Sleevie WonderLand

WHOA. I just looked at the Jonah Hill story. I didnt even recognize him!

I think the stigma would go away if celebrities opened up about it. Our society lives through celebrities and whats put in front of them on tv, magazines, etc.

Insurance companies would never allow them to showcase sleeved participants. They would lose too much money if everyone started getting sleeved and no longer suffered from all those comorbidities. LOL @ Greek Yogurt = WLS. I love it! I have to incorporate it into my rehearsed weight loss surgery answer I plan to give to people when I finally get sleeved and slim down. Lol

Kelly girl, you said it all! all I can do is nod in agreement with you. I guess no one wants to be judged for having surgery to assist with weight loss. You seem like a "stronger" person if people believe that you worked out and changed the way you eat to lose weight. I'll be right in line with the celebs talkin about my low carb intake and my newly found exercise regimen.

OMG, I am so with you on this one! I am pretty sure the Nurse Practitioner in my surgeon's office will report me to the FBI soon for stalking her. Trying to make sure I qualify and get approved for this surgery has been all i can think about. I can probably recite my insurance company's WLS surgery policy by heart because I've read it so many times. I'm on VST constantly, always intrigued by the new posts that come up.

You know, I have seen the little positive and negative signs and have used them from time to time. Too bad more people arent aware of them. I dont have the link to the article, but if you go to the main yahoo page, it's one of their featured stories. I believe the paegant queens name is Bree Boyce or something like that. There are before and after pics, and she doesnt even look like the same person.

I like this one http://www.makemeheal.com/mmh/product.do?id=90819

I thought compression garments were worn by people who've had plastic surgery, namely Lipo suction and tummy tucks. Is there a benefit to wearing a compression suit after VSG? I would imagine that wearing one after losing lots of weight might help contain some of the loose skin...Somebody let me know so I can start savin up my pennies in case i need to get one!

I think I'm really addicted to facebook. After reading your reply I was searching frantically for the "like" button. SMH.

Hey Lily! Welcome to VST. What more can I say that hasnt been said already? I've had so many anxieties and fears calmed from reading the posts on this site and I'm sure it will be just as helpful to you too. I'm learning that there's truckloads of info available to us - I havent even looked into the recipes section yet, but it's great to know that when I am at that point of this process, I can just click into that forum and find just what I need. Feel free to post anything, you're bound to have someone chime in and give you some encouraging, and positive advice/info.

I had my sleep study done last night. I think I “passed” with flying colors. If you know my story, you’ll know that I’ve been worried about not qualifying for surgery because my bmi is too low and I havent been able to put on the weight I need (20+ lbs) to get it at the 40 mark. I took some measures to get my weight up at my last appointment, but it still wasn’t enough to get my BMI up high enough so we were counting on my blood work to show something – high cholesterol, diabetes, anything….again, no success with that either. My NP let me know that my last option was to be diagnosed with sleep apnea. We scheduled the sleep study for last night, and I’d like to give you a quick rundown of how it went. If you’ve never had a sleep study done, here’s a jist of what you can expect. I arrived at the sleep center at 9:15 and registered. The center I went to emailed me a packet of information and forms that they asked me to bring with me on the night of my study. I had to answer one part when I arrived, and then I gave the packet back to the tech. She was very nice, showed me to my room, and gave me a quick tour of the floor – showers, pantry, her station, etc. We chatted it up a bit as she asked me why I was having the study done. I told her that I was hoping to have VSG surgery and she mentioned that she was considering WLS herself . She instructed me to change into my night clothes in the bathroom (the cameras are in the room) and that she would be back in a few to wire me up. She came back in the room at about 9:45 and the wiring process began. She put little glops of this pasty adhesive stuff on my face and scalp (imagine super thick Vaseline with Elmers glue added to it). While she was wiring me she explained that the pasty stuff was for the leads to adhere and give better readings while attached to me. Long story short, she put wires in my scalp, chin, neck, chest, back, and legs. She put tape on a few of the wires, which felt like I was getting waxed when she had to remove them the next morn. She also wrapped some kind of belts around my torso, and taped an oxygen monitoring device to my left index finger. I kind of felt like Swamp thing when I stood up to get into the bed. The room was really cozy as I was able to adjust the temp to my liking. There was a nice tv mounted and I vaguely remember watching some of 30 Rock while she wired me, and then the 10 pm news was on by the time I laid down. The bed was comfy, but the pillows were super flat. I could have asked for a couple more pillows, but I wanted to use everything I could to get my snoring on so I dealt with the flat pillow and laid down on my back (I ALWAYS snore when I sleep on my back). Lights out, time to go to sleep. At home I usually sleep on my stomach or my side, and I don’t snore much as per my hubby, but I definitely drool like a teething baby. My sleep study sleep was completely different... I remember waking up a few times during the night because I was snoring so loudly. You know it’s bad when you wake your own self up with your snoring. At one point I felt like someone stuffed 100 pairs of tube socks in my mouth because it was so dry. I think I had a few episodes of apnea because I kept waking up from my own snoring. I did end up on my side eventually, and had to turn back over because the wires were making me uncomfortable. Next thing you know the tech is in the room (at 6 frickin 15 in the morn) chirpy and jipper as ever to wake me up. I sat up and felt like I had slept on a ton of bricks and had a bag of sandpaper in my throat. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust and focus, but I was coherent enough to remember where I was. I asked the tech if she got a good laugh outta my snoring, and she said “don’t worry honey, you’re gonna get your surgery”, and that made my day. She reminded me of where the showers were and I got myself ready to get outta there. So all in all, it wasn’t bad at all. I wasn’t worried about actually doing the study, I was worried that I wouldn’t “pass”. Oh, did I mention that I had a nice large glass of wine with my dinner before about an hour before? I’m sure that helped. *wink*

