NikkiDoc

I had hair removal on my lip, chin and neck. I reacted badly to the lidocain cream. I did not use it the first 3 treatments. The facility got it in as a new product so I tried it on treatment 4 & 5. Both of those times I got much more red and bumpy. Treatment 6 was much better. The first treatment or 2 is the worst as you have the most hair follicles to explode. I could actually smell the burning hair. Ick. I tend to have a high tolerance to pain but it was pretty uncomfortable. However the tech was very good and would give me breaks as needed. I had a lot of hair on my chin- think 5 o'clock shadow. I originally had laser hair removal done about 7 years ago. It didn't hurt as much and didn't work as well. The facility also lied and told me that because they had a super duper laser I would only need 2-3 treatments. Then of course I actually needed more so they were trying to get me to come back. I was not a happy camper. The new facility I bought a package through Groupon. I completed that treatment in November. I still have a few stray hairs but they are ones that the laser won't get as they are grey hairs.

Go to therapy for yourself. Insurance may not pay for marriage counseling but likely will pay for regular mental health visits. I would talk to the therapist about being more independent, about opening up and becoming less of an introvert, about all the changes you have gone through since the surgery, about the panic attacks. Regretfully I have heard the divorce rate after WLS is high. My co-worker was divorced within 4 years of having the band and that was 4 years too long. He had been cheating on her for years. She was afraid that since she was fat nobody would want her. He continued to cheat. The weight loss finally gave her the self confidence that she was worth something did not have to put up with his disrespectful cheating self so she kicked him to the curb. I think many obese people stay in marriages since they are afraid no one will want them so they stick with a bad fit for longer than they should. I also think that sometime partners of people that had WLS are either afraid the now thin partner will cheat on them so they push them away or they don't like their now thin partner since many people become more self confident and decisive once they have lost weight. They do become a different person, not a bad way but in a way that is no longer compatible with their current relationship. I hope you can work it out with your husband. A break at your parents may not be a bad thing. I am concerned that he said that marriage counseling would be too late now. From what you wrote I am guessing he "hypothetically" brought up the marriage counseling a while ago as a way to feel you out. You weren't enthusiastic about marriage counseling in general so he never actually suggested that you both go. He presented a real life question as a hypothetical one. It wasn't really hypothetical. Now he feels like you said no to marriage counseling but he never really asked you to go. If you happen to be religious some pastors/priests are trained in marriage counseling. Try to talk to him again about the marriage counselor even if you have to pay for it yourself. A few sessions may be able to give you some ideas on how to move forward. Trust me, marriage counseling is cheaper than divorce. I also suggest he gets to pick the counselor or you pick a man. I have heard one too many men say the woman counselor is really just siding with another woman and that whatever she said he is doing wrong/non-constructive isn't really wrong. It is just the women folk ganging up on the poor little man. Picking a male counselor can take that whole dynamic out of the mix. Men I am not saying ALL men will do this but OP may as well stack the deck so that it can't happen. Heck pick a male gay counselor then the excuse can't be he is siding with the wife since he has the hots for her. (Yes, I have heard that one too)

I know I am late to the party, as always. I keep things neat down there. I was not requested to shave and they did not shave me. I had a catheter. Yes, you can walk with a catheter. As far as undies, if they ask you to take them off for the surgery, please take them off. Most of the time when you have general anesthesia you will have a catheter in the OR. Most of the time they will put it in and take it out while you are still under the anesthesia. They do not want you to relax so much during the surgery that you leak or gush. Nobody wants to have to clean that up. I am glad that I had the catheter the first night. I didn't have to worry about being able to get up quickly to make it to the bathroom. One less thing to worry about the first night.

