January or February 2016 Sleevers?

[songsmith 334]

@@katladee, Happy Holidays to you, too! Sounds like we're in the same boat. I wish I hadn't let hubby sway me not to be on the pre-op diet over the Holidays. I'd be able to have the surgery and have two or three weeks post-op before he left the country. Oh, well! Maybe we'll be sleeve buddies! Dates sound about right.

@@Ali_, your surgery is the day before my endoscopy. So jealous! I think you need to decide who you think will be supportive. Later on, it might not seem so important to keep your surgery quiet. My husband and grown-up daughter know and, hmmm, I let it slip to my hairdresser. I told my older sister this weekend. I toyed with the idea of waiting until we see each other just to hear her say, "OMG! You've lost an entire you!" Then I decided she'd probably be afraid I was sick since I had a cancer scare last year. Now, if my mom was still alive, I would not have told her. She had a history of sabotaging me my entire life. She used to buy me 3X clothes when I was in high school and a size 12/14. I'm toying with starting a weight-loss blog, so clearly I'll be blabbing it to the world!

@@rgallardo, it's interesting to see how other doctors and insurance companies require. I have that last required class before mine will submit. Here's hoping your insurance company is on the ball and approves you right away. I'm actually excited about the timing of my surgery. I told a friend, this is the first time I will actually keep that New Year's resolution!

Hey, @@MRSJONES305! You're on the home stretch. Has your doctor given you a tentative schedule or do they wait until they hear back from your insurance?

@@katladee, I've talked about my upcoming surgery on Facebook and have told my immediate family (and my hairdresser!). I'm a very private person, but my husband wanted me to meet a co-worker (via Facebook) who had the surgery done just before I saw the doctor for the first time. I haven't bandied the fact around, but haven't gone out of my way to keep it quiet. I'm what they call a "displaced worker" (means I was laid off and have been off for more than a year). I'd feel differently about telling co-workers.

@@ssflbelle, sounds like we're on a similar schedule. You've come a huge way already! Would you mind sharing how you did it? I'll definitely check out your blog. My therapist (recommended by the Bariatric shrink) and I discussed my fears of regain and lack of follow-through and just a ton of stuff. Anyway, I told her I've always enjoyed writing (and still do). I want to start a blog about my journey partially to share and inform but also to keep me "honest" as time passes.

@@jenniferANTM, you lucky dog! Your surgery is the day after my endoscopy. I'll definitely be thinking about you!

@@Kathy Krebs Robertson, Hooray! I'm a little envious of you early to mid-January sleevers! Nah. Not really. (well maybe a little). I love living vicariously through everyone here who will be getting sleeved around the same time I am. Has your insurance approved you? Any final hoops your doctor wants you to leap before the 11th?

@@cindyw41, way to start the New Year off right! What did you discuss in your classes? Were they with other people? I had to visit the dietitian each month. Honestly, she didn't teach me much of anything (Protein first, Water sips, etc.). She was no help when I wanted her advice on how I should be eating during the 6 month monitored diet. "Oh, by now you've dieted enough times you know what to do!" Argh. I wanted her to advise me so I could eat close to the way I'll be eating after my sleeve. This forum was a great help. I looked at my doctor's post-op nutritional guidelines and read a lot here and am happy with what I've done. I would have loved a more informative dietitian, though!

@@mistycal, wow! You're moving right along! I'm a little afraid of my endoscopy. I had my thyroid removed last year and had complications (I couldn't swallow for a week and had to remain in the hospital). Mind you, the ENT says it was probably because he couldn't avoid bruising my larynx a bit because of the size of the thyroid. But the whole experience makes me nervous about anything being stuck down my throat! It's a completely different procedure, but try telling my nerves that. I'm just glad I'll be out when they do it!

@@mya.mys, Dec. 28 definitely means you can hang out here. There is a December/January sleevers thread somewhere if you haven't found it. Tell me if you want me to hunt it down so you can maybe find some sleeve buddies there.

[cindyw41 761]

@@songsmith

The classes were held once a month in a group setting. We went over a lot of material, like how to read labels, what our food triggers are and how to avoid them. How to handle eating out, supplements, after surgery depression, emotional stress on your family. They gave us a folder and each month we added material to it, so now I have every class and all the information to re-read. The last class was a nurse from the bariatric floor that came in to discuss what to expect at the hospital. He also had us meet twice with a Nut, exercise physician and have a psych evaluation.

I'm truly thankful my surgeons practice does this. I'm completely ready for this!

I wish his info was online...I would give it to you

Cindy

Edited December 14, 2015 by cindyw41

[MRSJONES305 55]

He told me any wed after my approval he will start me on liquid diet and prepare for surgery

[cherri2082 149]

My date is 12/30 - my Dr didn't require the pre-op diet (unless he changes things tomorrow) I have been working on approval since August. Dr said no psych e-val - but insurance denied and off I went to take the Minesota Standardized. I am so excited I can hardly stand it.

Edited December 14, 2015 by cherri2082

[cherri2082 149]

Awww - I may get put on liquid tomorrow. What ever it takes - I am ready to do! Thanks Mrs. Jones305

[kim1984 2]

My surgery is scheduled for January 5th. I had my initial consultation in September and was told I would need to be on a physician supervised diet for 6 months. I have yo-yo dieted for years, and had even been seeing a physician for adipex on and off for a few years. I had those records faxed to my surgeon's office and was pleasantly surprised to find out that my 6 month supervised diet was no longer a requirement! I could have scheduled my surgery in early December, but opted to wait until January for work purposes. I'm starting to feel very anxious and nervous for surgery, but I'm also excited to start this journey!

