Reading everyone’s story on here is so inspiring and insightful on this journey of weight loss surgery that I figured I would share and track mine as well. It will be nice to hopefully look back and read this a year from now anyway after being successful with my gastric sleeve surgery...fingers crossed! All up to that dang insurance approval!

Backing up a bit... let me explain a little about me and my battle with the “fluff”. I’ve pretty much have always battled weight. I was always chubby as a kid and grew up in a big Italian family where portion sizes weren’t a thing and life revolves around food. For most of high school I was overweight... except junior year when I decided I would go on a major diet and exercise. I lost a lot of weight and looked good but still only got to 175. By senior year I was pretty much fat again. This would continue every 2 years until my first pregnancy. I would drop 40-50lbs and then gain it right back. By my first kid I really gained a lot though and was a little over 300. Only now due to the pregnancy, I got hypertension that never went away. Then I lost 80lbs. but you guessed it! Gained it all back and then some again! This pattern continued more and more. I remarried and got pregnant again and was back up to 275 again. I have always thought about the idea of weight loss surgery in the back of my head but I was going to try 1 more time to lose it myself and try to keep it off. I found a medically supervised weight loss program with “pills” and lost about 90lbs on it. That was almost 2 years ago. But now I have sadly gained at least 40 of it back and It seems to keep pouring back on me. Plus now I am suffering from severe osteoarthritis as well in both knees and I need a total knee replacement in my right. I’m still going to the gym and I’m still on the medicine, but my body isn’t reacting to it really anymore. So enough was enough and on March 1st I went and saw a weight loss surgeon! When he started explaining to me about how my body just starts to resist the weight loss and thinks it’s starving or wants to go back to my reset mode (which is my 300lb weight) it all made sense! I just always called it my inner fat girl wanting to come back out. He explained how cutting out this part of the stomach removed those hormones and will help me fight those genetics. Now I understand I need to keep up my end of the bargain and still exercise and count calories, but it def explained why it’s like all of a sudden my body would just hit a wall and start gaining back the weight even when I was still dieting. So sleeve it is and I couldn’t be more sure of this!

So here goes my journey. They set me up that day with referrals for the psychiatrist, the gastroenterologist and the nutritionist. Luckily, since I’ve been in this medically supervised weight loss program for 2 years, I pretty much already have in my nutritionist meetings but he wanted me to meet with a Bariatric one at least once pre-op. I met with her on March 9th for the first visit already and learned a lot about what to expect the first few weeks out of how to eat and the different phases of food. My next apt with the Bariatric nutritionist is April12th. My endoscopy is scheduled this Friday so hopefully that goes well and my psych is scheduled for the following Friday. I have already filled out the package they sent to me for that which was about 500 questions. I do think it’s a little weird they want me to release all my hospital medical records though.

I just hope and pray I get approved by insurance. Depending on who measures me, I range between 5-5 or 5-6 it seems. I also weighed in at 228 which left me with a BMI of 36. My insurance requires a BMI of 35 with comorbitities which I obviously have of hypertension and osteoarthritis. So the low end of BMI has me concerned with approval.

Now the other thing is this, and please don’t judge,....My daughter was born in Jan of 2016 and in May of 2016. my husband and I decided to have a “date” night home with a few margaritas for cinco de Mayo. This was my first time drinking anything since she was born so they hit me pretty hard and he and I got into the biggest fight of our lives where he confessed some stuff that I was not expecting...throw in terrible post partum depression that I was suffering from that I wasn’t really aware of at the time and I ended up taking a handful of Tylenol PM’s that night. Well..of course I came to my senses right away and immediately called for help so this landed me stupidly in the ER that night vomiting up the pills and being monitored. I went home the next day after they made sure I wasn’t “suicidal” and of course followed up for a few months with therapy because I was just suffering from out of whack hormones thanks to post partum. my husband and I also worked things out as well. But long story short is....I’m really afraid that might be a clear strike against me for the psych eval. Especially if I release my medical records......

i guess we’ll wait and see. I’ll keep you guys posted on Friday on my Endoscopy.

And thanks for reading this whole thing if you made it up to this point! ?

Why Thank You, I sure didn't expect that , I like your postings too.!

