SmoknDudette

Thank you! It's cliche but we all know It is not easy but it is worth it. Since posting that testimony I have lost another 12 lbs and am now at 82lbs in 7.5 weeks. I workout every morning at 530am and night at 630pm at my boxing club in Iowa. I wanted to share the start of my journey to help tell people that IT IS OKAY TO CHOOSE YOURSELF. In fact, always choose yourself. Proud of everyone who is taking this journey. 🙏

Yesterday is on the right. December 1st is on the left.

Had surgery on December 13th. I had the exact same fears. First night after, I had some crusty blood vomit and thought leak, then had all black stools for a few days after and thought upper GI bleeding but it was not, it was from the incubator and breathing tube, then I shoveled snow and had bad sharp stomach pain(Stupid idea, I know but we got 24 inches). Same thing no leakage. Now after getting out of my head and not microanalyzing every feeling or symptom I had, ans focused my time on prepping food, doing a work journal and cardio and I feel amazing. I am 7 weeks post op today and down 70lbs. Follow the program and life gets so much better every week. It sucks in the moment in the first 4 weeks but my 5, 6 and 7 have all brought on improved energy and happiness little by little. Everyone's progress is differant. My goal is 250lbs loss so I have a long ways to go but I am thankful so far for this journey but I have lost a total of 46 inches with 8 off my chest and 7 off my waist. Tomorrow I have my 8 week post op and get to start taking my Vitamins. I pray for you all to continually feel the blessings of this journey. 🙏Some progress photos from pictures taken at an award ceremony on December 1st vs pictures 2 weeks ago. Wince the photo on the right, I have lost another 17. That vest on the left fully zips with wiggle room now. 🙏
 

Hi December buddies! I had my surgery on 12/14/23 and I’m down 53lbs so far. It takes courage to post a body pic but I’m excited that I’ve made such strides. This is me just finishing a 2 mile run! (Never ran before, in fact I hated running! Haha) I’m far from my goal but I’m so proud of how far I’ve come and how strong I’ve gotten! Praying you all are experiencing self love in every chapter of this journey and that we continue to grow in strength AND confidence! ❤️ p.s. please ignore my stupid faces lol. I’m new to selfies and I don’t know how to act haha!

So far it has been ok I guess. The surgery was “text book” according to the Dr. I had no pain after and I started back to the gym for treadmill and low weight machines on week 3.
I followed the plan. The last two weeks since I started soft foods has been hard. I’m 5 weeks out today. I am down 28 pounds since surgery.
HW - 412
SW - 362
CW - 334
I have hit a stall. No loss in a week. I have had a couple of “slips” but nothing I can’t come back from. I unfortunately am not as restricted as I thought I would be. I was able to eat a whole filet of fish sandwich with no problem. Why I ate it is because I am still an emotional eater unfortunately. The good thing is I could only eat the one and now the huge chunk of food I use to.
hopefully as the weather gets better I can be out more but I need to work on my “out of the house” food plans. I got my little cooler I just have to work on the best stuff to put in it. I can’t wait to go back to fishing !!
here is my picture about one year a part. A total of 75 pounds difference

You are killing it! I def see it in the pictures. I didn't do much before and after like I should have. But people are noticing too.

I am so ready for warmer weather and I am in GA so it's warmer compared to some but just give me the spring/ summer. I want to be outside walking not on my treadmill lol

Vulnerable post!!
Down 51lbs from starting weight… 2 months since surgery. To be honest there are some days I don’t see it, but I sure do feel it! People around are starting to notice as well. I’ve been a little depressed lately, but I don’t think that has anything to do with the weight loss. Just seasonal depression. Bring back blue sky’s and sunshine!!
Hope everyone is doing well, feeling successful and has no regrets!! You got this!!

