Susanne

I only had 8 days of pre-op because I scheduled surgery fast. One of the things I believe I heard out of their speeches was that if you cannot control your eating for 2 weeks before one of the most important surgeries of your life, how will you EVER be able to deal with food restrictions post surgery? This is surly not the main reason, but I think they can see a potential "problem patient" up front - does that make sense? After all, the 2 weeks AFTER surgery, there is not room for you to mess up or it can have fatal outcome! I stuck to my supplements to the letter, most tasted OK. If I cheated, I cheated with their stuff, for example one evening I had two microwave dishes instead of just one because I was hungry or I had an extra half Protein bar as a late night snack. I was told it is for the liver and because this food leaves very little residue in your intestines. This made total sense to me. Imagine you have a plastic bag that you want to make smaller. One was filled with horse manure and the other one was pretty much empty - I certainly believe working with the latter is easier, safer for the patient and all that. On a different note, I had to laugh because you know, usually when you cheat on your diet, no one really knows. Now, in this case, THEY CUT INTO YOUR STOMACH and if there is a half digested, chewed up piece of steak, there really is no denying that you cheated, is there? LOL

Yes, you really have to check with the health plan because your employer can have individual plans considering it is a PPO. I am with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. I was covered for the sleeve and in my case that meant: I pay the first $1,000 out of pocket - that's my deductible and since I didn't have anything done this year, I had to pay the whole amount for this procedure. After that, I cover 30% and BCBSM covers 70% of the expenses until I have paid a total of $3,000 (this is my health plan, I opted for 70/30 instead of 80/20 - right now insurances have open enrollment, do the math to see if switching into a different plan may save you some money) After that, BCBSM pays everything. For me, that mean that before surgery, the hospital wanted a check over $4,000 since it was elective surgery. They said everything else is covered after this. I addition, I had to pay the little things at Grand Health Partners, my surgeons practice. This was for the behaviorist, dietician, consultations, pre-op appointments, pre-paid post-op appointments, pre- and post-op food and that came to a total of $991. So, for me, my covered surgery cost me $4,991 out of pocket, including co-pays and everything. Hope that helps Susanne PS: You can always call your insurance, the number is on the back of the card. They should be able to tell you with your member number

No, I don't think it tastes like coconut - I'd almost say more like yogurt or so. That made it quite pleasant to me, because the rest is all so sweet...

Just came here to look for this. Before surgery, I was at a health food store trying to imagine what may be good for me after surgery. I saw Zico coconut Water and bought two bottles. I love it! I am trying to maximize nutrition right now, I am worried about low calories but even more about low nutrition. It drinks easy, I had plain yesterday and pomberry today - pomberry tastes like berry yogurt, a little tart kick to it. My surgery was Tuesday, so I am only a few days out and Zico seriously helps with my hydration! No, I am not a Zico spokes model, they'd probably get some Brazilian bikini hottie for that and not me :-)

So, I got home Thursday and I am feeling fairly good. It feels like I am getting a sore throat, but I am not sure if it is a cold, a memory of the respirator, or maybe even just acid. I am working hard on my fluids, I made it through 16.9 oz. of Water, 14 oz. of Coconut water (natural electrolyte with potassium), another 4 oz. of water over night and an 8 oz. (15 g) Protein drink. I know I am behind on the intake, but I am starting the morning with the protein Cappuccino to get an earlier start and I will send the hubby to GNC to get me some clear watery protein of some sort, possibly Isopure or so. I am running a slightly high temperature between 99.1 and up to 99.7 but my note says not to worry unless it reaches 101. Right now, after a really good night sleep (IN MY BED!!!) it is 99.1 and I am feeling good to walk around but sitting at the desk is a little tough still. I am keeping my blog updated through my phone, which is easier than sitting here - feel free to check it out

Six hours post op and I am feeling good enough to post here. Cool ey?

Good luck LowCHO! I am just a few hours after you (11.30am, but I am EST) And good job on the pre-surgery weight loss!

Yeah, that pretty much sounds all like me! I believe weening myself off was a good thing. @Tankgirl, I was already down a LOT from my past caffeine trips which included 1-2 trips to the "latte store", morning coffee, energy drinks and what not. In the recent past I had 2 cups in the morning, 1 in the afternoon and a caffeinated diet pop after work. Going the first 4 days down to one and then quit worked well. But I believe I'll be more like LilMiss and get back on at least some coffee though maybe a reduced amount. @Lisa, try the Eggbeaters and tell me how you like them. You can even make them looking like irregular "artisan" Pasta. In the tomato sauce it was awesome - like slightly overcooked pasta but it past as pasta nontheless :-)

