Felicia

I hate that! I have struggled with my weight all my life. I have always had to diet just to stay "obese". If they put me on a supervised diet after all the hoops I have jumped through I will seriously flip out. I had a BMI of 39 and co-morbids when I started this, they better leave me alone. Those dang insurance companies. Can't they leave us alone. What about people who are scamming welfare and food stamps? Isn't that a bigger story. Or people scamming unemplyment and disability? I mean seriously. Sorry I am on a rant now, it just makes me so mad.

That is awesome! I was also a huge Diet Pepsi drinker ( I am still pre-op) and now I find I can go thru a whole day without it. I have also noticed that when I drink diet soda I crave real carb-y foods. No one really knows how hard it is to kick the soda habit unless you are a fellow soda junkie LOL. Good for you, believe me when I say I know it's tough. Also, congrats on your surgery date! sounds like you are doing an awesome job!

Congrats! what an amazing accomplishment.

I did that, after my seminar. My BMI was 35, and not intentionally I ate myself to a BMI of 39. WOWZER! It was liberating. It was only the second time in my life where I could eat what I want and not diet. The other time being when I was pregnant and gained a whopping 80 pounds. Everybody reacts to things differently. I say enjoy it, but not too much. Try to limit yourself to one "treat" a day. You may find once you get approved they will tell you not to gain any weight so you may be cut off and under control at that point. Don't worry though you will be fine. One thing though all the weight you are gaining you will eventually have to lose again. Good Luck and keep us posted about your approval.

I have Illinois Medicaid, I have no idea if they are the same but here is what I had to do. So in order for you to get the surgery almost everything has to be on a "referral" basis. I called medicaid many times, they helped me little to absolutely none with anything. I went to my WLS seminar first to find out if they would take my Illinois medicaid, I got the packet and had to have my primary care doc refer me. Once my doc referred me the weight loss place took over. They referred me to numerous places. I have had blood work, sleep study, stress test, EKG, chest xray, there are more but I can't remember them all right now. Anyway, I felt I had no bad co-morbities either. I have depression, slight arthritis, and a long diet history but nothing huge, or so I thought. After getting my sleep study I found out I had CSA. Central sleep apnea, and also some scans said my arthritis is far worse than I thought. Point is you may have issues you don't know about. If I were you I would either change your doctor or start asking for testing to be done. The truth is you are in the range for surgery, you don't even need to have co-morbids to qualify, so if your doctor isn't going to help you then find a different doctor who will. I have had to change my doctor many times because sadly when you have medicaid most docs don't treat you well, or that is my experience. If you have a weight loss surgeon in mind you may want to try and call their office for help. They may be able to recommend a doc who takes medicaid who would be willing to refer you. Good Luck! Keep pushing forward and you will eventually get the sleeve, it's just gunna take time.

You look amazing, and in only 6 months! Keep up the good work!

That is so awesome.! Congrats!!

good luck both of you!!!!

Being carb sensitive sucks. LOL... So I have the cravings for carbs and then once I eat them I can't stop. THEN I also stall any weight loss for a few days. Its a big bunch of crap. Hopefully as I stick to this low carb diet I can maybe curb any and all of these issues, maybe not tho. Heres to hoping.

You look absolutely amazing!!!! Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful. Congrats on an ultimate NSV.

So they are actually real staples, at least that's what it sounds like. They aren't those dissolving ones.? I know with my C-section I had my stomach stapled but they all dissolved, I assumed it would work the same way but I guess not lol.

The previous list is really good, the one I had a hard time with was RTD. It means ready to drink. Thats the only one I didn't know when I started coming on this site.

We were just discussing this at my group meeting. I am still pre-op, but a lot of people there are post-op. Anyway I was watching a guy drinking Water and in one hour he drank 2 bottles of water, he was definetly gulping them. I don't think anyone can take big drinks right out of the gate, but maybe a couple months in you can drink normal. Some people have to take small sips longer than others, because everyone reacts differently. Overall though I would say after a good 4-5 months you should be able to drink pretty normally.

