mmcclure

It's amazing how every doctor seems to be different. I thought I had to give up caffeine 2 weeks before surgery, but after 2 days of no coffee, I called and they told me that it is okay for me to have it. It does seem smart to stop before surgery though, if only to prevent the headaches. Now if I could just stop the people where I work from either coming in sick or bringing their sick kids to work with them, I would be a very happy camper. I will be unbelievably angry if I have to postpone my surgery because I get sick, especially since I don't know if they could fit me in by the end of the year and I am not picking this insurance up again for next year. Why do people go to work when they are sick or take their kids with them? I'm talking about professors and or department chairs who have tons and tons of sick time accumulated! Surgery in 8 days! Marilee

My daughter and I are having VSG on November 12th. I originally told my boss that I would be back on November 29th, which would give me 2 weeks to recuperate. Now I'm wondering if I was being a bit hasty. I am 55 years old, have diabetes, high blood pressure and MS. The diabetes and MS already make me tired and I've been getting the idea from people that this surgery takes a lot of your energy out of you. Do you think I should plan on taking some extra time off to get on my feet? I have the time (and short-term disability), so that isn't a problem. But, I am sure my boss would be happier if I came back to work. Oh, and BTW, I have an office position - sit at a desk all day - but it is a long way to the bathroom (I keep hearing about liquids in, liquids out)! Thanks! Marilee

I know that this topic has been around - how many times I'm not sure, but I'll bet it is plenty - but maybe this is a question that no one has asked before and it has been on my mind for several days. My daughter and I are having VSG surgery on November 12th. We had to do a 3 month low carb diet for insurance purposes and now we are supposed to be on a two-week high-Protein diet consisting of meats, green veggies, eggs and cheese ONLY, staying under 20 grams of carbs per day. We started a day early (THAT was a mistake! LOL) but have been religiously following it since with the exception of having a Protein shake (Premier Protein with 30 grams of protein) for lunch instead of one of the listed solid foods. Tomorrow will be one week. My question is - what would it harm if, after the pre-op visit (which takes place 3 days before surgery), we went out and had a nice dinner and possibly dessert? I am soooo hungry for fajita nachos, I can't stand it, and that is something that I might never be able to eat again simply because of the bulk of the chips, lettuce, peppers, onions, cheese and chicken. I know that, if someone goes to Mexico to have surgery, the surgeon makes them follow a two-week liquid Protein diet and then they get to have whatever they want to eat the night before surgery. So, what would it hurt to have one meal a couple of days before the surgery? Our livers can't possibly get slippery or large again that quickly, can they? Please don't slam me with the, "you aren't taking this surgery seriously enough...you aren't ready if you can't follow the diet..." and so on. Believe me, we are definitely ready for the surgery. My daughter has lost 34 pounds in a little over 3 months and I have lost 18 (she weighs more than I do and is a lot younger). It is just that fajita nachos are my most favorite thing to eat (with the exception of pizza), and I can't understand how two days before surgery could impact the liver all the much. I'd ask my doctor but I kind of don't want him to tell me no and then be suspicious the day of surgery that we may have cheated. Does anyone know if the liver can change that quickly? Did anyone cheat just a couple of days before surgery with any consequences? Thanks. Marilee

I am kind of going through the same thing. I found out my surgery is on November 12th and my pre-op visit with the surgeon is November 9th. I will have to be on a no/very low (less than 20 grams) carb diet for 2 weeks prior to surgery. Well, this past week and weekend, I kind of went nuts, mostly with Mexican fajita nachos and some Chinese food. I had been on a three-month diet and lost 12 pounds. Once that was officially over, I relaxed a bit and had already put on 5 pounds before the weekend. Then, much to my horror, when I got on the scales this morning, I found that I had gained 14 pounds since my last doctor's visit!!! (Note - this is a 9 pound gain within 4 days!) He is very very strict about not gaining any weight before surgery and will even postpone it if you do. I am praying that the low carb diet will take this weight off of me in time. Another thing I am stressing about is the fact that my primary physician just changed my blood pressure meds, taking away the diuretic. That means that I am about to puff up like a frog, on top of the weight gain I have already had. If I gain weight from that, I don't think it should be held against me, but I don't know what will happen. I can't believe that my surgery will be in 20 days! (Well, if I can get this stupid weight off again, that is.) Worse part of it is - there is a pizza shop across from where I work that keeps calling my name. I know that, once I have the surgery, I will be fine. It's just that there are a couple of things that I feel like I am really going to grieve over if I don't get it out of my system beforehand. I feel like a little kid in a candy shop who is being pulled out by the arm screaming! :pizza: :hurt:

I am going to have VSG in November. I already take the maximum dosage (30 mg) of Prevacid, once a day and have for years. I keep hearing that many (if not most) people who have VSG need to take a PPI after surgery to not only help with the GERD but with hunger, at least for awhile. I also read from someone that, if you are already on a PPI, you may need to have your dosage adjusted after surgery. Does anyone have any suggestions about what I should do after surgery if I am experiencing any of the typical GERD and hunger symptoms and am already at the max for Prevacid? I know that this is something I will probably need to address with my surgeon, but I'd like to be prepared just in case he doesn't think I need anything and I do... Thanks!

