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i think everyone is different and will lose at differnt rates. dont be hard on urself..it sounds like u r really sticking to ur plan. im proud of u bc i know its hard! just try and focus on +s and not the negatives..i know for me ive really had to work on that. when i get down on myself now, i just say today was today and tomrrw is a new day. im sure things will get better and stay +. u r doing great!!

WOWIE...I almost didnt read this bc quite frankly its too late now since my surgery is wednesday and Ive only done preop liquid for 3 days...however..I DID....when i said i cant its not bc I dont want to..i got physically ill 3x that i started...both times for over 3 days each....1000 calories a day for a spec ed teacher of 2 small children is just NOT ENOUGH,,, my sugar and pressure both dropped down and my pCP told me to stop for a week then try again,,then i did..same thing.....then again a third time,,,which is why i am doing it for 3 days before the surgery,,,so ill be off from work and be less active...My surgeon told me the liver thing is rare...so i hope that i wake up banded,,,if i dont the road ends for me,,,anesthesia is too scary for me to do twice....thanks for ur input,,just know,,,has nothing to do with putting my big girl pants on:smile2:

Thanks everyone for ur feedback..its out of my hands now,,,did my best,,,my surgeon saw me last week and was fine with my weight even though I didnt loose a pound....Im 375 right now,,,but i dont have any other medical issues,,,no gerd,,,no sleep apnea etc etc....Im praying to god to wake up banded and healthy.....Im getting banded for a reason,,bc I OVEREAT....does this mean Im not committed,,,,no.....food is my drug,,,and i dont thing anyone here would tell an drug addict to put their big girl pants on,,,just sayin:wink2:

Wow..can I relate to this thread! I had my surgery 11/19/15..and returned to work 2 weeks ago...(having lost 35 pounds since anyone last saw me)...one doofus @ work immediately blurted out, "Did you have gastric bypass?!?"---I confronted her and curtly told her that my surgery was personal...and essentially none of her concern. The next day, I returned to work to hear that she told everyone I had vaginal reconstruction!!! I was appalled. Again, I confronted her..asking just WTH her problem was...spreading lies that had placed her on a fast-track to a workplace harassment charge...now possibly sexual harassment....and she meekly replied, "I was just concerned about you"--- BS...."concern" would have been checking in on me while I was off from work...not speculating and fabricating BS lies upon my return because you don't know ANYTHING about my personal life...and you have some sick need to be the focus of everything. --- I told her that if anyone wanted to 'really know what went on while I was gone from work', that I'd gladly tell them, provided that they be willing to pay a portion of my medical bills....otherwise, it's NOYB. Period. I told her that if she spoke one more word about my health or appearance, there would be consequences beyond which she cared to imagine.....Strangely enough, she has been quiet as a mouse since. Some people just have serious issues seeing someone else experience anything positive....My choice to undergo such a life-altering procedure didn't come lightly...and the victories are MINE...and of no concern to anyone other than those I choose to share with.

hi everyone. i am in the uk, and used all my savings to fund the op, i know its a different system to you guys in the usa.. but i agree with all you say.. its such a huge decision we make for ourselves and motivation is a huge part of that. its such a shame the hospitals don't grasp our motivation by the balls and put it into good use.. !! do i sound harse ? well maybe i do.. but i had to go through the usual assessments and i cant help but wonder whose purpose they where for, the psych just really wanted to check i wasn't depressed and offer my private funded counselling afterwards. I understand the medical checks... but the other long winded process makes no sense to me. I only had to lose 5lbs, and thank goodness i managed it ok. the dietician was nice , but lets face i am sure we have all been to countless weight watchers classes in the past and if there is anything we are experts on, its what we should eat to lose weight !! its not the knowledge i need it the support to do . My other issue is my hospital failed to tell me that post lap banding it can take several fills before i get any restriction.... i have only just found this out since i joined this site yesterday (i have been on the site for hours learning so so so much , its fab !!). I had my first band fill 2 days ago and have no restriction and i am gutted. i feel a bit fed up with my hospital, in my 'price package' i have two band fills and i have no idea how much they cost after that. ( i thought 2 would be enough -- but thanks to this site i know its so individual i may need many more). my aftercare package is pretty slim... i see the dietician and bariatric nurse monthy (at the same time) and my next surgeon appointment will be 6 weeks from the last. i cant tell everyone how this site has motivated me this weekend.. its great to not feel alone. my only problem now is that i have to get off the computer and do some housework :heh:,, but i am desperate to learn all i can from all you guys. anyhow i have gone on a bit .. its hard to keep motivated without that nagging thought at the back of your head ; 'i have to eat a lot now as i won't be able to for the rest of my life' ....... but you are on your forward path and i hope the path goes smoothly for you.