She is not a good friend that will stick with you through thick and thin. She is a fair weather friend. I wouldn't necessarily cut her off all together but I would dial things back. I would certainly NOT go out of my way to help her train the rescue horse. Now if you want to go on a trail ride with somebody and no one else is available, sure go with her. This way you are getting something out of the deal- somebody to ride with. Do not give her spare tack. Yes you had 2 horses, now you have 1 so may not need as much stuff. If she wants it and you no longer want it she can pay for it up front. Do NOT loan it to her. You will never see it again or if you do it will not be in good shape when you take it back. Once again you are both getting something out of the deal- her tack, you money. Maybe you can give her a little price break as would be an easy convenient sale for you- no EBay/PayPal fees, no tack store consignment fees for you to pay. My guess is that buying the rescue horse was also all about making her look good. It is real fashionable right now to have a rescue horse or a rescue dog. "Oh look aren't I a wonderful person? I RESCUED this poor neglected animal. I am just SOOO generous and altruistic." Rescue also gives them that out on bad behavior by the horse- like forever. Ten years later she can still be saying "Oh she drags me around, gets in my personal space, kicks, makes ugly faces, runs away with me, bucks and it is ALL because poor little Dobbin is so misunderstood and was ABUSED before I got her. Since she was mistreated so badly no way can I reprimand her or set boundaries. Poor little maresy-poo has PTSD, disciplining her will bring on flashbacks." It is all about her and what people can do for her. She has no time or interest in doing anything inconvenient for her. If you know that about her you can still interact with her but protect yourself from getting hurt. Set boundaries for yourself so that you don't give her too much and then you get resentful of her and mad at yourself. She has shown you her true colors. Don't let yourself forget those colors. Trust me, I understand. I am a giver by nature. I used to let myself get taken advantage of. I have had to learn to no put my hand up and volunteer for everything. I have had to learn to say NO. I am on a horse board, Chronicle of the Horse forums. There is a favorite saying. "No, is a complete sentence." I always want to justify why I say No to something I need to get better about just saying no. Or No I can't do that. Just be careful with your old guy around the rescue horse. Sometimes there are reasons that a horse got dumped at a low end auction and wound up at a feedlot. Not that there aren't good horses that go to slaughter but there are plenty that are POS or just so broken they are not safe for man or beast to be around.

When I first sleeved I really could only tolerate hot/warm liquids. I drank a lot of decaf and herbal teas. I sometime will mix the two of them. Now I drink some iced tea (decaf), some Chik FilA diet lemonade that is watered down but by far I like the MIO liquid added to water. My co-worker who banded 6 years ago drinks either decaf tea or water with a splash of OJ.

I had GERD prior to surgery and was on Nexium. I had the sleeve and hernia repair. Surgeon had me on Nexium for 3 months after surgery. I am now 1 year out and no GERD. I lost 80 pounds in 8 months, so pretty quickly. Talk to your surgeon, get the pre-op testing done and then make your decision.

I had surgery on Monday morning. No shower until Wednesday morning. My surgeon uses glue so wants it to set longer. The other surgeon in the practice does not use glue so his patient can shower right away.

One of the big reasons my boss has not had WLS is that his wife does not want him to get it. Eating and drinking is a big part of their social life. Tailgating at pro-football games- they have season tickets. They are members at an Elk Club and he is on the board. Beer is his drink of choice and the surgeon he consulted never allows his patients to have carbonated beverages again. The question about if you are trying was probably a way to hint at if you have been sick with cancer or something without coming out and asking directly. I have been a bad WLS patient. I had a few sessions at my gym with a personal trainer in the spring. I ran into the trainer a few times since then and have not regularly been to the gym since June. I have lost 60 pounds and have changed my hair color. I saw the trainer last week when he was helping another client. He asked if I was done with a particular machine. He absolutely did not recognize me. I don't look like I did 6 months/60 pounds ago. In particular my face/neck is much thinner. I also think as we get thinner how we make eye contact and carry ourselves is different. I think we stop trying to not be noticed. So I can understand that momentary "I didn't recognize you."

The light on the ceiling in the OR is the last thing. First thing was being in my room and hearing my husband's voice. I don't remember the recovery room. In previous surgeries I remember the recovery room.

