bitter42

I had sleeve surgery on 8/13. The first 10 days I lost 18lbs. From 304 to 286. The last 18 days I've lost NOTHING! I'm getting 600-800 calories a day. 20-30 grams of fat. Under 40 carbs. 70-100 grams of Protein. 60-80 ounces of Water. I just don't know what else to do. I'm going insane.

Hi all. I had my sleeve surgery on 8/13. I've had no real complications (minus constipation). I did hit a major stall (17 days) about 10 days post op. Since then I've lost about another 4lbs, making for a total of 23lbs lost in 5 1/2 weeks. I'm stalled again. I did have a surgeon's appointment and before I even brought up the stalls he said he wanted to mention something to me. He asked if I had been diagnosed with Metabolic Syndrome. I said no and he said that when he saw inside of my body my fat distribution was consistent with those with Metabolic Syndrome and said he has no doubt that I would have been diagnosed soon without surgery. I asked him what that even meant. He said I would probably lose weight more slowly because it was resilient fat that did NOT want to come off, but once it came off the other fat would start "melting off". When I got home I looked up Metabolic Syndrome. I do sometimes have high blood pressure if I eat high sodium foods, but have never had high blood sugar or triglycerides or any other risk factor. Wondering if anyone else has been diagnosed with this and how slow is slow on weight loss? I don't want to make an excuse for slow weight loss or all these stalls and get complacent. Is it possible this surgery will fail because of this? I'm so nervous now and have a million questions I never thought to ask.

Thanks guys. I feel better knowing others have stalled this early and were still successful. And this has nothing to do with speed for me. Slow and steady wins the race, and that would suit me just fine. It's more of when there's NO movement at all in weeks when it starts to get discouraging. I'd be more than happy to have a 1-2lb loss each week. I don't need a mega loss all at once.

Many prayers your way.

Congrats! I'm being sleeved today too. (And also can't sleep!). I have to be at Mt Carmel West in Columbus, OH at 10:00 with surgery at noon. Good luck!

I read on here about the Bariatric Choice website where you can order tons of stuff that is high in Protein. I ordered Vegetarian Joe (like sloppy joe), Spicy cheese and Pasta, chicken and Vegetable Cream Soup, and a variety sample package. I love the Vegetarian Joe, but haven't tried anything else yet. It came in 2 days and was reasonably priced. I just wanted to let anyone interested know that they sent me to a link where I can refer people and they (and me) can get $20.00 off their first purchase. If you're interested, send me your email address and I'll send you the referral link. Less than 2 weeks until my surgery! Can't wait!

My job is fairly physically demanding. I'm on my feet for about 8-10 hours a day. I push heavy fixtures around, lift 30-50lbs fairly regularly. A lot of climbing stairs. Realistically, I know I should take the entire time (I did too much after my C-section and regretted it), but the longer I'm out the more work will be waiting for me when I return!

Have they told you how long to expect to be out of work? Renee told me 6 weeks. I asked if she thought there would be any way I'd be ready at 4 weeks and she said I'd have to talk to Dr. Page. Just wondering how set in stone he is.

I'll join the ranks of the sleeved on August 13th. I'm so excited; I haven't had a chance to think about being nervous yet. My surgeon doesn't require any pre-op diet, but I've lost 12lbs just tracking on MyFitnessPal for the last 46 days. I'm SO ready.

Mhenne97, our surgery dates should be pretty close to each other. Renee just called me yesterday with an August 13th date! I do my pre-op testing and meet again with Dr. Page on August 7. I'm getting very excited! And congrats to you.

I'm so frustrated right now and just need to vent. I started this journey at the beginning of the year with hopes that I could have my surgery this summer. I got the last of my clearances done on May 28th. My Bariatric Advocate said she would submit the paperwork to insurance the next day. Well, I called Anthem 12 days later (June 9)to see if the insurance had made a decision yet. They said they were still waiting on a final form from the surgeon's office. So, I called the surgeon's office and she said they were waiting on a form from insurance, but she was "just getting ready to call them" and would submit it that day. She said if they approved in the next 3 weeks, we would be looking at a mid-August surgery date. So, I decided to call insurance again today to see what progress had been made. They said there had been no new info submitted and it is not into the review stage yet. What?! I called the surgeon's office at 8:00 this morning to find out what is going on--had to leave a message. And I still haven't heard back. My main problem is that I'm a manager for a major retailer. My surgeon wants me off 4-6 weeks. Our Christmas season starts in October. So, if I can't have surgery by the end of August, I won't be able to do it this year. And all of my clearances will expire and I'll have to start completely over. I just want to cry.

