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Please stay on top of this as there are very few surgery slots available for the remainder of this year. Remind them you have the problem with the deductible. That should get you priority over someone who has more flexibility. Fingers crossed for you!

One Hershey's Kiss is 100 calories as I recall. If the recommended daily calorie intake at 3 months is 800-1000 calories, each piece of chocolate is 10% to 25% of your daily calorie allotment. Not exactly a nutritionally balanced diet. Just because you CAN eat something without dumping or being nauseous does mean you SHOULD eat it. Why did you or the insurer spend over $25,000 for this surgery if you are going to blow it to have 2 minutes of chocolate bliss a day? Do you see the relationship here to the habits that got you into this mess in the first place? You said you think your are the only person on the boards that cheats regularly. Ever think about why that might be true? Most of us fought long and hard for this second chance at good health and we're not about to throw it away for cheap chocolates or anything else. We may have an occasional treat, but we are very wary of the slippery slope. Sorry to be so candid, but is really, really frustrating to see someone be given such a gift and then just throw it away. I hope you will see a therapist to come to terms with your self sabotage. Good luck. I wish you all the best on your journey!

There's just some swelling from the gas used to inflate the stomach so the surgeon has room to work during surgery. It goes away in a few days to a couple of weeks. You can speed up the process by walking as much as possible and taking Gas-X. Try not to compare yourself with your friend. Everyone's progress and journey is unique. Comparisons are not helpful and usually someone just ends up being frustrated or depressed. Best wishes to both of you!

Why haven't you been back to your doctor long before this? Sounds like you have a stricture. You are doing serious damage to your body by not getting this fixed and getting proper nutrition and Vitamins. This is serious--especially with your other conditions. For heaven's sake, get back to your surgeon immediately!

Lots of ideas and recipes in the Food section of this forum and similar forums. Also check out a blog called The World According to Eggface--amazing recipes.

Nope. That's head hunger.

I think WLS is similar to another major life change--marriage. Even though you really want it, you have jitters before the big day and on at least one day after surgery you will wake up and think, "What the hell have I done???" Then if you do things right, give it your best shot, and are a bit patient, your quality of life improves, you are much happier and you have a lot more fun. Once in awhile you miss your old life and (hopefully only once in a very great while), sometimes you want to undo the whole damn thing. But, overall, you find yourself incredibly thankful you did this and only wish you might have done it sooner so you could live even more of your life in this better way.

Interesting that you were able to review your psych results. Never heard of that happening. If their underwriting guidelines prohibit bariatric surgery if there is an underlying eating disorder, reason indicates there would have to be documentation that you no longer have bulimia before filing an appeal. There's a big risk of transfer addiction with bariatrics and I'm sure the insurer would be concerned that you might be adding physical problems to emotional problems if you had surgery. Did you disclose your history of bulimia to the bariatric surgeon before they submitted for insurance approval? Talk to your surgeon's insurance administrator and to your insurance company about a possible appeal. If you are part of a group plan, you coverage may be different from other plans with the same company so answers you get on a forum like this may not be applicable to your situation.

If there's a problem with your nutritionist's services or attitude you need to speak up and ask for changes. Discuss it with her or her supervisor. But first give yourself a reality check as to whether you may be misinterpreting her attitude, perhaps due to your own discomfort with food issues or impatience to get started. It is premature for you to be worrying about post op foods and she may be trying to shift your attention to the matter at hand--your pre-op eating habits and how to improve them. You've got a long way to go before surgery, so don't put the cart before the horse. Prior to surgery you will be given the written program detailing foods to eat at each stage of the first 6 weeks or so. Every doctor has their own program based on their education and experience. If you search this forum and others like it, you will find hundreds of posts on the subject. However, unless you have a specific concern, I would suggest you focus on learning more about good nutrition and improving your food choices today. Then take it one step at a time, one day at a time! Best wishes for your journey.

Always added shredded cheese to my chili. Because I use so little, I spend a bit extra to buy Tillamook quality cheese and shred it myself. It feels like a little treat.

Chili, chili and more chili!

The hair loss is caused by hormonal changes and stress.

