piercedqt78

I didn't read the entire thread, I'm a long timer for Bariatric Eating, being banded almost 9 years ago, and the revising to the sleeve last May. My band life was wrought with complications, with my band and also with my medical issues. So any weight I lost was regained from extended bed rest, inability to exercise or even walk for almost a year. When I got my sleeve, I was determined to exercise daily. My body has a very different plan for my journey. I am 15 pounds under my doctors goal. And I eat what I want. The NUT told me to start getting my Protein from shakes, and start eating more carbs, as I am borderline underweight. I am looking at plastics now, but they want me to pick up a few pounds before I can have surgery. He doesn't want me going into surgery and not being healthy enough to heal. My surgeon faxed him my last 3 sets of near perfect labs, and he has agreed to back down from 15 pounds gained to only 5 pounds. I was instructed to start a daily insure shake until I am back to 118 pounds. I eat pizza once a week, a single slice of super thin crust cheese with either beef or veggies. I also drink iced tea all day long, with 1/2 cup of sugar per gallon. When I told my NUT and doctor what I eat they were fine with it, as long as I'm not OVER eating, they aren't worried. I make really good choices most of the time, but I am human, not perfect and I eat what sounds good to me. I love grilled shrimp and scallops, and could honestly live on grilled chicken. Today I made a nice southern Easter dinner, it was fried chicken, green Beans, mashed potatoes and Red Lobster's garlic cheddar biscuits with fresh strawberries and homemade whipped cream. My family will have ice cream with dessert, but I can't tolerate it at all I don't worry about tracking my food, I did in the beginning and once I had a good feel for my daily calories/protein/carbs I stopped using MFP and just eat what I want in tiny portions. I use my tool to reduce my portions, not to only eat bland food. And my NUT and Surgeon say I'm doing great.

I just started them, but they are the ones that my insurance covers. So I guess they are good. If you are doing shakes and Vitamins I would check with www.insurenutrition.com

Just an FYI it's 4 times a day. That is what I was shipped from Insurenutrition.com they also provided Protein shakes, and scar cream. All covered by my health insurance. And they are a sponsor here on bariatric pal.

excess fat stores estrogen and you may be dropping fat, and getting a big dose of estrogen dropped into your system. It could also be a yeast infection starting from the antibiotics that you were given during surgery. I was advised to either take a probiotic, drink kefir or eat yogurt to prevent yeast problems.

I will be 1 year post revision in early May, and still have a port. I just had my plastics consult and the surgeon asked me if my port was left in place. I told him no, but the bariatric surgeon explained that they had to "dig" it out of the scar tissue that had enveloped it. He is going to try to remove all the knot when/if I get my tummy tuck/thigh lift. I guess we will see what happens.

14 oz of the base is about 140 calories. Like I said it does have sugar, and calories, but if you are craving a coke or Dr. pepper there is no carbonation, and it really eases the craving. I get a child sized or a small, so it's about 70 calories for the 8 oz, and the diet dr pepper has like 10 calories. Not too bad.

I have a regular dr. pepper once in a while with no problem. For those that want the taste without the carbonation, go to Sonic and order a diet (whatever soda) made into a slush. They make it into an icee type drink using the flavored syrup, but not the carbonation. It taste the same, and has the same caffine without the bubbles. Just a word or warning though there are a few calories in the slush mix, but not enough to derail your progress. I lived on diet dr pepper slush with cherry and vanilla when I was on the liquid only phase in the first days post-op. The cold liquids helped with swelling and also kept me hydrated.

If you have a Sonic near you, they can make a slush with Diet Dr. Pepper. It's amazing, and no carbonation at all. They can also add cherry or vanilla syrup and it only adds a few calories. The slush mix has some calories, but not too many, and it really helps with the cravings.

I'm approaching my 1 year on May 8th. I still have a small knot in the port area. Looks and feels like I still have a port, and the more weight I drop the more visible it is. I'm going to talk to the plastic surgeon tomorrow about removing it when they do my lower body lift.

It was amazing easy, I had my surgery on a thursday afternoon and was back at work (no lifting) on Sat evening. I was a bit sore, but didn't take pain meds after the 2nd day. I felt so much better from the stomach issues that the little bit of discomfort from the incision was nothing.

ok, so I got a callback today about my stuff. I was approved for the scar cream, and Protein shakes but not the Vitamins. I was told by the gentleman that called me that they might send me Vitamin samples, but he wasn't sure. I was told when I called in the beginning that they waved any co-pays, then today I get the call about my stuff being shipped and that I was approved and provided a tracking number, then just before I hang up he says, "while I have you on the phone do you want to take care of the $45 co-pay? The stuff has already shipped, I told him I would wait for the invoice and mail them a money order or check. Sorry but I'm not giving a credit card to a company that I have never done business with, call me paranoid. I then called my prescription drug plan member service line, and was told the scar cream was billed at almost $5,000. That seems insanely high, but it was covered. I was a little disappointed that I can't get even the one month trial of the liquid vitamins, I asked if I could pay out of pocket for them, and was told "they are very expensive, and if Insurance doesn't cover them they are not really a good deal. He refused to even quote me a price. He did however tell me that I could get a letter from my Dr., and my insurance may make an exception for the vitamins. Who knows? So now I'm just waiting on my shipment. The tracking # says it's a 50 pound box. I will post when it arrives. He also told me they are hoping to have strawberry by the end of April, and if I wanted to try that I could call and change my order as long as I do it 24 hours before shipping time next month.

