Opalcat: Congrats. Gets me every time. I am not a very emotional person but I almost cry every time I hear someone get approved. I guess because of how wonderful it has been for me to turn my life around like I have. Good luck and keep us posted. Feel free to email me if you have any questions or anything at rowdy_reptile@hotmail.com you can also find me on AIM at rwdy reptile.
C4C. Good luck. Surely you will be approved if I was. But if you are not right away, don’t give up.
4 month update:
Well being that it is 4 months (almost, 2 days shy), I will go ahead and give the update for those who want it.
Ohhh the 200 mark is coming ever so closer. I am now 205.
was 275 wearing a size 42 pants(at the time of surgery), now I’m 205 with a size 36 pants. 70 pounds. God bless my surgeon. Good luck everyone. Party at my house when I hit 200. lol
Suziek: sorry I missed your question, but my skin is doing pretty good. It is loose but not to the point of hanging (maybe a little in the midsection). My arms have done very well. The loose skin is mainly on my back. My wife was rubbing my back the other day and commented on how loose it was.
Hi FunLvn! Just wondered how you are doing. You must be a real studmuffin by now!!I had a setback myself when I went home for a visit for my parents wedding anniversary. God, I hate it that that damm food thing never leaves. But anyway, I’m back on track. It’s been 13 months tomorrow and I’ve lost 81lbs. Way to go yet through, about 80lbs.
But upon the suggestion of OxyMoron in this thread, I decided to revive the “Ask the Bariatric (weight loss) Surgery Guy” thread in hopes of answering any questions or concerns dopers might have. Well, at least from a girl’s perspective. And I promise to do the best I can (which may fall way short of FLC’s initial explanations – but I will try as hard as I can!) to give a complete picture of what it’s like and what all I’ve been through for the past 13 months.
So fire away if anyone’s interested and if not, like I said in the other thread, please just ignore me and I’ll happily disappear back to lurkerdom.
Hopefool, I’m very interested in your experience–especially since you are a year post-op! How much weight have you lost? Did you have a lot of medical problems before and were they improved by losing the weight?
One woman in the support group I attend was 2 months post-op and already was down from 9 meds in a day to just one!
I’m looking forward to walking around a mall without feeling like someone needs to carry me out when I can no longer put any weight on my hips and knees.
Years ago, I wanted to lose weight because I felt bad about the way I looked. Even though I was overweight, I was at the gym 4-5 times per week. I used to love exercising, and I had a lot of muscle under the fat. I injured my back about 4 years ago, now I physically CANNOT walk more than 5-10 minutes without needing my TENS unit and heating pad. These days, the desire to lose weight is about my HEALTH. I feel like I have tried everything else and since I can’t exercise anymore, I’m screwed. I need RNY to help me get to a point where I can walk and run again and develop better eating habits–and LIVE again. I don’t go anywhere except for work. I’m pretty much miserable. The fact that my body is unattractive is secondary at this point. It’s only an attractive benefit of the surgery, not a necessity like regaining my health. I’m only 32 and feel so old.
Sorry I went on for so long. I would love to hear about your experience.
Nutty Bunny~ I’d be more than happy to share, but this morning I’ll have to be brief because I’m about to leave for work.
Here’s a brief summary:
I’m 34 and thus far I’ve lost 131 pounds since last November 5th. I started out at 275 and a size 26. Right now, I can wear a 10 comfortably. I had high blood pressure, back pain, insomnia and couldn’t walk up a small flight of single story stairs without getting winded. I’m sure my heart rate was dismal and I just know my cholesterol was through the roof. Currently, I walk (usually – when it’s not freeze-your-butt-off cold) about 5 miles a day and do yoga on Saturday’s. I hope after the first of the year to start taking self-defense classes as well and return to playing co-ed softball (which I haven’t got to do in about 6 years).
Um, other than that, I do watch what I eat, but I’ve tried VERY hard to maneuver it back around to where it’s as “normal” as possible. I have no idea how anyone (ie: Al Roker) could say they can eat sweets with abandon. I can somewhat, but I have to go very slowly and only eat a tiny bit. For example, if I eat a candy bar, it probably takes me an hour. Not for those in a rush, obviously. And the few times I’ve done that in the past year have been rare indeed. I miss it, but having my life back has been worth it. Not to mention all the other boosts it gives you emotionally.
Anyway, that’s an encapsulation in a nutshell. I’ll tell you more in-depth (if you’re still interested, that is), after I get home from work. Hope that helps.
P.S. to Opal Cat~ Congratulations and best of luck! You’ll do great.
