blackcatsandbaddecisions

I found mine to be a complete waste of time other than checking the insurance box. She just asked me dozens of questions with where I saw myself on a 1-5 scale. I felt like I was just answering some sort of online personality test. The only open ended question she asked was if I had a close relationship with my mother. I was completely confused as to what that had to do with anything. I asked for clarification as to what a close relationship meant and she said like do I confide in her. I told her that it was difficult to answer that because my mom has dementia and multiple strokes so she wouldn’t understand anything I tried to confide in her and she quickly backpedaled and was like ok never mind then how about when you were a child. I was like, uh, yeah when I was a kid we had a good relationship. And that was the end of that. I guess I passed her list of 1-5 rating scale questions and her one question about my mom. Very strange. I’ve never talked to a mental health professional before and I’m going to be honest it didn’t exactly inspire me to want to in the future.

I had reflux before the sleeve, but I controlled it with tums. It was generally a few times a day. My surgeon has me on Pepcid for three months post surgery and thus far I’ve not had a single episode of reflux. It’s been so nice to not be popping tums all the time. I’m kind of worried about when they take me off the Pepcid next month though. I guess we will find out what happens then. If I end up like I was with a few tums each day that’s fine, but I’ve been loving actually not having heartburn for the last few months.

One person I know who spectacularly failed their surgery insisted before surgery that they were going to eat the same just “smaller portions”. And it worked for 3.5 months. That’s all the time they lost weight, because after that point the “small portions” of the same food that got them obese were enough to stall weight loss. He never made it out of the obese range. For anyone reading this thread stressing out about which surgery to pick, I really hope you get one takeaway. The sleeve and the bypass are both great surgeries that give you an opportunity for success. If you go into it thinking what really matters is your choice of surgery above all, and aren’t making conscious choices to examine what and how you are currently eating that got you into this mess, you’ll likely fail the surgery. Pick whichever surgery works for your specific circumstances (history of heartburn, medications, etc) and commit.

Honestly, it’s going to be amazing. The first two days was difficult for me but after that it was smooth sailing. It is so amazing actually seeing weight going down when I step on the scale. I feel like I’m becoming normal human shaped, and like I’m not trudging through life. The biggest change for me is not feeling like food and eating has such a powerful hold over me any longer. I still enjoy food and eating but I don’t feel the compulsion and insatiable hunger. This surgery is an incredible gift and I think you should be excited. Nobody can understand the daily struggle that is life as a morbidly obese person unless they’ve lived it.

I had a nonfat latte with one shot in it three days post op. Once I was able to drink larger amounts of liquid I restarted my morning latte (two shots of espresso and steamed fairlife milk). A few days a week I have a cup of black coffee in the afternoon as well. I’m 2.5 months postop. Never any issues, helps me get my protein in, and is my big “treat” per day. My MD never really had an issue with coffee one way or the other- or if he did I must have blocked that messaging out or something haha.

I work for a health care organization and trust me people are still getting elective surgeries. Like others have said, hospitals rely on income from these surgeries to stay afloat. People just like to attack people for getting bariatric surgery no matter what and this is a just a new iteration of that. Once the pandemic is over they’ll be back announcing that bariatric surgery is the “easy way out” and that we are all lazy people who will gain it all back anyways. Basically, they hate overweight people and seeing us getting something that might make our lives easier is just terrible for them to see.

One other piece of advice I have is that you are focusing on the all or nothing approach that isn’t going to serve you well long term. Let’s pretend you only lose 90% of your excess weight. Isn’t that a heck of a lot better than where you are at now? I started off at over 48 BMI and 339 lbs. I had 174 lbs to lose to get to goal. I knew this was a huge amount so one thing I did to help myself was I committed early to losing weight. I lost over 50 lbs before surgery by sticking to low carb, and I just hit 90 lbs overall right after my two month surgery-versary. I’m over halfway there, with 84 lbs remaining. If you’re worried about the honeymoon, you have control over that. Start today, because every pound you lose now is weight you don’t have to lose later. And stop worrying about averages or anecdotes. You aren’t an average, you’re one person being given a tool that you can do amazing things with, or you can waste entirely. The success is about the person.

I had mine Nov 10. I wasn’t that concerned. At this point unfortunately Covid is everywhere. Take your precautions, but I wouldn’t let this stop you from taking this step.

I started at 48.6 BMI and I chose the sleeve. My doctor says that regain is about your choices in what you eat, not your choices in your type of surgery. Anyone can screw up either surgery. There are plenty of people on this site who lost all their excess weight with either type of surgery. There are also plenty who regained it all with either type. Both are very valid forms of surgery, if you have reasons to pick one over the other then do so. It sounds like you’re pretty set on the bypass. You should advocate for yourself for that surgery.

Milestone today! 30 lbs lost after surgery, 87.8 down since I started my weight loss in July, and I am now officially more than halfway to my goal weight! I just have to do this all one more time, haha. 😅 Also two people I work with actually commented this week that I looked like I’d lost weight. I never bring up dieting or weight loss so I was wondering how long it would take for someone to actually comment. The answer is darn near 90 lb loss!

