LoseItKacy

Good luck!!!!

I've been in the process for 6 months to get this surgery. I've worked really hard to follow my rules that my nutritionist gave me. My surgery is less than 8 days away. Over the course of 6 months I've lost 17 pounds on my own. 8 of that was liquid diet. Well one of my friends said this to me today and I don't know how I feel. How have other people handled push back lack this?... "So I guess I'll just come around and be that exasperated ass since I have been seeing this stuff nonstop for months. I completely understand where you are coming from. Weight loss is a journey for life, and literally the toughest one anyone will ever encounter. I lost over 100 pounds myself, so I am not talking out of my ass. I don't know you anymore. We were friends when we were kids. I don't know how you think or how your life is (from what I read you are very busy, congrats!), but to be brutally honest, you could do this without this surgery. I know you could because you had to lose weight to get into the surgery in the first place and you did that seemingly without issue. I don't care if I get attacked by trolls, but this surgery is for people who legitimately NEED it. You have been losing weight the correct way this whole time before (AND telling fb all about it) then turning around and getting upset when someone says you don't need the surgery or can do it yourself. My mom had this surgery. She can barely ever eat, and when she does, she throws everything up. Not only that, but she reverted back to her old eating habits so she gained all the weight back and is now just going to be sick the rest of your life. This isn't always the case, but it is most usually the case, at least from all the former gastric bypass people I have met. This is your life and you can do whatever you want with your body, but dont delude yourself into thinking this isn't the easy way out when you are perfectly physically capable of doing it on your own." I don't feel like I can do it on my own. I have acid reflux, sleep apnea, and PCOS. She doesn't know all my battles but just because I lose weight doesn't mean I shouldn't have the surgery right?

I agree. I just want to add this. When I was in high school, a group of kids use to take my food away from me saying they "were doing me a favor". The teasing eventually got worse. It was so bad that when I moved i was so scared to meet new people that I sat in my house and did nothing but eat until I gained almost 100 pounds. I used food the wrong way to cope with the stress of divorce and my mom battling cancer. One day I saw someone on Facebook post a video about someone's gastric bypass journey. I watched it and it led to hours of watching her story. It was ONE person who put their journey out there that made me look into having this for myself. I care about education because I was the quiet person sitting in my house battling my food addiction alone, and was completely unaware that this was even an option for me. Before I heard her story I thought gastric bypass was for 800 pound people trapped in their houses. I thought I was condemned to a body that fought against me every time I changed it. Me speaking about a personal subject is my way of paying it forward. There are a lot of people who don't consider this because they don't know, they hear horror stories from surgeries 30+ years ago, or they know someone who fail. My doctor didn't suggest this. My mom didnt give me the idea. I wouldn't have known at all and I probably would've let obesity kill me because I didn't think there was an option for me. I heard it from someone who didn't care about private or personal information and it changed my life. I knew putting it out there that people will say things back that I wouldn't want to hear. I'm not upset about what she said. I'm upset that I don't know how to respond. But the liver explanation was great. That was definitely what I was looking for.

So I feel like I should explain why I chose to put my stuff on Facebook 1. I chose to be upfront with everyone I know because I shouldn't have to feel guilty about what I'm doing to be healthy. 2. Education. Most people judge what they don't understand. If people don't know about it, see it, or hear about it, weight loss surgery will continue to have the same stigmas it always had. It's a VALID form of weight loss and people don't understand unless they have been there or seen someone they care about go through it. 3. Support. For the two people who have had something negative to say about it with my updates. I have had at least 5 times the amount of support. People who I NEVER thought would be excited for me or happy for me have been asking really GOOD questions to try to see my perspective so they can understand (education). I didn't realize how much support I actually had until I gave people the opportunity to support me. If I wouldve only told the three people I initially planned, I wouldn't have any support. It's interesting how the people who I wanted to support me didn't and the people who I didn't think would, did. I also just moved to Minnesota. I have two friends here. So everyone on my Facebook is important to me because as of right now, that is the extent of my social life. And it's pretty much all of my friends who I had before I moved here. 4. My life isn't "dramatized" on Facebook. She responded with that comment to a post that simply said "I survived half my liquid diet! 7 days down, 7 more to go" 5. What I was hoping for on this post. First, is it common to lose weight in the preop process. Is it a bad thing? Just because I lose twenty pounds doesn't mean I can lose 100+. But do most people lose weight during the pre op phase? Second, how do you respond to negative people. Because even if you only tell a few people, someone can be negative about it. Third, how do you explain to the people that are close to you who see you losing weight in the preop process that you should still press forward with the surgery. She's not the first person to say something like this. My employer knows (had to take off work and needed to let me have Protein drinks on the floor so I couldn't exactly keep it a secret from him). He made a comment that I'm losing weight and "do you really need the surgery", so how do you respond?