Yeeessss... I am 4 weeks post op and have been at a stall for almost 2 weeks. In fact, just to be insulting, I gained 3 lbs. 😐
I know it is the 3 week stall, but man it is discouraging and it makes you scared that the weight loss won't start again. I'm trying hard to ignore the scale for a few weeks, stick to my plan, and trust my body to do its thing when it is ready. It has had a LOT of stress to deal with. Major surgery takes a ton of body resources to heal from. So I'm focusing on Protein, hydration, and getting some walking in. I can't really do anything else. It'll break when it breaks. I only let myself get on the scale once a week to keep from fixating. It is hard, but worth it for my mental health. LOL

I just got home from my appointment and am happy to say that I'm now scheduled for surgery on February 21. I was able to meet with the dietician right after my appointment with the surgeon and she went over the differences between my old program and their protocols, which are similar with the exception that I will need to do the 2-week liquid diet (my old place only did 2 days). I head to the hospital tomorrow for pretests and then just have to wait the 7 weeks until surgery. Time to get back to my good eating habits after the holidays!
I thought everyone was very nice and I got a lot of sympathy for what I'd gone through with the center closing. I was told one patient who is now at the new practice actually arrived at the hospital the day of her surgery and only then found out it had been cancelled. No one even called her. I don't even know what I would have done had that happened.

I'm so happy to report that I have an appointment January 2 with the director of the new practice. When I spoke with the administrative person to make the appointment, she did make it sound likely that I would not have a lot of extra stuff to do since I was right at the end of the process before it got cancelled, just needing the routine pre-surgery tests and my insurance approval.
I'm so sorry your insurance is being a pain about your in-network coverage. The whole in or out of network coverage is total BS. If they're a licensed doctor, they should be covered. Period.
I have to say, the relief I felt when the HR person sent over the insurance benefit packet and I saw the logo of a very widely accepted insurance that is known to have good coverage is almost impossible to describe. This is sort of a long-term consulting gig for my husband, and I had nightmares that the consulting firm would be using crappy companies I'd never heard of to save some cash.
Financially, I may end up coming out of this a little bit ahead, maybe $1500 less out of pocket. But I swear I'll spend that on hair dye to cover all the gray hair this ordeal is giving me! And I'm self-employed, so I can't just request a few weeks of vacation when the time comes. I'll need to do some major reworking of my schedule to accommodate the new date. As you said, is the head of the old hospital losing sleep over this? No, he is not.
But it will work out, and this time next year I will be looking back on it and laughing. In that awkward way you laugh over things that are so not funny.

The hospital administration continues to prove they have handled this in the worst possible way.
I went to see my endocrinologist at the weight management center on Monday. She was fighting back tears as she explained the way news of the closure was handed down, along with a timeline to wrap up the practice by early February that frankly puts profits before patient well-being at every turn.
I have left 2 messages and filled out a contact form with the new center but have yet to hear back from anyone. There has been no official letter from the hospital to explain their decision to disrupt my treatment only 3 weeks before surgery, no apology for having to learn of this through an automated cancelation notice, no indication they care at all about what this is doing to any of us who have been caught in this mess.
Still not sleeping well, experiencing high anxiety, and very worried about how I will have to rearrange my work schedule to accommodate a new surgery date, but of course having no clue when that will happen makes planning impossible.
On the bright side, I have confirmed my new insurance coverage that starts Jan 2, 2024 does cover bariatric surgery and the out of pocket for me will be comparable to my current plan, so I'm no longer worrying about that, at least.
For now, all I can do is focus on healthy eating and exercise. My doctor offered to restart me on weight loss medication in the meantime, but I just think it's one more thing to have to juggle and I'd rather not complicate my life more than needed.

Just an update on my situation:
On Wednesday evening, I emailed my primary care physician and asked her if she could look into things because I still had heard nothing. Yesterday, I heard back from her, confirming she had reached out on my behalf and the center was indeed closing. She was shocked I had received no information. This morning, I got a call first from the office of the doctor I had seen at the weight management center up until July, when I moved from the medical to surgical side. She wants me to come in Monday so she can walk me through things, and I think just to see how I am doing with all this because she's really nice and had been my doctor for 6+ years.
A few hours later, I finally heard from the manager who was supposed to be contacting me. He told me the center is officially closing in February, so all remaining surgeries were cancelled, and he told me of three options for centers within the same hospital group (Beth Israel Lahey) that had agreed to help absorb the affected patients. He is supposed to be sending my information to the one I chose, Winchester Hospital, and I also left them a message this afternoon (their office closes early on Fridays so I just missed them).
Praying that I'll have a better idea on Monday how big a delay this will cause and how many new flaming hoops I will have to jump through. Bottom line, reaching out to my primary care doctor seemed to get the wheels turning, so never be afraid to be the squeaky wheel!
Also, I managed to keep my temper in check with the manager because I'm positive this is not his doing, but I would welcome the chance to express my displeasure to the hospital administration. A troop of poorly trained chimpanzees could have handled this with more compassion and competency, and I think that reflects directly on the upper management (upon whom I have been wishing many unpleasant afflictions this week).

