kittymommy

Insurance!!!
Paid everything but 20%

I will be having mine at DePaul in Norfolk Virginia [emoji4]


Have a great day!
Amanda [emoji16]
HW 248 CW 241 Surgery Date: pending 11/21/2017. Goal weight 150’ish [emoji23]

I heard from my Drs office today......My surgery is Wednesday!! I am so excited!! I'm bout to go to the losers bench BABY!!

1. When you are dehydrated.. your urine smells BAD! I almost gagged the first time I went to the restroom and couldn't believe what I was smelling.. (yeah so I make sure to get those liquids in!)
2. You don't use the restroom as much.. I only go maybe twice a day.
3. Acid Reflux! I've noticed when I swallow something too quickly or if I eat that Soup too fast! I get hiccups or I burp a lot. (Never had this issue before).
4. I am always cold! This drives me crazy! (I'm a little dramatic) BUT!.. I literally have to sleep with my pajamas, snuggie with the covers over my head to keep warm. (And yes I take all my vitamins). I am freezing as I am typing this now
5. Waiters/Waitresses will assume you think their is something wrong with the food when you ask for a TO-GO box. I went to BJ's the other night and ordered a soup and had just a few bites and I became full. I asked our waitress for a TO-GO box and she went into apologetic mode and asked if she could offer me another dish and so on and so on.. very nice of her.. but long story short and lesson learned.. stay away from restaurants as much as possible.. it can be quite annoying dealing with the pressure of not eating your meal.
6. Do not purchase a new wardrobe after you lose those first few pounds. You are losing weight every single day and if you buy jeans today, I promise.. they will be too baggy just a couple weeks later.
7. My advice is to not tell people you are getting/ or had the gastric sleeve surgery. I made the mistake by telling my friends and I get asked a lot of questions such as; "So are you happy now?" "Well.. when are you going to stop losing weight?", "Are you going to act different when you lose all the weight?" It's pretty annoying and people act weird for some reason when you lose weight. I swear people weren't sweatin' me at 330 pounds.
8. I still have cravings! I thought my cravings would go away.. but nope! Still there! The sleeve is really a tool to help you lose weight and it doesn't solve all your problems. I almost had a nervous breakdown because I was craving Taco Bell and I couldn't do nothing about it. But the Good News is.. once you put something in your tummy.. you are full after a few bites and the cravings goes away. But it's a struggle everyday.
9. It takes people awhile to get used to the new you! So in my case.. a lot of friends were still inviting me out to Wine Festivals, Clubs, Brunch and Pop Up Bars. Just recently, my friend invited me to go with her to a Star Wars themed restaurant and I couldn't go because I can't have alcoholic drinks and all they offered were fried comfort foods. My new phrase is "no, sorry I can't go.. I can't eat that stuff remember?" Then it's "ohhh yeahh.. I forgot.. so when will you be able to eat/drink again?". Listen. I have come too far to let ANYBODY sabotage my weight loss journey so I am quick to distance myself from ANYBODY who will sabotage my journey and my advice is to anyone reading this is to stay CONSISTENT. People will catch on and know you mean business.
10. Regret. I did experience some regret after having the sleeve because I would use food to cope with issues I dealt with. And when that was taken away, I had to deal with my issues head on. That was difficult and I wanted to reverse the surgery (which you can't) but now that I'm over that hurtle, I have no regrets at all. I have my good days and bad days. My food addiction was real. And I take it one day at a time like I am in a12 Step Program. I used to socially drink every weekend, I was a heavy marijuana smoker, I DJ on the weekends- so I would get free drinks while I'm at the club. And I stopped everything cold turkey. It's tough, but I can't deny the way I feel. I have more energy w/o caffeine, I get 8 hours of sleep, before I was only getting 4 hours, I am in a much better mood, my skin is glowing, my depression is gone, before I was taking anxiety medication and I have completely stopped that. I look and feel like a new person.. and I never want to back to my old habits.
Good luck to everyone that is on this journey. You will go through physical and mental challenges but stick to it! You will never have to start over again, if you never give up. Keep at it!

Here is a pic of my pre op diet sheet. I had my pre op class today and mine is very strict about these rules. Unless it is a premixed Protein Shake, if I can’t see through it I can’t have it. Last week I started eating cabbage Soup to add Fiber to my diet, I cook it a long time to make it broth like but they said I cannot use it during my pre op diet or first 7 days of post op diet. My diet started last night at midnight.



