Matt Z

LOL That'll be the next life. I don't have the time, money or skill to scale that beast! But thanks for the vote of confidence! Would really like to scale Katahdin during my 40th year... fingers crossed it all works out!

Sigh... this weekend was supposed to be 3 days, 2 nights of camping and hiking. It ended up raining or being SUPER foggy because we were no lie, chilling out in a cloud. Our camp was about 2200 feet above sea level. Great views typically... lots of good hiking, but with how wet and just totally soaked everything was, my buddy and I only got in 1, 2 mile with only like 300 - 500 feet of elevation change. The good thing though, as this was a trial run for when we go to Maine for when we climb Katahdin, I was able to pack for my new diet and didn't have much issue at all... I tried not to poo for a bit... the burger we had sunday night did NOT want to hang around... so I was forced to use the pit toilet... but other than that little issue... and the rain, things went well. Except I gained like 2 lbs. womp womp

Short and to the point. Just do it. You know the diet you should be following... start following it. Longer, you can start over. Start your pre-op diet over and follow it to the letter, pretend you never had the surgery. Fast the day of "surgery" and then start your post-op diet the way you would if you just had surgery. This gets you squarely back on track, has the added benefit of allowing your sleeve/pouch to "reset" a bit AND boost your weight loss. Or, you can look into Intermittent Fasting. There are a few of us doing it on here and it's working very well. The science behind it is pretty sound too, might be worth looking into.

Taste buds can change... in odd ways. Mine were wonky for a bit, but have since returned to normal. The potato flake thing really did save me so much gagging!

I understand, when I was talking with my surgeon about getting my band out and revising, I was leaning towards the sleeve as well. But, I ended up going with the Bypass. My surgeon won't do band to sleeve revisions due to increased rate of staple line failure due to the scar tissue created by the band. She would have sent me to another surgeon in her practice if I *really* wanted it, but she wouldn't do it. She installed my band, and I was really looking forward to having her do my removal and revision because of how skilled she is, so this really set me back. I originally turned my nose up at the bypass, for all the wrong reasons, because I was provided with incorrect or incomplete information when I asked around this site. It wasn't until I started doing my own deep dive into the reality of the surgery that I realized there was more myth and false information spinning around. I can say, that I'm absolutely tickled I decided to go with the bypass. The Ghrelin thing, is another topic that's not fully researched, not everyone loses the hunger sensation, and then, MOST folks regain it down the road. I'm over 6 months post op from the bypass, and my hunger sensation is TOTALLY different than before hand. Will that change? Maybe, but at this point, I've been able to really isolate the "head hunger" vs "real hunger" thing. Not everyone gets GERD issues post sleeve. But, that's one thing that is pretty much NOT going to happen with the bypass, due simply to the new layout. Does each have their pros and cons... clearly. I can only provide you with facts as they are, my experience, my knowledge from my own research and let you take the reigns from there. Sleeve to RNY revision happens a decent amount (I've got a friend of mine, like a IRL friend that had to get his sleeve revised to rny just a few months ago), there are RNY to Sleeve revisions, but those are *VERY* far and few between, you'll see Band over Bypass revisions more than you'll see RNY to Sleeve revision. Either way, research EVERYTHING and make the most informed decision you can based on your situation. Good luck! If you have any questions or follow up or just want to chat, shoot me a PM.

2 weeks seems to be the "average" in my experience. Don't be afraid to call the insurance company to confirm receipt, confirm processing, ask the status, ETC ETC ETC. You pay them for their service, don't let them have all the control!

More than likely the tissue healing, I had a bump or 2 on the internal portion of the incisions for a tick, they've gone away at this point. When they stitch inside, the tissue can "Bind" a bit, they are called Suture Granuloma's https://www.sanovadermatology.com/skin-lesions/suture-granuloma-new-bump-on-an-incision-line/

Add some potato flakes to help thicken it up just a bit if need be. I did that with quite a few of my purees due to disgusting texture!

This is where I feel that this site falls down, at least with any of the tracker based/linked sites, the site has access to the users recorded data... here, it would all be on the honor system.

SOOOO Weird! I won't tell you to no follow your doctors orders... but pretty much EVERYONE ELSE was cleared for full exercise, zero restrictions, at or around the 2 month Post Op point. If you chose to ignore your doctors advice, just take things slow and stop if it starts to hurt.

I wasn't defending the lawsuit... nor was I supporting it or anything other than providing the information from the lawsuit itself. This post seems a little pointed and directed at me... for no reason.

Congrats all around!