I’m a 39 year old working in healthcare management with two young sons and a husband of 13 years. I spend a lot of my free time reading, working on home projects, and quilting. I would say traveling but that kinda went out the window this past year. I’m rarely serious, pretty laid back, and happy to meet you all!

I was an immediate coffee drinker- I started within a week of surgery with a single shot of espresso in skim milk, and I have since had black coffee as well as two shots of espresso daily. Never had any problems or intolerance. My surgeon didn’t really have an opinion on coffee. He seems a lot more concerned about a lengthy liquids only phase and abstaining from sugar.

Two months in, 28.6 lbs lost after surgery, 86.4 total loss. I’ve tried a lot of stuff that people report issues with, like chicken breast, food with spice, etc. No issues with anything. I absolutely know when I’m close to restriction though! I bought smaller pants online, and they turned out to still be too big. I’m definitely having some issues figuring out sizing! Trying not to invest too much in clothes though, because I want to still keep going. I’m halfway to my goal weight!

Me either Jaelzion! I have a latte with the high protein nonfat fairlife milk for breakfast every morning and it’s amazing. I can give up candy, cookies, bread, you name it, but I love my lattes!

I have only told my husband. So far as work goes they know I took a two week vacation, which is true, we traveled to the city I was having my surgery in and rented a house. I was 100% by the time I came back so there wasn’t anything suspicious about that. We aren’t allowed to eat together due to Covid at work so nobody really sees what I eat. I started dieting months before my surgery so I think a few people already know I was cutting carbs. Other than that, only like two people have even commented on my 83 lb weight loss. I’m fine with that, and if/when people actually do start commenting, I’m great at deflection. I’m a very private person and people already know I don’t share much. There are a few people I’m close to that are very overweight as well, and if they ask how I did it I will be honest with them. They deserve to know in my opinion, because they have have actual questions about or interest in the surgery. Otherwise, my personal business is my own and I don’t owe anyone personal details of my life.

Surgery November 10, 25.6 down post surgery, overall 83.4. Been slowly trying new foods, no problems with any of them. Not trying anything really high carb though. Chicken breast works great, which was a relief because some people said they had issues with that. Got a Thai curry the other night and just ate some of the tofu and carrots out of it. Tasted great. Overall I’m super happy with the whole process. It is exciting to constantly see lower weights on the scale.

I grew up the youngest in a large family so I was trained to eat fast from birth! I still eat faster than I should, but I’m meticulous about keeping only the amount of food on my plate I should be eating. I feel like training myself to eat slower is more of a struggle than eating smaller amounts. Sigh.

PACU is the post anesthesia care unit. It just means you’ll be cared for there (in the same area you get set up for surgery generally) instead of a separate room. You’ll probably get a lot more attention to be honest. I wouldn’t worry in the slightest.

Here we are, the group that were (or will be) thrilled to see that 299 on the scale! I’m 5’10 and i started at 339. I lost weight on my own prior to surgery (low carb) during the 6 month waiting period had surgery at 282 and I’m now at 262 one month 4 days post surgery. I’m so excited to report I have COLLARBONES again! Man I missed those. Also, I’m actually no longer looking pregnant which is amazing because my youngest is 2. The day I was dropping him off at daycare and a very little boy asked if I had a baby in my belly will always be in my brain under “yes it really was that bad”.

So glad to hear he’s coming around! I think that is a common fear with partners. Realistically the divorce rate after bariatric surgery is high, but a lot of that is people who settled for a partner now discovering options, or a person in an unhealthy relationship being willing to pull the plug.

One month in, 16.4 lbs lost after surgery, 74.2 lbs total loss. Feeling great, just started on soft foods. Basically just eggs and cottage cheese at this point. Hit a huge milestone- I now have less than 100 lbs left to lose! I’ve got a long road but I’m heading in the right direction.

It’s my one month anniversary of surgery! Oh man I was not feeling great this time last month. I’m glad I’m done with that. I’m feeling great now, no pain anywhere, no problems with getting liquids. In the last month I lost 16.4 lbs, for a total weight loss of 74.2 lbs. I’ve had a stall but I expected that. I know I need to start exercising more. I literally just started soft foods and so far so good, but I’ve not exactly tried a lot. One thing I will say is I was a bit concerned because I had no restriction whatsoever with liquid after the first week, and that kind of alarmed me. Like everyone says though, it comes with actual food. I feel like it’s in my esophagus when I’ve eaten too much.

Well I had my first bites of food tonight since late October. 2 week pre op liquid diet plus 4 week post op liquid diet made for a loooooong stretch. For my first food I scrambled an egg. No problems at all eating it, def felt full afterwards. Was so nice to not have soup for dinner. I am 73 lbs down (15 post surgery) and coming up on my one month anniversary on the 10th. Not losing super fast, but happy to be where I am!

My doctors office said it would be up to two weeks for insurance approval. It was 10 or 12 days, but that was all my md office submitting it. Actual turnaround time from insurance was next day. Kinda annoying, but oh well.

I love minute miso- add a tablespoon to hot water and just like that you have miso soup.