Zemi

Don't listen when your past,tries to call,you back, it has NOTHING NEW to say, face the future bravely- It Is Your time to shine and your Day to Achieve Your Dreams! That sound you hear now is all of US cheering YOU,on!

My BMI is right at 50. I went through a lot of emotions when I was first considering the surgery. I have already talked myself out of it twice. I have had...wavering support from those who I thought would be extremely supportive. I've heard everything from "surgery is the easy way out!" to admonishments of "you're going to look gross with all that extra skin". I keep reminding myself that they do not matter. If I don't have this procedure, I may very well develop diabetes or have a heart attack.
I would suggest looking for free support groups within the community. Dig a little deeper than just the surface. Hospitals tend to hold these in the evenings. I know my center has one and I can't wait to start going (life has been too busy thus far). But the requirement is POST op. And if you can't find one on your own, you can always start one. You can easily set aside time at a library or a high school for free.
BUT We can be supportive here, even if not in person. Once you start on this journey, you are forever one of us!

At 287lbs and 49BMI, I started trying to get serious about weight loss and weight loss surgery on my own with only my PCP on board. My oncologist had been trying to talk me into WLS for 2 years and I resisted his offers of referral to a program. I wasn't ready to change. So it took 2 years to get my head in the game! And when I did, I didn't look back--even though the fear of affording the post WLS life gripped me!
My first visit with the surgeon, I weighed 256 and was just over 41BMI-ish. She required I lose 10% of my total body weight in the 6 months leading up to the pre-op liquid diet and I was so fearful of not being able to comply. Cuz if I could lose on my own, why would I need WLS? But WLS doesn't just help us LOSE the weight, it helps KEEP IT OFF longterm. I had to pay my nutritionist for each of 6 monthly visits out of pocket. It was so worth it and worth cutting corners elsewhere to help. I can still see her whenever I need to.
BUT, she runs a weight loss support group where I get to see her for free once a month at a hospital. It's a great group of ladies who meet to talk and offer support. And there is no cost. Most hospitals offer free support groups and allow outsiders (people from other surgeons) to attend, cuz you never know when someone is gonna need a revision. So look up all the WLS practices in the area--especially ones centered around large teaching hospitals, and see if you can find one!
I didn't go to a gym or work with an exercise physiologist--no funds to do so--but I was prescribed PT a few times for pain and rehabilitation. So see if you can start there and get that covered. Throughout the losses, I have walked daily and do sporadic core strengthening exercises at home using bands and isometrics.
I now weigh 135.2lbs today.

Quite unfortunately at very high BMIs, people are racing the clock. Physicians will even sometimes give to a timeline for XYZ (e.g. if you don't reduce your weight by 20% next year you will be prediabetic/hypertensive,etc)
If you think the delay will help you mentally & health wise, sure. Talk to your Surgeon/Team about it.
But if it will not and you're resolved to have surgery anyway, the delay is just a delay. You may even have to start over for insurance/surgeon requirements, gain and increase your comorbidities further.
After my intial sign on with my surgeon I took a 3 month summer vacation where I wondered if I actually needed surgery or if I could follow the dieticians plan and do it on my own.
I was ~245 at the start but by the end I was ~253. I was strictly following the plan but gained anyway.
Likely because I had an increased stomach capacity (stretched) over time which I couldn't escape from. Under my former conditions, I would always be able to eat more than normal even if it was healthy food. I moved forward with surgery as planned in light of that revelation.
The choice is *alway always always* yours on if/when to move forward. You will know when its the right time. Personally I would just rethink the plan if it sets you back further
Good Luck 💜

Keep your eye on the prize (as they say), which is a healthier YOU! If you have Facebook, there are groups on there as well. I love watching these videos on YouTube by Dr. Vuong...He keeps it real (always follow your doctor's orders), but he has some great things about pre and post surgery. I was sleeved on 7/22 and have mind-hunger and other things that people seem to have on here, but I am keeping afloat! Good luck!