To be fair Matt, it’s 6 of one and half a dozen of the other. Neither is reversible. They become variations of each other when you make the switch to/from. I'm sorry, but the Bypass **IS** reversible. It doesn't happen often, but it certainly does happen. There has been, at least 1 member here in the last, month or so that was approved for RNY reversal. And to be clear, I am fully aware of the process for revisions. I'm specifically stating, that the bypass *CAN* be reversed, under special circumstances, that *HAVE* happened to at least 1 member of this site within the last month or so, whereas the sleeve *CANNOT* be reversed, under any circumstances. And a quick google for "RNY Reversal" https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4196428/ https://www.soard.org/article/S1550-7289(14)00472-9/abstract Conclusions Reversal of RYGB to normal anatomy is reasonable in patients with severe or refractory complications.

I'm going to back @GreenTealael on this one, if you've got even the slightest GERD now... the sleeve will more than likely make it worse. Side note that people seem to get wrong (not that you stated this either way, just some information that most folks don't have correct) is that the sleeve is non-reversible under ANY circumstances, You can be revised from Sleeve to RNY, but you cannot be reversed from the sleeve. The bypass... is reversible, it is risky, and it doesn't happen too often, but it DOES happen. Something to think about. Sleeve, 90% of your stomach ends up in the medical waste bin... Bypass, everything is still in there, the stomach is split but just the connections have been adjusted, nothing is actually removed.

This is exactly what you DON'T want to use. Caffeine AND NSAIDs.... that's a double no no. One of the pre-op checks I had, I was asked if I used NSAIDs in the last month or so... I hadn't, but they said if there was usage, that the surgery *might* get postponed due to the NSAID usage. Don't take anything you know is prohibited after surgery, so close to your surgery without discussing with your surgical team.

Biggest tip. DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FOR POST OP!!! Odds are, your tastes for things will change, might be temporary (I had that happen) might be forever (lots of folks state their taste for things drastically changed). Best not to stock up and then not like them anymore. Also, pay attention to protein types... Concentrate is going to be pretty high in lactose, since it's pretty much JUST concentrated Milk. Isolate strips out most, if not all, lactose. LOTS of folks have issues with lactose post op. Again, some are temp, some are perm. My wife wanted to buy things before hand, and I told her not to and explained why. She did it anyway. So much stuff got wasted.

Did it show up more recently? IE was it not there for the last 10 months?

Treatments or not, if those conditions are listed on your charts, and are listed when your doctor submits for approval, those are absolutely co-morbidities. The thing with insurance is, you don't know unless you try. Someone making statements without putting the paperwork through are only guessing. And even then, if you *DO* happen to get denied, you are allowed to appeal. It's all in how the paperwork is processed. If they don't bother to list Pre-diabetic and Sleep Apnea... then sure... but they *SHOULD* be putting that into the request for authorization.

9 times out of 10, searching answers the questions being asked... that's why searching should be your first step in finding answers before posting. This way, the site doesn't get clogged up with the same questions over and over and over (which is exactly what's happening). Pretty sure most folks here (those of us that stuck around) are quite accommodating with providing answers, even to those questions asked a million times. I've been around, on and off, since 2011. I've seen the exact same question get asked more times than I care to count. That said, this side of the forums (rants and raves section), and this thread (SMH), are *ALL* about venting frustrations.

Very weird, did they give you a specific reason? I'm curious if your situation is different in some way, shape or form that would support that very bizarre timeline for sit ups.

I don't see why not. My vitamin D pills are gel caps about the same size and I've no issue with them. I don't see why putting a pinhole in the liquid gel cap would be problematic. It's not a delayed release situation. My 2 cents. Not a doctor, don't play one on tv and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night... lol

The lawsuit is not by the person Alex quoted, nor is it about the types of proteins included, it's about the fact that, from testing, the product *did not contain the advertised 30 grams of protein* regardless of the type, there was not 30 grams of protein in the product. So it's a false advertising issue not a protein type issue. I use casein protein as well as whey myself, just wanted to highlight that the real reason for this lawsuit isn't protein types or absorption rates, it's about the product not containing the amounts that are listed on the package itself.

I second the MyFitnessPal app for those challenges.

Personal preference, all will fit in your pouch. I've heard mention of avoiding gel caps as they can get "stuck" along the way when the shell starts to dissolve and gets sticky, but I haven't seen anything official on that part. Gels should release faster / higher up in the intestinal tract with the water you'd drink to take one, the red coated ones would have to wait until the stomach acids are introduced before they started to properly dissolve.

Adding to the list. Necroposting. The whole, reviving long dead posts by answering them for no reason. Like, answering a post that was created in 2010, for a user that hasn't logged in since 2012... those posts should remain dead posts. I almost wish posts with no updates for a certain amount of time (like years) should be locked for archival and prevent future postings for that one topic.