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So it's not like I had a big chest to begin with but man, what I had has left the building completely! Its not just my ego that's deflated about it... I honestly never thought I'd be a person who'd consider implants but I seriously am. I can't be the only one who's had this so what did you guys do? I'm not looking to be a girl with huge b**bs, just a girl who's bra is an actual portrayal of what lies beneath.

April 8, 2010 Today I had a visit with my pcp. We were on vacation in Gatlinburg the week before. I felt terrible the whole trip...headache, nausea, shortness of breath. I made an appointment the day after returning home. I had already decided I would ask his opinion about weight loss surgery as an option for me. He was not against it, but he did not offer much encouragement. April 15, 2010 Today I had the test done that were ordered by my pcp. First was an intensive stress test. He said no surgeon would operate without it. I doubted this and should of let the surgeon decide if it was necessary. This was the second time I've gone through all these tests. I had to have a cardolite IV. It involved walking on a treadmill and pics taken by a machine that gives images of the arteries in the heart. The images take 20 minutes (two sessions) of laying completely still. Then it was on to the echo cardiogram. Basically it was an ultrasound of my heart. It's interesting to watch the screen and see the valves in my heart working! Next it was on the lab to have blood drawn. The tech was a newbie and since my "good" vein in the right arm already had an IV in it (for the stress test) she called a veteran tech to poke me in the left. It hurt like heck...she said she must have hit a nerve...I'LL SAY! My loving hubby came into town and took me to breakfast, then I went back for the second injection of cardiolite and the second set of images. It all went really well. The tests results showed no problems. Later in the day I called a nearby hospital in Bowling Green Ohio that has a well known weight loss program to register for one of their seminars. They were totally booked for the two seminars in April. I am registered to attend the one on May 15th. I'm hoping my hubby can go with me. They are a Center of Excellence hospital so I feel confident with them. Also, I know of at least 3 people who had bariatric surgery done there. April 21, 2010 Wednesday morning I got my test results. All the heart and stress tests looked good. The stress test tech noted that I tired easily on the treadmill. (I would of liked to put her on there with her smokers breath to see how she would of done ) My blood test came back alright, but my BP was up a little more. He had suggested in Jan. that I add a 3rd BP med and I had resisted. Now, I'm ready...bring it on! Add another co-morbidity link to the list. I called Anthem yesterday and grilled them to see if they covered the Sleeve Gastrectomy. The rep said it is included along with all the other WLS as long as the diagnosis is morbid obesity and I meet all the criteria. Looks like I may be on the way! I registered and got the ball rolling with the surgeon by going to the seminar at Wood County Hospital. May 15, 2010 Today dh and I went to the seminar in Bowling Green Ohio. It was held in a meeting room at Wood County Hospital. The surgeon, Dr. Lalor, was the first speaker. He explained all the different surgeries he preforms, sharing all the good and bad. After the seminar we got to talk to him one on one. It seemed to me that he really is sold on the sleeve gastrectomy. He likes the fact there isn't any malabsorbtion involved. He even mentioned that BC/BS is not approving many sleeves, but since I've had 4 open abdominal surgeries and already had surgery on my colon that they might consider the sleeve for me! Then the dietition spoke and lastly the ins rep for Dr. Lalor's office. Doc answered every single question he was asked through his whole presentation, which impressed me! He stayed and answered questions till the last person finally left. I have my surgeon's consultation on June 17th. I feel really good about him, his staff and the facility!! May 24, 2010 I decided to attend one of the support meetings at Wood County Hospital Mon. May 24th. I was waiting outside with some supper when hubby got off work and I kidnaped him and took him along. Bless his heart! He just finished a 12 hour shift, was tired and dirty, but he seemed anxious to go. The meeting was okay, it was sort of disorganized. They sometimes have guest speakers. Two women took control of this, meeting talking about all their personal problems. [Note to me: Remember to talk with the appropriate person at the appropriate times about personal problems.] Nothing to do but wait and worry till my surgical consultation June 17th! June 17, 2010 This was my first surgeon's visit. The nurse took me back and had me step on the scales. Then she had me take my shoes off to measure my height. So, I got to weigh with my shoes on, but measured with them off, making me weigh heavier and measure shorter! YEA!! I was worried about my BMI not being high enough so this was important to me! She asked me a ton of medical questions and we talked a little about which surgery I was leaning toward. I said the sleeve I thought was the best choice for me and that I would not have gastric bypass, due to the malabsorbtion issues. Next the doc came in and he asked me some more medical questions and questioned me alot about my previous surgeries. Then we discussed the sleeve and he said he would fight BC/BS if necessary to get me the sleeve. He said if they tried to push gastric bypass he would tell them that he felt it would be alot more risky for me. My impression of him is that he is very careful and very honest. He took all the time I needed to answer all my questions, which were numerous! He took me to the front desk and went over all the paperwork that included the tests I needed to schedule, the visits with the nutritionist and the visit with another doctor, who interprets the tests results and does a more thorough medical workup and physical. Next I went down the hall to have my first visit with the nutritionist. I will have a total of 3 visits, to satisfy BC/BS for a 3 month surprised "diet" to satisfy their requirements. I was really impressed with Beth. She gave me alot of information, answered all my questions and we worked on goals. They like patients to lose 5% of their weight before surgery, which is 10lbs for me. Doesn't sound like much, but I have so much pain in my hips and my feet that it will be a struggle. July 13, 2010 Today I met with the shrink. He basically had me go through my whole life history starting with when and where I was born. We discussed my weight issues along with family and even school issues. Then I had to do a personality test with over 100 questions...it took forever! Oh well it's done and over with and I think I did well. Next I went down to Dr. Lalor's office (same building) and met with Beth for my second nutritionist visit. That went really well again! I find myself becoming obcessed with WLS websites (this one and Obesityhelp.com). I am reading stories and looking at before and after pictures. I think it helps keep me going until I am approved and get a surgery date. Looks like the end of September or October would be the earliest I could have surgery.

