Pepper Paul

You can always look at it the other way too. Will you consider your surgery a failure if you only get to 160? Shoot for 160 as your initial target and once you get there, celebrate attaining your surgeon's goal. Then go further and reach your own goal!

I'm with you in that concern. I have a portrait tattoo of my daughter on my leg and I'm really concerned how its going to look post-surgery. Keep us updated!

Wow. You're my newest man-crush. Don't tell my wife. You look fantastic! I'm hoping for an early Feb. surgery date and hope to look like that after 6 months. We have close to the same starting weight so your photos give me inspiration!

Your PCP and/or ER would treat you. However, if the initial surgery isn't covered by your insurance then any complications that arise from the surgery also would not be covered. If has the potential to be financially devastating. Just something to be aware of before you decide to have your surgery self-pay.

Just wanted to comment an say thanks for making a detailed list of everything you bought. It should help immensely when I start to buy everything I need for after surgery. Good luck with yours!

Just as clarification, I think was nadoue was trying to say was that she has friends who were fired for hippa violations, not that she reported and got friends fired for it. I think she was just trying to be helpful.

I'm just curious if anyone has been able to get life insurance, either term or whole, after getting sleeved? I tried to get it on my wife's work policy a few years back but was denied due to my weight. I don't remember what kind of questions they asked, but am wondering if I lose down to "normal" bmi if I will qualify. Anyone with any experience?

Just yesterday I took a screenshot with my iPhone so I could see the logo because it always loaded too fast to really see it. Then I see this thread today. I am offended that the logo doesn't contain the letters VST hidden in it. Also am I required to dance by being on this forum???

This is interesting. I've seen several people post that shoulder pain is a sign that they are full. Does anyone know WHY this happens? The stomach seems so far away from the shoulder. I'm not questioning the answer, only why it happens.

But here's the thing. When you're rude and out of line with someone, you don't get to decide when it's over and time to drop it. I'm sure if she just apologized to Bbean it would go away. But I just read this for the first time today and am offended for butterbean. He is nothing but helpful on this forum, you asked for advise, he offered it, and she cut him down for it. Newgrandmother, for the record, yes I did read his "last paragraph", not just your response. Have you noticed how many people have responded that you were in the wrong versus how many people responded that you were in the right? Maybe it's time to step back and ask yourself if maybe you really were in the wrong, regardless of your feelings at the time. Everyone makes mistakes. It's how we deal with those mistakes that define us as a person. Good luck to you.

Yes, we use 1 can grape juice, 1 can pineapple juice mixed together and served at room temp with 3-5 pounds of food grade dry ice (no regular ice). The warmer the punch the more it will fog. If you use dry ice, make sure to only use big chunks and ladle out without getting any dry ice as it will burn if touched or eaten. The dry ice will sink to the bottom so it shouldn't be a problem especially if an adult is in charge of the punch. Our kids love it!

This is something I can't wait to do! Every year we do a huge Halloween display and I don't usually dress up because I can't find a costume to fit. Hopefully next year!

I looked into WLS a few years ago, but my insurance didn't cover it, so that was that. A couple weeks ago, my wife told me that someone at her work is having WLS and that her insurance covers it. I've always had her insurance as my secondary insurance, but it never occured to me that they would cover it even if mine didn't. I called the clinic that her co-worker had hers done at, and inquired about my insurance situation. Sure enough, if my primary insurance doesn't cover, the secondary will. That clinic is out of network, but told me that they will bill as out of network, but then for my co-pay they will only charge me as much as if I was in-network. I made an appointment. I completed my paperwork and faxed it in a few days ago. I was scheduled to have a phone appointment tomorrow, and then a meeting with the surgeon a week from tomorrow. The clinic called me today and said they had a cancellation tomorrow and wanted to know if I wanted to move my meeting with the surgeon to then. I'm super excited to meet with the surgeon tomorrow and get my process started. I'm hoping that my secondary insurance doesn't have a 6 month process the way a lot of them do. As for my story, I've been overweight a good portion of my life. When I was 17, I was helping my dad move an 1800 pound safe off a truck and it fell off the truck and onto my foot. It resulted in a 10 day hospital stay and amputation of my foot. Even with that, I've always been active but a few years later was north of 300 pounds. A few years ago I was diagnosed with diabetes and also borderline high blood pressure. I've been trying, without success, to get some weght off to keep my diabetes in check. A year and a half ago, I woke one morning with incredible pain in my back. I went to my PCP, who told me essentially to quit being a baby and go home and walk it off, and if I wasn't feeling better in a few days to a week, then come back and see him. Later that afternoon, I went to my chiropractor, who advised me that with my symptoms I should go to the ER. I did and was diagnosed with cauda equina, which is essentially when a disc ruptures and presses into the nerves in your back. I was immediately transported to Swedish in Seattle (about an hour and a half away) and that night had surgery on my back. My neurosurgen told me that if I hadn't had surgery within 72 hours, she is pretty confident I would have been paralyzed. I ended up with some significant nerve damage in my legs, but I was lucky because I seeked out prompt medical attention so I can still walk and have use of my lower extremities. I do still have a lot of nerve pain in my legs, and right now my neurosurgen is trying to address that. Every day that I have to be able to walk and play with my kids is a blessing however. Now I'm hoping to get rid of this weight so I can be even more active and involved in their lives. Wish me luck at my meeting with my neurosurgen tomorrow! I do have my reservations however, because I'm going to Puget Sound Surgical Center, which, for those of you who have been following, is where iggychick got her sleeve done. However, her doctor was Dr. Billing and I'm meeting with Dr. Crouthamel. It will be interesting knowing iggychick's story, how forthcoming he is when I ask about complications, not only his, but of the clinic as a whole. It will show me how trustworthy Dr. Crouthamel is.

