New To This23

For me, I had already been off psych meds for a year prior to going into the process of getting weight loss surgery. Even though I had been going to therapy I had to have a psych evaluation and the psychologist told me that psych meds can interfere with anesthesia. Do not let this discourage you, it may take a little longer to get surgery, but there are workarounds. Your surgeon will let you know for sure, so do not stress about this until you get your surgeon's opinion, they will help your figure out what to do so you can be successful. There is always a solution to every problem.

Let the airline know that you'll need help with your luggage. Since you're staying a few weeks in Texas you're going to have more than a carry-on. Tell them it is for medical reasons (get a doctor's note just in case) you may even want/need to schedule a ride from drop off to your gate, you know one of those little carts they have with a driver that can load people and luggage, you may call the airport directly to ask about that. An agent for the airline you are flying can most definitely load up your checked bags, just let them know ahead of time, since you are checking bags, my suggestion is don't bring a carry-on unless you think you absolutely will need something while in flight. In the past, I had to ahead of time ask for a wheelchair for my mom when she hurt her leg on a trip. Double-check the airline is ready for you before you get there and get there early in case they have lost your assistance reservation in the shuffle, so you do not miss your flight and you can relieve some travel anxiety.

I think you should just sit them down and tell them you are going to get gastric sleeve and ask them if they have any questions or concerns, also leave the conversation open so they can come to you with questions or concerns as they might think of some later. I think once you get your surgery it will become a lot easier to maintain the healthy balanced lifestyle you desire and your daughters will see your progress and cheer you on. I also think that your daughters may pick up some of your new healthy habits, for themselves and hopefully learn how to eat and maintain a healthy relationship with food. (something I wish I would have learned when I was a teen) I do not know how active you are with your kids, or if you plan on taking up new activities, but this could be a great bonding experience for you and your daughters, maybe you all be become expert divers, or hike around the state or world together if you do not already do these things. I just mean you might find something fun that makes activity easy that you guys can do together as you get healthier and healthier.

They will not go by looks at all, they will go by what the scale says and your BMI and medical history. Sleep apnea with high BP and a BMI of 35 will still qualify you for surgery. Once in the program, you will get the surgery unless you change your mind. Now if your BP goes down to normal and your sleep apnea disappears and your BMI goes below 35 your insurance may no longer consider you to be a candidate, and you might not feel like one either at that point. But I don't know about that for sure. This surgery will make it a lot easier to maintain and to keep those promises to yourself about staying on track and not letting your weight spiral, if you use this tool correctly.

I am interested in learning what exercises, intensity, routine, and time/reps people who have lost over 100lbs/45kg do. What did you do before surgery vs. after? Did you focus on cardio or strength? If you have loose skin have you seen any improvement that excise has contributed to? Thank you for your feedback.

It depends on your insurance. For me, I did not even get to see the surgeon until after I did everything my insurance wanted (6 months with a total of 12 dietician visits, exercising at least 30 min a day, sleep study, psychosocial visit, a total of 10 doctor-supervised weight checks and weight loss of at least 5%). After that, I met the surgeon ( at this point my insurance had approved me for surgery). The surgeon is part of a bariatric team and my guidance now comes from them. I had to get a set of labs, a gallbladder ultrasound, and an EKG. I passed all of those and now I am simply waiting to be scheduled. That was all finished by July 11th, 2023.

It depends on your insurance. For me, I did not even get to see the surgeon until after I did everything my insurance wanted (6 months with a total of 12 dietician visits, exercising at least 30 min a day, sleep study, psychosocial visit, a total of 10 doctor-supervised weight checks and weight loss of at least 5%). After that, I met the surgeon ( at this point my insurance had approved me for surgery). The surgeon is part of a bariatric team and my guidance now comes from them. I had to get a set of labs, a gallbladder ultrasound, and an EKG. I passed all of those and now I am simply waiting to be scheduled. That was all finished by July 11th, 2023.

Great!!! I am so glad you found them !! Some of them might be eligible for try before you buy, I think the first one I purchased I used "try before you buy". It is a great option if you are unsure of sizing and want to get a few sizes, or just simply want to try it first before you commit.