The liver sits somewhere on top of the stomach and has to be lifted and shifted suring surgery. The smaller the liver is the more out of the way it will be during the surgery. I doubt your liver is huge, especially if the test was fine. Most people have to go thru some type of pre-op diet to shrink the liver. I have been on mine since September 26th lol. I won't be having surgery until November or December, so don't worry you are fine. I get 4 Protein shakes a day and non-caloric liquids. You will be fine. The better you do on the diet, the easier time the surgeon will have with your liver. The diet should be low to no carbs and high protein. It is meant to put your body into ketosis and flush out the toxins. This is what my surgeon told me. Dealing with the pre-op diet is super hard. You have to only do it for a week so I recommend to just to stay busy busy busy. Good Luck.!

Good Luck! You are in my thoughts!

So this has been bugging me for some time and now I'm finally reaching out to see what everyone else thinks. My BF loves me I know he does I dont doubt that. Anytime I diet, especially this pre-op liquid Protein diet, he constantly reminds me I am not eating enough. ALL the time. Or he will say just eat this, it won't kill your diet and you will feel better. I tell him listen you might be right that one thing won't kill it but a lot of times having 1 leads to having 100 with me. I can't stop and I end up binging. He constantly berated me on my pre-op diet and finally I gave in on day 14 and had something bad for me. He was actually happy! Yes I was initially happy too, but then I felt horrible and guilty. He knows my feelings, I'm not the type that holds back anything, yet he does this to me everytime. Since that day I have been making numerous mistakes and screwing up. I am back on track today (Day 21 pre-op), which I told him about and said I wasn't going to falter this time no matter what. I'm starting to think he may be the reason I can't have success losing weight since having my daughter in July of 09. I do have will power, but after 14 days of berating a person I just eat it to shut him up. He tells me I'm not healthy, I'm going to get sick, and on and on and on. I think he does it for himself, not for me. If I feel better then he feels better. What he doesn't realize is how much eating that one thing makes me feel so bad inside. Maybe he does it because he feels guilty for eating good food in front of me, and just tries to convince me to eat it to reduce his guilt. He is skinny and has always been skinny, he has to actually make sure he eats enough to not lose weight. Does he feel like I'm not eating enough because he eats SO MUCH? I have no problem talking to him, but I don't know how to make him understand. He has gone to a support group meeting with me but he pissed me off and I asked him to not come anymore. All he did was make jokes and be immature the whole time. He is 30 and I am 26. I am almost sure he did it to make me ask him not to come anymore. Because when I told him how he made me feel, it's like he knew already. He has made comments like I am going to be a fox when I lose weight and that I will leave him. The other day I said I won't leave you because I'm hot I will leave you because you aren't supporting me through this process. That shut him up but only for the rest of the day. I have tried to explain to him how having my eating problems is like a drug addiction. He has had problems with drugs in the past and has gone to rehab for them. Long before I met him. I have said that him eating donuts or fast food in front of me is like me doing drugs in front of him. I don't do drugs, but I was trying to make him understand. He understood so much better after that for a little while, but then he went back to the same old things again. I don't want to always bring up his past drug addiction to make him understand because I don't think it's fair, but how else can I show him? What should I do ? How would you go about this? BTW he is the only person besides my mom that I have told about this surgery because I don't want the drama. I will tell everyone after the surgery if they ask but otherwise I want to keep it to myself. My entire family is overweight and they don't think I'm fat so all they do is try and talk me out of things that have to do with weightloss. Any comments are helpful because I'm really at a loss. I know this is long so Thank You for reading.

