First appt Tomm, super nervous!

[ReadybutScaredALittle 2]

Hello all,. I am a male, 37 years old….Living in Atlanta, GA. I’m having my first appointment tomorrow. I am about 5’8 in a half and I weigh 246. My BMI is about 37.4 … I am obese but do not LOOK obese. I have tried to get the weight down on my own. I have gained upward to 255 pounds in my life. I in my most recent trial to do it on my own have gotten down to 235 which took about 8 weeks to do so starting at 250 pounds. I have no gained 11 pounds back and back up there which has led me here to finally considering gastric sleeve. If I start the nutrition plan and lose 15 pounds before surgery, I will be at 230 and then my BMI will be at exactly 35. People will then look at me, maybe even the doctor who i have no met yet and say, “oh you look good, you dont need surgery”, I am afraid to start the process and have any kind of hiccups… I know how to “look slender” in certain clothes but to be honest, i need to be back to my 180 size. It’s better for my blood pressure and sleep apnea. At 230 pounds if I get there on my own, i still have BP issues. 5 years ago, i was able to get down to 218, but no lower than that. And now im back up to 246 again.I just dont know if this is right for me. I have a very physically demanding job which requires me to drink Water very often to hydrate. My concern is that I wont be able to hydrate properly after my surgery because i can only sip water. I need to be able to drink at least 1 liter of water per day on my demanding job. (One liter is 2 regular bottles of water)…. How did you all who are water drinkers overcome your water intake and hydration issues for those who must drink water as a necessity because of their physical demanding job? Also, did anyone who is my height 5’8 - 5’9 get surgery around 230- 240 pounds? What was your results? What did doc say?

[ChunkCat 678]

Congrats on your appointment tomorrow! Good luck!

I can't comment experience wise because I haven't has surgery yet and my BMI is MUCH higher than yours, but most insurance companies will cover weight loss surgery if you have a BMI of over 35 and a co-morbidity. It sounds like you have a few co-morbidities so you should be good!

One liter of Water sounds very doable after the first few days of recovery, so that should be easy for you to do with frequent drinking by the time you can go back to a physically demanding job. You may not be able to gulp it, but you should be able to drink it at regular intervals between meals just fine...

[New To This23 102]

3 hours ago, ReadybutScaredALittle said:

People will then look at me, maybe even the doctor who i have no met yet and say, “oh you look good, you dont need surgery”, I am afraid to start the process and have any kind of hiccups… I know how to “look slender” in certain clothes but to be honest, i need to be back to my 180 size. It’s better for my blood pressure and sleep apnea. At 230 pounds if I get there on my own, i still have BP issues.

They will not go by looks at all, they will go by what the scale says and your BMI and medical history. sleep apnea with high BP and a BMI of 35 will still qualify you for surgery. Once in the program, you will get the surgery unless you change your mind. Now if your BP goes down to normal and your sleep apnea disappears and your BMI goes below 35 your insurance may no longer consider you to be a candidate, and you might not feel like one either at that point. But I don't know about that for sure. This surgery will make it a lot easier to maintain and to keep those promises to yourself about staying on track and not letting your weight spiral, if you use this tool correctly.

[BeanitoDiego 119]

3 hours ago, ReadybutScaredALittle said:

How did you all who are Water drinkers overcome your water intake and hydration issues for those who must drink water as a necessity because of their physical demanding job? Also, did anyone who is my height 5’8 - 5’9 get surgery around 230- 240 pounds? What was your results? What did doc say?

I am like you, I need to drink a LOT of water. Before surgery, it was nothing for me to drink 80 oz. or more of water every day. I'm 6 days post-op with RYGB and the most water I've been able to directly drink is 56 oz. in one day. I'm still on a liquid diet, and that's definitely helping me get more water in. From what I understand, as time goes on we are able to drink more normally than we can right after surgery.

I started with a consult back in December of 2022. I'm 5'10, and always hovered around 250-260. I could focus on food and exercise and could never break 230. I also have been able to find flattering clothes and seemed to be able to "carry my weight well," like you, too.

As of yesterday, I was down to 220 from my highest weight ever at 276 a few years ago. When I saw that number, I could actually imagine being below 200 for the first time in my adult life, and I got emotional.

I don't wanna tell you what to do, but going in for a consult might help you make your decision. My program and insurance required me to be on a medically supervised diet for at least 6 months before surgery. And I had to prove that I could lose at least a bit of weight by tracking my food intake, taking nutrition education classes, and basically having them monitor my progress with an app on my phone. They were able to get Wegovy for me to jump start my weight loss, and I was at 224 the night before I went in for surgery. I weighed 263 when I began the program.

Hope some of this helps, and I truly wish you good luck as you learn more!

[catwoman7 10,867]

I drink a ton of Water - and have been able to for a long time. It's really just the first few weeks that it can be an issue.

[Arabesque 6,486]

I still pretty much still sip all day long 4 yrs out & I easily get in about 2 litres a day. It’s all about establishing new habits. Sip regularly - some find setting a timer helpful. Sip to a routine - e.g. I sip when I get in my car & when I get out & sip at every traffic light. Also sip during the night - e,g, I sip every time I get in or out of bed (which is often because of the peeing) so get in another good cup at night. You’ll work out strategies that work best with your job & in your life.

Yes it is a little harder in the beginning, much like hitting your Protein goal. but it gets easier. And remember, your shakes & Soups in your post op liquid stage all count towards your fluids goal.

We all should be aiming to drink 2 litres of Water (liquids) a day to keep us well hydrated, or more if physically active, it’s summer or live in a hot climate, regardless of having surgery or not.

[summerseeker 1,852]

As a few others have said, for the first few days everyone struggles to meet their liquid goals. You will have a very swollen stitch line and until that settles, tiny sips are the only way to go.

This is big surgery and you will need some time away from work to rest and recuperate. Good luck

[ms.sss 14,679]

i think i only sipped Water for maybe 2 weeks max. then one day just forgot to sip and guzzled down a whole bunch of water and was like: !!

haven't had issues with drinking any amount of liquids since (i'm almost 5 years post)

[Breaking notsobad 56]

Hello @Readybutscared I am similar in size to you 5'7 1/2" and currently 240 pre-surgery. My DS Loop surgery is schedule for 9/19. I guess we''ll see how it turns out. Of course I am nervous. I'm 68 years old. I feel like I should have looked into the WL surgery years ago. I've struggled with weigh for over 50 years. Like you I hide my weight well and don't appear to be obese. As I have gotten older I have developed weight related complications requiring medications; GERD, high blood pressure and recently type II diabetes.

As I said we'll see how this works out. I'm tired of being a fat guy and want to see what it's like to have a normal weight my remaining 25-30 years. I enjoy bicycling. I told my surgeon try riding carrying an 80 lb. bag of cement.