You need to call your doctor and get both physical and psychological help, not vent on the internet. Please use some common sense here and get professional help when you are obviously not well. Yes, they can help you deal with the fear and anxiety! If you postpone dealing with this you may soon end up in the hospital with serious problems, so pick up the phone and call your doctor's office NOW.

Generally they go to the ER.

Thanks for the good news on Cymbalta.

RNY people can not take oral NSAIDs such as Aleve, Ibuprofen, Motrin--meds many people take for arthritis--because they can cause painful ulcers. That leaves you with fewer options for managing your arthritis pain, Your doctor may prescribe Vicodin, but that can impair your thinking or make you sleepy. I have had good luck taking Cymbalta for severe arthritis, but it's not for everyone. It's something to think seriously about because arthritis only gets worse over time. I've had a hip replaced and am about to have a shoulder replaced as well.

The most recent peer reviewed studies of Biotin show it does nothing to stop hair loss. People that have reported success with it often mistake the end of the normal, relatively brief shedding cycle for a Biotin-induced result.

The best thing you could do for yourself right now is seek some therapy to turn the negative thoughts around. You are certainly not the first person to hit a long stall or become depressed! A therapist can also help you get started on anti-depressants to turn this situation around. The next best thing is to get a copy of the book The Beck Diet Solution--Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person by Judith Beck, Ph.D. Although written for dieters it is THE best book available for cognitive therapy for the weight loss process. It helps you change the way you think about weight loss and sabotaging yourself. A companion workbook is also available. Dr. Beck's father was the founder of the Cognitive Therapy approach and for many years she has run the Beck Institute of Cognitive Therapy at he U of Pennsylvania. Very hands on, practical book.

Some nerves are cut during surgery, so you may not have the same old feeling of fullness anytime soon, perhaps never. Often you will find you get different signals. That's why it is so very important to eat slowly and do not consume anything beyond the recommended portion size for your post-op stage. You might not be able to feel your body responding to an oversized drink or portion until it makes you really uncomfortable. Even if you can eat or drink a large portion, that doesn't mean you should do so. Those large portions are what got you into this mess in the first place, right? The surgery is a tool that enables you to be satisfied with much smaller, more normal portions, but it is still only a tool. You still have to make smart choices about the amount you eat and the types of foods you eat. Much of what you are feeling at this early stage is "head hunger" not real hunger. Take the time to research head hunger and emotional hunger vs. real hunger. It's critical to understand the difference and know how to recognize and manage your head hunger. Lots of previous posts here on the subject and more info on websites of major clinics like Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins. Stomach growling may just be your body adjusting to the surgery and its effects and most likely has nothing to do with actual hunger.

Atta girl!!!!

Yes, call the doctor's office and bring them up to speed. Sometimes you have to step in and advocate for yourself--especially this time of year when medical offices are very busy and most everyone wishes they were somewhere else having holiday fun. My surgeon was great but the office staff at his practice was a complete bunch of idiots. I eventually took the problems to the Chief Operating Officer of the hospital which sponsors their Bariatric "Center of Excellence" (not) in order to get over all the damn speed bumps and get my surgery approved. Stay on top of things and take really good notes with names, dates, times, etc. Good luck!

