drmeow

I have http://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-V3240-Vacuum-Sealing-System/dp/B003U738ZE?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0 I think the main difference is that it has settings for moist foods, as well as ones you don't want completely collapsed, like chips or bread. I rarely use either of those settings anyway, as most of what i seal is meat or cheese. I also buy the generic bags from Amazon, WAY cheaper, and work just as well. I'm very happy with it.

Exactly! My thought when I read your first post was that - you don't even know what this guy's job is at your company, so obviously he's not a close friend. People like that don't even deserve a response other than something like - "I don't recall asking for your opinion"

I know you were in the first slot, but it's possible others actually scheduled their surgeries before you did, and they would be given priority when rescheduling. I hope you get it straightened out; I know how disappointing it must be.

It sounds like you're in kind of a vicious cycle - heavy work schedule/commute making you tired, which impairs your judgment about eating, and less protein/hydration makes you more tired. Can you take an extra day off work to give yourself a long weekend, and really get rested up, along with doing some basic walking for exercise, and eating well? Also, maybe during your commute you can listen to some positive affirmation type stuff (you can find things online with a google search, or even record your own), as well as keeping Water or other beverage handy for sipping while commuting.

Maybe the doctor is going out of town in the afternoon, and needed to move several patients who were scheduled prior to yours, into earlier slots (ie perhaps you were one of the last ones to schedule?) Hopefully there is a reasonable explanation, and I definitely think you should call and ask them to explain it to you.

I'm currently 52 and in the middle of my 3 month supervised weight monitoring. I hope to get my surgery either late May or early June, and my 53rd birthday will be in late May. This will be the best birthday present I've had in a long time!

I got the Fitbit One for several reasons - one, it was less expensive than some of the others and since I'm new to these I wasn't sure if I'd like it (I actually bought a used one on ebay for about half of new price) I don't like wearing a wriststrap b/c I already wear a watch and prefer it - would not want to use my tracker as a watch. I can put the Fitbit one on my bra or in my pocket, which work well for me. It shows steps, floors, miles, calories, time and can be used for an alarm as well as stopwatch. At night it goes into a separate strap to wear for sleep. If I were a runner I might use the HR monitor part, but I cannot run (bad knees and feet) anymore. Also, I have an older Polar HR monitor with its own watch that I could use if I needed it.

Well that's great! I wish I'd had this done when my husband was active duty LOL! He is still a federal employee but our BCBS has lots of copays and stuff. Still, I'm lucky to have it covered most of the way!

It says right on the label you posted "calcium(as calcium citrate tetrahydrate) It is citrate! You can't get calcium that is not part of a combination such as calcium citrate or (more commonly calcium carbonate) - the mineral calcium doesn't exist on its own. Calcium carbonate is what is in tums, etc. and is not quite as well absorbed or used as calcium citrate, that's all.

Are you on any blood pressure meds b/c of your kidneys? You may not need it anymore, or need a lower dose. If you don't have a home BP monitor you can drop by your PCP's office and have it checked usually for nothing. The ones in stores tend to be inaccurate I was told.

I am pre-op so I don't know from experience but from reading here I think it's not uncommon to lose a bit, stay level for a bit, then lose more, repeat. It's such a drastic change for your body, sometimes it tries to hold on to the fat longer in case of starvation. Also, it will probably help if you post which surgery you had (I assume bypass b/c of which forum you're in but sometimes people make a mistake in a hurry) and also exactly what you're eating and how much, how often, etc. Saying you aren't eating unhealthy still leaves a lot of questions - drinking enough, getting all your Protein in, etc? I hope things start moving down again quickly for you!

Be sure that's for everything. Remember, there will be a bill from your surgeon, a bill from the hospital and another from the anesthesiologist, maybe one from radiology if there is a post-op radiograph, etc.Even though my insurance technically covers it, I will still have several hundred dollars of co-pay/deductible stuff for both the hospital and the surgeon. But that's what the patient coordinator at my surgeon's practice is there for - to get those figures ahead of time for me so there is no shock afterward!

If it's mainly the sleep study which is holding you up, why not just self-pay that part (way cheaper than the surgery itself I'm sure!) to move things along. You can always submit the claim after the fact, with documentation, esp if they do find apnea.

