sasicas

I am so excited to finally be scheduled for surgery! My date is Feb 28! WOOHOO! I have been attending a WLS support group weekly and finished up all my classes in December. Took FOREVER (not really but it sure felt like forever lol) to finally get my mental health eval. Went through an almost 600 question test prior to seeing the psychologist. 2 weeks later I saw the doctor for my in person visit. I was slotted for 90 minutes and was out of there in 15! He basically asked if I had questions and said a few things to make sure I was ready for the changes ahead. The doctor said he would put in my report by the end of the week (my appt was on a Wednesday). I jokingly told him he still had 1 hour and 15 minutes slotted for my appt so he had plenty of time to write up my report Well apparently thats what he did haha. The group I had been going to all said it would take at least 2 weeks out from that appt before I would be scheduled to meet with a surgeon. The day after my appt, I got a call from surgery asking if I could be there Friday morning. UM YEAH! Of course I would be there I was terrified going into the appt, hoping I would like the doctor since he is not the one I orginally wanted. Well his intern started to scare me a bit. He was suggesting that I might be better off with the RNY. NO WAY did I want that surgery and my family would have flipped if I switched to it anyways. He was going on and on about how I could lose 10% more of my weight, well no thank you, at my weight its not worth the addition risks to lose a few extra lbs. So he went off to get the doctor, now I had read up on him already, everyone said he was a great surgeon but had a bad bedside manner. What do I care about that though?? All I care is that he knows what hes doing. Well I thought he was great. He is very direct, he doesnt sugar coat things, which is great! I appreciated that he was so straight forward with his expectations of me and what I can expect from him too. He is very conservative in his treatment and repeatedly told me if I have any issues post surgery to make sure to contact him ASAP and not to play the waiting game with anything. He is also putting me on blood thinners for 30 days. Normally he only has patients with my BMI do it while in the hospital and saves the blood thinners at home for patients with a BMI over 50 but because I had issues with clotting in pregnancy with no known cause (all my labs for clotting and autoimmune disorders were fine) he thinks its best to just play it safe and do 30 days worth. I really did like him and felt totally at ease with the surgery once I left my appt. Most the doctors at the hospital only require a 1-3 day liquid diet pre surgery but he requires 2 weeks sooooo now Im trying to prepare myself for that. Im going to start it on the 15th because there is no way Im starting it on Valentines day lol. Ive started buying Protein drinks, bought AMP today to try, hoping its not too terrible, especially since its on sale at GNC right now Anyways, move on over people, I'm ready to join you all on the losers bench

Good to know, thanks!

I had my gallbladder taken out a few weeks after having our first daughter. 1 year later I had our twins and a few weeks later I ended up in the hospital 3 times, the first time they said it was heartburn, the 2nd time they requested the labs from the civi hospital I had been taken to via ambulance and said I was fine and sent me on my way. 3rd time they ran labs again and my labs were not looking good at all. I had gotten to the point of not being able to even drink Water because it made me throw up, couldnt even take my bp meds (only was on them because I had severe pre-eclampsia in my pregnancy again and my bp had not gone down yet). I had jaundice which was really creepy to see myself so yellow lol. I was in intense pain and nothing was helping. The labs showed I had pancreatitis and after ultrasound and CT scan they said my liver was inflamed too. They could not see the stones though. The next day I was transfered to a civilian hospital and they put me under a twilight and did an ERCP. As soon as they got in there they saw 3 stones hidden in the common bile duct. They had scoped me for those after taking out my gallbladder a year prior so they said they were likely caused by pregnancy. They cut out the stones and I woke up in no pain. I did end up in the hospital for another 3 or 4 days til my labs started to look better and had to go back every few days for repeat labs til they were back to normal again. Hopefully your doctors can figure out what is going on with you, I remember the pain well and its not something I would wish on anyone..

Like the other poster said, it takes getting used to. I still cannot stand mine. Im still exhausted. I use it though every night even if I nap during the day because it does stop me from snoring and if I try to sleep without it I wake up with a sore throat. Just know that there are sooooo many different face masks and you might have to go through quite a few til you find one that works for you.

I have not been sleeved yet but I have had my gallbladder out. THe reason most people gain after having their gallbladder removed is because, like me, I can eat whatever I want with no issues now. When I had my gallbladder, fatty, greasy would set off an attack, now they do not. I do not believe it will be an issue after surgery since I wont be able to eat the fatty greasy stuf anymore like I can now.

