Sleevie WonderLand

Yes! The main policy outlines all the necessary requirements. Wishing you nothing but success during your WLS pursuit and this joyous holiday!

Im on Empire BCBS but under the EPO plan. I was not required to do the 6 month medically supervised diet, but i did have a barrage of tests and doctor's appointments to go through to qualify for the surgery. I'm happy to announce that I started my vsg pursuit at the end of June, and was sleeved on October 18th. Go to the Empire BCBS website and look for the information concerning bariatric surgery. It's all listed there in black and white, the requirements and qualifications you'll need to be approved. I don't know if there is much of a difference in the PPO and EPO plan other than price, but I can tell you that Empire BCBS was fast with their approval after my paperwork was submitted. I got my approval response from them in less than a week's time. Good luck!

I'm super non-compliant when it comes to taking meds. I know better, I just hate taking pills and stuff. This is my wake up call. I'm also losing my hair, so I know I gotta kick my self in the booty and get these Vitamins into my everyday routine. Thanks for the reminder. *deep sigh*

MoonSiren, it hasn't lead me to any eating disorders. It was just a quick way to soothe a craving during the early stages of being sleeved. Now that I can eat more foods and not just mushies or liquids anymore, I don't have those same urges. Thanks for your concern, but I don't think this thread is going to lead anyone down any eating disorder paths. Happy Holidays!

Woo Hoo! Congratulations. I FEEL your excitement just by reading your post.

Pdx is right on point. You'll be baffled at how little you eat and how full you feel after only consuming 2 or 3 spoonfuls. It's very hard to grasp especially if you were accustomed to eating massive amounts of food before being sleeved like I was. It's really a mind screw! My advice is to only heat up small amounts of soup at a time and store the rest in the refrigerator. Invest in lots of tupperware, because it'll take you days just to finish one can of soup. Oh yeah, it's also a good idea to invest in one of those mug heaters because you'll find that your food gets cold before you can even finish eating it!

I got some Dr. Rey's bra's on sale at Sears a couple of weeks ago, and I'm in love. They make my boobies (that have lost all of their umph) look delicious. that Genie bra doesn't do a durn thing for me and my girls.

I hate that you're having buyer's remorse, but I promise you it does get better. It's still early in the game, I had some soreness in my tummy up until about a week ago and Im at 6 weeks. What you're describing does sound like gas, and of course a CT scan won't detect that, but I urge you to give it some time. The first 4 weeks are definitely the hardest, it begins to get so much easier once you and your sleeve are in tune with each other.

Since my surgery on 10/18/11, I've lost 38 pounds! Woo Hoo!

First off your booty looks Ah May Zing! lol Congrats on the "zero" accomplishment. You are definitely a hero to a lot of us here on VST!

My sleeve HATES Protein shakes. She lets me know it as soon as I open the container with the powder. My sleeve HATES broccoli. Sad thing because I LOVE broccoli. My sleeve caught a serious attitude when I tried to give her some salad recently. She's so mean! My sleeve is high maintenance - She let me eat an entire lobster tail for my birthday, and never b*****s when I give her shrimp or any kind of seafood for that matter. She loves sushi - I thought my grocery bill would go down a little since I wouldn't be eating as much food as I used to, but Ms. Sleeve is definitely keeping my food bill up there with her expensive taste. smh Oh, and she makes me peel grapes for her before I eat them. If my sleeve were a person, she'd probably be like the chick from "the Devil Wears Prada". smh

This post is the story of my life. I forget to eat at times because I'm not hungry and am always busy running around at work. My appetite comes and goes as well, sometimes I'm actually turned off by the smell of food, so I'm really struggling to get my counts up. I even tried to use a timer on my phone, but that hasnt worked either. I guess I just gotta put more effort forth in getting my food in.

You've invested in your physical health, why not invest in your mental health. See a therapist. One session couldn't hurt. You never know, it might help you get to the root of your "cloudiness". Just a suggestion.

A small firm pillow to use for support on your tummy when you're getting up out of bed. It really helps!

I would only recommend an enema or colonic if you feel constipated. If not, let nature take it's course. It will eventually.

It'll get moving soon enough, I wouldn't worry too much unless you are in pain or uncomfortable. I don't go as often as I used to as well and used to worry about it, but now I just go with the flow. I realized that I'm taking in a lot less food and it takes a while for that little bit of food to bulk up enough for your body to get rid of it. As you begin to eat more foods in bigger quantities, your output will probably increase too. I'm not a doctor, but that's what my doc told me when I questioned him about it.

