TES

You look great!! Very impressive.

sending you good thoughts! please let us know how you are doing/feeling when you can.

I'm sorry if I missed a post somewhere, but could you please share why the surgery wasn't for you? (ie, specific reasons you are now unhappy).

Wow! What's a Bahama Bucks? lol!

I would go by what your surgeon's office says then--sounds like you will be okay. to be safe, I really wouldn't eat any solids the day before your surgery, but that's just me. Good luck with your surgery! I'm sure everything will go great.

omg I definitely would stick to the liquids then. You want the surgery to go well and it's so soon. Do you have to do a bowel prep tomorrow? The liquids are partly meant to compress your bowel to make the surgery a little easier. Can't do that with solids in the digestive system. You should probably check with your surgeon's office to see if they are still okay with doing the surgery.

If you are on post-op full liquids, I definitely would NOT cheat with solid foods. Even a little thinned out Greek yogurt would be better than lunchmeat and cheese. You can risk messing up your staple line, and that would not be fun....

haha, it was a thing in that movie "The Other Sister" from years ago...really good movie.

If you mouthe the words "olive juice" it looks like "i love you." Just a random comment.

I have BCBS of PA and had to do the same thing...though there are variations based on an employer's plan. For instance, the post above says 3 of the 6 months have to be consecutive, but for me, it had to be 6 consecutive months. So one tip I would give is don't make your appointments at the end of the month--go for the beginning or middle of the month, and then if you or your doc need to reschedule, you will have a buffer. Because if you miss one month, you have to start all over again with the 6-month requirement. I was disappointed at first about the requirement but it ended up being a great thing! I learned so much, especially from my dietitian, and I mentally prepared myself. I asked that my insurance submission be expedited, and I got approved in ONE day. Then my surgery got moved up by 2 weeks. Everything happened so quickly. Also, i was glad to have taken off about 20 lbs before surgery bc it did help with post-op mobility and recover IMO.

Great advice on the supplemental insurance plan, IggyChic. Also, if someone really wants surgery, maybe it would be better to sign up for insurance such as Kaiser that offers VSG as a non-elective procedure and self-pay insurance premiums for a while so that if any complications were to arise, they would be covered. I think you bring up some great points. Again, please accept my heart-felt sympathies for the difficulties that both you and your son have endured.

does it have a lot of sodium? I like salt, but it doesn't like me!

I think the best thing that you can do is continue to set a good example--sometimes being healthy is contagious!

I am almost 11 weeks out and haven't tried sweets. I wasn't big on them before surgery but occasionally find myself craving a little something. However, I feel like I've detoxed from food that isn't good for me and I don't want to start a cycle of temptation. I feel like I'm better off staying off of bad foods "cold turkey." For me, that means more things like salty, crunchy snacks like chips rather than sweets. When I get to maintenance, I may re-evaluate about whether I can do a small splurge very occasionally if I build it into my daily food plan.

You are probably angry bc you care about them and their health. Unfortunately, they don't have the tool or mind set that we do. I might try making some healthy meals and snacks (like cutting up a bunch of raw veggies and putting them in the fridge--maybe with a Greek yogurt dip) and remarking how good they taste and asking if they want any. I would also remove myself from situation if possible where you are seeing them snack a lot and that kind of thing.

Thanks so much, MMOL! Off to the pool I go! :-)

and a well-deserved smile at that!

One thing I think we can def say about VSG, and this would be true whether someone has it pre- or post-kids--the lifestyle of eating less food and more healthful food plus being more active is a great example for any kids (and often, spouses/partners). Being healthy is contagious! Really goes back to the nature vs nurture issue. And even if kids don't have a weight problem when young, sometimes when they are older and less active, the eating and other lifestyle habits they learn as kids can come back to haunt them. So I think that a lot of parents set a great example by having VSG and changing their lifestyles for the better!

haha!

I used a grabber! I already had one that I had bought my grandma (I kept it after she passed away and I was cleaning out her apartment). It came in really, really handy post-op, especially for doing laundry or if I dropped something. Honestly, it was a few weeks before I felt comfortable doing much bending, and the PA said to be careful with bending bc you don't want to rip your staple line. The listerine strips area great idea, too!

Laura, I don't think that is true at all!!! Chief Honesty Officer?

Is there a number of posts at which you can pick your own tagline (like Sleeve Evangelist, etc.). If so, maybe yours should be VST Trendwatcher.

That has to do with recessive and dominant genes--if your son is a redhead, that means you and your husband both have a recessive redhead gene (your presenting hair color is a big R for dominant, and the redhead gene is recessive, with a little r, which makes you and your husband Rr's--so the haircolor you have such as brown overrides the recessive gene...but your little r and your husband's little r can get together to make your little redhead--rr). What I think FM is referring to here is when there is damage (or his MIL is theorizing an "improvement" to...but I've been unable to find even broad studies on this) to the DNA during someone's lifetime. It's very much unknown if that damaged DNA can be passed on, but it is a theory. The long-held theory is that the DNA resets when procreating and the DNA actually isn't passed on, but the recent research is beginning to challenge that and now more research is needed (and we are probably talking many, many decades before anything definitive is known).

Laura, I like how you ID trends in threads--you always seem to be right! they come in waves.

One thing I was really glad that I brought with me that I didn't see on any other lists were those disposable face wipes, like the ones you use to take off make up (I like the more expensive ones even when on a budget, bc they feel so much better on your face). My surgeon doesn't let you drink until after your leak test, about 24 hours after surgery, so the wipes made me feel so much better! Also, maybe a long sweater or light, soft jacket to cover up the back of your hospital gown when walking. Awkward to wear two hospital gowns back to front. Also a phone charger for your cell phone and Gas X strips, but everyone recommends those things. Wishing you a successful surgery!