Chicadee

My surgeon told me he doesn't like drains and only used one on the first VSG he did. He will only use it if it is absolutely necessary.

I am just about to start week 4 of 5 of the pre-op liquid diet. The diet with my doctor is typically only two weeks but my surgery was postponed from April 11th to May 3rd so it continues. I am having 3 shakes per day, a control bar and a chicken breast, occasionally with some plain steamed veggies and SF popsicles. I just keep telling myself only 2 weeks left and try not to think about it.

They were just talking about this over in the pre-op forum, here is the link http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/16371-list-of-things-to-get/

Good question, I wanted to ask the surgeon the same thing. I found it on the dictionary online. Here is a link to it and you can hear them say it: http://www.merriam-w...ctionary/bougie Does anyone know what is the standard size that is used for this?

Glad to hear you are okay and doing well at home. I have my date in a little over 2 weeks from now. We had a similar starting weight, although I can tell you are at a bit taller than me since my BMI is much higher. One of my worries was about my size because I haven't seen a whole lot of people on here as big as I am and as short as I am. Most people around my weight are always much taller. Best of luck and thanks for the details of your experience hope you will post more as you progress.

I will have to give myself the injections for 10 days after surgery according to my doctor's office.

Congrats Heather. Glad you finally got done. I look forward to hearing how everything goes as I am only two weeks away from getting mine now since I was also canceled once.

I have only told 2 people in office at this point and like you there is a group of us who work closely and some of us eat together in the cafeteria everyday. The pre-op diet hasn't been bad, I have just been saying I am on a doctor supervised plan, with high Protein and I am telling them how much I lose each week. I haven't given them the opportunity to speculate about it. My surgery was originally going to be the 11th but the doctor wanted me to continue the pre-op for a few more weeks. The challenge for me is going to be returning to work while in week two full liquids. I can always bring yogurt or cream Soups or broth and they may not question it along with my already standard Protein shakes. I know it must be hard in such a small office but if they see you doing stuff pre-op with protein shakes and whatnot and you just come out and say you are on a diet supervised from your doctor, they may not think anything of it. I too said I was going on vacation and when I come back and continue to lose weight perhaps they won't be surprised since they knew I was trying and was losing beforehand. Your situation is definitely more complex because of the roommate. Stay positive and don't let it worry you. And if they do find out or you do decide to tell them, their opinion or comments don't matter. All that matters is you and you should be comfortable with your decision to do this. Don't let anyone make you feel bad about it.

Wow Tiff that is great. I wish I could do that. I am spending WAY more on shopping than you and I don't buy a lot of processed food so I find for most things I can't find coupons for them. I found that a lot of the websites i have looked at and use to print coupons like through Coupon mom, have mostly all processed food items so a lot of the coupons they offer I would never use. I have never used a coupon service, I am going to look into what is available around here.

While not required by insurance my doctor had me get one. He has all of his bypass patients get one so he decided to require it for all sleeves as well, just to make sure there are no issues.

Well Meggie, it looks like we are both May Sleevers now. I am sorry you were postponed as well. Thanks again for your kind words around my surgery delay. I am trying to think of it as a positive. It will all work out in the end. We were approved by insruance and we have dates and everything else is done. Just like Becca mentioned there is time for us to further mentally prepare for life afterwards.

My ticker keeps disappearing every couple days I wonder why....

Well.......I was canceled. Thank you for all of the positive wishes. New surgery date is May 3rd and this one is for sure. He said he didn't want to rush it and after talking to him I get what he was saying. He said I have been doing fine on the pre-op diet, no complaints and so as of today on his scale I am down 13lbs on the pre-op diet. He wanted to adjust my diet a little so he was more specific on what he wants me to do, 3 more weeks of the pre-op diet. I might go insane......no but seriously it hasn't been that bad. He said he wants me to lose as much as I can, there are a lot more risks with someone with a BMI as high as mine. I am only 5'2" and I need to lose 2/3 of my current weight to be a normal weight. I am going to set a goal for myself and try to lose 20lbs in those 3 weeks so I can hit a weight I haven't seen in quite a while. Something to work towards. So now I can post in the May Sleever thread when it's created Thanks again everyone.

Just got my approval authorization number from the insurance company so I have been approved for the procedure. An hour and half until the doctor makes his decision.

Thanks. I had hoped it would be enough. I have read about some people losing a lot more than that and with me having so much more to lose than the average person I thought I would have lost more. Meggiep, I am sorry to hear you were delayed as well. I did lose about 6lbs from my highest weight before the pre-op diet so I am at a total of 14lbs. It was about 3 weeks ago I finally was able to buy all the Protein I would need for pre and post op. A few months back I was wavering about going through with everything so I wasn't really trying at that point. Since starting the pre-op I have been really focused and trying to prepare myself for what was to come. During my pre-op, in addition to my shakes, I could have two control bars per day and those things are not cheap. I spent $80 on two boxes and today the PA said not to eat any more of them, just the Protein drinks and veggies going forward. I wonder if they will buy the others back from me. I have a full box +2 extra bars and a box is $40, I am going to ask while I am there tomorrow but I doubt it. I am sure in the end things will turn out okay.

