NikkiDoc

I use Mio or Crystal Light drops in my Water. I do drink with a straw. I spend 2 hours a day in the car. It is much easier to drink with a straw while driving. I have not had a problem with drinking from a straw. I also love the Chick Fil A diet lemonade. I buy it by the gallon and water it down. I don't drink nearly enough if I try to drink plain water. KingMoose- I know there was a woman that drank a large amount of water as part of a radio station contest and she died from it. She drank 2 gallons in 3 hours. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/jury-rules-radio-station-jennifer-strange-water-drinking/story?id=8970712 So she drank a large amount in a short time, did not pee and was not exercising so was not sweating out some of it. So yes you can drink too much water but I don't know where the tipping point is.

If I am not mistaken the body actually will heal around the staple so they will eventually be totally encased in tissue. Plus the cut edges of the stomach will heal together too.

I see my dietician at every visit when I see my surgeon.

jjmcrash218 and others who like to eat out: I eat out a lot. I just don't have time to cook with a long work day, going to the gym and the barn. I also travel for business. My doctor gave me a card indicating that I had WLS and please let me order off the children/senior/lunch menu. I have been pleasantly surprised that most chains have healthy selections on the kids menu. It isn't all mac & cheese or chicken fingers. TGIF- has grilled chicken skewers on the kids menu . I skip the pita. You can get either raw carrots or cooked broccoli as a side. (They have a full adult chicken skewers if you want left overs)/ They have an ahi tuna appetizer or a taco appetizer that is a nice size I just skip the tortilla and add a side of broccoli or salad. Longhorn has a grilled chicken or a children's sirloin. At Longhorn they have a Raspberry Vinegrette chicken on their light menu- that is 2 meals for me. It comes with green Beans or broccoli. Applebees has two grilled chicken selections on the kids menu. Chili's has a 6 oz sirloin with avocado and a side alfresco salad with a lime vinegrette. This is 2 meals for me. Chick Fil A has grilled chicken nuggets on the kids menu. I get the no sugar added applesauce or fresh fruit. For a drink I get the diet lemonade. Outback has a great ahi-tuna appetizer I get as my meal. There is a small or full portion. I love sushi so this is great. If you are willing to order off the children's menu it is a cheap meal and much harder to overeat. appetizers can be harder since they tend to be fried. Congrats on your weight loss so far. My 3 month appointment is tomorrow. It is my first set of blood results.

Please do not go to Victoria Secret to be measured. I have known a number of people that got measured as VS but when they went to a good boutique they realized how bad the fit from VS was. If you can find a local boutique got there, if no Nordstroms.

If I remember correctly the body stores estrogen in fat cells. When you have rapid weight loss all that extra estrogen from the fat that was burned is dumped into your body. the high levels of estrogen can therefore make your period heavier and for some women that are recently menopausal it can restart their periods. I think this will go away when the weight loss slows down.

I know I will get there and my original goal was to be at less than 200 for my first vacation in 3 years which starts on May 16th. I should be able to make that. I see a number of people with surgery dates around mine and starting weights around mine and they have lost more. I know I shouldn't compare but we all want to lose it quicker than we are. My doctor said I would likely lose 5-10 pounds from my 6 week visit to my 3 month visit. I should be right around 12 pounds so I am happy to excede what he expected.

I have my 3 month follow-up appointment on Thursday. I wanted to be in Onderland for the appointment. That would have been a couple pounds over the 5-10 pound average he gave me on my 6 week appointment so it was an aggressive goal. This morning I am 200.8 pounds- naked, before food. I average 2 pounds lost in a week. I don't quite see how I am going to lose the extra couple pounds I need to be 199 pounds on his scale with clothes on Thursday at 10 am after my morning Protein shake. His scale tends to weigh me pretty close to mine- within a pound. I just don't quite see being able to do it. Grump, grump, grump. I will be hitting the gym tonight and can do some extra cardio. Tuesday and Wednesday nights I need to ride my horse. Maybe I will take him out on the trail for part of the ride and then lead him back on foot for the last mile or so to the barn. Hiking through the woods is good exercise. My horse will certainly appreciate having me off his back for some of the time.

Does your insurance require you to lose weight? Mine just required that I have a physician/dietician supervised diet. I did lose weight for the first 5 months and then stalled. I gained some weight back in the 3 months between the end of the diet and when the paperwork was submitted to insurance. It was submitted on Tues and approval on that Friday. So it did not seem to effect my approval but each insurance company has different requirements.

I am 3 months out and pretty much have a Matrix shake each morning for Breakfast. My husband who is not a WLS patient drinks one every morning too. It is much better than the danish he was having and it holds him to lunch. I normally have a mid morning egg, spinach and tomato and feta. But I drink my shake at 7 AM. My sugeon and NUT are fine with it.

kimpossible and Kindle I am sorry for both of your losses.

