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I've been looking at obesityhelp.com. Found this site when someone posted it there. Started the research a few years ago. Late last year I went to 2 drs. and various seminars in MD and VA. Was denied because my work ins. didn't cover lap band, only gastric. Saw a dr in VA, and really liked him-Dr Chebli (sp?). Was waiting to get re-married, move to a newer house, 2 kids graduations, etc. So, this year found out on the BC/BS CareFirst providers website that as of June 13, 2005, they no longer consider the lap experimental. "Obesity and Morbid Obestity, 7.01.36. New technology/--aparoscopic adjustable gastric banding for treatment of morbid obesity. Description--Placement of a silicone band around the upper portion of the stomach, to restrict the patient's ability to ingest food. CareFirst and CareFirst BlueChoice Determination--If it's 'Considered medically necesary when treating morbidly obese patients who meet the established criteria for surgical intervention. This is a change from previous policy.'" There isn't a CPT code, but a HCPCS code, S2082. Found at another site that there is HCPCS S2083 for adjustments. Was told my the dr nurse in MD those codes are for hospital coding. So, it's a wait and see for now. Paperwork was sent this Mon. Nurse told me 2/3 wks to hear. Person who does it is out-other's are handling in her absence. The kicker could be if my employer didn't have a special rider for WLS. Not sure? Could be an appeal coming my way. Lots of co-morbities. Take too many medications. Rheumatologist's visits increasing lately. Said way to much for now. But, wanted you folks to know what I've found out. This is such a great site! Glad I found it. Glad to communicate w/you all. Finding folks in VA/MD/DC area to meet in person. Don't think there are enough support groups, even for this large metropolitan area. Maybe TMI? too much information

So the swelling seems to be mostly all gone down today finally. Yesterday I noticed that on a lot of corners where I have the incision sites taped (these are square bits of clear stuff with masking tape on them) I was getting blisters. So what I did was cut away the tape where there was blisters. A few of the blisters popped- mostly the bigger ones and of course there was cross pus and all but I put antibiotic ointment and bandaides over them and then a lot of the smaller ones didn't so I am just leaving them alone. Probably some bizare allergic reaction. I have sensitive skin. Then right now I am also finally starting on the full liquid phase. I stayed on Clear liquids for longer because I had a PB on day two post op when I drank too much all at once. So now I am slowly sipping on a slim fast. It never tasted so good before. Last night I was drinking Protein Water and at some points it was hard to remember to go slow because I was thirsty but I managed. When I drink I usually get a nice burp in return. Sometimes there is some pressure for a moment or two and then some more gas comes up. I guess I have pretty tight restriction! I sure hope it loosens up in the next week or two! Also right now I am still having dreams about food but they have changed. Before it was always food and then I would wake up starving. Now since my PB I have been having more nightmares. LOL. Like I dream that I ate a slice a pizza really fast and of course it is yummy but then I remember that I now I have the band I can't eat a slice of pizza really fast like that- just gulping it down so I am waiting for it... Or that I ate a soft solid too early but I was really careful and only had one bite. Or I discovered a huge tub of ice cream of ice cream in the freezer (chocolate cheesecake swirl with rocky road) and then I dished out just a half a cup and worked on chewing really well because I was afraid of upsetting the band. So now all my food dreams feature the band as well as food. This is a definite change. And when I wake up I always take a moment and sort of wonder what I might have eaten and then I realize that off course it was a dream. I meant to go to the walk in clinic today because I think I have a UTI because of all the blood in my urine lately (a bit freaky I'll admit as I'm not used to that) and also I started running a low fever (99.2) last night but its stable at least. And I called the doctor on call at my clinic and they said walk in should be able to handle it and not send me to ER ( I don't feel up to sitting around for hours there. I just don't. I'm not sick enough or well enough at this point... You know what I mean), since it sounds like a basic UTI. But today I slept through the hours that the walk in clinic was open (8 am to 8pm)... hey sleeping is what I do especially when I don't feel well. And tomorrow I will try again. I also sent my DH out for cranberry juice. So of course I am worrying about antibioitics now and what form they will take. I am allergic to most antibiotics-- at least the ones I have taken. Basically I can taken the erithymiacin derivitives and clindimyiacin (erithmiacin itself makes me projectile vomit so I like to avoid it). But those tend to be big pills or make me nauseated with stuff or whatever. So I don't know if there is a liquid form. I figure I would ask for zithromax as that is the least pills and side effects. And I don't want to be adventurous and try a new class of antibiotics or whatever because I don't feel up to the whole not breathing swelling rash stuff. This of course assumes it is an UTI but what else could it be? I swear when I wipe after I pee there is more blood than Urine, probably TMI. But it is sort of interesting too. And no, it isn't my period. I also finally lost a couple of pounds. I had somehow managed to gain weight after the surgery. This was pretty disconcerting especially since I was on no food and clear liquids and all. But then yesterday I was two pounds down finally. I haven't changed my ticker yet because I haven't felt like doing it yet. I also think the house is getting even messier around me. My husband said a pile of clothes collapsed in the laundry room and I don't think he did anything about it. The kitchen doesn't look good at all. He is working on putting in a newer, bigger, tankless water heater (we have a tankless that is fairly new but it doesn't keep up with our water needs esp since we are doing a bathroom renovation). So there are pipes and stuff all over. *Sigh* I'll get on him tomorrow. I'm going to be still down and resting at least a few more days so he needs to do more than he usually would, not that he would do a lot...

