Mattymatt

I am ready to get this done. I have been approved by insurance and I am scheduled for gastric bypass on February 8th. It's been a long journey and I am very excited. Here's to the end of the old me, and the beginning of the new me. The news arrived today!

10 hours ago, JerseyJules said:

Most men of our generation would welcome sexual harassment, the new millennial snowflakes and the PC Police however, may have an issue with it..

Shoot, just even for a woman to notice me would be a win. But I am a long ways away from surgery. First, I have to get a heart valve repaired.

Thank you for the words of encouragement. I am facing my own mortality and it's both sad and scary at the same time. These were things that I never thought about in my 20s and 30s. I let my health go and living with the aftermath of my decisions simply makes me sad beyond all reason. If I could go back in time, I would tell myself that when I lost weight the first time to get the help treating depression so food would not become self-love.

I was shamed and bullied all of my life for being overweight. It is a continuous and vicious cycle. I am not one for prayer at all but I have to maintain some kind of hope that things could at least get better. But I am struggling to muster hope.

I just got some bad news that will require me to put surgery on hold. Being a typical guy, I don't complain about the things that I probably should. Well, I had a routine follow-up with my sleep doctor and he referred me to a cardiologist. I told him that I was feeling short of breath lying down and sitting upright sometimes. I always just chalked it up to being overweight. Today, I had an echocardiogram and the result has made me feel hopeless. There is a problem with the mitral valve in my heart. This will need to be corrected before I can undergo bariatric surgery. For now, my cardiologist increased my blood pressure medicine to ease some of the stress on the vascular blood vessels. The next discussion is surgery to repair the valve. Given that I have not had a heart attack, the recovery period will be somewhat shorter but still will be a while. I feel really sad .... for every step forward, it seems that there are two steps backward. Anyhow, thank you for listening.

11 hours ago, Khandir said:

I’m scheduled to have my surgery December 14. My doctor put me on a three week Meal Replacement shake diet and raw vegetables only if you feel yourself getting hungry. I’ve watched so many videos and read so many articles about the pre-op diet. Everything that I’ve seen or read was for a two week diet. I have not seen a three-week anywhere.The two week diets also included sugarfree Popsicles sugar-free Jell-O cream of anything Soup. Mine doesn’t include any of that. I don’t know why my doctor is so strict with the diet. Would anyone happen to know why? Or has anyone else doctor put them on the same three week liquid only diet?

My guess is that your surgeon wants to be certain that your liver shrinks enough so that he or she can safely and effectively perform the surgery.

I am not thin just yet. In fact, I am still pre-op but I will never forget from where I came.

So I'm having a really bad patient care experience with Penn Medicine's program and it has lead me to lose complete confidence in my surgeon, Dr. Gary Korus. His staff have been unfriendly, dismissive, and act put out when I have legitimate questions and am confused. If you are considering Penn Medicine to have your surgery done, I would reconsider. The whole program has been less than professional, almost from the beginning. I am lucky in that I found Christiana Care in Delaware and they're more than happy to let me transfer in and I don't have to wait for fscking months on end - I've got an appointment on Thursday, November 30th.

I am going by the chart. I am 6'4" so I should be about 190. I will get as close to that as is possible.

Keep positive. This time you'll get it done.

9 hours ago, KimTriesRNY said:

The program at my hospital has a once monthly bariatric meeting for all stages of patients in their journey. They also have twice monthly post op meetings where the bariatric coordinator and nutritionist are in attendance.

If your program has meetings like this going in person can help you be accountable and get in person advice from others that may be in the same situation.

^^ This. My program offers several support groups across the Greater Philadelphia area. I went and it was nice to be in good company with other people in the same condition as my present one and to meet with others that have had great success and could offer meal planning advice.

11 hours ago, Sosewsue61 said:

Well. My carrier dropped out of the ACA and I have only ONE carrier to choose from BCBSIL and the 4 plans suck, coverage is lousy specialists only covered at 50% after deductible (old plan was 80%), premiums/deductibles are higher for a the closest plan.

My bariatric physician is not in-network, he is the ONLY surgeon for over 100 miles (- well there is one and he only does the lap-band.) So so so glad I already had my surgery.

Still I have an eye condition - ROP from being a preemie and had laser surgery this year from a vitreous hemorrage in June and today - I have a vitreous hemorrage in my eye while out shopping. So I have pepper and black snake floaters in the vitreous Fluid, also filmy vision, and an eye 'headache".

