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It could last at least 6 weeks. I went to the ER bc I thought I had a blood clot but didn't, and the ER doc told me I was gassy (listening through stethoscope) and may have a leak. I though WTH? It wasn't he just didn't have any experience with bariatric surgery.

That is a side effect of synthroid as well so you may want to talk to ur endocrinologist about a different thyroid medication I have seen many patients that had to stop taking that bc of insomnia. So if you continue to have problems it may be the medication itself!! Best of luck. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I called Dr.Ahmad when first researching & calling around-secretary seemed nice but quick to call me back & cancel orientation bc did not take my insurance. I'm considering self pay-how's it going? I have struggled for so many years-very skeptical! Would love your opinion of band & Dr Ahmad. I'm a Mom too!

Thank you for that info!! My surgeon is Dr.Coates in Modesto!! I looked up Anthem Blue Cross's Medical Policy online and it says they cover the sleeve if you are an eligible candidate. Here's the link: http://www.anthem.com/ca/medicalpolicies/policies/mp_pw_a053317.htm It is listed in the first paragragh along with all the other types of WLS. It is listed as "Sleeve Gastrectomy" This may or may not be the info you need but DONT GIVE UP!! I would call your insurance directly and ask how you can view their medical policy online. They should be able to provide you with a link to your actual plan with them. And it is always better to see it in writing yourself rather than to be possibly told numerous things by different agents... Thank you so much for the advice about maybe having to be with them for a certain amount of time before the surgery is covered. That's a great question to ask my insurance lady when I go in tomorrow to possibly switch my plan!!! As far as Dr.Coates office having a contract with Anthem Blue Cross,I talked to about 4 ppl from their office yesterday that confirmed that Anthem Blue Cross does cover the sleeve with them,bc I kept calling back to make sure!! LOL. I would call Dr.Coates office and talk to them if you may still want to have the surgery done there. They are very helpful and have an awesome pre-authorization worker!! I'm sure if you give her your exact insurance info as far as what plan you are under with Anthem Blue Cross,she should be able to give you some valuable advice. Hope this helps-It would be awesome to go through this journey with someone local!!!

You are so welcome. That's what we're here for! Oh it helped so much for dh to rub my back! All things warm and hot were and are awesome for me. I loved broth and then when I got to full liquids I really loved chicken broth with cream of chicken soup mixed in. It's usually hard to get even liquids in at first bc the sleeve is still so swollen from surgery it will pass. =) Good luck!

Proud Grammy Wow another BC survivor! YAH! I thought I might be the only one. Now I don't feel nutty for thinking about this. I have Kaiser Permanente Insurance they cover weight loss surgery, as long as you have 2 of the co morbitites and your BMI is 35 or over. Lucky me! My mother was over 300 pounds when she passed and I can never remeber her not being over weight. She always told me my day would come and I would be fat too. : ( I managed to stay at a decent weight until I hit 45. Then it's been a losing battle ever since. I really packed on the pounds after my bilateral mastectomies and reconstruction. I wasn't allowed to do anything active for 5 months. Thank you helping me get my perspective right. CA reacurrance down 50% when not obese.......NO BRAINER!

Hope, I don't know what state you are in, but BC/BS of Ohio just started covering the sleeve Nov. 18th. My surgeon's office resubmitted my paperwork and I'm waiting for an answer. I was denied in Aug. due to being investigational/experimental. Sittin' on pins and needles here! I hope you get a YES very soon!

If you are serious about the 'ring' or a diaphragm you need to have them rechecked if you loose weight!!!! Your insides will change and shift with you as you loose/gain weight and they will become less affective. You might want to look into the IUD (the new one has rave reviews I hear) or the BC patch. Talk things over with your gyno, inform him/her that you are getting banded and will be loosing quite a bit of weight and you want birth control that will go with you through it all not one you have to worry about. The other thing with BC pills is they do cause some (it is minimal) weight gain, so again you might want to look into a internal device. Again, I reiterate, TALK to your doctor explain what is going on with you, see what he/she recommends for you as you loose weight and your body starts changing.

The pill worked for me while I could take it. I haven't been able to take it in 8 - 10 years probably. Most surgeons do recommend a minimum of one year, and several are now starting to go upwards of 2 - 3 years. The BCP works with a failure rate, just like any other BC. I will move this to a better forum for you since it's a question about BC rather than surgery.

I actually had my surgery in Mexico on March 20th, but I am using Dr. Tillquist as my follow up dr. Thanks for the info. I prefer him to be straight forward and a no bs kind of guy.