Well, i'm probably not to first to say i've had a problem with dieting. Doctors always tell me . "you'll lose weight if you eat six small meals a day." Hrms six small meals eh? I can barely find time for one a day . I'm a single mother of 2 and i work alot. When i fix the kids food i make a plate for myself but by the time i get them fed and try to sit down and eat they are trying to either A. Eat my dinner or B. Trying to get up from the table so i just put my plate on the counter and dont even bother with it til they are in bed. Ever since high school some how i've programed myself to eat just once a day. I'm wondering how this is going to effect me after the surgery with the different types of food they want us to eat. Anyone got any suggestions or advice? Cause all they seem to serve at the casino is fast food stuf and i'm so tired of fast food i just dont eat til i get home. That is if i have enough energy to eat something. I'm hypoglycemic so when i feel my blood sugar running low i drink OJ or eat a sandwhich. I go through more OJ and water in my house then actual food, mainly cause i smoke so damn much to curve the cravings but smoking is about to be out of the picture.... I have one pack left and i'm forcing myself not to buy any more after this.

Try the public, and state hospitals in your state. Chances are that they have a Bariatrics Unit that takes Medicaid. In NYC, the City Hospitals have fantastic G/BS Units. Some are in the nations Top 50 Hospitals. Also, there are several Bariatrics Groups (which is a specialty based practice, that focuses ONLY on Bariatrics), That have a couple doctors on their roster that will take Medicaid Managed Care.

Right now all you can do is eat your Protein and take Biotin, although the latter of the two is debatable as to how well it works. As your body recovers from being terrified that you cut out your stomach and only fed it liquids and soft food for awhile, it will eventually divert resources back to your less important areas, like the skin and follicles in your scalp. In theory, losing hair as a result of stress or nutritional changes is your body trying to save you from death- it sends the important resources to your vital organs. I suppose its rationale is that you can be bald and alive, or you can have hair and be dead, and while it's kind of an extreme analogy, that's the "thought" process of the body when it goes through major trauma and nutritional change. That being said, now that you are done traumatizing your body it will eventually realize that you are not trying to kill it and it will slowly give you back your hair. The better you feed yourself and keep up with your nutrition, the more quickly your body will relax and think "ok cool, we aren't dying, let's have pretty hair again". My body did not decide to give me back my hair again for awhile, lol. I lost hair I think around 5 months, and it stayed thin for awhile, probably almost 18 months. Then it started growing back and at 2 years, half of it fell out again, although I'm pretty sure that was more just stress hair loss than anything to do with my sleeve. It has now been about 8 months since my last "omg I'm going bald" incident and I can feel that my hair is thickening. When I brush it there is a giant poof around my ears where the new hair has grown in and the older hair is still thinner. I've also paid a lot of attention to Vitamins the last few months because my thin hair bothered me. I'm not sure if biotin works or not but I've been taking a lot of it and it's not like it's hurting me, so maybe it's working. At any rate...your hair will slowly start to grow back and the best thing you can do is eat well, be kind to your hair, and maybe invest in a hat. Jk on that last one, lol.