Saying good morning from my hospital bed! Had the surgery yesterday. I was pretty knocked out and exhausted all day yesterday so I did t get a chance to post. Pain is better today. I was pretty nauseous and I a good amount of pain yesterday. I’ve gotten up to walk a few times but have only burped a little. Hopefully when my Dr comes in this morning I will be discharged!

There were A few things I definitely didn’t expect or prepared for. I didn’t expect to only be allowed a shot glass size of water every hour. I thought I would be able to sip throughout the day. This was/is rough because my mouth is soooooo dry and I was so thirsty all day. Second thing i wasn’t expecting was the “numbing” stuff they put along your nerves in your stomach. This way you don’t feel the pain as much until the next day...I definitely feel the pain more today since it wore off. Sort of feels like I got punched really hard in the gut or did the hardest Pilates class of my life. And third thing I wasn’t expecting was pretty much telling a lot of info about this surgery to all the nurses. Apparently they do t get a ton of Bariatric patients so they weee extremely curious. Lol, I didn’t mind answering them though.

Anyhoo... the first 2 pictures are from yesterday morning right before surgery.

Last pic is post op and the incisions! The bottom ones don’t hurt as much as the top ones. (Sorry about the under boob)

Congratulations for being on the other side !!! I’m glad all went well. That thirst afterwards ??‍♀️ But they let me suck on ice cubes as much as I wanted. Good luck on being discharged soon and on the rest of your recovery. A small pillow will be your friend of you sneeze, cough or laugh. I also found having a chair (I used my dining room chairs with arms) next to where I was sitting/laying helped to push me up to a standing position. Again, congratulations!!

On 4/26/2019 at 9:01 AM, DanaC84 said:

Congratulations for being on the other side !!! I’m glad all went well. That thirst afterwards ??‍♀️ But they let me suck on ice cubes as much as I wanted. Good luck on being discharged soon and on the rest of your recovery. A small pillow will be your friend of you sneeze, cough or laugh. I also found having a chair (I used my dining room chairs with arms) next to where I was sitting/laying helped to push me up to a standing position. Again, congratulations!!

Ty! I’ve been hugging a small pillow against me every night. Sneezing is still an experience lol.

My surgery was the 25th and it went well. Went in at 6:30am that morning and was home by 1pm the next day. I did ask if I could go home the same day but they weren’t havin’ It. I Had my 2 week follow up today and I’m down 17lbs since surgery! According to my weight I took the morning of surgery I’m down 15 but the dr told me the weight they took in the hospital the morning of surgery was 233. I had a little stall for 5 days the first week post -op which was a little discouraging but things have been moving great this past week. From now on though, I am only weighing myself every Friday! I also have been having the most terrible stabbing pain under my left side rib cage which turns out to be a common side effect after the sleeve. It’s something about my spleen not getting enough blood flow yet because the nerves that supply it were cut when they removed a portion of my stomach. Fortunately this will go away over time when the blood supply returns. I’m having difficulty not drinking 30/30 with eating but today I cracked down on myself and set timers! I will admit I still feel hungry a lot and the carb craving hasn’t magically disappeared like I was anticipating... but they are definitely a lot less. I am drinking between 64-80oz of crystal light easily. I can’t seem to stomach plain water just yet since surgery. Makes me gag. I used to only drink plain cold water before surgery all the time. I’m drinking 2 protein shakes a day and I’m going on my second week of purées. I have tried a few soft foods here and there like scrambled eggs, chili, cottage cheese, cheese... but not everything is agreeing with my new pouch yet. I definitely need this second week just on purées before I graduate to soft. I’ve experienced the “dumping” syndrome twice now and it’s awful! I’m walking 3 miles a day at a track near my house. I got the clearance today to return to the gym and do my classes which I’m so excited for. Walking gets old quick. He just said I still have a 2 week restriction on lifting anything over 20lbs. Can’t wait to see what the next 2 weeks will bring!

On 3/18/2019 at 12:32 PM, KimB7811 said:

pretty much have always battled weight

@KimB7811

i've enjoyed reading about your whole starting journey. ups and downs, waiting for approval by insurance -finally having surgery!!

looks like your on the right road/journey to success☺️

keep up the great job

good luck

kathy

2 hours ago, ProudGrammy said:

@KimB7811

i've enjoyed reading about your whole starting journey. ups and downs, waiting for approval by insurance -finally having surgery!!

looks like your on the right road/journey to success☺️

keep up the great job

good luck

kathy

Aww thank you Kathy! I appreciate all the advise and comfort you’ve given me through this process. You are so sweet!