@@Dabliss111114 - I am so sorry to hear about your father-in-law. Recovering from surgery is stressful enough without all you have gone through lately. Hugs to you and your family. I've been doing better the past couple of days - finally! It was a rough 4 days there, but thankfully that was short. TMI alert: I finally blench a BIG air bubble up as I was throwing up and I think that was the cause of my 4 day puking spree. My nausea went away after that. Since then I've been forcing small burps throughout the day to keep that from happening again. So far, so good. I got out today and did a lot of walking in Target. :-) I really do need to get out more. I had more energy since I can keep food down better. I was also dragging emotionally - it was frustrating nor being able to eat, not feeling like doing things, missing some of my favorite foods and probably having a minor pity party. Not full-blown really because I am extremely grateful that everything has gone so well, so more like a pout!

I'm home all day and needed soemthing to fill up the time - So, I too Wheetsin googled OH - this is what I found: Besides, grazing on fats leads to explosive diahrreah or greasy stools that sometimes leak out into my underwear when I pass gas. ( I know, TMI, but I have to go here in order to explain my food choices.) I have messed myself several times while in my car, but I have discovered that if I eat rice and other complex carbs with the fats, I can bind up the grease without losing control of my bowels ....and I was worried the first few wks of post op on the band, not "trusting the fart".....

Hello everyone! I am new to this forum. I have not yet had my surgery but have had my initial meeting with my doctor. He wants to do the sleeve, but, I am not sure my insurance will cover. I hope it does as I prefer the sleeve to the bypass. I am 50 years old and have been obese for about 30 years. I have tried multiple diets, exercise regimens and drugs and either didn't loose any weight or did loose and gained it back. So hopefully this will be my lifesaver. Even though I am about 7 months out, I am already working on drinking the requisite liquids per day and am slowly making my meals smaller and smaller and am working on learning to chew - chew - chew! I am doing a walk at home program as my small town has horrible sidewalks. My biggest concern and issue is I am single. I moved here from the South about 3 years ago. I work alot and do not have many friends so basically I am doing this alone. I am strong and know I can do it but I do wonder how much others here needed help before and after surgery. I am not so worried about the before as I work alot and that will keep me occupied. It is the after that has me concerned. Has anyone else here done it alone? I work second shift and cannot attend the support meetings and that worries me too. Also, with the new diet and the liquids, is it hard to do all of it and work? I work in a manufacturing plant and my job does allow me a lot of freedom as far as restroom breaks but sometimes I just can't pull away. I know I am asking for tmi...but in reality how many times a day do you hit the restroom? lol If that makes sense at all! Excuse me for this being sooo long ..I am longwinded in real life also!

TMI but every hour I pee so every hour I take a lap

be able to wrap a regular size towel around my body after swimming and showering; this is a big TMI if i ever heard one, but why not lol; feel confortable being on top during sex.

This is serious Tmi but has anyone got a yeast infection after surgery? I think I have one due to the anti biotics, and my immune system is shot to hell. Thoughts anyone?

