Dub

Hope everyone is doing well. It is absurd that you each had so much difficulty in contacting the office. This Sylvia person is in the wrong line of work.

I've had three different C-PAP machines paid for by three different insurance companies over the last 12 years. They covered just about all of it.

My only regret thus far is that I waited so long to make the decision to have weight loss surgery. October 13th here, too. We are going to kick arse.

I have seen her comments on many posts and several times she has said things that are wrong. Or, she says things that were just her personal experience as if it is the hard truth for everyone. For example, when she said "no ifs ands or buts" about the rings. That may have been her experience but she shouldn't say it will be everyone's experience. That kind of statement is misleading, especially for newbies. Everyone's experience will be different. Also, I never professed to be an expert so I'm not sure where that came from. Calm down. She spoke from experience. My experience has been the same: no jewelry allowed for surgery. You simply were rude and derailed the thread to start with.

Wow. I can't believe that any type of bariatric surgeon wouldn't be ensuring his patients were knowledge on the crucial basics. This could be dangerous. The kind folks here can get you on target.

Awesome !!!!! I was a heavy smoker for many years and also quit cold turkey several years ago. It is certainly not easy......but it does get easier with every day that passes. As the same time the urge ebbs you will continue to feel better and better. The feeling better process went on for years afterwards for me. Keep on kicking butt !!!!!

Three things come to mind: 1) You are going to change your life for the best. You are taking charge of things and making a decision to improve your life. This was the biggest hurdle I faced. Everything else afterwards just flowed logically and fairly easily. 2) If you are concerned about a pre-op diet......then maybe you could contact your surgeon and do one. Have that discussion and don't let it be a source of stress. 3) If your anxiety still is high.....maybe something could be done about that, too. I had an honest conversation with my primary care doctor....and laid it all out for him: my sources of daily stress: preparing for this surgery and irrational fears of it, my job stress and my fear of the workload that would be piling up as I'm at home healing up (3-4 weeks due to a couple hernia repairs during the sleeve surgery), life stress....etc. etc. We agreed that I'm not having depression, but periods of anxiety that hits....not every day and not even every week. He prescribed a medication to take as needed. I've used it on 6 occasions over the last two months and it helped. It had relaxing effect....chilled me out....allowed me to remain calm and sleep easy that night and awake fresh and renewed to face the next day's challenges. This stress has eased off a great deal since getting through all the steps leading up to the surgery. The date is set and all I have to do is continue following the pre-op diet and ticking off the days on the calendar. I wish you the best.

Au contraire .......feel free to post up any pics you'd like of your fine self. You have rocked the results really well and have been a great source of inspiration and motivation for me. I get frustrated or down about things and have a weak moment......and just think about you and some of the other folks here and how they are living with the successful results......and I snap out of it and stay with the plan. I can't stress how much it helps to communicate with people that have lived this and can appreciate the struggle.

The fear is that don't take you seriously and/or feel you aren' t prepared. Losing weight is a bargaining chip against the insurance company playing this card. It can also reach beyond the insurance company, too. Both of the surgeons I consulted made it very, very clear upfront that if I didn't lose significant weight pre-op then they would not operate. This was both with insurance or with self-funding the surgery. There are some in our class that have been rolled back until later surgeries because of this very thing. I sort of anticipated this, though, due to my high BMI. It was easy logic to follow. If my BMI was lower....I'd probably be at war with myself on being so strict during this timeframe. Things are much simpler for me.

It's a low consideration of mine at the moment, but I can see where a long while down the road it could be nice to enjoy a beer while grilling a salmon filet or some other tasty Protein. I am done with the old ways, though, of sitting around a bar and guzzling 36oz drafts beers and grazing on chips 'n salsa. The old trick was to do this for the duration of a football game and then ordering fresh guacamole in the fourth quarter and enjoy watching them prepare it for my food calories to wind down the evening. This or an order of wings. Not a thing in the world wrong with the above scenario if I'd nurse a beer.......and have celery with the salsa or guacamole and some types of wings are going to be great. I just don't see myself feeling much like sitting around for games once I get well into this. I think the new life is going to be more active and restless energy will find me in the gym daily, tackling productive yard work and engaging in new outdoor hobbies. Games can be watched later on....from my recliner with ice packs on my ailing areas that are sore from pushing it hard on my misadventures. I can't wait..... lol....got the pain meds working in ya. Hope they truly are working for you and easing the discomfort. I know I'll be making some posts while under the influence of them next week, too.

