jettyC

What hoops are they asking you to jump through? I'm going through the long stretch with insurance and won't have surgery until December still. I started this back in April. I don't want to go all this way just to have insurance tell me I need to do more.

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I really really love this....looks amazing on you.

Aloha,
Not trying to hijack your question, but I also am struggling with this question. My pre-surgery meeting with my surgeon is 6/22 where I expect we'll discuss this, with surgery (DS) on 7/12.
I'm heavier than most on this board with a CW of 411 at 5 foot 6 inches, aged 42 years.
At first I thought, 200 is a weight that I can live with as I can travel, sit in single plane seats/bus seats and zipline and skydive and bungee jump and ride in rollercoasters, etc. etc.
But as the weeks tick by, I don't want a weight that I can simply "live with". If I'm going to alter my body so significantly, I'd like to thrive! I'd like to get out of "obese" and "overweight" BMI's.
The lightest I've weighed as an adult is 185 pounds and that was when I was 19 years old.
Even though it sounds absolutely nutter, I'm gonna tell my surgeon I'd like to weigh 154 so I'm officially in a "normal" BMI. He may laugh or scoff, but hey, it's a goal. A 257 pound loss may be impossible, but I'm ready to shoot for the stars after imprisoning myself for so long.

This is how my surgeon's team does it ---
1. Find your 'ideal' body weight. For males, start at 100 pounds and add 6 pounds for every inch over 5'0. For females, start at 100 pounds and add 5 pounds for every inch over 5'0. For example, I am female & 5'6.5. My ideal body weight is 132.5.
2. Take your starting weight and subtract your ideal body weight from it to find your excess weight. For example, my starting weight was 355. 355 minus 132.5 is 222.5. 222.5 is my excess weight.
3. Take 70% of your excess weight (.7 times the number). 70% of my excess weight is 155.75. Between sleeve and bypass, about 70% excess weight loss is what they told me to expect.
4. Subtract the 70%, or in my case, the 155 from the starting weight of 355. This gives me a realistic goal weight of 200.

Coming up on 2 years post op and life has never been better. The gastric sleeve opened up a world to me that i thought would never exist. Ive learned so much about health, nutrition and exercise, that i wouldnt have if i didnt take the first step with the sleeve. I have a healthy relationship with foods now. I try to keep myself to the 80/20 rule. But i probably am closer to 90/10. Make good choices 80% of the time, and enjoy some of my favorite things the other times. Its funny tho, a lot of my favorites have no become healthy choices. So that makes life easier. I started this journey first just focusing on losing the weight. So for the first year i ran a lot and set a goal to run a half marathon. i completed that last may and then began to switch my focus to putting on muscle. This was hard because it meant i had to up my calories which for anyone in our situation, is a scary thing. So i bought a WHOOP strap and really dialed in how many calories i was burning and spoke with my nutritionist about a plan to get where i wanted to go. (whoop strap is apparently the most accurate fitness tracker out right now and ive found that my apple watch says i burn 800 more calories then the whoop says. just a heads up. IT wasnt easy but ive been doing it and got on a great routine. My lowest weight was 208. i now hover between 225-230. i weigh every few weeks but dont get too obsessed with the scale anymore. i know that if i stay within my calories that im fine. Its been a process and i had to learn a lot. it wasnt all easy but 110% worth it. This surgery opened a whole new life for me. I am extremely greatful.

Hi everyone,
Just had my first consult today and planned the operation date for the 11th of August. My birthday.... Great day to start a new and healthier life! Anyone who has their operation planned for August?
Greetings from the Netherlands.
Patrick
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Wiping my own butt without breaking my back trying to reach 🤦🏼‍♀️

I'll be having my surgery this Friday 5/28.
I wasn't planning on telling most people. Then my wife told me, "If you are losing 20 pounds or more per month and you don't tell people, they will guess that you have cancer."
After hearing that, I decided to tell the people that I see often. Besides family, I've told 10 friends so far. All were people I sing with, and I was telling them why I won't be able to sing for a month or so. All were very supportive, at least to my face. They congratulated me for taking control of my life.
For people I only see a couple times a year, I won't volunteer the information, but I will tell them if they ask.

I'm new here and have just started this journey. I do not have surgery scheduled yet because I have to jump through the insurance hoops. I am hoping to learn how to eat too before surgery.

Anyway, I am apprehensive about telling anyone. I mentioned WLS to my bestie this morning. She told me I don't need it.

I told my sister my plan and while she seems supportive, she also makes snide remarks like, "I hope you're ready to live with a colostomy bag when the surgery goes wrong."

When I required surgery for my shoulder 2 years ago no one told me I didn't need it. I hadn't even been suffering that long with that condition.

I don't want to close people out of my life but I may have to so they don't sabotage my decisions.

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So I "failed" my psyche exam. The psychiatrist asked questions about my eating habits, how much I eat in a sitting, how long it had been going on and stuff like that. I was honest in my answers and let her know that while I had been eating better within the past few weeks, that wasn't representative of how I was eating that caused me to gain weight. Those were just some changes I had made after starting the process for surgery. I also had to fill out a questionnaire about binge eating.
My eating habits pre-surgery decision, and when not on a diet, included a Protein Shake for Breakfast, and then eating a lunch that was so large it was physically uncomfortable, and not really eating anymore for the rest of the day as a result. We're talking a Giant Jersey Mike sub order with two bags of Doritos (from the store, not like family sized chip bags), all in one sitting. I also had little to no control with sweets in the house. If they were present, I'd eat them. Due to my eating habits, she thought I may have a disordered relationship with food and just wanted to give me some additional time to address that before surgery. She also wanted me to get back on depression medications, as she was afraid I was coping with food and that I'd spiral horribly if that was taken away.
This means I've been following up with a different psychiatrist for the past few weeks to talk through things and work on behaviors, and will hopefully be getting approved for surgery within the next month (everything looks good right now). The psychologist now doesn't seem to want me perfect, but to show I'm willing to make changes and be in a good enough place to give me a running start and set myself up for success.
I'd highly recommend being honest about what you eat. Even if you get delayed, the additional therapy will help set you up for success long term.