That is awful for his family and staff. Very tough on you too. It is hard when you feel like you have a good relationship with a doctor to have to find a new one. At least you are a month out and should have the opportunity to meet a few of the surgeons in the practice. Ask the staff which one they recommend for you. Really pay attention to what they say and how they say it. The staff knows which doctors are the good ones. Even if all of the surgeons are good they likely have a feel for now of which of the surgeons would be a good fit for your personality. Sometimes the staff is the most important part of the team. Sometimes you work with and see the support staff more than the surgeon and they control the access to your surgeon. A good front desk and NUT are really important so hopefully you like them too.

I had mild GERD controlled with Nexium prior to surgery. I had the sleeve and hiatal hernia repair. I was on Nexium for the 3 months after surgery and have had zero issues with reflux or heartburn. Talk to your surgeon and get the upper GI. If you have a hernia that may be causing or contributing to the GERD. Being overweight was also contributing to the GERD. Get rid of both of those contributors and no more GERD. I frequently eat late and right before bed. My only concession is that the head of my bed is still raised. I also drink virtually no caffeine now and before surgery I used to drink a large unsweetened McDonald's iced tea, plus 2 diet Dr Pepper bottles plus another 16-20 ounces of iced tea a day. At most I will have a watered down child's sized iced tea a couple of times a week when I go out. Check with a surgeon and see what options they think are good for you. Another one that isn't as widely available is a duodenal switch (DS). I am like many other posters here. I have lost 60 pounds here, 80 pounds there, 40 pounds and gained it all back. I have found after the sleeve I am not hungry all the time, I get full quickly and it is easier to stay on track.

The information seminar is normally a power point presentation to a group of people that are interested in WLS. One of the surgeons in the practice normally goes over obesity and the risks of obesity, the various surgeries that practice performs (sleeve, bypass, band, DS), the normal outcomes for each surgery, the risks of each surgery. They will normally discuss what else is available through their program such as Nutritionist (NUT), support groups. Frequently they will have a former patient come in to talk about their experience. Then a Q&A session. There is normally a coordinator there with handouts and they will take you name and number to follow-up to see if you want to schedule an evaluation appointment. The surgeon will likely have a few requirements prior to scheduling surgery. Most of them will be to make sure you are healthy enough for surgery: blood work, pulmonary clearance/sleep apnea test, Upper GI/endoscopy, EKG, PCP clearance, cardiologist clearance. Not all surgeons require all of those. It depends on the surgeon and your individual co-morbities. Many surgeons require a psych eval and may require you to attend pre-op support groups. Please do not rush from the first visit right to surgery. Take your time, do your research, make sure you really understand what changes you will need to make to your eating habits and your lifestyle. IMO the posters that come to this board shortly after surgery and are surprised about how hard it is, don't know about the 3 week stall, don't really know what they are supposed to be eating/not eating are normally the ones that saw the surgeon and a couple of weeks later are having surgery. As much as I was impatient with the 6 month supervised diet and the pre-op clearances it gave me the time to really start my new habits early. It gave me time to spend on Bariatric Pal reading about what worked and didn't work for people. It gave me time to really think about the whole process and how i was going to have to change my life to make this work. I don't have children so I don't have that complication. But having small children and needing to cook for them, shuttle them around, clean up after them while you are trying to heal and change your eating habits may make it harder. Your kids and husband are not going to want to drink that Protein shake with you. You may need to be cooking them food you shouldn't be eating. Having the time to really process that mentally before the surgery is a good thing. I don't want to seem like I am trying to dissuade you. I am not. This surgery was the best thing I have ever done for me. I am saying take your time to learn and to research. Go to a couple of different surgeons/practices. Find the one you are comfortable with. Don't pick the first one you go to because you are impatient to get on with your new life and your new you. I think insurance companies or surgeon's practices that have no pre-op requirements can be setting many patients up for failure. (Somehow Mexico is different since that is a different model altogether.)

I know it is hard but have patience. Many insurance companies are huge and new mail or faxes can take time to get uploaded in the system and routed to a queue. Most big insurance companies get their regular bills electronically filed so the paper mail can take longer since it isn't automated. Don't forget that Monday January 18th may have been a holiday for them. December, January and early February can be very busy periods for insurance companies too. Many people are trying to get their medical bill finalized for 2015 so they have what they need for filing taxes. More people get sick in the winter with colds/flu and slip and falls due to ice. December also has a few holidays and people have to use their vacation or loose it. Still frustrating.

