mousecat88

The FIRST thing my surgeon asked me when I sat down for the initial visit was, "You don't want lap band, do you?" and I said no. He replied "Good." There's a reason it's falling out of favor, and there's no way in heck I would get it.

The practice I am going to had three surgeons on staff. I got one that I sort of didn't like, but he had 1000's of operations under his 40 years of practicing, so I felt comfortable, safety-wise. Well, he retired a month into my process and I got his replacement, a much younger guy. I actually like him a lot more. He is less experienced, but is one of the pioneers of robotic laparoscopic gastric bypass and I may actually be the first patient at this hospital to have it done. The practice itself is very thorough. They have several nutritionists, a psychiatrist on-staff, they are a Bariatric Center of Excellence, they have support groups, speakers that come in, they have annual Christmas celebrations for patients, they sell shakes/vitamins on-site, and are very responsive. They are an "all-in-one" place and I like that.

It's probably even worse because I don't *have* to start the diet until next Tuesday. So I'm like... well... maybe I should just start then. But I have been eating SO terrible, that I wanted to start now.

My surgeon said I will have to give myself injections twice a day of blood thinners for two weeks post-surgery. The first surgeon I saw (same practice) said I didn't have to, but he retired half-way through my process and the new guy said I did. When I had my lab work, my blood... viscosity... was thin. And my general health is basically perfect. I've had major surgeries before and never had to give shots, so it's weird. I am actually more nervous about that than the surgery. I've never given myself shots before, especially in my torso. The idea makes me squeamish. Doesn't it get very bruised? Do you switch sides each time? To hammer home my fear, my friend's gf just died from blood thinners. She had a pulmonary embolism and they gave her blood thinners and she hemorrhaged and bled out. I'm sure she had other things going on, of course, but now I am scared of blood thinners. Doesn't your body need to clot to heal itself?

Yeah, I think if it was in my thigh or something it would freak me out less. I know it's subcutaneous and I'm not like... piercing my muscle, lol, but my poor sensitive belly fat! Maybe it's different because it's surgery on an organ, but when I had my massive breast reduction (8 lbs of skin and fat removed) and some other very lengthy stabby procedures, they all said the risk for a PE decreases dramatically after the first 72 hours or so (and I'll be in the hospital nearly 72 hours with the gastric). Is the needle skinny and tiny or gigantic? The older I've gotten, the harder it is for me to deal with needles. I used to be morbid and love watching my blood being drawn, but now it makes me want to black out.

I think the issue is if you swallow it? ... which I notoriously do. Just wanted to know if it would come out the other end! lol.

Did yours have a ton of double/triple negative questions and weird questions about poets you've never heard of? LOL. "I don't never not drink." Ummmm.

I haven't had the surgery yet, but I can tell you what I am 100% bringing (I will be there 2 nights/3 days): loose fitting clothes, my own slippers, cellphone charger, toothbrush/toothpaste, dry shampoo, hair brush, deodorant, and a book. I anticipate I'll be sleeping a lot when I am not up walking, though.

Since my surgery date is November 1st, I'll be the test subject for this thread. hahaha. I started the pre-op early. Today is my start. Starving. But I gotta just deal!

Yeah, they gave me like a 200 page manual on the do's and don'ts of exercise, mental health, diet, etc... but no mention of gum.

My surgeon doesn't use trains for WLS... but I DID have a drain when I had a lipoma removed from my neck. It doesn't hurt at all getting it taken out. Just weird sensation/pinching. I had them take it out early and I regretted it, because the area filled up with fluid and I had to have it drained with a needle which DID hurt. =/

You look awesome! I'm about to turn 30 and having my surgery right before my birthday. My mom's been steadily losing weight over the last few years and hoarded some of her larger clothes, so I'll be wearing mom-clothes for a while. Fortunately, she is quite a fashionable 52 year old. lol! I also saved some clothes from 10 years ago when I was 6 sizes smaller in the hopes that some day I could wear them again - welp, soon enough, bag of hoarded clothes! haha. And people told me to just get rid of them. PFFTTTTT.

I had my breast reduction in January 2017, before I decided on having gastric bypass. I went from an H to a D cup. I wish I had done it 10 years prior. I had IMMEDIATE back and ribcage relief. I could BREATHE easier. I became like an inch taller! lol. Honestly, if I was allowed, I would have had them take them off entirely. They've caused me nothing but pain my entire life. They removed EIGHT POUNDS of fat. I am scared that I am going to now have gastric and they will shrink and get saggy again, but what can ya' do.

Does the 15K cover all of the anesthesia/hospital fees, too, or just the surgeon's fee? I had liposuction in 2009 and it cost me 11K and I can't remember if that covered everything or if I paid other bills later from the hospital. I anticipate having an arm lift and a lower body lift in 2 years and I am saving money now, about 700$ a month until then.