I'm just going to put up with him for now. When he goes to Mcdonalds when I am in the car and asks what I want, I say nothing thanks. He sometimes keeps going and now I just ignore him. It's not easy but really what is. If I can deal with his crap plus getting sleeved around the holidays everything else will be super easy lol. Thanks for your comments though its nice to know at least I am not alone. I actually asked him after I wrote this post what the deal was. He said nothing. So I went on to say well you are either scared about the surgery, trying to sabotage me, or you just don't understand weight loss at all. Maybe all of the above. Then I went on to tell him I am going to do this no matter what and that it is important to me. He has been better since then, not great but better. He might catch on and he might not. Either way I am doing this for me, and I'm not turning back now.

I agree with Sonja. Also, of all the people who have come out about WLS no one talks bad about them. Just good for them, glad they are healthy. So why wouldn't the other celebs just tell, they wouldnt have anything to lose. Not to mention with the way people are nowadays someone would rat these celebs out if they had weight loss surgery. A nurse or a doc or someone. So yeah I think they are legit.

Congrats !!! I dont have my date yet but the Doc thinks it should be before the end of the year. Good Luck !!

I don't think people realize they are offending you, or if they do they are jealous and being nasty. Either way who cares right? Your happy and only you will know when you have finished losing weight, not them.

It's true. I find that if I don't drink enough Water one day I will weigh in heavier the next day from retention. If I drink enough and stay hydrated I lose weight faster. Plus water helps push out the nasties in your body from losing weight. BONUS! lol They also put you on the liquid Protein diet to shrink your liver, not just to hydrate you. At least that's what my surgeon said.

Haven't we all enjoyed enough holidays and the foods/festivities that revolve around them. Isn't that what got us into this boat in the first place, making something revolve around food instead of other things. Sounds harsh but it is true. Maybe your focus is not the food part but actually instead the family part. You should be feeling well enough to be around your family, you just wont be eating what they're eating in the quantity that they are eating it. Which you will have to get used to eventually anyways. My surgeon estimated I should be having surgery sometime between Mid-November and Mid-December, I wouldn't trade it for the world. It is the ultimate test, because if I can get thru the holidays with mine and my BF's family (who revolve everything around food) then I can get thru anything. Plus as an added bonus like you said, skinnier for the summer. That is so worth it to me. Giving up one Thanksgiving and one Christmas to be thinner and healthier for the next summer and the holidays that follow has no contest to not having the surgery this year just to eat holiday foods and hang out with my family. I will still be hanging out with my family but I will be eating chicken broth and relaxing a lot more. They will be eating Turkey, sledding, and building snowmen. As a side note I will most likely be cooking a lot of holiday dishes too, but it doesn't matter to me. I am too determined to put it off now. You should do the surgery sooner rather than later, JMHO.

Maybe you should think about switching your Protein drinks. I haven't tried muscle milk but maybe you just need something else. Is muscle milk a Protein Drink or a protein meal repacement, because that is really important. You won't be getting the neccesary nutrients and Vitamins to survive for long on the pre-op diet unless you are drinking a Meal Replacement. Besides that just talk to your Dr, they know we aren't super human and are usually nice about things. You are not a failure at all. Lemme tell ya, you are cheating and eating veggies that's a good thing! Most people, including me, do not cheat and eat veggies. I started my pre-op diet on 9/26 this year and fell off the wagon after 14 days. I cheated BAD. Mcdonalds, sodas, ice cream, you name it I stuffed it in my mouth for days. Don't get me wrong I was good all day then at night I was so weak and frustrated I would eat these things but still NOT GOOD for me. I am back on the wagon again after learning from my mistakes. I am confident the Dr. will make you feel better about everything. He/She may not like that you have to eat something but there is nothing wrong with it, especially vegetables. You are doing amazing, you have lost 19lbs. Make sure the veggies are non-starchy. Usually the pre-op diet is to shrink the liver and make surgery easier. That's why I say non-starchy veggies, because they won't mess up the shrinking liver deal. You are doing great I promise! Good Luck, let us know how it goes.

