makemyownluck

I think I'll always be fat. I'm actually okay with that. I was near 500lbs when I started this journey. My physical ability was nearly non-existent. Had I not had my sleeve, I would probably need motorized cars at stores at this point. I've lost over 150lbs. My lowest weight was 317 at 2 years post op, and then.... I got pregnant! See, life changed completely after my sleeve. Read my blog entry in it's entirety here: http://www.bariatricpal.com/blog/8722/entry-35067-i-think-ill-always-be-fat/

I think I'll always be fat. I'm actually okay with that. I was near 500lbs when I started this journey. My physical ability was nearly non-existent. Had I not had my sleeve, I would probably need motorized cars at stores at this point. I've lost over 150lbs. My lowest weight was 317 at 2 years post op, and then.... I got pregnant! See, life changed completely after my sleeve. I had been perpetually single for 5+ years during the prime of my life - late 20s - early 30s. I got sleeved, after months of depression thinking my life would never be what I wanted if I didn't lose weight. I wanted a good man. I wanted children. I had no confidence in myself that I could have that because I was fat. I see now how really sad that is, and how hard I was on myself. So, I started dating (a LOT, embarrassing to think about, actually) and eventually got set up on a blind date with G and the rest... is history. Except that his past is complicated and not quite in his past completely - and now we live together, have 50/50 custody of his 7 year old daughter and I JUST HAD MY FIRST BABY in May. More on that, later. It's really quite incredible how life has changed! My body is a wreck. I already had loose skin so I didn't even look pregnant during my pregnancy... not even THE DAY I gave birth to a 9 lb baby boy! But I reread my entry from right after surgery and the same has held true - I'm so amazed and impressed with what my body can do. I survived being severely obese, I survived high blood pressure, surgery, gestating a baby, having a c-section - and I feel great (for a 35 year old FTM of a newborn). I'm still working on turning over a leaf I started turning when I had surgery. Nearly 2 1/2 years have gone by and I still have a long way to go if I ever want to be on that "Overweight" BMI category. But I don't care. I'm working on losing weight after having a baby with the same attitude as post-op. I want my life to be better. Now my goal is a little different: I want to be the best mom and play with my baby. *who just woke up!* No one is perfect. Some bodies are bigger than others. I'm okay with being the best I can be, whatever that may be. Back on the ride to get my body moving again! Pregnancy is hard, but that's no longer an excuse. My baby is going to have me running after him soon enough, I'd better prepare for that! Let's see just how far I can go for my son.

stress eating is so hard to control. get rid of unhealthy foods from your house so that when you need to stress eat all you have on hand is carrots or cottage cheese or something that is good for you! I hope things get better with your family. Also, look into a gym with child care. My gym has it, it's only $3/hr! Plus the gym I go to is part of the park district so I can take my 6 year old and she can shoot hoops or walk the track for free. I'll use the childcare for my baby on the way.

As long as you're not carrying her to the appointment, you should be fine

I took 2 weeks. I could have gone back by 1 week, but would have been pretty exhausted. I do office work sitting all day also, so it's not difficult, but you are still in some pain which is draining. It depends on your pain tolerance and medication tolerance. I was given hydrocodone syrup for pain and it would make me very sleepy. So if I had gone back at one week post op, I would have not been very productive! I took two because that's all I was getting paid for with leave. I had STD benefits, but I didn't anticipate needing much MORE time than that and going through those hoops for maybe an extra week at much less pay just didn't seem worth it to me.

Oh honey, I'm so sorry this happened to you. I would definitely report this to the hospital management, it is so unprofessional and unnecessary for anyone to treat you that way. Ever. Especially in a medical setting. I feel awful that you wanted to "justify" your body, saying you were getting sleeved, as if you were "fixing" yourself. Our bodies are all made differently and our scars are the badges of what we have been through. For this person to take your attempt to gain empathy from her and turn it into MORE shame, is despicable and she should not have her job. Period. Please report this. Spare someone else a similar agony. The hospital will have record of who tended to you that day, even if you don't remember her name. If you write a letter, include any physical description you can of her to assist them in finding out who treated you like that. Most hospitals will send out random surveys for their patients. Most hospitals ARE interested in knowing when things like this happen because they are, in addition to medical providers, a business. A business is only as valuable as it's reputation. I've got my share of scars, from my sleeve and other things. Body pride isn't something I have exactly, but I don't want to be ashamed of it, either. I try my best to avoid that. All those scars are reminders of your strength and what your body can recover from. Please let this experience let you think less of HER, not of yourself. You've done nothing wrong. You've survived.

