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@@LisaMergs My scars are more toward the back and very straight. Once they are fully healed it will be hard for anyone to notice. Again, keep in mind I am still quite swollen so that is putting pressure on the incisions. This was taken at 4 weeks post op. I will be 6 weeks on Thursday.

Hooray! That is great news! I had my blood work done at 3mo, 6mo, 12 mo,18 mo and now I am on every 12 for the rest of my life. Which I just found out my new insurance does not cover it at all and it cost $2237.00. Of course I had no idea that my new Cigna insurance would not cover it as long as the word Bariatric is in the coding.....I am getting a letter from Park Nicollet Bariatric Center to indicate that this is a medically necessary testing required once annually to see if I can appeal it. I am guessing I might not be the only one that this happened to over time. Anyway....enough about that. As far as my blood work changes it really is very minimal. Now I take a few more than you. I take 1 multi, 2 Calcium citrate chews, Vitamin D3, Vitamin B1 and B12. The only one that was ever changed was they added B1 to my regimen because by the 6 month mark, that was moving into the low range. So we added it and my blood work has been stable ever since. Now if you take anything for hypothyroidism there are lots of changes that happen all along the way. They are still trying to regulate my TSH. Having lost so much weight that hormone has been reduced a lot however I still need it and likely will the rest of my life so those of you that have hypothyroidism, you need to watch that closely. Best of luck to you!

Congratulations! You are on the other side now and life is about to get exciting!

Nicely done! You look fantastic and I bet you feel great too! Congratulations!

Once you know you are prone to hypoglycemic incidents post op, you need to be very aware and pay attention to your body. I have had numerous episodes but it took me a while to figure out what was driving it. For me, it has nothing to do with cupcakes! It has entirely to do with hours between meals. I usually eat 5 to 6 small meals per day now. If I do that, then I don't have a problem. If I go 3 or 4 hours without eating something small like cottage cheese with some strawberries, I know I will have an episode. I was definately someone who had instances of this when I was heavy but now, they happen more frequently if I am not careful. The bad news is they happen fast! On several occasions I did not even recognize what was happening to me until I was nearly passed out. My glucose has gone as low as 32 before I figured out what was happening and I was home alone. I remember my hands trembling so bad I could not get my glucose tablets open as they were sealed. Now, if I even start to feel the small signs I check my sugar. If it goes below, 70 I know it's time for something to eat. I do try to keep sugar to a minimum and if I do indulge, I make sure there is Protein to go along with it. Once I figured out what was going on, I seem to be able to manage it a bit better however I still have one or two episodes per week. I just keep glucose and my meter available and I will usually pack something if I am out for the day.

Right on @@LipstickLady! I have said this no less than 1000 times. The loose skin is better than the fat! and if you so choose, the scars are better than the loose skin. You have options for dealing with the loose skin but being morbidly obese or even obese for that matter has a whole lot more long lasting damage to your body. Bones and organs! It will absolutely catch up with you. As I have also said, my only regret is waiting until I was 51 to do something like this for myself. I wonder often if I would have less joint damage and spine damage had I done this 10 years earlier. I have to believe there is truth to that but then I say well thank goodness I got my head out of my arse and did it at 51....how much more life will I have because I did! Lose (I mean LOOSE) skin and all! LOL!

Options, Options and more Options! I love clothes shopping now. I joke with my husband about it. I liken it to when he walks into Best Buy and his eyes glaze over......men and electronics. I worked there for 25 years and i had to keep a short leash on him when he went in shopping. Now, that is totally me! We can walk through a store with any clothes in it and I almost tune everything out. I know that I can fit in almost anything and they will have my size! I find myself trying on things that others left in the dressing room just because I can. Now of course I have to refrain some because I am not yet a lottery winner but God help me if I ever become a lottery winner. I would have huge closets full of beautiful clothes, shoes and handbags. When I was fat, I hated shopping unless it was for handbags. That is where I spent all of my money. LOL.....now it's hard because I also love shoes! It's not overwhelming to me, just an absolute blast because I have not been able to shop like that since I was a teenager.

@@Mudgy6 I am guessing you meant your glucose level, not A1C. Regardless that is great news! I too was diabetic until my bypass. Now, my resting glucose is around 73 average when it used to be in the 150s. My A1C is well below normal at 4.8 No more medications! It is one of the best things about having bypass besides the fact that it cures reflux as well.

