pumpkin07

There is nothing more expensive than a cheap surgeon that is incompetent, that is for sure. Sounds like you are doing your research, but I am scared for you shopping price. I had my surgery in the states, but everyone says Dr. Aceves is good - can you go there? I am hesitant to blast the doctors I have heard are bad on a public forum, but you could private message people that have obviously been around a while and they might could help. Maybe you'll even get some messages with affordable options. I'm sorry about your husband. If you have some time it might be worth some counseling sessions. My husband and I have never encountered anything he has been that adament about, but honestly if he did I would totally want to hear him out. Because sometimes he is wiser than wise - sometimes he might be looking out for me in ways I need to be looked out for. Or he could be insecure. Or he could be worried about the money. Or he could be misunderstanding the surgery. In any case, I wouldn't immediately do it if he was against it so strongly. I would find a way to encourage him to have dialogue and force him to get educated on the procedure. Sometimes that means letting him vent anger or whatever and then digging in to the root of what is wrong. My husband can have a crusty exterior, but is soft on the inside. Going against his wishes is wow, bad for a marriage. I guess if it is a horrible marriage and not worth saving then who cares, but in my case my husband is the father of my children, he is their daddy, he is my husband and lover, and we were all raised that the man is the head of our home. We don't ever think about that until there is a dispute, but in the case of a disagreement ultimately I defer to him. I cannot think of a time I ever totally ignored his wishes. Usually we just keep working on things until we reach agreement. A lot of times he is right, sometimes I am, but it doesn't matter. THe process of working it through together can lead to a great decision in my experience. A culmination of views and ideas. If you have children, it is so good for them to see you respect their dad in this way. Respect is a two way street though, of course. With the surgery he trusted me to pick a good doctor and to trust the doctor to pick the right surgery. It was obvious to both of us I would never lose weight without surgery. He was still scared of the risk and scared of me getting toooooo hot and losing me, and sometimes he acted those things out. But he worked through it and doesn't mention feeling insecure. He knows deep down I love him and respect him and wouldn't leave him for someone else just because I'm now hot. lol But every relationship is different. I pray you can work all this out and that the timing all comes together on all sides. Hang in there. Being married can be tough, but I don't want it to be too hard for you. I used to be with a man that did not treat me the best, and it helped me to surround myself with men that cherished their wife and children. It is kinda corny, but when you hear men like Dr. Phil and Dave Ramsey talk about their wives, wow, it makes you realize there is some good men out there. It is good for a man to be surrounded by other men like that too. My husband is a work in progress, but even at our church there are elders that are just such a good example for him of how to be a good dad/good husband. I love that, bc my husband grew up without a dad around and struggles with realizing how important he is to our sons' development. If I just discounted all he said/felt he would certainly never grow in this area. I don't mean to sound corny. I am well educated, and I am not OVERLY religious. But I have found a lot of value in traditional family life. I own two businesses by myself, so it isn't like I'm old fashioned and dependent. I'm NOT.

I think I have one on my back, along my spine. I actually need to show it to doc. It did shrink a bit, but it is right on the bra line and kind of irritates the skin around it. Feels itchy there. I don't know why I keep ignoring it, I hope it is just fat. My husband says I've had it for years. But now you can see it a lil more bc less fat around it. best wishes.

Wow that is so cool. And nice to hear she didn't regain. So she kind of lost too much at first, upped her calories and ended up at a 4. Who could argue with a 4? Not too small, not too big.

I asked my term LIFE INSURANCE agent with Met Life whether or not I would be rated higher since I had the Sleeve and lost most of my weight? She never told me the answer.\ BC I was rated as standard bc of my weight before, she thought that now I lost it I might qualify for a better rating. Does anyone know the answer? I heard private health insurance companies won't accept you if you had any WLS. But she says life insurance is different than health in the way that they look at things Curious if anyone knows the answer to this. I might need to change my insurance at some point. A doctor (not mine) said to lie! But I think that is sorta risky, and plus I already told my PCP so it is in my health history.