[sleevingbeauty17 28]

I have kaiser and am set to graduate their program on January 15th. they say that this is the season when everyone signs up for the classes in January (new years resolution) so i am lucky i am already through them, i will likely have sooner options for my surgery date. they said it could be within a month or even less from graduation date. I hope that is true. I have my surgical clearance meeting on Tuesday so we will see how that goes. From looking at the blood work results, everything looks good, and my ekg looked normal so i should be good to go there as well. i haven't seen my chest x-ray yet so i have no idea what that would show since i am an ex smoker. happy thoughts on that please! My roommate is a doctor and he says i have nothing to worry about as they are usually looking for cancer and emphysema, and he said i don't appear to have any symptoms of either. I am sure i will be fine, i just will be relieved to see the clearance team and get my go ahead. I also need to hit 10% total weight loss before surgery and i am well on my way. my goal is to lose that by the end of class. i had 26.6 pounds to lose and since 10/1/2015 (class start date) i have lost 21.56 pounds. 1 month to go, i am positive i can do this!

[cherri2082 149]

I am getting sleeved on Dec 30 -so kind a sit here. I am nervous and happy at the same time. My pre-op meetings are all today. No one in my office has said anything about a pre op diet but that may happen today. Could be best to stay home from Christmas dinner. Especially the sweet stuff good luck to all of you in the future return post so I can watch it happy happy

[cherri2082 149]

I am getting sleeved on Dec 30 -so I sit here. I am nervous and happy at the same time. My pre-op meetings are all today. No one in my office has said anything about a pre op diet but that may happen today. Could be best to stay home from Christmas dinner. Especially the sweet stuff good luck to all of you in the future return post so I can watch it happy happy

[songsmith 334]

@@cindyw41, thanks for the reply. I wish my surgeon had classes instead of meetings with his (dubious) dietitian. I'm lucky. My biggest pre-WLS successes have all been low carb. I learned to read labels way back when and still do. I remember how outraged I felt when I found canned veggies (can't remember what brand) that contained added sugar! It's everywhere. Grrr. My case manager gave me a binder full of information about the upcoming diet and nutritional needs. The shrink suggested I seek additional counseling to deal with my food issues. That's been the biggest help to me so far. In fact, everyone has been great. I like the dietitian; I just don't feel like she's been very helpful. I think everyone could benefit from classes. They don't have an associated trainer. Reminds me. I wanted to ask here how people have gone about locating one that knows how to work with bariatric/obese clients.

@@cherri2082, the psych eval wasn't bad at all. I answered the questions as honestly as I could. Then I second-guessed myself and wondered, "is that really true/false or do I just lie to myself and think that's the case?" The counselor did recommend I see another therapist who specializes in eating disorders to help me come to grips with my emotional eating. (I didn't think I was an emotional eater until after I saw her, went home and ate 2 heaping helpings of butter chicken. Doh. anyway, she's been a great help to me.

@@cherri2082, I know I'll hate the liquid diet once I'm on it, but I sure wish I was starting tomorrow, too!

@@kim1984, lucky! I've dieted, but nothing monitored (not even weight watchers) so I had to put in my 6 months. It's fun to begin our journey at year's end/beginning because we can say to ourselves, "In 2017 I'll be an entire new me!"

@@sleevingbeauty17, I had not associated WLS with your standard New Year's desire to get healthy. Makes sense after you said it. Glad I'm already on the books so I can get mine in as soon as I finish my last test. The six months has been good to me. I had my annual physical two weeks ago, and my PCP was thrilled because my blood pressure has remained down the last two times I saw her. She knows about my upcoming surgery (she's the one who suggested the gastric sleeve to me) and said to cut my blood pressure meds in half because of my current success and to make sure I check back in her two or three months post-surgery because she's positive I'll be off of them by then! Yippie! My blood sugar (I'm pre-diabetic) was also down by 20 points. It's a great feeling to be cleared, huh?

[cindyw41 761]

I just found out that my insurance has had my paper work since Dec 4. Still no word and they said previously that approval would take 48 hrs..I'm a nervous nelly

[2weimies 4]

Hi everyone. This is my first post, but I have been lurking for a while. Surgery January 6.

[ssflbelle 829]

Thanks Songsmith I have been trying for many many years to lose on my own. Mostly the Weight Watcher's and Nutrisystem programs is how I lost the first 145 pounds. The last 6 months have been the high Protein, low carbs diet the surgeon put me on for the supervised diet. I lost 35 which puts me where I am today. I hope I can stay good during the Holiday and not gain anything back. I wanted to get as close to 300 as possible but not knowing when the surgery date is I have no idea if I will make it.

Cindy the class you attended sounded like something everyone should attend. I know I have a 4 hour workshop I have to attend the week before surgery but I have no idea what it will be about.

[cherri2082 149]

Hi everyone. This is my first post, but I have been lurking for a while. Surgery January 6.

welcome!! Everyone is really helpful and full of info!! Good luck!

[sarinemaniss 33]

I got my date today. I am January 13th. Anyone on same date? I don't require a pre-op diet. I am 27 years old and weigh 277lbs. I am actually very nervous for this and still can't believe I took the decision.