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So I had a stall. An eight-week-long stall. And I'm pretty close to my goal weight, so I figured maybe this was it... they say N% of your excess body weight, and I'm way past that N%, so this must be it, right? I know it seems early (seven months out), but maybe my body's reached its new set point. Yay, no more meds, yay, normal sized clothing from the middle of the size range, not the top end and oh please God let it fit. So I bought a bunch of new clothes. I've been wearing hand-me-downs and Goodwill thrifting specials for months now, and I wanted some new clothes. I had some belts made, too. Finally I can start to look like an adult! Ha. Ha ha ha ha ha. My body decided, over the last week and a half, to lose NINE POUNDS. The clothes I bought are too big. Fortunately some of them still have the tags so I can exchange them. But I guess I needed to do this in order to get things moving again. LOL.

I'm 6 months post op this week. Surgery day, I weighed 310 and this week I was 245 - so minus 65lbs in 6th months and it feels surreal! I'm also down 87lbs from my heighest weight last May (trying to push for an even 90 by the time my "Get serious about weight loss" anniversary rolls around). What an accomplishment in and of itself! But as many of y'all know, a lot of this goes beyond the scale, so I'm about to talk about labwork and measurements! Labwork/Blood Health I ran comprehensive pre-op, simple 3 month, and comprehensive 6 month labs. Here are those results! Pre-Op Vitamin D was a dismal 15. I've taken a daily 5,000 supplement since starting vitamins and I'm now close to 70. Normal Range. A1C went from 6.1% pre-op to 5.4% six months out. Normal Range. Pre-diabetes off the table. Fasting Glucose went from 121 pre-op to 103 at 3 months to 80. Normal Range Cholesterol (total) went from 265 to 226 to 221. From high to borderline, but vastly improved. LDL from 195 to 166 to 153. From high to borderline high. All other labs were normal range prior to and post op. Added blood health bonus: Taken off my Blood Pressure Medication completely. Measurements (in inches) Waist from 50 to 39.5 Right Thigh from 36.25 to 28.75 Left Thigh from 36.5 to 26.75 Hips from 69 to 52.5 Right Bicep from 18.5 to 14.5 Left Bicep from 18.25 to 14.25 Chest from 49.5 to 40 Neck from 15.25 to 13.5 Roughly a size 3x/4x, 22-26W to a about a 1x/2x, 14-16W Moving Forward I'm looking forward to what the future holds. I'm so happy with my progress so far! We often get hung up on the scale, but there is SO much more at play here. Be sure to track all your progress!

Hey everyone, Hope you're all doing well! So, I kind of just need to vent for a bit. I know everyone's experience is different and only my Doctor and Surgeon can give medical insight, but I'm hoping someone may have been in a similar situation as I am. So, before I could schedule a surgery date I had to do all the tests. The last step (which I now wish was the first step), was my blood panel. All results came back good, except the blood panel. The results returned showing that my Vitamin D, B12 and folic acid are all low. Easy enough to fix with a supplement. It also showed the my cholesterol was low, so my Doctor said to make sure I am eating healthy fats (avocados, nuts, fish, etc). *Possible TMI --> She also wants me to get an intravaginal ultrasound as she found heightened testosterone levels and yeast in my urine. Ultimately, she wants to rule out PCOS (which was ruled out in my teens, but that was roughly 20 years ago) But then she went on to explain that my A1C test (blood sugar test that shows my average over 3 months) was at a 10, while normal is 5.6 or less. With this number, it constitutes as Type 2 Diabetes. Because I have never had issues with this before, she is requesting that I wear a glucose monitoring device (in arm) for 2 weeks and begin a weekly injection called Trulicity. Apparently Trulicity will help lower my blood sugar levels, but also could bring on weight loss as it decreases overall appetite. She is hoping to see improvements in the next 3 months, but until then will not issue the clearance. I understand it is important for me to be healthy as my body will need all it can to heal post-surgery, but I am truly discouraged. 1. I'm angry at myself that I let things get this bad. 2. I'm worried that all my other tests will become null and void, since I'm fairly certain they are only valid for 6 months. Most were done in March and with having to wait at least 3 months - it's really cutting it close. 3. Has anyone been in a similar situation? If my numbers don't come down, does that mean surgery is out of the question? I appreciate the listening ears and any input or advice! Thank you and hope everyone has a wonderful Easter weekend.