She has the hots for your husband. Notice she sucked up to him and put you down. I likely wouldn't have replied anything. But apparently I have the death stare down pat. I had a used car salesman make a borderline insulting comment. I didn't say another word to him. He told me he would go talk to the manager again. The manager came back to the salesman desk. He would not come near his desk again and would not look at me. Verbally, I might have gone with "Excuse ME?" and the look. Just let it go. It never ceases to amaze me at how catty some women can be.

Hiatal hernias occur more often in women, people who are overweight, and people older than 50. (Per WebMD) Since there is a correlation between overweight and hiatal hernias many WLS patients have them and get them fixed while the surgeon is in there. Mine was causing GERD.

It does not look like I will need skin removal on the arms. I never had really heavy arms. I figure I would like to eventually get a panni and TT. The thighs I am on the fence about but they certainly wouldn't be a priority. Boob lift and reduction probably. I carried all of my weight in my belly so I going to have the most excess skin there. I have always wanted to be smaller chested even when I was thin before. I find that where I carry my weight and have the excess skin effects the clothes sizes I can buy. I would probably be down to a 12 pant size except that I would have camel toe. (Sorry about the visual picture). I would be fine in the legs and belly but since I still carry fat and skin in the panni the pants fit odd there. Same issue with some underwear. The panni kinda spills over the sides but can have a bit too much butt room or leg elastic room. I ride horses and I ride English. Since ride in breeches which fit tight, like 2nd skin. Eventually having the excess skin gone will help the fit of the breeches. Having the boobs smaller will be easier to manage. Unless I am really careful with the type of bra I use the girls hurt when I ride and just move too much. The smaller boobs will help with my balance while riding too.

I generally avoid simple carbs like rice, bread, Cookies, Pasta, potatoes, tortilla chips, tortillas. Don't get me wrong I will steal a bite or two from hubby's plate. I have had the occasional flatbread too. I limit corn, peas, sweet potatoes, Beans. I don't like lima beans but would limit those. But I just had chili that had beans. Last weekend I made chicken tortilla Soup with beans and corn. I did not top with tortillas, only cheese. When I make pasta at home for my husband it is Dreamfields low carb pasta so I don't feel bad snitching a bite or two. I also limit fruits and only have them with Protein. Grapes and cheese, mangos/peaches in my Protein shake, apple slices and Peanut Butter. I also only have whole fruit not fruit juice. I don't even have no sugar added juice. I love my vegetables so eat a lot of those. salad, sauted, steamed, grilled, oven roasted. Mostly lettuce, spinach, broccoli, asparagus, tomatoes, snow peas, carrots, red/yellow peppers, green beans, cooked onions, mushrooms. I occasionally have squash-butternut or spaghetti. I tend to not think about squash much so I just forget about it rather than actively limit it.

I would think you would need to remove underwire bra and nipple piercings for chest xray. You might need to remove a belly piercing but I would be surprised at that. I have never had to remove earrings (in ears) for a regular chest xray. I had to remove ALL jewelry for a knee MRI. Call the facility ahead of time and ask before you go.

but the sleeve would have resolved these issues alsoYes, agreed. But I also suffer from GERD which the sleeve will/could only worsen. There are a multitude of reasons for my choosing RNY over VSG. I also was PCOS, pre-diabetic and had been on Nexium for over a year. I was on metformin and Byetta off label for the PCOS. My A1C had one test result barely in the diabetic range. If I had another in that range I would have been considered diabetic. I was off all of those drugs within 3 months. I did have a hernia repaired at the same time. I have not had any reflux since the sleeve. I would check if you have a hernia before making a final decision. My endocrinologist approved my sleeve and never mentioned that I should consider by-pass. Just some additional thoughts so you and others in your position know your options.