So my phone rang at work and it was the doctor's office and I immediately got excited, hoping they were bringing news of insurance approval. I knew that I would be hearing back either today or tomorrow about it. Well it wasn't that. I guess the doctor was looking at my file and he doesn't feel I have lost enough weight to perform the surgery yet. The PA at the office said he wants to see me tomorrow morning and he will decide if it will be postponed. I have lost 8 lbs since the pre-op started 10 days ago. I thought I was doing okay on it. Never once during my 6 months of nutrition visits was I told I needed to reach a specific number in order to qualify. So I am heading in tomorrow and will get all of my paperwork signed, hopefully the insurance approval will be in but if I don't have the surgery Monday, then I will be waiting at minimum until the 26th since the doctor is on vacation the 3rd week of the month. I was really upset when I was told that and felt like I wasn't completely informed not being given what the expectation was to start with. I am hopeful he won't cancel but I want to be safe too, i don't want to take any unnecessary risks. I already had the time off with work, everyone but one person thought I was taking "vacation" time and now to cancel at the last minute is going to seem weird. Not to mention it's really hard for me to take the first and fourth week off in a month so the two weeks in middle were perfect, I would rather not wait until the 2nd week of May. Just frustrated.

April 11th or 12th here. As long as the insurance goes through without a hitch.

I have been sleeping with a CPAP machine for about 4 years now. At first I didn't want anything to do with it, but now it is habit and if I want any kind of restful sleep I wear it. Without the CPAP machine I am always exhausted. I thought I would have a hard time with it because I use the full nose mask, it's triangle in shape and I am a stomach sleeper but I have managed to work with it just fine. I don't think I could sleep with the ones that just plug your nostrils. I hope that once I start losing weight that I will eventually be able to get rid of it. My insurance covered the machine and I get supplies all covered by insurance every 6 months. Let me know if you have any questions.

So I have been on the pre-op diet for 4 days now and this morning was my last nutrition visit. I have to say I am hungry but not starving. They weighed me and I am down 6 lbs!! All of my paper work was submitted to insurance today and they are optimistic we will get an answer within a week. That cuts it kinda close. At this point they are telling me I might even have the procedure a day early on the 11th, I guess my surgeon is really booking up that week with April vacation on the week that follows. So I may be the 11th or the 12th as long as the insurance comes through. Getting very excited

There is a sticky thread right in this forum that details a bunch of places to get samples from. http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/1267-places-to-get-liquid-protein-samples/ I won't even buy Isopure, I really like a bunch of the Syntrax nectar Flavors as well as unjury chocolate Splendor.

I am on day 3 of 14 of the pre-op diet. The last two days must be clear liquids only. I am using Bariatric Advantage vanilla w/ skim and some fruit in it in my morning shake, then I have a Syntrax Nectar w/ water around lunch with a salad or steamed vegetables. Then in the evening I have been having Unjury chocolate splendor w/skim and steamed veggies or a salad and a chicken breast only if necessary. I also can have 2 control bars if needed which I think you can only get at the doctor's office. I am hovering around 1000 calories a day with that combination. Today is the first day I didn't have the 2 control bars, I had a half of one this morning and half in the afternoon.

my pre-op is 12 days shakes and control bars, then 2 days prior clear liquids only. Then post-op 1 week clear, 1 week full, 1 week puree, 1 week soft diet and then on to regular stuff but going slow and trying out one thing at a time and making sure everything is cooked enough and then chewed well.

I received their sample pack and I have found 4 of the 5 I tried so far I liked. Just a note I mixed them all with 16oz of Water, they would be way to sweet with only 8oz. strawberry Kiwi tastes like liquid strawberry Jello to me, so it wasn't bad. Fuzzy Navel tastes like a weak orange drink, that was good too Roadside Lemonade tasted like lemonade Crystal sky, had that today for the first time, tasted almost like liquid bubble gum or cotton candy but not overly sweet. Caribbean Cooler was the most horrendous thing I have ever tasted like I was drinking Hawaiian tropic or a bottle of Malibu rum without any rum, WAY too coconut for me. I ended up buying the big containers of the Strawberry and the Fuzzy navel but since I have quite a few flavors left to try I will be giving the rest a shot throughout the week. I started my pre-op liquid diet today and am having one of these at lunch time. Will let you know about the rest. I think Isopure is horrible and am so glad that nectar is a palatable alternative. I know everyone's tastes vary so you should get the sample pack and give them all a try.

Today is day 1 of my pre-op semi-liquid diet for 2 weeks. Had you been drinking caffeine up to this point? If so, that could account for the headaches. I stopped drinking caffeine several weeks ago and so far no headache today.

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