So looking at another laser surgery on the blood vessels in my eye. I can only see out of that eye, scary sh!tty sh!t.

I will probably not post very much for awhile.

Sue

If it helps any, I understand. Sometimes it feels like for every step forward, I take two steps backward. Hope things get better soon, but as bad as things might feel, you're still 30 pounds lighter. To give you an idea that's 2 15 pound bowling balls lighter!

5 hours ago, emmybaby666 said:

I have plateaued so hard this last month. I’ve only lost 2 pounds! I know I need to change up what I am doing a bit but I have no motivation. I am an infant toddler teacher and by the end of the day I am completely exhausted. Someone help!

First let me say that you've done incredible! Rather than worrying about the plateau, bask in your success. Second, see if you can just do some walking after work. You'll probably feel pretty good after it's done.

22 hours ago, Adjust Your Crown said:

I am a horrible snacker at work. I know I should snack on fruits and veggies, but they just do not do it for me. My cravings don't go away until I get what I want - which is usually chocolate!

Anyone going through or battled this struggle and have any real tips that work?

Try using an app like loseit to estimate the amount of calories, carbs, etc before you give in to the chocolate craving. I think once you see that the numbers are clearly not in your favor, you'll make the right choice. This helps me immensely.

Just now, srocks112 said:

Hi, so I contacted the doctor who put in the balloon and he is prescribing some medicine for the stomach lining. Should we still go to the hospital?

I would just to be sure. How can the doctor be so sure it's just the stomach lining without any diagnostic medical imaging to rule out other problems. I am not impressed with this surgeon.

There are horror stories for the sleeve, bypass, lap-band, douodenal switch, etc. The bottom line is that the horror story is usually only telling one side. Do not let anyone bully you into any one of these options. You have to do it because you want to do it: that is the only way it will work. Your best chance of success is to follow the post-surgery prescription to a 'T'. There may be an adjustment period and you may feel like less than yourself for a while afterwards but these are adjustments, not complications. If you follow the advice of your surgeon, the chances of serious complications are a mere fraction of a percent, or statistically insignificant. The bottom line is this is a serious undertaking and you should be mentally prepared for it. Of the surgeries out there, I believe the lap band is really the one that has the most serious of potential complications - this is why it is not done so much and falling out of favor.

11 hours ago, Biddynz said:

Surgery in a month.

One thing that worries me - I really really hate Water. I can happily drink it fizzy, but flat Water make me want to throw up!

Any ideas? Will I be allowed fizzy?

I use Crystal Light and Mio. If you go with Mio, avoid the caffeinated and energy versions. I don't like water unless it's ice cold. Even though I'm still pre-surgery, I've gotten myself down to about one can of soda every couple of days. I don't even crave it like I used to. Next step needs to be off of that altogether.

My surgeon emphasized the importance of no fizzy drinks. Not only could they cause pain but they could cause the staples to rupture.

I'm on an antidepressant as well. I take 30mg of Remeron. My psychiatrist has me on a really cool form of it too. I take the medicine in salt tab form. It dissolves right on the tongue and its effects can be felt in seconds.

I wonder if, with significant weight loss and regular physical activity, I could actually get off it.

On 3/11/2017 at 0:53 AM, Proud2BMe said:

I've been here since 2014 and one of the things I always find odd is how so many people chose goal weights that are still classified as overweight. It seems to be rather split among the sexes too. Not sure why people don't want to get down below a 25. Like they somehow think that they won't look good or something? I finally got to a normal BMI and even I want to go lower because I can still see things I need to improve.

I chose a normal BMI as a goal but it might not be possible due to extra skin. My optional BMI puts me at about 190.

On 6/21/2017 at 0:33 PM, Dtrain84 said:

Yes, I said it. I'm 2.5 months out from bypass surgery, I'm down 61.6 lbs. and I get so horny, my sex drive is on steroids at 51 years old, I feel like I did in my 20's. I've already worn my wife out and she is scared to touch me. I'm not trying to brag, as a big guy I've always been large down below and my wife can't seem to handle me now since my weight loss. Erection problems used to be my issue. I now get hard if the wind blows and for no reason. I can't even walk around in the stores because my erection shows through what ever I'm wearing. What's a man to do during these hard (no pun intended) times? Does anyone else have the issue I'm having after they had surgery? I need suggestions, thanks in advance.

I wish this were a problem that I have. Right now my libido is like -1. I got no desire for sex right now.

On 11/15/2017 at 9:09 PM, James Marusek said:

Welcome to the forum.

