Bronxbubbles

The before pic is from the day before surgery and the after pic was a couple months short of a year out. I'm 105lbs down and I'd like to take off 50 more. I'm almost 14 months out.

I was sleeved Dec 3rd as well and I am struggling with getting all my protein in as most if not all food grosses me out. I'm not complaining about having no hunger but I don't want to become malnourished either. I stalled my second week for 10 days, but things picked up again and so far i have lost 31 pounds. I find that my weight loss slows or stops when I'm not getting my protein or fluids all in... But it's so hard sometimes with eating being such a chore. No vomiting yet but that's probably because I'm not eating. I'm sure your weight loss will pick up, if you're following plan then it HAS to. Just remember, slow and steady wins the race! I wish you continued luck on your journey.

Hi everybody! Just a little note to let all my peeps know that at approximately 11:00am yesterday I joined the sleeve ranks! So far so good. Fresh out of surgery I was in extreme pain but as I was wheeled to recovery and given a pain med pump, that began to subside. Definitely the worst hour of my post op life so far. As of right now im feeling sore but good. Just finished my required walk around the unit (every six hours I must do this) and now I want to rest but not before giving everybody on this site a huge cyber hug and "thank you" for being so kind and supportive through this whole process. Cause of you guys I was fully educated and prepared to take the leap. Thank you all so so much!!

I also have UHC Choice Plus PPO. When I reviewed my benefits online, it actually didn't say anything about bariatric surgery, so I called them directly and they were the ones that told me it was covered... Have you tried calling UHC direct (the number on the back of your insurance card)??

I had this same conversation with my NUT at my last appointment and this is what she said to me: The reason the gummy Vitamins taste so much better than other chewable vitamins is because they often leave out the vitamins, or don't put enough of the vitamins that don't taste good. The main one she pointed out to me was Thiamin which allegedly tastes pretty gnarly. Now- I hate to be wrong, so before replying to this I looked up the nutrition information of the Vitacrave gummies, Vitafusion gummies and the Flintstones complete vitamins online, and wouldn't you know- the gummies don't contain Thiamin, while the Flintstone complete contains 107% Thiamin. So that being said, I'm assuming the reason they don't recommend the gummy vitamins is because we're not getting all the vitamins we need. Now of course- I only looked up 3 different brands, and it is quite possible that there is some gummy Vitamin out there that might contain Thiamin... and some chewables that don't... but to make my life easier, I just bought the Flintstones Complete ones. I haven't tasted them yet- as I'm trying to finish the two large containers of gummy vitamins that I bought before clarifying all this info with my NUT. Hope this helped!! -Bubbles

High heels (without my feet and ankles hurting after 5 minutes)

Mine does have the 6 month requirement...

I also just began therapy. As a general rule, I've never been a fan of therapy, but that's my own personal opinion. There is no reason to be scared- the therapist is there to listen and provide an unbiased third party insight- not judge or make you feel bad or weird about the things you may be feeling. As much as I don't like therapy, I have to admit that sometimes it feels good to just let my hair down and curse and cry and just let it all out. My biggest problem is leaving the office with puffy crying eyes after I'm done with a session. It's like I just walk in the office and start bawling, LOL. I say go for it. It will be beneficial after the surgery and for life in general. Good Luck!!

Ok, so I'm gathering all my documentation showing that I've had a BMI over 40 for the past 5 years. This should be easy considering that I've been over 40 BMI since 2005... However, after I received the records from my Dr's office, I realized that I did not have any weights recorded for the years 2009 and 2011. I have official records from 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, and 1012. I also have pictures of me for the two missing years but the photographs don't have dates. I was thinking maybe I can show screen shots of the pictures on Facebook showing the dates that they were uploaded, but this is far from an "official record". My little sister graduated in 2011 and I have pictures from that too- so I was thinking a photo of me with her in graduation garb plus a copy of her diploma with the graduation date on it might be SOMETHING. I know these ideas are far fetched but I don't know what else to do!! Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

You're very welcome and good luck to you!!

I'm sure you'll be fine. I mean, those of us who suffer from depression always have bouts of it here and there, but if you're taking your meds, and your PCP is monitoring you, I think you'll be ok. I was lucky, I see a psychiatrist monthly who takes care of my medication management so he did my psych eval for me. One thing he did say which made a lot of sense is that part of the reason I'm depressed is BECAUSE of my weight, so he's thinking that surgery might actually help me in the area of depression. Another thing he did say to me is that I MUST go to therapy (I absolutely loathe therapy and have been avoiding it for the past 15 years of my life) because major surgery (no matter what kind) often causes depression on top of the regular depression you're already dealing with. Now add to that the fact that this is life changing weight loss surgery and I can understand how it could send us into a tailspin of emotions. I would recommend seeing a therapist- not forever but maybe for a couple of months leading up to and after the surgery (which is what I am doing)- It would show that you are being proactive in your mental health and it may benefit you in the long run.

I also suffer from major depression since the age of 15 and my Psych noted that I was stable enough for surgery. As long as your depression is well managed- you should be ok... especially if you see a psychiatrist or psychologist/therapist on a regular basis.