Sajijoma

that's awesome! We will submit this coming Monday. What insurance so you have? I'm curious if it's Aetna since that's who I have.

I know what you are saying. I'm kind of a person who wants to be home and left alone while I recover. The surgery could be rough though. You'll probably leave the hospital with a drain from what I understand, and there's medication and sometimes it hurts pretty bad getting up and down after surgery. My biggest fear would be that something go wrong in those first day or two and either you sleep too long without proper hydration and end up in the hospital, or God forbid, something leaks and you end up really sick. You might not have there wherewithal to know you are in bad shape and call 911 or your neighbor or push the button or whatever. If your sister wants to stay the first night or two it wouldn't hurt to let her. It'll ease her mind and give you some extra protection against a catastrophic event that could have been prevented.

I had my pre op "life after surgery" class today. My husband didn't want to go with me, because he didn't want to leave our almost 14yr old daughter in charge that long. Even though it felt like an excuse, I went on by myself. When I got home, I tried to tell my husband about the things we went over in class and he didn't want to hear it. I told him he should read the booklet we were given so he'd know what I need help-wise after surgery and he said "why should I read it? You're the one who needs to know!" When I showed the kids the 2oz cup that represents how much mommy's new pouch will hold he just muttered "that's just dumb!" And wouldn't talk about it. He griped because I told him I can't use the protein powder he bought for himself for my post op because of the sugar/sugar alcohol content and he asked why so I told him and told him it's all laid out in the booklet I asked him to read and he just turned around and walked out. I don't understand what's going on!

I would recommend finding a good therapist that you feel comfortable talking to. For me, I had a really hard past full of pain and abandonment and abuse. These issues make it really hard for me to keep the weight off because instead of dealing with my issues, I stuffed them down and packed them right with food for comfort. Your reasons may be subtle or they could be brutally obvious, but I think there is definitely some baggage you need to free yourself of to make it work. Also finding a good support group will help and maybe a friend or two to be accountable to.

Mix it with whey protein powder, a tea spoon of cocoa powder, and milk for a yummy chocolate peanut butter smoothie! I add more cocoa powder and use a Splenda packet to achieve a sweeter taste but it's like a Reese's cup! ????

Congratulations! I have my last NUT appt tomorrow morning and we will be ready to submit the whole enchilada Oct 5th. I'm so excited so I can imagine you are too! ❤️

I have really delicate skin and I have found that taking omega-3's really help keep my skin soft elastic and "youthful" I even forced it down my hubby to cure his severely cracked hands and feet. I know Bariatric advantage makes an omega-3 chewable. I haven't tried it, but maybe try some or grab the Nordic naturals for kids-the capsules are much smaller and safer post op.

I think you just want to know what we all want to know. That this is 100% going to work and we'll be able to do everything we want. There's no way to know for sure that you won't have complications or that it'll work how you've imagined it in your head, but I wouldn't cancel the surgery until you knew 100% in your heart you absolutely do not want to go through with it. Think of all the effort and time it's taken to get to this moment and you are ready to walk away out of a common fear all of us have. I'll tell you this. I had a chance for surgery when I was in my early 20's and I ran from it out of fear and sheer unwillingness to give up my vices thinking I could do it on my own. Fast forward to today and I'm 38 and almost twice my former weight when I ran. If I had just had supportive people to tell me I can do this and my life will be so much better maybe I wouldn't be where I am now. Maybe I would have had the guts to go through with it and be in a better place physically. I'm not telling you what to do, but consider the regret if you don't go through it in your decision making. I won't be passing up my second chance this time.

Maybe a few bites is all you need. My nutritionist teaches what she calls the green light yellow light red light bite. And says that when you hit that slight sensation that things are different which can be very subtle in the beginning, that if you push it through that "yellow bite" and take another it will either A-come back up or B- linger in pain for as long as 5hrs. Also, I've heard it said that eggs in particular can be hard in the beginning and that scrambled eggs are actually harder than an over easy egg cooked in Pam. Maybe try a different prep and see if that changes things or give it a rest and come back to it in a few more weeks?

i try not to talk about it non stop. I know how annoying that can be, but my heart really just broke when he wouldn't even look at the book to understand what I need him to help with after surgery. I don't know if I can really do this on my own with 7 kids and no support. I don't know what's wrong with men that they think we are just gonna leave because we get smaller pants! Geez!

you make a good point. This is the man who nearly had an anxiety attack because I painted the living room by surprise while he was at work. He really doesn't like change at all!

I think he is getting more insecure as it goes on. I've been the "fat one" in our relationship from the beginning and over the past years he's put weight on too and now as I'm going down and he's still going up, looks like I won't be the fat one for long. I think it bothers him. I also think he's probably afraid I'll leave him, but I don't have any plans on leaving him. We've been a team this long(17+ yrs at this point) I don't know why he thinks we can't be a team anymore.