Hi everyone! Ive been lurking for awhile, as well as reading tons of blogs, watching youtube videos, etc, etc. Ive struggled with my weight since high school and Im sick of it! I dont like being the fat wife, the fat mom, the fat person walking down the street, the fat chick struggling to get up off the floor and even off the couch. I was advised not to use the word fat from the skinny bariatric nurse I had to see, I couldnt help but laugh. The truth hurts, thats where I am right now. Very upfront about being the fat girl and Im just tired of it. Soooo after going in to see my doctor about my ongoing back issues (had chronic back pain even while skinny) I finally decided to ask about weight loss surgery and sure enough I qualified WOOHOO! She put in my consult and a week or so later I got the call to go in for the bariatric surgery orientation. I was set on having the lap band until the doctor mentioned the sleeve and then I was sold He later suggested it would be the best fit for me so then I was wait-listed for the surgery. After a month or two I couldnt stand it any longer and called to check to see where I was on the wait list. Imagine my surprise to find out I was only a few people away from starting the program that leads to surgery! A few days later I got the call that it was officially my turn to start. I went in for my appt with the nurse last week, she handed me a huge list of appts I have to go to. One of the appts was a required support group appt and luckily the group was meeting an hour later so I went and met some fellow WLS folks in person I also found out about another WLS support group that is much more active so I will attend that this week. So now I start my list of appts, 4 NUT appts, occupational therapy, a physical, then the pysch (sp?) eval, then surgery clearance and finally the surgeons appt, all hopefully will be done by the end of December and surgery is expected to be in February YAY! Well thats it for now, just wanted to finally introduce myself and thank all the people that post on this site! Im so glad I found you all

Thought I would give an update of my appts. Everything but the mental health and appt with the surgeon will be completed this week! Well Im kind of hoping I can get the mental health one done this week too but no idea when I will get scheduled for that one. So far the classes have been just as boring as I expected. Stress management was the least helpful of all the classes and beyond boring. But its over with and Im flying through my classes! I am so loving the support group I found. The ladies are awesome! Not many sleevers, mostly RnY folks but still the info is helpful. This week some people are bringing in protien shakes to let us check that out, so awesome! Im going to have my PCM put in for lab work too, some folks have discussed having all the Vitamins checked out before hand and I would much rather start to fix any deficiencies now than to wait after surgery. My hubby and I have decided to switch to a high Protein, low carb diet as of the 1st. I can lose probably 15 lbs or so and still qualify for surgery since I have sleep apnea, as much as I would like to eat whatever I want up until surgery I need to get in the habit of it now, so might as well start wtih the new year

You look awesome! Keep up the good work!

I fear I will be totally flat, already small in that area at a B cup and I havent even had surgery yet Totally getting the girls replaced and a tummy tuck after I lose the weight.

That is one thing that confuses me on the surgery, the dr I saw said the pannicuelectomy was a more difficult recovery than the tummy tuck. He warned me I would take far longer to recover from it.

Once I hit goal, tummy tuck and possibly a boob job for a reward. Other than that, I plan to save $50 a paycheck from surgery til I hit goal to put into a shopping spree account

Each base you will find different criteria. The base here starts with a referal from your PCM. Once Bariatric services recieves that referal they call and have you go to a big orientation, at which time you are put on the waiting list. Once your name comes up on the waiting list you officially are entered into the program, you then have the following appts... Appt with the case manager Yearly physical 2 NUT appts Support group (attend at least once) Goal setting class Stress management class *then a call into Case manager to get referals for next appts Pysch appt, includes a written "test" and meeting with the dr. Surgical clearance with your PCM and any other specialty drs you have, additional testing may be required if you are seen by any specialist Consult with the dr. at which time surgery is scheduled Surgery generally is about a month out from there and you have a 2 1/2 day stay in the hospital

We have already decided that after I lose the weight I will be having my stomach done. Ive actually been on the wait list for well over a year to have it done, long before I even thought I could have WLS. My stomach is the worst part of my body, comes from having 3 c-sections in 2 1/2 years, the last pregnancy was twins so my poor stomach has sure taken a beating! It already hangs over my c-section line and is in the way all the time. UGH! I do plan to do tons of ab workouts after surgery but I doubt my stomach muscles will care haha, so surgery will happen probably a year out from my VSG (or sooner if they let me). I dont even need a perfectly flat stomach, I just need the excess skin (and tons of excess fat right now) gone.