I called again this morning and the person who answered let slip that the entire weight management center at the hospital is closing. So, I am not the only person impacted by far. He said that a manager is supposed to call everyone to explain, but still nothing has happened. Maybe tomorrow? As for what happens next, I'm not sure. The hospital was recently acquired by another big Boston hospital, which has a bariatric department of its own. I assume they are trying to integrate all of the departments across the system to eliminate redundancies, but their communication so far has been appalling. Why they wouldn't have planned for this by shutting down the pipeline of patients months ago so that all surgeries were completed before the closure is a mystery. I attended my full day immersion class in August and completed all my requirements on October 6. At that point, they were booking 10+ weeks out and there was no indication anything was changing. This isn't an independent bariatric practice where I could see there being management or money issues, but a center that is part of a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital. I find it shocking to say the least. I've spent most of the day wishing whichever faceless bureaucratic suit responsible for this trips and falls into a fiery pit. Clearly emotional intelligence was not a job requirement.

I actually had made a pumpkin Soup when I was wrong about being able to eat soft foods lol I thought on day 7 I can eat soft foods but it was really week 2, meaning 2 weeks post op lol 😂 but it was fine I took it down when I did eat.

Yesterday I decided to get fancy and try and buy a smoothie that had Protein I thought I read the ingredients right and girl I literally had what I think is dumping syndrome lol it was the worst within ten minutes of drinking literally like less than five sips I was just not feeling well. I read some people don’t get it from sugary things so I’m glad I do bc it will help later I’m an emotional reck too not being able to eat anything and wanting to sucks but it’s what I signed up for lol. I just got new Protein Powder to make a shake at home so I’ll be fine I’m basically supposed to be on a liquid diet til Monday but since I’m a little slow lol and read my diet wrong I’m going stick on it for a few extra days. I was backed up (sorry tmi) for a good week had to take Miralax but I’m noticing now that I’m not my weight is going down and I can see my stomach going down. I’m not gonna weight myself til my next visit.

im just sick of the same “food” also I was doing premier caramel but the smell of it disgust me now 😩
I’m definitely emotional but feeling my belly go down and my hips feeling a bit less wide and my thighs are feeling a little more thin makes it a bit better also binge watching tv 🫠hang in there girlie we got this! As for the yogurt I love the toasted coconut ones I forget the brand.

also yesterday I went out and wore jeans high rises and my stomach did not like that 🤔I was in pain from driving w them bc they had dug into my belly. I had a hiatal hernia also so dunno if I am just feeling bad still from both surgeries but I’m certain that next month I am looking forward to that. To feeling some sort of normalcy.
Also did anyone else get a cute little bear! It’s a cough buddy he literally has been everywhere w me lol

Hello! I just got my surgery last week on the 13th. At my last appointment at the weightloss centre I was 252 pounds. That was about 2 and a half weeks before surgery. But, at my pre op appointment, a week and a half before surgery, I was down to 247. On the 18th, 5 days after my surgery they weighed me at 240 I believe. This morning, my scale said 229. My doctors office is going by my last weight with them, but I'm going with my last preop weight. Either way it's almost 20 pounds in one week and two days! It's crazy! I don't see the 20 pounds gone yet, but that's okay! I am missing crunchy foods though! But the sugar free pudding, chili and mashed potatoes have been rather good to eat over that clear liquid diet!

