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Re: the secret - my husband, my two teenage daughters and two good friends know about my surgery. That's it. I'm 11 months out, lost 98 pounds and headed to that 100 pound mark soon. I hope to be over 100 pounds lost by my 1 year appointment. When did I tell my husband - We've been married for almost 20 years now. He and I both love to eat and drink and guess what, our lives haven't changed. He has a beer or a glass of wine or a drink and I had water or iced tea or selzer in the first few months. I have a glass of wine probably 3-4 times a week now -- if I stopped that would I probably have gotten over the 100 pound mark - you bet. But I told him as soon as I decided it was right for me. FWIW - you have been keeping a major secret from him for six months -- if he withheld a medical condition from you that he was seeking treatment for over six months how would you feel? Would you feel as if you weren't trusted? Betrayed? Feel as if you didn't count in helping to deal with things? If you are not willing to share everything with him - warts and all - then he's not the person you want to marry. Or if you aren't ready to share all of yourself with someone, maybe you need to re-think whether it is the right time in your life to marry. (I"m on my second marriage - I was too young and too stupid and didn't understand so many things the first time -- neither my ex or I because we were just too young). You love him. You would never want him to keep from you that he's been treating for high blood pressure for the last six months - so be prepared for him to be shocked when you tell him you are having surgery in a few weeks. You are ready for this and have had time to come to terms with what it means. He has not. You are springing it on him as a surprise so give him time and space to deal with that. My husband came to the first surgeon visit with me and was by my side and at support groups with me throughout. He hasn't told a soul. (BTW - my mother and sister don't know I had the surgery. And they never will, either, for a whole lot of reasons that aren't relevant to this conversation.) You need to bring him up to speed as soon as possible and stop thinking about what you won't be able to do (which you will - we dine out often and very well, thank you) but what you will be able to do - zip line? Parasail? Sports? Hike? I don't know what he likes but I'm sure there is some activity he'd love for you to be part of that you can't be right now as a result of your weight. Sit down and talk to him soon.

Hello all. I received a checklist from my surgeon's office of habits to adopt now (I am at the beginning of the 6-month supervised nutrition program) so that when I have the surgery, I can focus primarily on healing rather than changing many behaviors at once. For those who have been through surgery, what would you add to this list? Begin all of your vitamins (done) Eat three meals a day around the same time and decrease meal skipping (have been doing this, a major change for me) Meal length should be around 20-30 minutes (I am about there, usually more like 20) Decrease portion sizes (mine have definitely decreased as I am really working to reduce/eliminate non-hunger eating and overeating) Stop all fried food (done) Stop all carbonated beverages and sweetened beverages (done) Limit caffeine and coffee intake to 1 cup per day (does not count toward fluid goals) (done--eliminated) Drink at least 64 ounces of non-caloric (<10 calories) fluid daily (done) Do not use a straw (allows air into stomach, which will stretch the pouch) (done) Practice chewing foods thoroughly and stop eating when you are full (practicing--haven't been focusing enough on chewing, though, I think) No drinking during and 30 minutes after meals (done) Track steps daily and increase by 500 per week until you reach 10,000 steps daily (bought a FitBit, trying to do it, but mobility challenges make increasing difficult) Exercise for at least 30 minutes three times per week (does not count toward daily steps) (doing it by water walking) I would very much appreciate input! Thank you!

My husband has had pain until just very recently (He will be 3 weeks out on Tuesday) and has had to at least occasionally take his pain med. I know some on here say they barely needed pain meds or were off them very early, but I know also that has not been the case for him. He also had a diseased gallbladder out at the same time. So perhaps having an additional surgery simultaneously makes it more painful (like you had with the hernia.) Whatever, I don't think you're alone in still having some pain 3 weeks out.

