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The question to postpone your trip is a difficult one to answer. I would definitely recommend that you ask your doctor and follow his/her advice. Three weeks post-op you're likely to still be pretty sore and probably will have very little or no appetite. Trips home also tend to be synonymous with food. Be warned that yielding to that temptation at three weeks out would almost certainly be something you would regret. As you can see from the responses you already have, weight loss will fly all over the place. The fact that your weight loss might be different from mine, or anyone else's, means absolutely nothing. Everyone is different. There are just too many variables. Setting your expectations to someone else's results can be self sabotaging and frustrating. You're much better off focusing your energy on trying to relax and letting your body find its own way in its own time. Congratulations on your upcoming surgery! You're gonna love the new you!!

Hello, My name is Erin. I am new to this site, and just starting out on this journey to the Gastric Sleeve. I have my first appointment with my surgeon next week, and am nervous, scared, and excited all at the same time. I have been heavy my entire life, but once I had 3 kids the weight just kept piling on and has been so hard to loose. I have thought about this surgery many many times, I even saw a surgeon and started going through clearances for the surgery about 2 years ago, but I dont know what it was that made me change my mind. I now realize that was a huge mistake! This is something that I need to do. I am going to be 30 years old in about a month, and some days feel like I am 70. I don't have the energy to do the things I need and want to do with my family. I have finally decided this is it, I have to do something about my weight. I have tried all of the different yo-yo diets, weight watchers, changing eating habits and excercising, but nothing seems to give me the results I need or want. It is time for a change. I am just so tired of not having the energy to do things with my kids. I am starting this journey at 299lbs (as of this morning), and hope to get down to 160. I live in New York, and am having my surgery done by Dr. Baiju Gohil at Syosset Hospital. I'm looking to make some friends on here along the way. :wub:

I have a really hard time talking about my surgery with friends who are either obese or have lost weight via diet pills, strict diet, or heavy exercise. My obese friends don't want to talk about it because it highlights the fact that they haven't done anything to change their weight, and my friends who have lost weight through other methods may feel superior to me since I "resorted" to WLS when they white-knuckled their way through a severe WL program. My thinner friends and family are definitely the most supportive! It's funny how that works. I'm lucky that I have several life-long friendships from childhood and college. I've lost a couple through irreparable damage to our relationships - one married someone I accused of being an alcoholic and I vocalized my disagreement and she decided to dump me rather than dump her fiancé. Turns out I was wrong and I deeply regret my big mouth but what's done is done and our relationship has never been the same. Another married a Texan bigot who hates gay people and this friend dumped me and my partner (who was friends with her for 20+ years prior) in favor of said Texan bigot. That loss hurt a LOT. Cut us both pretty deep - it sucks feeling inadequate over something you literally cannot control. These losses do hurt. But sometimes they're necessary. I was the crappy friend in the first scenario and I deserved to be dumped. My friend who married TB was a terrified sheep who thought this man was her only shot at getting married and having children - we always knew marrying a Lutheran was extremely important to her and supported her even though we're agnostics and that never got in the way of our friendship until this man came along and forbade our friendship. She chose him over us and it is what it is. Point is, you need to do what's best for you right now. Try giving it a chance because lifelong friends are priceless, and if the friendship is true it's worth trying to salvage. As others said, it's likely she's feeling insecure because she perceives her WLS as unsuccessful and your starting this journey reminds her of her failure. I'd ask her if she wants to talk about it. Tell her you'd love to have a WLS buddy and ask her for advice. Maybe if you make her feel like hers was a success she'll be more open to talking about it. Sorry you're going through this Friendships get harder to manage and maintain as time passes, I've learned.

I think three months is too much too! I think they should realize that if you could have gotten it off without help then you would have already done it on your own. I don't know about y'all but my weight has been a struggle for me all my life. I don't have to weigh-in monthly....I am just waiting for insurance to decide if they are going to cover a lap band revision. I really think that sucks that some insurance companies make you wait HALF a YEAR! That's ridiculous!!

