jjinWA

I am having my surgery by dr Houseworth in Federal Way WA state, at the Franciscan weight management center and hospital. They say we stay in the same ward as the mothers and new babies. Hubby will be with me for the overnight stay and can sleep on the extra bed in my room. Not sure I want him there overnight though. I may rest better if I don't have to worry about him. :-)

Wonderful to hear it went well for you. Hope you rest well tonight.

I jumped all the hoops I was told I needed to enable me to submit my paperwork to ins (BCBS). Get all done and think I should be good to go and the facilitator asked me if I had my two years of weight history. WTF? First I had heard of it! So I had to go back to 2012 and 2013 and find doctors that I had seen to see if they had my weight recorded in their chart notes. I also checked with Weight Watchers. Apparently the ins will accept their file records also. Long story short I did get the needed support evidence to show that I have been overweight for at least 3 years. But I was sweating bullets when I first heard of this requirement. Check with your facilitator or ins company to see if this is a necessary step for you. MIT delayed me submitting my paperwork cuz I had to chase down the additional information at the last minute. Weight watchers is used to this request. They were able to find my records across multiple states. WOW....

I will get pro-op diet from surgeon tomorrow. Hope it is only for a week..... We shall see.

What a great list! Amazing how there are so many on this site that have signed up for a new lease on life. June is OUR month! Thanks Kim for getting this going.

I have struggled with this cut and paste. I see someone added me. Thanks! Would someone mind adding my name to it. It is Jacke. jjinWa, Washington state. Surgery date is June 17. I am so excited but worried to. Praying for all of us in the June group for great success. We deserve it! :-)

I go in to the surgeon on the 4th to get my pre-op diet. I will post the results then

Get a fit bit! It is a great motivator. My whole family has one and we try to be top score for each week. :-)

I am June 17th Too! Here we go!

I am excited and nervous. My final pre-op with the surgeon is the 4th. I find out then what my pre-op diet will be. Hope not 2 weeks!

How do I add my name to this list? I am in Washington state and surgery is 6-17.

You are a sweetheart for being so helpful with your information and sharing of your experiances. Thanks so much. Mexico surgeries should not be taboo. You are testimonial of that.

I am so glad that the surgery went well for you. I will touch base with you in a few weeks. My daughter is waiting for insurance approval. Supposed to take the. About 3 weeks. We sent in the paperwork last Friday. If ins denies approval I will be picking your brain to get her set up with your dr. He sounds like a good option for Mexico WLS. I will go with her. She is 38 and certainly could do this on her own, but I know she would be more comfortable with the "unknown" if she had me along for the ride. :-). Having been through the surgery by then I can help her know what to expect. Would they let me stay in her hospital room, or do I need to get a hotel room for those 3 days? My husband is staying with me when I have my surgery here in WA. They provide a room that has an extra bed in the room for a support person. But that is only for a night or two.

I understand the Facebook option, but unfortunately, I do not have a Facebook account. Never felt I wanted to join in that social rat race. No reason that those that do wish to follow along via that resource though. I am only one of many having surgery in June.

Ok, so since it was a she I change my wording from ballsy to gutsy. Hehee. Regardless, I think they could have worked out the collection process with a bit more class.

Be careful how you store your clothes. I have always dieted my whole life. Lose 40, gained back 60... Yup that is how I got to my current wight of 224. Through dieting. But I digress. Let me get back to my purpose for my response. I learned not to get rid of any of my clothes because I was sure to get back to "that" size eventually. So I sorted the clothes into various sizes and put them into plastic tubs. I marked my weight range in black marker on the lids of each of those tubs and stored them for later use. In theory this was a good idea. A quick way to pull the right tub of clothes based on my current weight as I went into the summer or winter changes. If I currently weighed 180 to 200 lbs, I just looked for the tub with that weight marked on the lid. Well..... We just moved across country and my husband had a bunch of his guy friends help him load the moving van with our stuff. I am sure they had a good laugh reading the tags on each lid. I had many marked 200 to 220. How embarrassing! Oh well, I will be sure to call them when we move again. All those 'big girl' clothes will be gone!! I ain't saving any of them!!!!! That life is going to be permanently behind me. I want to never be embarrassed again because of my size.

