OneReallyBigBird

The cost of the surgery is covered by the show, and they give a small amount of cash to cover relocation. However, you would be responsible for all your costs of living once you're relocated. I've always wondered, does the show pay for the surgery and your relocation expenses? Don't look back, turn the page, and let your next chapter begin!

Thank you Montana Gal! I'm hoping, praying, and working hard toward achieving continued success. I'm also learning to accept the fact that this journey is a long distance marathon, and I can't be so focused on getting to my destination/goal, that I forget to enjoy the journey itself. Life is entirely too short, let's all enjoy it while we have it! Thanks again! Don't look back, turn the page, and let your next chapter begin!

Congratulations Big Bird, losing 250lbs on your own is an amazing accomplishment! Plus you set yourself up for a great recovery. The exploitative nature of the show is another reason I can't stomach it. On the other hand, I watched one episode of the fat doc last night. It was educational, inspirational and brought me to tears a couple of times. I can't wait to watch more! Thanks for the complimentary words! The exploitative nature of the majority of "reality" tv shows makes me not want to watch them. I usually refer to "reality" tv as "humiliation" tv, because these shows seem to center on the awful behavior of some truly shameless people, and the humiliation of a great many others. Sometimes I think these "reality" tv shows must be contributing to the overall loss of any sense of "shame" in our society. Of course, I know that's a discussion for a whole other forum. Thanks again!

A few years ago, I was almost 700 lbs and had large lymphedema tumors, so I contacted the show My 600 lbs Life, because I loved the show, and my life was beyond miserable and I needed the help that surgery could provide. I sent photos and video footage of myself to the producers of the show, and they eventually decided to send a camera crew to my home for roughly a week to film an episode. I was told after filming part one, I would have relocate temporarily to Houston, Texas to film a doctor's evaluation with Dr. Now, and later finally have surgery. I agreed to EVERYTHING, because I was so desperate for surgery. However, after the week of filming in my life in my home, and interviewing my family members, the camera crew packed up and left, and then no one associated with the production would take my calls or call me back and this went on for weeks, meanwhile I had already made preparations to move to Houston. After a couple months of no contact, I finally made one more call, and I was told by some nameless associate of the production, that there wasn't any interest in filming the rest of the episode with me because I simply wasn't disabled enough and didn't have any real drama going on in my life, as I don't have any kids or a dysfunctional relationship with a horrible spouse. Fast forward a year later I was finally able to get the awesome surgery that I needed via Medicare and while I was in the hospital recovering I received a call from someone associated with the show, and I was asked how I was doing and if I was still interested in shooting the rest of the episode. I hung the phone up without saying a word. Unbelievable! I still enjoy watching the show because it provides life changing help to people who really need it, but the idea of having to exploit one's awful condition and life in order to receive desperately needed help is just terrible. I'm so thankful that the episode didn't get produced because I would never truly want anyone to see me in that dreadful condition, and I soon after found the will and the strength to lose almost 250 lbs all on my own and I just got sleeved two weeks ago and I've lost another 25 lbs since then. Btw, I'm looking forward to seeing the new season of the show as well as all of you! Don't look back, turn the page, and let your next chapter begin!

Congrats on the surgery, and Great Job on your weight loss! Keep up the good work! Don't look back, turn the page, and let your next chapter begin!

Hilarious! I must admit I didn't have any problems with low energy, and I had to make sure all my plumbing was working the first night home from the hospital! Lol. Don't look back, turn the page, and let your next chapter begin!

Hilarious! Love your honesty! Don't look back, turn the page, and let your next chapter begin!

LOL! Like I said before, the world DEFINITELY needs more women like you! You ROCK! Don't look back, turn the page, and let your next chapter begin!

I was so nervous when I was in the operating room as I didn't fall asleep right away. I could see and hear all the preparation and then I blinked and I was suddenly waking up in the recovery room over an hour later! I was like damn, what happened? Did the surgery happen? Of course it had happened but the loss of time definitely startled me. Don't look back, turn the page, and let your next chapter begin!