Ok...this took ALOT for me to do. Getting the courage to put alll of me on here like this. It’s been 5 wks as of today since I was sleeved. I’ve been putting everything I have into this but there have been times I’ve wondered if this would really work. I’ve been trying to stay off the scale but that’s a challenge, I workout like crazy everyday and I count every calorie that goes in my mouth. I haven’t been able to really “see” the difference personally even though I knew my clothes fit better and I felt better physically, but after I did this collage today it truly made me see this IS working. I still have a long ways to go but I’ll take it after 5 weeks post op! All I have to say is take pictures!!!!! I felt sick taking the first one before surgery because I hated looking at myself but I am so great full I did now. Document this journey!

Sleeved 4/25/19
HW-238
SW-233 (according to the hospital weigh-in)
CW-203
GW-140

And may you continue to do well in your recovery. It appears you have made an excellent start to it all!????

You look great ? I love you story and hope you continue sharing your journey ?

I second Amelia's suggestion, yes please give us more chapters of "How KIM makes her Days count for the future!" You make me feel like you're a long-term friend instead,of just a co- traveler on Life's Highway. Guess some people are just That Way!

On 6/3/2019 at 4:30 AM, Amelia2019 said:

You look great ? I love you story and hope you continue sharing your journey ?

Ty Amelia! I plan too keep sharing this rollercoaster ride I’m on with everyone and love reading about others experiences as well!

On 6/3/2019 at 6:44 AM, Frustr8 said:

I second Amelia's suggestion, yes please give us more chapters of "How KIM makes her Days count for the future!" You make me feel like you're a long-term friend instead,of just a co- traveler on Life's Highway. Guess some people are just That Way!

Aww I feel the same too. You e helped me so much since day 1 with kind words and encouragement! Hope you are doing well also!

Hiiiiii! It’s me again. I have been seriously slacking on this forum. Let’s see... where to start to catch you up! It was 2 months for me this past wed (June 25th) from my sleeve surgery. I cut my hair off! It’s starting to shed badly now so the really long hair was more of a pain then anything. I figured a short edgy hairdo would help make my hair look fuller. I def like it! My progress?..... I would say on the veryyyyy slow side. It’s frustrating but I trust my body and will listen to my dr who tells me it’s completely normal to stall. He said I’ve actually lost more (overall) then he expected at my 6wk checkup. I’ve been at 197 for 2 wks now. I get my 64ounces of fluid in no problem, between 70-90g protein a day and Usually keep my carbs between 40-50g a day. Depends on what I did for exercise that day. If I hit the gym and then walked 3-4 miles that day I will be on the higher side for everything as my nut and surgeon requested. I’m pretty much eating all normal food now. For the most part, everything I try seems to not give me issues but I learned the hard way my tummy does not like steamed broccoli. First time I had severe foamies/vomiting from anything was when I ate that 2 wks ago. However, Ever since that little episode with the broccoli, my stomach has been giving me all sorts of issues. At first I thought it was just from irritating my new stomach but now I’m pretty sure it’s something else. I started getting these horrendous stomach cramps on and off. They come on suddenly and leave me pretty much incapacitated until it just suddenly stops. Then I’m fine. They happen at anytime randomly so it’s not just when I eat. Then, about 4 nights ago, I got a terrible attack. The worst thing ever. I just finished some almonds (which I’ve eaten many times before and tolerated just fine) and got such a bad stabbing pain right in the center of my rib cage below the breast bones. Then got really nauseous and had awful diarrhea. I thought maybe this is a “dumping” episode I hear about but the diarrhea is still happening now and it’s 4 days later. I’m keeping up on my fluids but I feel like something isn’t quite right now. I definitely need to call my dr but keep putting it off. I’m sure this isn’t helping withy stall either. The past few days I haven’t even wanted to eat much either. I’m hoping it’s not my gallbladder but who knows. I’ll keep you guys posted when I get checked out! Progress pic below too!

You look amazing! Great job, you are sure working it! I've got surgery scheduled for 8/12, am hoping to be able to be as active as you are soon!