LLG1981

I love fashion and being fashion forward and plan to be no matter how old I get. I also have several different types of styles depending on how I am feeling, where I am going and what I will be doing. You can see me in leggings, Ugg’s and a long sleeve off the shoulder shirt and the next day see me in fitted trousers with a crisp white shirt and blazer or maybe skinny leather paneled jeans with a low back black shirt, thigh high suede boots and big clunky jewelry. My point is I like to wear what makes me feel good and I take what is on trend and make it my own and then OWN IT. Has my style evolved and changed in my 37 years, absolutely but I won’t let my age hold me back from being my confident self and feeling good [emoji6]

Yes! I worn one today for a few hours and had to take it off as soon as I got home. It was pinching me even though I purposely wore my bigger bra!

Thanks All!!

I am 6 days post op, down 6 pounds from surgery and feel great. I am definitely not 100% back to normal but all considering I am happy with my progress. I don’t get winded but I also do several lung exercises throughout the day like taking very deep breaths and holding them and then exhaling on top of the spirometer. My only challenge is getting enough protein. I just can’t stand the shakes anymore so it takes me 1-2 hours to drink one verses drinking water I have no issues getting 64oz in. I wasn’t planning on putting anything on my incisions until they are fully healed to prevent the scaring but I am so pleasantly surprised how good they look. The tape fell off of 5 of my 6 incisions and they just look like I got scratched. The two bigger ones have slight bruising but very little and they are all flat which gives me hope that I will have minimal scaring. The only medication I am taking now is an anti acid to prevent ulcers. I’m on it for at least two months and I can start vitamins at week three. I haven’t tried to sleep on my stomach because I still feel some soreness if I try and lay on my side so won’t even try to lay on my stomach. Finally I can’t wait to get cleared for full gym workouts so I can start tightening up and getting back some of my strength and muscle tone.

Thank you Frust8. I appreciate the vote of confidence!

Thanks everyone for the well wishes. Yesterday I was very sick from the anesthesia and the gas pain was excruciating. I couldn’t keep anything down but forced myself to walk which started helping with the gas pains. I was pacing the hallways at 1am and was finally able to get some sleep around 2. This morning I had an upper GI test done to make sure I didnt have any leaks and happy to report all is well. It’s still a struggle to drink as my throat is very sore from the breathing tube but I feel 200x better. I took a shower which also helped breathe some life back into me. The worst seems to have passed but still have some gas which now is just slightly uncomfortable. I am lucky that that is the only pain I have as everything else seems to be healing nicely.

Thank you

I am on day 8 of my 14 day liquid diet and haven't had much issues sticking to the 3 shakes a day but the excess protein has got me super constipated. I drink at minimum 72oz of water daily. I am usually pretty regular and go easily and quickly but since being on the liquid diet, I am going several days without pooping (I have taken Miralax and today took MM) and when I finally can, its a long stressful, painful affair. I feel like giving birth to my three kids was easier. Any ideas of what else I can do to alleviate this?

Thank you for the suggestion. I will try those.

I didnt know that females can only have 60-70 grams of protein, I definitely have way more than that. Maybe that is why I am not hungry as I am getting a lot of protein. I am getting around 100-110 a day between the 3 shakes and 2 greek yogurts. I use the ready made premier protein shakes and have tried all of the flavors. I like the strawberry and chocolate the best but also have some of the vanilla, banana and caramel flavors to mix it up.

My surgery is on the 28th and I am on day 4 of a 10 day liquid diet of 3 protein shakes a day and 2 low fat greek yogurts. Two days before surgery clear liquids only: water, no calorie drinks, jello and broths. I don't feel hungry but I am already sick of drinking the protein shakes even though I have several different flavors that I like but only being able to drink these is making me hate them. I try and stay busy so I don't think about it too much. The 28th can't come soon enough.