My surgery is in 8 days. Tricare was really quick on the approval process (I was approved about a month ago). The only thing that sucked was they sent my approval letter in the mail. Apparently tricare hasn't caught up with technology. No one sends things in the mail like that anymore! Lol I got my approval letter before my hospital did so I emailed it to them (my hospital wouldn't schedule my date until they had the letter from tricare)

I think what I struggle with the most is I can't exactly say she's wrong. 1. She's been obese before. If she was some skinny girl who had no idea what it's like to be overweight, she wouldn't have a leg to stand on 2. She has every right to feel the way she does about wls because that's her experience with it. She watched her mom get sick and eventually fail. I can't say she's wrong when that's what she knows and sadly it does happen. I don't think she knows that's there's more success than failure. And wls done years ago are not the same as what they are now. Just because it's her moms experience doesn't mean it will be mine. Here's what really bothers me. I posted my entire journey on FB and that was my choice and honestly I'm glad she said something about it because I'm sure other people think the same thing. I have been losing some weight on my own. I lost 17 pounds from the beginning of my program over 6 months ago. So me being excited, shared that with people. So people see that I'm losing some weight but don't understand that 6 of it was liquid diet and the other 11 was following the guidelines my nutritionist laid out for me to be successful after surgery. So does just because I'm losing weight now mean I shouldn't have the surgery? I mean I don't think so. But how do I respond to that. How do I educate people on how this works. She isn't the first person to say things like this. But I never know how to answer the question. I wanted to share my story so it changes the stigma of wls. I'm not giving up the surgery. I know I will be successful. But I feel like losing some weight doesn't mean I can lose the other 100+ pounds I have. I will admit also that I am on the smaller side of this and my photos do really well at hiding my weight.

I work in the medical field so I know a thing or two about the gallbladder. 1. The reason it's talked about a lot is because with rapid weight loss there is the chance of gallstones developing or inflammation of the gallbladder. When the gallbladder gets aggravated it causes a lot of pain and can make people sick. So it's removed 2. If you still have your gallbladder some doctors like to run test to look for sludge or stones. If there is evidence the doctors will typically remove it while doing your weight loss procedure. I mean they are already inside you so why not? 3. If you haven't had gallbladder problems in the past and there's no evidence of issues most doctors won't touch it. There's a rule in the surgical world that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". You don't NEED your gallbladder but it's job is to store bile and it is used to break down oils that are ingested. So it's nice to have.

My surgery is next Wednesday and I can totally relate to how your feeling. I'm nervous but at the same time I'm just ready! It's been a long 6 months in the making and the two week liquid diet I'm on right now is pretty much killing me. I'm just so ready for surgery already! Best of luck to you! I'm sure it will all go smoothly! We are all here for you! So don't ever feel like your alone!

I didn't really have hoops to go through with tricare but they could never give my clinic a clear requirement on what they wanted. Thankful I got approved the first time. I have tricare standard (I live in Minnesota too far away from a base to be on prime) so I didn't need referrals or anything which was nice. But my clinic called them multiple times about a set "structured weight loss" period and sometimes we heard 6 months. One time I heard none was needed. Another time they said 3. I did 4 months and it was approved. I have to get bypass because tricare doesn't cover the sleeve but I know people who live on base that have had the sleeve because they are on a base having it done by military doctors.

