Everything was great. Started south beach diet then got weighed in 251 surgery 230 post op 1 wk 223. Great humerous and educated about surgery. Was skeptical at first about results after but was walking after surgery and came home next day. Great experience to have this was suggested by neurologist . Updated on 10 Mar 2016: I love the way I feel Updated on 13 Mar 2016: I'm currently vomiting slot lat there days someone help Updated on 22 Mar 2016: Having issues still keeping liquids Down. So far 23 pounds down Updated on 24 Mar 2016: Foamies are serious, but hanging tough Updated on 19 May 2016: I am now 180 and still going strong get sick still but less Updated on 3 Jul 2016: Almost to my goal Updated on 18 Sep 2016: Weigh 157 Updated on 14 Jan 2017: Now gained 171 not happy want 163
3/9/2023-had barium test for acid reflux showing acid was coming up to at least my collarbone, X-ray position could not show if a secondary esophageal hernia was or was not detected, but I do have small 2-3cm hiatal hernia. Followed up with meeting surgeon who dropped the bomb on me that at my weight 24l lbs 5’7 that I had a BMI of 37 and was too heavy to perform the hernia repair on. He advised that the risk for reoccurrence of hernia and more severe consequences resulting in a more difficult repair were very high He advised that at this weight that relief would be gained by performing a gastric bypass and hernia repair to bypass the gastric juices to relieve the acid reflux. Needless to say I was shocked, my weight holding me back from hernia repair had not occurred to me at all. I was mainly focused on sleeping upright since my first upper endoscopy on new years eve in order to heal some of the esophagitis in my throat that would make a surgeon willing to perform surgery. So really I left that appointment without making a decision and was told in the meantime to make another endoscopy appointment to prove I had healing without taking the PIPs(I am looking for a root cause fix not a band aid, and digestion is IMPORTANT to health) Some background: I have been eating to heal my metabolism since Jan 2022, more so getting super strict at the end of summer 2022 to current. That means grain free, preservative free, organic Whole Foods(think paleo or how our great and great great grandparents ate) low sugar and really just using maple syrup or honey to sweeten when needed. I make my own sourdough bread, we source organic raw milk biweekly. No seed oils, good fats only. I am not sitting there eating this processed garbage big food is producing to poison us day in and day out. The standard American diet is a lie, it’s what’s killing us, period! And alas I just can’t get any weight off, my highest weight was 253.99 in 12/2020 when I had my last child. Since then my body seems to want to sit around 240. I also have hypothyroidism which makes losing weight and having any energy AWFUL so I really have no physical activity in my life. I only recently started gaining energy to do some walking on my treadmill. Which duh I understand how that would make losing weight difficult too! That night I messaged my surgeon on the patient portal and advised him I would temporarily take the pips to heal my throat and opted for the gastric bypass. Dr Posner is a salt of the earth, tell it like it is man. I appreciate the no none sense approach, that’s how I like my people. So as uncomfortable or shocked I was at the first appointment I had all the facts laid before me, they all made perfect sense and I understood. 3/15/2023 Dr Posners office called and advised they would be sending me information about the weight loss clinic, they sent me and email with some first steps such as a seminar to attend and an application to fill out. 3/16/2023 I attended a 2 hour seminar on weight loss surgery which was actually presented by Dr. Posner which was a pleasant surprise. He went over pretty much everything you would find on the internet about the different procedures. The risks, benefits & process. Because I wasn’t seeking weight loss surgery I feel like I am in a good position to be successful, it was stressed that the work you put in is what you will get. I am already eating in a manner that supports all the requirements to maintain the results of surgery afterwards. Have I been a food junkie heck yeah I have been for most of my life, at just like everyone else , ate like garbage before I became informed and had a son with autism whos symptoms are greatly greatly greatly affected by food(it’s amazing and has gave him so many opportunities!!). Reading a lot in these reviews where people are trying to cheat this process by eating like trash afterwards, it’s really a mental game. Going from eating processed garbage to then eating nutrient dense is a 180 and I don’t think a lot who have this surgery realize that with all seriousness. Especially the whole not smoking thing, this was stressed numerous times throughout our seminar yet people still had the audacity to ask if vaping counted. Uh YEA! Sorry it works me up so see the lackadaisical Attitudes to these very serious life upturning procedures. I literally have to do this if I want to avoid throat cancer and live. I digress… At the seminar we were able to make our initial appointments, they will be about 2 hours with the nurse practitioner and the nutritionist. This should be very interesting because I disagree with a lot of what standard/conventional nutrition suggests. Eating whole grains, how bout no grains. Like these protein drinks and it’s okay to have all these chemical elixirs during this program shock me but I guess it really doesn’t shock me because that is how we are taught in school how to eat. The food pyramid is completely ridiculous. Vilifying animal proteins is nuts to me….I digress again. I am hoping they will count my first appointment as my begin date, from my understanding it’s a 6 month program. What wiggle room will depend on insurance and be on an individual basis based on your progress. That would be amazing if that were my case and if not that’s okay too, I GOT THIS either way. We were told we would need to lose 5% of