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Congratulations @DaAlchemist.. Sounds like you are doing great. You have made me really look forward to my surgery. Keep going strong!

@bearman81hello. I am also at the beginning part of the journey. I joined the site looking for people to talk with about this. The group I go to at the my hospital is all women. Needless to say it can be a bit overwhelming at times. I've been on here for about a month and I've gotten nothing but extremely positive responses. So let me be the first to say welcome and I look forward to talking with you.

@Berry78Thank you so much for the information.. Yeah my right leg is much much bigger than my left. But I also get it wrapped twice a week.. I am looking forward not having to do that..

I have a question for anyone that can answer. I have lymphedema in my legs. It is from being overweight, My doctor even said I carry more weight in my legs than any other part of my body I was wondering if anyone else has this and if they have had surgery does it help it? My doctor basically said it will never be like when I was young. I am just wondering how much the surgery does help. Thanks guys...

Thanks and I will.

Congratulations...

@DaAlchemist Congratulations. How long do you have to be off work. I am going to be trying to figure that out in a few months.

I said my best friend had the surgery years ago when it was not laparoscopic. She was cut open. But I saw her when she lost all of her weight. She had a rough time with the mental part. Like me she has been big all her life and then all of sudden she was normal. She lost herself for a while and it was hard to see it happen. But on the bright side she has a ton of advice for me. And my weight loss program requires visits to see a therapist before the surgery and I want to keep them up afterwards also. So I am hoping the mental part will not be as hard as I am thinking. But even if it is the tradeoff is worth it in my eyes.

Thanks.. It's nice to hear stories like yours. I am very ready for my own story.

Hi guys! I read a guy saying this is his new favorite website. I have to agree I have been reading and reading and reading. And it gives me so much hope and encouragement. I am in month 3 of my medically supervised weight loss program and the group that goes with it. I hope to have surgery late November or early December. I have been through the weight loss program twice before. I lost a lot of preoperative weight but then the insurance denied me. So of course I gained it all back plus a bit more. So I know this time the insurance will definitely cover the surgery, you just have to do the 3 months of supervised weight loss. I started at 579lbs and now on the diet I am down to 525 in two and half months. I want to get to under 500lbs before surgery. The funny thing is I have no fear about the surgery I am just ready. I guess going through the process twice before and not getting it done has taken all the fear out of me. What I scared about is becoming normal. I know that sounds crazy but I have been overweight my entire life. It is such a part of who I am. I got used to being the person that always stuck out in a crowd. I was always the "big guy". It scares me but it's also something I want really bad. My best friend had the surgery many years ago and we had the discussion of just blending into a crowd. Not sticking out. I can not wait until people don't give me a second glance but I then have to figure out who I really am as a person. I know this journey is more than just surgery and weight loss it has a very big mental component to it. But it will be nice to have an outlet to express my thoughts around other people going through the same thing I am. I look forward to hearing from you guys. Plus my group at the hospital is all women I am the only guy. Thanks guys.

I just found this group. I am excited to find it. I am pre-op right now. I am going through the 3 month medical weight loss process. I started in June. I have lost 54 pounds on the pre-op diet. They don't have a specific weight for me to lose but it's generally 10% of your starting body weight. I am about 4 pounds shy of that. But I want to be below the 500 pound mark. I have tried the gastric bypass process before. But each time the insurance always denied me. They said I didn't have enough co-morbidities. So because I didn't have high blood pressure or diabetes I did not qualify. Each time I lost on the pre-op and when they said no I gained all of the weight back plus more. I have finally have insurance now that will DEFINITELY cover it. So I am excited. For many years I was a very active obese person. The weight did not slow me down. But age stopped that. My body finally said enough is enough. And now I am not active and I am really tired of not participating in life. The surgery does not scare me at all. But being overweight and gay really sucks. I have found it hard to date. A lot of the guys that will go out with me are the extreme chasers. They want me to stay this way and keep feeding me. So it makes life a bit lonely. I have good friends and family so that helps. I am looking forward to getting life back. I am looking make friends to talk to about the surgery. The weight loss group I am in, at the hospital that I will have the surgery, is all women. I am the only guy in the group. So I look forward to hearing from guys in the group here.