efierke

talk to your Surgeon or your PCP about this - pills don't detox you. juice doesn't detox you. They detox your wallet (if you consider money to be a toxin) but that's about it.

If you're taking time release pills prior to surgery, then you need to have a conversation with your doctor. At least at first you'll be crushing or taking liquid versions. Even later, with the malabsorption of the RNY, I think time release meds are to be avoided, but I could be wrong

well, after surgery you definitely won't be having NSAIDs. What do you use currently for pain? At least in the hospital you'll have a PCA more than likely, which will have some sort of narcotic in it. Hospitals are *very* relucant to send people home with more than a few days worth of narcotic pain meds though, so your options may be limited. I second the other question - how "allergic" are you?

from my understanding, your qualifying weight is based on what you start when you start the program - that's what it is for most insurance companies anyways. They want to see you lose weight. When you start the pre-op diet it's pretty much guaranteed that you'll lose, and possibly quite a lot.

yeah, gotta say "nope" to that one - if we could just take powders and pills to boost metabolism then you wouldn't have needed surgery in the first place. what's in it?

While I can certainly understand the fear of rejection / anger and not wanting to tell your husband about the surgery, that fear pales in comparison to the sense of betrayl that I know I would have if my partner didn't tell me about such a dramatic and life changing event. I love him and we've been together for almost 4 years now. He hates the fact that I'm having the surgery, but I know if I didn't tell him, he'd absolutely walk out and never come back. And, to be honest, if he distrusted me enough to not tell me about him having some sort of surgery, I know our relationship would not survive. If you can't trust your husband enough to tell him that you're having surgery I think there's a lot going on with your relationship that needs addressing first.

Agreed. And to add to this, every facility I've ever worked in had a strict policy about patients not bringing in home medications for use without a Dr's order - no cough drops, no eye drops, no tylenol, etc. it's not about being able to charge you extra for pills - its about making sure you're not taking too much of something or, better yet, taking something that could be dangerous immediately post-operatively.

Finally have my date (January 19) and am seeing my surgeon on tuesday to go over consents and take care of last minute questions. Obvious ones: when can I go back to work (I work nights as an RN, am figuring I'll be out for a month due to weight restrictions) when can I travel again (parents are 300 miles away and worried sick about me doing this, want me to come down to see them if the surgeon will clear me for it). Post-op nausea management (I really really hate throwing up) "when to call 911" Not so obvious ones: Migraine management post-op (have occassional migraines and currently I take imitrex and naproxen for them - naproxen is obviously out, worried that imitrex would be a problem too). Any other suggestions? Am excited and terrified at the same time, and I figure that's only going to get worse between now and the 19th. I'm not really worried about the "when can I eat ______ again" - if there's one thing I've gleaned from this message board is that everyone is different.

You're kidding on the ibuprofen right? Ibuprofen (aka advil, motrin, etc), Aspirin, and Naproxen (aka Aleve) are on your perma-banned list. Liquid tylenol? definitely okay. but you can throw the liquid advil in the trash now. Can't take it at all any more.

Plan on having this talk with my surgeon at some point - I've seen MANY nurses go out for surgeries/injuries and come back on "light duty" only to hurt themselves worse because they were pushed past their work restriction. My intention is to stay out until I'm released from all restrictions - I don't know how well that's going to work, but last thing I want to happen is to pop a staple or worse 3 weeks out because I felt like I could go back early.

I have been to one support group meeting so far (required by my insurance). Unfortuantely, it was an embarrassingly bad waste of time, I think even the facilitator thought so - They brought in a guest speaker, who I'm guessing told her that he was going to talk about neuroscience and addiction. In reality, it was an hour long sales-pitch for woo-woo supplements and a multi-level-marketing scheme. The 'in network' cost for the magic supplements that revive dead red blood cells and turn them into white blood cells was only $150/month. The out of network cost was $185. The only reason I stayed was to ask the facilitator if Amway would be at the next meeting. She looked downright embarrassed and was very apologetic. Don't misunderstand me, I think support groups are a good and necessary thing, just understand that there may be some duds in the mix. Even though I'm not required to for my insurance, i will be going back to the support group for the next meeting I can make. Hoping it will be better.

I've worked nights for years now and get migraines without daily coffee. I like the taste, and I need it, unfortunately. However, I have "quit" more than once. My advice would be to start tapering down now. Assuming you brew at home, get some decaf (get the good stuff) - a week with 75% regular, 25% decaf, then another week 50/50, then 25/75, then all decaf. Have done that before and had no problems with headaches or drowsiness. Coffee can also be hard on the stomach, so you might want to try switching to iced tea after surgery. still has caffiene, still tasty, and less harsh on the stomach (at least from my experience). Haven't tried mixing iced tea with Protein powder, but it's on my to-do list.

You having a fever is a little disconcerting but it shouldn't be a deal breaker. If you had cellulitis on your stomach or something like that? it might be a problem. But you have almost 3 weeks before your surgery - that's plenty of time for the infection to clear up (have had cellulitis in my legs twice, myself). When you go to your pre-op on tuesday, definitely let your surgeon know - they might want to extend the antibiotics or put you on another one - just to be 100% sure the infection is gone prior to surgery. Eric

Hi - I'm Eric, 38 year old RN with a current BMI of 43 (give or take). I've had two previous false starts with having surgery, the first was about 5 years ago and the most recent was about 18 months ago. First time - I had pretty crappy insurance, so it would have been cost prohibitive in all honesty. Was also before the gastric sleeve had wide approval, This most recent time, and finally this time, is what leads me to my question - How much success have people had without support? I live in a house with a few friends of mine and my partner. 18 months ago he begged me to put it off for a year, said he didn't agree with the surgery, said he would help me lose the weight, etc. Well, I put it off for a year, have continued to make efforts to lose weight without much success and, more frustrating, without any support from my partner or from my household. My family isn't thrilled with me having surgery, to say the least. They are at least understanding and supportive though. I have friends online who are supportive, and local friends who are but, to be honest, they're generally in the minority - by and large, for the most part I feel like I'm doing this alone. That's a little terrifying and more than a little frustrating. So I'm wondering - how likely am I to be successful with the surgery, given those circumstances? I'm an RN - I have the medical knowledge. I am damn good in the kitchen, so I think I can come up with food that will get me through the first post-op weeks where there aren't a lot of options. My biggest concern right now is the lack of emotional and social support making it a deal breaker. I've heard "just eat less" too damn many times, and I'm fairly certain that the surgery is going to cost me at least one or two friendships. Any input would be appreciated. Right now I'm on track to have surgery in late January of next year.

I appreciate all the responses. They've been very helpful. To be honest - I tried to have my partner come with me to a class when I started the process 18 months ago, and that made him even more certain that I shouldn't do it. I've noticed that the more medical knowledge that people have, the more positive they are about the surgery (and I suspect I'm not the only one who's noticed that in this group). Am working on finding a support group in the area - there are a few, and in fact I'm required to go as a part of my pre-op process. I suspect I'll lose at least a few friends - the strict naturopaths and part time dietiticans at my church, the people who think surgery is a "cop out" that I'm not a good person unless I fight and fail (yet again). To be honest, I'm sick of that shit and don't really think I'll be worse off.