M2G

Thank you guys. I am really leaning towards having them spend the night at my friend's house, and she can take them to school/pick them up, and then have my in-laws bring them to the hosptial either that afternoon or whenever I'm in a place where I can visit with them for a bit. My husband is also doing this surgery too (hoping for Dec. date) so it was great because we talked a lot about being healthier, eating smaller portions, and getting DH off of some of his daily meds for high blood pressure and asthma. We only talked positive, and there were no negatives. We were honest and said that mommy would probably be "in bed" a lot for the first week, but that after that I should be feeling much better and able to take them to school, etc. My sweet darling 8 year old the day after I told her about the surgery, had lots of questions, like "will I even recognize you when you come home from the hosptial?" :blushing: Um, yes, sweetie, it won't be that fast. Then she snuggled up close and said "but Mom, I like you just the way you are"....awwwwwww!

If you are a parent, and you have school-age a school-aged child(ren), AND you were sleeved on a school day, did you let your child go to school on your surgery day? I don't have a surgery date yet, (hoping for Oct.) and I'm sure it will land on a school day. I have 2 girls, 3rd and 4th grade, and I'm just not sure if I should send them to school (keep their schedule as normal as possible) or let them stay with my in-laws who could then bring them to the hosptial after I'm out of recovery, etc. We have talked to them about the surgery, and given them a general idea (without tons of details) and I'm sure they will be concerned, distracted, etc. But that could be a good thing, just being with their friends and having a normal day. Any thoughts, or ideas? I am also interested in parents who have talked to their kids about their surgery, and how your child(ren) responded. Thanks!

Hi Diva! I'm new to the boards and just starting to follow your story. Congrats on doing so well, and thank you for sharing your story with us! I totally agree with you about not wanting to always have to put "something" in our Water to make it go down (but I hear ya, plain water does get boring!) Have you ever tried TrueLemon (they have TrueLime, and TrueOrange too.) They have some new ones that are sweetened but the old ones like this: True Lime 150ct | TrueLemonStore.com Are unsweetened. It truly is like squeezing it a tad of lime or lemon into your water. I am not 100% that they would be acceptable on a post-op diet (I would have to do some research on that) but I really like adding these to my water on days that "plain" water just doesn't do it. The best thing I like about these is that they are STRONG, so I have to put them in about 30 oz of water. Which is good, because then I use a BIG cup and get more water in because I'm drinking out of such a big cup. Anyway, just thought I would share!

Ah, good point about the Agave. Thanks!

So my paperwork from my surgeon says that Splenda is okay, but stay away from Equal and Sweet & Low. Great. My question is what about Agave and Stevia? Has anyone heard good or bad about them? I like Stevia in my decaf coffee and a pinch of Agave syrup on my greek yogurt. I will ask my NUT next week, but wondered if anyone has had experience with anything other than Splenda. I haven't had surgery yet. Thanks!

Insurance rules change every year, so it may not be covered this year, but maybe next year? I don't know if they would tell you what is coming up for the next calendar year, but that might be an option, to call and find out what will be covered next year. Every self-pay patient that I have talked to says the same thing "it is worth every cent!"

I also have United HC and had to do a 6 month supervised "plan" ...not really a diet, though. I have a Bariatric Case Manager AND a Bariatric Nurse both from UHC, and both of them said that I didn't have to lose weight to qualify for surgery. In fact they said my BMI meaurement on my final 6 month appt. would be the weight they use to base everything on. And then there is the surgeons office where I am recieving my nutritional supervision, and my NUT said they don't expect us to diet either, just make changes related to surgery (i.e. not drinking with meals, taking daily Vitamins, cutting out white carbs, etc.) This is just my personal plan, even though we have the same insurance, there are tons of variables. I guess if the NUT says to just keep going, I think I would flip back over to UHC and ask specifically if you are required to lose XX amount of weight to qualify. I mean it is touch and go because you not only have to satisfy the insurance co., but also what your surgeon requires. If your surgeon is REQUIRING you to lose XX weight, then I would definitely go back to the NUT and see if you can try tweaking the plan so you can lose. Sorry, it is frustrating at best isn't it?

I would call and ask for their advice. I don't have to do a pre-op diet, except for 24 hours before surgery, clear liquids, and then nothing 8 hours prior to actual surgery time.

Congratulations on your continued success! And thank you so much for your wealth of knowledge and for continuing to be here for the newbies, as well as everyone else on this journey! It is extremely inspirational.

Exciting! You will be there SOON!

