SleeveToBypass2023

How are things going now? Have you gotten yourself back on track?

I always liked making smoothies. I used 1 bottle of Propel electrolyte water (different flavors), 1 scoop of collagen, 1 scoop of greens, 1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 4 packets of monk fruit sweetener, 1-2 cups of whatever fruit I wanted (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, etc), and avocado. I would also add ground flax seeds, ground chia seeds, and shredded coconut. I loved them. I did them from about 6 weeks through the first year. Then I just kind of got out of making them. Maybe I'll start doing them again.....

Oh my Lord...lol Do you know what system the portal is through? Athena, Epic, eClinicalWorks...I've worked with all 3 and can walk through how to get on the portal. If they have to send you an invitation to set up the portal, it sounds like Athena. The front desk should be able to do that. Medical Assistants can also do it. What kind of people did they hire for the front desk??? Patients being on the portal is HUGE. You request refills, see your appointments, make/cancel/reschedule appts, see lab results, and talk directly to your doctors through it. Now I'M annoyed with that office.....

At 2 weeks, I was on things like avocado spread, cottage cheese, hummus, refried beans, softly scrambled eggs. I was also drinking ready made protein shakes because they count as fluids and protein. I also was drinking protein gatorade zero. I would just be careful with what you're eating and how much, because at 2 weeks out you're still healing.

If you go into your profile and update all of your info (starting weight, current weight, goal weight, bmi, surgery, height) that helps. Also, what is your diet like? Do you work out? Do you track your food? So you have any other health issues that could be stopping the weight loss? Have you talked to your nutritionist and surgeon?

Here's a kind of progression of my hair. So the first one is when I was at my heaviest and let my natural curl come out. I actually loved my hair in this pic. Then in pic 2 is when I didn't straighten it but as you can see, there's barely any wave to it. The 3rd one is with it completely straightened. The rest are after I cut my hair after my hysterectomy. It shows how the curl slowly started to come back tighter until it's finally like it is now. It's so weird why it's like this again. But I like it enough, for now, to leave it.

It's 5am. I'm up. That's all ya get. There's no rising and shining going on here.

YASSS girl!!!! Looking SO good!!!!!!

Thank you

thank you

Wait, so it's not your insurance saying what you had wasn't good enough, it was your doctor? I'm really surprised. My doctor looked at what I had and said "that works for me" and signed off that I had done 6+ months of failed weight loss attempts.

That's exactly the stuff you want to tell your pcp. That might be enough to cut that 6 months way down or even out completely.

Everyone seems to agree with them lol I remember why I started straightening it, tho. It's a pain to maintain. But I'll do it until I want to chop it all off lol Then I'll see how it goes. I'm not one to mess with my hair much, and I don't do much in the way of make up. Haven't since high school. So having to put the leave in conditioner in my hair and the curl cream is super annoying. If I don't, it's all kinds of floofy and frizzy. So it keeps my hair nice and tame. So we'll see how long it lasts. For now, I really like it. And thank you for the compliment Very sweet of you.

Have you ever mentioned to your doctor, in the past, the things you did to try and lose weight? I have BCBS and they had the same requirement. But I had mentioned to my pcp that I did keto, weight watchers, calorie restriction, and the mediterranean diet. When I mentioned this, she put it in the notes that went to the insurance company and they accepted it and that took 6 months off the process. My pcp was very supportive and was happy for me to do the surgery. I gave her all the requirements from my insurance company (I needed to pass a ekg, her form stating what I've tried to lose weight, my comorbidities, etc...) he jumped right on that and got it done asap. By the time I went to my 1st appt w/ my surgeon, she had already sent all of this to their office. So I was 3/4 of the way finished on day 1 of seeing my surgeon. All I had left to do was the psych eval, blood work the surgeon needed, and then waiting for it all to be submitted and approved by insurance. My first appt with the surgeon was Feb 28th, 2022. My psych eval was March 7th. Everything was submitted to my insurance on March 10th and I got my approval on March 14th 2022. The longest part of this was honestly actually getting to the surgery date because I couldn't have it until May 3rd due to the surgeon's schedule. So honestly, the better prepared you are, the more you do behind the scenes, the faster the whole process will go.