On 4/11 I walked into the hospital to begin my pre-op/ pre-admission testing. Just a quick one and a half hours later and I was walking out a bit perplexed. I know surgery is a very serious thing and of course understand that I have to explain my medical history to the hospital so they can properly treat me. However, do I have to repeat myself 2-4 different times?!?!? Is it wrong of me to have been annoyed by this fact? Now don't get me wrong EVERYONE was super nice and professional and great to talk to. I just wish we could have sped the process up and done one big gigantic group interview. I mean you guys are asking almost the same exact questions. Then filter out the questions no one else needs and you can come into the room by yourself and ask those. Otherwise, let's get this show on the road here people! Nothing beats the next part of my day - going to my surgeon's office for my pre-op appointment.There were times during this appointment when I wished I was a ninja :ph34r: so I could sneak out of there without him looking. He made me so nervous. I swore at times it felt as though I was being interrogated. "Remember Kristina, if there is anything you need us to know, now is the time to tell me." OMG what do I need to tell you. Do you want intimate details of my life?!?! Do you want to know that I stole a make-up compact when I was 14 years old? That I cut classes in high school and got caught. I mean I felt like this was SUPER over done here. "Ok well if anything comes up, if anything changes, you let us know right away." Maybe he was being this way because I am a fairly healthy person besides the fact that I have about 100 pounds of FAT sitting all over my body of course! Which in the long run does not make me very healthy at all. I have high cholesterol but it is not being treated bc my primary doctor didn't think it was necessary with the surgery in the works. What do you want me to tell you Doctor Chau??? Needless to say I walked out of the office feeling a little strange! Most importantly, I found out that I will need to be a participant in the wonderful Liver Shrinking diet for at least one week. I have already begun the diet in a small way and switched my breakfast for a protein shake. I am undecided as to when I will incorporate my lunch in the mix. I went food shopping over the weekend and bought a ton of fresh fruits and veggies to start using those as snacks as per the diet. I EVEN TRIED COTTAGE CHEESE FOR THE FIRST TIME! MIRACLES DO HAPPEN!!!! It really isn't that bad. All these years I was afraid of it due to it's appearance. And they say you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. SHEESH man am I guilty of that. I am sorry to have judged you Mr. Cheese.

I am a nurse and wear scrubs all the time. At work last night I was told to get some new dang clothes! They said I looked like I had on a droopy diaper bc my pants were so big! But they said it in a loving supportive way. Question, at what point did others buy new clothes? I hate to spend money now when I am only 1/4 of the way to my goal.

coffee for breakfast Fish,Crab,Shrimp. Baked or sauteed. 3x a day sometimes 4 to get my Protein depending on what my Snacks are. I still use Protein drinks on occasion to get my protein up or if I am going out on a date. I have Quest bars or protein brownies every now and then. I eat zucchini and cucumbers and rutabagas. Boar's Head Tavern Ham Sometimes I make a burger. and eat it with no bun. Grass Fed Beef. I don't eat turkey or chicken, they are too hard to process for me

I had VSG in Dec 2014 - last week I got very sick with an awful stomach bug where everything I ate went through me (sorry TMI). I didn't throw up but have been steadily very sick to my stomach. I went to my GP on Wed and she didn't think I seemed that dehydrated even though I have only been getting about 4 cups of Water a day. My upset stomach has gone away but now I can't get anything down - when I try to eat Protein I just spit it up i'm so grossed out by it. I can eat toast and crackers but the carbs are making me feel super sick after I eat. I feel very sick, shaky, and dizzy. I can't call my surgeon bc I just switched health insurance and won't have coverage for a specialist until Feb 1st. I don' tknow what to do or why I'm reacting so awfully to this stomach bug. Has anyone else had the stomach flu and how did you get rhough it? This is the worse experience I've had since surgery. Help?

Hi, At less then 500 calories a day you are putting your body into starvation-mode! It will hold on to every pound you have, thinking it might never be fed again. This is your bodys defence mechanism. Is this the food advice you have been given my your doctor / nutritionist? A healthy, normal woman at healthy BMI who exercises moderately and want to maintain weight should be around 1800 cals / day (give or take). My nutrionist has been extremely careful to not use the word "diet" and has more or less forbidden us to count calories etc. I have spent 20 years on diets ruining my body, yo-yo up and down on the scale. The goal now is to get to the stage where we eat as a normalweight person would do, and stick to that. (ie at approx 1800 cals). To first loose the weight however, we should be at about 1200-1400 cals. I'm not trying to be a "know-it-all" here (and apologise if that is how I come across, english is also not my first language) but I don't understand why 500 cals a day is recommended? If you, on top of that, exercise - then you definitely need to increase. The "engine" needs fuel, basically. My advice would be to definitely increase your daily intake, with focus on Proteins. Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner and then another snack should be the goal. My nutritionists guidelines are clear; the Snacks are essential to ensure we get all the nutrions, Vitamins and minerals we need as we can eat so little at a time. Best wishes and good luck!

