M2G

You are right about policies changing from year to year and what is covered and what isn't. When I expressed gratitude towards the UHC nurse that they cover the sleeve, she extended some of that gratitude back to my husband's employer (that is where our insurance comes from) because they CHOOSE that policy that covers the sleeve. Good luck, I hope you get your answer soon!

My surgery was 10-22 and I didn't have to do a pre-op diet, just clears 48 prior, so starting from the 20th, I'm down 18lbs. I *think* I just broke a 10 day stall. The minute I started mushies, I stopped losing. Argh! But today it finally moved down a lb, but I won't trust it until I see it a few days in a row. I have a 3 week follow-up appt. this week where I will move to the next phase of the bariatric diet, which will be all types of food, ground to mush. I'm excited to try beyond cottage cheese, refried Beans, yougurt and egg beaters. Going to break out my WLS cookbook and start having some fun!

Is it just me, or has greek yogurt just exploded in popularity? Honestly I had never given it a second look until May of this year, when I had my first NUT visit and she mentioned it for post op. Now I see even the store brands have their own version of the higher priced yogurt at a cheaper price. Unfortunately, I happen to do most of my grocery shopping at a super-busy grocery store and they frequently run low on ALL brands of greek yogurt....ugh!

My notes said to take "colace" 2 days before, but um, I'm super-regular (TMI I know) so I opted out. I had no problems whatsoever during surgery or after. My NUT recommended taking Benefiber powder but honestly I guess I will wait until it is a problem before I start messing with whats working. I think it tends to be a problem after you start doing the high protein/low carb thing...we'll see though.

http://caloriecount.about.com Is what I use. It's free and right now it helps me keeping track of Protein as I'm still eating mushies, so my food is very limited. You can tag items that you use frequently for easier access. It also has a recipe analyzer, you can put in the ingredients/quantities of a recipe and it will calculate the nutrition.

I'm 17 (or 16 if you don't count actual surgery day) post-op today and I've had this happen one other day. I just have zero energy today. I have eaten 1 Protein shake (30 grams protein) 2 oz of egg beaters, 2 oz of cottage cheese, and walked 20 minutes on my treadmill. I am totally zapped. I don't have any energy at all. I'm still limited on what I can eat (basically these 5 things, egg beaters, cottage cheese, refried Beans, yogurt, & sugar-free pudding, plus broth, shakes, popsicles, etc.) So far I've had 45 grams of protein and I will definitely get about 65-70 before the day is over. And I'm drinking my Water.... I just don't know what to do? Go back to bed and sleep it off? I have heard that some people eat some carbs (told by their surgeon) however, mine hasn't said anything about extra carbs anywhere in the plan. The good news is I get to change things up on Wed. after a followup appt. and a NUT class. I just hope I can make it until then...

EXACTLY!!! LOL. Not to mention that I had planned my surgery to be in the middle of my cycle specifically so I wouldn't have to deal with it while also recovering. I guess sometimes the best laid plans....

Totally agreed Chilo!!! While is un-nerving to actually CHOOSE to remove part of an organ from our bodies, I am totally amazed at our ability to HEAL and FUNCTION without organs, or parts of them. In doing my research I found a very ANTI-SURGERY site that had horrible stories of death and horrible pictures, etc. There was a photo of a stomach after VSG, and yeah, it was un-nerving to see. But I agree that the risks of being morbidly obese outweigh the chance that I might someday need that 85% back... As a 10 year old kid, I had part of my front tooth chipped off accidentally. I wore a "cap" for about 12 years and then at my parents urging, in college I got a crown. I did NOT do my research and picked a horrible dentist who did a sloppy job (front teeth crowns need a TON of critical work and care to look right.) I didn't even know what a crown meant (they ground my perfectly normal, albeit chipped tooth, to a stub and the stuck the crown over it.) I wore that horrible crown for another 14 years. I fought and fought and fought with my current dentist about re-doing it. She wanted to remove part of my gum tissue AND redo the crown. I was terrified that I might "need" that gum tissue later (I have tons of it, but my mom had to have tissue moved from the top of her mouth to her gum line...not in the front...in the back...receeding gumline). Anyway, after 5 years of going back and forth, I finally caved and let her do it. She did an AMAZING job. To this day I cannot believe I had such a horrible front tooth for so long and that I fought her so long on the re-do. I love my smile today, but it took the RIGHT dentist, using the RIGHT tools, and taking her time (she sent me to a lab for color matching, etc.) Sorry for the long-winded story, but I guess what I'm saying is when you do your research, and are confident with your surgeon choice, then it can be easier to let go of the fear and the what-ifs.