Thanks all! I guess the most understandable point for me is that I can't have it after, so I should get used to it before! I made it through the weekend without coffee. I believe this is the first time since I am maybe 7 years old that I hadn't had coffee 3 mornings in a row. I did have decaf coffee and I know that that has some caffeine, but so does cocoa and chocolate so I don't worry! I am freaking out a little about the dehydration so I went out and bought myself some low-cal beverages to help me drink post surgery, for example some coconut Water and some unsweetened almond milk. I also asked about the eggbeaters and I just decided to have some in the morning and with dinner. I always feel there isn't much to eggbeaters and that they are clean eating. I had a first breakfast with just 2 eggbeaters and nothing else, and then started my supplement diary. I was also very hungry at dinner time and I had my tiny microwave dish, so I made another two eggbeaters and mixed it in with the Pasta with tomato sauce. Believe it or not, the little eggbeater pieces were almost like pasta and it was awesome! That's a neat trick to add extra protein! Surgery tomorrow!!! Susanne

I had no idea where to post this, so I try here! am looking into buying a new scale. Mine is over 10 years old and looks a little blah. I don't want to change scales "mid weight loss" and I want to get started with it. I looked at Bed Bath and Beyond but I am not sure what to get. I guess, I am mostly worried about accuracy and I want one that turns on automatically when I step on. I hate having to tap some silly button in the morning when I almost can't tell my name, LOL I liked the One by Taylor, the Biggest Loser model - it had a glass surface so it would be easy to clean. Any suggestions? Thanks Susanne PS: Surgery TOMORROW!!!!!

Sounds delicious - how many servings does that make for you?

I am currently on my pre-op diet with 800-900 calories a day. One would think that's bad in and of itself but in addition they also took my caffeine. I am wondering what the problem with caffeine is? I admit, I have cheated and I had a very small cup of coffee in the morning, just to silence the blazing headache that I woke up with and to be able to be productive at work to finish up everything before I leave for 2 weeks. My plan was to stop today and have Saturday, Sunday, Monday without caffeine and that should work. Now, can I cheat with the caffeine? Why is caffeine so bad before surgery? This is a nice no-calorie-treat for me. In addition, I was wondering if I could have a couple of egg beaters this morning? I know one of the Breakfast supplement options was an omelet so eggs must be OK in general. It'll add 60 calories which I believe is OK (I got up early and walked 1.5 miles). Does it mess up my pre-op diet?

The anesthesia is what I am most afraid of. I have an enzyme deficiency - I have a smaller amount of the enzyme that counters anesthetics so I take a long time to come out if certain anesthetics are used. I do have a sheet with info, which I am distributing like flyers since I started this, LOL I have more copies to give to every nurse and surgeon and anesthesiologist so they all know :-) Other wise, I believe it is pretty rare - and as for Grey's Anatomy, I better not mention the episode from last season where Bailey was operating and...

I really love to read this! I am going in 11/2 and I am so excited - I just discovered this forum today and some of the horror stories - especially regarding the first 2 weeks - scare me, but you posts shows that it is worth all the pain. In general, I don't even think it is physically possible to gain 8 pounds in a weekend - whenever that happens to me it is usually a LOT of salty Snacks that make me retain Water -but it is great to see that it is easy enough to get off the junk again. That is something that always gets me in no-sleeve life, once I am on the eating trail, it is very hard to get off again! Thanks for posting this, "us newbies" appreciate it!

How about those Isopure drinks that are more like Gatorade vs. a shake, for example: http://theisopurecompany.com/drinks.php Would that double as a protein/fluid?

I would love to hear about your progress. I am scheduled for surgery with Dr. Foote (also of Grand Health Partners) for November 2nd. Do you want to share a little more how you are doing?

I am new here, and I am glad I finally found a forum that is active and more specific to surgeries instead of general weight loss. I looked at the Obesity Help site but I simply cannot get used to the forum format they have: http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/vsg/ My surgery is November 2nd, in Grand Rapids Michigan with Dr. Foote. He has done almost 400 sleeves so I believe I am in good hands! I wish we could create a thread just for first week November, second week November so we are all at the same level and can cry on each others shoulders. From what I understand, just 1 or 2 weeks apart makes a word of difference in "symptoms" Anyway, good luck to everyone!

Outch, I was not aware that this is such a wide spread issue!! I have to read up on that a little more, I have my sleeve 11/2

Don't get discouraged - I am having my surgery one day after you! I was very worried about what people say and I really wasn't in the mood for some "If you'd only apply yourself, you could do it without surgery speeches" but everyone was very supportive. I told most people that I have been trying to lose weight for 20 years with every trick and method I had up my sleeve. Everyone know how being overweight has made me unhappy, and they want me to be happy. As for your "friends", they haven't been good friends. This may be a harsh comparison, but they were your enablers. You will find new friends! You can be friends with your bicycle, with your treadmill, with your Water bottle, with the stairs you always dreaded so much! You can be friends with the departments store - that store that used to tucked you and your stuff away in some back corner. Imagine walking into the departments store and being able to pick something off the first rack you see and not having to ask a skinny mini sales clerk for the "fat chick department". You may actually become friends with your biggest enemy, the scale! Those are the things that I am thinking off. Don't get me wrong, just yesterday I was sad thinking that I won't have a burger for the next few months. A friend sent me a message telling me she misses me and we should go out for dinner and cocktails - but she also said she'd sit with me on the couch with a glass of water and a cracker :-) Chin up (and if you are like me, this will soon really just be ONE chin), you are the only supporter you need, and once people see your transition, they have to get on board with it! All the best Susanne

