anonynurse

I don't have any figures for you, but I do know (because I did it for a living before nursing school) that most insurance companies are adopting "one in a lifetime" clauses whether they paid for the original surgery or not, and that those clauses are bullet proof. I too am paying out of pocket for my band to sleeve revision.

I am glad you are doing better. I am in agreement with the thought that he is somehow responsible for what you eat or get tempted by is unfair. This is a personal journey. Not fair to make him change or get mad at him for not doing so when it has been years in the making. If what he eats is a temptation, it is your job to walk away from it, not his to give up stuff he likes. Believe it or not, he is grieving too. food was obviously a large part of your relationship and something you bonded over. His adjustment will take time as well. You are a different person to him now simpy from not eating the way you used to. He is going to have to get used to that. All you can do is model good behavior, praise the devil out of him when he is supportive, talk to him very vulnerably and emotionally about the journey you are on , about how happy you are and how good you feel and speak words of love to him all the time so he knows he remains important and that good things are on the horizon for your relationship, with or without pizza.

Medicaid coverage is a state-by-state thing. I do know for most who wish Medicaid to cover the surgery, IF it is a covered benefit, the waiting list is huge. Not many physicians in my area (DFW) take medicaid OR medicare due to difficulty getting paid. If your BCBS is primary you have a better shot.

Care Credit is pretty strict about who they will finance now. The years of "easy" financing even with bad credit are pretty much over, and most doctor's offices now will not finance surgery for anyone. It makes sense - they are in the business of medicine, not in the business of accepting financial risk. So they take credit cards, Care Credit and a few other surgical financing companies. I guess I would either postpone the surgery, pay for it and then get immediately back into a tight budget to replace the money or see if you can get a credit card (which will likely have a high interest rate if you can). I work for my bariatric surgeon and we get calls like this all the time. It is very sad, but getting financing for an elective surgery with poor credit is extremely difficult now. I wish I had better news for you. :hug: You are facing a tough choice.

Absolutely do NOT mention it in the interview! They want to know right now what you can do for the company, not what you need the company to do for you. Once you have an offer, then negotiate the time off for a surgery you already had planned. No need to tell them what kind. Once you have an offer, they are invested in hiring you and will be reluctant to remake the decision. If you put stuff like out there beforehand, it usually is a reason to go with another candidate.

Yeah, 2-3 lbs a week is NOT slow! You are doing great. Be kind to yourself and acknowledge how well you are doing!

I am told I will spend one night at the hospital unless something happens that needs a little extra monitoring/TLC. I work at the hospital and don't anticipate going back for four to six weeks due to lifting restrictions. We'll see how it goes.

Blue cheese is a good low carb one. So is this: Absolutely fabulous Greek/House dressing 3/4 cup olive oil 1 cup red wine or apple cidar vinegar (no basalmic!) 2 tsp dried oregano 2 tsp dried basil 2 tsp garlic powder 1 1/2 tsp salt 1 1/2 tsp fresh cracked pepper 1 1/2 tsp onion powder 1 1/2 tsp dijon mustard Whirl up good in a food processor. This can live on your countertop in a tightly sealed container, which makes it easy to put in a small portioned container to take with you to restaurants as well. It is also good as a marinade for lean Protein. The great thing about making your own is that you control what goes in it. This is nearly no carbs and absolutely no sugar and it is amazing! Don't let the common ingredients fool you. This is awesome!

I was assigned 5 shakes or Protein bars per day plus one meal of 5 oz lean meat (nothing fried) and two cups of veggies (with no added fats or sugars). The low fat, no meat diet is a little off kilter for shrinking the liver though. It is carbohydrates that cause the liver to fatten up, as it gets converted to glycogen and lives in the liver until you burn it off. Keep carbs low, protein high (your doctor's recommendation for grams is good) and you will be just fine. A small amount of lean chicken, fish, pork is unlikely to hamper your efforts, but things like Beans and potatoes etc will trigger cravings and make sticking to this hard. It is kind of a detox - once you get the the glycogen burned out of your liver (usually takes three days if doing less than 20-30 grams of carbs per day).

I am scheduled for June 16th and pretty nervous myself! It helps me a lot to read here and see how others are so happy they did it. Some you can even find posts similar to this from before the surgery and then read where they are at now, weeks to months to years postop. It helps settle my worried mind. Maybe that can help you too!