It says you had the lapband. Did you already have a revision from lapband to bypass? If so, I'm not sure you can do another one. The only revision I know you can get after you've had a bypass is the SADI, but it's still really new, so not a lot of insurance companies will cover it yet.

I eat strawberries, blueberries, avocado, sometimes a pear, and every once in a while, an apple. I stay away from grapes (little sugar bombs), bananas, oranges (mostly because of the acid), pineapple (hard to digest still), and peaches (just don't like them). Absolutely LOVE watermelon. I don't eat cantaloupe or honeydew melon because I just don't like them. Blackberries and raspberries are excellent for bypass patients, but I don't like them so I don't eat them.

Our stash is actually running quite low lol Normally those shelves are full. You should see our pantry and the 3 freezers we have. Mama don't play when it comes to being prepared. That's how we made it through every time I missed work because of a surgery.

It's the only one to have lol

This was me after getting to work, clocking in, and being paid to "turn it on" and smile lol And yes, that's one of my 2 fur babies. This particular one is Asher lol Btw...I know you guys have seen pics of my straight hair in the past. The curls in my hair are actually natural. I have straightened my hair for the better part of 20 years, to the point that even when I didn't straighten it, there was almost no curl or wave left in it. After my hysterectomy, I got my hair cut and ALL the curl came roaring back lol I have no idea why. But my kids have decided I'm not allowed to straighten it anymore, so I won't.

You look amazing!!! Congratulations!!! I'm coming to terms with my body wanting to be lower than my goal lol It may happen, and as long as it's within reason, we have to just learn to be ok with it. We'll have fluctuations, so I think going 10 or so pounds below goal is ok. You definitely don't look too small. You look fabulous!!!

I have to believe that, while losing the weight won't reverse the arthritis, it HAS to help it not be quite as bad given there won't be as much weight to carry around. Any weight loss should improve that, I would think. Yes, there will still be pain, but not the added pain from the weight on the arthritic knees. So I have to believe the weight loss will be at least a little bit of help in the pain department there. I'm glad you got the answers you were looking for and have a plan moving forward!!!

My main concern is, with you being active and on liquids only for 3 months, at some point your body may think it's starving and hold on to everything. If you're active, you actually need more calories to lose weight. Make sure you're having things like protein shakes, bone broth, etc so at least your body is getting some of what it needs. Protein is REALLY important, so prioritize that. I absolutely wish you well!!

Honestly, in pounds, you weigh 272, and you need to lose 27. That's absolutely doable. I agree that 12 weeks is a LOOOONG liquid diet. Are you able to have even 1 meal per day at any point? I understand they want you to lose 27 pounds before your surgery, but 3 months on only liquids seems really, really harsh. Either way. congratulations on getting your surgery day!!! You'll love your life after, I can tell you that.

You have to start walking right away, before you even leave the hospital. For the first 3 weeks, the walking is plenty. It's about increasing the amount you can walk. Around week 4, I started doing the treadmill on a lower incline (not completely flat but a lower incline) and a normal walking speed. I also started doing arm workouts (without weights). I started doing mild step ups, and increased walking even more. At 6 weeks, I started increasing the incline on the treadmill, added low weights to my arm work outs, and added the exercise bike. At week 10, I increased the weights and started doing more strenuous workouts and small hikes. At 12 weeks, I started core work and increased the workouts more. i also do beginner pilates, but I only just started that.

I'm so sorry you had such a rough week!!! I hope the pain is getting better now. Just think positive that this will be a better week for you Fantastic job keeping your eyes on the NSV when the scale isn't doing what you want. That's exactly the right thing to do. Feel better!!!