kaylee50

Holy moly friends. I survived the first night at home!!! This is kind of rough BUT I cannot wait to see results. They took 6 pounds of flesh off me!!! I mean holy moly is all I can say. It took two years to lose the 105 pounds so if your a slow loser have faith in the process. My hubby as VSG in june and I’m jealous because he is losing it so much faster than I did

I agree; be persistent. Polite (at first) but persistent, You are paying (Or have paid) them. Too many people just accept the treatment they are given.

This is the second post I have seen re: lack of post-op follow-up from a clinic in Mexico. I don't care what country they are in, this is unacceptable. They advertise for patients in other locations, so they should have a system in place for follow-up with traveling patients.
Here's my suggestion: locate the clinic's account on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or however you located this surgeon (perhaps it was a referral network based here). Then use the power of social media to make sure they contact you -- or at least inform other potential patients that they are post-op deadbeats. Post about the problems you are having, their failure to follow-up, and tag/link them. Use the most popular hashtags for your procedure (the more the better), so that others who look up this procedure will know to avoid them. If nothing else, you will be doing a public service.
If it is a US-based physician or business that referred you, contact them (be persistent!) until they start helping you get a hold of the Mexico clinic. If they don't help, and they earned a referral fee***, start preservation of evidence linking the referral source to the deadbeat clinic (marketing emails, screenshots of call logs on your phone, and print & save as PDF their website pages linking to the clinic). Then consult a lawyer. Vigorously advocate for your own health. You are not helpless.
Lastly, pull up your health insurance plan or policy, and find out if there is an exclusion for the treatment you need now (some policies exclude treatment for consequences of cosmetic surgery and non-emergency procedures overseas). If no exclusion, make an appointment with an in-network GI or bariatric specialist, and get the help you need. I hope it is nothing -- or something easily fixed. I am rooting for you!
***Edit: You probably cannot tell; this will come out in discovery later on. But assume they get a fee, because this is standard in most professions. Even YouTubers get a cut from Amazon if you click on product links.
Sorry for the long ranty post. As a professional and a business owner, this really frosts me!

This is the second post I have seen re: lack of post-op follow-up from a clinic in Mexico. I don't care what country they are in, this is unacceptable. They advertise for patients in other locations, so they should have a system in place for follow-up with traveling patients.
Here's my suggestion: locate the clinic's account on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or however you located this surgeon (perhaps it was a referral network based here). Then use the power of social media to make sure they contact you -- or at least inform other potential patients that they are post-op deadbeats. Post about the problems you are having, their failure to follow-up, and tag/link them. Use the most popular hashtags for your procedure (the more the better), so that others who look up this procedure will know to avoid them. If nothing else, you will be doing a public service.
If it is a US-based physician or business that referred you, contact them (be persistent!) until they start helping you get a hold of the Mexico clinic. If they don't help, and they earned a referral fee***, start preservation of evidence linking the referral source to the deadbeat clinic (marketing emails, screenshots of call logs on your phone, and print & save as PDF their website pages linking to the clinic). Then consult a lawyer. Vigorously advocate for your own health. You are not helpless.
Lastly, pull up your health insurance plan or policy, and find out if there is an exclusion for the treatment you need now (some policies exclude treatment for consequences of cosmetic surgery and non-emergency procedures overseas). If no exclusion, make an appointment with an in-network GI or bariatric specialist, and get the help you need. I hope it is nothing -- or something easily fixed. I am rooting for you!
***Edit: You probably cannot tell; this will come out in discovery later on. But assume they get a fee, because this is standard in most professions. Even YouTubers get a cut from Amazon if you click on product links.
Sorry for the long ranty post. As a professional and a business owner, this really frosts me!

This is the second post I have seen re: lack of post-op follow-up from a clinic in Mexico. I don't care what country they are in, this is unacceptable. They advertise for patients in other locations, so they should have a system in place for follow-up with traveling patients.
Here's my suggestion: locate the clinic's account on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or however you located this surgeon (perhaps it was a referral network based here). Then use the power of social media to make sure they contact you -- or at least inform other potential patients that they are post-op deadbeats. Post about the problems you are having, their failure to follow-up, and tag/link them. Use the most popular hashtags for your procedure (the more the better), so that others who look up this procedure will know to avoid them. If nothing else, you will be doing a public service.
If it is a US-based physician or business that referred you, contact them (be persistent!) until they start helping you get a hold of the Mexico clinic. If they don't help, and they earned a referral fee***, start preservation of evidence linking the referral source to the deadbeat clinic (marketing emails, screenshots of call logs on your phone, and print & save as PDF their website pages linking to the clinic). Then consult a lawyer. Vigorously advocate for your own health. You are not helpless.
Lastly, pull up your health insurance plan or policy, and find out if there is an exclusion for the treatment you need now (some policies exclude treatment for consequences of cosmetic surgery and non-emergency procedures overseas). If no exclusion, make an appointment with an in-network GI or bariatric specialist, and get the help you need. I hope it is nothing -- or something easily fixed. I am rooting for you!
***Edit: You probably cannot tell; this will come out in discovery later on. But assume they get a fee, because this is standard in most professions. Even YouTubers get a cut from Amazon if you click on product links.
Sorry for the long ranty post. As a professional and a business owner, this really frosts me!