I have tried this in the past and simply LOVE it: http://www.muscleandstrength.com/store/12-hour-meal-replacement.html I am pre-surgery and I am wondering if anyone could look at this and tell me if this looks OK? The whole pack makes a HUGE shake, but I was thinking half or a quarter? I think it is delicious, like an ice-cream shoppe shake with just a little bit of the usual protein-chalkiness

I don't like what I read here :-( My surgery is on November 2nd, and I pride myself with not having thrown up since 14 years or so! Not that this is a great accomplishment, I just always liked that fact that I don't throw up (and yes, feel free to find this very weird). I guess I have to prepare myself that I may not keep my winning streak! The good thing (I think) is that it seems to go away sooner or later and while some may hope for sooner, they may have to settle on later. I know, it's easy for me to say, I haven't even had the surgery, LOL

I try to always wear the same for consecutive weigh ins - who cares if the doctor thinks I only have one outfit :-) Just think of the clothes you were wearing on those days. If you were wearing shoes, they can be 2 pounds (for fall winter), a pair of newer jeans vs. older dress pants can probably be another pound, each cup of liquid you had is another 0.5 pounds. Fleur, something to consider - I for example weigh in heavy on Mondays because I often eat less healthy over the weekend and retain Water due to excess salt consumption (I can lose 4 pounds from Monday to Tuesday, LOL). I also weigh heavy during TOM and also during ovu. Do you have to weigh in again? If this was just a fluke of the day, you may get a nice surprise with an AWESOME loss. If this is a question of surgery or not - weigh your clothes and chose the lightest - I am not kidding! Otherwise - good luck! Oh, and lucky you - my pre-op diet is 800-900 calories!

Hello everyone, I would like to introduce myself - I found this place googling for vertical sleeve post op meal plans (yes, that specific ) because I finally made the decision that WLS is what I have to do. Here is a little bit about me. I was born and raised in Germany. I was a normal weight child, and started to gain weight when I hit puberty, maybe with 13, 14 - basically when the natural activity (as in "running around" and tree climbing) of childhood stopped. I stopped riding my bike and traded it for a moped when I was 16, the hormonal changes during puberty probably didn't help so I started to gain weight. My parents are both normal weight, my Dad due to being very active and my Mom due to being a very controlled eater. He has a passion for hiking and cycling while my Mom is one of those people who can have a box of candy in a drawer and just eat one piece every now and then. My Mom worried about my weight all my life, and put me on diets, "light" products etc. and my Dad taunted me about what I ate, how much I ate so I believe I often ate out of spite. I tried pretty much every diet on earth, cabbage, grapefruit, weight watchers, eating "light" etc. The major change occurred when I came to the US. All of a sudden I was in the suburbs instead of a downtown apartment, had a car so no need to walk to stores and places, so much new food to try etc. Since then, I have again tried everything, weight watchers, low calories, high Protein, low carbs, GI diet, lemon cleanse, "Biggest Loser", and I lose some and gain it back. My physician asked me last year if I had considered weight loss surgery because I seemed like a perfect candidate for the lap band but at that point I was hoping I can still do it without any surgical help. I spent the first half of the year working mostly from home - basically a last desperate attempt to lose weight "Biggest Loser" style with as much exercise as possible and restricted eating. I managed to drop 16 pounds with working out about 2 hours each day and watching my calories which was a major disappointment because I expected more in 4 months. Unfortunately, once I had to get back to work from the office full time, I could not sustain that lifestyle and I just about gained it all back again. At this point, I feel I can't do it alone. Trying to lose weight has taken over my life, I am constantly thinking of food, calories, workout - I can't enjoy any meal without a massive guilt trip, I cannot relax because I am constantly reminded that I should work out instead of reading a book or watching TV and with every bite I take, I am calculating calories and the repercussions this food has. I am hoping that WLS will give me the physical support to once and for all lose weight and maintain it. I like to work out, I enjoy weight training and walking and I would love to be able to run a 5k or 10k or even more. I have my surgery on November 2nd - next Tuesday - and I am equally excited and scared. Looking forward to participating in this lovely forum! Susanne PS: I have posted a similar intro on another forum but found that place to be too inactive and too general - sorry for the lazy cross-post :-)