Jill

I feel hunger too and it is frequent and very annoying. I am 2.5 months out. I am also able to eat almost two cups of food like turkery chili or turkery meatloaf with sides and about 4 ounces of a chicken breast with vegetables and some rice. I thought I would only be able to eat half that amount. It's quite frustrating and my weigh loss has been stalled for quite a while. I suppose that I need to just go on an old fashioned diet and only eat a small amount and let my will power stop me rather than relying on my supposed smaller stomach.

I am 4 weeks out and I feel hunger on a daily basis. I am also able to eat much more than I thought I would and have to consciously stop myself. I can easily eat a cup of food and I've never felt any pain nor had difficulty eating. Last night I had about three ounces of grilled chicken, a few bites of brocolli and about 10 tortellini. While I realize that is not a huge meal, I thought I would only be able to eat a couple of tablespoons this early on in the journey. I am also able to take regular sized sips of water with no trouble or pain. It feels like I never had surgery. I am happy about the no pain of course, but I do wish I would get full quickly and I just don't. Jill

Cheri, drink the protein in your water, so you kill two birds with one stone. It's a no-brainer really. Get protein shots and dump one in your bottle of water. Drink a protein shake; 55 grams of protein down the hatch and 24 oz of liquid/water at the same time.

Hi Traci~ Sorry you are having trouble swallowing. What does your doctor say is the cause? I've had zero trouble drinking or eating anything and I was sleeved on July 12 and didn't think that there should be any buring or anything. Jill

How do you "gently" remove something?

Why can't you take your protein WITH your water/fluids?

There are sooooooooooo many options for the full liquid stage. I've been adding about a cup of cottage cheese and a little basil to a can of condensed tomato soup with 1.5 cans of milk. I have a Vitamix, so I can turn anything into liquid. I get about three meals from this. Another thing I've been doing to make flavorful cream soup is to take a can of Healthy Request soup (Mexican chicken is my fav so far) and put it into the Vitamix, which turns it into a cream soup. I did this with clam chowder last night. I have several other varieties to try, all chicken, since beef is not yet allowed. Very soothing and satisfying to the stomach and head. If you have a Vitamix or a really powerful blender, you can turn any regular food into a cream soup. As far as a Protein drink. I have the normal 30 gram premade Protein drinks of course. I also bought a bag of 100% whey in vanilla. I put a scoop of the protein in the Vitamix, 2 TBLS Peanut Butter, one banana and Water and ice and blend to a thin liquid consistency. Tasty and masks the taste of the Protein powder mostly. This is higher in calories than a regular Protein Drink, but it gives me the potassium my cells need and extra protein from the peanut butter, not to mention, a more satisfying drink.

I've been adding about a cup of cottage cheese and a little basil to a can of condensed tomato Soup with 1.5 cans of milk. I have a Vitamix, so I can turn anything into liquid. I get about three meals from this. Another thing I've been doing to make flavorful cream soup is to take a can of Healthy Request soup (Mexican chicken is my fav so far) and put it into the Vitamix, which turns it into a cream soup. I did this with clam chowder last night. It was average....wouldn't do it again. I have several other varieties to try, all chicken, since beef is not yet allowed. Very soothing and satisfying to the stomach and head. As far as a Protein drink. I have the normal 30 gram premade Protein drinks of course. I also bought a bag of 100% whey in vanilla. I put a scoop of the protein in the Vitamix, 2 TBLS Peanut Butter, one banana and Water and ice and blend to a thin liquid consistency. Tasty and masks the taste of the Protein Powder mostly. This is higher in calories than a regular Protein Drink, but it gives me the potassium my cells need and extra protein from the peanut butter, not to mention, a more satisfying drink. Jill

Gotcha. Still horse of a different color. I wouldn't imagine they would approve you after the fact and in light of the above circumstances. Jill

Ah, that is a horse of a different color! Jill

How do you know this specifically? Is the language in the policy "we will not approve for BMIs under 35, nor for GERD no matter what the reason." Or were you denied because you didn't meet certain criteria? You really need to read the denial letter and read between the lines. How many times have you appealed? Jill

Ellisa, I agree with Mila. I have Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Illinois and I live in Florida. They kept requesting document after document and wanted medically supervised diets and other doctor visits, which I complied and then sent to them. At the end, I got the person on the phone who wrote the denial letters who told me that she was on my side and was the middle man. Of course I did not believe her, but it turned out to be true. She asked me about gastric bypass and I told her why I did not want that procedure and why the Sleeve was best for my situation. She listened and went to the medical director who denied me and said that I needed other information, which I actually had already submitted, so I refaxed that information directly to this woman who went back to the medical director and presented my information and my story and I was approved the next day. Jill

Thanks, it was frustrating to say the least. They put me through all kinds of nonsense and kept requesting records and information over and over and medically supervised diets and such. At the end I got a person on the phone and she went to the superviser on my behalf and was finally able to get me approved. I had to have all my ducks in a row and submit everything that was required. It wasn't easy and took me eight months. Jill

They verbally asked me about the gastric bypass and I told they why I did not want that procedure and why I wanted the Sleeve. I was adamant until they said yes.