While I think the sleeve vs bypass choice is very personal and each should do what they feel is best for them (with their doctor's input), to characterize the bypass as more involved than the sleeve is misrepresentation I think. In the bypass, yes, your intestine is re-routed, which some feel to be very drastic. however, all of your stomach remains in place, and in case of difficulties it can be entirely reversed (not saying there wouldn't be complications with that, just that it's possible). With the sleeve 80% of your stomach is gone. If you do have problems, you can't just put it back. I'm sure there are procedures available to help with complications but I'm just pointing out that in its own way, the sleeve is just as "drastic" as the bypass. I think the name "sleeve" makes it sound like it's a very simple process, or similar to banding, when it's not.

My advice, like Debbie Jean's, is to back off. I am sure you mean very well and are worried about his health, but other than making sure there are healthy choices available and modeling good eating and exercise, I would leave it to him. As a kid I was not overweight but before puberty just a tiny bit pudgy at most. My mother made it her life's work to nag me about what i ate, restrict sweets, etc. The result was that I ate in secret. (There were also other family issues that fueled my eating certainly) If I was out shopping with a friend (ie, no Mom), I would buy a bunch of candy to binge on later in my room. When I hit puberty I became completely normal size but I struggled constantly with wanting to binge (only occasionally gave in and was very active, so could maintain). Once I married I began gaining weight every year due to a bad relationship, and my mother continued to nag me about my weight. My response was to eat even more, usually in private. I call my mother a "food cop." I know in my heart she meant well (she'd had some weight problems at one time) but it backfired. I now have 3 kids, two of which can eat anything and not gain (thanks to husband's genes) and one, 15 yo ds, who gains easily and struggles with not overeating. I was concerned when he began gaining a lot around age 11, but forced myself not to say anything. I also did not restrict what he could eat - I continued to buy some limited junk food along with healthy things. I knew that the more I pushed, the more he would just eat on the sly, as I had done. It took awhile but on his own this year he has opted to cut way back on the junk food, asked me to put it out of sight or not buy it (I only buy a little bit and keep it put away for dd) He's also become more interested in lifting weights so he and I split the cost of a few dumbbells for him to do some basic curls, etc. for now. He doesn't play sports so doesn't have that automatic activity, and right now gets little exercise but in better weather he will ride his bike and sometimes run. I think at your son's age it's better not to focus on exercise as something we "have to do" such as using machines at the gym. Help him find some other activities that are fun - maybe he can learn martial arts or ice skating (hockey?) in the winters. I know your heart is in the right place and you are a great mom to want to help him, just be careful it doesn't backfire. I would also focus on how he feels when eating better and exercising, not the scale. Even if he's the one weighing himself, he's doing it b/c he knows you're concerned about it. {{{{hugs}}}}

I called the surgeon's office and spoke with the patient coordinator. She said the main thing is to try not to gain - they look at that as not trying to be compliant. Apparently it's OK if I lose or stay the same, just not gain. As long as I don't go below BMI 35, that is. So she's assuming they'll accept my BP and other issues as comorbidities but admitted they just don't know until they submit. Nothing in the insurance paperwork defines the level of severity of comorbidities, just lists them. I've already decided that if I'm denied I'm going to self-pay for this. It's too important to wait for my health to get worse!

Has anyone been denied for losing weight in the pre-op period? My BMI is currently 39.7. I have high BP (controlled wiht meds), asthma and mild reflux. The doctor's office said these are not always an automatic approval like diabetes would be. I have to do a 3 mo supervised weight loss before even submitting paperwork. If I lose much, my BMI will be even lower - will they deny me b/c of that? Or do they submit your original BMI? I really do want to be losing some of this, not only to make surgery easier but b/c I feel so horrible at this weight (highest I've ever been) and losing even 15 lbs will make a difference.

I don't plan on telling anyone but my kids and 1-2 close friends in the beginning. My boss is super-thin, vegetarian and runs high mileage daily. She and I have had discussions about vegetarianism vs. low-carb that I do and I think neither of us are going to accept the other's choice as our own I am sure she would be very condescending about WLS and the "easy way out" since what she does works for her. However, I'm pretty sure if she stopped running and relaxed her diet a bit, she might gain a total of 10 lbs. It's just her genes. So people like that really can't understand what we obese people go through - they have no concept to relate to it. Yes, she works hard to be fit, but I'll be working just as hard for me.

