Katie Loesch-Meyer

I have this exact fear. I'm right at 40 BMI right now. I do have reflux/GERD, and my feet hurt a lot, but I think my blood pressure and sugar are ok. We will see when I get lab work done, but they were actually fine a year ago and 20lbs ago. I'm worried that if I don't lose weight, or gain weight, I'll be considered non compliant and not get surgery, and if I DO lose weight, I'll be too low of a BMI and won't get surgery. I've been trying to lose weight since I was 13, and I'm almost 39. If dieting worked long term, I'd DO that. Do they really think that obese people just never tried losing weight before?

For something this important, I imagine I can handle two nights. I'd prefer one, and to heal at home, but I get it. I'll hope, but not expect to spend less than 2 nights.

Thank you all for sharing. Sounds like 2 is more common, but some places do one night. This surgery would be at a Center of Excellence.

I believe those guidelines have changed recently. They are now saying it is a good option for women with no children. As for placement, I HIGHLY recommend a cervical block. Not all doctors do that, but it helps a LOT. I had someone try without that first and it was really painful, and my cervix had closed up a lot and was hard to manage. I went to a different doctor that did a cervical block and it was a piece of cake. The hormones are very very minmal, fractions of a percent less than in the implant or depo, from what I understand.

FYI, depo is known to cause depression in a lot of women. I was never depressed before in my life, and after the second shot was nearly suicidal. And I gained 15lbs in a month. Never did it again. I know have a Mirena IUD which is a MUCH lower dose of hormones. No complaints. Also, oral BCP are not as effective after bypass, from what I read.

What about wearing more skirts instead for a while? if you can find some with an elastic waist it seems they would fit longer than pants would. They would also be easier to adjust than pants, i'd think.

Yikes, I hope not! It really feels like either I'm getting anemic again (totally possible....I tend to stay at the low end of normal on a good day, below normal otherwise due to the reflux meds), or the fat is just in the darned way, like when I lay on my belly. Or, I could just be out of breath from hauling around too much weight. I hope. It makes sense that exercise would be easier thinnner. I mean, i look at thin girls doing squats and laugh, because I'm lifting twice what they do when I squat. I'd love to be able to do say, Zumba and not have my feet hurt. Or, yoga, which I used to LOVE, without my belly being in the way.

Also, I'm assuming i wouldn't get so out of breath if I have this done, and lose the weight? Just now I had to dash to take the trash out (heard the trucks coming) and after a whole 3 minutes of exercise I'm panting like I ran 3 miles. Sometimes at night, too, when I'm trying to sleep, I feel out of breath when i lay on my stomach. I think the fat in my abdomen is compressing my diapghram, like when I was pregnant. Or maybe I'm getting anemic again, from the stupid acid reflux meds. That does this to me too. I'm having a mini physical next week for life insurance purposes, and they will be doing some lab work so I'll find that out then.

Thanks. That was a very logical way to phrase it, and you are right. "That's weird" is not a medical reason for or against surgery. And although it does freak me out a bit, dying from a heart attack freaks me out more. Can anyone share how long they were in the hospital? Obviously, that wont' determine my procedure, but I'd like to know.