ColleenErin1974

I have to be on lovenox shots for 4 weeks postop. My surgery isn't until 6/21/17. I had bilateral pulmonary embolisms a couple years back and to this day no one knows why I had them. They were awful and hurt a lot. I had to see a hematologist to get me cleared for surgery. My surgeon usually puts everyone on the shots for 2 weeks, but the hematologist said for me to be on them for 4 weeks just to be on the safe side. I'm all for it.

I was told to steer clear of alcohol because it can cause ulcers. Also, your tolerance to alcohol can change. It tends to make you intoxicated faster with the consumption of less. I was also told, if you want to try it, wait at least a year because it dehydrates you. You should avoid carbonation and drinking through straws. They both can introduce too much air into your pouch and it can be painful.

Good luck to you! Are you getting your surgery date or do you have one?

Hello geets! This whole site is pretty much a giant support group. If you have questions, check out all the different forums and you can post questions there. Everyone on here understands and knows a lot. Play around on here and get used to it. It is very easy to navigate. We are all on the same journey. Some are preop, some are postop, some have had their WLS a while back, and we all help each other out. This is the best support group ever. A lot of people have Facebook groups too. Good luck!

I feel your pain. I have insurance and I have to pay my deductible before surgery. My deductible is $6,700! I haven't paid much out of pocket yet, so I will pay around $6,000. I saved up for this, but that is a huge chunk to pay. Good luck with your band removal. Take care.

If you click on my name here, it brings you to where you can do private messaging. Also if you hit the arrow in the top left side (you can click it a few times) and it will bring you to the place where you can check out the forums. They will be at the top of the screen. The first one is timeline and you can click that to see all the newest topics. Next to that is the forums. Click this and it will bring you to the different topics. My name is Colleen. I'm 42 years old and my surgery will be the bypass. My surgery date I'd 6/21

I'm not post op, but my surgery is June 21st. I'm going with the bypass because I have severe GERD. My surgeon said the RNY is less likely to make it worse. I also researched it a lot and noticed that with the sleeve my GERD most likely stay the same or become worse. One surgery is plenty for me. I wouldn't want to get the sleeve and have to turn around and revise to RNY. I have about 120 pounds to lose. I hope this helps! I'm looking for surgery buddy's if you are interested! Take care!

I'm June 21st!

I'm June 21st!

I finally got my date on Monday! It's June 21st! The first day of Summer! It took 4 months to get this and I'm finally in the home stretch! I'm looking for a surgery buddy if anyone is interested!! It always helps to have someone rooting for you and keeping you accountable! Loser's bench here we come!!

I've been done with my pre-evaluation appointments and testing since 2/23/17. I have been calling the office about 2 times a week to see what is going on. It took most of March to just get my surgeon to look at everything and medically clear me. Once that was done, I was told that now all this is to go to my insurance company for approval (that was 4/4/17). I was not contacted about this, and after a week I called the office, spoke to the manager, and was told that everything is at my insurance and I just have to wait. Ok, after another week I called and was told my case is pending. Again, I wait. I do this 2-3 more times and keep getting told its pending. Today, 4/27/17, I call again with no response. Now, I call my insurance to see what I should do. I talk to insurance company. She says that there is nothing about prior approval in my case and we start investigating! According to my insurance, I do NOT need approval for WLS with my policy. OMG! SMH. Now, I ask them what is my Doctor waiting for? She asks for my surgeons number and who I've been in contact with there. I give her the info, she puts me on hold, and she contacts them. About 25 minutes later, she comes back to me and says that the manager has given my info to the surgeon for him to get me a surgical date. WHAT???? My insurance lady than asks why have they been lying to me saying I'm not approved for surgery yet, when I did not require approval in the first place! The manager tells her that someone else messed this up, not her and she would make sure it is taken care of. So, now I know this office has been just placating me with a bunch of BS! I put a call into the manager myself and as of now, no call back yet! I'm beyond pissed off here. I've done everything I have had to do since 11/16 and I've been ignored for what reason? Tomorrow, bright and early I will call the manager again and if no response, I drive for an hour to the surgeon and don't leave until she talks to me. OMG! Has anyone else had anything like this happen??? Ugh! Any info would be appreciated!

Thank you so much! June is going to be the best month I've had in the last few years! June 1st my daughters are coming to Texas to see me from upstate NY. They leave 6/19, then 6/21 my journey to post op begins! I'm finally relaxed a bit since the call came.

