rivergirl

I thought of 1 more tip that may help. When I went to my required preop class, the nutritionist was all about choosing low calorie, low fat, low sodium foods. When I met with the other nutritionist that I was assigned to, I mentioned my philosophy is to eat real foods - have an egg, have a cup of whole milk, have dark meat, have a hamburger. She said she was ok with that as long as I had restriction and was losing weight. I've always had pretty tight restriction, so even eating real foods with real fat and oh-my-gosh, cooked with salt, I was getting a MAX of 900 calories in, if that. So I would encourage you to eat real food - it doesn't all have to be heavy or fatty, but have thigh meat (it's easier on my tummy and tastes better), have shrimp, have a hamburger patty, have avocado, full fat yogurt. But don't get caught up in all the diet foods that may be allowed - Protein bars are usually really high in sugar and are a trigger food for me, low fat salad dressing just doesn't taste good, skinny cow just about anything is just going to torture you - because you can eat it, but you'll want more and more. I still "cheat" occasionally, but where I went through a couple weeks where I kept skinny cow ice cream in the house and went from having 1 every couple days to 2-3 a DAY, now I don't buy them at all, but every couple weeks my hubby and I will go to culvers and I'll get a single scoop of frozen custard and throw half of it away. It tastes better, is way more satisfying and doesn't make me crave it constantly. You are gonna do great! This site has been really helpful for me, but keep in mind that a lot of people come here because they are having issues with their sleeve. I'm in a Facebook group with other people who had surgery the same month, and very few of us even come on here anymore. Just a heads up

You'll get there, just hold on!! Follow your surgeons rules - they're there for a reason! I'm doing really REALLY well - 318 at my highest, 311 the morning of surgery (11/21) and 186 today. My surgeon says I'm ahead of the curve, but I also had a couple preop issues (pcos & LARGE hiatal hernia) that may have been contributing to metabolic issues. My tips for an easy recovery? - if you don't have a recliner, rent one for the first week. You'll sleep so much better and its much easier to get up - get out of bed as quickly as you can post-op. I was afraid my period started, so I got up as soon as I felt awake enough to get to the bathroom. While I was up I walked a very slow lap around the pod. After that, I was up walking very hour or two. - do NOT let nausea or pain sneak up on you the first couple days. Keep your zofran and vicodin ON TIME. Trust me on this . My surgery was in a Thursday afternoon and my last dose of pain meds was Monday morning, but the zofran continued for another day or two. - be gentle on your tummy. Don't push the limits with the diet restrictions. Keep the foods very soft and mild for a while and let your tummy heal. I couldn't have steak or pork for 6 months, but I did it - and finally, if you think it's going to suck, then it's going to suck. Keep your chin up, stay positive, remind yourself any pain, discomfort or frustration is only temporary and it will pass!

Where in Nebraska are you? I'm in sioux city, ia and am 11 months post-op.

I was with Minkin at Des Peres, too I had a very nice, VERY pregnant anesthesiologist though, so I'm pretty sure it wasn't the same as yours I'm 11 months post op tomorrow and down from 311 day of surgery to 187 today. I took 2 weeks off work, but honestly I could have gone back to my desk job after a week. My best advice for recovery is 1) take all your pain and nausea meds like clockwork the first couple days. I didn't need them after day 3 or 4, but if you need them do NOT get behind schedule. 2). Get vertical and walking as soon as you're able in the hospital. It makes such a difference. And 3) sleep in a recliner the first week. I had to rent one for a week, but you'll have one incision that's kind of sore (I didn't even feel the other 3) and it's much easier to get out of the recliner than a bed. Good luck!!!

Just wanted to update this thread since I saw my surgeon last week. I asked him about the metformin and he said "no way!". He explained it in more detail - metformin increases our sensitivity to insulin. Before surgery, not a problem because we're making a ton of insulin. As we lose weight, not only does our insulin resistance go away, but we produce less insulin as well. If we add Metformin, we will become too sensitive to insulin and our blood sugar will get too low. Long term, this can make us hypoglycemic. And what is the fix for low sugar? Eating something. So we'd just be shooting ourselves in the foot for weight loss. He did give me the green light to get pregnant, so I have an appt with on OBGYN in a couple weeks to do baseline fertility tests. Fingers crossed!

