okayestmom

Paid out of pocket for everything. Psych evaluation was $199. No longer obese, no longer pre-diabetic, and my vitamin D is back in the normal range. Next month will be 2 years since surgery. I work in an alternative school that serves K-12. I will try not to get the virus, but the odds are not looking good for when school starts if I still have a job (won’t know for sure until July). The good news is that because of WLS I have a lesser chance of it being a death sentence. I work for Communities In Schools (non-profit), a portion of our salaries are paid for by the Texas Education Agency and our director has already been notified that they can expect budget cuts. Either way, I will be in a school, because before all this started I applied to grad school and got accepted. I can’t back out now, because my adult kids bought my books for Mother’s Day. So, maybe I can get a grocery store job, or live off student loans and unemployment. I am almost 50 and have never drawn unemployment before. That was a long ramble to say, I am glad I paid for the surgery. It was a hard recovery for me, but it is worth it because I got my health back on track.

Two months

I am super happy with the Tummy Tuck, as of yesterday I could put my belt on the pre tummy tuck notch, so a lot of the swelling has gone down. No more loose skin, so no weird bulge below the belt line. Plus my belly button got chopped off when they did my gallbladder surgery and now after reconstruction I think it looks more normal. I’m 49, so wearing a bikini isn’t the most important thing to me, but now I feel like I could wear a bathing suit and not feel self conscious. I am ready to be done with the abdominal binder, but I am going to follow the Doctors advice and wear it another month.

I haven’t noticed a big difference in the liposuction they did on my inner thighs other than I am still very sore from it. I was getting the TT anyways, so I don’t regret giving it a shot, and maybe there is still a chance that the swelling isn’t done yet.

All the pics look great! The belly button pic was cool, I was never really sure what mine should look like, but I am happy with what they did. I am able to do more intense cardio without the rubbing of the incisions being bothersome now. I do have some peeling dry skin areas in between my belly button and incision line. I am putting extra lotion, but I guess not scrubbing hard is contributing as well.

My parents lived in Australia for a year. My Dad took a contract job there in 1997. They loved their time there. My Mom fell down and required stitches. They were very apologetic that she had to pay for the visit because they did not accept her American insurance. It was $70.00 and that price included the follow up and removal of the stitches. Our health care system is messed up. My Mom was sad that we were still doing pancake breakfasts to raise money for people’s children that needed life saving medical care. She had hoped to see a change in her life time. Also, my oldest son visited Australia on a People to People trip when he was in the 5th grade. He came back with some awesome pictures and reported that koala bears smell like cough drops. It is on my bucket list of places to visit. Actually talking about doing a destination Christmas next year instead of gifts. After the fires subside maybe our tourism will help rebuild. Plus it is the only place in the world with more deadly snakes than Texas, so I must go...

