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Hi all - thought I would check back in now that I'm on the other side. :-) It's definitely been a more painful recovery than I thought. The drainage tubes were really painful when they were in and umm.......yeah......not fun coming out. I developed an infection in my incision and am on bed rest for a while, but otherwise, my energy level is picking up and the TT and panni themselves look great. I'm excited to finish healing and get back to real life. :-) I'm off of pain meds because I had a bad reaction to them and ended up in the ER. Today is actually only the 2nd day that I've been in yoga pants and out of a night gown. lol. I'm glad it's over. I was not prepared for the level of pain to expect and the tubes and how uncomfortable they would be (in and coming out). But I feel like I'm on the upswing now. I took an extra week off work because of the infection and set backs, but I should be back to normally hopefully soon! I just keep thinking "by Memorial Day I'll feel so much better!!".. Pick a day in the future and focus on it :-)

It was much more simple than I thought it would be. I called my insurance company with the codes for the abdominoplasty and panniculectomy and asked if my policy had a rider that covered them. They gave me a copy of it, I read the requirements, and once I met them all, I submitted it for approval. I got my approval back within days and my surgery was scheduled the next week. There were only 3 requirements 1. you had to be 18 months post op, 2. you have to have documented 3 months of trying other treatments with your PCP, 3. submit photographs. I also submitted a request for a brachioplasty (arm lift) and it was denied, so I'm in the process of appealing that.

Hi all - thought I would check back in now that I'm on the other side. :-) It's definitely been a more painful recovery than I thought. The drainage tubes were really painful when they were in and umm.......yeah......not fun coming out. I developed an infection in my incision and am on bed rest for a while, but otherwise, my energy level is picking up and the TT and panni themselves look great. I'm excited to finish healing and get back to real life. :-)

128.2 for me. I'll take it, all things considered. Still recovering from panniculectmy & abdominoplasty & it's been a difficult recovery.

I'm going to carry over my weigh from last week for this week's weigh in. I had a panniculectomy and abdominoplasty this week and am probably full of iv fluids. I'm not ready to weigh myself,so I'm sitting this week out. :-)

127.4 - Very happy about that after a gain last week.

I'm currently 19 months post op. So I heard back yesterday from the surgeon that my panniculectomy AND abdominoplasty was approved by my insurance as medically necessary and covered. The surgeon said usually they just approve the panni, but that not many approve the abdominoplasty, which is your typical tummy tuck. He will remove the excess skin, but also tighten everything up, fix the sides up a bit, and basically build me a new belly button. It is horizontal, so hip-to-hip, and the recovery is said to be pretty rough. So the reason I'm only 1/2 approved and 1/2 excited is that my brachioplasty or arm lift was not approved, even though I have the medical documentation of the same issues occurring with the skin on my arms. So, they will send me a denial letter and it will have the appeal process. I will definitely appeal. My date for my tummy tuck right now is May 8, but I may push it forward to the beginning of June for a variety of reasons including that I might hear back on my appeal by then & I would much rather have both done at the same time. Sigh. I know I should be thrilled that I was approved for the panni and tummy tuck, but I can't deny that I'm a little bummed about the arm lift. Anyone have any words of advice on getting appeals approved? I have never had to appeal because my sleeve surgery was approved, and now the tummy tuck, but I definitely want to appeal the arm lift. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. :-)

Sorry I'm late weighing in. I think this may be the only time (or one of few) I've had to post a gain & it kinda sucks. +1.4 pounds this week. That makes my weigh-in 131.4 for this week. Oh well......

So I saw the plastic surgeon this week about having a tummy tuck & excess under arm skin removed. I have been waiting until 18 months post op, because that's what my insurance requires. I gave him all my medical documentation, and a copy of my insurance rider just to be sure :-). He took some pics, wrote my report & sent it for approval. I'm SO nervous & I seriously hate waiting! I feel like I did waiting for approval for my sleeve. They said I should know by next week. And that if they deny I can appeal :-) Hopefully I can post again next week saying I got approval for both :-)

It depends on the type of work. I teach college, so some desk, some up and around. I took 2 weeks off, but really could have used another week off in retrospect. I really didn't feel fully "myself" as far as energy until about 6-8 weeks.

You just have to contact your insurance company and find out if they have the rider on the policy that allows for reconstructive surgery. Before doing that, though, call your surgeon and get the "codes" for the panniculectomy and the abdominoplasty, because the insurance company will need the codes to tell you if if is covered. If so, ask them for a copy of the specfic rider. This will spell out exactly what is needed for you to be approved. For me it was (1) at least 18 months post op and maintaining a steady weight, (2) medical documentation that you've tried other medical treatments for the problems the excess skin is causing you and they haven't worked, and (3) photos.

