Foxbins

I was in the hospital 3 days and took them off the morning I was discharged.

Surgery, rapid weight loss, and poor protein levels (among other causes) can cause hair loss. Not everyone loses their hair but I have lost some of mine already due to hypothyoidism and menopause and if I'm going to lose it I'd like to limit the causes.

Hot drinks and room temperature drinks work for me, cold ones make me feel uncomfortable inside. I tried the clear protein Nectar drinks and I thought they were chalky-tasting and vile, so I'm drinking boullion and eating sf jello. I am supposed to be on clears for 10 days (until Saturday) but I will probably move to thin liquids tomorrow since I'm hoping not to lose my hair.

I am 4 days post-op, in the Napa area. Send me a pm if you'd like.

Dear Rob-- My surgery is Thursday and I leave for Mexico tomorrow. As a self-pay, it's been about a month since I decided on VSG and got an appointment. After I made the deposit I got the shakes I was so nervous. I have alternated between excitement, terror, resignation, and calm. I also got really sentimental and somewhat maudlin, cried at a TV commercial for Cereal, for God's sake, and I'm not usually a crier. I am not afraid of dying or complications but of failure at yet another weight loss solution. I think I'm also afraid I might be hungry all the time and I would hate that, I'm hoping hunger goes away. I found taking walks and just being outdoors helpful. I have a good friend I talked to about my fears and I talked to the dog. Tonight I am pretty calm and looking forward to the surgery being over and working to lose my weight by keeping a food journal, staying on program, and exercising when I get the okay. My advice is, keep your eye on the goal and know that the moods are temporary. Best wishes, Rachel

I bought unsweetened Kool-Aid and added Splenda to my taste (less than they suggested on the package).

I agree with you that this is what you purchased BLIS for. The hospital probably doesn't know (or care) about your insurance. Submit your bill to BLIS and please try to stop worrying. I'm sure everything will turn out fine.

I'm Thursday too! We'll be sleeve sisters--good luck and let me know how it goes for you.

Thursday is my day and I am feeling the same as you. Good luck and I wish you an uneventful and painless procedure--

I think with a sleeve I will need to think about a "well balanced day" or even a "well balanced week." I, too, have been concerned about missing essential Vitamins and minerals but after some research it appears that the human body can sustain itself quite nicely on a lot fewer calories than I thought. For example, I have a short (5'0") friend who went to a fitness bootcamp and gained weight while she was there. It turns out the daily calories of the meals provided totaled 1200 and she had been quite happily subsisting on 900-1000 in her real life. I am planning on following my Dr.'s orders and eating Protein first, veggies 2nd, fruit 3rd, and starchy carbs last. I have eaten a lifetime's worth of well-balanced meals and that's why I weigh so much. If I am eating real food and taking a multi-Vitamin I think I will be fine and get all my nutrients in over the course of a week. I also have hypothyroidism and yes, I have the metabolism of a lizard in winter but I can lose weight, I've lost a couple hundred pounds over the past 30 years. I just can't keep it off and hypothyroidism has nothing to do with that.

I believe that Dr. Aceves does use an epidural block for pain along with general anesthesia. Pain medication injected directly into the spinal space reduces post-op nausea and allows smaller doses of opiates, so fewer side effects. If you have strong objections to the spinal I think they will do general only but the people who opt for that talk about nausea and vomiting post-op. I will be having the spinal as I don't want to vomit and jeopardize my sleeve and I hate feeling pain and nausea. From the accounts here, I think you are snowed pretty good before they do the spinal as no one remembers it or has anything bad to report. I have had a spinal tap in the past and I was fine afterward.

I am scheduled for surgery on Jan 13th and I have felt all the emotions you are going through. Finally, I said to myself, "If you have the surgery and it hurts, they will give you meds for pain. If you have nausea, they will give you meds for that. If you can't get your fluids in, there is always an IV in an ER." Really, everything that could go wrong can be addressed in some way, recovery would just be delayed. My biggest fear is that the surgery somehow, someway, won't "work" for me although I will follow all the post-op instructions. Even then I told myself that I am no worse off with a failed surgery than I am now. HOWEVER--I have confidence in the procedure and my surgeon. I don't believe that my metabolism or pain threshold is very different from the many, many people who recover with little pain and no complications. I am determined to go into surgery in a positive, optimistic state of mind and if there are problems I will deal with them as they arise and not borrow trouble now. I am hopeful that I will be able to post that my procedure was a breeze!