My oldest son has all my horrible eating habits, bc I taught him those (so sorry kiddo). But he finally went to a school with ATHLETICS (not just PE) and his body is slowly being reshaped. He always had healthy food at school, his obesity was caused by inactivity and bad eating at home. At least I'm honest, right? Now with the sleeve my younger son who is 3 is eating better than my older one did, bc I have more self control Plus, his older brother usually gets to all the junk food first so the little guy hardly gets any. My point is, even though I'm not a political fan, Michelle Obama is on the right track. The INACTIVITY EVERYWHERE is causing the problem. We live in Houston, not safe, limits the amount of activity a child gets. Plus TV, video games, it is hard to control with technology, couches, and sugar drinks..... GO MICHELLE _ get these kids moving.

That was so rude. I am so sorry this happened to you. It could have happened to any of us. I'm terrible at comebacks too. I would have been so stunned I probably would have laughed with him and then gotten really pissed. Life has a way of working these things out. KARMA

I hope everyone is okay. No more coconut and celery....I hope we don't forget.

Don't know much about hernias, but especially since you don't have insurance I'd find out right away what it is. I hope you find a job soon...with great benefits.

All I know is I have a thyroid that does not work at all and my hair loss was maybe 25-30% but it immediately grew back in. I have stayed on my Armour faithfully and not been a god Vitamin taker (doing better though). When I lose the hair you are talking about bc of thyroid, ewwww I hate that too. That happened in my 20's. Never again, that is an awful hair loss - hard to get back. I did not take thyroid meds for 2 years and also I took deprovera about this same time which totally screwed up my hormones for 2 years (one shot did this). I would never do that again - stopped ovulating, etc. Hair very thin on top. Had to go on BCP to get my cycle to ever start again. Had 2 babies after that so it all worked out and once I was pregnant all my hair came back, but still, seems like if you keep things stable with Thyroid that it wouldn't effect hair loss based on my experience.

Well, the timing is an issue for me. Second or third week of May...ewwww that is tough. I live in Texas and would recommend South Padre Island, but it honestly sounds cheaper to go to Florida bc we have a travel planner there. But the May thing...hmmmm that is tough. When does scout camp end for the year? Bc I could do August. I could maybe do May but probably a 3 day Fri Sat Sun weekend. Husband or no husbands....that is the question HAHAHAHAHA I would love to have a girls weekend. Like leave early Friday and come back Sunday evening. We'd get closer if we were just the girls, right? I have a 3 yo and a 12 yo and I don't know if I could afford to bring them anyway. My husband would want to come, but I dunno...girls weekends are super cool. Just got back from Vegas and I'll tell you....it was DAMN expensive. And the slots are NOT paying anywhere anymore. But we dropped a huge amount of money there, it is always the most expensive vacations we take. Bought a pair of jeans there for 128, found them here REGULAR price for $90.00. I just won't do Vegas, honestly. I'm in Texas, but I don't know if any great deals. Galveston is gross, so if you want the ocean South Padre is somewhere I always go. But it is not cheap and the airport in Harlingon is super small. But I'm game for whatever in Texas. San Antonio can be fun, but it isn't the same as going to a coast where you can relax and talk and stuff. I vote girl's weekend, Florida Keys, girls weekend (did I say that already), and if in May just a 2 nighter for me. I can't leave me kids for more than two nights without really stressing everyone out.

DId you just sign up for it? In Texas you can cancel anything in writing within 3 days. Maybe better to pay as you go. Fight it. I do stuff like that and I get so mad afterwards.

Wow. You were very pretty heavy, but you look much more comfy at your little weight. You are teeny tiny girly. Have fun!

I'm thinking what is VBG? Is that gastric bypass? I wouldn't do anything the doctor didn't think was best, but I would find the best doctor to help me decide. I hope it works out. I tried to find celebrities that went from gastric bypass to VSG and I couldn't find any. I haven't ever seen anyone here either.