I had issues with my gallbladder, when they found no gallstones, and no swelling they did the hida scan, it was the worst pain I have ever experienced, and I had a baby that was almost 7 pounds naturally. When they did the injection into the iv for the hida scan within about 2 minutes I was in the fetal position from the pain. I have a super high pain tolerance and that pretty much took me to my knees. The tech took a few images, but said the pain told her way more than the scan itself would. When I got into my car and called my lapband surgeon (I was revised to a sleeve after 8 years of being banded) to let him know the results would be in his office before the close of business he asked how I was feeling, I told him I thought being hit by a Grey Hound bus would have felt better, he said "I'll have my scheduler put you on the first opening of my operating schedule. My gall bladder was filling but not emptying correctly, so I felt like a giant balloon was being inflated in my chest. After it was removed I was back to my old self within 24 hours. Before I went to my surgeon I was in the ER 4 times with chest pain, vomiting and shortness of breath. They kept telling me I either had indigestion, GERD, or it was all in my head. I'm glad I insisted that my surgeon look into it, if not for him sending me for the HIDA scan I would still be dealing with it, or it would have ruptured. It's funny I walked into his office when the pain was still bad on a daily basis and told him to remove my lapband, and while he was inside my abdomen to poke around and see what was going on to cause the pain. At first he thought it might be my port pulling away from the muscle and the pain was from my stitches tearing, but he didn't give up or blow me off, he just made it better.

um, I think we might have been twins seperated at birth. Sounds like the perfect pizza to me, only thing missing is a bit of spinach.

A good point. Eating 3/4 of one slice of pizza or one piece of pizza, while filling for the WLS person, is seldom enough for those who haven't had the surgery. I think I had 4-5 pieces of pizza last night. But on Weight Watchers, a person could easily lose weight having just one piece of pizza per meal (it's at most 10 points). It's just hard (without the surgery) limiting your intake to that. Yes I agree, and I was replying to post-op people that are still in the mindset of a diet, or that you are cheating if you have something that tastes good but isn't 100% healthy. I did my post-op diet a little different that most people do and my doc is totally impressed with my progress. I have lost 130 pounds, and I went from a size 22 to a size 4 in something like 7 months. I don't diet, I don't skip out on meals with my family. I look at it like this, if I have a meal once a week that is "junk food" the other 20 meals that week that are healthy more than make up for it. I never overeat healthy or not, and I get in my Protein and most of my Water each day. My blood work is beautiful, and my blood pressure and lipid panel is perfect. So I must be doing something right.

I called my insurance and asked if they had approved anything from insure nutrition, they said no but a pharmacy out of state did get a pre-approval for 2 compound meds for me. One for Vitamins and one for a blend of meds, the cust service person didn't know what it was for (the scar cream). I asked what my copay would be and she said the liquid was billed at $299.50 and I had a $10 co-pay, the cream compound was billed at $5,000 for one med, $750 for another med, and $199 for the final component. That's a $6000 tube of scar cream. I was approved for those 2, but she wasn't showing the Protein shakes, so I was curious and called my medical insurance, they bill the shakes as durable medical equipment which I thought was weird, but it was also covered. I still haven't been called back from Insure Nutrition, so no clue what is going on with them as far as shipping, or billing etc. I guess they figure if they are making $6000 for scar cream, even if the vitamins and protein isn't covered they can still ship it and make a profit. I just don't get why I'm not being called back, or emailed about the progress. I would think that after all the calls and all the times I was told it was "in process" that the manager that I spoke with yesterday would call me back and give me an update. I'm on the east coast, and they are west coast, so there is a 4 hour time difference, but still it's after noon their time, and still no followup on his part. That's poor customer service.

For those saying that they fast after a dinner of pizza, or add more exercise, I look at it like this pre-op I would have 1/2 a pizza, now I have 3/4 of a slice, or a whole slice if they are small. I do my normal exercise. This surgery isn't a diet that I see pizza as cheating. It is a surgery that i chose because it helps me reduce my portions, and I never wanted to "diet" again.

I have called and I get a different answer everytime I call. It's usually we will be calling you within the next 48 hours, but I have been hearing that for over 2 weeks now. I talked to a manager last night, and he told me my script was just not processed, no one touched it for over 10 days, and he doesn't know why. I have several people that I would LOVE to refer to them, but I don't want them to have to hound them for service. I'm waiting for a promised call back today from that manager, he is going to see if he can get me a status update, and see if I have any copays. I told him that at this point if I don't hear something soon I am just going to forget about it all together. It's been too much hassle honestly.

I submitted my info almost a month ago, and still haven't received a response. Any idea what the hold up may be? I confirmed by calling that my script was signed and returned, and over a week ago it was "being processed by the pharmacy" still no contact at all. Can you help?