Thankfully I didn't have a pre-op "diet" only 2 days of Clear Liquids prior to surgery. And nope I didn't cheat, but 2 days is hardly a test. I feel for those of you who have to endure weeks of dieting before surgery. Are you not to have carbs? Because when you say turkey sandwich, I'm thinking there is bread involved in that ...but maybe I'm wrong? I would think that 10 days you will probably have a chance to undo any "harm" caused by a serving of Pasta...BUT I am not a dr. This is something that helped me (again only 2 days of clears) but I envisioned the dr. cutting open my stomach and finding some undigested food in there....I know that is yucky, but it helped me mentally stay on plan.

Oh! I forgot to mention there is a lady named Michelle (can't think of the last name) who writes a blog called theworldaccordingtoeggface and she is a bypass patient who does all sorts of WLS-friendly recipes. I haven't tried any of her recipes (she has a TON on her blog) but she is AWESOME about pictures and details. Really great blog to check out when you need some ideas. She has some great ways of using leftovers from a restaurant meal too...can't say enough good things about her blog!

I have Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery too! (written by Patt Levine) I bought it at Barnes & Noble. I like it because she has a very easy to follow chart at the bottom of each recipe on how much to serve and when depending on the type of WLS you have. (She does NOT have anything specific for the sleeve, I think because it is probably too new, but she has the band, RNY, BPD-DS) but she has great recommendations for pureeing food, etc. She also has the complete nutrition breakdown including calories and Protein content. I believe the author herself has had a band since 2003. There IS a lot of fish recipes, and admittedly I'm not much of a fish fan beyond salmon and tuna. Hopefully her recipes will inspire me to eat more fish. The one drawback is there are absolutely NO pictures.

Hi Sharrin! I was told by my bariatric case manager, that UHC gives themselves 15 days from the day they receive your case to give an answer. I didn't ask, but I am assuming that is 15 business days. I thought that my nurse was going to be out of town the week after my case was submitted (it was submitted on Tues. Oct. 5th and by the 8th I called wanting to know how things are going and that is when I found out about the 15 day rule and that my nurse was going to be out of town.) I still don't know what happened but I recieved a phone call on Wed. Oct. 13th that my case was approved. Is your case already submitted? If so it sounds like you will have an answer by the 22. My surgeon wouldn't even schedule a date until I was approved (that drove me crazy but I totally understood.) Thanks for the kind words, I am so thankful every day for this site, it has given me tons of insight, inspiration and help too!

I only work sporadically (I'm a contract graphic designer for a cable training company) and I've had LOTS of time off this year. WOuldn't you know it, as soon as I had surgery, I got a call...can you work? lol. My boss knows about the surgery, and was kind enough to tell other team members ONLY that I had surgery, not what kind. So I'm thinking by next week (hopefully later in the week as that will put my close to my 3 week surgiversary) I will be working. At least it is a sit-down job and I'm sure I won't be working full 8 hour shifts. I'm feeling almost normal...I still get a twinge when I bend over to remind me of my "wounds" but overall, I'm feeling very good...I can't believe it's only been 2 weeks!

I'm going to be lazy and repost what I wrote on my blog: Two weeks ago today, I made a decision to change my life forever. I decided that I didn't want to life live in this larger body, that I wanted to do something, to make a radical change for the better. I know having surgery is just not for everyone, it is very much a personal decision that certainly is not to be taken lightly. I did SO much research on this type of surgery, the life you need to live after surgery, and all the necessary steps it takes to have surgery, that I am confident I did the right thing for me. Many people warn that you have times of "buyers remorse" when you go through a sort of mourning period about having made the choice to have surgery. I may still have that at some point, but right now, I'm not looking back at all. I truly try to live my life with no regrets. And so far, even though it has only been 2 weeks, I have nothing to regret regarding my decision to have surgery. Having said all of that, I am not happy to report that I am in the midst of my first stall, or plateau (as some people call it.) Anything you want to call it, is fine, it all means the same thing. It means my scale is stuck. Now I have read hundreds of posts from people who experience this throughout their weight loss journey, and usually people are mad, alarmed, sad, and left to wonder why in the world when they are doing everything they can to lose weight, and their scale does NOT reward their efforts. And yes, it sucks. I'll admit how fun it is to watch the numbers on the scale go down, and when it is stuck, how frustrating it can be. I've told others "stay off the scale" which is always such good advice to give, but not so easy to follow. But sometime during this last week (yes, I've been stuck a week, as soon as I started mushies, the scale quit moving) I decided this is a journey. There is no starting line, there is no finish line, and there certainly won't be ribbons handed out to me as I inch down the scale. So even though the scale hasn't moved in 7 days, I still am climbing back up on that scale and letting it give me those numbers. This is my journey and I don't want to miss a second of it. Good, bad, up and down, the scale will not rule my world, just measure it for me, one day at a time.