I too am in the waiting process. I've spoken with the insurance co. and it's a green light, now I'm doing the monthly weigh-ins (for 6 freakin' months!!gah!). I'm trying to eat healthy, just to see if I can lose anything before Nov. But I cheat almost every other day (one day cheese cake, next time mini Mr. Goodbar's, and even too much macaroni and cheese). I just wish the surgery had already taken place and I was on the road to weight loss and results. **sigh** But I have to tough it out. Don't stress too much over it. I'm sure you will call again and speak to someone when you are sober and remember all that was said! LOL

I find that I can eat anything that I want, but I have defiantly slowed down in weight loss. I just broke a three month stall and lost nine pounds this month so I am thrilled! You can have anything you want, but just don't go overboard.

FYI, you may not have to wait as long as you think. I was told that even getting down to the low 200's would drastically reduce my premium, so no need to wait until you're at goal. This was thru Selectquote. They also said that if I lost further weight it was a simple process to rewrite the policy and get an even lower premium. Of course that was before 2 other surgeries. They'd probably tell me to take a flying leap now...

Ooh, good question! One of the things I'm hoping for is once I reach goal weight being able to buy a life insurance policy without paying ridiculous amounts of money because I'm overweight. Hopefully having the band won't even be an issue.

I've been getting ready for a few months started with a surgeon that only did RNY & band... Something kept pulling me back to the Sleeve...so I seen a new surgeon today, the office manager told me because I started the process with the other surgeon that I could get the surgery within weeks not months......I felt really comfortable with the surgeon I met today, my previous surgeon always seemed very busy. I've thought about WLS for years and would tell myself I should just finally get this weight off myself, quickly I realized my body would only allow me to lose 25-30 pounds and then slowly regain even with excessive exercise and low carb diet..... It works for a while but always SLOWLY creeps back on....... I'm thinking late December early January for me, maybe be can be across country buddies, I'm in Cali

My BFF told me it was 'wrong, wrong, wrong!' on 3 separate occasions. She would not listen to me, discuss it with me and finally I told her I don't want her to mention it again and she hasn't. She is average weight but not in top health. I feel the loss and hurt by her lack of support and realise that I will get no mental, emotional support from her, which is a bummer as she lives on the ground floor of my house but on the bright side, she is going to look after my cats for me while I am in hospital and recovering. Different situation to yours but as someone says, it is your friends issues and not yours, as I finally realised. Do this for you and accept that some people just cant give us what we want from them. Not always wont but sometimes just cant, due to their own situation. Be happy and do what you need to do for you.

Well your surgery is still fresh. My doc kept me on clear liquids first 10 days post op. If you puke early you can get a leak so don't push. Water is he only importance right now for you. I am 14 days post op and he added cream soup 4 days ago. In 4 days I have tried it twice. Our taste and want have changed but enjoy it because we will not feel like this forever and should take advantage of the rapid weight loss

BMI calculators are just guides. If you are healthy and your doctor and you are ok with where you are don't worry about it. Although I remember how excited I was when I went from 246 to 170 and in a smaller size. I said I was ok with that size. However my band continued to work and I got down to 136. Unfortunately I started having problems (that's another discussion topic) and had to have all the fluid taken out. I gained a few pounds and now that everything is resolved am trying to get back to or closer to my lower weight.

Generally I weigh myself first thing in the morning when I am butt naked. This gives me the most accurate weight. My weight will vary a pound or two during the day. The time of day, when I go to the restroom and when I eat my meals will have an effect. When I go into the doctors office for a weigh-in, I can be an additional 5 pounds heavier. This is because my clothes, shoes, belt, wallet, eyeglasses, jacket, loose change, will all add to my body weight.

And by the way - I love what Von said about tossing the scale. Fact is, if you eat the diet the doc gave us and get as active as your life can bear - the weight will come off and the number just don't matter. Living long, well is the goal. And this step takes us all closer to that.

