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Has anyone in the last year gone through the bariatric program for vsg at the Naval Medical Center San Diego? I am thinking about doing a self-referral. I want to know how your process went. How long did it take from start to finish. If you have Tricare Standard PLEASE tell me about your experience. If I decide to go through this bariatric program I will be traveling from Northern Arizona so I want to make sure that the long haul will be worth it all. Did you have to do a medical supervised diet/weigh in? If so, for how long? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

This Wednesday I start my 2 week pre-op diet. I have to drink a Protein shake for Breakfast, one for lunch with a fruit and for dinner, 4 oz lean protein with a side of veggies. I know it will be a hellish two weeks but I hope that the pounds melt off. I was wondering how much did you all lose on your pre-op diets?

@courtneyd I was given a 30 day supply of heparin because my bmi is over 50.

I had my surgery on 3-29 @10:30 am. Was able to get outta bed myself immediately once I was in my room cause I had to pee so bad. The nurses couldn't believe when I didn't need help and wasn't in pain. I was so hot, tho! I had them turn the air down to 65 degrees. On Wednesday, my pain was mostly internal. It felt like bad period cramps where my stomach is. My incisions do not hurt at all. I was given morphine every couple of hours but it did not help. I slept most of Wednesday away and got up to walk at 10pm that night. I was able to suck on ice chips all day Wednesday. My mouth was so damn dry. Thursday, I still had cramping and what felt like a bad hunger pain@. But I did not feel hungry. That morning I had my sleeve leak test. I was so surprised when they told me to take 2 big gulps at a time of the horrible medicine which tasted like a lemon house cleaner. Most disgusting taste ever. I had to gulp down more then half a Styrofoam cup and my stomach did not have pain. Couldn't believe it! After thatn I went back to my room and was given water and tiny cups to sip from. They also brought me broth, Sf Popsicles, and Sf lemonade. At first, I was able to sip the water down with no complications but after 2 of the tiny cups my stomach started to cramp. I also was able to sucks on a Sf popsicle but started cramping shortly afterward. I wonder if that is my new full feeling. Later in the afternoon, I began to have diarrhea and still have it. I have also needed to go pee many times throught the day since surgery. Thursday night I was given a lil concoction of tylenol and hydrocodone which takes my pain away and knocks me out but is so disgusting. I was able to go home around 230pm on Friday. I still have cramping when I drink or suck on a popsicle. I have not tried broth yet. I was given a 30day supply of heparin that I have to inject in my belly twice a day. Also, they lowered my blood pressure meds to just lisinopril. Also got pantoprazole which helps reduce acid and the concoction of Tylenol and hydrocodone. I came home and went straight to bed since I was given pain meds before I left and woke up feeling sore on my lower tummy and cramping. I got up to walk around my house a bit and drank a few 30ml cups and ate a popsicle. Now I am about to take a shower and take my pain meds so I can sleep. I hope everyone who just had surgery is doing okay. I weighed myself on the hospital scale and it showed that I lost 4lbs. My home scale is another story. Says I still weigh the same as I did surgery morning. Grrrr! Lol

Tomorrow is the big day for us March 29th sleevers!!!! How ready are you ladies??? @theakamplishedone @courtneyd @bones_girl206

I am March 29th as well!!! Can't wait for this new tool to help me transform into a healthy me

My surgery is March 29th as well!!! Can't wait!!

Thank you all for the replies!!! Today I start my diet and I have yet to drink a shake or eat anything. I do not like shakes at all and just thinking about it makes me want to gag. I am going to make the premier chocolate protein shakes into fudgesicles and see if that will trick my brain because I do love fudgesicles. I had one too many food funerals in the last week and I have gained all of the weight I had lost plus a few pounds extra. I gain a pound just by smelling food. I am so upset with myself because none of the food I ate really tasted that good anyways. I just wanted to stuff my face because I knew I won't be able to after surgery.

I was told to avoid caffeine because it is a diuretic. But here is an article that might help you to understand why http://www.peachtreebariatrics.com/2015/02/08/are-caffeinated-drinks-ok-after-bariatric-surgery/

I decided on the sleeve because I did not want dumping from the bypass and I do not want to take a large amount of pills for the rest of my life. I already have a hard enough time just taking a daily Vitamin. I also have diarrhea daily and I have read stories from bypass patients that have said that they have uncontrollable diarrhea since having the bypass surgery. That is a NO for me.