Day 5 now and things are going pretty well. I usually end up eating my meal around 6 which had helped me out a lot. Upset a little bc Premier Protein is the shake I like the best and can't find more anywhere!!! I've been to all the stores I recently shopped at grabbing things to prepare and none of them have any. It's really quite odd. I know it was only one place and maybe someone came in and bought all that was on the shelf since I last went. So I'm choking down the other brands I bought to get by. Tried a different frozen dinner last night and it was pretty good. Had my salad with it and felt satisfied. Three more days of this diet and then I start my last 48 hours of liquid only. We'll see how that goes. I went to the grocery store last night bc I still need to feed my son. I was happy to see how Id look at stuff and something's would make me say "ohh that sounds good" but nothing made me really hungry or slip up. Really pleased with that. Over all I'm not really hungry anymore I do just miss eating food all day long. I've been chewing sugar free gum to satisfy that chew need. We are getting closer ladies!! Those of us with 4.15 dates a week from now we'll be a day post-op!!!!

I've noticed a definite "loosening" but not too bad, and you might find it improves a bit over time, which is why they often say to wait 2 years from reaching goal to consider plastic surgery, not that many people probably do. I dont think I got quite that fat that it's going to be a real problem to me but I do cringe at the thought of what my poor old boobies are going to look like, having gone from C's to DD's and fed 3 babies for six years as well. Not pretty. Probably not a problem you'll have, lol. But its so not fair. It just shouldnt happen that way. But to be honest, if I end up with a wrinkly belly, I just plain dont care. I'm nearly 40, nobody but DH ever sees my belly anyhow. I've walked around with it fat for long enough, what's a bit of loose skin?

I was just discharged from hospital today I had the bypass on 03/31. Bring Chapstick, comfy house shoes, your favorite crystal light, and your favorite hot tea ++ gas x strips. Walk ASAP.. I walked the day I had surgery even though it was excruciating....I cried and walked it takes a while for gas to pass but all the others who had surgery same day as me had to stay addtl night in hospital bc they were in so much pain and not passing gas bc they would not walk. Sent from my Z970 using the BariatricPal App

Hi Kim, I have PCOS too. There is a great site called soulcysters.com you can get more info on. I also can't take BC because of my age and weight and high cholestral, but I wish I could, because when I did it helped. The glucophage made me really sick, but it does help the body process the insulin, which is our main problem. Just a word to the wise: Go every year fro your gyno exam. Women with PCOS are at risk for other diseases such as ovarian cancer and other risky things. SO go! No more ten years deal, it could cost you! I'm going through siomething with it right now and awaiting further tests. *shakes finger*:confused:

My name is Angie and I am new at this so bear with me.:wink_smile: I am 5 1/2 months into my 6 month supervised diet and Dr phase.:thumbup: I have had my group introduction, RN visit, Group Dietician visit, Individual Dietician Visit, Psychologist testing and on Thursday I meet my surgeon Dr. Christopherson. I am having my surgery at the Genesis for Beriatric Surgery Center in Davenport Iowa. I have BC/BS IL and hope that my approval is quick. Well, I will continue to read the post and I will let you all know how my visit with the surgeon goes.