I had RNY gastric bypass surgery over 4 years ago. Both RNY and DS requires taking a lot of Vitamins and supplements daily. A DS patient is required to take a little more than RNY, but for the most part, both take quite a few. So these are my observations:

At the beginning the process of taking Vitamins was somewhat overwhelming. it took several months before I had developed a system that worked for me. After that it wasn't too bad.

It is important to put a 2 hour separation between the vitamins that contain Iron and those that contain Calcium. So in my case I found that what works best for me is to take the Iron supplements just before bedtime. I put my vitamins in a weekly pill container. I have one container for the morning and one for the night. And I use a very small glass bowl for my Calcium supplements. I put my calciums in the bowl in the morning and take them throughout the day a couple at a time. If I am up and about I put my calciums in a ziplock bag and carry them with me.

I did not find the cost of these vitamins or supplements were excessive. The surgery drove many of my health conditions into remission. So the cost of the vitamins and supplements were offset by the cost of the prescription drugs that I was no longer taking.

Immediately after surgery, I discovered that I lost my ability to swallow large tablets. So I had to crush or split many of these vitamins. This was a major pain. But then about the 2 month mark, I was able to swallow again, and all was right in the world.

@James Marusek My surgeon said to use chewable vitamins. I wonder if they work as well. He just said not the Gummy variety. Flint stones chewables....

5 hours ago, srocks112 said:

Hi guys! So my mom got the gastric balloon in Wednesday and since then she has been spitting up what we assume is blood. What should we do? I was going to contact the doctors however they were closed. Has anyone else experienced this? Should we go to the hospital? Like other than this she has had the typical symptoms, vomiting, acidity, and some discomfort. Please let me know what we should do or if this is a typical symptoms because I’m honestly extremely worried. Thank you!

I cannot emphasize this enough: get your mom to the hospital! If you can see little black specs in the vomitus, then that is an indicator of partially digested blood. It almost looks like coffee grounds. This is indicative of a serious, potentially life threatening condition. I was a volunteer EMT and this was drilled into us. The best thing to do is to get your mom to professional medical care post haste.

4 hours ago, SuperKen said:

I just had a revelation that I have fallen back to pre-surgery old/bad habits like: eating out in the car and throwing the evidence away so I don’t feel guilty. I have gained 40 lbs back from my lowest weight and tried to justify that by saying its all muscle weight since I weight train 4 days a week.

Any advice or words of encouragement are welcome

I’M STRUGGLING!

Start tracking what you're eating again. Tracking helps you remain accountable. In the past, when I had some success losing weight, the common denominator had always been because I tracked everything I ate very carefully. Tracking is a pain in the azz but it does work. I use loseit and before any food goes in my mouth, it gets tracked. This way I can see what it is that I am about to eat and can ask myself if this is what I really want to eat. Often seeing the bad numbers on the unhealthy food is enough to stop me.

On 10/31/2017 at 4:19 AM, LSanchez238 said:

I've lost a newborn giraffe and working to lose Arnold Schwarzenegger

Sent from my LGMS210 using BariatricPal mobile app

Nice dude! Keep it up

19 minutes ago, Yettid said:

There is no judgement here. I realize the process is much more complex than CICO. However, for the majority, if you burn more than you take in you will lose. I, of all people, know it won’t necessarily stay off. Or it may take a while if you don’t take in enough cals and your body goes into starvation mode. But typically, you will lose.

The latest thinking is that this whole "starvation mode" may not be accurate thinking. I wish I could remember the article but it was a good one.

Today I am just feeling overwhelmed by this whole process of qualifying for bariatric surgery. I'm also feeling sorry for myself and down in the dumps which is aggravated by the fact that I cannot turn to food for some comfort. My brain wants to eat a large pizza but I steadfastly refuse. I'm also physically hurting so I don't feel like walking - my feet hurt something fierce. So, I am down 10 pounds since starting the process at the end of October and I was hoping that the scale would move a little bit more at my weigh in today. Nope, stuck strongly at 356 and this is despite cutting back calories appropriately so I guess this is also part of blood sugar not being as well controlled as it should be.

The psych eval was exhausting, particularly because it is revisiting a sad, lonely, and ostracized past. Normally, I don't cry easily but all I feel like doing is breaking down. Time is something not easily recaptured and when I see the time and health that I lost due to obesity, I just feel a whole lot of emotional pain. At least the psychologist concurs with everyone else's thinking that bariatric surgery is a good option. At least that hurdle is cleared. One week until the 2nd nutrition appointment.....