Tiffykins

I've heard the same thing, but my core personality, moral convictions, ethics have remained identical post major weight loss.

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I'm "about' 5'2" as well and started out at over 250lbs, and it took a solid 50-60lbs for anyone to make comments. Plus, I only went down a couple of pants sizes with that amount of weight lost. People realize that other people's weight is kind of a sensitive subject. They may not want you to feel like they are prying into your business, or that they want you be open about what's going on. I really started getting comments like "Holy crap, you've lost more weight?" after I got out of plus size clothes and really started losing inches and pant sizes.

HA (made ya look) 34week baby bump, it's kind of hard to see because I took this with iPhone camera, but there are a couple of protrusions from my belly and those little bumps would be her FEET ! ! ! This was taken about 10-14 days ago. . . She's dropped a tiny bit, and rounded out in front, I'm really basketball shaped from the front, and no one can tell from the back that I'm pregnant. 31 days until her arrival ! ! !

I watched a couple of different VSG videos. Plus, I have a gross, all about body parts, surgery, CSI lovin' 11yr old son(at the time, he's 13 now) who wanted to see what they were going to do to his momma's stomach. I was especially interested in a band to VSG revision video. I'm way to inquisitive and researchy to NOT watch videos!

Smoking impedes healing, increases the risk for ulcers, pulmonary embolisms, DVTs/blood clots and anesthesia complications due to decreased O2 saturation levels.

Considering that partial and full gastrectomies have been performed since the 1800s for stomach cancer and ulcerative conditions, really the lack of 85% of your stomach isn't that big of a deal. If you do some independent research on gastrectomies for other medical conditions instead of just weight loss, you'll find that 1000s of people have lost most or all of their stomachs and live very normal, fully-functioning lives. Yes, they have diseased stomachs before, and they have different dietary requirements than we do, but honestly, you still have stomach tissue. You'll be able to eat normal foods, you'll be able to consume enough nutrients/calories to sustain a healthy body weight. When I was first researching revision options, another VSG'er said something along the lines of 'losing my stomach was like divorcing a toxic/abusive husband, I had to think of what that big, unkind, huge organ had done for me in the past, and all I could come up with is continue to allow me to eat copious amounts of foods that helped contribute to my obesity'. That's paraphrased, but it makes sense. I don't miss or need my big stomach!

You look phenomenal ! ! ! I'm super jealous. At 34, I have way more wrinkles than I ever had when fat. I know that my years of smoking has contributed to my lines and wrinkles, and that the damage is done. Thank goodness for botox ! ! ! You not only lost weight, you lost 15 years ! ! !

Sit your utensil down in between bites was my only saving grace.

I've drank coffee since being about 6 weeks post-op. As long as you can get in 64oz of clear fluids (which is ANYTHING that is decaf and sugar free), then coffee was not an issue for my program. Outside of pregnancy, I probably consume 20-30oz of coffee a day, and in pregnancy I have 1-2 cups per day in my 3rd trimester. As for alcohol, Here's my standard reply when anyone asks about alcohol post-op: 1) You have a healing staple line for 6-8 weeks, alcohol = harsh not conducive to healing 2) Empty calories = impeded weight loss 3) Transfer addiction (take away a fat girl's ability to cope with food, and it makes it easy to turn into using alcohol to cope) 4) This is the big one for me; Our livers are working double time during the rapid weight loss phase, right?? Why toss more crap in there for the liver to have to breakdown, process and clear out of the body. I was restricted for 3 months on alcohol consumption. I refrained until I was at goal (6 months post-op), and my first glass of wine hit me hard and fast, then I sobered up fast. Over the coming months to first year, my tolerance returned to normal. I'm a very social drinker (not in pregnancy obviously), but enjoy a couple of drinks weekly. People do it all the time. I don't tell anyone to NOT do it, but I don't think it's the best option regardless of how many calories you have left for the day, or how many others think it's perfectly fine to drink through the losing stage. Get to maintenance and worry about boozing. Believe me, I'm a party girl at heart, I have pics to prove it so I am not condemning drinking/partying/having a few, I am saying it's not conducive to losing phase.

I attended 3 seminars before my band surgery, and YES, I think they are beneficial. It gave me a good grasp on the surgeon, his ideas, thoughts, general experience. I'm a "first impression" kind of girl. One surgeon rubbed me the wrong way, and his insurance coordinator really rubbed me wrong especially when I found out they were charging military dependents a $500 administration fee which totally ILLEGAL as part of Tricare's agreement(and they refused to file it with Tricare or allow us to file it with Tricare privately by not offering a claim code, or a real reason as to why they were charging it other than, this covers admin fees, not covering nut or psych visits) with civilian surgeons. This particular surgeon is prior military, about 80% of the attendees were retired military or retired military dependents. I felt as if he used his prior service to prey on military dependents, plus he had a "god like" attitude, and well, that just doesn't sit well with me. The other 2 were with the same surgeon who performed my band. He didn't have the best bedside manner, and wasn't warm and fuzzy, but that has never been a selling point for me. I wanted experience, and to have surgery with a man/team who I felt would meet my needs. Least to say, he put on a good show, and I fired him after only 5 months post-banding due to his refusal to help me when I started having major issues with my band.

And, I've replied. There is no chastising in my reply. Simple questions, and asking for more details. My biggest issue is that you are promoting a specific surgeon instead of sharing details on the approval process. You want to help, then promote the process not the surgeon for his way around the system. Insurance fraud has big consequences, and cheating the system has huge ramifications for all involved especially dependents. I have zero desire to pursue the "why/hows" behind this specific surgeon's tactics on getting it approved, BUT it's not fair to promote a specific surgeon without sharing details. If you don't want to be questioned on a public forum, I suggest you pull the cloak and dagger thing behind closed/private messages.

I'm not a big seafood eater, but I do love scallops. Living here on the Gulf coast, I've had to acquire a taste for it, but I still won't eat shrimp or lobster (it's a texture thing, I can feel the little segmented body parts in my mouth, and well that skeeves me out). I can't stand the taste of salmon at all regardless of preparation method or flavoring. I can eat about 4-6oz of Mahi Mahi or Tilapia(grilled or broiled), about 4-5 large scallops. If I chew long enough, and eat slow enough I can, at this point, in the game eat some veggies/rice with those portions. The fish taco thing weirds me out too so I haven't ventured into that arena of seafood. I have made homemade crab cakes with pork rinds as a binder, and I really love those little boogers. Tuna salad is a go-to food for me, and the quantity I can consume totally depends on how much greek yogurt I mix with it, and overall general consistency of the tuna salad. Same goes for chicken salad. I find that if I eat it out at restaurants, like Panera Bread, I can not eat the same amount as if I make it at home.

Keep us posted on your approval process. If they approve VSG for one patient, they(Tricare) has to approve it for all dependents, and is Tricare your primary insurance, or by supplemental do you mean a different type of policy or do you have insurance through your employer or an individual policy??? Just asking so I can pass this onto other spouses who want VSG and are hitting roadblocks in the approval process. All the cloak and dagger stuff makes it sound too good to be true so the more details you share, the better it would be to truly help other dependents who are having issues with Tricare approvals.

Yes, there are lots of studies out on "normies" who are deficient. Vitamin D is one of the biggest deficiencies especially for those who live in the NW and NE and do not have the same hours of sunlight exposure that us Southerners have year round. Bone density is directly tied to Vit D and Calcium deficiency, and those 2 work together to make sure proper absorption is occurring in the body. Without good D levels, calcium is often lacking as well. Pubmed and Springerlink both have abstracts and partial articles available for review of these studies. I have let my subscriptions to the paid full articles expire, but before I paid an annual subscription or a nominal fee for particular articles of interest to me back in my researching/geeking days.

I take Celebrate vitamins. My regimen is : Celebrate Multi Complete (it has iron) and is a chewable - 2 chewables daily Celebrate Calcium Citrate 500 Plus - 2 Chewable per day (In my losing stage, I struggled with Calcium because I needed 1200-1500mg per day, and it's before I found Celebrates 500mg chewable so I fell short on Calcium a lot of the time) sublingual B12 2500mcg (in maintenance I take 1 sublingual every 2-3 days, in the pregnancy, I take 1 per day) Before I found the Celebrate Vitamins( I actually won a Facebook giveaway of 30 day supplies of the vitamins above), I took GNC Solotron with Iron chewables, and tried various other calcium citrate products. There is no medical reason that I have to continue chewables, I just like them. There are plenty of complete vitamins out there that are not chewable. The key to vitamins is to make sure they give you 100% of the Daily Recommended Values of ALL the major vitamins and other minerals that we simply can not consume enough of from food. And, I read labels for a lot of OTC brands. When I see a label with a bunch of vitamins listed, it doesn't always mean it's complete. When they throw calcium carbonate in the formulation, plus iron, those 2 counteract each other. So, reading labels, and with a lot of direction, advice, and reading on other bariatric patients who have struggled with Vitamin levels, I chose to go with a bariatric formulated vitamin. For me the cost, outweighs the consequences of getting deficient in anything. I'd rather pay for higher quality, better formulation now then try to play catch up and have more prescriptions or buy more supplements to fight to bring my numbers up.

For our program, we are tested twice a year until the 3 year mark then it drops to annual testing. Luckily, I've never been deficient in anything so I haven't had to have any further testing.

My experiences with Zumba has varied based on the instructor. Plus, I've been to 3-4 different classes, and there were at least 2 different styles by the different instructors. I'm not a fan of gyms either so I would buy one DVD and try it out at home before venturing out to a class. You can find single DVDs on ebay or amazon way cheaper than buying them from the direct sellers. I enjoyed Zumba, it's a heck of a workout, and it does work everything. But, the instructor definitely made the class. I didn't like a couple of classes I took because of the instructor and/or the music they chose, but that's just a personal preference.

So, is there a process that you are aware of that could help 100s of other military spouses to get approval for VSG with a civilian surgeon??? If you have this information, please share it. I don't care how it gets approved, but if you can share details, you would helping a huge amount of wives that are settling for RNY, the band or staying FAT for the rest of their lives.

It is possible to do, HOWEVER, your PCM will have to put in the referral specifically to that MTF. I have a civilian PCM, and I get kicked to civilians for everything. I have 2 friends who see the same PCM, we all got referrals to Eglin AFB without issue. So, your PCM has to put it in correctly. Grant it, we aren't dealing with the distance issue since Eglin is a neighboring base for us here, but I know several people who get referrals for distant MTF for the VSG. BUT, it is at the discretion of that MTF to take you as a patient, they do NOT have to take you, they can say that you will not be able to have the required follow up. HOWEVER, your closest MTF and PCM can do your labs, and handle any aftercare. You just have to have your PCM on board.

It varies by facility. Here at Eglin, my revision took 3 months to get done, and I did NOT have to jump through any of the normal hoops, like the psych or nut evals. However, I had to have more labs done, and had to get some extra stuff done due to being a revision. I've seen other MTFs require these appointments, the basic seem to be(marked with an * are ones I had to do as a revision) : Labs*, eKg*, endoscopy (I did not have this one), psych and nut eval, chest xray*, informational seminar (typically the very first appointment). Some require a manometry (up in the Northern region is the only place I've read about this requirement. In the Pacific NW (Oregon, Washington area MTFs) they require a 6 month supervised diet/weigh in, with multiple nut visits, but that could have changed. With my band, I had a civilian place it and it was covered by Tricare Prime 100% with zero out of pocket. I had a psych eval, 3 nut visits, labs, chest xray, eKg, psych eval. I'm really sorry that you are having to go through all of this Heather. I am not surprised that Tricare isn't picking up the VSG(as we've heard they were going to do so since 2009, 1 October comes and goes without changes in their bariatric profile of approved surgeries) since Medicare is still NOT fully covering it with all of their plans.

No, there are zero out of pocket costs at MTF.

You look fabulous lady ! ! ! I admit I showed my husband your boobies last night on Facebook, and he said "Can you get some of those???" Now, remember, he was totally opposed to me having any plastics done, and was convinced that boobies were NOT needed. Well, after seeing yours he's convinced that boobies are necessity! ! ! Grant it, we live in Florida, plastic surgery capital, it seems everyone around here has fake boobs, and he just hasn't been impressed with the way the others look. He is so worried I'll end up with the "half cantaloupe" look with a huge valley in between them look that is so common down here. I swear some of the plastic surgeons down here set them so far apart, you could drive one of those yellow Tonka dump trucks through the women's cleavage, and that is the reason we're waiting to get consults. Well that issue, and of course, the pregnancy. You look fab chickee and I'm so happy for you ! ! !

All of the shots are collagen, and the casein Proteins are mainly used as food additives. Whey isolate or soy Protein are the most readily assimilated and absorbed by the body for recovery post-op. Along with the proper amounts of amino acids need to make assimilation possible and readily available to the body for appropriate usage by our bodies. The shots have "some" whey isolate in them, but it's not enough for you to be able to count it as a complete protein, plus main ingredient in most shots is just Water.

Baked them. There's a few recipes on here that I tried and we loved: http://allrecipes.com/Search/Recipes.aspx?WithTerm=spaghetti%20squash&SortBy=Rating&Direction=Descending