kalira

Yeah, I was told my bill would be $250.00 and a $1600.00 program plan. "Don't worry everything is covered. We are your preferred hospital." That was $3772.00 ago. There was a lot of things that were not covered by that co-pay that no one told me about.

I had my surgery 08/26/15. I am at the stall. I started at 270. I was at 250 something at surgery, and am now down to 190. 80 pounds and 39 inches on 4 measured body parts. I can not seem to get beyond that 190 mark I have been there for 3 weeks.

I am a 45 y/o female. I am a conglomeration medical problems. They all culminated in a trip to the ER in an ambulance for a strained back due to coughing caused by congestive heart failure. I knew that day that I had to do something about my weight. I slept 1-2 hours a night due to sleep apnea. I heard of this surgery that could help 80 percent of the problems wrong with me. I could not be cured because nothing cures bone growth or arthritis, but it could slow the progression of my disease. I had a consultation with Dr Awad in Palm Springs, and found my BMI to be 53 and weighed 270. He thought it would be simple to get my insurance to pay for my procedure. They fought it. Finally, after running and jumping through all the fiery hoops they threw at me, I was able to set a date for my surgery 6 months after I first spoke to the surgeon. I had my surgery done 08/26/15 and I am sleeping now. I did not have any problems for my first 3 weeks, but now that I have reached the 4th week I have problems. I have difficulty getting fluids and Proteins in on the same days, and I am having difficulty eating enough times in a day to keep my hypoglycemia under control. I wake up sick, nauseous, and vomiting from not eating for more than 6-7 hours just from sleeping. Sleep was supposed to be a good thing. The bariatric team is great. I can not complain about how they have supported me through the last 40 pounds. I still have 90 more to go.

It has been 6 weeks since I got out of the hospital. I have lost 44 pounds. On Tuesday, the doctor told me I could start incorporating textures into my diet. He also told me I could try to drink more than 4 ounces of fluids an hour to try to get my full amount of fluids in. I went out and had a toasted club sandwich on toasted wheat bread. Bread is stil not my friend. I was only able to eat a quarter of the sandwich. The other quarter I took off the bread and ate only the turkey and bacon. I learned that bacon is not my friend either. I have been able to handle almost all cooked vegetables, almost all dairy except non-lactaid milk and yogurt, and almost all meats except bacon and sausage. I am leery about trying steak, chicken breast, and pork chops.I have stuck to fish and ground meats for so long. I did try one of my sister's french fries. That was a mistake. it hurt behind my sternum when I tried.So, I guess all fried foods are still out. I am still on the journey, and this stomach of mine is definitely keeping me on the straight and narrow.

I come from a family where everything revolves around food. They were not very helpful in making my decision but they have at least understood why I had to do it. I too suffered from sleep apnea. The sleep apnea had caused my heart to enlarge and go into congestive heart failure. I could not lose weight because of the Fluid build up and problems with my back and knees. The doctor's were contemplating putting me on more medications. I could not use a c-pap machine and I was really starting to have problems with staying awake while driving and doing my work. I decided that VGS was right for me. Instead of my Dr. telling me which surgery was best, he asked me which surgery I thought I wanted and why. He made sure I did my homework on WLS and was ready for the goods and the bads that come along with it. Only you can determine if you want to make the investment in yourself and stand up for yourself against nay sayers. I have now lost 42 pounds and am in my 5th week. I did have some initial problems with fluids and Proteins but those are working themselves out. I am sleeping 5 hours a night up from 1 hour a night. I no longer have big black circles under my eyes from lack of sleep, and I am able to drive to my parents house (40 miles away) without having to stop and walk around my car to avoid falling asleep. I have ankles, and I am wearing dresses that show off those ankles. VGS was right for me. Only you can decide if you are ready for WLS and stick with it even if every one around you does not understand.