I have had people ask me if the weight loss was "on purpose" implying, are you terminally ill or something. So I think it can just be an adjustment for people who are used to seeing us very overweight to see us thin in a short amount of time. Especially confusing if they don't know about the surgery, which most of my co-workers don't either. I will say that if you are emotionally healthy and don't have a history with eating disorders, that your body weight should find it's "happy place" or resting place eventually where everything kind of evens out. So while we have ideal numbers in mind, it may not be where our body wants to be. But I don't think - if you have resumed the "new normal" post-bariatric diet and arent' living on liquids and Protein shakes that you would ever be in danger of losing "too much weight." I will say, though, that if you have a history of an eating disorder, this surgery can most certain trigger that. So in that respect, the surgery could be a contributing factor to an ugly old demon resurfacing. But if that's not something you ever struggled with, then I wouldn't worry about it. :-)

Thanks for the feedback. You're right I should focus on the positive and that I was approved for both. It would have been a bummer if I was just approved for the panni. Also helpful info on the recovery, so thanks! I'll have to look into how much an arm lift is out of pocket.

So, I have Highmark BC/BS and my policy has the bariatric and reconstructive surgery riders, so I just found out I was approved for both a panniculectomy and abdominoplasty, which is AWESOME!!! But they denied my request for the brachioplasty, and I have medical documentation of the same issues on my arms as on my stomach. The stomach was approved but not the arms. The surgeon's office said I would receive my denial letter for the arm lift and it would include an appeal process. I will definitely appeal. I'm just wondering if anyone has had any success with appealing for a brachioplasty or really appealing a denial for anything. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

So I got my answer! It was submitted on April 8th (a Wednesday) and received a call from my surgeon's office yesterday, April 13th (a Monday) that I was approved for the panniculectomy AND abdominoplasty. So the wait time from submission to approval was only 4 days if you count the day of submission. The surgeon said usually they just approve the panni (which is just the removal of the excess skin that overhangs the pubis after significant weight loss, but that not many approve the abdominoplasty, which is your typical tummy tuck. He will remove the excess skin, but also tighten everything up, fix the sides up a bit, and basically build me a new belly button. It is horizontal, so hip-to-hip, and the recovery is said to be pretty rough. So the reason I'm only 1/2 approved and 1/2 excited is that my brachioplasty or arm lift was not approved, even though I have the medical documentation of the same issues occurring with the skin on my arms. So, they will send me a denial letter and it will have the appeal process. I will definitely appeal. My date for my tummy tuck right now is May 8, but I may push it forward to the beginning of June for a variety of reasons including that I might hear back on my appeal by then & I would much rather have both done at the same time. Sigh. I know I should be thrilled that I was approved for the panni and tummy tuck, but I can't deny that I'm a little bummed about the arm lift.

Today's weigh in was 129.8. Goal for the challenge: 125 & maintaining. :-)

Well they may not...lol. I guess we will see. I've met all the "criteria" so I'm hopeful :-)

I take anxiety meds "as needed". It helps a great deal with my eating disorder & keeping the obsessive thoughts at bay. I have klonopin 1 mg and the script is 1-2/day as needed. Some days I take 1, some days I take 1/2 , some days I take 2 & some days I take none. It really just depends on how I'm feeling. If you have any proclivity to addiction, you may want to try something else. For me, it works, but I make a point to not take it regularly bc I don't want to become dependent.

I'm in! My goal will be my final goal of 125.... Then to maintain! :-)

Ugh...I missed the final weigh in. Oh well . It was 130. Thanks for doing this!

131.4 just a little loss

Weighing in for this week. I am 131.6 as of this morning, which means I passed my goal. I'm not going to make a new goal at this point, just see where I end up and go from there for the next challenge.

Awww....jeez... I forgot to post this week. My weigh-in for this week is 133.6

Congrats on your success this far! My situation is a little different because there was only 1 close friend at work who knew I had surgery (others have figured it out since then I think) and there was this one woman who just would not leave me alone. She was obsessed with my weight loss. "What are you doing?" "What are you eating" "When will you stop" etc etc etc. She made a comment to me at least once daily. It made me really uncomfortable, but now 18 months out, no one really mentions it anymore. They've adjusted to the "New me" and your co-workers will too. But expect lots of compliments in that first year of active weight loss! Even today someone came back to work who I had resigned a couple weeks ago for visit and we hugged and she said "Oh, you're as thin as a rail!!" That's definitely not something I'm used to hearing! Also weird is new people who have started or I've met at my work, church, kids' school since I lost 140+ pounds. It's so weird to me that they never knew me as overweight. Sometimes it will come up and I will show them a before and after picture and they are floored. It's kind of cool the first time someone says "I never would have known you were overweight". Good luck to you on the rest of your journey!

During the first 9 months or so after surgery I stuck to the program to a "t". I did not waiver even one time. I saw an incredible loss during that time. I lost the majority of my 140 pounds during the first year. Since then I would say in "maintenance" I stick to the program still 95% of the time. I enter all my meals and weight in Myfitnesspal and try the very best I can to stick to 80g Protein, less than 40g carbs, and 100 oz of Water. When I do this I can still even lose a little more, though as the numbers get lower the losing gets slower. I am determined not to be one of those people who get to a certain point and realize they physically "CAN" eat all the things they used to and go back to it and gain the weight back. It's just not an option for me.