So.....After my little rant yesterday, I get a call from my Bariatric Advocate who proceeds to tell me that I'm approved! I'm shocked and excited. I don't even care whose fault the mix-ups were now. She said hospital billing will call me next week to see what I need to pay upfront, then I will get my surgery date. Yay!

Anyone is welcome to add me. I'm "bitter42". I haven't been sleeved yet, though--still waiting on insurance approval. Today is my 17th day in a row logging in to MFP. I've been logging EVERYTHING--the good, the bad, and the fattening. :-)

I know what you mean about lying. I have told my husband I'm scared of heights because he had mentioned going to an amusement park and I know I won't fit in the rides. He hasn't mentioned flying, but I'm sure I'd come up with a lie for that also. It's very sad, but at least we're doing something to take back control of our lives now! Best of luck in your journey!

One of my goals after I have my sleeve is to run a 5K. I see so many people on here running miles and miles and am so excited. But how long after you were sleeved were you able to start running and for how long? Right now, I can run for about 20 seconds without feeling like I'm about to die. Now, I can walk for miles, but I WANT to run. It's like I'm craving it, but I just can't see how I will ever be able to go miles. My NUT recommended that I don't do any running at this weight (317) because I don't have any joint problems, but could cause some easily. So, when do I start and how? I have couch to 5k on my phone--does it work? Also, where does everyone run? I hate the thought of all my neighbors watching my flab bounce around as I pant around the block!

I have a question regarding final insurance approval. I have an exclusion in my insurance policy for WLS, but my employer has a program where they can override it with certain health conditions or BMI (my BMI of 54 more than qualifies me). I called them in January, found out I qualified, they called Anthem for me and told them I qualified. I also had to contact Anthem's Bariatric program prior to my first surgeon visit and ask some qualifying questions, of which they answered all in the positive. Anthem doesn't require me to do any sort of supervised diet and the only clearances required are from my surgeon (nutritionalist and psych). I only have a group NUT appointment left then it goes to insurance. So, my question is, why would the possibility exist for insurance to deny me at this point? I see so many people worried about denial at the end and some are denied. Why?

My psych eval is tomorrow morning at 9:00am and I'm scared to death! I've read everyone's posts on here and it seems as if there's no true format. My surgeon's office suggested a psychiatrist, but he wasn't covered by my insurance so I'm going to someone local. I think what I'm most concerned about is I'm afraid of bias against WLS. I don't want to go in and have to change someone's outlook on the subject. I also take Wellbutrin for anxiety, which is well-controlled, but is that a tick against me? Ugh! I'd like to fast forward past this part!

Let's see if this works...trying to attach pics.

So I just got out of my psych eval. I had to talk with the psychologist for about 30 minutes. He asked me about my family life, my support system, health history, and I volunteered up all I had researched regarding the sleeve. He didn't go too far in depth on any subject, but I offered up things I've done to prepare (gave up caffeine, soda, increased daily Protein, exercise, etc). He seemed impressed with the preparation and knowledge. So, I was then sat down with 400 True/False questions. Some were quite interesting. (I took pics of a couple of pages an will post them I can figure out how). I did notice some repetitiveness of the line of questioning with rewording or phrasing. About halfway through my questions he came in to check on me. Before he left, I asked him when I would know whether he gave me clearance. He said about a week or so, but didn't envision any problems with me passing. Whew!

I should be getting sleeved this summer and I have a 14 month old (23lbs). My doctor said no lifting more than 20lbs for 6 weeks. My husband is taking 2 weeks off of work and I just pray the other weeks go well. It helps that my baby can walk and do a little climbing. I'm nervous, though!

You can purchase from their website, www.torani.com. I got 2 of my bottles at World Market and my husband bought me one from a local coffee shop.

I eat Aldi's plain Greek yogurt and add Sugar Free Torani syrup to it (today was Brown Sugar Cinnamon!). Totals: 8oz, 140 calories, 0 Fat, 7 carbs, 24 protein

At first I wasn't sure whether to be excited or worried at the lack of clearances. But my hospital has 4 surgeons performing sleeves since 2011 and has only had 2 leaks/complications. I considered that pretty good and they are also a Center of Excellence, so I'm confident that they know what they're doing. I will have to have a pre-op EKG and blood panel at the hospital a week before surgery. Good luck to you!

I only have to go to the Nutritionalist twice (One-on-one and a group) and have a Psych eval. I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't have to see any medical doctors.

I got a nice glass Weight Watchers scale at Big Lots for $20. It seems to weigh very accurately.