Andi

That is kinda weird. I've heard of insurances that make you wait 6 months while you "prove that you can change". Others that want to see that you can't lose the weight without the surgery & you're actually capped at a limit. If you were to call them I'd ask them to clarify what it is that they're looking to see & if there is anything that could potentially disqualify you during this wait.

I was surprised in my paperwork from leaving the hospital that they said ok to both, however I think they want it to be really short term. For pain they seem to push Tylenol.

Wheel of Time could keep you busy. I think I could build a small house with my stack.

I would guess blood pressure. If it's dehydration your urine should appear very dark.

I went to Lahey Clinic in Burlington, MA. It's probably best to find out who's local to you (and if your hospital has someone that they know/trust)

Speak with your hospital team. My surgeon mentioned that they have a lawyer that works with the hospital on denials.

My thoughts "low fat" products seem unhealthier to me than "low sugar" products. However in general, reducing the amount of processed foods does seem to be the healthiest way to go. After that, it's choosing a healthy moderation & assortment.

I was off the pain meds almost 24 hours before I left the hospital (I had a 2 night stay). They gave me a prescription when I left for a liquid percocet, but they only wanted me filling that if tylenol wasn't doing the trick. The first day after surgery was uncomfortable, and it was good to have the option open.

She shouldn't be part of this decision. This is something for you & only you to decide. She might have been a little shocked at first, and might be ready to actually hear you out in a little bit. Then you can try to explain to her the reason for your decision, what you've been doing to prepare yourself .. maybe she'll even be up for attending the seminar with you to get some info to get her mind more at ease.

After surgery I'm still supposed to be using protein shakes as a supplement to get protein in until I'm tolerating enough solid protein in my diet. The nutritionist stressed that we were not supposed to look at the shakes as a meal, but as a supplement.

When they first gave me my date, I hung up the phone and had a very mixed emotion cry for a bit. I think it's common for a lot of us once a sign of reality like that really kicks in. It should pass, if it doesn't try to narrow down what you're feeling anxious about & address them with your doctor or read up a little here Pre-surgery they're going to offer something to chill us out a bit before heading down to "show time". I'm ok today, but I'm thinking I will be taking them up on that.

Well the procedure has been around a while, just not used for weight loss so much. It was used to treat ulcers (or so I was told).

I think it's more a matter of the GERD. When we did the swallow test, partially it was to see if that would be an issue. I came up with a small hiatal hernia, but had never really had complications from that. When I met with my surgeon we discussed why my choice had been the sleeve. The main reason for getting WLS for me is to try to reduce potential diabetes complications. He said that the best results with diabetes are normally seen with the bypass. Not so much to discourage me from going sleeve, but just to make me aware of one treatment being sucessful (or tracked as so). At the end of our discussion & comparisons we were both comfortable with the choice made. My starting weight was very close to yours. I hope to get to 160 (well.. we'll see how things are looking when the time comes). I really think that this is a possible goal.

The sleeve isn't something that a lot of people sound familiar with. She may not be a part of the bariatric team there. I went to a seminar a year and 1/2 ago in support of someone looking into WLS & I'm pretty sure that they didn't mention it then. When I went for my seminar in December.. it's what the team was mostly tap dancing about. Good luck, I hope that they have it

I've had men not notice when I've cut 10+ inches off from my hair too... sometimes they just don't see things. There is a difference. Continue to take photo's, do measurements, how do your clothes feel, how do you feel when you exercise?

ooh, I love those things

My Mom was fond of mixing in coffee. You might want to look into sugar free Torani syrups.

I have my appointment on Tuesday. I know that they're taking a million (hopefully small) vials of blood so that they have it for later comparison to check nutrition levels. I think I'm meeting with the anesthesiologist & my nurse.

We were advised that raw veggies (other than lettuce & tomatoes) might not be well tolerated till 3 months out.

The order of phases that we were told at my hospital: Stage 1: Clear liquids w/protein shakes as supplements - 1 week (or more.. the nutritionist gives the ok to move on) Stage 2: full liquid and Protein shakes (yogurts, puddings, kefir, cream soups) - 1 week (again with nutritionist ok to move on) Stage 3: soft solid protein (tuna, ground turkey, cottage cheese, chicken/egg salad, white fish, ricotta) 2 week duration Stage 4: Adding in non protein foods Stage 4 is where we can add other foods back in, but... PROTEIN must be consumed first. If you have a little room left over then you can add things in. They advise for vegetables to always follow the protein, keeping in mind that potatoes are considered more a starch than a veggie. If it's the inside flavoring that you're craving.. do you mean the potato flavor? or is it some sort of spice? If it's spice, you can probably work it into some a mashed cauliflower that might help that craving. Keep in mind that it's not uncommon for tastes to change. You might not even want potatoes.