As a self pay Bariatric patient I had labs done through Quest Labs, and a swallow study done through Seton Hospital. I paid up front and had no issues. I then had my EKG, chest X-ray, and more labs done at another hospital that was recommended by my Bariatric surgeon’s office. If I had known this hospital was bought out by the non-profit hospital that is basically the only health plan option near me I never would have gone there. I have had issues with their billing in the past and learned to keep all my receipts. My daughter was literally refused treatment for an ear infection until I drove across town to the finance office to prove I had made my co-pays. I also paid $250 in $25 co-pays to have one wart removed off of her finger. The Dr. tried freezing it off in the office several times. We were finally sent to dermatology where they tried a laser and then at the final appointment just numbed her finger and cut it out. This occurred in 2010. I was paying $400 a month to keep my children insured and my employer paid around $200. For $600 per month 10 years ago, I expected some health care. This is also back when Doctors got bonuses for not sending you to a specialist (I could fill up the entire internet ranting about that issue). So, I paid in advance for the Chest X-Ray and EKG and was told I would receive a bill for the labs. About 4 months later I received two bills. One for the radiologist that read the chest x-ray and one for the Dr. that read the EKG. These bills came from separate offices (not the hospital). I tried to dispute them advising that I paid an agreed amount in advance. This did not work. I contacted the BBB and the X-Ray bill was written off, but the EKG wasn’t. I paid the $40ish bucks just so it would go away. Then I received another bill with itemized billing for my lab work, again this bill did not have the hospitals name on it. I paid that bill because those were the labs I had done. Then I received a bill from the hospital, this bill stated my insurance paid around $4000 and I owed them around $400. I called the number on the bill and advised them there was a mistake and requested an itemized bill. I was told over the phone the bill was for my labs and that the insurance adjustment was a mistake, but all I had to pay was the $400 Even though I already paid for the labs. So many phone calls it got ridiculous...I waited for my itemized bill, but I never received it. They just kept sending me the same bill showing that insurance paid a portion (my healthcare is through the VA and they did not pay them). I didn’t want my credit to get messed up, so I paid them $1.00 per month so they wouldn’t send me to collections. After 2 months of paying them $1.00 they sent me to collections. The initial phone call with collections started out pretty aggressive, but when I explained the situation he stated he would get me an itemized bill. The bill came and it showed that insurance covered my EKG, Chest X-Ray, and labs and the $400 was for my portion of all three of those procedures! I submitted all the bills and receipts I paid to the collections agency and never heard back from them. I decided to follow up with them and received an e-mail from their agency stating that they have closed my case. I thought it feel good to “win” but instead I just feel sad that their billing is still so messed up. I think they just nickel and dime people to make money. They got $42ish extra from me, and I am sure I am not the only one. My Dad says they started this new thing with Medicare patients where they can pay extra to be guaranteed same day appointments when they are ill and have access to their Doctor by phone 24hrs. This is crazy, his 90 year old neighbor is paying over $100 per month for this. If you are 90 and get sick the Doctor should see you!!! Umm, non-profit hospital? I also love when the health plan guy comes to our annual renewal meetings and explains how to not get billed for well patient visits. Basically you don’t discuss any health issues you might have during your routine physical because if you tell them your knee hurts and they offer you advise like icing it, take ibuprofen, etc. then they can bill you for the appointment. Thank goodness my kids are grown and I go to the VA. The VA I go to isn’t perfect, but the stress of dealing with a health plan/billing from the only game in town is gone. I used to go to premier urgent care if I had strep and didn’t want to wait 2 days to be seen and it was like $140 the last time I went. Now they passed some legislation and the VA is covering urgent care. The clinic that is doing it is a little further from me, but not to bad. Also, I am not retired military or disabled in any way. I qualified for subsidies (pre-tax) through ACA (Obama Care) due to my income. If you are a veteran and you qualify for subsidies you get the VA, choosing the subsidies and another health plan is not an option. I could get health insurance through my work, but they only pay 1/2 of employee. For those that are curious, because I am not retired and do not have a service connected disability I do pay co-pays. But they are not crazy. I was hospitalized for 5 days and had two surgical procedures to include my gallbladder removal and my total bill was around $1200. They also billed after the hospitalization (no finance people in the ER) and they let me set up a payment plan of my choosing. I paid them off earlier with my summer school check. We really need to fix our health care system...

I didn’t have my arms done, but Moving seems to help with all my parts. Initially I don’t automatically stretch everything straight. Just keep moving in a comfortable range of motion and more will come. Also, I got brave and stepped on the scale today even though I am still swollen. 142.4. Which is down .2 since the last time I stepped on the scale pre-surgery. My weight fluctuates between 140-145. I feel relieved that I don’t have to try and lose weight again. I literally had to track every calorie to get down to goal and I don’t think it was good for my mental health. I still weigh things to get correct serving sizes, but no longer log all calories in app and no more daily weigh ins. I try and weigh once a week on Sunday, but sometimes I forget. I am excited about re-doing my Dexa scan in April, I am hoping I will have more muscle and less fat by then. 🏃‍♀️🏋️‍♀️🧘‍♀️ I am going to try a harder workout on the treadmill today, nothing else to do today anyhow, so if I need a nap after then nap time it is. Side note- I went to a mall yesterday and saw some really cute things. I really like some of the Spanx, but $100.00?! Nope, it was fun to get out, but I am clearly more of a Ross/Target/Walmart girl. I just don’t want to pay that much. I spent $11.00 for my workout yoga type pants at Sam’s club, but I can get a similar item at Dillard’s or Macy’s for $85.00. Makes no sense to me...do those expensive yoga pants massage your butt while your sweating?