This weekend I wrote a lengthy reply to a similar post. Pasting it below. Hope this helps. Italics are from the original poster. I'm 8 days away from surgery, all my pre-op tests are over, the nutrition class, everything. There is nothing left to do now but keep on the pre-op diet and then the surgery. But I'm crying and I don't want to do it. I don't want them to cut me open and hurt me, I don't want to risk nutritional deficiencies the rest of my life, I don't want to skip the bread at communion, I don't want to miss work for a month, I don't want to spend all day worried about getting enough Water, I don't want years of follow up appointments to make sure my bones aren't frail, I don't want any of it. I'm not diabetic, my cholesterol and blood pressure are fine, I have no trouble walking, I'm just fat. I know I'm at risk for all sorts of things but they're all maybes at this point. Going through with the surgery is a sure fire road to pain, discomfort, and fretting about sugar and fat in food forever. I don't want to have to care so much about three teaspoons of sugar giving me the dumps or whatever it's called. I can't help but think it's insane for someone with no health problems to have tens of thousands of dollars spent paying someone to painfully disable the normal function of her perfectly working digestive system. Insane. I don't think I've ever seen so many misconceptions and so much misinformation about WLS in one place! No wonder you're concerned. Let me try to set some things straight. Yes, surgery means the doctor will make about 5 or 6 incisions for the laproscopic tools. Mine ranged in size from 1/4 to about 1 inch. Internal stitches, surgical glue on the outside. Hurt? Not really, not for most people. I had pain meds the morning after surgery and did not need or want any meds after that. Mid-section was a bit tender for a week, but similar to if I had bumped into the corner of a table and bruised myself. Other people have different experiences, depending on their bodies, but that was mine. The people that post on forums about pain issues are a small subset of a much, much larger group of post-op patients, so their experiences are not typically. It's good to learn about potential issues so you can deal with them if they arise, but that has to be balanced with the understanding that complications are relatively rare. There is no point in wasting time and energy and emotion on things that do not actually happen to YOU. Month off of work? Nope. Back at my desk job one week later. However, I did make time for lunch hour naps and went to bed about an hour earlier each night for the first month, to give my body the best chance to heal quickly. Most people seem to take 2-4 weeks off, but a lot depends on how strenuous their jobs are. Nutritional deficiencies? Not if I take my Vitamins and supplements and eat healthy food for the rest of my life. BUT I'd have to do that even if I tried to lose the weight by old fashioned methods. I expect to be less at risk of osteoporosis now because the surgery has made me more aware of the need for Calcium and I am much more diligent about taking it now as a result. Smaller portions? Yes, but not what you are suggesting. The big difference is that although you are eating much less, you don't have nearly the hunger you would have without WLS. Some people don't feel physical hunger again for a long time, making it even easier to be content with smaller portions initially. The first few days after surgery, you will be taking tiny sips of water very frequently as your stomach heals, then you gradually increase the amount you drink each time until you are taking normal drinks.Took me about 4-6 weeks to get back to normal.You'll just take normal drinks of water to stay hydrated, just like you would if you didn't have surgery. That's not exactly a hardship, taking smaller drinks for a few weeks, is it? You may not want big gulps of water on a hot day if you have successfully changed your habits to drink throughout the day and you probably won't need big gulps of water to cool you if you are hauling around a much smaller body. After surgery you have a restricted group of foods and very small portions for a few weeks while your tummy heals.You may be satisfied with a few spoonfuls of food at first. Then you work your way up to 1/4 and 1/2 cup servings. Long term, you may find a cup of food is a satisfying meal. (It is not much different than what normal healthy people eat. Just watch them.) However, you have little to no physical hunger for perhaps the first year or so while you learn new healthy eating habits, so it is not uncomfortable. You won't feel starved or deprived. Emotional or "head" hunger is a different issue and one you can work on as you shed your old habits and learn new ones. There is no reason you can't have a communion wafer; it won't hurt you in the least. Eating bread, however, is generally not a good idea as it tends to ball up in your pouch, be hard to digest and hard to eliminate. That doesn't mean you never eat it, you just figure out how much and how often you are comfortable eating it. Same things with birthday cake. It is very doable. Yes, this is a few weeks of sacrifice at the beginning, but you'd be eating lightly after the flu or any other physical change. You just have to keep in mind how this will all lead to being much healthier and more active and living longer. At this time you may not have co-morbidities such as diabetes, heart trouble, damaged joints (at least that you are aware of as of yet)--but statistically you are very likely to develop one or more of these problems and probably before you are 40 or 50. Heart disease is the greatest killer of American women (yes, more than cancers) and much of that is due to obesity. My BMI never got much beyond 40 or 42 and yet I developed congestive heart failure which has greatly restricted my activities and will shorten my life, perhaps by a decade or