I'm in Minnesota. My highest weight was 275. I got to 257 on my own when I decided to have the surgery and started the program. With 4 months on a diet plan I got to 245. Then I started my liquid diet 6 days ago and I'm 239 (I want to be at 235 by surgery). My ultimate goal weight is 135 so I will have exactly 100 pounds to lose after surgery! Best of luck to you!!!

Are you using tricare for insurance?

My program had no loss requirement but I did have a NO GAIN policy. Gaining weight makes it harder on the surgeon and I'm having to do a two week liquid diet before my surgery (in 10 days). My program also encourages pre op weight loss. Any amount you lose before is less you have to lose after was the motto at my hospital. I've lost about 20 pounds. 10 has been from the liquid diet.

Gastric bypass is what I chose. It was an easy choice for me. 1. Most effective for PCOS 2. Has the most long term studies (the sleeve is relatively new, only been around for 15 years) 3. Gastric bypass is considered "gold standard" of wls 4. Acid reflex 5. High percentage of excess weight loss (about 80% compared to sleeve of 70%ish) It is a more complex perversity but if you take your Vitamins and follow the plan you won't have malabsorption problems. Either one can be successful tho if you do what your suppose to.

The hard part is I'm at work so I don't get to eat consistently like I normally do. Once every three hours is a long time compared to my last 5 days

This is my preop liquid diet. My surgery is in 10 days.

So my surgery is two weeks away from tomorrow. And my question is focused on pain. I would like to know when people felt the most discomfort after surgery (if any at all)? Was it right when they first woke up from the surgery? Once they started trying to take sips? Did the hospital do good at pain management? Was the actual incisions painful or was it more gas? Does walking really help? How long did pain last? I know obviously it's not gonna feel to great. I mean, I am getting stabbed 6 times in the stomach of course it's going to hurt. But what was your experiences postops???

Praying for everyone on this journey. I feel so blessed that I have the opportunity to experience this journey. I pray that we all have safe and easy surgeries that will lead to the happy and fulfilling lives we deserve! Amen!

It can happen with any of the surgeries if you don't follow the plan. I know a few sleeves who have gained their weight back as well as bypasses.

Mine is low as well. When I started the program I was 257 and I'm 5'6 so a bmi of 41.5. During my structured weight loss I got down to 245. Now I'm on my liquid diet and I weigh 240 with 11 days until surgery. I want to weigh 235 on surgery day which is about a bmi of 38. Even if I lose slowly after surgery I know I have less to lose because I worked hard the whole way through. As long as I don't gain, it's a success in my book.

I have unflavored isopure in the powder. I love it. U can put it in anything.

I'm really excited and really ready! I'm on day 4 of my liquid diet and it's going really well actually. I had lots of requirements for my program but honestly it's been an amazing process the whole way through. Every person I've worked with has gone above and beyond for me. I had to have 3 months of structured weight loss with a nutritionist but I ended up having 4 for insurance. I had 3 psych appointments, one of them was an 800 question test I had to take and the last was a read of my test results. I had to have a sleep study. Had to attend at least one support group (I went to 5 and plan to continue with them because they are amazing). I had to have a bunch of test done. Then I had to take a preop class once I had my date. I got to meet my nurses and they literally walked is through our entire hospital stay. I couldn't be more thankful for this hospital program. Even when I switched surgeons they made sure I was comfortable with it. Dr Kelly is my new surgeon and he is just as amazing as dr Schwartz. I'm so excited and have been counting down the hours!

I'm in Woodbury having my surgery at St Jose on September 30th

I'm in Minnesota

I have worked in the medical field and don't have a needle fear. I actually like the idea of being able to give them to myself so I don't have to drive to the doctors every time.

. september 30th