AWESOME! Definitely keep us posted on your progress. Good luck! Don't look back, turn the page, and let your next chapter begin!

Please don't let fear of the unknown keep you from using the awesome tool that is VSG surgery. I too was consumed by the same fears as you are, all the way up to the morning of my surgery last week on December 14th. Even while I was being prepped for surgery by the OR nurses, I was calling my family and friends discussing the idea of backing out of the surgery at the very last minute. I now thank God that I went through with the procedure because it has been life changing. I had virtually no pain, merely a little soreness and no complications. As of this morning I've now lost 20 lbs, in a mere 10 days since surgery. I feel a lot better, I'm more active, and unlike the past 30 years, when I was always yoyo dieting, I now know I will definitely reach my goal weight and maintain it. Only you can decide what's best for you, but I sure wish I hadn't wasted so many years of my life being fearful of the surgery that I now feel blessed to have had. Good luck! Don't look back, turn the page, and let your next chapter begin!

Congrats! You look FANTASTIC! Don't look back, turn the page, and let your next chapter begin!

Wow! Congrats on your success. You're doing fantastic! Don't look back, turn the page, and let your next chapter begin!

Congratulations! You are totally winning! I was able to lose 50 lbs over the three months before my VSG surgery on Dec 14 and since surgery I've dropped an additional 19 lbs. I know we can all do this! Great job! Don't look back, turn the page, and let your next chapter begin!

That is truly the perfect response!Thank you for that. Don't look back, turn the page, and let your next chapter begin! Yes, there's nothing like being walked to the tiniest booth in a crowded restaurant and having to say, 'Oh, can I get a table? This booth won't work for me.' :-( It's ironic, though, that the smallest booths and bolted down tables and chairs I've ever encountered were at McDonalds. You'd think they'd have bariatric lobby sized chairs given the business they're in. Hilarious observation, but absolutely true! Back in the day, I used to absolutely hate eating inside any McDonald's. Maybe they wanted the fatties like me to stick to using the drive-thru window only. In their defense however, the newer McDonald's locations do still have bolted tables but the seating/chairs can be moved around to accommodate the biggest of bodies. Thank God! Don't look back, turn the page, and let your next chapter begin! I always thought McDonald's did that because, like you said, it forced the heavy weights to use the drive thru, so they could kind of sweep the evidence under the rug, so to speak. You know in marketing, some guy with slicked back hair and an ivy league education floated the idea that people driving by any of their restaurants, and seeing the 'average' type of human sitting in those tiny little chairs, would cause a chain reaction of drivers going by, saying, 'See Beatrice, look at all those skinny people. I told you McDonald's really isn't that bad for us. Let's buy a Big Mac.'Hahaha. That sounds totally plausible to me! Lol. Don't look back, turn the page, and let your next chapter begin!

I thought the same thing when I attempted to attend an OA meeting. I walked in and saw how small the chairs were and how close they were together and I quickly turned around and left. I knew there was no way I could be at all comfortable with the kind of seating. In OA's defense they do offer meetings online and by phone, both of which I participated in and found to be very helpful. Don't look back, turn the page, and let your next chapter begin!

That is truly the perfect response!Thank you for that. Don't look back, turn the page, and let your next chapter begin! Yes, there's nothing like being walked to the tiniest booth in a crowded restaurant and having to say, 'Oh, can I get a table? This booth won't work for me.' :-( It's ironic, though, that the smallest booths and bolted down tables and chairs I've ever encountered were at McDonalds. You'd think they'd have bariatric lobby sized chairs given the business they're in. Hilarious observation, but absolutely true! Back in the day, I used to absolutely hate eating inside any McDonald's. Maybe they wanted the fatties like me to stick to using the drive-thru window only. In their defense however, the newer McDonald's locations do still have bolted tables but the seating/chairs can be moved around to accommodate the biggest of bodies. Thank God! Don't look back, turn the page, and let your next chapter begin!

