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I called BCBSIL yesterday to check. I was told that the policy changed in Feb 2019. They no longer have a requirement for a set number of visits. They will leave the number of visits for your doctor to decide when you're ready for surgery. The insurance coordinator for my surgeon's office will submit on the day of my last visit, June 3. They have given me date of pre-op class and two tentative surgery dates- one in June and one in July. Surgery depends on when they receive an approval from insurance.

I wish now I knew how boring a prolonged liquid diet can be. Sometimes I hate my body for not. behaving better, no I don't hate my surgron, I don't hate that I had the surgery or even the type of surgery it was, just the fact of structuring/ulceration. NP assured me at appointment last Wednesday that my stomal opening was " patent"(medicalese for open) albeit still narrow, well I will concede it might have been. on THAT day, my point is- it did not remain that way. The tenderness of my pouch, which I feel most at and just below my sternum, and my right subcostal. pain which Dr Noria has told me is my jejunal ulcerations are still twingy'paining me. And 4 out of the last 6 days I have vomitted up my evening meal, 3 of those next days I woke up nauseated enough to not be able to keep anything water included until noon. And I am precaious with my fluid levels when that happens. If things are are calm enough gastic-wise that I can do 2 at minimum of fluid in my little baby shot glasses every 15 minutes, I will make my 64 oz quota, before last endoscopy I was doing 3oz instead, that made it to 72 oz which was better. Then if I had my soups, which I have been brewing myself instead of relying on prepared and canned, the fluid from them would make me up to 84-87 oz, that would be enough to keep #1 tickety-booming and #2 soft enough to pass well. And yes I do have 2 doses of Miralax worked into fluids and protein- enrich the soups. Made myself some sugar-free - made with stevia tapioca pudding. When Precious Pouch behaves very very good, I reward her with a couple ounces of that. But mostly I spend my evenings curled into an ball over the wastebasket or with one of my emesis bags I got at the hospital. I never expected this kind of grief this far from surgery. I really feel I have followed all the directives to the letter. Thursday I have an appointment with dietician, let's see if Roy and I can formulate something. And I have another niggling thing, I am husky- voiced, my ENT Dr Suzie says my vocal cords are bowed so I will be having speech therapy. There are 3 possible reasons for it, #1 A normal consequence of aging #2 pressure from my thyroid nodules doing it- this she doubts and #3 and this is the one I believe, so many endoscopies- I am up to 13 lifetime and 10 of them at OSU- that it has traumatized my vocal cords and speech as a consequence. So I guess I resent how long it is taking to heal to a "normal "state, it is wearyin g/boring and feeling futile most days. Do I wish I could be revised back away from my pouch? Not really, it would be a traumatizing long open surgery, not easy to endure maybe at my age even fatal, not easy- peasy like laparoscopy was. I do like the fact I am now even smaller than I was when I delivered Tomkitten, 40 years ago the 12th of June, yeah if you look only at my weight loss, 100 pounds in 8 months, you could say "Good on YOU Frustr8" it's just the miserable way, with PICC lines, Total P Nutrition, and the minor setbacks, this was not what was advertised in pamphlets, pre-surgery consults and even the Post-Surgery clinic visits, I did not request to be this "unique" maybe it is good I am One of A Kind as most practices do not deserve more than one. But , like the happy child singing in a room full of manure, with all this, there has got to be a pony somewhere! Your bewidered but comitted for the journey friend, the 1 the only--- Frustr8

How cold I get Needing a pillow between my knees when sleeping My tailbone would hurt Sitting on a hard surface would hurt Realizing I bought a lot of clothes when I was heavy (All given away) The amount of money I spent eating out 3-4 times a week I'd look so much younger. My kid brother (10 yrs younger) used to introduce me as his Father and people believed it. Now when he does it people tell him how can he be your Father, he looks younger than you. How much I took good health for granted, now I cherish it.

Highest weight: 315 June 2017 Got down to 265 on keto then developed rheumatoid arthritis Spring of 2018. Regained back up to 305 after being on prednisone for inflammation and pain. Stopped gaining once I was taken off fortunately. Was 303 at my consult appointment with the bariatric surgeon on 2/15/19. I am currently 290 as I'm back to calorie and carb counting for the past month. My surgery date is June 3rd My program doesn't require a liquid preop diet but wondering if I should do it anyway. My surgeon set a goal of 168 but haven't been that low since 9th grade so not sure if it's possible.