Christie, you already know this, but thank you a million for doing such an awesome blog! I shared it with a couple of my Curves ladies, (and some family members too!) and everyone thinks it is such a great blog. It was so fun meeting you in person and you are a total inspiration to me! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!

Congratulations! You look great, and thank you for sharing your story/struggles. I bet having -100 gone feels amazing!

Welcome JC and Jamie...thanks for sharing your thoughts too. This is a huge decision, and I think we are all right to give this lots of thought, and lots of consideration. I too, feel like this is a last resort. Obviously, working out on a consistent basis was not a magic bullet for me (don't get me wrong, I KNOW it has been really good for me, and I plan on always finding a way to make it part of my life), and obviously the healthy eating choices that I am making are not a magic bullet either. Which has brought me to surgery. And thank you Chilo too, for your thoughts. I do agree with you about being honest. And I am being honest about never having binged or purged in my life. That is the simple truth. Yes, I have over-eaten, gotten that TOO FULL feeling, eaten too much of the wrong food, had dessert twice in one day, etc. But to me bingeing is eating an entire box of Cookies, or carton of ice cream or whole pizze all in ONE sitting and have never done that. Purging is throwing up the food you've eaten to lose weight, and well, honestly the fact that I personally hate to throw up, is part of the reason that I'm choosing the sleeve over the band. You are right that obese and healthy don't go together, just as skinny and healthy aren't equal either. We all have our own personal struggle, and there is no one reason FOR obesity, likewise there is no one answer to solve it. It is different for everyone. What I have learned as I'm moving through this process of surgery, is that there is a LOT of judgement surrounding weight loss. We judge ourselves harshly, we are judged by others but yet offended at someone else judging us. This is when you really have to listen to that inner voice and intuition about what is right for you. Jamie, as for getting insurance to cover this I'm sure you will find a million different ways that it can be covered or denied. I will just share my experience so far to give you one exmple. Our plan is a high deductible plan, so after we meet our deductible $5,500, then our insurance will cover the leftover amount at 90%, and we pay 10%. We have to do an entire list of requirements both from the insurance and from the surgeon (minimum of 6 months worth of nutritional counseling is just one of the requirements, but its the requirement that takes the longest to complete) and once everything on the list has been completed, THEN all paperwork will be submitted and we just cross our fingers that we will be approved. I haven't prepared myself for denial yet (being optimistic!) but I do have a bariatric case manager and a baratric nurse FROM my insurance company that have helped me the whole time that I've been completing things, so I can call them with questions and they have both been wonderful about answering all my questions. So that is why I'm doing the positive mental attitude that I will be approved! Hope that helps!

Hi Clive, I am a woman having this surgery, but my husband is also having it too. (Although I'm first <Oct. hopefully> and my nutritionist joked about me being the guinea pig lol.) His surgery will hopefully be in Dec. I have my doubts that I could get him to join a message board though. Maybe if I tell him about the guys here needing to support each other. Best of luck to you!

EmilyGrace, Thanks for your input. I am committed to this surgery, just worried, as I expect MANY people who are going through the decision to have elective surgery would be. When you hear ALL the stories, good, bad, and ugly, you can't help but to play the "what if" game in your mind (I seriously doubt I am the ONLY one who has ever had a doubt about this surgery). What if something goes wrong. What if I'm the 1% of people who have _______________? So yeah, it's a pretty big decision, and as I stated I'm very committed to this. My question was simply put to those who have no co-morbidities, like myself, and what their reasons were for having surgery. I'm not saying that anyone's reasons are more important than others, as that is only a question you can answer for yourself. I know you didn't mean to sound rude, in reference to "check myself"...I know WHO I am and where I'm going (and actually where I've come from), but came here for support about this major life decision from people going through the same thing. I have been overweight most of my life, and it is pretty easy to gain an extra 125 lbs when every single diet you have ever done, you gain the weight you LOST back PLUS more. Actually it is pretty easy to do over the span of 20+ adult years, without binge eating, or having an eating disorder. The last time I weighed 150lbs (my goal weight) I was probably 14 years old. But I digress...hopefully it doesn't sound rude to you, when I say that YOUR type of thinking is exactly why people in general (this includes drs.) JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND all of the facets of obesity. If it was just eating right and exercise, then there would be no obesity in this world, right? Because like gay people always say they don't "choose" to be gay, they are born that way, why would anyone "choose" to be obese? There is a lot more to it that an oversimplified view of calories in, calories out. I do appreciate feedback, but I didn't come here to ask "should I have surgery or not" in case you were wondering.

