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I had my surgery Tuesday may 19. I had absolutely no pain.. But the nausea I experienced felt like death! I had to stay in the hospital 3 days bcs I couldn't keep anything down aND I could barely move my head without feeling dizzy. I know I've heard people talk about the nausea but I never ever thought it could be that bad!

Thanks for letting me vent... It's getting harder each day. I really don't wanna say it but here it goes..... Today I went to get my nails done like I do every 2 weeks. It's bit easy finding parking but I find even if I have to walk 3 blocks. Well I noticed the gas was less then half & he (hubby) had fill it up to half. I came home between 2:30-3 pm... I went to asked him about the gas but didn't know his brother came to visit (basement). He explain must have been that he took the long way home. I got over it... Took my middle 4 year old to get my eye brows done & go get ice cream at the market & chicken gizzards at the Chinese for hubby. I'm home kids been fed thanks to my 15 year old. We all took a nap. My room gets hot so I was in panties when suddenly hubby smack me real hard on my butt. I woke up! He said why I'm showing my kids my butt. I cover my self but it was hot so I under he comes again I cover my self he said why I'm showing my body if I'm not giving him any. He then started saying how he should smack me on my face. I have the nerves to ask him about the gas when I should had asked the guy I was f---ing with the least he could have done was put gas since I'm giving him free p---y. I was shocked!!! He kept saying how I came home at 6pm when he wasn't even home. Marriage going down down down the drain..... I don't know why I asked about the gas. I started all this argument. Now he wants to hit me. I get accuse for going to therapy my nails the market dietician. I must be the biggest slut my p---y must be made out of gold that everyone wants it.

I'm so tired of shows saying that there must be something wrong with a person emotionally to be fat... I just don't believe it. Like on the Biggest Loser when Jillian was saying there is always an emotional reason as to why somebody is fat... it's BS. Had Oprah or Jillian or whoever asked me I would have simply said, "food is fun and yummy".. end of subject. I was a thin kid and very physically active up until I met a guy, and we went out to eat twice a day and I gained like 80 pounds in a year.. then I got a foot disorder and gained even more... I'm super happy in my life and always have been... I've never been raped, or abused or whatever they think fat people deal with. I just like food... and why does it seem like they treat fat women differently than fat men.. like, it's okay for there to be obese men... they dont' have emotional issues.. just obese women.. Give me a break!

I don't think it is my thyroid either. I just don't think they could diagnose me or didn't want to. My bladder issue ended up being mostly weight and my fault for "holding" it too long. My 'other' issue ended up being endometreosis...It'd became a blame game with them and a bunch of BS. I've since changed doctors and my thyroid hasn't even been an issue.

Wow. I wish I had seen this. I have such mixed feelings on the issue. I have a daugther who is almost 15. She is 5'8" and about 230 lbs. My heart aches for her all the time. I try and try and try to help her with healthy eating. Unfortunately, she is only with me half of the time and seems to totally overeat when I am not around or not watching. She will do good for a week or so and then not see any results that are easily recognizable and say the heck with it, it's too hard. I would do anything for her, including surgery to help her lose the weight. However, I think that at only 15 she is not ready. She proves that over and over by giving up after about a week of healthy eating. She makes every excuse in the book why she ate this or that. She totally has it in her mind that she can not lose weight. Her father and I (we are no longer together) have discouraged her even more with the fact that I had lap band surgery and he had gastric bypass about 3 years ago. She now thinks that surgery is the only way out. Being an overweight teenager is SO hard. I know this from experience. I wish I had never fed her anything but fruits and vegetables! haha

I haven't had a continuous period like that, but I have been getting it twice a month like clockwork. My surgeon's office said the first 6 months toootally wack out your hormones, so any sort of weirdness is normal. My weirdness has persisted past 6 months, and my gyno thinks it's because I restarted BC. I got off of it a month before surgery and two months after because of the increased blood clot risk. Still haven't normalized, and if it continues, she'll want me to switch to another level. Your hormones really change dramatically.. Wow twice a month, I don't know which is worse going on 12 days or twice a month. Hopefully these will return to normal soon.

