sasicas

That is one thing that confuses me on the surgery, the dr I saw said the pannicuelectomy was a more difficult recovery than the tummy tuck. He warned me I would take far longer to recover from it.

Once I hit goal, tummy tuck and possibly a boob job for a reward. Other than that, I plan to save $50 a paycheck from surgery til I hit goal to put into a shopping spree account

Each base you will find different criteria. The base here starts with a referal from your PCM. Once Bariatric services recieves that referal they call and have you go to a big orientation, at which time you are put on the waiting list. Once your name comes up on the waiting list you officially are entered into the program, you then have the following appts... Appt with the case manager Yearly physical 2 NUT appts Support group (attend at least once) Goal setting class Stress management class *then a call into Case manager to get referals for next appts Pysch appt, includes a written "test" and meeting with the dr. Surgical clearance with your PCM and any other specialty drs you have, additional testing may be required if you are seen by any specialist Consult with the dr. at which time surgery is scheduled Surgery generally is about a month out from there and you have a 2 1/2 day stay in the hospital

We have already decided that after I lose the weight I will be having my stomach done. Ive actually been on the wait list for well over a year to have it done, long before I even thought I could have WLS. My stomach is the worst part of my body, comes from having 3 c-sections in 2 1/2 years, the last pregnancy was twins so my poor stomach has sure taken a beating! It already hangs over my c-section line and is in the way all the time. UGH! I do plan to do tons of ab workouts after surgery but I doubt my stomach muscles will care haha, so surgery will happen probably a year out from my VSG (or sooner if they let me). I dont even need a perfectly flat stomach, I just need the excess skin (and tons of excess fat right now) gone.

This does scare me about loosing weight. Mine are already deflated from the kids which a doctor swore up and down was not possible...um yeah right, then explain how my girls magically disappeared after nursing?! I even had a doctor ask if I had implants before and had then removed! Ugh. So I fear my already small deflated b cups will get even smaller *sigh*

Thank you all so much! I really do appreciate all the comments and seeing that I am not alone in this. This is seriously the best forum and I am so glad I found you all.

Lately a few of my skinny friends have been making comments about how they are so jealous that I am getting the sleeve. This bugs me so stinkin much! I get it that I am getting a lifelong tool to help me control my weight but why do these skinny girls always have to make comments as if they are fat and really need it?? Take my best friend for example, she wears a size 6. I havent worn that size in probably 15 years at least and Im only 27! Shes even had me look up the weight requirements for her so she could see if she would qualify. Now she does weigh more than an average size 6 girl but she is NOWHERE near qualifying. Its not one of those situations where she or the others are just trying to show support, its them actually wanting to have the surgery. Ive even explained that he comments bug me but its as if these skinny girls actually think they need the surgery! I guess it just upsets me that all these girls that I wish I had bodies like would even think that I am lucky for going through such a big surgery, having my stomach chopped off and then needing to go through more surgery to take care of all the loose skin. Im not doing this because I just feel like, Im doing it for my health, Im trying to get to a point where I dont have sleep apnea, to where I can lessen my chances of hypertention and diabetes, Im trying to get to a point where I can sit on the floor with my kids and not be in so much pain, to where I can cross my legs when Im sitting, to not have to make sure Im sitting by the edge of a couch just so I can use the arm to help myself up. UGH! I know Im ultra senstive to the comments because its a major change thtat Im about to go through, I just wish they skinny friends would see how blessed they are to not even need to consider having such a surgery.

You look great!! I love 3 and 10

Thanks! So I had my occupational therapy class and talk about a WASTE of time. UGH! The class was so boring and no new information on bariatric surgery, all very basic, common sense kind of information. Of course there is always the one annoying person that either thinks they know everything and has a comment every 2 seconds or the person who asks a million not-really-relevant questions. That person happened to do both *sigh* THe class just dragged on. But at least the class is over with. Now I get a break til next week when I get to hear the same information again by someone else Hoping this next class isnt nearly as long as todays. Oh well, one step closer to surgery

Id suggest sitting her down and having a heart to heart talk with her about the surgery. Set rules, like no getting upset, no yelling, just a calm, rational talk. Have her come to this site too and read around some on the surgery and what others are going through and read all the successes. If you would rather her not be on this site, go to youtube and look up VSG, you will come up with hundreds of videos, so many success stories outt here. SO many videos with before and after pictures too.

Wow! I haven't had my surgery yet however I have had pancreatitis and an inflamed liver from gallstones in the common bile duct and I remember how painful it was I will be praying for you!

Yay! Im not the only one who has a size goal and not as concerned about how much I weigh I honestly dont care what the scale says ( well I will be excited to hit onederland), I just want to be in a single digit pants/skirts. The bariatric nurse I saw really looked at me as if I was insane for saying I didnt care about the scale. lol. I have ALWAYS weighed more than others expected me to weigh so it just doesnt matter, I JUST REALLY WANT TO WEAR A SIZE 8 Shirt size doesnt matter either to me.

Our hospital does 2 1/2 days for all bariatric surgeries

This is the question I was curious about too. The support group I went to covered it a little, said there were many silly questions and a lot of questions that were reworded. One lady mentioned one question asking if she was happy with her life, she said yes. Another question asked if she could go back if there was anything she could change. She said yes. The pysch questioned her on it. Acted as though a person couldnt possibly be happy in their life if there was something in the past they wish they could have changed.

