duckydoom

@@KristenLe that's how I see it I was given the opportunity to choose any Tuesday from October 25th on, and it seemed like the most poetic "new beginning" way that I could do it

Two days after my 33rd birthday. It's gonna be kind of a bummer being on the liquid diet during my normal time of celebration, but it will be so awesome to see myself on my 34th birthday and all of the progress I plan on making!

I have two very dear friends who had it done about 5 or 6 years ago. Being able to talk to both of them has been so beneficial for me to keep me motivated and excited for surgery. When I start to get freaked out about the process they both talk me down, and they're great examples of how well it can go. Sent from my VS990 using the BariatricPal App

@@KristenLe I think the visit with my family this weekend really solidified that. In the hour and a half drive back after dropping my mom off all I wanted to do was stop at Krispy Kreme and eat the tears away. I'm proud of myself because I called my husband instead and planned a healthy dinner to pick up ingredients for. I can definitely use as much help as I can get with coping mechanisms for after surgery

@@KaiserKid Thank you - and best of luck to you as well! Psychologist emailed me back on Friday and said he is clearing me for bariatric surgery, but that I absolutely need to follow up with him to discuss the rest of the results. I initially was a bit annoyed since I knew that was coming and I've literally had years of therapy... then I spent the weekend with my bipolar mother and grandfather and was like OK I WILL TOTALLY HAVE MORE COUNSELING lol. I'm pretty sure the remainder of the results are going to highlight my neurotic tendencies, and depression. The upside is that he really did seem to notice that I've come a long way and things could have been much worse than they are

I'm over back and hip pain, and being super skilled at hiding that I'm out of breath after 2 flights of stairs. That shouldn't be a skill anyone is proficient at, unless you're a ninja trying to protect your cover.

I took the MMPI yesterday and I'm actually fairly eager to see the results. Doc said he would go ahead and review the results today and forward them to the surgeon's office so we can hopefully get the ball rolling a bit quicker, and then we follow up on the 31st.

I had the first part of my psych eval yesterday, and it went much better than I anticipated. As usual, I was over thinking things. The only thing he did do was gently remind me that he does 1:1 sessions as well (LOL) and talk me down from a PTSD trigger. Today I go back and take the MMPI test (that 600-ish question monster) and then we follow up on the 31st for that. He said that I could email him and ask for a phone appointment to go over it so he could get it in before the 31st, so I may do that just so it gets me another week or so off of waiting. I wasn't expecting it to be a 3 parter to get it done, so that was overall the only disappointment.

Congrats! That's exciting have you talked to your surgeon yet? They will have all of the info for you on how to have a healthy pregnancy. Mine told me that he wants me to wait 18 months to make sure that I can get in enough nutrition for me and a potential baby, but said that it happens a lot where people get pregnant because your hormones etc are adjusting and it makes some people super fertile.

My husband has joked a few times about "WLS divorce" and has had a couple of moments where he's even admitted that he's scared I will get more attention and find someone better and leave him. 13 years of ups and downs and a really strong relationship and he still brings it up... so it's definitely a fear that our partners can have even in the healthiest of relationships. Having said though, I agree with some of the other comments on here - if your partner truly isn't like this on a normal basis, it's probably just really really strong insecurities manifesting themselves in the worst way. If he's been like this already and it's just getting worse now that you're doing something positive for yourself, @@Admanda you really DO deserve better, and your son deserves a good male role model, and a healthy example of what a relationship should be and how both parties should be treated respectfully. I'm glad that you're working to get everything together so that after surgery you can make that move. You'll find lots of support here. All the love and hugs and positivity to you...

@@ccraw106 when I had the lap band done I took 2 weeks off, and went back. I have an office job, so it was lots of sitting and not strenuous at all, but I was still pretty tired. If I could have had 3 weeks, that would be better. When I had the band removed, I only took 4 days (surgery was on a Tuesday) and I was back the following Monday. Again, still tired, but just fine. I would immediately go to sleep as soon as I got home for the first week or so after that, and then I gradually got back to my normal schedule. I'm looking at the sleeve now, and I would love to take 2 weeks off, but it will most likely be only one since that's all I can do PTO wise. (I'm trying to get it done before we switch insurance and deductibles etc renew at the beginning of the year) I still have the same office job, but at least I work from home now, so I can just go to sleep once I clock out if I need to. I would say take your current energy levels into consideration, and how well you recover from general illnesses.

as @@Bufflehead said, it really depends on your insurance coverage. For example - my plan covers bariatric surgery and is based on Medicare guidelines. This means with a BMI of 35-39.9 I would need at least one comorbidity from the list. With a BMI over 40 (which I now have), there are no comorbidities needed to qualify me, I just have to complete the other requirements of a nutrition evaluation and a psych eval and then we can submit to my insurance for authorization. They still have the final word of course, but they base it on the Medicare standards. I am trying to get my surgery done before the end of the year when we are set to change to Kaiser, because they have additional classes and requirements to be approved. I have a friend who is looking at the surgery, and her plan excludes anything related to bariatric surgery, even if it will help alleviate other life threatening conditions, and it specifically calls that out. In her situation, we are looking at grants through WLSFA to see if we can have her approved there - to do that you need a referral/recommendation from a surgeon at a certified bariatric center of excellence, and luckily we have one local to us. Of course there is always Mexico, and from what I understand (which is very limited, I haven't looked as I am trying my insurance first) they don't really have the BMI limitations that insurance companies do. If you have serious health issues that would prevent you from safely undergoing the surgery, any surgeon would want to resolve that prior to even considering it. Family history doesn't guarantee that you'll have the issues, so if you don't have them now it (in theory) shouldn't be an issue. Definitely talk to your insurance though, get to know your coverage! Then get an appointment with a surgeon and talk to them about your health concerns and see if you are even a candidate to be approved at this point. Good luck!

you look absolutely amazing! you're beautiful in both pictures, but the best part is your smile in the after

@@Qwalla thank you <3 when I had the lap band done I just remember that in my psych eval the doc was really annoyed that I was "so young" and getting it done and basically made me promise to go to al-anon and therapy, but I don't remember the questions. When I went in to the eating disorder clinic I had the hundreds of questions booklet and a pretty in depth analysis after that - I'm a perfectionist, type a, etc.