Congratulations! That is awesome news and keep up the good work!

My surgery is on the May 9th and I have been asked to start the diet on the 25th of this month. I think I have gone overboard with the shakes, Soups and Bars by Optifast. I Have also bought items for the week afterward. Sugar free jellies and purees and sugar free popsicles. I have also invested in Tasteless protein powder to ad to drink and foods. My spare room looks like a shop. 😃 I figure that I can continue to use these products after the surgery. I am like you. I am worried about the two weeks liquid diet more than the surgery. I am going to makes sure that I take advantage of what I have bought. I suppose our focus is on the OP at the moment rather than the journey afterwards. Good Luck to us Diva.

Suggestion - Pray it's late, lol. I mean just regular late, not a pregnancy scare. But all joking aside, I've always scheduled my surgeries around it. So it's never happened to me personally. I'm sure it happens a lot. Nurses are used to dealing with this. But I do know they won't let you use tampons during surgery, due to the risk of TSS and probably other infection risks. But when you're awake and ambulatory I think they'll let you use tampons. I think they provide some sort of pad for surgery, and they will change it as needed during surgery. It's nothing to worry about if it does actually happen on your surgery date. Oh and be thankful for the good pain meds you'll get after surgery that will help with the cramps!

Before my company switched to BCBS of Illinois I had Cigna. They are FANTASTIC about approving things as long as it's medically necessary. For example, I have MS. I take 4 medications for it. ONE of them (Tecfidera) is $8,900 per MONTH. As soon as they had the docs on file that I have MS, they covered it no questions asked with just a $10 copay. My other 3 meds total $3300 per month. Same thing. They also covered my 6 x-rays (3 with and 3 without contrast) every 6 months, no questions asked, because they are needed for my MS. So if your surgeon submits everything to them and lets them know it's medically necessary, I can almost guarantee it'll be covered no problem.

Others have given you great advice. I will just say that your taste buds are likely to change after surgery. I literally couldn't eat fast food even if I wanted it—I tried it once and got two bites into a burger and was all "BLEH" and refused to eat any of it. Now if only my body rejected cheese popcorn...

Before surgery, I was put on clear liquids for one day, and NPO (nothing by mouth) after midnight the day of surgery. I was also given a bottle of CHG (chlorhexidine gluconate, a strongly antiseptic wash) and told to wash twice with a washcloth and plenty of it. It made my skin feel "slippery". The night before surgery, a nurse called to go over things with me and ask questions about allergies, etc. She also answered questions I had (and I had a lot). The day of surgery, I reported to the hospital. I'd done all my check-in paperwork before so just had a few minutes at reception/intake. Then I was sent to a waiting room, given a brain-swab Covid test, and called when my slot in the OR was ready. I changed into that super sexy gown, was washed again, and my stomach was shaved (I'm a dude). They gave me some pills, including an anti-nausea medication and some Tylenol. They also put a seasickness patch behind my ear. I met the surgeon, who asked a bunch of questions, then the priest (just pro forma), then the anesthesiologist, with more questions. They started an IV in me. My fiancé was allowed to stay with me as my "interpreter" since I am hard of hearing and have trouble communicating with masks. I was rolled out and in the operating theatre there were the anesthesiologist, his resident, the surgeon, his resident, two nurses. I had given permission for my operation to be broadcast to medical students (how will we get new doctors unless we let new doctoral candidates see what they need to know?) so there was a camera. The anesthesia was started and the next thing I knew I was in my recovery room with my fiancé by my side. I was EXTREMELY sleepy and kept nodding off. There was food brought but I only managed a few sips and actually fell asleep with my spoon in the broth. I was discharged twelve hours after I arrived and went home and slept.

This makes me super hopeful since I also have BCBS IL Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App