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What made you finally want Weight Loss Surgery?



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@@Djmohr Good luck with your fusion. I did a triple cervical fusion a year and a half ago. It did the trick and also restored half an inch to my height.

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For me it was the fact that I lost 80lbs once and gained it all back. My Dr always thought I could do it again myself but it just never happened. I have Gerd, high blood pressure, sleep apnea and am now diabetic. Lately my knees have been aching and I seem to have lost all the energy I once had even though I have always been heavy and was always active. I am 50 and have a great husband, job, and a good life. I wake up every day and the first thing I think of is "yup I am fat, yes I am achey' and let's take all those pills!! One month until surgery. I am 95% sure I am going through with it. Just scared.

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When I realized it was getting harder to reach and therefore care for myself.

Yes, that was the one......

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For me it was when I decided I couldn't live this way anymore. I started going to the gym and with the help of meds healthy eating and exercise habits I lost 90 pounds. But then it stopped coming off so u went back to the doctor to get put back on the medication to help my metabolism. Instead I go diagnosed with 2 heart conditions. My weight was starting to creep back up and nothing I did helped. So I started this journey.

I am 3 1/2 weeks post op and I've lost 28 pounds. However I have stalled and lost nothing in 2 weeks. I know its part of the process and I can't wait to get going again.

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After my best weight loss success years before, that ultimately failed like all the others, I had given up. I was resigned to living fat for the rest of my life.

But then suddenly one day not long after I entered my 50's, my body declared an all out war against me. My joints, my bones, my back, my feet, were in constant pain. I began my day in pain and I ended it the same way. I no longer felt I had any quality of life and I was facing the very real dilemma of having to sell my condo because I was having difficulty climbing the stairs.

That did it. Now almost a year later I'm nearly finished completing my insurance requirements and expect to have surgery in the next couple of months. While my days still begin and end with pain, now at least they're encompassed by hope!

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Justwatchme, You.Go.Girl !!!! And don't look back !!!

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Me its my back condition I'm in 4 different pain meds hopefully loosing some wight will help me and I don't have to drink all those meds.. Oh and a month before surgery I have early stage of diabetes :/ scary i know so I'm happy is hard but is worth it!!

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I can say it was the same thing so many people mention...and it is, but I hit an all time low. I guess my rock bottom.

My mother died..I spent the next 6 months of my life buried up to my neck in food...in all her recipes, trying to recreate each one over, and over, and over. Eating my way through the grief until I gained 40 more lbs, and then my heart started to not work right. I am in Grade 1 heart failure, blood pressure sky high, working my heart too much, all this excess weight....I graduate from a cane to walker, and then my blood sugars are out of control, Dr. put me on 2 oral diabetes meds, then 2 different kinds of insulin. I was giving myself 4 injections minimum, and taking over 20 pills, every day.

On an office visit to try to slap a band-aid on knees that need replacement, (which won't happen until I lose a considerable amount of weight), my Dr. looked me in the eyes, and told me if I didn't stop, I was going to die.

I knew then....I had to make some major life changes, but not just a surgery to make my stomach tiny.

I needed to work through all the many reasons why I used food, what it meant to me, what it had become to me and and why I was so addicted to it.

Those were the demons that were/are harder to deal with than the 8 month program, and the 4.5 hours I spent on that operating table.

I haven't had to take 3 of 4 diabetes medications in days......

They stopped 2 of my heart medications last night......

Already my health is improving. I did it for the right purposes, and I dug deeper than I thought I would, so I could also do it for the best purposes, because it was time for me to let go of my protection I had used for so many years. My fat.

I am taking this day by day. I can't even predict what the results will be.

I only know I am motivated, at 49, to change my life, and become the person I was meant to be.

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My final straw was being diagnosed with diabetes and high blood pressure last June. I already knew I was big, but I thought I was a healthy obese individual, but that wasn't the case so that's when I decided its time to get healthy and lose this weight.

This was the EXACT same reason for me to finally take the plunge and go for the surgery...I saw my family suffering from the effects of high blood pressure and diabetes, and when I was diagnosed with the same, I didn't want to put my family through that, so now thank the Lord that I'm cured of those, and I can live a healthy life!!!

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@@wascott,

I was looking for someone who had both weight loss surgery and cervical spinal surgery. I was wondering if I need to be worried about my diet at all given the required healing needed for a triple fusion with Corpectomy. They are actually removing my c5 vertebrae completely and using a donor bone to put in place.

I also wondered if I would get my inch of height back. I used to be 5'11" and I now barely make 5'10"

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@@Djmohr That's a great question. I'd certainly bring that up with your spinal surgeon.

My triple fusion surgery was 17 months ago. (Where did that time go!) It took about a year before the bones were finished growing.