Just for the record Scaredy Cat, I'm not an employee, and also found it in very poor taste that PSSC employees were posting on here, posing as us "regular folk." I did meet with them yesterday. Apparently due to moving my appointment up a week I met with Dr. Billing instead of Dr. C. During our meeting, he emphasized several times the risks of surgery and possible complications, as well as how seriously they take complications which sounds like a change from when Iggy met with him. Are they taking complications much more seriously since Iggy's complications? Maybe. Hopefully. But I can't help but wonder if it was in response to my earlier post in this thread stating that it was going to be interesting to see how they address complications with me. After all, it's now clear PSSC employees monitor this forum. I was feeling very positive about my meeting yesterday until I got home and saw the employee posts on here. Then I felt snowballed. I'm searching around today for other surgeons to interview. I can't say I've ruled out PSSC 100% because there are a lot of people on this forum who have had a great experience with them, but I'm sure keeping my options open.

Thanks OTR, I didn't realize this. It makes me feel more confident in my decision to pursue a sleeve.

Also, you may have slept a lot more than you think you did. At the end of my sleep study they ha me fill out a questionnaire and one of the questions was "How much sleep do you think you got?" I put down 90 minutes because that's what it actually felt like. I was told later that I actually slept for 4 1/2 hours. I'm sure your study will be fine. I did get chastised the next morning before the study was over though because I was wide awake and knew I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep and they wanted me to lay there for another 45 minutes so I was surfing the web on my phone. Over the speaker came a rather incredulous voice, "Are you on your PHONE?!!" "Ummm...yes?" "Put it DOWN". I don't think she found it nearly as amusing as I did!

I know exactly how you feel. When my wife and I started dating I was 223 pounds thanks to phen-fen. Almost two years later when we got married (and phen-fen had been off the market for as long), I was 350 pounds. I still hate how I look in my wedding photos and that was 12 years ago. I'm pretty sure my wife can still fit in her dress and she looked stunning. Once I reach goal, I plan to renew our vows and get those wedding photos I never had. It's never too late!

My concern about this topic is that a couple years ago the band was supposed to be the solution, which is why so many people got one. Now they are finding out about long-term complications with it. Is anyone worried that in five years long-term complications of VSG will start happening, and since the VSG is not reversible we will be stuck with some unforeseen problems? Isn't VSG only a few years old? I'm definitely not getting a band, but it does worry me being an early adopter of new technology. Although, I did get the iPhone 5 on release day...

Wow. I was curious what kind of things went on in the Powder Room. They weren't kidding when they called it Girls Gone Wild! Funny thread. I'm going to slink back over to the Man Room now. Who am I kidding, I'm going to subscribe to this thread so I can keep up on vagina slang! Carry on.

Congrats Jasleeve! I recently read through your whole complications thread. The great part about reading about it this late in the game is that I didn't have to wait to find out the outcome. I'm glad things worked out well for you in the end, even if it was a terribly rocky road at the beginning. I'm to the point that I'm willing to risk a couple months of pure hell to get this weight off. Thanks for sharing your story!

I'm replying to this thread on an iPhone 5. Have you tries power cycling your phone (hold down power button on top until it says slide to power off, then slide it). If that doesn't work, delete the app, power cycle, then reinstall and you should be good to go. Good luck!