our body weight, which is only 12lbs and since my first surgeon appointment I left that place and got super strict switched over to protein shake in the morning and have already lost over 5 lbs in a week. I started my period as well so I assume it would have been a tiny bit higher. I really wish there was a faster fix to GERD, it has made my life hell for 3 years I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Anyways, we were advised to purchase the south beach diet book as that is the nutritional program that is followed at the clinic, I ordered my copy off Amazon should be here tomorrow. I have done keto previously without working out and got down to 189 about in 2018, it was a lot of work and energy and at the end of it I think I was starving my body of nutrition, it also depends on how my thyroid is functioning so at that time apparently well. I crept up to 210 by 2019, I also had a tumor removal surgery at that time. I then became pregnant right as Covid hit the US so March 2020 and gained weight until my highest weight. Updated on 24 Mar 2023: 3/23/2023 I had my appointment with the Bariatric Nurse Practitioner and welcome speil. The nutritionist was not in so he will be calling me today or Monday. I got my food log sheets, welcome packet and information sheets. My weight was 233lbs, when I was there for my consult with the surgeon I was 241lbs that was two weeks prior, so the NP agreed to use that weight as my start and since the program requires us to lose 5% of our body weight, I only have 4 more pounds to go. Unfortunately my insurance is Fidelis and they require 6 months in a program so that is a pain but it’s fine because I found out my TSH is way too high for surgery. It’s a 12.65 and my primary refuses to raise my Levothyroxine dose or try anything else, they state my T4 is in range and that’s all they care about. They were d*cks about it and gaslighting me when I said my TSH was elevated. So buy-bye. So needless to say without their help I had to schedule an endocrinologist appointment and I found a new primary. Thankfully I am able to see them both on the same day in about 2 weeks. I have 6 months to get my TSH sorted out or surgery is a no go. There is no way insurance would approve with the thyroid issue. It’s a very great chance that is why I have held onto all this weight despite having my eating in order. Also not working out cause I have NEGATIVE energy, it’s sucks I don’t even know how I have been managing with life with 5 kids at this rate. Other than that I had already had blood work done previously that they are using, I had 2 upper endoscopes already, did the barium testing as a result of my reflux & hernia. So what’s left for me is: Sleep study(which is done for all) Psych evaluation Get TSH under control I also did the H Pylori breath test at the appointment, waiting on those results. Other than that I have met all the requirements, I am worried about losing more weight and throwing my BMI lower than 35 since I’m already at 36.something right now but the NP said they would submit the initial weight and BMI but I think I will work more on resistance and strength training to keep my weight steady, I have 6 months to lose 4lbs and I already lost 8 in 2 weeks so….that seems like that may be tough. What else? Oh so they have paper food logs or the MyNetDiary app that they can hook up to for your logs. I have to provide daily food and exercise logs. I am finding the app difficult as I make about 85-90% of my foods from scratch so I feel like I am just picking things close enough which is not going to reflect the correct nutrition facts and then I would get coaching based on incorrect information. I may just do the paper logs as annoying as that will be. It’s actually really weird to log things I feel like it’s creating an unhealthy obsession with my food which I have since freed myself from awhile ago. So that is a negative but it’s required and I get it. I am just eating what I would normally eat and logging and not stressing about hitting a calorie goal or macros. That is the point of all this right? To create a healthy relationship with food not further an obsessive eating disorder. Lord help me. Food is to fuel your body. Stats: HW:254 SW:241 CW:233 I was doing research on how to lower my TSH in the meantime and realized I probably prevent absorption of it by taking it with my other supplements one being dedicated liver which contains iron. So I read about taking your levo when you wake up in the middle of the night to pee to allow ample time for absorption before eating or other pills so hopefully this will help while waiting on the endo appt. I assume she will do a better job than my shotty PCP. I have my next appointment in a month after I return from South Carolina, will update then. Updated on 24 Mar 2023: My program goes by The South Beach Diet, we are required to read it and apply it to our eating. Now lemme tell you this book was originally written 20 years ago! While it does contain good basics and sciences behind why these things occur it on the other hand vilified meats but advised canola oil and I can’t believe it’s not butter is healthy. Soooo along with that book I also order their SBD Keto version which was written in 2018 and literally walks back all the wrongful claims they made in the original. It’s not keto like super low carbs it’s mostly prioritizing breaking insulin resistance which I agree with so if you are looking for a book I would go with the South Beach Diet Keto version. I personally feel better with lower carbs and not only lower but complex carbs, that will fuel you. I don’t know if lower carb is especially helpful for my thyroid but I do feel better on the lower range 40-60ish. Might be able to amp up depending on food choices. I do not do well with tradition keto or atkins low low carb that is when eating becomes obsessive, detrimental and draining. Right now the phase one is don’t eat potatoes, rice or bread and watch sugar. It’s a really good book and very nice at explaining how and why we are insulin resistant and how the standard American diet is not accurate for