Greetings, I had the gastric sleeve on June 17th, and overall its going pretty well. I do have something that is becoming a bit of a problem. Since I can anonymity on here, I thought I'd ask. How is the sex drive guys? Mine is 1000 x increased. I begin every morning with some with my wife, I masturbate at least 2 x during the day, sometimes 3 (thank goodness I work from home), and at night we have sex. So on average that is 4x a day. Part of me is like this was better than when I was 16, 30 years ago. However, it is becoming a bit consuming. Anyone else have this issue? Is this normal? Does it last (I'm kind of hoping not to be honest)? Thanks. Sorry if it is TMI but it isn't something I really want to bring up with the nurse practitioner.

WARNING TMI: I'm out 14 months and last Friday night we went for hamburgers at Red Robin. I had a turkey burger and ate less than 1/2 the bun and fixin's and all the turkey patty, I also had maybe 6 steak fries and two small bites of my wifes dessert and was in distress almost immediately. I hocked up two big mouths of phlemmy nasty stuff before giving up to it and finally barfing up ONE mouthful of vomit. Instant and total relief. So what would of been a light snack a few years ago was TOO much today. So at 14 months the restriction is still good for me. I picture the stomach as a kind of a saggy balloon, not the smallish kids balloon but a larger maybe latex, it's got TWO opening though, the output opening has a valve to keep it normally sealed. It's hung from the top opening and the other opning is more to the side on a slant from the top. It has a tougher band running across the top edge that doesn't stretch much and is there to hang the whole thing on, the bottom can stretch a LOT. During the VSG a majority of the bottom stretchy part is removed and you are left with more of a tube than a saggy balloon. The bottom cut is sealed with staples and heals with a thick ridge of scar tissue - which if you have any scars you know it does NOT stretch. The part between the bottom scar and the thick upper part DOES stretch - SOME. Remember it's limited somewhat by being so close to the thick upper part and the new scar. So YES it does stretch but not NEAR the amount the old stomach could, and even then they BOTH spring back to the original shape pretty fast and never stayed stretched. Of MORE concern is developing bad habits post sleeve and starting to snack all the time, therefore never hitting the restriction and eating too many calories over the course of the day.

I too take Effexor XR. I don't chew that one don't worry. I just pop open the caps and put the little balls in a medicine cup. I take a "sip" of the balls and wash it down with Water. After I have taken them from the cup I take a few swishes of water around my mouth and swallow to make sure i got them all. Sometimes one will hide out and I will get a bitter taste a few mins later but water takes care of it. Hijack and TMI alert: Has anyone else noticed on Effexor that sometimes not all the little balls are fully "digested". Like you can errr see them in the toilet? This was going before surgery so I don't think it has anything to do with surgery but it is odd. I feel like I am not getting all the medicine if the balls are not disolving.

Thank you! Yes, the research I've done as well all points to improvement to PCOS as well. i'm just hoping everyone who has it has had positive results with their surgery. I have had so much trouble loosing weight due to my PCOS and insulin resistance I would always plateau at around 30 lbs. I want to lose a lot more than that so I can be healthy and eventually if I want to have kids. Sorry if this is TMI, but I only get my period every 3-4 months. I have to go on provera a lot to get it and I hate doing that. I'm hoping after surgery I'll get regular cycles.

Thanks for the replies.. I was pretty confident that it would be okay because I was pre-approved medical wise, but I'm so siked for this now after months of thinking about it I don't want any brick walls. Its good to hear that some of the symptoms go away.. Being constipated is horrifying for me after going the other way for so long,, stool softeners are a must... TMI huh?? lol, there isn't much you don't discuss openly when it comes to this huh? I don't think I have ever shared my weight with people as much as I have in the past month.. I even braved adding a ticker,, now hopefully it will start moving huh? I have been on a salad bender for about two months, now eating lots of yogurt and fruit trying to prepare myself for the new eating habits.. I haven't had IBS symptoms since I started, and the reflux is getting better also, and I have been sleeping better too!! I hope my motivation continues and the hunger or urge to eat goes away!