<STRONG>I AM GOING TO MY FIRST SEMINAR APRIL 7TH . DR ROSLIN LENOX HOSPITAL NY NY /AND HE S ALSO IN NORTHERN WESTCHESTER HOSPITAL IN MT KISKO. HE WILL BE AT THE SEMINAR . YAY CAN'T WAIT .JUST WANTED TO KNOW IF ANYONE HAS BCBS EXCELLUS PPO IN NEW YORK . SEMINAR APRIL 7TH DIETICIAN APRIL 14TH 1ST DR APPT APRIL 14 PHYCH APRIL 15 INSURANCE APPROVAL ?????? SURGERY DATE ????/

If you are taking a calcium supplement, make sure it is calcium citrate. It's actually best for preventing kidney stones if you get your calcium from dietary sources, like cheese or milk. Always have dietary calcium with anything containing oxalates, like spinach or almonds, bc it will bind to the oxalates and prevent stones.

Hi Kat! Trust me I understand the wait. But I will say bc of the complications and the time of my last revision band surgery and waiting on insurance to decide if they will pay for it I have learned soooooo much! And I'm thankful that it happened this way bc I'm a lot more prepared this time then I was the first time around. I'm learning to REALLY take it one day at a time. I wanted to have my band surgery so that I could be at a healthy weight to have kids. That was my goal. Well, after losing a little bit of weight and things just going so wrong less than 6 mths after surgery I gave up. Long story short I stopped going to my surgeon and decided to try to have kids first. I got pregnant the first try and ended up with a miscarriage. Then after my dr said it was ok we tried again and got pregnant again. Then miscarried again. Well I couldn't take it anymore and decided to hold off on that and started trying to do what I wanted to in order for me to b happy. And that's where I'm at today

I have a hard time taking meds bc i forget and i don’t drink enough water and protein i don’t get enough

I called BCBS Fed yesterday and they said to call the provider (of my chest xray) and have them re- bill it as preop test for diabetes control ... not for weight loss and it should be covered. I will let you know how that comes out

Well none of us are perfect banders..we have all cheated once twice or more..its just what you do after u cheat. Try to stay on track. When u fall off ask for help.i told my bf if i tried to cheat to remind me why im doing this. Its hard for meto pass upntemptation unless i am 1.extremely motivated or 2 i have help. I cheated on mypreop bc well i wanted something i knew id have to give up. It was only one day. And i drank pepsi and ate mexican food. Then went back to my liquid diet.. Now that i look back on it the taste are a fading memory. Do i miss soda yup, but ive read too many horror stories of foaming it up that i dont want to try it. Plus its just empty calories... But i found a pic of me im about 190lbs in the pic and i look damn good. I carry that in my purse, when i want to cheat i pull it out and say. "This is what you are working towards...to be healthy and good looking, to have self confidence again. Don't screw it up and cheat..the moment will pass." I try to find a satisfying Protein snack. So i hope this helps. There is still hope for you...at least you feel guilty about it. Lol

My husband I think is finally acknowledging that this is really happening now that I'm approved (just this past Thursday) and have surgery date of 1/29. It is rather quick now but I'm happy about it. He's asked some questions but I think overall is scared something is going to go wrong. I keep trying to reassure him I've researched the doctor so long and he is one of the leaders of the sleeve and top hospitals. He's scared I will loose too much weight and will look sickly or will regret it because I'll have lots of loose skin bc of the rapid loss. I told him my goal and the eating and exercise plan and how long it will take me to lose it. The next moment he says he knows this means a lot to me bc he sees my dedication to it. I just hope nothing goes wrong and all my research, positive energy, preparation, prayers, and patience pays off for the good! He says I don't need surgery, but he supports me if this is what I truly want. How have you reassured your spouses of your decision for surgery?

Some days I lack getting 60-70grams of protein due to my work schedule but I doubt that would have such an effect to the extent of everything happening.... I was told about AG-pro, also fish oil... Really any suggestions would help- thanks ladies & gents bc I'm freaking out... Oh & this has started probably 6-8 weeks ago now......

Hi just read a suggestion on this in another forum...they suggested doing non eating dates or when you go out to eat doing the Soup salad combo bc it goes down easier/ you can put away most of it without looking like you had two bites and pushed ur food around the rest of the time..hope that helps...good luck!