Please, please reconsider at least the high blood pressure meds and diabetic meds. I was on a diabetic drug for years as an off label use for PCOS. Metformin and Byetta can both help with weight loss. For 10 month prior to surgery I was on meds for high blood pressure. I was able to stop the Metformin the day of surgery as it was not for diabetes and one week after surgery I could stop the blood pressure meds and my blood pressure was normal. Many insurance companies require you to have a 6 month supervised diet prior to WLS approval. You didn't become diabetic or get high blood pressure from being over weight over night. Take the meds while you work on the diet and before surgery. Make sure you get a blood pressure monitor for home and make sure your doctor monitors your blood sugar, A1Cs etc.. frequently. You can always come off the meds when you no longer have the high blood pressure or diabetes. As far as the skin sagging, that is cosmetic and much less important than losing the weight so you don't have the high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. At your age and weight it is less likely that you will have super saggy compared to somebody that was heavier, older and was heavier longer. I am almost 47. I don't think I will have any saggy skin on my arms, butt or legs. I will likely be left with some on the boobs, belly. It is much easier to hide 10 or 12 pounds of saggy skin than 120 pounds of fat. If in the long run you have some saggy skin and it continues to bother you then you can always save your pennies for some plastics. Once again, please consider taking the medicines your doctors want you to take. Do not let the thought of saggy skin dissaude you from getting WLS. I was 257 pounds at my heaviest and I am 5'3. I am down to 200.8 pounds and am 3 months out from surgery. I feel so much more energetic and flexible. The WLS was the best thing I could have done for my health and mental well being, sagging skin not withstanding.

I have had general anesthesia 4 times. The first two times I threw up in recovery afterwards, not that I had anything to actually throw up. The 3rd time the anesthesiologist added additional anti-nausea meds to my IV during surgery. He also kept the IV in during recovery rather than pulling it prior to leaving the OR. By keeping the IV in they could quickly give me an anti-nausea med quickly if I needed it. I did not. For the sleeve surgery I mentioned my prior experiences to the anesthesiologist. She indicated that due to this being a GI surgery they give extra anti-nausea meds to all the patients. I had no issues for this surgery. Everyone reacts differently to general anesthesia but the majority of people do just fine. And realistically throwing up a little clear was no big deal. It was not heaving just more like baby spit-up and refluxy. Not pleasant but not awful either. As far as getting the anesethesia-one moment you are awake in OR and the next you are waking up in recovery. Actually for the sleeve I don't remember the recovery room, I remember waking up in my room.

I would call Highmark back, ask for a copy of your Policy and ask what page and item the weight loss exclusion is on. Since you have gotten conflicting information make them document the actual exclusion in the Policy. If you qualify for Medicaid I am surprised it wouldn't pay at 100%. I am not as familiar with PA Medicaid but any other state I have seen has 100% coverage for any covered service. I have never seen one that has co-insurance, co-pays or deductibles. I pay medical claims for a living so deal with many policies and many states.

I had great nurses too, I had one Nurse Kathy who was perfectly mean!!!!!!!!!!!! My husband loved her. My next apt is 5/14 - I will have to stop up! I had a night nurse Kathy but I liked her. Sorry to hear you had a mean nurse.

I had my doctor's office do it but his office hours suck and I work an hour from his office. The nurse would give it in my upper arm. I then went to self injecting in the abdomen. I picked there since that is where I used to do my Byetta shots. I then switched to sublingual B-12. I actually had to stop taking the extra B-12 since I was way over on my last pe-surgical blood test. I just had a blood draw today and will get results on 4/30/2015. I did find studies that appear to show that sublingual and injections have the same rate of absorption. My surgeon also told me that. Incidently my insurance does not cover the self injected B-12 but would cover the doctor to do it.

Hey, I had the same Doc as you. I sleeved 2/2/2015. I am a slow loser but it is coming off. I lost 11 pounds on the 10 day pre-op and 27 since surgery. I am also 5'3" and my goal weight is 150. I go back to Dr. K on 4/30/2015. I so want to be in onederland by then but think I will be a couple of pounds short. I am 203.6 pounds this AM and am losing about 2 pounds a week. My appointment is a week and half plus I should lose and exta pound or 2 to account for clothes and the Protein shake Breakfast for the doctor weigh in. I loved the nurses at the hospital. I was the only patient for both nights so had personal attention. Make sure you stop upstairs when you go for your follow-ups. They like to see how their patients are progressing.

I just joined a gym that has yoga classes. I will eventually try one. I figure the core strength, stretching and body awareness will be good for my main hobby of horseback riding.

I didn't like the malabsorption of the bypass. The whole dumping syndrome scared me. I ride horses including trail riding for hours at a time. I just can imagine needing to GO NOW and being in the woods somewhere dragging a horse behind me. It is one thing for a quick pee behind a bush but no just no for anything else. I pay medical claims for a living. At one point I was paying only catastrophic claims. About 12 years ago my first claim that I paid that hit $1 million dollars was a RNY that went wrong. The staples popped and leaked while still inpatient. I read the case management notes, it was not pretty. I had another that was $500,000+. I do understand that complications can occur with any surgery but these stuck out for me since they were particularly high dollar for the time. I also was talking to a case manager nurse and she told me about a bypass patient she had when she was a home health nurse. She had to pack the opening and could get her arm into the patient almost up to her elbow. That pretty much did it for me.

