Flab-U-Less Forever

Maybe when you go to LA you could find a zipline to do to celebrate you 100 lb loss.

Thank you for posting! After reading it, I am very glad I made the decision to go the RNY route instead of sleeve which was my original choice. I suffer from GERD and a sliding hiatal hernia that has me in pain most days. Until the pre op work up, I didn't realize I had either. I had assumed everyone suffered from heartburn. I would usually "just deal with it" without any meds. I made a point to start taking Tums EVERY time I had heartburn and the amount I was taking was quite the eye opener. I am excited to have the operation on March 3rd and get rid of the pain hopefully forever. Good Luck next week!!!

Congrats!! That is great news! I am March 3rd as well. I start my pre op diet on Wednesday and am also keeping my fingers crossed because I was originally scheduled for Jan 18 but it got delayed due to covid hospitalizations.

So happy to hear you are rescheduled!! I just started to look at food/shake combinations that will keep me below 50 gm of carbs per day. I am allowed either shakes or lean meat and veggies for my 4 meal per day. I think I am going to do shakes for breakfast and lunch. A protein water and yogurt for a snack and then meat and veggies for dinner. Most of the days I planned out came to 750 calories, 40 g carbs, 95 g protein, and 20 g fat. My diet is to be high protein, low fat, low carb, low calorie for 2 weeks. Since I could just drink shakes 4 times per day for 2 weeks if I wanted (which I don't), I used that as a guide for my macros and calories goals (max 1000 calories, 80-120 g protein, 50 g carbs, 24 g fat). Its going to be tough and monotonous but its only for 2 weeks...right?

I told my surgeon in the beginning that I would be self pay if my insurance wouldn't cover it. I asked what the time frames would be for both scenarios. She said self pay would be 3 mos because they had their own minimum nutrition class guidelines which takes that amount of time to complete. Then I guess it would be how quickly you could get on the OR schedule. Long story short...3 mos is what I was told. Bonus is my insurance is covering it but it did take longer.

Very common...you actually have less required than I did. I had to have a cardiac clearance since I was over 50 which consisted of a stress test and an echocardiogram. I also had an EGD, sleep study, psych evaluation, upper GI, abdominal ultrasound, blood work and chest xray. All very easy tests with little to no prep beforehand.

I was January 18 but was postponed due to covid patients in the hospitals. My new date is March 3rd. I will start my pre op diet on Feb 16th. I'm glad it starts after the superbowl and after valentine's day. I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel (again). Hopefully I won't be postponed again! Good Luck everyone!

I'm sorry you've had such bad GERD. I suffer from it too now which is why I told my surgeon that I wanted the bypass instead of the sleeve. This forum is where I found out about the prevalence of GERD worsening after sleeve. Good luck with your revision!

My MIL had high iron levels. It was called hemochromatosis. She had no diseases so it most likely was hereditary (probably some sort of dominant gene as it showed up later in life). She just had her blood monitored and every so often she would "give blood" but they just threw it out because there was too much iron in it. This dropped her iron levels for about a year or so.

I am sorry to hear you are feeling so poorly and that you lost your dog. Have you tried the protein waters?

Sorry...I feel your pain/frustration. Mine was postponed from 1/18 to 3/3.

I feel your pain. Mine was scheduled for Jan 18 and has been rescheduled for March 3. I am happy that I at least have a new date. It seems as if some people's just get cancelled.

I am currently looking for protein shakes/powders for my pre op liquid diet as well as for after. Most have a chalky feel/taste and some are super sweet. Has anyone tried the Isopure unflavored protein powder? If so, is it truly unflavored?

I second the ER. They can get MRI's and CT's much easier/faster than having to go to the GI and then make an appt for the scan(s).

I can be added to the ever growing list of January surgeries that have been cancelled. I was originally scheduled for Jan 18th. At least I DO have a new date of March 3rd. It is a 6 week delay which sucks but I was happy to have a new date. I know some on here have had their surgeries cancelled with no new date. Also, I did not yet have to start my pre op diet. I will use the additional 6 weeks to get into an exercise routine and eat healthy.

I started out wanting the sleeve. I had some acid reflux (aka indigestion) but never took anything for it. I decided to take Tums every time I experienced it and was AMAZED at how much Tums I ate. I guess I never really realized how often I had it. I talked to my doctor about how much reflux I actually had and we switched to bypass instead.

One stop shopping LOL...Good Luck

I'm sorry to hear that. I am worried about mine (1/18) being cancelled too. I live in MD and if the number of ICU due to covid goes above 1200 they will start cancelling non essential surgeries that require an overnight stay. We are around 1100 currently.

I've not met my surgeon "face-to-face in-person" yet. I have had 2 Zoom meetings with her. The first was the initial consultation in May then the second was in Nov after all my testing had been done and we discussed which surgery I was going to have and my lab/testing results. I will not meet with her in person until the day of surgery on Jan 18th. I will have one more Zoom meeting one week prior to surgery to discuss my pre anesthesia testing (PAT) results, the actual surgery, and any questions I might have. One week post op I will meet her again in person but after that it will be via Zoom with a PA and dietician. At first I thought this was weird and made me uneasy until I realized that the Zoom meetings were the same thing as being in person but we just weren't breathing the same air (and I didn't have to shower and drive an hour to see her...BONUS!). Have you had virtual meetings with your surgeon?

I did not need a referral to start the process but I am in a PPO. The last thing I did in the whole pre op testing was get a Letter of Medical Necessity from my primary care doctor. He was supportive but was surprised I kind of went about it backwards (meaning he thought the discussion with him and obtaining the letter should've been first)..Oh well 😂

I think the reason for hair loss is similar hair loss after pregnancy. After giving birth, your estrogen levels drop significantly and more hair goes into the resting stage (the hair stage prior to shedding). Since lots of hair goes into this stage, lots of hair is shed at the same time. Normally (aka non-pregnant), I think only about 10% of your hair is in the rest/shed stage. Our bodies store estrogen in the fat cells so when you lose weight fast due to WLS, your body is flooded with estrogen. As your weight loss slows, the amount of estrogen in your body drops similar to post pregnancy. I hope you don't have a problem with hair loss and I hope I don't either! I'm just trying to make myself believe that it is only hair and it will grow back. I'll take the long term weight loss with some short term funky hair than long term obesity and long term good (ish) hair 🙂

Good luck @111onfirer and @Jawon let us know how it goes! You've got this!

Thanks for this post...I am starting my pre op diet in about 2 weeks and I am worried about it. I can have shakes or small meals of protein and veggies. I'm going to try 2 shakes and 2 meals to begin and for the last few days go with all shakes to make sure my liver has shrunk. Keeping my fingers crossed I have the same experience.

Congrats! My surgery is Jan 18th too! I am still waiting to hear from insurance so I am keeping my fingers crossed. The surgeon's office does not think it will be a problem getting it approved. I am currently focusing on getting in more water and weaning myself off Diet Coke (I swear they put something in that stuff that's addictive). I am also logging in all my food to see what my macros are currently and to get in the habit.

You look wonderful! Do you mind me asking if insurance paid for any of your plastic surgery? If not, how much did it cost? I am currently pre op (surgery date is 1/18/22) so I know I'm getting ahead of myself but I am 54 and anticipate lots of loose skin. Hopefully you are feeling better these days and have figured out your reactive hypoglycemia issues.