Nokomis

That’s amazing!! You sound like you’re really doing well post-op:) That gives me hope that post-op life will be better! I decided to do the surgery more for health reasons, as I have pcos, was recently diagnosed with sleep apnea, and diabetes runs on my moms side of the family. Once my A1C got to 7 I decided to do the surgery because I wanted to nip the diabetes in bud once I was diagnosed and before I had to take meds and insulin. As sgy approaches I would be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned about how I’ll look after. But then again being obese has definitely not been fun! Hopefully this will be a bright new chapter of my life. Let the good times roll!

OMG! I feel the same exact way! I’m 37 and have finally got a date for surgery! I wish I had done it sooner too!

I told some people. Key people around me, but not everyone. I figure I can’t avoid people knowing forever, as they will see the rapid decline in my weight. So if they ask, I’ll be honest. But I’m not going to go out of my way to tell people.

I know EXACTLY how you feel. That’s how I felt when my surgery got postponed too. But the good news is you’ve been approved, so it will happen:) And sure you may have slipped a little with diet, but you can jump right back into it! And you’ve done a lot of good changes, especially quitting smoking. You’re going to do great come surgery time:) Best of luck!

I used to weigh 373 lbs. Loose skin vs. weighing almost 400 lbs? It's a no-brainer. And yes - I used to worry about it too when I was pre-op and an early post-op, but I think most of us who've been around for awhile and lost a truckload of weight wonder why we wasted even one brain cell worrying about it. I actually did have mine removed - no one knew it was there because it was really easy to hide in clothes, but I got tired of looking at it (e.g., when I was in the shower) and didn't like the way it slapped up against me when I exercised. But here is a picture of me before I had the loose skin removed. See it? Trust me, there was a lot of it..

I think many of us had that fear of loose skin pre surgery. Look at all the before and after photos (link below) Even with loose skin people look so much healthier, younger and happier. None of these people would let loose skin stop them from being healthy and have WLS.

Loose skin is inevitable for most. I addressed mine with Plastic Surgery.

But if you are lucky (not alot of weight to lose, are young, good genes, etc), you *may* come out unscathed.

But IMO, I would take loose skin over 100 lbs of excess fat any day (but that’s just me).

Good Luck! ❤️

I completely get it. If I had to do it over, I am not sure if I’d make the choice. I can’t tolerate dense Protein or Protein Drinks, I have the runs all the tome and no doctor wants to listen to me. My recovery was one of the most painful things I’ve experienced and I’m barley losing weight. I went from a heavy but healthy girl to a still heavy but always sick feeling one. I try and look at the positives but sometimes it’s just too much.

Once again, You summed it up well, Cheeseburgh, and I am TOTALLY COMMITTED, as you were/are! Failing at this is not an option for me and hasn’t crossed my mind. I have no timetable on this, understanding there will be stalls while my body adjusts inwardly, am doing my very best each day food/exercise, and it will happen. It IS happening and I am one grateful lady!
Continued best wishes to you, and especially for taking the time to help us!!💝

Cheeseburgh, THANK YOU So Much for posting your chart and sharing your journey! Congratulations on your STELLAR SUCCESS🏆, and the grit, determination and patience you gave in order to achieve what you have!
For those of us who are rather slow losers, you have given us a gift of inspiration to JUST DO IT, STAY POSITIVE, IN GRATITUDE and SUCCESS WILL FOLLOW!!! Thanks again, and keep on keepin’ on!

Well there is a dexa scan which measures body fat, however, that wasn't my point. I was suggesting that you perhaps you need to take your mind of weight loss for a little while and focus on non scale measures of success. Focus on some positives for a while.

Hmmmmmmm, fact is that you have no choice but continue trying because a large part of your stomach has been cut out. So the option of "not trying at all" is simply not available. Even if you should opt for eating only junk food from now on your portion sizes will still be limited for a whole while and will (usually) never go back to what they were even though you will be able to eat more during the next months to come.
I'm not really sure what's bothering you the most. Is it the fact that you feel like you can't eat your favorite foods? Or is it the small amount of food you can eat? Is it a felt mismatch between effort/discomfort and weight loss? Is it that you feel like this isn't working because you see so many other users lose way more weight in the same time with the same effort?
I personally think the time between significant weight loss that reassures you that maybe, maybe, maybe you can reach that goal of yours and still having major food inconveniences (so to say) is the worst. And what's making the worst even worse is: the comparing.
Comparing makes us doubt our own success a lot and this board makes it really, really easy to compare and feel like sh*t when you fall short of the amount of weight that has been lost or the BMI that has been reached. Unfortunately as much as the mantras "don't compare your journey to that of others" and "this is a marathon not a sprint" are being written down here: this does feel like being in a sprint/race and people compare like crazy.
Unfortunately comparing can't be shut off like a switch.