I hope you do not give up on swimming, there are so many different types of swimsuit styles out there. I personally wear a 3-piece, it has a sports bra-like top, then a tank that goes over the top, and a Capri pant for the bottom, I bought some additional swim shorts, but more often than not I wear the Capri pant. I got it from Amazon I would be more than happy to send you the link if or you might be able to use the search terms "three-piece adult swimsuit"

I started strength training back in October for 2 months before I entered the program. Personal issues and how I chose to handle them stopped my progress. I restarted weight lifting and swimming in March. I focused more on weights (6 days a week) and swam 2-3 days a week about 3 hours total. I eventually dropped swimming, since I swim at a public facility and the kids are out of school, and for some reason overtake the indoor area instead of staying outside where the slides and water features are. I have been lifting 6 days a week, at least an hour a day, I have greatly improved my strength, and I have been told I look slimmer, but I do not see it in my clothes or on the scale. I am still waiting on my surgery date, my Insurance told me it will likely be in September, so I am trying to get as much off as I can beforehand, It has been great to become stronger but disheartening to see the scale barely move. On Friday I decided I would focus on cardio only for 2 weeks to see how that goes. After surgery I was thinking I could get back into weights, I prefer doing that to the treadmill, stationary bike, recumbent bike, and elliptical. I plan to swim again once the kids are back in school. I appreciate your comment as I have been having a hard time with not seeing the scale move. It upsets me a little that none of the medical professionals I have seen have suggested focusing more on cardio, just to get more weight off for now.

Same for me too, different insurance though. I also had to lose 5% of my starting weight in six months. I really struggled with it. In the past I had been able to lose more than that within 3 months, but this time I had had to see a registered dietician as part of the program. I ate what she told me to eat and I also was required to exercise a minimum of 5 days a week. It took me 5 months to lose the 5%. I went to my final weigh-in at the 6-month mark and I was 1lb OVER the 5% goal. This meant I was not allowed to meet with the surgeon or do the testing the surgeon requires before the surgery. I had to call my insurance and explain to them what happened. They allowed me to have a weigh-in 4 days later. At this weigh-in, I was 8lbs BELOW the goal weight. I have since seen the surgeon, and had all of my testing done. I am not allowed to be over the goal weight at all. It is really hard trying to maintain this while I wait to get a surgery date ( If I am over the goal weight on the surgery day, then the surgery will be canceled) and it has added a lot of unnecessary stress. I constantly weigh myself several times a day, and I am super paranoid about eating. No food funerals for me and I am envious of everyone who gets to do one. If my surgery gets canceled for being 1lb over, which I was told it would be, then I will call my insurance again.

When scars are purple they are still healing, vitamin E oil used topically can help a lot, but you must be devoted to using it twice daily. Once your scars are healed, if you are not satisfied, medical tattooing might be a viable option, they will match your skin tone and color and cover/blend the scars. There are regular tattoo artists that can do this too, obviously, look at their portfolios, otherwise, medical tattooists are trained specifically in scar cover, blending, camouflage as well as other things like creating a nipple, where one never was or was lost. A lot of people get their skin removal scars cover this way. Hope that helps. Some great examples from a training studio are under the Instagram name elevateyoustudio_medicaltattoo

Rockwood in Spokane, Wa.

Great!! my advice is to get everything you can scheduled in advance and do not be afraid to advocate for yourself. For example, Molina wanted me to complete everything from stage 2 by June 23rd. The Dietician was the hardest to get on the schedule with, and I was just under 2 months into the program before I could get in to see her. Which meant I was not going to meet Molina's goal of having everything completed by June 23rd. So I called my insurance and was told as long as I had been going to my appointments and staying on track they could extend the completion time. Well, I was still worried so after a few visits with the Dietician I asked if I could get the 3 appointments that were scheduled through the end of July changed they were able to adjust things and I finished my appointments on June 13th. Now I am meeting with the Surgeon tomorrow!!

Did you get this straightened out? I can tell you that your PCP sends the form in. Then you set up 12 Dietician Visits, 6 weight, and BP checks with your PCP or nurse, a sleep study if you are not already using a CPAP, if you are not using a CPAP and they say you have sleep apnea, you are going to have to get set up with at and be compliant with it. When you get closer to finishing your Dietician appointments, you will schedule a psychosocial appointment. Once all of that is completed and you met the goal weight Molina has set for you then you will be referred to the Bariatric clinic. You will meet the surgeon and then do any assessments they have (this will vary from person to person). Then you will get your surgery date. The nice thing about Molina is you will get your own case manager, who will explain everything to you. You can call them anytime. They will let you know every step and piece of paperwork and who handles what and when. They will also periodically call you to check in on you. This case manager is so helpful, because PCP and dieticians do not seem to totally understand the process, and it's because Bariatric is not their specialty, not until you get to the clinic. So stage one, your PCP fills out the form and submits it to your insurance stage two you do all of the appointments and hit the goal weight Molina gives you (Your case manager will call and introduce themselves, plus you will get a letter in the mail. Your case manager is also a nurse and they will ask your weight so make sure the DR puts down an accurate weight, if not petition to have Molina change it) stage three you move on to the clinic and get surgery.

