vrice

I've done the same. With a straight face and erect posture. You can *lie* about it all you want to nosey people who just want an all access pass to your life. They don't get one and you don't have to give it.
P R I V A C Y
You deserve it. Protect it, hell even *lie* to maintain it if you *need* to about this in a world that no longer respects boundaries and will steal it at every turn.
Medical information is after all inherently private unless it directly affects another persons health.
Jealously does not qualify
Congrats on your success 💜

After 7 months one of my teammates came up and directly asked me if I had surgery. I paused, then flat out lied and said no. I followed up the lie with truth. My Dr scared me into losing weight plus my Dad died at 58. Said I'm eating significantly fewer calories, tracking on an app, focusing on Protein to keep me full, and exercising more. She said that it was inspirational, although she never really said I look good. Guess I just need to be satisfied with the inspirational comment. Most people who have come up to me have said I look good and asked what I've done to lose the weight, but until now no one has mentioned surgery. Wondering if others are thinking it. Regardless, I'm happy I'm keeping this private. #mysecretismine #liar

@AtlantaGirl
Does it take off the weight faster? This is a great video that can answer that question. Where does the fat go when you lose weight?

I am four years out. I walked until I was released to exercise by my surgeon. I started working out slow and had to build up my fitness level. Wow, I can remember being out of breath after a half hour. I was a true couch potatoe.
You never know where your WLS journey can take you. Be open to possibilities. Fitness goal are different for each of us. Find what you enjoy and motivates you.
My personal experience, I went from 245 to 140 in six months. I do believe exercise helped my weight loss. My exercise routine was elliptical (an hour) and a bit of weight lifting. My fitness level and routine developed over time. My goal was to do a 5K race for cancer in memory of my mother. Even if I walked it I would have been happy. I ran the race and cried like a baby at the end. I met that goal and continued to do a 10K, half marathon and a full marathon. I am 50 years old. Never in my life did I think I would be doing this.

I'll provide a somewhat detailed summary of how it went:

Sunday 9am: At this point I already spent the night at the hospital, they have taken two samples of my blood, gave me a Vitamin B12 injection on my butt (Which surprisingly is one of the most painful things in this whole ordeal), and taken a couple of injections to help blood flow.
I was taken down to the OT where they had me lay down on the operation table itself. They began preparing things around me (putting things under my legs and holding my hands down.. thinking about it now it felt like I was being splayed and tied on a table with a mad doctor on my head with a mask going BREATH! DEEP BREATH! BREATH!.. next thing I know that Breath yelling became WAKEY WAKEY!!!!...

Sunday 11:30am: The Nausea is unreal. That is and will be the worst thing to experience throughout the initial recovery. I was sent back to my room where I was set up with a morphine me button. Most of that day I was in an out of sleep and morphine (I only pressed the button 10 times to avoid over morphine usage)...
The discomfort was real, the back and shoulder pain was tremendous from the bed. I kept doing a breathing exercise using this device to measure how much air is filling the lungs. It really helped reduce a lot of the discomfort. You feel like you want to burp/throw up but nothing happens. Its just there and its super frustrating.
Sunday 4:00pm: I got out of bed and began walking around. this really helped finally setting some of the gasses from my stomach.
Sunday 9pm: Finally I farted.. Sounds odd to mention it here but it was a bless letting out the gas collected in my stomach from them pumping so much air into it. At this point the Nausea slowly began to reduce and the stomach feels like a bubbling monstrosity slowly calming down. Back pain from laying down too much and the bed being uncomfortable was worse than the stomach issues.
Monday 7am: At this point I felt a looot better in terms of the Nausea but stomach discomfort was still there. Overall much better than Sunday's feeling. Back still aching even though I have been walking every 2 hours for 15 minutes.
Monday 10:30 am: Gastro Graphine Xray time. I went downstairs, had to drink a yellowish liquid (unlike the chalky white one pre-op). They requested a little bit of a big gulp.. Nope couldn't handle it, threw up immediatly and wow that came out of my stomach? Erm... is this okay? yes.. all that dried blood and stuff is fine, its your body cleaning itself.
Monday 9pm: Finally began going to the bathroom regularly. This might be TMI but its something people should keep in mind as a marker when doing it. I finally managed to go to the bathroom and poop.. I won't describe how it looked but I can tell you that the release of gas and fluids was such a relief.
At this point I have thrown up total of 3 times, Once in the gastro Graphine, and twice outside. All three due to taking a little bit of a bigger gulp. I kinda did the 3rd one on purpose to test my limitation of what I can handle..
Tuesday 7am: Nausea is about 70% gone from OP day. Stomach discomfort and bubbling still there but not so bad. There are some sharp pains from the wound area but that is when I touch them or move in a way that causes them to get agitated. Doctor passed by and cleared me to leave.
Tuesday 12:30pm: Left the hospital.
Tuesday 9:30 pm: at this point I felt very weak, very tired as I didn't have any good sleep since the night before the operation. My body has gone through much. I have some mild discomfort in the stomach that comes and goes with the bubbling effect.
Wed 8:00 am: What a load of difference today feels than the previous days. Nasea is about 98% gone. Its a little there but nothing you can't ignore. Stomach bubbling calmed down a lot. It really feels like there is a worm breakdancing in there when it happens. My Fluid intake since that moment until now has been regular with no issues or any pain.