I had my gastric bypass surgery in December 2008. My beginning weight was 254 pounds. I got all the way down to 170 pounds. In 2012 I noticed the weight starting to creep up on me. I tried every diet and nothing helped so I decided to go and get the band placed over my bypass. The band was installed on April 29, 2016. And here we are in September and I haven't lost 1 pound and I've had three fills. When I told the doctor he told me, at least I haven't gained. I'm starting to get discouraged please help with any suggestions you may have or any success story you may have. I don't see any forms that talk about people who have had gastric bypass and the band placed over it. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Hello. I was sleeved Dec 28, 2021. I have reached my personal weight goal. I had been eating about 800 calories per day. I talked to my nutritionist on Wednesday and she said go to 1200 calories per day. I will say this is really hard. I didn’t realize how hard it would be. It seems all I do is eat and then I’m trying to get fluids in. It is so uncomfortable. I have never been able to get 64oz. Of fluids. Probably 40oz. My nutritionist is ok with it at this point as it has been such a struggle and hard to get to that point. I weighed myself and down 2 more lbs since Wednesday. I honestly don’t want to lose anymore. Any suggestions and meal plan ideas would be greatly appreciated. Also, any idea how long it should take before the loss will stop? I don’t have another appointment until 2 weeks. I am 5’9 and 190 lbs. this is comfortable too me. I was previously banded and it malfunctioned and had to have it removed and then sleeved. I looked healthy and was good here. Thank you in advance for any suggestions

It may take a few months to get used to eating more…both in volume and in calories. You are not even 6 months post, so you may be limited in your volume ability. You dont need to eat 1200 cals today…just aim to get there eventually (and trust me, you will). I reached goal at 7 months, and it took me 4 months and an additional 15-ish lbs lost before i found my maintenance balance. For me, this was about 2000 cals a day at that time. Which honestly was a Herculean effort as I too was sub-800 cals throughout weight loss phase. I got full really quickly back then (and still do today, but to a lesser degree) so i relied on chicharron (i.e., pork rinds/cracklins). I know, I know, its really high in fat so it may not be everyone’s bag, but for ME it was high in protein, zero carb, and did not stuff me like meats did/do…and its SUPER high in calories. Im 3.5 years out now and pretty much have been maintaining my weight ever since (+/- 5 lbs), and average about 1800 cals these days (eating all sorts of food, both healthy and not-so-healthy, and yes, i even eat bread now, lol) Do what you can, a little bit at a time, and you and your body will get used to more calories AND volume eventually. Good Luck! ❤️

My Mother has hyperthyroidism which is just the opposite. She has a hard time keeping weight on her body (poor poor her) LOL...but anyway, that plays so much into weight loss. My best friend that I grew up with has ALWAYS been heavy. She is probably 350 or so and has really bad hypothyroidism. The bad thing about having both is that it is very hard to get the med's stable. Both my mom and friend are constantly having to adjust their meds. I dont know if this has helped you much, have you called your DR. since you were diagnosed?

Oh dear... sorry to hear that. Hey, 30 lbs is nothing to sneeze at though-- would you have lost that 30 lbs on your own? I'll recommend a really good book -- The Beck Diet Solution. It's cognitive therapy for people trying to lose weight, and will give you some strategies for sticking with it even when discouraged. Good luck getting your meds worked out. And don't get too tight -- that just leads to band complications. You can do this!

LadyBugRed I feel for you. I know the exact position you are in. I too am hypothyroidism and have known for 13+ years. I have been up and down with dosage, but the last year we think we have it right. However, I don't think that even if your thryoid is reacting like it should, does it make it easier to lose weight. I do all the right things: I am active, I play netball three times a week, eat properly and I still have trouble losing weight. That's why my doc put me onto the band. Even after the band, I find that if I don't exercise, I start to lose weight. Go figure! I think we have to trick our bodies, and eat different amounts of calaries each day. Up one day then down the next. If I eat the same thing every day (eg. small can of tuna and a cucumber) for lunch with similar amounts at dinner, my body doesn't recognise it is dieting. I eat so much less now than ever before, but it's still a struggle to move the weight - it's so darned confusing sometimes. :wub:

Not all diabetes meds promote weight gain. What are you taking? I had the same experience. I was able to cut out my insulin and most of my oral meds during the pre-op liquid diet and for the first few weeks post-op. But when you start eating again, your blood sugar is going to go up. I noticed a big drop in the amount of insulin I needed after I lost 10% of my body weight. My endocrinologist says there's a big difference when you drop 20% of your body weight too. I know it's hard, but be patient. Your blood sugar will come around.