I really hope they can find an option for you!!! I'm honestly shocked that they didn't confirm your coverage BEFORE starting the process. I mean, each insurance has different requirements, I would *think* they would need to confirm what your specific plan required to be approved, at which time they'd know it wasn't covered. It's not unheard of to get some of it covered when you're having other medically necessary surgery. Instead of making you have 2 surgeries, they will just bill your insurance for the anesthesia and meds and you'll pay for the procedure portion of the WLS. This actually happens a lot. For example: You have a major medical plan that doesn't include dental coverage. You need oral surgery for a tooth abscess. They don't pay for the surgery because it's not a covered benefit, but because you have an infection, they can pay the anesthesia portion. Or, you want a tummy tuck. Your plan doesn't cover abdominoplasty because it's considered cosmetic. BUT if you have low hanging skin that causes rashes/infections, that could be covered for a paniculectomy (removal of skin only, not tightening of ab muscles which is what makes it different from abdominoplasty). So they approve the paniculectomy and you pay extra for the "tummy tuck" cosmetic portion, which is minimal because the majority is covered under the insurance for OR, supplies, etc.

2 nights. It was only supposed to be one night, but I reacted badly to anesthesia and they wanted to monitor my heart. I was okay, but immediately after coming off the anesthesia, my heart rate dropped to 35 and didn't come back up right away. I slept for most of the first day because of that. I had to be evaluated by a cardiologist... I mean, they came to take me for the leak test and I was in so much pain but literally fell asleep while drinking the liquid. The radiologist was holding me up to drink it and I momentarily passed out, he was so shocked!! Once the anesthesia completely wore off on day two, I was fine. I was moving around (slowly!) and walking the halls okay, so the doc said stay one more night and we'll let you go in the morning if all goes well. Everything was good and I was released the next morning. I'm not sharing my story to scare anyone!! It's impossible to know how your body will react to anesthesia, even when you've had it before. According to my doc, it wasn't even weight related - could have contributed, but that people have reactions like that all the time. The important thing is a fast recovery!

I'm 34 and having my first. In the past in my 20s, I had tried to get pregnant and failed, never saw a doc about it because I just knew it was weight related. Kinda gave up on having kids... I had surgery in May 2013, was pregnant in September 2014, so about 16 months post op. Wasn't trying, but was only using 'pull out' method for birth control because I still had a lot of weight to lose and really just thought at this point in my life I couldn't get pregnant! So, it was unexpected, but we are really happy about it. I'm 37 weeks now and expecting a BOY at the end of this month. I'm super excited! Everything has been great with the pregnancy, too. No complications for me.

I found out I was pregnant in September last year, so I was about 16-17 months post op. I'm 37 weeks pregnant now and just had my 2 year anniversary of surgery on May 2nd. My symptoms were just a missed period. I tracked my period religiously on an app on my phone, so when I still hadn't gotten it on the day it should have ENDED, I took a pee-test and was positive. I wasn't trying to get pregnant, but the only "birth control" we used was the pull out method, which obviously isn't a good method, lol. I'm 34 and this is my first, I really didn't think I'd ever have children because of my weight in the past. So I'm glad that I was able to conceive without the stress of TRYING to conceive! I literally had my last period on my 34th bday and cried that night, thinking "I'm never going to have children, it's too late for me now..." something in my mind said if I didn't have a child before turning 35, I never would. So turning 34 was bittersweet because I felt like my time was up, and I was finally getting to a point in my life where I WANTED children. Well... those tears were heard by someone, because the next time I ovulated, I got knocked up!

I'm 37 weeks and don't look pregnant at all. I just look like I regained weight. I mean, my tummy is solid now, but still shaped like a fat gut, not a round baby belly. Bright side: No strangers ever ask to touch/rub my belly or make pregnancy related comments!

I just had my 2 year surgiversary on May 2nd and I'm currently 37 weeks pregnant. This is my first baby, and it's a boy! I'm so excited. So far everything has been great, but I'm considered "high risk" because of my surgical history and weight at pregnancy. I lost a lot with the sleeve but am still obese because I had a lot to lose. It makes me mad to still be pigeon-holed due to my weight when my bp has been fantastic, bw is all great and I passed THREE diabetes screenings (yes, they made me repeat them despite normal results and NO history of diabetes ever!!!!) I've had to see specialists, get extra u/s, extra EVERYTHING, only to be told that I'm doing well and baby is growing perfectly. I mean, good news is GOOD NEWS, but it's also very frustrating and stressful to manage all this unnecessary medical care. Take my weight out of the equation and I'm having a PERFECT pregnancy!

I'm currently 37 weeks pregnant and I would say my appetite is nearly pre-op capacity. It's frustrating, but I know I can focus on losing when I have the baby. Now isn't the time to restrict myself, my baby needs to grow. My NUT and I are still in touch and she said that I should just increase to an extra shake and add in healthy fats like avocado and nuts while I'm breastfeeding. Of course, I have no idea if that will be enough at this point! Another reason women are so hungry when breastfeeding is because we are dehydrated. Drink more water! It will help your milk supply as well. Congrats on your babies, ladies!