I am 27 and getting sleeved early next year. I have told many, all my family knows and my hubbys family knows through my blog. Ive told my good friends at work, home and at Church. Im also going to start a video blog on Youtube documenting the journey. With everyone else, I figure if they ask after surgery I will tell them. Im so excited about the surgery I doubt I will be able to keep my mouth shut

Ohhh I'd like to smack him for you right now! Why are some men such jerks?! This is defintely a sensitve subject right now, my best friend had her tubes reversed yesterday (not to get pregnant but because of pain issues with the tubal). I was supposed to watch her kids while her husband went with her to the hospital. Instead he chose to dumb her off at the hospita and to keep the kids and take them to school so he could sit at home and do nothing! Then the hospital calls ME to give ME an update on her surgery since her husband wasnt answering the phone. I called him to update him and it took everything I had to not rip his head off. Then once my hubs got home he watched our kids plus the kids I was babysitting so I could be there when she woke up. That idiot didnt even try to check up on her. He said he would be there once she got to her room, then changed his mind, made her cry over and over, then finally came to see her. She came home today and he basically ignored her the whole time, hasnt given her food or anything, expects her to fend for herself. JERK JERK JERK! So I think I could take some fustration out on your husband right now if you would like bwhahahaha

Reading this post and seeing your before and after is so encouraging to me! Im so stinkin excited for surgery YOU LOOK AMAZING!!!! CONGRATS!!!

Thanks everyone! I am super excited about getting the surgery, just trying to not spaz out too much waiting for my turn My friend had surgery today and while I was sitting in the waiting room I overheard a man talking about his wife having WLS. I asked what she was having and it was the sleeve as well. Shes also using the same doctor I want so that was cool. I was able to get a little more info on what the doctor expectations are. Apparently I dont even have to go on a liquid diet til 5 days before surgery, so thats exciting. The guy spoke highly of the doctor, so defintely good to know.

Hi everyone! I just joined a WLS support group and they are having a potluck next week. I have no idea what to make! I havent had my surgery yet so while Ive done some research Im not exactly sure what kind of foods would be good for the meeting. Any ideas? Thanks!!

Thanks! So I had my physical, doctor wasnt sure what to really do as I had to take my kids so part of the physical was not going to happen. She did the basics of looking in my ears, throat and listening to my heart and lungs. All was good. She looked over my last set of labs and didnt see a reason to repeat anything. I told her about the surgery (I see a group of doctors so she was not the one to put in my referal). So thats one thing off my to-do list Today I checked out another support group and I LOVED it! These women were amazing, we mostly goofed around, it was so much fun to have others to joke with that have gone through bariatric surgery, I was the only person who had not had my surgery yet. Lots of good advice and support. So Im thrilled to be a part of the group there too Well thats all the update for now. My next update will be my occupational therapy appt. Hope you all are having a blessed week!

I wont have a date til January but its expected to be in February

As its already been said yes Tricare will cover bariatric surgery. She needs to see her PCM and just request a referal for bariatric surgery. If she meets the BMI requirements there should be nothing in her way of getting the referal. Bariatric services will then call her once its approved and she will go to the orientation that is held once per month. At that orientation she will get a number on the wait list. Once her number comes up she will get a call to start the Pathways program. Pathways includes an appt with the case manager. She puts in the referals for the other appts. The next appts are a physical (which she could easily just go in for a physical to begin with to get the referal for bariatric surgery and get it over with before starting pathways), two nutrition appts, a goal setting class, a stress management class, attending a support group meeting, and an occupational therapy appt. After those she will call the case manager again. She will put in the referals then for the pysch eval, a surgery clearance appt, and any other appts for specialty doctors she might have. After that she will see the surgeon and surgury is usually a month after that. The hospital stay is 2 1/2 days for the VSG. Once on the Pathways, they say the appts should be over and done with in a month, so its a pretty quick process as far as the military is concerned

Hi everyone! Ive been lurking for awhile, as well as reading tons of blogs, watching youtube videos, etc, etc. Ive struggled with my weight since high school and Im sick of it! I dont like being the fat wife, the fat mom, the fat person walking down the street, the fat chick struggling to get up off the floor and even off the couch. I was advised not to use the word fat from the skinny bariatric nurse I had to see, I couldnt help but laugh. The truth hurts, thats where I am right now. Very upfront about being the fat girl and Im just tired of it. Soooo after going in to see my doctor about my ongoing back issues (had chronic back pain even while skinny) I finally decided to ask about weight loss surgery and sure enough I qualified WOOHOO! She put in my consult and a week or so later I got the call to go in for the bariatric surgery orientation. I was set on having the lap band until the doctor mentioned the sleeve and then I was sold He later suggested it would be the best fit for me so then I was wait-listed for the surgery. After a month or two I couldnt stand it any longer and called to check to see where I was on the wait list. Imagine my surprise to find out I was only a few people away from starting the program that leads to surgery! A few days later I got the call that it was officially my turn to start. I went in for my appt with the nurse last week, she handed me a huge list of appts I have to go to. One of the appts was a required support group appt and luckily the group was meeting an hour later so I went and met some fellow WLS folks in person I also found out about another WLS support group that is much more active so I will attend that this week. So now I start my list of appts, 4 NUT appts, occupational therapy, a physical, then the pysch (sp?) eval, then surgery clearance and finally the surgeons appt, all hopefully will be done by the end of December and surgery is expected to be in February YAY! Well thats it for now, just wanted to finally introduce myself and thank all the people that post on this site! Im so glad I found you all