Just hit my 8 weeks post op! But I'm getting nervous because I'm starting to feel hunger again. And starting to eat 3 meals, small Of course, a day. I'm so nervous to gain any weight. I feel as though I've already stretched my Pouch bc I have made some bad choices in my diet. Help! Did anyone else feel like this?

I hit the 30lb mark today! Hurray!! I am still planning on getting another fill next week. I do not feel like I have found my sweet spot yet. I am at 4.5 cc. Surgery was December 4, 2008 2008 was a very eventful year for me. In Jan 08 I found a lump in my left breast. I had 2 surgeries, 4 months of chemo, lost ALL my hair. 6 weeks of radiation. Last chemo was 07/24/08. Last radiation was 10/15/08. Then I decided to lessen my chance for reoccurance of BC by losing weight. Lapband sugery 12/04/08.

I hit the 30lb mark today! Hurray!! I am still planning on getting another fill next week. I do not feel like I have found my sweet spot yet. I am at 4.5 cc. Surgery was December 4, 2008 2008 was a very eventful year for me. In Jan 08 I found a lump in my left breast. I had 2 surgeries, 4 months of chemo, lost ALL my hair. 6 weeks of radiation. Last chemo was 07/24/08. Last radiation was 10/15/08. Then I decided to lessen my chance for reoccurance of BC by losing weight. Lapband sugery 12/04/08.

I heard that is BS since that part of your stomach that usually stretches out is cut off.

I had half a glass at 3 weeks out. I took tiny sips and really only had it to blend in since I didn't tell a lot of people. What's funny is that I thought I'd really miss it and coffee, but I just can't "fit" either in anymore bc between the food, protein shakes and fluids, there's no space or time.

Hi, I'm sure this has been asked already but I am now 9 days post op and 3 days ago I started running a low temp 99 to 100 out of nowhere in the middle of the afternoon. I feel fine and haven't had any issues but am worried bc it has happened every day since from early afternoon to evening. The highest has been 100.2 and if I take tylenol it goes away. My surgeon said if it goes between 101 and 101.5 to go to an urgent care for bloodwork and CT but if no other sypmtoms then he thinks it isn't something to be too worried about. I have my post op follow up in 4 days and am hoping it goes away by then. Has anyone experienced anything like this? Thanks

I have Anthem Bc/Bs of Connecticut and was approved too. My BMI was also 37 with borderline Diabetes and High blood pressure. My PCP wrote a letter saying he thought it was a good idea. I got approved within a week!

just got a call from cardiology I need to go see them again, due to abnormal echocardiogram. they wont clear me for surgery until I see the dr. again. this Friday. surgery is the 9th. **I take meds for heart palpation can it be bc of that.

I have CA BLue Shield through my employer. I am in the last 3 days of my 6 month supervised diet. I have completed all of the tests. I am battling BS about one test that my surgeon required and BS does not want to pay for because they say that I did not have pre approval for tests required for Barbaric Surgery. I believe once I am approved they will pay. We submit Wednesday for approval. I will post when/if I am approved .

I shouldn't have a problem being a total basket case when I get in there. Lol I currently, or did I guess... Take celexa, buspirone, and trazadone for depression and severe anxiety.. The depression started pp after I had my nearly 4 yr old son. I think I use it more now to calm my nerves. Lol Anyway.. My psych nurse practitioner says I've not seen her since June (which isn't true bc I saw her in Sept. And was on a 3 month schedule) so she's refused my med refills. Well I've been without meds now for 3 weeks. My anxiety is absolutely out of control and driving me crazy and I've been an emotional basket case. I won't have nearly enough drugs in me come Thursday so the dr I'm seeing will see the unmedicated me. Haha I had a bit of a huge little meltdown today... :/ I googled before and after WLS pics.... That probably was not the best idea seeing as I'd already been feeling crappy. I had avoided looking up til today simply bc I knew I was going to see some pics of people with similar body shapes as mine. That was a hard pill to swallow at the moment BUT it's not hindered my determination to keep going forward. I'm more tired of being tired from carrying all this excess weight around and going to the dr for a routine checkup only to find something else is wrong with me that likely wouldn't be happening if I wasn't so overweight. That utter exhaustion and health issues bother me a lot more than the fact that I will have some saggy baggies all over. The saggy baggies can be fixed (mostly) with cosmetic surgery down the road and a long talk with my boyfriend makes me feel 100% better about it all! (: