tranquil_chaos

I was discharged on Thursday morning; RNY was Tuesday morning. Thursday (post op day 2): 1 fl oz clear liquid every 15 minutes Friday-Sunday (post op days 3, 4, 5): (3) portions of 2oz full liquids per day + 64 oz water daily My full liquids have been: Fairlife Chocolate Protein Shake + Isopure powder SF Vanilla Pudding made with Fairlife Vanilla Protein Shake + Isopure powder Oikos Pro Greek Yogurt thinned with Fairlife Vanilla Protein Shake + Isopure powder Since the 2 oz portions are so small and I'm only eating 3x daily, I haven't even made a dent in these. Hope this helps!

Yeah, that max lifetime benefit is a really sneaky way for whoever you work for to save money because not all BCBS plans have it written in them. It's your employer that decides. I had the routine RNY done with a hernia repair. And I get what you are saying, it *does* seem like the surgery is going to cost a lot...$20k max benefit from insurance + $12k from me is $32k and that sounds higher than anything I've read about.

I have Anthem (BCBS) and my deductible is $400 and my out-of-pocket maximum is $2500. I've paid $2100 already because it was the accumulation of all the pre-op testing and appointments I have had since starting the process in Jan 2022. When scheduling for my surgery, which was August 9th, the surgeon's office called the insurance company 3x to verify approx what my out of pocket remaining cost will be after surgery is billed and they told me $400 to meet my OOP-max and that anything over that would be paid 100%. But...my specific insurance plan has a $20K max lifetime benefit on bariatric surgery. And when I went in for my consult in Dec 2021, they told me that, after meeting the OOP-max, it would still be $12k that I would have to pay the surgeon's office. So...I got two drastically different numbers. Either I'm paying $400 or anywhere up to $12k and I have no idea what it will be until the billing goes through. HOW STRESSFUL IS THIS??? Insurance is crazy!

My RNY was on August 9th! So far (today is post-op day 4), recovery hasn't been easy, but also hasn't been difficult. I don't seem to have any complications yet. It's REALLY difficult to get your water in when you are back home and not connected to the hospital IV 24/7. Pain has been managed with the prescription they gave me to take home; I take it every 6 hours. I did 1 week of OptiFast (I got it from my doctor's office) and it was just shakes for a week. I lost 11 pounds. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. There is an August 2022 thread over in the gastric sleeve forum. I've seen both sleeve and bypass patients post there.

Was the black stool after the barium swallow test? I had that done too and my doctor's said the barium could cause stool like that.

I'm sure this is normal, but it freaks me out. I lost 12 pounds during my pre-op OptiFast week, but when I got home from the hospital, I was up 6 pounds! I know this has to be swelling and water retention, but it's really scary to see the number go UP. Also, I've been wearing the abdominal binder 24/7 since surgery and let me tell you how much it helps!! When I take it off to shower you can tell just how much it supports you. I highly suggest wearing one after surgery! My hospital provided me with one. Pain is still pretty up there, today is only Post Op Day 4 so I suppose that is to be expected. I'm still taking the prescription pain killers every 6 hours. My partner is getting me some Pho broth from our favorite Thai place today and I'm pretty darn excited for that since it will count towards my liquids. We are going to strain it and he's going to get all the good bits and I'll get the broth!

Yes, water logged is the feeling! Today I did a Vitamin Water Zero in Lemonade and it just didn't seem to want to go down. I'm doing Powerade Zero Fruit Punch now and it's much easier. How weird is that? I was so happy to have my IV out at the hospital but now I'm like "I want the IV back!!" My nutritionist said adding protein to the liquid foods (pudding, yogurt, skim milk) was fine, but for now she didn't want me to add any to my water, so no protein waters. She said eventually I could do that, but not within the first couple weeks because anything with added protein is technically a food and your body metabolically processes foods differently than water. She said to focus on hitting the water goal over any other food goal for the first couple of weeks. There is no way to reach my protein goal when I'm only consuming (3) 2oz portions of liquid food per day.

Hi Everyone, I was posting over in the RNY August thread, but it doesn't seem to be very active. I had my surgery on Tuesday, so today is my Day 3 Post Op. The surgery & hospital stay went very well, but I had a rough first day at home yesterday. I think it was mostly because I no longer had the IV for hydration and it takes forever to drink enough water on your own. The barium swallow test at the hospital was pretty gross. Plus, it didn't move very fast through my bowels so I was sitting around for like an hour while they kept trying the x-ray; they finally sent me back up to my room and had a mobile x-ray come up a few hours later. Everything was fine, it was just slow moving. It made me really nervous that something was wrong though. I was on a pre-op liquid diet (OptiFast shakes only) for 7 days, clear liquid only the day before surgery and until this morning, I've only had clear liquids. I haven't been hungry at all, but I can tell my body is pretty weak from not taking in many calories. I've been really tired. Today I started full liquids, which for me is 3 servings of 2 oz per day until my 1 week post-op appointment. I had 2 oz Fairlife Chocolate Shake this morning which went down well and I'm working on a 2 oz portion of SF vanilla protein pudding right now. It's been difficult for me to get my 64 oz of liquids in. I never thought it would take this long to drink! Before surgery, I was a person who drank 100+ easily before bed.

Hey everyone! I’m finishing up my Post Op Day 1, I had surgery yesterday. Pain was pretty bad yesterday, but managed with the IV medication that starts with a D (I’ve already forgotten the name). All I had by mouth yesterday was ice chips. Very tired. Walked around my room a few hours after being post-op recovery. Took loop around the floor later that evening. Didn’t sleep at all at night because they literally were in my room doing tests at all hours of the night. I was also very nauseous so they gave me zofran and I never vomited. Day 2 started with only ice chips until after my barium swallow study was complete. That barium fluid tasted exactly like what Harry made Dumbledore drink during the lake scene. Never have I ever tasted anything like that. My bowels took forever, so I didn’t start on clear liquids until late afternoon. 1 oz per 30 minutes. Lots of gurgling!!! Much less pain by the afternoon Day 2. They took me off the IV pain med and moved me to Percocet pills and they last longer in the system so that’s good. My surgery was at 7:30am so I’ll have been in the hospital Tuesday, Wednesday and at least the morning of Thursday. Looking forward to going home even though this hospital is so nice (it’s brand new with it’s only bariatric wing). i did a week of strict OptiFast shakes only and did a self prescribed bowel prep because I have horrible constipation and I wanted all that out before surgery. I lost 11 pounds in that week, so I was down to 251.1 on my surgery date. full liquid starting tomorrow. They want me to have 3 portions of 2 oz per day. There is no way I’ll come close to my protein goals. let me know if you have any questions!

I start my OptiFast tomorrow! Things are getting REALLY REAL!!!!

Hi there!! I also have to have a hernia repair and liver biopsy. I meet with my surgical team on Monday and I have a lot of questions. Mainly, is the recovery going to be any longer because of the added procedures? I only have 2 weeks off work after surgery because I'm a teacher and I have to be back at work when school starts. I'm a bit worried, but it will hopefully be fine. My surgeon is having me do OptiFast and I hope it will be okay. We have to choose from shakes, clear broth soup, and bars all made by OptiFast and I know it will be challenging as it is, on top of adjusting to the taste of new shakes, etc.

I'm 43 and I feel like this is almost the beginning of a new life for me and it's scary, but exciting.

Hello Everyone! My surgery date is August 9th. I had my first consult in November 2021 and my insurance needed 6 months of visits and those didn't start until the end of January! I am so ready! I'll be doing one week of OptiFast. I am a teacher so I'm working so hard getting everything in my labs prepared because I'll be taking off two weeks and coming back to work right at the end of the two weeks. That is what makes me the most nervous...going back to work too soon.