My guess is OP's plan has no in-network bariatric surgeons. So she went out-of-network for the surgery and immediate follow-up, but all visits after 6 months must be either approved for continued out-of-network care or with in-network doctors.
I think the most important question for you to ask is who your surgeon recommends for your follow-up from this point forward. I am sure they've had other patients in your insurance situation. Who do they recommend you see now? Or is there paperwork they can file to get pre-auth for further follow-up?
Congrats on 77 lbs so far! You are going to get so much kudos when they see you for this visit.

I guess the way I've heard it is that strong relationships will get stronger and weak ones may not survive.

Thank you! I am writing this down to ask her.
PS. Love your avatar... I love Firefly.

I could not stomach the multivitamins either, so my team said I could try the Patches. I got the PatchMD brand from Amazon (about $18 for a month supply). I also got the endurance patches for extra B12. It's probably mostly placebo effect, but I swear I feel better when I put one on!

As SpartanMaker pointed out, the medical criteria recommendations have changed. The original article is here: https://www.soard.org/article/S1550-7289(22)00641-4/fulltext. Depending on the specifics of your metabolic disease, you might qualify in the near future. If you are of Asian descent, BMI ≥25 suggests clinical obesity, and individuals with BMI ≥27.5 could soon be offered surgery as well.
But it may take some time before the insurance companies adopt these recommendations. In the meantime, you will likely have to pay out of pocket. If you are willing to pay cash, you should look at other options first. My starting BMI was also <35, so I would not have qualified even if I wanted surgery. I opted for less invasive ESG (endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty -- do look it up on Google, Instagram, YouTube, etc.). It is still pretty drastic, but it is far less risky, effective, and with quick recovery.
I have had people ask me "Why?" in that tone (you know the one!) because I did not look fat, I carried it well. I did it for many of the health reasons the ASMBS cites in that article, and which you mention regarding your own health. Bottom line...I want to live! I want to be around to play with my grandchildren someday. I am only 50, but I could see the writing on the wall (or rather, the life expectancy charts...). Maybe if you phrase it that way to your wife, she will appreciate that you are doing this for your family. And if you choose a less risky procedure, she may get on board.
Best of luck to you!

Hi, I wanted to make a suggestion for those looking for a good way to exercise post-surgery. For those thinking of starting a jogging regimen but hate the thought of actually running, I strongly recommend a program called c25k, which is short for Couch to 5K. The idea is that by following this program, you go from sitting on your couch doing nothing to running a full 5K (3.1 miles) in 9 weeks.
I've always hated running but doing something like a 5K was always on my bucket list, so I decided to give it a try. I've tried the c25k program in the past (years ago) with some decent results, but never stuck with it.
So now that I've lost some decent weight post-surgery I wanted to try to kickstart my metabolism again and get some good exercise so I decided to try the program again. And it was a success! I followed the program, ran three times a week using my c25k app, and made it to the end. After I finished I ran three 5Ks a week for a few weeks until I ran in an organized 5K event where I placed 18th out of 63, and 2nd place for my gender/age group!
Now, for someone who always hated running, I can't believe I'm doing this, but a few weeks ago I started the b210k program (Bridge to 10K), which is a six week program that gets you from running a 5K to running a 10K (6.2 miles). Today was day 1 of week 3, and I ran 3 intervals of 1.8 miles each with .1 mile walking in between, for a total running of 5.4 miles.
If you've ever thought of trying to start jogging but didn't have a plan or thought it was impossible, give this a shot, you won't regret it. It starts off really easy and gradually builds up.
There are a ton of free and paid apps you can use. I personally use Rundouble which has a free version, and you can pay to unlock additional programs. I've also heard very good things about an app called Nike Running Club, which is also free. I've also tried Zombies Run 5K which is pretty neat.
Best of luck to whoever gives this a shot, hope you'll post your progress here!
Bonus pictures of me and my daughter after the 5K (she ran the kids fun run and took 2nd place):

