mysunflower621

Good luck, keeping you in my prayers! Let us know how it goes, my surgery is in 2 days on 11/15!

THis is inspiring to hear since my surgery is in 2 days. I haven't told too many people, only a few select and got really upset with my mom when she told my aunt (talk of the town). It's my business, nobody else's and there is no reason that I see anyone else other than who I choose to tell, needs to know. It's not that I am embarrassed or ashamed, just not willing to tell the world. I'm nervous and numb all at the same time! Can't believe it's 2 days away.

Good luck and sending prayers for all of you today! I'm on Thursday 11/15 so I'm looking forward to hearing how you all have done! I'm a bundle of nerves!

Me too, I'm very scared and nervous! I think I'm in some kind of denial that my surgery is in 4 days, I don't let myself think too much about it because I'm so scared!! I have told only a handful of people/friends and they are all very very supportive, including my husband. I am a very private person, so I don't anticipate that I'd be telling too many folks even as time goes on. I will use this support network and everyone here has been great.

Hi Finally got power back here in NJ! My surgery is Thursdsay, 11/15 and I'm sort of numb.. not excited, not panic stricken... yet.. it's weird. I know me, I will be a nervous wreck come Tuesday... I'm not sure how I'm going to calm myself by surgery day, but I'm hoping all will go well! I have 3 kids, so just the thought of a complication or something going wrong sends my mind in a tizzy! Good luck to everyone! can't wait to hear your stories!

November 15th for me!

Hi! I have a question for those of you who have had your sleeve done already. How long was it before you were able to drive again? Thanks!

Thanks everyone, glad to hear it wasn't a few weeks!

Best wishes and prayers coming your way!!

WOW what an amazing difference! Keep up the good work!!! I hope I'm as fortunate after my sleeve!!

Congratulations!

Hi! I just had to share a NSV that is totally unrelated to the sleeve or weight loss. Yesterday, I completed my very first half marathon in San Francisco!! It was truly a life changing moment and I'm happy to say I DID IT!!! I was a member of Team in Training and raised funds for teh Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). Being in San Francisco, the course had 4 huge hills, one being a mile all up hill and I did it! I didn't stop once other than a potty break at mile 1. When you hear these stories and you see the faces of those who lost their battle or who are still fighting it.. children, young adults, older folks... it really affects you. The whole time I was doing the marathon with already torn tendons in my foot when I started, when they burned or hurt or I was looking up those hills going OMG how am I going to get up that.. I just kept thinking, "Get your butt up there and walk, this is much easier than what these poor folks have to go through... this aint nothing, now walk"... Some of the signs being held up got to me also... One said.. THANK YOU from someone going through chemo now.... one said Without you we wouldn't be here and it was pictures of folks affected by cancer... it was so humbling.. What makes me proud aside from helping raise money to save lives is that I did it being fat!!!! The hardest course in the country and I am fat and I did it! I wasn't the last to finish either!!! Not by a long shot! SO, I can hold my head up and say I did it and you know.. I'd probably do it again! Just had to share!

What a roller coaster ride you have been on!! It does sound like this new doctor is wonderful and exactly what you need to help you fight for this! If you have to do another Gi, that is ok, at least it will state what you need to be able to have the revision!! Hang in there, you are well on your way with this new doctor!

Good luck!!

I have tried every single diet out there, including most recently Medifast. I also have PCOS. Medifast worked for me the first 6 months, I lost 50 lbs. The food isn't horrible, but it is very SMALL portions and you really do have an adjustment period. It's expensive though for a month worth of food anywhere between $300-$400 on average. Each box of food which equates to 7 meals (and you need 5 per day) and averages about $17-$18 a box. So for a week, you need 35 meals. I didn't mind it, I followed it religiously.. however... after 6 months it stopped working, exercise didn't matter, I stayed on it another YEAR in hopes to maintain it... NOPE, gained it all back and then some.... Again with the PCOS and Insulin Resistance, NO diet will ever work or help me to maintain and Medifast was no different. It's hard to transition from medifast to regular eating once you hit goal as well. I can't tell you whether or not you should try it, but I can tell you from experience, it's no different than any other Meal Replacement plan. If you have tried the others and they've been unsuccessful in helping you LOSE and to MAINTAIN.. (usually losing isn't always the issue, but maintaining what you did lose), then this will probably be no different and remember it is costly!! Just my two cents... I look at getting the sleeve as a permanent solution to assist me in the maintenance and weight loss on a permanent basis!!! Good luck with whatever you decide!

I too am a very private person. I have told only a few select people outside of my husband who is extremely supportive and my parents who are supportive but of course nervous and concerned. I actually got VERY upset with my mom yesterday when she told me she told my aunt who I 1) never see aside from weddings and funerals and 2) is the biggest blabber mouth on the east coast! I was FURIOUS... how dare she! She said she didn't know it was a "secret" and I reminded her that I said multiple times I wasn't telling anyone.. guess she forgot. I will not tell my boss or anyone at work... only a few folks at work know, one friend and 2 people who have had the procedure done, I spoke to them to get information. I know they will not say anything. I look at it as it's my personal business, nobody else needs to know unless I choose for them to know. As long as my husband is supportive, he is my best friend in the world, that is all I need. I do struggle though with what to tell my kids if anything. I always think What if and God Forbid something happened to me.. I don't want to lie to them, but I don't know that telling them this so they worry all day long is right either. They are 17, 12 and 7. Any suggestions on what or how to tell your kids is greatly appreciated! In their eyes, I'm not fat.. I'm mommy!

Thanks for the info on what the binder is! I will definitely ask about that!

What is a binder?

