johnking

I'm from Jasper and my surgery was on Dec 10, 2013. I was 278 before I began this whole process. And I'm now down to 216. According to my BMI I am now "overweight" and no longer "obese". My goal of 190 is not to far off. As I am 6ft tall this should be a fine weight to maintain. Please contact me if I can give advice to any of you guys and gals.

I think all of us thinning Hoosiers should support each other. Perhaps you guys could think of a way we could all talk. There are services like Skype where you can have video chats with friends. Skype is free. I already use it a lot for other purposes. What do you guys think of us having a weekly support meeting via Skype? Frankly, I'm tired of being alone in this matter. And I seek other peoples advice on food choice and avoiding constipation It doesn't matter where the operation is done because it's the same operation everywhere. I didn't have to deal with private insurance. I was lucky to get Medicare at the age of 36 by virtue of being a disabled veteran (I'm 46 now). Medicare is pretty simple to deal with. BMI 35-39 + 2 comorbidities = automatic surgery. BMI 40+ automatic surgery no questions asked. If there is any way fat people can get on Medicare, I highly recommend it If you like my Skype conferencing idea, let me know.

My advice is to research various bipolar medications and see if 1) they have an association with weight gain and 2) they have an association with raising resting glucose levels. I am a disabled veteran with BP disorder (honorable d/c Nov 2002, not a war veteran) and in my view my weight gradually but slowly went up taking various psych medications. You don't want to reach your weigh loss goal and then start to gain because of taking this "mind candy". I should also emphasize that as you quickly lose weight in the beginning (4-5 lbs/week) you need to have your BLOOD LEVEL of these drugs tested monthly. I was taking 4 lithium capsules for a long time as a fatso but within a month post op, my psychiatrist cut it to 2 capsules because my level was approaching the toxic level and had it not been reduced I would have soon been showing signs and symptoms of chronic lithium toxicity. Was it my psychiatrist who called me in for a blood test? NO! You have to instinctively understand as you get smaller and the amount of blood in your body decreases that all medications will become more concentrated. So it was ME who called HER and said I wanted a blood draw for Lithium. Since that time 1 1/2 months ago, I have gone down 20 more. I will be getting another blood test next week. And again, it was ME who made the call. I cannot speak for the chronic toxicity syndromes of other bipolar drugs. Just research it yourself and get your blood level tested. Having anxiety about whether or not to get the operation is only normal. Gastric Bypass is major surgery. Having you gall bladder taken out, for example, is minor surgery. For those of us who are middle aged and never have "gone under the knife" this is a very scary idea. For us taking on this operation it is a "leap of faith". The night before I reported to the hospital I was having this back and forth conversation in my head. Luckily the "man" part won and I had the operation. So maybe you could use a little more clonazepam to reduce the anxiety and its physical symptoms. I congratulate you on your cleverness stuffing weights in your bra! That shows me that you really know this operation will improve your life. I am just agast at the incompetency of the insurance people you have dealt with. Could we double welfare payments so that they could just stay home? Because of being a disabled vet I have Medicare at the age of 46 and with Medicare all I had to prove is that I had a BMI of 35-39 with two co-morbidities (BMI above 40 they do with no questions asked). The good thing about Medicare is that they only pay for the surgery at a "Center of Excellence" a moniker earned by the gastric bypass surgeons at that facility based on their past published surgery results. Norton Community Hospital in Louisville (95 miles from my home in "deep southern" Indiana) is the only center in Kentucky that won that distinction. The hospital 2 miles south of me does the operation but they are not a "Center of Excellence" But really the only person you care about competency for is the surgeon. Make sure you investigate your surgeon well. Mine has been doing weight loss surgery only and has never had a "leak"

I guess a dream is ok, but junk food, McDonalds and other orally consumed garbage is what brought us to the realization that we couldn't continue our lives this way. Since my surgery I have lost my addiction to eating. I don't crave anything. I tend to get up late, around 10am and sometimes I am so "un-hungry" that I forget to eat anything until 2 hours later. Nowadays I am utterly grossed out when I walk in a supermarket and see all the junk food and chemical poison that run of the mill Americans are buying. Same thing with Puke-Donalds. I took my kids there only once since I had surgery (3 months ago). I had a few McNuggets after I took a knife to scrape off the deep fried breading. Just for curiosity I ate ONE french fry. I can do without that garbage and I have been known to show no interest in donuts or cupcakes placed around me by other family members. That garbage had me on my way to an early an unpleasant death. If I could have my dream, I'd be the hangman on the biggest gallows in the world, slipping the rope around the necks of these fast food barons and profiteers who make money off of creating obesity and ruining people's lives. I believe that with capitalism and private ownership of industry comes social responsibility. Just as we wouldn't tolerate companies that INTENTIONALLY make unsafe ladders or unsafe cars, why do we tolerate with those companies which provide us unsafe food? Food should be safe and nutritious not designed to maim or kill you when consumed according to "serving suggestion." Am I suggesting some sort of conspiracy? Perhaps. One thing I know is that if you die before the age of 65 the government keeps all the money you paid into social security and your family gets none. In the 90s there was a story about tobacco executives (Phillip Morris, if I recall) meeting with the govt of the Czech republic. For once the tobacco death profiteers were honest. They told the Czechs that if they would liberalize the sale of tobacco that this govt would need to pay out less in old age pensions.

"Deep southern" Indiana, Jasper, between Evansville and Louisville. Surgery done in Louisville, Dec. 2013

The answer is Magnesium Citrate. I bought 250 mg Gels at WalMart. Have been taking 500 mg: 1 in the morning, 1 before bed and I have had soft bowel movements daily since then and a higher output in feces quantity. Many Americans are deficient in Mg. Physicians will not test for it (blood test) unless you ask.