butternickles

I'm getting kinda irritated with these holier than thou posts, putting people down for trying a nibble of bread. All of us were such suckers for food that we let ourselves get grossly overweight, and suddenly we're supposed to be super vigilant with no mistakes for weeks before and after surgery. Jesus people. She ate a bite of bread. It hurt, she learned.

little update: I couldn't stand it, and despite my promise to Madam Reverie, I did fiddle with it, I went in and snipped that baby out! Then I cleaned it up and rebandaged. I had to! It was driving me nuts.

Hello All, I'm about 6 days post-op and have a question about these neat little incisions on my tummy. I'm sure every doctor does it differently, but most of my incisions seem to be closed with a Dermabond, skin-glue type adhesive. I don't know what's going on under that adhesive, if there are stitches underneath, a couple just seem like straight razor-cut slits, and the bigger ones appear to have a bit of a red wound area, underneath I suspect there are stitches. I've been trying not to get any of the wounds wet, because I don't want the adhesive holding my skin together, while it heals, to dissolve. But the adhesive is slowly flaking off all of them. I've been cleaning the areas that get exposed by the deteriorating adhesive, and re-covering them with liquid bandage solution. My concern it that this particular incision (the lowest incision closest to my belly button) has what appears to be a frayed thread coming out of it just a bit. Underneath the see-through bandage, the thread bit lays flat. It's red because its saturated with blood-as it's largely inside the incision. The red string laying flat under the adhesive makes the wound look as if it has a small open area, that's what drew my attention to it. I've tried gently pulling it, thinking it might be a temporary stitch, that it's maybe supposed to dissolve or flake off-but it doesn't want to budge and of course I don't want to force it. It seems to be made of fabric rather than the plastic temporary stitch material I'm familiar with. My concern is that I don't know how that incision will heal with this little fella existing on both the inside and outside of my wound. I don't think my body will heal around it, and even if it did, that seems not right, right? The wound does not appear infected or irritated, it is not particularly sore, hot or sensitive. I just can't wrap my head around how it would heal like this. I know the obvious answer is to have it looked at by a clinician locally (I had my procedure done in Tijuana), but I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar because maybe this is a non-issue. Or if anyone knows Dr. Ortiz's method of closing VSG incisions-because that might provide me with some insight. Sorry for the long post, I didn't know how to describe this situation succinctly. -Carol A

Kindle, you receive the award for most specific answer! Thank you! Good to know how the incisions are closed.

I agree, nice simple presentation. I love your colored plates.

Hello Madam Reverie, I love your screen name, very clever. Thank you for your response, I thought it might be something like that. When I first read your post, I don't know why, it registered with me that something more than just the string would reveal itself and drop off, like, gosh I don't know, whatever an exit wound might extrude. And I was thinking, wow, how did I not read about this part? Something coming out and falling off. But yeah, I shall not fiddle as per your directive. P.S. Still interested in hearing others' stories about wound healing phenomena. When I was first researching, I didn't find much in particular about the incisions.

omg, I'm sorry.

Excellent, I shall bombard you with texts presently.

Hello All, Man, it seems like everyone will be there right after I leave. I'm going to be there from the 4th to the 7th, staying at the Marriott, surgery on 4/4 with Dr. Ortiz. I don't know if my cell phone will work out there, but if you guys want to text insecurities and encouragement, or meet for a day trip to a nearby pharmacy, please let me know: My cell number is 510-778-3049, that's good for texting too. Skype name : carol.andredesz <don't forget the dot in between the names> AIM jandredesz Carol A

I am very curious about this too. I was denied bariatric surgery by Kaiser, and I wonder if my subsequent follow-ups or treatment for possible complications will be covered. I keep reading on the forums to check my coverage benefits, but I can't find this specific information on their website or in my benefits & eligibility papers. I'm afraid to call and ask for fear it might affect my coverage somehow. Has anyone else been denied by Kaiser and gone on to have surgery overseas? What happened on your return? If you needed bloodwork or had complications, were your costs covered? I'd appreciate any insight. Thanks!

Hello All! I'm Carol, and I'll be sleeved at the OCC on Friday, April 4th. So I'll be coming in Thursday and leaving the next Monday, April 7th. Just took the obligatory before photo, though most of my photos lately have been before photos. I wish Flickr had instead of a delete option, a "tear up, burn and bury the ashes" option, because that's how I feel about my reflection right now. I've been doing the research I believe we've all been doing. I decided on the sleeve but was denied by the psychologist who works for my insurer. She said, in a somewhat condescending, whispery talking-to-a-child voice, that my history of depression and past use of alcohol make me a bad candidate for the procedure. I take Effexor for my depression/anxiety, and it works well for my anxiety and for the bulk of my depression, but I don't think it will ever go away completely. And I have had bouts of excessive drinking, but for the most part I've had that under control for years now. I know exactly why it would be a bad idea to drink with the sleeve, and I know I wouldn't put myself in that position-but how would I prove that to her? To her I'm a statistic, she says I have a higher chance of "suicidality", which apparently is a word, because my brother died that way. When in reality, I would never commit suicide, because I know exactly what it does to a family, and how it's a permanent solution to a temporary problem. I appreciate life all the more for having been close to someone who gave theirs away. I understand that statistically that's not the case. But I'm not a statistic, I'm a person; a nice person with quirks but also a logical mind, a person who has learned from her flawed but nonetheless valid journey of self-discovery. I've gone from being a young single mother with a high school diploma all the way through graduate school to where I can now support my little family. I shook my demons off one by one, but I can't shake off this weight. I've tried and sometimes succeeded for a time, but it always comes back, plus 20% more. Now my back and feet hurt, even my fat clothes aren't fitting right, and I'm having trouble appreciating all the things I've worked so hard to achieve. I won't let Kaiser tell me what I can't do. I will take their reasoning into consideration however, that if I drink with the sleeve, the alcohol will be absorbed faster because of my smaller stomach, increasing my blood/alcohol levels and putting additional stress on my kidneys, pancreas and liver. I know that people have destroyed their health by drinking too much after WLS, and I don't want that for myself. I don't think I'm ever going to fit into their mold though. I can't change my family history, so I'm going down to Mexico. Who else is coming?