I don't know what to call "the 300s". There's the cute names TWOterville and ONEderland, but no similarly cutesy name for the 300s. Some people DO want to celebrate that!! LIKE ME! This morning, my scale said 397. That's a total of 62lbs lost since November 2012 high weight, and 20lbs lost since surgery 11 days ago. This feels so good. I'm succeeding! Hooray!

I'm 18 months post op and currently 10 weeks pregnant. Nowhere near my goal weight, but I was super obese to start... down 150lbs from surgery before finding out I was pregnant. Pregnancy wasn't planned. We used the "pull out" method, which obviously didn't work out so well. Side note: pre-surgery I was with someone else, we tried to conceive for over a year and it never happened. I never sought fertility treatment, but I'm almost certain it was weight related. Once you start to lose, your fertility goes up.

So where does a plus size woman get maternity clothes? I really don't have a budget... I'm still overweight, so maybe I won't show much? All my friends that I've witnessed be pregnant were normal weight woman, so they were showing within a few months of learning they were pregnant. I've still got excess weight and loose skin too, so I'm thinking I can shop just plain old bigger plus sizes and not need maternity? What do big ladies wear when they are pregnant? Any post op's that didn't make it to goal weight before getting pregnant have any suggestions on what to expect with my body?

I had my surgery 16 months ago, laparoscopic surgery - no complications. I also had a prior laparoscopic surgery to remove my gall bladder back in 2006. Does having prior laparoscopic abdominal surgery mean you HAVE to have a C-section? I'd love some feedback from any ladies who became mothers after their sleeves - did you have natural childbirth? If not, was the prior sleeve surgery the reason you couldn't give birth naturally? I really want vaginal delivery! Thanks for the feedback!

Well, I'm about 16 months post op and am pregnant. I recently turned 34. At that time, I had a bit of a melt down because I have no children and thought if I didn't have at least one before I was 35, I'd never have one at all. It was a tough pill to swallow. Less than a month after that meltdown, I realize that I am pregnant. My life situation is not ideal for being pregnant, but in spite of this, I'm thrilled. Here's my short list of obstacles: 1) my partner is married. He and I have been living together for a while, he has a 6 year old daughter with his wife, and they have been separated for over 3 years. Nonetheless, neither of them have been able to afford an attorney or agree on a settlement so they are, in fact, still married. 2) I'm uninsured. He's uninsured. Even if he had health insurance, I'm not his wife, so it's not likely that he could insure me anyway. 3) I've applied for public aid and got the temporary coverage, however I'm 99.999999% sure that I'm just over the income requirement to receive the actual coverage. I've got my first appointment on October 25. My temporary coverage will end October 31. I am so very worried about how I can afford to be pregnant - NOT TO MENTION afford to have a child. My circumstances aren't the greatest right now, but on the other side, I'm incredibly happy and feeling blessed to have a baby. I am really excited to be a mom! I haven't seen my surgeon in over a year because I lost my insurance shortly after being sleeved. I haven't seen my normal GP for the same reason, and my GP is a family physician so I never really have a gyne/ob because he could do my yearly paps. I feel like I don't have anyone to turn to. I'm taking OTC prenatals in place of my normal Multivitamin. Do I still take Vitamin D and B12? is Biotin safe? I think I'm okay as far as my diet, but I'm concerned with what Vitamins I should be taking... any advice until I can see a doctor?

I hear ya! I only have a 4 minute drive to work... and yet I'd STILL rather work from home! lol... Now that my office is "going paperless" I'm hoping to talk them into letting me work from home a few days a week.

I can attest that depriving yourself WILL make your hair fall out. I am the WORST at taking my Vitamins. THE. WORST. And my already thin hair is even thinner now... and breaking off as well. It feels like a dolls hair - thin, whispy... at this point, I don't know how to fix it! I have Biotin, was taking that regularly for the first 6-7 months post op, and still noticed the hair loss. Likely due to less Protein and nutrition than my body needs... still trying to "do the right things" since surgery... I've even noticed my thin eyebrows are thinner, and my nails are weaker as well. I can't grow them past my fingertips, they just flake off or break. Like I said, my hair was thin to start off with, so IDK that anyone else really notices the difference. I'm not bald or anything, but I can definitely tell that it's much thinner than it used to be. I use the small ponytail holders and have to wrap them around my hair 3-4 times... my step daughter's hair (she's 6) can barely be wrapped TWICE with those!

I wanna work from home!

Your body has to adjust... you just had a major surgery! I know the point of this surgery is to lose weight, but I still only get on the scale once a month. No point stressing yourself out by obsessing over that scale! It's just a number! If you keep doing what you're doing and stay on track, your body WILL catch up. I promise!

Thanks!

"life changing event" includes HAVING a baby, not getting pregnant. I looked into it.