You know what? I had absolutely NO idea. But I googled it...lol. This is from wikipedia... Mate (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmate]), also known as chimarr?o (Portuguese: [ʃimaˈʁɐ̃w̃]) or cimarr?n, is a traditional South American infused drink, particularly in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, southern states of Brazil, south of Chile, and the Bolivian Chaco. It is prepared from steeping dried leaves of yerba mate (llex paraguariensis, known in Portuguese as erva mate) in hot Water. Mate is served with a metal straw from a shared hollow calabash gourd. The straw is called a bombilla in some Latin American countries, a bomba in Portuguese, and a bombija or in general a masassa (type of straw) in Arabic. The straw is traditionally made of silver. Modern commercially available straws are typically made of nickel silver, called Alpaca, stainless steel, or hollow-stemmed cane. The gourd is known as a mate or a guampa, while in Brazil it has the specific name of cuia. Even if the water comes in a very modern thermos, the infusion is traditionally drunk from mates or cuias. As with other brewed herbs, yerba mate leaves are dried, chopped, and ground into a powdery mixture called yerba. The bombilla acts as both a straw and a sieve. The submerged end is flared, with small holes or slots that allow the brewed liquid in, but block the chunky matter that makes up much of the mixture. A modern bombilla design uses a straight tube with holes, or spring sleeve to act as a sieve. "Tea-bag" type infusions of mate (mate cocido) have been on the market in Argentina for many years under such trade names as "Cruz de Malta" and in Brazil under the name "Mate Le?o". This is considered a completely different drink, and is never drunk on "cuias" or called "chimarr?o", nor is it associated with the "ga?cha" culture.

I don't know if I can post links here (sorry newbie!) so here is something I found that is somewhat helpful... Other data on caffeine: Cup of coffee 90-150 mg Instant coffee 60-80 mg Tea 30-70 mg Mate 5-150 mg Cola 30-45 mg chocolate bar 30 mg Stay-awake pill 100 mg Vivarin 200 mg Cold relief tablet 30 mg

We were also told "no caffeine" and basically for the reasons about the caffeine causing dehydration, heartburn, etc. So even though my hubby won't have surgery until Dec. I'm hoping for Oct and decided we would "make the switch" to decaf together....he ended up with a horrible 3 day long headache. The baratric nurse at our nutrition class said, you don't want the headache during recovery, trust me. The one thing I wasn't clear on is if this was a forever or just until the 6 week mark. Sounds like from some of your experiences, it could just be until all healed. The thing that is frustrating is how do you know HOW MUCH caffeine things have? I love plain unsweet iced tea to drink and while it has no sugar or calories, I'm certain it has caffeine, but it isn't required for nutritional labeling, so that makes things hard.

Congrats on your loss so far...I bookmarked your page!

I don't have a date yet...waiting is sooooo hard! I have my last "nutritional counseling" appointment on Oct. 5th, then assuming that the surgeons office can submit everything on the 5th or 6th...then it is a wait until they approve or (shudder) deny it. Then I'll have a date. Still hoping for Oct. date, I guess I could go into Nov. but really wanting Oct!

I have UHC, I called in Apr. of this year, to get things going. My specific plan covers WLS, including the band, the RNY or the sleeve (actually that was the first time I had even heard of the sleeve, from my baratric case manager). However, we have a High-Deductible plan (first year and my husband's employer gave no other choice, it was HD or nothing) so we first have to hit $5,500 out of "pocket" (basically the pocket is a Health Savings Account, different than an FSA, because you get to keep what you put in there from year to year) and then UHC will pay 90% of whatever is left over in medical bills. So we'll see. I'm hoping to have everything done and submitted by Oct. 6th at the latest, then of course I'll be waiting to see if I'm APPROVED or DENIED. Hoping to be approved, of course!