I hate that "it's taking the easy way out" line. There's nothing easy about this. Plus, why in the world would that even matter? It's like some people think if we use a tool like surgery, we didn't pay our "penance" for being fat.
"Nope, sorry, you're not worthy of being healthy, because you cheated your way to health. Do it the right way or not at all"
Really?
I sympathize with the position you're in as my wife was and still is very anti weight-loss surgery. Her line was always why would you permanently alter your anatomy when it's possible to do this without making so drastic a change? My response is I never had a problem losing weight, what I always struggled with was maintaining. After way too many yo-yo diets, I needed to do something else. Dieting alone was not working for me. I needed a better tool.
That's what it is, by the way, a tool. The analogy I like to use is that WLS is like a shovel. I know that sounds odd, but bear with me...
I've dug quite a number of holes on my property to plant trees. Most of those trees will be here longer than I will, but It's still worth it to plant them. I suppose technically I could have tried to dig those holes with my hands but wow, that would have been a challenge and I'm not sure I would have been able to finish the job.
With a shovel, it became doable. The shovel still was a lot of work, but it made an almost impossible job, possible. No one thinks using a shovel is "cheating", we just think of it as a better tool.
At the end of the day, the risk of early death for me was extremely high with cardiac issues, diabetes, liver and kidney problems, etc. I began to feel that I was living on borrowed time. WLS for me was life-changing and life saving. It immediately reversed my diabetes and high-blood pressure. I used the tool because I had reached the point where all I saw in front of me was an early death.
For what it's worth, it would also seem that the medical community takes your side here based on the available medical evidence:
https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/442260-after-30-years-new-guidelines-for-weight-loss-surgery/
Best of luck whatever you decide.

Greetings,
Going to Celebrate out loud today! I have lost 100 lbs from my July 2021 highest recorded weight and all in PRE op!!! 85.8 Lbs in 2022!

Damn, this has been hard. A lot of emotional and behavioral change went into this effort. A lot of re-education about nutrition and choices. A lot of forgiving myself for getting to this weight. A lot of healing. A lot of journaling. A lot of reminding myself that I am worth taking care of.

It also has been easier than I thought. Once I gained the confidence that I could, I did. Yes, I have had doctor support and taking Ryselbus helped, but mostly this is me making true and long lasting change. I am comforted by the fact that if for some reason I could not have the sleeve surgery on November 3rd, 2022, I would still loose weight and feel better and my LIFE would be better.

Everyone has this in them. Its a tough road, but we can all achieve better in our lives.

I had a different sleeve procedure (ESG), but had the same fears. I thought I was feeling hunger. So I talked to my team about it, expecting the lecture. But they told me something that really opened my eyes: I have for decades interpreted every little stomach gurgle as a hunger signal. (This was part of my problem that led to my weight gain.) Time to stop and think about it first. Is this really hunger, or could it be thirst, gas, another sort of discomfort? I mean, like you I am only weeks out, so there is really no way this could be real hunger.
I was told see if it responds to a sip of Water. See if a sip of Protein Shake helps. Change position (sit/stand/turn over if in bed) to see if that makes it go away. Try a lozenge -- I had some sugar-free lemon Ricola drops because of the sore throat typical after an endoscopy. Bingo! That worked wonders! I don't know if it's an oral fixation thing, but a tiny lozenge does the trick. Here's how I know I am not really hungry: if I am working on a work project, I can go all day without feeling hunger. I am one of those that has to set a reminder to eat on my phone. So that feeling I was interpreting as hunger was something else. ("I'm not saying it was aliens, but it could have been aliens." 😁)

I had a different sleeve procedure (ESG), but had the same fears. I thought I was feeling hunger. So I talked to my team about it, expecting the lecture. But they told me something that really opened my eyes: I have for decades interpreted every little stomach gurgle as a hunger signal. (This was part of my problem that led to my weight gain.) Time to stop and think about it first. Is this really hunger, or could it be thirst, gas, another sort of discomfort? I mean, like you I am only weeks out, so there is really no way this could be real hunger.
I was told see if it responds to a sip of Water. See if a sip of Protein Shake helps. Change position (sit/stand/turn over if in bed) to see if that makes it go away. Try a lozenge -- I had some sugar-free lemon Ricola drops because of the sore throat typical after an endoscopy. Bingo! That worked wonders! I don't know if it's an oral fixation thing, but a tiny lozenge does the trick. Here's how I know I am not really hungry: if I am working on a work project, I can go all day without feeling hunger. I am one of those that has to set a reminder to eat on my phone. So that feeling I was interpreting as hunger was something else. ("I'm not saying it was aliens, but it could have been aliens." 😁)

