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So, I have been seeing my nutritionist every two weeks for the past three months. At my last visit (Tuesday June 16th) she told me that maybe I am not ready. It certainly didn't help to hear that because I have been flip flopping this entire time. Its the whole, "hurry up and get these appointments done, and then WAIT for a surgery date" that's driving me bonkers. Her statement certainly didn't help but it was a good kick in the butt because it angered me and well......"Hi my name is Bill-amina and I am three days sober" Maybe just what I needed.....

I think its pretty normal to be nervous. My lapband surgery was my first "elective" anesthesia, and I got REALLY nervous. In pre-op, I discussed this with the Dr's and they gave me a nice sedative in my IV and all was well. I will have to say, my recovery was VERY easy compared to what I was expecting. I didn't have the shoulder pain associated with gas bubbles some folks do. I was up walking around in the hospital halls a couple hours after surgery, and went home the next day. Yes, there was some soreness, and yes, I took my pain meds prescribed by my Dr, but I'm serious when I say it wasn't bad at all. The first few days, I had no desire to eat....at all. I was on clear liquids for a week preop and a week postop, then full liquids, then mushies, then progressed to solids. I've been banded for a little over three years and would definately do it again tomorrow, knowing what I know now. Best of luck to you in your journey!!

Hey all, I am three months in to my nine-month physician supervised diet. I decided to lower the amount of carbs I have been eating (not even super low, I try to keep it around 100 per day) Anyway, I have noticed that I have had a lot of trouble falling asleep lately. I mentioned it at work, and one of my co-workers said "oh yeah, that's because you cut carbs!" I looked it up, and it seems this isn't an unusual thing. Has anyone else dealt with this, and how did you handle it? Does it stop eventually? I am tired of being tired.

I was required to provide three years worth of weight history for approval from my insurance. I said to the surgeon when I met with him that my biggest concern is that I will be rejected because I have been such a yo yo dieter and depending on the time I weighed in at the doctors my weight could be over 40 BMI or under 40 BMI. I just received my history from my doctors and three years ago I was at a BMI of 37 and two years ago at 39-- under the required 40 BMI that I am at now. I have no co-morbidities. Just a question- have any of you had this be your situation and how did it work with insurance? The surgeon said that he may need to fight with the insurance company, but that what he is looking for in a surgery candidate is someone who has been overweight for an extended period of time and not someone who just happened to gain weight after having a baby etc. Unfortunately, I don't know if insurance will care. Thoughts?

Doo iiitt! From a former smoker (Quit Day, May Day, 1994) it'll be the best thing you can do for yourself! Yes, it's hard. D*mned hard! I won't lie. It SUCKS. But here's the thing... The first three or four days are the toughest. That is your "nicotine detox" and once you are past that, the rest is behavior modification, learning to live your new normal and just shaking off the after effects and letting your body heal. That all takes time. You will have some unpleasant weeks. You will have cravings, but you can lump them in with dealing with your food cravings and battle them together. You will be b*tchy, again, be b*tchy for both, at the same time. Two for one. You will have the physical stuff to deal with, the coughing out the gunk (super yukky, but once it's over, you will feel soooo much better, trust me) and so on but when that resolves, suddenly, you will discover the wonder of, OMG! I can breathe! I can smell things! I can taste things! Its kind of amazing. Totally worth it. When I quit, One thing I did to help me get through my rough patch, to keep myself busy and to give me incentive not to "dirty up" my surroundings was to do a total detail of my home. I washed all of the clothes, bedding, curtains, towels... Everything. Fresh and clean. Loads and loads. I scrubbed down my walls until they were clean and fresh. (I probably could have painted, but scrubbing was cheaper!) I cleaned the broadloom and the ceilings. Washed my windows. I aired out my home and erased all traces of my former habit from my life. I had my husband have our car thoroughly detailed so that it was fresh and clean, too. Once I decided to stop smoking, I decided that I was a non smoker and that was it. In the early days, If I got a craving, I reminded myself that I wasn't craving cigarettes because I am a non smoker. That doing that would kill me. That it is disgusting and I don't do that. I am now one of those completely obnoxious non smokers. I quit a long time ago and I have never slipped, and I am damned proud of that. Through some of my most stressful times. Darkest, most sorrow filled days, I have never, once been tempted to pick it back up. And so glad, as there is enough in life that can kill us, I am determined not to add one more thing to the pile! LOL Look, I'm not trying to brag or lecture, here. I'm just trying to share what I've been through, what worked for me and how I succeeded in quitting a habit that I honestly thought, for a while was going to haunt me for my entire life. You can quit smoking, you need to want it. Just like you want this band. If you want both, you can do both! You have the strength, the will, the guts to do it! I know you do. It isn't easy but the rewards are so gold.

Hello everyone, I have recently started my 6 month weight management to qualify for weight loss surgery, but I have been a bit discouraged. I have been turned down by three surgeons because of a previous pancreatic surgery in 2007. I guess my question is if someone out there has gone through something similar and can share there journey and experiences with me. Thanks in advance, Gaby

With less than a week until my operation, I thought I would focus on the three big weight loss goals that I would like to achieve, in a Japanese way. Today is Setsubun, an old Japanese holiday that used to mark the change of seasons. It involves wearing a mask to scare children and throwing dried Beans or peanuts around (and out of) the house to get rid of bad spirits (and encourage good ones to come in). However, this holiday often includes getting a Daruma doll. In Japan, when one has a wish or goal they would like to complete, they get a Daruma doll, which is a small, hollow, wooden doll, usually painted in red, with the eyes blank. You fill in one eye when you make your wish, and then when that wish/goal comes to pass, you can fill in the other eye. These dolls are a symbol of perseverance and good luck, and are popular all over Japan. I happened to visit the centre of Daruma-doll production (Takasaki, Gunma), where I picked out a few of them. I thought they would make great visual reminders of the goals I want to achieve. The three goals are: hitting onederland, losing 100 pounds, and achieving goal weight. What are (or were) your three big goals?