My daughter has been very overweight much of her entire life. She has seen the same PCP for the past 3 or so years pretty regularly so should have a record of her weight... BUT, his scales only go to 300 pounds so they have been unable to weigh her. What happens in a case like this? She only went to the GYN/OB once during that time so, essentially, she doesn't have any weight records (I'm not even sure if their scales went any higher). Can the doctor state that her BMI had to be over 40+ due to the fact that their scale didn't go high enough? Will that be enough to fulfill the weight record requirement? Thanks!

While I don't have to be on a liquid diet right now, I am doing a liquid protein diet with my daughter to support her while she tries to lose weight (has to get back down to her initial consult weight of over a year ago). That is hard enough, but I work at a university and there is a sandwich shop on the bottom floor of the building I am in that cooks bacon in the morning and bakes bread and cookies all day. For some reason, the odors rise to the floor I am on and I am about to lose my mind with the smells coming into my office! Sigh...

Check out: Obesity Surgery. Although it looks like everyone with Aetna has to meet these exact guidelines, from the posts above, I'm not sure exactly how it is determined. Also, not every Aetna plan covers bariatric surgery. To find a good surgeon, you might want to look for a support group or two in your area and attend a few meetings. I'm sure you will find people willing to talk to you about the doctor they used. Good luck! Marilee

I'm confused about this. I, too, have Aetna and my surgeon's office said that the three-month multidisciplinary program consists of the nutritionist, psychologist and the dietician/doctor visits in their office. Although it says in the bulletin that a supervised exercise program is required, she said that this was all we had to do and that the psychologist would monitor our exercise (we would talk with him about what we were doing as part of the behavior modification. She also said that they would keep track of everything themselves and get updates from the nutritionist and psychologist. My daughter and I are going on our third month and I do not want to find out now that we were supposed to be doing a supervised exercise program. Does anyone know exactly what is required? I've had people say all kinds of things.

I am in the process of doing the three-month intensive diet/exercise/behavior modification requirement for Aetna. Does anyone know if this means that I have to see the psychologist and nutritionist a total of 4 times or 3? I know that this seems like a silly question, but the psychologist says it is only 3 and the nutritionist says it is 4 (1st visit, 2nd visit after one month, 3rd visit after 2 months and 4th visit after 3 months). And, does it matter if you go over or less than 30 days in-between visits?

I know that I have one because, when I had my gallbladder out years and years ago, the doctor saw it but said it wasn't bad enough to fix (huh?). I have horrible GERD now so I'm sure it hasn't improved, but it did not show up on the endoscopy I had. When I asked my doctor about that, he said that they can slide in and out and aren't always visible.

I also asked this question when I started out researching the various ways and means to get VSG. I even called the insurance company. They told me that, no, if the surgery is not covered then any complication would not be either. On the other hand - it is my impression that, after time has gone by, it would be very difficult for the insurance company to differentiate between a complication from WLS and something else. So, there is a chance that if a complication were to arise farther out from surgery, it would probably be covered. One thing I am doing is getting a referral from my PCP to my surgeon for hiatal hernia surgery. At least that part will be covered if he finds one and fixes it while he is doing the sleeve. And, God forbid a complication arises - maybe it would be caused by that and not the WLS. :thumbup1:

Ok, so this all makes sense now. The person I know that got Protein poisoning didn't eat rabbit, she is overweight and ate almost exclusively protein (animal, I'm sure). For all I know, she sat there and ate steak after steak and nothing else. My daughter and I are doing a modified carb diet, I guess you would call it. Not Atkins, but trying for 60-80 grams of protein minimum and low carbs (not really counting but all sources are low in carb count). The protein is from varied sources, including soy (protein bars, tofu, etc.), chicken, fish, milk and some beef. The carbs are almost exclusively vegetables, salads and limited whole wheat bread. Once a week, we are allowing ourselves something that we really really want (hey, we have to do this for three months before surgery). We are losing weight and I think this is pretty healthy. This is pretty much what our diet will be like after surgery, once we are on whole food again, right? Thanks!

One thing that really relieved my mind was the fact that the hospital we are going to will bill us and set-up payments for whatever the amount ends of being - interest free. When I asked the billing department what would happen if we owed a lot more after they billed the insurance company, she said, "we will work with you and set something up, unless you want to pay interest to your credit card company or on a loan" and then she laughed. Whew - that was soooo good to hear. BTW - this is one of the top hospitals in Georgia, too.

I don't know if this has been brought up before but, I wondered if anyone has suffered from Protein poisoning since WLS and a high protein diet? I never knew this existed until a friend of mine's mother got it and ended up in the hospital for a week because she was on Atkins! Everyone keeps talking about how low our carbs have to be in order to lose weight and keep it off but at what point do we put ourselves in danger if we eat too little carbs? I have been following a high protein diet for over a week now (on a three-month intensive diet/exercise/behavior modification program) and I have already lost quite a bit of weight. However, I've done this before and I know that, just as soon as I start eating carbs again, I'll start gaining. On the other hand, I don't want to endanger myself (or my daughter who is doing this with me). If I simply do a calorie counting thing, I seem to be hungry all the time because so many of the diet plans consist of a lot of carbs.