Hi everyone ! Im 3 weeks post-op and craving spicy food ! Especially buffalo chicken ! Is it bad to have spicy foods ? I dont remember my doctor ever mentioning this but my mom who had the surgery about 15 years ago said it was bad for me. Does anybody know ? ALSO, im at the gound foods stage. I have to measure 3oz of ground meat plus 1/4cup of mashed potatoes. Does anybody know if its okay for me to add like the broth over the meat to make it moist ? Bc i figured 3oz and thats it no adding anymore not even the broth.

Hi Lyn Well I am gobsmacked that you have actually had a consultation with Mr Kennedy and that he really does perform the op here in N Ireland. You even have the prices too!! I am really upset that I have been fed the wrong information by Dr Clements!!! I will certainly be enquiring further about this and would definitely be so pleased if it was done here as opposed to England. Thank you so much for this info Lyn it has been very helpful. If you find out anything else I'd be interested to hear.

It is illegal to tell anyone about any medical procedures without the permission of the patient.(IANAL) The Feds take this very seriously. You really should lodge a complaint to the office manager/doctor they want to protect themselves as well as you when it comes to a chatty employee.

I can't speak from experience but rather some serious thought and self analysis as to this growing concern that eventually this restriction will be less than it currently is and the root of what the real problem is. First my thoughts are that we did this for the basic tenet to feel better...we did a physical act to feel better eventually look better too. With that said it's just like a new car, new blouse the newness wears off and the norm becomes the realization that we needed to work on our emotional journey as well. It's very easy to have done the emotional change at first bc we had the physical manifestation occur...we just did not address or work on the emotional which trust me if it could be fixed with a few sutures and a trip to Mexico we would all be living there perminantly. We certainly did not get to where we are because there is not an underlying problem....that problem is emotions. We have an emotional problem with food and once that is addressed and sutured in our own way then we can succeed long term. To have done this extreme and eat chips, bread, heavy carbs is not acceptable. My plan of attack for now is simple....I want the body of an athlete therefore I need the mentality ofmone too I will fill up fast with heavy Proteins no carbs so that temptation doesn't have time to catch up because I'll be too full. Secondly I'm excited to be exercising this coming week...and I don't mean elliptical I mean climbing flights of stairs and eventually kicking ass in cross fit. Treating my body as if it's still obese...mediocrity is not an option. I also dream a lot which helps my emotional state...I day dream every moment I see a cupcake...long detailed daydreams and then end it with "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels".... sorry for my rant but I just want everyone to be happy with this plication I worry about the lack of restriction too.I can't believe I did this and think there is an opportunity to fail....but that failure is up to me and I've never failed at anything I've passionately wanted....and anytime I've fallen off the wagon i pick myself up dust myself off and get back on the saddle...it's a forever journey and I'm going to make sure this horse I'm riding is mentally prepared for the long haul.... Good luck everyone....also I had read this on dr. Talebpours site before selecting plication google his site it's really interesting as the pioneer of this surgery. CONTRAINDICATION OF TVGP Morbid obese cases without any cooperation or any acceptance of limitation of intake are bad candidates for restrictive operations like plication. If I use plication in these cases a moderate rate of weight loss may occurs at first, but due to high intake of foods after that time, regain appears again. The selected technique for moderate cooperating patients is gastric bypass (cut of stomach, making malabsorption by using long limb gastrojejunostomy anasthomosis) with higher risk of complication. Aggressive technique advise for low cooperating patient. In patients without any cooperating, any acceptance of food restriction (enjoy of eating), if would like to have normal weight, just malabsorptive methods like duodenal switching or modified ileojejunal bypass is advised.

Oh and btw sassygirl06 I was 340 last I had to check, I haven't gained that I know of bc I can still wear all the same clothes but I hate the scale!! I have read your post twice now, I love that you said you can run and play with your kids and they can wrap their arms around you, that's what I want more than anything!!!! Thank you again!!

Djbwilson... Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!! I have to admit I don't really have anyone at home cheering me on... Everyone is negative about it in one way or another! I think the issue at hand, and yes after reading and thinking, more reading and more thinking its simple.. I have an overwhelming desire to prove my mother wrong... Now for any of you to understand that statement it would take a LONG time to explain in full effect but basically in a but shell, my mom has never had faith in me, never pushed me to do well anything, always negative toward me... Now my other sibling, perfect in her eyes, I have offer wondered if it was bc they are almost 15 years older than me idk, our parents have been married 50 years, had a kid young and waited 15 years, mistake maybe? It's crossed my mind... But I do love her don't get me wrong... She has been so negative since I decided to actually do this, I really think she never believed I would actually do it!! I have to admit, I still want that goal of mine, maybe somehow I can lower my goal before July gets here but like I said before.. I'm stubborn I feel like I should be able to do this and meet that goal and I guess in part it's because I want to show my mom that I can do it! Then I start thinking about my kids and how badly I want to go to Disney world with them and actually walk all day long and not have to sit down ever little bit!! My dream is to be a Mom that my kids are proud of! I know they love me and they are proud of me but I don't want them to grow up and think of all the things their mom never did with them, I want them to think of all the awesome things they did with their mom!!! I was once able to loose 20-30 lbs in a month, I explained that in an earlier post, but after some bad times in my life I got to a point that I gave up and when I realized what had happened it was too late! I had become too fat to function!!

I have to be honest 7 lbs a month seems very minimal to me, back 10 years ago I could loose 20-30 lbs in a month, of course I had only had one child and now I have three and I was younger and not well fat like I am now.. I guess I was so encouraged by these few I had talked to I just never looked for other answers, I have been told by my family dr that this will be wonderful and I will loose weight at a very fast pace, maybe he to has only looked at what is right in front of him. When I started seeing post of being 6 months out and loosing 30-40 lbs I panicked because I have already paid my deposit and I am having this, part of me can still close my eyes and see the me I will be this time next year but yes I am still discouraged after coming to the realization that I may not be one of the 100 lbs gone in 6 months or less and it does really put a damper on my outlook I had... Maybe with ad much willpower as I think I have I won't have a problem at all loosing it quickly.. I feel like if I can get 80-100 lbs off really fast then the rest will fly off, simply because ill be able to walk, jog, run without having to sit down every few minutes! I have had test run bc I was worried something was wrong with me medically but they found nothing, besides a little arthritis starting to show in my knees.. I was a volleyball player from school to YMCA at 22 years old, I want that again, badly!!! I guess I need to put my BIG girl panties on and pull them nice and high and get my head out of the black clouds of discouragement!! It happens especially when your family is negative like mine!! Thank you all for your words..

I was turned down by BC/BS because my BMI is only 38 with no co-morbids . I have a year to appeal. I'm wondering........ if I should happen to put on the 11 lbs sometime soon (which I'm sure I will) and had the Dr. to resubmit the claim....has anyone done this? I wonder if they would approve me then. Any thoughts on this?

I ultimately told UHC to go f@*& themselves and wound up self funding. They can kiss my large arse and the sting of the cost is subsiding with every pound I lose. My experience, though, came from me following up on a number of health issues over the last year. Each surgeon/doctor I met with coached me to have bariatric surgery. I took their referrals and went straight into THE bariatric program. Seemed a logical progression. The problem is that THE program, while affiliated with the area's most prestigious hospital (out of 6 hospitals) wasn't yet certified as a "center of excellence" (bariatric certificate). They had a great staff, very supportive....and each were former bariatric patients, too.......excellent surgeon...etc, etc. They told me that it'd be no problem to continue and they'd had UHC patients go through all the time. 1/2 way through the deal UHC....who'd been supportive....all the sudden balks over the lacking "center of excellence" bullcrap. I involved the HR department of my employer......and found out that we were actually dropping UHC and moving over to BCBS. The games continued. Our policy with UHC would have only covered me at 50% anyway.....and UHC was delaying. It was looking as if the surgery would be delayed to 2016....by then I'd be under new insurance and no telling how long I'd wait then. Good news was for me, that when I did contact the center of excellence program they were fast in getting me started. They also had been at this for a while longer and had special self-funding insurance safeguards....you self fund and part of your money purchases a policy that covers ANY complication that comes from your bariatric surgery for out to 8 months. This was very appealing to me and I jumped all over it. I'd already met most of my pre-op requirements for the surgeon and my patient advocate at the new center was extremely fast, aggressive and organized. She and I stayed in contact and had everything wrapped up swiftly. The end result was that I had my surgery on October 13, 2015.......when it was looking like at best it would be late December or beyond. By self funding I was able to anchor down the timeframe and it actually cost me less than it would've to use my insurance. Wild ride. The upshot of my story is this.....when working with UHC, or any of them for that matter.......stay in step with them upfront and avoid any bs later on. Involve your HR department at work if/when you are able to. It's amazing how much they can help. Best wishes.