Ya - I guess our husbands could have a good chat, huh? But I see how he looks at me now, and I see how protective he is of me now. It was nice to say he misses me fat, but honestly, he is lying. Truth is he just loves me any whicha way. And I feel the same. I had a funny NSV at work. We have this young guy at work, maybe 20 years old. Kinda mental, cross-eyed. I'm serious, no joking. But he told my friend's husband that if he has a wife my age some day he hopes she looks as good as I do. Kinda a funny sorta-compliment from a very cross-eyed guy. But still, it was nice, right?

I know this is a very scarey and serious conversation, but it has made me laugh so hard I had to go pee. Maybe if you eat some of my cats Iams indoor hairball reducer food it would work. Don't laugh, it might work.

My husband just told me something. He said he misses me being fat. He misses my bigger legs, bc my legs are pretty small now. He misses a couple other things that were entirely too big haha. He likes that I'm more energetic and feel better about the way I look, but somehow he misses his bigger girl. I told him I don't miss my legs or my boobs AT ALL, but at least I'll always know he loved me fat. You know how you always wonder...bc you gain weight after you met him...that was me. I lost weight before I met him and gained weight after I met him. Even his 'ex' told me one time she couldn't believe he was with a fat girl, bc she thought he prefered skinny women. He does give that impression, so even I am confused. I thought so too, now I'm wondering..."Heh, now that I lost the weight are you going to leave me for a fat girl?". hahaha I know sometimes he was feeling like I was never going to lose any of the weight I gained. And I wasn't, honestly. I'm grateful. We're both glad I don't snore anymore. It was a funny conversation, and I could take it like he doesn't like me now. But I'm like heh, if you liked me then you must like me now... But it was nice he said that. Truth is, I prefer me better smaller. I was smaller when I was younger and I missed it so much. I loved being normal weight and I HATED being fat. Nothing nice about it except sometimes it was nice to be ignored without men making asses out of themselves when you walk by. Anyway, just a funny conversation I had today.

This is my opinion, because you did ask. I think this surgery is still new, and you are very young. If you were my lil sis I'd tell you, heh, you have a LOT of life to live yet. This surgery may be safe but it is also a very radical procedure. This surgery removes 85% of your stomach!! You can never go back and get that stomach if you need it anytime in the next 75 years or so. So if there is a problem with your tiny stomach, what will you do? I would look at the sleeve plication before making a final decision. Because it is reversible and you get most of the same advantages (volume of food/drink restriction), and long-term if they discover any better procedures you should still be a candidate for most everything. Plication does not remove the stomach, it rolls it up and stitches it so you still have all the restriction you need. Once you eat less, some people say the hunger pains are minimal. I still have hunger with the sleeve, it varies. I'm 47, so it feels a long way from 25. And my BMI was 40. When I was 25 they were doing stomach stapling I think, and you never hear of that now. A lot happens in 20 years in medicine, or even in 5 years. In fact, when I had the sleeve a year ago I hadn't heard of the sleeve plication. Not all doctors do the sleeve plication because it is brand new. But maybe visit a doctor that does do this procedure and compare. It is a safer procedure than the sleeve bc they are not cutting the stomach. It is cheaper. And it is reversible, which I think is super important at your age. If it is not available in your area, why not wait a while for it or another procedure? Also, don't be a guinea pig, there are just a few doctors that do the plication regularly, I'd find one of them. If I have offended you, I apologize. I'm 5'1" so I understand how 150 lbs can seem like a lot. That is about what I weight now, after the sleeve though. Most people do not get the procedure to lose 45 lbs, especially not at 25 years or age. There was a time they would not do WLS if you did not need to lose 100 lbs. Perhaps we need to go back to that era when we are taking out virtually all of someone's tummy. I would think your doctor should have second thoughts about recommending it, you know? You are very young and not all that big.