So we need how much protein each day right after surgery? 60 grams? I will need to do the math to ensure I drink steady and slowly and still get In The required protein amounts.... In between my sips to get in my 64 oz of water. Yup drink that slowly too! Will I be able to keep track of all this?! :-). I am determined to follow plan and do this right. This sleeve is going to be a great tool, but I gotta make sure I follow plan. It is up to me to do this right. It is not just going to happen just cuz I had surgery.

Wow! You are in your hospital bed and he comes in and asks for payment before you go in for surgery? Ha, can I just say that was "ballsy.!" :-)

I would wonder if there has ever been a comparison on hair loss between the different surgeries.... Sleeve vs bypass vs band. Any one know of such a study?

I am so sorry you lost your Mom. I know she was doing this surgery so that she could be healthy and be here for you. Unfortunately there are rare occasions that serious issues follow behind the surgery. There is no doubt that WLS is a serious operation and should never be taken lightly. There ARE risks with WLS, as there is with any surgery. But there are as many risks for being morbidly obese. You are on the right track. I will keep you in my prayers, and I am sure your mom is watching out for you as well. She is the angel you are feeling on your shoulder. :-). My daughter is waiting for her ins approval ( due to some minor delays in the "hoop jumping."). She should hear within 3 weeks. I have mine on the 17 TH of this month. I would have loved it if she had been able to start this journey with me, but in the end it will happen for her as well. I can honestly say I want success more for her then for me. She has her whole life ahead of her. As with your mom, we want only good things for our children. Good luck and keep us posted. There are lots of " moms " out here who will be happy to offer encouragement and advice and friendship as you go on this journey!

Not to sound stupid here, but how do you add a friend on this site. I want to keep in touch with my June friends. We will have the same timing of surgery, post op, etc. it would be great to follow each other's progress together.

I had that very same thing happen to me. I had to see a cardiac dr for clearance to do the WLS. His nurse asked why I wanted to see the dr and I explained the requirement. She went into a rant about why people just need to watch what they eat and exercise more. No one would be fat if they just followed a healthy lifestyle! I have heard that so many times. That is why I have not told anyone. Too many critics and I just don't need that right now.

This thread had been so helpful. Thank you. After my surgery I will rely on protein drinks as my mainstay, just like everyone else. Good recipes and ideas help us get the protein in! The knowledge and experience from others is exactly what I am looking for to help me on my journey. I have copied down these recipes. I look forward to when I graduate to that level and can have fruit in my drinks. One thing that I always add to my smoothies is spinach. I will continue to add spinach to my smoothies once I get the go ahead that it will be accepted in my plan. Spinach is good for you and honestly does not alter the taste much. With strawberries and bananas, I blend with almond milk and protein powder and flax seed.

I am anxious and even a bit scared of having my surgery on June 17. I had a very complicated surgery when I was 16 and I was not supposed to live. Yup, well I am 60 now so I showed them! Because of that surgery, this surgery will be much more tricky then just doing a standard sleeve. For me, yes I have decided it will be worth that risk. So, what do I do, but read the folder called surgery complications. Big mistake! Scared the bejesus out of me! I posted a comment that now I really am having second thoughts (never mentioned about the previous surgery I had years ago). I was honestly looking for support and encouragement. Nope, I received one post.... "So if you are that worried, don't have it." Nice. So was this person a bully, just rude, or being bluntly honest. I will leave that to interpretation of others. I am still scared to death for this upcoming surgery, but I am not living now anyway. Just existing. I am going to go forward. Here is a quote I live by, when a bully decides to put me in their sight. " learn a lesson from your dog--no matter what life brings you, kick some grass over that shit and move on." That is exactly what I did after reading that reply post. :-).

I also went to a weight loss center.... Franciscan Weight Loss Center in WA. This is what they do! So they are well set up to see you through the process. Look for that type of set up in your area.