Syrina

I have GERD as well, but the EGD didn't reveal any issues to prevent having the sleeve. I was given a thirty day prescription for protonix after surgery and I take at night before bed. As long as I don't drink anything really salty too soon before bed I'm fine. I've been taking prilosec for years anyway and it controlled my GERD as long as I didn't have a full stomach right before bed. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

I have been insulin resistant for years (in combination with PCOS) and it finally got bad enough to be considered full blown diabetes last year. I was formally diagnosed last January. I was lucky that they caught it early since they run my A1C every year due to my medical conditions. I have been taking metformin for years and my doctor added trulicity after my diagnosis. My surgery was Thursday 1/17 and I haven't had any diabetes meds since the Monday night before that (had EGD Wed and surgery Thurs, basically back to back) and my sugars went from somewhat elevated to perfectly normal almost immediately after surgery. I'm not tossing any of them yet though lol. I'm still on liquids and I'll be monitoring everything closely when my diet advances. When I'm back to eating mostly normal food and my sugar are still normal, that's when I'll celebrate lol. Of course my new normal will be much lower carb than before, so I expect them stay normal. One thing that freaked me out was watching them go haywire when I started my pre-op diet. I was looking at my monitor thinking "oh my poor pancreas, it just has no idea what to do with all this nonsense." Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

Oh, yeah, I should probably go fix that. I'm never on the computer so I tend to forget about it. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

No I had the sleeve. He did my EGD and didn't find anything concerning. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

I've also seen sets of blender balls on Amazon, so you can use whatever bottle you already have. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

I told my close friends, immediate family, and several of my coworkers. And my supervisor. My job is super awesome and I feel safe sharing stuff like that. On the other hand, aside from mom, dad, and my brother, oh and 1 cousin, no one in my extended family knows. We're just not that close. I'll tell them when they visit in May, mostly because it'll be pretty obvious by then lol. I only told my one cousin because she lost a bunch of weight on weight Watchers and understands the struggle and that this isn't the easy way out, it's just a different kind of tool. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

My BMI was 54 last week when I had surgery. I was leaning toward bypass because of my BMI and diabetes and sleep apnea, but my surgeon said he won't do a bypass unless he can't do the sleeve. I ha E GERD as well, and if there had been any anatomical concerns with my stomach that were contributing to the GERD that would have meant bypass. Overall, 5 days out and I feel great and have no regrets. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

Yes. I want to eat all the food. Well, mostly I want to just chew something lol. But I haven't actually felt actual hunger since Thursday morning before surgery. And I keep watching food network while I'm home recovering lol. Horrible idea, really, but honestly Cutthroat Kitchen doesn't really make me crave anything because all the results end up so weird lol. If something does sound really good, I Google how to make a low carb version. Or figure it out from what I've already tried, like zoodles or spaghetti squash. And then save it for a few months from now. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

My gas pains would come and go and shift around. Sometimes right around my abdomen, but then they would move and settle near my shoulders. Sometimes I could feel them move and that is a freaky sensation lol. It was nice when they wore off because now I know that any crampy sensations are my stomach saying 'enough!'. At least that appears to be my new full signal, for now anyway. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

That's nice to hear lol. I'm at day 5 and I'm still burping. I find that it has a lot to do with how I swallow. I almost have to create a vacuum in my mouth and then sip carefully to keep as much air out as possible, and that seems to help the burping. But lord that's hard to remember sometimes. I just want to drink darn it! Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

Aaaahhh OMG my surgery date is official! January 17th. Signed the consent forms yesterday. Pre-op diet starts New Year's Eve. Good thing I didn't make big plans lol. I work in revenue cycle for a hospital and end of month is a big freaking deal so I'll just be working late, drinking protein, and whining about my life choices lol. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

I just talked to my surgeon's office and they told me the pre-auth date is just a placeholder. Maybe yours is too? (of course mine may be accurate because that's the earliest I can do it since they require payment two weeks in advance and I can't pay until I have next year's FSA) Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

I grabbed a generic stool softener from Walmart, I take it with my evening meds. Just the high protein/low carb 1200 calorie pre-pre-op diet has already started to stop me up. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

Well, I haven't talked to my surgeon's office yet, so it's not official, but I saw my approved pre-auth on my insurance portal and it's dated for 1/17/19 so I think I have a date! Should be starting my pre-op diet right after New Year's if I'm right. Which is nice, I won't be on the diet over my birthday lol. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

