Mattymatt

I would go through with it were I you. Weight problems tend to worsen with age or so I am told. You do not want to be in my position. I am 40, have to lose 176 pounds, have high blood pressure, sleep apnea, and diabetes. So, in essence, yes, the older, bigger, and more unhealthy that you are, the greater the risks. I have already been told that I will need 3 days in the hospital before the surgeon would consider me for discharge. If you think you're scared, walk a day in my shoes. I am fearful that I could have a heart attack or stroke even prior to surgery. Hell, it's entirely possible that the strain of the surgery could cause problems. But, as Yoda from Star Wars would say, "Committed, I am. For better health, to have." I won't call you chicken and won't pass judgement but I think by dropping out, you will regret this in the long run. Also, we are now in Republican-dominated times so you can fully expect for it to get harder to qualify for surgery and coverage uncertain. Your insurance company might even use the fact that you dropped out as a strike against you and might require more scrutiny in a future attempt at qualifying. That letter you got is worth its weight in gold. Show up, complete your mission, live better. Don't put yourself in a situation similar to mine.

That's okay man. Remember, progress not perfection.

You've come this far in the process so don't back out now. You do not want to be 40 years old and potentially even heavier. Trust me, I am 40 and I need to lose 176 pounds which is more than double what you need. I have Sleep Apnea, Type 2 Diabetes, and High Blood Pressure - I could have a serious cardiac event at any given time. Do this now and your 30s will be happier and healthier. I believe that if you do not go through this now, you may have future regrets. The statistics say that only 10-15% of people that lose weight through diet and exercise alone can keep the weight off whereas 65% of those that use surgery as a tool keep the weight off. Will this be a huge change? Yes, of course it will. Will this be easy? No, it won't be but if you're getting your surgery done at a Center for Excellence, then your prognosis is incredibly good. The statistics show less than 1% of people developing complications. That is almost statistically insignificant. I am certain it is normal to be nervous about any kind of surgery but think of this as life saving.

I'm concerned about having loose skin but I'm so heavy now that I'm relatively unattractive. My goals have nothing to do with appearance. I miss my two loves: the mountains and bicycling. I want them back! Hahaha! But seriously, I'm right there with you. I tend to brash and acerbic as a result of being bullied. I don't handle bullies very well at all and tend to stick up for others being bullied. Nothing feels better than to emasculate a bully. They call it the dating game for a reason. It is going to take many attempts before you find the right one. Before I let myself get to the intimacy stage, I want to know her flaws and I want her to know mine. No surprises.

How do you feel now? If you feel good and energetic, maybe you're okay. You certainly look fantastic and a whole lot healthier.

I am going to struggle to get to 10K steps per day because I am so heavy. It hurts to walk for more than about 10 minutes or so at a time. Instead, 10K steps will be a post-op goal. What I am doing is walking EVERY day. I do what I am able to do. My main goal for the time period between now and the big day is to NOT gain any more weight and simply work towards and A1C goal of >8%. For me, the only easy day was yesterday. I fully expect nothing will be easy about this process. The post-op diet will be exceedingly difficult, especially the pureed food part. I will have to find foods that do not make me gag. I cannot even stand the smell of cottage cheese, let alone even look at it. Of course, it may turn out to be far easier than I expect but I do not want false hope right now.

I was bemoaning how long the pre-op phase is going to be but it is actually going by very fast so far - I guess 3 months is a really short period of time after all. I barely have time to get my blood sugar under control. I also lucked out in getting to see my endocrinologist this week and she said that even if my A1C isn't perfectly under 8%, she told me that she would be willing to let my doc know that I would be safe for surgery. My surgeon called me yesterday to let me know that he was able to count my first visit with him as one nutritional appointment, thereby shortening the time some. Yesterday, I got the Upper GI contrast and Abdominal ultrasound done plus I was able to get an appointment to see the psychologist on Nov. 15th with many thanks to the person who cancelled. I have the next medical weight management appointment on Nov. 22nd and the final one on Dec. 27th. If the Abdominal and GI studies come back okay, I can get a surgery date set. YESSSSS!!!!

You've got this! Don't worry as you will be under good care,

I am from West Chester ... close enough. Getting my surgery done at Penn Presbyterian. Dr. Korus will be my surgeon.

I am really glad that you shared about your pre-surgery exercise habit. That kind of resonated with me because I will be getting the sleeve. I've decided to start exercising. I can really only do about 5 minutes of walking at a time but I will do it everyday and slowly build up to it. Reading your story motivated me. Thank you!

Keep up the good work! It's good to read your success story. I am still in the pre-op phase and my surgery date feels like a long way off. Please keep us posted.

Ask your doctor if Seroquel is available in a salt tab form. Basically a salt tab is something you put on your tongue and it dissolve in your mouth. I have to take my antidepressant that way because otherwise I puke.

I'm a relatively new diabetic. I was just diagnosed on January 15th of this year. Well here's to better health and taking money away from Big Pharma! ?

I wish I could afford this ....

If your self-paying, then the process should be much faster but I would stay on top of it with weekly or bi-weekly phone calls. Remember, the squeaky wheel gets the oil. :-)

I don't smoke but I can appreciate how difficult quitting the habit is. It's made even more difficult by the fact that Big Tobacco adds extra nicotine just so you'll smoke more and buy more. It's really a seedy and unethical way of driving up profits. R.J. Reynolds and Phillip Morris are sleezy corporations.

I am a walking profit model for Big Pharma. They see me and think, "Weez gonna get paid today!" On a more sober note, I really do want to get off of all of these meds. For diabetes, I take Metformin, Glipizide, and Lantus insulin. For the High Blood Pressure, I take a baby aspirin and Losartin. For the Depression and Anxiety, I take Seroquel and Remeron. Finally, I have my trusty sidekick, the CPAP for Sleep Apnea. Sadly, I am noticing my average number of apneas per hour starting to uptick again. It used to be with the machine that I would average less than 1 apnea an hour and now I am up to about 3-4. Time to make an appointment with the sleep doc and maybe get my machine checked out. Swallowing pills and stabbing myself with the insulin flexpen is really no way to live in the long term for someone only 40. I think if I did not see the humor in it, I would be in utter despair. If I could just reverse the Type 2 Diabetes and High Blood Pressure, that would be a victory.

None right now because I can barely take care of myself at the moment, let alone having a fur baby. One day soon though. I'd like a mini panther of my own.

You're among good company. I think about it at least several times a day. Mostly I'm concerned about eating pureed food. I've got my Upper GI and Abdominal studies next week. Curious ... since I'm a fellow feline enthusiast. How many kitties do you have?

Cheese steaks pretty much have to be unless I can do them without bread and fries. Might be kind of impossible right now. My weakness is fried chicken too. :-/

I'm in Philly so we'll have to do this virtually. LOL!

Maybe the two of us can encourage each other - you know, team up so to speak. When is your surgery date? Mine is sometime in Feb. Let's do this! 2% is totally doable. I just got up and managed to walk for 5 minutes. One step at a time.

I did get some good news. My A1C is only 10%. I thought it was 14%. Still, the remaining 2% or so won't be easy. For me, sweets aren't the thing. Carbs like breads and fries are.

I am actually dreading this stage of foods because I have a really sensitive gag reflex. Please someone tell me that puree'd food is not that bad.

I would recommend following up with your bariatric team.