I posted just to let people know that I'm completely disheartened and am on the verge of not trying at all anymore. I was crying out for help. Does that clear up your confusion?

How tall are you, Grace? If you only weighed 200 on day of surgery and are 5’8”, you didn’t have much to lose, and maybe that’s why it seems slow compared to others?

This has been one of the biggest disappointments of my life.
I had a gastric sleeve performed on February 26. I was exactly 200 pounds on the day of my surgery. Today, almost 8 weeks out I am a measily 14.5 pounds down. BIG DEAL. I suffered miserably! Apart from that I counted on the surgery to help me. I am doing all the work and from what I can see, the surgery is doing nothing.

Hi I'm 61 y/o and a colleague of mine had vsg a couple of yrs ago she is 50 something. She has mentor me thru this process. I can say her experience, which motivates me is remembering when post-op commence is EXERCISE and keep to your Protein, and low carb intake. Yes there's loose skin, especially if you had it before you began to lose weight, but as you build muscle overtime, you can reduce it to a minimal degree. The amount of loose skin is dependent upon, as you may know, the amount of skin elasticity remaining. So for me, I expect to have an amount I may have to dress up (LOL). My colleague is a "beast" when it comes to exercise and she looks amazing, also her diet is vegan base. However, as have been commented, you are going to be so happy with your weight reduction, and when you stall be glad because you can use that to build muscle, and reduce fat. to get ahead of the loose skin, possibly If you loose fat quickly, you will gain loose skin quickly. Thirty something! Girl you're a babe. You are going to look magnificent.

I'm 32. I had the Loop DS 3 months ago, but it involves a sleeved stomach as part of the surgery, if that counts... I have a LOT of excess skin, but that's bound to happen when you lose over a hundred pounds, but I'd take it over being as heavy as I was any day of the week! And... what social life lol California is essentially shut down with really only the grocery stores, hospitals, and a few 'essential' businesses open so... I stay at home. I'm an introvert so it honesty isn't that different from my norm anyway... As to post op life, the first week or two is hard and then (for me) it was smooth sailing until two weeks ago when I hit the most ANNOYING stall EVER! I'm so annoyed about it because my weight isn't moving at all and I want to throw my scale so bad! I know it's normal to have stalls and that they can last for weeks, but it's really discouraging and I can't wait for it to be over already! -_-" So yeah, stalls happen. And they suck!

Hey. I’m 33. I didn’t have the sleeve but had the bypass and can give you what I know so far from it. I had surgery on 2/19/20. They went in and found some kind of rare hernia that they said could be very fatal if it had not been found so they had to do a lot work to that area. My doctor said that my recovery would be a little worse than normal because of it. I don’t take to anesthesia very well. As soon as I woke up, I was definitely in pain and let them know. I guess they fixed it cause I passed back out right away. This happened pretty much the rest of that first day of surgery. I would wake up in pain, they would give me more meds in my IV, and I would go right back out. I didn’t get up to walk until the next day. I wasn’t able to do much at a time but I did what I could. I had to stay 3 nights in the hospital. I had a very hard time getting my liquids in and I still do to this day. Once I got home, I stopped taking pain meds and felt decent. I was definitely sore but it was very doable. I was not able to start eating soft foods until week 4. Until then, I was having a really hard time getting in my Protein and I felt really tired and week most of the day. By week 6, I was doing much better.
Today, I feel great! I’ve lost 55 pounds and I am feeling it! I can’t answer your questions on the loose skin as I’m not to that point yet but I honestly don’t care. I do plan on getting a Tummy Tuck done and maybe a couple other things once I get to where I need to be but I really think I would rather deal with the loose skin than being morbidly obese and at a BMI of 50!!! I’m able to play more with my children and actually keep up with them! My husband and I are able to do “more” if you can get my meaning. Life is just so much better and I still have a significant amount of weight to lose!
Good luck with your surgery.

