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Good luck on your WLS journey

I always use the soap the hospital gives. Usually it is Hibiclens soap, I think? You can also buy it at Walgreens. I buy Hibiclens wipes and use them for cleaning wounds with my family sometimes in lieu of hydrogen peroxide. I've noticed that every hospital that has great grades/points due to super low incidents of patients getting infections seem to adhere to protocols like this and others which in the end is what WE, the patients, NEED. I was delighted I was given Hibiclens soap free from the hospital and didn't have to break into my 'got it on sale at Walgreens's suppy'..lol

4 days post sleeve. As long as I stick to 10ml or less per sip I’m fine. Anything more than that is uncomfortable.

Hi Guys, I'm the original poster and I have an update. i sooo appreciate everyones comments. You have helped me more than you know. I hear you about not bothering to appeal but my sense of justice is rearing it's head, lol. I'm so mad and am just going to give it one more shot. I called Aetna and found a special concierge associated associated with my company. I work for a company with 50,000 employees worldwide. They actually found the paperwork where they originally told me the "IOQ" was not required. They seem to want to help me to get this surgery. I also think they are embarassed I've already spend $4200 out of pocket just on my pre surgery stuff. I also wrote a firm e-mail to the business office about how shocking it is for them to give up on this so easily and dismiss me as a patient and how it's bad for business. I copied in my surgeon. The Surgeon, who is amazing, called me back right away and told me he he has been made aware and the hospital's office is doing everything they can. He said even if they end up not covering they will help me find another surgeon. He even took the time again to talk to me about the surgical options and thinks I'll have better results with bypass, due to finding out I have some GERD on the upper GI. Anyway....more to come. I feel like I made a little traction yesterday.

I failed the stress test (part of my cardio clearance) I ended up having a cardiac catheterization two days after what was supposed to have been my sleeve surgery date (June 17). Once it was taken care of, I was rescheduled to July 22. 5 weeks later. That went fine. Now, nearly 6 weeks later, I've lost 50 lbs & am doing fine!

Many of us had the same feelings. I cried all the way through pre-op, wondering if I should get off the stretcher and leave the hospital! This decision is huge and definitely takes courage, but for me, one the best I've ever made. I have a brand new body and I am loving it every single day, with all the things I can do now. OK, so you have to commit to a new, healthy lifestyle! For sure! No shortcuts there. You have to reframe your thinking so that you see the new changes as part of your new, healthy life - not as deprivation.Yes, you have to give up the crap - but you get so much more in return. I started making these changes long before surgery, but have solidified them since surgery. I think a great motivator is starting to get the weight off and once you can start enjoying new things (like smaller clothing sizes, activities that you couldn't do before, etc.) it becomes easier and easier to embrace the healthy changes, because the payoff is so great. For me, those changes are: no wheat (I have been gluten free for years already), but now do not eat refined grains - only whole cooked grains. No sugar and no soda of any kind. No juice. These were biggies, but I feel SOOOOOO much better without sugar. It's not even a temptation anymore. No coffee or alcohol because I don't want to risk any irritation (I already have Barrett's esophagus with a pre-cancerous polyp removed, and as a GI nurse, I've seen the really ugly side of WLS patients who start drinking again.) No processed foods, period. If it comes in a box, it's not for me. Lots more veggies, low carbs, higher protein. Intermittant fasting is a very powerful weight loss and maintenance tool to use later on in the journey, Lots of exercise. For me this started out by getting 10,000 steps a day. (My step tracker never leaves my wrist and is my best little buddy.) Gradually, I've added a lot of other exercise components, and they get more fun and more motivating as I see strength and muscle definition increasing. This is a journey. You start out with baby steps and commit to follow the plan. Do not cheat. Don't let your mind even go there. Some people look for ways to flirt with forbidden foods or ways to game the system. This is a recipe for failure. Your determination to be successful is the greatest predictor of ultimate success in this venture. Develop some mantras to get you through the temptations.: "I AM NEVER GOING BACK!" "IT'S JUST NOT WORTH IT!" "I CAN'T HAVE THAT NOW, BUT I WILL HAVE IT LATER, DOWN THE ROAD." You can do this. Learn from the mistakes of others and be motivated to avoid their pit falls. The fact that your mom lost weight successfully is a good predictor of success for you. You just have to make sure you take your vitamins and keep on top of the nutrition.

I hope that’s a typo 😮

I would expect that they would not leave any remnant stomach behind for that very reason. That is how they would have done mine had I chosen to go the RNY route (it's actually a partial gastrectomy, which is one of the standard surgical treatments in these types of cases - where they don't need to go as far as a total gastrectomy. ThreeOhThree - something to discuss with the surgeon is the prospect of bile reflux, which seems to be a not uncommon problem with gastrectomy patients with this type of configuration; the surgeon I worked with on this told me that he doesn't see any problem with that if he keeps the limb length above the anastomosis greater than X (IIRC it was 60 or 80 cm). There are a number of Facebook groups dedicated to gastrectomy patients, and that seemed to be a common issue - presumably, some surgeons in an effort to minimize the amount of weight lost kept that limb shorter to minimize the malabsorption; that shouldn't be a problem with you as you are here for weight loss, but something to look into and discuss with him.

That’s the plan going forward I do pre op testing in the morning 😊.

Lucky you, mine are so bad that it can be like drawing blood from a stone