From my decision to get a sleeve to having a surgical date was a little over 3 weeks. Self-pay is great!

Hi, MommieTawnie-- JMHO, but I don't think you are lactose intolerant. When lactose hits the colon, that's where it's digested and when one is lactose intolerant the symptoms of non-digestion are diarrhea, bloating, gas, and maybe nausea. From your description it doesn't sound like the milk got out of your sleeve. Maybe today was not a good day for milk, but I wouldn't give up on it yet. Wait a few and try again. In the meantime, try almond, soy, or rice milks.

4 pints. 1 pint = 16 oz., so 64 oz. is a half-gallon of fluid, or a tiny bit less than 2 liters

I have never been a water drinker. I drink it when I'm thirsty but I'm not thirsty a lot. I once had a massage and afterwards the masseuse gave me a bottle of water to "flush out the toxins." I looked back at her and said, "Oh, you shouldn't have--a year's supply!" She just laughed. I am wondering how I am going to get all that water down after surgery on the 13th. I have heard that people's tastes change but mine will have to do a 180 to gag down 64 oz. a day, especially day after day.

My date is Jan 13th and I am scared too, but I am more scared of being fat the rest of my life than I am of the surgery. Trust your surgeon, and know that complications are rare.

The IRS has accepted that obesity is a disease and that treatment is deductible. Weight Watcher meeting registration and dues, phentermine prescriptions, gym memberships, and other methods when supervised or recommended by a physician--all are deductible. As far as medical necessity goes, the National Institute of Health recently revised their guidelines for lapband surgery and now state that a BMI of 35 should be used for surgical eligibility. I would imagine that you and your surgeon determined that another procedure (VSG) would benefit you as much as a band. Basically, as long as you and your surgeon/PCP can document your obesity, you can deduct the cost of surgery. Insurance companies deem lots of stuff not necessary, they aren't in the business of saying yes. Feel free to consult your own tax advisor.

I don't think the IRS cares where you had it done but that you paid for a medically necessary procedure with your hard-earned dollars.

I am scheduled for surgery two weeks from now and have started getting ready with protein, chewable vitamins, jello. I also want to get rid of the items that might sabotage me in the future, but wonder if I might be going overboard. So--KEEP or TOSS: Boxed cake mix Ovaltine Saltine crackers Triscuits Walnuts Butter "Light" butter Pancake mix Noodles Barley Coconut Raisins Heath bar chips, choc chips, butterscotch chips Condensed sweetened milk I ate the rest of my ice cream yesterday and won't be buying any more. I live alone so no need to cook for anyone but me and guests maybe 2x/month.

Airfare, surgery, tests, and medications are all deductible. Sadly, protein supplements are not. Hope this helps.

Is your nutritionist experienced with bariatric surgery patients? I ask because it sounds like she is trying to steer you toward a more "balanced" diet even though she said you were doing it right. Are you losing too fast? I'm following my surgeon's directions when it comes to diet. If I ever consult a nutritionist it will be during maintenance phase.

Love your signature! My Latin professor wrote that on the last translation I did for him before graduation.

If you had a laparoscopic procedure, your chances of developing an incisional hernia are quite small, it is one of the great advantages of the little incisions. People with open procedures have to worry about intra-abdominal pressure increases from lifting heavy objects or physically pulling the sutures by twisting or bending. Symptoms of an incisional hernia are a bulge under the skin, redness, tenderness, pain, and perhaps fever. As far as hiatal hernia goes, most obese persons have them simply because the fat in the abdomen raises the pressure in there and forces the stomach up through the hole in the diaphragm where your esophagus goes. Heartburn and reflux are the most common symptoms but you would need an upper GI X-ray or an endoscopy to definitively diagnose it. Some surgeons doing the sleeve look for the hernia while they are in the chest and repair it if they find one.

Loved that you said "the women" plural! Sounds like you are doing well with the ladies!