I was first approved for wks in 2005 and got scared and backed out at the last moment. I was sleeved on 7/31/19, the biggest regret I have is not having it done sooner!! I wasted so many years that I could have been healthy. My weight was like a yo yo and all the diets I tried were unsuccessful. Since my surgery I have lost 15lbs and prior to my surgery I lost 45 lbs. I'm down 60 lbs since Jan. 2019. Don't wait and regret it.


5'4"
Starting weight 297
VSG on 7/31/19 265
CW 250
GW 135

Sent from my [samsung Galaxy] using BariatricPal mobile app

Hi, I started with a BMI of 36, I have/had a lot of health related issues and was diagnosed with type 1.5 diabetes and my mother had major complications from diabetes so I wanted to do whatever I could to stop it as best as I could. So for me the risks of surgery were nothing compared to the medical conditions I was developing and had. I had my sleeve surgery 7/8/2019 and within a week after surgery I was off my blood pressure medication. I am feeling better and it is so much easier now without being hungry all the time. It was so worth it! I think if you weigh the long term risks of being your weight now and the risk of the surgery you will have your answer. I was required to attend an informational meeting and a support group before my surgery and they have one every month at the hospital and it is free. Maybe ask your surgeon and do a google search for them in your area. I honestly would not wait. My surgeon explained how hard it was to not lose the weight but to keep it off and the huge percentage of people that put it back on and more. Long story short he explained when your stomach is a certain size and it’s empty your hormones are kicking in making you hungry and wanting to eat. So That’s why so many fail at keeping the weight off. I did Keto lost 25lbs then put that back on and a little more my Dr. told me “You just did more harm than good” that was the day of the diabetes and I made up my mind for surgery. So anyways, Make the change and keep moving forward Best of Luck to you!

Getting closer to my surgery date with only a few weeks left before pre-op begins and my thoughts (and pesky emotions) are running all over the place. Somewhere between excitement to complete and utter panic. so thought about postponing surgery for a few months ... or a year, to have more time to lose weight to make surgery safer and work on my head more first but then i think more likely i’ll just end up in the same place as now but have lost the time. instead i could be weighing a lot less and getting healthier. So not really wanting to postpone and instead pushing forward!
One of the big things that comes up is the feelings of being alone in all of this and the lack of in person support. It seems that the only support group/rehabilitation program (combined program) existing near enough to attend is one that requires health insurance to attend with no option for paying yourself; and for some crazy reason my insurance is one of only two insurers that doesn’t cover this as it’s not long enough or frequent enough. Hoping to find an exercise physiologist at least who can help but then i go into the financial freeze state i.e. how am i going to afford all this 🤯
I’m starting with a BMI over 50 ... so i know health wise this is the right move for sure. Not sure really why i’m writing just now ... i know it has to be my decision and i’m the one doing it ... i think i just need (want?) some extra encouragement and to be reminded it’s worth doing and that i’m worth doing it for

@MLB357 thanks ... very much for your reply 🌷that’s what i’m trying to remember ... that i’m doing things so things will improve and be better, a lot more so than now! reminders just help sometimes

Getting closer to my surgery date with only a few weeks left before pre-op begins and my thoughts (and pesky emotions) are running all over the place. Somewhere between excitement to complete and utter panic. so thought about postponing surgery for a few months ... or a year, to have more time to lose weight to make surgery safer and work on my head more first but then i think more likely i’ll just end up in the same place as now but have lost the time. instead i could be weighing a lot less and getting healthier. So not really wanting to postpone and instead pushing forward!
One of the big things that comes up is the feelings of being alone in all of this and the lack of in person support. It seems that the only support group/rehabilitation program (combined program) existing near enough to attend is one that requires health insurance to attend with no option for paying yourself; and for some crazy reason my insurance is one of only two insurers that doesn’t cover this as it’s not long enough or frequent enough. Hoping to find an exercise physiologist at least who can help but then i go into the financial freeze state i.e. how am i going to afford all this 🤯
I’m starting with a BMI over 50 ... so i know health wise this is the right move for sure. Not sure really why i’m writing just now ... i know it has to be my decision and i’m the one doing it ... i think i just need (want?) some extra encouragement and to be reminded it’s worth doing and that i’m worth doing it for

after one of my previous surgery’s they gave me peppermint tea after to help with gas ... and it was amazing. since they probably can’t after our sleeve surgeries i was reading that peppermint oil might help. I bought some yesterday to mix with another oil and try massaging into my shoulder. i know walking should help, i’m just trying to find anything else that will as well

Hi! I’m having the sleeve surgery August 26. Any advice on what to take to the hospital? And if there is anything to make the gas pain pass faster? Thank you

My packing list is already made out & my surgery date has not even been set up yet.