Hey jab5.How are you doing? Don't look back, turn the page, and let your next chapter begin!

Me too. It's funny all the simple everyday things normal sized people take for granted. Don't look back, turn the page, and let your next chapter begin!

That is truly the perfect response!Thank you for that. Don't look back, turn the page, and let your next chapter begin!

I totally understand what you're saying as I was thinking the exact same thing today at the mall and I saw possibly the world's biggest display of huge Christmas tin cans filled with delicious popcorn and holiday Cookies. I thought I might cry, wanting those Snacks so very badly, but I'm one week post op and it will be a long time before I get to enjoy those tasty treats. Oh well there's always next year! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone. Don't look back, turn the page, and let your next chapter begin!

I am one week post op and I don't have any soreness at all. I've been walking a lot and working to get all my Protein in. I'm amazed by how little I actually eat now. I'm getting tired of all the broth, Soups, and Protein shakes but I'm committed to this beautiful journey for the long haul. Congrats and Good luck to everyone. I know we can all do this! Don't look back, turn the page, and let your next chapter begin!

Congrats! It's so AWESOME that you're past the hardest part, and well on your way to where you truly want to be. Don't look back, turn the page, and let your next chapter begin!

Hey Gucci!I totally understand where you're at. I just had my gastric sleeve surgery on December 14th, and believe me it has been quite an adjustment. Definitely a huge mental adjustment because I now recognize just how much of my day was spent eating food, thinking about food, talking about food, and looking at food everywhere! Without being able to eat throughout the day, I now have a ton of free time on my hands. So I try hard to keep busy, with work and hobbies. I initially tried to avoid seeing so many damn food commercials on TV but a brother gotta have his ESPN (Go Raiders!), and fast food ads absolutely dominate all the sports channels (on TV & radio too), which I hadn't really noticed before. I've even began to notice how candy and soda commercials dominate the "Black" channels like BET, TVOne, etc. I've definitely been tiring of all this damn chicken broth and sugar free Jello. Here's a few small steps I've taken to cope with situation and make myself feel better. First, I add different seasonings to my broth for a change in flavor. Yesterday, I added a little dried powered shrimp, and some onion powder. It was pretty good. Secondly, I don't drink the same flavor Protein shake all the time. Before surgery I went to costco and purchased 3 boxes of Premier Protein Shakes, one box chocolate, one vanilla, and one strawberry. They taste pretty good and I alternate between the the flavors. Thirdly, whenever I get super bummed out about being hungry, and not being able to eat something delicious from my past, I can definitely feel myself getting more and more angry, and also depressed, because depression is anger directed inward. However, my new solution for this is, I take my big ass to the mall and I go look at all the awesome clothes I will be able to wear in the future. I'm so big that I haven't shopped in the mall for clothes since like early junior high school, but everyday I'm losing more and more of this damn weight and nothing short of an act of God, is going to stop me from achieving my goals, of someday clothes shopping in malls, and living my life to the fullest as a normal sized person. Also, please remember that all the food you maybe missing now will still be there when your stomach eventually heals and you can finally have a taste of damn near everything you've been missing without going overboard and gaining a ton of weight back. At my highest weight I was 660 lbs, and after two years of eating very low carb and yoyoing like crazy, I worked to get my weight down to 499 lbs last July, when I started this whole gastric sleeve surgery process. The day of surgery, December 14th my weight was down to 450 lbs. As of this morning I'm down to 436 lbs and I feel better about myself, knowing I'm on my way to where I want to be. Hang in there Gucci, I'm sure things will get better, because I KNOW we can ALL do this! Don't look back, turn the page, and let your next chapter begin!

Hilarious! Don't look back, turn the page, and let your next chapter begin!