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Just came back from a short holiday with my kids and woke up to a nice surprise this morning after retuning to my work place. I had to call my wife right away to share the good news. I'm officially below my goal weight of 70 kg with a "NORMAL" BMI. I was worried I was not going to hit the goal before the second surgery-versary in January 24 but I did it. Playing on all the rides in Legoland theme park and chasing my kids on the beach must have helped me lose the last stubborn 1 kg 🤣. Here is a before and after. Left was a few months before the surgery (pants size 52") and right was two days ago (pants size 29"). Look at those thighs! You never realize how huge you were until you compare the before and after photos.

People are losing excess weight at different speed, depending on many factors (tall, young guy or short, elderly woman?). It takes as long as it takes. Oh - and absolutely don't believe that bull about "windows of opportunity"! Weight loss doesn't magically stop at the x-months-post-surgery mark just like this. As long as you're in a calorie deficit you're going to continue to lose weight.

Yes, the cause is often, if not usually, a mystery. I ran into an Afib problem a couple of years ago about this time of year, though it didn't get picked up until a month or so later when I went in for a pre-op exam for cataract surgery, and we were discussing the moderate shortness of breath I was experiencing while swimming, considered different things it could be until she took a listen and "Oh, that's it... you're not doing surgery tomorrow. Let's do an EKG as see what's going on." She had me in to the cardiologist that afternoon (it usually takes weeks or months to get an appointment). He had me go to the ER that evening to get the medication dosing down right (we can do this the fast way in the ER or the slow way back and forth to my office over the next several weeks to get this down...) Once the basic heart rate was under control, it was a visit with the cardiac electrician (electrophysiologist) to look at resetting things more permanently. The good news is that while he was in there burning out the short circuits he noted that my arteries are nice and clear, and while things are not back to a normal sinus rhythm, it's not Afibbing consistently so I don't need to be on the expensive anticoagulants. Here's to them getting a better understanding of what's going on inside you so that you can get back to your planned life!

My gastric sleeve surgery date is 12/19/23 and would love to connect with others having surgery in December so that we can support each other on this journey. 😊

two hours post op!

I had a revision from vsg to bypass due to gerd over 2 years ago. I don't regret it. I'm sorry I waited so long. I don't know the future but up till now, it's been a very smooth transition.

Chunk Cat, Sorry to hear about Cigna! My HR department sent us a notice that Cigna is in negotiations with a hospital network in Boston and the hospital and their doctors may be out of network after January. I hope that it all works out for you!

I'm so happy to report that I have an appointment January 2 with the director of the new practice. When I spoke with the administrative person to make the appointment, she did make it sound likely that I would not have a lot of extra stuff to do since I was right at the end of the process before it got cancelled, just needing the routine pre-surgery tests and my insurance approval. I'm so sorry your insurance is being a pain about your in-network coverage. The whole in or out of network coverage is total BS. If they're a licensed doctor, they should be covered. Period. I have to say, the relief I felt when the HR person sent over the insurance benefit packet and I saw the logo of a very widely accepted insurance that is known to have good coverage is almost impossible to describe. This is sort of a long-term consulting gig for my husband, and I had nightmares that the consulting firm would be using crappy companies I'd never heard of to save some cash. Financially, I may end up coming out of this a little bit ahead, maybe $1500 less out of pocket. But I swear I'll spend that on hair dye to cover all the gray hair this ordeal is giving me! And I'm self-employed, so I can't just request a few weeks of vacation when the time comes. I'll need to do some major reworking of my schedule to accommodate the new date. As you said, is the head of the old hospital losing sleep over this? No, he is not. But it will work out, and this time next year I will be looking back on it and laughing. In that awkward way you laugh over things that are so not funny.

Buying clothes and shrinking out of them before I get to wear them. It's a bummer, but hey, it's a good problem.

Thanks for the advice guys! I'm already doing all those things. I get 60-90 grams of protein a day (I'm a DS patient so my protein requirement is higher), I am getting all my water in daily, I'm walking when I can, and doing anything physical that is safe for this stage of my healing. Truly, there is nothing I can do to break the stall. Stalls break when they are ready. This is my body recalibrating. It is discouraging but I'm trying to be patient. This is a marathon, not a sprint, and the body needs down time to rest and recover and recalibrate so we can move forward. The best thing I can do right now is stay the course so I don't give it anything new to have to adjust to! LOL I'm one month post op today!! So happy with that. My healing is going well. I'm still nauseous on and off, especially in the morning, but other than that I feel good. My incisions are almost invisible already. No more soreness in the muscles of my abdomen. I still can't lift much yet but I'm being very careful about that because I don't want a hernia. I can sleep on my side again. I'm getting the hang of estimating what portions of what foods I can eat without measuring cups. I still think anything resembling chicken breast is vile and dry and a concrete block in my tummy. But I can get all different sorts of protein drinks in now when I need them!! Aaaand my partner bought us an espresso machine for Christmas so I can have my favorite espresso drinks decaf with my high protein Fairlife milk!! That's true love man...