This does scare me about loosing weight. Mine are already deflated from the kids which a doctor swore up and down was not possible...um yeah right, then explain how my girls magically disappeared after nursing?! I even had a doctor ask if I had implants before and had then removed! Ugh. So I fear my already small deflated b cups will get even smaller *sigh*

Lately a few of my skinny friends have been making comments about how they are so jealous that I am getting the sleeve. This bugs me so stinkin much! I get it that I am getting a lifelong tool to help me control my weight but why do these skinny girls always have to make comments as if they are fat and really need it?? Take my best friend for example, she wears a size 6. I havent worn that size in probably 15 years at least and Im only 27! Shes even had me look up the weight requirements for her so she could see if she would qualify. Now she does weigh more than an average size 6 girl but she is NOWHERE near qualifying. Its not one of those situations where she or the others are just trying to show support, its them actually wanting to have the surgery. Ive even explained that he comments bug me but its as if these skinny girls actually think they need the surgery! I guess it just upsets me that all these girls that I wish I had bodies like would even think that I am lucky for going through such a big surgery, having my stomach chopped off and then needing to go through more surgery to take care of all the loose skin. Im not doing this because I just feel like, Im doing it for my health, Im trying to get to a point where I dont have sleep apnea, to where I can lessen my chances of hypertention and diabetes, Im trying to get to a point where I can sit on the floor with my kids and not be in so much pain, to where I can cross my legs when Im sitting, to not have to make sure Im sitting by the edge of a couch just so I can use the arm to help myself up. UGH! I know Im ultra senstive to the comments because its a major change thtat Im about to go through, I just wish they skinny friends would see how blessed they are to not even need to consider having such a surgery.

Thank you all so much! I really do appreciate all the comments and seeing that I am not alone in this. This is seriously the best forum and I am so glad I found you all.

You look great!! I love 3 and 10

Thanks! So I had my occupational therapy class and talk about a WASTE of time. UGH! The class was so boring and no new information on bariatric surgery, all very basic, common sense kind of information. Of course there is always the one annoying person that either thinks they know everything and has a comment every 2 seconds or the person who asks a million not-really-relevant questions. That person happened to do both *sigh* THe class just dragged on. But at least the class is over with. Now I get a break til next week when I get to hear the same information again by someone else Hoping this next class isnt nearly as long as todays. Oh well, one step closer to surgery

Id suggest sitting her down and having a heart to heart talk with her about the surgery. Set rules, like no getting upset, no yelling, just a calm, rational talk. Have her come to this site too and read around some on the surgery and what others are going through and read all the successes. If you would rather her not be on this site, go to youtube and look up VSG, you will come up with hundreds of videos, so many success stories outt here. SO many videos with before and after pictures too.

Wow! I haven't had my surgery yet however I have had pancreatitis and an inflamed liver from gallstones in the common bile duct and I remember how painful it was I will be praying for you!

Yay! Im not the only one who has a size goal and not as concerned about how much I weigh I honestly dont care what the scale says ( well I will be excited to hit onederland), I just want to be in a single digit pants/skirts. The bariatric nurse I saw really looked at me as if I was insane for saying I didnt care about the scale. lol. I have ALWAYS weighed more than others expected me to weigh so it just doesnt matter, I JUST REALLY WANT TO WEAR A SIZE 8 Shirt size doesnt matter either to me.

Our hospital does 2 1/2 days for all bariatric surgeries

This is the question I was curious about too. The support group I went to covered it a little, said there were many silly questions and a lot of questions that were reworded. One lady mentioned one question asking if she was happy with her life, she said yes. Another question asked if she could go back if there was anything she could change. She said yes. The pysch questioned her on it. Acted as though a person couldnt possibly be happy in their life if there was something in the past they wish they could have changed.

Hi everyone! I just joined a WLS support group and they are having a potluck next week. I have no idea what to make! I havent had my surgery yet so while Ive done some research Im not exactly sure what kind of foods would be good for the meeting. Any ideas? Thanks!!

I am 27 and getting sleeved early next year. I have told many, all my family knows and my hubbys family knows through my blog. Ive told my good friends at work, home and at Church. Im also going to start a video blog on Youtube documenting the journey. With everyone else, I figure if they ask after surgery I will tell them. Im so excited about the surgery I doubt I will be able to keep my mouth shut