I had this issue as well. I take Nexium daily and although it helped a little I still found that I needed to take tums to help calm down the acids in my tummy. I was always nauseous and always coughing but I also wasn't eating so the acids in my stomach didn't have anything to neutralize them so I began to eat more frequently throughout the day. It's been about 4 days since been increasing my food intake and four days since I've taken my Nexium and I haven't had any acid problems. i hope you feel better soon. Ask your Dr/Nurse about the PPI again. The "virus" statement sounds "loose" to me. She can't determine that you had a virus over the phone. smh

Congrats, and best wishes for a safe surgery and easy recovery!

I started with some soft scrambled eggs, yogurt, and cottage cheese. I would even suggest some soup, and if it has stuff in it, puree it so that it thickens a bit. Good luck and I hope you feel better soon.

Acid reflux is driving me batty too. i've started taking Tums, which helps ease the discomfort. Im also taking Nexium, but it doesn't handle my acid enough and I don't want to end up with an ulcer in my esophagus. Ease up on the solid foods, I had to slow down as well. Try drinking Soups (blended) you may find that they are easier to tolerate.

OMG, I think the Tums was the trick! I've also been dealing with a chronic cough that I think is related to acid reflux (self diagnosing at this point, havent been to my MD yet) and I decided to try the antacid route since I'm afraid to take another Nexium. So far so good! I guess since I'm not getting that much in there's lots of acid in my belly and it's causing havoc and Im coughing and in alot of discomfort. Thanks for all your responses and suggestions. Really appreciate it!

Getinmybelly - we are here *pointing two fingers back and forth between our eyes* I know the guidelines, we all do. My issue is that im not sure that im still having trouble understanding the signals my stomach is sending me And im worried that im doing something wrong because i feel overly full all day even tho im not taking in much. Im amazed at the amounts of food people are taking who have been sleeved around the dame time as me. Its been five hours and im still uncomfortablr after having lunch. Smh

I have no appetite at all. None. I wake up in the morning and do a little walk, about 15 mins or so, then I get back home and start to get my family ready for the day. No desire to eat at all. I may have a sip of Water, but just enough to take a Vitamin. On my way to work I usually have a half a cup (4oz) of tea. By that time I kinda feel Ms. Sleeve saying something, so I'm assuming that she wants to eat. When I get to work I usually get a boiled egg and it takes me forever to eat it because I have no desire to eat it. Anyway, I usually have a little more tea after that, probably an hour or two later, just to get the taste of the egg outta my mouth. Sometimes i find myself gargling with mouthwash constantly and brushing my teeth because these tastes tend to linger in my mouth and it nauseates me. At about 1 pm, I take my Nexium tablet. I've been taking it at that time every day since I been sleeved, so it's just what I've been doing. I noticed that about 15 minutes after I have it, Ms. Sleeve starts to act really weird; I don't get hungry, but I do get nauseous and end up running to the chinese restaurant to get some egg drop or wonton Soup to calm her down. Today I ate two wontons and didn't drink the soup; she seemed to be fine, but then about 1/2 hour later, my stomach just felt weird, so I decided to have some more tea. I tried to drink water first, but it tasted like metal to me, so I couldn't deal with it. Now I have this constant feeling like if I make a wrong move, I'll vomit. Like the food/liquid hasn't settled in my stomach, or like I've eaten too much. This has been my story for the past 4 days; what am I doing wrong? I'm not eating while I'm drinking, and I'm really not consuming much food at all. Am I taking in too much Fluid? I thought the fluid thing was good because I need to stay hydrated? SMH I've been stressing over the fact that i'm not getting much food in at all. My Nut isn't very happy about it either, but what's a no-appetite, nauseous girl to do?

This post just gave me so much insight! I can focus on protein and caloric intake instead of going crazy trying to avoid carbs. I'll see what works best for me and my sleeve.

I think slowing down while eating is the hardest part of this for me. I was struggling with the not eating while drinking thing and pretty much conquered that but I still find myself scarfing down my food like it's the last time I'll ever eat or drink again. Putting the spoon/fork down between mouthfuls (tiny ones!) is helping, but it's hard if the soup tastes really good! lol..My issue was that I hate my food to get cold, so someone suggested that I get a mug warmer, this way I can enjoy my food longer and not have to worry about it being cold. Hoping to get a mug warmer this weekend!