Surgery Now or Later? (Poll)

[Danny Paul 761]

I'd wait, I have a big family and we get together during the holidays. Since I didn't tell anyone about the surgery I wouldn't want to have to make excuses to my whole family why I wasn't eating or why I was losing weight during the holidays. After the holidays it would just me and the wife and far fewer people I have to explain things to.

[Apple203 1,314]

I would do it tomorrow if I could. I've had TG for quite a few years, but,still, tomorrow.

[eden30 111]

More than food/party--although I said it that way to try to keep the level of anxiety down and make this a kind of zany/silly thread...I think the real issue for me is fear. I'm approaching the end of the pre-op stage and on Monday will have a definitive direction about which surgery she wants to do on me. All of my surgeries for cancer/reconstruction were done from November 1 to January 3rd. All of them had so much recovery with them--pain, exhaustion, fear, drains, etc. So I felt like I pretty much ruined my family's Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year on at least 3 occasions. I know I can still cook/participate with them without eating or drinking--I do that most of the time anyway since I'm always on a diet. They're used to it by now and want very badly for me to be healthy and feeling good. The fear comes in that this is now very real. And what happens if I fall into that 1% with complications? Will it fork the fam over the Holidays?

I think I'm leaning toward, hearing what the surgeon advises on Monday--and how quickly she thinks this is gonna go down and get scheduled. If it can happen in the first week of December, then I would go for it now rather than wait. If I can't get approved/scheduled until mid-December, then I would defer a month in order to just relax with everyone and enjoy the Holidays, then hit hard. But you know, with new years come new insurance rules and who the hell knows what happens in January. *sigh* Just big decisions...

I think you’ve worked it out for yourself. Sounds like a good plan. Lots of luck whenever you do it and I hope you breeze through [emoji16]

[Apple203 1,314]

This is a really good question -- I stand by my comment above, but I totally get waiting until after the holidays, mainly to shield my surgery from others.

[VSGnewguy 164]

I had a heart attack on Dec. 3rd of 2016. I'm having VSG in January of 2017. If I could turn back the clock, I would definitely have had the surgery BEFORE the heart attack. I say, the sooner the better. You never know what tomorrow will bring.

[FluffyChix 17,415]

Holy guacamole! This MUST be a God thing. Right? Look at the results. They are basically 80% to 20%. Yee ol' 80/20 rule. How does God make those percentages? Why is 80/20 such a common ratio? LOL. Too funny.

@VSGnewguy Wow! So sorry to hear about your heart attack. That's very sobering. And it hits home too. I have some pericardial effusion from (they think) chemo/radiation. So trying to protect my heart is a serious issue for me now.

[DropWt4Life 957]

I would wait until January as well....I never used insurance, because I was never sick. I would rather my deductible and max out of pocket get satisfied in January, because if I needed to be hospitalized for complications, it would be FREE for the year. If I did it in December, and needed to be hospitalized in January, I would have to pay that max out of pocket again. My max out of pocket is $7,000, so the difference of having the surgery a few weeks later could save me $7,000 if I have to be hospitalized.

Now, if I had already met my max out of pocket for the year, you can bet that I would push to have the surgery in December. My family does the whole Thanksgiving thing, but we just go to Breakfast and exchange presents on Christmas. The surgery wouldn't mess up anything for me. I would be on puree's only, but I could get something....Maybe some runny grits or oatmeal. The best thing about doing it before Christmas is that I could FINALLY set that New Year's resolution to lose weight and keep it off....AND FINALLY DO IT!

[Apple203 1,314]

1:1.618 is the golden ratio found in nature and design, so 62% to 38% is what I'm looking for

[JerseyJules 862]

Wait till after the holidays or you will be absolutely miserable and question the decision you made. If you start in January, then by next holidays you are back to normal and can eat pretty much anything and not feel deprived or depressed. For me the first 4 weeks were pretty crappy and I couldnt imagine that while celebrating the Holidays.

I would enjoy the holidays, be sensible however, then start fresh after new years.

[Bhageerah 161]

Me personally? I would wait, that time of the year is all about family as well as good food... life as you know it is about to change and the amount of food you are about to eat will change as well! Before my first surgeon got shut down I actually told them that I would like to schedule my surgery after we were due to come back from a week long cruise. They even agreed that it was a good idea, being only able to drink a Protein Shake while everyone else is indulging in turkey, ham, roast, mashed taters and all the other trimmings is going to be ABSOLUTE MURDER. You will be on pretty much nothing but Protein Shakes for one month and it will be extra hard to stick to those while everyone else around you is eating normal food. Have one last go and schedule your surgery after the first of the year. If I were in the situation that it exactly what I would do! Good luck!!!

[FluffyChix 17,415]

@Apple203 LOL. Nice! Funny, it's now solidly 70/30!

Soooooo folks, it will be interesting! I saw the surgeon yesterday. I'm definitely going to have the RNY! Woot! And I was 40.4 BMI Let me tell you, you canNOT out-engineer the scale. LOL. I knew I was under threshold at 232.6 and 5'4" (nekkid that morning, after peeing and pooping). So I wore my heaviest clothes (pants, very thick long sleeved shirt, jacket), had a full bladder (pounded down a 20fl oz water) and had a jacket on. On my scale I weighed in at 235.6lbs. I was thinking, "OK, I got this. Cool. I'd weighed 236.2lbs on her scale the last time."

Well, drumroll please...I'm such a fool! I was thinking the BMI would be higher because the scale weight is higher...and remember, the insurance goes by BMI. Bahahahahahaha! Ridiculous. I weighed 237.2lbs on her scale. I was like, "Well, crap!! Lemme peel my jacket off!" Then I was down to 235.1lbs. At least I showed a loss from the last visit. I was this close to asking if I could go pee like a racehorse--but I didn't. *snic* And damn if the scale doesn't show up the 235.1 with? You guessed it...a BMI of 40.2 or 40.1 or 40.4--something like that. So yeah. There's that.

But, she said that she wanted to go ahead and submit me for insurance approval. She's pretty sure they'll give the ok based on 35BMI, but would feel better about me still being at 40BMI at submission. So now. We wait. If I were a betting girl, and I think I am...I'm betting that I will be having surgery sometime like the week after Thanksgiving or first week of December. She wants me to go ahead and get the party started sooner rather than later. My BP was like 159/96 in her office--even on 3 BP meds.

Oh, and this morning? I'm 232.8lbs...nekkid, after peeing (ham on the side )

Edited October 24, 2017 by FluffyChix