I find Matrix Vanilla to be the most veratile. I can added frozen no sugar added fruit such as mangos, peaches, strawberries. I can add SF Hershey syrup. I have a number of flavors of the SF DaVinci syrups. (Caramel, pumpkin pie, gingerbread, brown sugar/cinnamon). My NUT suggested adding extracts such as almond. I also have Matrix Peanut Butter Cookie. My DH loves that one. I even got him to drink a Protein shake each morning and he is really a picky eater. I like the Matrix better than the EAS and Premier. The Matrix is 31 grams per 8 ounces if you make it with skim milk. My NUT did not say anything about going over 20 grams per serving. I have read the studies that reflect that 20 gram maximum number but that seems to be based on building optimal muscle for bodybuilders. I am not looking to become Arnold. Yes I sound like an ad for Matrix/Nectars but I promise I am not affiliated with them. I just really like them.

DH loves the Matrix Peanut Butter Cookie. I mostly use the vanilla. But I add SF Hershey syrup to it sometimes. I also got a bunch of the SF DaVinci syrups. I love the caramel. DH likes the brown sugar/cinnamon. pumpkin Pie and Gingerbread are both good. You can also add peanut butter to the vanilla. I don't since I have the Peanut butter cookie one already and the SF Peanut Butter DaVinci syrup. For post-op I was allowed to add frozen no sugar added fruit. I like mango, peaches. I just got strawberries since I am far enough out that seeds are not a problem. My co-worker who banded 6 years ago liked the Matrix Orange Cream. She would make it with a combo of OJ and milk for more orange flavor. I love fruit but generally do not like things that are fruit "flavored" especially strawberry- except Twizzlers. I liked the Matrix and Nectars such as Orange Cream, strawberries and cream, strawberry mousse, kiwi-strawberry. I wouldn't buy a 5 pound bag of any of those since I think I would get bored with them but I will eventually get a 2 pound tub for variety. The Cookies and cream was good. For both the Matrix and Nectars I think they mix up easier than many powders. I don't think they are as sweet or overly fruit flavored. They are not as thick as some shakes. I liked the Premier until I tried the Matrix. DH had one of the vanilla Premium after a fasting blood test. It was convenient but he didn't like it. I gave most of a box of chocolate and a box of vanilla away. Matrix/Nectars also has a fairly high Protein amount. 23 grams per scoop plus 8 grams in the 8 oz of skim milk so 31 grams. I think Premier is 30 grams but the container is 11 oz. If you add PB then you get even more protein.

No NSAID forever. However, he did say I can take a low dose of Celebrex once a day since the COX2 inhibitors are supposed to be easier on the stomach.

Since nobody addressed the alcohol I will. When you are allowed alcohol seems to vary from surgeon to surgeon. I have read some surgeons are no alcohol ever, for a year after surgery or not until you get to the maintenance phase. I am allowed to have alcohol in moderation at 6 months. I have been told that many post WLS people become a cheap date. They get buzzed MUCH quicker post surgery than pre surgery due to the change in anatomy. Therefore, I would not try alcohol for the first time when you are out with clients. You may want to try that glass of wine at home or a non-business event with a designated driver.

My co-worker just told me I have to stop wearing certain clothes as the are too baggy. I need to go through my drawers and figure out what is too large and then figure out if I want to sell or donate. My problem is that I have lost more inches on my thighes and calves than my belly. Pants are baggy in the legs but sometimes the next size down is still tight in the stomach. I carry most of my weight in my belly. I have a few maxi skirts I should start wearing. Skirts are way more forgiving.

If the new insurance will cover the surgery I would get it covered by insurance even if it means jumping throough the hoops again. I know that many people have down well in Mexico but having local follow-up visits and local support groups is a bonus. If you have complications it is priceless. Then I would eat the deposit and go on vacation in Mexico so you don't lose your airline tickets. If you can return the pre-op diet meals I would as each surgeon has their own preferences. Save some of your 401K money to pay for deductibles and coinsurance. Unless the new insurance has a pretty high deductible/out of pocket you may as well have the insurance pay for it. Also while we all would like to hope we don't have complications many insurances do not cover treatment of complications of non-covered procedures. While I understand not wanting to wait I would look at it from a financial point of view too. If you do have to wait another 6 months going to a good bariatric NUT prior to surgery can be very helpful. I went to a regular nutritionist prior to surgery for my 6 months. One of the support groups I went to had a NUT that does a lot of pre and post bariatric patients and her eating and drinking advise was different and more tailored to a bariatric patient. I did not go to my surgeon's NUT since they are over and hour from my house and 2+ hours from my work. However my follow doctor's appointments I see their NUT at the same time. Being an hour from my surgeon is no big deal if I have complications but a plane ride away is more concerning. Some bariatric doctors don't like to work on other surgeon's patients even if they are not local.