Hi there, I am in the middle of my 14 day liquid preop diet as we speak, (10/20 is my big day) and I have 8 oz ones for the main three and 3 4 oz ones for Snacks. I have to use the Bariatric Advantage ones that I add sugar free torani syrup to so I don't get so bored with them. I can also have a cup of specific veggies with lunch and dinner and thats it. Hope this helps! I would check with your dr office/ nut and see what they say?

I'm from RI! My approval took less than a week. My surgery is Dec 3. Best of luck to you!

I am only 8 months post op. I have been losing hair since the 5th month. Just over the last two weeks it seems to have slowed down some. I hope it comes back period, curly or straight, hair is hair. No grey would be nice too, asking to much?? :-)

My surgery (sleeve with hernia repair) had been scheduled approximately 2 weeks after the upper GI scope confirmed the presence of a hiatal hernia.

Try not to weight yourself every day, you will go mad!!! I am on day 10 of the liquid diet, I lost 5 lbs drastically in 2 days, and was the same weight for 8 days, until this morning the scale magically dropped 5 pounds overnight. Do not worry at all, the weight will continue to come off. Be patient, and also remember after surgery you WILL stall but don't let this discourage you! Just like our minds need to catch up to the new us (taking more time grocery shopping, looking for new sizes clothes shopping, etc) our body needs to catch up with itself, and all of the changes going on internally.

Yes, the program I'm in required 4 weekly "healthy lifestyle" classes and 4 "know your bypass" classes. I learned a ton of helpful info, plus made some friends along the way. We did 1 new step for success each week. One week it was simply writing down absolutely everything we ate or drank. Another week we worked on physical activity or meal planning or whatever.

My insurance company had the same requirement, but I was unable to fulfill it since I had not visited any doctors offices or clinics in the three preceding years (I was uninsured from 2010 to 2014). I provided self-reported weights to fill in the gaps and this sufficed enough for the insurance company to approve payment for the sleeve.

I have personal choice of bc of PA. All they wanted was the psyche eval and the info from the surgeon. I got my approval 9 days after the surgeon sent in the precert! I still had to get the tests the surgeon wanted so altogether it took 7 weeks to get surgery scheduled !! Good luck

Good Morning! I have BCN insurance and have to go through the 6 months of appointments with my primary doctor before a surgery can be scheduled. Only 5 more weeks til that final date!! How long of a wait did anyone have for the surgery to be scheduled after they completed their insurance requirements? Do I have a chance in hell of it happening relatively soon or will I likely have to wait several months for a date? Just curious how this works. Thanks for your answers!!

Well I had my surgery pre-Covid, but I live in a house where the three other people I lived with all caught Covid and I had to hole myself up in my room so I didn't catch it. I didn't catch it, but one of the people I lived with died from it (she was 86 and had COPD though). My sister had a C-Section in October though and was in the hospital for two days and then spend two weeks in and out of the hospital NICU and neither she, her son, nor husband caught it so my advice is to try and remain positive. I'm sure you'll be fine as the doctors and nurses are doing their absolute best to stop the spread and they are being tested frequently (my mom is a nurse and so is my aunt). My advice is to take probiotics if you're not, it helps boost your immune system.

Ok, so this is still posing issues for me and i still need to know if anyone has a solution to this because it sounds like I should not just stop taking this medication. I should have explained originally that I am not taking this meds for blood pressure but a heart arrhythmia/palpitations that are pretty bad if I don’t take it. These won’t kill me but it wakes me up at night and sends me into a fight or flight response that is no good and keeps me from sleeping. I have asked the cardiologist and pharmacist and there just seems to be so much confusion about my options. I am finding it hard to believe I am the only bariatric patient that is on this drug and had to resolve this prior to surgery. Seems strange and hoping this larger pool of people can help me find somebody in my same position who can provide a solution! I have 3 weeks to figure this out but if I need to switch meds I sort of wanted to do that next week to give me time to adjust.

This is great info! I am happy to hear someone got this same run around too . It just seems like no one has asked this before and it is causing confusion for my doc and pharmacist. I plan to reach out again this week to try and get a final answer on this. Thank you!