I have multiple tatts and I'm getting one before surgery. My daughters are coming to see me in June, and we are getting inked together. They both already have numerous and they are all tasteful. We are getting bear paw prints done. They are each getting a cub paw print the color of their birthstones. Mine will be a large paw print in my birthstone color and below that will be my Cubs! This drawing is what I'm getting, but the flower will be a sunflower. Under everything I am getting some sort of an affirmation or quote about daughters too.

OMG! You will never guess what happened to me an hour ago! My phone finally rang! On the other end was my surgeons office and I know you're thinking,"It just can't be!" But yes, I finally have a surgery date!!!!! June 21st is my day! So, it took them 4 months to give me a date! The tension headache I've had since February is gone! Thank you all for listening to my rants and supporting me! I'm so glad you are all on here and help keeping everyone's heads up even though I felt beaten. Now I can smile and work my way to the losers bench![emoji12]

So, I know that this is hard to believe, but again it's Friday and no surgery date! I called there 5 times today and kept getting a voice mail. I'm not sure, but maybe they aren't there on Fridays?? Anyhow, I have to wait until Monday again and call them again. What I wanted to tell the secretary was I cannot do any date from 6/1-6/19. My daughters are coming to see me in Texas from upstate New York. I am excited to see them and hug them! I haven't seen them since last summer. I went up to New York for my younger daughters high school graduation. Today is her 19th bday! And my other daughter is 21. I can't wait to see them! I don't want to have the surgery while they are here. I am still overly frustrated about no date yet, but I can now focus on my kids coming and keeping me occupied. So, I will wait some more! Ugh!

Today the secretary was going to talk the surgeon and straighten out the surgery date. No call as of 7pm today. I hope to hear something tomorrow. I will keep you posted.

If you are not sexually active (I feel your pain!), you may want to wait on the BC pills. I was on BC for years and it can have a weight gain effect, but if you are having abnormal bleeding and pain you should ask your OB/GYN if it is worth the risk. I had a hysterectomy 8 years ago and all my endometriosis problems went away, but that is a drastic thing to have done. The last BC I was on was in a patch I had to change every week. It worked well for me and while on it I never got my period. Again, I'm not a doctor, but have some insight from personal experiences. Be sure to talk again with your doctor and maybe together you can come up with a solution. Good luck! Feel better!

Wow! I'm glad you are ok. I had bilateral pulmonary emboli a couple years back and it was scary. I wasn't on BC when it happened, but I see why you are deterred from using any. Take care!

Most bariatric surgeons discourage getting pregnant right away. Most want you to wait 18 months. They want to get your body used to your RNY. You are going to have malabsorption issues and being pregnant requires more calories so the baby is getting proper nutrition. I'm not big on skyla because a friend of mine had nothing but trouble with hers and she had it emergently removed. The depoprovera shot is a good alternative. If you are having bad cramps and abnormal bleeding you could have endometriosis. BC helps that too. As I had it myself. I'm not a doctor by any means and you should talk to your obgyn for proper information and treatment. Good luck and take care. Keep us posted on how you're doing.

This has been a crazy roller coaster for me. I called again today and my surgeons secretary told me he is not in until Thursday, so yet again I must sit and wait. My surgeon works in 3 departments in the hospital and they say he left my chart in one of the other departments by mistake. He is in general surgery, bariatric surgery, and oncology surgery. I'm just so anxious and frustrated with the being on hold since 2/27/17. I'm hoping for a date in late June to early July.

I'll keep you posted! Good luck with your nut appointment! It feels great when things start moving for us! I made quite a bit of noise for the doctor office. I will call them if there is no response right away. I am definitely starting to speak up for myself with all this.

Thank you for the support! I'm eagerly waiting to see if I actually hear from them tomorrow. I'm just trying to relax a bit today, but it is ever present in my mind!

Good. You're best bet is to get to your doctor. You could have torn a muscle or could be starting with an infection. There are many things it could be. If you are unable to talk to your doctor, you may want to go to the hospital- especially if this pain won't subside or gets worse. Good luck to you! I hope you're better soon!

I'm pre op, but have had a few abdominal surgeries in my life. The pulling/burning pain can be from sutures pulling due to healing in your belly. I'm not a doctor and this may or may not be what you are feeling. I do think you should call your surgeon to find out if this is ok or something that could be harmful. If you are still having this pain, I suggest you put a call into your doctor. Even though it is Saturday, someone is always on call due to things like this. You may just get the answering service, but tell them you need the on call doctor to call you back ASAP. You don't want to wait on this. It may be nothing, but better to be safe than sorry. Call them and keep us posted! I hope you are better soon.

Oh! Thanks!