Corange

Laying here in the hospital feeling fantastic! I was sleeved this morning and have had very minimal pain. This is the beginning of the rest of my life and I am sooooo excited! Now if I could just pee! Lol!

Thanks for all of the kind words! Day 2 has been a little rougher, but still manageable. Started with the barium swallow...Yuck! The long lasting numbing agent that they use at the incision sites wore off this morning and so I was a little sore because of that. My IV infiltrated and there was a student nurse so I got poked a couple of times, but that's fine. They have to learn somehow. I have done about 10 laps around the floor today and have been napping on and off. Other than that, I started my clear liquid diet. It is definitely a weird feeling when liquid hits your stomach! At first it was highly uncomfortable, but now it is just somewhat uncomfortable. I am nervous about the drain removal tomorrow, but after that, I get to go home! I feel like I got the lucky end of the surgery stick! Again, thanks for all of the kind words!

December well be here sooner than you think! Thanks for your thoughts! I will send good vibes your way!

Update: I peed!...lol!

I'm only allowed minimal ice chips right now sooooo I won't be too much help with the water sipping yet, but congrats to all of my fellow sleevers! And thanks to all of you for your congrats! Wish me luck with the peeing thing! They are going to cath me at 10pm if I can't pee on my own. And also not looking forward to the barium swallow tomorrow, but it is all worth it.

...Denied! But that's okay because I am not giving up and neither is my surgical team. The nurse that I am working with is an amazing advocate and called and asked exactly what I needed to get approved and they said a 6 month, physician assisted diet was what they wanted. She said that they will accept notes from the two months that I have been going for doctor's appointments for this surgery so I have to do 4 months now...It fits my hopes for having it this year still so I am still excited and optimistic. Just made my first appointment today with my physician to begin the four month process. It'll be over before I know it and I am excited. I hope everybody is having a great day!

Hi! I had my EGD a week and a half ago and I felt nothing at all. I couldn't drink or eat anything the night before. I went in in the morning and they put an IV in my hand and then prepped me for the procedure. I think the prep and recovery time took longer than the procedure! Actually, I know it did because my husband started a stop watch on his phone when I went in and when I came back from surgery...Total time was 11 minutes 29 seconds...lol...My husband knows the surgeon and told him how long it took to which the surgeon said, "Wow, I'm slow today." I then sat in a recovery room for an hour and they made me eat a piece of toast and then my husband drove me home. I took one of the best naps I have ever had to get over the medicine they used to fog you over. Nothing to it! From prep to home it took about two hours. It is a really good thing to have because you are having a huge surgery done on your stomach. Having it checked for weaknesses or anything else that might hurt you is a great idea, although it feels like the hoops will never end.

Thanks so much! It sounds like I may be able to do surgery in November-ish so we won't be too far apart!

My name is Angela and I am 27. I am married to the most supportive, loving, amazing person in the world, Corey. We have been together 6 years, married almost 3. I have two step sons. I have two dogs, Darwin and Pavlov, who is my blind baby. I work as a counselor at a domestic and sexual assault shelter and before that I worked for 6 years with adults with intellectual and physical disabilities and absolutely loved it! I am currently working on my master's degree in mental health counseling. I have always been overweight by today's standards but really ballooned up after I turned 18 and again after I got married. I want too lose this weight so that I can have healthy pregnancies as well as feel more confident and attractive. My information is being sent to insurance this week so wish me luck!

Hi Everybody! I have done a couple posts, but I am getting excited because it is only a matter of time before my information gets turned over to my insurance. I have had my initial surgical consult, NUT eval, and psych eval and will be having an EGD on Friday. I'm a little nervous, but my husband's an ICU nurse and has been filling me in on everything. This is the first time I will be under anesthesia, ever! Anyways, after Friday, they will send the info to my insurance and there is a small possibility that they will require me to do a three month, NUT supervised diet. I, of course, am hoping that I don't have to wait that long but I am willing to jump through all of these hoops to get this done! Make room on the loser's bench! Nothing profound or life-changing here...Just an update! lol