Baby food is not the best choices for food of any kind. Can you make your own purees? Or leverage Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, refried Beans with cheese, ricotta cheese, unsweetened applesauce as long as you eat some Protein with it, Cream soups, Of course I would also leverage my favorite protein shakes which are ready made and easy to pack in your lunch. They are Premier Protein ready made shakes. They have 30 grams of protein, 1 gram of sugar and 160 calories. Once you can mash things with a fork, leverage fish......very high in protein, low in calories and absolutely works well following WLS.

@@silvermoon The first step is contacting your insurance company to understand what the requirements are for you. I would also ask them to recommend a Bariatric center of excellence so you can get started on the paperwork. Have you done these steps already?

I don't use the patches but I had to reach out and say you look fantastic! Congratulations!

I had a lot to lose so that first month was pretty crazy but right after that, I averaged between 5 and 10lbs per month for 18 months before I lost 152lbs and met my goal. It all depends on how much you have to lose and your really cannot compare yourself to others. Be patient and keep in mind you did not put it all on that fast, it won't come off that fast either. The good news is if you learn good behaviors, you will never have to worry about it again! Congratulations on your surgery and your great recovery. You are on the road to success!

I had the same issue and no amount of excercise or strength training helped. 5 weeks ago I had a Brachioplasty (arm lift) and I could not be happier. It is painful to go through but there is instant gratification and my arms look amazing. In my after pictures, it is only 2 weeks post op and they are still very swollen so imagine what they will look like when the swelling goes down. No one should give you any negativity. This is just part of massive weight loss. It sucks to carry a lot of weight in your arms. For me, they were my most embarrassing problem. Now, I can fit into a medium on top when I started at a 26/28. It's just crazy! Before: After:

@@JT Edmiston I had the same problem the first week or so and then found out I needed to change shakes and for the time being thin them out with skim fair life milk which also adds some Protein. I cannot tolerate the taste or the nasty grit associated with protein powders. My team had me pick up some Premier Protein ready made shakes. You can get them at Sam's, costco, and Walmart. An 11oz. shake has 30 grams of protein and only 1 gram of sugar. They had me start by taking 1/3 of the shake and mixing it with skim milk about 2/3 milk. As time when on and I was healing better I went to half shake and half milk and finally I was able to drink a whole 11oz. Shake by week 4. You will have to try some things like this to get you through. The reality is, it is difficult in the beginning to eat enough actual protein from meat and legumes. The protein shakes are necessary to keep you healthy so you need to find something that works for you. Best of luck with your recovery!

@@OKCPirate Just keep being the role model you already are, when she is ready she will approach you. That being said, if she never does anything and if she begins to have some real medical issues because of it, I might suggest at that point having a discussion with her to know that help is there when she is ready for it. In the mean time, she is watching you shrink before her eyes. I am sure whether you realize it or not she is watching you and probably wants time to ensure that are not long term side effects for you. Having surgery is scary and when you are young like her, I would guess it would be hard to imagine what it might be like to give up what you think you love. Those that are not ready, are not ready to hear it either. I know my hubby would be so much healthier. He has supported me like crazy yet he continues to eat badly and not exercise. I am worried about him but, he has to be ready himself or he won't even get started.

I have made the mistake of buying the wrong suit twice now! Ugh! If you actually use your suit to go into the Water all your jiggly bits float to the top once you lose your weight and have a lot of loose skin. I found this out the hard way about 2 months ago when I went to the pool for some excercise and the girls kept popping out the top of my suit. Before I knew it, I was literally being hit on by every old guy in the pool. Dirty dogs had me backed into a corner. So now I am looking for a suit that will not allow the girls free at all and no tankinis for me because they lift up in the water. I want a one piece that has a little skirt because I have a lot of loose skin and loose butt. I need something that will hide these features at least a little. LOL, oh the issues we have whether we are fat or now thin and jiggly....LOL

@@theantichick Glad you are out of surgery and on the other side now. Yeah, family can certainly get on your nerves. Glad you use this board to help you deal with it. Don't let them get you down. You are doing fantastic already! Congratulations! And drink your liquids! (LOL)

@@Crystal Ann Keister The way you get through this is staying focused on the reason you had the surgery in the first place. I know it is not easy but you really are through what should be the worst of it. Definately try some more savory broths to help push you through. Keep your eye on the prize....... Best of luck!

I still cannot do cold water, it has to be room temp and I a nearly 2 years post of.

Well, that makes two of us. They had the zoo alacarte where lots of local restaurants bring in their best dishes. I had 1 1/2 meatballs of a meatball sub, 3 cheese curds and yes, about 1/4 of a tiny piece of cheesecake. I need my veggies and more protein tonight. It was good except for the cheesecake. It sounded better in my head. Tomorrow is back to my good food.