I think some of the difficulty with the idea of WLS to many people is that those people might be, or might have been, maybe 10,15,20 lbs overweight at some point in their life, or know someone who was, and was able to lose that with commitment to diet and exercise. that is great! However, being 20 lbs overweight is NOTHING like being 100 lbs overweight or more. Generally, they don't have the health issues, the depression, the inability to exercise efficiently, etc. Some of those (like my soon-to-be EX) maybe gained some weight after marriage or other changes of life, simply switched from coke to diet coke and dropped the spare tire. So they really have no idea how messed up our metabolisms and hormones are. I recently quoted the longterm (>5 yr) success rate of weight loss of 100 lbs or more as less than 5%, to my therapist, who works specifically with people who have eating disorders. She had no idea it was that low. If she doesn't, you can bet the general public doesn't either, and they lump all overweight people into one category.

Even if the immunologist doesn't have experience with WLS patients, he's probably dealt with many overweight patients concurrently trying to lose weight. I would think whatever his recommendations there would apply to you. The good thing is, with WLS you're always supposed to focus on getting your Proteins in first, so at least what you're doing is not at odds with your goal. It's tough to have a weird syndrome in addition to having WLS I'm sure. Focus on the fact that a) you've lost weight and are already much healthier than before b)you might not have discovered this immune deficiency otherwise, until it caused severe problems to your health Best of luck!

Atkins was the best thing that ever worked for me and I am trying to get back to it now in my pre-op diet, and plan to use it for maintenance after losing if possible. I have done a Whole30 before, although I didn't make it the whole 30 days. The good and the bad - good that it actually got rid of my sugar cravings faster than Atkins, b/c of not using any artificial sweeteners (I have unstable blood sugar and some of the fake stuff raises it just like sugar). The bad was I was tempted to eat more fruit for the sweetness, and I just really can't do that and lose weight. I can handle berries pretty well on Atkins but anything else is a problem for me. If I eat an apple I can literally feel my blood sugar fall in about 30 min when the big insulin dump hits. I'll end up eating junk just to stave that off, so apples have to be off-limits for me. I am curious how things will change after surgery - the hormones change so I may be able to (eventually) handle things like that.

I've been looking into activity trackers and could not make up my mind on them, so I ended up getting a used Fitbit one on ebay for about 1/2 the cost of a new one. That way, if I don't like it I'm not out much and can try another. The other one I was interested in is the Misfit Shine, and I saw a good price on ebay for that as well, but decided to try the FB first. I've had it a few days now and so far I love it.

@@teachrissy, did you lose more at first and then regain, or never lost more than that? What was your starting weight, height, etc.? Maybe if you tell us more here, some of the veterans can help you make your pouch work for you. I've heard of something called the 5-day pouch test that people use to jumpstart losing again, long after surgery. I'm still pre-op myself so can't help much but I know there are lots of people here who can!

Ha, you are not the only one. Well, I have not had my surgery yet and we are already separated, but I feel the same way about my rings. I may decide to have them made into something else eventually.

I think most insurances will automatically approve BMI's above 40 even with no co-morbidities, but they vary in what their pre-op requirements are. mine requires 3 mos of supervised diet attempts, which just mean I have to weigh in at the weight loss clinic (vs. my regular doctor) monthly for 4 times, see their nutritionist once, and either lose a little or maintain. As long as I don't gain in that 3 mos I'm good. When I first approached my PCP about bariatric surgery he was (and is) very against it. He said he only recommended it for people who were basically going to die soon without it. He then proceeded to give me the same tired advice of smaller portions, more exercise, etc that I've heard, and tried for 20 years. (he does approve of low carb at least) I currently have hypertension, asthma, bad knees and feet, reflux and am pre-diabetic. Why should I wait until those are worse, until I'm a full-blown diabetic and face kidney failure, or loss of vision or a limb? I'm 52 and already wish I'd looked into this 5-10 years ago before I had so many health problems. Hopefully in a few more months I'll be on the losers bench!