I had my sleeve in June of 2018 and my surgeon said my liver looked good at that time. I started having some pain under my ribs in January 2019, I was basically ignored even though my labs were whack. They gave me antibiotics for a UTI at that time. I had gallbladder surgery in April 2019 after I went completely jaundice. To be fare it was initially hard to tell how yellow I was if you didn’t know me. I have had elevated liver enzymes since 2014, but they were not super high (I was told to quit drinking and lose weight which I did, but my labs never changed). They guessed it was gall stones shooting into the common duct. They did a procedure to clear the common duct prior to my gallbladder removal, but they did not find anything. Then they said it could have been caused by the antibiotics they gave me for the UTI in January. Or it could be from a supplement I was taking. I was drinking turmeric tea which I stopped. They also tested me for illicit drugs and repeatedly asked me if I was using anything. I am like yeah, I waited until my kids graduated college to start living the thug life I always dreamed of... They did do a liver biopsy and it came back 5% fatty liver. I think it has to be 10% before they actually call it fatty liver disease. This is after I was down to my goal weight and had been going to the gym regularly for 6 months. The gastrointestinal doc was not concerned about fatty liver and my liver enzymes are now in the normal range which is better than pre sleeve. Whatever caused the jaundice resolved after my gallbladder was removed. I am hoping the fatty liver will improve with exercise and continued healthy eating. I generally avoid processed food, but I started doing that in January 2019 in an effort to feel better. I just stuck with it, because it probably is better for me. Now that everything is normal I can pursue my illicit drug use...but apparently I suck at it because I didn’t use all my pain meds from my plastic surgery. Maybe I am just not the opioid type, maybe I need the blue meth like on breaking bad. I would just smoke some weed, but I am afraid I’ll get the munchies and bust my pouch. Plus I am an ex cigarette smoker and I don’t want to hurt my lungs anymore. Not getting the yearly bronchial infections has been nice. I also remember reading that fatty liver can occur during rapid weight loss. My weight loss was not that rapid compared to others though... Hope it all turns out okay.

I get pooped out from just walking around too, so apparently I didn’t get the super healing powers either. The Doc I saw at my follow up yesterday was the intern. I still have a lot of soreness in my thighs, she felt around and said I do have a lot of loose skin where they did the liposuction. During the conversation I told her that WLS patients that pursue plastic surgery keep more weight off at the 10 and 15 year mark, so there is a health benefit. Surprisingly she did not know this, but she did say that they will probably be allowed to do more procedures in the near future, and that they could do more with my thighs. While that is certainly good news, I wasn’t talking about me getting more surgery. This is like giving birth, I need some time to forget about the pain before I do it again. 😂😂 Plus I am terrified that I am gaining weight without my usual gym schedule. I was a slow loser and even gained some on this journey. The gym not only helped with my weight, but my overall health and well-being. At first it felt like a second job I had to go to. I started going twice a week to a 30 minute beginner class and doing the free Sat. morning class. The weird part is that the gym I ended up at isn’t air conditioned and only has space heaters. The staff is basically former athletes (some with significant sports injuries) and most have degrees in kinesiology. They do have personal training, but the 30 min classes are only $10 and they make sure you are doing things correctly so you don’t hurt yourself. They even give you a modified exercise if they know you have a particular injury. I almost wish it was a chain so I could share this experience with everyone. I never would have tried lifting weights if I wasn’t at this gym. I miss it now even though I couldn’t lift that much. I can ‘t wait to get back at it. There probably isn’t anyone on here very close to me (Central Texas) but the name of the gym is Oppose Gravity and they are on Instagram. Plus, the gym members come in all sizes and shapes. I started in a beginner class and I couldn’t do one sit up, I can do a bunch now. I also could barely do a squat because of my bad knees, but all the exercise actually improved my knees and I have less clicking than before. There were a couple of times I have had to wear the braces because I did to many burpees or jumping. I also cannot do an actual push up yet, but I will get there. I can plank and do girl push ups. Now I just need to find a way to make going to the gym my job and vacationing/shopping for my free time. Guess I need to buy a lottery ticket...my adult children call them poor people tax, but I call them $1.00 hopes and dream tickets. As long as you just get the one every once in a while...