I have had 4 major surgeries since my gastric bypass. None of them to the stomach area but I did learn there is NO problem with intubating us. The biggest thing to be careful about is if you have to have an EDG (camera down your throat into your stomach). The doctor needs to know you have had a Bariatric surgery and most if not all take a very thorough history. I had one of those recently too and because he was well informed, he knew how to handle my case. In the case of an emergency situation, you should have something that communicates this. I don't use a bracelet but most IPhones now have the medial alert and most emergency teams can access. Whether or not they do is the bigger question. I hope so because that is where I have my whole history and medications lists. They don't need a special code to get to it either.

@@WLSResources/ClothingExch Love this title....I thought it was a joke! The link only takes you to the Twinkie diet but I had to know so I googled cotton ball diet. Seriously, you would have to be demented (sorry if I offend anyone who might have tried this one) to try this one. Most cotton balls aren't even cotton they are synthetic polyester. Like the article said its like dipping your Tshirt in orange juice and eating it. Scary isn't it!

[quote name="HuneComz" post="4243456" 1. What do I expect? If my next appointment is presumably my last to meet the insurance requirements - what comes next? I am reading so many things on this forum! Honestly this is a hard one to answer because every surgeons office does things differently. I met my surgeon after the approval processed was completed. Up to that point I was meeting with Bariatric doctors that follow your care from beginning and post. I met the surgeon twice. After my approval and the day of surgery. 2. I have Aetna and my doctor's office keeps assuring me that the insurance companies have requirements and you meet them or you don't. Other than a higher BMI...I am one healthy big girl (now). Blood pressure is great, cholestorol is in ok-range, not diabetic, etc. I am very anxious that I will have gone through all of this only for insurance to say no. You should be fine if in fact you followed all the requirements set by your insurance company and it sounds like you have. Because your BMI is over 40 you are not required to have comorbitities. So, all should go well if your surgical team completed their part correctly. 3. I have a friend who was sleeved a couple years ago and was not required to do a liquid diet two weeks prior to surgery but that seems to be the standard now - is that the new normal? I think this depends on your current BMI as well. If the surgeon feels your liver needs some loss to shrink, you will likely have a liquid diet for a period of time. Mine was 2 weeks and I lost 13lbs during that time. Honestly it does help get rid of all the sugar toxins in your system so if you have to it is not a horrible thing. Just take one day at a time and don't focus on the whole two weeks or it can be overwhelming. After day 2 for me,it did not even bother me. 4. Maybe not a question - but I am very nervous about losing my hair and having hanging skin. I feel my long, thick, naturally curly hair is my only good physical feature, so I feel some anxiety about possibly losing gobs of it. And I need to lose about 120# to be around where I was years ago when I thought I was "fat" and where as I have no expectation of wearing tube tops or anything, I also want to feel good about myself so I am worried about having skin issues. My aforementioned friend claims to have zero skin issues. Anyone else so lucky? Well...here is the thing with hair loss. You won't know until it starts to happen and it is not as bad as people think. Make sure you get your Protein from the very beginning. If you do that and you are not someone like me who tends to shed hair during massive weight loss, then you won't. If you are, it is going to happen and there really is nothing you can do about. Some people take Biotin to help with regrowth but it won't stop you from losing. You will not go bald or have bald spots. If you are prone to this your hair will shed and it will shock you how much and how long this can go on. The good news is, the entire time it is happening regrowth is happening and you will notice it more than anyone else. If it bothers you, cut your hair short. I had a very thick head of hair and lost about 2/3. When it came back in I swear it is thicker but it is also now very very curly. I love my hair even more than I did before. It all came back and then some. 5. Any advice for expectations? I see the posts about two week liquid diets pre-op and up to 4 weeks liquid diet post-op. I have seen posts about no vegetables post-op and issues with bowel movements and all sorts of stuff that makes me question what I am about to do. I don't get the no veggies thing at all.....my nut has had me on a balanced diet that includes protein and good carbs like veggies and fruit since the day I could eat pureed foods. Yes, people sometimes struggle with bowel movements and have to take a stool softener. 6. My husband is supportive in the fact that he wants me to be happy but he is not happy that I am willing to go to this extreme. He partially feels like he has let me down in not trying harder himself to diet with me or work out with me or help to motivate me with any of my 100 diet attempts over the years. He is scared because he doesn't know the long term effects a greatly reduced stomach may have, he is scared because of the normal surgery risks, he is scared because I run the show here at the house for him and our 3 boys. Anyone have any input they can relay from their spouses? I would just say this. Obesity is a metabolic disease and as you already know, you can diet like crazy, lose the weight only to put it back on and then some. WLS can cure this issue. Yes there are risks associated with it but the risks of remaining morbidly obese are much worse. There will come a time when your health (like your mothers and my mother who died at 66 from complications of type 2 diabetes brought on by obesity) will deteriorate and you likely won't be able to lose nothing on your own. That is what happened to me and then the comorbitities pile on. When that happens, hubby and children will be caring for you. That is a much scarier situtation that having a surgery that has less risk than a hip replacement. If you follow the plan, you will do well and likely not have complications. If you smoke, quit NOW. That will help in recovery. 7. I am worried about missing too much work. I hope to have 3 weeks of vacation time saved by the time I anticipate having the surgery. I heard 2 weeks off is a reasonable expectation. My only surgical experience is robotic gall bladder surgery a few years ago. I couldn't believe how sore I was and missed an entire week of work. Are my expectations for missed time for a sleeve reasonable? I could have gone back to work in a week post surgery easily. The biggest thing is getting used to the diet and spending enough time getting your fluids in those first weeks. If you don't, you become nauseated, tired, headache and weakness so your recovery depends on you doing what you need to. Honestly, having weight loss surgery was the best thing that ever happened to me. I went in with type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, stage 3 kidney disease. All of those diseases are in remission. I lost 152lbs and have been at a normal healthy weight since March of this year. The bad news is, I waited too long and did damage to my spine and other joints in my body. That damage cannot be undone. I was at nearly the same BMI as you but I was likely there for a lot longer as I was 51 when i finally moved forward. My advice is don't wait and be scared enough to follow the rules. If you do, all should turn out great for you. Don't be afraid of losing your hair, if you do it is very temporary and it is worth it. Lastly depending on how young you are, some of your skin may bounce back but realistically you will have some loose hanging skin. There are ways to deal with that surgically and most of us who have lost massive weight choose to finish our transformation. I just began that part of the journey having a arm lift 5 weeks ago. I will likely do my stomach and breasts as well down the road. Once you lose all the weight you can decide that for yourself. Exercise does help as does your age but be realistic about this.

