DwindlingJen

I could just WEEP when I hear of stories like this. I guess we can chalk it up to ignorance? It's really too bad.

I am in agreement with CowgirlJane. I was just sleeved on 4/9/14, but I already feel exactly how she feels. With the band I could be sliming and bent over the toilet, but still thinking about the food left on my plate and how once the food got unstuck I would try to eat it. With the sleeve I feel satiated. I eat slow and steady and once I feel satisfied I can stop without the uncontrollable urge to keep eating. I feel more in control. This is the best decision I've ever made. So happy. Good luck on your July surgery! Oh my word, I cannot tell you how good it is to hear this With the band, if I get something stuck I'm miserable. First there's the pain and then the slime and then the vomiting. But worst of all is that I'm still hungry but I cannot take a single bite because my chest hurts and it's swollen around my band so every bite would be agony...etc. etc.! It's just so nice to hear how different the sleeve is. July 17th cannot come fast enough

This is a great thread. I'm a band to sleeve revision and I've been wondering about the very same thing.

First, congrats on quitting nicotine. That is HARD. I quit 10 months ago. I've never done anything more difficult and I'm not lying. The first few weeks are murderous. If you can get through those you can do anything Keep up the good work! I was nervous for the psych eval as well. There are certain things I don't really want to know about myself, ha ha. Seriously though the only thing you can do is be honest when answering all of the questions. Apparently it's quite obvious if you try to fudge to make yourself seem "better" than you are. Everyone has faults...lying to say you've never stolen a pen from work is just silly I hope I'm making sense here? You'll see what I mean when you take the test! Best of luck!

I'm not looking forward to my 1 week liquid diet. 2 weeks...whew. That will be tough but I bet you can do it!

Great response, Janet! Love that!

Ahh, nervous spouses My first thought was, Oh how I wish my journey would have been that quick! (I fought my insurance company for a year) But then I checked myself and reminded myself that we are all on different journeys and if I had been approved that fast my head would have been a'spinning! Best wishes, you've got this!

Congratulations! That insurance battle can be long and bloody Way to go not giving up! I don't have a lot of advice yet, as I'm pre-op as well. Soon though, soon!

I'm surprised at the vast differences in the pre-op diets all of our surgeons request. (It makes me wonder how necessary it is. I'll still follow his instructions....but it does make me wonder, lol) I'm to be on a liquid diet of sugar-free Carnation instant Breakfast for 1 week. I think 3 days of yogurt sounds great!

Oh, how I can relate! I love how everyone here has a different take on this subject. Some will tell the world and not care. Some will keep it to themselves so that you don't have to hear the judgey judgersons. This time around I'm not telling many people. (I told more folks when I had the band yearrrsss ago) My best pal, my sister, my husband and kids...that's it. I told my mom and I could see the judgement in her eyes. This is a woman that has been overweight her entire life. She told me "you know the right way to do this and so do I." Really?!? I've watched her yo yo forever. How's that working for her? It's NOT. Ugh. We know how hard this is, we know what this journey is like, we know this isn't the easy way to go, and it's up to us whether or not we tell a damn soul.

The certified mail idea is pretty genius! Wish I'd known you a year ago

I have a different insurance but I think so many of them are trained to be negative nellies Keep fighting! Those companies bank on the people that give up right away. It's not easy, that's for sure. I had to fight with mine (Humana) for an entire year. They had me jumping through hoops, resigning the same forms...in fact they would lie to my face and then deny they'd said certain things. My point is that it can be a hard slog but if you don't give up you'll win in the end!

I've heard of people using Gas X Strips. (The kind that dissolve on your tongue) They might work for you?

I think I worded that incorrectly. I meant it's sad that people judge others for making the decision to have surgery!

The Facebook group is working, thanks so much for setting it up. That brings me to an issue I see a lot of us are having. I don't want to join unless it's a secret group because I don't want a million questions from people. (It's none of their business but you know how people are, lol) Isn't it sad that we have to be secretive and weird about something that will literally save our lives?? Sigh.

Hi all, I'm new! I've lurked a little bit but for the longest time I was too downhearted to actually post in the forums. I had a very long and frustrating insurance process. Grrr...don't get me started After over a year of battling I was finally approved. Then I had to pay a big chunk of money before they would schedule my surgery (band to sleeve). But hooray, it's finally going to happen in July and I CANNOT WAIT. Now, I'm hoping to be active here. I need to learn about signatures and all the other bells and whistles here! Is there a FB group for July sleevers by any chance? Talk to you all soon

I can't wait to be in the post surgery group of folks Congrats on your loss so far Dev!

I just posted for the first time in another area. I actually asked if there was an FB group for July sleevers Tah dah, I guess that there is. I think I added myself to the group...just waiting for my confirmation! WHOOPS, the group I found was for July 2013. Wrong year, Jen! I'll keep my eyes open for a July 2014 group.