@@biginjapan Wow, that's a really cool tradition. I hope you get to fill in your other eyes this year! My three goals are to get to onederland, open (and wear) a box of clothes I haven't worn in 5 years, and be more active/ engaged in life. Best of luck to you in your surgery!

I actually have been seeing a pediatric bariatric surgeon already. im three months into the process.. throughout my entire life ive been overweight and ive had a lot of troubles in school and health problems in between. i have a genetic condition that affects my muscles and joints and i feel losing some weight would benefit me . I also am on the road to type 2 diabetes and already have fatty liver. i may just get this done for medical health reasons

Congratulations! That's so exciting that you'll have the surgery right before the new year. What a blessing! I'm going through the process and hope to have my surgery in March or April. I've only told three people: my husband, mother and a good friend. Of course they're worried about the surgery; there's a risk with any type of surgery and this procedure is no exception. So I'm sure your mother and grandmother will be concerned as well. Just assure them that you've done your research, have spoken with your doctors, and that you feel this will be, in the long run, a great benefit to your health and improvement to your life. They'll probably have a lot of questions, so be prepared to answer them, tell them approximately how many bariatric surgeries are performed every year and the average success rate, etc. In the end, you have to do what's best for you and your quality of life. And if you are content and excited about your decision, I think they'll be on board, too!

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!

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?

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.

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.

I'm single too and had a friend stay with me 2-1/2 days. She left after lunch the third day. I was feeling pretty good at that point. Frankly I would have preferred her leaving the next day but didn't say so because she missed her husband and obviously wanted to go home. I do not advise you to go it alone the first few days. I too have a cat and was able to bend over and feed him pretty painfree by day three.

mine was very simple and i was pretty comfortable with it. my psych eval was a 2-visit deal. the first day i went she asked me about my medical history, my family history, if i had anxiety, depression, etc. also discussed medications, exercise regimen (NONE), support system. she gave me three or four little 'inventories' to fill out and bring back the next day. the inventories were a bulimia/anorexia type survey, an eating survey, and some sort of 27 question survey about the anxiety i had in certain scenarios, sleeping, etc. all very simple. i went back for my 2nd appt she looked it all over, asked me a few of the same questions from the first appt, and said i was approved and she would send a letter to my surgeon. she was really nice and told me that i seemed pretty 'normal' and that this is the best thing i could ever do for myself.

I had three weigh ins at clinic, h-pylori test, egd, pcos, sleep study, support group, nutrition, psych, medication review Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I went from 240 to 128 I have minimal sagging in my legs and I mean a little bit and none in my arms. However I've had three children and 3 c sections my stomach looks like a war zone. I wear a size 3-4 in jeans but if I had a tuck it would probably be a 0-2 bc in the 3-4's their baggy in my legs. I'm also five years out. I moisturized my skin a lot also but every body is different. I was n wlsg with a girl who had a washboard stomach after her wls. So it all depends. Don't waste ur money on gimmicks though k.

Hi! How did your surgery go? I'm a lightweight too -- 36 right now and was told by coordinator I don't qualify because I was under 35 in the last three years.

Nope. After the first six weeks, I was no longer cutting food into small pieces. I am 27 months out (2 years & 3 months) and my sleeve's capacity has greatly increased since those early days. I can easily tolerate three pieces of chicken (2 drumsticks and 1 thigh), although I opt for smaller portions. The days of getting full off a few bites of food will be temporary for most people. Good luck to you.

Good luck to you as well! Great job publicly documenting your weight-loss journey. It will really help you keep on track & stay accountable. I did the same thing when I had surgery three years ago. We look forward to you sharing much more. Good luck! You are not alone!

I didn't have to do a liquid pre-op diet, but I did have to do 2 weeks of very low calorie and low carb. The first three days were rough but after that my body adjusted and I was fine. I was on liquids for four weeks post-op. People's experiences vary, but I can tell you that for me, I was tired and sore from the surgery, but the lack of solid food or tons of calories was not an issue. My body had plenty of fat reserves to fuel itself, I had no interest in eating anything, and I'm pretty sure that even if I had wanted to eat, the terror of damaging my very injured stomach would have stopped me dead in my tracks. It was an adjustment period but not a huge deal. I live alone and managed to take care of my household just fine without any assistance post-op. Went back to work full time after a couple of weeks. It really wasn't anything to worry about or fear. Good luck!

I have Cigna and I'm in TX. Requirements are three months waiting, bmi 40+, or 35+ with co-morbidities, pcp referral, supervised diet visits, etc. It's pretty nice actually and not too much (for me at least-I have no co-morbidities-that's what I'm preventing!) The waiting is the worse part.

I've just finished taking my three pre photo ops....you know front and two sides. I am so excited this day has come. I am well on my way to a new me. At home scale reads 338.8. Hopefully or maybe not the hospital scale says the same. See you all on the losers bench.

Welcome to the site! I'm in the middle of my six month diet program. It's been good so far. I've met with the NUT three times and I'm now switching over to my PCP to finish it out. (My NUT is leaving to have a baby.) My PCP got sleeved last year so he's a big advocate of it and will fill out the form dating back to my physical in January, so it's basically cutting two months off the process! I'm glad my insurance requires this program. It gives me time to adapt and adjust to what my new lifestyle will be so I don't get hit with everything at once. I'm working on not drinking during meals, trying different Protein powders/drinks and adding exercise. It will be over before you know it and you'll be on the loser's bench! Good luck.