health. Almost forgot to comment on this portion of the program. Updated on 6 Apr 2023: 4/4/2023 today I had my first endocrinology appointment since my PCP told me they will not bump up my levothyroxine or try anything for my elevated TSH(12.65) levels. So I said eff em I will go to someone who knows what they are doing. My endocrinologist was not thrilled my TSH was so high and bumped me from 150-175mcg, they gave me a script and wanted me to get blood work (TSH & T4) in 3 weeks and come back in 4. Later that day I had my first appointment with my new primary, I was really hoping he wouldn’t suck and he did not disappoint. I explained being in the Bariatric program and that I needed to get my thyroid under control. I told him I had just went to an endo, he gave me a script for blood work and also a thyroid work up which included free T3 he also mentioned that I may need T3 and that we could try that when we see how the increase in dosage worked out. Needless to say I left there thrilled out of my mind he seemed very knowledgeable and even mentioned T3 which I had extensively researched prior and tried to have my old PCP put me on for a trial with no luck. So I left there and cancelled my endo appointment letting them know my primary would monitor my thyroid. I scheduled an appointment in the 2nd week of may to return and made a quest appointment the week prior so hopefully he should get the results by my appointment. In the meantime I am going to south Carolina next Saturday and when I return I have my 2nd Bariatric appointment so hopefully I maintain my weight while on vacation. I am very happy that I advocated for myself and seemed to have found a stellar PCP. Sept/Oct seems a long way off but it’s gonna be summer before I know it and I have a lot of things to keep me distracted, like moving & building our house!! Updated on 28 Apr 2023: 4/25/23-had my 2nd month visit. I had just gotten home from a week long vacation very sure I gained weight but not sure how much since you know the doctors scales are the real deal, take out water weight. I was pleasantly surprised I only went up 1lb and am still down 7 in total from start weight. Phew! We talked about my my thyroid medicine being upped and my upcoming bloodwork appointment and the NP was pleased and thinks the higher dosage is working and is expecting an improvement in my TSH and feels there is still time to tweak if it is not where it needs to be. I have to agree I think it’s working or I should have gained a whole lot more if it wasn’t. Haha. Met with the nutritionist who is pleased says I am doing great with eating just need to focus on getting in more snacks and eating more meals per day which sucks cause honesty I could eat one meal a day and be fine. I’m never really hungry much so this feels like making myself eat. I still hate logging, it’s just an additional hoop to jump through. I get why but it’s not healthy so I really don’t pay it much mind. Nonetheless he says I am steps ahead of most in the program, bummer my insurance requires 6mos but oh well. I called to make my psych appointment which will be in July, I am calling back the sleep study folks who didn’t get my order and I should be able to schedule for around the same time. Plenty of time before what I am guessing hopefully Sept I can be scheduled if it’s not too crazy, being that August would be my 6th month check in. My biggest issue is exercise I honestly just don’t want to lmao. I know I should and I want to lift weights but I can’t lift at what I want with this hernia. It’s really just a self motivation thing at this point and no longer due to no energy. Gotta psych myself up and get into a nice routine. I’ve done it before and the weather is getting nicer so I just gotta do it. I am worried about losing too much as I only have 12lbs in total for this program to lose and I am already at 36 BMI but the first appointment I asked and they said they send in the initial weight when I started their program so… Will check back in for end of May! Updated on 7 May 2023: I got bloodwork done and my TSH is down to a 2.0!!!!! Which is considered low/hyperthyroid but for me I FEEL GREAT. I can’t believe it was able to drop over 10 pts the NP is gonna be thrilled. I see my primary next week, my glucose was 101 and I had stayed up the night before, may have had ice cream late at night binge watching 24 and then I went for very early blood work by 7am so I attribute it to this. My glucose is usually like 90 so I hope it doesn’t trigger pre diabetes talk or other testing as I have never had an issue there. Protein level was low which maybe has to do with taking the omeprazole? And digestion? I did some googling…I do eat a shit ton of protein so…the only thing I can think of is with the low stomach acid I am having a hard time digesting it to absorb nutrients? And of course always anemic bloodwork so wonder if he will suggest anything for that. I should be on a multivitamin but I am not yet I couldn’t find a clean one that had everything I needed yet and I just don’t feel right taking flintstones, but a multivitamin would probably help with the iron issue. I also ceased taking my desiccated liver so I could get true blood work values so I will likely add that back in, I just pressed some this week. Other than that still trying to get my weight down. I am keeping steady at least right now with my TSH being resolved. WOOT!! Updated on 31 May 2023: Visit 3 of 6 went smoothly. Happy to have my TSH down, tracking has been great. Need to switch to another provider for an at home sleep test as insurance would not approve an in office. So I will give the new place a call tomorrow and I have to cancel my original. Other than that I am just waiting on my psych appointment and my remainder visits. I am down 11pm of the 12 I had to lose in the program. As soon as I hit the 12 I just really have to maintain because I am already at 36% BMI and I don’t want to go below and have insurance deny the procedure. Just chillin like a villain now. Trying to get more excercise in but damn it’s so much more difficult to move being this big. Down to 230.
