laceemouse

I have been researching the sleeve and visiting different doctors off and on for a couple of years. I finally found the doctor I want to use, first saw him early August. At this time they are waiting for the report from the psych eval to come back. After that they should have everything they need to submit to insurance. They act like I will be approved, no big deal, but I have no idea how long it takes from submission to approval to surgery date??? I hate to keep bugging them, the office staff is going to tell Dr. Hamn not to do surgery on me because I am an aggravating pain in the tush!! Ha, not really, but I do have this concern that I will bug them too much and they will dread every time I go in there. I know they are busy and I don't want to keep bugging them but........AAAGGGHHHHHH!!

Awesome! You look amazing.

Agree with what Kristen says, my surgeon only does a 3 day liquid diet prior to surgery. Others on this board say they were only told not to eat after midnight the night before surgery. If all you have is 12 days all you have is 12 days. I should add I am jealous!! I am waiting for approval, I can't wait to get a surgery date. Good luck

Love the troll and this too, Bruno Mars is always entertaining but I have never heard this song!

Ha! Don't you just love how the folks on the Youtube videos talk about "the community" meaning other WLS people? It's funny to me. I feel like I want to join their club Sorry you are so far away, a BS in Nutrition sounds amazing but I understand about being undecided about what to do in the next chapter of your life. I gotta take it one day at a time for now, waiting for my surgery approval from BC/BS is my first hurdle! Take care.

I must be the laziest person on the planet, I haven't worked outside the home in 25 years Seriously, we have 4 kids. They were in public school for a while. I had about 2 years of all of them being in school all day and it was heavenly (well, I volunteered a lot at their schools so that was busy) I loved, and still love, the times when I get to be home alone! Then we decided to pull everyone out of school and homeschool, so I was busy with that for 11 years or so. Now all the kids are grown up and I am focusing on me. I am pre-surgery, it sounds like you are doing great! I agree with Lisa, get out and walk (I have a couple of antique malls that I love to stroll around in, thinking about doing that this afternoon) journal, watch movies you have been wanting to watch for years, read (the library is always a fun outing) I also want to go through my closet, organizing things by size. My guess is you have things in there that are already too big Enjoy yourself!! Did I write this? Seriously, we have the same life. Ok, not the same, but similar. 3 kids. HS'd off and on but last year was my last year of doing it. My kids aren't all gone yet, but I'm home alone during the day and it's weird. I haven't figured out what to do yet. So far all I've done is watch a million and one vsg youtube videos, haha. My wood floors are on their way to being carpet--dog hair carpet . Anyway, I don't meet many other women who have not worked in 20+ years. Mostly, I get a strange look when I say I don't work. LOL You don't live in the north Dallas burbs do you? If so we would just have to get together! Our older 2 girls (23 and 25) are moved out but our 21 year old son and 18 year old daughter are still at home doing college, working, etc. But yes, they are gone a lot and don't really need my help anymore. I have a plethora of stay-at-home mom friends but they tend to be 10-15 years younger than I am. Since most of them homeschool they are still busy with that. I do meet up with a group of them for lunch once a month or so but other than that I have way more free time on my hands than anyone I know. lol about the Youtube videos! Girlfriend that is my life right now! I have lots of favorites, I am considering starting one myself. There are a couple I have sat and watched their entire library of videos, I feel like I know them. I have a hairy dog and wood floors too.....hehehehehe I have a bachelors in Social Work from Florida State (Go Noles!) and worked for 6 years prior to the birth of our oldest daughter in 1991. Now that I am done with the homeschooling I have been contemplating going back to work, but I don't want to do Social Work again so I will probably go back to school. I am considering something medical like x-ray technology or sonogram stuff but....... I am too fat. There is no way I could stand all day, my legs and feet would kill me. So I am in the process of hopefully getting sleeved, then I know it will take some time to get the weight off, after which I can decide what my post stay-at-home mommy life will look like. I feel blessed because my husband of 28 years is very supportive of me doing this. He is not overweight but has a strong family history of heart disease so he is always trying to eat healthier and get in more exercise as well. We plan to work on bettering our health together, hoping for another 28 more

Awesome! I hope to be in your place soon

I must be the laziest person on the planet, I haven't worked outside the home in 25 years Seriously, we have 4 kids. They were in public school for a while. I had about 2 years of all of them being in school all day and it was heavenly (well, I volunteered a lot at their schools so that was busy) I loved, and still love, the times when I get to be home alone! Then we decided to pull everyone out of school and homeschool, so I was busy with that for 11 years or so. Now all the kids are grown up and I am focusing on me. I am pre-surgery, it sounds like you are doing great! I agree with Lisa, get out and walk (I have a couple of antique malls that I love to stroll around in, thinking about doing that this afternoon) journal, watch movies you have been wanting to watch for years, read (the library is always a fun outing) I also want to go through my closet, organizing things by size. My guess is you have things in there that are already too big Enjoy yourself!!