Dont you have a network of doctors and hospitals available to you through Amerigroup? I'm with Empire BC/BS and I am able to look up doctors and hospitals through their website.

I totally wasnt trying to freak anyone out by posting this, I was hoping it would ease some anxiety for everyone as it did for me. But now that I think about it, I've had 3 c-sections, so this surgery seems like a peice of cake to me and reading this post just assured me that I can do it because I've endured worse. Please, dont be freaked out, if anything see it as being prepared! I feel so special..you read my blog! Thank you! (I'm feeling a little self indulgent today )

Hah you doowin? *Wendy Williams Voice* I've only started this WLS research process since last month. In that time I've scheduled myself to attend a truck load of Info Sessions, but only attended one last week at NYU. I'm scheduled to attend a session at Lenox Hill Hospital tonight, but after reading some not so nice reviews on the hospital and one of the surgeons, I think I'm gonna stay with the NYU team. I'm scheduled to visit Dr. Stiles who is a PCP there on Friday. I originally started with the intent of getting banded, and quickly learned about the other WLS out there. I was really interested in plication, but since it's not readily covered by insurance, the sleeve is definitely the option for me. I have become OBSESSED with WLS in the past couple of weeks; I think I've watched at least 20 to 30 YouTube vids concerning the sleeve and the people who've had good and bad experiences. I'm also finding that time seems to be slowing down all of a sudden, seems like my appointment on Friday will never get here, and my appointment with the surgeon and nutritionist that are scheduled for 6/22 seems like eons away. I'm really concerned because my BMI isnt quite at the 40 mark (38.3). I've been trying to gain weight to increase my number just so there's no issue with me getting approved. I have no co-morbidities as of now, maybe the sleep apnea test will show that I'm in need of this surgery. I'm also concerned about out-of-pocket costs. Trying to anticipate what will not be covered by my insurance Empire BC/BS. So far it seems as though they're pretty easy to deal with, I cant wait to speak with the Finance Coordinator at NYU to figure out what my damage can/will be. *deep sigh* I was hoping that writing a little something in this blog would kill some time, but no, Grandfather time is still just moseying along. smh I just read this whole thing back and laughed at the part that said "I've been trying to GAIN weight". Irony is such a comedian. Anyhoo, if you're from NY and or you have Empire BC/BS and/or you just wanna share your experience with me, I'd greatly appreciate it. I cant find many reviews on the stay at the NYU Langone Center, so I'd like to hear it first hand from someone who's had theirs done there with those surgeons. Is it just me or is this site a little hard to navigate at first? Do I have to put up one of those ticker things or will I be looked down upon? Why isnt there a group for NYers? We are the most awesomest city ever...smh *deep sigh again* toodles.