For gas pains.. get up and walk as soon as you're able.. As for packing for hospital lesson learn for me don't forget chapstick.

We all been where you are now. There is always fear going into something new, but after a while the new become the norm. You're doing something to better yourself and that should be the focus. It might seems like you doing the along , but you got this whole bariatricpal family now to lean on for support..... remember "You got this".

To be able to cross my legs - I honestly don't know if I ever could. I wasn't a huge child, but its so long ago that I can't recall. To be able to go out in public (a train to NYC, out to eat) and not feel like the biggest person, be the biggest person or get made fun of (that has happened several times in NY City). To not shop in a plus size store. It's been since high school and I'm 40 now. To lose weight and finally keep it off (I've been successful at losing before). To live longer - I want to be there for my family. I have an amazing and supportive husband and a wonderful son, who also struggles a bit with weight (not as much as I ever have). To be an example for my son. To prove everyone wrong. To rock pretty dresses and shoes with wedges/heels. To feel confident. To live free of this fat that has trapped me pretty much my whole life. I don't know what a thin version of me would look like. I haven't met her yet. To say I'm "100-whatever lbs" - OMG it really is one-derland because I haven't been there since high school. I could go on, but I won't. I keep worrying about the surgery so much...am I doing the right thing, all of this, but since my small list is so large, I think I know I'm making the right choice. It is hard. I wish you all the best, every day.

I'm in! lol

Still have a hard time with knowing how unhealthy I was when I look at this pic!! But so much happier now!!! 

HW = 360
SW = 292
GW = 220 reached 3/7/18
CW = 210 @ 6'5"
150 pounds lost!

too funny!

HW = 360
SW = 292
GW = 220 reached 3/7/18
CW = 210 @ 6'5"
150 pounds lost!

You look fantastic and younger. Love the red hair and your fashion posts. ( I have neck issues Camera angle is everything for me) *laughing at myself*

I stopped by to visit my wife at work with my son. i had already dropped over 100lbs and someone asked if we were her sons. She was not happy 🤣. So she tells me to grow a beard.

More wrinkles younger better body. Worth it a thousand times over

You do NOT look 50. I'd peg you at mid to late 30's.
And your legs are like 20 year old legs!

When the weight was coming off faster, I had some sagging in my face and my chin/neck looked sort of shrunken with wrinkly waddles.
Now, the weight loss has slowed and my body has done what I call "redistribution". At certain angles, I can still see some of the wrinkly waddles in my chin/neck area, but for the most part, it's sort of evened out.
As I'm staring 50 in the face, I'm pleasantly surprised at my skin. For most of my life, people have complimented me on it, even when I was super-sized. I guess I was genetically blessed in that department, plus I've always taken care of my skin. I can see the aging, sun-spots and such. But I really don't have too many wrinkles, although I do have some persistent dark circles under my eyes that I'm very self-conscious of.
For me, my flappy arms are my biggest point of shame and I will probably look into having them taken care of in the future.

I’m 50, I think I look my age. I get comments that I look older and younger. I have no idea what my age looks like to other people. One strange thing is my body looks younger (with Spanx lol)
here is an old thread Face to face Friday. Face before and after’s
https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/419083-face-to-face-friday/?tab=comments#comment-4688915
234 day of surgery

five years out and maintaining in the 130s

Thanks everyone who has responded so far ... interesting how much our necks impact how old we can look! and also the first time I’ve heard of the neck surgery .... thought I’d heard them all 😟 also interesting that for some it’s resulting in being younger looking and for others the opposite!