Have a great day!
Amanda [emoji16]
HW 248 CW 241 Surgery Date: pending 11/21/2017. Goal weight 150’ish [emoji23]

I am also planning to tell people I am having a hernia repair and that I am following a special diet from my nutritionist. The people I care about will eventually know, everyone else can just mind their own business.
Have a great day!
Amanda [emoji16]
HW 248 CW 241 Surgery Date: pending 11/21/2017. Goal weight 150’ish [emoji23]

Before I took my leave I was already on clear liquid diet so I started losing weight. People already was telling me that the weight was coming off. I told a couple people at my job that I had to get a hernia remove. You know people like talking so that gave them something to talk about. My last day at work my co-workers was saying make sure you stay on your diet while you out cause you looking good. I even gave a few people a fake diet I was using. Lol I only told my husband and daughters

I am 7.5mos post op and my husband, mom and 1 friend knows about my surgery. People at work and ESPECIALLY church ask me HOW and I just say the truth... That I have totally changed what and how much I eat.... It's not a lie, it's totally the truth. I just don't want to hear people's opinions so I chose to keep it to myself. I'm already getting the "you're too small" and the "don't lose any more weight" comments (which I'm sick of)....

I've also had people come flat out and ask if I've had surgery and I say "I wish" and leave it at that. I actually feel offended for someone to ask that because to me it's personal. I wish people can just LET ME BE GREAT!!!!

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...your trash can at work looks like this.

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Hey Everyone
I started my process for the sleeve in March of 2017. There were a few bumps in the road with scheduling my nutritionist visit and vacation. Then I continued to gain weight. Every visit I went to I was up. I gained a total of 12lbs to be exact. I was eating well, working out, drinking Water and tracking it all. I knew for sure that my body was just being resistant and will catch up. On my last visit I was still up. I had a complete meltdown right in the office. I usually wait until I am alone. The disappointment was too real. I couldn't hide it. Even my nutritionist saw how hard i was trying. She cried with me. They made note of everything from start to finish and submitted it to the insurance company. 1 week later i got a call and they approved me . I am so thrilled and beyond grateful. I'm looking forward to being the best me possible.
Stats:
Female
5'7
CW 289
SW TBD
GW 180
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Hey everyone! I am a newbie!
I am just starting out my journey.
Social Media - Facebook, Snapchat (effymurphy17), Instagram & Youtube - Effy VSG would love if you followed my journey!
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Liquids dont really challenge the sleeve. They remain in the stomach for a couple of minutes, thats it. You will feel the restriction when you try to eat foods! It kind of feels like you swallowed rocks. Eat REALLY SMALL BITES A FEW MINUTES APART. Do that until you "learn" what your tummy can tolerate.


5' 5"
HW: 259
CW: 234
GOAL: Healthy and hard 140-ish?

I am 3 weeks and 1 day post op and feeling great. Here are some pics to show my progress so far. The first is me at roughly my high weight of 355. The next are the day after surgery, Oct 23, 2017. The last 2 were taken a few minutes ago. I have already gone from a size 48 pant to a size 40, and down to 282lbs

I've been meaning to share this for a while. For a long time I'd been under the impression that bariatric surgery was covered by my health plan through work. Someone else in the company had it and said "Yeah, CIGNA covered it for me." Well, what I didn't know was he had the CIGNA *** plan and I was on the PPO. And when I compared the exemptions between the two plans, the only difference was that the *** covered weight loss programs and bariatric surgery while the PPO didn't because it was classified as "cosmetic." Switching to the *** plan was not an option for me or my family.
So I went to our HR department and explained the situation. They contacted our insurance broker and the got bariatric coverage added to the PPO plan effective 1/1/18. My appointment with the doctor is 1/3/18 at which point I'll kick off the whole process.
But the point is: If your insurance doesn't cover what you need, just ask about it. More and more companies are covering weight loss surgery when there is a demonstrated need. I actually work for a health plan and I know that the numbers show it's much more cost effective to help the member lose the weight than to pay for all of the medical complications that will arise if obesity is left untreated.
Here's the letter I sent to our HR director that got the ball rolling. Feel free to edit it and send to your own HR directors if you think it will help:

I did at least 80 g protein a day, about 800-900 calories and I needed carbs, so 75-80 g carbs. I got them in a higher carb shake or in my Snacks between meals or just with careful meal planning. This worked for me. I was a very slow loser. Six pounds a month on average, losing only two weeks a month, no matter what I did. A couple 3 week stalls, a 6 week and a 9 week. To get through stalls I just pushed forward, making sure not to graze.

I was big on water, using flavor drops or fruit to flavor. It's important.

I'm awful about exercise. I moved more, still do. I take stairs, I'm active. I had periods of strength training. But overall, I'm an awful role model when it comes to fitness.

Good luck. Keep plugging away. Sometimes our bodies fight us on those last pounds, but they will come off if we're dedicated.

