Calling All Post Ops -----> Need Encouragement !!!

Dear Amanda,  I am so happy for you that you are motivated to lose weight to start your journey. To add to what the others have said, If your loose skin later causes you health issues, insurance should pay to have it removed in some areas.  If it doesn't, you will be probably  be able to live with it.  I didn't have issues with mine and could have lived with it, but I was blessed in being able to self pay.  Don't worry about it now.  You will soon feel so much healthier and be even more flexible.  Good luck, Loris

Welcome Amanda.... Congratulations on your weight loss thus far.. You're doing fabulously. Keep your eye on that light at the end of the tunnel...

I'll be 5 months out from surgery this Wednesday. Would I do it again.. In a heart beat... Would I recommend it to some one else? I tell everyone to investigate and do a lot of research and then make the best decision for themselves. For me it was the best decision I've ever made. It took me 5 years to make it and looking back I would not have done it a minute sooner... Why because I wouldn't have been as prepared as I was. This is a life style change that we need to be ready for to be sucessful.

What I can say is that .. .the time leading up to your surgery absolutely drags... But afterwards... wow what a ride it is.. :)

Hugs,

I'll ditto what everyone else has said and add one thing.  Exercise will help tremendously with your success.  I am completely surprised at how my arms look compared to where they were prior to surgery.  I'm not saying that I don't have angel wings when I hold my arms out, but the muscle that I have built has provided some structure for that lose skin. My legs are gross, my stomach is gross, but I would do it all over again if I had to.  I'm 5'7" and started at 371 and am down to 271 today at 7.5 months out.

WLS is like an amusement ride...it has ups and downs and depending on your outlook its either the most exciting thing you have ever done or the scariest! .....then when your all done you think that wasn't so bad.....:) Good Luck! Congrats!  I was 390 when I started now i'm 229... Estelle

Would I have surgery again? IN A MINUTE. I would do it again if I had to walk across a hot bed of coals, if there was Chinese water torture involved, if I literally had to pick my old self up and carry her to the surgeon's office. I would do ANYTHING. Started at 399, and holding now, 26 months post-op, between 160 and 165. My BMI started at 70.7 and now is around 28-29. From SUPER super (I'm extra cool! I get more SUPERS! :P) morbidly obese to "overweight"? I'll take it! Good luck to you! Julie

Hi Amanda, I am 17months post op from my bypass, and 2 1/2 weeks post op from my plastic surgery. I have no regrets at all. My highest ever weight was 384, and I was 365 when referred by my PCP for surgery. At this point, I've lost about 215 lbs with the skin removed at plastic surgery. I did not have health problems related to my weight or so I thought. I have since realized that my anemia was related to my weight. I was active, but nothing like I am now. I have tons of energy, and an ability to do what I want to do physically. I've climbed a rock wall with dh, I have become a fitness instructor at my local YMCA, I have been able to do so much more! But as Jennifer said - this is HARD WORK. Yes, you will lose weight, but you have to be diligent in your eating, you have to be commited to exercise, you have to be ready to change your lifestyle 100%. You cannot continue in old habits and have the long term weight loss, and that is hard. At this point in my journey, most people wouldn't know that I had WLS by what I eat. I order what I want off the menu -- BUT what I want is not something fried, or breaded or loaded with fat and grease. I only want to eat what is going to keep me at my goal, so it is healthy, low fat, high protein and I do not compromise that. I also eat about 1/3 to 1/2 of a meal now, but I do eat a variety of foods. Most people just think that I am a small eater who makes healthy choices. Do I regret not having a rich dessert, or french fries, or onion rings, NOPE because I can do so much more without those things. I now look at those choices as the enemy that holds me back from doing the things that I really want to do. It is so nice now to be able to take a strenous hike with my husband instead of watching him walk off without me. I can see the sights instead of just looking at them in a photo. You will love the new freedom you will have from your weight.

Hello Amanda, and welcome. I'm coming up on my 2 year surgiversary next month and I can tell you this is the second best thing I've every done in my life. Marrying my husband tops all lists! In my first year post-op I had many complications, but I'm honestly thankful that I did. Sounds strange to hear someone say that I'm sure, but the complications kept me in check. They set the path for me to make wiser and healthier choices in life. By my 1st surgiversary I'd amazed my Dr and myself and lost 175 pounds. I started out at 374, and was down to 199 in one year, who'd have ever thought that was possible? I've gone on to loose another 20+ pounds. You're already making steps in the right directions by stopping the cokes, a very hard thing to do but I applaud you for it! You can do this, it's hard, but yet at the same time if you keep thinking that it's all for a better healthier you, it's actually very easy! Best wishes to you as you begin your journey!

Thanks ladies for all the encouragement. I have begun my 3 month supervised diet and will update you how that is progressing. So far I really haven't had that many problems wanting the bad stuff. I am super focused on what I need to do and I just don't want all the crap that I used to want,too scared my surgery might get cancelled if I don't do what he says..... ha ha... Dr. Garth Davis ======> Yeah its funny when you have watched them on Big Medicine and then you meet them (him or Robert the dad) in person they are nice and seem so different but the same from what they are on the show. Almost like you are meeting a famous person rather than your doctor.. haha.... My next office visit I told my husband that I needed to take my before picture with him.. ha ha.....  Psych Visit ========> That went okay, man she is a nut cracker.. no pun intended.  They did ask a ton of quesitons and I answered them all honestly. I have two more sessions before the surgery and they coinside with the nutritional visits so that is good ... at each stage of the way I will have someone to talk to about what I am going thru and what made me the way that I am. I am dealing with those deamons and working on them succesfully.  I plan on seeing a reg therapist afterwards so that I don't go back to overeating since its covered on my insurance. Might as well take advantage of it. Personal Trainer =====> I have arranged for a friend and I to share a personal trainer once a month to develop work out routines fit to each of our needs (both going thru the WLS) and we should start that next month... really excited about that.... Doing what I can to loose a few more pounds before surgery. Plastics ==============> If I have to have it, I will. Started savings plan for it. My husband and I are going to take $350 a month and put in a special account for savings for this so that in two years hopefully I will have enough money saved to do a few areas and then I have a cc with an 14K limit that nothing is on so then that might do a few others... ha ha...... Not going to stress over it. All of my friends are pointing that out over and over that when I do this I will look gross as they call it, but you know I think that I can handle that -- another woman that I know said that its amazing what a compression garmet will do and that will make you look normal in clothes. I can stand it naked I think... who knows, will cross that bridge when it comes not going to let that worry me now and change my mind... I know that is what friends are wanting me to do.. Hardly any of them are supportive except the one that is going thru this with me. Sorry for the long post, just needed to vent and get some of this out in the open --- just feels better to put it out there...  Love Yah... Amanda :)