Ginger Snaps

I have the WORST time with IVs -- had one in the back of my hand the first day that hurt every time I moved or when they injected anything into the IV. It quit on me after less than a day, so I had to get another one on day 2. Do you still have the IV? Can't tell from your stats. When my arm swelled up at the first IV site, they had me put warm compresses on it after the IV was out and that helped a lot. Sorry for your discomfort.

Your ex-friend did say 1 thing truthful: Never, ever feel guilty for taking care of yourself. You’re totally worth taking care of. Too bad she can't extend that compassion to her "friends". I agree with the poster above -- try to stop looking at what she's writing. She's got a new soapbox to stand on now and she'll eventually move on. If you know her in person, you might try to talk to her and tell her you don't appreciate her making you a topic of online rants but I doubt if it will do any good-- she'll make your discussion the next blog entry. I'm so sorry you're going through this -- this chick seems very unstable and wants to stir up drama. Ginger

I didn't have to do a liquid diet but I'm 2 days out from surgery now and feel good... bloating and pressure from gas but not real pain. You can do it -- you've come this far...

I just got home today from my surgery on Monday. Have a lot of pressure from the gas but I'm really surprised no pain in the belly really (just bloating). I got really nervous Sunday night and Monday morning but made it through. It's all good! Best wishes!

I saw my regular psych (treated for depression and bipolar) and it was easy-peasy. He just talked to me about my medical history and my family medical history. He didn't really talk about the surgery at all. I think every doctor is completely different. There's not a standard protocol to follow I guess.

@masonjk38 -- Kelly -- I'm the same time and date -- 12 noon June 9th! I'll CERTAINLY think of you as we go through this. It's FINALLY here!

I met with my own psychiatrist April 22nd for my psych eval... this is the guy I've been seeing for 8 years now. I called my surgeon weekly to see if they had received the clearance and they hadn't. I called the psych weekly to see if there was a problem and he said, no, that he was going to send it. Fast forward to last Saturday, May 24th (a month later), and I met with my psych for my regular 90 day med followup. He told me he was working on the letter and just needed the fax number from me (which he had before April 22nd -- on the script he made me get from the surgeon requesting a psych eval). I gave him the fax number again and he said he would send it off. Monday, Memorial Day, he called and asked me for the fax number again. Tuesday, when I saw the surgeon, he said he hadn't received a fax. The office staff contacted the psych asking for the letter and he said he had faxed it twice but something must be wrong with their fax machine because his fax machine showed the fax had gone through. Today, Wednesday, I called my surgeon and they still don't have the letter. I called the psych and he said he's going to scan the letter and email it because something is obviously wrong with their fax machine. The surgeon wanted to get the letter into the entire package to ship out to the insurance company on Tuesday and now is afraid my surgery won't get authorized in time for June 9th. Do you think if my surgery gets delayed for this and I harm my psych that it might be difficult for me to get another psych to approve the surgery???

It all worked out, I got the report in and after a couple of calls to the insurance requesting an urgent review, I'm all set to go tomorrow morning. My surgeon had a list of doctors he routinely works with but didn't require I use one of those psych's. I'm not sure if it would have been easier. I thought if I used my regular doctor I wouldn't have to go through all the questions and stuff I might have to if I went to a completely new doctor who hadn't seen me before. It's all history now... moving on...

That's a great non-scale victory! Ginger

I'm having bypass TOMORROW!!! And I have a big vacation planned for mid-August to Belize. I talked to my surgeon about it and he said I should feel fine and be able to eat fairly normally. I'm planning to pack a bunch of Protein bars and shakes just in case I have trouble finding something healthy. Of course, we'll be at the beach and I'm sure there will always be a grilled or baked version of fish on the menu.

@annymarie That's great!!! June 9th is here MONDAY and it will be MY BIG DAY!!! I'm hoping to have the pain-free great experience you've had! Just one week later

YMMV -- your mileage may vary

I'll be pretty much on my own... my 20 year old son breezes in and out of the house all the time and he'll probably run to the store for me if I need something but I wouldn't exactly consider him a lot of "help". Funny you mentioned the dog -- when the insurance nurse called to tell me my surgery was approved my dog was barking in the background and she asked me if I was going to have help with him or what I would do with him. He's big and she said she would worry if he would jump up or if I had to walk him where he might pull. He is a jumper and he does pull but I have a backyard to let him out in so I don't have to walk him. He'll probably just have to have some crate time until I feel strong enough to get out of his way if he tries to jump on me. So, it might be good to try to have someone to walk the dog for you at least for a few days. You never know when they might see a squirrel or something and yank you around.

@a new begining Maybe you should talk to your primary care doctor to get their opinion. They know your medical history and will ask about family history and such and might be able to give you good advice. You might also attend a free seminar that the surgeons do to tell you more about surgery... it's a good way to get information and they usually have some former patients there. Contact a local surgeon's office to see if they offer seminars. You can also set up a consult with a surgeon and ask them questions. However -- know that the seminars are usually pretty convincing and the surgeon will most likely recommend surgery -- so just know in advance those will be somewhat biased opinions. I struggled a little with the decision. I'm fairly "lightweight" (BMI just qualifies with comorbidities) and have sleep apnea and reflux. So, I'm not fighting the diabetes and blood pressure and orthopedic issues many here are fighting. But, I wanted to do this because I KNOW I'm very likely to be unsuccessful trying to take the weight off any other way -- it's been here too long. I want to avoid all those complications if possible and have the surgery now while I'm relatively healthy enough that it's not as risky as it is if you have all those other problems. I actually felt very relieved and encouraged when the surgeon told me he thought I was in a great position to do the surgery and that I will most likely be very successful with it. I'm still nervous about it (go in Monday morning) but I am convinced it is the best thing I can do for my health. Best wishes!

I like the Unjury strawberry flavor -- mixed it with water and some Dansani strawberry kiwi drops and it was pretty tasty.

I don't have any sage advice but I had to giggle at your post because I've seen more than one person on the boards craving a "big fat sub sandwich"! I'm sure that's going to be on my crave list after surgery because I sure love them now!

Bypass is considered the gold standard for weight loss surgery -- meaning it is the most tested and considered most successful. Basically gold standard means all the other surgeries are compared to it. The sleeve started as the first step of bypass -- for those patients where bypass would be too risky, they would do the sleeve first and then after some weight loss, go back and do the complete bypass. However, they were seeing some patients doing quite well with the sleeve and started offering that without planning for the rest of the bypass later. Some recent studies are showing that the sleeve is becoming more common. Lap band is falling off in favor -- my doctor said he rarely performs it and only in very young patients with not a lot to lose. http://connect.asmbs.org/may-2014-bariatric-surgery-growth.html It is scary to make a choice and bypass certainly does have slightly more risk associated but for me, I think that slight bit of additional risk is worth the extra benefits of going for bypass. And, like I said, I have reflux and don't want to take a chance on that getting worse. I'm right at the stage before Barrett's and I don't want to move further down that path.

So, I'm scheduled for next Monday, June 9th and go in tomorrow for all the pre-testing. My surgeon's office called this afternoon and insurance has asked for a copy of my sleep study (done last year) even though I've been on the C-pap for over a year now. I have the clearance letter from that pulmonologist but they want a copy of the sleep study report since my BMI is under 40. Aye -yi-yi... everything's gone so smoothly up until now. I was told I was approved and have made plans at work for surgery next week and NOW they're starting to ask questions? Please send good thoughts my way that they are just dotting some i's and crossing some t's and that this won't delay or deny my surgery. I can't delay too much or I'll have to push out to September as I have a big vacation with the family planned (and paid for) mid-August.

I've used the website www.plantoeat.com It has some of the features you're talking about. It doesn't recommend food -- you enter the recipes you like (could call a Protein drink a "recipe") and then you can pick what you're going to eat and it will do a grocery list. If you enter nutrition information, it will give you the totals for the day. I know it's not exactly what you're looking for but it's worth looking at. One of the COOLEST things about it is that you can find recipes online (from food sites or blogs,etc) and import them over directly. So,it's a nice "clearinghouse" of recipes you find online.

I'm having a little bit of a hard time with this with my mom. She knows I'm having surgery and I told her it's for hiatal hernia (which is true) but I haven't told her about the bypass. The problem is my dad has a hiatal hernia and is in the hospital right now for unrelated stuff so we're talking daily (she lives across country). It's been about 2 years since I've seen them and I've gained about 20 pounds in that time -- just pushed me over the limit for surgery. She's suspicious and keeps asking me about the surgery because she knows that they don't operate on hiatal hernias unless they are really bad and mine isn't really bad. I want to tell her but I don't want her to worry unnecessarily (and especially my dad since he needs to be focusing on getting himself well right now). I'm thinking i may call her Sunday night and just spill the Beans so that it limits how long she worries about me. I'm not sure if she'll be positive or negative about it. I know two friends of hers at church had the surgery -- one had some complications, lost a lot of weight and looked horrible and then gained it all back. My main reason to not tell her though is more for her mental health -- because I know she will be a worried wreck! I think the night before surgery confession is going to be my plan.

After an emotional up and down week (calling every day to see if I was approved), I got a case manager on the phone today who said my case was in review and she would send it back to the nurse with URGENT marked on it so she could maybe get it reviewed today or tomorrow. 3 hours later, I just got the call from the review nurse saying I was approved for MONDAY!!!! She couldn't have been nicer -- encouraging me, chatting about Protein drinks (telling me which ones she likes), talking about how much fun shopping will be.... I am FLOATING!!!!! Thanks for all the well wishes, fingers crossed and prayers uttered... it worked!!!

I'm preop -- when I had the presurgery meeting at the hospital, they told me to really limit what I bring. They said I probably won't shower there (although I will definitely push to -- I NEVER feel human in the morning if I don't get a shower) but if I do they'll have shampoo and soap. Don't need food or meds. Don't need extra clothes because I'll be in hospital gowns. Don't need lotions and such -- IV keeps you from hand lotions, etc. I'm planning to take my phone and kindle (won't be without that), reading glasses for all the forms I'll have to sign preop, toothbrush and toothpaste (even if they provide, I want my own) and some lip balm (although I've heard they'll also provide that). I have short hair so don't need a brush or scrunchies but I'm sure that's on the longer-haired ladies lists. Change of undies. May get a couple of rag magazines (People, US, etc.) for when the TV is boring.

What stomach??? You look GREAT!

@patrice1 Sounds like you have a healthy understanding of what you're ready for and what you're doing. I've been single now for over 6 years and I spent that time not having ANY dates or men so that I could get ME together. After all that time and now planning this surgery, I feel like I'm ready to step out there. IMHO, it is VERY important to be OK with yourself alone before wrapping yourself up with somebody else. @ready2Bslim I hear you on the pervy comments... I'm on Plenty of Fish and Christian Mingle and believe it or not on both of them, you get really creepy, suggestive emails.

My NUT and doctor said Stage 2 baby foods were acceptable for the pureed stage.