Hi, Emzbee. So good to have you back! First, you look adorable in your latest photo--and I like the black hair! I'm so sorry to hear that you might have a stricture. However, the upside is that there may be a reason you have been having difficulties, and it can be fixed. That should make you feel a bit better. As for the barium swallow, it's not a big deal. (You may remember that I did one when I had a leak. It was at 10:00 at night in a deserted area in the basement of the hospital--very creepy.) At any rate, mine was essentially tasteless and really easy to drink. Gottajustdoit, perhaps there are different kinds and yours was nasty. Please do keep us posted, and I'm looking forward to hearing good news from you soon!

Anna, I started out low, too, and am just amazed at everyone’s progress. I’ve lost about 44 lbs, but 13 of that was from preop diet. I’m losing super slow - I’m lucky if I hit 2 lbs per week. Plus I had a stall that lasted over a month! Start weight 200 Surgery date 2/13/19 Current weight 156

I am on day 10 post op and I am not losing any weight at all. I don't get it! I was sleeved Friday April 26th. The following Tuesday April 30th I was 7 pounds down from the day of surgery. I have weighed the SAME EXACT THING since then! I am following the diet to a T, sometimes not even hitting my calorie goal, averaging a little less than 500 calories per day 60 grams of protein, and the scale isn't budging. What gives? How can someone eat so little and not lose even .1 of a pound? Tomorrow it will be one week of zero weight loss. I'm beyond discouraged right now. Anyone else experience anything similar? Do I just need to give it time? I could cry! :(

I didn’t realize when I lost weight that————— I would be cold all the time. Right now it’s in the 70s and I’ve got a long sleeve t shirt and a sweatshirt on. How many people who have not had surgery and have never taken any nutrition classes know everything about what I am and am not allowed to eat. How much my bones would stick out. How bad my butt and tailbone hurt after only setting for 10 minutes.

Yes I got my approval today. Surgery date 6/3/2019

I am Day 8 post surgery, on liquids only, and am having the exact same problem. I feel quite weak and hungry all.the.time. I'm also unsure what 'full' should feel like now. I have not, at any time since surgery and being on liquids only, felt full in the way I would have previously felt after e.g. eating a bowl of pasta or a steak! I'm a bit frightened that my surgery isn't a success. VSG 27th April 2019

I was ok for the first few nights and managed to lay on my side. Then one night I turned over and seriously thought I’d ripped my insides open. It was so painful I was screaming out loud. Anyway, no other symptoms happened and my team confirmed that I’d pulled all of my muscles from moving so quickly. So I slept on the recliner for about 10 nights out of fear from it happening again. Then I bought a wedge pillow and that meant I was able to get back into bed, I used a hot water bottle S well, so when I went to move I pressed it to hold myself for comfort. At 6 weeks I’d say I managed to sleep on my side again. Although I am still worried now that I’ll pull my muscles again, the fear isn’t so strong now I know it’s not serious.

Good morning fellow May Ladies! Was doing super well on my no junk food challenge until I fell off the wagon big time last night --cinco de fail-o. From about 6-10 I stuffed my face. Guess I will be adding on one more day to the end, going to the 11th of May to make up for it. On the plus side, Saturday morning I weighed in at 183.2 - extremely close to tomorrow's mini-goal. Now of course this was before I binged last night! Hopefully tomorrow I will be staring at 183 even. I will count this post as talking to friends.

Oh no. I’m pre op. My surgery is in 10 days as of today! Yesterday I started feeling a little better and I’m back on the metformin. I think it’s just getting used to it. I’m also having broth in between and the sugar free jello now. That’s been helping. Best of luck to you! It’ll be so worth it!

I am 10 months post bypass and have passed my goal so I'm no longer trying to lose. That said, I still eat healthy most of the time. When I run through the drive through for my kids they both know they have to pay the "fry tax". They each give me 3 or 4 of their fries. They find it hilarious. Oh and I have a Hershey kiss after lunch a few times a week. I got down on myself about it once then thought about how I ate before surgery and got over it lol Sent from my SM-G965U using BariatricPal mobile app

Also, I take about an hour to get all my medication down. I’m supposed to open or crush everything but it was disgusting. I take about 10 capsules at night and a couple pills. They definitely fill me up. Pouch is little.

