Crisscat

Its odd because during the week I can be quite restrictive of what I eat; yet on the weekends it seems like open field day for me. So essentially I undo my weekly progress by sabotaging it on the weekends

Wow that is quick! Ive been going to my weight management office since Oct 28th, 21 (my first visit). Ive had to do a series of "workshops" and bloodwork before moving into the next phase.....which was cardiac dr to release me for surgery then more bloodwork then off to do the EGD (Feb 9th). My March visit was to be turned into insurance for approval but the office dropped the ball and that didnt happen. So now my April appt I was told it would be sent (again?) for insurance approval with a tentative surgery date sometime in May is what I was told. I'm only going to wait a week or two and ask if its been sent yet because it wasnt done in March . Glad to hear yours was more flawless and quicker. In my program we must show we will not gain weight before we get approved for surgery. I have been able to stay below my start weight on my first visit but Ive not lost much either. So Im constantly a work in progress. Others lose quite a bit up till surgery and others like myself squeak by. I have mobility issues because of my knee issues.

Yep I was told that for my surgery day I will have the "leg warmers" on to help prevent clots. Im used to those because I had them for my C Sections. My mom was prone to blood clots in the legs. I did have a blood test recently to see the probability of me clotting. Test came back within normal limits but as a precaution Ill have those on as well.

I truly hope that after surgery I have an aversion to sweets and Diet Coke my other nemesis. I know that one definitely needs the addiction broke!

I know weight loss varies with everyone but I was wondering what the average weight loss was by 6 months post op for a sleeve? Bypass can throw in their results too If you dont mind sharing what your results were at that milestone month.....thanks

Thank you for the responses, Im so happy to see that everyone has done so well with their weight loss. Its very encouraging. Dually noted that each person's weight loss varies and there is no real average per se, I hope I do as well as everyone else here but honestly Ill just be glad to see the scale going in the opposite direction for once

Thanks for the responses! And yes, catwoman7 you are correct you cannot tell. You did a great job hiding it in the pic and you look great! Ive often wondered if it will bother me or not. I guess Ill have a year to deal with it at minimum before having to make that decision. Seems I will most likely have it everywhere, I already have the preverbal dreaded "batwings" and a large belly. I have inner thigh "extras" as well. I pretty much believe my elasticity of my skin will be nonexistent. It took decades to get my body to this horrible state. I hope some of it will go away but if not at least I have some hope of hiding it for a time and getting it removed much later down the road!

Just curious of things you ate or drank before surgery that you cannot stand or stomach now? I hear alot of people say they dislike the Premier protein shakes after surgery but loved them before their surgery? I heard someone say they tried Ratio Protein yogurt from Walmart? Anyone tried this after they were off liquids in order to get the protein goal met? I did try one Key Lime and tasted ok but I found it to be a bit thick lol.

Curious if others have had nicotine blood tests? I was a smoker 21+ years ago but quit. Ive had 2 nicotine tests already and I was just told the other day that I had to get another 1 week before surgery. I may have been told but dont remember, why is this necessary?

I think I was told for a sleeve its a 1 hour up to 2 hour procedure. I guess I thought it would be longer.

I havent had the sleeve surgery yet but its supposed to be sometime mid May or end of May. Still waiting on scheduling to call me. I havent started regretting it yet since Ive not had surgery but I have gone back and forth numerous times of asking myself do I really want to do this. Sometimes its yes and sometimes its no, I believe my mind is just trying to talk me out of it because its the "unknown" as to how my body will react. I have to say honestly I am very fortunate as I am not on pills for high blood pressure, diabetes or anything else. Im just morbidly obese (I hate those words lol) What I do have is a knee injury from about 15 yrs ago that I have severe osteoarthritis from and I was just told this past week that I need a knee replacement! Im only 53 so I said no, whats my other options. I was told therapy and cortisone/steroid shots in the knee to maybe postpone it. I was also told at my current weight I could not be a candidate because I am too big *sighs*. So Im seeing this surgery as beneficial and something I need to do for my overall health, knee issues and I still have a young son at home who needs me to live an active life (he's 11). If I get in the muddy grub mindset I try to direct my thoughts in another direction. Not saying that after surgery will be different or that I may not start regretting it but I have goals I need to see through to the end if at all possible I have heard the same thing about the gas pains but Ive also heard people say they took Gas X and walked alot and that seems to help dissipate it. Hoping to stay positive going down this road and your words from your experience is very helpful. Thank you for sharing!