Most of the Protein shakes are 20 to 30 grams for the entire shake so you should be having several shakes a day. But the main thing they worry about this shortly after surgery is getting enough Fluid, you need to call your doctor and ask how much water you should be taking in. It doesn't matter if you don't feel thirsty, you need to be sipping water most of the day to get enough fluids in. It sounds like they didn't explain that to you very well. The number one complication after surgery is dehydration, lots of people end up back in the hospital on IV fluids. Take care!

I sent all of you guys requests. I am laceemouse. I haven't started a WLS account because I am still pre-surgery/deciding/waiting for a surgery date.

My doctor included info about it in the handouts they gave me my first visit. He says it's okay as soon as you get home, as long as you feel up to it

It REALLY is hard. I've been working at it and doing way better than I ever expected and lost about 28 pounds.. But I wish I weren't dealing with cravings or hungry all the time. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App If I could eat healthy all the time and not be hungry I wouldn't need the surgery. I wouldn't be obese. My doctor requires a short 3 day liquid diet prior to surgery, but I know that will be tough for me. I am researching and trying new ways to get my Protein up NOW (I don't even have a surgery date yet) and drinking more Water but there is no way I am going to let myself be hungry. I have been doing that for years and it didn't work.

My insurance doesn't offer or require anything, but the hospital where I hope to have my surgery has a support group. I went on Thursday night and although it was a small group of folks I found it informative. It is conducted by a nurse who works with bariatric surgery patients so being able to ask her questions was awesome. I would like to find another group or two where I could meet patients IRL and ask questions, still looking for that.

I am not there yet but I heard sometimes it isn't until around 5 months, so maybe it depends??

If you Google you will find tons of info on it, I am not sure I could avoid fruit though. Anyway, talking to your NUT would probably be a good idea as well: https://authoritynutrition.com/ketogenic-diet-101/

I don't think it's frowned upon, but I do think the answer would vary greatly from person to person. So many factors to consider, like relationship things and such. Of course self esteem has a lot to do with satisfaction. While I look forward to losing weight I worry about the excess skin that comes with that. Not that my husband will care, nothing turns him off like ever. But I think about it. Go on Youtube and you can watch lots of video blogs about weight loss (from surgery and otherwise) There are a couple (Clusie L is one of them) who discuss sex, relationships, etc after weight loss. Again, this is a complex issue. I am pre-surgery anyway, hopefully others will chime in???? Dub always has great answers

Most people seem to regret at first because, hello, major surgery! But they usually stop feeling regret once they start seeing the results!! Good luck, let us know how it goes, be excited about starting your new life

I agree, I really want to talk to someone in real life who has had it done. I am awaiting approval and plan to attend my first support group at the hospital tonight so hopefully I will meet some people who are post-op. I do know a couple of people who had gastric bypass. I have one friend who had the sleeve but it isn't common knowledge. She told another friend who spilled the Beans to me (she didn't realize it was a secret) but the person who had it doesn't discuss it. I understand it's her life and she wants privacy but I would love to talk to her about the experience. Anyway, I have moved on. These boards help. Watching sleevers on Youtube helps. And like I said, I hope to meet some IRL sleevers tonight. I will let you know

Yes, excellent! I have tried every diet out there too. It stinks to starve all week on Weight Watchers (yes, following the plan is starvation to me right now) and go in to weigh only to find I have lost nothing or very little.

Thank you so much for this. I am pre-surgery and I always say I am fat because I am hungry all the time. When I make good choices I am still hungry. I eat a healthy dinner and an hour later I am back in the kitchen because I am hungry. I had a super skinny person tell me once that they reason I am always hungry is because all I eat is junk, my body is craving real food and lacking Vitamins, etc. Nope, I do eat good stuff, I just eat too much of (for instance, LOVE nuts, eat way too many of them) and I also eat things like carbs because they fill me up. Love your comment, can't wait for my approval!!!

I had mine last week, it was super easy. I filled out paperwork with general medical questions and we talked for about an hour. In addition to what others have said I think they also want to know that you realize what you are getting into. They don't want you thinking this is easy or a quick fix. They also want to know if you have a supportive family or friends, or at least don't have a spouse or something that is totally against you having surgery. Don't be nervous, it will be fine.

Excellent!

Are you both hoping to get sleeved?? Exciting!

I have only had my first appointment with the doctor and his office coordinator, and then went to my psych eval last week. The way my surgeon put it is that the "average" gastric sleeve patient loses something like 60-65% of their excess weight. So, while many people DO lose 100% of their excess obviously many do not. It's easy to lose at first but then you have to work at it (you probably already know this) and let's face it, some people just are not going to do the work to get to goal and keep the weight off. SO, my doctor said "if we can get you down to 177 pounds would you be happy with that?" I said yes, because it is WAY better than my current situation. BUT, deep down inside, I know I will work hard to reach my personal goal of 150. That being said, I know it won't be easy but I do plan to try. HE will consider me a success if I meet the 60-65% lose. Most people here say their surgeon has an easier to reach goal and then they have their own personal goals. I don't blame the surgeons and clinics, they are trying to manage expectations. They would never promise every single person going into surgery they would meet 100% of their goal. Just too many variables. So my guess is they will give you a goal, you can see it as an "easy" goal or an intermittent goal or it may truly be you personal goal. It's all good. Hope this helps, let us know what they say

Congrats!!