Hey all, Thought I'd check in. Had my sleeve and hiatal hernia repair done on 12/13. Most of it has gone pretty smooth with no nausea and little pain aside from one spot. This one spot is about two inches to the right of the right side incision and its deep. Like when they did the incision they did it at an angle and it has done nothing but burned and stung horribly from the beginning. It was the only thing that held me back from getting up and walking more during my overnight stay. Even once I got home it still took me way to long to get moving. The hysterectomy pillow I got has helped but the ab binder had been a life saver. It still burns and pulls and stings, but I am actually finally able to walk two houses down and half the block width now instead of just barely able to run laps in the house. I think its honestly the stitch they put in that incision. ugh. But bearing through it. As far as food, Full liquid until my follow up next Thursday and then I should be able to move to pureed at that point. Had a slight sensation in the base of my throat the first 3 days or so but after that haven't had any issues drinking 20 oz for lunch and Breakfast and dinner and another 17 oz through out the day. Getting in almost 90g of Protein and hitting my 70 oz of water/fluid intake in. Oh also went from 309.4 morning of surgery to 322.8 after. I finally was back to 310 this morning! Hope everyone else is doing well!

Had my surgery Dec 1st! All went as planned and I think I’ve been pretty lucky. I have my 2 week checkup tomorrow with my doctor. So far I’ve only thrown up once and haven’t had any dumping or gas pains or anything. The only thing is a couple days this week I felt a little dizzy and weak, I think maybe dehydration or not getting enough calories. But I’m working on it and trying to hit my fluid goals a little higher each day. I’m very sick of Protein Shakes lol. I have to do 3 weeks of full liquids so definitely looking forward to soft foods Dec 22. I just tried cream of chicken Soup (98% fat free, strained) tonight and it was such a treat to break things up.

My surgery is scheduled for this Tuesday 12/12! Started my liquid diet yesterday and surprisingly went pretty good.

I am excited and nervous rolled into one. But, I am mostly afraid of excessive loose skin and losing my hair. I bought some Protein Powder with collagen and chewable vitamins but does anyone have any recommendations on Shampoo to help prevent lose?

I had my gastric sleeve on Dec 4 and it went well. My hardest thing is staying hydrated and being hungry often. I sip all kinds of broth so I don’t get tired of the Protein20 and Gatorade zero. I also take Protgold and I have a liquid Vitamin called NutraMetrix (calcium complete and Multivitamin with iron). My dietitian approved these Vitamins for me.

So I am better prepared now! I completed the list of suggested items, I got my Protein Shakes for my preop weeks, got my Water flavoring, and I got myself a two week starters kit from Celebrate Vitamins. It is a Protein powder with the Vitamins already included so at least that first week I won’t have to worry about everything. Then for the following week I got a Vitamin starter kit that has what I will need. I figure by week three I will be better about getting things I need.
I am feeling a bit better going into this whole thing now.

Thank you, sadly most of my visits have been virtual because I live so far away from my dr office, so samples are not given 😒
hopefully post op they will give me some.

I will check out the syntrx line as I have seen others. Most of the “name” drinks have been suggested not required. It was also suggested that I get unflavored Protein powder since tastes change and it is the best to mix with just Water or flavored water to get my protein in.

I am actually sitting here getting my stuff ordered as I write this. I am a bit closer but I think I will feel better once I get my Vitamins and drink in the house

thank you for the help

One of the things I just got over the weekend was the 15 flavor variety pack of Syntrax Nectar Protein Powder that they sell here on the BariatricPal site's store. I figured that was a good way to have a lot of options on hand, plus the packs can be tossed in my bag if I'm out for the day, just in case.

Awww, I'm sorry you have one more hoop to jump through! My advice for dealing with it is to let yourself honor that it sucks, that it is a frustration you don't want to deal with. Be mad about it! And once all the feelings ease, then put it in perspective. You'll lose weight better if you are getting better sleep. You'll have more energy with better sleep. You'll have your CPAP in the hospital with you in case you need it in recovery instead of having to use a hospital machine. And this need for CPAP is one more reason this surgery will be good for you and your body. Using it now is good caretaking and will make it that much sweeter when you can say goodbye to it because you don't need it anymore.

I just got a call it has been pushed back to January 16th I want to cry!

December 13th here! Excited to get back on track

Maybe it would work swapping around the food. Like save your shake for later in the day and have your meal at lunchtime or around like 3. Then maybe your sugar will be more stable and if it does start to drop you have the shake and it brings it back up.
im glad you’re able to work with your dietitian on figuring it out.
i am on the same diet starting next week.