Newbie seeks support

I have been given a pre-op goal weight.It is reachable but I know it will be alot of hard work.I was told by the surgeon to lose 80 pounds.The more support I can get The better my chances are.I live in Sacramento.Hoping on also finding a local group although I have never tried them before I am willing to give it a shot.Need to lose 40 before I can see the Dr again.......wish me luck,,,   ted

Wow - that seems like a lot for a doctor to ask. That being said, I've lost 80 lbs pre-op (took me 11 months but I've done it without any crazy diets). I generally ate 1500-1800 cal/day (no limits on carbs/fat but tended to eat high protein foods and some shakes). I exercised a lot - mostly walking and hiking, and some gym workouts.

Good luck with your journey! As hard as it will be to get past the pre-op stage, the weight loss is definitely worth it before surgery

Well, Ted, what the surgeon didn't tell you, and no one at Kaiser is going to tell you, is that you can file a grievance regarding required pre-op weight loss. Kaiser will, of course, say no to your grievance, but the DMHC (dept of managed health care) will back you up.
    Here is a link to there info about this:

http://www.dmhc.ca.gov/aboutTheDMHC/org/boards/cap/Bariatric REV.pdf

The DMHC position is based on the fact that there is no evidence in the medical literature to show that people who lose weight pre-op to fulfill such a requirement do any better post-op than people who don't.

I am also sending you a pm.

Larra

Hi Ted
If you have Monday nites, 7pm to 8:pmish, open, we have a support group meeting at the South Sac Kaiser pharmacy building on Wyndham Wy. We up on the 2nd floor, conference room 3, just across from the elevators and at the top of the stairs ^_^

While we use the Kaiser facility, we have WLS pre-op and post-op from other medical groups as well as Kaiser. We are a 'patient-run' support group...meaning we have a 'relaxed' format...questions and answers, general WLS discussions and general overall support for each other ^_^ I'm a Richmond Kaiser patient as is one of our facilitators but we also have people from Fremont Kaiser, Sutter and Dr Machado.  Everyone is more than welcome regardless of where they are in their journey.  Please feel welcome to join us!
Nancy Aka Sunray

 The biggest thing i have had t learn since starting this journey in Jan is patients. Dont give and be patient . i am almost there and feeling like the bumps have been so worth it i have learned so much.. Good luck and a support group or buddy is a must .. 

Heya, welcome to the forrums... We both have the same Doc. I had to lose 32 lbs, even though my initial weigh in with him and height was taken wrong. They put me at 5 ft 6 343 lbs. I said ummm, wrong.lol. She did my weight again and I was 286. However, my bmi was incorrect because I was put at 5 ft 6. Im 5 ft 10.lol. Carry my weight well. Anyhow, i called back when I seen the wrong height on paper,asked if I still needed to lose the same amount and he said YES! I was upset but I did it. Dr fisher is the BEST of the Best, and hes very serious, but always has the patients best in mind. If you follow his guidlines you will succeed. I do feel that 80 is a bit much, but doing a low carb will take it off within 4 mnths. I lost 32 in 8 weeks doing low carb. I have surgery Tuesday and will keep you updated on everything. Also, keep all gas receipts for trips to Richmond, they will give u a reimbursement form on your final appointment for lodging and gas.. Only up to 130 but hey, I made 4 trips out there, at the time it took 58 to fill my sedan up (410 gas price).lol. Good luck and let me know how things are going for you... Ohh and Im Sac area as well.. Elk Grove..

I would like to thank all of you who have taken the time to read my post.To those of you who have responded I want you to know your words are needed and appreciated.At this point of my journey,I feel I need all the support I can get.I now have reailized that the support I had is not enough to make it to the end.Every minute I spend on this site reading the replies and posts by others help me keep my mind on my goal.As I consider my meals and think about a snack I think about the success stories and the before and after pics that are posted here.I will be trying to step up my efforts a bit more and get back into my gym visits.It seems the more I stay busy the less likely I am to snack or think about the foods i miss.Again TY,and hopefully I will make a group meeting soon,,,,,,,,   TED

   hang in there Ted, you talked to me before, and 80 pounds is like me trying to lose my 50 pounds, not easy, just one step at a time, afew pounds here and there, I know, been doing this myself since March 9th, hand in there, it seems to be easier for a man to lose that weight, but it will come off, not sure why we are put through this type of thing, when they already know that its really hard for us.  The Best of luck to you Ted, we are here for support.
I know, i'm still trying to get this 40 pounds off, this has been really hard.
Hang in there.  God Bless
Melody 

Hi David,

I hightly recommend challenging the 80 pound weight reduction requirement. It does help to lose some because of fatty liver issues, but like someone mentioned before, there is no data supporting a better outcome if one losses weight before WLS. For many of us, trying to lose weight before surgery was next to impossible with our history of screwing up our metbolism from the millions of horrible diets we've tried to the meds we were taking.

Also, it doesn't make sense to deny someone surgery who needs it. They don't make heart patients prove their worthiness for open heart surgery before allowing them the surgery.

Good luck!!

MsBlues