Hi Morningoasis, I'm glad you're going to get this taken care of. I forgot to mention that some of my pain was very simular to yours...I couldn't take a deep breath either. I'll be interested to hear if your insurance will pay for this. I looked up my policy with BC/BS and it states: "No coverage for bariatric surgery including reversal, revision, repeat and staged surgery, except for the treatment of sickness or injury resulting from such bariatric surgery, or unless required by law." I'm hoping they consider abdominal pain when eating sometimes a "sickness" . If not, then I'll have to go back to Mexico and I'm not looking foward to that with all the killing going on there. Ofcourse, I could always wait until the band causes me a "sickness" :thumbup: I am also worried about living without my band. Although I never got to goal, my band has kept me from gaining it all back. I hope that repositioning is all we'll need. Take Care, Marsha

I'm no longer obese. Overweight, yes. But not obese!!!! Granted, I need to keep losing bc I'm border line. But hey! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Yes I feel the same my surgery is a week away and I'm nervous and excited! My family and a few close friends know. I'm fed scared of the changes after surgery but also excited bc it's a different lifestyle for our own good health. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Congratulations @@feelinggood! Your not alone, I so cried when my surgeon was speaking to me right before they wheeled me into the or. I have been speaking to numerous people who've gone thru either sleeve or bypass and the concensus is this: initially we are making these crazy drastic changes. Doing so much good for our body. Getting it healthy so we can correct our initial mistakes of more than likely overindulgence. When we reach our points of what makes us feel great, energetic, beautiful or handsome we can then introduce in extreme modification those little thimgs we once enjoyed. I've began to understand carbonation will absolutely ruin your ability to completely maintain as it is a main trigger for weight gain bc it slowly allows you to stretch your pouch and not allow you to feel the restriction of maybe one or two Hershey's kisses and suddenly you've had twelve... I love sprite. It's absolutely delish to me, but when I began this journey I said if I want this bad enough this is what will ruin me and set me up to fail so I can give you up! I'm glad your doing well. Three weeks out is great. I imagine you still on your moist, soft proteins, you can't go eat everything right?

Dr. R.V. Woodhead 206 - 4515 Harvest Drive, Delta, BC V4K 4L1 phone 604 946-5500

My husband was born in Mexico and we used to go a lot. We will not travel there now. It is really dangerous. Last time we went we were stopped twice by cops for no reason except to give them money. as an american/blonde blue eyes I was treated very weirdly in our 4star hotel which was a Mex American hotel in Monterrey. Bit took me by surprise bc I have even traveled w GF in Mexico and always was treated so nicely. One night was especially frightening as i truly sensed a man who delivered food to my room was contemplating attacking me. I thought fast and tricked him out of my room and called front desk as he was pounding on my door. So recently we needed to return for wedding and we chickened out and lost 600.00. While there for wedding 1friend was pulled over and held at gunpoint by drug person. It was mistaken identity and finally they let him go. I bow we all want to lose our weight but it is my opinion that we should pay bigger prices and stay home. Risk of leak and murder/kidnapping too great for me.