All of the above is great advice. I also made a list of things I wanted to do, a kind of bucket list of things after weightloss, that were not possible/ fun at my highest weight. Even only 8 weeks out, I have already managed some and it is very motivating. I collected recipes that I knew would be bariatric friendly, too. I made a binder for them so they would be ready to go when I was. My family has since implemented a "new recipe" night every Saturday where we cook and test one out together. (Makes a great replacement for eating out.) Check out the Food Before and After thread link below for lots of pics of yummy healthy food people eat post op for some great inspiration. Food before/after Hang in there, you can make this time count for sure!

Some questions I asked: How many days in the hospital? Will I have a catheter? How many incisions will I have? Will I have a drainage tube? When is the leak test done? Can I get something to relax me when I arrive at the hospital on surgery day (so you aren’t waiting around and getting anxious)? How long is my pre-op liquid diet? What special diet will I be on the weeks prior to surgery? What medications that I’m currently taking do I need to stop prior to surgery? I hope this helps. I wish you the best.

I'm 7.5lbs down on my pre-op diet - hoping to get to a stone before my surgery this time next week. Excited, nervous, happy and dreading 4 weeks of pureed foods. Still believe I've made a good decision for my health though.

When I was sent for my endoscopy I had to go for pre op testing at the hospital a week before. They did an EKG, blood work, checked weight, BP and maybe a few other things. I have to do the same next Thursday for WLS surgery. After that is done I have to get a medical clearance from my PCP because of my comorbidities. Maybe because you are healthy you don't need it? Good luck though!!! And tell G-Ma to chill and stop freaking you out. This surgery is safer than crossing the street.

Depends on insurance. I started the process the first week of January and I'll be having surgery later this month

When did you all start eating fruit by itself? I'm going on my 7th week and I'm currently on solid foods. My doctor recommends eating at least 1 fruit of day with Protein. I've been adding a half banana to my protein smoothie in the mornings but wondering when I should start branching out and trying other fruit like berries, oranges, peaches, etc? A mandarin orange sounds so good right now!

2 weeks post op pain and burning I am entering week 3 post op. Saw my doctor after one week said all was good and I started feeling better too, felt like I was returning to normal. Today I went to get out of bed and has a sharp pain and burning sensation on my Left side near where your stomach is, near my belly button. Sharp/ burning lasts a minute and then is extremely sore like a bruise. I called my doctor and I do not see them for another two weeks, he said I must have pulled my internal stitch but it just happened again this evening. I have been able to drink and eat my puréed foods with no issues. I am not running a fever either. I am just curious did this happen to anyone else, same location and feeling?

Hello all! My surgery was 6/27, and I was put on solids a week sooner than planned due to severe nausea that pills wouldn't touch. It helped tremendously. I have no pain when eating, only sometimes a slight discomfort once it hits my stomach when I'm full. I only eat eggs, chicken, tuna, some cooked veggies, and only tonight had shrimp. I'm worried that I don't get enough protein in during the day. I can only eat about 4 or 5 bites before being full, anymore makes me past the point. I don't drink water afterwards for an hour at least, and I've been working a lot harder to get water in during the day. Has anyone had this issue or worry a month out? HW - 230 SW - 215 CW- 195 GW - 130 Height 5'5"

Thanks! I know I just need to take a breather and chill lol! How long we're you in the hospital? When/if I'm approved my doctor wants to schedule me for Sept 24 which is a Tuesday. I already talked to my boss about everything. Because I just started my job 3 weeks ago I won't be able to take much time off at all. Luckily I work in an office and I'm hoping ill be able to be back at work by the next Monday.

I didn't start protein shakes until 1 week out according to my program. Only clear liquids for the first week. Call your NUT as soon as you can. Look through your paperwork, maybe you have something in there that was overlooked. I know I had to continuously refer to my sheet to make sure I wasn't doing something wrong. Good Luck!!!