lagoveride

You are going to do great. I think the gas pain a couple of days post op was the worst part of everything. Although everyone is different and it might not be an issue for you. Walking as much as possible is important. I think once you eventually get back to eating regular food down the road you will start to feel better. Also remember to weigh your food and eat slowly. I vomited a couple of times during my adjustment. I think you will easily hit your goal by thanksgiving. best of luck

Thank you for your kind words. I was much in the same boat my whole life. I would lose then regain it back plus what seemed like 100 times over throughout the years. I do agree that the limited stomach capacity is a big help and the lack of constantly being hungry has been great.

Hey everyone. I know I should not feel like a failure at all, but I am now down 62 pounds and I am at the weight I used to be last time I was on a serious diet. I feel like I will only start accomplishing something when I lose more weight from here. Has anyone else had this experience/feeling? I have about 95 pounds give or take until I reach my goal which seems like its going to take forever, but I am doing my best working out with a trainer and going to the gym on my own. I can see the weight loss in the miror, but I dont think I can enjoy it as much as I should because I have been this size many times before in the past. (I know this time it will be different I just wish I did not feel this way.

Thanks for your reply. I took some stool softener. If that does not work I might bump it up to something stronger like what you listed. I did not have a drain, but i have a rather large incision that is giving me all the pain. I hope its pain level goes down so i do not have to take the pain meds. Yea thats the thing I have heard other surgeons move people quickly to puree then back to real food.

I have some things I would like to share and some questions that maybe more seasoned sleevers could answer. Ok. So on the 24th I went in to get sleeved at Mount Saini in NYC (lost 20 pounds in 10 days of pre op diet . When I awoke I was in a bunch of pain, but once I had the pain pump of dilauden up to speed I was feeling ok. I woke up in the surgical recovery area where all people who have any type of operation go. They did not have a room ready for me so I ended up staying the night in this area. Which was kind of good because I was getting the best care. Eventually I was able to get up and start walking and I even went to the bathroom to do number 1 (which i was told was a very good sign). My surgeon came by the next morning and said ok your incisions look good and you seen to be doing well. ( I think he was talking about my lung capacity and vitals being back to normal.) He started me on what he called Stage 1 diet. The nurse brought a tray with 1 bowl of chicken broth, 1 bowl of green Jello, 1 low calorie gatorade and a cup of lipton hot tea with a spenda) _Now at this point I was not told how to sip or what pace I was supposed to try and consume these things. I was worried because with the pain meds I was on I would not notice if I pushed it to far and also I had no clue and went about sipping the broth in somewhat large gulps. Strangely enough I was able to handle this. I know Fluid can go through you a lot faster, but I fugured because of the swelling I should not be able to tolerate this much fluid. Has anyone heard of anyone being able to do this so soon? Before I knew it I finished the hot cup of tea and the whole bowl of chicken broth in like 5-10min. Ok so after this I was finally put into a private room in a wing of the hospital that only houses patient who have had some sort of abdominal surgery. ( which is kind of funny to see all these people roaming the hallways trying to walk the gas out) lol Anyways. I spent most of my time here walking the halls and within the first few hours the nurse took me off the pain pump and started me on 1 crushed oxycodone mixed with a little gatorade every 4 hours. I would not need this, but the large incision where my stomach was pulled out from is the number one thing at this point giving me pain. As far as the gas goes I felt some floating around, but I did not have much pain. After about 30 more laps of walking I went into the room to attempt some sleep. At this point my shoulders did not hurt but had a really hot burning sensation. Could this have been some of the gas getting stuck in my shoulders???? I was not able to sleep much in the bed and ended up sleeping in the chair in my room which was not so bad except i woke up with the worst neck pain, but what could I do I am a side sleeper and the large incision is still painful to this day. I think its the stomach muscle under the incision, but you get my point. Ok so yesterday my surgeon comes up to my room. looks at my incisions and says I am healing better than most people and that he want to start me on the puree stage which he called stage 2... Now this confused me because the packets of information I got from his office talked about Clear liquids post op until day 5 then full liquids then puree then soft foods etc..... all with time lines for each stage..... I expressed this to him and he said well if you chew up a soft food enough or blend it enough it will become a puree food. He said to eat a puree died for the next 3 weeks and then meet with him and the nutritionist. Has anyone ever heard of starting the puree stage on the 2nd or 3rd day post op?? He then told me that I was able to suppliment my Protein with shakes when needed, but he wanted me to try and get my protein in from purees as much as possible and to do about 60 grams a day for now. He then left and later on a tray filled with gerber baby food jars and some drinks were brought in. I finished about half of 1 jar which was carrots. later on in the day I was released. I was given a prescription for oxycodone to use crushed up every 6 hours in order to kill the pain i have on my large incision. ( I hope this will go away soon... If someone could chime in on this that would be great. ) So last night I was about to finish 3oz of apple sauce from a 4oz jar. ( I am still worried about being to tell when I should stop) I was told by a friend that some people do not feel the restriction until more heavy solid foods and a rule of thumb would be to measure and never eat anything over 4oz. ) Fastforward to today I am still on the pain meds which makes walking around a lot easier. I take about an hour to finish a protien shake, but I can feel that I am able to drink bigger sips without getting that refluxy feeling from drinking to fast. I am going to listen to the doctors orders and incorporate as much puree everyday as I can. I just do not know if I will meet the protein goals yet. One other huge concern I have been having is I have yet to make a bowel movement. The last time was like 2 days before surgery so it has been like 5 days already. I was finally about to release some gas about an hour ago which I hear is a good sign. Anyone have any idea on how long it should be before I get concerned about not having one? So here I sit 3 days post op. Overall a very good experience. I would love for you guys further along than I am to chime in about some of the issues I discussed. Thanks. [sharedmedia=trackers:tickers:9527] [sharedmedia=trackers:tickers:9367]