Better on Vitamins now, except for calcium still need to order. But I decided to change my goal to 136 intead of 128 (I'm at 148). I want to lose it before buying spring clothes, since nothing from last year fits (do NOT tell my husband this haha). So I started exercising yesterday for the first time since surgery almost a year ago. I am such a hard head. Really wanting to run now for some reason. But instead I walked 2 miles. Today I'm doing weights, tomorrow walking, etc. I am bummed I am no longer stalling, just stuck. So I decided it is time to do something about it. So that is why my ticker is changing, not because I lost. Just changing my goal. Maye at 5'1" 128 is too small for me. We'll see.

I was very honest about my surgery. But if I had it to do over again...not sure I would tell many people. Because for one thing it would be funny as hell for everyone to think I totally figured it out after 20 years of fat. That would be hilarious. I know they just would not understand it and that would be so funny. It is just a personal decision, but it was easier for me to be honest. But my real reason for being honest is bc I thought it might help people that were considering the surgery. It didn't. No one has been interested, some have been critical. It is the most non-interesting subject to people for whatever reason. I'm sure if I failed thought they would be all over that, right? Everyone is always quicker to talk about who failed than who succeeded. Not always, but the news travels very fast. If you tell it will be hot gossip, but you will not get any credit for your weight loss - your doctor will. If you regain, you will be to blame, right? A personal choice, I think both options are great. Just choose. Just a warning, if you decide to hide it keep your story VERY consistent about how you are losing weight. Multiple lies are very confusing. The truth is easier to remember.

How can I say this? When we know better, we do better...this is especially true in medicine.. My aunt was heavy, too heavy. Really high BMI. I don't know what she weighed, but very short and very heavy. Eventually couldn't hardly walk at all. The surgery they offered then was state of the art for that time. It was some kind of lap band that she got that got all wrapped around her insides to the point that it had be removed b/c she couldn't get food down at all. But that time has passed, it was the first lap band or stomach stapling and that was gosh, 30 years ago. She died 13 years ago or so, from being overweight. She was in her late 50's, and otherwise she had been healthy - just heart problems from being overweight for so long, loss of muscle tissue, etc. She prayed for that magic pill to lose weight. In time the magic weight loss pill came along and it damaged people's heart valves, not hers I guess bc she was already gone, but it did damage my dad's valve. Then there was the more modern lap band, then the bypass/RNY/DS, etc. and now the sleeve. And actually now the sleeve plication. You gotta realize your doctor is working with the most up to date information. We get used to hearing about things like lap band and it was great for some, or gastric bypass, which some people did well. But now the sleeve is better than those. Maybe you really do need to look at data. Kinda sounds like you really wanted gastric bypass, but what if this is better? I weighed 220 and I was paying cash bc my insurance did not cover ANY WLS or complications from WLS. I asked my doctor which surgery would be best for me long term, most effective, safest, etc. I didn't ask which was cheapest, because I didn't care. He immediately said sleeve. I went to a nutrition meeting with like 6 other people getting WLS. Some lap band and some gastric bypass. All of them were on insurance. They were all getting the lap band or gastric bypass, but all wished they were getting the sleeve. Their insurance did not cover it bc it was too new, That was a year ago so since then a lot are covering it. At a certain point you gotta pick a doctor and trust him. I do have one question though. The sleeve plication is even less risky than the sleeve, from the little I've read here, so if you were not able to lose weight to have the surgery (the 100 lbs) then could you get the plication at least temporarily to keep you from being able to overeat? I just wondered if you had spoken with your doctor about that. The plication is where the stomach is not cut but it is rolled up and stiched so that only a small portion of the stomach is available to put food into. I was wondering though. 100 lbs seems like a lot to lose before surgery, but I know he is trying to help you. I wish you the best.

Such a big difference in your life 100 lbs makes. You are looking great!