Is your surgery Oct or Nov 15 NJGirl22? It would be great if we can get together and talk!!! We shoudl set up some time and a place in the middle for anyone that wants to get together.

I'm from Hunterdon County and my doc is Dr. Nusbaum out of Morristown/Livingston. I'm scheduled for my sleeve on 11/15 in Morristown!

Hi! I came across this article on our local NJ.com website and I found it very interesing and enlightening so I thought I would pass it along here since many of us struggle with our decisions before and after the surgery, wonder if it is worth it and struggle with food addiction. It's all about choice and I think this article really makes me think about my own behaviors and why I am doing this. For me, it really speaks volumes. Just thought I'd share. It was written in the Hunterdon County Democrat Editorial board: "Life can change on a dime. That’s what Debbie Hill thought after an “unknown virus” landed her in the hospital with perilously low blood sugar. Her gall bladder had to be removed and she was hospitalized for a week. But, during the year it took her to recover her health, Hill said she realized that her initial assessment was unfounded. What happened, she said, was the accumulation of a lifetime of choices and decisions. When she thought about it, many problems were rooted in habits, such as familiar foods, that lent comfort. “These so-called ‘comfort foods’ were actually making me sick,” she said. Sound familiar? Change came about when, instead of focusing on what she shouldn’t have, or “couldn’t” do, she made the effort to try new, healthier alternatives. She took her time, developing new habits, and reveling in what was new, instead of focusing on what she was giving up. Faced with an uncomfortable, or unfamiliar, situation, its easy to revert to comforting foods — which all too often are laden with unhealthy fats and sugars or salt — or time-fillers that interfere with change. Or both: Who has time to take a walk when a favorite TV show and a post-dinner snack beckon? In Hill’s case it was food, but others find comfort in the first cigarette of the morning, or settling in front of the computer to play Farmville instead of stopping at the gym. Rather than think of it as giving up cigarettes, consider the vacation that could be enjoyed with the money saved by quitting. Replace a sedentary lifestyle with a more active one and there are whole new worlds to be shared, with friends, spouses, children and grandchildren. Anyone who has hiked a national park can testify to the beauty and serenity of getting out of the car and off the paved trail. Hill, who is now a counselor who helps others lead fuller lives, warns that sometimes the benefits of an improved lifestyle can take longer than we might like. In a microwave-quick society that can seem like an eternity. On the other hand, the alternative really is."

When I was trying to get approved for the band, I got denied 3x by Cigna and I got 3 differnt stories from them and the office. My office did fight for me and I ultimately got approved by Cigna for the band. When I changed my mind and wanted to go for the sleeve, although we had to resbumit everything, Cigna did approve me within a week. That being said you need to read what they have on their website for your plan and what the requirements are. Call Cigna and ask them why it was denied specifically. You should be allowed up to 2-3 appeals and then the 3rd and final appeal goes to a 3rd party who reviews everything. If they will cover bypass, they certainly should be covering the sleeve! If your doctor's office isn't willing to work with you and the insurance company to fight for you, then I say find another doctor who is just as reputable but willing to do what it takes and knows how to work the insurance companies! A good case manager knows exactly what is needed and how to fight it if you are truly meeting the requirements and being denied. Good luck, keep fighting.. it's the squeaky wheel that gets the oil!

Hi Everyone! I got a surprise call from my doctor's office today to tell me that I was approved for the sleeve! I wasn't expecting to get the approval this fast since the paperwork only went in on Monday of last week. I was approved for the band but then changed my mind to the sleeve, but Cigna made them resubmit everything. Honestly, I was expecting another denial after the hell and back I went through to get approved for the band originally. I also have my date, November 15th is confirmed! As soon as she said I was approved I hung up and just sat there saying WOW...almost scared and nervous now that it is a reality. I spent so much time fighting the insurance company that I never stopped to think what happens next! Tons of questions went through my head like is this the right thing to do, are there any other options, it's so permanent, what if there is a complication, what if it doesn't work long term due to the PCOS... that's just a few! LOL Has anyone else gotten their approvals and then OMG now what? Very excited and yet, very scared! Karen

Wow Linsey, very well said. I'm still pre-op, but of course I want to read about other's experiences in order to best prepare. I agree with you and I think I have the same problem. I am a stress eater and I think I eat when I'm bored. Even though I have a very active lifestyle, I still manage to eat things I probably shouldn't as I am sure we all do or did or we wouldn't be in this situation. Very insightful advice you gave. @Mrtiger1 perhaps you can see a counselor to help you through this time? I was considering starting to talk to one now so that I'm prepared come surgery time because like you, I'm sure I will miss being able to eat what I want when I want. After reading Linsey's and other's notes about food addiction, I realized that what you are talking about is certainly my mentality too especially when I start putting weight back on rapidly (PCOS doesn't help!) after I had lost it on a diet. I want to do what others are doing, I want to eat what others are eating, I want to feel "normal" and just like everyone else. I'm starting to realize that feeling that way is normal, but is not what's going to help me maintain my loss after surgery. I think I will start to talk to someone now and perhaps it will help when I go through it. I wish you well and hope that in time you will feel differently. Consider seeing a counselor to help guide you through this rough patch. From what others are saying, I'm sure you will be happy when you see the changes and feel them! 34 lbs in a few weeks is great, don't lose sight of that! Hang in there!

Yes, Cigna did that in NJ too except the ONLY hospital they approved in NJ is one in the worst crime ridden area of NJ and the US even and one nobody has ever heard of, not even my doctor!! The hospital I'm having the surgery at is an In-Network Hospital with CIgna, so we'll just have to see how it plays out. My doc isn't in-network, but they don't balance bill, they take what the insurance pays for.. thank goodness!