JerseyGirlJodi

Those are hysterical!! Love them!

My brother did Insanity and got pretty toned and slimmed down.

Welcome to the April sleevers!!

I just tried the Unjury strawberry. Not a fan of it in water. Maybe have to mix it with something else. Perhaps lemonade.

Since I now have my tentative date, I decided it's time I start doing some preparing for the pre-op diet after the surgery. I know it's a good idea to find out which Protein shakes/powders I like BEFORE I have to use them. That way I won't be trying different kinds at the last minute. A friend of mine is having her surgery in March and told me that she tried some of powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury powders. I went on their website and ordered their sampler. It came the day after I ordered it! It includes two packets of each of their flavors, a plastic container and a thermometer to measure the temperature of the Water (can't heat it higher than 140 degrees or the power clumps). So far I've only tried one. The chicken Soup flavor. Now, it's certainly not my mom's homemade chicken soup, but it was pretty ok. There was no grainy taste or clumps (after I stirred it for awhile). It has 21 grams of protein, I believe. The package gets disolved in 8 oz. of water. Since I know I'll have trouble getting down a lot of liquids after surgery, I'm excited that this is only 8 oz. I'll let everybody know what the other ones taste like as soon as I've tried them.

Good question. I know some doctors have their patients do pureed food after the liquid stage. My surgeons/nutritionists don't want you pureeing food. They want you eating "mushy" food (i.e. - soft veggies, mashed potatoes, eggs, etc.), but not actually pureed food. Which, quite honestly, is fine by me. Also, some surgeons use drains and catheder's whereas mine doesn't use either. I don't really know why each surgeon does things differently.

I do have a 2-week diet, but it's not full liquid. I believe I have to replace one meal a day with a Protein shake. I can definitely live with that. I'm sorry you have to do all liquid!

I'm in Roselle Park in Union County. I'll be having surgery at Overlook Hospital in Summit. Good luck to you, too!

Sorry. Double-post.

I totally agree with this. It was EXACTLY what I was going to say!!

We're the same day! Unless I have to move mine due to insurance.

I'm more worried about getting the milk of magnesia down than what will happen once I do. What does that stuff taste like? When I once had an upper GI series and they made me drink that nasty drink, I couldn't finish it. It was the nastiest thing. I really hope this stuff is not like that!

Great idea! Thanks, Khloe!

This is something I've been contemplating for awhile now. There are some people that have known almost from the beginning of my journey. As I get closer to my surgery date, I've decided that I'm going to tell pretty much everyone. If I don't, I'm apt to forget who I told and who I didn't. And then I'll have to come up with stories about how I'm losing so much weight so quickly. It's too much stress to lie. I'll tell the rest of my family that don't know when we're all together for Passover at the end of the month. Then I'll let the rest of my friends know. If they truly love me and care about me, then they'll be supportive. If not, then I won't talk with them about it anymore. And if they're downright cruel, then they obviously were never my true friend to start with and I'll cut them out of my life.

Unjury sells a sampler, with 2 packets of each flavor, along with a thermometer to check the temp of the water when mixing it with heated water, as well as a container for mixing/carrying. I've tried the chicken soup flavor (pretty good, although not as good as mom's chicken soup, of course ) and the chocolate splendor (mixed with 8 oz of light soy milk - tasted just like chocolate milk). I've never heard of the other ones you guys have mentioned, but I'll have to try and get some samples of those, too. The bigger the variety, the better.

I'm tentatively scheduled for April 15, pending insurance approval. Feel free to email me at jodisgreen@aol.com.

Has anyone heard of people having short bowel syndrome after the sleeve surgery? I'm assuming that's more for bypass patients because of the circumventing of the stomach, etc. With the sleeve, they're not cutting away any of the bowel or intenstines, right? Just the size of the stomach.

I just got my tentative date. April 15!! I still have one more visit with my NUT and surgeon in March and then we submit to insurance. Hoping it remains April 15. Edited to add I'm in NJ

I have United Healthcare as well. I have two more months left of my 6-month pre-surgery diet. I'm not all that worried about getting approved but I AM worried about my doctor's being in-network. I find the insurance company's website, etc. so confusing to navigate. Their website says none of the doctor's from my practice are in network, although the person in billing says that one of them is. I can go in or out of network, but obviously will have a larger co-insurance if I go out of network. I just want to make sure that when this is all over with, I don't get hit with a huge out of network bill.

I'm doing the same thing. Just started cardio kickboxing a week ago. I, too, am hoping to build up some muscles in the hopes that I'll be able to tone up my loose skin after surgery. I can't wait to do the workouts after the surgery because I can't do some of the moves and don't have the stamina I'm hoping to have once some of this weight is gone.

Also, does your company have a health care advocate? I know when I've had trouble with my insurance company in the past (they weren't recognizing one of my doctors because the bills were being submitted under the medical group and not her name), I used my advocate to deal with the insurance company and get the problem resolved. I, too, have UHC and have all of the same requirements that you do. I didn't even know about the bariatric program until a week or so ago. Our company just switched to UHC January 1. I started my supervised diet in October. I was told by the bariatric program that joining the program just gives you a nurse that you can talk to, ask questions (either the surgery itself, the health insurance requirements, post-surgery, etc.). That iti wasn't necessary to join the bariatric program in order to have the surgery approved.

Good luck!!!

Maybe a dumb question, but why can't we take pills whole?

I'm not due to have surgery until April (no exact date yet), but I just tried out a new cardio kickboxing place by me. I went Saturday and then again last night. I'd like to join, but I'm not sure if it's a good form of exercise post-surgery. I mean, it totally kicked my butt the two times I went and I was ridiculously sore (especially in my abs) afterward. It would be great for the cardio part of the workout, but I'm not sure if it will be as great for the muscle, loose skin part. There's no weight lifting involved. Another issue I worry about is drinking Water while exercising (and this would go for any kind of exercising, I guess). Right now when I excersize, I tend to gulp water. Especially at the kickboxing. I know when I'm sleeved, I can no longer gulp water. What would I do? Stop every few minutes to take just a sip of water? Thanks for any help/input! Jodi

Thank you! I really like the workout I get (well, like is a strong word because it is exercise, after all). It's the hardest workout I've ever done.