WitchySar

I had my sleeve almost 2 years ago but I can't post in the Vet forum. I also can't find any info on how to gain access other than where it says you have to be 18+ months out, which I am. How do I get permission to post there?

Well drat. I had a question I wanted to ask and I rarely get on here. Kinda sucks to limit access so people can't get the info they are here for. Guess I'll go look elsewhere. Thanks.

I haven't had surgery yet (talking to my primary on Wednesday to get the ball rolling) but one reason why I've been putting off on asking about it is I'm terrified of loose skin. I'm 42, weigh about 375... my skin isn't going to bounce back like it used to (over 12 years ago I lost almost 150lbs and had no loose skin, I've since regained and aged). Right now I love my big boobs and don't want to lose them but there's no way I can afford implants, like ever. And my husband is 15 years younger than me (rawr!), I'm worried that he'll stop finding me sexy. He swears that's not going to happen but I can't help but worry. His preference has always been big women, and with my starting size I know it's unlikely I'll ever get truly *thin* but I will be thinnER, and floppy everywhere. I get nearly in tears every time I think about it. How did your partner respond to your flopping skin everywhere? What did you end up doing about it? I'd love to hear from everyone but especially if there's anyone with a starting size near or more than mine. Thanks.

I think how a person views fat people after they've lost weight likely depends a lot on why they lost the weight, and how they viewed themselves prior to that. A lot of people hate themselves when they're fat. They don't take care of themselves, they let their health get worse, they have no confidence, etc. If you start from that point then I would imagine there's a higher chance that after you lose weight you will view other fat people in a negative light because you viewed yourself in a negative way. For those who were honestly happy while fat I imagine it would be different. If you are happy (and especially if you are also healthy - yes it's possible) while fat then you will probably not have any negative feelings toward other fat people once you are no longer in that category. It's all about reflection. How we view others more often that not has a LOT to do with how we actually view ourselves. Will this be true for everyone? No, of course not. But in general this is how I imagine it would go.

Did they give you an indication of how long it normally takes your insurance to respond?

Hi all. I'm brand new here and brand new to the whole surgery thing too. I have a BMI of about 60 and also have high blood pressure. I haven't yet spoken to my primary about weight loss surgery but I know she'll agree. I am just having a hard time finding out if it's even worth it. There is zero chance I can self pay and I have medicaid in Colorado. Does anyone here know for sure if Colorado Medicaid covers bariatric surgery? If so, any chance someone knows the procedure they require? Thanks.

Physical therapy? That's the first time I've heard of that requirement.

Surely I can't be the only one.

I'm lucky to be in a small coven that keeps track of when things are. lol I'm rather lazy otherwise too.

*high fives* Nice to meet you! I'm not Wiccan either. I am technically a Kemetic Druid Buddhist, so I tend to just say I'm eclectic. My patron Goddess is Bast. *Another high five for being a huge geek too* Kinda guessed as much from your name.

That's strange, I have Medicaid and didn't have to submit anything about exercise at all. I was denied initially though because they didn't like my primary's note. It was too comprehensive apparently. She made it shorter and was approved the next day. Insurance will do anything they can to find reasons to deny because then they don't have to pay. Don't give up!

I have bipolar (some discussion as to whether or not it's 1 or 2) and had the sleeve. My surgeon didn't want me to get the bypass or switch though because of risk of malabsorption of the meds. He did also say that patients with bipolar can sometimes experience increased swings after the surgery because of the hormone flush (even people with no mental illness also experience ups and downs because of the hormones) so he just wanted to know I'd be well monitored by my psychiatrist. In his experience patients who weren't controlled on meds and monitored could have a harder time losing weight because of the likelihood of emotional and binge eating. But again, that's a concern with more than just bipolar. So as long as you're controlled on your meds and your psych is on board to perhaps check in with you a bit more often for the few several months then there shouldn't be a problem.

I have enjoyed weight training for a while now and am going to start moving toward training to be a powerlifter. I haven't even started the shift yet and I'm already in a debate with my trainer about my nutrition needs. My trainer is a competitive powerlifter but she's also naturally really thin and I don't think she understands my nutritional needs and how they vary from a non-bariatric patient. She is stressing the need to carb load and/or carb back loading. She swears that without it I could injure myself by trying to force my muscles to use different forms of energy and at the least will never achieve great powerlifting goals without it. Is this true? Even if I did eat more carbs before or after a training session I still have portion restriction so I don't know if I'd get the amount of energy she's wanting me to. So I guess what I'm asking is should I increase my carbs before and/or after a powerlifting training session? With my portion restriction anyway it's not like I'm going to be downing a huge bowl of Pasta or Cereal. So... pros, cons... required vs suggested vs pointless?

Thanks for the info and advice. I figure she's probably just regurgitating something she was told or perhaps just didn't explain herself well (regarding the comment about injuring myself). I will start trying to find a healthy carb to add into my diet on days I work out. Currently I'm working out about 5-6 days a week but not every day with the heavier weights, so I'll use the carbs for the heavy weight days first and see how that goes. As for losing weight I'm more concerned with getting healthy and not so concerned with the number on a scale. My *goal* is 175 lbs anyway which is technically still high for my height but I already have a good amount of muscle mass so my surgeon thinks it's a fair goal. If I end up only getting to 200 (or whatever) that's fine with me too. I'd rather have muscle than worry about the number.