Disputing health insurance companies is a little bit like talking to a brick wall. Even when the words are in black and white in the policy, they deny claims. But if you have the time and patience and want to give it a go, then by all means try. It sounds like you have 2 disputes. One is with Active Health. They required that you lose 5% of your weight before you qualify. But you failed to do this (with the consent of your surgeon). The reason you gave is that you would fall below the 35 BMI requirement. Many insurance companies require that you try and lose weight and that your qualification to the BMI requirement is determined at the initial weight officailly taken when you first apply for the surgery. So if you had lost the 5% of your weight you might not have been penalized for it. The area that I would explore is why your surgeon did not push you to lose weight during the pre-op period. Was there some medical issues that would make this weight loss a problem. If so can you surgeon's office articulate this in a letter to your insurance. The second dispute might be with BC/BS, that appears to be out of network. The cost incurred generally includes the hospital, the anesthesiologist, the surgeon, and a secondary surgeon. It is difficult to ensure that all of these are within network before surgery. Maybe impossible. I believe BC/BS offers fairly good policies and I suspect that most hospitals are within network. So anyways I would check to see what is in network and out of network for each of these elements. This is probably accessible over the internet. During my second round of pre-op testing, one of my specialist clearly showed up as being in network (that is why I chose him) but when I received the bill I was charged as an out of network. His name was clearly listed on the latest in-network doctors. When I talked to the insurance they claimed he was out of network. I told them that their website clearly showed him as in-network. But they still disputed the charges. I met with the specialist staff, they said the specialist was in-network and that they would handle it. And they did. I never received that bill. Also even though I made sure that my hospital, surgeon, anesthesologist were all in network prior to the operation. I received a large bill for the assistant surgeon. I didn't even know there would be an assistant surgeon. It turns out that this assistant had not yet submitted the paperwork for becoming qualified for in network. I asked the surgeons office to reconsider and they said they would take care of it. Again, this charge disappeared. So I had better luck working the problems out with the surgeons, hospital and other doctors than with the insurance companies.

:eek: I am new to this site too, Andrea. 47 - year old female, married, two teenage boys. I am scheduled to go to an "Informational Meeting" with a doctor here in Buffalo on January 6th. I have been on a waiting list for one year just to get into this meeting. I guess after that, it goes quickly. I canceled gastric bypass surgery for last summer - just couldn't do it. I feel as though the lap band is a better tool for weight loss. I wish you the best of luck!! This seems like a wonderful site for support and information. Hope to hear about your progress! Mary

Typical for who and there personal circumsances? Hasn't been two weeks yet so I would say 9lb is pretty good. Reset your expectations. First few weeks are a bit skewed...there is surgery weight (as in IV fluids and inflammation), weight loss from pre op diet (and if a lot lost then don't expect to lose a lot in the first few weeks post op), body getting use to the various post op food stages, surgery day weight, gender, incidental activity levels, hydration/dehydration levels. If you are going to stick around, it would be helpful if you filled in your profile, weight, height etc, it gives context to any questions and helps frame responses. It is difficult at this stage to meet goals, a calorie goal is probably even more difficult. Focus on water, protein (very helpful for healing/recovery from surgery as well as helping feel satisfied), volumes etc. What calorie goal has been set for you at this stage of your post op progress?

You're not doing anything wrong! Most people have a LOT of weight loss right away (or pre-surgery if they do a liquid diet) and then their body sort of goes "woah, slow down there" and it hiccups for a bit. Don't think of it as a plateau, think of it as your body getting itself used to your new way of life and trying to figure out what to do with this new amount of food, and this new exercise. Keep at it, keep doing what you should be doing, and it WILL come off.