Mel1071

Truck daddy, it kind of depends. Most things I've seen say 1-2 hours. But when I talked to my surgeon he said he should be done in 45 minutes. Of course, this was before we found out I have a hernia that needs repairing. That should add on a bit more time.

My doctor wants us to be soda-free for six months. After that he says we could drink it again with no issues but, and I quote, "why would you want to?"

Nah, not weird at all. My doc only requires a 2 day clear liquid diet and that's more of a bowel prep than anything else.

So glad to hear things are going well for you! Your husband sounds like a real keeper!

Hmmm...not sure what is up with the Facebook page coming up blank. Did you click on the link of the very first post of that main thread? If you friend Ashlie Marie (NewAshes is her name on this site) she will add you ASAP. The FB page is actually a little busier than this page just because it's easier for most of us to access.

I was simply told not to gain any weight. Plus I only have to do a 2 day pre-op clear liquid diet to prep for surgery.

Hi Mainexplorer! I'm right there with you. My surgery is 12/16 - I've never had surgery before either and the unknown always freaks me out This is a great place to get info from folks who have been there, done that. There is a whole forum for us December sleevers http://www.bariatricpal.com/forum/679-decmber-2013-sleevers/ including a very active main thread http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/283805-december-2013-sleevers-come-in/ There is also info on how to join our secret Facebook group if you're interested. Where are you having surgery?

Wow, it's almost time for the December sleeves to shine! I hope anyone who feels up to it will share how their surgery goes. It will help those of us in the wings tremendously . Good thoughts and prayers going out to us all!

Self pays pay the whole amount - self pay does not refer to your portion of insurance costs. Totally different beast.

That was exactly my thought. It seems to me as if some doctors are putting $$$$ ahead of patients' best interests - which is why I had the suspicion he was having her buy the shakes from his practice. 17g of sugar, IMHO, is just way too much.

My surgeon's office said the Only possible way I had a chance of getting around the exclusion clause is if my insurance is self funded - then I might be able to fight it. We,, it wasn't . Our insurance had an exclusion and it was not self-funded so I went the self-pay route. Self pay can run from 4-5K (Mexico) to 20K+ (in the states).

By any chance does your surgeon require you to buy your Optifast from his office?

It's just so nice to be among people who are right where you are. And right now it seems like everyone has started or is getting ready to start their pre-op diet so it is really getting real now

I have anxiety issues too and this is my first ever surgery so I'm thinking it won't be a bad idea to have him along for the ride I figure day 1 I'm going to be pretty out of it, but I would appreciate seeing a familiar face when I come to. Not sure how Day 2 goes... Candyland86 - hello sleeve sister! Have you joined the December sleevers thread yet? Lots of us over there plus we have a Facebook group (it's private so the whole world doesn't need to know your business

Oh , trust me I don't feel like having to deal with people but hubby is my rock . I'm scheduled for surgery at 8am on the 16th and should be released on the 18th. He was talking about taking off the 16th and 17th to be with me, working half a day on Wednesday and then taking that afternoon off to pick me up. He has to work some that week as his office will be closing for the rest of the year starting the following week. I'm getting the feeling that my hubby is starting to stress about me having surgery. I think he wants to be there as much as possible and while I don't think I'll mind him being there I don't want him going crazy either. Thanks for the input!

Tomorrow is my crazy long day of VSG fun! Upper GI at 9 at one hospital, Pre-op class at 11 at my surgeon's office, and then I head to the hospital where I'm having surgery. Not sure how long everything is supposed to last but I suspect it's going to be a long day. The one good thing is even though I have to go to 3 different places, they are all on the same campus and within walking distance from each other. I'm looking forward to tomorrow but part of me is also like, what if they find something wrong? But I guess that's why they're doing it 3 weeks before surgery - so if something like h. pylori shows up I have time to treat it.

Keep in mind, there is a big difference between self-pay prices and insurance paid prices. I'm paying $18,032 in TN - surgeon fee, hospital fee, anesthesiologist fee, also includes complication insurance, pre-op support groups, lifetime of unlimited access to nutritionist, exercise physiologist, post-op support groups, and follow up visits with my surgeon - 1 week, 6 week, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, 1 year.

I'm not telling people ahead of time and I'm not ashamed of the surgery. My reason for not telling people is, quite frankly, I don't feel like hearing everyone's horror stories of knowing someone who knew someone who had WLS who had all of these horrible complications. Don't need to hear that right now. Plus, I'm not one to tell people a lot about my personal (especially medical) life anyway. After the surgery I plan on being much more open about things, but not beforehand.

I got that feeling from my doctor as well. Now, understand, my doctor is, how to I say it? A little on the very confident side (and has the results to back it up). Anyway, when I met with him at the initial consult I asked him two questions that had popped into my head after reading the forum. One was about the pre-op diet. I assumed it would be for 2 weeks. He said, nah, 2 days beforehand as a bowel prep will be fine. I was like, oh, but I keep seeing everyone post about having to shrink their liver and he stopped me and laughed and said something to the effect of (and I'm paraphrasing here) hey, you're hiring a pro and quite frankly, 2 weeks isn't going to do all that much for the liver. I also asked him about what I could do about the shoulder/gas pain after surgery. He was almost offended by this lol He said um, I am not leaving you full of gas to the point you're going to feel pain afterwards. If a surgeon does that to his patients he's just being lazy and not taking the time to get it out. I've talked to a number of his patients and they've confirmed their gas pain was minimal to non-existent. There are 3 doctors in my doc's office and they all take turn doing the info seminars. A lot of people are turned off by my doc and his very straight to the point manner and say after seeing him at the seminar they don't want him. I like his cockiness and his no BS attitude. The best compliment I heard about him was from some nurses saying he's the doc you want to trust with your life. He may piss you off personally, but as a medical professional he's the best out there.

You may not have a throat scope done. My doc is having me do an upper GI - just involves swallowing some barium and having X-rays taken of your stomach and, well, upper GI area. Every doc is different it seems I went to an info seminar, met with my surgeon a week later and scheduled surgery the same day. I pretty much had my choice of time but wanted to wait until after this semester was done. My surgery coordinator told me it was a good thing I was booking early as their December times book quickly. Not only do they have a lot of folks who want to use their vacation time at the holidays to recover, but they also have folks who want to get everything done before the first of the year. Add that to the fact that it seems like a lot of surgeons are taking the week of Christmas off (at least a lot of the ones in my area are) and you have fewer days to book in December.

It says they're not allowed in the surgery unit - I suspect they are still allowed in your room. I would double check.

If it's any consolation - I haven't heard anyone say removing the drain hurts. I've heard that people say that it feels odd but doesn't hurt. Good luck to you!

That was one good thing about making my appointment back in September - I got to claim the first surgery time I had no desire to sit around and wait.

Ok, this cracked me up lol. Love it! I cannot believe by this time in 4 weeks I'll most likely be recovering in my hospital room. Wow. People weren't kidding when they said the time would fly by.

Glad to see more 12/16 folks! 4 weeks tomorrow!