Soft Proteins, yes.

I used my own recipe.

2 eggs
15oz part skim ricotta
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1tsp ground garlic
1tsp black pepper
Dash of basil
1tsp Italian seasoning
1tsp salt

Mix all these well.

Spoon 1 to 2 teaspoons into each spot on a mini muffin baking pan that you’ve sprayed with Pam.

Sprinkle a touch of reduced fat mozzarella on top of each.

Bake 20 minutes at 375.

I’m thinking of making a bariatric cooking/recipe blog. I love cooking and being inventive and really want to stay within my approved foods. So it may be neat!

I never would have thought to replace the noodles with sprouts. Thank you! I miss Pad Thai so much!

I'm new here and have just started this journey. I do not have surgery scheduled yet because I have to jump through the insurance hoops. I am hoping to learn how to eat too before surgery.

Anyway, I am apprehensive about telling anyone. I mentioned WLS to my bestie this morning. She told me I don't need it.

I told my sister my plan and while she seems supportive, she also makes snide remarks like, "I hope you're ready to live with a colostomy bag when the surgery goes wrong."

When I required surgery for my shoulder 2 years ago no one told me I didn't need it. I hadn't even been suffering that long with that condition.

I don't want to close people out of my life but I may have to so they don't sabotage my decisions.

Sent from my LG-G710 using BariatricPal mobile app

Here to check in and report a huge milestone today. Not only is my BMI below 27, but I am into the 150’s !!!!
Best choice I have ever made.

if anyone is on the fence about surgery, based On my results and success, I would recommend gastric bypass. At over 9 months since surgery I had no idea I would be down to a size medium before summer.

yipee!

I'm happy to report that this has gone away- THANK the GODS! I guess it was just my stomach fully healing. Thank you for all the advice and sympathy!

I struggled with the tell or don't tell issue, and finally decided to be honest with family and friends. I didn't want the stress of making up some "I'm doing keto" story or something like that. And after a lot of thought, I decided that I really don't give a flyin' flip what anybody thinks about my surgery. If they don't like it, I couldn't care less. And as it turns out, I haven't gotten any negative reactions. People have really been supportive. If they disapprove, they haven't told me to my face, so I at least haven't had to listen to negative garbage. But to each his own. I can totally understand wanting to keep it under wraps. When I was younger, I probably wouldn't have been so open about it, but I'm now at an age where I don't give a hoot what anybody thinks about me! 😉

Well, you can't exercise away bad food choices, so make sure you're eating what you're supposed to first off. Exercise is so hard for me, too! I hate it so much, but It's getting easier as I lose weight. There are so many free YouTube videos of lots of different types of exercises available. Yesterday I did a 15 minute dance workout and my muscles are sore in a good way today. It sort of depends on what your disability is, what limitations you have on movement. But you can do isometric (body-weight) exercises (search on YouTube for that) or walking videos like Leslie Sansone. You can even get exercise videos from the library, but I think there's so much on YouTube and that's easy. I hope you find something that works for you!

I'm new here and have just started this journey. I do not have surgery scheduled yet because I have to jump through the insurance hoops. I am hoping to learn how to eat too before surgery.

Anyway, I am apprehensive about telling anyone. I mentioned WLS to my bestie this morning. She told me I don't need it.

I told my sister my plan and while she seems supportive, she also makes snide remarks like, "I hope you're ready to live with a colostomy bag when the surgery goes wrong."

When I required surgery for my shoulder 2 years ago no one told me I didn't need it. I hadn't even been suffering that long with that condition.

I don't want to close people out of my life but I may have to so they don't sabotage my decisions.

Sent from my LG-G710 using BariatricPal mobile app

.
You might lose the weight quickly and this may trigger questions.... I had the surgery last November. I am down from 210 and am now at 148. I had diabetes, but that is no more. It is a life changer, the surgery. LIFE CHANGER. The medications are a thing of the past. It is wonderful. It isn’t easy, it is not easy at all. It is hard, and you will need a support system. Sharing this with the right people (not everyone, but the right people) will be the best thing for you. I will not forget the week before the surgery, the surgeon asked me if i will be back for the surgery. I couldn’t believe he was asking me this. I had gone through so much to get the approval, the classes, talked with psych, spoke with my husband, my children, my support group, studies everything. He said 40% of the people don’t come back. They decide against it last minute.
It is a life long game changer. But, it will change your life.
I wish you the best in your choice. Share this news with those who will be supportive, will cheer you on, bring you broth, and hold your hand when you can’t sleep because you are exhausted and cranky and can’t fall asleep (you will have those nights in the beginning). And then you will start to really live, and see how wonderful your life will be.

Thanks so much! Just got off the phone with my surgeons office and they tentatively scheduled it for May 19th. They will now submit all the info and wait to hear back from the insurance and we will go from there. Eeek!

I'm a whiskey guy. I started to drink occasionally at 6 weeks, even though my plan called for one year of no alcohol. This is not advice. I'm just posting what I did. For me, I needed as much normal as I could have, without jeopardizing my progress. I have been very successful so far.

UPDATE Well....quit smoking! Passed my nicotine test. Pre op requirements completed. Packet being sent to insurance next week! Now the wait begins.

The photo at the top left is me at my heaviest (489lbs) and the photo on the bottom right hand corner is me today at my current weight of 260lbs.

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