I was sleeved on the 18 th too! Congrats to u!!! I haven't passed any gas either. Had a few small burps but that was it. My pain has been more from gas and the bad headache I got from the morphine. They ended up giving me toradol and that helped much better than the morphine. Have u had any trouble keeping stuff down? I had 3 baby spoon worth of vanilla chobani yogurt when I got home and it slide right back up. I'm supposed to be doing all liquids and that includes Greek yogurt without bit of fruit in it; low fat cream soups strained; sugar free pudding and jello... nothing feels good once I swallow. Wondering if my sleeve is still too swollen to handle anything other than liquids. I think I'm calling the nutritionist tomorrow just to check. I don't want to lose muscle mass or hair. Oh and have you tried gas x strips or chewables? I chewed up 2 today and it seemed to help get stuff moving. No gas out but it did help with a small bm. Tmi but hope it helps! Keep in touch. Love finding all these sleeve sisters!

That's normal. Your weight fluctuates with water. For example, before I workout, I may weigh 2 pounds more than after it. I've sweat off a good amount of water. Also, your weight fluctuates with bowel movements and the such. This is TMI, but I decided to see what I would weigh before and after a BM. I ended up weighing 1 pound lighter than before my BM. Yeeeeahhh.... don't worry about those 2 pounds. They will be gone soon enough.

Keep sipping. Staying hydrated is so very important, The protein will come in the next week or so. Try to get some in, but really stress the liquids and start on your vitamins if your doc has cleared you to do so, I just tried every day to do better at something then the day before, I am four weeks out and getting in all my fluids and protein and vitamins. My biggest complaint is constipation. ugh. tmi i know but oh it would feel so good to "go" wishing you the best,

Okay all of this may be TMI but I need answers!!! I'm a month post op and have been kind of spotting dark brown every day since surgery. It stops right after shower for most of the day but comes back again and the odor is horrible. What is going on?! Another question, my boyfriend and I have tried to have sex and I can't get wet. That's never been a problem. We have to use lube now. That's no fun. I'm getting depressed. Please tell me I'm not alone and that I can fix all of this somehow

Well I'm three days out and got a bad case of head hunger today not real hunger just my other half had steak and my son had pizza and it was stuffed crust!!! I am having a hard time with my liquid in take everything tast so weird to me I cant finish a Popsicle with out feeling like I'm going to bust on a good day I am getting in around 44Oz a day and I'm making sure what I do get in has electrolytes I have one incision that is really sore and I have been Laying on my back and putting my feet up like when I had my son and it pushes the gas out tmi! I know but the gas is such a killer just trying to stay hydrated!! I can finally sleep on my right side forget about the left side it is way too sore! I hope all the posters are doing good and all the ones still waiting are staying sain!

On the TMI front can I just say farting has never been this pleasurable

Tmi

I take colace every day. It's part of my meds. I'm pretty regular now at 7 months out having an almost a daily "deposit". My problem was hard bowels, for risk of TMI - my body was trying to poo boulders - so the colace was the answer for me. I haven't had a problem since I started taking it. If it's getting it moving I would get a fiber supplement. Miralax is a favorite among our crowd and I am sure we have some that have recommendations for tried and true fiber. I used benefiber for awhile and I liked that I could mix it in ANYTHING without an added taste or after taste.

and finally, You don't wear panties... #TMI #eww #nasty

After I lost around 20% of my body weight -and over a weekend, it seemed - my boobs seemed to deflate as if someone put a pin in them! They are probably same size overall (lost weight off my back which has decreased band size) as cup size still seems ok but they are much softer (floppier, dare I say, though that's probably TMI). I'm quite pleased as I'm over 50 and in regular mammogram territory - last one was agony and radiologist mentioned my breasts were "unusually firm for a woman of your age" (!?). Hopefully next ones will be easier.

So, this morning I grabbed an almond croissant with the full intention of eating half of it. (TMI: I am seriously PMSing and was craving stuff (not to mention I was also really hungry).) I went back to my desk and stared at the delicious pastry; then, I proceeded to wrap it in a napkin, squish it, then throw it in the trash. Yay for me!

Yep, sounds like we're in the same boat lol. I don't like being constipated, but sometimes I wish I could stop myself up just so I don't have to go potty so much. This might be a little TMI, but my booty is RAW from so much pottying! Enough is enough...I'm 5 weeks post op & it hasn't gotten any better 4 me. So let's hope after 8 weeks I'll be back to normal. Rhonda