I couldn't care less if I never had another drink, but most surgeons do allow alcohol in moderation at some point after surgery (talk about empty calories though!) So you won't be able to consume huge amounts of alcohol after surgery....have one drink and take it slow. Saves money right? Some of my friends drink, others do not, we are all adults, no one cares what the others are doing and somehow we are still able to laugh and have fun together, even those who aren't drinking still have fun. Lots of people don't drink for lots of different reasons.

I think it also depends on what your goals are. A couple of women on another group I was frequenting are SO worried about getting too skinny, they think if they lose their curves they will be hideous. Both had surgery. One thinks she looks like a "crack head" at 147. The other is terrified about getting under 200. I honestly wonder why they even had surgery. Look at healthy weight charts. Do you want to get down to a healthy range? Or will you be happy just dropping a size or two? Younger people can usually handle the extra weight, but things like diabetes, high blood pressure, and joint problems catch up with every obese person as we age. As others have said, losing 100 pounds and keeping it off is a monumental task. Only a very small percentage of people can do it. And, if you are young, keep in mind that your metabolism gets slower as you age. You will have to work harder and harder to keep it off (take it from the post menopausal lady here) Not that I won't have to work even with the sleeve, I just know it is a tool that helps most people who get it. BUT, you have to do what works for you. I am awaiting approval from insurance. I know I will have cold feet, I have had surgery before and it was pretty terrible. I just know I can't lose this weight and keep it off forever on my own. For me, that's the deciding factor.

I am waiting for insurance approval, didn't have to do an extended diet and my pre-op diet will only be 3 days of liquids. Every surgeon is different. I don't expect to lose anything in those 3 days. One of the reasons I want WLS is because I am such a slow loser I can't stay on any diet long enough to lose weight. I have tried Weight Watchers, Slim-fast, Medifast, you name it. I starve all week and maybe lose a pound, two if I am lucky. After a couple of weeks I get discouraged and give up. I am not one of those who has lost and regained hundreds of pounds. There are a lot of factors, people with more to lose will lose faster in the beginning. Younger people often lose faster (I know I did when I was younger, I am almost 54 now) I feel your pain but throughout this process I know I am not going to be able to compare myself with anyone. We are each unique in this journey.

Standing desks are all the rage, sitting too much is not good for any of us no matter what we weigh. I know people who work from home and have 2 desks so they can alternate sitting and standing. I have seen desks you can raise and lower so you can sit or stand depending on how you feel. The cheapest way to try a standing desk at home is to go to Ikea and get one of those table top desks with adjustable legs. Super cheap, you can extend the legs so you can try standing to work. Anyway, good luck with your desk!

I sound like a broken record because I always suggest this but.....go to Youtube and search WLS. You can find lots of people who make videos and document their entire journeys. You can see what they eat in a day, what kind of exercise they do, before and after photos, and lots of people in underwear showing their excess skin. They call them "skin flicks". One lady who has had the DS is "Experiencing Nirvana". I have found several that I subscribe to, you feel like you know them when you watch their channel. It's better than TV

I hear ya. I had 4 huge babies, I have a feeling even if I wasn't obese my stomach would not be perfect. I wear light support undies all the time (well, during the day, at night I wear cotton granny panties, ha) The ones I like are from Vanity Fair, I think, I get them at Walmart. For fancy occasions I have worn Spanx but I don't feel the need to be that controlled daily, just under my shorts and tee shirts. Go to Youtube and search skin after weight loss. People call them "skin flicks". Where you have saggy skin depends on where you carry your weight. Other things like how much you have to lose and age affect how bad your saggy skin is. I doubt I would ever get plastic surgery. Even people with BAD saggy skin look good in their clothes with the right undergarments. I am almost 54, never going to wear a bikini again or short shorts. And my husband never complains about anything so he won't care. I have heard of insurance paying for plastics when the skin flap is causing rashes, pain, etc. But if it is just for cosmetic reasons they don't usually pay.

Looks like you have done great with your weight loss!

I will go follow you. I plan to be secret too, I think, not sure yet......