Hopefool,
Sorry I didn’t respond sooner…crazy at work as usual.
Your weight loss is very inspiring for someone looking into the surgery. My mother just had it done 3 weeks ago and she started out at 275 lbs. and a size 26, too. She’s lost about 25 pounds so far. She struggles with getting all her protein in and drinking all the water required. She used to chug water and now she has to sip it and it’s very hard for her to do.
She still has cravings and I’m worried that I will, too. Does that ever go away or at least diminish a bit? I had a dream recently that after I had the surgery, I wanted so badly to eat a whole bunch of chinese food, realized I couldn’t, then had a panic attack. I’m worried that will happen, too.
I’m really not worried about the physical aspects of having surgery, but instead, the psychological change I will have to go through. I’ll need something else to comfort me when I’m upset (or bored, or happy, or angry, or whenever ). It’ll be like losing a good friend, as pathetic as that sounds. I’ve been a hermit for the last couple of years and I’ve used food to fill the emptiness. The reason I’ve felt like this is due to my deteriorating health, so that’s why I want to do this so badly–to get my life back. My husband is supportive, although he likes me the way I am, we haven’t been able to do much anymore. Shopping, bowling, etc. are too hard for me. So he wants to see me NOT be in pain all the time.
I went on for too long again, but if you want to take it to email, my address is kiki1970@hotmail.com. I would love to discuss it with you if you have the time. It seems this thread kind of died out and I’m sure no one else wants to listen to me bitch and feel sorry for myself anymore.
Well Hi there folks. Been a while huh? Well Im back and guess what, I have lost a total of 95 pounds since the surgury. From a size 44 pants to a size 34. Sorry it has been so long, but i have been rather busy as of late. Going thru quite a few changes in my life.
All the back pain and knee pain is GONE
High Blood Pressure GONE
Sleep disorder and Snoring GONE
Low self esteem GONE
I now feel like the person i was ment to be. Not a decision to be taken lightly, but the best one I ever made.
I’m so glad you’re doing well, FunLvn. I’ve been thinking about you and sending good vibes your way.
FWIW, shortly after you started this thread a very dear friend of mine had the surgery done. She’d gone through the extensive physical and psychological screenings, etc. and was looking forward to it but still had some natural apprehensions. I copied off your thread for her and it was a great help. (“So this is one of those Doper people you talk about?”)
BTW, she’s lost 125 lbs., is working out regularly and the change is little less than miraculous. Her blood pressure and boderline diabetes problems are gone. Her knees and back don’t hurt anymore. She still has a way to go but she also already looks terrific! She’s serving as a pre-and-post surgery coach for others, too.
One question: she’s scrupulous about maintaining her diet, nutritionally and by portion. But she’s been suprised that some formerly-loved foods repel her now. It isn’t that she can’t have them, but the mere taste revolts her. Have you experienced the same thing?
Congrats to her, Glad I could do my little part to help. As far as foods, I go thru cravings. Like right after surgery, I was all about some yogurt, now I won’t touch the stuff. Then Cottage cheese, now, I rarely eat it. So Yeah, I guess it is common for that to happen. I can’t imagin why though. I am very odd about my eating habbits now. Before, I could eat whatever I wanted, go to a place and pick something out. Now, If I have a craving for something, that is what i have to have, nothing else will do. Maybe thats just cause i get to eat so little that i really want to enjoy what I’m eating. lol, who knows.
Congratulations Opal, FLV, hopefool and screech-owl. Its good to know you’re all doing well.
I had been hoping to hear about Opal’s progress, since her surgery was so close to mine. (I had surgery on December 4th.) Thanks for the pics - you look like you’re doing great!
Gets me every time. I am not a very emotional person but I almost cry every time I hear someone get approved. I guess because of how wonderful it has been for me to turn my life around like I have. Good luck and keep us posted. Feel free to email me if you have any questions or anything at rowdy_reptile@hotmail.com you can also find me on AIM at rwdy reptile.
And I promise to do the best I can (which may fall way short of FLC’s initial explanations – but I will try as hard as I can!) to give a complete picture of what it’s like and what all I’ve been through for the past 13 months.
). It’ll be like losing a good friend, as pathetic as that sounds. I’ve been a hermit for the last couple of years and I’ve used food to fill the emptiness. The reason I’ve felt like this is due to my deteriorating health, so that’s why I want to do this so badly–to get my life back. My husband is supportive, although he likes me the way I am, we haven’t been able to do much anymore. Shopping, bowling, etc. are too hard for me. So he wants to see me NOT be in pain all the time.