My sleeve surgery isn't until next month so I didn't have to heal those bones while calorie restricted.

Your surgeon might want to adjust your supplemental nutrients while you heal.

My sister is having a disc replaced with an artificial disc next month. I hope you both do well and get some relief.

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To djmohr, I had a three level Anterior Cervical Dissection and fusion on February 14 of 2013. I was in a soft collar for six weeks. I had to be careful all year, but was able to have my sleeve surgery on December 23, 2013.

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@@Caseylynn I am 52 and felt the same way - a little apprehensive but KNEW it was the tool I needed. Three weeks and 1 day post-op and so happy I did it!

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the single most blunt reply i can give besides stepping on the scale at my doctors office and breaking the 400 pound barrier. I was having a hard time ( no pun intended) with sex, physically, you had to sort of guess at location and aim, if you understand what im saying.

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several things...

hard to walk

couldnt stand for more than 5 min as my legs/knees hurt so bad

couldnt wipe my butt after going to bathroom

hub had to put my socks on

wearing a size 5x skirt and wonder do they come bigger

and the most important thing...my son saying i was to be a grandmother....

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    • KeeWee

      It's been 10 long years! Here is my VSG weight loss surgiversary update..
      https://www.ae1bmerchme.com/post/10-year-surgiversary-update-for-2024 
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • Aunty Mamo

      Iʻm roughly 6 weeks post-op this morning and have begun to feel like a normal human, with a normal human body again. I started introducing solid foods and pill forms of medications/supplements a couple of weeks ago and it's really amazing to eat meals with my family again, despite the fact that my portions are so much smaller than theirs. 
      I live on the island of Oʻahu and spend a lot of time in the water- for exercise, for play,  and for spiritual & mental health. The day I had my month out appointment with my surgeon, I packed all my gear in my truck, anticipating his permission to get back in the ocean. The minute I walked out of that hospital I drove straight to the shore and got in that water. Hallelujah! My appointment was at 10 am. I didn't get home until after 5 pm. 
      I'm down 31 pounds since the day of surgery and 47 since my pre-op diet began, with that typical week long stall occurring at three weeks. I'm really starting to see some changes lately- some of my clothing is too big, some fits again. The most drastic changes I notice however are in my face. I've also noticed my endurance and flexibility increasing. I was really starting to be held up physically, and I'm so grateful that I'm seeing that turn around in such short order. 
      My general disposition lately is hopeful and motivated. The only thing that bugs me on a daily basis still is the way those supplements make my house smell. So stink! But I just bought a smell proof bag online that other people use to put their pot in. My house doesn't stink anymore. 
       
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • BeanitoDiego

      Oh yeah, something I wanted to rant about, a billing dispute that cropped up 3 months ago.
      Surgery was in August of 2023. A bill shows up for over $7,000 in January. WTF? I asks myself. I know that I jumped through all of the insurance hoops and verified this and triple checked that, as did the surgeon's office. All was set, and I paid all of the known costs before surgery.
      A looong story short, is that an assistant surgeon that was in the process of accepting money from my insurance company touched me while I was under anesthesia. That is what the bill was for. But hey, guess what? Some federal legislation was enacted last year to help patients out when they cannot consent to being touched by someone out of their insurance network. These types of bills fall under something called, "surprise billing," and you don't have to put up with it.
      https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises
      I had to make a lot of phone calls to both the surgeon's office and the insurance company and explain my rights and what the maximum out of pocket costs were that I could be liable for. Also had to remind them that it isn't my place to be taking care of all of this and that I was going to escalate things if they could not play nice with one another.
      Quick ending is that I don't have to pay that $7,000+. Advocate, advocate, advocate for yourself no matter how long it takes and learn more about this law if you are ever hit with a surprise bill.
      · 0 replies
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    • BeanitoDiego

      Some days I feel like an infiltrator... I'm participating in society as a "thin" person. They have no idea that I haven't always been one of them! 🤣
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • ChunkCat

      Thank you everyone for your well wishes! I totally forgot I wrote an update here... I'm one week post op today. I gained 15 lbs in water weight overnight because they had to give me tons of fluids to bring my BP up after surgery! I stayed one night in the hospital. Everything has been fine except I seem to have picked up a bug while I was there and I've been running a low grade fever, coughing, and a sore throat. So I've been hydrating well and sleeping a ton. So far the Covid tests are negative.
      I haven't been able to advance my diet past purees. Everything I eat other than tofu makes me choke and feels like trying to swallow rocks. They warned me it would get worse before it gets better, so lets hope this is all normal. I have my follow up on Monday so we'll see. Living on shakes and soup again is not fun. I had enough of them the first time!! LOL 
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