. Oh wow, well since u submitted on the 7th. I would have your doctor office call UHC this week the sooner the better and see if they can get an answer. Start the liquid diet preparation this week. Majority includes substituting meals with Protein shakes. Goal is to lose some weight to help shrink your liver. I can email you my pre op packet. So if u are pressed for time you would be ahead of the game. I understand the job part. I work in a bank at a big branch that isn't fully staffed right now. Some1 just got fired n another got transfer so, the manager does the schedule a month in advance so I would need a date set by the beginning of sept for October bc I can't over lap with another employee. I plan on using a vacation week. I told my manager I need my gallbladder out n it might be in oct lol so she has a heads up.

I had my surgery July 9th and my weight loss was great. I started my birth control once I got my period, stepped in the scale one morning and all of a sudden I gained 6lbs. The weight is coming down about a 1lb a week and it's very frustrating. Has this happened to anyone? I feel like getting off the BC but if I got pregnant that would be a whole separate problem. Please help Kellee

I really want the paraguard over mirena because I had a really bad reaction and gained lots of weight on bc pills. Hormones are not for me. I have a fear the iud will move or I will get pregnant around it. I am hesitant to trust paraguard alone for this exact reason and I don't want to have to use a backup form of bc forever. Nadz, did you check your string monthly and this still happened?

i only told parents and my hubby who hubby doesnt have filtter told his sister who told her mom and ask why did i do if i look fine lord i turned red all i said coooouch !!!! and ur special blanket i didnt talk to him for two days bc if i wanted to tell someone its for me to decide not him its hard for me to tell ppl just bc u dont know what there reaction will be towards the band

Hi Kim, I have PCOS too. There is a great site called soulcysters.com you can get more info on. I also can't take BC because of my age and weight and high cholestral, but I wish I could, because when I did it helped. The glucophage made me really sick, but it does help the body process the insulin, which is our main problem. Just a word to the wise: Go every year fro your gyno exam. Women with PCOS are at risk for other diseases such as ovarian cancer and other risky things. SO go! No more ten years deal, it could cost you! I'm going through siomething with it right now and awaiting further tests. *shakes finger*:confused:

I am eating normal food. But I feel like I'm either not eating the right food or not eating eating enough food. The food that I handle best is soft pasta but there is no protein in that at all. I just wanted to see some samples of what you guys eat through the day. I feel totally lost and am having a hard time trusting my doc's plan bc of what happened to my husband. 22 days in the hospital so far due to leak. I am also terrified that they will find one in me. We got sleeved same day and by same doctor.

I am on day 3 of only 3 protein shakes a day... For 16 days. My surgery is April 25th. This is horrible! Im Sooooo very hungry and grouchy... I can't stay away from food bc i have to small girls to feed. I think if i could have one small meal a day I could do this w no problem. Right now it feels like torture and I want to give up on the whole thing and run to taco bell!!! I won't of course but goodness this is tough! I don't understand why there are so many variations of the preop diet though.... Im on the lower end of the bmi chart so its not like my Dr needs me to lose a bunch of wt before surgery... Oh well.... Hurry up April 25th! Good luck to all of you!!!

I spoke to Bariatric Surgery Insurance Specialist today and she told me she was very familiar with Fed BC/BS. Her info to me was 35 BMI-40 with health related obesity issue such as diabetics II, sleep apnea. If 40+ considered morbidly obese so different criteria. She said I could come in they could see if I qualify (5 hr drive when roads are not snow covered). There is a 3 month surgery prep including 3month nutritionist/psych visit. I think I am borderline to being 35BMI/with possible diabetic II (runs in my family) with sleep apnea….but of course have to be tested. Another statement the office made to me is if I go to MX to have this procedure, that my BC/BS might cover me if I occur complications, esp if I was never approved. It started me to thinking…..what if????

