Miss Mac

You won't miss it. I had mine out in 1973, back when they still cut you half in two. I was in the hospital for eleven days. Now they do it laparascopically, sometimes as an outpatient. Your body can function without it, and if it is not the cause of this particular problem, at least it won't be its own problem in the future.

Since I am metric impaired, I had to look that up and convert it. Congratulations. May you have many more happy days like today.

Girdles (and bras) are like space heaters duct taped to your body.

If you want to do your own gastric emptying test out of curiosity, just make sure you do not eat corn for a few days.......then eat some corn................then no more corn until the other corn comes through. That will give you a rough idea of that process.

My insurance required two years of documentation of weight loss efforts. I had my primary print out my med records for two years back and then I highlighted every time my weight was mentioned or measured, and all of the doctors suggestions for diet and exercise.

Years ago, I watched a British movie called Bartleby. Bartleby gets a job as a secretary/receptionist and every time his boss asks him to do something, Bartleby says "I prefer not to." He must say it about 1,000 times during the movie, and you almost change the channel many times, but Bartleby's insistence draws you back in. Be a Bartleby for a while, and speak up for yourself. Tell them you prefer not to, but if they want to start a new tradition, they are welcome to come to your place for breakfast and you can prepare a "make your own omelet" bar for everyone. Clearly, the family doesn't care how YOU feel, so don't feel so guilty about standing your ground.

I gained 12 pounds in the hospital in two days. It took me a week and a half to get back to where I started, then at week three I hit that darned stall. Finally at 4 1/2 weeks I started losing again.

That is awesome that the bariatric practice that you work in will have someone who understands what this experience is all about. My original nutritionist was a PYT (pretty young thing) who looked like she weighed 98 pounds soaking wet. I am all for people on our teams being healthy, but I just felt like she did not really understand the angst involved in this process. I do hope that your recovery continues to go well. Welcome to the forum.

1. Delay is not denial. 2. At 24 years old, you are grown enough to talk to whomever you want to. Two things you will find out about weight loss surgery is that it will expose the dynamics of your relationships, and the closer you get to goal the bolder and more confident you get - more able to speak up and advocate for yourself. I hope this works out for you soon. In the meantime, eat lots of Protein and eat it first, then non-starchy veggies, then a little fruit. Drink Water until your eyeballs float and don't become part of the couch.

169.8

Mine was like $150 total for one of the doctor's bills......that was a year ago (12/23/2013), and I never did get a hospital bill. Oh, and I paid a couple of $30 co-pays for psychologist visits.

My program was similar to BLERDgirl.

I was able to drop Metformin right away, but I am still on my blood pressure meds at one year. Because I am post-stroke, my primary wants me to get closer to my goal weight before we drop those.

When I had a stroke at the age of 58, I knew I had to do something about my weight and blood pressure. Follow this link to get a good idea of what the last straw was for many of us: http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/219831-what-was-your-final-straw-that-broke-the-camels-back/?hl=%20straw

You are not obligated to say anything if you don't want to. Just tell them that your physician is helping you follow a plan to get healthy.

You won't need near as much as you think you do. I way overpacked because of my Girl Scout mentality....it is better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it. Chapstick. Your lips will be dry after surgery.

Hi, and welcome to the forum. Please feel free to ask anything you want, with the understanding that opinions and tact will vary. You will find a lot of support here.

RJ, you have helped me so much in the year that I have been involved in the forum. You examplify strength and courage and have shown us that any day that we wake up on this side of the dirt, it's a good day. Yeah, that coddle thing.....I don't know where that is coming from. I have always said that opinions and tact vary on the forum. What some people call coddling, others call diplomacy. Those of us who inject a sense of humor once in a while can come off as not being serious about the journey. Those of us who follow the plans our teams have given us have even been called "Goody Two Shoes". RJ, you belong here. That doctor is an a**, and you are a gift from God. For those who will be offended by a religious reference, then you are still a gift to those who follow behind you. When you don't show up for a few days because of another procedure, I worry about you.

You have the advantage of youth on your side. I had my surgery on 12/23/2013 at 5'4" and 235 pounds to start. I am one of those slow losers, but very happily down 65 pounds at this point. My goal weight is 135, but many folks set a goal that is closer to 160 or 170. I just turned 63. I like the shape of my face now. My boobs went from 44D to 36 B and sag only a little, not enough that I would want a lift. After all, at 63 I don't really care. My arm flaps are not too bad either, as I try to keep up with strength training. If I push off of the second stairstep, I can do twenty push-ups I can see the wrinkles in my thighs, but it is not so bad that I can't wear shorts next summer. My belly has deflated some and has shifted downward to where I am starting to define a waist, but the belly of pants is fuller than I want. One thing I have been doing is exfoliating in the shower and moisturizing afterwards. Can't guarantee that is is helping the elasticity of my skin, but I tell you what - my skin is soft as velvet. As I go into my second year, I am hoping to be able to increase my strength training to incorporate more leg work. I have orthopedic and post-stroke balance issues that make it unsafe for me to go walking the neighborhood by myself, but I have designed a fitness trail for the back yard so that I can increase my outside exercse in the spring of 2015. Because I still have 35-40 pounds to go, I will reserve judgement on belly sagging. I am hoping for the best and that strength training will pay off. Ernestine Sheperd (the 75 year old body builder) is my inspiration.

I make this once in awhile and you might want to practice with a consistency that suits you. I stir up a stiff batch of Peanut Butter and chocolate Protein powder and roll it into balls about the size of a walnut and refrigerate separated on a tray before you store them in the freezer or fridge. If you are familiar with buckeyes, that is kinda what they look like. I suppose you could add cream cheese or a flavored Torani syrup or dark choclate chips to jazz it up. I can eat one and be full enough. For people who are far enough along and can tolerate nuts, you could add chopped nuts to the mixture. Have fun experimenting.

My surgeon teaches bariatric and robotic gastro-intestinal surgery at Loyola University, so I am sure that he at least had an intern observing. Also he has the supervising nurse from the bariatric clinic in the O R as well.

Count your blessings that you dodged a bullet on this one. My guess is that he doesn't think that your liver is going to be in the way and doesn't need to be shrunk. +

Omeprozole for me too. If I don't take it first thing in the morning, I will regret it later. I definitely get the intended benefit from it.

If I want my insurance to pay for it, I have to wait two years and there has to be an underling infection or serious rash under hanging-over skin (pannis) that has to hang a certain amount over the pubus. In addition to that requirement, my insurance will only pay for a panniculectomy (skin flap) but not tummy tuck (tightening up muscles).

My psych eval was a 30 minute conversation with the doctor asking me questions about my eating habits, the family dynamic growing up, do I have support at home, why do I want the surgery, did I have an eating disorder when I was young, etc. It was fairly painless. The doc just wants to make sure that you can handle the changes that are coming with bariatric surgery. Good luck. I hope you do well.