So I asked about standing up straight at my appointment today. The surgeon of course said everyone needs to listen to their own surgeon. Then she said everyone tightens things up differently and hopefully they consider age and skin type when doing so. The only reason surgeons don’t want you standing up straight right away is because they don’t want you to pull apart your sutures. So basically standing straight timeline is about what is comfortable for you.

I was able to stand straight at the two week mark. I maybe shouldn’t have though, because it caused a little bleeding in one spot. It didn’t hurt because I am mostly numb. I can do it now with no issues. I am still sore when I get up especially if I have been sitting for a while. I am actually getting a little worried that I am eating to much without exercising. I walked on the treadmill yesterday for a mile, but my watch no longer logs that as exercise. I was pretty tired though. I wish I could walk my dog, but she is 70 lbs of ADHD every time we see a deer, squirrel, or other dog. Her harness works good, but it is still a lot of muscle to hold her back. My youngest son helped me walk her the day after Christmas. My other dog, Bandit, weighs less even though he looks bigger (he is a Great Pyrenees Chow mix which makes him fluffy), but he is 10 and gets to tired to go very far, he also likes to try and lung himself in front of cars. I really miss my daughters dog, I called her my obesity dog because she was leash trained and friendly when she came to stay with us. Unfortunately, she got hemolytic anemia and even though we spent to much on blood transfusions we had to put her to down last year (she was only 3). My 70 lb dog, Sandy, still has her squeaky toy (it is the only toy she hasn’t ripped apart). Maybe I am more emotional after surgery. I am certainly off topic. Now I have to find a pic of my daughters dog Remi to include. My daughter adopted her while she was in College. After graduation she found employment in the Dallas area, housing is more expensive up there and doggie day care is what I used to pay for human day care. My husband grumbled the whole time, saying he told her not to get the dog, but he loved her. It had to be me that said she hasn’t eaten anything in 5 days it’s time to let her go. Remi was a black mouth cur mix she survived parvovirus as a pup. We tell people that Sandy is a lab mix, but I am pretty sure she is mostly pit bull. She has hip dysplasia, but it doesn’t slow her down much (we are both not symmetrical haha). She has stairs for getting in and out of the truck. Also, she was overweight at 77lbs, we had to put her on a diet. She likes carrots, so those are her new treats. She should be 65lbs so we are still working on it, never had an issue with leaving food out for the other dogs, I guess obesity really does have genetic factors. Also, I think my husband was giving to many treats because he ran out of people to feed when our youngest moved out. I have a follow up appointment today, so I will ask about when one should be able to stand up straight.

The bra is a different color, but the exact same (when I find one that fits comfortably I buy them all). They did liposuction on my sides as well, so it may be the swelling that is making the bra look tighter. I am still a little disappointed I couldn’t do the fat transfer, but there are positive things about being flat chested even when I was overweight. Less sag, no under boob sweat, less weight to lift while doing a plank. Yes, I could pay for implants, but for me, I think my body would fight a foreign object. It did a good job of forming a cyst around the bone bone fragment in my knee. I was able to function with it in there, only had it removed because it hurt when i bumped into things (and looked horrible). But if that never happened, I would never have met the plastic surgery people. Also, if I was going to pay for something I would do my under eye bags. I’ll probably never do it though, because there is no hiding your face if something goes wrong. I know a woman of Greek decent who had hers done and she looks Chinese now...not good... I didn’t respond right away because I wasn’t feeling well, took me a day and a half to figure out I was wearing my abdominal binder to tight. Feeling much better now. My doctors prescribed stool softener with seniside (laxative) for after surgery. It is basically collace with the same stuff that is in smooth move tea. I can’t imagine 19 days!!! Also, I wonder why the left side swells more, is it a heart thing? Just curious my swelling is getting better as well. I still think the arm thing looks more painful. The pics are amazing! You look awesome! When you feel better clothes shopping is going to be more fun!

This is when the journey started. I hope you guys post some pics when you can. Also, I hope everyone’s swelling goes down!

Forgot to add that I am 49 years old.