I had a different sleeve procedure (ESG), but had the same fears. I thought I was feeling hunger. So I talked to my team about it, expecting the lecture. But they told me something that really opened my eyes: I have for decades interpreted every little stomach gurgle as a hunger signal. (This was part of my problem that led to my weight gain.) Time to stop and think about it first. Is this really hunger, or could it be thirst, gas, another sort of discomfort? I mean, like you I am only weeks out, so there is really no way this could be real hunger.
I was told see if it responds to a sip of Water. See if a sip of Protein Shake helps. Change position (sit/stand/turn over if in bed) to see if that makes it go away. Try a lozenge -- I had some sugar-free lemon Ricola drops because of the sore throat typical after an endoscopy. Bingo! That worked wonders! I don't know if it's an oral fixation thing, but a tiny lozenge does the trick. Here's how I know I am not really hungry: if I am working on a work project, I can go all day without feeling hunger. I am one of those that has to set a reminder to eat on my phone. So that feeling I was interpreting as hunger was something else. ("I'm not saying it was aliens, but it could have been aliens." 😁)

Do you have a "theme song" for your weight loss journey? My teenage nieces are big on this, and to be fair so was I -- except back in the day we made mix tapes, not playlists! So I am going to create a playlist from all your theme songs to power me through this unique period in my life. Thanks for sharing!!
Mine is Defying Gravity from Wicked, not just because of the whole gravity / weight thing. What really sold it was the first line: "Something has changed within me..." 😂 I'm like, YES, literally, my stomach.

I had a different sleeve procedure (ESG), but had the same fears. I thought I was feeling hunger. So I talked to my team about it, expecting the lecture. But they told me something that really opened my eyes: I have for decades interpreted every little stomach gurgle as a hunger signal. (This was part of my problem that led to my weight gain.) Time to stop and think about it first. Is this really hunger, or could it be thirst, gas, another sort of discomfort? I mean, like you I am only weeks out, so there is really no way this could be real hunger.
I was told see if it responds to a sip of Water. See if a sip of Protein Shake helps. Change position (sit/stand/turn over if in bed) to see if that makes it go away. Try a lozenge -- I had some sugar-free lemon Ricola drops because of the sore throat typical after an endoscopy. Bingo! That worked wonders! I don't know if it's an oral fixation thing, but a tiny lozenge does the trick. Here's how I know I am not really hungry: if I am working on a work project, I can go all day without feeling hunger. I am one of those that has to set a reminder to eat on my phone. So that feeling I was interpreting as hunger was something else. ("I'm not saying it was aliens, but it could have been aliens." 😁)

I had a different sleeve procedure (ESG), but had the same fears. I thought I was feeling hunger. So I talked to my team about it, expecting the lecture. But they told me something that really opened my eyes: I have for decades interpreted every little stomach gurgle as a hunger signal. (This was part of my problem that led to my weight gain.) Time to stop and think about it first. Is this really hunger, or could it be thirst, gas, another sort of discomfort? I mean, like you I am only weeks out, so there is really no way this could be real hunger.
I was told see if it responds to a sip of Water. See if a sip of Protein Shake helps. Change position (sit/stand/turn over if in bed) to see if that makes it go away. Try a lozenge -- I had some sugar-free lemon Ricola drops because of the sore throat typical after an endoscopy. Bingo! That worked wonders! I don't know if it's an oral fixation thing, but a tiny lozenge does the trick. Here's how I know I am not really hungry: if I am working on a work project, I can go all day without feeling hunger. I am one of those that has to set a reminder to eat on my phone. So that feeling I was interpreting as hunger was something else. ("I'm not saying it was aliens, but it could have been aliens." 😁)

Thank you Alex for sharing this! Now let's see how the US insurance industry responds...

"Ok, so let's find a different way to get around covering!"
(That's how German insurance companies would respond.)

My team says "no peeking at the presents before Christmas morning!" Christmas comes once a week, and the present is my weight on the scale first thing in the morning without clothes. It's a self-control thing, which does indeed drive me crazy some days. But I find it easier to think of in these terms.
Have you been tracking your measurements? Neck circumference, chest, under chest / bra line for women, abs, belly button, hips, biceps (measure both), and thighs (again, both). Get a good quality tape measure (retractable or app based). Some weeks the scale does not move, but the tape measure does.

Theme from Rocky -- can you tell i'm old? lol

Keeping with the 80s theme:
Survivor - Eye Of The Tiger Journey - Don't Stop Believin' Queen - We Are The Champions

an oldie, and not exactly for the guys here, but, "I am woman, hear me roar?" Helen Reddy