Hi All Has anyone tried Protein20 protein infused water? I was thinking of ordering a variety pack to get some extra protein during my clear pre-op diet stage and for post op. Thank you

I have only told my family and don’t really plan on announcing it to anyone else. I have lost weight during this preop phase and others have noticed but I just tell them I’m on a low cal diet and have been seeing at nutritionist (all true).

Just ordered a pack. Thanks all for responding

Thank you for posting the link. I didn’t think to check Walmart.

Hi All, I am new to the group and just finished all of my necessary requirements and was wondering if anyone with Cigna insurance can tell me how long it took for an approval? My surgeons office is submitting all of the paperwork tomorrow and I am hoping for a quick approval so I can get scheduled as soon as possible. Thank you!

Hi All, Just received my insurance approval this morning and got a call from my surgeons office with my surgery date of March 28. I have a pre-op appointment on the 5th and I am so ready to get this done. Not too worried about the 2 week liquid diet as I have slowly been moving in this direction to get my body and mind ready. I have been lucky enough to have already lost almost 40 pounds from the start of my Nut. visits back in October and hope to be down 10 more pounds come surgery day. This will be my first surgery so I am a bit nervous but I am super motivated.

I wanted to provide an update that I have been approved! Paperwork was submitted on the 15th and approved this morning! Just an FYI, I did received a letter yesterday, dated the day of my submission stating they received the preauthorization with a list of items needed to process the claim. This freaked me out but when I called my surgeons office and Cigna they let me know it is a standard letter informing me of the medical items needed for approval so I was aware and not a notification of missing items. They said it is something standard Cigna sends to alert their customers. Wanted to pass this along to anyone in case the same happens but I do also suggest calling to double check. All and all the process was quick and efficient.

Yes that’s correct. I have open access plus ppo. They covered all those and I received the discounts and such but hadn’t met my deductible yet so it was an out of pocket expense for me. They fully covered the blood work, ultrasounds, nutritionist visits, and apt with my pcp (even without meeting deductible) My psyche eval was also 400.

I see this is an older thread but wanted to comment on OrangeTheory. I did this for about 4 months and it was an awesome work out. It probably was the fastest, I got into cardio shape since being an athlete in my teens and 20s. If you are a competitive person and need accountability (have to sign up for classes in advance and if you are a no show you get charged at 15 fee) this will help get you to the gym and the 1hr class time goes by quickly. No two classes are the same which gives you variation and you will learn some strength training exercises that you can do on your own or at a normal gym. The only downfall is that it is super expensive (169 buck a month for unlimited classes), I only stopped because I had to relocate and couldn't afford to keep the membership.

Thanks KarenLR75. They require a BMI of over 40 or 35 with a co-morborbidy. That is the first requirement. If you meet any of those two then you will need: A letter of necessity/recommendation from my PCP with full blood work 4 Nutri. visits that will also include discussion about an exercise program that are consecutive and need to be over at least a 90 day period. I had mine in Oct, Nov, Dec, and Jan. Mental Health Eval (mine was not covered so it was out of pocket) Pulmonary clearance which included a sleep test (out of pocket) Cardiac clearance with an EKG, ECO and stress test (out of pocket) Endoscopy (out of pocket) Ultrasound of the upper stomach to rule out issue with gal badder All of these have to be completed before submission for approval and have to be done 6 months from your first consult with your bariatric surgeon. I started on August 23 and submitted last week, just shy of the 6 month mark. I could have completed it in Jan but since many of the big procedures had to be out of pocket to meet my deductible i moved them to the beginning of the new year to hit my deductible and my out of pocket max so I wouldn't be paying more than I had too.

Wow! That dress is gorgeous and you look stunning! This may sound like a stupid question but did you ask the bridal store? I had a similar shaped dress that also had a low back as my reception dress and the bridal salon's alterations department had a low back corset top sewn into the top of my dress and they gave me full length shape wear pencil skirt for the bottom to get everything smoothed and sucked in. I ended up buying it (a new one), but they provided it in the store to use when I was trying dresses on.