This is a stressor for me as well. Mainly because I already have baby fine hair to begin with. I shed hair on a regular basis, genetics and age maybe lol. I guess nothing I can do so Ill just have to let it run its course I suppose. I am thinner on the top of my hair currently. If it gets too bad I am not opposed to hair extensions or toppers that clip in. Some of those are really nice looking. So for me its worth buying one if I need to rather than over stressing myself with something I may not have control over.

I have not had surgery yet but I was already told its mandatory to stay 1 night to make sure no issues arise.

I am supposed to be scheduled for mid May or alittle later but I was told it should be May. Im just waiting for the call from scheduling.

Just curious if anyone is taking a gummy vitamin after surgery?? If so, any side effects from it? Met with my dietitian and she said before my surgery I need to wean myself off vitamin gummies. Im guessing it must cause issues maybe? She also said ibuprofen is a no no after surgery. I take ibuprofen for knee pain when the weather changes or generalized knee pain. What is a good replacement

Since we are on the topic of vitamins.....now that I know I must switch what Im taking (gummy vitamins), what multivitamin seems to be the most prescribed/suggested? any issues with any you have tried like not being able to keep them down or taste of the chewable kind? Are you able to swallow big pills with such small amounts of water?

Do you find the Tylenol helps just as well as the ibuprofen? I guess its just another thing to wean myself off of before surgery 😁 Did you require any pain meds after your surgery? Or was it still tylenol?

Just a follow up to the original post, I had my appt today. Pretty much aligns to what others were saying their requirements were. I have support sessions I have to attend (3 of them) Lab work, chest xray, cardiologist, an ED scope and meet with Psych & Dietitian. I have to be in the program for 3 months before surgery can be scheduled. Everything else I have recently done so I was able to meet the rest of the requirements to the program. Insurance wise I was pretty lucky, no strict guidelines. Seems pretty clear and straight forward. No surgery date until well into 2022 though. They mentioned in our educational meeting today that surgeries are backed up and no openings are left before the end of the year due to Covid restrictions.

I guess I am just alittle confused with the beginnings of pursuing a gastric sleeve..... For the past 2 yrs or so I have had my PCP make referrals on my behalf for weight loss management whether I wanted it or not. I went for a colonoscopy and only saw that Dr one time which was the day of my colonoscopy. Next thing I know after the colonoscopy Im getting phone messages from the weight loss management section of the hospital telling me I have several referrals and to contact them. To say I was pissed is mild lol. I guess I wanted to make the move myself and not be thrust into it. Of course Im way over weight, of course my health is suffering not to mention my mobility is next to none. Im just a procrastinator. I have been on several weight loss journeys within that 2 yr period. I did have a medically supervised diet for 5 months that I did. I lost weight but quickly started gaining it back after I fell last Christmas and injured my knee. Fast forward to July of this year and I had a gall bladder attack and made a trip to the local ER and yep you guessed it....by Monday morning I had another weight management referral......blah lol plus a referral to a general surgeon regarding the gall bladder. This lady was a real trooper lol she got to hear me complaining about all these referrals and my weight loss struggles; ironically the more I talked about it with her the more infuriated I got for getting all these referrals for a gastric bypass that I didnt want. Luckily I suppose she listened so Im going for a gastric sleeve appointment next week Thursday. She told me she wouldnt require a supervised diet and that I could just move on to the surgery itself. I guess Ill find out next week if she remembers telling me that or not. As far as I am aware I am going for a preop educational appt but from what Ive read in here there seems to be alot more to it. I see ppl say their surgery dates are in the far future and not anything soon. What are some of the timelines any of you are experiencing? I think I may have a rude awakening come next week Thursday lol

