sassfordays

Do you know for sure you will be asked to travel before your doctor would clear you for traveling? If so, could you just tell them you had a medical procedure done, and are not cleared for travel yet, and provide a note from your doctor? Sometimes I don't like providing medical notes because even that can provide more information than I care to share...sometimes the letterhead tells what type of practice it is (dentist, optometrist, surgeon, family medicine, psych, gyno, etc.) and at the very least, it will have a doctor's name and someone who was really nosey could do a web search and find out those details. I could understand not wanting to share a doctor's note. What are the covid rates like where you are? Could you report that due to those you don't feel safe to travel?

I hope you find a solution that you are comfortable with.

All of my visits with everyone at the surgery center have been over zoom, because here in Boston, they are serious about COVID precautions. But I had one meeting with the surgeon in February and he answered most of my questions and said we'd have further conversations down the road. I have another appointment next week because I have more questions about the type of surgery (I take medications that would not be great with mal-absorptive surgery, but also I may or may not have GERD/gastritis, so although he and my prescribing doc both recommended sleeve, I want to know what his plan is for resolving any worsening GERD that might develop after sleeve).
I hadn't done much of my own research before calling the surgery center except watching their mandatory video (you have to watch the video before reaching out to them) but by the time they called me back the next week I had spent hours researching online and talking to my friend who had had WLS.

Tell them that you are having a hernia repair surgery coming up to correct an issue that has worsened recently, and you may not be cleared to travel in the timeframe. That way there is an excuse for why you didn't include them earlier so they could figure out the personnel issue for the trip. Good luck!

I said “I’m taking this time off for surgery. As of now, I plan on being back on this date. If I need more recovery time, I’ll let you know.” My boss seemed taken aback and probably curious but did not ask what kind of surgery. She just said “I hope everything’s ok!” It took me awhile to realize I don’t owe people an explanation, even though I’m generally very open about my life.

Update: 2 lbs under my last recorded weight at the nutritionist [emoji847]...I'm in the green for now, just to keep going now until the 28th [emoji123] thanks for the advice!

Sent from my SM-G975U using BariatricPal mobile app

I'm late to ur post but maybe a newbie will see this....I saw a woman on youtube do this and I'm in nursing school and it makes perfect sense in regards to Fluid & electrolyte levels....drink a 0 cal gatorade in the morning before you flush your body with a ton of water daily. It avoids headaches and fatigue [emoji177]

Sent from my SM-G975U using BariatricPal mobile app

Makes sense, dont wanna choke on your saliva or have it pool in lungs and walk out with pneumonia , but def shopping for biotene now

Sent from my SM-G975U using BariatricPal mobile app

Good decision

I will take my weight loss any way I can, Water weight, poop weight, whatever!

i went with the second. The first was an intro to what types of WLS there were but then only wanted me to have 1 type and I didn’t want to be boxed in. The second was more open-minded and had a good aftercare program which was incredibly important to me.

My mom had gastric sleeve 8 years ago and my aunt had gastric bypass 12 years ago. My mom wasn’t very successful due to underlying health issues that didn’t make themselves known until she was post-op. My aunt lost over 150 pounds. I researched for years and would bounce back and forth with the idea to go forth with it and I’d always back out. I finally decided that for my health and my children’s sake, this would be the best option for me. I would have mental talks, and journal about my ideas and thoughts on surgery, the pros and cons, what I needed to do to prepare myself and my family. I talked it over with the adults in my family and then talked it over with my kids, because it will affect them as well. When I realized the support I have that will improve my success rate, I couldn’t back down this time.

inhave one more dietary appointment before I can schedule my surgery and I couldn’t be more excited. Yes, it’s scary because it’s such a major surgery and many things in your life will change. I have two of my friends who now are going through the process as well and we will be each other’s coach and accountability partners.

Remember, those leaps thats are the scariest are usually the ones most worth it.

I picked who I picked for several reasons. 1. I knew, via my husband as they are his co-workers, several others who used the same surgeon and office and 2. He's within my network so there is less out of pocket cost to me. Plus I looked him up to see what others, who I didn't know, had to say about him. I think he had like a 4.7 out of 5 rating. And seeing and speaking to him myself gave me good vibes about picking him as my choice. I never felt rushed or made to feel stupid no matter the type or how many questions I had. He took the time to answer them all.

This is all rough. I was on medication for weight loss too, but my insurance said I didn't lose enough for them to refill it. I also have bipolar disorder and anxiety and I agree that it's hard to focus on your weight when your mental health is acting up.
I am sticking with the first surgery center I went to because it's where my GP referred me and they're a large academic medical center in my area that has an excellent reputation for high volume. What you want in any surgery is for the surgeon to do a lot of your type of surgeries - practice makes perfect (I'm serious about this - I work in clinical research and all the studies show that surgeons who operate more have better outcomes, assuming the same level of complexity and that they are up to date in technique/safety protocols). I don't worry so much about the surgeon having the best bedside manner. I just want them to be technically excellent.

Perhaps if you think of consulting a surgeon as more research, you will be less nervous. When you consult with a surgeon or enter into a program to have surgery (as we do in Ontario, Canada) you have all kinds of tasks you have to go through, blood work, seeing a nutritionist, maybe a psychologist, other testing like EKG etc. At any point in the process you can still change your mind. I didn't consider anything as a final decision until my surgery date was booked. I realize there are different processes every where and different requirements but it took me over a year between the first time I contacted the Doctor to my surgery and I learned so much along the way that even if I hadn't undergone the surgery I felt that time was still invaluable.

Same here. My family doctor had been suggesting the surgery to me for over 10 years now because he saw how hard I was working trying to lose weight with nothing happening (he had me in the gym, trying different diet programs throughout the years, keeping food logs, seeing an endocrinologist, etc) . And even at his suggestion, giving me statistics, etc. I was still scared of the surgery. So I would do my own research here and there through the years but still chicken out when it came time to do anything more serious with it. It was until this year that I got more serious in the research because my A1C was reaching Type 2 status. I had always teetered on the edge but I was scared to finally go over. I didn't want or need another problem (already have high BP, PCOS, Insulin Resistance) so I bit the bullet and reached out. I was even more on board with doing it once I got to speak with the surgeon and had all my questions answered by him. I felt so much better about it all.
However, sadly during the pre-op testing I discovered I was now in fact a Type 2 diabetic. Something I did not want to happen and was trying to avoid. But this makes me want the surgery even more now.
This is a very personal thing and you have to do it in your own time. I wish you luck in whatever you decide. It's not an easy choice either way.

I also was referred by my doctor years ago and thought about it but was too scared. I lost 100 lbs on my own then gained almost all of it back over 5 years, the last 30 lbs during COVID; that was the final straw I guess. Calling the surgeon isn't a commitment. You will still have a long time to decide assuming you have to jump through all the insurance hoops most people do. And you will need that time to prepare yourself for all the dietary and mental changes.

I spent over a year researching and working through the fact that I didn't want WLS. My Dr. had recommended it and I was angry about that. It finally came down to me going to different hospitals and attending the presentations concerning WLS. Then some more time writing up a pros/cons list to see what I could live with and what I could not live with regarding having WLS and not having WLS.

It's a big deal, so I think a lot of us are pretty nervous about it! I first started looking into WLS more than 15 years before I actually went through with it. I actually went to a consultation back then and decided against it. Like many other people, my biggest regret about WLS is not doing it sooner. It's not for everyone, but going to a consultation with a surgeon does not obligate you to do anything. If you've done all the research and still think you might want to do it, you owe it to yourself to take that next step and meet with a surgeon. Good luck!

I did the research years ago and just kept putting it off, coming up with excuse after excuse after excuse as to why not to have surgery. For me, the permanence was something that scared me and put me off doing the surgery for a long time. It was my health declining and fearing that I wouldn't be around to watch my nieces grow up that finally made me make the move. I'm 14.5 months post op with the Loop Duodenal Switch surgery and I only wish that I had done this for myself sooner.

You can do it; but you can't do all of it all the time every day 100% perfect and certainly not starting from day 1. This is the lesson I've been struggling to learn. Yes, you can give up soda. No you don't have to give up artificial sweeteners. There are still many WLS patients who use artificial sweeteners and maintain a healthy weight and didn't grow horns and didn't develop cancer, whatever. There is a TON of junk science around artificial sweeteners. Like, they say that they cause weight gain. That is not true. The few controlled scientific studies there have been show that when people eat the same number of calories, artificial sweeteners do not cause weight gain.
Also, I found that changing my pre-surgery diet to increase Protein and decrease sugar made me feel less hungry and crave sweets LESS. SHOCKING!!! I couldn't believe it. But I'm not perfect. I still eat a little ice cream sometimes and I still eat fruit every day. I'm still months away from surgery and I'm struggling this week. I had to increase my medication that causes hunger/weight gain because I'm having bipolar symptoms, so I'm eating more, but still trying to focus on protein first, and I can't believe that between that and traveling to Miami last week for work, I am still losing weight. (But yesterday afternoon I was so hungry I cried... so yeah, I'm not going to lie it's really hard.)
Try not to expect perfection. It is SOOO much. You have to do the work, but you can take it at your own pace and on your own terms. And take everyone's advice/rules with a grain of salt - I know at least one successful maintainer on here who drinks diet coke regularly. Nothing is forever, failure is not final.

Has anyone asked about it? No one asked about mine, so I didn't have to make anything up. However, I have heard of others saying they had a hernia repair, gallbladder surgery, or an ulcer removed.

I’ve experienced this as well. I’m 17 days post op and my anxiety is high about a number of things related to this surgery. Mainly, a feeling that I’ll never again be “normal”. It’s hard to describe but I feel like I made a horrible mistake by doing this. Even though I understand the big picture benefit, I can’t shake this feeling. I’m chalking it up to being very early on in the process. At least I hope so.

I tried the Aetna website too and it was awful, but it did mention that they required an "Aetna Center for Excellence" cert, so I googled "Aetna + Pittsburgh, PA + Bariatric" and looked for those centers, since obv. they'd take Aetna insurance.

We are in a very special circumstance. We have been able through weight loss surgery(WLS) to get a gigantic boost to lose weight. We are able to lose that weight effortlessly without much work. (Beside the process and procedure of WLS) We have this superpower that we never had before, rapid weight loss. Some in my support group have told me, you can go to sleep for six months and the weight will still come off. It's a superpower that we want to believe will last forever. Then one day we lose our superpower. We are now mere mortals in the weight loss world. A pound regain turns to two, then four then....you know the rest.
It's not so easy to lose the weight as it was after WLS. In fact we find ourselves in the same circumstance we were in prior to WLS. Struggling to lose weight and feeling hopeless and discouraged that we can't lose it as fast as we did post WLS. I know that feeling well. Prior to WLS I lost a lot of weight (60lbs) and you guessed it I regained it all back and then some. For 17 years I struggled to lose the weight as my body deteriorated with heart disease, diabetes, GERD, high blood pressure, gout and other maladies. I was taking so much medication that put both my liver and kidneys were in danger of failing me. I decided on WLS. I was taking 11 plus pills a day. The day I walked out of the hospital I was prescribed two pills.
I did not want to repeat my mistake of years ago and I made my goal weight my "RED ALERT" weight. I weight myself every week on the same day and same time to monitor my weight. After slipping on a vacation ( ate pastries) I realized that I needed additional help. I sought a therapist who specializes in eating disorders and was diagnosed as a compulsive over eater.She recommended that I seek the help of Overeaters Anonymous. I attend OA meetings as well as the group meetings my surgeon sets up.
During Covid my meetings with support groups and the therapist were curtailed and I subsequently gained weight. I could not lose the weight no matter what I tried. I too despaired and lamented that my brief flirtation with my weight loss superpowers were over. Fortunately for me I have a few family and friends that had WLS after I had mine and we are our own support group. ( I encourage people to hook up with other WLS patients and call, not write or text them to get as much support as you can) I was directed to You Tube videos on intermittent fasting and cutting out late night snacking. It's been 18 days since I stopped eating after 7PM and starting again at 8AM. I have lost the weight plus an additional pound. I have regained my confidence (which is very important) and I can see a clearer path to maintaining my health with my weight loss.
Gaining weight and not being able to take it off as fast as we once did is very crushing to us on so many levels. It hinders our ability to effectively lose the weight and it returns us to regaining more and giving up. Please don't give up. Many here have given you excellent choices to help you. I fortunately have a great support group of family and friends who I can tap for ideas "outside of the box". One poster here had a 45lb regain and was able to lose it. That in itself is a great motivator. For those of us who have lost our weight loss superpowers, don't despair, learn new tactics, resist old ones that work but never ever give up. Your good health is too important.

Well thank you to both of you who responded. You gave me really good information. I'm not sure why when I log on the Aetna website, and search any of the surgeons associated with these hospitals, none of them come up, but this gives me a direction to go. Thank you for holding my hand like a child lol I don't know how I was missing all of this