Ylime

Come join our Summer Surgery group:

I think I missed welcoming you to the group, so welcome!!

I've been busy this week so here are my updates. Psych eval was easy. We chatted for awhile, she asked about the support I have, what I've done in the past to lose weight, what my plans are for post-surgery in terms of healthy habits. Had a quick discussion about my health history and that was it. She didn't tell me at the end if I passed or not but I can't imagine I didn't. I plan on checking in with my surgeon next week to see if they've received the green light from her. This morning I had my annual visit with my PCP. My surgeon had already sent over the info to her about the surgery so that was nice to not have to re-explain everything to her. I wouldn't call her supportive, but she didn't try to dissuade me in any way. It was more of just her glossing over it and confirming the tests I needed done for the surgery. She did my blood work and an EKG (which was the quickest EKG in history). Next step is my dietician appt in 2 weeks. That's the last major hurdle to get over so I can start discussing dates for the surgery.

Awesome - you could have your date any day now!! We could be surgery twins - this is the same time frame I'm looking at! That waiting for the first meeting with the surgeon is brutal. Spend a lot of time here to keep your mind of the time.

Wooo Hooo - Excited for you both!!!

My psych eval is this morning - in about 2.5 hours. I'm not really nervous, I just don't like going into something when I don't know what to expect. lol

Ah - Yes you won’t have that option on those devices as they are just condensed versions. You will have to access the full website in a computer. And then perhaps post in the Help and Suggestion Thread about being able to access that option through the app. Lol ~Emily

I'm behind on posting as I wasn't able to get on this weekend - so welcome to all the newbies!!

Well right that is the simple math. But his explanation is that hormones and metabolism don't allow people to just lose those 5lbs by just eating less and exercising, thus why so many doctors say eating less and moving more doesn't always work and so many people need WLS to achieve their goals.

At the top of this page, right hand side you'll see your username. Click the down arrow next to it to get the menu. Towards the bottom you should see "My Tickers". Go in there to set your's up.

For many years I gained weight strictly due to being lazy and eating poorly. But for the last several years, I have been driving myself crazy because I feel like I have been doing everything I should be doing in terms of eating the right foods (Whole30 and Paleo) and exercising intensely (Obstacle Course Racing and Weight Training) and nothing worked for weight loss. I have often felt like my body and brain were working against my heart and preventing me from achieving what I wanted. In my ongoing research, I recently found another Bariatric Surgeon that post his bariatric videos on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/DrMatthewWeiner I found his Informational Seminar video to be much more informative than any other I attended during my search for a local surgeon. One point in particular is the slide I've attached to this post. The stats he shows in this slide are my exact stats. His explanation here is that to gain 100lbs over a 20-year period, a woman only has to eat an average of 50 additional calories per day. Which is basically nothing. This takes into consideration pregnancy weight gain, weight loss, and weight regain over this time period. He affirms that significant weight gain from such a low number of additional calories means that there is actually something else going on besides just eating more calories than you burn. And as many of us suspect, it is due to hormonal and metabolic changes because of both age and changes that occur from diets you go on. This alone lifted a huge weight off my shoulders. Because I am not crazy after all, my brain and body were working against me. And surgery can help me get back to where I want to be. It further confirms my decision to have this surgery and use it merely as one tool in my arsenal to regain my health! I wanted to share this for anyone else has felt like they were crazy and wondered endlessly why diet and exercised worked from everyone else but you...

Yeah without STD or vacation/sick time there isn't any other options. Your employer doesn't have to pay you for leave and it's not required under FMLA. If its an option, you could always look into a personal loan to help you out. But the good news is that gastric sleeve patients typically only miss 1 - 2 weeks of work.

If your company meets the requirements and you meet eligibility then you have to be offered FMLA. It will be unpaid but you will have job protection. Ask if your company also offers Short Term Disability. That will provide a certain level of salary replacement while on leave. You can also ask if they offer a personal leave of absence for employees that don't qualify for either FMLA or STD. That leave again will be unpaid.

That's good then, follow up is key!

I'm curious, what was it about the first program you didn't like?

Thanks guys - I'm willing to do all of the above to help! lol I already have fake bangs I wear from time to time so also not opposed to wearing a wig for a period of time if it gets really bad!

Sorry about the pain, but glad to hear the surgery went well and you're on your way to recovery and your new life!

I honestly don't know when my next weigh in is. I have my psych eval next week but I doubt they'll weigh me for that. But the week after I have my first meeting with the dietitian so I'm sure that will involve a weigh in. Although my surgeon doesn't require any weight loss before surgery. I'm just on a mission to not gain!

Welcome to all the new members. I'm so excited to have such a big group to go through this with!

So - How did it go???

I already know I’ll have a private room. Perks of having a program in a smaller hospital. ~Emily

Love it. [emoji23] ~Emily

It is crazy how different every program is. I didn’t go to any info sessions because all the surgeons I researched had their sessions posted online. I saw a surgeon two days after I called and then called the hospital program for my classes. They scheduled all my classes and evals in that one call. All very efficient! ~Emily

This is good to know as I'll have to talk to my surgeon about this. Not sleeping isn't an option for me as it will trigger my seizures.

I don't think adding in a juice is a bad idea. I don't know that I could stick with it long term. Look up Dr. Vuong on Facebook, YouTube or Instagram. He's a bariatric surgeon that focuses a lot on nutrition. I'm (hopefully) attaching his entire book on "smoothies". Basically a mix of veggies and fruit that provide good nutrients and work for pre and post surgery. However he doesn't advise to only use these. You'll find a ton of video seminars he has about eating healthy. Healthy Green Smoothies.PDF