So I was originally going to Dr. Almanza. I was nervous because of the mixed reviews but had some serious financial issues ot work through. I was finally able to get a loan but the company (surgeryloans) would not pay Almanza. They said they had had problems with him in the past but would not elaborate on that statement. Anyway I was left high and dry with no doctor one week before my scheduled date. I was ready to cry I called BeLiteWeight and they were very bad with calling me back when they said they would. When they did they could not do my surgery until later in the month and it would cost quite a lot more. I called alighterme.com though and Sandy Johnston answered. She said I could get the same surgery date with Dr. Ramos-Kelley. I was a bit nervous about what I had read about the INT hospital but she told me they no longer use that facility. I contacted the surgery loans place and within a couple hours had a new doc. I was nervous about telling Sandy I wanted my partner to come (coming out is always tough) but it turned out she has a gay child and she was very supportive in getting any preparations made for him as well. I had heard some about Dr. Kelley but not much. I did as much research as I could over the next few days until I was comfortable and then flew to San Diego where the driver took my significant other and I to Mexico where we met Trish, the doctors coordinator, at the hospital. Trish was a sweetheart and I was impressed by the Oasis Hospital. There is a little age that shows around the place but overall it has been well cared for and well maintained and I was comfortable with it. There were quite a few Amish patients from Wisconsin while I was there too. I was taken to my room, changed, introduced to Alfredo the orderly who wheeled me around to "the cute girl in X-ray" as he put it. Dr, Kelley came in and asked if I had any questions then, when my blood work was done, I was taken to the OR. Within 30 min of that they had me down in the surgery. I was the first person of the day and dont even remember being put out. Next thing I remember are snatches of pain throughout the day and nurses giving me pain meds. The first night was awful. I was sure to get up and walk the first day and night though even though it was painful. Over the next few days our impression of the Oasis Hospital were as follows: It is clean. My room was checked twice per day by the cleaning staff to make sure it was clean. I was NOT worried about leaving things in the room the way I would be at a regular hotel. The staff seemed quite trustworthy and I was confident in their professionalism. Most of the staff speaks english. All but one of the nurses spoke english at least a little. Even when she was my main nurse there was always another person available who spoke it fluently. The staff was caring and happy to help. Never once did I have the impression that I was "intruding" on their time by asking for assistance. When I rang the call bell they were there very quickly and took care of whatever my issue was. The orderly, Alfredo, even come by once and offered to replace the chair in my room with a lazyboy recliner because he thought it would be more comfortable for me (really it was not necessary but it was a nice thing to do). The hospital fed my partner for free. All the food was organic. All the food was good and well prepared although he did not like the vegitarian night tofu too much. They have free wireless access but dont plan on Netflix or Hulu because they wont stream to a Mexican IP. I understand Dr. Kelley has been looking for a new location for a while to replace INT and has just recently settled on this place. I think he as made a good decision. So...Anyway...After my surgery the first day and night were miserable. The second day and night were not too bad. The third day they transferred me from the hospital to a hotel and I was feeling pretty much normal other than the feeling of fullness and occasional nausea. On the third day Dr. Kelley did my leak test at hospital Angeles where he was shown a film of a leaking plication as a point of interest. Afterward they dropped us off at a hotel while they picked up a woman to do a band fill. Following the fill the whole crew (the fill patient, Trish, the Doc, the driver, me and my significant other) all met at a mexican seafood restaraunt where Dr. Kelley bought us a birthday dinner (My birthday is coming up in a week, my partners was on my surgery date). It was great fun and he really turned out to be a great guy in addition to being a wonderful doc. That brings us up to today. I have one more day here in TJ. My partner is being picked up to go to the airport at noon. I will miss him for my last day here. Cheers all! Jason David

Yay! I have BCBS Fed and it took about 8 days so don't get discouraged if it takes a little while!