For those of you post-op, has your dr put you back on metformin or did you ever stop taking it? I was sleeved 11/21/13, and went to a new family doctor today. I moved to a small town recently, and the healthcare isn't quite what I'm used to. This dr had very little experience with weight loss surgery, and we talked about how I'd like to try to get pregnant soonish (I'm almost 36). We've been through fertility treatment pre-op and I always ovulated, but never got pregnant, so I'm a little concerned that weight loss won't help me. She told me it's simple - we'll just put you back on metformin. I told her my surgeon took me OFF metformin because it'll make my blood sugar too low, and she assured me that he took me off metformin before surgery because he didn't want to tax my liver with it if I became dehydrated post-op. Just wanted to see what your experiences were...I kind of think she's an idiot, but she's one if the best drs here

Joining in here a little late, but I'm in Sioux City. We just moved here this spring from St Louis, and finding a family dr up here who is familiar with VSG has been interesting, to say the least. I'm 10 months post op, and other than marrying my husband, this is the best thing I've ever done!

Short story is that 2 years ago, we TTC for over a year. I had PCOS but WAS ovulating on my own. Hubby's stuff is perfect. We did several months of clomid, trigger shots, follistim, IUI, etc. I always ovulated perfectly and always BFN. Fast forward to now...I'm 10 months post op and dr gave us the go ahead to TTC again. He assured me the 120# I've lost has cured my PCOS and we shouldn't have problems. I know weight loss helps non-ovulatory PCOS become ovulatory, but has anybody still needed assistance getting pregnant post-op? Or how long did it take you to conceive once you were *trying*?

You're wise to do your research and wait until you're ready. I honestly went through the same thing pre-op, I stalked this site every night and had to stop after reading so many complaints about complications or pain. What I realized, though, is that a lot if those people are older and already in poor health. Not all, but a lot. I'm in my mid-30's, was healthy (other than PCOS and weight) and was completely comfortable with my surgeon. I had no idea what to expect, because I'd never had surgery before. But, before surgery, they give you happy meds in the IV to help you stay calm. The worst part for me was the time right after the surgery where they had to keep dosing me up with zofran for the nausea. But in hindsight, that was only half an hour or so and I barely remember. Once I got up to the max dose, I was just fine. My pain wasn't much at all - I needed the pain meds, but as long as I stayed on top of it every 4 hours, it stayed below a "3". I walked to get rid of chest pressure which wasn't as much painful as annoying. Post-op, I've had ZERO complications. Nothing. No complaints. I followed my surgeons diet progression carefully, I don't drink carbonated beverages ever and I stop when I get my full signal. This meant waiting 6 freaking months before I could have steak, but the 125# I've lost since November makes it all worth it.

So my nurse from UHC called me yesterday to give me the good news that I'm approved!! She said she just got off the phone with my drs coordinator and let her know, so I should be getting a call shortly to schedule surgery. Being ever so patient, I waited until noon today without hearing anything from surgeons office. I just called the drs coordinator and was told they won't schedule anything until they receive the written approval. Through the mail. Arrrrrgggghhh!! The holidays are coming fast and I really need to get something on the calendar so we can arrange for coverage at work when lots of people will be taking vacation time. Annoying.

Everything ended up working out. My insurance called me with approval on Monday and dr hat Friday afternoon my drs office called me to schedule. My surgery was 11/21 and all is going well!

We've done it both ways, but when we decide to share an entree, I ask the server for an extra plate and follow that quickly with "we're going to share an entree, but don't worry, we tip well." It hasn't been a problem and we've always had great service (and we tip at least 25% to make up for the difference).

The pain from the surgery gas can radiate anywhere - especially in the chest, shoulders or upper arms. When I woke up in recovery, the worst of it was in my collar bones. Morphine mellowed it a bit, but not entirely. I was up walking within 2 hours of being in my room post-op and would continue to walk every 2-3 hours just to get that pinch in my collarbone gone. By 24-36 hours postop, it was mostly gone. Just keep walking!!

My hospitals policy is no catheters for surgeries under 4 hours, so I was pretty happy about that. I was the last surgery of the day and was moved from recovery to my room just after 7 pm. My period was due, so as soon as I felt awake enough, around 8:30, I asked the nurse to help me out of bed to the bathroom. I had a ton of gas pain, so I decided as long as I'm up I'm going to walk. My nurse was totally impressed and said I was the first patient of the day to walk. It really helped with the gas, though. I ended up walking several laps about every 2-3 hours through the night.

No, I'm sorry I haven't. I ran across dr minkin's name when i was researching surgeons, and was impressed that he was a center of excellence and the head of the bariatrics dept at des Peres. I searched his names on several forums, and he has happy patients. If you aren't 100% certain about your surgeon, I HIGHLY recommend dr. Minkin. My surgery and recovery have been picture perfect.

I was just sleeved on 11/21 with Dr. Minkin at Des Peres Hospital.

I'm near St. Louis as well - in Lake St. Louis

I have pcos, but have Fairly regular cycles. I was due the day of surgery and the preop nurse said I'd probably wake up from surgery with it. As it turned out, it didn't start until 2 weeks after surgery.