The reason I said it may be overkill on the stomach sizes is not because I cannot eat a balanced meal. Because a year out things are relaxing. Some days are better than others, and it depends honestly. I am much pickier about food and need to be very relaxed when I eat in order to fully enjoy a meal. It feels like it is because you are left with the hard part of the stomch so if it tightens bc I'm nervous or upset it is harder to get the food in it comfortably. It isn't a huge deal, just something I've noticed that I eat better at home now or sitting calmly at my desk than I do at a restaurant. Especially if arguments ensue at the dinner table, my lil tummy will tighten. But I don't feel I eat so little that it is embarrassing at a party anymore. I don't even think about that. But I might get overly full on hors d'oerves if I am hungry when I arrive, and that can make eating dinner qutie difficult. But just because the long term data is not in, that is why I'm not sure if the boughie size is good. I haven't had any trouble getting too thin with this boughie size, that is for sure. In fact, I'm having trouble getting to my goal so maybe I don't need a bigger tummy after all. I m just always aware that we don't really know for sure what the long term health implications might be for removing so much of our stomach. But I knew that when I got this surgery, that it is a risk. Being overweight was huge risk too for me. Already I know there could be Vitamin deficiencies with sleeve if I don't take my Vitamins, and that is something I was not aware of before surgery. I look forward to knowing more long term. You might also consider the sleeve plication. I would have considered that but it wasn't really being done yet, or at least I didn't hear of it. You don't lose the ghrelin as much, but if you eat less some people believe the produciton of it goes down naturally. I wouldn't let the ghrelin deter me from getting plication, because if it doesn't work out you could still get sleeve or something else later. The fact that it is reversible is a plus long-term. Honestly, I probably would have done that surgery if I knew about it in time. I love food as much as ever, although what I eat has changed and I'm pickier about my food. But I personally haven't felt a great different as far as hunger, just that I get full with less food than I used to. At least I can get full, I just kept eating before, so that is different. The control is what I gained from the surgery. Control b/c it reduces the volume I can eat. To me I don't see that I am not hungry. I still get hungry. I just feel like a person with a smaller stomach that still really likes food. But I'm not suffering, full is still full, thank goodness. The most calories I know of that I've eaten in a day is 1300, but usually around 1000. The truth is if I'm at home all day and feel like cooking I can graze basically on and off all day. So I have to be careful of that. My doctor knew my medical history and chose a 34 boughie for me. I'm 5'1". It has worked out fine for me. If I had a choice I would have chosen a 40 bc of concerns about reflux. But for me I've been able to control reflux by controlling what I eat and not eating right before I go to sleep. But some say a slightly larger boughie has less issues with reflux. My doctor said to trust him, so I did. Its done, but the longer you wait the more data will be available. But as far as thyroid, I think this has been great in helping me reduce the weight. I would NEVER have lost the weight without some type of surgery. Someone said that the low thyroid didn't make them regain weight, but I disagree with that. I think it lowers your metabolism in such a way that you tend to crave carbs and sugar for energy and that leads to weight gain. Then the extra weight makes you more sluggish so it is a domino effect b/c you don't feel like exercising. Also though I think Vitamin D is an issue with that too...I think the sluggishness I felt sometimes was also bc of Vitamin D deficiency. People with a normal thyroid that then go hypothyroid can tell you that it is a drastic difference in energy levels and vitality. I don't notice it bc I've been this way for so long. But eating less has made a positive difference in my overall health. But my thyroid still didn't kick in and work better.

I agree with Humpty D.....I would get the surgery to remove the fibroid and heal from that now, and get tummy tuck after a couple years.

No suggestions, but will be praying for you. If you don't believe your doctor at a certain point get a second opinion. Don't wait too long. Overly confident doctors are sometimes wrong. They need to be cautious.

It does sound like you are doing all the right things, seeing specialists and so on. I always think the best way to replace a habit is to create a new better one. So maybe when you get these thoughts you could focus on positive visualization of you living at the weight you want, the life you want. Keep focusing on your vision instead of on the past and it might help.