Okay, so that's one vote for carbs. lol I'm nervous because I have best results on a very low carb diet, have for years, and my nutritionist definitely supports low carb but I get the impression she doesn't work with a lot of people who want to get into lifting and such... she has mentioned how she has trouble convincing most of her patients to even go for a walk around the block. Alright, any particular carbs you suggest? Do you support carb loading before or carb back loading? My daughter (who is training in body building) swears by chocolate milk after a workout but that's so much sugar... I don't know about that.

I can no longer tolerate drinking Protein drinks so I'd like to pass these on. I have two packages of samples, each has 6 samples, each sample is a single serving. Sample pack #1 - $10 including shipping in US: Syntrax nectar Pink Grapefruit Syntrax Nectar Lemon Tea Syntrax Nectar Apple Ecstasy Syntrax Nectar Fuzzy Navel Syntrax Nectar strawberry Kiwi Pantry Selections Orangeade Sample pack #2 - $10 including shipping in US: Syntrax Nectar Sweets Strawberry Mousse Syntrax Nectar Sweets vanilla Bean Torte Syntrax Nectar Wild Grape Syntrax Nectar Lemon Tea Syntrax Nectar Apple Ecstasy GENEPRO single serving sample I prefer Paypal payments but if you can't do Paypal message me and we'll see what we can work out. Thanks!

Your stomach isn't made out of latex, it's not going to react like a ballon. And especially if you have the sleeve it's a myth that it will stretch it. With the sleeve all, or at least most, of the stretchy part of the stomach is removed. And even if a little bit or the stretchy part is left carbonation is no where near strong enough to stretch it, nor would the small amount left be able to stretch enough to make a huge difference. You might go from being able to eat 4 ounces to eating 4.5 ounces instead. And any stretching that MIGHT occur would not come from carbonation, it would be from forcing in too much food at once time. The research supports this. The myth of the stretching came from the bypass pouch which can stretch, but even then again carbonation isn't strong enough, especially once combined with stomach acid, to have any true effect. It's much more likely to stretch from eating too much though. Surgeons are human, they are not infallible. They make mistakes, and many are prone to telling horror stories to scare their patients into doing what they want them to do.

When I made the decision to have the surgery I weighed 368. On the day of surgery I weighed 332. Now, almost 3 months out I weigh 287.4. So I've only lost 44.6 pounds since surgery. I was expecting a greater weight loss since I had such a high BMI (general rule of thumb, the more you weigh when you start the faster you lose... but doesn't take into account things like thyroid) but oh well... such is life.

It won't let me end my day, says I need to eat more. Is there any place in the settings that I'm not finding where I can indicate I had surgery, this isn't a mistake, etc? It wants me to have 1000-1200 calories a day at least. Well seeing as I'm not quite a month out from surgery that just isn't happening.

Low carb, even extremely low carb, is perfectly fine for long term dieting. As long as you get enough Protein and fat your body will function perfectly well. It starts to break down and be a problem when people try to eat low carb and low fat, or they don't get enough protein. I personally have to stay below 20 net carbs in a day. That allows for a good amount of vegetables or fruit, as long as I choose lower carb fruits and veggies (such as green Beans and strawberries, two of my favorites).

As far as my body is concerned all carbs are bad carbs. I have to stick to less than 20 net carbs in a day, period.

I've lost 66 pounds since I started last June (2016). No one notices. Hell, even my clothes fit the same.

You have a very valid concern, it's one I share as well. I have never been thin (seriously, even at 4 yrs old I was fat) so my skin is SHOT, I know it's not going to bounce back and that terrifies me. I'm 42 now and my husband is only 27. I don't want to start looking like I'm his mom! I have always looked younger than I am and I do NOT want that to change. If it wasn't for the fact that I need a surgery on my knee (and possibly ankles too) due to a previous injury I would not have had the surgery. And now that I look at it afterwat my health wasn't really bad and everything *wrong* is traced to my thyroid which no surgery and weight loss is going to fix. But no ortho would do surgery on someone weighing 368 lbs so I had no choice unless I wanted to become completely sedentary, which I did not want. So now I'm weight training (been doing it since before surgery but I'm continuing), using lotion and collagen masks, and hoping that eventually I'll be able to afford plastic surgery. I am very vain and yes, I would rather be obese than look like a floppy mess. Just being obese is NOT a death sentence. Gods how I hate people spouting off incorrect info like that. Yes being obese and eating large amounts of crap all the time, and doing nothing but sitting on your ass will negatively affect your health, but omg NOT ALL FAT PEOPLE DO THAT! Ugh, stop the stupid generalizing and realize that everyone is DIFFERENT! So when deciding if this is for you you need to figure out a few things... are you happy how you look? Is your health going downhill? Are you active and eating healthy now? And then decide from there if you'd be happier making the change or staying as you are. ***Why yes, I AM a HAES and Body Positivity advocate.***