I'm still pre op, but I've been taking a 1/2 daily dose of my Bariatric vitamins. I got the Bariatric advantage French vanilla and I really like it! It tastes like cake batter, but it may be too sweet post op. I figured I could tough it out until I'm cleared to go to pills.

yes and no. To some extent you can "tone" after weightloss, but your skin has a maximum elasticity and for people like me who have made it to 400lbs, we have broken the elasticity of our skin and it is completely impossible to retract all that skin. It's torn. Think about an elastic waist pair of pants. If you fit in the pants the elastic weight flexes and goes back to it's shape afterwards, but if you jam a person 3x the size of the pants, they bust and rip and the elastic gets shot. Same with the skin.

Yay! Congratulations!

rI hear loose and flowy, I always hear buzz words for tent...muumuu..."trapeze" tops LOL I guess technically my maxi skirts are flowy and loose so maybe it's just the association in my head that loose and flowy equals baggy tents.????

thanks! yeah, definitely keep me in mind! Definitely for tops! I'm a tall girl leg wise anyway, so 32-33 inch inseams if it's pants unless I'm walking floodwaters. ????

there was a lightning sale on yoga pants at old navy yesterday. $11 plus 40% off and earn cash for future purchase. I don't know if it's still going, but I love old navy's yoga pants. They are a staple in my everyday wardrobe.

oh girl, I hate baggy tents. I think they make people look bigger than they really are. That being said, I am a yoga pants and maxi skirt fiend and will be "modifying" them for as long as possible.

i won't be disappointed. I'd just rather be prepared than not have anything at all. I'm a pretty good ebayer ????

I live in Highlands Ranch! how neat! Maybe we can meet up sometime when you are in town!

Thanks for the great advice everyone! I did end up buying a couple of XXL shirts. I had a butt ton of gap cash to spend so I wanted to make the most of my free money so to speak. nothing special just 2 waffle knot henleys and a sweater. I did stop short of buying anything expensive like this one sweater I reeeeaaallllyyyyy wanted because I have no idea if I'll ever wear it(too small this year might be too big next year) but I hate baggies and my current clothes are already baggy so I'm almost out of these and in my old clothes from 4 yrs ago. I have complete winter wardrobes from 28 down to 24 and a few decent 22's, I just want to know if it was possible to get to the XXL in that time frame at all because I wanted to buy a few things while they were basically free with my cash or if that is really not realistic at all. When I get to XL I'll not be worried because my daughter's wardrobe will be my new "shop" LOL I've been dressing her in my dream clothes for the past 2 years so once I hit there I'm golden! lol I don't buy pants before I need them though because I am a yoga pants mom so until they fall down and can't be stitched in an emergency, there's no need! plus I have a whole bunch of maxi skirts and a decent amount of knowledge on how to take in a waist so I'll cut them down til I can't.

I don't know if you've tried it or not, but I find I feel fuller on my protein shakes, even the premade kind, if I dump it in a bullet blender and blend with some ice. It's like the ice is that extra something I need to fill me up and since it's just water it won't ruin your pre op diet.

I think clothing sizes have changed dramatically over the years. When I was in college, I was 200lbs and wore a size 24 at 5'10(I've lost an inch in height since then from blown discs) so I kept 2 dresses and a pair of shorts from those clothes hoping someday to fit them again. My daughter wears a size 12 and is 5'8 and just under 200lbs and she fits those old shorts and dresses I held on to-just pulled them out of storage in anticipation of getting to wear them...but she wears a size 12!! So apparently, sizing has changed since I wore them in the late 90's. Really is a kick in the face to think I felt as huge as a blimp when I was that size and looking at my daughter, I know I wasn't *that* big. Probably needed to exercise some, but now I'd just love to reach that size again! Maybe what you are remembering as your weight at a certain size was before they changed the size chart?

Don't listen to her. She doesn't know you or your struggle. She doesn't understand how hard you've found for those pounds. When I started my NUT appts, I lost 22lbs and since then, I've been fighting like mad just not to gain anything! I've got 1 more spot left and pray to GOD that I haven't gained anything and I am still following my diet and exercising. It's just doing what always happens. I lose 20lbs or so then I have to fight to keep it off and then slowly it comes back on while I am fighting and screaming to keep it off. Most people don't get that. They just convince themselves that surgery is the easy way out. It's not the easy way out and honestly, you don't need people like that in your life. Those are not friends. Those are defeatists. Toxic people who just want to make sure you don't succeed, because if you do succeed, when you do succeed, they will have to take a look both at how they treat you and others, but also at themselves and what they need to work on themselves. Might not be weight, but more how they hurt others and that makes them uncomfortable, but not enough to change themselves. It's easier to drag you down than to lift themselves up.