I'm in HR. Tell your local HR person that you need to apply for a medical leave of absence (MLOA). If you are in the US, there are privacy laws that protect your medical information. Your company would be at risk of violating the HIPPA laws if someone at the supervisor level pressed for medical details. All they need to know is you need MLOA for a procedure and that you expect to be out from x/xx/19 through x/xx/19. https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individuals/guidance-materials-for-consumers/index.html

Hi all, I am still struggling with dumping syndrome side effects. I was sleeved Feb 2018, and have lost 78lbs which I am happy with. I have 20lbs until target weight. So all going well with the weight loss. Once I started back on the diet, following high protein, low carb, low sugar.. My new stomach has struggled. I have daily episodes of diarrhoea (maybe up to 7 or 8 times), heaps of gas and flatulence. I can still only eat maybe 4 or 5 tablespoons of food. But what I'm just exhausted with is 14 months of dumping syndrome. Now everything I read and researched says it doesn't happen to sleeve patients, but can be an issue for gastric bypass patients. At least once a day, about 10 to 15 minutes after eating (protein seems to trigger it), I become hot, sweaty, nauseous and suffer incredible fatigue. I could lay right under the dining table and sleep. I get light-headed,and my heart races. To be honest, I feel awful. And I cannot swallow another thing. I chew my food very slowly, I don't drink with meals, and I am so sick of it. My husband has termed it the bariatric "ice-cream headache". You know, when you think your head is going to blow off because of freezing ice cream.. And then it goes away within 10 minutes or so? After suffering with an episode for about 20-30 minutes, it then resolves back to completely normal. The diarrhoea is frequent and sporadic and is exhausting. Especially trying to keep up the water intake. I would go back and see my surgeon except he retired. (Kind of... There are multiple charges of medical negligence and complaints about him, so he had had to cease working. I dodged a bullet right there!) Is it even a tiny bit possible that he did a bypass rather than a sleeve on me? Are the symptoms I am suffering not associated with a sleeve with anyone else? I just don't really know what to do. I keep thinking it will resolve but 14 months later it is as bad as it was in the first month.

Mine was robotic. There were 2 very experienced surgeons there the entire time. My time in surgery was normal, and my recovery was as well. My team is fantastic. All of their bariatric surgeries are robotic. It allows for greater dexterity and more arms in there working. Personally, I was comforted by that fact, human reactions are pretty darn fallible. Robot arms are steadier. This is from the first study I looked up: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4286948/ Robotic vs. standard laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass A systematic review of robotic vs. laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass identified 10 studies, which included results for 2,557 patients (15). The overall major and minor complications did not differ significantly between the robotic and laparoscopic group. The rates for anastomotic leak, bleeding, stricture, and reoperation did not differ significantly.

This may be old but relevant for me in 2019. It never occurred to me they might not operate if they see someone's liver is too big on the operating table. I probably shouldn't have found this just 9 days away from my surgery date lol. I had a small cheat on day 2 of my pre-op diet but i've been a good girl ever since (now on Day 5).

This might need to be updated to say May 2019 just to keep up to date with the year :). Anywho, 5/15 is my day. It can't come soon enough.

@yessi1976 @vanmatre @CNDC @VeeAurora We’re all the 05/14/19 Quintuplets!!! @VeeAurora, we’ll just count you as like the one born first at 11:59pm 05/13/19 and the rest follow the next day LOL 😂🤣 Best of luck ya’ll!!! Let’s keep in touch ❤️

I started my Surgery Process in March 2018 and I didn't get my surgery until April 2019. I see a huge difference between last year and now! 455-375 lbs Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using BariatricPal mobile app

May 1st Starting weight 170 Status-post op Personal goal-lose 10 lbs I’m twenty pounds and about 10 weeks from my one year surgi-versary

People speak of having no pain afterwards, but for me it was horrific pain. Now I will tell you I have had 5 abdominal surgeries and this was the worst. I was on pain medicine for a full 10 days and round the clock for 7 days. I too, had trouble laying on my side. I laid on my back mostly. If I took both pain medicines I could somewhat lay on my side. The good news is it gets better in about a weeks time. I hope you feel better soon!

Although I do not have an exact date just, I know I am going to have surgery towards the end of May or beginning of June 2019. I have been having appointments since the beginning of this year, but I still have not found the right way in which I should tell my Supervisor that I need the time off for surgery? I did not want to say specifically that it is bariatric surgery/weight loss surgery though. I don't feel ashamed by having this surgery, its just that to me this is so personal and I do not feel comfortable with telling anyone at work what I am going to have done. Does anyone have any tips on how I can word it or has anyone been in this same situation? Also, apart of me is wondering if I can actually get the time off needed. I have accrued PTO hours, but Im still figuring out how all of that can work for me. If anyone has any tips or advice or anything in general, I would really appreciate it, this is my first ever surgery and I am new to all of this. Thank you.