I've been wondering the specific locations, too. I have a ginormous umbilical hernia that my surgeon is going to repair during the sleeve surgery.....and a small hiatal hernia. I wonder if there will be additional incisions. If there are....so be it. No biggie. Just curious. It'll make for some interesting theories while enjoying the swimming pool next summer. Was he shot? Stabbed? Attacked by a bear ?

I ordered the calcium citrate chewables directly from Bariatric Advantage. I am not kidding when I say they are like candy. Very tasty. I have been following my pre-op diet plan very strictly and have found having these to provide a nice flavor is something to look forward to and savor them. 1 or 2 really does tame the head-hunger-beast. That sounds really interesting. Who makes them and where do you get these ???

I can't imagine how difficult quitting smoking must be on top of everything else right now. Best of luck to you. Put 'em down and profit from the surgery. It's amazing at how much healthier you can emerge from this.....nonsmoker & non-obese. This could be a powerful time for you to own your health. We are now into flu and pneumonia season. Having clear lungs as you prepare for surgery will be an immediate bonus. Who wants to be coughing when they are post-op, either.

You could still lose weight without Optifast. Tuna, chicken and high Fiber greens.

That is really, really cool. Well done !!! That had to be extremely gratifying.

I am considering switching to these supplements. My clinic gives samples. I've only tried the orange. They sell them in the pharmacy as well as Unjury. I got 2 tubs of Chicken soup as I had bought the single use packets early on and loved that one. I wasn't too happy with unflavored but from what I've read it's something I'll be thankful for later. So, I'll hold on to it. Good luck on your journey! I still have a few small items to purchase before hand too! You sound so ready to go! Ordered everything. The samples I tried at the doctors were enough to know the chewable Vitamins were good.....but the chewable calcium citrate is truly outstanding.

I'm uncertain. Umbilical & hiatal hernias will be repaired at same surgery. 3-4 weeks ???

I use a couple Yeti cups to keep my ice Water near at hand. No sweating. Ice cubes still floating in there after 36 hours. Cold water will be easy. I know this sounds stupid, but it just dawned on me that I'm going to want to do the same with Protein shakes. Currently it only takes a minute or two to knock it down......that's all about to change, though. I can't stand the chocolate, vanilla, strawberry and banana shakes if they aren't cold. I was curios if you had the same hang-up....and how you solved it. The Yeti cups are hand wash only....and I'm not using anything for Protein Shakes that I can't put immediately in the dishwasher.

I scheduled mine first thing in the morning last Tuesday. I was the first one there at 6:00am....they had me ready to roll into the room in no time. The longest wait was for the doctor to arrive. The procedure itself was a non-event. No biggie. Lay down on your back....elevate the head end of the bed and then roll onto your left side....warm blanket over. 4 deep breaths..............and it was over. Woke up feeling excellent like no time had passed. Zero hangover feeling later on, however, I did catch myself nodding off at times without control. There is a huge reason that you aren't allowed to drive to/from the procedure. My advice is to schedule yours for the very earliest time slot available.

Great question. My surgery is scheduled for really early in the morning and I've been told it's very likely that I'll be released the next afternoon barring no complications.

2 weeks ?????

I hear ya on the Mexican food. That is hands down, without question the numero uno favorite food for my family when we go out. I found that we slowed down our visits there a great deal after I made some diet changes in April. In the past the waiters at our normal spots knew when I walked in the door to show up at the table with an ice cold 36oz Dox Equis Amabar draft before they bring chips 'n salsa. I had to get them to stop the grande drafts. Just like you said, it really had reached the point where it wasn't all that enjoyable as I was getting geared up for wls. The salads are what I grew to love more than anything as I changed my diet leading up to now. Those and the packs of tuna from Starkist. They have a number of flavored varieties that I truly enjoy. Small foil packs. Easy to carry in at work and have when desired. Those will be the two foods I look forward to in the future......although my nutritionist sorta frowned on salads but she was high on the tuna idea. Doesn't matter...I still want a salad every so often.

I have a couple days off between now and my surgery. My closet remains an unexplored resource. I need to get in there and organize stuff. After sorting through it, I'll see a number of things that will go to Goodwill and a number of smaller clothes that I hung on to from when I when I'd been really successful a few years ago with an 8 month low-carb & exercise push. I am really, really looking forward to getting back into those clothes.....and going past them to smaller stuff that I"ll have to buy. I'll be getting on this in the next few days ahead.

Please don't let me lead you in a wrong direction regarding the coffee. It helps me and small quantities are allowed by my surgeon. Another surgeon that I consulted with did not allow any caffeine during the preop. I don't want to suggest something that is counterproductive