Thanks to all the replies.....I think I have a rude awakening come Thursday next week lol 😂 Ill try to respond to each of you in one post: catwoman7: sounds like you went through a process with everything you had to do but thats not a bad thing. At least you had the piece of mind of knowing things were good to go ahead with the surgery, Kudos to you GreenTealael sounds like you had alot to do as well. Best to have everything done it seems ms.sss I guess I was angry and frustrated mainly because Im aware I am overweight and I suppose I just got tired of being told about my weight problem or in the case of the Dr for the colonoscopy, that Dr just sent a referral without even talking to me about it. Most Drs meet with their patients before they do any procedures or surgeries if possible. This Dr cancelled my consultation and had her nurse see me instead. I saw the Dr for the first time as I was going in 1 day surgery to get the colonoscopy. She didnt even follow up with me and cancelled my post op appt and had her nurse call me to see if I was good. Then I got a call from the weight management dept asking me to contact them for the referral they received from the Dr who did the colonoscopy. So yeah that angered me immensely. I thought I could lose weight on my own. I was in denial I guess because no matter how much I tried I would lose weight only to regain it back again. So I was angry with myself as well for failing at something I thought I could get a grip on my own. I decided to go ahead with the sleeve surgery after meeting and speaking with the gastric surgeon. She made me feel better about my obesity and made me feel like she would listen where others just kept filling out referrals. So I finally decided to go through with it and I have filled out mountains of paperwork x's 2 (they gave me the wrong ones at first) When all the paperwork was finally done I scheduled my appointment after watching an informational video first. I was sent even more paperwork to fill out and I mailed that back to them so I am happily waiting for next week Thursday to come. Im sure there will be more to it then I initially thought in comparison with what others have had to do. At least now I have an idea so I wont be so shocked after the visit. vikingbeast Im pretty sure its a group meeting on Thursday and afterwards its supposed to be a 1 on 1 visit with the Dr. But anything beyond that Im not sure of yet. I was hoping to schedule surgery first or second week of January but I may be over zealous for that date lol waterwoman I was angry because I felt I was being told the obvious and I didnt like to face the truth I suppose. I knew and know finally that I must do something to get my food addiction under control. Im eating just to be eating Im not even sure its to comfort myself. I just eat because I like food period. So I have to overcome that way of thinking so I can try to undo years of bad habits in eating. So here's to happy reading on this site to fill my mind with how all this works and hopefully Ill find even ground to be able to get the things I need to do done and schedule the surgery. I want to be able to be more active and shed this burdensome weight! Thanks for all the comments its much appreciated 😁

Greeting 🙂 I am new to this forum and have alot of questions I suppose as many of you probably did when you were just starting out. I am morbidly obese (I hate that description even tho its true) it just sounds awful and degrading. Anyway, I have had a weight problem for years. I just never addressed it I guess, well now is the time to do that. My questions Id like to pose is: how many people who have had the gastric sleeve have experienced long term complications from it and how long has it been post op? And what were they? Did the benefits far outweigh the complications in your opinion? If you had it to do all over again would you elect to have the sleeve or would you have picked gastric bypass instead? Being a gastric sleeve patient what would you say to me knowing that I am 52 yrs old and have a BMI of 58. What sort of things would you suggest or tell me about gastric sleeve surgery? (tid bit of information about me. I have no known illnesses or problems outside of obesity. I am borderline high blood pressure but not on any medication. I am borderline type 2 diabetes no medications but have blood sugars between 130-155 usually) Your thoughts, answers to questions, and opinions would be much appreciated because I have not scheduled to see anyone yet about bariatric surgery but I am hoping to soon.

Thanks so much for responding. I appreciate you taking the time to tell me your stories. What was the final straw for you to finally make that move to go to a surgeon? Did something happen or were you just fed up with being overweight and just decided to go through with it? I guess I just have reservations about doing it. I know a few people who had the gastric bypass. One is gaining his weight back 3 yrs in and the other a female seems to have put alittle bit of her weight back but she has had ALOT of hair loss. She also had skin removal not long after her weight loss. Both seem deficient in vitamins etc. I just dont want to go through all this and ultimately end up gaining it back. Id like to think that I could say on target and make a change in my eating habits and the types of food I eat but seeing others starting to put the weight back on makes me second guess doing it.