JennyB

The reason my surgeon required me to get a letter from my PCP was because they have had this happen in the past where it was denied without a "second opinion" their explanation was that of course the surgeon is going to say it is medically required surgery, so to have someone that isn't going to monetarily gain from you having the surgery submit a letter also stating it is necessary then you have a stronger case. Praying that this gets approved for you quickly!

I would have loved stockings! I had a compression machine that I had to wrap each of my legs in at the hospital and at home for 12 days. If I wasn't up moving, I had to be hooked up. But I didn't develop any clots so I won't complain too much!

I loved having my hubby with me, we don't have kiddos though, and we are kind of glued at the hip lol Personally I wouldn't have made it without him being there, but if you would be more relaxed knowing that he was there to take care of the kids then I would ask him to stay with the kids.

Had my surgery at 349, puts us at a greater risk for blood clots, so you MUST get up and walk, use your leg compressors (my doc ordered a machine for me at home, was paid for by insurance) and I went home giving myself blood thinner injections once a day for 10 days.

I was scoped before surgery, my throat didn't hurt at all, but I did have cramping where they did biopsies and from the gas the put in of course.

One of my anesthesiologist pulled out the..."wow you have such an amazing face! People pay to have a lips like yours and your eyes, wow, just such a pretty face" I took is as a little humor from God and laughed, because I was talking to my husband on the way to the hospital that I can't wait to not hear that anymore, it's the ultimate insult to me anyway. lol

My hubby and I did P90 for a while about a year before surgery, it's intense and I was only doing modified versions of most of the stuff they did because I physically couldn't do it! I will one day though!

A friend showed me her husband's ring that she got him for their anniversary, it was too big, but she didn't want to get it sized because she had it inscribed. So the jeweler put these too "balls" of gold (the ring is gold) on opposite sides of the inside of the ring and it keeps it on his finger perfectly and it didn't mess up the inscription.

I am only 2 weeks out, so I have a long way to go still. I find my brain going over how I can manipulate foods that I ate and loved before surgery that are not good for me, mostly when I watch TV and I am flooded with food commercials. I start rationalizing eating those things again because "it will only be a little bit so it won't hurt" To Answer the question of why did I have this surgery- 1) I love my husband and nieces and nephews too much to kill myself with food and leave them, not getting to see those babies grow up is a big fear, I also want to be able to run and play with them instead of sitting on the sidelines. 2) I want to be able to have babies with my husband, after 3 years of it not happening on our own, I was flat out told that the chances of it happening at my weight are slim if possible at all and that I would be an extreme high risk pregnancy if it did happen. The weight of the guilt I carry for being the reason we don't have children now, is heavier than the extra 200lbs I carry around every day.

I am 2 weeks out and I definitely still have pain above my biggest incision. I feel like a whiny baby when I see all the posts where people bounce right back and I guess pain is relative Today it has felt a lot better than it has over the last few days, maybe it's getting better!

lol, I have been trying to describe it to my husband for 2 weeks that is the best I could come up with. My doc said it was just my nerves responding in that area because that is where he did "the work" through so it had more "damage" to recover from.

I have sensitivity on the skin above my biggest cut. It's more of an annoyance than any pain really, kind of like chaffed skin I guess or heat rash feeling. Drives me nuts when my clothes are on it. 2 weeks out, hope it goes away, but if not I will live with it

Definitely stop what you are doing and reset. Talk with your surgeon or Nut and get back on track. I have been very tempted since moving to puree, but I am more terrified of causing damage and I didn't go through all this stress and pain to just go back to my old habits.

Since surgery I am having a hard time regulating my body temp, I am either freezing cold or burning up. Mostly my face has been so hot! I thought it was related to the blood thinners I was on for the first 10 days post op, but thats been done with since Saturday. Just something to get used to

I use baby spoons, I got a pack of like 20 at our Dollar Tree. I also got some little toddler bowls and plates to use to help with portion control as well as I weigh and measure my foods. I find if I am watching TV or some other "brain dead" activity I will eat to fast and I actually started making myself leave my food away from me, so I would take a bite then walk away and have to get back up to get another one so I can slow down.

Thanks! I got over that mind set, it was just so frustrating for me because we had already scheduled the date, then the coordinator "realized" that the letter from the first person said I needed a follow up with a different doctor. So I had to cancel then it was almost a month and a half before I could get an appointment with a new doctor. I haven't been happy with the coordinator at my surgeons office from day one really, she always tells me she is so busy like I am bothering her, so I just started calling my surgeon directly on his cell phone and asking him the questions since she was too busy with other people to assist me. I spoke with him about a lack of communication with her and he gave me his number, so I used it. If it wasn't for the fact that my husband and I really like Dr. Mirza, I would have found a new office just based on his office coordinator.

No, it's because they have a corner of the market that so few will touch. We are limited in our selection so they can charge what they want, supply and demand.

I was cleared to use 3lb weight, yay! totally kicked my butt...err arms...yesterday when I did my arm workout. lol. I found a couple of work out "video" apps that I use on my kindle. Well the only one I can use right now is the arm work out one on there. You can set it for 5-15min work outs or you can kind of create your own by picking the workouts you want to do.

I got approved in around 5 days

With my breathing treatments I had to cough (had lung issues after surgery) but they wanted me to cough to break up and move out the junk in my lungs. It wasn't the best feeling in the world, but it has to happen. Like the others said pillows are great!

I was upfront with the initial evaluation and had to go to a follow up with a different doctor before we could submit to the insurance company. I was really upset because the people I know that had the surgery kept telling me how stupid I was to tell the truth, because they just told them what they wanted to hear to get the approval. In the beginning I was beating myself up for not just playing along with them like everyone else, but that wouldn't get me anywhere....I know why I turned to food over 20 years ago and I have worked my butt off to get through those issues, but I need help to reverse the damage I have done physically. The second doctor I talked to completely understood where I was coming from and saw that I knew what got me here and that I had put in the emotional work already, so she wrote my letter.

To my face when I had my exams with my PCP he was 100% supportive, then when all the tests came back "normal" he refused to write a letter of medical necessity because I did not have any serious health conditions YET (his word, yet). I called my surgeon's office and they set up an appointment with a doctor they work with and we got it taken care of. Haven't been back to that pcp and will not go back to him.

I used alcohol wipes on the areas away from my cuts, then as the tape came off I used lotion with Vitamin E and finally got it all off...I think!

Big time for me. The worse part for me was the first day that I was home alone all day because my husband went back to work after taking the week of surgery off to be with me. I was just a wreck the day he went to work, I didn't know what to do with myself. I have also been having days where I just don't want to eat/drink anything (other than water) because I have been kind of feeling pissed off at food, sounds kind of silly I know, but it had been my "best friend" and my pain medication for over 20 years and now I can't have the same relationship. I know that there are others here that will get what I am trying to say, I don't know how to put it in words. Never really realized how much I used food to self medicate until I started this whole process and therapy. The thing I turned to is the thing that was killing me, but my head still tries to tell me I need it.

I took my Kindle, a little stuffed animal to hug on my tummy when I got up and stuff mostly I just used him to cry on..lol. My robe, supposed to have had my pillow but it got left at home, silly husband! I think I turned my Kindle on one time. As others said, chapstick was my best friend, also my robe. I just used the hospital gown because it was easier to deal with (yep sorry to all those that came to visit and saw my butt, you were warned) I just used the little socks they put on me before surgery and that was it really. Came home in the same clothes I wore to the hospital.