I went through exactly the same thing, my pouch had prolapsed into my band. The band came out and I was revised to the sleeve last May, and never looked back. I was told that when I had food poisoning it caused my band to slip and the pouch just collapsed into the band. I had a barium swallow test and when they asked me to take a 3rd drink it came out of my nose, it couldn't pass through the band, some days I did ok on soft foods, some days even Protein shakes were too thick to pass through the crowded opening. The surgeon explained that my stomach would shift, sometime blocking my pouch opening and sometimes it was in a healthy position, and since the slip was minor, and the complications were major, he felt that revising me was the best option. And I would get dizzy from low blood sugar, not being able to eat will do that, my mom is diabetic and we tested my sugar level during a dizzy spell, it was in the 40's. I also had very low blood pressure from dehydration and lack of sodium from not eating. I would call your surgeon NOW and tell them you need to be seen. I hope this is not your case, but it sounds just like what I went through.

I didn't read all the replies, but I was sleeved in May 2013, and have been at goal for a few months. I have pizza at a local pizza place, they make an amazing thin crust New York style pizza. They have a 3 slices and a drink for $3.99, My hubby and I do this deal, they have premade cheese pizzas and for $.50 you can add a topping per slice. I have them add tomato or spinach, and hubby has sausage or pepperoni added. I eat about 75% of my slice, and take a refill of the drink for later. It didn't slow my progress in the slightest. I also have a Papa Murphy's Pizza (their delite pizzas are amazing) they make the pizza in front of you, think subway, and you take it home and bake it to your liking. Their delite pizza is lower in carbs, and thin crust, like a tortilla. I get them with no sauce, garlic and olive oil as my sauce, chicken, spinach, 3 cheese blend, and tomatoes and artichokes. It makes a wonderful meal, and reheats great too. I just wish they made them in personal sized delite. They have regular crust in personal size, they call them mini-murph pizzas. ( www.papamurphys.com ) They also make personal and family sized salads, and cheesey bread, just crust with garlic and cheese, or dessert pizza. I only have the delite, and I LOVE their garlic parm seasoning, I have them add extra to my pizza and have bought a bottle to keep at home, we love it on chicken and I do it on grilled shrimp too. Don't look at food of any kind as evil, or cheating. When you make a food forbidden it makes you that much more likely to binge on it. So I have had the mindset to eat what I want, in a reasonable quantity, and be done. For example last year I would sit and eat and ENTIRE bag of Cadbury eggs (the candy coated chocolate eggs) in one sitting, during a movie for example. This year I bought a bag when I first saw them on the shelf, around valentines day, to use on top of mini-cupcakes for my great nieces so I used about 10 of them the day I bought them, I have had one or two here and there, and I still have a ton of them left over, that would have never happened pre-sleeve. LOL I would be on my 10th or 12th bag by now, but I'm most likely going to end of throwing out the bigger portion of the one bag I bought this year.

Hello? Anyone interested. I know there are several of us in this area, I see over 50 from my surgeon alone. Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

I just made the statement that I'm wearing horizontal stripes for the first time ever. They are pajamas, but still not only stripes but horizontal ones!!!

Thank you so very much for this post. After going through the seminar and my 6 month diet and scheduling my surgery for June, my husband basically let me know that he does not support me having the surgery. I have been very overweight since I had our first child 7 months into our marriage. That child is now 18. I have yo yo dieted for years and they weight always comes back. At my largest I was 275, and at the beginning of my surgery Quest I was 222. I am currently 201 and scheduled for surgery on June 10th. 201 doesn't sound huge but have type 2 diabetes and taking 2 insulin's is a huge health factor for me. I want to be healthy and I want to feel beautiful and have energy and Im very sad that he does not support that. You have to do what is right for you! He will either come on board, or he won't but you will live longer, healthier, and happier without the excess weight. I told my husband that I had to do this for me, and he could love and support me, or he could show me that he never really loved me at all. If you love someone you don't care what it takes to make them healthy and happy, you just care that they are healthy and happy.

I sent in my info a while ago and they called to tell me to call the dr's office and ok them to sign the script. The office signed and faxed it back same day. Insure Nutrition claimed they didn't get it, so the office faxed it in again (same day). Insure Nutrition got that one, and I haven't heard from them again. I called last week and was told it was in the pharmacy to give it a day or so and someone would call me. I waited 5 days and didn't hear back, so I called again only to be told they are having issues with their computer system and it would be another week before they called me. I don't understand others getting theirs so quickly, that sent their info in at the same time as I did. My prescription company said no one contacted them from Insure Nutrition, I was talking to them about another script for my daughter. I'm sure they will cover it, but they don't seem to be too terribly interested in getting my stuff processed. I see my doctor next week, and he asked me to let him know how their customer service is, he would reccomend them to his patients, but wants to make sure they will get good service. I don't know what to tell him at this point.

I was able to have both done at the same time. The doctor said it was a 50/50 shot but I woke up sleeved. And I had been banded a LONG time, and had some major issues. I would ask if it can be done in one shot if at all possible.