Mini-Me, I actually did join caloriecount.about.com earlier this year and loved it (for a while, lol). I set a daily goal of 1,800 cals a day and was usually able to meet that goal. Sometimes more, sometimes less. I did it for about 2 months. I also logged all my exercise, because they have an "eat meter" and a "burn meter" and it is fun to see your burn meter go higher when you log your exercise. But, to be honest, I sort of got bored with inputing everything that I ate on a daily (logging in everytime I ate something) basis, and even though you can tag items to retrieve quickly, it is frustrating looking through lists (sometimes 5 pages of one type of food) and then not find what you are looking for. They will let you add a recipe with ingredients, portions, etc. and calculate nutrition info (cool!) but it still just got to be, well, boring. And the days when I got busy, it was hard to go back and "remember" what I ate, and log it, etc. You miss a meal, a day, and then it feels like that familiar falling off the wagon type stuff. At the WLS seminar, the dr. was talking about how there are just missing pieces in the obesity puzzle, and I truly feel like I fit that description well. It's not just about putting down the cookie and picking up some exercise. There is something MORE to it. That missing piece...totally clicked with me. There is just not one or even several reasons for obesity...it is a very frustrating disease, that is certain. As for exercise...I'm not sure what happened, but at some point it occurred to me that since I'm a morning person (always up about 4:45am, first one up everyday in the house) that I should USE that time to exercise. It was an epiphany. I joined Curves, and was hesitatant because I honestly didn't think I would stick with it. I had done some types here and there but never exercised more than 1 year at a gym regularly, and walking as exercise for 2 years (lunch hour walking) prior to having kids. And at first I treated it like a "chore" you know, laundry, dishes, vacuuming, etc. It was just another thing on my To Do list. However, once I got in the groove, it became more like "me" time, and I was NOT about to give up on ME time, ya know?

Thank you so much for your replies! Yes, like any obese person, I will opt out of going down the slide at the swim park, or opt out of getting in the canoe with my girls for fear of it taking on Water, etc. For the most part I feel like a healthy young-ish person. I exercise regularly (I do Curves religiously 3x a week, and walk 30 mins 2x week <albiet less regularly on the walking part> but have exercised religiously for the last 6+ years <huge accomplishment for me>!!!), don't eat tons and tons of food, make healthy whole-grain choices, like salad, veggies, fruit, etc. I do like sugar too, dessert after diner, don't always make healthy snack choices, etc. I do not binge on food, or go without eating. Just even typing that out ...seems like a disconnect, doesn't it...exercise, eat ok (not stellar, but ok) but why do I need to lose 125lbs to have a normal BMI? I too, have yo-yo'd in all of my dieting years (probably the last 15 years) and I seem to be a good "dieter" but am terrible at keeping it off (I'm sure most everyone can relate). And when I lose, and regain, (as most do) I regain MORE than what I originally lost. Very frustrating. I think just all the swirling thoughts are hard to control. And I know for every success story, there is one of failure too. :thumbup1: As I'm getting more and more comfortable "sharing" the fact that I'm having WLS, I'm getting more and more stories, of "well, so and so gained it all back after surgery, or my SIL died after having that bypass, etc." and I know everyone is well-meaning, but it is hard to filter that stuff out. So I was just wondering, and everyone here is so supportive, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. I am very committed to this surgery, I KNOW it is the right choice for me, and I am really working on turning "doubts" into positive...i.e. healthy going into surgery, better recovery coming out, etc., that type of thing.

Hi Bryn, I'm in the same boat, starting out thinking I was going to do the band, and switched to the VSG. Good luck with everything!

I just wanted to start particpating in this forum, as I have been lurking since early August. I'm a happily married mom of two wonderful daughters (ages 8 & 9). I have been jumping through the insurance hoops to get WLS, and was originally focused on getting the band. I needed 6 months of monitored "diet" (in quotes yes, because I can hardly call what I've been doing a diet) basically meeting with a nutritionist to mentally and physically prepare for WLS. My wonderful husband is looking to lose about 80lbs and after a few months of indecision, decided to do this with me (yay!). He is, however, about 2 months behind me in the "hoop jumping". As we continued to research all options, it was at his insistence that I do some thorough research on the sleeve vs. the band. And what do you know, we decided that the sleeve was what we wanted! And I actually have to give some credit to this forum as part of my research, and especially CraftyChristie and her blog. She and I live near each other and share a surgeon. We hope to meet this week in person! I'm planning on being sleeved sometime in Oct...I don't have a date yet. I'm looking to lose 125lbs give or take. Okay, here is my question. How many people here have been sleeved and don't have any co-morbidities? My husband has a few, and I have absolutely none. As I'm getting closer and closer to my surgery, I keep running thoughts through my mind about the fact that I am perfectly healthy now. Except for being morbidly obese. I'm 38, my BMI is about 44 and while I feel as if youth in general has helped me beat the odds so far by not having any weight-related issues, I keep wondering "for how long?" Diabetes and high blood pressure run in my family, and I am trying to focus on being able to dodge some bullets that the next 10, 20, 30+ years might bring, if I choose to stay obese. I just wondered about anyone else, and if they struggled also with being a healthy obese person (sounds like an oxymoron doesn't it?) Thanks again this forum has been incredibly helpful to me!:thumbup1: