LBD

Wow! What always amazes me is how much younger everyone looks in their 'after' shots. Great job!

Just did the required pre-op education class and completed all my pre op stuff. The only thing I was stressing about was my letter of medical necessity which I requested a month ago! Luckily my contact at my dr's office said that it would most likely go through without it. Should get the green light within the next 8-10 days... Hoping for mid October surgery!

As it was explained to me, the two week pre-op diet is there to shrink the size of your liver, which because of its location, can make the procedure more difficult. The liver lies on top of your stomach so it needs to be lifted and moved out of the way. They say that in some cases, the operation has to be aborted if they see that the liver is not in the right condition for the procedure. Clear liquids the two days before are just so your stomach is completely empty before surgery. I'm surprised to hear the difference of opinion on this! You would think these things are non negotiable.

I can relate, I am pre-op and have a BMI of 44, so I'm feeling a lot of what you are describing here. I think that once we see that scale go in the opposite direction we'll realize that we can do this! There are many people here who have lost that amount of weight so it can be done!!! I know personally, that going through traumatic loss has triggered a lot of emotional eating over the past two years and the last 30 pounds have pushed me over the edge...now the pain has been a huge factor in my daily life. We can and we will feel good again! Surgery should also be sometime in October.

I'm 5'7" and currently about 285 lbs. I originally thought 140 would be great but then I figured maybe with all the extra skin, maybe that's too high of an expectation? Maybe 150? I guess that I will know when I get there but just curious about what others around the same height & age (44) have felt comfortable with/without working out & building lean muscle. Thanks!

Thank you, everyone. I'm not sure why but I never discussed my goal with the Dr or the nutritionist! I have to guess that I'd be thrilled to be at 150, since I haven't seen that number since the 8th grade! I think that would be a reasonable number to maintain plus or minus 5 pounds. My concern is that at 44, I wonder how well I'll do with the extra skin? It's hard to imagine not resembling a Shar- Pei when all is said and done! Has anyone out there at my age and weight not felt like they needed a panniculectomy after reaching goal? Does insurance ever cover plastics?

That is awesome! You look great

Sorry, meant to answer this! They said that with my UHC choice plus, once everything is in, it would only take about 2 weeks to get approval. I should be able to schedule within a couple of weeks after that. We'll see though!

I thought this was really up to the insurance company? I only had to see my Nut once... would you consider going to someone else?

I'm 44, pre-op & have been skiing since age 5... Nothing like the freedom & beauty of it. Because my husband and I love it, we tried going skiing last year, (I was @ 275) & that was not a good experience at all for me. This is one of the things I am most looking forward to doing again. Hoping after about 4 months out & (with any luck, 50+ lbs down) it won't be so tough or painful anymore. And with the cost of lift tickets these days, I don't want to go unless I feel good, and conditions are great... THEN it will be so worth the wait. Shooting for Vermont in February. We also have a trip scheduled for Lake Tahoe in early 2015... I imagine that will be a totally different experience for me... Good luck... When is your surgery? I have had 3 abdominal surgeries and 8 weeks out I think I would have been pretty good to go.

Ugh, I've done everything I need to for final approval from my insurance company. The only thing I am missing is the letter of medical necessity, which I requested three weeks ago. Of course, my doc was on vacation and now he's playing catch up. He assured me he'd get it done but c'mon now!!!! I need to get my date! Ready to open a can of whoop ass on this fat!!!!

Yes! As the ENT (who last week needed to extract a penny from my 6 year old's nasal cavity) put it, "Life is about not making the same mistake twice." Well, I've had my fill of bad choices, missteps and failures and it's time for me to make a change and mean it. For me getting this surgery is about knowing what I need for success, choosing something that is not a temporary fix. Those temporary fixes like Nutrisystems for example, (remember that dehydrated burger with the fake grill marks that soaked up Water like a sponge?) The thought of attempting something like that again is nauseating particularly because ultimately I would gain everything back and more. Life is short and I'm not messing around anymore!!!!

Thank you- great demonstration... I'm pretty clear on this now!

Yup, happened to me too... My husband and I were on our honeymoon in Aspen, Colorado, and we were sitting down to a really romantic dinner. Our waiter asked us, "when is the blessed event?" I was mortified and just told him that we were just married a few days earlier. That was in 1995 & I weighed just under 200 at that point. I guess at this point that guy would assume that I'm having triplets!!! People are reaaaaaaly dumb sometimes.

Wow, 5 months? I hope that I can see a change like that in the mirror 5 months out.... Great job & (nice haircut!!!)

What an incredibly strong woman you are, Moro Rock!

Ugh, so sorry to hear that! It's infuriating because providing WLS would probably benefit them in the long run. Makes no sense. With my plan, I do have coverage, but we have a maximum out of pocket of $3,000 per person. I'm guessing I'm pretty close to that with all of the preoperative stuff I've done over the past couple of weeks. If they called me with an "oops, we were wrong" I might just lose my lunch!!! Best of luck to you with all of this, I hope somehow this becomes viable to you, hernia or not.

Same question, really... I wonder if the clinics in Mexico have doctors with other specializations handy while doing surgeries... Cardiologists, vascular surgeons, etc, just in case something comes up. Anyone know? First thing that I would ask before having the operation there. I suppose if this person had a heart issue, going to Mexico and lying about it is one thing... but what if she had an underlying heart issue that she was unaware of that caused the fatality? There is a good reason why the doctors in the US make you have these tests pre-op, aside from insurance clearance. Do the clinics require pre operative work at all? Ultrasound, echocardiogram, stress test, endoscopy, CT scan, anything? Just curious. I would think they would need at least some facts before going in, not just taking people's word for it.

My husband and I brought our boys to Vermont last winter. Our youngest son expressed an interest in horseback riding, so we booked a trail ride. Everyone was able to get up on their horses just fine, but of course, I put one foot in the stirrup and I can't get my leg over the horse because my weight shifted the saddle down on the horse. I didn't want to hold the group up (and I was done being mortified), so I watched my family ride off into the sunset without me. Not only was I completely embarrassed, but I missed my son's first trail ride. I won't let my weight rob me of these experiences again!!!!

My chest is about the same size pre-op, and I'm counting on it! Just hope they don't deflate lol!

I'm shooting to have my surgery in October... I love Sushi, but it looks like the rice won't be an option for me. Not a huge fan of sashimi, I usually go for rolls... Any sleeved sushi fans out there? What do you usually order? It looks like no one can tolerate the rice but how about wasabi?

Thought I had finished all of my appointments but got the news that my vascular and bariatric surgeons have consulted and are ordering a pelvic and abdominal CT scan... Don't have any information as to why they are doing this but my guess is that they are looking for scar tissue from my 1st surgery and my two c- sections. I should know more today.

So many things... I used to love skiing with my family & cant wait to do that comfortably again. Playing with my boys. I've actually dreamt about being able to go jogging. Shopping for stylish clothes wherever I want to. Wearing a bathing suit that doesn't involve a skirt or shorts... Boots, yes the high ones. Feeling good in a cool pear of jeans. I'm an art teacher and I've been off work for a while. I so want to go back at a healthy weight and do what I know I do best!

My doc reported to me that only 10% of WLS are Lap Bands these days.

I thought an upper GI and endoscopy were one in the same...they called it an upper GI, anyway. I went last week, IV, then gargled with lidocaine (nasty) and was given some anesthesia so I slept through the procedure... Sounds like a totally different procedure!?! I wonder why doctors use these different techniques and does one provide much more information than another? My results were normal except for some irritation that they found. They said that I could take Prilosec but I don't have any symptoms of reflux... Hoping that this is not an issue moving forward. I'm all done except for my psych evaluation so my fingers are crossed!!!