Cheri

Life for me at 7 years is pretty similar to life at 2, 4 or 5 years post op. It's still maintenance. For me, it's been pretty simple. Eat the program most of the time so you can be flexible when you want. Don't graze. Basically, you know what made you fat, Cheri, so don't do that. So I don't.
What will people ask? Loose skin, have it. Much less than I had early on. It rebounds enormously in years one and two post goal. I never wear Shapewear. Want plastics, don't need them. Have a little panni, but in anything but the sheerest leggings it's pretty flat. I'm not bothered anymore.
Restriction is still really strong, but many sleeved shorter times than me say they can eat more than me. Half a burger, I'm out. One slice of pizza, few ounces of Protein, or a cup of Soup or chili - that's it. My hunger never returned.
I'm 5'1" and 116 pounds but I solidly stick between 116-118. I had surgery at 242, started researching the sleeve in late 2009 weighing 286 pounds. I'm down 126 from my surgery date.
My diabetes resolved post op. No more high blood pressure or cholesterol.
I was a slow loser. Slow loss is still loss, I firmly disbelieve that one year nonsense as I took 17 months to reach my initial goal.
Keep pushing, no matter how long it takes you to get there. I had later loss, after a sleeve baby. Your sleeve will work however long you do.
Cheers, and here's to sleeve success. Mine's been amazing.
Cheri

i feel like some people don't know if it's okay to mention it. For me, it wasn't really that noticeable until I was down over 150 pounds since I started so high. Not everyone would mention it. I was on the fence about whether I even wanted them to say anything. Now that I'm down 292 pounds...it is VERY noticeable and I really WANT the attention. Not everyone gives it still but MANY people do. I really think it depends on how well that person knows you whether they feel they have a right to comment on it. Everyone is different and maybe they feel it would be insulting to say something.
I know it's very hard but try not to focus on any one else's reactions to you but focus on your own reactions and abilities you didn't have before. Also, I'm not saying you are but if you depend on other people's reactions to validate your choice of having surgery it may affect your commitment to continue. Only you can make you happy.
I struggle with the physical validation from others a lot. I'm trying to focus on the fact that before, I was a shell of a human in a round squishy cell. Now I am free and I am active and I am who I always wanted and knew I could be but always stopped myself from becoming.
This is both a physically and emotionally draining experience and I'm sure there is a difference, others just may not know what to say about it. But you can tell yourself, damn, I look good!


Sorry for the long post...I think I wrote some of this to remind myself as much as I want to tell you!

Honestly, I think it has to do with people being jealous or insecure. I genuinely feel that in SOME cases, especially with women, they wouldn't want to compliment you or give you the confidence or make you feel good about yourself because they don't want you to look better or thinner than them. It's really sad honestly.
Someone in my life (a female) weighs a little less than me since my weight loss. She was happy that I was about 30-35 lbs more than her. It made her happy knowing I was bigger than her. But now my weight is going down and she has not asked about surgery, how I"m doing, feeling, etc. She says I cheated and took the easy way out and is getting pissed off because I'm a few lbs away from being the same weight as her now. She doesn't realize I'm struggling on this journey of being on liquids for an entire month and not eating fast food or drinking sodas anymore and having Portion Control and exercising will all contribute to my weight loss...the surgery isn't a magic pill....it gives me the will power and hope I didn't have before.
Eff the people who don't support you or notice you. They want you to stay down, how you were before surgery.
Your light is shining through as your coming into your new skin....just shine and blind em.

before
after
So very happy, vertical gastric sleeve
April 14, 2016. The day my life changed for
the
best

I hit my goal weight this Saturday, 9/30. Sunday was my 14 month post-op mark.
HW 300 SW 278.4 CW 169.8
Here's my before & after as of this morning--sorry for the undies:

At 300lbs, I thought 170/5'11" was ambitious but now that I'm here I think I could stand to lose another 20-30lbs. I THINK a lot of it is loose skin (my thighs are now made of pugs), but honestly I can't really tell, maybe I'm just making excuses for still being tubby lol. When is too early to start looking into plastics?? (not that I could afford it but a girl can dream....)
Having a personal moment of silence for my booty disappearing. You will be missed. Thank you for being a sacrifice to the weight loss deities.
That's all I got, just wanted to share this victory with someone

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Thank you Yes I’ve had a few stalls. Then I started going to the gym and had even more. But I’ve talked to trainers and they said I’m gaining muscle so I’m trying not to weigh myself as much.

Feeling great!

I am 4 months post op. I am very happy with my weight loss, though it feels like it's going slow. I am down 53 lbs. I started back doing cardio after 6 weeks post op and I am addicted to exercise.
   Again, I feel fabulous and all my health indicators are great. I just wonder if others are experiencing slow weight loss. My doctor said all that matters is how I feel. I have to admit that it is really exciting to fit in a size 16 again!

Perfectly said. Someone came up to me the other day and said, "don't you wish you would have lost the weight before your daughter's wedding." Meaning, don't you wish you looked skinny in her wedding photos. I thought about it a long while and realized, I have no regrets. That was me a year ago, this is me now. I don't cringe looking at the pictures, I think, girl, you had some issues. Slowly, I am figuring them out and letting them go, one by one.