Awhile. The insurance said I had to six months of weigh ins so I took my time getting approve by the cardiologist and psychiatrist and sleep center well 3 months in said I didn't have to do weigh ins any more so started working on the other drs and they took forever bc I used my own drs. It's been about 6 or so months could be more lol feels like forever especially since I started this liquid diet!! What about you?

Hi. What an achievement 90 lbs.! Great job. I can't speak as someone with long-term experience as my sleeve surgery was 12/28/17; however, I do have sugar cravings at times. I notice the cravings tend to strike when I haven't eaten yet (when I should have already eaten) and when I'm not getting my protein in bc I'm not eating on a regular basis. So focusing on reaching 80-90 grams of protein daily may help you if you are not already doing that and eating meals every 3-4 hours. I also find if I busy my mind with an activity like a jigsaw puzzle, my cravings subside. Brushing my teeth after meals and following that an hour later with drinking water helps me too. About exercise being a challenge bc of pain and fatigue issues: I really relate to that. I often think I'd be losing significantly more if I didn't have these "issues." It's tough too bc these are invisible disabilities and are often misunderstood. The pain and fatigue issues I have existed before I was overweight and I'm sure the excess weight hasn't helped. If you'd ever like to message about it, I'm here. You know what you need to do. You've got this! [emoji259]

Hi my name is rose I'm new to all this but I'm post op day 3 and have the most uncomfortable gas pains and I walk a lot! I see I'm struggling with fluids and broth bc I'm not hungry so if anyone has any pointers please fill me in???? I did the sleeve and I'm happy with my choice but I feel like this week is gonna be hard bc I'm on clear liquids and I'm allergic to Aspartame, so my choice are limited! Please help with ideas on staying hydrated and energized!

On the bus going to my last Dr. supervised weight loss appointment. Tuesday is my pysch eval (hopefully my Dr. will do it) and then I get to send everything to my Dr. for insurance approval. I'm so excited right now and really hoping everything turns out the way I want it to. Fingers crossed that BCBS Fed approves me. :-)

I was wondering , if I am the only one here who got wls done at a young age .Im 19 and almost 7 months ago I got a gastric plications done. So far I have lost 42kg ( my biggest weight was 127kg, and now im 86kg) If there are people here my age , how do you deal with various situations infront of your friend,relatives,co workers. Cause i feel like my friends dont want to hang with me anymore bc I dont eat junk food or (as I say) I am on a strickt diet. Sent from my SM-J730F using BariatricPal mobile app

You've had it rough. :-(. Have you looked into ablation? I'm off my BC pills for surgery and am a miserable bitch already- I can't imagine what I'll be like for pre-op diet and post-op.

I heard that is BS since that part of your stomach that usually stretches out is cut off.

Send someone to the pharmacy and see if u can buy a sitz bath its a little hat thing u can buy and it squirts warm water to help clean u. Also don't use toilet paper get u the flushable wet wipes and gently clean urself then after every bathroom visit put Vaseline with some butt paste there. That's about all I can offer bc my rush became so raw it hurt. I did what I told u to do tho and it helped a lot. I have to use go the GoLite crap that should be renamed go aLOTly bc of my yearly scopes and that junk makes me raw and then causes horrible hemorrhoids. Best of luck to ya! ((Hugs))

Hi everyone! Here I am sitting in my hospital room in Mexico waiting to get my sleeve! I will update more after the surgery. Everyone here has been so nice and kind. So far so good. I hope I'm first today bc I am ready to go.......See you on the other side!

So- whoever is out there is Lap-Band space, I have hit an all-time low I think! I have been banded a little over a year and have lost a little over 100 pounds! However, my personal life- well no longer exists. I was engaged- and I am in the process of moving out because, well that didnt turn out as planned. I am getting the attention I used to when I was thinner- however not from the people I want to. I feel like I cant please myself bc I have been on a very slow moving decline in weight over the past few months. I feel like I am so close to being done that now its not going to happen and with everything else personally- I am starting to feel hopeless- like no one else understands me! Any ideas?

So- whoever is out there is Lap-Band space, I have hit an all-time low I think! I have been banded a little over a year and have lost a little over 100 pounds! However, my personal life- well no longer exists. I was engaged- and I am in the process of moving out because, well that didnt turn out as planned. I am getting the attention I used to when I was thinner- however not from the people I want to. I feel like I cant please myself bc I have been on a very slow moving decline in weight over the past few months. I feel like I am so close to being done that now its not going to happen and with everything else personally- I am starting to feel hopeless- like no one else understands me! Any ideas?