Hang in there, it DOES get better, surgery of any kind is tough on our bodies. Keep sipping, walking and drinking your Protein. Don't worry about the "big" stuff right now, laundry, cooking, cleaning, all that can wait. Focus on getting enough rest, and just doing what you need to be doing. The pain gets better by the hour, each day is a new day and each day you will start to feel more normal. Hugs!

So I'm 2 weeks out from surgery today and I got the nicest call from my bariatric Nurse Case Manager. She was the one from UHC that 1. decided if I was 'eligible' and a good candidate for the surgery, and 2. the single person who decided YES or NO once my case was submitted from the surgeon's office. I had also a bariatric case manager who was much more accesible than the nurse, and my case manager was wonderful, answered any questions I had and sometimes would actually answer the phone, but always returned every call, etc. She called and left a very nice message on my cell phone the day of surgery wishing me good luck, etc. But the nurse I only spoke once to, and then played a couple of phone tag messages with her before surgery, so I was surprised that she called me today. I'm sure it is all part of her job to follow up with the patient, but she was great, asked me all sorts of questions about how I was feeling, and was very nice and supportive. I think sometimes insurance people and insurance in general is such a pain to deal with, it was nice to know that there are real people out there, and even though yes, they are doing their job, it was nice to know they actually cared.

That is awesome! I'm so excited for you...I can hardly wait to get there myself (it will be a while...lol!)

I must admit, I'm slightly jealous of people who are talking about the since incision VSG surgery that is new. It really doesn't matter, as I'm not looking to wear a bikini any time soon. lol So I wondered how many scars everyone has... I have 5. All above my bellybutton. Two that are about 1.25 inches long, then 2 itty bitty ones, and the one sort of oval shaped one where the drain was (ugliest one of all since there were no stitches, etc.) Also wondered how some of the vets feel about their scars, have they faded considerably, are they "noticable", etc.

Awww, hugs. I know it doesn't help, but probably giving your body more time to heal will end up with a healthier pregnancy in the future. It's okay to feel sad...hang in there!

Maybe I'm an odd one, but I didn't have hardly ANY gas after surgery. Even the nurses were like "any toots?" lol, nope. But I will say that I was the burping queen. For 10 solid days every single sip of water = 2 burps. I gave up "excusing" myself after every burp around my family. Finally, it subsided. But when I eat the first few things that happen are a couple of burps. It keeps getting better, so heres hoping.

Great post 6... I have found that calcium citrate (in chewable form) is much harder to find on the store shelves. Most of the "chewable" forms of calcium are the carbonate. I am thinking of ordering from Bariatric Advantage online. I ordered a sample pack and most of the chewable calcium flavors were okay tasting. However, my surgeon doesn't want us on calcium until we are 6 weeks out. So I guess I have time (will be 2 weeks out tomorrow) but need to get thinking on this. My surgeon also said don't worry about Vitamins the first couple of weeks, your body has enough stores to get you through. Anyone else get that advice?

Glad you are on "the other side" and welcome to the losers bench (you will lose those 8lbs of fluid soon!) Hang in there it all gets better!

There is just no way to sugarcoat it (pardon the pun)... STALLS SUCK. But they happen, they are normal and EVERYONE goes through them. Do not let negative thoughts or negative self-talk come into your world. You will continue to lose, stay the course, dig in your heels and you will eventually break the stall. (I'm in one right now, and only 13 days post-op...lol!) Hang in there!

So far I had: cottage cheese greek yogurt refried Beans egg beaters SF pudding Without any problems. I haven't had REAL eggs yet, but the egg beaters are fine for now. I do love eggs normally, so glad to know that didn't change. It is getting a little repetitive, lol, but I've got one more week with these before moving to the next stage. The one thing I don't do (except once to try it) was the SF pudding. I ate half the container, the put it away in the fridge. And it didn't keep real well, (sort of watery) plus it doesn't have any protien in it, so why bother? I need to probably buy some unflavored protien to add to things to boost my protien in certain foods.

I totally agree with Tiff. Her recommendations are excellent. As far as being scheduled so far out, I had a 6 month insurance-imposed wait time, and while I did enjoy "eating" during that time, it was a little hard to have a "food funeral" everytime I ate something. So basically I didn't lose any weight, but I didn't gain a single pound (oops, except for I did gain 2lbs when we went to Hawaii in Aug. on a family vacation, the macadamia nuts where everywhere, I lost it when we got home.) I think just my mind-frame was that I was in "transistion" to a new life and I really did NOT want to gain any weight. But then again I wasn't faced with Thanksgiving or Christmas. So I feel for you. Hang in there!!! It is not the last time you will eat a particular food, just the last time you will eat it in THAT quantity.