Right now its just slow recovery time. Most of the pain/issues are gone. Now its slowly understanding your stomach and the new diet.

How long did you wait to start working out after surgery? The surgeon told me at least two weeks before I start any cardio of any sort, but I’m just curious to see what everyone else did. If you weight lift, when did that start for you?!

Yep, follow you teams instructions. They will let you know when you can start weight lifting. Hope you heal quickly.

I was tempted to do too much too fast, but I listened to my surgeon.
I did cardio right away, as much as I could tolerate, mostly treadmill and walking, some recumbent bike. I wasn't allowed to lift anything heavier than 10 pounds until after my post-op appointment three weeks post surgery, and even then they told me to go slow with lifting or using resistance equipment at the gym. Now at 90-days post-op I can do anything I want.

I followed my team's directions. I was allowed to do as much cardio as I could tolerate after surgery but not to lift anything heavier than 10 pounds until after my post-op appointment two weeks post surgery. My surgery was on Tuesday. I was home Wednesday and on Saturday I spent half an hour pedaling very slowly on an elliptical recumbent bike at my gym. I walked as much as I could. I made sure I stayed hydrated and stopped when I was tired.
Once I was cleared for weights after 2 weeks, I went back to working with my trainer who I had been working with before weight loss. I was doing stuff with dumbbells almost immediately, again listening to my body.
I'm now almost 3 years out, deadlift 235 and squat 225. I can clean 85 pounds and I'm a 5'3" 57 year old woman. Follow you're docs instructions and listen to your body.

I don't have Aetna, but I was always under the impression that you have to be over a 40 BMI at the initial visit to qualify. Then, of course, you're going to start losing weight as you work the program. I would call your insurance company and verify it with them. PAs and Drs don't always know the insurance side of things.

At long last! I have been getting ready for it since April. Now I start panicking. My first surgery at age 62. Need some hugs please.

My insurance doesn't cover sleep lab test therefore I couldn't do CPAP titration study to calibrate the correct air pressure. Also there was only 3 weeks remaining before my surgery. So pulmonologist ordered auto CPAP for me. And it works!

I needed second comorbidity so my team put this test on my list of requirements. I knew I snore. Test determined my severe apnea. I was shocked. But CPAP made a huge difference in the quality of my sleep.< /p>

I had at home test. Equipment was mailed to me then educator called and explained how to use it. Wore it for 2 nights. Diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. Surgeon's office said no CPAP no surgery. I got auto CPAP, used it for 3 weeks now. I was told to bring it to use after surgery. My surgery is tomorrow

That’s exactly what I had. The results came back as having sleep apnea.

Home sleep studies are good. But there may be additional requirements.

Depending on the company, you will wear them 1-3 nights. After they receive it back it takes 3-7 days for the doctor to receive a report. If the report shows severe sleep apnea there may be additional requirements. The auto cpap is very popular. It has automatic settings. But severe sleep apnea usually requires higher setting that the auto cpap can accommodate. This is where you May have to have a second in house study for determining the appropriate settings for you. There are no home type machines for this test.

Your surgeon may also require you to wear the cpap for a month before having surgery. And just so you know, they can request a 30 day report from the cpap company. It tells how many nights you wear it and for how many hours. In general, compliance is considered wearing it 70% of nights for at least 4 hours.

Some doctors will let you have the auto cpap even w severe sleep apnea. I have severe sleep apnea and have an automatic.

Mine was the same and it was like 16-17 years ago. It was just like a normal CPAP machine in a briefcase sorta thing...and it measured the needed pressures and how often the apnea's and hypopneas happened. My insurance also would not do the sleep center test.