I kept a pillow on my tummy the first few days, and my 10# cat could lay on that just fine. My 70# dog who thinks she's a lap dog was my biggest concern. I stayed in the recliner and she would put her front legs and her head on my lap (not belly) and just gave me sad eyes for a few days.

Maybe low blood pressure? Try some salted soup or maybe g2 Gatorade and see if it helps...

I'm 8 days post op and down 9.5# from surgery morning. If I really concentrate on it and watch the clock throughout the day, I can get in 64 oz of fluids and about 45g of protein. I started full liquids yesterday and am able to do 1/4-1/3 c. of creamy soup or cream of wheat, but then I'm full. Feeling really good, though!

I second the ninja mega if you're looking for a cheaper option. I make a perfectly smooth spinach blueberry protein smoothie in the individual cup. We picked it up at kohls with a 30% coupon on top of a sale. Favorite thing in my kitchen right now!

I'm one dr visit away from sending it in for approval, but I've told a few people that I will probably be having surgery in November for a hiatal hernia repair because the reflux from it is causing so much damage to my esophagus (true story). My immediate family and best friend know the truth, but I used this with a coworker who feeds info to my boss (my boss is nosy and would be PISSED if my elective surgery interfered with her holiday vacation plans) and with another committee member for a food pantry I'm involved with (she can't count on me to direct the Boy Scout food drive in November). Other than that, everybody else can just think I fell off the map for a week because I didn't feel well.

I've googled and yahooed and binged and I can't find anything about my strange insurance question. Wondering if maybe someone has a little more insurance knowledge than I? I am insured by UHC (primary) and Cigna (secondary). Both are self-funded plans by my & my husband's respective employers (I think this may be an important fact). UHC is aware they are primary, and Cigna is aware they are secondary. As many of you know, UHC has a 6 month supervised weight loss requirement and Cigna only requires 3 months. When I first began this process, my husband called Cigna to find out about the coverage. He asked the person if Cigna would still cover the surgery if I CHOSE not to meet the 6 month requirement for UHC. They said that as long as they have a denial letter from UHC or an EOB showing a payment of $0.00, Cigna would then cover the procedure in full. I didn't quite believe this, so I called myself and explained the situation to someone else - that UHC does cover the surgery, but I would choose not to meet the 6 month requirement. That person also told me that Cigna would cover it in full as long as it is first submitted to UHC, and then the denial letter is submitted to Cigna. I made a 3rd call just to see if I would get a different answer, and I was told the same thing, but they added that since UHC was going to deny it (and it's inpatient) that Cigna would require a precertification. When I spoke to the business manager at my surgeon's office, she told me I was flat out wrong and that this was impossible. That even though this is what Cigna told me, the precertification was not a guarantee of payment and when Cigna reviewed it after surgery they would refuse to pay it. She explained that if this was because I didn't meet UHC's bmi requirement it would be a different story, but since I would be choosing not to qualify my doing the extra 3 months, Cigna would "absolutely not pay for the surgery". I called Cigna AGAIN after this and made sure they understood i would be CHOOSING not to meet the 6 month requirement, so UHC would be paying zero. Cigna said, yep, you'll be fine. She looked up my plan and said, "Yeah, you're 'higher allowable' so Cigna would cover it in full as long as UHC processes the claim first and then sends us the EOB showing no payment" I know something is strange with the cigna plan, because typically secondary plans will only pay the remaining charges after primary has processed and paid a claim. They have been showing the primary payment on the EOB, then what their CONTRACTED payment is (so if the remaining balance is $40, they'll pay $80 because that's they're contracted rate) and then they've been sending us the checks with the overpayment. This has been going on all year we've had the 2 policies, and when we've called Cigna about the checks, they told us they have to pay the contracted rate no matter how much primary has paid. So, if you've hung in here up to now...here are a couple questions: - Have you ever dealt with anything like this? - Can (and will) Cigna deny this when the actual claim is submitted post-op? - Is there any way to get something in writing from Cigna since we've been told by 4 different people this wouldn't be a problem? - I know this may not be the typical way a secondary policy works, but is it possible it's because the plan is self-funded?

Sonya, sorry I didn't explain that. If I do the full 6 months,it would put my surgery in 2014. My primary coverage is pretty awful and will only cover $10,000 lifetime. My employer's policy has been covering less and less every year, so there is a good possibility it could be a full exclusion next year. My husband's insurance is secondary and will cover 100%, but they had a policy change last year where if a spouse is able to get coverage through their own employer, their self-funded policy will only cover as secondary. There are rumors that they are changing that to not covering spouses at all if they are able to get insurance through their own employer. We won't know for sure until sometime in November.