I originally wanted RNY. I walked into the Surgeons office confident that I would fight for RNY no matter what. I have wanted the RNY surgery for 10 years now and just never had the nerve to get up and go do it. I walked out of my Surgeons office that day signed up to get the sleeve lol. The sleeve was actually the one I wanted least, I picked Lap-Band as my second choice and sleeve as third. If I knew then what I know now it would be VSG, RNY, Band. Here is why I am going to have the sleeve done VS. having the RNY done. Like tiffy said you have to make your own decision and I am not trying to convinve you this is the right way to go, it's just the right way for me to go. Also, I know Tiffy basically summed it all up for you but I will throw in my 2cents anyway just because I am a person who really really wanted RNY in the beginning. The Surgeon convinced me to get the sleeve because you lose almost as much weight without the malabsorbtion. That's a huge deal, especially in the future. In my case I also want to have more babies. I only have one 2yr old daughter and I am only 26 so having more kids is a huge YES in my book. The wait time between the VSG and the RNY are slightly different at his office. 18 months after surgery with VSG and 2 yrs after surgery with RNY. I will probably wait at least 2.5 years after surgery to even think about getting preggo again, I want to enjoy the skinny me awhile lol. I like knowing I could get pregnant earlier if I wanted to or had to. He also told me RNY adds more risks to a pregnancy as tiffykins said, so being I had a pretty rough pregnancy the first time around I won't do anything to add to it this time around. No problems on the babies end, all the problems on my end. I was a stinkin' wreck my whole pregnancy. Besides the pregnancy thing, which might not be something you care anything about, the Surgeon said it is less down time. You actually start feeling better faster, and back to a normal way of life faster. I mentioned earlier I have a 2yr old so the faster she can have her mommy back the better that is with me. I am a stay at home mom so I don't have to worry about going back to work or school, but getting better faster would be good for those who do. I am a binge eater, emotional eater, stress eater, bored eater, I am an everything eater. So with that being said the DR just said no RNY. I don't know if his reasoning is right but he said people like me with all these eating issues who get RNY WILL most likely gain the weight back and sometimes more. MORE, I started this at 250# and I don't wanna be MORE after going thru a major surgery. I know not everyone gains back their weight with RNY, but geeze the number that do is a whopper. I have been 315# before, when I was pregnant. After giving birth I was 290#. No thank you I don't want to be there ever again in my life. I believe he was fighting for me to get the sleeve because he is new to sleeving and wants me to be his poster girl. All the more power to him then, that means he will really want me to succeed. This is a fairly new procedure, and he has no doubts that I will do phenomenal. He has so much faith in me and the sleeve that I actually want to do it, I have no hesitation or doubts. Who am I to argue with a guy who cuts people open for a living right lol. Plus the added bonus for me is since I originally wanted the RNY he said he will make my new stomach the same volume size he would make a RNY patients. And also if I hate the VSG he can revise it to a RNY for me. I can't go wrong with the sleeve in my eyes. Don't let insurance push you around. I don't know your circumstances but MANY MANY people on here say they get denied the first time around. It's like the insurance companies like to test you or something because once you appeal they usually say yes. There are a lot of people on here who would be willing to help you and support you, so don't be too worried. Just keep doing research about everything, including the insurance process. I find the more I know the better I feel walking into a situation. Good Luck and keep us posted.

Okay so I am going to call my Surgeons office and specifically ask what Bougie size he will use on me. I said "what size will my stomach be". That was my misunderstanding. I thought the bougie size was the general size our new stomachs would be. I am not worried about my stomach being too big, not at all lol. I actually measured out 15 cc's today and almost pee'd my pants. It was a bit intimidating to say the least. But it did not deter me! I am still going for it! I actually have GERD and heartburn so I am wondering how bad it will be after the surgery, right now I am on Zantac and Dicyclomine but I don't take them. I have been dealing with it my whole life and didn't know I had anything wrong until they did an Upper Endoscope and found it. Thanks everyone for your input. I'm still new to all of this. Plus this is all moving so fast. I had my Consultation on 9/26/11 and Doc told me today he estimated I should be getting the surgery between Mid-November and Mid-December. No definite date yet but I'm still so excited!! Thanks everyone.