Brushing teeth immediately after a meal will help as well. And belive it or not, not drinking while eating will help you learn to eat less at one sitting. But yeah, it is pretty necessary. It is heavily stressed by most surgeons. I had to do that with my band and it just became something I adapted to. You will form new habits too

When they extend you the job offer, explain you have a surgery scheduled at what time and request it to be part of the terms of employment that you get time off for recovery. You are under NO obligation at all to reveal what kind of surgery you are having. If the surgery will be after your probation period, you don't need to mention prior to accepting employment. You'll just put in for PTO like everyone else does.

Got my band taken out today. My sleeve is scheduled for June 16. Getting the band out, oddly enough, hurt worse than getting it in. I'll be glad when the surgery parts are completely over. I do feel better that my band is out.

I can't imagine putting my body, my family and my pocketbook through this only to "cheat" every one of them. I may not be 100% perfect, but it won't be because I preplan areas in which I just throw the medical information regarding what I need to do out and do whatever I want. That makes zero sense with what I have put into this. It isn't only about me, but even if it was, I deserve better than what got me here in the first place. I am going to use this new tool to the best advantage I can.

Yeah, as a nurse, it kind of concerns me that you are focusing more on what you ate than the fact that you DID. Very very dangerous. Please, please take better care of yourself!

Sounds all so familiar. I was banded in November of 2008 and have done pretty well. I went from 245 to 185ish. The my band got very tight, started PBing a lot and eating slider foods just to get something in me. Healthy stuff sometimes went down, most times not and caused me several embarassing incidents in public. I maintained the loss but was unable to lose more. Mostly though I have had no complications. I maintained my loss well until I decided to try a slight unfill. Went from 6 cc to 5.5 cc and now it is like there is no band there at all. Gained back 15 lbs in two weeks - stunning. My band comes out today. Sleeve is on June 16th.

There are a couple of concerns here, but the biggest one is the potential for you to rupture your suture line and get a leak, which can be fatal. Please take better care of yourself and as one wise poster above suggested, see this as a HUGE red flag and get to a nutritionist and psychologist. There is no shame in needing help and additional support!

The best revenge is looking good. The only reason people picked on you when you were bigger was to make themselves feel better. You taking care of yourself demonstrates clearly the value you place on yourself. Nothing more need be said.

Sounds like you are recreating your life exactly how it will make you happiest. I am happy for you. Be sure to post pics of your new 'do!

I'm sorry but your doctor is a douche. Up your fats as suggested. You will have more energy to work out and a better mental outlook - the brain needs healthy fats to function. Keep on keepin' on!

Hi all. I am getting my band out on the 31st and then will be sleeved on June 16th. I just have a question: How hard is the time between the removal and then the revision in terms of appetite, nausea, weakness, pain, recovery and ability to work? I'll be on the pre-op diet during that interim. Thanks!

Thank you all - such kind responses!

Nick Nicholson, MD is the very best DFW has to offer. He has been on Good Morning America, has one of the lowest complication rates in the entire USA and the lowest in the metroplex. His office is a very small, boutique operation and you get to know everyone by name. These folks love what they do. He will meet with you one on one rather than making you attend a seminar if that is what you prefer and his pricing is highly competitive. I would not go anywhere else. www.nicholsonclinic.com

Dr. Nick Nicholson has the lowest complications rate in the metroplex and is, frankly, just an outstanding person. I can't imagine letting anyone else do my revision. His pricing is very competitive and for self pay he utilizes Forest Park Medical Center, a specialty hospital that is out of this world. I highly recommend him. www.nicholsonclinic.com

My surgeon always does it in two separate surgeries with two weeks or more between them. Most people who have band complications have a degree of edema internally of the stomach tissue. This can, in turn, lead to an increase in complications if the sleeve gastrectomy is performed at the same time - when the swelling goes down, it is more common to find a leak that was hidden by the swollen tissues, which seemed at the time of surgery to be adequate. So he does them two weeks or more apart to allow for decreased swelling of the stomach tissues prior to further traumatizing them. I am pretty comfortable with that logic and his complication rate is unbelievably low. He's never had a death. My BMI is relatively low - around a 34. Not super low, but not nearly what it was when I had the band placed three years ago. It was a 45 then.