I am going to post my original post and then add to it! PLEASE READ Hey All! I had a huge change today in regards to my health. From my original post I was in the ER on 2/13 and I was told I had a iliac obstruction. The hospital told me that I would be admitted and if within 48 hours it has not moved they would cut it out. I waited until in the am and still no X-ray. I was getting annoyed and called everyone I could call. Finally someone from the administrative staff came to my room. I was told that I needed more X-rays. I was pissed beyond belief and refused them. I signed out AMA. I headed back to my hospital Cleveland Clinic Weston. There I was brought in immediately and given fluids and pain meds. I did end up doing another X-ray by my surgeons request. So I just had my X-ray and will be updated later tonight. I will keep everyone updated! Oh one last thing. Each time I had them put in an IV my site would swell and hurt. They tried 3x and all failed. So when I was complaining about pain I wasn't even getting it was because all the meds were stuck there and I wasn't getting the meds. Uggggg I made it to the Cleveland Clinic after checking out AMA and ended up checking out AMA as well from Cleveland Clinic. I am beginning to think I am losing my mind. While at CC (cleveland clinic) I did a colonoscopy prep as my dr said I was completely impacted. Also all pain meds were taken away as the dr said it's only making it worse. When I saw my surgeon he told me that he would make sure I was well and he would do anything to help me. Well yesterday one of the fellows came in and said oh we are going to keep you until Sunday to make sure then you can go home. I was so pissed I left AMA. Does anyone think I'm crazy? Don't you think he should of did surgery to look inside to find out what's going on? Now about an hour ago I called CC Bc my pain is back in full force and I have not had a BM on my own as of yet. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have Empire BC/BS and my surgeon's office submitted the paperwork on 7/19 or 7/22 and I got my approval today!! Hope all who are waiting on that approval call/letter get it soon!!

Are u still set for.this.date...i am hoping to get my taxes this week so i can set a date with dr.illan....i would loved the 18th bc its my bday

There has only been one other person I've read about having a one year "hoop" on this board! I think there should be one set standard!!!! A year is a long time---if it is medically necessary, provide the required info and keep going! I asked my "coach" provided/required by my insurance, "how many people have life changing weight loss after having 20-30 minute phone conferences once a month for 12 months AND no longer need the surgery?" She referred me to BCBS. ????Why would she refer you to bcbs? I'm sorry I'm a little dense right now from a hard day at work and trying to get used to my new eating plan. She is contracted by BC/BS---she didn't have the stats I guess. However, the MD office told me no one ever finishes the program!

Thanks so much for the tips. I'm trying to keep us both positive but when she gets helpless I feel like nothing I say will help. She is supposed to take 8 of the thyroid tablets a day and yes I definitely think it's the amount rather than actually taking them. I will definitely try the sneaking a go because I think any of them is better than none at this point. She's very fed up with her stomach hurting constantly and is not sleeping well either so all these things have added to her not feeling great. But I'm happy to hear that someone who couldn't manage to be excellent at all the things you have to do is doing well. Her surgeon is less than helpful at check ups which is quite frustrating. Thank you for your kind comment, I think I'll even recommend she goes on this forum for the support that I can't relate to.

Your very welcome. I have been speaking with quite a few people who have been having difficulty with their protein Intake bc they're so fresh from surgery that I thought if this has helped me drastically finally get in all my protein I need to share it so it may be helpful for others to do the same. I actually look forward to drinking it!!! What a difference from four days ago lol.

iegal, you're not going to be ostracized. Your journey is just that. Yours. And who you choose to tell is a part of that. On my journey I wanted information and I turned to YouTube and learned tons. I feel like if someone were there to hold some mirrors at the right angles I could sleeve myself BC I've seen so many surgeries....lol I'm going to be self-pay in Mexico. I intend to put many minds at ease about medical tourism. I'm not promoting anyone, not paid to sit and tell a testimonial. I'm a straight shooter. Ok irl I suck at aiming....but I get as close to the target as I possibly can. Which is what I plan to do here as well. Ima shut up now

I agree with most of these posts, while I have not been banded yet, I believe the Band is the best for me. I'm not interested in losing weight fast but to get to my healthy point and stay there. That's where I think the Band will help me the most. My Dr keeps trying to talk me into getting the GBS but i have made up my mind. The rNy and the GBS makes you lose instantly which increases the chNces of gaining weight back again. The reason why is bc the muscle mass and skin do not have time to catch up with the rapid weight loss. There is alot more muscle mass lost as well. That I learned from reading 4 books on all the types of WLS. I've done my homework. The band offers restriction and maintenance. So while u have to make the choice that will best fit you, I wish u luck in your upcoming surgery! Personally, I chose the LB!

I'm in Modesto vsg fed 21