I went to the ER a couple of months ago about a headache and she looked at my chart and asked me if I'd considered weight loss surgery. Not even "losing weight would help", just straight to surgery lol. But to be fair, I have diabetes and sleep apnea and she was checking my chart to make sure they weren't contributing. And it's nice to know she reviewed my history for relevant data. But I agree, it will be nice to *not* have the weight talk at the doctor's office any more. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

I discussed it with my nutritionist and we picked a number at the top of the healthy weight range. I don't want an overweight BMI after all this effort lol One of my intermediate goals is to get my BMI down to 39. It's kind of a weird thing, but I am a medical coder, so I have to add BMI codes to charts all day long, and from 20 to 39, they get their own codes. Above and below that a range of several points will share a diagnosis code. And dang it, I want my BMI to have an individual code! Like i I said, kind of a weird goal, but that's what I get for staring at patient charts all day lol Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

I am not officially scheduled but I'm looking at a January surgery. I have had my nutrition visits, psych eval, etc and go in for my pre-op testing at the beginning of December. If my surgery is approved I'll see the dietitian one more time and get my pre-op visit scheduled. He does surgery on Thursdays with the EGD the day before. It's getting closer and I'm getting excited! Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

Tentatively sometime in January (haven't reached the point of pre-auth yet) at Ochsner in Baton Rouge. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

Ugh, I hate doing the pregnancy test beforehand. I have shy bladder and trying to pee on command just makes everything freeze up lol. And you can't just drink a bunch that morning either. I've had two EGDs at different hospitals and one let me keep my underwear under the hospital gown and the other one didn't. I did wake up part way through the second one. That was not pleasant lol. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

I had the usual weight/height/BP and then the nurse went over my history. The doctor came in and at first he seemed very...intimidating? I guess is the word. He's very stern. Flat out told me that once I commit I better not back out because if I give 100% he'll give 100% right back. He told me he was going to schedule a follow up, and a visit with the nutritionist, and *if* he was happy with my progress, he would take me on as a patient. I left that visit in a little bit of shock lol. I went back last week and he's still a little stern but he also agreed that I had made enough progress and he would continue with the next steps. He's kind of like that teacher that everyone says is mean but you realize later that he just had high expectations and that it was the best thing for you. I feel like I'm in good hands. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

Oh, I can't sleep without it anymore. I ripped it off one night when I was really congested and I only lasted twenty minutes before I woke up with a dry, sore throat from snoring. I put it back on. Once the air starts blowing I don't have any trouble. And of course, there's the fact that it *works*. I had trouble sleeping with the mask one time after I'd been using it for about a month, and I was miserable the next day. You might try loosening some of the straps. Sometimes it can be too tight. There are also pads you can buy, or just take some soft fabric and cut it into a ring that will cover your mask and leave just enough of a hole to put your nose through. The extra padding is supposed to help with leaks. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

I don't think I'll be off the CPAP after I lose weight. My sleep apnea is *really* bad (130 events per hour at my sleep study) and even as a kid I snored horribly. I suspect I would have been diagnosed as a kid if there had been more awareness of it. I think my sleep apnea will get better but I doubt I'll get off the machine. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

Get systane gel eyedrops. They're thick and goop but the keep your eyes hydrated. I use them every night and I can definitely tell a difference. They're not cheap but the bottle lasts a few weeks. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

I had my first meeting with the nutritionist today. It went really well. I already started a low carb diet so we just went over what I've been doing, and coping strategies for my vacation next week (going to visit family who do NOT know I'm doing this, for good reasons). She also reviewed the pre-op diet; they use Optifast, it's $100 a week for the two week diet, but you pay for that and it's literally all you eat. Apparently my surgeon likes it because in addition to the protein, it has a lot of added vitamins that I would need otherwise. I'm going to do more research before the time comes. I can put the money aside with this much notice. I also found out that my insurance doesn't actually require any kind of supervised diet, so I made my consult much earlier than I needed. I still can't move up my surgery due to a 12 month waiting period from my enrollment in the insurance plan. 12 months will be December 1st, but I'm going to push it back to January so I have my full FSA for next year for the initial deposit, and so I'm not coming off of surgery still being tired with people taking vacation for the holidays. I'm a medical coder, so at the end of the month, there's a big push to get charges out and if people are out over Christmas, somebody has to pick up the slack LOL. I don't want to worry about that while I'm still lacking energy from surgery. Also I'm going to have to talk to my PCP about a different form of Adderall, because I need it to work, but I'm on the extended release form and I can't open the capsule and sprinkle it on applesauce or something. But I have a plan! And I lost 3 lbs this week! I'm feeling pretty good right now.

This is my puppers, Mudkips. He is my fussy old man (he's been a fussy old man his entire life lol) This is mom's dog, Molly. She is adorable and ridiculous Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app