When I met with my surgeon we discussed why I had chosen the sleeve over the other options. I told him that I had ruled out lap band, which was my original preference, after seeing not especially great results in other people with it. He said that people sometimes choose lap band due to the initial risk being lower, but in the long run there's many cases of it slipping. So in the long run, it has it's complications as well. At my hospital they have monthly support group meetings. I haven't attended one, but we were advised that if we had family members with concerns and/or questions that this would be helpful for them as well. I had a couple appointments that we were told that it was the patient only (mostly due to space constraint) but every other appointment (and I've had many...) I'm pretty sure I could have family with me. I think this would probably be the best type thing to put her mind at ease a bit. Researching the surgery & diabetes online might help, but .. it's the internet.. you can find all kinds of crazy junk on there

Well, I thought my last entry would be it.. or it for a long time. I spent a couple days mourning what I thought was the end of the road (or major speed bump). It was a little bitter on Monday as I tried not to think about that being the day that my 2 week countdown (and liquid diet) would have started. Then Wednesday I receive a letter from my insurance.. now saying that my surgery date (which I was positive was gone) was now approved for April 1st-April 3rd. It's been a bit of a roller coaster. I left a message for my nurse and felt disappointed that they had received a copy faxed & no one had followed up with me. I was expecting to get a call & have them basically in the same boat.. getting ready to look at June appointments (which again puts a BIG kink in my insurance situation). I started the morning with a nice surprise. My A1C had gone from a 9 in November to 4.1 or something crazy when tested last week. I'm hoping that my physical tomorrow is on the happier side. My nurse called me back from the bariatric dept & asked if I was still up for this. I said yes, but had that sad feeling of bad news to come. When the dept called me back to discuss my surgery date.. somehow they were able to squeeze in my original date of April 1st! I didn't really think it would be possible. I had missed almost a week of the 2 week mandatory liquid diet & when I received the original bad news about my surgery date getting kicked to the curb, I had been on my way to do the various blood tests and all that. The nurse advised that if I started the liquid diet tomorrow, we could be game on! So, I rushed out and picked up a few boxes of the New Direction shakes. I am still on the cautious side about getting my emotions too high up. Tuesday I'm going to get my blood work done & I'm just going to hope for the best, but still hang on to some doubts.. just to try to avoid a complete emotional crash if this falls apart again. Till then.. lots of finger crossing and breath holding

Just as I thought it was going alright, I found out I'm wrong when I thought I was right, always the same, its just a shame, that's all As I was on my merry way to do my hospital preadmissions the phone rang. Insurance decided to throw a curve ball 3 weeks prior to surgery. Now they want 6 months of documented medical weight loss, which wouldn't be so bad if my insurance wasn't going to be up before then. My insurance is linked to unemployment, which I am not most likely not going to have for June +. I can't apply for state insurance, because I already have insurance.. I'm just stuck. Get a new job? Yes I know, and then expect that I can take a couple weeks off once I have insurance there? That's probably another year, and then get told that I have to dance through 10+ doctor appointments again. I've noted to myself several times during this that I wouldn't have been able to do all these appointments with my previous places of employment. Still, I get to drive out to Burlington tomorrow to meet with a surgeon to discuss a surgery that he'll probably never do & see a nutritionist to discuss a post op diet that I probably won't be need to be following. Still, the was the last of my requirements.. so I'm going to see that through. Maybe it will help some time in the future. In the meanwhile, I'm going to try my best to keep on the wagon best I can. I'm very goal oriented, but it requires outside checkpoints. I'm just going to work on what I can & hope that I don't become "weak" like before.

Tonight I had an appointment at Lahey, well I thought I had 2, but it turned out into being a class with a few other ladies there. It hosted by the other bariatric nurse & nutritionist (we get assigned a team, but I've met the other "team" during these group meetings). It was an overall good presentation with some good to know info. It started off with the nurse giving an us an idea what to expect on the day of surgery & how to best prepare. The 2nd portion was the nutritionist going over our after surgery diet & supplements. I thought that I already knew quite a bit from reading other folk's posts, but I did learn some things tonight: No driving for 1 week after the surgery Prior to the surgery, no vitamins for 2 weeks & no pain medications other than Tylenol Breathing exercises 40-50 times day (to help prevent pneumonia) No gas-x strips required, they'll provide some if needed (after I just ordered some, of course) Prilosec for 1 month & Actigall (gallstone prevention) for 6 months Bye Bye steak & pork for about 3 months. Also raw veggies other than lettuce & tomatoes If a food gets stuck, DO NOT TAKE A SIP of something to try to fix it (get up and walk around instead) Being full is not going to be experienced the same way. Hiccups, burps or a runny nose could be the signal I had been growing a little concerned seeing people posting about dealing with their insurance companies & with approval/denial forms. It seems Lahey took care of all that, and if an issue does/did come up they try to resolve it. Pretty nice Overall, feeling pretty good. Next week has a total of 7 appointments for me (groan) but I think some of them will just kinda slide into one another (hospital admissions to the nurse examination, etc) so it shouldn't be too too bad. The reality of all this is starting to lurk back into the picture, but I'm not freaking out again (yet).

I had to "vow" a few times to not get pregnant for a year and 1/2 after the procedure. Best bet is to talk to your doctor & make sure that your body can handle the stress & provide the required nutrients to your baby.