I haven't had my surgery yet, but I am also saving for an arm lift and lower body lift. I know both procedures leave very long scars, and plan on getting some phrase of some sort along the scar on my arm. I was thinking along the lines of "beauty is only skin deep" - but I kinda' want something more metal than that \m/. I am a huge Aliens fan (and cats) and have a very large thigh tattoo of a xenomorph holding three kittens (lol). I want to get a cat-xenomorph "jumping" up my right side, but I can absolutely not do that until I lose weight and have the skin procedures, otherwise it'll look like a hot mess, so I am looking forward to that day. There's a lot of tattoos I anticipate getting. I recently got the one on my front thigh and one on my shoulder; the only two places I was confident wouldn't sag much. I have one I got when I was 130lbs and now it is very distorted because of my fat, so I hope when I lose weight it will reshape itself and look normal again, since it is on my pelvic bone and shouldn't sag.

Started my pre-op diet today. I am starting it 6 days early because of extremely poor eating the last 3 weeks - I need to get to my starting weight since I gained a few pounds. Because I only have enough advanced recovery shakes for the 15 days I am supposed to be on the pre-op, I am probably going to supplement with a hard boiled egg or something of that sort. Doc is fine with all this. My formal pre-op diet starts the 16th. 2 Atkins shakes a day, 1 Advanced Recovery shake, and 1 Atkins/Healthy Choice meal. I figure I'll have 1 shake in the a.m., the meal for lunch, 1 shake at 5ish, and 1 shake shortly before bedtime and that should tide me over. The Atkins shakes are thick and pretty filling, and I've always had 1 as my breakfast for about 1.5 years now so I'm used to going several hours without "actual" food. I know that after a few days of a limited diet (I've done a full shake diet before), I actually feel a lot better... so I'm looking forward to this weekend when everything starts to flush out of me. Not too much longer now! I am getting excited!

For example, I just bought what I thought was a large tub of rice protein for 30$ and it's only 15 servings. Sent from my SM-G930R4 using BariatricPal mobile app

The big tubs are typically around 21 servings. You need to check the servings on the tubs you buy. I spent 50 bucks for 60 Atkins shakes at Walmart. You'll probably spend more on most powders for 60 servings. Sent from my SM-G930R4 using BariatricPal mobile app

Try pea milk! Sounds super weird, but I discovered it at Target and it's creamy and delicious. Cashew milk is very good, too.

For me, my surgeon runs the insurance initially to ensure it is covered. Then you go through all the hoops (the nutritionist, psych eval, weight loss, whatever)... and THEN they actually seek approval for the insurance. The first check with insurance is to make sure you have the right coverage and to get the guidelines from the insurance company to see everything they need to approve it. My insurance covers the surgery over a certain BMI... but they still have other requirements you don't see that they don't outright tell you unless you ask, that the surgeon gets (i.e. nutritionist clearance, psych clearance, etc). I was scared that I would go through all of the appointments and then at the end insurance would deny it, but that didn't happen. It doesn't sound like your doc is stringing you along. You have to complete all of the requirements from their office and from insurance before insurance will approve it. Insurance does not approve it in the beginning, but at the end.

I love my surgeon's office. My surgeon really pressed home the point that I am now part of their "family" and can come see any of their support staff any time I want for the rest of my life. I feel like if the rest of my support system left me, I always have them.

I AM, however, going to be active in the support groups at the hospital post-surgery. I feel like that will be beneficial; to have people around me that can relate.

I know everyone means well, but therapy is genuinely not right for me. I have been seeing therapists on and off for the last 26 years of my life and have never benefited from it. In fact, the last one I saw actually made me extremely depressed (and I do not suffer from clinical depression). It is detrimental to me. And I have tried A LOT of different people, so it's wasn't just me giving up on it or not having the right person. No one is the right person, lol. I do a lot better on my own. I am doing fantastically nowadays and my psychiatrist agrees. If things change, I'll reach out to someone again. But for now, I am not wasting my money. The surgeon's office has a psychiatrist on staff I can see anytime I want to discuss weight issues specifically, so she is always there for me, too. I'd rather go to her, if needed.

This kind of cracks me up because (although pre-op) I went through a list of criteria with my best friend for when I do get back into dating once I lose my weight, and after I went through my list which was something along the lines of "in 30's, wants no kids/has no kids, never married, educated, goes to gym, eats healthy, doesn't enjoy going out to eat constantly, etc)... she said it was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack and laughed. She is 38 with 4 kids and has been married twice and is now engaged again. The older we get, the harder it's going to be to find people without kids or never married. And I feel the same about being with someone who is overweight. I have NEVER had criteria regarding physical looks, even when I was 130lbs. I've dated skinny men, obese men, it never mattered. But I don't think I could date someone after this that is a big foodie or doesn't have a healthy lifestyle. I will need to straight and narrow to keep me on track, and I know that. Single forever? OH WELL.

Oh, for sure. I understand that. My coworker's daughter-in-law had this surgery. She didn't really want it, but her doctor told her she "had to". She lost some weight, and put back on 60lbs because she can sit there still and eat ice cream and chips and everything she was supposed to work away from. She still gets hungry. I don't want to go through all of this and fall into old habits. I think I misspoke when I made my prior comment. I understand that this isn't a quick fix, by no means.