It all depends on the Bariatric program you are with. I was referred by my primary care physician to my surgeon and I have to do a supervised diet at his Bariatric clinic. I see my bariatrican every month for weigh ins and see the nutritionist there as well. Check with whatever clinic and surgeon u will have your gastric sleeve procedure done by.

Congratulations!! that is such an amazing feeling

I am in Arizona. I have one more weigh in and nutrition appt left which will be on November 2nd. I still have to take a pre-op class and that will be on Monday. I also have an appt with the sleep doctor on the 27th to get my results and see if I need a cpap. I have to get all the cpap stuff situated before they will even send in my paperwork to set a surgery date. I hope all that stuff happens quickly. I also have to get a cardiac clearance because my ecg came back abnormal. I have that appt on November 1st. The next 2 weeks are gonna be booked up

I have Tricare Standard and I saw my pcm in July and told him I wanted to have weight loss surgery. My PCM's office took a week and a half to send in my referral. Tricare approved it the day it was sent. Tricare has been super fast with approving referrals and authorizations. Love it!. I saw my surgeon on August 5th and my first weigh-in was on August 11th. My Surgeon's bariatric program is 4-6 months long. I have almost completed my bariatric programs required appts except for the sleep study doctor. I had my sleep study test on Sept 1st but my appt to get my results isn't until Oct 27th. My ecg came back abnormal so now I have to get a cardiac clearance done. I have one more weigh-in and nutritionist appt to do on Nov 2nd. Once I get my cpap fitted and we figure out the appropriate pressure as well as my cardiac clearance done all I need to do is see my surgeon again and we will set a date. I am hoping for December. My bariatrican said that December is usually booked up because everyone is trying to get hip and knee replacements before their insurance renews hahaha. I am still crossing my fingers tho.

I am in the process as well. I had my first consult with the surgeon August 5th and my first weigh in was August 11th. My surgeon's bariatric program is 4-6 months long. Since Tricare Standard does not specify how many months u need for the medically supervised diet/weigh-ins, I am going with 4 months. I have read on other threads that some people sent in previous medically supervised diet/weigh-ins to the insurance and they were approved. Others only did a month or two and were approved. Good luck with your journey!

I would like to join the group. I just asked to join on FB. I am hoping for a dec date. I have to do a 4 month weigh in and I have my 3rd weigh in on the 11th. I am done with all of my tests for surgery. I just have to wait for my last weigh-in in November and then I meet up with my surgeon again and go through my pre op diet.

I am currently taking Centrum Chewables but they recently changed their Iron dosage from 18 to 8 so now I have to buy something else. My bariatrician said the equate Multivitamin and Flintstones chewables are good. As long as they have 100% of Thiamin, Vitamin b12, iron, folic acid, zinc, and Biotin.

Awesome results!! I bet u feel so much better physically

@@flip26 Congratulations on your surgery. I hope u r feeling well. @@Smdnght28 : It all depends on your Surgeon's Bariatric program. I had to see my PCM and get a referral approved by Tricare and sent to my Surgeon's office stating that they recommend me for the Bariatric program. Once they got my referral they called me to schedule an appt to see the surgeon and if he thought I was a good candidate I immediately saw the patient advocate and set up other appts and she went through the paperwork and a quick run-down of what the program is about and what to expect. It's all gone pretty fast for me. I never had failed diet attempts that were monitored by my PCM so I have to do 4 months of weigh-ins and that is per my surgeons program. Good Luck with your journey and keep us updated.

How long was your process through St. Luke's Bridges program?? from start to finish. I have Tricare and live in N. Arizona. I am deciding if I want to do a bariatric program in N. Az or in Phoenix.

@@flip26 I called the tricare standard west region rep and she said that I will only have to pay for the hospital stay which is $18 a day. I asked her about the $1000 catastrophic cap and she said that I will only have to pay copays if I don't reach the $1000 cat cap.

I live in northern Arizona. The closest one that has a bariatric program I believe is in San Diego Sent from my SM-G920V using the BariatricPal App

I have tricare standard as well. I can not afford to pay $1000. I also have medicaid. Hopefully they will cover those expenses Sent from my SM-G920V using the BariatricPal App

@@Lindsey Skinner Abbott and @@kadi_o Did any of you guys have to pay out of pocket for the surgery?

Good Luck Everyone!!!! I hope everyone's journey runs smoothly and that we all get improved quickly lol