If you are going to do it in the States with your insurance, the length of time really just depends on the hoops that you have to jump through. I started the ball rolling on actually getting this surgery about a month ago and that includes my first surgery consult, my nutritional eval and my psych eval. I will be having an EGD on Friday just to be sure that my esophagus and stomach are okay for this type of surgery. I have a great surgical team consisting of a nurse who works closely with the surgeon. She gave me her e-mail so I could e-mail her at anytime if I have any questions and said that if I feel that I just need to talk I could all and ask for her or the surgeon, no matter when or what the circumstances are. My insurance doesn't require the 3 or 6 month diet that some do, but there is a possibility that they might ask that I do the 3 month if they get a wild hair up their butts when my insurance papers are sent in. I look at all of the stuff that they are requiring as ensuring that my body and mind are ready for such an extreme life change. The surgical team has also said that there will be appointments every couple of months and they will be able to hold me accountable if I am not losing weight or start to gain after the sleeve so that I don't fall back into bad habits. I guess what I am saying is that I prefer to have to do all of the tests and make sure that I am really going to be okay afterwards. I also like that I live, literally, three minutes away from the hospital so if anything happens, I don't have to worry about dealing with a team that hasn't had any experience with my case. Also, my surgeon requires a minimum two night stay after the surgery to make sure that there are no leaks or problems after the surgery. I agree with Seltyl that the U.S. has a long ways to go in the field of medicine, but I don't think you can generalize that hospitals in the U.S. require outpatient for this surgery or that they are all bad. A lot of them are, but not all. Just make sure to ask a lot of questions and learn as much as possible. You have a right to ask for or change anything that you don't feel comfortable with.

Hi Ladyarwenrose, Have you or are you going to have a psych eval as part of your pre-surgical requirements? Your manic depression would be something that you will probably want to discuss with the psychologist who does that with you so that you are prepared for any kind of depression that may result. Good luck and I hope that you don't experience any ill effects!

My husband is the only person who knows. Not everybody keeps it secret because they are "ashamed" or "uncomfortable" with their decision. I am just a very private person. I am pretty introverted and don't really hang out with people. I have a few close friends, and I might tell them after the surgery. I have always kept all of my dieting attempts to myself because I don't think people need to know about something so personal to me. Nobody at my work will know about my appointment except for my boss and all she needs to know is that it is an abdominal surgery that is keeping me off work for a week or two. My husband is a RN and is very supportive of my decision to get the surgery and will be taking the time off to take care of me while I heal. I am grateful to have such a great, caring person in my life. He is the only support that I need right now. Maybe that will change after the surgery, but right now he is the only one who needs to know. You, know, besides you guys...lol...

I had my Psych Eval yesterday. It lasted 45 minutes and the psychiatrist went through a packet of questions to screen for depression and other mental illness. He also asked about my support system and did a memory test and concentration test (counting backwards from 100 by 7's, who the last four presidents of the U.S. were, and he gave me three words to remember throughout all of the other questions). He also asked me about my interpretations of some cliches (Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, don't count your chickens before they hatch). He told me that he would then write a letter of recommendation to my surgeon because he didn't think I had any mental illness that would hinder my success. We spent the rest of the time talking about mental health counseling and him giving me tips (I am a grad student for mental health counseling) and then sent me on my way. I would suggest being honest, but also makes sure that you don't give up tons of information. Answer questions as succinctly as you can. you don't want to ramble. I kind of did little of that and had to bite my tongue so I didn't poor out my whole life story...lol...You'll be fine!

Hi Ladies and Gents! I am in the early stages of seeing if I qualify for banding and I noticed that a lot of you have described what it is like to be "stuck". It sounds horrendous and painful! This leads me to believe that it is hard to cover a physical reaction (grimace, holding your arms above your head, rocking, etc.) if you are out in public. My question is; if you are out to eat and you get "stuck", how do you keep from looking like you are dying in front of everybody? I imagine that it does not bode well if people are going around clutching their chests or stomachs while moaning in pain at a restaurant...lol...How do you deal with it? Thanks for your time!

I am Angela! I am in the research/information giving stage of this process. I was referred to a surgeon and they are sending out a packet for me to fill out to see if I qualify for the Lap Band. I am very hopeful that I will because I have struggled with weight loss for the last 12 years. I have yo-yo'ed for way too long and I can't keep doing this to myself. I lose weight and feel elated and then it sneaks it's way back up and I am depressed. I hope that I can join the ranks of the successful soon so that I can finally feel confident and healthy again! Thanks!