I also live in NJ and my surgery delayed too. I was supposed to have it March 24th. Yesterday the coordinator finally called me and told me my surgery is tentatively on June 9th. I’m just nervous it’ll be delayed again.

I had surgery to be pretty. I'm sure I am the only person that had surgery for vanity reasons... okay I mean, I was prediabetic and in a lot of pain and couldn't handle steps, yadda yadda. But me looking at myself in the mirror and hating what I saw was what pushed me over the edge. Being jealous of people who were living full and happy lives did it as well.
I worried some about hair loss and loose skin, because I'm a self pay patient. Skin removal is not always covered by insurance-- in most cases, in fact, I don't believe it is. So I would be looking at an additional expense if I went through with it.
So, yes... people will ask about loose skin because they're thinking ahead. Can I afford to have it removed? Do I want another surgery? Is this decision NOW worth what I will go through in a few years? i have a friend who had RNY who lost a ton of weight but can't afford skin removal, despite the fact that her pannus is beginning to be bothersome. It's a valid question that people ask, and asking here is research.
A little something to remember while you're judging people for looking at the whole picture.

@@mariernest
It depends on the city you live in. I live in Wisconsin and had my brachioplasty done in July. The cost was 5950.00 and I went home the same day.
In January, I am having a full abdominalplasty, breast lift with augmentation. Two nights in the hospital (my choice) and the cost is 16,800.00. The two nights in the hospital will cost 500.00 per night and that is included in the price. I am choosing to do that to take the scary part off my husband.
I have seen costs in larger cities go way up in price. My surgeon is double board certified and am very happy with her.
I am now wondering what it will cost to do a neck lift. I would see her partner for that and I am not ready to even really think about it yet. I want to get through this big surgery first.

Wow. How supportive and welcoming. I am DEFINITELY concerned about the extra skin possibility. Im in my 30s and dont want to go from a cow to a deflated elephant. To call people stupid and whiny for daring to care if their self esteem and possible depression or living misery of feeling ugly and abnormal will get better or potentially worse is judgemental and none of your business. Mental health is a part of being healthy too and if you say you didn't care about what you would end up looking like after surgery and you were only doing it to get rid of....diabetes/apnea/joint pain blah blah etc, then you have to be lying. What is with all the Fatty divas on this site? This site is supposed to be here for questions, concerns, support, not being a jerk and complaining about peoples personal issues or struggles. Guess what. You were fat just like everyone else. It doesn't make you a leader or rock star because you got cut up before other people did.
Sent from my SM-J700P using the BariatricPal App

So you are worried about getting below your goal weight vs being overweight and unhealthy? I would worry about the zombie apacalyse seems more relavant. You can always do what i do - Snake on high calorie things like M and Ms or Get MRE powder to stop or slow down the weight loss. Nothing to worry about
BETTER FOR SURE - being healthy makes you happy ...... being slim makes you feel good about your appearance ..... being fat and unhealthy makes you feel miserable
WHO GIVES A f#$CK WHAT OTHERS THINK! This is your decision to get healthy! NO you do not care what anyone thinks .

Time to break out one of my fav quotes:
“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” - Anais Nin
I think all of your fears are common and expected. We got this.

Hello All
I'm new here but been reading a lot of the advice people have to give and the support and it's great. I Decided to have wls last year but honestly my previous pcp has been recommending it for years I just didn't want to hear it. I just knew I could do it on my own without any surgery. I tried a few times and was successful maybe once but gained all my weight back plus a few pounds over the years. Now I'm over 30 and thinking to myself why did I wait so long to make this decision? I guess I just wasn't ready.
I'm officially near the end of my pre op requirements and I can say this is a long process that I'm positive will be well worth the wait. That being said I am nervous and excited at the same time. Is that normal? Like I'm sure I can do this but what if I mess up? What if the surgeon messes up? What if I never get to my goal weight? What if I go below my goal weight and I don't know what to do with myself? What if I change as a person will it be for the better or worse? What will people think? Do I care what people think?
I know I'm a little bit of a mess and I'm trying to get my head in the right space for this life change and I'm working on it. I also know I can't stand the wait but great things will come after.
Thanks for listening