WOW !Surgery date scheduled -

I'm new here, I have been lurking but now posting today.  I have all of my pre-op appts and my surgery date scheduled for my RNY  April 21st is less than 2 months away!!  It's starting to hit me and one day I'm looking forward to it the next I'm scared and nervous.  I had the lapband in 2005 but had it removed in 2012 I did lose weight for the first 9 months but after that I struggled and ended up gaining my weight back.  I worry that I will fail with the RNY also.  My life is in such a better place then it was in 2005.  I married a wonderful man in 2011 and he is so supportive of anything I do.  So I hope this will benefit me.

I did my research on my insurance prior to offically deciding to have the RNY so I saw my PCP for 6 months for weight loss and when they submitted it actually went ok.  It's time to start this new journey but oh my goodness I remember how scared I was going in for my band and the surgery.  I'm nervous thats for sure.  I keep telling myself that my knees, and feet will thank me for this down the road.  I am 40 and have been overweight/obese my whole life.  The plus I have is I am 6 foot tall and carry my weight over my whole frame, so most people would be floored to know I weight 400 lb.  Yep I said it 400 lb This time next year I hope to be in the mid 200's

Hope you all have a Great Day

Jaq

congratulations on having a date set. I am the same way with the excited one day and nervous the next. the best wishes on the RNY. having a better place in life and having the support will help you a lot. with my insurence i have had to be in weight loss classes for the last 8 months but now i am done with all that and will have surgery in the next month to month and a half.

great luck to you

Sarah D.

Like you, a tall woman (5' 11") and obese my whole life and had the surgery at 46. Best thing I've ever done for myself!  I was 333 at my highest, but carried my weight in a 36 hour day hourglass, so people often would think I weighed less and now I am happy to have a nice size 10 hourglass with just 24 hours worth of 'sand' distributed nicely. The good news is, you may find you lose as evenly as you are distributed. I have seen it time and time again at the practice where I had my surgery. The pear and apple folks lose 'randomly' but the hourglass lose very evenly and that is a huge help for clothing as you shrink down. 

Best wishes...you can do this and don't let the crapband color your view of RNY. This is just A M A Z I N G if you use it. This is an incredible tool, but it is up to you to USE it. 

Pet Hair Magnet~
Quick question  Do you fight excess skin is it manageable?  I have not had any children so even at my weight my tummy doesn't hang down yet.  I know I will have some and that part makes me very nervous plastic surgery sounds very painful...By the way what is Pet hair Magnet?

We have bunnies, dogs, bird, guinea pigs, hamsters, you name it...my kids have likely had it at one time and I'm a magnet for the pet hair. My husband can be fur free and I look like I just rolled against a furry family member. :)

I am older (47) and very fair and was told my ability to combat saggy skin would be difficult due to age and poor elasticity with my lack of melanin (99% sure that was the word) anyway, I am PLEASANTLY surprised by the manageable level of the skin! My boobies shrank and ran away leaving some deflated triangles. My belly does NOT hang down any longer. There is a big ol' squishy handful of skin on each side of my belly button (it is as if I have two hemispheres post-childbirth) but they are well hidden by clothing even though my husband and I know the truth. :) 

And while I will do a tummy tuck, moms lift (it bugs me as much as anything) and seriously considering brachiplasty, and a boob job....I can tell you that if I could not afford it, it is all something I could deal with over time. I am very nervous plastic surgery, too. It both scares me and grosses me out when I read about it and view photos immediately post-op, but the results are undeniable and fabulous in so many cases! I still have abut 17/16 lbs to go and then have to hold that weight for 6 months before the surgeon I want to use will schedule me so I have some time, lol. :)

And one weird thing for my husband and I...we at one point had more skin that we do now. I'd say 25/35 lbs ago I felt like I had this huge hanging belly and it has shrunk up and become less bothersome. So if you get to a point where you think it is like GAH and you are not yet at goal...give yourself some time. You may find it gets a tad smaller!

:)

I too am a taller gal, 5'10" and weigh 368 and, like you, people are floored to hear I am over 300lbs.  I guess we do have big bones!!!  I also am wondering how my body will shape up after the weightloss as I am 38 and have never had kids and my weight is evenly disbursed.  My surgery is scheduled for 3/25 and I start my 3 week liquid diet Tuesday 3/4.  The odd thing is that my DR. schedules the surgery and then submits it to the insurance co so the surgery date is only a place holder so to speak.  So as I wait for approval I feel a little like I'm in limbo and kinda takes the realness of the moment away.  I don't expect any real issues with getting the approval as the requirements were pretty straight forward and I've done all the pre-work it just does and doesn't seem real  all at the same time.

Danielle

Danielle~
I think half the battle on insurance is knowing what they expect and doing pre work before I think also helps move the approval along.  I had a small bump on my approval due to my primary insurance does not cover WLS at all and the secondary kept saying I we needed to pre approve throught OHI even though we had and they denied and we had sent the denial.  My surgeons office has a couple of wonderful ladies that help with the approval and they know who to talk to and once they were able to talk to a live person they had it straight and authorization came the following week.  Good Luck and keep me posted.  Our surgeries with be here in no time and then the realness will sit in. :)  One I had approval I left so much releif and happiness.

Jaq