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And Medicare and Medicaid paid it all, but I suspect they only billed Medicare. Interesting fact, just got a note from Lincare, as a reward for being such a Good Little User, I now,own my machine. This is an honor,i didn't actively seek, but IT IS WHAT IT IS!🗿

I also had the home test for sleep apnea. I picked up the kit from the doctor's office which I had to return the next day. I had something around my chest with a battery pack and a thin cannula in my nose. Insurance covered the test in full. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea and now have been using a CPAP for about 4 months. Insurance covers part of my CPAP machine and supplies.

I also had the home test gor sleep apnea. I had something around my chest with a battery pack, and a thin cannula type thing just inside my nostrils. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea, and now have been using a CPAP for about 18 months. No problems with insurance covering everything.

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Yes I had an at home sleep apnea test and had my surgery a month ago. From what I understand it’s not as accurate as the facility test but they still determined I had it. Good luck!

I am down 50lbs since surgery 3 months ago. I am very proud of myself, but I have been here before... twice. I just hope this times it stays off 😭😭😭 I can never ever ever keep the weight off!

My patterns:
2010 I was 200lb
2011 I was 145lb
2012 I was 200lb
2016 I was my lowest of 139lb
2018 I was my heaviest of 245lb
Now 185lb ugh the struggle is so annoying!!!

I had an at home sleep apnea test. A tech comes to your house and puts all the wires and monitors on you. I didn't have any insurance issues and they made it sound like I had a choice about whether I'd like to have it done at their clinic or at home.

I have to say for me it's s mixed bag, but mostly positive. I would still do it again in a heartbeat. I didn't have too many serious weight related issues but did have high blood pressure that was controlled with medication, anxiety and I snored. I didn't have as much energy as I would have liked.

Post surgery I was able to go off all medication and my blood pressure is normal and I no longer snore. My energy and ability to be more active is infinitely better.

The issues I have had and I'm seven years post op and maintained my loss. I'm also now 46.
I have struggled most seriously with Iron deficiency and iron deficient anemia. I had to habe iron infusions and cannot tolerate or seem to absorb iron well. They said that will likely be something I deal with for life. I also struggle with hypoglycemia since surgery. Both can be controlled. I still get cold constantly but overall feel so much better.
Even though I am currently technically underweight 112 5'6 right now I do bit get sick easily or struggle with anything other than the anemia.
Again I would do this in a second and couldn't be happier.
Best wishes on your journey!

My health hasn't been this good since my 20's. I feel amazing. My strength and stamina shock me.
One problem that was addressed by my surgery that was unexpected....was discovering and correcting a Vitamin D deficiency. I think the Multivitamins shore up nutritional gaps and support good immune function.
I have not had so much as a cold since my surgery almost a year ago. I have not had any coughs or infections. I did have my flu shot both last year and this year...which might have helped.
Dental-wise, my teeth have been perfect. Had them cleaned twice since surgery and both times had a clean dental bill of health. This was of particular concern to me....because I had a dental implant two years ago with a bone graft and was scared it could fail. Nope...it's doing great. No issues at all.
The conditions that have improved since my weight loss and new diet:
No longer pre-diabetic.
No longer have hypertension.
No longer have breathing issues at night.
No longer have acid reflux.
No longer have intermittent hemorrhoids or anal fissure (ouch!)..it's GONE:) My anus is a happy healthy camper. I know this is gross, but I want to offer hope to the afflicted. LOL.
No longer have obesity related skin rashes. (got them in my groin/thigh crease sometimes and it bothered me)
No longer have leg edema! At all! You can see the tendons on top of my feet and I LOVE them! Can also wear normal sized tall boots instead of the wide calf ones:)
No longer get warts on my toes. I think this was related to my leg edema.
I used to get sore throats constantly. Several times a year. Have not had one since weight loss.
No longer have chronic loose stool. Dietary changes fixed this one completely. Poo is textbook.
I have a much better libido:)
I have fewer hormonal break-outs.
Arthritis still stinks...but is MUCH better. No more daily pain meds.
My energy is through the roof.
Only negatives I can think of....
Psychologically, I wasn't really prepared to have a lifelong coping mechanism just disappear....it was surprisingly unpleasant to work through that. Didn't see that coming!
Lost about half my hair. Good thing my hair is crazy thick! It's growing back:)

The only things I know of that tend to resolve pretty rapidly with the surgery are diabetes and sleep apnea. I was not diabetic, but I was borderline pre-diabetic. I'm interested to see how my next full lab comes back.