Guac and eat with veggies. On a salad. Make an avocado salsa or avocado/mango salsa for on top of fish. (Preferably on top of rare ahi-tuna) I tried the bake the avocado with the egg in it. I thought it was really gross.

I personally cannot stand the gummies. I prefer a chewable and the sublingual B-12. I too have heard they are not as well absorbed. I do splurge on Bariatric Vitamins. However, you don't need them. Many NUTS recommend 2 Flintstone chewables. GNC has a sale for "members" each month. I think it is the first week of the month. costco has a great price on most vitamins. My guess is Sam's Club and BJs have ones that are priced around the same. As others have said watch for BOGO sales at Walgreens, Rite-aid, CVS and stock up. Generic is fine. The form is up to you and what you will tolerate. (gummies, chewable, capsules).

I was never a big Water drinker. When I first started drinking water I kept having to pee. It got better over time. I only get up once in the middle of the night now. I find that adding MIO to my water makes me drink more. I also drink from a straw (the only thing I have ignored my bariatric program about). Interestingly enough the pulmonary therapist told me getting up to pee multiple times in the middle of the night was a sign of sleep apnea. I was never tested for it because I didn't have any of the symptoms so my surgeon did not require it. (No snoring, I felt rested in the morning, no excessive tossing turning)

I have Horizon BC/BS. Initial BMI was 45.35. BMI at time of approval was 41.6. I had high blood pressure and GERD as co-morbidities. However, the guideline was BMI of 35 and less needed a co-morbitity and anything over 35 did not. The BMI was based on the date I entered the program not on the day of surgery. They want to encourage you to loose weight during the 6 month pre-approval diet. My program submitted the medicals to BC/BS on a Tues morning and I had approval on Friday afternoon. I worked with an Optum bariatric case manager during the whole pre-op.

They should still file the claim. Just because the customer service rep has a cheat sheet that says not below 35 BMI does not mean that once the actual examiner reviews the claim and your medical history that is what the determination will be. The cheat sheets the CS reps rarely have every little detail. I do find it odd they did not weigh you immediately at check-in. That was the first thing my facility did with me still dressed in street clothes. Heck if I got that run around I would have been borrowing hubby's winter coat to re-weigh with or had them recheck my height and slouched a bit. Heck I used to be 5'4" in high school. I now measure at 5'3" 30 years later. It is common to lose height as you age.

You can certainly request the sleeve. But I concur with the others that say be open to listening to your surgeon if he recommends a DS or bypass. Make sure he provides sound medical reasons for that recommendation and if you still aren't comfortable get a second opinion. I think everyone should have evaluations by multiple programs if they have a few good programs that are a reasonable distance. I went to one just over an hour away since I was more comfortable with that surgeon and practice. You need to find the program that will best support you in the way that you need to be supported not the way I need to be supported. Even if you insurance does not require a pre-approval diet or a psych visit I recommend that you have the psych visit. I also recommend going to a nutritionist that you can build a relationship with that can prepare you for the eating changes specific for a bariatric patient. That NUT may be part of the bariatric practice or it may be a different individual. I think that starting to make the changes in eating prior to the actual surgery makes having the surgery and resulting changes less of a shock and less traumatic. I weaned off of caffeine and soda 1 month before my surgery. This way I wasn't going through caffeine withdrawal during my 10 day pre-surgery liquid diet phase. I even started easing into that diet about a week early and going replaced a few of my meals with the Protein shake. This way when I did go to the all liquid diet for the 10 days it wasn't as hard. I personally feel there is a correlation on this board between the people that don't know what to eat after surgery, are surprised about the 3 week stall, are surprised about what to expect after surgery for their restrictions for the rest of their lives are those that went to the evaluation and suddenly 1 month later have surgery. I think that when you get the approval so quickly you don't have time to go to pre-op support groups, you don't have time to research realistic real-life expectations post op. My insurance made me do the 6 month medically supervised diet. It was not the worst thing. It gave me time to really do my research. It gave me time to internalize the life-long changes I need to make to my diet and exercise to succeed.