Just over 1 year post op RNY

[Worom 5]

Hi everyone, just joined today and figured I would share a bit of my journey.

I have always been overweight even as a kid I was always the typical "fat kid" and that never went away through my teens and most of my twenties. For the most part I was reasonably healthy given how heavy I was and my weight yo-yoed through the years as I tried several different diets, Atkins, calorie counting, Atkins again, low fat, low cal. You name it I probably tried it without any lasting success. Right around 3 years ago my weight really started catching up with me. I had high blood pressure that was resistant to medication, my joints were starting to wear under the pressure and my back was starting to really give me trouble at the ripe ol age of 26.

My doctor said I needed to have weight loss surgery at that point and I agreed with him and began the process only to find out my Insurance company didn't cover the surgery and had it fully excluded for coverage, along with most other weight loss programs. After fighting and getting denied at every turn for over a year I ended up dropping my Employee coverage in favor of a ACA marketplace plan that would actually cover the surgery and went through all the evaluations, which was daunting in itself because of exceeding the weight limits of most machines used for testing. My cardiologist wanted to do a stress test but couldn't find a facility in network that had a stress test machine that could handle my weight (all maxxed out at 450) for hospitals in my insurance network. After almost six months of testing to make sure I would be ok for surgery all the paperwork was submitted to the insurance, who thankfully approved it a week later and my surgery was scheduled two weeks later, just enough time for the pre-operative diet, I don't think I will ever be able to drink sugar free carnation instant Breakfast again, the only flavor carried in the stores around here was chocolate and after having that 4 times a day for two weeks its a bit much lol, but at least it was better than the Protein Shakes.

My time in the hospital was pretty good, they had just switch away from using a morphine drip to localized long lasting lidocaine is how they described it at the surgical areas which worked really well, my pain level luckily was low enough where I only needed pain medication once.

It was interesting learning how to eat again, and finding out what I tolerate well and what I don't which still seems to change from what I'm experiencing so far. I feel a lot better than I used to and can move around much easier. It's a weird experience, but I think what wierds me out the most is how different I'm treated out in public now compared to where I was before, I'm more readily acknowledged and I find that people are more willing to converse with me as well.

I'm glad to be here in this group and look forward to interacting with the community.

[Sherrie Scharbrough 311]

Welcome!!! WOW!! You have done GREAT with your weight loss. Thank you for sharing your journey with us all. Again welcome to a great site. ou will find that we all have different opinions on stuff but just take what you need and leave the rest.

[Freedom2Thrive 46]

What a lovely read! I don't think I'll be able to drink the diabetic Boost Meal Replacements ever again lol. It's soo interesting how things change and people change once you decide to say yes to a better life. Human nature is odd but take it for what it is and smile. You're surrounded by love and friends here Welcome!