hippieista

Dr. Garth Davis of "Big Medicine" fame advocates for a vegan diet. He is a vegan himself. You can look him up on Facebook and get lots of information.

My surgeon has us do 5 shakes per day and that is it. My date is December 18 so I start my liquids sometime after December 1.

The best thing you can do is get a steroid shot in your heal. It hurts like hell but the next day all is great.

My surgery date is exactly two months from today and I still don't know if I am doing the right thing. Does anyone ever go into surgery with absolute confidence that they are making the right decision? I have been thinking about this and researching this for years and what pushed me over the edge was my fatty, inflamed liver. My liver enzymes were way out and when the liver biopsy was done, they found that I had stage 3 liver fibrosis with stage 4 being cirrhosis, just because I had so much fat, but because I have now lost some weight and upped my exercise, my liver enzymes are now normal. It was easy to decide when I thought my liver was rotting out, but now it is not as clear. I do have other issues, sleep apnea, diabetes, joint pain and no energy. I don't understand why all of those things don't scare me as much as the liver. Thank you for listening and good luck to all. Peace

Y'all are a great group and this is what I needed. My weight does impact my family even when I try not to let it. I just don't have the energy or desire to go. Our lives are going to change.

Thank you, AuriP.

Thank you so much for your responses, you have made me feel so much better. I should probably have looked for a new surgeon when he would not respect my decision to have a sleeve, he insisted that what I really wanted was a bypass even after I told him why I was so uncomfortable with that procedure. I already know who I want to switch to and he and is office are top rate. It is funny how communication becomes one of the most important aspects of this journey. Peace, Laura

I have not had surgery yet, but knitting and crocheting has gotten me through some tough times. You can't eat with needles, yarn and hooks in your hand. You get to look at and touch the pretty, soft fiber as you are working, the repetitive motion is a form of meditation and you get a beautiful object for yourself or to brighten someone else's life as a bonus.

Has anyone had difficulties getting responses from their surgeon's offices? I am scheduled for December 18th, and right now I am a self-pay if we can't get the insurance to accept our appeal. I have been trying to get the information sent to the doctor's office that was requested in the denial and it feels like I am sending things into a black hole. I email records, because they said in the orientation that the easiest way to communicate with them was through email, and I never get a response. I don't know if the insurance person at the doctor's is receiving what I am sending and, therefore, I don't know if my appeal is being worked on or not. I send everything to both the surgeon's insurance person and to his practice coordinator. Sometimes I hear from the coordinator but all she says is that she has forwarded all of the information onto the insurance person who I never hear from. Maybe I am just ranting, and I know that doctor's offices are busy places, but this is a lot of money I am willing to pay not to mention that this is my life we are talking about. I would at least think that they could hit reply and say they received things. Please give me any advice that you can think of. Peace, Laura

The weight ranges here are interesting. I am 5'7" and I had one surgeon tell me my goal should be 135 and I have had another surgeon tell me my goal should be 165, so I am sticking with my personal goal of 150. I was 150 when I got married 27 years ago so I think that is good enough for me.

My surgeon said that if I was going to let him rearrange my insides, why wouldn't I want him to do the Cadillac of surgeries. He is very pro bypass as you can tell. But when he put it that way it made sense and I want to wake up with no diabetes.

I know that everyone says that we should be using whey protien supplements, but I think that whey causes my arthritis to hurt worse, it causes me to have inflamation. Has anyone ever heard of using a vegan supplement like Vega to use for shakes and things to get their protien in? Peace, Laura

This is a test. I am confenced that the insurance companies do this so we will give up and I have. I have a surgery date and I have found financing, but in the mean time I am still trying to make my insurance pay for it. I am not going to lose my liver because the insurance wants to wait for a year before I can have surgery. Peace, Laura

I just filled out the form. If I can't get the insurance to pay for the surgery, maybe I can get them to pay for this. I might even come out better in the long run. Thank you so much for this information. Peace, Laura

I am planning on 2 full weekes, but I am an accountant so I don't move around much at work which is probably one of the reasons I am in this pickle in the first place. Peace, Laura

But is this type of protien as good as the whey? I don't want to get by body in trouble by going with the veg, but I don't like the arthrtis either. Peace, Laura