I don't remember where I picked them up. I live in Yucca which is about 30 minutes from Dr. Awad's office. I just buy things from the grocery lists they gave me in the diet plan section of the VGS folder they gave us. I try to do the shopping 1 week before I hit the milestone week. I shop at Stater bros, Vons, and Wal-mart so I can not remember where I picked them up at. I am pretty sure that any of the reduced fat crackers would do. I just liked the fact that the brown rice crackers were reduced fat and had the Protein. I am really looking forward to 10/6/15 when I can start adding textures other than crackers and dry toast.

Nope, no nutritional value in a pickle but after 4 weeks of liquid and puree, when I went to soft, I went to the vlasic dill pickle relish. Just a 1 teaspoon of the relish (o calories) in the 2 oz of tuna makes such a difference. I like the relish because I did not have to hone my chopping skills to get through the pickle skin. It was already done. I found the brown rice crackers in the gluten free section of our local grocery store I was looking on line and all the brown rice crackers appeared to be comparable but I found Harvest stone brown rice sesame and flax crackers. I split them into 4s and chew until they are suitable.

These are brown rice crackers. o fat, <1g sugar and have 3 grams of protein, and no wheat flour, per 13 crackers. so not too bad. I break the small crackers into 4s and i only have about 4 of them= 30 calories. It is not too much of a slide but after eating mealy mush for 6 weeks, had to do something. My diet plan folder says I could at week 5 so I definitely did. I put a straight tuna salad with a small amount of 0 sugar dill relish and non fat mayo. Tonight is back to a plank of 2 oz of albacore tuna fillet and lots of water, but the crackers were a good little break. I am staying away from bread even though it says toasted bread is okay. Bread just is not appealing right now.

My insurance was supposed to pay for everything except $250.00 for my surgery and my $1500.00 maintenance plan (shakes, Vitamins group membership). So far I have racked up over $1000.00 in "co-pays" from the 1st day in the hospital. Tests, medications, treatments, Dr. visits, 3 day stay in the hospital, test result readings, all have had special co-pays. None of the stuff was owned by the hospital. Everything was "sub-contracted". This is after they wanted me to pay $300.00 for the medication dexilant and the $88.00 for the oral vicodin. This is also not counting the money I had to fork out every time the insurance made me see a dietician that they did not pay for, and the psych that they did not pay for, and the initial consult they did not pay for. I do not even know what the 2nd and 3rd day are going to cost, but I keep paying for the bills because I do not want it to go on my credit report. I planned ahead though. I figured this was going to happen because a friend warned me that when she had her surgery she ended up paying $2,000 out of pocket for hers. I have been putting this all on a travel points credit card and I am half way to my trip to Australia as a treat to myself at the end of my 1st year.

Finally made it to week 5. Adding the gluten free/ fat free crackers have helped so much in making me feel better about eating. Sometimes you just need crunch. I spread my chicken salad, or tuna salad and mini pieces of cracker, and it is nice to have something to chew the 30 times that they recommend. How do you chew puree? Added some mozzarella cheese to ground turkey too. I am tolerating each thing pretty well. Since adding the protein later (around 9:00pm) I do not wake up vomiting. This is also a plus. I just have to keep working at the things they want.

Got the call back from the dietitian. Typical questions were asked "Are you still taking the acid medicine?" "How often do you eat?" "What were you eating?". I am going to try eating later in the night. I was eating about 630pm and nothing after 830pm and then eating again around 600am. This may be too long to go without eating. She suggested having a protein shake before bed, or something with protein to try to last me through the night. I am going to try that and see how it goes.

I put in a call to the Dietitian yesterday. I am still waiting for the response. Dr. Awads team is really great,and at least we come into the surgery with our eyes open unlike some of the people I have heard do not get to have a team on their side or a binder that tells you exactly what you need to do each week. I am hoping that we can come up with something because waking up with morning sickness when you can't get pregnant is worse than being asked if you are pregnant when you are just larger than the average supermodel.

I am scheduled for 08/26 only a couple days left.