more. Are you willing to take a similar risk? The number of joint replacements, especially for hips and knees, are soaring because of the obesity epidemic. The human skeleton was never intended to carry as much weight as people now carry. You have no idea how much every movement hurts every day until you have a hip or knee where all the cushioning has worn away and your joint consists of 2 bones rubbing and scraping against each other continually. Are you ready to risk not being able to walk more than 20 feet by age 50? Going through with the surgery is a sure fire road to pain, discomfort, and fretting about sugar and fat in food forever. Nope, wrong again! No way this is a "sure fire road" to these problems. Millions and millions of people worldwide have had RNY since the 1970s---much longer than you have been alive. Surely they cannot all have been ill-advised idiots. Somewhere along the line you have missed a great deal of research about the quality of life after surgery. Has it not occurred to you that this surgery would not be in such high demand if it caused all the problems you are citing? There are not that many masochists and fools in the world!!! You are also missing the point that the people who post on forums are the minority that are having issues and need help. They are NOT a representative sample of all people who have WLS. Most people have the surgery, change their habits and get on with their lives. They do not have the time or interest to stay on such websites, unless they are motivated to 'pay it forward', to try to help others going through the process. They do not have on-going pain or discomfort. You may never have to fret about sugar or fat in food causing dumping. Only about 30% of RNY patients dump. The rest of us are just trying to use our common sense and nutritional training to make good choices. I can't help but think it's insane for someone with no health problems to have tens of thousands of dollars spent paying someone to painfully disable the normal function of her perfectly working digestive system. Sorry, but you're wrong again! You DO have a serious health problem. You just haven't acknowledged your condition and/or other health problems have not noticeably manifested---yet. You are morbidly obese, which can be defined as Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems. .... Obesity is not a static, safe zone. Every day that you remain obese, you are shortening your life span, putting extra strain on your heart, major organs, joints and skeleton. Those components will wear out sooner and will cause you more pain over time as a result. You are at far, far greater risk for many illnesses which can be debilitating, disabling or perhaps fatal (with or without warning signs). If you think there is no measurable, physical cost to you to remain obese, you are sadly mistaken and there are a ton of statistics to back that up! Ask your doctors! One alternative of course, is to try to lose the excess weight by diet and exercise. However, numerous studies have shown that only 2% to 5% of morbidly obese people are able to successfully lose their excess weight and maintain that weight loss over the long term by means of diet and exercise alone. Godspeed to you if you can manage it, but consider your success to date. You have a 95% chance of failing that protocol and continuing to have all the obesity-related health problems. Would you play those odds in Vegas? Finally, there are the issues of emotional health and quality of life. Are there really jolly fat persons or is that just part of the Santa Claus myth? Most obese struggle with a host of issues from not being able to play with their kids, to job discrimination, social ostracism, frustration with narrow airplane seats and a million other daily battles. For most of us, WLS is the turning point in our lives where we finally take control of our weight, our health and our lives. Some of us do it with great ease and some have to work harder at it, but the majority are happy with their decision. It gives an incredible sense of empowerment. When asked about any regrets, the most common answer is they just wish they had done it sooner. Whew! Didn't mean to write a novel, but felt it was important to try to clear some things up! All that said, if you are not prepared to have the surgery and make the life changes, then take a step back. It seems like you would benefit greatly from getting more information, particularly from more reliable sources than those that have filled your mind with misconceptions and misinformation. Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins, ASMBS.org and other major medical groups are good sources of information and great places to start. Take some time to gather realistic information and process your thoughts and feelings about it. Discuss the risks of having surgery vs. not having surgeon in detail with your surgeon and your PCP. Talk with a therapist specializing in weight loss issues. Then make your decision. Wishing you all the best on your journey!

Completely understand the desire to eat real food again, but go really slow with eggs and try a few tiny bites first then wait awhile. Many people can't handle them for months. They seem to feel inordinately heavy, on the way down and in the pouch. And they don't taste nearly as good the 2nd time around if they come back up!

Hope you daughter is okay. Definitely go on the pharmaceutical company's website and get into the patient assistance program. Doctors have far fewer samples to give out than they used to as drug companies have responded to new laws and liability issues.Just do whatever you need to do to keep your stability until you get back on your feet financially. Your family needs you to be well and strong right now! Take good care of yourself. Wishing you a lot of good news really soon!

One thing you'll learn on weight loss forums is that you are never the first person that something has happened to!