As you said liquids are the first challenge for nearly everyone from what I have read and experienced. What's worse, mostly everyone does not realize how sick and weak you can feel when you don't get at least the minimal requirement in. My surgical team required the whole first week of Clear Liquids and when I look back on it, I know it is because fluids are so critical, even more important that Protein at that stage. Staying hydrated is #1. Unfortunately it took me longer than a week to master getting enough Fluid in me to keep me from feeling weak, nauseous and having a headache. I finally learned one trick that actually still works for me today. I had to literally hold a cup in my hand for the first couple hours of the day and constantly sip so that I had a head start on my liquids. Even today nearly 2 years later I start my day with a 20oz bottle of Water, followed by a 30g Protein shake and then 30 minutes later another 20 oz bottle of water. This really sets me up for a good day. You have to figure out what works for you. Some people set and alarm for every five minutes or so to take a sip, that didn't work for me. I had to hold the cup in my hand. Of course in the first few weeks I could not even get that 11oz protein shake down. It would take me most of the day and I had to thin it out with milk. But by 4 weeks I was able to get all of my water and protein down. Of course I had advanced to full liquids week 2, pureed foods for weeks 3 and 4. I did not do well on the pureed diet. It was just too soon to be trying pureed meats. And eggs did not work for me at all and still don't. So for those two weeks I ate a lot of yogurt, cottage cheese, cream of wheat with Protein powder, Protein shakes, pureed veggies and creamed soups. I think the biggest learning for me was, just because your surgeon advances you doesn't mean that you cannot take it slower and go back to the previous stage. In fact if you are having trouble, call them and likely they will have you go back for a week or two. This allows your new tummy to heal better before advancing. This is just my opinion but advancing ones diet too quickly can actually cause you to not focus on getting the fluids in and building that good habit.

@@OKCPirate Thank YOU for the link. I seriously had no idea that this even existed, I just never ran into a ridiculous problem like this before. I will definately use it if I have to. For now the doctors office is going to relook at their coding. If they leave it coded as Bariatric then I will have no choice. It really is ridiculous what these insurance companies try to get away with. Thanks again for taking the time to help me.