Only 1 more day........... [sharedmedia=trackers:tickers:9367]

i had over 6 months worth of hoops to jump through before they submitted all my paperwork. I was told insurance companies can take forever. With that said. They gave me a surgery date then submitted my paper work. If they give you a date prior to submiting everything it forces the insurance company to make a decision within 30 days by law. otherwise they can just take forever. I got my approval within 2 weeks. I hope this helps. [sharedmedia=trackers:tickers:9367]

you can do it. I am getting sleeved on wed. I have been doing ok with the shakes on my pre op diet. sunday night I go only Clear liquids that should be interesting. Just hang in there. That is what I keep telling myself. It is not worth it to go off course and risk having your liver not shrink enough. I want my recovery to be as good as possible.

wow that is a real crummy situation. I hope they work it out. I am glad to know though that it is a freak occurance. I am having my surgery in nyc and I know the expense will be high whatever it turns out to be. I just hope something like that does not happen to me. [sharedmedia=trackers:tickers:9367]

how is that possible? what happens if you lose your appeal. how much is the surgeons bill. I dont understand how they can approve all those other things but not pay the surgeon.

Thanks for your reply. I do know I have to pay 500 for hospital stay co-pay or whatever. I dont mind having to pay little things. I was just worried about the insurance co not covering the bulk of the costs. I do have the approval letter in hand. [sharedmedia=trackers:tickers:9367]

Thanks for your reply. I was just speaking to a nurse freind of mine who has since put my mind at ease. I guess this pre op diet is making me a bit on edge and thinking the worst. I think you are right that it is just a standard list that they attach to all packets they send out. It did scare me though. I do have a letter of approval, but at the bottom it says payment is based on "member enrollment and eligibility", "terms, conditions and limitations of the members health benefits plan". I guess those are just standard lines as well. I thought if your insurance approves you then they have to pay. I mean I understand that I have to pay whatever co-pays, but I was under the impression that they have to pay the surgeon in full. I have never heard of percentages. any idea what percentage is normal? [sharedmedia=trackers:tickers:9367]

I posted this in another thread, but I have yet to receive any replys so I am starting a new topic. kind of a dumb question. I have oxford insurance. Its a cheap policy that I have been paying out of pocket for. I did the whole 6months of seeing a primary care doctor. I got an endoscapy, chest x-ray with breathing test, letter from a shrink, letters from the surgeon and my primary care doc, and a bunch of other things. So I got approval and I am slated for surgery on wed. I was looking through a packet that oxford sent me about a month ago. Just a standard packet showing policy benefits and limitations. On one page there was a list of excluded proceedures and bariatrics was on that list. Now I know they cover the surgery because about a year ago when I was checking out different doctors one of the nurses called my insurance co with my policy number and type and was told the surgery is covered. So I just find it strange that in that list bariatrics would be something NOT covered. So should I be worried? I mean I have approval and whatnot. They cannot just refuse to pay the surgeon after they approve someone right? also I was looking at the benefits section and I will have to pay a small co-pay for the 2 day hospital stay which is fine. I am worried about them paying for the surgery in full and the anesthesia. Now I know the anesthesiologist takes my insurance and since im approved for the operation..... I would love for someone to chime in here. Do you think the insurance company has to pay everything in full since they approved me or could they screw me over and say we approved you for the surgery but we are not paying...... I do not want to call the insurance co and screw anything up.. I am only 6 days away from being post op. idk maybe I am just over reacting. [sharedmedia=trackers:tickers:9367]

kind of a dumb question. I have oxford insurance. Its a cheap policy that I have been paying out of pocket for. I did the whole 6months of seeing a primary care doctor. I got an endoscapy, chest x-ray with breathing test, letter from a shrink, letters from the surgeon and my primary care doc, and a bunch of other things. So I got approval and I am slated for surgery on wed. I was looking through a packet that oxford sent me about a month ago. Just a standart packet showing policy benefits and limitations. On one page there was a list of excluded proceedures and bariatrics was on that list. Now I know they cover the surgery because about a year ago when I was checking out different doctors one of the nurses called my insurance co with my policy number and type and was told the surgery is covered. So I just find it strange that in that list bariatrics would be something NOT covered. So should I be worried? I mean I have approval and whatnot. They cannot just refuse to pay the surgeon after they approve someone right? also I was looking at the benefits section and I will have to pay a small co-pay for the 2 day hospital stay which is fine. I am worried about them paying for the surgery in full and the anesthesia. Now I know the anesthesiologist takes my insurance and since im approved for the operation..... I would love for someone to chime in here. Do you think the insurance company has to pay everything in full since they approved me or could they screw me over and say we approved you for the surgery but we are not paying...... idk maybe I am just over reacting. [sharedmedia=trackers:tickers:9367]

Maybe I could chime in here. I had to go through a 6+month process of jumping through hoops to get insurance approval. I think what made everything easy in terms of the paperwork was that all my doctors were located in the same hospital. So I would see my primary care doc 1 time a month. He at the end of everything wrote a letter and submited his notes to the insurance co. I also had to get a letter from a shrink. A letter from my surgeon. A breathing test. endoscopy, bloodwork, chest xray, etc.etc... I think I I had to run around I would have gone nuts. I think it also helped in my approval from the insurance company because all my paperwork over the past year is all on the same computer system. I got my approval fairly quickly once everything I had to do was done. Sorry to keep rambling on. So I guess my advice would be to try and have all your appointments within the same hospital and a primary care doc can be changed easily. I hope this helps somewhat.