Did you get this straightened out? I can tell you that your PCP sends the form in. Then you set up 12 Dietician Visits, 6 weight, and BP checks with your PCP or nurse, a sleep study if you are not already using a CPAP, if you are not using a CPAP and they say you have sleep apnea, you are going to have to get set up with at and be compliant with it. When you get closer to finishing your Dietician appointments, you will schedule a psychosocial appointment. Once all of that is completed and you met the goal weight Molina has set for you then you will be referred to the Bariatric clinic. You will meet the surgeon and then do any assessments they have (this will vary from person to person). Then you will get your surgery date. The nice thing about Molina is you will get your own case manager, who will explain everything to you. You can call them anytime. They will let you know every step and piece of paperwork and who handles what and when. They will also periodically call you to check in on you. This case manager is so helpful, because PCP and dieticians do not seem to totally understand the process, and it's because Bariatric is not their specialty, not until you get to the clinic. So stage one, your PCP fills out the form and submits it to your insurance stage two you do all of the appointments and hit the goal weight Molina gives you (Your case manager will call and introduce themselves, plus you will get a letter in the mail. Your case manager is also a nurse and they will ask your weight so make sure the DR puts down an accurate weight, if not petition to have Molina change it) stage three you move on to the clinic and get surgery.

Hi, So I am a former smoker/vaper I quit about two months before I decided to enter the program. My insurance would not cover any part of the program if I was still using nicotine. I can tell you that starting up exercise really helped me with not smoking/vaping, like, it helped me a lot and I did not gain any extra weight, in fact I lost weight. I quit cold turkey, but that was because I wanted to get past the nicotine withdrawal as fast as I could. I do not know the program you are on but I would ask the Doctor to clarify about weight gain during your 6-month period and not go by what your friend said, even though they had the same Doctor. Your journey and your friend's journey will probably be similar having the same Doctor and all, but they won't be exactly the same. So, just give them a call or send a message if you have that option on your portal, which should help ease your mind. Hopefully this help.

She actually has me on a 1200-calorie diet, up until the last visit with the protein thing, I have had no restrictions, except to keep my diet at 1200 calories, she told me that she believes that no food should be off limits and that people need to be eating carbs (she was very adamant about that) I was actually scared to try her suggestion of Dave's bread, but I did and I have lost weight. I am also only the 2nd person she had counseled that is on the bariatric surgery track. She does not spend time looking anything up and gave me a whole book on diabetic healthy meals, even though I am not pre-diabetic or diabetic at all.

99 grams is what you are supposed to have at 300 lbs in order to lose weight. If you are an athlete then it would be more. So in other words no, you would not eat protein in an amount that supports an unhealthy weight when trying to lose weight, which makes sense because you do not eat anything else at that level (fats, carbs, sugars, calories) to support an unhealthy weight when trying to lose.

I will be seeing the dietician in the program when I finish my pre-surgery steps 12 dietician visits, 6 weigh-ins, and the goal weight that is set for me, I have to do it by a certain date, which is coming up pretty soon. Then I will start with the clinic that has a surgeon and its own dietician. As far as meal options I am happy with what I currently eat, I do not like to waste time and energy on making something new every meal. I was just concerned about why she would have me at a normal calorie level but then want to me eat a protein amount that is supportive of a heavier person. Especially since I have not complained about being hungry, because I haven't been hungry. She doesn't even want me to take any vitamins, because she says what I eat I get enough vitamins.

I have completely changed my eating habit, I have already lost 20 lbs since starting with the dietician. I my question is why would I eat a protein amount based on an unhealthy weight? I have made a huge effort to eat the 150 grams today and I feel beyond full and kind of nauseated. I also have not been feeling hungry at all, so I do not know why she would suddenly bring the protein thing up with me.

I understand that it is not too much for a 300lb person, but should I really be eating to support a 300lb person? I also am not hungry with the way I have been eating. So I do not know why she started in with the protein thing. I also do not know how I can possibly fit that amount of protein in, especially since I am supposed to be listening to hunger cues and stopping eating right before I am full.